Well, it is 40 now and will reach the upper 40s by afternoon, but it has a price. We are expecting thunderstorms and possibly hail. But, by nightfall, we might get snow. Wow! What a treat.

It is the season where you hope your boots don’t get sucked away by the mud monster.

Because there is mud!

And more mud. This is not just something we look at. This is something we walk through with thousands of pounds of horse right next to us. Let’s hope we don’t get as much rain this spring as we did snow this winter.

Perhaps this is why I forgot to take the photo yesterday. Every morning seems to tell a similar story, give or take a few degrees.

Ginger and Athena are having fun in their new paddock.

The horses were a little strange today. I’m not sure if it is the weather. Things warmed up to almost 50. A few of them were rather cranky. Everyone is wishing for sunshine.

I don’t know what happened, but I forgot to take a photo of the temperature. I guess it is my first weekend back on the job. Too much to think about.

One change was moving Ginger and Athena to a new paddock. One where Athena would not be able to escape.

They are exploring their new space.

All of the horses from the pasture have come up to check out their new digs.

Sometimes I wonder if Ginger misses her life in the pasture or if her motherhood instinct just puts her on protective watch.

The afternoon turned into a day of resting in the sunshine. This pregnant mare is taking full advantage.

Sweet Marie and Spice are laying on the other side of the fence. Spice still does not understand why she’s been separated from her mother, Sugura, who is due to deliver anytime after April 4th.

Even Duke is enjoying the dry grass and sunshine.

Tori and her horse Spring are modeling Spring’s new “spring” fashions. What a beautiful blue fly sheet. If only it would remain a beautiful blue.

So I don’t know if I’m happy or sad. On one side, this cold weather freezes the mud, so it is easier to get hay outside and move the cart around. On the other side, GIVE ME A BREAK.

So, Chuck put a different latch on the gate. Needless to say, Bullseye and his buddy Tabu were rather frustrated when they couldn’t get out this a.m. I could hear Tabu saying, “come on dude, you did it last time.” Sorry Bullseye, Chuck didn’t want to see the entire herd walking down the driveway.

Just in case you wondered what mud looked like. I’ll get better pictures tomorrow.

Here’s Maddy riding Ginger with a bitless bridle. She’s working on her barrel turns. Not that Ginger is in any shape for this event, but she does love to ride fast.

Taylor, one of our favorite kids at the barn, is doing a little bareback on her quarter horse Ranger, while her Arab, Royce, is tied to the sidelines watching in envy.

It is a great day for a ride, sunny and warm outside, but the barn is empty tonight. So the two girls riding…enjoy.

Duke is insisting that Little Boy (the llama) play with him while Maddy feeds roughboard.

Maddy and her boyfriend Andrew finishing up chores. The help is always appreciated.

Now for a moment of silence, in memory of my father, who’s birthday is today. I’m not sure if he would be alive, even if he didn’t die of cancer, but there is always hope. He’s been dead for over 20 years, but today he would be 86, so happy birthday day dad.

Hmmm…will it get any warmer? There is new snow falling. Ahh…

This little stinker has been getting out lately and we couldn’t figure out how. We wondered if people were leaving the gate open. This morning I was behind him in the aisle way, thinking, “there’s no way you’ll get by me.” But before I got close, he opened the gate as if he had hands. He did it in seconds and didn’t make a sound. I spent the next ten minutes chasing him down.

So I did some double looping and latching before I went in.

He wasn’t too happy with me and gave me the evil eye as I left.

Yep, another morning on the ol’ farm.

But the snow is melting.

And turning into this. That would be mud and slush and water. I saw the bottom of someone’s shoe…the sole just peeled off. Anyone lose their sole in this weather?

Athena has been quite the stinker, so she’s learning the meaning of halter and lead rope. I’m sure all of you with little kids are thinking “lucky.” But I bet the kick from your 3 month old doesn’t do the same kind of damage as Athena’s.

Well, a little progress was made while we were gone.

Some things never seem to change.

Duke is happy to be back at his morning chores. It was good to see all the horses and say hi to everyone! Now if only this snow would melt and the mud would dry.

Packing up and getting ready to go to the airport. Once last glimpse of nice weather.

And one last look up and down the gulf.

Good bye to Florida and its kind people and warm weather. Thank you for a nice stay.

Well, the day has started a little cool and cloudy, but I’m happy to say it warmed up and we were able to enjoy one last blast of sunshine.

We did a little shell hunting while waiting for the sun to come out from behind the clouds.

So we went out for Easter dinner at a chinese restaurant. I took a chance and ordered the “special” and discovered I should ask more questions.

A lot more questions.

We went out for our last sunset.

It was a beautiful night with lots of color.

Time to day good-bye to beach vacation diaries…see you back in snow country.

Not always paradise in Florida. Today is a cool and rainy day.

Today is Nancy’s last day. We’re talking one last walk down the beach to see what we can find.

Like this live crab with such a pretty shell.

We stayed out of the sun the last couple of days to let our sunburns heal and now we realize there might not be any sun before we leave. Tomorrow we’re expecting more rain.

Maddy is getting friendly with the locals.