Coolest Field Trip Ever!

Today we went to Damascus, Maryland, to a horse rescue! Its called Day's End Farm, http://www.defhr.org/ and it was *so* neat!
First, we heard all about the amazing work Day's End does to rehab and adopt out horses taken by animal control due to abuse and neglect. Very sad to see some of the photos of the resident horses as emaciated skeletons.
With the economy in a downturn, the neglect cases rise, because horses are very expensive to keep. This guy in the barn, above, has a bad case of "cribbing", repetitive motions horses do to calm themselves if they are stressed. He spent most of his life locked in a manure filled stall in the dark, so he is quite stressed. Physically, he's fine, which is the good news!
The girls learned about caring for horses hooves and coat, feeding and watering.

Then the girls got to groom some horses.Next it was time to ride some of the rehabilitated horses who are up for adoption. Most of the horses at the farm make full recoveries, though some cannot be ridden they can be companion animals. I wish we had the room and money to take one (or four!) home.

For animal loving girls, it was the Coolest Field Trip ever. I got a kick out of Gryphon- she knows a surprising amount about horses!

*Gryphon got into...something...and has a terrible allergic reaction right now on her face and neck. The doctor said its some kind of contact thing, but what, exactly, we don't know. SO while she looks really scary, she is fine except for some itching!*

Played hooky and went to the beach today!

We went to the beach today, trying to capture the last of the warm sunny days. This time we went to Calvert Cliffs beach, in search of fossils.

To get to the water, you have to do a 1.8 mile hike through some really beautiful wetlands.

I need to find out what kind of snake this was- the picture doesn't do it justice. It was a lovely red!
We found several fossils, one of which we *think* is some sort of bone.Gryphon suggested taking it up to Natural History and asking them, which is a great idea. I hope it isn't just a bumpy rock!

We also found several shark's teeth, and another home schooled family with a girl Gryphon's age. The girls had a blast making things out of the clay found on the beach (the reason for the great fossils!) After a day at the beach and almost 4 miles of hiking, we were all tired! Love the beach.

First Day of School

Hard to believe I have a 2nd grader and a 5th grader this year!

Highlight of the day was Mark joining us for Korean. He sat at the table and took notes and everything.

Yes, I am on my way to becoming a Crazy Cat Lady

Meet Groucho!

He was a worm, flea and tick ridden feral kitten who wound up under my neighbor's porch for 2 days. Mark helped me lure him out (it took hours!) and now, well, he's ours!

Rocko is none to pleased about this, of course. Cleo thinks he's sort of cute. Groucho, who weighs in at a whopping 1 pound, does not seem to get the message that Cleo outweighs him by 73 pounds, and often attacks Cleo's tail. He has even jumped on Cleo's back. They sleep on the couch together- so cute!!

So here is Groucho, the newest Beaudry-Stauffer member.