She said; "They're so cute! (my ponies)! I love how you always smile when you're with them."

Driving event in San Martin

Ew. I don't know how it happened, but I became the organizer for a driving play day in San Martin on August 23rd.

I have written a proposal for funding to the Western States Draft and Driving Association, which sounds like a huge club but its really really small. They came back with some good questions that I have asked the facility manager. The facility is under new ownership and it seems that my questions don't have answers yet. In fact, it seems that they don't even understand what my questions are. This is great, I think to myself. I'm new at organizing and the facility is new at hosting.

I have submitted my proposal to the Northern California Driving Club, which is huge, by the way. I need their approval to get the required insurance. WSDDA is way to small to be able to provide it. They have approved the event and had some really great input that has been very helpful. Celine of Carriage Driving Essentials in Mariposa is on the activities committee and she has been fantastic. IT's difficult through because the NCDC insurance policy renews in May and they cant get insurance for ANY event after that date until after that date!

I ordered a carriage from Celine a little while ago. It,s not here yet, but will look something like this when it arrives, except the wheel will be painted yellow. Snazzy, but I picked yellow for viability on the road. The current production run for Bird-in-Hand Carriages, in Bird-in-Hand PA of course, began the first Monday in March. Any day now, I think.

Wow, soon I will be driving

a Bird-in-Hand Pony Red Hawk!

Over the Mountain

Yesterday we drove over Mt. Hamilton and down the other side to Livermore. We have been planning to do this for over a year now. We thought we wanted to go to Patterson, but that was too far, so we just went to Livermore instead, then home on I-680

We had planned to stop at the little restaurant, but needed to take Lydia with us because it would be too long for her and her bladder to stay home by herself.

It was a great drive and we saw two mule deer with their antlers beginning to grow, and we saw a tortoise. I've never seen a tortoise in the wild in California.

Here we are at the top, at the James Lick Observatory.

Pairs, Singles, Rabbits, over the Mt.

Somehow, I found myself in charge of planning a driving event at HD Equestrian Center in San Martin. This my be a complete boondoggle. So, this weekend, I am writing the proposal for funding. It sounds like too much grownup stuff for me!

I drove the ponies as a pair in San Martin on Thursday. Trainer Harry Councell was next to me. We used his carriage. The girls were champs. Someone even pulled up along side of us with their car and asked to take a picture! wow. Almost famous.

Pepper pulled single for the first time since Oct 13. That was Friday. It wasn't great, but we didn't die. Fancois helped. I need to do it more, with a walker person. She needs to get used to the breeching. I think that is what bothers her.

Today is the Bunny Bee. We sew crate liners and blankies for bunnies.

Dave is taking most of the bathroom flooring and shower wall tile up to the mountain today. The rest tomorrow. We are going to spend the afternoon driving over the top of Mt. Hamilton and down the back, through Paterson to Livermore. We haven't done it yet. Putting it off. Not sure why. Supposed to be a nice drive.

Driver Proficiency

Yesterday, I attended a workshop to prepare for the Carriage Association of America river Proficiency Level 1 evaluation. Jane Moody was excellent, as were hosts Roger and Marion Cleverly of One Two Carriage Driving in Oakdale. Marion even served pie and ice cream.