The goin's on these days...

Here we are at Friday afternoon again...thank heavens!  It's been a pretty good week overall, but I've had a few trials thrown my way, and I haven't been sleeping very well - so I'm looking forward to a little home time.

My car is giving me fits...we thought it was needing a new battery, but I'm not so sure about that now.  The battery guy put his charger on it and the car wouldn't turn over at all.  Presently, I'm stuck at the clinic until my hubby rescues me later.  I still have 2 hours before closing time, so I'm not really stranded at all.  And I guess I'm thankful that it happened here where I have heat, lights, a computer and my dogs.  Right?

Anyway, we have the weekend to try and get the old gal back on the road, and in the meantime I'll be driving the truck.  It'll be good to get Big Grey back on the road and blow a little carbon out of the engine - that's what my dad always said.  :)

Last Tuesday was my birthday.  Yep, I'm officially 54 years old now...and I'm perfectly content with my age. I had to go into DMV and get my license renewal; new picture and all.  Have you noticed how much bigger the picture is now?  It's huge by comparison!  It's just this big, old face and not much else now...oh goody.  But surprisingly, there's not much change in the last 8 years, or at least you can't really tell by the picture.  :)  Cuz, let me tell you this - there have been lots of changes in the past 8 years!

My dear hubby took me out for dinner - my choice.  I picked the local Pub.  We had cheeseburgers and nachos.  Perfect!  My dear friend Claudia sent me a beautiful bouquet of tulips...so pretty!  The orange ones actually smell like oranges.  Isn't that something?  Another dear friend took me out to lunch - we had Mexican and a wonderful visit.  And, I received lots of birthday wishes from friends and family.  A lovely birthday!  I didn't even have cake, aren't you proud of me?  I've been saving that for this weekend!  My hubby and I are going out for a seafood dinner with my sis and bro in law and this restaurant has wonderful deserts...I'm going to splurge just a wee bit.

As far as our living room makeover goes, dear hubby is making good progress.  Ceiling is finished and looks great!  All trim and curtain hardware has been removed, and putty repairs have been made.  We have one wall finished and I'm absolutely loving the new color!!  It looks so rich compared to the stark white.  I was a bit concerned that it might be a little dark for the room, but it is just perfect.  And...I've double-checked on the laminate flooring and it's still readily available.  We're going with the same flooring we chose for the kitchen.  It's fairly dark and has a rustic, farmhouse appearance.  I love it.  Highland Hickory.  We're going to replace all the trim boards with more period correct type trim, and that will be painted a warm off-white.  I'm thinking it will contrast nicely with the gorgeous, rich wall coloring and the dark wood floors.  Then - I'm going to put a large area rug down in the main seating area near the pellet stove and the entertainment area.  I've found the rug I want at Costco...just might go and buy it this weekend, or at least check them out more closely and then buy it online.  I discovered yesterday that the online price is $40 less than in-store.  Can't beat that, and shipping is included.  I'm so excited!!

And then...comes the bedroom re-do.  Ssshhh!!  Don't tell my hubby, he just might string me up!!  :)

As a thank-you to him for doing all this work, I'm planning on surprising him with a new tv.  I'm thinking one of those large - 72" or so, flat panel tv's that make everything look so much more colorful and realistic.  Hopefully we can mount it up on the wall and save even more space by not having the big entertainment center in this half of the room.  Then we can add another chair or two, creating a nice conversation area which will accommodate a few more people comfortably.   Did I mention that I'm excited!?

In other news, our weather has been just outstanding.  Really.  It's been dry and sunshiney for the most part, and grey and fogged in some of the time.  But the temps are brisk, but not freezing.  We're in a very unusually dry weather pattern, and since there's nothing we can do about the weather, might as well enjoy it.

The horses are all doing very well.  They're fat, hairy and pretty much sassy frasses.  Ladde has been doing his utmost best at creating his specialized look of being chocolate-dipped.  *sigh*  Do you realize just how long, and how much effort it takes to scrape thick, dried-on, grass-encrusted mud off of a 17 hand white horse????  Ha! - White - I'm using that term lightly here.  Oh well, whatcha gonna do?

And my old, precious girl, Kadie.  She will be 30 years old this coming May, and she's doing great!  She's holding her weight well, eats all her senior feed and vitamins, all of her alfalfa but the sticky parts, and eats some of her grass hay.  She eats the grass hay much better when it's served up outside for breakfast, as that's all she gets.  :)  The point is, her teeth are fine, and she can still eat forage.  She's even been laying down more, which is a good sign that her hocks aren't as stiff or painful as they once were.  The joints are probably fully fused now, and when she lopes (which isn't often), she has this short-strided little bunny-hop lope that's just too cute.  She's too cute!  She's as fuzzy as a bear, still has a twinkle in her eye, and is quite opinionated about most things.  She's just simply an angel, with a little attitude!  Love her so much...

In fact, all the horses are doing just great.  Harley hasn't had any injuries lately, and that's always a reason to be thankful.  My neighbor did tell me that just yesterday, he ran into the perimeter fence when all the horses, (including him) were running around and playing.  She checked him out, and determined that no harm had been done.  *sheesh*  All I can say is that, I am so very, very thankful that I do not know what transpires out in that pasture when we're not around.  I would be a nervous wreck!!  Further proof that my morning ritual of sending up prayers for their protection every single day - is working.  Uh-huh.  I know that.

Weather is supposed to be spectacular this weekend.  We're working on the painting, going out for dinner and maybe making a trip to Costco...other than that, who cares?  We're free birds and have no real agenda!

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods!!!

Lorie @ Cingspots

Decking the halls

Well, we're still cold and dry...but we're warming up.  My little thermometer on the deck read 30F this morning.  Whew, it's a heat wave!  :)  And the horse's water tubs inside their stalls were not frozen this morning.  I think we may have endured our Arctic Blast pretty much unscathed, again.  No frozen pipes in the house, or in the barn.  We kept our home warm and cozy with the wood stove and the pellet stove burning pretty much around the clock.  We haven't used our electric furnace in 4 years now...that's a blessing!  And the horses, llama, dogs, cats and us all seem to have weathered the storm quite well.

Last night we had vegetable soup that cooked on the wood stove.  It was so good!  Cabbage, celery, carrots and tomatoes with a little Italian seasoning, onion powder, garlic, salt, pepper and chicken broth.  Oh my - just what the doctor ordered!  We topped it off with grilled cheese on whole wheat bread.  :)

 Even Snip spent some time inside where it was warm!

 A glamorous pose from a cat that just doesn't care...

 He's really quite shameless.

 My 30" tall Amaryllis just bloomed, with 3 more buds to open!

 We're not doing an inside tree this year, so hubby decorated our stately little Pine...all decked out!

 Bejeweled...

 and all lit up.

 A little arrangement with the extra evergreen clippings for the porch.

 Our Merry Christmas wreath!!  Made with found, forest treasures and last year's bow.

 Cheery little snow family for the kitchen window sill.

 My favorite...ho ho ho!

 My stick Santas and an old plate from a garage sale.  That's one of our hand-dipped beeswax candles we made last winter.  

 My best girl, Annie

 Our granddaughter, Kaley on Missy...first ever horseback ride.  Her cheeks hurt afterwards (face cheeks!).  She even did some trotting!  Missy was so good.  Such a sweet little mare. 

 David, Justin and Jack in the background...waiting their turn.

 David's turn!!

 Jack wasn't so thrilled...not a horsey type, but he did alright too.

 Ruby warming herself by the fire.

 This is how Ruby stayed warm.  Annie thinks she's a wuss!

 Sunrise breakfast in the corral.

 Sad sacks waiting to come inside last night.  :) 

Hopefully I'll get some Christmas baking done yet, just haven't had the time or the inclination to get started just yet.  Another little project that I need to do is get our Christmas cards ready and mailed out.  I enjoy sending and receiving cards in the mail, but every year it seems like we get fewer and fewer cards.  It's a tradition that I hope to always continue.  Got my hubby a couple of little gifts today, and so far that's all I've done.  I'm not doing much shopping at all this year.  I refuse to get all caught up in the buy, spend, rush, rush that this beautiful holiday is turning into.  We are going to take a trip to downtown Portland one of these days very soon.  It's so festive and fun to walk around looking at all the pretty window displays, the quaint little shops and Saturday Market under the bridge...and then we always have lunch or dinner someplace special just to get warm, relax and enjoy each other's company.  It's becoming one of our favorite Christmas traditions.  And the lights downtown are not to be missed, the street musicians and whatever little surprises await us in the city.  It's about the only time of year that we really enjoy venturing into the city...this year we plan to hit the Grotto.  Take in the light display, walk through the gardens and listen to some of their concerts.  Portland is really quite famous for it, and even though I've lived here all my life, I've never been there.  So, this is the year to check it out!

What are some of your favorite Christmas traditions?  Are you sticking to them, or adding something new this year?  Please share, I'd love to hear all about your plans!  Just what is it that makes your Christmas season special, and how do you deck the halls?  Or do you?

Do tell...

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Holy cow, it's snowing!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whoohoo!!  We do not get snow here very often at all, and when we do, it's usually what I like to call "white rain".  You know, wet, heavy, soppy grossness that's worse than rain.  But this is real snow.  Beautiful, white and powdery, dry snow.  It's so pretty!!

I drove 25-30 mph all the way to work this morning.  It was quite slick, but because I was driving slowly and cautiously, I had no trouble at all.  I'm no expert, but I remember what my daddy taught me, years and years ago about driving in inclement, icy weather conditions.

I can still hear daddy's voice in my head telling me to, "drive slowly, just roll over the ice, no quick steering or jerking of the wheel, and no heavy braking, ever".  He always said if you need to use your breaks, do it very, very gently.  And you know what?  He was a truck driver for most of his life, so he knew what he was talking about.  *sigh*  Oh God, how I miss my dad...I don't think the pain of losing him will ever go away.  It is easier than it used to be, because like that old saying of "time heals all wounds", it is true.  But the pain never, ever goes away.  It's just easier to remember him with less pain.  I can smile without crying now, at least some of the time.  :)  I can hardly believe that he's been gone from my life for almost 19 long years.  How can that be!?  I feel cheated.  I wanted him for a lot longer than that.

Anyway, it's kind of a fun day.  The local school is having a "snow day" and I'm sure that thrills the kids to no end.  It appears that our mild Autumn is quickly fading away, only to be replaced with the cold, icy grip of old man winter.  Technically, according to the calendar, we still have 2 weeks before the winter solstice.  But, I'm not buyin' it.  Baby, it's COLD outside!!!

What's it doing in your neck of the woods??  Do tell...weather is something I enjoy immensely.  Maybe I should have been a weatherman; er, I mean weatherwoman.  Is that a word?

Yippy skippy, it's Friday!!  That's always a good reason to smile in my book!!  I have no idea what, or if anything, is in store for this weekend, but I'm looking forward to being home, instead of at work for a couple of days.

Stay warm and cozy my friends!!
Lorie and the gang @ Cingspots

This is Ruby's rough life... 

Good grief, poor dog. 

 Sunrise day before yesterday

 Part of the neighbor's pony herd

 Harley in his coat this morning

 Sweet Harley  :)

 Miss Kadie sporting her warm coat

When you have nothing left to say...post pictures!!!

In our neck of the woods

Don't you sometimes wonder where these unusual sayings come from?  I do, and there are several in my vocabulary that I use frequently and have no idea of their origination; other than my mom or dad used them, and so, I do.  You know how that goes, right?  Kind of like my mom and dad called one of my favorite dishes, "fried potatoes".  They came from the midwest years before I was born, Missouri in fact.  My good friend and neighbor, Kelly's family were originally from Wisconsin.  Her family called the same dish, "raw fries".  Interesting.  Either that, or I'm easily amused.

According to our weatherman, we're experiencing one of the driest years (so far) on record, well since they've been keeping those kinds of records anyway.  Back to the '40's, I think.  In fact, our winter of 2012/2013 has been quite mild and overall unusually dry.  We're just continuing that trend into early spring.  I'm not complaining.  It's been beautiful and perfectly comfortable.

The spring flowers are blooming in earnest now.  Below is a picture of my heavenly scented daphne bush.  Oh, how I wish you could smell this...it's just delicious!  One of my favorites.  It's actually burst forth into more open blooming than this and its' scent is heady.  Soon will come the tulips and my lilac bush.

Mountain Heather - beautiful, but not much scent

This is one of our two cats, Snip.  In an accident or more likely an altercation with another cat; quite possibly with our other cat Patch, she lost sight in one of her eyes.  As you may or may not already know, Patch only has one good eye.  Each cats' opposing eye is good; so between the two of them, if they stand side by side, make a perfectly good-sighted, two-headed cat.  :)  Interesting little factoid there...

Ruby basking in the warm, morning sunshine.  And speaking of Patch; he's in the background eating a freshly-caught mouse.  Hmmmm, fresh mouse!  Sorry, did not notice that until I'd already posted it here.

 Annie enjoying a good roll in the sunshine.

 Looking down upon our little homestead from the twin oaks, so often in the background of many of my photographs.

 Ruby having a sniff of something interesting at the base of one of the twin oaks.  This is looking  northeast of our house, towards Portland some 35-40 miles away.

 Another shot looking North/Northeast from the twin oaks.

 Looking  west from the twin oaks down upon our homestead, and our ponies in their pasture.
Those little white sticks are newly planted filbert/hazlenut trees.  In years to come, the view from our home will look vastly different.

 Wide angle shot looking west towards our place.  The Coast Range mountains in the distance.

 Our ponies.  L-R Kadie, Eagle, Ladde, Shad and Sugar far right.  Not sure where Harley is.

 This is where we've called home for 18 years now.  Someday, we'd like to spruce up the two outside shelters.  They're a bit peter tumbledown, but keep the rain off the horses.  Our to-do list never seems to get shorter...

 The coast range got a fresh dusting of snow overnight.  

 The old grainery due North of us.  In this thicket of oak trees is a small, meandering creek where I taught Harley about creek crossings when he was a wee thing.

 The Yamhill Valley, so named for the Yamhill River that flows through this area.  Rich farmland and lots of horses reside within.  This is across the street from us and looking West towards the Pacific Ocean on the other side of the Coast Range mountains in the distance.

Looking a bit more Northwest from our farm, you can see the hills around us are dotted with grapes.  In the last 20 or so years, our area is a mecca of wineries where world-class Pinot Noir wines, among others are made.  We live in the heart of the Northwest's Wine Country.  

 Shad finally spotted Ruby and I coming back.  There's Harley on the far left, then Merlin, Kadie and Shad.  A pretty good shot of our neighbor's place.  They are a horse rescue called the United SPCA.  The mare being loaded onto their trailer was going to her new home.  

 Eagle having a morning nap in the middle of his breakfast.  

 Ladde watching me, watching him.  He and Sugar have fallen so hopelessly in love that, if left alone now, Sugar pitches a hissy fit and runs all around.  Not what she needs to be doing, so Ladde has to play pasture buddy to Sugar.  Poor baby...

Spring has definitely arrived around here, and I am so thankful.  We're very comfortable temperature wise, a few showers here and there, mixed with a fair amount of warm sunshine.  Flowers, trees in bloom, horses shedding like crazy and our lawn growing in out of control mode.  I can now walk out in the pasture without wearing my Muck boots.  We're even supposed to have a dry Easter weekend with temps hitting 70 degrees!  Whoohoo!!  I realize that many of you are still in the icy grip of old man winter.  Will keep you all in our prayers that spring will be arriving in your neck of the woods any day now.

Until next time,
Lorie @ Cingspots