Tuesday, June 17, 2008

And now for something completely different

Sunday, my sister, Nicole, arrived from Scotland. We all biked out to my parent's house to say hello.
Except for my brother Von and his partner, Audrey. They arrived a little more stylishly.

Introducing Rusty and Rowdy. Audrey is on Rowdy (who is apparently quite the wild guy) and Von, in the back, is on Rusty. They are brothers and are also a team that used to pull wagons and sleighs. Rowdy is the lead horse. Audrey has had much more experience with horses and so is taking on the wild guy.

Well, the kids could not resist asking for a ride. Liam was the first to ask and the first to be granted his wish. Check out the smile!
Rusty and Rowdy are Belgian draft horses. They are really quite large as you can see.
After a short ride around the area, Liam came back and Mira wanted to try. She was funny to watch. She was very hesitant at first but by the time she got back to the house, she was looking very comfortable. Actually, looking at this picture, with her hair flowing down her back, she looks like she could be a princess. Except that she would stop occasionally to be entranced by roadside berries or road kill. My girl is lovely, but strange.


And after Mira's turn, it was time for Simon. Simon's technique left a little to be desired, but Rusty went along and gave him a ride, following along in Rowdy's wake. By this time, Von had taken over on Rowdy because Audrey needed, um, well, a pit stop.

And my reaction to all of this activity was to experience a deep sense of longing and a huge allergic reaction. I am REALLY REALLY allergic to horses. I escaped to the bathroom and found some antihistamines. But I would have liked to have gone for a ride too.

I would have been totally useless 200 years ago. Either that or totally dead by now. I had pneumonia twice when I was really young and without modern medicine, I would have been a statistic. I really hate allergies.

And beyond all of that.... Welcome home Nicole!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you didn't live 200 years ago. For one reason, I wouldn't have known you and we wouldn't have had any of that, um, well, we wouldn't have had all of these children. And that would have been tragic.

And it would have been a loss for the world if you had died early from some allergy, or pneumonia, because you have a lot to offer and you have enriched so many lives you've touched. I know I'm biased, but honestly Jackie, everyone who knows you thinks you're great. I don't know anyone who has a single negative thing to say about you. You're exceptional. It's a plus for the world that you live. A HUGE plus for me, because I get to share life with you, but it's just plain good for everyone.

Oh yeah, and it's good that the kids got the chance to ride a horse. I got hauled off of my first ride by a clothesline under the chin. Ouch!

Anonymous said...

What lovely pictures of the horses and riders. I am so glad that the kids got to ride those beautiful horses. But, but I didn't see auntie Nicole nor wee Nicole riding. What a shame that Jackie is allergic to the horses.

Mamoo

Rhonda the Stitchingnut said...

Beautiful horses and everyone having so much fun ... but you. Oh how I know about the allergies!

Anonymous said...

Hey, wait a minute! Is that DRY land I see??? And it's green, too? That's a nice site. And beautiful horses, too.

Anonymous said...

It is good be be back. I have say that I was impressed that Jackie's clan managed to cycle out to the farm with a pasta salad. As for me riding a horse, I was wearing a skirt at the time, had just arrived from an international flight and a 4 hour car ride. As for wee Nicole, she is just too wee for those horses (but she was keen to go). The horses were lovely, but they were MASSIVE. I think that you would have to practice doing the splits to ride them.

Nicole