you're my blue sky, you're my sunny day

Here is a silly Sovey face standing quietly in the forebay while I tack him up. What a cute, good boy he is. Yesterday was sunny and 70 degrees. Perfect for a riding adventure into new territory.

Here is another snap of Sovey (and my mom holding him). I tack up Pie in the cross-ties in the barn. I enjoy quietly spending that time with him. Ol' Sovey, though, is worried that Pie is getting loving (or treats) that he might be missing, so he and my mom keep wandering back up to the barn. Yesterday, Sovey flung the screen door (yes, our barn has screen doors!) open and kept peeking his funny face inside. He had me laughing so much. I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing and my billets ended up looking like this! (I know some people criss-cross their billets when their girth is too long - with Pie's pleasantly plump barrel we don't have to worry about that!)

After getting my tack fixed properly, we got on and headed out across the street to the church field. I promptly dropped my cell phone while trying to take photos. Ugh! Pie was kind enough, however, to leave a manure "gift" on our ride that required me to retrace all our steps later. I took all these photos on that manure-pick-up-run.

I love this old gate post on the church property. This grove of trees is where my mom's friends boarded their horses in the 1950's.

The cross to the left has a cache at the bottom that Maizie has found and logged. She loves to show her "new-to-geocaching-friends" this one because it is a micro and so well-hidden. The cross is up on a high bluff. To the right of this picture is a steep drop-off because the area is above a limekiln. We can't take the horses down to the limekiln because it actually is in a private yard.

Since I was on foot, I snuck down for a photo of the limekiln. Sorry it is blurry. I was rushing because I was sneaking around their backyard!

Here is a view from the church field looking back toward our farm. I can't believe they mow all this weekly. Pie and Sovey think they should employ some ex-racers to gobble all the grass. We surely could adopt at least six more boys to eat all this! I'll tell the church people my idea - I wonder what they will think!

Here is some laundry that Sovey was not keen about. We knew he didn't like it because when he sees any laundry he puts his head up like a giraffe. That is the only way you know that Sovey is scared of something. My mom likes to start talking about the laundry that Sovey is staring at. I think she is trying to calm him, but it really cracks me up. She starts editorializing all about the laundry - like yesterday's discussion when she saw this view was, "I wonder where she got those cute camisoles. I'd like to get some like that. Boy, they sure have a lot of laundry. Are there only two of them in that house? How do they get that much laundry?" Sovey likes her comments, but I am so embarrassed. I hope no one hears her.

This is a view down the street we tackled. Pie and Sovey had not been here before and there is a large dog tied up that barks all the time. We knew that it might be a tricky business. The dog waits until you are right there and then it darts out barking. It is attached with a chain and the chain scrapes the wooden door and it sounds like a loud tiger. Pie and Sovey skittered their back feet the first time we walked by the dog on the way out. On the way back home, I told mom to sing louder than the chain. She was belting out Tammy by Debbie Reynolds from 1957 only she changed the lyrics to "Sovey, Sovey, Sovey's in love" and I was singing Blue Sky for Pie. It worked! The boys were perfect angels.

Here is a manhole cover that gives Pie some trouble. He doesn't mind the normal covers, but the ones with the pictures are terribly s-c-a-r-y! Isn't that funny that he can tell the difference?

Back in our own woods, Pie wanted to take a path to the right and I wanted him to take the path to the left. He was determined, but so was I. We circled and then he was a good boy and went to the left.

This is what I wanted him to see - lovely purple phlox!!

Here are our "noxious" roses. They are wild, and the state of Pennsylvania hates them because they are invasive, but they smell heavenly. Their scent combines with the soon-to-bloom Honeysuckle to make the most amazing fragrance. Sigh.

Here is one of the paths I cut through the hayfield. I am sure our farmer doesn't appreciate my path-making, but Pie and Sovey sure do! They have all these secret paths for walking with nice hay nibbles on either side. Yummy!

Here are the two sleepy boys after their long ride!