Archive for the 'Our gang' Category

Biting dogs, bucking horses and Julia’s Ghana trip

Sunday, April 9th, 2023

Winter came early and vigorously in December 2022, and then Spring popped in and out in January and February this year. Here is Patou enjoying spring weather in February. In fact, on Jan 2nd it was so nice I took my shoes off and went for a jog in the neighborhood, only to get attacked […]

Sigrid Meinhild Henn, 1942 – 2022

Monday, September 19th, 2022

Peace, my heart, let the time for the parting be sweet.Let it not be a death but completeness.Let love melt into memory and pain into songs.Let the flight through the sky end in the folding of the wings over the nest.Let the last touch of your hands be gentle like the flower of the night.Stand […]

R.I.P. Wally

Sunday, June 19th, 2022

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 […]

Snow days

Saturday, January 29th, 2022

After a fairly mild December, this January has brought some actual winter weather to central North Carolina. This is a video I shot after this morning’s snowfall/ This is the third time we had snow this month, but this was definitely the prettiest morning, with a fresh blanket of snow and the sun rising over […]

Winter fun

Monday, December 31st, 2018

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” […]

Jacob’s High School Graduation

Saturday, June 30th, 2018

On June 13th, Jacob graduated from Durham School of the Arts High School. Here he is … the fresh-baked graduate and the proud family! Am 13. Juni feierte Jacob seinen High School Abschluß von  der Durham School of the Arts. Hier ist der frischgebackenel Schulabgänger mit der stolzen Familie! The Durham School of the Arts […]

Welcome home, Patou!

Sunday, December 17th, 2017

Saturday, we drove to Kittrel, NC, to pick up Patou. Here she is, this morning on her first day of training. She was born October 26 to a pure-bred Great Pyrenees dad and a mom who is half Great Pyr and half Akbash.  She was one of five pups for sale and with her slightly […]

Dain’s Place 10-year anniversary

Sunday, March 5th, 2017

A few weeks ago, my favorite bar in Durham – Dain’s Place – celebrated their 10th anniversary. They had a big party on Jan. 29 and Dain presented me and two other regulars with our own, personal mugs. Vor ein paar Wochen feierten wir das 10. Jubiläum meiner Stammkneipe, Dains Place. Als Teil der Feier […]

Our horses in the snow

Wednesday, January 11th, 2017

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

Farm Projects

Wednesday, December 28th, 2016

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 […]

Halloween

Monday, October 31st, 2016

Julia’s elaborate, home-made Halloween costume this year: a Kelpie (mystical Scottish shape-shifting waterhorse)

Going for a bath in the pond with the horses

Wednesday, August 24th, 2016

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 […]

Our new emu Mel

Tuesday, June 21st, 2016

This is Mel, our new emu. Mel ist unser neuester Emu. Mel the emu She is still very young, maybe 2 1/2 years old. We got her from a friend in Seagrove, NC. They took her in when they found her wandering their neighborhood. Now she is settling in with the boys – Sidney and […]

Cleo and Apache – part 2

Monday, May 9th, 2016

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 […]

Nice day

Monday, March 28th, 2016

Today was another day I did not get younger. But as the case may be, I got some cool toys today, too. My daughter got me a nice beer glass that is the shape of an upside-down beer bottle. I also got a pair of FPV goggles for my quadcopter. Plus a mini camera and […]

More winter weather

Monday, February 15th, 2016

The last few days have been pretty chilly around here. Sunday morning it was a brisk 15 Deg. F (-10 °C) and the waterfall at the little fishpond was almost frozen. Kühl war es hier die letzten Tage – minus 10 °C am Sonntag morgen. Sunday night it snowed and Monday we had freezing rain. […]

Holiday cheer up in the air

Monday, December 28th, 2015

My Christmas present this year was a little Syma X5C RC quadcopter with a camera from Amazon. This is a fun little quad, as long as it’s no too  windy outside. With a little practice I managed to get some pretty nice aerial shots of our little farm without crashing the quad into the trees. […]

Catnip Sunday

Sunday, November 22nd, 2015

Meet Adjo, our newest and youngest family member. Adjo is a Lynx-point (Tabby-point) Siamese we got from the local animal shelter in August. She is about 10 months old at this point, so she is still very young and playful, which is (partly) why it took me so long to post a picture of her. […]

Autumn

Saturday, October 31st, 2015

As the leaves are turning and the nights are getting chilly, this October had some real challenges for us. One of those challenges sent me on a short-notice trip back to Germany. While the German fall weather was mostly chilly and overcast, I had one day of nice weather. On  that day I was driving […]

The summer of independence

Saturday, August 29th, 2015

This summer was the summer of independence for Jacob and Julia. First, the two of them went on an adventure, then Julia moved out. Let’s start at the end: last week was Julia’s 18th birthday. In the morning, Laura took her to the DMV to get her permanent driver’s license. In the afternoon we took […]