On my walk this morning. The sun comes up over the hill and illuminates the buildings, it may be too hard to see, so far away. As I look at this photo, I can see Catalina Island! Pretty cool! I am looking towards the Pacific Ocean.
Many folks are exercise guru’s, so motivated that they do not need much prompting to get out there and exercise. I’m the type that procrastinates but once I get going I really enjoy the exercise, it is so invigorating that I know once I keep up my walking schedule that I actually look forward to it no matter what the weather. I do not have a gym membership, and there is a simple reason why. I own horses! Haha, they are my gym membership as I really would rather spend my money on them and try hard to stay fit and active outdoors. I am also including with my walks, lots of stretching and yoga. I think any little bit you do is better than nothing, what do you do for exercise? I know many run (I’m envious) but I’m just not a runner. And I know many do the gym and I think if I didn’t have horses I would definitely join a gym! 😀
Haha, trying to capture the sunrise here! Love the sun rising up over our local hills! ❤My temps for today. I am going to get my gloves for my next walk! My hands just get so cold but otherwise I am loving the cool mornings! ❤YIKES! The wind is coming today. My girlfriend and I are hoping to get in a trail ride before the wind this morning. Trail rides and wind, not going to happen.
As I get ready for my day I am enjoying this weather. It has been a mild winter for us here which I have to say I am enjoying immensely. I am sharing my walking partly to keep myself accountable. I can’t believe how much I can procrastinate, and so this helps me stay motivated. I enjoy sharing my walking expeditions, even though they are small and in my neighborhood!
I am praying the strong winds stay away long enough to fit in a trail ride as my best friend is off today and the wind is coming. We can’t ride in the wind as it is dangerous. We have a lot of palm trees around the streets on the trails. If a palm frond fly’s off in the wind they have spikes on them and you do not want to get hit with one and they are usually huge! Also, the horses can be very spooky in the wind, although our horses are seasoned trail ponies, anything can be blowing around so of course it is just not safe.
SUNRISE in my neck of the woods!
I will close with my sunrise photo. It sure puts a smile on my face and am so happy I went out on my walk this morning. I hope you all have great day and week!
My weekly smile goes to my daughter! She is promoting at the end of this week. I am so incredibly proud of her and all her achievements!
I am a proud mama as in a few days we are heading up North to Vandenberg AFB, where my daughter will be promoting to Major in the Air Force. I can’t express how proud I am of all her achievements! ❤ Not only is she an Air Force Academy grad, she has excelled in the Air Force with her career in Space. We are excited to be heading there to help her celebrate her promotion. I started this blog post as a weekend coffee share but this last weekend got away from me and I did not have time to write. So I have turned it into my weekly smile! 😀
I don’t know what happened this last weekend. It was a roller coaster of emotions for me which isn’t like me at all. I am pretty rock steady. Looking back it seems a bit over reactive of me and it all stems from our future. I am wanting to be more focused on our plan to move to Arizona and well, it is very difficult to get all the pieces of the puzzle in place to make this happen and for some reason I was just really emotional about it all. It doesn’t really matter all the particulars, certainly not worth rehashing but by the time it got to Sunday I knew there was no way I could write a coffee share.
It started out to be the most gloomy of Sunday’s, very overcast and foggy out and the temperature outside never rose above 60 degrees. It was chilly out and as the day wore on it became incredibly sad. I don’t usually write about the news and stay completely away from politics, but the accident involving Kobe Bryant was so incredibly sad and I am not even a sports person. It just got to me because I think I was feeling sorry for myself and right before my eyes, as I listen to the news, were not only his family but other families who loss their lives in a blink of an eye. What a sad day.
I am writing this to say Thank Youfrom the bottom of my heart. I want to thank each and every one of you for your support, for being here and for smiling along with me. 😀 You all help me, and I hope in some way I help you look at life and SMILE! Certainly, we are very lucky to be here to enjoy another day. I am also very thankful and grateful to be able to celebrate with my daughter and my family!❤
My family in Arizona is always on my mind. I can’t take a new photo so I’m re-sharing a photo I took when we were there a few weeks ago!
LIFE! is full of choices, it is full of fun, grief, happiness and sadness. We all have to make what we can of it and I refuse to just sit back and take a back seat. I want to feel life, the good and the bad. I will do my best to make it the best darn life I can make it and so this is a crazy smile this week but its a culmination of a very strange weekend. Thank you for visiting and for smiling. We are all so very fortunate to be here to enjoy our SMILES together! 😀
I went out for my walk this morning and saw some early blooms on my roses and thought I would share. I have posted before my rose blooms and although I love how pretty they are what I love the most is the smell. Just LOVE rose, definitely one of my favorites. This put a huge smile on my face as it is still winter and yet some of my roses are blooming! They have loved the rain we have been getting and the cool weather. My smile today is just enjoying another day off. I so look forward to my days off, who doesn’t right? My days off are split which is okay with me as I work night shift so it works out working a few nights and then getting a day off to recharge. I’m happy with my schedule! What makes you smile? Is there anything special happening this week? or maybe just enjoying your day?
This is my tea rose which is getting a few blooms.
It’s been very cool the last few weeks with temps barely hitting 60 degrees. For us here in Southern California, it is nice and cold. It gets down into the 40’s at night with cloud cover and down in the 30’s when the clouds are gone. The morning dew is here and with all the clouds and rainy weather its such a nice relief from our many months of sun and heat. I took a few photos on my walk this morning. I love the clouds, haha, we do not get clouds as much as sun in this part of the world. 😀
This is heading down the hill to my house. So wintry out! The sun rising and illuminating the clouds. So pretty and silvery grey!
I am enjoying my day off so much. I am seeing the sun shining in the front yard now that it is rising and that puts a smile on my face. The high today will be 65 degrees and I just looked at the 10 day forecast and starting tomorrow it will be in the 70’s and by the end of this month the high will be 80 so it is beginning to warm up.
I also wanted to post an update with the kitties as they are doing excellent! They are so happy and they have settled in so nicely. I am really happy about the transition and am very thankful they have adjusted and find us enjoyable to be around. They will follow me around the house, so cute. They play with the kitty toys and let us know it is time for breakfast or dinner! Their meows are so cute, and they rub on us and let us rub and scratch their chins. Happy kitties! 😀
Tried to get them to look at me, they are so adorable as they love laying and sleeping together!
I want to thank Trent for hosting the weekly smile! Thanks for visiting and smiling with me today! Have a wonderful rest of your week.
What makes you smile? I so enjoy sharing and I have to thank Trent who hosts the Weekly Smile!
I woke up this morning to very thick fog. There is a storm moving in and 70% chance of rain Thursday night with fog and clouds all day today. A gloomy day and am hoping this fog will lift a bit so I can get a trail ride in today. I do love a change in weather and am enjoying a hot bowl of oatmeal with my coffee as I cozy up to work on my crochet blanket. Oh wait, this isn’t a weekend coffee share, it’s my weekly smile! I am smiling because I have mostly finished my baby blanket for my new grandson coming soon!
A VERY foggy morning. It is so thick and usually burns off pretty early. I took this at 9am and as I write this it is still very thick and am hoping it will burn off by noon!
I had to share a photo of the fog. It usually does not hang around much once the sun comes up and I know there is plenty of fog around for all in most areas of the country. It just makes it feel more like winter here since we do not see much variance in weather changes where I live. Haha, I find little things fascinating, as I go on so about the fog. I suppose it is giving me a good excuse to be lazy and just cozy up here in my warm home!
I am all done and this is the back of my blanket. I have to sew in all those yarn tails! Once sewn in to hide them and snip them off so nothing comes undone – then I will crochet a border!This is the almost completed blanket. After I tie off all the ends in the back I will crochet a border! This is my SMILE for this week!😀
I know I am not completely done but am so excited to be finished with the main piece. I just have to figure out the border. I could leave it like it is but I think it would be just a little bit bigger and look more finished with a nice crochet border! I am so happy with how it turned out. It is soft and very warm and will be a nice baby blanket for my grandson due in a couple months. I am so excited and am smiling with the work I have been able to complete! YAY! 😀
Thank you for visiting my smile this week. I think these smiles are so WONDERFUL! What makes you smile? I think it is fun as I head into each week to think about what makes me smile. Sometimes its just the sunshine on my face, or a pet or hug on any one of my many animals. Maybe its a kitty who now snuggles or wants kitty scratches under the chin. Maybe a smile is a completed craft, or a nice walk, or the exercise that keeps you fit! I was suppose to walk this morning, but will walk this afternoon instead, trying to keep myself motivated! I hope you all have wonderful week.
Weekend Coffee share is a time for us to take a break out of our busy lives and enjoy some time catching up with friends (old and new)! Please grab a cup of coffee or tea and share with us! What’s been going on in your life? any weekend plans?
This is sunrise just coming up over the hills across the street as I walk this morning. It was a brisk 37 degrees and I can’t tell you how good it felt to get outside and walk. I am the hugest procrastinator and I do not really make New year resolutions, but I told myself it is a new year so get out and WALK! I may not exactly be fit but fit enough to walk and am in good health and want to walk miles. I really do, but to fit the time in to walk into my busy schedule is where I struggle the most! I am tired of my excuses, it helps that I share because it makes me feel more accountable even though it is to myself! Crazy, but it works!
My walk ended here and there was slushy ice on the cars windshields in our driveway!
On my walk this morning I checked the temps and have to say was taken aback. I thought brrr, that’s cold. I have made crochet caps and haven’t used any of them yet and thought PERFECT! It was great to wear and kept my head and ears very warm. I love to walk with a walking stick, which I brought with me and my fingers were getting a bit cold. I should have worn gloves but my walk wasn’t that long and the cold bearable. I thought I would share the hats I have made with a few scarfs. I have over the years made dozens of scarfs and given away many. These two are really different and one is an infinity scarf or circle scarf where you can twist it around and go around your neck several times. I probably could have worn one this morning but didn’t think about it as I headed out the door. Can I freshen your coffee or tea? I thought I’d share a photo or two of my crafts! 😀
These are 4 caps I’ve crocheted and 2 scarfs. The 1 red cap is a different pattern and came out huge! Lol, I should find a guy with a big head for that one. The other 3 are all the same pattern but with different types of yarn Interesting how different they look!The light blue scarf is the infinity scarf, it was fun to make! They were all fun to make! ❤Christmas presents from my daughter and with a gift card I received! Crochet FUN for years!!!
Oh my, I have so many things I want to crochet! I have enough books and patterns to crochet for years and years!! I just love creating all these cool things. I can’t wait to make those cute crochet horses! And my daughter who bought me the box with the horses also bought the cacti crochet. She said she wants some cactus for her book shelves!! So creative and FUN!!
I could go on and on about my crafting fun. I also want to make more Star Wars figures. There are so many people at my work who Love Star Wars and I know they would love those crochet figures. I need to finish the baby blanket first for the new grandson coming in a few months. I am almost done with it and want it completed before I start any new projects. Luckily it is coming together fairly quickly so the end is in sight! I will share a photo of it when I get it completed. It is REALLY CUTE, nice and soft and warm!!
I can’t believe this selfie turned out as it is difficult to do with her big head! ❤
I’ve enjoyed having coffee with you this morning. I am off to the stables to ride my horses and enjoy my morning with my horsey girlfriends! I will then come home run a test with my new Instant Pot I got with the gift card I received from my work. I need to learn how to use it and I am sure it isn’t difficult but there are a lot of buttons to learn and I need to wash it and get it ready so I can cook with it soon. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Thank you for stopping by as I enjoyed sharing with you all!
Love this view!! Looking between the ears of my mighty steed! ❤
I started writing this blog because of my love for my horses! As the title states I definitely want to share my life but I don’t want to forget about my horse stories and so I wanted to get back to sharing my beautiful horses. I have a fun story to share, it really wasn’t scary, I suppose it could have gone awry but my calm and well trained horses took everything in stride. And the key to a great outcome is I didn’t get nervous or show fear, I was more like “really? did this just happen? “
I was out on the trail with my best friend who was riding her horse Gracie. I was riding Chloe and Zack was at her side as I was ponying him on this ride. We crossed a busy street and as we were walking along the trail and talking, I noticed that the lead rope on Zack had slipped under the front of my stirrup and went under my leg back to his head. He was walking by Chloe’s side (on my right side) and I thought this is not good, as I now have no control over his head. So I told Sally I have to stop to fix this rope and I said “Whoa” to Chloe and pulled back on her reins. As I pulled the reins, SNAP! my left rein just pulled off of her bit and I now had only one rein controlling her head!! OH NO!
Zack walking along and you can see the blue and black lead rope which went under my right leg on the stirrup of my saddle!
As I pulled Chloe’s right rein to stop I hopped off of her as fast as I could because I had no control to speak of, just turning her would not last and I have Zack to think about also. Oh dear, as I look at my rein I could see right away what happened. The leather that keeps the reins attached to the bit is called a “water loop” and the small leather pieces that ties it onto the rein had come untied! As Sally sat on her mare watching me work on the rein, she told me Zack is lose on the other side of Chloe! “What? Oh no!” BUT he just put his head down close by her and was eating some weeds and grass. I went to the other side of Chloe and took the lead rope which fell from behind the stirrup and I put it around my saddle horn. I just looped it around a couple times because I wanted to get that darn rein tied back onto Chloe’s bit!
This is a photo to show the reins coming from her bit. They are tied on and I never thought in a million years that these leather pieces would come untied! THEY DO! This is not from the day in my story as I had no time or inclination to take any photos as things unfolded!
I was very thankful that I had not lost the leather piece that needed to get threaded back through the holes in the reins and retied. I checked the other side and sure enough it had come untied once. These leather pieces are in triple knots and over time these knots loosen and come untied! YIKES! I am learning, CHECK YOUR TACK before you ride. I purposely do not have these screws that can hold your leather together. In western gear, these screws are called Chicago screws and once they come unscrewed and fall, they can be hard to find. I suppose you could carry extra, but then you would need to carry a screw driver to tighten them. English gear just has buckles, very small like how you would buckle a belt around your waist, but they can break too…. I have had a thin leather english rein break riding Chloe years ago, same scenario only I was just riding her and did not have another horse with me.
After I attached the rein, I lead the horses to a fence that runs along the trail so I could step up on a rail to get on Chloe. She is tall so a little step up is nice if one is around. As I was walking my girlfriend says “Zack is lose again!” DARN IT ALL! the rope which was just looped around my saddle horn slipped off and he was just walking over to eat again! Haha, I have to laugh, because in the end it was rather comical and I am so thankful nothing bad happened. I slip knot tied his rope back on the saddle horn, led Chloe to the fence and once on we just rode down the trail like nothing happened!! I know all the non-horse people out there may not be able to picture what happened, but I am sure thankful for very calm trail ponies!!
She is the BEST EVER Trail Pony! Miss Chloe is so calm, I LOVE her so much!Chloe and I, my girl, she is the sweetest horse I have ever owned!!!I rode Zack the next day!Zack is so silly, he would not open his eyes! He probably didn’t like the rim of my hat. HAHA! I have to share anyways!He is a goof ball. This is him begging for a treat! Silly boy!
I enjoyed sharing my trail fiasco as anything can happen and am very thankful my girlfriend was with me as I was so busy attending to Chloe and the reins I could not keep an eye on Zack. I may have been more nervous or upset if I had been by myself when all of this happened. I just know that remaining calm in a sticky situation is key to a much better outcome! How do you handle problems that arise that are out of your control, until you can get things back in control again?? Haha, that was a really long question. I hope you enjoyed my trail story. I have SO MUCH FUN with these horses. They bring me much joy and happiness. ❤ ❤ ❤
We are one week from our family kitty swap! This week my smile is for a smooth transition and for HAPPY CATS! All of the swapped kitties are settling in and all is peaceful which was the goal of kitty swap 2020!
The run down of what happened in case you didn’t read my previous posts. There were 2 kittens available to adopt. My daughter had one brother, Wolfie born last year around May. The other brother went to my son’s house who they named Dublin. They are part Siamese and amazingly look almost the same. (My daughter-in-law had a family member who’s cat had kittens and is how the brother’s came to be available). My son already had 3 cats so Dublin = 4 cats. My daughter’s cat was a handful, so much so (long story) she asked me if I could take him as I had put down my kitty so I became cat-less. I was able to take in cats and LOVE THEM and have always had cats, dogs (and I have my horses too!)
As this was happening my son’s cats were not all getting along. For whatever the reason the dynamics of the 4 cats the spraying and even fighting was getting worse each week. They did try many things to get them all to get along but they were not having any of it and so we came up with a plan. It is working out great and I do not need to find kittens to fill my home as I now have the sister’s! The drive with all the cats went so smoothly. They were mellow, a little meowing but nothing bad as it is a 5 hour drive to and from Arizona. Here are some photos of these pretty kitties, first are the sister’s that now live at my house!
This is Duchess and she is not bothered by anything or anyone. She settled in the fastest like she has lived here forever. She is a solid, calm kitty which helps calm her sister. ❤It took them 3 days to sleep together again. They have done this since they were kittens with my son and his family! ❤This is Dinah enjoying the sun! I like how it is lighting up the back of her head! She is a beautiful dark gray and the sweetest of the two of them. She still looks around as she was the one being picked on when she lived with my son and the other 3 cats. ❤I was going to edit this photo but I really like it as this is my family! My son is drawing a treasure map and his daughter had so much fun with it. My other son is on the couch with the 4th kitty, Penny. This orange tabby was the one fighting with the dark gray Dinah. Silly kitties, wishing they all just get along. We fixed all that!!
Once we arrived in Arizona, Wolfie was kept in the bedroom where my hubby and I stayed. I shared photos already of this in my last post but those brothers immediately knew there was a kitty on either side of the door! They were so cute, playing with each other under the door. They had this low growl – or weird growl they both would make. I can’t say what they were saying to each other but they were playing what we called paws! You would see these long kitty legs sticking under the door, hilarious!! They have since been introduced slowly and are doing great!
The brothers back together again! Dublin is in front, Wolfie behind him. I can tell because Dublin has a spot on the right side of his nose, Wolfie has the spot on the left side of his nose! Aren’t they just the most handsome cats? I Love them!!
What makes you smile? I sure do love sharing my smiles each week. It makes me think of things I love or just to be thankful for as we go through this crazy thing we call life! I hope you are having a wonderful week and I hope you will share something that makes your smile!
Happy New Year! My sister loves sunsets, and takes many photos of them where she lives in Northern CA. She took this photo of the last sunset of 2019. It made me SMILE and she said I can share with you all! What makes you smile? This is my weekly smile hosted by my blogging friend Trent! I just love to share!
I can’t believe it is 2020! I can remember back when I was in my teens the year 2000 was so far away, a date that people talked about and the scariness of what will happen when we hit the year 2000! Of course, nothing happened but it is I think wondrous to think we are well on our way into this century as we start this new decade. The New Year can be so revitalizing, a time for us to start anew, maybe rethink our future and/or start working on that resume to find a new job. Or maybe it is a time to reflect and see how far we’ve come and look forward to new things that may be coming into our lives. I think this rings true for so many people around the world. My smile is the future and what it will hold for me and my family. My smile is also for family as that is what I LOVE so much about the holidays. 😀 😀 😀
I have a lot to smile about and this is my family’s Christmas tree in Arizona! It is beautiful!My granddaughter and her Papa! I Love them so and we had a grand time visiting!😀This is Dublin the brother to Wolfie which is here to live with him. He is in a room and will be slowly introduced back to his brother. We will be taking 2 cats home with us, the sister’s.
I have so much to be thankful for and I don’t know if any of my family members read this (I know my sister’s read my blog and I so appreciate their support and kind words) but my immediate family may read from time to time, I am not completely sure but I do know I tell them all the time how much I LOVE them and how much I support all that they do and it is important to me that they know I want nothing but happiness for them.
I am straying from my smile, as I get to rambling on and on sometimes. I just want to say that how can you not smile coming into the New Year? I suppose if you are struggling (there are many things that one can be struggling over) just know that a smile can brighten your day. Everyone at any time can smile, and it will bring some peace if you just take a moment to smile. I am bringing in this New Year with a huge SMILE, AND I am really excited about this New Year! Lot’s coming up this year in my family and it will be fun to share. I’ll end with a photo of Wolfie who’s in the bedroom with us in his transition to his new home. He is really cuddly, sleeping practically on my head! Not really, but on my chest and then in between my hubby and I as we keep him very warm. I will share photos of my new kitties soon!
Wolfie in his new home; this is New Year day morning! I will miss him but he is with family and we will see him often! ❤ ❤ ❤
Mylife-and-Horsestories 