Always happy for "Fried Eggs"

:)  That's what my old Spanish teacher, Mr. Schibel used to call Fridays.  Always makes me smile to think of him, he was a cool teacher and made learning fun...not that I remember much of what I learned from him.  Just sayin' 

Guess that old saying is true.  "If you don't use it, you lose it".  Could be said of many things I guess.  Anyhoo...

Lava flow

Wickiup Lake

Our weather has taken a turn for the wet.  Monday was cool, but dry.  Tuesday was heinous.  Lots of rain, and some wind.  Enough to cause damage in some parts, but not in our neighborhood.  Warm and very, very wet.  Wednesday was a gift.  Such a perfectly beautiful Autumn day!!!  Today is overcast, cool with a few showers.  And I just realized I've lost a day.  Hmmmmm...oh well, blame it on a memory relapse.  Anyway, you get the message.  We're cool.  Autumn has arrived.  Moving on...

Lovely thunderheads

This campground is appropriately called Lava Campground.  We just visited, did not stay here.

Of all the places we stayed, this was my absolute favorite!  Gorgeous campground, rivers, trails...heaven.  I could have stayed here for a week and been happy.

1 of 2 creeks that rushed into this main river

My girls loved this river too, shallow and not too fast.

What are ya gonna do?

Earlier in the spring/summer, this is a big river, has a boat ramp for fishing.

Well, the hubs has finished the granite that will go under our pellet stove in the living room.  I haven't even seen the stone yet.  Picked it out from pictures.  Should I be worried?  Nah!!  Justin is visiting for a while and is helping his dad install everything as I type.  So, hopefully it will be a done deal when I get home.  I'm most anxious to have the pellet stove again...love it for those evenings when it's not terribly cold, but you just want to take the chill off the house by pushing a button.  Yes, I'm lazy - no guilt here.

I will just need to rearrange the furniture, yet again.  *sigh*  I'm not sure why, or how I've created such an issue with the furnishings arrangement, but I have.  Probably all those extra pieces of stuff I purchased last spring...what was I thinking???  And the hubs is no help in this department.  At all.  The coward runs in the other direction when I ask for his opinion.  Men!

So...guess I know of at least one project that will occupy some of my time this weekend.  Seriously, there is never a shortage of projects to take up my time.  When do I get to stay in my pj's and lounge around on the couch watching movies and eating popcorn??  I deserve that, right!?  

Crane Prairie Lake

Crane Prairie...mrducks

View from our camp site - we had dinner guests

There were 7 deer, a couple of families

The 2nd rushing creek that flows into the river.  Was so beautiful, pictures don't do it justice.

Just above the rushing water

I had so much fun exploring!!

More reflections...

On our hike, we found this bridge, but it was a bit slimey and I'm a chicken.

Little Lava Lake

The next lake down was Lava Lake.  Much bigger than Little Lava, and this one has a hiking trail around the entire
perimeter.  The dogs and I made it about 1/3 of the way...just beautiful.

Mt. Bachelor in the distance

Coming back into civilization.  The valley with Bend in the distance.

See where the pellet stove goes?  *sigh*  Any ideas on furniture arrangement would be welcomed!

I forgot to mention that after our little ride with Missy and Laddmonster last Sunday, I got out old Eags for a while.  I worked him very lightly in the round pen, got him all supple doing his flexion exercises and such, groomed him, picked his feet, saddled him...and I rode him!  Well, riding is a very loose term here.  But I did get on him, moved around a bunch, asked for movement, release of the hindquarters and such.  He is a good, calm boy.  But, oh good grief, is he lazy!!  I'm not sure if he senses my hesitation in my cues, or if he's afraid to make a mistake and get punished, or if he really, really just doesn't know anything!!  He's slower than a slug in January.  *sigh*  I shouldn't complain, because I can work with that.  It's sooo much better than being a hot rod and having to constantly work on controlling all that speed.  At one time, I would have preferred that, but today I prefer quiet and more calm.  Me and Eagle, we're pards.  I was more relaxed than I've ever been on him.  Not totally comfortable mind you, but much better than ever before.  Progress.  Or as Ray would say, perfect practice makes perfect.  I'm pretty sure if Ray were watching, he'd have plenty of orders to bark my way, and he wouldn't call our progress perfect, but oh well.  :)  How I miss that man!!  But I have to rely on memory and lessons learned, and just do my best.  Our best.  Overall, I'm pleased with Eagle.  He is so ready for that next step.  Riding.  And (very) slowly, but surely, we're getting there.  He trusts me, and that to date, has been my first priority.  Onward we will go.

I've thrown in some random pictures for your viewing pleasure (or not).  Some (finally) from our remodel and some from our vacation.  Yes, more vacation photos...I told you I took a lot!!
I took a lot of before remodel pics too, but not sure where I've stashed them.  But soon my pretties, very soon I will be posting before and after shots in the same post.  I don't do anything fast anymore!  

Hope you all enjoy a grand weekend, and I hope you're enjoying this change of the seasons as much as I am.  

Blessings all!!

A flurry of activities

That's putting it mildly!  These last few weeks, I've been feeling slightly overwhelmed and not on top of my game.  I've got too many irons in too many fires and feel somewhat scattered, for lack of a better description.  I don't do well being so distracted.  More familiar and comfortable territory for me is a clear mind, routine, and knowing what my day will (mostly) be like when my feet hit the floor in the morning.  I really don't like surprises.  And I really dislike disruption.  It makes me feel all wonky and out of control.  Maybe I am a little bit of a control freak.  Hmm...I don't like to admit that, but maybe just a little.

So, like I mentioned in my last post, we have sold our big horse trailer.  It's gone.  :)  I don't even miss it; yet.
The first time we go horse camping and I have to sleep in a tent, I'll probably cry like a baby.  I loved the bed in the big trailer.  All plump and cushy, positively luxurious accommodations for camping!  Ahh well, we can't have everything.  Anyway, cash was (briefly) in hand *sigh*, but has been handed over to the bank.  Our loan is paid in full.  House re-fi is in progress.  I have fulfilled all my obligations and the ball is in their court.  We're hoping for a closing sometime in May, I think.  That means no house payment in June.  :)  See me smiling about that?  That money will go back into our savings account.  Most of our savings will be used paying for our new hay supply, but I'm thankful we have the money to pay for it.  Occasionally, I remind myself how much more expendable cash we'd have without so many horses.  Oh well, I can't imagine life without our horses.  It's only money.  And money can't buy me love!

Our house remodel work is finished.  Yep, totally and completely finished.  They showed up in full force on Tuesday morning, April 23rd and when I arrived at home on Thursday evening, April 25th, they were just finishing up with the debris clean-up.  Seriously!  They were fast, very efficient and their quality of work is outstanding.  We are completely and 100 percent happy and totally satisfied with everything.  Everything is beautiful, and looks so much better.  I really can't believe it's all done.

But of course, like so many projects, doing one thing quickly leads to another thing, and another and another.  You know how that goes, right?

We noticed that the paint was looking a little dingy.  So we bought new paint.  We're now in the process of repainting the laundry room and the mudroom completely, including the newly replaced trim boards.  I need to wash all the windows because that's so much easier when the room's empty.  May as well pull the curtains down and launder those too...see what I mean?  Plus...we discovered that our washing machine was leaking onto our already dry-rotted old subfloor.  So, the old machine's definitely NOT going back onto our beautiful new flooring.  Ca-ching!!  We're going washing machine shopping this weekend.

The old door knobs looked positively shabby on the beautiful new entry door.  So, I purchased a new door knob set for that, and all the hallway, bathroom and closet doors as well.  They look so much better when everything matches.  *sigh*  I just had to have a new door mat too....seriously, just shoot me already!!  I need help!!

Not to mention that our kitchen stove and fridge, in the glaringly bright sunlight on the deck...did not look so good.  I swear I do clean it regularly.  I pinky swear I do!!  It took me the better part of an afternoon just scrubbing them to pass muster.  Oh my aching back!!  But, we're beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel.  We've got the stove, fridge and kitchen table and chairs back in place.  It's starting to feel like a home again.

Oh, and my husband.  You know, the one who doesn't care about anything; leaves the designing and color choices, that sort of thing, entirely up to me?  That guy decides that since our bathroom door is painted "Dove White", that the entry closet door really should be painted to match.  It would look much better. So...we removed that door, sanded it and are in the process of repainting it as well.  One thing just leads to another!  We're tired.  And every single day, I swear, the grass in our yard grows by about 6".  No kidding!!  I'm ready to let the horses come up and do some mowing work for us.  We're falling totally behind in the yard work department.  Oh ya, and our weed eater bought the farm and died, no hope for a resurrection there.  So, that's right, you guessed it!  We bought a new one!  Ca-ching!!  Our savings account is dwindling so sharply it's beginning to look like Wall Street.  *sigh*

But, we did have a wonderful evening out this past Tuesday evening.  Just Biff and I for a welcome date night..  We ate dinner at a favorite Salem restaurant and then attended the Don Williams concert at the historic Elsinore Theater.  It was wonderful!!  A relaxing evening out, away from home and all our duties there.  What a welcome treat that was!  *sigh*

Oh, and just as a quick side note...as of this past Monday, I've lost 10 pounds.  Whoohoo!!  I'm so happy about that.  Seeing some progress will further my resolve to continue towards my goal.  :)

I'm a happy, stressed out, tired gal.  And I promise.  As soon as we're finished painting and whatever else we decide just has to be done, and the furniture's back in place...I'll post the "after" pictures.  I promise!!

Blessings all,
Lorie @ Cingspots

p.s.  Almost 3 weeks ago now, we took Eagle to a clinic and he made us both so, so very proud!!!  It was a remarkably productive and positive day for him.  My boy is coming along and I couldn't be more pleased and proud of him.  :)

Whoohoo!! It's official!!

**happy dance**  I'm finally feeling secure enough to reveal my long-awaited good news.  We have sold our big horse trailer!  Oh yeah!!  That means a lot of different things for us.  In fact, this whole deal has turned out to be one very unexpected and multi-faceted blessing that we couldn't have anticipated or even imagined.  A true blessing!!

The guy that's buying our trailer has Fresians and Gypsy Vanner horses.  Incredibly beautiful horses!  In only my wildest dreams have I ever imagined having a Fresian.  They are so beautiful in fact, that I can usually only watch them through tears, that's how much emotion they emit from my soul when I see them.  Truly gorgeous and elegant movers.  But before we go any further, yes he did offer a young Fresian to me as part of the deal, but I said no.  Heaven knows we don't need any more horses!  But, for a tiny amount of time, my heart did dare to dream about the possibility...if only for a moment and only in my mind, I galloped bareback, glossy mane flying,  through a grassy meadow on the back of a jet-black phantom horse I called Gypsy.  *sigh*

Hmmhuh, sorry.  Back to reality.  Yeah well, it was fun while it lasted.  Anyway, we did eventually strike a deal that was pleasing to both parties involved.  Juan is also a contractor.  He owns a construction business and specializes in home remodeling.  My eyes begin to twinkle...he asks me, "is your home everything you want it to be?".  Are you kidding me?  Our little house needs lots of work, there's plenty of room for improvement.  We've just never got enough money, time, expertise, patience, energy...need I go on?  Then there's the likely event of a murder taking place between my husband and me.  We have differences in how we think things ought to be done.  You understand, I'm sure.  I invite Juan inside...

So we struck a deal for some cash and some work to be done in our house.  Specifically, they're going to demo our floor in the laundry room, which has dry rot.  Replace some needed joists and build a new sub-floor.  They're going to re-enforce the floor in our kitchen nook (wood stove room) and rebuild the sub-floor there also; it sags a bit.  They are replacing the flooring in the laundry room, the entryway (mudroom) and the pantry with new vinyl of my choice.  They're also replacing the flooring in the kitchen and the wood stove room with new laminate (fake hardwood) of my choice, and replacing all the base trim and the adjacent bathroom door facing trim, and we're getting a new front door too!!  Oh my gosh, I never would have expected such an immense amount of work to be completed; and by someone other than ourselves!!  I'm still in shock.  I haven't been sleeping well.  I make flooring decisions in my dreams.

And, we're getting enough cash to pay off some bills, enabling us to refinance our home at no cost at all.  That in itself will save us over $50,000 in interest over the life of our loan, cut our payments by over 5 years and cut our interest rate almost in half, while reducing our monthly payment by about $90.00 - can you believe it?  I am completely humbled by our good fortune, and overwhelmed with gratitude.  The overall value of our home will be increased, and it will be much closer to market-ready if and when we decide to sell and relocate.  It's simply better than we ever could have hoped for.

I'm going to try to remember to take a few pictures of the before and then of the after.  We're in the process of moving all our large appliances and furniture out to prepare for the work to begin next week.  I'm horrified by how bad it really looks without everything in its' place.  My husband found a mouse nest.  Good grief.

I'm also mildly concerned about the prospect of showering without a hot water heater.  And we may be eating cold sandwiches on paper plates for a while.  But that's alright.  We're thinking of this as one of life's little adventures.  Building a memory and all that...counting our blessings.

It's all good...

Until next time, Lorie @ Cingspots

Ya gotta go through it, to get past it...

Home remodeling sucks.  There, I've said it.  I can also say that I totally and absolutely hate it.

I do not do well with chaos.  I'm uncomfortable with change.  I'm a creature of habit and I generally consider myself a homebody.  Ones' home should be ones' sanctuary...am I right?

*sigh*

Which is why, this sort of thing makes me more than mildly uncomfortable...

Tools all over the place.  Plywood where my counter top once was...

More tools, and paint cans where my kitchen sink used to be...

Dirty dishes on the plywood because there is no sink...which also means that, there is no water.  No water!!!

What was once our counter top, can now only be described as debris...and is stacked against the wall where it should not be...

My sink.  It looks lonely and forlorn, doesn't it?  I stubbed my toe on it this morning.  You know why???

Because kitchen sinks should not be in the middle of kitchen floors!!!!  That's why!!!!     :(

But alas, this too shall pass...

 This is what my new kitchen counter will be.  Antico Blanco granite.  I had 2 choices to pick from, and this is the one I liked.  The other one was kind of pink and had "motion".  Funny huh?  Motion in rock.  What a silly notion.  I do not like the idea of pink rock in my farm kitchen.  I do not like green eggs with ham.  Sam I am...

I'm so glad it's Friday...

On a completely unrelated subject, I think if everything feels right...tonight might be the night I mount my Eagle horse for the first time.

Prayers would be most appropriate, and certainly appreciated.  Aahh, thank you.  Thank you very much.

:)  Lorie @ Cingspots

Decisions, decisions - I need your help!!!!!!!

I don't think I'm very good at making decisions about the interior design of my home. As far as a "style" of design...you could probably call it eclectic farmhouse, otherwise known as a medley of stuff I like and stuff that was already there when we moved in. Anyway, we're having a woodstove installed in our kitchen. I've picked out the location of the stove, and I've chosen the stove. Good start. Here begins my dilemma...we went to my hubby's shop and tried to pick out the rock for the mat/hearth, whatever you call it. The non-combustible material that goes underneath the stove. Waaaaay too many choices for my brain to pick just one.

Here's my vision so far... this is what I want, not necessarily what I have right now; so please, bear with me. :) The woodstove is black cast iron, floors hopefully someday will be medium-toned "oak" colored wood or laminate (Pergo). A fairly light, neutral wall coloring maybe in pale, buttery yellow, cabinets painted bright white with countertops of french-vanilla toned stone with brown/black flecks or warm browns. And, for the curtains we'll throw in something like red and white gingham check or old-fashioned off-white lace.

Our house is not fancy. At all. Quite the contrary; it's an oldish Cape Cod style built in the 50's that's been turned into a farmhouse out of necessity. It's cozy, it has lots of room for improvement, and it's our home. It's where we live, it is definitely not a showplace. But, I would like to make it look nicer if, and when we can afford to.

Below are the narrowed down choices that I came up with. The pictures aren't great, but they're what I have. I would like your opinions, your comments and your pinnache'. Hey, I figured what the heck...it worked for Pioneer Woman!! It's worth a shot.

Choice 1

Choice 2

Choice 3 (this one's sort of pebbley and textured making it less shiney)

Choice 4

Choice 5

Choice 6

These are all granite pieces and it's what we can use to save some money. My hubby will do the cutting and the edge detail enabling us to save about $500 or so by not having to buy a ready-made stove pad. I'm just afraid of it looking too fancy in our little house. That's definitely not the look I'm going for.

Thanks everybody!! I will greatly appreciate any assistance or opinions you're willing to share with me.

Humbly, Cingspots