On May 12, our beloved, old gelding Wally died in the pasture where he had lived for the last 12 years. We purchased Wally in 2010 as a companion for our Tennessee Walker mare Cleo. He was already older – maybe 16-18 years old and scrawny, almost malnourished when we got him. But we got […]

This is some drone footage from this morning and a previous December morning of our house, me feeding the horses and emus, and a fly-over of our property. Enjoy! Dieses Video habe ich heute Morgen und an einem früheren Dezembermorgen mit einer Drohne gefilmt. Es zeigt unser Haus, das Füttern der Pferde und Emus und […]

We had a relatively early snow day this year on Dec. 09 with 8 inches of snow (20 cm) over 12 hours. With my 11foot8 camera footage I created a nice time-lapse of the snow “storm.”. For Christmas, the weather was nice and so Julia got to try out the inflatable “Ginormous Rainbow Unicorn Sprinkler” […]

After temperatures in the 70s last week, a cold front moved in yesterday and we got some snow this morning! Letzte Woche waren die Temperaturen schon deutlich über 20 Grad, aber Gestern kam eine Kaltfront und heute Morgen schneite es!

Wally, Cleo and Madison are messing around during the Jan. 7 snowstorm.

Today at Sunrise it was 13 °F (-10 °C) after we got about 4 inches (12cm) of snow and sleet yesterday. And tomorrow morning is predicted to be even colder.

Last week, I finished the expansion and remodel of the hay storage shed. I rebuilt the floor and doubled the storage area, so we can now store two 900-pound hay bales. I can use a come-along to ratchet up the floor on the right side, so the second bale flips into place when the front […]

Last weekend, I got some shit done. This is the “mother of all compost piles” … 25 wheelbarrows of manure with 100 gallons of glycerin from my biodiesel production. The pile in the back is the biggest one I have yet built. The one in the front will be ready in the spring. I also […]

A few weeks ago, we took Cleo and Madison to the neighbor’s property for a dip in the pond. Cleo loves swimming, but Madison was a bit skeptical at first. We convinced her eventually, though, and then she loved swimming, too. Vor ein paar Wochen sind wir mit den Pferden auf dem Nachbargrundstück im Teich […]

View post on imgur.com Last Saturday, we picked up our mare Cleo from her “vacation” with her stallion Apache. The two of them had been “getting it on” for most of the week while she was in heat. Saturday she was at the end of her cycle, so it was time for them to part […]

Today, we took our 15-year-old mare Cleo on her first date. We drove her to a horse farm nearby where she well be spending the next 2 weeks with this dashing tobiano Walking Horse stallion. His name is Ebony’s Midnight Rainbow, or just Apache (on the left in the pic below). Apache is 17 years […]

Happy Birthday, Madison Saint! A couple of days ago was Madison’s 7th birthday. Hard to believe Wally and Cleo have lived with us for 5 years this summer! Laura clipped all three horses a couple of weeks ago, so right now they look really slick. Check it out … Cleo turns 14 in  June And […]

This Sunday morning was chilly at 25F (-4C). We really hope this was the last frost for the season! With temperatures now regularly reaching the 60s and 70s, it does feel like spring around here. But last night, we put the blankets on the horses one more time and filled the bucket with warm water. […]

Thursday morning we woke up to 6 inches (15cm) of snow. Around here, that pretty much shuts down everything. Power went out at around 4AM and water stopped shortly after. No school or work, of course. We were stuck at home all day, keeping the house warm with a fire in the fire place and […]

Our driveway on a crisp, sunny evening in November. Unsere Einfahrt an einem sonnigen Novemberabend. Julia and Cleo getting ready to ride out. Julia und Cleo bereiten sich auf einen Ausritt vor.

Today, we bought our third horse. we brought her to our place on Friday and introduced her to our two guys. Her name is R. U . Madison Saint and she is a registered Rocky Mountain Horse. This is not really a great photo of her – it’s windy and she had just had a […]

Sunday morning at 7:30 we loaded the horses and headed out to Quail Roost Farm for Laura’s and Julia’s first hunter pace event, organized by a local fox hunt club, the Red Mountain Hounds. Since the farm is only a 15 Minute drive away, we were there quite early and had plenty of time to […]

Phew … brutal weekend – I am hurting all over! Saturday morning Jacob and I did our usual 2 hours of Karate with Sensei Kevin. That’s usually pretty intense, but Saturday evening we also went bowling for 3 hours with 6 of Julia’s friends, to celebrate Julia’s 16th Birthday last week. Thank god they had […]

Photos from our week in the Virginia Mountains. Open the post and click on a photo to start the gallery. Urlaubsphotos! Hier öffnen und dann auf ein Photo klicken um die Gallerie zu starten.

A week at Peggy’s Cabin is just what the doctor ordered. A week of horseback riding, kayaking, mountain biking and hiking … and a nice, tasty beer when we get back. Saturday, we packed the trailer with the gear: the kayak, hay for the horses, tack, some tools, and our baggage. The bikes got strapped […]