Serene Sunday

Spring has Sprung in North Carolina

Beautiful spring is here!  The grass is starting to green up, flowers are starting to bloom and pollen is EVERYWHERE!  I have lots to post but been so busy working on some stuff that I haven't had the chance to write.

I've also had an interview and attended a job fair with Labcorp where there were quick 10 minute interviews that 30 something of us were run through...kinda crazy.  Hoping I hear something soon.

Geek Acres planning seems to have a new life this spring with the hubby and I getting excited about planting things.   I'll post more as I get organized.

Our Farmlett Name?

I was recently asked in the comments what I've named my little farmlett.  I had Blue Crescent Stables for my Breyer barn when I was a kid.  What a grand name filled with show horses.

Now I have a small 4 acre plot with two horses, a hopeful orchard and future bees....plus we plan to start a garden.  We've named our pastures The Shire, Gallifrey and Westeros after some sci-fi and fantasy loves.  We have the "Wormhole" that is the sacrifice paddock that goes between them.  

It just makes sense to name it....Geek Acres.  Yes.  I'm sure I'm not the first, nor will I be the last but it's my little piece of this world and that name just works for us.  LOL.

And with that said, I'll leave you with this......

Tack Room

Spring organization at it's best.  Now if only I could get the motivation to organize parts of the house I've been neglecting....

I readjusted one of the blanket holders (every screw was stripped so that made the job extra fun!).  Then I added a shelf to better organize large bottles of horse supplies like fly spray, hoof oil and Excaliber boy cleaner!  I'm sure I'll be adding more organization later on but this is where we are right now.  Happy spring!

Breyer Horse Display

The former owner of the house had trains and cars displayed on plain wooden shelves above the windows in the bonus/office room.  I already knew once seeing it that I could maybe do something for my Breyer horses.  I've gotten a lot of ideas from Braymere Custom Saddlery.  I'm not longer an active hobbyist and when I was it was original finish but I live through reading her blog and seeing the amazing tack and miniature model horse stuff.

The shelving was narrow so the main worry was if one of the horses became unbalanced from vibration or something like that.  A fence seemed like the most logical answer and would add to the charm of the display.  I went to Michaels Arts and Crafts store to pick up some basswood pieces of the correct size to make a fence post and railings.

After measuring and cutting my husband and I were able to get the perfect fit of the fencing to span the shelf yet allow the horses room to be placed onto the shelf space.  Glue and paint; and vuala!

I tried to group the horses with different colors spread out so it wasn't just a tone on tone look.  My favorite coast colors being darker ones like bays and chestnuts being the majority of my collection this task was a little bit of a challenge but I think the few lighter color horses break up the monotony. 

All of the horses I have left from my childhood collection fit!  I've sold many in the past years since I had a ton and with getting my own horse and then moving it just never made sense to cart around boxes of model horses.  Now I have a fun display in an area of the house walls that would otherwise be empty aside from maybe a picture.  When I look up and see my precious collection I think of the horsinalities each Breyer was given and the games my childhood best friend Jessica and I would play.

There is Marshmellow, the colt who won championships at a local Breyer horse show and his adoptive uncle Firebolt (personality modeled after Jesse from Full House).  Then there was Jackie the buckskin pony who all the boys were hot for.  Then there was BC Requested a buckskin galloping horse I was so excited to get for Christmas.  BC was my "stable" name; Blue Crescent Stables.  Oh the joys of childhood.  Now I just need to figure out where I can put the barn my dad and I made together....I have a couple ideas....

Five, Six....Pick up Sticks

Our property has a little easement around it that makes for a nice little riding path in addition to riding down the neighborhood.  One section of the property had many low branches that I couldn't ride through without getting smacked.  The other area had some branches that were a bit too low but it was wide enough I could avoid them by steering Dani away from them.  I decided to cut all low lying branches to make it horseback friendly.

I cut down quite a few branches!  Then the hubby joined me with a ladder to get some of the taller branches off towards the woods. I haven't had a chance to ride through the newly cleared area yet but I will report!

Then in Westeros we decided to finally get rid of the thorny bush mess in the middle of the pasture.  There are also tons of gravel rocks there....not sure why.  We'll rake that area up and spread some grass seed there to fill it in, perhaps next weekend.  While we were cutting the thorn bush Chance decided to come over and see if it was edible.  Ugh, silly pony!

We later took the truck back into the easement to load up the branches for hauling off to the dump which mulches yard waste.  It was just damp enough near the end of the easement where it reaches a little dip before our neighbors driveway.  We got stuck.  Luckily our neighbor was out there and volunteered her tractor which made quick work of getting our truck onto solid ground.

Yeah, the ground here is soft even when it's been dry for a while!  We won't be trying that again.  We still have another section that needs a lot of work to allow horses to move through it plus there are some piles of dead wood and brush along the edges of the woods and in some treed areas.  I want to get those cleaned up and then see about planting some native bee and butterfly happy plants!  Slowly but surely we'll get our little to do list checked off.