It was a beautiful morning, and the female tanager stopped in for a breakfast of suet.
Jane and I went wandering around on Derry and Oisin and did some actual riding, too. Harry came to the ring and we employed him to set jumps, which was fun. Nathan and Allison had worked hard on Saturday, and one of the things they did was weed eating. We could find our jump pile again! It had been hidden in the long grass. Derry has a terrible case of the clover slobbers, since she is in a new field.
Jane and Derry in front of the nicely cleared jump pile 
The artist at work 
A little hard to see, but slobber is dripping from Derry’s mouth 
Derry can still jump well! 
Oisin is impeccable, always
I had to make a run to the feed store for some hay. I bought the last two bales of Montana timothy. Luckily, we are getting a delivery of grass hay on Wednesday. I had my camera with me, so I got a picture of Tim, who loaded the very heavy bales into the truck with ease and good humor. Also had a good laugh with Lisa and her Nixall, which is keeping her Covid free. And I saw two Luna moths on the ground. They are exotic and beautiful.
Tim 
Lisa 
No more Montana timothy! 
The last two bales 
Luna moth
Back home for lunch, which was interrupted by a visit from our neighbor, Bill. He is recovering from brain surgery, and it was good to see him up and about. Weedy said hello, but without much interest. I think he is happy to be here, and has no desire to return to Bill’s garage, where he spent one night before he was handed off to us. We will forever be grateful to Bill for sending Weedy our way almost five years ago.
Then it was Bart’s turn to go to work. Harry came down to the ring again and insisted on taking another picture. But I should be behind the camera!
Bart canters over the little Bronze Fox jump
Harry had to get one more picture as I set off on Stone. I decided to go for a trail ride, since that is Stone’s favorite thing to do. As I came out of the woods, along Jane’s fence, I saw Derry grazing. Then I realized she wasn’t in the field! Hooray for cell phones. Jane was at home, and snapped a picture for me of the truant before returning her to her stall.
The most perfect horse to mount 
Pretty perfect to trail ride, too 
Derry breaks her diet
After our trail ride, I had to go out with my camera, because I had spied Cardinal flowers in the creek (Lobelia cardinalis). I love them – they are native and they like creeks, but they always pop up in different places in late summer. This wet year has been particularly nice for them.
While walking through the woods, I saw this little mushroom and took a picture of it through moss, where it grew.
Finally, doing stalls this evening, I saw the toad in Stone’s stall, hard at work trying to keep the flies under control.
Stay safe, stay well.
I am staying safe, staying well, and I prefer to stay toad-free.
That looks like a Chanterelle…
And therein lies the danger of mushroom hunting. I believe this is the infamous Jack O’lantern, which is very poisonous! NOT a chanterelle, but can be confused with them… perhaps consult with your sister.
Sounds like you look for Cardinal flowers like I look for Indian Paintbrush out west. Whether it’s birds or flowers, resplendent reds in nature draw my eye. It’s cool to grow aware of all the reds in the greens out there.