the rest of the weekend.

Believe it or not, the first order of business Sunday morning was finding the TALL boots.. because the walk to the barn was going to be a snowy one for sure!!! After Saturday's night storm, we were left with at least a foot of snow... it's hard to think of this as Halloween weekend...









The barn looked warm and cozy as I approached, but right away - noticed the fence was down. With the snow being so wet and heavy, it slipped right off the roof and onto the fence. We have been meaning (all summer) to replace some of the fencing with gates that would (#1) stand up to the snow slides and (#2) be much easier to plow around. Guess we best get onto that project asap!!!





Becky and Butch's team spent the night in the ally way. This is Ben and Bill... they seemed pretty happy in their overnight accommodations....











But I don't think Tonka was so happy with the company... or maybe it was because he (and the others) were locked in all night, or maybe because Butch is here and he knows it will be a work day.... or maybe.. he's just grumpy!!!!







We spent the morning visiting with Becky and Butch and having a grand breakfast. It also gave the day a chance to warm up - the sun came out, and Butch was all for working our team. They (well - Tonka) has been giving us some trouble all summer, and needed to have a little one on one time with Butch. Since Sadie was at work, Abbie got to spend the day with us in the barn... and rule number one here --- you must wear your helmet when in the barn and around the horses. Fortunately, she thinks her "helmo" is pretty neat and doesn't mind keeping it on.

We got the boys harnessed, and right off Tonka began his tricks. Which actually pleased me, because Butch could see first hand what we had been complaining about. He and Tonka had a little discussion - and then Butch gave me some tips.....

And after that -- it was right to work. We did a bit of ground driving -- Duke was great, and seemed happy to see that Tonka was finally acting like a team mate.

Abbie and Papa followed in the gator, Ed wanted to see the lesson too, and this was an easy way to keep track of Abbie. She enjoyed watching the horses too... and kept telling me "good job, Baby"

We are so fortunate to have Butch and Becky as our friends, and so willing to come and give us a hand. I am feeling encouraged once again and anxious to keep the positive time on a roll.

We got the hooked to the wagon, and went out for a drive... it was nice for me to have Butch sitting beside me as I drove, encouraging me and correcting the things that I did wrong. It was a good ride...

and we even had passengers.......

a couple of tired horses at the end of the day....good thing, because they will be locked in for another night until we can get the fence put back up.

We fed, put the tack away and got the barn all tucked in. Abbie took care of the cross ties....

and then Butch and Becky, packed up and headed for home. They will be doing rides at LL Beans for the weekend before Christmas, so we plan on trekking up there to see them again...

in the meantime, the team and I have work to do.