A little of this and a little of that

Whew!  Summer is just buzzing along isn't it?  We've been busy, busy, busy and I've been MIA from my blog for about 2 months now!  How time flies just continues to amaze me!  I've no good excuse really, just haven't been around much lately on the old computer.  As my grandma used to say, I've been busier than a one-legged man in an ass kickin' contest!  :)  I'll bet so many of you can relate to that sentiment.

I've been horse camping, working with my horses around home, working at the clinic, spending time with my grand kids, taking the dogs swimming, hiking, gardening, got all our winter's supply of hay in the barns, going to summer fairs and spending glorious time at the beach.  We're taking Eagle to a horsemanship clinic tomorrow and then we'll be heading to the beach for another one-nighter and heading home Sunday afternoon.  The last couple of summers we've done very little besides work, so we're determined to make up for it this summer and enjoy the warm days while we can.  The work will always be waiting for us when we return.  Thankfully, we probably won't have to do any wood cutting this year because we have pretty much enough wood in our storage to last this coming winter.  That's a blessing!

Rather than prattle endlessly on about our recent activities, I'd rather show you a sampling of what we've been doing.  Pictures say it so much better than my words ever could.

 My new front door.  We're hoping to build a cute little porch right here before winter comes...so many projects, so little time.  That reminds me, I don't think I've ever posted the before and after pictures of our kitchen/laundry room remodel.  Another time...

 A beautiful team of horses pulling an antique fire truck.  This was at the Newberg Old Fashioned Day Festival parade.

My sweet great-great niece, Lilly.  She is a lovely child, just 3 years old, but much more mature and wise than her age...she carries on full, adult-like conversations with just about anybody.  I'm anxious to introduce her to the wonderful world of horses.  She's quite the animal lover...

The fireworks display in Newberg was once again, nothing short of incredible!  We had front row seating on the grass.

One of the trail heads where we were horse camping last weekend at Santiam Horse Camp.  Quite the Cadillac of horse camps.  I rode Lil Miss (Sugar), and she is one fun little mare to ride

 I'm pretty sure Ruby and Annie were saying, "we're quite comfortable, thanks!"  "where are you guys gonna sleep?"  :)  These are our current sleeping accommodations since we sold our big, cushy horse trailer last April.  I have to admit that I miss that wonderfully luxurious bed we used to enjoy, but these fit the bill quite nicely.

My precious and beautiful Ladde.  My hubby rode him and he was as usual, nothing short of perfect.  As usual.  I love this horse!!

 A tree growing out of a stump!  This was in our camp.  Pretty cool huh?

Just hangin' out in our camp...Ruby and my guy.

Ladde and the love of his life schmoozing - again.  Sugar, or as we now call her, Lil Miss are in love.  Truly.  I'm so happy that Ladde finally has exactly what he's always wanted.  A little woman of his very own.  Sweet!

The whole gang at our camp-out last weekend.  Members of our AHA riding club L-R, Michelle, Biff, me, Stevi, Ron, Rick and Brian.  Jeannine was taking our picture.  This was our Sabbath potluck meal, and it sure was delicious!  We had a wonderful time and missed all the other people who couldn't attend.

Getting very snoozy with my Ruby
after a long day in the sun with the grand kids.  Boy, they can sure tire a body out!

 Out little hometown festival - Yamhill Derby Days parade...how adorable is this little guy?

I wouldn't mind having this little Bug to run about town with - cute!!

But then again...maybe I'd prefer this one.  Camaros always were an old favorite of mine.  Nice!

This little girl was so cute.  She had the poor chicken on a leash, and she (the hen) was obviously tired and started refusing to walk.  After a short dispute, the chicken won out and the little girl just scooped her up and carried the hen in her arms for the duration of the parade.  One smart chicken!

Hot dog!!!

And this is our horse shoer's barbecue.  He calls it his "Q".  Whatever you call it, I'm telling you that this may quite possibly be the best BBQ I've ever had!  Soooooo good!!  Beef tri-tips sliced paper thin and piled high on small, slider buns served with your choice of sauce or not.  YUM!!!  For $5 you got 3 sliders, a wedge of watermelon and a can of pop - you can't beat that with a stick!

Not sure how this picture got in here, but oh well...my reading spot in the wood stove room with my new flooring.

Wading in the creek...looks like I may have been spacing out.

The dogs always have fun.  Wherever they go.

First toe-maters from our garden.  I picked these a few weeks ago.

My hunny...

I look a bit like a peeled onion.  We got a pool and put it in our backyard.  We spend a fair amount of time in there.  It's not very big, but it sure cools a person off in a hurry.  Good investment!!

I've got lots more pictures to share with you all, but maybe that's enough for one posting.  We've been enjoying this summer a lot.  Our weather has been fairly hot and dry.  We haven't had any rain that I can remember since sometime in June.  That's fairly unusual for us, but then again, where weather is concerned, exactly what is normal?  It is, what it is!  And I'm loving my summer and hope you are too.  My house is a disaster, a fine layer of dust pretty much on everything, dandelions about a foot tall in the yard and morning glories threatening to take over my garden.  But you know what?  I don't care!  We're going to enjoy and visit and do this summer, rather than work every weekend we have off.  Life is just too short to work all the time!  Am I right?  I can clean my house when it starts raining...maybe by then I'll have new carpet, or freshly painted walls or that new porch I mentioned, or that brick patio just waiting to be laid...or not!!!!  :)

Blessings all,
Lorie @ Cingspots