Friday August 10 (Napoleon)

Today was a day to remember! Lisa came home from work and managed a few hours sleep, we both showered and then headed off for Napolean. 

Not far from home we saw a yellow crop duster, it passed overhead and was quite low, it seemed as if it only just cleared the tree tops!

We were on our way to visit Cheri and Mike own a farm with Clydesdales that they have bred themselves. It was just a wonderful visit and the Clydesdales are truly magnificent.

We were met by the two dogs and the younger one kept barking at us. However, she eventually settled down and we were accepted, lol! The older of the two is 14 years old and is showing her age a wee bit. 

We went through to the barn where the horses live, they are not boxed but have a lovely large covered area and the females (sisters) are all together. They do have one male companion in with them, he is gelded, lol! 

They are gentle giants and are so people friendly, I just stood among them and as they all came over to see their humans. They are Canadian Clydesdales that are bred from horses originally coming from Scotland. 

One of them has white flecks running through her coat and is a roan. The horses go to shows and do parades as well as weddings and are used to being harnessed. I asked if they are also ridden and they are, the youngest, at five years old, is still beng broken in! 

There is an Irish legend about fairies and Clydesdales. It says that the fairies come out at night and ride the horses, the evidence of this is the twists that can be found in the mane of each horse the next morning, they are called Fairy Twists. 

Cheri said that she often finds twists in the manes even when they have been well groomed the day before!  

The stallion, Sonnie, is in a separate stall and is 19 or 20 years old. He is suffering from some sort of bacterial infection at the moment and the hot weatheris not helping him. He was very quiet and happy to be petted. 

We left these gorgeous horses behind and, on our way to visit the donkeys, we sw a beautiful monarch butterfly.

We also saw their outside kitty, orange and white, it was chasing a mouse, lol! He is a polydactyl, and does not really like being picked up. One of the donkeys is a miniature and they are both really cute.

 
There is a story about why there is a cross on a donkey's back, because a donkey carried a pregnant Mary into Jerusalem, the sign of the cross was placed there by God. 

Then we went inside to visit the kitties! There are five kitties, I think, lol, one of them has a bobbed tail, the calico likes going for rides in the buggy, the older one did not hang around and the other two seemed happy to be aorund us.

The middle room is wonderful as it is all about the Clydesdales. There are a couple of Budweiser posters and a collection of other memorabilia.

I would like to thank Cheri and Mike for welcoming us onto their farm and letting us visit with their wonderful Clydesdales, as well as all the other animals. i must admit I have fallen in love with those gorgeous horses!

On the way home we stopped at the Henry County Fair so Lisa could buy some ribs and other items from the Outlaw Attitude BBQ food truck! 

The owner gave Lisa a lift back to the parkng area in their run around! We ate a couple of burnt ends each to set us on our way, they were so tender!

The ribs had just come out of the smoker when Lisa reached the truck so she brought them home as they were and they went into the oven as soon as we arrived back. They were delicious, so tender with the meat falling off the bone, they made an ecellent tea!!