We celebrated this Christmas with my sister, Patty Prime, and her family. Razz, our Cairn Terrier, especially enjoyed meeting Patty's newest grand daughter, Elsa Lane.

The whole family plus good friends, Marieclaire and Richard, went on a zip line adventure at Catawba Meadows over the Thanksgiving holidays. It was very exciting and a good test of fitness and courage. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to do something a little out of the ordinary.

The opening day of the Yadkin Valley Hounds was perfect in every way. The weather turned dramatically from clouds, wind and rain to bright sunshine for the blessing of the hounds. The sun remained out until the end of the hunt. We couldn't ask for more!

We were joined by our good friends, Bill, Kelley, Athena, Christine and Bernie for our 2011 grape harvest. Photo courtesy of Kelley Sarantis

Hollymead Hummingbird is now in her new home with Becky Jordan in Greensboro, NC. Photo courtesy of Becky Jordan.

Our grape vines were knocked down by straight line winds. The metal support poles bent and twisted like they were pipe cleaners. Fortunately, our good friends from Rag Apple Lassie Vineyard came to our rescue with the necessary equipment, new metal supports and a crew of workers. The vines were standing a few hours after this picture was taken.

Robin presented us with a stunning bay filly on the night of June 10. This little girl is a perfect combination of both parents, Loughrea's Seamus and Gately's Red Robin.We love her big feathery blaze and large dark eyes. We are working on a name for her.

The Holland Family returned from a vacation in Hawaii. We snorkeled on 4 islands and saw many beautiful reef fish and sea turtles.

Our Connemara stallion, Seamus, attended his first show today. He was entered in the Carolina Welsh Show's Mountain and Moorland 4 years an up class. To our delight he won that class and went on to win the Championship for Mountain and Moorland. We were thrilled when he was called back to go in the Champion class for the show including the Welsh pony champions. Seamus also won that class!! I am still on cloud nine. :-)

Our two year old Connemara filly, Lark, arrived in Utah today. We will miss her running around our pastures. She has a wonderful new home with two other Connemara fillies.

Shandora gave birth to a beautiful filly this morning by our stallion, Seamus. This picture was taken when she was about 12 hours old. We are very pleased with her!

Our good friend, Richard Roberson, joined Aubrie and me for the Yadkin Valley Hounds opening hunt. We spent hours the evening before cleaning and braiding the horses. We all had a fantastic time and hope to ride with the hunt several more times this season.

We attended a fox hunting clinic with the Yadkin Valley Hounds today. I have hunted with different fox hunts in the past and was amazed how much I didn't know! At the end of the day we were exhausted from practicing hunt field drills. We all learned the value of a sensible horse to ride. Aubrie and I were so happy to be mounted on our Irish mares. Aubrie also had the thrill of getting to go into the kennels and have her face licked by the fox hound puppies that were as tall as she was when they stood on their hind legs. The kennels were so clean and the hounds all were cheerful and friendly.

Larry has been working long hours on our grape vines. He has been removing leaves around the grape clusters to allow more sun to reach the grapes. Soon we will be harvesting and making wine! 

We had a hot but fun weekend in Thomson, GA, at the Region 4 Connemara Pony show. Aubrie and Sophie did a wonderful job showing Robin and Chick. The girls brought home several ribbons and increased their riding skills. We met many lovely people and saw some gorgeous ponies. Chick passed her inspection with an "excellent" in temperament.  

Shandora's filly was born at 2 AM today. She looks like she is an exact copy of her mother except that she has one white hind hoof like her dad. Shandora is a wonderful mom and is providing plenty of milk for the filly. This little girl will soon be as plump as Shandora!

Sophie and Aubrie had the exciting experience of riding in their first fox hunt today. Both girls and ponies did just great. They jumped bigger fences than we have at home and went through or jumped many creeks and deep muddy streams that we don't have at home at all. I rode behind them with my camera in my coat pocket. Unfortunately, all of my pictures show pony butts and Aubrie's and Sophie's backs. We all had sooooo much fun! Our plans are to do it again on Aubrie's birthday.

Today is a big day for the mares at Hollymead Farm. We brought a 5 year old Connemara stallion, Loughrea's Seamus, home to live with them. They have to be content to get to know each other with fences and hot tape between them, but the girls and Seamus are all enjoying the excitement none the less. We are currently working on a web page for Seamus so stay tuned for more pictures.

Sophie, Aubrie and I had a fantastic trail ride at Moses Cone Estate today. In this picture we are standing on top of a mountain on a warm, clear November day.

Aubrie joined the United States Pony Club last month and attended her first clinic today. She rode Elphin Chickadee, our Connemara pony broodmare, who will do double duty as a pony club mount. We were also able to attend the D level pony club ratings to see what Aubrie has in store for her next year. Aubrie and Chick did fantastic in their first clinic. They were the only ones in the class with no run outs or refusals. Aubrie showed tremendous concentration for an 8 year old. We were all so proud of her. Our next pony club outing will be a trail ride at the Biltmore Estate on Halloween. I am so glad that Grandmas can participate!

Congratulations to Ruarc Dublin Dan RID( Danny) and his owner, Bunny Steele, on passing his Irish Draught inspection and earning the RID after his name. Danny is a 3 year old Irish Draught gelding. He was the first foal born on Hollymead Farm and the second foal born to our beloved Irish Draught broodmare,Texas Diamond Belle RID. Danny's sire is The Pride of Gloster RID who is by Ireland's well known Irish Draught sire, Clover Hill RID. Danny is in training with Fran Dearing at Windy Knoll Farm in Magnolia, TX. At the inspection he scored an excellent on his temperament with many other high scores on his conformation and movement. We are so proud of Danny and look forward to hearing about his training progress. Thank you to Sheila Steele for the use of this picture.

Culver celebrated his 7th birthday today in the new pool. The weather was perfect and everyone had a good time.

Here is the same swimming pool that I wrote about at the beginning of July. It was just filled with water when this picture was taken yesterday morning. It is still not ready for swimming....darn. We have to brush the plaster, get the pumps and filtration systems up and running and the water clean. If today is hot, I think we will swim anyway. :-)

We would like to introduce our foreign exchange student from Denmark, Sophie Andersen. Sophie will be staying with us for the school year. She learned to water ski and did some tubing while at my mother's lake house in NJ this past weekend. Sophie loves horses, so we plan on doing lots of riding this fall. We hope she makes many friends during her stay in the United States.

My sister, Patty Prime, sent me this picture of her grand daughter, Emma Jean, about to go for her first pony ride aboard yearling Phoenix, the Connemara wonder pony. This is Phoenix's first time to have a jockey on his back (complete with her brush). In true Connemara character, Phoenix was a good boy and loved every minute of the attention. Emma is on her way to becoming an avid equestrian. This is one more reason why we love these ponies so much.

Our back yard is being transformed from a bird feeding area to a pool and spa! Construction started two days ago and is progressing quickly. Don't worry about the birds. They are still eating their 40 pounds a week of bird food...just in a new location. Please pack a swim suit when you come to visit us. Keep posted for a new picture when the pool is completed.

Wonderful news from Liz Freeman and Flying Harp Farm... Holly gave birth to a gorgeous black colt early this morning. Liz tells me that she has seen some grey hairs in his coat so he will turn grey like his sire, Harkaway Lionhawk. We are so happy to have another member of the "Bonnie" family to watch mature into a handsome horse. Liz's son, Will, has named this colt "Ben". This picture is courtesy of Liz Freeman.

We are thrilled to announce the birth of our third grand child, Keegan Ryan Holland. Keegan's dad, our son Tim, and Keegan's mom, our daughter-in-law Maura, live in Chicago....way too far away from North Carolina. :-(  We will be visiting them very soon.

We sadly say farewell to Blue Jay who is traveling to his new home in TX. Phoenix will be leaving two days later to his new home in Virginia. They are both going to excellent homes. We wish their new owners the best of luck with their handsome yearling geldings.

Danny left on a big van for Texas this morning. He will be in training with Fran Dearing at Windy Knoll Farm, Magnolia, TX. His owner, Bunny Steele, has been waiting a long time to have Danny live in TX near her. We wish Bunny all the best with Danny. His mother, Belle, will miss him greatly and so will we. Stay tuned to our website for news about Danny's progress and new pictures as he continues to mature.

Wonderful news!!! Chick gave birth to an adorable bay filly this morning. She has the longest legs and a large shoulder. We haven't settled on a name for this baby yet, but for now we are calling her "Chicklet". She is sired by Grey Haven Collin O'Patrick. Collin is standing at Blackberry Ridge Farm in TN. Visit the Connemara ponies page to see a picture of Collin and find a link to his website.

We had Christmas at home this year. It was wonderful to have a house full of family and friends to celebrate the holidays. Beverly took this picture from the loft above the family room. Thanks, Bevy, for being the family photographer this Christmas.

One of the planned activities while we had the family together was to name our forest trails. Each person was given a sign with their "trail name" and asked to locate the trail that they wanted to have named after them. This photo was taken by Larry with Bevy's camera.

Another highlight of Christmas day was introducing  Shandora to the rest of the family. She was the best present of all for the grand kids. Once again, this photo was courtesy of Beverly Bruck.

We are happy to announce that we have added a new Connemara pony mare to our herd. Her name is Tullymor's Shandora.  Thank you to Donna Duckworth for sharing this lovely little mare with us.  Aubrie and Culver are so  excited to have another pony to love.

Autumn is in the air.  The mountains around us had their first freeze and the foothills are not too far behind. The foals have been weaned and are doing well on their own. Phoenix will be moving to VA to live with my sister, Patty, and Blue Jay will be moving to NY to live with his new owner, Katherine. Congratulations to both of you and best wishes with your ponies.

We were happy to find out that we have a "Champion Tree of North Carolina" on our property. Larry had the forestry service come to our farm to measure the Hickory tree in the center of this picture. It holds the record for the largest one in the state. The measurements are: 103' tall, 13' 3" circumference, and 98' average crown spread.

Lionwood Seventh Heaven RID, who we call Holly, has moved home to Iowa to live with her breeder and first owner, Liz Freeman (www.flyingharp.com)and her family. Holly has already been welcomed home by her half sister, Hermione, who is a full sister to our Belle. Holly felt right at home the second she backed off the trailer. We know she will be well loved and appreciated for her affectionate nature and beautiful self. Liz and I have become family through our late great Irish Draught mare Bonnie Belle Supreme and her lovely daughters. We feel that we share them all!

These 100 grapevines were planted in May and are growing quickly. Larry has been pruning leaves and stray shoots on a regular basis. By next year we may even see some grapes!

The mares and foals have returned from Blackberry Ridge Farm in TN. Belle is confirmed in foal to Winmaur Sargeant Pepper, a chestnut 15:2 hand Registered Irish Draught stallion. Chick is in foal to Grey Haven Collin O'Patrick, a black 13:2 hand classy Connemara stallion. Holly is waiting to be confirmed in foal to Harkaway Lionhawk, a grey 15:3 hand RID stallion. Visit www.blackberryridgefarm.com to see these stallions.

Chick gave birth to a handsome buckskin colt this evening. He has smokey blue eyes and the sweetest face. We named him Blue Jay.

Robin had a colt this morning. He is dark bay with a star and a snip. He was on his feet almost instantly and found his first meal in record time. We named him Phoenix after the mythological bird.