Spring flingings

Our weather has been all over the place!  Since last we spoke, we've had yet another heat wave. Summer, for the second time this season has showed her face.  And what a showing it was - worrisomely hot!  (yes, it's a word - I googled it)  :)  And for the second time now in recent weeks, I'm lamenting that, hopefully; this isn't a precursor for things to come.  Last year was such a long, dry, hot summer that I was ready for its' end long before it finally finished.   Add that plus an unusually mild and very wet winter, you know what that means.  Bugs.  Lots of bugs!  *sigh*  Oh well, nothing I can do about it.

Now we're having colder than normal temps, cool breezes and rain showers interspersed with glorious sun breaks.  Now that's the kind of spring that I enjoy.  Flowers everywhere, birds singing and doing bird things all over the place, horses shedding and yes, even a fire in the wood stove the last couple of days.  Felt delicious!  I even cooked a pot of cabbage/vegetable soup and hot bread on that fire.  So good!

And yesterday, in my domestic bliss, I baked traditional English Scones.  Oh my!  Such a treat.  To truly enjoy an English scone, they must be sliced in half while warm, and one side generously buttered.  On the other side, you slather on un-sweetened whipped cream or just lovingly pour half & half until it's lightly soaked, top with fresh berries, applesauce or whatever you prefer, put back together like a sandwich, topped with a bit more fruit, a little of the juice and more cream - and there you go!  Yummy deliciousness best served with hot tea (or coffee).  Just a lightly sweetened, slightly more flaky version of American bisquits.  It just doesn't get any better than this.  Unless it's pie. Either way, give it a go!



Oh, and I did get my new car!!!  I am totally loving it!!  I had truly forgotten how luxurious driving can be when you're comfortable, and there are little delightful surprises at your finger tips (or under your bum).  Now there's no question in my mind.  It was definitely time for an upgrade.  Granny has served us well, but she's ready for retirement.  Later alligator!  We have plans to get the old girl all cleaned up and sell it at our earliest convenience.  Hoping it'll provide someone else with inexpensive and reliable transportation for years to come.  So.  My new ride isn't really new at all.  It's 11 years old in fact, an '05 Lexus RX330 with 65,000 miles.  But whoever owned this car took really good care of it.  Aside from a couple of tiny imperfections in the paint, and a scratch in the back center bumper, it's like new.  Nice.  Comfortable.  And drives nice too.  I got all the little bells and whistles that I'd hoped for, like leather, heated seats, great stereo, moon roof, navigation, blue tooth..and probably a whole bunch of things I have no idea how to use.  Yet.  :)  Sure isn't taking me long to adjust though.  Not at all!

Not my car, but this is what it looks like - love it!!

I seem to remember casually mentioning that we'd taken our truck into the shop for a water leak repair.  Well.  A simple water leak repair it's not.  *sigh*  This has got to be at least 3 things in a row!  Couldn't afford to buy a new truck, and wasn't willing to replace it with something we could readily afford but would likely have problems of its' own...so, fix it we must!  Around our place, we need a truck.  And with our good old truck, we know what we have.  But really?  We were really hoping not to have to dump all our cash reserves into more auto repairs, but easy come - easy go!  Whoever said that should be horse whipped.  It certainly isn't so easy to come by, but it sure goes "poof" all gone in the blink of an eye!  I could have cried, then my mind went in all the directions we could have gone, and came up with the only plausible solution.  Write the check.  And when that doesn't cover it - hand over the handy dandy old credit card.  I'll pay off the balance of the repairs when we get our tax return back, but pretty much all of that was earmarked for next winters' hay supply, but we'll still have over half the $$ needed for that, and we'll have a little time to start saving again.  We're fortunate that either, or both of our hay guys will let us pay over time if we need to.  Thank God for all those day-to-day blessings He sends our way.  And make no mistake, after the initial shock; I was SO grateful that we can pay for the repairs.  Our truck will be back on the road again in no time, and it should run reliably for a good, long time to come.  *please?*  But...vacation plans for this summer?  HA!!!  That's going to take some seriously creative thought there.  Oh well, we will have a vacation, or maybe a "staycation", but time off from outside job responsibilities will prevail.  That is so important.

Guess we could always take advantage of time off from work to accomplish some worthwhile projects at home, around the yard, rework on our deck, gardening, horse/rider improvements...the list goes on and on.  I don't understand boredom.  Not these days anyway, maybe once years ago, in a galaxy far, far away...around our house as a kid, one learned very quickly NEVER to admit to being bored!  And if you did mistakenly say the dastardly word - you ran swiftly.  And far!!  Know what I'm sayin'?  Yeah.  Mommas can get real creative too.  When the need arises.

How things change.

Can I get an Amen?  :)

Oh, almost forgot to mention the dentist.  I begin my dental work this week, just a few needed repairs there and my teeth will be good as new.  Cha-ching!  Dental work is not cheap, but necessary from time to time.  I've got a Care Credit card and will be able to make monthly payments for a year if I need to, with no interest charges.  But when, oh when do we get to spend some of our money on something far more enjoyable than maintenance, repairs and "have to's"???  You ever ask yourself that question too???  Sometimes I'm afraid to ask the question for fear of what my answer might be.

For me, the key to happiness is to always, under any and all circumstances, count thy blessings.  Of this, I am filled with the utmost of confidence.  Have you found this to be the truth as well?  Not so much?  If not, then how do you handle life's ups and downs, twists and turns?  All those unforeseen little surprises that continually cross your path???

Do tell...

And when in doubt, go to the beach.

Right?

...some days you're the bug

Lately, I've been the bug.  Or that's how it feels anyway.  *sigh*

You all probably remember that just last week I was all perky and happy-faced about, well just about everything I guess.  Nothing lasts forever right?

Since last week, we still have no new car.  We did it by the books, their books anyway.  We reserved the car we were interested in and waited until Sunday afternoon when we'd also made an appointment to fully check out and drive the car.  At this dealership, it's pretty hard to find a good car that's not already been purchased, or is on reserve.  When they're reserved, most people seem to buy them. They sell very quickly, but you retain the right of first refusal.  So, that's what we did.  Safe bet the car would be there, right?  You would think.

When we arrived, they couldn't find the car.  Not a good sign.  After waiting and looking for almost an hour, the computers were checked and apparently the car had sold the very day after I'd put the reserve on it.  When I overheard the sales lady exclaim from the office, "how does this happen!?" - I knew it wasn't good.  Apparently, it's never happened before.  And the key was hanging right where it was supposed to be.  Hmmmm...

I was so disappointed!  My hubby was mad!  He gave them a piece of his mind which did absolutely no good whatsoever, because the car remained - gone.  Que-sa-ra...apparently wasn't meant to be. That's what I kept telling myself.  Since then, I've moved on and realized that's probably true. It's how I choose to look at most things that happen, if they're meant to be, it will happen.  Don't sweat the small stuff and all that.  Still.

So, the search goes on.  I'm convinced that if we're supposed to buy a newer car right away, the right one will turn up, and everything will work out.  If not, granny will continue to get us where we need to go.  Just not in quite the style I'd become accustomed to - if only in my mind anyway.  I've mentioned before that I have a very vivid imagination, have I not???  :)

The other dastardly deed that took place was worse.  Much worse.  I looked down at my hand the other day and realized that the largest of the 3 diamonds in my wedding ring was gone.  Just gone.  I had been just about everywhere throughout the course of my day, and it wasn't even considered to look for it.  The pretty rock was just gone.  No sense crying over spilled milk, or lost diamonds. Pretty baubles come and go, and this one will turn up (miraculously) if it's meant to.  Again.  It's happened to me many times before.  I lose an earring, or a watch, whatever.  Gone.  Next day or next month - I look down in the driveway, or in the barn aisle, and there it is.  Just like that!  So, I choose to put it out of my mind and forge ahead.  In the grand scheme of things, it's small potatoes.   But still.

Our farrier appointment last Monday evening went absolutely great! All the ponies got their pedi's and not a single soft-step from a single one.  And we've been watching Ladde like a hawk.  We are so grateful for that!  Cars and baubles don't even compare to that.  Troy has been ever so cautious with Ladde's trims, doing a front set one time, and the back hooves the next.  It's working, so we're inclined to stick with it.  Troy comes by every 8 weeks for the herd, and then every 4 weeks for Ladde.  He's doing so well, that we're hopeful about riding him before too long.  We will probably put some shoes on his fronts, just to give him that added measure of protection.  :)

I left a message on the "trainer-to-be" gal's phone yesterday, and am just waiting to hear back from her.  One of our clients here at work told me about her.  He and his wife have been taking lessons for a couple of months with her and are very pleased with the results, and with her overall style and way of working with their horses.  She lives very close to me - within a few miles - which would be so convenient.  Again.  If it's meant to be, things will work out.  My mantra in life.  "Worry about nothing, pray about everything".  I do my best.  I sent my check off yesterday for half of the fee for the clinic on June 30th, so I'm committed.  *gulp*  I need to get in some saddle time before then. Absolutely!  Have I mentioned that I haven't been on my horse since, oh last fall - early fall - sometime?  Well, it's true.  Sad huh?

Summer arrived here yesterday!  It's hot and beautiful, but whoa to us if this is what we're in for.  I'm hoping it normalizes and we get to enjoy spring weather for a while, before the summer heat is upon us.  It was almost 80 yesterday and it's 85 today.  Another warm one forecast for tomorrow and then things are supposed to cool down a bit for the weekend.  Still unusually warm for this early in spring, but not like the heat of today.  We're not expected to have any more showers until maybe on Wednesday.  At this rate, we'll be having another early hay crop this year.  Just seems like everything is on hyper mode lately to me.  I would appreciate everything just slowing down a little bit.  I want time to stop and smell the roses!  *sigh*  Surely, I'm not the only one who feels like this, am I?

We don't have any grand plans for this coming weekend, but I'd surely like to get out and do something enjoyable.  We haven't done much of anything lately but work.  Go to work and work around home.  Boring!!!  The weather is cooperating, the truck will be in the shop for a water leak repair - likely a water pump replacement, but hopefully nothing too expensive.  And, we're dog sitting for the boss's family, so our choices might be a bit limited, but I'm hopeful we can figure something out that would be outside in the sunshine, in the fresh air and getting some exercise...maybe a hike somewhere, followed by lunch or dinner?  We'll see...I'll bet a trip to the beach might be enjoyed by all.  Whatever it is, I am looking forward to a nice weekend of not working.

Hoping my bad luck is over for a while.  My granny used to say that bad things ran in threes...hoping she was wrong on that one.  *wink*

Blessings all!  Until next time...
L