A "Garden Variety" of Happenings

We spent a nice, quiet weekend around home doing a variety of things, without really doing much of anything.    That's perfectly clear and understandable, right?  It makes sense to me.  :)  

Saturday afternoon, our dear friend Claudia delivered our very first Bountiful Basket order.  I was so happy to see a nice variety of fresh fruits and garden vegetables.  Just look at what we got!  Cabbage, cauliflower, spaghetti squash, comice pears, mandarine oranges, bananas, apples, spinach, sweet potatoes, an english cucumber, and some grape tomatoes!  It was like a Christmas package, and so much fun seeing what was inside the box.  And all for just $16.50...what a great deal.  Now to get creative and make sure we eat everything up!

 Last night, we ate the cauliflower.  I put some olive oil and some chopped garlic in a plastic bag, added the entire head of cauliflower florets and shook to coat.  Dumped the contents into an olive oiled baking pan and seasoned with sea salt and pepper.  Baked at 400 for about 15 minutes, then took out to stir.  Put back in the oven for about 10 more minutes, then removed and sprinkled with parmesan cheese...oh my, this is my favorite way to eat fresh cauliflower.  I call it roasted cauliflower with garlic.  Original huh?  So tasty!

 My boss and his family headed out of town for the weekend, and asked if we could watch their dog, Jackson for them.  He's no trouble, and we were happy to keep him.  I call this shot of the poor, abused saps..."muddy paws".  You'd think they'd all just endured a beating the way they look in this picture.  :)  They lead such rough lives...

 Sunday morning, Jules called to see if she could come over and have some farm girl time with the horses.  It's always a good excuse to head out to the barn and scrape some mud off of the ponies.  Since Ladde is the biggest chore and always such a sucker to come when he's called, he was first.  When he realized he wasn't being beckoned just to receive a treat, he was not a happy camper.  He didn't want to stand still and was being a bit of a pill, so big boy got to blow off some steam in the round pen while everyone else just relaxed and watched the show.  After 10-15 minutes of running, bucking, snorting and pitching a little hissy fit, he dropped his head, blew the cobwebs from his brain and came over to my hubby, ready to please...Ladde was back.  :)

Amazing what a little free choice time in the old round pen will accomplish.  He decided he would much rather stand quietly while tied, munch some hay and receive grooming and pets.  What a hard choice!  

He's a very good boy, standing respectfully and quietly for the little girl to brush (scrape) the mud from his coat.  It's a rough job, but somebody's gotta do it!  :)  Jules just turned 11 years old, and in such a short time has come from knowing nothing at all about horses, to fairly accomplished around them.  She's a very good student, and definitely has the bug.   :)

 I love  this picture of Ladde's expression!  He's looking down as if wondering what she's going to ask next of him.  Now, that's more like it!!

 I just love how children have no fear issues around horses, and because of that trust, the horses are generally quiet and very relaxed with them.

 Miss Kadie was next to get a good grooming.  She looks so innocent, doesn't she?  She was in a bit of a snit on this particular day herself.  Must be something in the air...

Shad ready for his dinner...we've been giving him and Kadie a small flake of alfalfa in the evenings with the rest of their rations, and it certainly has taken them no time at all to expect the special "mint on their pillow", as my hubby refers to it.

 The evil-eyed llama.  We've had Merlin for about 17 years now, and in all that time, he's never, ever liked being touched.  If he even thinks you're going to try and pet him, he moves away and gives you the old stink-eye.  He never spits, but he looks like he'd like to.  So anyway, last summer he gets an eye injury and we have to catch him daily and treat his eye.  What a picnic!  Turns out, it was much simpler than I'd ever have thought; certainly much easier than trying to doctor any of the horse's eyes.  My point here is, that after the eye-doctoring incident, now for whatever reason, Merlin's decided that we really don't aim to rip his head off and feed it to the dogs!  Now, more often than not, he's peering over my shoulder trying to see what I'm doing, and following me so closely that if I make a quick turn-around, I bump right into him.  I think I preferred when the smelly old coot was all weirded out, thinking we wanted to "get" him!  He lets me pet him, remove sticks and such from his wool and everything.  Go figure!

 I love this green stuff mom!!

 Just put the alfalfa down and move away from the pile...
My sweet, little old lady who thinks that just because she's retired, she really doesn't have to do anything.

 Spooky-eyed Ladde.  More than likely banging on his gate in that double-action way of his that gets twice the noise for his buck!!  I love that boy!!  His noise?  Not so much.  :)

The formerly "Mr. Clean"...I do believe he's been taking lessons from Ladde in how to get the most out of your rolls in the mud.  Eagle more often than not these days, sporting some mud of his own.  *sigh*

Who ME????

Jackson being a goofy dog.  Loudest, most obnoxious bark.  ever.

 Poor Harley.  :(  For about a week now, we've been treating his eye.  This time it's a corneal abrasion and is obviously very, very painful.  I even had to call out Heather, the doctor on call last weekend and have her come take a look at exactly what we were dealing with this time...there was so much swelling, and the eye was closed, so I couldn't get a good look at the eyeball itself.  Once sedated and numbed, we saw the tear in the cornea.  We're still giving him pain meds twice a day and putting the antibiotic ointment in the eye twice a day, a week later.  Hoping we won't have to have Rick out to debride the eye, but that's what I think may have to happen to achieve proper healing.  It should have been much better than it is by now.  He's our blind horse, and things like this are much more common than we'd like.  Keeping a fly mask on helps, but sometimes he rubs them off.  There's just no perfect solution...

 Proof that I can scratch and pet Merlin whenever and wherever I want to now...isn't  that special?  :)

 This is a pretty good shot of Harley's cloudy and very painful eye.  I still ask why it had to happen to this horse?  He's so sweet, and such a kindhearted, gentle spirit...why always the good horses????
Just sucks.

And lastly, my newly mud-loving Mustang...Eagle.  I love this horse so much!  Listen to me...I love them all.  They're each so special, so unique, and so very important to us.  I can't imagine life without each and every single one!

It was a mostly stay at home, quiet and laid back weekend.  Perfect for mid-winter, I guess.  Saturday night, I did fix a casserole and we drove about an hour away to our AHA riding club meeting.  It was good to spend some time visiting with our dear friends and make a few plans for outings with the horses when the days are warmer and longer.  It's not really that far away.  I sure hope that Eagle and I will be able to participate in a few of the rides we've got planned.  We need to create a lot more wonderful memories, my boy and I.  I had planned on ride #2 last weekend, but just ran out of time and it didn't happen.  It will soon. I'm really looking forward to it!!

We almost had another addition to our little equine family.  A client from work is moving to North Carolina, they're leaving one week from today, and she's had no luck at selling/re-homing her two horses.  One is older and hasn't been ridden in a few years, but the other one we agreed to take if she wasn't able to find an alternate home for her.  She's an 18 year old QH mare, 15 hh, sorrel, named Sugar..."Docs Windy Night", and she's been used for cattle sorting and trail riding mostly.  Nicely trained and so sweet, but an alpha mare.  I was actually beginning to get a little excited about getting her, but this morning Sheila called me and said that a friend of hers will take her.  I had told God that it was up to Him, if it was the right thing for us, we were willing, but if not, let someone else have her.  I guess we got our answer.  I'm a little disappointed though.  Not that we need another horse, I know...but my heart was willing.

Until next time, blessings dear friends!
Lorie @ Cingspots

My need to shed

As in some weight, not my hair.  I want to lose some weight and get into better shape.  I'm just not sure how to go about it.  Ok, in my head I know the things to do.  The challenge is in keeping to it on a daily basis.  I'm a great starter of things.  But long-term, not so much.  And I've been on this merry-go-round more than a few times so far in my life.  But that picture of me on Eagle the other day freaked me out.  My butt looks too big to fit into my saddle, and my butt has never even been my problem area!  I can only imagine what was going through my horse's mind...sheesh!  I don't feel as athletic as I did a few years ago, so I need to do something about it before I get too out of control.  I also realize that my weight and lack of athleticism is more than likely my main reason for feeling so much less confident in the saddle too.  I know that for sure.

So...what to do?  I need a plan.  Something that won't leave me feeling short-changed or like I'm being punished.  I've considered joining weight watchers on-line, but find myself not really wanting to go that route.  I know the diet industry is just that; a huge, corporate, money-making industry that preys on overweight people and their hopes and wishes of becoming thin.  They make it sound all too easy, and I for one, know it's not all that easy.  If that were the case, we'd all be appropriately thin.  My doctor has advised going to Overeater's Anonymous meetings.  They're a 12-step program (amazingly familiar to Alcoholic's Anonymous) that's based on the premise that we are not in control of our lives, that our lives have become unmanageable and we need these meetings to bring us back to sanity.  Not sure I agree with that, nor do I necessarily think that's the case.  However, I do like the idea of a group of people with similar feelings and issues that might be helpful in staying accountable.  I've just never been a real fan of that type of group setting, baring ones' soul to strangers and all that.  I don't know, maybe I could attend a meeting and see what the "feel" of the group was like.  Guess I could commit to one, anyway.  I did join weight watchers once, and did not enjoy that group setting at all.

I'm going to try making a few small changes at first.  And slowly, incorporate more healthy choices into my daily routine.  Another problem is, my husband.  He doesn't want any changes, which makes it even harder for me to incorporate real change into my life without affecting his.  I've used sneaky tactics before, and am certainly not "above" going this route again.  :)  What hubby doesn't know, doesn't hurt him.  Quite the contrary really.  Would be of great benefit to him as well. He could stand to lose a few pounds too, I know he'd feel better.

I'd appreciate advice, suggestions, ideas for what might be helpful.  What you might have experienced in your own life, what's worked for you, and what hasn't.  Frankly, I'll accept all the help I can get!

My first step is to drink several glasses of water each day when I'm at work.  I've begun taking a multi-vitamin each day, and now that our weather is a bit better, I'll start taking the dogs and walking with them at lunch times again.  I'm of the opinion that even a little exercise each day is certainly better than none.  Couldn't hurt, right?  Problem is, I know that's not enough.  My body hangs onto this weight for all its' worth.  I need a lot less calories on a daily basis incorporated with an exercise program.

A good friend told me about this community garden co-op program called Bountiful baskets.  They have them in various parts of the country, and we have one locally.  You go online and click on what you'd like.  You buy when you want to, and don't when you choose not to.  What could be simpler?  A full basket consists of about 50% fruits and 50% veggies.  You never know exactly what will be in your basket, and it varies by what's in season, what they can get and so on.  If there's something you particularly don't like, you can make that noted and they'll try not to include that item again.  There's several options for adding on as well, including breads, citrus packs, cookies, home canned goods in the summer, extra veggies if you have a larger sized family and so on.  The add-on options vary.  This month they have 20 heart-shaped cookies that come with red and pink frosting for you to decorate yourself.  Cost was $10...I wanted those cookies, but did not get them.  (patting self on back)  So, for starters this coming weekend will be our first fulfilled order and we'll see how it goes.  The cost is $16.50 for what sounds like approximately 20 lbs. of produce.  My friend has been getting this produce for a while now, and she says the quality and variety is wonderful.  I'm excited!  This is one way of adding in more fresh fruits/veggies into our daily diet year round.  They also have a blog where they post recipes, preservation tips, etc.

Onward and upward my friends!  Keep me in your prayers if you will, and I'll keep you in mine as well.  My annual doctor's appointment is coming up fairly soon, and I am so not looking forward to stepping on that scale.  :(   *crap*

Blessings all, Lorie @ Cingspots

A beautiful vintage picture in honor of love, best friendships and of course, Valentine's Day!!

I finally did it!!

We had a perfectly beautiful, spring-like weekend to welcome in the month of February.  I awoke early Saturday morning to find sunshine streaming through the bedroom windows, the smell of freshly brewed coffee and a fire in the wood stove.  Rise and shine, indeed!!  My hubby was already outside feeding the horses and cleaning their stalls, so I got to relax by the fire, enjoy a cup of hot coffee and watch the horses eat their breakfast in the sunshine.  What could be better?

We had a bit of breakfast and decided to take the dogs and head up into the woods for a brisk walk.  The place is called Raine's Tree Farm.  Ralph Raines is an old guy whose family has owned this property for many, many years.  He posts signs that welcomes hikers, hunters and horseback riders, but strictly no motorized vehicles.  Years ago, we used to bring our horses to these woods quite often and ride the old, and many abandoned logging roads and trails throughout.  What isn't owned by the Raines family is owned by Stimson Lumber Company.  

Remnants of an old Ford

What's left of the old Ford and the guy's pants

Posing for the camera...

 We had a nice walk, enjoyed the chance of soaking up some sunshine and getting some fresh air.  And, as always, the dogs had a blast!  They're so easy to please.  They always make me smile.

Bird seed buffet

Pretty Blue Jay

These pictures aren't the greatest, because I was shooting through my dirty, sliding glass door, across the yard, and the small pasture and was pretty close to full zoom.  But I always enjoy watching the horses eat.  They're relaxing and so peaceful.

Then on Sunday, we still had pleasantly warm temps, but no bright sunshine.  We remained fogged in until around mid-day when the fog burned off, but the high clouds remained.  It was overall a very nice weekend.  We did some housecleaning, re-loaded our firewood box on the deck, got about halfway through chopping our berry garden back, and got all the clippings hauled to the burn pile.  I made some Minestrone soup with lots of vegetables, kidney beans and chunks of chicken and had it simmering on the wood stove.  Smelled wonderful in the house!  Then we made our way down to the barn to work on the chores.  I decided to get Eagle and work with him a little bit.  He was spot-on!  This horse hasn't forgotten any of his lessons and is just so sweet.  This is only the second time that I've done anything with him since last fall.  Since he was doing everything I asked pretty much perfectly, and was so relaxed and with me mentally, I decided that it was now or never.  I saddled him up and got on him.  Now, to be honest here, I must back up just a bit.  I was scared.  Heart racing, butterflies in my stomach, as nervous as heck!  I must have stood on that mounting block for between 10-15 minutes himming and hawwing...came very close to thinking that I just couldn't do it.  I kept putting my foot in the stirrup.  Then I'd pull my foot out again.  Back and forth.  More deep breaths.  Then a little prayer for courage and protection.  I mounted Eagle.  I just sat there quietly, stroking his neck, rubbing his rump, adjusting and readjusting myself in the saddle.  Took some more deep, cleansing breaths.  The whole time Eagle did not move a muscle.  He was in freeze-frame, and just waited on me.  Patiently waited for me to get my s*#t together.  What a good horse!!!  

When I finally decided to ask him to move out, he was very reluctant to move his feet.  It took a lot of asking.  I got him turning in both directions, and we walked around the round pen a little bit.  He was being so very careful with me.  I think he realized my hesitation, nervousness and lack of leadership, and didn't really trust that moving was what I wanted him to do.  :)  After a little walking around, we stopped and just sat there for a while.  I petted his neck, and spoke to him quietly.  I asked for some bend each direction in his neck without moving his feet.  He complied with everything I asked of him.  Then I dismounted and made a big old fuss about what a wonderful horse he was!!  I was so happy that our first "ride" was a success.  It wasn't pretty, but it was calm and quiet.  That was good enough for a first ride.  

My husband was with me the whole time.  He snapped this (horrible) picture of the two of us.  Eagle looking calm, cool and collected.  Me, not so much.  I wasn't anticipating a photo opp when I headed to the barn.  So, lavender vest, purple sweatshirt, peg-leg, old, highwater jeans with my red-topped boots is definitely not
the fashion statement I would want to make...it is what it is.  And you'll notice that I even donned my new riding helmet (just in case).  But, I'm happy.  I'm smiling, and not crying.  :)

It's a start.  Hopefully, it's onward from here.  I'm hoping and praying that this is the beginning of a long and close riding relationship between my Eags and me.  I'm a happy gal (even if I do look like a dork).

Lorie @ Cingspots

Another (hopefully graceful) transition!

Aah yes, those transitions, changes in life that we all continually encounter...we just try to handle them as they come, and hopefully those transitions take place gracefully, with little more than ripples in our daily routines.  Because whether we readily admit it or not, I believe that most of us, like our animals, are creatures of habit.  And change can be a decidedly uncomfortable, oftentimes unpleasant and downright scary undertaking.  But change we must!  We must always remember that life is a series of continual changing, evolving and growing.  Without that change, life would quickly become stagnant, and we'd most likely die.  Literally or figuratively, wither up and be no more.  Such a pleasant thought!

The most recent transition to which I'm referring is the retirement of my husband.  Having been laid off from his job early last year, his unemployment benefits are finished.  This coming month of February will be the first time that he will be collecting the first of (hopefully many) social security benefits payments.  Yikes!!  For some reason, I envisioned this as something that would happen a long way off, you know, when we're old.  Ahem...does this mean we're old?  Nope!  Quite the contrary, I see this as another chapter in our lives.  With God's mercy, it will be a long and fulfilling chapter where we have more personal time to enjoy doing the things in life that we previously didn't have much time to enjoy.  Working is something we must all do in life, but it seriously infringes upon our personal pursuits!  And frankly, I can be a bit testy about how little of our time we're able to utilize and enjoy doing what we want.  It's just never seemed fair to me, especially when I look around and so many families have only 1 working family member.  Do these stay-at-home working family members seriously realize just how much of a luxury that is?  I understand working around the home, but it is quite different when one has to commute to a place of employment 5 days out of every 7 and be there without fail, doing whatever it is that you do in order to collect your paycheck.  It's vastly different than working from home, scheduling your own hours and accomplishing whatever it is that you determine will be done in that particular day.  Very different.  Aahh well, but then life just isn't about being fair is it?  Life just is, what it is.  Life is what you make of it.  I have a good life, and I'm thankful.  I also admit to looking forward with great anticipation to the day when my time is much more, my own time.  In the meantime, I'll continue to commute and do my job to the best of my abilities, and also be thankful that I do have a job that I usually enjoy, and that helps to pay our bills, and take care of our animals and our home.  But I digress...

My point is, we're adapting to this most recent change.  I'm actually looking forward to my hubby being at home more often, and being able to pursue projects around our property and our home without everything trying to get finished on our weekends.  Hopefully, this change will enable us to follow more entertaining pursuits on our weekends!!  Now that is something to look forward to!!  I am all open for that...poor guy, just don't know if he realizes everything I have in mind for utilizing his time.  This must be how it is for husbands though, their wives always finding new and more clever ways to fill up those idle hours.  Idle - hah!!  Ladies, you can relate right?  :)  And besides, you realize what's said about idle time being the devil's workshop don't you?  Mustn't contribute to that!!

In other news that is news, our weather is considerably warmer and wetter.  It's much more akin to what we usually expect in January.  The mud is back to being sticky and wet, no need for the water trough heater, and the blankets are only for Miss Kadie on those particularly wet and blustery days.  However, she doesn't really need a blanket for warmth at all, I just don't want her getting wet and chilled.  Our temps are in the upper 40's by night, and into the 50's by day.  A light jacket or vest is all that's required to ward off the winter's chill.  I've noticed recently that the horses are starting to shed their winter coats as well, so are the dogs.  Just maybe, we're in for a warmer and drier spring than we've had in the last several years.  That would be wonderful!  I've noticed the daylight hours being a bit longer as well.  There's still some light in the sky when I head home in the evenings, and daylight savings is less than 6 weeks away.  I'm amazed at how well I'm handling my SAD this year.  Although, there's nothing in particular that I'm doing, it just doesn't seem to be bothering me much yet this year.  What a blessing that is!

We took a day trip to the beach last Sunday.  It was raining on and off all day, but there was very little wind.  The surf was angry and the tide was in, which made walking on the beach a more cautious affair.  Despite the weather and the formidable waves, we donned our coats and hats and walked to our heart's content.  I've definitely noticed Annie slowing down a bit lately.  She loves walking, but she prefers to stay close by my side and keeps my pace rather than running off with Ruby.  It just breaks my heart to admit this, but it's true.  My girl will be 8 on April 30th, so she is a mature lady, a puppy no more...I will love her and care for her every single day that we have together.  I'm her person.  She's a momma's girl, and always has been.  :)

When we grew tired of walking, we went into McMenamen's Pub for their amazing clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls.  Oh my - their chowder is the very best I've had since I worked for Lois DeVore many, many years ago.  She took her chowder recipe with her to her grave, and the world would grieve if it only knew what it was missing.  I can honestly say that this is the first chowder I've EVER had that even remotely comes close to Lois'...and that is saying something.  It is delicious and I highly recommend trying it if you have a McMenamen's near you.  Try it alongside an icy glass of their Ruby Ale...they brew it themselves and it's infused with raspberry puree.  So good!

anticipation...

 My sweet hubby had cleaned the stalls and put hay rations out before we left, so when we got home, all we had to do was bring the horses inside and give them their grain.  They were definitely ready.  Warm, cozy stalls are much more inviting than standing outside in mud and rain.  Our ponies love their little homes, and that makes us happy!

January full moon over cingspots

May we all look upon our transitions with grace and with thankfulness...
Blessings, Lorie @ Cingspots

Mom, are we normal yet?

As you've probably guessed, our weather has normalized.  Yes, it's raining and it's substantially warmer, and I hate it.  Not surprisingly my mood has deteriorated right along with the weather.  How can that be?  I don't understand how my outlook on life in general is so closely related to what I see out the window?  I just don't get it.  Then again, maybe it's not all weather related.  I've been fighting a cold for over a week now.  It started out with a sore throat.  That's how they always start for me.  Anyway, so the sore throat came and went for a few days, and then BAAMM! I had the telltale cottony feeling in my head and sinuses.  Eyes feel slightly out of focus and the old brain wasn't working quite right.  Then nightfall comes and I'm congested and I can't sleep.  This is where the problems begin.  No sleep is not good.  Not one little bit.  I'm a person who has always needed an adequate amount of rest each night to function properly and to maintain a "cheerful" demeanor.  Otherwise...I get very, very cranky.  Downright ugly in fact.  My entire outlook on life goes right down the drain.  My alter ego...the bitch takes over.    

She can't help it either.

I have no pictures of my own to post today, but found these winter whites on the computer and thought they were much nicer to look at than what we've got outside our windows.

They were predicting a very messy transition early this morning with freezing rain. That, thankfully didn't happen.  Nope, it warmed up very quickly, ground thawed out and we just got plain old everyday Oregon rain.  Oh goody.

We've been very fortunate so far this month, and for that I'm thankful.  If we don't get our quota of mega-amounts of rain soon, we're going to start hearing the weathermen predicting the eternal doomsday reports of drought...in all my years of living, we've never, ever had a drought.  So, why do they make such a fuss?  I have to shake my head at all their talk about our weather.  Seems like nothing we ever have is "normal".  We're either below average, or we're above average.

In all their many years of keeping records in regards to our weather patterns, don't they realize that "normal"  or "average" is a very tiny speck smack dab in the middle of that data sheet in time?  It's much, much more common to be either below average or above average in my opinion.  *sigh*

Maybe I'm just cranky.  Then again, maybe I'm more realistic and pragmatic about what it really means to be normal or what it means to be average.

Normal is a very rare occurrence.  Both in weather, and in people.

Something else I've realized; weather and normal, along with most things in life are subject to opinion.

And you know what they say about having opinions don't you?  That's right, they're just like mothers...everybody's got one.

Which just leads us into another foray of the colors of winter...a big, fat grey area.  Just like our skies.

Bah-humbug  HUMBUG!



Dreamin' of the blue...
Lorie @ Cingspots

Shades of Grey and Winter Whites

We've been ensconced in frozen fog, frigid weather and an unusually dry weather pattern for a couple of weeks now.  We've even been blessed with a few days of blindingly bright sunshine!  Really - I think I know exactly how a mole must feel when he burrows up and out of the depths of the earth for the first time in days.
I've had to drag out my summer shades a few times lately!  One must always remember that squinting causes laugh lines and wrinkles.  :)

Speaking of wrinkles, and of aging in particular...today is my birthday!  My 53rd and counting to be exact!  I am astounded that I'm this old!!  I don't feel 53.  But then again, how is one supposed to feel at this age?  I feel older than I once did; of that I'm positive, but I don't feel old and in actuality I believe there are many benefits to having reached this specific time in my life.  Many to be sure!!  For one, I am again a great-great auntie.  Yep!!  And the newest member of our family was born this morning on my birthday!!  How's that for a birthday gift?  Pretty cool, I think!!  I don't know her name, nor her weight, nor what she looks like...but of one thing I am sure...she shall and always will, hold a dear and special place in my heart because we share a birthday.  What a blessing!!

So, I've been thinking about winter white lately, and various shades of whites and greys.  White is quite underrated I think.  Vanilla for example, a divine flavor on its' own and highly under-valued.  Winter is full of white and probably so, because so much of what winter has to offer is otherwise quite bland.  So we're given white and its' various shades to brighten things up a bit!  A different kind of light in an otherwise barren season devoid of sunshine.

Harley

hubba hubba!!

winter wonderland

Shad

Eagle - lover boy  :)

Dear, sweet, mud-loving Ladde

Kadie - my princess 29 this year

Sweet Harley (guilty of trying to bite my kneecap repeatedly yesterday!)

My sweet prince, Ladde

Merlin...the definition of cremudgeon

frosty white hairs on his ears

  

If you feed them, they will come...

Charley, she's pointing that thing at us again!

Depending on where you live, and what your winter weather woes have been, your appetite for warmer, brighter days may be overwhelming.  But, hang in there my friends...only 2 more months of winter to go!  Today charts the 1/3 of the way through winter mark!!!  Spring's warmer and sunnier days are closer than you may think.  Like the song says..."time waits for no one, and it won't wait for me".  

Tick Tock

Blessings everyone, Lorie @ Cingspots

Welcoming in the new year

Alright, so maybe I'm a bit behind the times, but to me it's still an appropriate time-frame for welcoming in our new year.  I haven't done a blog posting since a week or more before Christmas and I've got so much catching up to do!  I won't try and say everything for fear of putting you all to sleep.  :)

For some reason, I've not been suffering from my normal S.A.D. this year.  I am so thankful for that!  I've been getting plenty of sleep, trying to get fresh air and outside activity each day and eat lots of fresh citrus and fruits and veggies in general.  I get lots of citrus, but can't say truthfully that I'm eating as much healthy veggies as I should.  But I'm trying!  Last night I made a simple, homemade bread that is delicious.  Thanks Karen!  It has only 3 ingredients and gets stirred, then baked.  That's it!  Yummy!

3 cups self-rising flour and 1/2 cup sugar.  Mix well.  Then pour in 1 can/bottle of room temperature beer (not flat) and stir until moistened.  Dump into a greased loaf pan and bake at 325 for 45 minutes.  Remove and butter top.  Bake for 15 more minutes, then remove and butter top.  (mine was done here) Recipe says to bake for an additional 15 minutes.  You be the judge!  So simple and so delicious!!

My girlfriend and I went to the beach last Saturday afternoon.  Saw Charlie Pride in concert at the casino and it was really fun.  Great music and we had center stage, row 3 seats!  Amazing and so very close!  The music I grew up on, and I remembered just about every song and most of the words.  Lots of fun!  We stayed overnight because Kris had a free night, even had a free breakfast the following morning.  You can't beat that!  Gorgeous, but cold weather.  Brilliantly blue skies and sunshine...just perfect!  I'd love to go again and stay next weekend for my birthday, but don't know if we can swing that.  We'll see.

 My friend Kris, who is gonna KILL me!!  :)  She was saying no, no, don't take my picture!!  The devil made me do it...

Our weather has been cold and dry for about a week now.  Some days the sun shines, but mostly we've been encased in freezing fog.  Beautiful, and the mud is frozen!  I like that!  I'll take this over rain any day.  What am I saying?  I take most anything over rain any day!  I'm sure this is contributing to my mental health.

Our tv went on the fritz, but our dear friend Claudia gave us an extra one she had.  What a blessing!  Thank you Claudia, we owe you big time!!  And we got a new box springs, mattress and pillows.  Sheer heaven!  The pillows we're still getting used to, they're Tempur-pedic memory foam.  Very firm.  Sometimes I think they're very comfortable, other times I'm not so sure.  But the bed is delightful!  *sigh*  I'm sleeping much more soundly and waking up less often throughout the night.  Another advantage to my outlook in general, I'm sure.

All our horses are fat, fuzzy and healthy.  Our dogs and cats are fine, even the llama is as stubborn and healthy as ever.  We are blessed.  We have plenty of firewood for the winter, and we think our hay supply will last until sometime in March.  One of our hay guys still has an abundance of hay in his barn, so it's there when we need it.  So thankful for that.  My hubby's social security payments are scheduled to begin in mid February and we've probably just deposited his last employment benefits check, but we've saved enough of a cushion to make a comfortable transition.  Again, we feel thankful and blessed that this is the case.  Over the last several months, I've been working hard on stocking our pantry and our freezer.  We have plenty of food in storage so there are no worries there.  What can I say?  We're doing great!  And heaven knows, we're both plenty fat, so if worse came to worst, we have built in cushions in that department!!  :)

Ladde do like his mud!!

A sign of spring...red-winged black bird.  We call them deeter deeter birds.

 

I am so anxious to ride that I can hardly stand it!  Now that we're into winter and our days are slowly, but surely gaining daylight every day, I want to get back into the habit of working with Eagle and Ladde, and slowly beginning their (and mine) conditioning for the upcoming riding season.  My hubby got me a helmet for Christmas, and I'm hoping it gives me an additional measure of confidence when I ride Eagle the first few times.  My girlfriend told me that it's obvious to her, that Eagle loves me, so of course, he's going to be good for me!  That made me feel soooo good!!!!  :)  I think that I know in my heart he'd never do anything to purposefully hurt me.  He is such a kind, loving horse and really does have a gentle heart.  It's just that he spooks very easily and is extremely athletic!  Not a good combination for a middle-aged, overweight gal whose ridden very little in the last two years.  Not good.  I'm just hoping that I can regain my leg strength and improve my balance, which will dramatically increase my confidence.  I just need to get out there and do it!
And I will.

Anyway, this catches me up partially.  Hope all is well with everyone and that nobody's getting the winter blahs and all are fat, fuzzy and healthy.

Blessings everyone,
Lorie @ Cingspots