So I'm a bit behind on posting....so here is life in a few words on random subjects.

Horses: great trip to Chadbourne Farms with a friend of our in spite of a foot injury, lots of rain and train wreck on the trail involving two dogs, an unannounced horse in a run in shed and two fallen riders.  No one was hurt and I still think it is one of my favorite places to ride.  In addition to the trip we've been having lots of fun with the horses around the farm and riding at the local park

Chickens: Growing so fast and are about half feathers half fuzz now.  I built the coop (from a kit) and find it adorable.  I can not wait until the chickens are in full time.  I've already been daydreaming about what it will be like to open the nesting boxes and find EGGS inside.

Work: UGH...it's tough right now.  Lots of responsibilities I'm not enjoying too much.  Still love my company though and my boss is awesome and l work with lots of nice people.  More than that I'm thankful everyday to have a job.  But man...some days it is hard to get my butt in there.   I also love, love, love being close to the gym and getting my workouts in on lunch.

Dogs: Radar is still a monster, but oddly as he is approaching four there are moments when he is almost pleasant to be around, that is until he starts barking again.

Marriage:  :)

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Imagery, imagery, imagery, is the word that comes to mind when I think about this book. The author creates a beautiful world with words and the images I have in my mind from reading this book are so clear and strong that I truly felt lost in the circus at times.



Unfortunately so much time was spent developing the back drop that the plot and especially love story suffered for it. Things moved along slowly.



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Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Thank God that's over. This was one of my book club books and it took forever to read because I just really had no interest in picking it up. Time to read...surely the toilet needs scrubbing instead. I actually just skimmed through the very end of the book. Usually people write memoirs because they have an interesting life and a story to tell. This woman didn't. I did not find her life particularly interesting or unusual and my family has more color and flavor than hers does. Just because you are/were a Mennonite and your husband left you for a man, does not make you a fascinating piece of literature.

I often found myself wondering "what is the point" and I did not care for her use of language. The author finds herself witty with a positive outlook on life, in contrast I found her judgmental commentary on those that loved her dry and boring.



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I can not believe how quickly the chicks are growing.  They already have lots of feathers and their color is starting to come in.  They have started roosting, dust bathing and scratching.  I'm amazed at how funny and curious they are to watch.  I've also started to handle them a bit to let them get used to being picked up by humans.  They've even had an outdoor adventure for a short time.

I'm learning a ton about chicken keeping.  It's much more popular than I had ever thought.  Next step: coop building and run construction, have to keep these girls safe from predators.

    

Life on the little farm just keeps getting better and better. 

It's been a year since Lance and I added the cart pulling Pony to our herd.  She has settled in so nicely and completed things with the horses in such a way that we decided it was time to move onto our next adventure....chickens.  By "we" I really mean me.  I decided we needed the next step.  Lance was less convinced.  He liked the idea of raising our own eggs, but raising your own eggs comes with the added responsibility of taking care of more animals.  To me this is part of the enjoyment, to him...not so much. 

But I convinced him (wore him down) to think it was a good idea and we now have 6 pullet (female) chicks hanging out in a dog crate living under the heat lamp waiting to grow some feathers so we can move them into the coop and chicken run.  I'm so excited I can hardly stand it.  In 6 months I will check my nesting boxes which should be full of 4-6 eggs per day.  Hopefully anyway!  Chicks and chickens can have a fairly high loss rate and so every morning when I check the chicks I hold my breath a moment to make sure all 6 are still happily chirping in there.  I plan to keep them completely naturally!  They have already brought me joy as I watch them scratch around in their wood shavings.  They are so cute and I've been surprised that they are pretty easy to have around.  Not nearly as noisy as I thought they would be. 

The time change last week has already increased my time with the horses which I am loving!  It's so nice to get home after work and have plenty of time get all the chores done and take a ride all before dark!  The mud is drying up and things are in bloom all around the property.  It's such a nice time of year here.

We had the most lovely day with the horses and a friend the other day.  She has access to hundreds of acres of cow pasture to ride through.  We introduced the horses to the cows online from the ground and then spent time just meandering through the fields and enjoying the beautiful day.  Freckles loved the cows and and no fear or intimidation of getting close to check them out.  Tucker was less convinced that they were a good idea. 

Dear Livejournal,

Over Sunday morning coffee I was fully ready to post an update on my life.  Now that I am ready, your photo uploader does not seem to be working.  Why is it so hard for things to just work when they are supposed to?

Sincerely,
Natalie

I Am Not Myself These Days: A Memoir by Josh Kilmer-Purcell

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This was a fun and interesting book. It was certainly a glimpse into a world that is foreign to me; filled with parties, drag queens, drunks, drugs and an expensive penthouse.

It was a fast read and I think the voyeuristic look into someone else's screwed up life it what appealed to me the most. It's not book of the year but worth the read.



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Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


You know it is a good book when you get halfway through and start to panic because the book is going to come to an end.

It's not a completely original theme involving two people falling in love even though they shouldn't because they are on opposite sides. We've all heard/read the story in some fashion; two that come to mind are Romeo and Juliet or West Side Story. Loving someone on the wrong "side" making secrecy and being outcast by those you love the inevitable.

This book however, puts some twists and turns into the age old story that I loved. So much conflict for the characters beyond just loving the wrong person. The magic, the hope, the war, supernatural, reincarnation, suffering for the benefit of others, it twists and turns in a journey of mystery and revealing of hard truths.

Little did I know this book was written to be a series. That was my one disappointment. Getting to the end only to learn that I would have to wait until the fall to continue the story.



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So I made it through 7 days of the meditation challenge.

On the 8th day I missed and now, I think I'm pretty much done.

At least I tried.