Better than Summer, and better than Winter.
I often wonder if she'd stay with me if I let her go. As I fumbled for my camera and stuffed the Garmin in my pocket, she wandered around eating things, and she exhaled the smells of a variety of plants.
Germans have a word for tree-lined street. This one goes on and on, I rode Baasha down it once and said "never again" but here we were.
At the end was a flag showing the coat of arms for our city. Our village has its own, I'll have to find one and take a photo. Whenever I see people flying these flags, I think they must be politicians.
Our village tack shop. It's called "The horse freak." At the convention I saw their booth and said, "Hi neighbor!" He replied, "This is our actual job, the store is just a hobby."
We had come from the trees you can see at the far right. The trees to the left are the ones lining that street. I didn't get pics, but there were sheep and cows and even domestic deer (some sort of deer farm). It's almost time for all hooved animals to go into barns for the next several months.
Silver and Dahkim seem to have never seen a donkey before. I was laughing at them. Silver, the TB, was much more upset than the Arabian. Since the TB is owned by the husband, and the wife owns the Arab, I wonder if they have breed wars in their home. The owners are the people who own the "Hawaiian Silver" arena I sometimes visit. They have the nicest fence in the city. An actual wooden fence! But sadly they only let their horses on it a few hours per day in good weather, and they are stalled all Winter long.
Donkey!
Almost home, we passed the Haflinger farm and this is the only horse who stopped eating to see the donkey. Look at that chest, he should be plowing fields!
Adorable. He had a silvery black muzzle I wanted so badly to touch. He was very nervous about the donkey and at one point, the donkey snorted and he whirled away in a dash for safety. Then he came right back.
Where we were, we could see a sliver of our field. The little bit in the middle behind the foreground slope is ours. Before we finished our fence, I would take a big shortcut home and simply ride Baasha through this field. Maybe you can see how we live in a hole.
Oh, mane on both sides! He had a massive shoulder and that perfect color gradation I was talking about.
He wanted so badly to greet Bellis, but she was busy eating.
Almost home, I stopped to take a picture of this way-too-red tree.
Bellis is getting much better in her manners and walks at my side without pulling or trailing behind. I barely have to hold the rope at all - I let her carry most of the rope across her back.
Today is leaf raking day (walnut leaves are horrible to rake) in both the back and front yards. I doubt I'll have the energy for a walk after that.
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9 comments:
The colors, climate and vegetation there are so similar to ours, at one point I had double-checked to see if your part of Germany was on the same latitude as MD, but no: the entire country is much further north than we are. We even have the vinegar trees, just like the one you had taken pictures of last year, that was so pretty. Every time I see them, I think of you. :)
Fall is my favorite time of year, especially now when those intense reds show up on the trees and bushes (we have them here now too!) All my life I lived in places that stayed green year-round due to the intense heat and humidity. (I would probably have loved living in forever-green places if the climate had been more pleasant year-round! I know your home state is far nicer. :) ) I like seasons because they are a tangible evidence of the passing of time, which can be both a good and a bad thing.
That Hafie really is adorable!
Oh that is so sweet of you to say - I've been looking closely at the vinegar tree/bush and waiting for the color to change. You know when we had our honeymoon on the East Coast, my first and only time there (13 states in 12 days!) I was shocked at how much like Germany it is, the landscape, the plants and trees, the climate. Even the architecture, being so much older than the West Coast. I loved all the rock fences and the black window shutters on brick houses, the fact that it wasn't nearly as populated as Germany was nice too. I also remember New Orleans, driving through the oak tree tunnel streets, but it was Winter, and the oaks were all green. How is that possible? It never gets cold enough for them to lose leaves, I was told. Wow. Is that like your home?
Because of our latitude, Winter days are much shorter than home. As much as I dislike having 4 seasons (cuz of the 2 that suck), I am glad our days change length significantly. It would be so odd to live in the equatorial zone.
lots of pretty there, and I'm glad that you are able to spend some time with Bellis. She seems like such a nice donkey!
Just beautiful. The leaves Bellis and the Haflinger. My mare is a thick drafty gal. Makes my butt look smaller I tell peoplelol
Oh my word! You have taken some really beautiful photos. Your countryside looks so very lovely, I envy your nice surroundings. You caught the beauty of the trees, their changing color and the angle of the sunlight quite nicely, I had to look back at those photos several times just because they were so pretty.
It is always interesting, and sometimes humorous, to hear about your interactions and outings with Bellis. I (we've) grown quite fond of her. I'm glad that she is keeping you company, and I'm glad that you are keeping her company.
The horses reactions to Bellis are funny and so varied. The Haflinger is so cute and chunky, it is impossible not to be drawn to them, they are such a pretty breed.
Have a good rest of the week!
Kay
I love it that you take Bellis on walks. I had a Morgan mare that I took walks with in Indiana. Such lovely picutres.
It is; that's exactly what home is like: it never gets cold enough for the leaves to change colors. There are trees that bloom only during the hottest months (the flamboyan trees, which have the most intense red flowers; they also come in yellow but red is most common) and then our roble trees only bloomed in March-April with so many pale pink flowers....when they fell off, they covered the ground in a thick blanket of flowers, looking like pale pink snow.
The biggest changes are in the ocean though: November through March is when the seas are at their stormiest. Which meant if you were into surfing like I was, you'd spend the most time in the water during those months. :)
And yes: PR is close enough to to the equatorial zone that days in "winter" are only 2-3 hours shorter. :)
I too love the old stone houses and walls that are typical of the East coast! So much history.
It is sad that Germans think there animals need to stay inside most of the time. We saw big barns full of cattle and lovely fields all around them. I never saw how they raise pigs but know they sure eat a lot of pork, more so then beef.
The color gradation on Haflingers is caused by pangaré. It is also seen in Belgians, Exmoor ponies and Fjords. There are probably others but I'm drawing a blank right now. It's really cool though isn't it?
Your area is so pretty! We had such a bad drought that we completely missed the fall colors. Everything was already dead before fall got here. Thanks for sharing the pretty pictures!
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