Here I am catching up on the blog because I have been catching up with friends in real life. Monday brought glorious warm weather and a visit from a dear friend and her daughter, Susan and Sophia, from New York City. We last saw Susan in New York on our final trip before the pandemic. We took the train east, leaving St. Louis in an epic snowstorm, having dropped Jane at the airport the day before so that she could fly to London, just barely ahead of the blizzard. Life has slowed down quite a bit since then! It was great to feel things coming back toward normal at last.
Susan was the most outrageous person in our class at school, and one of the most interesting. Unfortunately, she did not graduate with us, as she followed her own eccentric path, not approved by the nuns. She ended up in New York, and now has her PhD in English and has written a novel. She is a prolific letter writer and a very good friend, with two beautiful, brilliant daughters. Not to mention her hilarious husband, Robert, and a rather difficult cat named Terpsichore.
Roscoe was convinced to come in from the warm porch for a visit.
After lunch, Susan and Sophia took off to visit relatives, I changed into riding clothes and met Jane for a ride. I failed to get pictures, but we did not get bucked off, and we had a blast.
Miracle of miracles, the rain forecast for yesterday was minimal, and we were able to ride again, in unseasonably warm conditions. That pleasant weather didn’t last long, though. It was 60 degrees F (15.5 Celsius) midmorning, and by noon the wind roared in and dropped us to a low last night of 14 degrees Fahrenheit (-10 Celsius)! This is not fun, and not at all nice for the animals. Still, it was a treat to ride two days in a row. Again, I failed to get pictures. Including missing a brilliant bald eagle yesterday. Most of the best pictures are the ones I miss, of course.
Today, we got to see Susan again, this time meeting for lunch with another school friend, Cherie. There were many laughs, and after a delicious meal at Annie Gunn’s, we made it home before the snow. A winter weather warning was issued, but for a change it didn’t come to much out here. Weedy came with us so that he could see Susan again. He wore his bomber jacket and didn’t complain about the long wait in the car, with pillows and blankets to cuddle in.
Marianne had done barn work, but by the time I brought horses in this afternoon, snow was starting to cover the dumpster ramp. I got the tarps on, but it was a hectic evening. It was a miserable, cold end to the day, but all is well.
This morning, Tom Morris caught up to Cedar on the way to the barn, and I did get a good picture of that encounter.
The horses do not like this time of year, being locked up in the paddocks, but they are coping.
The birds were very hungry today. The flicker visited, but I missed him with the camera. I also missed a magnificent flock of snow geese flying high overhead. Ah, well, here is what I did catch…
Cedar rested on the sofa by the fire with us this evening.
Be safe, be well. Peace.
J’espère que vous avez parlé français pendant le déjeuner chez Annie Gunn…mes chères élèves, toutes les trois!
Tom Morris and Cedar pics are so sweet. We so want a dog, but just not possible. It wouldn’t be fair to dog or aging cats, so we take “dog fixes” where we can get them.