Too good to be true....

Juan is gone. With that, the luxury of having nothing but riding on my agenda are gone as well. Apparently, his parents and kids got in a terrible car accident back in Peru, so he is outta here. It's still pretty much paradise though, just some more of those pesky horse apples to deal with..
It is also paradise in the fact that it has been lovely weather ! My first day in a t shirt, which meant it was also the first day of.... (squeally horror music) FLIES!
The bane of stable existence. I even made a poem for them:
Spring has sprung
The flies have flung
Over this paradise.
I actually don't have a clear idea what poems technically are, but either way those lines came into mind as I was cleaning stalls in Zen mode.
It was also so lovely today that I risked my life by taking Bindi in a ride all the way to the hills! Scared, green, baby Bindi was so brave she only shied at Really scary things such as mailboxes, slightly larger than normal rocks, and birds. Yet, she was unfazed by a pack of barking dogs trying to herd her, crossing a steam, and a field of excited horses. So, I guess I should be thankful she doesn't spook at the scary things, and only at tiny things? I was very proud of her though. And I got home safely.
I also tried to make Greek yogurt for the first time. After coaxing those finicky Lactobacillus bulgaricus to produce some lactic acid, I got some seriously delish food. I highly recommend making some.
Other than that, life is back to status quo.

Irish Day with Irish Ponies

Today I celebrated my great horse Autumn's birthday by being extra Irish and riding some genuine Connemara ponies. It is kind of always St. Patricks day around here because of the Connemara ponies, and the main color of Knox Farm is a lovely shamrock green. I thought about decorating the tack room then I realized there are already like 4 permanent shamrocks in there. So, perma St. Patty's it is then.
In other not so joyous news, as you probably know there was a crazy giant flooding of the Knox's basement. Mountains full of snow, plus a 20 degree temperature rise in a few short hours resulted in rivers running where they haven't been in probably a hundred years, including into the backdoor of a walk in basement.
The upside: I now know all the neighbors, as the whole town came to help with pumps, generators, hoses, backhoes, and even a crockpot dinner was brought for the workers. Wow! My faith in humanity was restored! Even when everyone left around midnight, I had to keep the pumps going even if I am mechanically declined. I couldn't get one started, so a great old ranch hand awesome man named Dub (appropriately) came at 2:30 in the morning to restart them. What a gem.
The downside: Can I be a negative nancy for once and say just about everything? Nah, that's no fun. We had been drying out tables and tables laid with relics that antique roadshow would die for. Old samurai swords, English china, romantic letters, fun 1980's toys, more letters, depressing newspapers from WWII, and funny photos were only a scant few fun finds from the basement. You could charge admission for sure.
I made a move into the barn!! Seriously, childhood dream complete of living with my horses. Basically amazing, and I had to suppress little girly screams when I was officially all moved in. I am one happy lil lady. One of my best friends ever (Ben) came all the way from Utah to lend his muscles in helping me carry boxes of canned food, and helping me relax with a joyous bike ride through Chesterfield Oh, and this great fella from Peru named Juan is back that Chris has had work for her the past few years, thus my stall cleaning days have come to an end, for now. My agenda for the week is ride, ride, ride that pony. Also, I get to go visit Utah for possibly a full week for my birthday ! Happy me! Ah, and I found some great rock today less than five miles from my homestead! So excited to get some climbing in. Ok, all for now, going to practice some guitar :)