Welcoming in the new year

Alright, so maybe I'm a bit behind the times, but to me it's still an appropriate time-frame for welcoming in our new year.  I haven't done a blog posting since a week or more before Christmas and I've got so much catching up to do!  I won't try and say everything for fear of putting you all to sleep.  :)

For some reason, I've not been suffering from my normal S.A.D. this year.  I am so thankful for that!  I've been getting plenty of sleep, trying to get fresh air and outside activity each day and eat lots of fresh citrus and fruits and veggies in general.  I get lots of citrus, but can't say truthfully that I'm eating as much healthy veggies as I should.  But I'm trying!  Last night I made a simple, homemade bread that is delicious.  Thanks Karen!  It has only 3 ingredients and gets stirred, then baked.  That's it!  Yummy!

3 cups self-rising flour and 1/2 cup sugar.  Mix well.  Then pour in 1 can/bottle of room temperature beer (not flat) and stir until moistened.  Dump into a greased loaf pan and bake at 325 for 45 minutes.  Remove and butter top.  Bake for 15 more minutes, then remove and butter top.  (mine was done here) Recipe says to bake for an additional 15 minutes.  You be the judge!  So simple and so delicious!!

My girlfriend and I went to the beach last Saturday afternoon.  Saw Charlie Pride in concert at the casino and it was really fun.  Great music and we had center stage, row 3 seats!  Amazing and so very close!  The music I grew up on, and I remembered just about every song and most of the words.  Lots of fun!  We stayed overnight because Kris had a free night, even had a free breakfast the following morning.  You can't beat that!  Gorgeous, but cold weather.  Brilliantly blue skies and sunshine...just perfect!  I'd love to go again and stay next weekend for my birthday, but don't know if we can swing that.  We'll see.

 My friend Kris, who is gonna KILL me!!  :)  She was saying no, no, don't take my picture!!  The devil made me do it...

Our weather has been cold and dry for about a week now.  Some days the sun shines, but mostly we've been encased in freezing fog.  Beautiful, and the mud is frozen!  I like that!  I'll take this over rain any day.  What am I saying?  I take most anything over rain any day!  I'm sure this is contributing to my mental health.

Our tv went on the fritz, but our dear friend Claudia gave us an extra one she had.  What a blessing!  Thank you Claudia, we owe you big time!!  And we got a new box springs, mattress and pillows.  Sheer heaven!  The pillows we're still getting used to, they're Tempur-pedic memory foam.  Very firm.  Sometimes I think they're very comfortable, other times I'm not so sure.  But the bed is delightful!  *sigh*  I'm sleeping much more soundly and waking up less often throughout the night.  Another advantage to my outlook in general, I'm sure.

All our horses are fat, fuzzy and healthy.  Our dogs and cats are fine, even the llama is as stubborn and healthy as ever.  We are blessed.  We have plenty of firewood for the winter, and we think our hay supply will last until sometime in March.  One of our hay guys still has an abundance of hay in his barn, so it's there when we need it.  So thankful for that.  My hubby's social security payments are scheduled to begin in mid February and we've probably just deposited his last employment benefits check, but we've saved enough of a cushion to make a comfortable transition.  Again, we feel thankful and blessed that this is the case.  Over the last several months, I've been working hard on stocking our pantry and our freezer.  We have plenty of food in storage so there are no worries there.  What can I say?  We're doing great!  And heaven knows, we're both plenty fat, so if worse came to worst, we have built in cushions in that department!!  :)

Ladde do like his mud!!

A sign of spring...red-winged black bird.  We call them deeter deeter birds.

 

I am so anxious to ride that I can hardly stand it!  Now that we're into winter and our days are slowly, but surely gaining daylight every day, I want to get back into the habit of working with Eagle and Ladde, and slowly beginning their (and mine) conditioning for the upcoming riding season.  My hubby got me a helmet for Christmas, and I'm hoping it gives me an additional measure of confidence when I ride Eagle the first few times.  My girlfriend told me that it's obvious to her, that Eagle loves me, so of course, he's going to be good for me!  That made me feel soooo good!!!!  :)  I think that I know in my heart he'd never do anything to purposefully hurt me.  He is such a kind, loving horse and really does have a gentle heart.  It's just that he spooks very easily and is extremely athletic!  Not a good combination for a middle-aged, overweight gal whose ridden very little in the last two years.  Not good.  I'm just hoping that I can regain my leg strength and improve my balance, which will dramatically increase my confidence.  I just need to get out there and do it!
And I will.

Anyway, this catches me up partially.  Hope all is well with everyone and that nobody's getting the winter blahs and all are fat, fuzzy and healthy.

Blessings everyone,
Lorie @ Cingspots