Beautiful summer night

Corky and I didn't have a whole lot of time this evening, but the temps were perfect, the sun was shining and I knew with the flies just starting that riding time was going to get more precious, so off we went.  Corky moved right out and along as we followed the roads.  The ticks are thick right now, so I was avoiding the woods.  I thought about going to this area where there is a bridge to see how he does with them, but we just didn't have enough time, but there will be plenty of more rides for that!  The light breeze helped keep the flies away pretty much and Corky was just real attentive to what his surroundings were, ears perked up, looking left and right, as we hadn't been down this road before.  We came to a neighbor's house that has a single horse.  She is unrideable and I kind of feel bad for her, all by herself.  She came to the fence and Corky called to her, but she didn't return the call.  Corky REALLY wanted to go meet her, but I gave him gentle nudges and he continued on down the road.  We were about to hit blacktop when I decided we should head back.  Not very far I spied these blackbirds.  At first I thought it was a mating ritual, but then realized they were picking up stones from the freshly replaced culvert. 

As you can see in the distance there is a nice white fence and a lovely centennial farm.  It's the Norton farm and it was established in 1881.  It's hard for me to imagine having something in the family for that long, as that has never happened in my family.

As we got closer to the driveway and fence, Corky turned to go up the driveway as if to say, "Let's investigate" or "Wouldn't it be nice to live there, Mom?  They have a nice barn and nice pastures and I bet the house is really nice too!"

As we continued on we came to a field that we had crossed leaving for our ride and there were at least 100 seagulls evidently hunting for bugs and as we started across the field they all went into flight and I felt like I was in a sea of beautiful white seagulls briefly and then they landed again to hunt some more.

The pictures didn't turn out of the seagulls as well as I had hoped, but the white blotches are seagulls in flight or on the ground and you can just see their heads.  I hope all is well in your world!

Janeen and Corky from the UP of Michigan