Hello, hello, hello! I'm sorry my posting has been few and far between, it's been a busy Summer that is barreling toward a busy Fall. I pretty much have all my weekends booked from now until mid November. After I get back from Maui (yeah for the second time!) late November, I'll have no idea what to do with myself.

Before I go anywhere I just want to give our new kitty the attention she deserves. When I posted her picture in June I didn't say much about her. In any event, say hello to Penny. aka....Miss Money Penny, Penny Candy, Scooby, Squeek & Squirrel. This little girl has more names than Feya and Bear combined. I started calling her Penny because for awhile that's all she was playing with. A penny. She'd pick it up, carry it around, drop it someplace she thought interesting, bat it around a bit then repeat. With a naming convention based on things she likes to play with, she could also just have easily ended up Dead Leaf, Fly or TinFoil. But I like Penny, it suits her. She has a thing for curling up in this bowl on the table and strangely enough, I have no problem with it. She is a great little cat and I have become extremely fond of her. I also have no problem admitting I didn't want to keep her initially. It was Jeff who wanted to make her a part of our family. When we were fostering her litter I thought she was whiny as well as sickly but Jeff persisted and am I ever glad he did. She has turned out to be quite the character and she gives Feya and Bear no peace, which is good for them.

My latest foster family is doing very well. I refer to the kittens as snaugages because of how rotund they are. As you can see they are getting very big. Their eyes are open and they are beginning to walk. They all had their checkup today and the vet pronounced them healthy...which is what i suspected all along. :)

Anywhoo, time for my much-hated re-caps. Yesterday, I upped my "going for a run" mileage from five to seven. Me. Seven miles. I can hardly believe it myself. Running that far when there was no promise of endless pints of free beer seems a road to nowhere, if I can borrow from the Talking Heads. Amazingly enough, my legs and knees feel fine so far.

In barn news my silly, copper, horse had been out of commission for about a week due to a thrown shoe. Normally a horse can lose a shoe with no problem, but not Baron. He had to twist it in such a way a farrier (blacksmith) had to be called to take care of the problem. So, Sunday I was finally able to ride him and we had a great time. Tonight while grooming him I found a nasty stone stuck in his shoe (same foot of course) and it took a bit of work with the hoof pick to pry it out. I didn't think it would be a problem but as soon as I was in the saddle a problem is what I got. He's favoring his right foreleg again. I was bummed because as much as I love just spending time giving him a good scratch on the neck or whithers (and seeing him tilt his head just so because he is enjoying it so much) I love riding him. I know that horse and trust him. We have fun together. While he was lame and I was riding other horses in the barn I came to a couple conclusions. One, just because a horse is beautiful and well trained doesn't mean he is right for you. IE...Fev. I love that horse, but I'm only 5'3" and he's just WAY too big for me. Second, there really is nothing to compare to the feeling of "knowing" a horse. I know and trust Baron, it's something I don't even have to think about anymore and with horses that goes a long way. Funny thing is despite the fact he likes to test me sometimes, I never get nervous...I never worry because I know him and I know he's not going get me hurt. Well, not on purpose!