spring skiing solitude @ sundown

there was hardly anyone at the mountain.....

from the top.....

and from the bottom...


...and Fred and I peacefully basked in the sun while waiting for line-up

Trish's Frog

I am staying at Trish's house ...
and she honored me with reciting her first poem from when she was in 3rd grade (or so)

Apparently it is no longer on paper, so I decided it should be posted here to have others enjoy such wonderful child's prose.

My Frog

my frog is green with spots of brown,
he learned to swim so he would not drown.
to my surprise it is his wish,
to swim around with my goldfish.
in Africa where they are found,
you will not find them on the ground,
but in a pool real deep and cool.
will you stop in and see him soon?
I got him when he was just new,
and if you like him, like he likes you,
you might like him, like I do.

Trish Helmer
1961

tree skiing

I had so much fun skiing in the trees with an old friend from high school!!!
We reconnected on Facebook, and discovering our mutual infatuation with skiing, we planned a girls weekend. We went to Mt. Snow and she got me hooked on skiing in the trees, which I had never done before.

If you look closely at this photo(click on it to enlarge it), you can see the tracks in the snow from people skiing around the trees. Now I am a junkie for skiing in these great glades! and it was so beautiful in there too. The trees looked like meringues! There was less wind, and more fresh powder. Since the temp was -15°F at the base, in the trees, away from the wind was good that day.

Skiing makes me happy.
And the quote of the day from Sheila... "which way is downhill?" duh....
(we laughed alot... and had sooo much fun!!)

lucky food

This was AMAZING!!! the lemon bundt cake from Magnolia. I am lucky that I had the opportunity to have some of this. Tyra brought it to the barn for our lunch. It was the BEST, hands-down, lemon cake I have ever had.

great pie

While the dinner in the restaurant at my parents new place was surprisingly good, the desserts were horrid. They seemed like they came from a huge industrial box, which I am sure they did. The menu at the restaurant was inspired, and it was a disappointing finish to have bad dessert. Bummer.

So I needed to make one of my thanksgiving standards that weekend.
Sour Cream Apple Pie with a Cider Cinnamon Crust. So damned good, and worth making! This pie is a little different, and everyone seems to love it!

Sour Cream Apple Pie with a Cider Cinnamon Crust

from The Silver Palate. I’ve changed it a little bit, but not much. It is really good! The crust is really tasty and really easy if you mix it in the food processor.
Crust: 2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp salt
5 Tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon
8 Tbsp cold butter, cut into pieces
4 Tbsp shortening
4-6 Tbsp. apple cider (or apple juice)
Filling: 2/3 cup sour cream
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup sugar
3 Tbsp flour
5-7 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
Topping: 3 Tbsp brown sugar
3 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
1.Mix together dry ingredients for crust in food processor. Add butter and shortening. Pulse until it resembles fine oatmeal. Add cider 1 Tbsp at a time with machine running, just until it all holds together. Then take it out and chill it in the fridge in a baggie for at least 2 hours.
2. Mix together the first 5 ingedients for the filling. Add the apples and toss well.
3. Using about 2/3 of the dough, roll it out and put it into a pie plate. Fill with the apple filling. Mix topping together and sprinkle evenly over apples.
4. Roll out the rest of the dough and cut small decorative shapes (leaves, apples, whatever) and place on top of pie. (There will probably still be extra.)
5. Bake at 350° for 50-55 minutes.

Metronome

This is Michelle riding a fabulous horse last week. We had a metronome going to help her keep the pace. This horse moves beautifully and Michelle rides her so well! The arena is a fabulous 200' x 90' area, with shredded rubber in the footing. oh, it is heated too. (spoiled!)

It is Trish's voice you can hear working with her to get this horse moving so nicely. I had my lesson and am sooo lucky to have Trish be my trainer and to get to ride horses like this! Makes me really happy.

herding sheep

I had the opportunity to go watch some sheep herding the other day. I jumped at it! I had never been, and thought it sounded fun. Trish has an Australian Sheep Dog that is about 2 years old. The breeder lives nearby and has a beautiful (and huge) farm with many sheep, fabulous horses, etc. So, the other day after my riding lesson, Trish and I went to the farm, and I watched her practice with her dog to herd the sheep.....


By the time we left, the sun was going down and the sky was glowing behind the trees. It was wonderful fiery fall colors, that the camera did not even come close to doing justice.

moving on

My parents are moving to a retirement community. What a huge project. I have gone down several times to help them, which I know they need and appreciate. It is tiring for me, so I know it is exhausting for them!

They live an hour away, and are moving to a place that is another 1/2 hour from them. It is alot of moving, which is the least of the undertaking. They have so much stuff, that it is an overwhelming task. They need to part with soooo many things, which is very hard for them. My mom wants to find loving homes for each and every item, which on one hand I understand, but on the other, just be done. I have had to take on alot of it, as, of the four siblings, it is me that the task is falling on mostly for several reasons.

That said, it is inspiring me to rethink my house, and 'things' and life. Yes, I am going through that mid-life thing anyway, but this has made me open my eyes even more. I need change on many levels. I need income on a larger level for so many reasons. I need horses to stay back in my life. I need to do a better job at not keeping 'things'. I need to be more free of all of the clutter of my life. Need a catharsis. ( the tag sale I had today helped alot with that!)



I don't want to end up with my possessions possessing me. I went down to their house last Saturday morning, expecting to be a few hours. Mom wanted me to look at silver, silverware, and linens. I ended up not leaving until the following evening... so much to do!

I loved sleeping on the big old velvet couch... and decided that I really DO want to have that after all as a result of sleeping on it! There is very little that I want to keep from their 'things'. Apparently now the big velvet couch is one of them. And I have no idea how I will get it into my house!

Heavenly riding lately

I have LOVED riding again! I knew I missed riding, but hadn't really realized just how much, until I started doing it again. I am really rusty, but it is slowly coming back. I have been lucky enough to be able to ride again with Trish Helmer. I rode with her at Meredith Manor 20-ish years ago.
The barn she works out of now is about an hour and 20 minutes away from me in Pawling, NY. We are working on getting her website up and going. It is ShintoFarm.com and will be great in a month or so!!

Even the drive is beautiful, especially this time of year!

The farm/barn is beautiful to say the least. I am lucky to go to such a facility! I have so much fun there that I usually ride from about 10:30-11:30, and then hang out for hours afterwards. I sit with Trish in the arena, and listen to/watch her teach... and chat with the other women who ride there (who do the same as me). It is hard to leave.

The farm is beautiful and so nice to be a small part of. I arrive and my horse is tacked and ready for me! :)
I ride in a wonderful arena that is huge (the hunter/jumper arena is down the hill), has shredded rubber in the footing to make it nice and cushy, and has garage doors all along the side wall (on the left in the photo) as the windows. very cool.
After I ride, I cool my horse down, and then when I bring him out of the arena, a groom takes him from me, and I can go and enjoy the company of my barn friends! Heaven!!!!

If only I could afford to go more often...... ;)

Halloween costume

Emmett got invited to a halloween party early, which means he needs a costume ready way before the actual date. We don't buy costumes. We make them and get creative. I allow them each to have $10 to get anything necessary for them.
Emmett is Anakin Skywalker this year. The one from the episode where it is just before he becomes Darth Vader.

After we made it and he was dressed for the party, I found a costume like it online for $60. go me!!!
He has on... my brown sweater over his black shirt, and black long underwear. Funky leatherette fabric ($8) that I cut up the front and hot glued back into place (about 5 minutes worth of work). On his belt are silver spray-painted wine bottle corks and a camera case... hot-glued into place. A pair of Adam's black socks, and a fingerless ragg wool glove. I used face paint for his scar.

scary......

I just can't even imagine.
I just went to the CNN website and looked at the polling map of who is ahead in which states.... as of last week.... scary as anything!

McCain looks like he has alot of states. I can't imagine what this country will be if he is the president. I can't imagine this country and what the implications will be for that. And what it will be for women if Sarah Palin is in even the slightest bit of control. yuck.
I will want to move to a new country.

Emmett's party

All he has wanted is laser tag. He has been planning this birthday party for... oh, about 10 months.... he has held steadfast for laser tag ever since he went with a friend to play it.

So, we sucked it up and bought into it for him. I must say, it was a fabulously fun party!! The kids got to play three rounds. The grown-ups went in and were on a team for each round. the moms all were on a team together for round 2. We had sooo much fun!
the kids all had a blast, and we walked away trying to figure out if we should be opening a laser tag place near us, since there isn't one nearby! I am thinking we don't although I am also hoping that someone else does!

the dock...

the cove was great for a few days. We had a feast of lobsters the first night. There 16 people, including 7 kids. we had a dozen lobsters that we got for $60!!! yum!!! I was just starting to feel like wI could settle in to being there on the third day, when we had to leave. too short this year. will have to make up for it next year! :)

you can see the boathouse in the distance across the cove to the right. Was so nice to have stayed there last year.

Best blueberry pie

Luz Zulema, my little niece, decided she was going to be my helper to make a killer yummy blueberry pie for dessert. She became my constant sidekick from then on, and was so cute! She chose the pattern we cut for the top of the pie.

It's the best damn blueberry pie.... not too sweet... just right, and fabulous with fresh whipped cream.

Blueberry Pie
From the Wilson Farm Cookbook. The absolute best blueberry pie recipe!

1 qt. blueberries, (4-5 cups)
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1-2 tsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp butter, cut into pieces
1 pie crust- for top and bottom

1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Mix berries, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and lemon juice.
3. Spoon into bottom pie crust and dot with butter. Cover with top crust and seal carefully. Cut vents.
4. Bake at 425° for 45 minutes or until top is brown and juice starts to bubble through vents. Serve warm.