Pi Day

It has been over two weeks since I last wrote an entry and for that I'm sorry to those who actually read my ramblings. We left town on February 27th to attend niece Annie's wedding in St. Petersburg, Florida and I just don't blog when we're on vacation. I pretty much unplug from electronic communication except for my cell phone because I want to enjoy the sites and sounds of each new place Rich and I explore together. I also want to focus my attention on Rich and just enjoy his company and the electronics always seem to get in the way. Anyway, I'm obviously having trouble getting back into the groove. At first we had some chores to catch up on when we got back and after that I just found excuses. So here goes...

Besides the fact  that Annie and Drew make a lovely couple and he so obviously cherishes her, we love him because he survived two of our family reunions at Lake Hope! You gotta love a guy who can,us  not just put up with us but also blends nicely into our crazy extended family. He even had an entry in the annual cook off this year. He didn't win but then neither did I. Better luck next year.

Rich and I left for Charleston, South Carolina the day after the wedding where we had a lovely stay at the Cannonboro Bed and Breakfast. It is one of many historical homes in the city.We also enjoyed exploring the many beautiful old churches in the city. St. Michael's was one of our favorites. Charleston is a lovely city with so much history. 

We spent a day at Ft. Sumpter and the USS Yorktown which is anchored  at Patriot's point. Porpoises followed our ferry to and from the fort. The first time I have ever seen them in the wild. Awesome!

Upon our return we transferred seven-month-old Asterius into the big boy pasture with our young stud, Nikko. We had decided that it was time to wean him from his mother, Took, since she had been walking away from him lately and not letting him nurse as often. The whole procedure went very smoothly. Took was unconcerned and didn't seem to notice he was gone. Asterius was a bit confused at first but after he started to explore and then play with Nikko he seemed ok with it. No crying, screeching or humming in distress. 

Brutus is next. He's a month younger and smaller so we want to give him time to grow a bit. If you remember he was already weaned because his mama, Firenze, died in January. One of our chores last weekend was to begin halter training Brutus since he's six-months-old. Rich held him while I buckled on the teeny tiniest halter that we have. It just fit over his little snout. I snapped on the lead and just stood there waiting until he realized that he was now under my control. He tugged and pulled a bit before he stopped and stared at me.

We had a bit of a stand off for a few minutes, just staring at each other. I cooed and sweet talked him until he took that first step toward me, then praised him, telling him what a good boy he was. This went on for a few minutes before he walked more than a couple of steps at a time. He finally walked out of the safety of the barn and into the open with the others. The entire training session took about 15 minutes and we were satisfied with this first time. We'll try again this weekend.

And finally, today is pi day, March 14th, 3/14... We always used to celebrate this day in the teachers' lounge by bringing pies to sample throughout the day. This was first established by the "other" Linda in the school; the one who taught math, as opposed to me, the one who taught English. So tonight, in honor of "pi day" and the "other" Linda, I made lemon, blackberry tartlets for dinner. Yum!