The end of August is upon us and Autumn is fast approaching, so I guess it’s time I posted another update before the leaves start to change.
School has been going good for the kids thus far. Shannon’s class load is pretty intense this year, with 5 out of her six hours consisting of AP and Honors courses. She tried running some of her endothermic equations by me last night and I can honestly say that there was little I could do but shrug my shoulders…lol.
As for Brendan, he’s doing equally good with his classes. For the first time in his educational career, he breaks out the books as soon as he gets home and finishes up his homework without being prodded. Ninth grade has definitely been a turn-around year for him so far. In addition to his academic classes, he’s a member of Junior ROTC and really eating that up. So much so, in fact, that he’s now a member of the Civil Air Patrol in Lexington. It’s amazing how enthusiastically he’s taken to all of the marching and drilling. Since Brendan is so fully embracing the CAP, I’ve also been volunteering my time to the organization. Not much in the way of excitement has been going on with that as of yet, but it’s a small squadron and going through some growing pains.
This past weekend brought a breakthrough for Cheryl and Star, and that’s probably the most noteworthy event we’ve had over the past couple of weeks. Some friends from Howell came down for the weekend and one of the girls – Dani – is a trainer that Cheryl really respects. On Saturday, Dani and Cheryl worked with Star to gauge his interest in being ridden. It wasn’t long at all before Dani gave Cheryl the green light and, for the first time, she hopped up on Star and walked him around the pasture for a bit. Star was absolutely perfect and amazingly well-behaved. For the longest time we thought that Star was just going to be a pasture ornament, too hot to be ridden by anyone but a trainer or a jockey. Cheryl’s patient work with him over the last year has really brought him around and made this moment possible. With more work, and a dose of professional training, I’m confident that Star will be the trail horse that Cheryl has hoped that he could be.
Cheryl and Star embarking on their firts ride together
The high school football season got underway on Friday, though it was with an embarrassing loss to Clay County. Unfortunately I was not able to attend the game, though the kids went with Dani and her brother – introducing them to how we do football down here in Kentucky. Instead of accompanying the kids to the game, Cheryl and I ventured into Lexington with Dani’s mom for a delicious dinner at the Mongolian BBQ. We really enjoyed catching up and the visit was a really nice treat, especially for Cheryl.
So that’s really been all the excitement here on the farm. We’ve been in a drought, so the foliage is nice and droopy and the grass has taken on a distinctly brownish appearance. Despite the garden being done for the year, a marauding groundhog met the business end of my rifle the other day. Gotta keep those varmints in check…lol.
We have some big plans for the coming weekends, so don’t be surprised if I post more than twice a month!
