We were still 2 kilometers from home when she quit.  That was it, unlike the last five times she stopped on our family outing, there was no persuading her otherwise, she would pedal no farther.  I encouraged (begged really) her to consider the logistics of finding shelter there on the side of the road, and of course the cold  reality that it was now after supper and apart from kicking her training wheels into overdrive and running some poor and unsuspecting creature down with her John Deer bike, we had very little menu options.

It had been a wonderful idea in theory, the four of us, little Bethany snuggled into her trolley behind my bike, heading out on a nice liesurely bike ride on a sunny Sunday afternoon.  Jamie, a bit hesitant at first to join us as the day was slipping by and he had yet to finish up the barn chores, was quickly enticed by my "oh, come on, it will only be a twenty minute ride".  So as we headed down the road and Grace announced that today would be the day she would bike all the way to the end of our road, our hearts skipped a beat.  This is an easily achievable goal for anyone not still employing training wheels to stabalize themselves, I myself bike it almost daily, however pedalling all 8 kilometres at less then 5 years of age, on training wheels, in our eyes was a bit ambitious.  Assuming she would change her mind, we set out attempting to discourage her along the way before she became to tired, and we had to somehow find a way to transport her, and her bike, back home.

Grace pedalled exuberantly along, abandoning her bike and running to the side of the road, if she heard anything that sounded like an engine.  While Max bounded in and out of neighbours yards, harassing them and their own dogs, and causing Jamie and I to spend the entire ride yelling seemingly unheeded warnings into the breeze, thus leaving the neighbours to ponder our sanity.  As we passed the warning Stop sign at the end of our road and the 4km mark, Jamie and I froze like deer in the headlights when Grace woefully announced that her "knee cap was too sore" and she could go no further.  We immediately enlisted what seemed like the 50th rest thus far and convinced her to turn and head for home about 20 yards shy of the final Stop sign, after she contemplated the possibility that turning prematurely would put her on the failures list, she reluctantly began the ride home.  After several rest stops and a few short visits with the neighbours it became apparent to Jamie that he was not going to be home in time to get his chores done and be ready for Evening Meeting at our church.  So as I cajoled Grace to keep going and made random comments about how the exhausting headwind that had swept up "really wasn't so bad" and "we'll soon be heading downhill, so that will be fun", I looked up to see Jamie speeding away towards home.

It was at this point that Grace's exhaustion began to cloud her logic, she stopped pedalling, coasted to a stop and burst into tears.  It was here, on the side of the road with home just out of sight around the bend ahead of us, that I silently ridiculed Jamie for abandoning us and myself for allowing Grace an adventure she couldn't possibly complete.  When suddenly, in one last burst of adrenaline, she bailed ship yet again, leaving her bike askew and partially on the road as she leaped for the ditch to avoid whatever vehicle she could hear approaching, and from around the bend Jamie drove up with the car.  No longer concerned with being a failure Grace quietly heaved herself into the backseat, leaving Jamie to load her bike into the trunk and I to pedal myself and Bethany the last leg of our journey home.

I was very proud of Grace's determination and her efforts to accomplish her goal, which she had been harbouring for some time now.  So when I arrived home, over 2 hours after we left (the ride usually takes about 40 minutes) resigned to the fact we'd missed meeting, I was prepared to make her some hot chocolate and pamper her just a bit so her adventure would end, in her mind, on a high note.  As I drove into the yard, unbuckled Bethany from the trolley, held her in one arm, stooped and unhooked the trolley with the other hand, then while still gripping the tiny writhing person in one arm, hefted my bike, and then the trolley into the building, slammed the door, locked it and all but crawled to the house, Grace ran up the hall, skidded to a halt in front of me and in an excited squeal announced that she and Jamie were going to look for smelts at the brook. 

Today was another beautiful day on Misty Marsh Farms, so after an epic spring cleaning of all things fuzzy and life like in my fridge and cupboards, and hanging out a long line of laundry, we called Jamie's mom to ask if she would be able to watch Beth while Grace and I went to play with Hiccup.  Grace had an unfortunate accident earlier this year where one of our Quarter Horses barged out of a gate where Grace was standing and ran her over, Grace received some pretty serious road rash to her face, but thankfully was otherwise fine.  However, after this, she has been quite timid, even with Hiccup, so most of our visits are spent building her confidence back up, today she spent considerable time grooming Hiccup and then we played Simon Says with him in our Run-In shed.  Simon Says with Hiccup involves both her and I taking turns being Simon while the other leads Hiccup and follows all the commands that Simon sends out to be done to, and with, gung-hoe pony pal, and is one of Grace's favourite games.  Today the game lead us through some intimidation issues Grace has been dealing with and at the end of the day she was very pleased with her accomplishments and making plans for our next time out.

LOTS OF BRUSHING FOR AN ITCHY, SHEDDING PONY

PEP TALK

Jamie has been working off the farm the last few weeks preparing seed potatoes for planting.  On the farm our calves are arriving healthy and strong thus far and we are making plans to wean our larger ones to make room for the new ones and to give the mamma's a reprieve before having their next calf.  The fencing will soon get underway as well and it is looking as though it will be a relatively easy job since we had very little snow this year to bring the fences down. 

JUST SUN'N

ENJOYING A +20 DEGREE DAY

Grace and I spent an afternoon planting many of our vegetables in the greenhouse in preparation for our garden so they will have a jump start.  We try to freeze and preserve as much produce as we can to sustain us through the winter months, this both gives us the option of cleanly grown vegetables and also reduces the load on our grocery bill.  My maternity has finally come to an end and while I knew it was coming, the notice did nothing to soften the blow.  I have been busy researching some different methods of earning money from home, which will allow me to maintain the house and care of our girls, and I now have a couple of business ventures in mind. So with this, the prospect of building our new house, and all the typical activities that summer brings to the farm, we have much to look forward to in the coming months.

I GOT SOME BOOTS LETS GO RIDING!

RECIPE:

Fruit Smoothies

This is my new favourite drink, and for anyone who wishes to enjoy the health benefits of the Avocado, but isn't a big fan of the taste, offers the perfect solution.  The addition of this highly healthy fruit adds an extremely creamy texture but it's muted flavour is hidden by the other ingredients.

1 Banana
1 Apple
2 cups Frozen Strawberries ( you can use fresh as well, but the addition of frozen berries eliminates the need for ice)
1 Avocado
1 cup Greek Yogurt ( my new favourite food which combined with the Avocado adds a rich, creamy texture, but ordinary plain yogurt works fine also:-)

Put into blender, puree and enjoy!