Twas the Best of Days . . . .

I told my friend Kathy, who's visiting from the Portland area this weekend, that this is one of the worst times to look at horses because of mud and a lot of fuzzy hair. 

That didn't matter.  She and some other mutual friends simply donned their barn boots and came to see what Kathy wanted to see:  the champ and Little CB. 

They also spent time with Lily here at the Lovestead.  Most of Kathy's family has ridden Lily on other visits. 

The visit lasted only a couple of hours but created memories to savor for a long time:  especially the smiles and the laughs.  

It was fun listening to Barbara and Laurie tell their story of the trip to Nationals in Tulsa last September, and it was fun for the group, which included Barbara and Laurie's favorite math teacher, to look over the trophies, ribbons and garlands that come with national championships. 

Both Barbara and Laurie are accumulating enough loot from winnings that they may have build a structure to house the collection. 

We went to the barn and the horses came to visit, as they always do. I turned CB loose to run in the arena.  

He put on quite the show----especially when he jumped into the section of plastic fence at the north end of the arena and pulled it all down.

Amazingly, he just got out of the mess and went on prancing and visiting. CB is a confirmed people lover. 

There's a common denominator among the group who came to visit yesterday:  education, so, of course, the visit included a little teacher talk. 

It was a beautiful day yesterday for outside stuff.  I took advantage of the conditions in the morning and did a few fix-it jobs related to the "fun" destruction that winter brings. 

Then, after the fun visit with longtime friends, I jumped into the next project:  gathering ingredients and doing some cooking for the "breakfast for dinner" eating fest leading up to the ZAGS-St. Mary's game. 

What a spread it ended up being in my sisters' kitchen:  hotcakes with Nancy's Vermont maple syrup, scrambled eggs with cheese and ham,  French bread, muffins, wonderful fruit plates, sausage links, mini breakfast pies!  

Seems we all outdid ourselves in making sure there was "enough."  There was!

And, what could top off an already phenomenal Saturday any better than a truly phenomenal ZAGS win over the Gaels.  The ZAGS played one of their best games of the season last night, and it paid off big time----for them and for their loyal fans. 

So, yes, twas one of the best of days so far this year.  The stars lined up among friends, family, food and the ZAGS for a winner all the way around. 

Happy Sunday.  

Kathy Berkley, Tammy Benham, Rick Gehring, Ann Gehring, Laurie Tibbs and Barbara Tibbs:  all educators and, of course, good peeps.