Arena aka Yard Sale and Sundries

Our new welcome sign, purchased at the Arts and Crafts Fair this past weekend, survived last night's storm.

I worried while putting it up on Monday what would happen if another big wind came up.  Well, the sign remained unscathed, which indicates that this latest storm had a much kinder, gentler nature than the two previous editions.

Thank you, Mother Nature . . . only a few limbs to pick up this morning. 

Yesterday we had a neighborhood mystery:  whose horses had decided to visit our neighbors for several hours.   They were friendly and happy to hang around with the Yaks across the fence, and they seemed to be very good friends.

A gentle lick on the nose from a friend when you've been out all night can be very reassuring.  

Several pictures, including this one, were posted on Facebook, and numerous helpful FB'ers shared the photos.

In spite of all the publicity, it took a trip over to the fairgrounds for a 4-H judging gig and a mention to our Forest Siding neighbor/fellow interview judge, Doug Stockdale, to learn that the horses normally live at a farm on North Kootenai Road.

Doug knew the horses and said he had seen them at their home the day before.

After a text to Alyssa, the mystery was solved and horses returned to their home after a day of grazing and yakking with Yaks.  

Bingerbruck, Germany, and Annie on the search for another geocache.  Turns out one of Annie's geocaching friends announced that she'd gone to the wrong place.

Annie found a geocache there and noted that it's "just your ordinary geocaching location."

In Germany, that is.

Another FB friend informed her that the castle is just 200 years older than the United States.

After a night in Am Rhein, Annie will head on tomorrow to meet colleagues and a host of geocaching friends in Munich. 

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In other news, on Monday, my sisters summoned me to follow them to the indoor arena just south of their big barn. They wanted to show me something.

I followed them through the barn and across the concrete slab where they tie horses for grooming, shoeing and saddling and out the gate.  

We soon entered the arena from the northwest gate, where I eyed the extensive living room arrangement, complete with couches, overstuffed chairs and even a coffee table, all strategically arranged on a big blue tarp.

Yup, a complete living room, waiting for the right customers to come along, look at the prices for this "gently" used furniture, hand over some bucks and haul it all off. 

That's the plan anyway for the living room set (whole thing or separate pieces) when the area where they exercise their horses turns into a giant family garage---er---arena sale.  

Besides furniture, the offerings will include clothes, lots of horse tack, kitchen items and "eclectic" sundries that take up too space and need to find new homes.  

My sister Barbara may offer some of her photography and maybe Willie too. I'll have some of my books available for reduced prices and an autograph, if desired. 

We have a lot of work to do between now and Friday, as everyone has been a bit on the busy side.  The cooler weather and relatively open schedules over the next two days ought to be helpful in getting ready. 

We've never organized a family-style arena/garage sale, so this ought to be quite the adventure, and the event could inspire material for a good story or two. 

The sale should begin at 8 a.m. both Friday and Saturday at the Tibbs Arabian Ranch (you'll get to see the gorgeous new fence and maybe pet a horse's nose).  

Tibbs Arabians is located on HWY 95 and Center Valley Road just past Wood's Meats if you're coming from Sandpoint.  Use the first driveway. 

It will last until most or all of the "stuff" is gone. 

No earlybirds, please!

Happy Wednesday!