January
I started yoga classes for the first time in my life. Love it. We're blessed with a wonderful, patient, kind instructor here. Her name is Patty English.Since I want to train Angus, our young Lab, for obedience competition, I started a small class for friends with similar goals. We began meeting weekly for group classes.
February
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| Kayaking off Kona |
March
Don and I entered show business....him as the stage manager and me as one of the performers for the local animal shelter fund-raiser variety show. It was a hoot, although it required some major rehearsing and coordination. The troupe got such rave reviews we were invited to "take it on the road," but we declined. We'll save the energy for an even better show in March 2012! |
| Goose hunters in South Dakota |
April
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| The new berry garden |
I went to an agility trial in Moses Lake with Lizzie and tore up my left knee. At least, it felt like torn tissue, but....(stay tuned).
We bought a Nintendo Wii so we could get the Wii Fit program, and we've become addicts. We're weighing every morning and doing balance tests to judge our "virtual Wii age." My best so far is about 35, but Don has already been in the 20s.
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| Lizzie and me in Moses Lake |
May
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| Angus' first obedience trial, in Spokane |
The knee was not getting better, so I got a cortisone shot from VA. They've scheduled me for an MRI in Helena (in late July....that's socialized medicine for you), but meanwhile the cortisone has been miraculous. While in Missoula that day, I also saw "Atlas Shrugged," the movie many of us had been waiting to see for years. Was not disappointed!
Lizzie and I went to a three-day agility trial in Helena and another three-day trial in Spokane. The camper has become our second home.
June
Rain, rain, rain.Angus and I had three splendid days in Missoula at the annual dog show/obedience trial. He placed all three days, took first on the last day, and finished up the qualifications for his AKC "Companion Dog" obedience title.
The garden is complete and all the berry plants are in. We have 37 blueberry bushes and 5 raspberry bushes, plus strawberries. A friend from yoga class gave me tomato and green pepper plants too. Everything is/will be late this year due to the cool temps.
Lizzie and I went to Moscow, Idaho, for a three-day agility trial
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| Ric and Darilynn McClary |
July
Our friends Will and Teresa Bron from Granger, Wash., came over to present another three-day driving clinic, featuring their beautiful Friesian horses. It was well attended, fun, and a great learning experience, especially when we had a brief but exciting runaway incident inside the arena. Sadly, we learned that two days after the Brons arrived home, one of the two horses they had brought to the clinic died during the night in his pasture. Apparently his intestine had burst. We all grieve for Teresa's beautiful "Mica," who was just seven years old.Hay is in the barn, and there's still hay on the ground all over the county. Too much of a good thing. It's hard to see it going to waste, but the market is simply saturated.
Got my MRI at Ft. Harrison in Helena (200 miles away). Results were negative for tissue tears in the left knee. Apparently it's just "bursitis," so I'll be heading for physical therapy.
August
Lizzie and I went to Lolo (south of Missoula) for a three-day agility trial.My good friend Barb from Yakima stopped for a couple nights on her way back to Yakima from Iowa where she'd been visiting her dad. The night before she was to leave here, she made an "emergency dismount" from Brimir, our Icelandic, whose saddle had slipped while he was turning sharply to look at my horse. Barb didn't get up from the grass. We had to call an ambulance, and they transported her to the Plains hospital 40 miles away. She broke six ribs! She ended up convalescing at our house for the next 10 days, unable to do much of anything. We found a friend to drive Barb (and her car) back to Yakima, where she continues to recover.
A week later it's Huckleberry Festival time in Trout Creek. Don once again managed the "Huckleberry Homesteader Pentathlon" booth, which he developed last year. I helped the Huckleberry Hounds Agility Club produce its third annual HuckFest Fun Match and public demo. Huckleberry Festival is a stressful but rewarding time for those involved in this arts and crafts fair, which has been going on for 34 years. Trout Creek's population of several hundred swells to several thousand.
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| Don enjoys elk burgers at Cougar Peak Lookout |
Next weekend it was back to Spokane for another three-day agility trial. Temps were in the 90s and there was virtually no shade. Lizzie got to feeling poorly, so we pulled out a day early and came home. She was miraculously healed as soon as she jumped out of the pickup here at home.
September
Don has begun staining the new building he put up last fall. It's a big toy shed, very attractive cedar, lots of big sliding doors. |
| Our new toy barn |
The garden is looking good. Next year we should have our first good harvest of blueberries. We're planning on picking 10 pounds a week when they ripen the following year.
We've both continued to shape up and lose weight, thanks in no small part to the Wii Fit program holding us accountable every day. This weekend is the Friends of NRA auction/dinner down in Plains. Our friend Dusty will be here for that. On Sunday we're all going to Sandpoint for the International Draft Horse Show.
Don has two elk tags this year--one bull and one cow--so we hope to have a freezer full of meat by the end of the year.
Since getting the Wii in April, I've lost 34 pounds that should not be coming back. This winter I'll be writing a book about how I did it.
