Ride Time

We rode on the Washington Suburban Sanitation Commission (WSSC), specically the Brown's Bridge Road end of the Rocky Gorge Reservoir.

This trail is an 'up and back' no loop ride, and the views of the lake and some old houses were excellent.

To ride this watershed you have to sign in at the ranger's station, no where near where you are going to ride. We stopped there first to get

our passes, on to Boarman's Meat Market in Highland for a picnic lunch, then on to the reservoir.

Considering there is a fee to ride, and there is only ONE TRAIL, on only one side of the lake, I would really expect the WSSC to better maintain the trail, at least cut the waist-high grass/weeds in the open meadows. It was difficult at times to find the ONE TRAIL.

Farrier Time

Sara, our farrier, came out on Saturday morning, early and better than on-time.

After that we both ran errands and did this and that around the house.

We ended the lovely day with another beautiful sunset on Annapolis Rock.

Rain, Rain, And More Rain

We've landed in a rainy pattern, not like the normal pattern of heat, then afternoon thunderstorms. This has been relentless rain, then more rain, storms overnight, flash flood warnings and no period of drying out between.

The mushrooms are getting water-logged and the mold and mildew are flourishing. The patio bricks have molded. The grass is growing and is too wet to mow. Some vegetables and fruits aren't fit to eat because of the water content.

Because of the rainy weather, starting in June, KC's hooves are 'mushy.' If Skip would let him reside in the run-in shed more often maybe this wouldn't be the case. Even with the newly installed cattle-carpet and stone dust apron to the run-in shed, his feet are not perfect. Our farrier suggested applying 'Crossapol' once daily to his hooves. We'll see how that goes.

More thunderstorms are predicted for the weekend. O boy.

Penny For Your Thoughts

Or Penny for your water trough. Him, who regularly thinks outside the box and uses the internet, said he recently came across advice for keeping the water trough algae-free. Not a catfish, but a couple pennies. Ok, throw a couple in.

Not that I don't routinely and regularly scrub out the buckets. I do. Sometimes I have to because the boys are not the only drinkers. I know the birds (big and small), and bees drink from the trough, as do the foxes and any thing else that can reach.

Sometimes we've had a fatality, and am horrified that I have to dump a drowned ground squirrel or bird out of the water. Or that the birds have used it as a toilet .

HOWEVER - the penny does, indeed, seem to be working.

First August Week-end Wrap-up

With a beautiful, gorgeous day like this, what else can you do but RIDE!?!

We started out late because that's how we roll. Had a couple things to do around the house before we could go. We again chose to go to the Woodstock Inn, but with a lovely day like this we weren't hiding from the sunshine and we picked up the pace pretty good.

It had rained nearly an inch on Saturday, and some sections of the trails were wet, mucky mud. Once we were clear of those areas we made pretty good time, going a route we hadn't been in a couple months.

We ran into the Mounted Volunteer Patrol team in McKeldin, and then again nearer Woodstock, almost 2 hours apart. Lots of people were out, riding bikes and hiking with their dogs. We also ran into Glen and his Palomino Paint in almost exactly the same spot from a couple weeks ago. We were just starting out, he was wrapping it up.

We ran into friends at the Inn, once again they were heading out, we had just arrived.

After getting home we washed he boys off. They really like their hot water baths. The evening was as nice as the day, we sat on the patio for hours.

Fred kept staring at us, so we had to go out and enjoy a love-fest with him, brushing him and Sprite. We slept with the windows open. I don't know where we stole this weather, but we are really enjoying it!

You Say Caterpillars, I Say Worms

The Lilac at the drivway gate has not bloomed in three years. There also is a tree trying to grow in the middle of it. Earlier this year I broke the tree, not an inch in diameter, but didn't actually kill it. Been meaning to remove it, and the Lilac, replace with a Crepe Myrtle or something similar.

One morning noticed that a branch of the tree was completely

defoliated, and that large caterpillars were crawling on it, by evening another whole branch was bare.

Saturday, with rain once again in the forecast, wearing rubber gloves, plucked every single worm from the branches, leaves, and placed in a small dish of soapy water. They did not like that one bit!

After I removed as many as I could find, he cut the sapling out of the Lilac, and I continued to hunt for any stray worms. The remains of the tree are now residing in the burn barrel for another day.

August Already?

Seems like just yesterday was July 4. Where does the time go? We still haven't taken any 'real' time off - No hanging out time, no riding vacation, no nothing. And the time just evaporates - the days are long but the years are fast.