Summer Book Club

 Amanda, Bailey, and I did a 3 month summer bookclub. Amanda had the summer off from teaching, and Bailey was out of school for the summer, so we figured they would have a little more free time to read. We each took a month and picked the book. Then we did our bookclub via FaceTime. I was in charge of June, and I picked, 'What Alice Forgot.' Bailey was in charge of July, and she picked, 'Demon Copperhead.' Amanda was in charge of August, and she picked, 'What Once Was Mine-A Twisted Tale.' 

Making dessert together, and discussing the book over video chat.

My dessert pick was Oreo cobbler. Sounds good, but the recipe was actually a flop.

The view from mine and Amanda's side.

Cider Bend-August

 August was great at Cider Bend. No big projects, and nothing too exciting, since we're in peak trail running season. Just enjoying the warm weather, animals, and life out in the country.

The donkeys really started shedding a lot this month. It seemed like no matter how much I brushed them, the hair just kept coming off. I brushed them a long time one day, and accumulated a lot of hair in the stall. The girls looked so pretty and sleek, but were wondering why all their hair was on the ground.

Clover loved getting brushed, and  just wanted all the nose boops. 😊

She wasn't quite sure about the pile of hair on the ground. She kept her distance.

Willow on the other hand, was very curious about all the hair. She sniffed around in it for quite a while.

The donks are still loving their mornings in the pasture. Every couple days, they get all their energy out by running laps.

The donkeys have been really good about not messing with the goat playground. All of a sudden, they like to be right in the middle of it. They squeeze under the bridges and hang out right in the middle eating weeds. Now they even run between it all. Clover fits just fine, but I always worry that Willow is gonna bonk her head or scrape her back going under the boards, but she seems to know what she's doing.

I still walk the animals every morning. Some mornings are just so pretty and peaceful.

I really just love this piece of land.

Stopping for a snack break on one of our morning walks.

Willow has been trying to dig the goats out of their corral. She made a pretty big hole, and each time we fill it in, she digs it back up. Mark decided to bury rocks in the hole to deter her. The girls were very curious about the cart full of rocks.

Rocks are so interesting! 😄

Willow watched everything Mark did. Probably so she would know how to undo it. 😅

Willow also loves to 'race' the wheel barrow whenever I push it in the corral. It's pretty funny, but I can never get it on video, because I don't have enough hands. She raced the cart too when Mark was pushing it. She gets all worked up. So funny! 😆

It took Willow exactly 24 hours to dig out three of the rocks. 😂

I often get asked if I miss living in town. Would you miss it if this was your view? I don't miss it one single bit. 😄

After living in the barn for a year, Reeses has discovered that she loves sleeping in the hay. It's so cute. I couldn't find her for awhile, and now I know to look in the hay stall. So cute!

It's a little nerve wracking when I find her like this! Makes my heart stop every time, but she's just getting a good nap.

The goats are still as entertaining as ever!

Little cuties!

The goats get out almost every morning when I'm feeding them. I can't latch the gate when I have my hands full of hay. It's usually Roxie that is out the gate in seconds. I've kind of given up on trying to keep them in. Now I just do my feeding, and then herd them all back in when I'm done. I always find them in the next stall eating the donkey's barley hay. The funny thing is that when I try to actually feed them the barely hay, they want nothing to do with it. 😐

I try to clean the hay stems out of their stall about once a week. They don't make it very easy! They try to be the best little helpers. 😳

The cart only has to be in the stall for 3 seconds before a goat ends up in it.

I also try to deep clean all the corrals quite often. I rake everything, and haul all the old hay out. This time I tried to do it while the donkeys were out in the pasture, because they are usually a huge pain in the butt. Turns out the goats are an even bigger pain in the butt! 😅

Dolly would not stay out of the cart!

Dolly used to get scared if the cart rolled while she was in it, so I thought I'd take her for a little ride to scare her and get her to stay out of it. That backfired big time. She really enjoyed her ride, so now she likes the cart even more. 😒

That's about all that's been going on this month. We have a big project getting underway in September. Stay tuned...

August Adventures

 Devil's Staircase-Hurricane Pass-Alaska Basin:

I kicked off August with round two of this trail. I had done it the previous week, but Joyce couldn't go. She wanted to do it while the flowers were still blooming, so I went again with her. I was supposed to be tapering for my race, so we just mostly hiked. I couldn't believe that the flowers were even better than they were the week before. So gorgeous! It was 22 miles of pure stunning beauty! I love doing stuff like this with Joyce, because she is always in just as much awe as I am.

Starting up Devil's Staircase, looking back into Teton Canyon.

We saw two moose right at the start of the Devil's Staircase climb.

It was such a gorgeous day!

The flowers were insane!

💙💙💙

Dropping down into Alaska Basin.

The trail was lined with flowers.

We were a little slow, because we kept stopping to take a gazillion flower pictures.

Sunset Lake

The trail past Sunset Lake had crazy amounts of flowers.

I was in heaven the whole time!

Climbing to Hurricane Pass, and looking back on Sunset Lake.

Hurricane Pass

It never gets old.

Rock N Brew 50K:

This was our 3rd of 4 ITUS events we were going for this year. I ruptured a disc in my back a week and a half before this race, so I was really nervous about it. I opted for the 4:00am early start time, expecting to have to walk most of it. I was kind of nervous about being out on the trail totally by myself, in the total dark, with just my headlamp lighting my way. I ended up loving it! It was so peaceful, and gave me a lot of time to just think and enjoy the solitude. I ran the first hour really tense, but once I relaxed and stopped worrying about my back, I had a great time. There was an out and back section, so I saw Mark going out on that when I was coming back. It was fun running by all the other runners on the out and back, because they thought I was winning. 😂 I got lots of cheers, and I eventually stopped explaining that I was not actually in the lead, because I had started an hour ahead of everyone. I just owned it and enjoyed my 5 seconds of fame. 😂 My back ended up holding up really well, and I ran good enough to get second in my age group with was. total surprise. I feel like on a normal, healthy body day, I could really compete at this race. I finished in 6 hrs. 50 minutes, which I was thrilled with. I didn't take very many pictures at this one, because the Boise foothills aren't anything exciting to look at in the summer.

Me and the cute RD at 3:50 in the morning getting ready for my start.

The sun started coming up on the out and back section.

Boise foothills

Mark finished in 7 hrs. 10 minutes, and was not a big fan of the heat. It got up in the 90s.

3 ITUS races done! One more to go!

Women's Runs:

The Butte Persieds Meteor Shower Run:

Such a fun women's run! We met later than usual, and started up the Butte at sunset. By the time we got to the top, and partway around the rim, it was full dark. We had a totally clear night, so it was perfect for the tail end of the meteor shower. We saw several really good ones! We would all be standing there in the dark, gazing up at the sky, then all erupt into cheers when we saw one. So funny! We even got an amazing look at starlink. I didn't get home and in bed until after midnight, but it was totally worth it. Such a fun night.

The sunset while we were climbing the butte.

Getting started.

Such awesome ladies!

Climbing around the rim of a volcano at night is so fun!

Star-gazing.

Huckleberry Run:

We always do a huckleberry run in Kelly Canyon. It was a weird year for huckleberries, so we didn't have much luck. We each got a few to eat, but not enough to collect. It was still a beautiful evening and fun run.

Picking a fe berries.

The flowers are still hanging on up there.

We did other cool adventures in August, like Lake Solitude, The Beaten Path, and Glacier National Park, but they got their own blog posts. The month started out rough with a disc rupture, but ended with so many amazing adventures.