Look Who's Five!!!

August 26, 2004.
Happy Birthday Giovanna Asham Fahim!

She was born to Spyder, (I Spied Her),
a Swedish Warmblood mare of exquisite manner and grace.

Spyder

Her father is Omega Fahim, an Arabian of phenomenal talent and temperament.

Meg

To learn more about her sire, Omega Fahim, go to Kerrigan Bloodstock Arabians.

In the Beginning...

Check out the legs.

Catch me if you can!

From the front.

Sure looked like she was going to be tall, didn't it?

Fast forward to September, 2007.

Here she is, just before she came home to be with Berhwood and Red.

June, 2008, with her favorite non-horse person, Stuart.
Tacked up, working out.

July, 2008, Hanging with Berhwood.

November, 2008. Blissfully unaware of the changes a-coming...

January 1, 2009. Moved to Boise. In the snow. At Night.

Did she mention it was snowing?

Yep, snow. Fun to roll in.

February, 2009.


March, 2009. Woo Hoo! Yes, she's always in the lead.


May, 2009. And suddenly she was a mare.
A very pretty mare.
Where'd that scrawny filly from February go?


May, 2009. Giraffe Horse with her Uncle Stuart


July 2009, trying on western wear.

August, 2009, just before her birthday. Ride 8 or so!

Thanks, Giovanna, for being here. I don't believe I've ever met as smart a mare, as kind a spirit, or as willing a comrade. Really glad our paths crossed as serendipitously as they did.

Semester Three

Fires lead to great moon shots in Boise.
(I'm experimenting with picture options. Click on the pictures to see full sized images.)

Well, I'm back at it. After discussing my options for this semester while back in Humboldt, I decided to take the plunge and go for the 5 classes. Why? Because I will be done with all required classes, and I will be able to move back home in June to finish my dissertation. I'll need to come back to Boise a few times to take care of meetings and such, but I can finish the work I need to do back home, and I'll be able to start working again.

That said, I'll be on a seriously turned-up treadmill for the next three months. Very exciting classes, though. I have a qualitative and a quantitative methods course, and courses in curriculum and current issues in education, and a field study class (where I'll be interning at the charter school I am studying). On top of that, I'm working on several projects/papers for my graduate assistantship, and beginning to plan out my dissertation study and get the preliminary paperwork and planning out of the way.

Speaking of that dissertation thing... I am planning to study the "grammar of schooling", which is the way that school is, and is "supposed to be" that everyone has programmed into their brains from their own experiences. It is one of the reasons that school reform is so difficult, because everyone is an expert (because of personal experience) on school. I am studying a school that has a very different grammar of school (a charter school centered on expeditionary learning) and interviewing some 8th graders to find out what their grammar of school is. I will also be interviewing some 8th graders who have attended traditional schools, and some high school students from both schools, as well. It's more complicated than that, but at least that'll give you an idea of where I'm headed. Once I have my full proposal, I can post it so those interested can see the nuts and bolts of it. It will be interesting, and no one has looked into this before. It is assumed that there is a grammar of schooling, and that everyone has it. It's a theory that hasn't really been tested.

There's Miss Giovanna under saddle. We got in about 5 rides before my trip to Humboldt, and then she got corneal ulcers (3!!) which have sidelined her for a bit. Among other reasons for wanting to be done with Idaho is how much my horses have been ill, sick, or injured since we moved here. Not sure what the deal is, but it has been non-stop. At any rate, she is recovering, and making progress. Finally started turning the corner yesterday, after almost two weeks of treatment. Very glad.

While I was in Humboldt, I painted about half of my childhood home. It was a working vacation, see? Also helped a friend with painting her house and prepping for her landscaping. Visited with other friends, picked up some incredible fish, got my computer updated and cleaned, and picked up the new lenses for my glasses. Was very difficult to step back into my Idaho life after settling back into my Humboldt life, but I've been intensely busy since the minute I got back. Not much time for anything else, which has been good.

Pictures of childhood home Painting project:

Before painting

Before painting. You can see Arcy and Georgia if you look close...

After painting. Oops, gotta finish the upper part! I did, but didn't get a picture of it...

Finished with the front.

Primer stage, but great shot of Georgia!

Almost There...

Arcy knows how to take it easy...

One week left, and I'm done with the ten-week summer marathon. Have I learned a ton? Yes. Am I glad I did it? Yes. Glad I'm almost on the other side of it? Let me count the ways....LOL. Good news is I have my dissertation focus, which was one of my big goals this summer. So far, so good.

The walnut tree outside my home office window. Been watching the walnuts grow as a distraction to studying...lol

Despite the fact that I have not posted lately, I have been getting out and doing some things other than school...

Went to see Lyle Lovett and his Large Band, in concert. Francine Reed was back, and her voice was as good as ever. I was in the nosebleed section of lawn, but the music was great.

Nose-bleed lawn..

Very entertaining to watch these early twenties security people try to control the ever drunker crowd. There were the "reserved" bathrooms and the "general" bathrooms. The folks who were in general seating, but nearer to the reserved bathrooms than the general bathrooms kept trying to get across the security line to go to the bathroom. They argued, they flirted, they ignored, they yelled, depending on their state of inebriation and personality. Some set up these elaborate distractions while friends jumped across and went. Was pretty funny. I felt bad for the security guy who kept trying to get his fellow security guards to come help, and they just laughed at him.

Best shots I could get with the zoom on my camera.

Started taking riding lessons on a Trakehner mare named Sage. She is BIG. An honest 16.3, and I'd swear she was taller, especially when I'm trying to groom her back. She is a sweet horse, and I am getting a great opportunity to work on my position and technique, so I can be a better rider for Ber and Gio. The trainer's name is Grace Owsley, and I'm enjoying working with her.

Sage and me, at the end of an hour, half of that on a lunge. Phew.

I've also been eating fresh corn from the field down the road, (and sharing with Georgia the Corn Dog who yodels for her corn cobs), working in Sheila and Danny Beals' garden and eating all the produce I can eat, canning up jam, working with my horses, and taking the girls for their daily walks. Went to a pool party at Vicki Johnson's house. She is the real estate agent that was helping us look at property up here before I decided to rent.

Started working with a new farrier, Kathy Hopkins, who is an "equine podiatrist." I learned more about the biomechanics of the foot in the three hours we spent on my horses' feet than I learned in many years of trimming. I'm very pleased with how their feet look, and Giovanna is good to start riding again as of yesterday (vet gave her two thumbs up). Berhwood is on two weeks of no work. His feet are causing him pain, and the vet wants him to rest. He needs some sole-protective devices, but I'm waiting until my next appt. with Kathy the equine podiatrist before I decide what that device will be. I just want him to be free from pain so he can move freely.

My humming birds' babies are big enough to come to the feeder now, so it's a mob fest when all of them come in. I found out that they are "black-chinned" hummingbirds. Now one of the parents looks like she's carrying eggs, she's so round.

Hummer is on the left--check out the belly!

The local version of the snowy plover from Humboldt is the killdeer. I have several that are nesting in the area. Here is one of the nests. Talk about trusting the universe! Yeah, I just put my egg out on the rocks, it's camoflauged, it'll be fine. The babies hatch out ready to move and fly. Like tiny versions of their parents. The girls have stumbled across a couple babies on our walks.

Killdeer "nest."

With the temperatures rarely dipping below 90 degrees for the last month, the girls and I have been maximizing our use of the fans and window air conditioner, and the horses have become sprinkler fans.

However, this last week of weather has been an absolute delight. Rain for four days!!! Over cast, temps about 60 degrees. I have been spending a lot more time outside and felt motivated to get things done, like rake up all the old hay and prepare the storage area for the 5 or 6 tons of grass hay coming in September. Want to avoid having hay delivered in the middle of a snow storm, okay? lol.

Seems fitting that the weather should become so much like Humboldt, just when I'm gearing up for a week's vacation! Friday the 14th, I head home. Fall semester begins August 24, so I have a ten-day window of time. Won't be able to visit home again until Thanksgiving week. There is a girl down the street who will be watching the horses. The girls are coming with me, and we'll be staying at the Trinidad house while I paint the outside of the house. Yes, that's my idea of a vacation, painting! Will also be doing some work at my McKinleyville house, helping a friend with some work on her house, doing a lot of horsing around, and visiting with friends and the outdoors. As per usual, I have way more that I want to do than I have time for, but I'm an optimist. Don't mess with an optimist. lol.

Trinidad beach, looking north.

Doubt I'll get much computer time while I'm gone. I'll post again when I get back, with tons of pictures! For now, I'll leave you with a picture of where I'm headed....

Trinidad Head, looking south.