Dee Blair

Dear readers, 

Joe, Bryn and I are hosting another week-long gathering of family from various parts of this great country. As I am deeply involved in the lives of Bryn, toddlers, a 3-day family wedding, horses, hikes, bike trips,…

Many people touring Sunnybank’s secret garden this year have commented on the decorative cast iron fence that frames the front garden and house, so I thought I’d relate again how it came to be here. 

  
A crisp autumn day…

I’m on a nearly constant weed hunt in the secret garden, which necessitates crawling around under shrubs and large flower groups. Sometimes silly, funny memories pop up. Savoring them, it’s easy to forget my irritation... 

One November day a…

Doors, like the gazillion phone and electric wires that lace the space over our heads, have become invisible. But they can elicit admiration. 
People who tour my secret garden always exclaim over the five big, curved ancient-looking doors that introduce…

 After Bryn’s surgery to remove a cancerous neck tumor I was given meds to administer for potential infection and to control her pain. She mended well, and quickly these drugs became unnecessary. But they’d taken their toll. Her carefully managed…

This has been a difficult 14 days for Joe and me. In the past few months I’d begun to notice too many micro-signals that something was ‘off’ with Bryn- the set of her tail, her walk, a slight energy decline...signs…

These last ten days have been truly challenging, and to cope better I’ve pulled up some stored memories to relish. This one dates back to 2011, when Joe, Lisa, our younger daughter, and I visited California for a wedding. 

…

My daughter and I were chatting in my kitchen when my friend Les, who was working outside, climbed the porch stairs, opened the screen door and said, quietly, “We’ve got a serious situation developing.” He glanced toward the North Gate’s…

Chella, a gorgeous 21-year-old black Friesian gelding now living at Casalae Farms’ superb stable, has a story that is at once awful and hopeful. 
Here’s how I came to know him, and his very nice, deeply caring owner, Laurie. 

Last Sunday two fine things happened.  

Connie, my first teacher, invited me to ride the Farm’s Arabian stud stallion, Menesson, outside in the big, grassy, white fenced paddock. I’d ridden only in their big indoor arena for the past…

Sometimes the scent of chocolate evokes sweet memories; when I use Cocoa Shell Mulch in my secret garden’s flowerbeds, they surface, summoning a smile. 
This most intriguing ‘earth blanket’ adds an ordered, smart look to flowerbeds while emitting, for a…

Casalae Farms’ stable usually has a ‘present’ for me to discover and unwrap. Whether small or big, each one gives me a more complete picture of The Way of Horses. 

Here’s last Tuesday’s bright gift. 

Bryn-dog and I…