Rain, Rain, Go Away

Well, it rained most of the day yesterday, and it looks like that's going to continue on today and maybe tomorrow. It felt nice yesterday, but now it's getting a little old! We were supposed to have a group of kids come yesterday, but they canceled because of the weather. We can't really work the horses when the ground is wet. They are stuck inside too and looking a little restless. Yesterday I worked on some harnesses and then ran a bunch of town errands. "Town" is Cortland, about 10 miles away. It's a pretty good size, and I managed to get to the bank, post office, library, Tractor Supply, etc. I finally caved and bought some okay gloves at the Tractor Supply. I have been looking and looking for some decent reenforced gloves for working in. Here's the problem: the men's gloves are too big for my hands, and the women's gloves are not very heavy duty. In fact, that's an understatement - they're mostly pink and frilly looking! I lucked out yesterday and found a small pair of men's medium duty hidden in the bottom of a bin, and I decided that might be the best I was going to get. I'd already looked at about a half a dozen stores on the way up here. For some reason, they only stock the heavy duty gloves in L and XL. Surely there are some men with small hands out there!

I mailed a few letters at the post office, including a letter to Joanna Macy and a letter to a blogger that I like and sometimes follow named Dan Pearce (Single Dad Laughing). What a weird thing it is to write a letter, particularly to someone you don't know! I'm exploring what it's like - it feels way more personal than an email, and a part of me hopes that I might get responses because of that. Of course, I wouldn't be that surprised if the one I wrote to Mrs. Macy never even makes it into her hands. She is a busy woman, after all. But that's okay - I'm not attached to outcome with my letter writing - I think of it more as a gift, a small token sent out into the world on its own.

Yesterday afternoon I pulled out the riding tack to take inventory and clean it up. Looks like I'll be able to get up a full set of English tack, as soon as we track down some reins. Whenever it stops raining and I have some free time, I'm going to tack up Lady and see if she remembers how to ride! She's the only one who has any saddle training - if it goes well with her, maybe I'll get to work with some of the others later in the summer. I'd like to put a saddle on Guy - he's a giant Percheron gelding that I have a big crush on. He's an interesting horse - his mom is here too, and he's really attached to her. He'd never had any training until last year, and he's 9 now, so he's quite a bit behind the other horses. He reminds me of an 8 year old kid - big and goofy, but sweet. If I have time for it later in the summer, I think saddle training might be good for him.

Maryrose and I managed to turn and plant quite a bit of the garden earlier in the week, so the rain will be good for that at least! Hopefully when the sun comes back out we'll have plants coming up. I'm a little silly when it comes to gardening - I like to walk by all the time and look for the little sprouts coming up...starting about 8 hours after I plant them! What can I say - I'm an optimist :)

Hope you are all well...