A little of this, and a little of that

Our weather this fall has been just outstanding!  We had a glorious October and so far this November has been very nice as well.  We've had very little rainfall, but when we do, it rains for a couple of days and then clears to sunshine.  We're currently experiencing a cold snap.  Overnight lows dipping into the upper 20's and low 30's.  It's cold enough that our ground is frozen, but we warm up into the low 50's in the daytime, with beautiful, bright, warm sunshine.  I absolutely love weather like this!  It's energizing and I find myself wanting to get outside and get busy.  Unfortunately, it's also dark before I leave the clinic in the evenings, so there isn't much that I'm accomplishing outside.  But the weather this weekend and pretty much all of next week, including the long Thanksgiving weekend, are supposed to be dry, cold and sunshine.  Yippee!!

We're planning on staying home and having a quiet dinner by ourselves this year.  I have no idea what family members are doing, so we'll just cozy up and enjoy our own company.  I will cook a turkey and all the usual sides, along with some special desert, but just everything in "small scale".  We're hoping to get the rest of our oak firewood unloaded and stacked into our wood shed.  It is so heavy!  We're thankful that we don't need to burn this wood this winter, but can save it for next year.  It's a bit wet and could use another year to really season well.

I got my paint for our living room project.  I chose Sherwin-Williams "Macadamia" for the walls, Sherwin-Williams "Stucco" for the ceiling and Sherwin-Williams "Dover White" for the trim.  That's the same trim I'll end up using throughout our home.  It's a warm white and harmonizes with all the other colors quite well.  The walls will be significantly darker than I've ever had before, but I'm hoping it will look nice.  The colors should be warm and inviting, and will coordinate beautifully with the darker wood floors that we've chosen.  When I say wood, I really mean laminate.  It doesn't matter to me, it will look like wood and won't butcher our budget...so I'll be happy.  And trust me, if you saw our carpet...you'd understand what I mean.  It's a big project for us, especially at this time of year when we have so many extra chores associated with the horses and just keeping our home heated, but we'll work on it slowly and steadily, and we'll get the job done.  Then, I'll start looking for a big area rug and hopefully we'll be able to replace our old recliner with a much more attractive chair.  Isn't it interesting how one project just leads to another and another?  Even though it looks terrible right now, with all the nick-nacks and wall adornments packed away (read dirty walls and cobwebs), I'll be posting before pictures here so I can remember, and appreciate our efforts into improving our home.  Then hopefully before too long, I'll post the after shots as well.  :)

Our horses are doing really well, and as always, we're so thankful for that.  They are fat, fuzzy and happy.  And even old man Merlin, is still chugging along.  I don't know what the average lifespan of a llama is, but he's over 20 years old and has really slowed down.  My beautiful little Kadie mare is 29-1/2 years old, but she's also fat and doing well despite having arthritis in her hocks.  I guess we all creak and groan a little as we age, right?  But I'm very happy to see a twinkle in her eyes, and see sass from her almost daily.  I love that little mare so very, very much.  She was the best trail horse I ever had, and was the most fun horse ever to ride.  To say that she is perfect, is no exaggeration.  And, she blessed us with Ladde.  A larger and all-male version of his mother.  I will forever cherish this beautiful little horse, and will take good care of her for as long as is possible.

Eagle continues to improve in every way possible.  He is a full-fledged member of the herd and seems to really enjoy being part of our family.  I love that he is so happy and comfortable now!  He is truly an awesome horse and I feel his trust growing every day.  He's also a terrible flirt, and has a way of looking me in the eye, and using his quiet, little nicker to get almost anything that he wants...which of course is usually a treat!  But he also enjoys a thorough grooming session, really any kind of attention that he can get.  He is very, very loving and thankful to have interaction from us.  I've never known a more loving horse than Eagle.

Well, enough for now...gotta run!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.  May you feel blessed when you count all that you have to be grateful for.

Until next time,
Lorie @ Cingspots