Chapelgate Road Designs: July 2008

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Since no one is looking I think I will do a little munching right here.

Susan Wenger has officially became engaged to previously just friend, Jeff. We are all very excited for Susan. Jeff is a very nice man and we are looking forward to having Jeff join our outlaws group. (we will explain that to you later Jeff) The wedding is being planned for December 12th of 2009 and that leaves the Wenger and Padgett family plenty of time to think of ways to make Susan's day as beautiful as possible. Good luck to you both!!!

Update!!!!!!!!!

Wedding date has been moved up due to fact that bride cannot keep her hands off groom!

New wedding date: December 13, 2008

Katelyn and her horse lessons 2008

Katelyn survived a week at horse back riding camp and when asked, she wants to go back next year.

Katelyn was on her horse, Ranger, as we walked up. She spent a week, 4 hours each day learning to ride and take care of him. They learned how to clean out the stalls. They had a man come in and show them how they put horse shoes on and teach them about the horses teeth. It was really hot all week long. One day, I picked the girls up, they had given the horses a bath. The horses ended up rolling in the mud. The girls were muddy and soaked. It was a great experience. They left with certificates, a golden horseshoe, a t shirt, a ribbon with their name engraved on it, but most of all, they left with some new found friendships, (human & animal).

We were just walking up from the parking lot and we were watching Katelyn ride from a long distance away. We did not get pictures of her riding because it was time for her to get off her horse. Luckily we had seen her ride as we were approaching and she was doing a fantastic job.

Katelyn getting ready to bring Ranger in so Ava can ride him.

It turned out that the girl in the front on this picture is Billy. She is in Katelyn's outloud group at church and just happened to sign up for horseback ridding the same week as Katelyn.

Ava's turn to ride Ranger

We really got a look at how stubborn Ranger could be when Ava was riding. He really needed someone to muscle him and Katelyn & Ava just were not tough enough on him.

Ava did a great job! Doesn't she look like she was born to ride? I think both girls had a fantastic week even though they were hot and tired when they got done. Anytime they do something together they always enjoy themselves.

Ava getting ready to get off her horse

In this picture you can see where Ranger is getting alittle anxious. Ava and Katelyn ended up with the most stubborn horse. Alot of the time he would just stop when they where riding. They had a rough time with him.

Ava gives Ranger a smile as they wait.

The girls are done riding and are waiting for the other riders to finish.

Time to take Ranger back to the barn.

Horse trainer Brenda giving Katelyn & Ava instructions.

Katelyn is removing Ranger's bit and getting him ready for his stall.

Ava & horse trainer, Brenda, watch as Katelyn loosens Rangers straps. It is almost 90 outside and Ranger will be glad to get the saddle and blanket off his back. Ranger is around 25 years old.

Katie removing Ranger's straps

Katie & I petting Ranger

Katie & Ava with Ranger

Too bad the week had to end. What fun they had! They ended up liking Ranger even though he was ornery.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

This is the View from inside my living room Window

When you pull up to our house there is a huge tree directly in front of our big picture window in the front. I believe it is a maple tree, but the way it has grown, it reminds you of one of those kinds of trees perfect for climbing when you where a kid. The roots are so large it has made it impossible for us to properly landscape. The ground is hard and there are patches where grass just will not grow. The greenery that you see around the tree, next to the rocks, was lavish hosta that came up in the spring. The deer simply turned them into salad at their choosing. You also will notice a large house shaped bird feeder hanging from a branch. Well that is not a bird feeder at all, it belongs to our 3 itty bitty friends that jump and fly like they belong in the circus. They are not squirrels. They are smaller. They are not chipmunks either. They are miniature squirrels called ground squirrels. They are constant entertainment for us. We do not need to turn on the television.

Every evening around the same time after dinner, we head for the living room to sit for awhile before heading to bed. Out of the corner of his eye Jim will notice something, a deer, all by herself. This has been going on for weeks. We wonder why she is alone. She always follows the same path and usually comes around the same time. Occasionally we have seen her in the middle of the day. Usually this happens when it is rainy. Well a few days ago Jim mentioned that he had not seen her lately. At least a couple of days. He said maybe it was because the bird feeder was empty. The next day I made a trip to the local feed store and filled the feeder. This morning she popped her head around the corner. Jim says he sees why she has been missing. With her is a small spotted baby. We cannot believe our eyes. Just then another baby pops around the corner. Twins!!!! Our deer is a mommy.

We ran and got the camera just as the last baby was headed into the woods across the street this morning. There was a garage sale down the road and lots of traffic on our street today. They did not stick around to let us take in how awesome they looked. We can not wait until their return trip. I told Jim today, if anything happens to my tree, we might as well sell the house and move. My tree means alot to me.

My Garden Mid July 2008

As you can see from this picture the tomato plants are towering well above everything else in the garden. We have 24 different tomato plants and it looks as though the cherry tomatoes will be the first to be picked. We are already picking quite a few green beans and I am very surprised how many we are getting considering we only have a few plants. Some of the bean plants ending up being in too shady of a area and did not grow like they should have.

If you look closely you can see the tomatoes coming in on the vines.

Pumpkins & Squash

Friday, July 11, 2008

I am not sure what all Jim planted in this part of the garden but I do know that we have a few kinds of squash and a couple different kinds of pumpkins. It should be interesting because we have never grown these kinds of things. We do eat alot of butternut squash and I am hoping to have alittle bit of a saving on the grocery bill once this garden starts producing. I planted 24 tomato plants with the hopes of being able to can the tomatoes for spaghetti, etc.

I wish someone would have told me not to put my pepper plants so close to my tomato plants. My tomato plants are now towering over my peppers by leaps and bounds. If you look closely you can see a little pepper starting to form and it looks like it has either turned brown or been attacked by bugs. We did apply a powder for bugs around the outside of the garden. The leaves on the peppers have lots of holes in them. I think we are going to have to resort to more drastic measures if we are going to be able to have anything to eat from this garden!