So off the back

Wow. It has been a while since we posted and so much is happening and has happened. I am so exhausted right now telling it...but cut to the chase....we have a million little things all happening at once. Becx closes on the house in the morning. We moved a ton of stuff in already and are just wiped out tonight. We sweated buckets and squished the world's biggest, squarest, pain-in-the-$%# bed into a round hole. I imagine moving this bed is similar to what the childbirth experience must be like. I even used the same breathing techniques while performing some Circ du Soleil moves getting it down and out and in the house.

Well night yall. Farmgals signing out till mornin'.

-L (lucy...ask becx/ricky)

A Horse is a Horse...of course.

Well I met Kentucky yesterday. I was working with her in the round pen and I could tell she just needs a good home to get her going. Standing there, I knew we could do this together. She had a lot of fire and just needed a calming place with consistency and trust. She was hot headed and independent but still had this loving, sweet, put her head on your chest side to her. She is a great gal with so much potential.

However, I need to really think on this one. Is she the the horse for me...and am I the gal for her? Can she make this transition after all that she has been through until now? She has alot of issues after being isolated for 2 years without any other horses and obviously no farrier or vet care. She is healthy/sound but will really require alot of attention both physically and mentally. She has no paper trail to her and a large scar on her leg. She is an amazing saddlebred that just fell out the sky. There is no information about her...and I get a sense that Kentucky is just fine with that...just being Kentucky.

Born to be Wild....

Ahhhhhh, I love Madison. I took this picture on the way to work this morning. Beautiful!

At lunch, I rode to the farm to figure out how long it would take us to commute. It was a perfect ride. Just flat enough to be fast and a few kicker rollers to add a little spice. It was probably my favorite ride this year. There are just some great long rides in that area. The empty roads surrounded by pungent flowers and old rustic farms seem to go on forever. -L

My Project One

So I tell Barbara I'm going to get a Project 1 Madone and asked what sort of design I should get. I knew this would be a good exercise for her incredibly brilliant, creative brain and sure enough.

Of the several designs, I think I like this one the best because it captures the essence of my new farm life, my Sicilian heritage, and the fact that I love to eat.

Kewl!! I'd be the only human in the world with a chicken bike!
I'm going to send this design to Bill today, the guy who does the work on the Project one bikes. Stand by for that reaction.

I do think this would make a lovely bike. Quite the conversation piece too!!

You can love your pet....just not looooooove your pet!

After much anticipation, we decided to see how the girls were going to work out together. After sniffing and snarling, Beck is the Alpha! hahaha

Seriously though, Gabby and Gracie went AT IT! I thought they were going to kill each other. Beck had to calm me as I watched in total fear while the dogs tear at each other like two Grizzly bears during mating season (too much animal Planet). She was like Ceasar Whatever (the dog guy) and knew exactly what to do. In seconds, it was all over. Surprisingly, Gracie being the beeatch alpha that she normally is, rolled over and it was settled. Gabby is the new leader of La Belle Vita. Hooray!

A pretty view

So while this photo isn't really of La Bella Vita, it's a lovely scene I rode by tonight on my way over to see Oscar. There's a small herd of cattle in the deepest grass ever and tonight the horses were hanging around the cattle as well. Yesterday when I went by the cattle were closer to the road and I was kicking myself for not having my camera. Something about the July light at 5pm, over a Wisconsin field of grass with cattle...so getting a photo was the sole purpose of bringing my bike to work today. I wanted this photo! And it's not good enough. Will try again tomorrow seeing as I left my car at work so I have to ride in. Tomorrow's ride will be capturing the morning light scenes. I prefer twilight, but we'll see what I can do in the a.m.

Here's another photo I took of the corn.



And this photo is for Lady Barbara. I call it "Still Life With Cadeaux"
Kate and I artfully (I think) arranged the very fun goodies that came in the box from L.B. and I couldn't help myself and added the beer bottle. FYI, the New Glarus "Totally Naked" beer is really good! I can only drink beer when it's hot and I've ridden about 50 miles, at least. Anyway, I'd done that and opened all the the pressies and couldn't help but play with them. Don't you love the little cow at the right? It's a lighter!! See here as Kate demonstrates:
We were practicing with the lighter. I can't wait to whip that lighter out at a party. "Oh, you need a light? Allow me!"

Whew...it was a long day. I should have noted that the reason I had time to take photos of cattle and corn this afternoon is because I got lost on my way to the barn. There's a lot of roads between Waterloo and Bristol that do not "go through." It took me an hour to ride to the barn and then another hour to ride home (after I'd worked Ozman).

Now I'm drinking some lovely Sicilian wine--couldn't be happier.
love and sweet dreams to all,
becx

An Inspection, sort of!

Welcome to La Bella Vita! Last weekend Lisa and I got to go explore the farm for a couple of hours. It was supposed to be with the home inspector but due to a glitch in scheduling, he didn't show up.

But we did! Ronda (realtor) brought us sandwiches so we spent some time looking around. Lisa had only had about 20 minutes in the place the first time so this day she was able to take a longer look.

Here she is modeling a pot at the sink, with dog Gracie standing by. It should be noted that Lisa and I both got lost on our way to the farm. Not only did we take a wrong turn, we took exactly the same wrong turn. She called me and I had already figured out how to get to our road and was able to steer her in as well, her being about 5 minutes behind me. Great minds think alike!

We spent a lot of time in the barn talking about how we'd fix up the stalls and the paddock area. The owner happened to be there when we arrived and he gave us some good info on the place. Turns out the one paddock gets standing water during spring rains so we'll factor that in to our paddock plan. That paddock will need a gate!

Here's a photo of what we're calling the "Tack Room." It's a porch off the north end of the house, next to our "library/tv room." It's long and narrow and very cozy for a single bed and a table and our show tack. It'd be perfect to put old photos on the walls and cowgirl art!

This photo is of the living room, looking toward the kitchen and the stairs going up to the bedrooms. It's so filled with indirect light--I just love it. The trees provide just enough light so it's not dark, but they shade the house beautifully.




This is my room; formerly the owners sewing room. It's long and has windows on three sides and I love the industrial look. The walls were redrywalled but never quite finished off so the room is just waiting to be finished. The windows facing the front of the house are square and low. You can just see one behind the work table. The side windows are normal, double hung windows. The floor is the wide plank type--really rustic. I felt at home immediately, I think because this room reminds me of my room in the house I grew up in. There were trees all around that room too and I faced the front yard. My view is of the farm across the street which has a great barn and lovely fields.



Here's Lisa's room. It's on the other end of the house but our windows are right across from each other. We decided we'd run a can and a string between them.

Her view of of the farm fields down the hill, just georgeous.
My camera was acking up so I wasn't able to get a photo of the pantry. It's awesome! Even has one of those flour bins and seeing how I like to bake...it'll be filled with flour for my biscotti, horse treats and Gabby's chicken cookies!!

The kitchen will need some reconfiguring as I'll miss my perfect work space in my galley at the Hoboken Hostel. I had everything I needed close by. We'll figure out a game plan for the farm, with Lady B's expert guidance. First up though is the fences for our horses.

No word yet on Lisa's Saddlebred mare, Kentucky. Keeping my fingers crossed for her. Oscar would love a girlfriend!
s'all for now...
r