Huck Finn

So we went to visit Eli, Adam's guitar student. He keeps busy, this one. He raises chickens, goats, rabbits and I'm sure other animals that I am forgetting and breeds them. Ha! This little rabbit will be around 30 to 40 pounds when it is full grown...

And if you know me at all, you'll know that I was REEEAAAALLLLLLY happy to visit the goats.

Here are the banty chickens. They are tiny. and full grown...

I think this is Ruby the mule. She was very pretty and TALLLLL.
The white horse is Wayne and I think the brown one is Roany (I didn't ask him how he spelled his name...).

That is Paul. I rode him and he was very nice to me. Didn't try to knock me off by riding under trees (like Roany did to Adam... just had to throw that in there) and was very understanding of my lack in riding ability. I like Paul. (Really, Cheryl, his name was Paul. I giggled a lot to myself about that during the ride.)

That is my husband swinging from a rope thirty feet above solid ground. Nough said.

Spring fed trough for horses...

and boys... (he's making it clean to drink out of...) :)

Hence the smiles. That is Kelly there with Adam. This woman deserves some sort of medal. She is an awesome mom.

drinking...

Thank you, Paul, for letting me ride you. You were a very nice horse...

And thanks to our new friend. We had fun, Eli!! Thanks for showing us your world. We really liked it.

One Month of Lessons ...

I'm at the beginning of a hellish two days (hellish because of all of the driving and not hellish because I get to see my Rachel and Sadie through their annual Christmas concert) and thought I would take one of my only minutes to myself that does not involve driving to share a typical "Elena Lesson". First of all, I must say that this is her fourth lesson, I think. Close to that anyway.

The kid loves to play.... she's memorizing songs already... and figuring out the mechanics of moving her bow and her fingers at the same time.

Mind you, her fiddle is too big... I didn't have one that was her size, so she is playing a half size violin in tune and with GREAT technique I might add.

When she plays for me without her music, this is what I see. I guess it takes off some of the pressure? I like it, though. She's a neat kid and I'm so happy to have her as part of my studio.

See you after tomorrow is over... the recitals and concerts of the kids that I teach really take it out of me. I know that they will do well...it is just the doing of it. The seeing things through that is stressful to me - because giving your own recital is a big deal, folks. When I start teaching someone like Elena or any of my younger students, I look forward to the day that they can give their own concerts and then when that day comes, I feel like I am going to throw up!! Then I get over it, act like a big girl, and become a proud teacher.... until the next recital...