A fresh look for Sprucelands villages.

Lower girls village is more open now that trees are being removed.

There is soooooo much catching up I have to do. My apologies for taking a month's break from the blog. I needed to rest. I needed time to come down off camp. This business of sailing from school's end in June to camp's open catches up with me after a while and I need time to reset my engines so I'm ready to tackle the new school year and the upcoming camp season.

I still have photos from Session 3 that I want to share. I also have photos from our weekend riding clinics during September that are priceless. I will get all of them up here for you.

To jump start us, I'm going to share a few pictures I took yesterday on my way down from the barn. Taking a detour up into the lower village, I am amazed at how much more open things are looking now that we are having trees cut down. If you look closely, you can see piles of wood that are waiting to be picked up and stacked.

The loggers are cutting down and cutting up the huge beech trees.

The same men who have been getting rid of aged trees up on boys hill are now working away at thinning out trees and managing forest in the girls villages. It's hard to capture in a photo especially when the sun is setting but the light that now comes into the village is wonderful. I think you'll be impressed.

Here are three photos that show you the leaves are beginning to collect on the ground. They also give you a sense of how neatly these men are downing the trees. They aren't leaving behind the debris that could be left on boys hill. I am so impressed with what they are doing.

As you all know, the trees are thick and overgrown in our lower villages. I haven't known how I was going to afford the tree services that have given me prices in the past. These men are doing it for nothing and taking the trees for firewood. They are quite the experts.

Anyway, so now we are back on track with the blog. I'll keep up with things again. Please note that the camp applications are up on the website AND your biggest discounts are NOW - until October 20th. If you want to sign up at 2011 prices, you can do that by registering on or before October 20th. Discounts decrease after October 20th. So spread the word.

Next to the Hill Mom's cabin they are opening up the riding trail.

Also, for CITs I am doing what I did during our first month of sign-ups last year. If you get your applications in by October 20th,  you can pay the 2011 cost of $645 per week instead of the 2012 cost which is $685 per week. This offer lasts only one month and then it is up to the new rate.

Those of you who ordered t-shirts, they should be finished in the next few weeks. The t-shirt folks we ordered from had a few big orders for local schools so we have had to wait. I'm excited about the new long-sleeved shirts. They are going to be really nice.

Well, I'm off. Have to get ready for my day. Hope you'll get back into the routine of the blog. We love knowing you are following the fun at camp. Sure miss all you guys although I'll say we are staying fairly busy during this fall clinic season. After October 21st, it will be only riding lessons. So come and ride. The trails are wonderful.

Your comments are always welcome. Love hearing from you.