My Favorite Part of Summer: The End

It's not secret that I love autumn. But my favorite part of summer is happening now. Reliably, around July 15th or so, Michael's Arts and Crafts starts putting out their Fall stuff. For me it heralds the end of Summer and the build up to Autumn.

They first put out the Fall foliage stuff, and about the time the Tulip Tree in the woods behind our house starts losing its leaves, they start putting out the Halloween stuff, too.

Some of my favorite selections from this weekend:

Autumn on a Horse Farm

If you really want to experience the loveliness of autumn, you'd be hard pressed to find a better place for it than a horse farm. Something about those rolling hills, colorful trees, dark fences, and, of course, beautiful horses.

After being away from the barn for a couple weeks, I was back volunteering at HorseNet Horse Rescue. It was a busy visit! We stacked bales of hay, raked hay scrapes, folded and stowed away horse blankets, and folded tarps. We also picked up piles of pine tree brush in the paddocks and moved it to the pond for burning later. Hauling all of those pine branches and needles smelled like Christmas.

The barn cats, who shadowed us through all of these chores, were a big help.


The barn recently got in a few new horses from a Humane Society seizure earlier this month. With the addition of more horses, there had to be a little shuffling around of paddock mates. One new arrangement was turning out two of the younger horses -- Elsie and Oreo -- out with some of the older, mellow horses.

Elsie, running circles around Cody.

Everyone coming in to say hi.

So far my favorite newbie is Tula. She was there to greet us at the fence and was happy to get lots of scritches.

And dole out some kisses.

Of course, the old horses are still there! Viceroy has a pending adoption, but he was roaming his usual places this weekend.

Giant horse under a little tree.

And who can forget the minis? All three miniature horses are now sharing a paddock together. They all seems to be getting along famously.

Oh, hello!

My favorite horse, Gobie, was moved to the gelding paddock. I'm a little bummed out not to have him closer to the barn, and it actually took me a while to figure out where he was. But it is pretty out in that paddock, for sure.

Welcome to my autumn paradise.

Gobie has loads of company out in the gelding paddock. When I trekked out to visit they were all around round bales eating, except for Gobie who was in the middle noshing on scraps. He looked happy to see me and came right up to say hi.

Looking heroic.

I gave him some good scratches and a couple of treats. He was his usual charming pony self -- checking out my pockets, giving smooches, and trying to eat my keys.

I'm a sucker for a pony muzzle.

Jack-o-Lanterns

We made jack-o-lanterns! A bat, a wolf, and (because I'm a giant nerd) the Alley Cat Allies logo. I brought the logo pumpkin to work and the President of the organization took it home :)

HorseNet Fall Festival

This weekend was HorseNet Horse Rescue's Fall Festival. It was held at the Mt. Airy barn which I have never been to -- I volunteer at the New Windsor barn. There were pony rides, t-shirts, raffle, auction and all kinds of yummy good offerings. But the highlight, of course, were the horses.




My favorite horses at this barn were Ben and Jerry -- two "matching" stocky bay ponies. They had their own small paddock with a shelter and were loads of fun.

Jerry -- my favorite of the two.

Ben -- who was a total treat fiend. Here he's streeetching to reach grass.

The two together, coming and going.

There were a few horses hanging out in stalls so you could purchase a cup of carrots and feed them. They were all rather well behaved, and pretty polite about taking treats. They're all available for adoption.

Rey. Young and completely adorable. I was impressed with her manners.

Sahara -- one of several horses seized from a case of neglect. Doing great!

Bo, half blind and a total sweetheart.

Infact, this barn has an entire blind herd! They live in their own private paddock. They all seem to get along quick well despite their limitations. They're permanent residents.

They can be sponsored, here.

The farm also has two miniature horses: Harry and Jake. They're best buddies and are, of course, super cute.



The festival was fun! It did make we wish I was at MY barn, playing with Gobie. But it was nice to be around horses again after not being able to go out for the past couple of weeks.

Addiction + Addiction = Blog Post

We've established that I'm a Halloween junkie. It's also pretty well documented that I'm a nerd for pet-related things. Put the two addictions together, and it's a whole obsession in itself.

I swore I wouldn't get anything before October, but I didn't want to risk something being SOLD OUT. So I caved.

I visited not one, but TWO Petsmarts today to check out their Halloween swag. One shop had an abbreviated selected, but the other was pretty well stocked. I have to say, I'm pretty proud of my restraint. I only purchased one item there today. But I have to admit the restraint was fueled a bit by being overwhelmed by selection. So many great toys! I have to space out the Halloween bounty.

I came away with this:


Dog treats! They had another variety where instead of bat cookies they had pumpkin cookies, but these were my favorite. The ingredients are all natural. The cashier at check out admitted that the manager had them try one of these cookies and they were palatable, though not at all sugary like a human cookie.

The surprise find of the day, though, was at Old Navy. We stopped in on a whim and I--like a blood hound--sniffed out their Halloween products promptly. Imagine my delight when I found these:


Sort of a holy grail. Halloween pet toys, cute design, that glow-in-the-dark. Jackpot! The plush skeleton guy is too cute, and the bone glows entirely and has BATS on it. It's like they read my mind.

A side note: I have a dog and a bird. I've always loved the wonderous variety of toys and THINGS for dogs, but I've always wondered why birds and small mammals get the shaft. Where are the Halloween bird toys? The Trick-Or-Treat foodstuffs? Get on it, pet product producers of the world!

Of course, as I was treating my pets, I treated myself. Starbucks now has available their autumnal offerings. I had a tall Pumpkin Spice Latte today -- the first of the season. I also picked up an autumn designed travel mug.


I had held off getting one for ages because I knew Starbucks would come up with something cute and autumny and I wasn't disappointed. YOINK.

Autumn Tease

Spied this leaf on our evening walk today, and almost was tricked into thinking Autumn could be near. But no, it's still hot and humid and undeniably SUMMER.

God I hate July.

"It was raining down love from a thin
my room and the walls began to warp

the colors in my face were all washed out wrong
and the lights began to short

I heard you call out my name but I couldn't find the way
and the foes were asleep
then your face in the light began to shadow of fright
kill good sleep

there was just enough light for me to watch you
leap through the hole in the wall

should I build or burn your effigy as the buildings fall?
I refuse to become a martyr no matter what you say
I'll be gone this time tomorrow I only live for the day

God I hate July, I scream into the sky
for what it's worth on the face of this earth I refuse
to be denied...

I left him looking on past in hiding into the street
you were cold and gray again and you couldn't even speak
I pulled out the singe from the mouth of disease
and I begged for the truth
I was cursed by way of comparison it broke me in two

I spat upon my unmarked grave in the heat of the spite
I screamed my insect bitter needs in the middle of the night
bury the martyr to his neck and feed him to the worms
replace his blood with toxins look at him burn!

God I hate July, I scream into the sky
for what it's worth on the face of this earth I refuse
to be denied..."

- Chris Connelly