viimeinen kesälomapäivä

Freely

Pelle and Clara roaming freely all around our yard.
They stay close by even when they are allowed free, and happly go back inside the fenced area if the gate is open.

As Roope said: "it is only now that I really feel like we OWN a horse and a donkey."

A new day and sun is shining!

Above is Pelle, on his first morning at home. Shetland pony size fits fairly well... the chest is to big for him; you can see the rubberbands on the side... :)

As they say in Finland, "tired but happy". Or maybe I should say the other way around, "happy but tired".

Physically I am exhausted and just might go and take a nap soon. Mentally I have been drained - but have risen above the circumstances. There is no way I can made decisions for the others, so I just have to make sure that I keep trying to make the right ones for me. Spiritually - renewed day by day, through the grace of the One Who Knows All, even knows me better than I do know myself.

However, in the midst of it all, there are people whom I love and feel their love for me! Thanks for the phone calls, dear ones! You know who you (plural) are!! Heh, as hard as it is to say personally, here publicly it is easy to declare: I love you. You are dear to me.

Yesterday we got our horse and donkey home. For a moment things felt very sad - you should have seen her (Clara) as she pulled back (she is usually an easy traveller!) and went back to the fence, stood muzzle to muzzle with Hemppa (her horse-friend for the summer), as if saying goodbye... I felt like crying when I watched the friends part. But then she and Pelle got into the trailer and we started our journey home. Hemppa called after them and that was one of the saddest sounds I have heard... But we had to leave him there all by himself. Poor boy, he could have used a friend at that time.

But we got home and had a happy reunion. Even before we unloaded Pelle and Clara, our goat Yrjö was greeting them through the side door - and they were obviously happy to see each other. Strange, but you could really see that. And in just a little time, they were all happily grazing together in the new corral. There are no words to tell how I feel, even now, seeing the "hoof animals" from my window all the time, and being able to say hello to them whenever I want. Roope has been "chatting" with them all evening and first in the morning. This is how animals should be owned, kept right at your own yard!

Just before Roope had to leave (they are playing with VIP in a Christian event, Ruskagospel) tonight, we had a phonecall. About a mile away there had been a cat in a tree since yesterday morning. A friend thought it might be ours - and off we went to find out. It was Iitu, one of our first cats. We could have never gotten her down without the help of Veli, a local farmer, who had a "lift" (I do not know what it is called in Finnish, how could I know what it is in English??) and he helped Roope to get 6 m high... and then the cat was chased with the long ladder up to the very top of the tree. Then Roope bent the top branches so that they broke - and could just reach the cat and got her down. Little kitty purred all the way home, pressing herself to me. Poor girl, rough 24 hours - but happy ending!

... but now the nap and then back to yard work, fencing (the ordered materials came in yesterday! Fast delivery, thanks Börjes!!), and a nice stroll with the hooflings to see the surroundings...

Hard to keep on track!

On the above photo is Juolukka, the newest addition to our family. We got her in the beginning of September.

Have you ever had those times in life, when you think things go this way and suddenly, something unexpected happens and everything (or almost, at least) seems to flip over and turn upside down? How you think you are doing something very ordinary and that brings about something that will end up changing just about every plan you had? Well... this is how I feel now...

In just two days my life has gained new directions and thrown me into some deep waters. It all started when I called an old friend and heard that they had a small, transportable stable for sale for a really good price... so we took some 15 minutes to think about it and made a quick decision to buy it.

Things have evolved and we have to move our horse and donkey this coming Friday. So, on Monday we heard about the possibility, Friday we will move animals... and now in between we try to get everything ready and make preparations so that moving is possible. And in all this, there is also people-tangles involved...

And so that this would not be too simple, last few weeks have been ... ... interesting, to say at least. I am not in the mood to share details with all the world - but if you are a Christian who is reading, I could truly use your prayer support...

Hopefully things will even up here and I will eventually get back on track with all, including updating my blog.