The Sun's Peeking Through

It's been a busy few days. Between holding a yard sale at my house and battling the rain, juggling the county fair and work and home and... Well, you get the idea. Busy! The rain has pretty much interrupted everything, causing the yard sale to be cut short and packed up. Last evening our church was hosting a community mural at the fair, where my daughter Devon and I painted words (Love One Another) onto a 12' x 8' billboard-style set-up that is cut into 2' x 2' squares. Then, all different folks come and are offered a chance to paint a small part of the mural in whatever color scheme they choose. Once the paint dries, the mural is pieced together on a larger framework and displayed. Fortunately, the rain held off at the fair until the mural was completed. I didn't take any photos to show you, though, because Devon and I were busy painting faces at the same time. Dusty and I had our two grandsons with us. We would have had our granddaughter as well but she was truly under the weather. It was Demo Derby night and the kids are crazy about that event. Can anyone say "redneck"? LOL! We watched the derby and were shielded from the rain by the huge roof over the grandstands. It was packed and we were way up in the "peanut gallery"... higher than I'd ever climbed into the grandstands before. I was thankful there were no potty calls, let me tell you!

The most exciting thing about today (because I'm really dragging for some reason) is that my husband has my old Dodge dually pick-up in the shop and had someone come in to take measurements for a wooden bed. Dusty is going to paint the cab, etc., and then they'll install the new bed and woohoo! I'll have a truck to haul my horse trailer around!!! I'm so excited!!! I just wish I had another horse--a gentle one that anyone could ride so that I could haul Coby and the other horse wherever and enjoy riding with a friend or DAUGHTER!!! We'll see what happens. I need to put up a prayer and see if God brings just the right horse and situation to me... or lets me know that "NO" is the answer!!!

Hope you all had a great weekend and are having a wonderful week. I need to get busy on a job I should have completed for proofing so I'm cutting out... Blessings!!!

Ready for the Weekend!

TGIF! I'm ready to skip out of the office and head on down the road toward the weekend! I actually have to deliver a monthly tax report to the county. Nothing like waiting until the last minute--today's the deadline! LOL! Then, off to pick up Madelyn so she can go to the races with Dusty. I should send my camera along so she can take some pics and share them with you. Hmmmm... we'll see. Tonight I have a bunch of things I am kicking around in my head to do. We'll see which wins out. Tomorrow Madelyn and I are making some special sugar cookies for her birthday tea part on Monday. That'll be fun. Well, have a good weekend and I'll catch up with it all on Monday!

4th of July Run-Down

In preparation for the small town of Corsica's 4th of July parade, my daughter, Katy, and I made some signs to attach to the horse-drawn wagons that her inlaws, husband and kiddles were taking through the festivities. 50 years of participation in the annual parade! Wow! Chris's family is a good bunch, with the mom and all five brothers and their families living in the same general area. They're very community-minded and from all reports, great neighbors to have. Katy's fortunate to have them as a part of her extended family. Here is a photo of Madelyn, Xavier and Jaxson (along with cousins) in the one wagon before everyone else loaded in.

And another photo showing Chris, my son-in-law, as he's holding the horses prior to the parade. I was proud of myself getting this pic since he isn't always so easy to catch. Of course, he's a big goofball, as you can tell by the pic... but a lot of fun to be around! I'm pretty blessed in the son-in-law department, that's for sure!

My husband, Dusty, had hauled a dirt track race car belonging to one of his employees, Bucky, so that he and his family could drive it through the parade. Somehow Dusty managed to hitch a ride through the parade with his sister, Christy, in their push jeep. Isn't it cool-looking? Since opening night, Dusty has taken his wrecker and/or tiltbed out to Thunder Mountain Speedway and enjoys pushing the cars, hauling out the wrecks or breakdowns, etc., or whatever else they might need him to do during the races. Well, he got Christy and her husband, Jim, to give it a try and they're hooked. Now they're Friday night die-hard "pushers" in their jeep! Along with their son, Jesse, and Dusty, they took their jeep through the parade, throwing candy, of course, and I think people really enjoyed it! You can also see Bucky's car trailing close behind. Dusty provided Bucky and his gang with a bunch of candy to throw as well... it's a "must" for a small-town parade!

The parade was a good time and the kids had a blast, which is what it's all about to me anyway. Dusty and I then enjoyed having Devon and Cory over for a grilled steak dinner after which we took some chairs up to our upper property and sat down to watch the neighbor's fireworks display. Let me tell you, they're absolutely fantastic for a backyard venue! They set them off in groups and there is almost constant color in the sky. None of this "shoot one off at a time" stuff!

Katy and Chris and the kids were there watching the fireworks as well since they were enjoying a cookout at friends who rent from us up on that property. It was all the more fun to listen to everyone's comments as the fireworks exploded across the night sky! God bless America, land that I love!

Hope you had a great celebration and took time to thank God for our nation and pray that we can continue to enjoy the freedoms we so take for granted!

Blessings!

What a Weekend!

I had a great weekend! I had helped my son-in-law's family with some baking late in the week. They were hosting the Appalachian Wagon Train for the weekend and were putting on a feed for them Saturday night following their ride. The train arrived on Friday after traveling from Farmers Inn in Sigel, PA. I stopped by their encampment on Friday evening and it was so much fun to see all the wagons and the beautiful horses as well as the folks dressed in period clothing. You can see some photos of this on my daughter Katy's blog.

I had been planning on riding with the wagon train on Saturday along with Chris, my son-in-law, but his father had a health issue arise which necessitated a change in plans. Well, Chris's one uncle, who had ridden on one of the wagons that day, urged me to go ahead and ride on Saturday after all. There was plenty of other help so I wouldn't be missed and it really was an opportunity that doesn't come along every day. So... I couldn't resist! We trailered Coby over on Saturday morning, gave him a bath and tacked him up. Chris took a few spins on him for fun.

I was permitted to ride Coby at the end of the wagon train... riding drag I guess you could call it... LOL! There were several other riders, all regular members of the wagon train. They were so nice and welcoming. I quickly felt accepted and part of the group.

Coby did really well. Since I've owned him, he's never been with a huge number of horses and so it was a new experience all the way around for both of us. We pulled out of the encampment at about 10:30 a.m. and started on our 10-mile trek, roundabout to Corsica, PA. Coby threw

a little attitude every time I mounted up but we quickly overcame that. Two of my grandkids--Madelyn and Xavier--were riding in a covered wagon directly in front of where I rode. So, in addition to enjoying the beautiful scenery along the route that we traveled, I got to interact with the kids... talking back and forth, waving to each other and just smiling at the whole experience.

I had a great time and Coby did awesome! I have to admit that once we got back, I was whipped! Chris and I trailered Coby on home where I gave him a nice scoop of grain and turned him out. Then I promptly went inside and fell fast asleep for 2 hours! And talk about sore!!! Yeah, well... it's been 4 days and I just now feel back to normal! LOL! It was worth it, though. Here's a photo of me just before falling in with the rest of the wagon train. The photos of both Chris and I were taken by Joe Miholics who was there taking pictures while the wagon train was camped out. Joe and his wife have a photography business, Captured Moments Photography, and

they've made a slide show of some of the photos that he took of the various participants in the Appalachian Wagon Train. Check them out if you'd like...