Through Jenny's Lens (Saturday, Nov. 20)

We had a lovely day Saturday, the 20th.  Jim, Monique and Charis came out to join us at the farm while Jenny and Jean-Marc were here for Thanksgiving break.  Jenny took my camera along, so she'll be my guest photographer for this post.

Siobhan took a nap in Sara's breakfast.

While we waited for Jim & Monique to arrive, Herb and I got back to work on our round pen project.  It's so full of rocks that it cuts chunks out of the horses' hooves when I work them in it.  Instead of hiring a bulldozer to level it and a dump truck to bring in a load of sand, I thought of an option that was cheaper--although much more labor-intensive!  Herb attached boards around the downhill half of the round pen to hold our "footing" in.

We started picking up the big rocks . . .

. . . and raking up piles of little ones.  Herb shoveled those into the tractor loader and dumped them all in a hole in the creek bed that needed filling.

It was a BIG job! 

Luckily, Jim, Monique and Charis arrived, and we had a good excuse to stop.  We took them out to the barn to meet Siobhan.  Charis pushed Sophie and Peekaboo (the stuffed one) out there in her stroller--uphill all the way!

Zephyr is always a faithful shadow to Charis.

Everyone admired the chickens and exclaimed over how big they've gotten.

Charis runs to Dada!

I love the two tongues in this shot Jenny caught of Hero and Charis!

And I love this shot of Charis!  It's one Jenny snapped without even focusing, so she certainly didn't frame the background, but I love how the gray driveway sets off Charis' golden hair and the golden grass sets off her cool blue jacket.

Charis was a bit afraid of the horses, so Mama took her over for some horse-cuddling.  There's nothing like leaning against the side of a warm, furry horse and inhaling its indefinable fragrance!

After Angel & Brandy ate, Jean-Marc and Herb took them down to their pasture.

We headed back to the house for supper, Jim chasing Charis to her delight.

This action shot is all Charis!

She comes by it honestly from both her parents, although it was Jim who decided to ride the wagon downhill toward the house--uh, that's a pretty steep hill there!

Monique comforted Charis, who was distressed to the point of tears as she saw her Dada taking off down the hill.

All's well that ends well!  Jim jumped off in time and came back smiling as the sun set and we headed indoors.  It was truly a lovely day!  Thank you, Jenny, for capturing it so well!