Dollywood, Fall 2025

 What a wonderful mini vacation!!!  Joe and I headed out to Dollywood to hang out with my family for a couple of days.  Virginia arranged for an Air B&B.  All my siblings came along with Virginia, Mike, Sadie, Allie, Emily and Keiran.  The house was perfect.  It even had an indoor swimming pool.  We drove down Saturday and went to the park for a bit. 

The weather was nice, upper 70's to low 80's.  But the park was very crowded.  

A cold front passed through that night and Sunday was cooler with showers on and off.  The rain really wasn't too bad.  The best part was that it was enough to keep the crowds away.  No lines for anything. 

About the only thing we did the first day was to go to the music show we were wanting to see.  Then we went to the house for a great supper prepared by Emily and Keiran.  Then there was swimming, hot tubbing, movie theater watching, and card playing.  

I think it was the last weekend for the fall harvest decor.  

Then Sunday, because there were no lines, we rode rides all day.  

Allie was so tired.  She was able to get in a short nap while Sadie rode a rollercoaster that Allie wasn't tall enough to ride.  Saturday I only walked 3 miles, Sunday we upped it to 6.8 miles.  

They really liked the Dolly clothes museum, especially getting to dress Dolly. 

It was a great weekend and a real treat to be with so many family members.  I just wish Matt and Gigi could have come.  When we were talking about our favorite things, Sadie said, "getting to love you so much."  I hope we are making very special life long memories for them.

Fall Is For Planting

Every Spring, when the daffodils and crocuses bloom I always say I want more. But by Fall I have forgotten where everything is and never seem to get around to buying the bulbs. 

But this was the year to break that cycle. I ordered daffodils, crocuses, Dutch irises, and Grecian windflowers from Holland Bulb Farms. 

And  I bought some alliums from Tractor Supply. 

This Spring after the daffodils had bloomed in my rock garden, I placed flat rocks to mark the spots. Then when I was planting bulbs, I put in wooden skewers so I would know where to go back and water them.

Sadie and Allie helped me plant 75 crocuses to naturalize this grassy bank above the driveway.  I have 50 Tete A Tete daffodils still that I thought I would put in pots of 3-5 bulbs each. I would then overwinter them in the ground under some leaf mulch. Then in the Spring I could place them around where they won’t be on top of something else.  Fall is for planting, let’s get out there. 

 

Nebraska Trip

It has been a few years since Joe has visited the feedlot where we send our cattle.  He wanted to go this fall because we had a load just about finished and a load just starting.  

He invited Mike to go along and another friend that has cattle out there too.  This trip was a couple of weeds ago but I am just now getting some pictures that Mike too.   The feedlot owner  offered up his “cabin” for them to stay at. Joe said the cabin was a barndominium and didn’t really fit the humble interpretation of cabin.  The feedlot owner also took them to dinner one night and cooked steaks the next night.  

It was a quick trip, out on Monday, back on Wednesday.  Joe said the cattle all looked great. 

Tuesday, they toured the nearby MARC, Meat Animal Research Center.  Joe had been there before but still enjoyed the personal tour. 

This is our pen just about ready. 

And these are the ones that have only been there a month. 

Back home Joe went to work in his own feedlot. 

We have an open heifer that Joe is feeding for a beef.  She will be ready in November.  I think Mike enjoyed the trip too.  He said he would be fine moving out there.  

 

More Clyde

I hope you are not getting tired of Clyde yet.  I can see a lot more blog posts about him in the future.  

Since Monday was a school holiday, Sadie and Allie were able to spend Sunday night with us.   After playing some in the morning they asked if they could go ride Clyde. 

We started with brushing.  He had rolled in the dirt and needed a lot of work.  The girls wanted to comb his tail and mane too.  Then Sadie wanted to braid his tail.  I asked, "when did you learn to braid?"  She said, "Just now."   I tried to download a video of her braiding his tail but it was too long.  After his tail, we moved on to his mane.  

I don't know what age little girls learn to braid.  I think Virginia is just now figuring it out.  Sadie never ceases to amaze me.  A lot of time was spent grooming.  But we finally  moved on to riding. 

Sadie has no problem riding around at a walk by herself.  For trotting, since Clyde is so bouncy, I put her on the lunge line.  She managed 3-4 circles without losing her balance.  And the smile afterwards was huge! I told her how much fun it will be when she can trot by herself.  

After her first trotting experience with Clyde a few days ago, Allie only wanted to walk.  Sadie was all too happy to lead her around.  Afterward, Allie asked it she could ride Otoelene because her trot was smoother.  I said, no, it was Clyde's turn today.  His only fault so far has been that he poops in the barn where I have it set up as a run in shed.  Allie helped me clean it out while Sadie was riding.  I think we spent nearly 2 hours at the barn.  It was a great morning.  

 

Change of Location

Multiple factors played in the decision to transfer Clyde from Mike and Virginia’s house to our house. 

 Joe picked him up yesterday and he settled right in.  After I got off work, Virginia brought the girls over to ride in the barn. 

Sadie was able to do a lot better in the bigger space with no distracting grass available. 

Allie still needs a little more attention though. And neither Sadie or Allie wanted to trot.  As you can tell, we rode long enough to have to turn on the barn lights.  Clyde may be getting more than he bargained for. 

My First Pony

I didn’t really have a pony growing up.  My older sisters started with one but had moved up to a horse by the time I was riding.  So I learned to ride on a big, raw boned Appaloosa gelding.  Sammy was wonderful and I did everything with him. But I always thought a pony would be nice.  

So I bought my first pony and gave it to Sadie and Allie.  Clyde came home with them Sunday.  Monday, after school, dance and Mimi time, they got to ride him. 

Sadie was first. Virginia set a timer so the girls could take turns. 

Allie wasn’t too happy about having to wait but she was good about it. 

Soon it was her turn.  Clyde came with a nice hunter saddle. The stirrups are easy to adjust between the two girls. There were even some extra holes punched so they were short enough for Allie. 

Allie had to remind us she needed a helmet. 

Clyde is a champ at following an adult. He is not so good at taking directions from a small child on his back.

During her second turn Sadie wanted to try trotting. I saw pretty quickly that she would need to learn to post. We practiced at the walk first, up, down, up, down. 

Not too bad for a first effort. 

And she was able to go for a little bit by herself. By this time Allie was done and didn’t want a second turn. She was ready for supper. There is a learning curve with Clyde. He has had a big change in this life going from a farm with 5 horses as pasture mates to being by himself. And Virgina and Mike now have to figure out how to take care of their first pony. 

 

Teaser

More to come…