Closing in on a Record

Daybreak was cloudless, the morning clear without a cloud in the sky. One would think we were going to have another beautiful day and just maybe get out of the almost constant rain but that would be wrong. It was pleasant doing the chores this morning. Emma, the mare not Emma the dog was given her bucket of beet pulp and grain while Marika and her colt were put outside. The water tank in the field was dumped and filled with clean water then the stalls cleaned. By that time Emma had finished her grain so she and her colt were turned out.  By the time we left for church the clouds were rolling in and by the time we left church for home storms were threatening. Willis had the morning service with the theme "Be not Afraid." It is such a pleasure for us in Peoria to have Willis and his wife Lois living here. Mike Rieker had the afternoon service. There was a big announcement in Peoria. Tim Funk stood up in the afternoon and announced, "we all know Emily Ricketts has been attending here for a while, we would like to announce that she is repenting." At first we were so upset that she would be announced (for marriage) while gone and without telling us, then we were like, wait a minute she has been a member for years and finally we put 2 and 2 together and realized Tim was announcing her sister Megan, he just said the wrong name. Emily is really going to be teased when she makes it home.
Rhoda and Lee came over after church and brought their new dog Lila. She is a 3 year old Cockapoo weighing in at 13 pounds. She is more than likely pregnant with pups by a 7 pound Shih Tzu / Poodle. These puppies are going to be small and non shedding. How Rhoda got this dog is a strange story. She and Lee saw the ad for her on Craigslist, drove 2 hours to go see her and when they arrived the man that had her told them he had only had her for 1 day. The phone number he gave them of her previous owner was no longer in service. This seemed suspicious so Rhoda took her in to the vet clinic and sure enough she had a microchip. She was able to find that the original owner had been given the dog as a present and sold her. That was actually a relief to find that she was not a stolen dog. Not sure what one would call puppies that are Shih Tzu Poodle and Cocker mix but they will be non shedding and tiny. They are not due until August.
Phil and Anna and their 3 children along with Ben and Taunya and their 3 children joined Rhoda, Lee, Mark and I for supper. I had plenty of Lasagna cooking in the crockpot, hot garlic bread and salad but no dessert. Thankfully mom donated her cheese cake she was going to take to the Sunday School picnic for our dinner. There are usually plenty of desserts there and she had home baked sweet bread she was taking along with a big salad. So IF and this is a big IF there wasn't enough desserts at the picnic you can blame me. We had one rain storm come in before dinner and another big one after dinner. Mark helped move Emma, Marika, and their colts inside before the rain hit but once we got back to the house it started pouring. This may be enough rain to break the all time record for rain in the month of June but if not we will be very close.
Today was the last day for the Iceland group. They start their long journey home tomorrow. What an awesome trip this has been. Karin and Emily just couldn't leave this magical place without taking a scenic horse back riding tour on Icelandic's ponies. Below are a few pictures.

The group found a hot stream for a good soak after hiking. Who needs hot tubs when there are streams and creeks of hot water.

Hopefully they will be willing to share their adventures with words to go with all the pictures.