Is it spring yet?

It's only Feb. 9, and I don't know how much more of the cold weather I can stand. If I didn't have two hungry mares waiting for me in the barn, I sure wouldn't have been outside at 7 am this morning. With a little warmup over the weekend, then cold temps again, we have a lovely skating rink that leads from my back door to the barn. It's impossible to get there without cleats on my boots. The worst thing is, I know we have a LONG way to go before winter is over. Up here in northern NY, March is just another winter month. Things will get a little better in April, but that's still a long ways away. I need to go someplace warm! I'm seriously thinking about going to visit my friend Cheryl, who packed up her horses and moved to North Carolina for the winter. She's a smart friend!

Outhouse race followup

Regarding the Outhouse Race pictured yesterday: I don't know if there is an actual "prize" for coming in first, other than a trophy of sorts and bragging rights to the fastest outhouse on the lake! My son's team came in 5th (out of 10). Not bad, considering they just built the thing last week and had no preparation or idea of what they were doing. Beer, however, was involved. When you have a 32-mile long lake that freezes from end to end, people come up with things to do on it. I think there are also snowmobile races, car races, motorcycle races, and ATV races. The festival opened up yesterday with skydivers landing on the lake.
My son's a real Adirondacker - he loves to snowmobile, rock climb, and now he wants to get into ice climbing. The irony is, he wants to leave the area, because he's convinced it must be better someplace else.

Lake George Winter Carnival Outhouse Races

Down the stretch! It's Team Longshots heading for the finish in the outhouse they constructed last week. My son Craig is the passenger inside on the "throne." It was a sunny and beautiful day out on the lake. I guess this is how we amuse ourselves in the Adirondacks!

Another Cielle pic at 5 months (taken Sept. 08). She has her mom's kind eye.

Here's Cielle at 5 months, being led outside by her buddy/barn foreman, Felix, a 7 month-old Jack Russell. She thinks this is perfectly normal to be led by a tiny dog.

Mommy & me!

Here's a beautiful photo taken last spring of my friend Cheryl's mare, Leora, and her gorgeous filly, Cielle (born last April). Cielle is growing like crazy and is now almost 14 hands tall. She's a luv, just like her mom. Leora is an off-the-track thoroughbred who had a nice hunter jumper and eventing career. Cielle is thoroughbred/Hanoverian.

This is a photo of Lake George, looking north toward Bolton Landing, taken Jan. 31 by my son Craig who was snowmobiling up the lake with friends. It looks lovely, but it was cold (only about 20) that day. I think the big mountain is Tongue Mt., and to the lower right is Dome Island, a nature preserve on which people are not allowed. Craig said it was a great way to be out enjoying the lake, even if the water was frozen!