Enjoying the simple pleasures

May and June are typically my most favorite months of the year.  I love just about everything they have to offer.  I've been trying to take time, personal little moments out of every single day to just pause.  To be quiet and reflective; and to be thankful for everything in my life that I have to he grateful for.  

And when I look around...there's lots and lots of blessings.

And speaking of blessings - here's a big one in my life.  

Ladde is now 18 years old...I can hardly believe it myself.  He is as happy as he's ever been; I believe, because it's always been apparent to me that the big guy's always wanted a mate.  His very own little woman.  And he's finally got her...they're pretty much joined at the hip.  

The happy couple.

Ladde and Missy

Missy is another blessing I'm thankful for.  Since my boy Harley went blind, I had no horse to ride; and that's just not right.  I had Eagle to love on and to work with, but he wasn't ready for riding.  Then like a gift from heaven, Missy came into our lives.  We weren't looking for another horse, but she has become very important to us.  She's my main riding horse until the beautiful Eags and I start sharing the trails.  And she is a fun little horse to ride!!  She and I get along amazingly well and she pretty much does everything I want with no problems at all.  She's a good girl...and I love her even more because she loves my Ladde, and that has made him soooo happy!

The happy couple

Big, bold, beautiful...Ladde

Eagle..."swoon"  I adore this horse!

Sweet, sweet Harley horse  :)

The "other" happy couple...celebrating 22 years together in May.  Shad is not Ladde's sire, but he is his "dad" and Kadie is Ladde's dam and "momma".  

True love, always and forever.

Eagle's beautiful butt.  Hubba hubba!!

Eagle's soft, and oh so beautiful eye.  :)

We spent a chilly, damp Saturday afternoon "river sittin'" with dear friends...good times.

Our beautiful "wall of roses" in our front yard...wild and so sweetly scented.

Wish I had scratch & sniff - it's heavenly!

Our natural hedge of old garden roses.

Our little garden.  It's gotten bigger since I took this photo.

Tomatoes and zuchini - yum!

Our little herb garden.  Dill, cilantro, sweet basil and thyme.

Looks like a good berry crop this year!  Marionberries and raspberries.

:)  And our tiny wheat crop!!

Jessie & Lakota at Perrydale Trails

Me, Jessie and our girls out for an afternoon ride.

Me and Missy at Perrydale Trails...fun afternoon!

Atta girl !!  3rd time saddled.

Takin' a break

"modern day cowgirl"

Last week a few members of our riding club got together and headed out to Perrydale Trails.  There are acres of riding and lots and lots of obstacles to try out.  It was an enjoyable afternoon spent with good friends and good horses in a beautiful setting not far from where we live.  I was so very proud of Jessie and her mare, Lakota...first ride outside her pasture and only her 3rd time being saddled.  Kudos Jessie!!!

I rode Missy and had a very nice ride, but had forgotten to give her some bute, so had to take it easy with my girl.  She did fine, but was a little bit sore for a couple of days afterwards.  Next week when we head out for our week-long "cowboy campmeeting", we'll have Equioxx on board.  It helps keep Missy comfortable and is easier on her tummy and kidneys than the bute.  Anything for my little partner!!

My hubby will be riding Ladde, who seems fully recovered since he had his tendon sheath injected with HA and steroids a couple of weeks ago...we're so excited and are really looking forward to a little "R&R" in a beautiful setting with good friends and our horses.

We got all our hay (20+) tons safely stored away in the barns for the year.  What a relief!!  The hay is beautiful, sweet-smelling and green; and most importantly, the horses heartily approve.  That always makes me happy.  :)

I went to the dentist for the first time in something like, 17 years.  I can hardly believe it had been so very long.  Had some x-rays and an exam, and it wasn't too bad.  I have a couple of tiny cavities, I need a thorough cleaning yet, but had the hard part done.  A root canal, new crown and a molar extracted...if that isn't incentive for brushing and flossing - I don't know what is!  When all that stuff is finished, I want to have my teeth whitened.  That will be my final reward for having to undergo such anxiety over dental work.  I really do hate it!!  My dentist didn't use gas, which was a drag since I get so stressed and worried.  I'm always waiting for that shooting pain, which didn't happen, but my jaw is still a little sore from being jacked open for 3ish hours.  Youch!!  I'll be making payments for about 2 years, but at least it will be done.  Seems like a new bill always pops up when we get one paid off...story of our lives.

*sigh*

Such is life, I guess...

Anyway, I'm thankful to have accomplished so much already this year.  I can cross off a couple of things on my "hopes for the new year" list.

My sweet hubs will be turning 65 this September and is a newly-enrolled and insured member of Medicare...old farts insurance club.  :)  But again, we are so thankful that he finally has insurance coverage.  As of September, it will be almost 3 years that will have passed since he had medical coverage.  Talk about a cause for concern!!  We really didn't worry much though.  It was one of my reoccurring prayers of protection, and as we all know...prayers do indeed, get answered!!

So many blessings and so many reasons to give thanks, every single day.

Hope you all have a fantastic Independence Day weekend!

Lorie @ Cingspots

Never a dull moment

This is the view from about halfway up the hill.  They could have run for miles down the other side

Well, we had plans to go on our last of the season horse camping trip this weekend.  I'd gotten a replacement to cover me at the clinic (4 day weekend), had a caretaker lined up for the horses at home, bought new and very warm sleeping bags (mountain temps in the lower 30's), done the grocery shopping, and was really looking forward to going.  But the planets weren't lining up or something...

Firstly, hubby realized we had no working brakes on the horse trailer.  Huh?  They had been working when we'd used it recently.  So, he stayed home from work to get them working again.  He calls me late afternoon, saying he'd tried everything and it wasn't working.  Apparently we need to replace the actual squeezing mechanism on the trailer itself, our old trailer is a 1995 model and we've never done that.  Guess we got our money out of those brakes.  Anyway, we have to order the parts and we weren't prepared for that.  So, no go over the mountain pass without working trailer brakes.

Alright, plan B...we decided that although it's been raining a fair amount the past couple of weeks, we would still go camping, just stick closer to home and bring tarps and such.  The weather forecast had been predicting a nice weekend with temps possibly reaching 70, with no rain in sight.  That's alright.

Yesterday, everything changed.  There was this little typhoon near Japan that's affecting our jetstream and now we're to expect monsoon type rainfall this weekend.  No sunshine in sight.  Winds.  Rain.  A real doozy of an early fall storm.  Batten down the hatches and all that.  *sigh*  Guess who's not going camping now...

So, I made the phone calls.  Cancelled the caretaker.  Cancelled the relief clinic worker.  Told my boss I'd see him Friday morning.

Fast forward to this morning...I'm almost ready to walk out the door and head to work.  Just putting a little finishing touch on my make-up and hair when I hear Harley call from the pasture.  I stop and listen...I heard him call out again, this time a more distressed calling.  I drop everything and run out the door...

to see the entire herd (sans Harley) out in the neighboring and newly planted hazlenut orchard.  Heads up.  Tails up.  Looking alert.  I try to walk quickly, but serenely to the barn to grab a bucket of grain.  They're suckers for grain.  Uh huh.  Not today momma.  Off they flew, tails up over their backs clear to the twin oaks at the top of the hill in the field beyond the orchard.  Oh no, not good.  I run back inside to remove my clogs.  Clogs are not an appropriate shoe for chasing horses through a bumpy farm field.  I grab my phone, change my shoes and offer up a quick prayer for some help, and sensible horses to stay away from the highway.

About a minute later, my angel in camo shows up in my driveway.  Do you need some help he asks?  A huge wave of relief washes over me, I offer a thank you to my Caretaker :) and off we go.  He flanked them from the off side of the hill and I approached from the front.  Ladde and Sugar trot right to me (always easy where grain is concerned) and I get the halter on Ladde.  Thank you God.  Off we go, at first I thought the entire herd was going to follow, but they had other notions.  Ladde was a real handful walking all the way back to the barn with the rest of the herd galloping back over the other side of the hill.  *sheesh*  I swear he grows about a foot or two even bigger when he gets all amped up, adrenaline pumping through his veins and all.  At one point, he was air-hoofing and his front leg was higher than my head.  Bad horse.  I scold him and keep moving, like I could do anything if he didn't want to comply.  Good horse.  Got him locked in his stall alongside the frantic Harley in his stall.  Closed the big sliding door on my way out and proceeded my trek back out to the north 40.  Again.  I'm already hot, wet from the knee down (tall grass) and my hair is all wet and sweaty.  Oh good.  Angel in camo (apparently his name was Brian) had managed to herd the horses back as far as the creek.  I kept calling Shad and Kadie's names while holding up the grain bucket...there's always hope that they'll come to me.  And they did!  Slowly, but they started heading towards me.  I dumped a couple of little grain piles to keep Eagle and Sugar occupied while I quietly approached Shad.  The big red horse let me put the halter on him.  I offered a little grain and off we went...Kadie in tow.  That was what I had hoped would happen.  :)

Before we'd gotten too far up the orchard, Eagle and Sugar decide they don't want to be left alone in the big, scary field all alone, and here they come a running!!  Big smile on my face.  I knew we had the battle won!!  Got all the horses safely locked in their stalls, with Merlin in the alley for the day.  I saw where someone (Sugar) had most likely been naughty to Harley and spooked him through the 3-rail wooden fence.  He took the post out and 2 sections of fence leaving a 16 foot gaping hole where the horses strolled through.  *sigh*  Back to the barn to do a once-over of Harley.  Sure enough.  A 5-6" long scarf down the bridge of his nose, but nothing else that I could see.  Again, thank you God, it could have been much worse.  A little ointment on his wound, a flake of hay for everyone and into the house to change my clothes so I could head to work.  I was an hour and 15 minutes late, my hair was soaked and I looked like something the cat dragged in, BUT I made it and all is well.

Despite everything.  I am feeling overwhelmingly BLESSED and thankful today that everybody is safe and sound.  Happy that I was home and able to get everybody back in, and absolutely, reassured that God listens to and answers our prayers.  And sometimes He sends angels named Brian dressed in full camo, driving big, Ford trucks.  :)

How's your Friday going?

p.s.  For a brief moment, when I saw all the horses standing proudly at the top of the hill, partially cloaked in the morning mist, I stood in amazement at their beauty, their speed and their grace...and wished I had my camera.  But then I came to my senses and started running.  It was going to take me a lot longer to reach that hilltop...

Blessings everyone!!