The End of an Era

This is Laura's spring soccer team. The first of the Phenix teams, as Phenix expands into a megalopolis, rivaling the populous cities of Charlotte Court House and Eureka.
Laura is in the back row, next to coach Tom.
Spring soccer turned out to be more than just a sport, it became a community of parents, coaches, and players. We all made friends, and by the last game, we had become one cohesive unit, rather than many separate players.
Being on a team added a different dimension to the girls' lives, since ice skating is an individual sport for the most part.
Since March, we've all been busy with Phenix soccer in one way or another. I coached the U6s, Katie played on the U9s, Laura on the U12s, and Becky was all around assistant coach and gofer.
This fall the girls will move up to the next age level, which makes us sad to leave our coaches and some friends, but I'm sure we'll recover quickly once we start playing again.
Now that I have three extra days a week free, I might start blogging again!

Snowflake in Clover

Chocolate Chip

A whole lot of stuff has happened on the farm since I last blogged, most of it bad.
I'm just recovering from a pinched nerve which I inflicted upon myself while trying to do gymnastics with the youngsters.

The tide has turned however, and yesterday morning we awoke to Margaret's newly born chocolate colored calf. Margaret is much too young to be calving, so it's a special blessing that he's healthy and her birth went well.
I wish that he would stay brown, but I imagine he'll turn black as he ages.

A Long Expected Pony

Here, at last, is Vidalia with her filly.

This is my brother's family's pony and foal. Last January my baby brother bought her on Craigslist for $75, and I brought her home to Providence Farm. Little did we know that Adrienne at Southern Belle Farm was running an unadvertised buy-one-get-one special.

By February we suspected a pregnancy, and by a month ago, we were almost positive.

Those of you with horse experience are thinking, "Good, then you had time to pull her off of fescue grass and feed her hay."

I'll be brutally honest. I forgot all about fescue and its birth ruining endophytes till two days before the birth. And when I remembered, way too late, I felt sick about my mistake.

My Amish friend listened to my worries and having attended many a fescue foal's birth, gave me lots of pointers.

The girls and I wanted the baby born on April 30, her owner's birthday. I checked her at 12:16 a.m. on the 30th, then went to bed. At 5 a.m., I checked again. Lo and behold, a dry and healthy filly was standing by her side! No problems with fescue or anything else, apparently.

My camera broke right before the birth, so these pictures are when she's a day and a half old.

You will be seeing many updates in future. We are head over heels in love with this baby.