Maddy has a training schedule for Athena. When I first saw it, I was very apprehensive about her “first ride” date. It was June 5. It did not seem like enough time for Athena to be ready or me to be psychologically ready. A first ride can be a while ride.

She started by lunging her to burn some energy and work out the kicks and rears.

Now is where the excitement begins. She is setting Athena up for the mount.

Saddle adjustments made, putting some weight on her without getting on, check.

She’s on. But Athena doesn’t move.

She’s a little confused as to why this human is on her back.

Finally Maddy gets her to move.

And it turns into a nice little ride.

No bucking, no kicking, no rearing. Just a nice walk, trot around the arena. Yeah Maddy!

For those of you who know me, you realize my real calling in life is to be a farmer. Today Brad let me play farmer and drive his big red tractor over the fields, turning the soil. What a thrill for me.

After a few lessons, Brad left me on my own.

My job was to pull this thing over designated fields. I made two passes.

It was fun to see my progress and feel like I was part of something much bigger.

I also had a great view of the farm. “Here’s to you dad. Happy Birthday!”

As Chuck says, “Daylight savings in the spring is like Christmas and Easter and Birthdays and Fourth of July all wrapped up in one.” Cheers to a beautiful Wisconsin Daylight Savings time—upper 50s and sunny. It was a glorious holiday.

These photos were taken over a week ago, but they still need to be enjoyed by all.

One of the most spectacular winter sites is Ice Fog. The consists of water droplets that have frozen into extremely tiny ice crystals. According to Wikipedia it requires temperatures at or below −35 °C (−30 °F), making it common only in and near the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Or in our case, Wisconsin.

Although I’ve seen it three times this winter, it rarely happens in our part of the country. But when it does, it is amazing.

I took this photo during the last ice fog, but I wanted you to see the crystals up close.

I leave for work when it is still dark out, but I knew when I walked outside to do chores that something special was in the air. I tired to get a few photos, but my camera is not that good at photos in the dark.

When Chuck woke up, he was greeted by this beautiful landscape.

When I woke up this morning and looked out the window, I knew it was a day for me and my camera. Every tree, bush and plant had crystals all over it.

I know it really isn’t possible to show you what this looks like, but I will try.

The crystals  almost look like pine needles.

I have never seen crystals as long as these on plants before.

I wished they could stick around for awhile, but I knew as soon as the day warmed up, they would be history.

We were lucky to have a lot of friends stop by over the long New Year’s weekend. Some of the photos are mine, some I stole from my dear friend Brody Rose’s facebook page. Thanks Brody!

Here is one group of guests taking a farm tour. Baby it is cold outside. I’m not even sure we’ll reach a high of zero. I’m happy everyone was brave enough to take a walk.

Me and Nancy. This is one of Brody’s facebook photos.

Maddy hanging in the snow

This is a really nice horse photo, I’ll have to get the original.

Meeting the ducks. Maddy grabbed one of her feathered friends so people could feel how soft they are.

Getting some fuel before Apples to Apples. I forget who won. I’m sure someone will remind me.

Our friend Todd took a break from his special forces career to spend some time on the farm. Aaron warmed up quickly.

Aaron having fun with more and more presents.

Maddy trying to figure out Todd’s new phone.

Christmas with the siblings.

Aaron enjoying lots of new stuff.

Maddy, Aaron and the dogs.

Cousin Nancy and her friends.

One of the wonderful things about living on this farm are the beautiful picture windows. This is the side house view.

This is one of my favorite trees right outside the house.

Here is the view from the front. It is a great window to watch the deer cross the road.

It usually seems that when everyone gets so hyped up about a big storm, it misses us completely. The university closed down the night before (never happens). Schools were closing, all nonessential government offices were closing. Since this storm was covering half of the United States, and we live some what in the middle, we were bound to get hit.

And we did. I must sayit is beautiful, but walking is laborious. I worked up a sweat going from the house to the barn.

The horses are all tucked in safe and sound. My job today (and tomorrow) will be giving them hay and cleaning their stalls. Tomorrow temperatures will be well into the negatives. But right now, if you’re out of the wind, it isn’t so bad.

And it is very pretty to look at.

Duke will get plenty of exercise. He has to leap through the snow. If you’re wondering what happened to his coat, the Velcro on the strap filled with snow and will no longer stick. But with all the leaping he will do, I think he’ll stay plenty warm.

As the winter season moves in, Duke is spending less and less time outdoors. This really isn’t his choice, but we are spending less time outdoors and he likes to be with us. Today was cold, but sunny, so Duke and I took a nice long walk.

One of our favorite things to do is walk along the trout stream.

There are lots of critters and smells for Duke to explore.

It was time well spent.

Everyone is enjoying the nice weekend.

…especially Duke.