Lots of Work and a New Horse

We’re already thinking about Bear Lake. Partly because we’re excited for the annual influx of our kids and grandkids oozing of every crack and cranny! But also because it takes a LOT of work to get that crazy place ready for the crowds.

When we arrive after having been gone all winter, for me it’s a matter of clearing out the plethora of mice tracks and getting the flower beds cleared of the massive take-over of weeds. The perennials are mostly annuals because the weather is so severe up there in the winter. But a few survived and I rescue them and plant new flowers where their “friends” have “bit the dust” (literally) so we can enjoy them for the rest of the summer.

I’ll spare you the mice tracks, but this is pretty much what the eight flower beds surrounding the Lighthouse look like at the beginning of summer:

And this year, even though I sprinkled the cracks with weed killer, the rock walkway to the front door was infested with those darn little “pricklies” who I guess don’t consider themselves weeds.

This would not feel good on those bare summer feet! 

But things are looking up!

Those who know him best will know that Richard is thinking more about riding that bike above, spiffing up his new sailboat and foremost….buying a new horse than worrying about the weeds which his farmer-gene-laden wife fusses over.

Even though I grew up with horses, I’m fine with or without them but he is as obsessed with horses as I am with weeds. We have two horses. Lady is his horse because she’s just a bit temperamental and Duffy, who has been a nice horse has now just become a companion horse for Lady. A couple of years ago he decided that he just wants to lay down when anyone gets on him. No one is really excited about riding Duffy! 

So we really needed a kid friendly horse for all those grandkids about to show up, including one who is positively horse crazy.  Richard advertised on the Bear Lake radio station and the perfect horse, owned by a cute little rodeo family in Paris, about 10 miles away turned out to be just what we were looking for. Meet Roper:

 

The kids crawled in and out of that nice sixteen-year old horse’s legs, stood on his back and had the horse drag a barrel around the arena to assure us that this was a perfectly gentle kid pony.

 

We like him a lot! But we’re not sure that Lady and Duffy feel the same.

After a few kicks from Lady when Roper got a little too close, the poor guy learned to keep his distance. They are gradually moving closer and closer to each other. After three days, they even ended up in the barn together. We’re not sure if those two broncos were trapping Roper in or making up for being mean for a few days. But so far, when we see them in the field, Roper is keeping his distance!

So, even though there are plenty more weeds to take care of, we’re moving on to fun in the lake. These fun lake toys below are used so much during the summer with 26 grandchildren having fabulous fun on them that we pretty much have to buy a new one every year. Last year the crazy thing literally ripped in half!

We’re building three new rooms down by the beach. Last year we had to put one family in a small RV with no bathroom. We are just bursting at the seams. But since our goal is basically to “Die Broke” we can’t think of anything we’d rather spend money on than a place to be together with our large group in July! I have to say that we are grateful that we can rent it when we’re not using it!

On to summer!