Harmony Banquet

The annual banquet for the stable Piper rides at was today.  Piper got her first 2 riding trophies.  She received a 3rd place for the in-house Summer Show Series and Champion for Advanced Walk/Trot Division.

Chickens Roosting

We like to let the chickens free range around the yard.  It gets them a little exercise and provides some variety in their diet.  Lately, they’ve been jumping up on the fence.  This was a little worrying at first because I really have no urge to chase chickens around the neighborhood.  Clipping their wings also has very little appeal.  As far as we can tell,  it looks like they just enjoy roosting up there and  at least so far they aren’t jumping over to the other side.

While I was standing taking these photos, our oddball chicken decided to pay me a visit.  Honestly, I sometimes think Pirate has more in common with a dog than a chicken.  She likes being close to humans and enjoys being petted.  Of course in this case she was perhaps a little too close and I really don’t appreciate having my teeth pecked at.  Ewwww!

Piper in Blue Jeans

Piper pretty much abolished jeans from her wardrobe as soon as she got to start helping choose her cloths, maybe 3 or 4 years old.  In her opinion, they were far too tight and binding.  This lead us to a drawer filled with cotton stretch and yoga pants.  Now, just my personal opinion, but I feel there are a number of drawbacks to these types of pants including, but not limited to, how easily they stain, higher likelihood of unfortunate fashion choices, and foremost in importance right now, how simple it is for little puppy teeth to get embedded in them.  Piper has holes in almost every pair of her pants, not to mention those in her legs.  While I could wish that it wasn’t Luna’s vision of Piper as a chew toy that made Piper decide to give jeans a try again, I do think she looks awfully cute in them and I think we all appreciate the added protection. 

Wordless Wednesday – The Island

Park Passport – Hopkinton State Park

I found a letterbox requiring a canoe in the 2nd to last park we needed to finish the region we’re working on for Park Passport and the weather on Sunday was in the 60’s.  How perfect is that?

Holt Hill Letterboxing

On Saturday we finished up our errands and decided to take advantage of what is sure to be some of our last warm weather.  Since it was already after lunch, we decided to head out for some letterboxing.  After perusing our choices, we selected one located on Holt Hill.  The owner who donated the property built Solstice Stones at the top which looked particularly intriguing.

Turned out to be a lovely walk, with a great field for frolicking.  We played monkey in the middle with Luna calling her to each of us in turn.  She really does do a great job when she doesn’t have tons of distractions.

The Solstice Stones was a bit of a wash, especially since they were covered with Boy Scout’s backpacks.  Seems they had a field trip to the tower at the top.  Somehow the mystery is lost with 30 or so kids running around. 

As advertised, the letterbox was very easy to find.  This was what is referred to as an “orphan” box; one that has been abandoned and picked up by someone else.  Truthfully, I’m not sure why someone would have bothered to rescue this one.  It was probably the single worst stamp carving I’ve ever seen – think 2 year old scribbles.  Fun, relatively easy walk in a pretty spot though, so thoroughly worth the trip on a lazy afternoon.

The Park

We spent this afternoon at the park.  It was a bit on the chilly side, but the sun was out.  There is a baseball field that is surrounded by steep hills that was completely empty so it was safe to let Luna off her leash.  Piper and I practiced calling her back and forth between the two of us.

She did a great job and I’m glad, because if her speed now is any indicator, there’s no way we’re going to be able to catch her when she’s grown.

She had a ball, and seemed to love being able to run flat out for once.

The park we visited also has a lake, so we were able to make her introduction to fresh water.  She did a bit of wading, but didn’t seem to have any urge to go in deeper and spent most of her time investigating the beach and chewing acorn caps.

Piper had her usual good time running around barefoot despite the fact it was only in the 40’s.

Playing with the sand on the empty beach

Collecting and cracking acorns

I think we all enjoyed being in a place where Luna could roam a bit and get in very little trouble and we managed to get her completely tuckered out so she’s been sleeping peacefully since we got home. 

Walks and Leaves

As a part of “Project Tire Luna Out So We Can Get Our Schoolwork Done” we took her for a walk this morning.  This is something we’ve tried in the past, but her little legs weren’t quite up to it.  What a difference a few weeks makes, she made it around the whole block going the whole time except for the obligatory sniffing interludes.  Hopefully we can make this part of the morning routine providing exercise for both the humans and the puppy.  After we got back, Piper and Luna engaged in some fun with leaf piles. I expect we’ll get a good long nap when they come in.

Happy Halloween

Piper building leaf towers in our gorgeous weather – 72 degrees!

The Carving

The Tower of Mordor complete with glowing eye at the top.

Tim’s maple leaf

The Costume – Elf from Lord of the Rings.  I couldn’t be happier with the way this turned out.

 

Art Class – Owl, Gargoyle, Tree, and Fence

I’ve been loving Tim and Piper’s projects from the last few weeks.

Here is Piper’s owl from last week done with watercolor pencils.

Piper’s gargoyle from this week.  They were working on drawing statues.

Tim’s work from last week.  I think this technique is called Toned Ground.  The dark charcoal is put on and then removed or lightened using your fingers or an eraser.  The very dark lines are then added in.  Oddly, Tim was surprised at how much I liked these.