Month: March 2020

Weekend Coffee Share; Spring Trail Rides!

On By DianaIn Barn stories, Horse stories, Living life, weekend coffee share27 Comments
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!

I am really happy it is Spring! The weather is warming up a little bit. As a matter of fact, the weather here where I live is actually PERFECT right now and has been for the last few weeks. Other than the rainy days, the temps outside are so nice. It has been in the 60’s most days which is so comfortable. The horses don’t get too hot after a ride and the fly’s at the stables are not bad, still asleep or whatever they do when it is cool outside. The fly’s are terrible in the heat, as that is when they are most active. Sorry about going on about bugs, and the only ones we really complain about at the stables are the fly’s. Mosquitoes don’t come around until Summer, and they aren’t bad here either. We are looking at temps in the 60’s into next week where it will start to warm up into the 80’s by end of week. Great trail riding weather! Can I get you another cup of your favorite drink? I wanted to share the last two days, riding in the best weather! 😀

Let’s get ready for our trail ride Zack!
Come on Chloe! Let’s go for a ride. Today it will be just Chloe, Zack and I on the trail.
This is our tie rail where I am tacking up Chloe. My saddle is on her and Zack waiting with his trail boots on for our ride. They are well behaved and tie well.
You know I have to take a lot of photos of getting ready for our trail ride! I think Zack’s tail looks so beautiful. I make sure to keep it clean and it’s not hard. I just brush it every day! 😀

I ride Chloe and pony Zack which means that he walks with a lead line next to Chloe and I control him by keeping her by her side with his lead rope. He LOVES Chloe, and willingly walks along side her and my horses now have months of training on the trials riding side by side. I am so very proud of them and proud of myself going out and getting trail miles. It’s so fun riding with these two ponies. It is such joy to be outside listening to the birds sing and seeing the spring flowers bloom.

I had to take this photo quickly as I have a lot of ropes in my hands. Not the best photo but still wanted to share!
I am using cross-ties which is where we have hoses so we can wash them off if needed. I just washed their legs today. They are all done today, my pretty ponies! ❤

I am enjoying my weekend as I got to ride the next day with my girlfriend and her horse Gracie. I told my girlfriend I wanted to ride to River Rd. where I can get a great view of our local mountains. The last of the snow for this season is about to melt away from the last storm that blew through. I will share a photo I took of Mt. Baldy. I’ve shared this mountain before and its snow peaks, just trying to get all I can get outside this weekend. How is your weekend going? I know we all are staying home, I am lucky to be just over a mile from my stables. And our stables is open, lot’s of space and am thankful for my trail rides. It is the best therapy in the world, at least in my world.

The last of the snow on our local mountains. This is Mt. Baldy! All the trees in the foreground is the Santa Ana Riverbed. There are a lot of trails in the riverbed.
My girlfriend on Gracie and I on the trail! We are on River Rd after I took my mountain photo!

Thank you for visiting and am always so happy to hear from you. Drop me a comment or two if you feel so inclined. I always love hearing how you all are doing. My life has not really changed too much, mostly eating out is gone for now, but everything else is good. I am so thankful I can get outside not only for walks but also for my trail rides. ❤ ❤ ❤

Stay safe, stay strong! AND don’t touch your face, and always wash your hands!

Love, Diana 😀

My Weekly Smile; March 25, 2020

On By DianaIn Family is important, Living life, Love being Grandma, weekly smile13 Comments

I wasn’t sure what I was going to share this week for my weekly smile. And then my son was able to chat with me and I am so thankful for today’s technology. We video chatted and I was able to take some photos I want to share. I was so excited to chat with my grand daughter and see up close baby Teddy! I took a lot of photos, they are not the best but worth taking and I thought I would share. Today was so fun as it is amazing how it almost feels like you are there visiting, video chat is AMAZING! 😀

Baby Teddy was asleep and Mom picked him up and he just fell back to sleep in her arms!
Hi Alice! Grandma sure misses you, we had so much fun today!

My smile goes to this wonderful technology and to my beautiful family! I miss them so very much but this really brings us together. Baby Teddy will be one month old tomorrow! WHAT! Wait, it’s been a month already? I can’t believe it but he is doing great. I will share more photos. I was in grandma heaven today!!

We chatted for awhile, sharing and laughing together and then Teddy woke up!
I Love this photo of baby Teddy! ❤

We had so much fun and we got to catch up with everything. We have been painting the inside of our house, so I could show them with the video chat. We also showed each other the kitties as we made the kitty exchange back in the beginning of the year. Now I have the two sisters which are doing great. They have the two brothers which are also good. I’ll share a photo of one brother and one sister. 😀

Wolfie asleep in Arizona and Duchess on the couch at my house.

My son showed me how they have rearranged some furniture in the downstairs and they also showed me the Chore Chart they have for Alice. This is so good for young children and she really likes doing her chores and earning rewards. My son was explaining this to me when Alice asked him if he could have grandma watch her do a chore! She is just so adorable, so I was able to watch her as she loaded up the washing machine. Yay! Good job, well done! ❤

Alice showing me how she is doing her chore for today! So cute!

I just had the greatest time and was elated we were able to spend so much time together. Yes, we have done this many times before but the last few weeks have felt like months. It felt like a long time ago the last time we chatted. I think its just the overall craziness of what we all are going through that makes each day seem even more precious and since I can’t travel which breaks my heart, this all makes up for that. It definitely fills me up with happiness. Was there anything that made you smile today? I hear of many good deeds happening these days, people stepping up and helping elders in grocery stores and other wonderful things.

One last photo, HAHA! It was truly a blast to see these kids!! ❤

I really wanted to share and help bring a little smile to your day. Thank you for visiting my smile, and maybe this brought to you some cheer today! Take care of yourself and enjoy the rest of your week, the best you can. We are all doing our best!

Stay Safe, STAY STRONG!

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; Horses and More…

On By DianaIn Living life, Smiles, weekend coffee share14 Comments
Photo from Kauai, Hawaii last month!

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? It’s been crazy in this world, right?

I wrote the above last weekend and I think the craziness is even crazier than ever. We are not only worried about getting sick but we are worried about our economy and how hard hit we all are going to be. At least I am worried about all of this as we had plans on getting the house on the market to sell and move to Arizona. That has all been put on hold for now and maybe, just maybe we will bounce back faster than I think but I may be dreaming. We are working as we speak on our house, new paint inside!

I forgot to offer you some coffee or tea, I have both with my favorite creamer, Italian Sweet Cream! Or you may want some ice tea? I have green tea! We went to the grocery store and it seems like we keep going back to fill our kitchen with food. My hubby usually does the shopping and he went with my son and this last week was able to get some meat we froze. But he doesn’t think like me and I felt like our cupboards were fairly bare. I know what I need for some good old comfort food and needed some canned soups for easy sauces in the crock pot and frozen veggies. I bought some fresh veggies too, that I will chop up and freeze for future use and some dried package goods. The one thing I thought I had at home was flour, so I bought more sugar! YIKES, when I got home I am almost out of flour! AND now I have a ton of sugar. UGH! 😀

There was only 1 bag of flour left at the grocery store. I wish I had grabbed it but thought no, I have an extra bag at home. But I didn’t actually check it at home this is just my memory. Darn memory, WRONG! Lol 😀 I can’t believe how frustrated I was that I am almost out of flour and I am sure that store was out since there was only one bag. FRUSTRATING, I can’t believe I am writing a blog post about flour and how scarce it is…. crazy days!

I put together a box to mail for my kids in Arizona, my baby blanket I made for baby Teddy, the cute Hawaiian shirt I bought for Alice plus a few more gifts for Alice. Once we got the box together and mailed it we stopped by a different grocery store. NOPE! That store was completely out of flour! Darn it all…. the frustrations are real. But I know they will restock, just crazy that stores are completely out of so many things. I pray it’s not the new norm!

I wasn’t planning on writing all about this stuff but it is what we are facing and each day is something different and new. What has happened in one week is AMAZING! But we will survive. I am going to dedicate the rest of this post to my photos. I just can’t help myself. The stables is a place I can go and feel safe and be outside with my horses! They just make me smile and laugh, LOVE IT THERE! ❤ ❤ ❤

It has rained a lot this week so we still have a small lake in the arena! My ponies love this water!
Haha, caught her licking the water. Not the first time! Silly pony!
Hi Zack! Love his personality.

How is your coffee or tea? Need a refill? I have toast or crackers. I was able to buy cream cheese to go on the crackers and its really good with my hot sweet pepper jelly. YUMMY! I can’t believe how obsessed I have been this last week about food. In my head, I am thinking the good ole USA should not run out of food. AND I hope I am right, right? But the anxious part of me looks in my cupboards and think go buy more food! I have worried about my ponies food too. I am writing this trying to calm my fears, as this has been a rather fearful week. What is HAPPENING!!!

My girl Chloe! Look at the clouds! Lots of weather this week. RAIN! lots of rain!

It’s been a rainy week, seems like it will never stop. I am always saying we need the rain. I LOVE seeing the sun as the sun is warmth, and makes me smile. Somehow it makes me feel better. I am anxious for some sun which we may not see for another week. More rain predicted next week and then maybe it will start to warm up and feel like Spring. I am literally typing what is running through my mind this weekend. I guess that is how I usually write, but I always try to stay positive and write uplifting (hopefully) FUN posts.

I always try and put a positive spin on even the most dire situations. I think we need to somehow find the good, even in uncertainty. I try and won’t stop trying to see the good and some of this seems silly, like not finding flour…. but its reality! I am trying to smile, and some of this is almost laughable, but its the truth. Hoping maybe I am bringing a little smile to you as well! 😀

I enjoyed having coffee with you today. I hope in your part of the world you are able to get what you need and are able to stay safe with what ever protocols are put in place. I pray for all who are affected with the virus and I am hoping next weeks coffee share we will be at a different place, a better place!! Take care and stay safe. ❤

Staying Strong, hopeful and am thankful!

~Diana ❤

Thank you!

On By DianaIn Living life5 Comments

My thanks to you all!

I just received this today from WordPress! And although I’m not trying to gain anything in particular with my blog, it put a huge smile on my face to see this today!

Thank you for visiting and reading and liking my posts. I so enjoy sharing, and the only way you can know that what you shared is received is by the likes you get for your posts. I also absolutely Love all who comment!! So much appreciated! ❤️

~Diana 😃

My Weekly Smile; March 18, 2020

On By DianaIn Family is important, Living life, weekly smile6 Comments
Some early blooms which makes me smile!

Welcome to my weekly smile. I want to keep smiling even though I am finding it more and more difficult each day. We are facing something no one could imagine except for maybe all the scientists out there that have been predicting this very thing. I have listened to some very good podcasts which have featured some renowned scientists, but it still doesn’t ease ones worry. So I need to stay positive and see how each day unfolds. For now I want to smile. I think trying to smile about one thing a day helps keep our chins up, and hopefully makes it ease the worries. 😀

Mt Baldy snow covered peaks. The rain brought snow in our local mountains!

I went for my walk this morning and it was a chilly 46 degrees with wind bringing it down close to 40 so I did not walk as long as usual. But as I walked by this park close to my house the view was stunning! I do wish at these times I had a better camera, but I walked into the park to take this photo above. It was really gloomy out with the cold wind and clouds, but looking at the mountains you can see the sun hitting the mountain range off to the far left of the photo. In person it almost glowed since the sun shimmered off the snow caps of this range. It got me thinking as I walked this morning that I made the right decision to stay home. I was to travel today, it was just not going to happen. It is too crazy out there and I want my family to stay safe. Traveling today is not a good idea.

My little grandson! I miss seeing him but I know more importantly is to see that my family is safe! ❤
Missing her SO MUCH! Love this photo! Will see her hopefully next month! or?

The photos make me SMILE! I love my family so very much and it just didn’t make sense to visit during these trying times. I woke up Monday night and went to work and thought my throat felt scratchy. I feel fine now and maybe it was just stress, paranoia I know can make you think you are sick, and I was so worried I would drive to Phoenix and bring something with me to my family there. I would just die if I brought to them any kind of virus, corona or any other flu. I feel fine today. I am home resting and am taking these days off by taking care of things around the house I often neglect. I pray for everyone, and especially that all of my family near and far stay safe. AND if any one of them gets sick, I hope it will be mild.

My ponies today! They always make me smile! I need all the smiles I can get these days!!
What a handsome boy! He is standing perfectly for this photo!! He also looks pretty good for being 23 years old! 😀 😀 😀

I really wanted to share my smile for this week. I always get such warm and loud welcomes when I come to the barn as my horses recognize me walking in and whinny! I just love hearing them and they are always waiting at their gate waiting to come out for some fun. They really make me smile. What makes you smile? I am sure there must be something, at least one thing? I have filled my smile today with pretty blooms, beautiful mountains, my most precious grand-babies and my bestest friends, my horses! Stay safe out there!!

Lovingly,

-Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; My Horses and Staying Strong!

On By DianaIn Barn stories, Living life, weekend coffee share28 Comments
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? It’s been crazy in this world, right?

I can’t believe it is Friday, March 13th. Next week my daughter and I are traveling to Arizona to meet baby Teddy, my new grandson and I can hardly wait. I will be seeing my beautiful granddaughter as well, I miss her so much! And as I sit and write this I have to admit I am thinking that the world has gone a bit crazy. I understand the need for precaution and it’s just a WOW! All the things that are shut down because of the corona virus. I totally get it and understand and will just touch upon it here. Wash hands, keep up good hygiene and stay strong. Praying for all who are affected, and praying for a small spread with all that everyone is doing. One last thing I will mention is I am glad my family and friends are the ones scratching their heads to all the toilet paper buys. I don’t mean to offend…. Just why?

I won’t get into the psyche of the human phenomenon of needing to stay in control, hence the buying frenzies! I hope this all subsides soon. Can I get you another cup of coffee or tea? Lucky we can sit separated in our own home, right? No fears in our nice talk here! I shouldn’t joke, but boy the memes I’ve seen on social media are crazy! I probably could write this post and write the word crazy about 50 times because I have never seen anything like this in all my life! It’s CRAZY! I digress, as I am going off the deep end here. How are you? Need a refill? Some cookies maybe to go with your tea? 😀

We have had LOTS OF RAIN! My ponies love the water!
YES! they walk into the arena and straight into the water! Silly ponies!
Haha, yes she is licking the water and yes, they drink the water. I know it doesn’t look good but I can guarantee it is fresh rain water!

I know I post a lot about our weather which usually consists of rain. Lots and lots of rain. It is funny that it seems like when we finally get the rain it seems to come all at once. It will rain for days at a time and we just get saturated. We need the rain, I just wish we had a few days of reprieve in between storms! I will say though that the stables I board at handles all the water pretty well. Yes, we get muddy, but it isn’t too bad and we dry out pretty fast once the rain stops. More importantly, the arena is usable so we can exercise them and the trails are usable too! So in between the showers I was able to go on a short ride with my girlfriend today. That put a huge smile on my face! We were rained on, but only a drizzle. It was really fun actually to be outside and in some weather with our ponies! We did not have a care in the world, right? right!! 😀 😀 😀

Miss Chloe in her stall and I am thankful it is dry up under her roof. I provide the shavings!
I pulled out a light waterproof blanket for Zack. Since I shaved off all his hair it will help him stay warm and dry. He loves to stand in the rain, silly guy!
This is across the street from the stables. That hill is not very big and the clouds are so low!

As I was walking to my car parked across the street from the stables I noticed the hills and the low clouds. I can’t remember seeing the clouds so low, and it was rather eerie out. With the drizzle and low clouds it felt like I was somewhere else, like I was visiting my sister in Oregon. It’s very rainy where she lives, much like today. I checked the weather report and even though it changes daily, we are looking at another week of rain. So much rain….. It will turn everything green, flowers and my roses will love it and hopefully get big blooms! I need to plant a little garden soon. I keep thinking about it but I don’t do anything about it. I need to get off my lazy butt!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We all need to stay connected, supportive of each other and pray for quick recovery from what ever it is we are facing. I enjoy sharing and I know this is kind of a crazy weekend share, but I really wanted to write and maybe I should have written this and seen how many times I can write the word Crazy! I think that is the word of the week!

Take care and Stay Strong!

~Diana ❤

Walking and Horsey Stuff!

On By DianaIn Barn stories, Horse stories, Living life, Walking for Health and Well being6 Comments
This mornings sunrise! Walking for health and well being.

I wake up feeling a bit stiff. I stretch and stretch again and can’t wait to walk. I am writing this to keep myself accountable because I want to walk every day, but I don’t. When I am working I am walking and I walk when I am at the barn but that is not what I am talking about. I want to walk miles, but my busy life makes walking miles challenging! How do you fit exercise into your schedule? I LOVE the endorphins from exercise, I think I would be an exercise addict if I didn’t own horses, or LOVE crochet and the other things that block my way, like work and my crazy schedule. 😀

So I am writing this to encourage myself. Haha, maybe I may encourage you too! The stretching I did after my walk after my synovial fluids were warmed up (they say it takes 20 minutes for your synovial fluids to flow and lubricate your joints, this goes for horses and all animals so consider a good warm up as you exercise!) that stretching felt SO GOOD! I am feeling my age these days and if you do not stretch, DO IT! I can’t tell you how tight your muscles get, whether you are sitting all day or standing a lot. I can’t tell you how much better you’ll feel if you add stretching to your daily routine. I am no exercise guru, just an average Grandma/Mom and am feeling great and adding this to my routine has really changed my life. I never thought stretching and walking could make me feel so GOOD! YAY!

I do get exercise at the barn with my horses. I get upper body work out with the pitch fork and raking. I also carry bags of grain and shavings. I lift my saddle (a saddle can weigh from 10 – 60 lbs) my western saddle probably weighs between 30 – 40 lbs as it is a flex tree and is lighter than the average western saddle, my English around 20 lbs. I have never weighed them but that is another upper body work out. AND brushing (grooming) my horses, definitely a good upper body work out! This is my outside gym! ❤

My grooming helps them shine! This is from last weekend after a beautiful trail ride!
Zack to my left (really my right) and Chloe as I walk them to their stalls!

My girlfriend at the stables was walking up the aisle as I was walking my horses together back to their stalls after my ride. She said “whoa” HAHA! and I realized she meant for me to stop as she pulled out her phone to take some photos. THANK YOU! I don’t have many photos of myself with my ponies. I just LOVE THEM!! I am going to share a few more as I so adore my Equine friends. I am so blessed and truly thankful I can have these beautiful animals. They really listen to me and we have such a good time together.

As I walk both of them I have learned that keeping their feet moving is the best way to get from point A to point B. You see they are 1,000 lbs and are very strong and they know their strength. Yes, they are compliant most of the time, and while leading them if I let them put their head down and take a bite of grass, it is all over. They are too strong for me to pull their heads up one arm at a time! Haha, they are not bad, they just act like they are starving and that they must eat the grass. So if I keep their heads up and don’t let the lead line get too long, especially walking both together I am good! Silly ponies!

I just LOVE this photo, such pretty horses!
Uh Oh! I need to move their feet! Zack wants to eat, and Chloe too! If they get the upper edge I just leave one to eat and take the other to the stall. No use fighting or pulling and not winning the grazing need.

As I walked into the tack room yesterday and with all the rain I noticed all the leather smells in the tack room. I think when it rains it really makes the Earth smells a bit stronger, don’t you think? That smell of leather is just wonderful. Have you ever walked into a tack store with all the leather and its smell? I do know that you can walk into a stable or even a petting zoo and I know you can smell the animals, right? I just LOVE the barn smell, all the hay and horses! but I get use to that smell so I only smell it when I am away and then return. Maybe some may not like it, but I can’t believe people wouldn’t like the smell of leather. This got me thinking about ALL the leather stuff I own. I wonder why when you own a horse (or two!) ALL the amount of stuff you accumulate. I have enough horsey stuff for probably 4 horses, hehe, maybe my hubby will let me get another horse!!

This is a peek into our tack room at our stables. Oh the WONDERFUL Leather smell today!
This photo is all my horsey stuff! There is the 3 tree tier to the left and the 3 tree tier to the right. YUP! It all belongs to me, except for 2 saddles which one is my friends and the other is my sister’s. I have to admit, my sister did leave me a bunch of things when I adopted Zack. 😀
These are my 3 saddles. The top saddle is over 40 years old and is my original English jumping saddle. It is called a Crosby and can still be used today. The middle saddle I bought used at a yard sale for $250 about 10 years ago (good deal) a nice riding English saddle. The bottom saddle is my western trail saddle. I bought it barely used for $750 (good deal) it has served me well and is very comfortable!

As you can see us horse people NEED a lot of horsey stuff to ride with and to take care of our beautiful horses! In that white bucket near my saddle tree is horse treats. I have to keep them in plastic so that I don’t invite mice and/or rats into the tack room. I like giving my horses treats after my ride and since they are not suppose to eat carrots (too much sugar) these horse treats made for horses are a good substitute to carrots or apples. I have many bridles, bits for bridles, leg wraps, clippers oh my, so many things. I decided that it is a good idea to have these photos and thought it fun to share. Just in case I see anything missing (we haven’t had any issues with theft) but it always a good idea to have these kinds of photos!

I have so enjoyed sharing with you today my need to hold myself accountable and to share my horses and all the fun I have with them. I am thinking I may go through all my horsey stuff and pull out items I can sell. We have a wonderful store here in town called Thrifty Horse, and you can bring them items you can sell, a horse consignment store. Its great as you can find things used and cheaper there and/or sell things you’ve collected and don’t need any more. With these rainy days, this week would be a good week to do some Spring cleaning! I hope you all have a wonderful week.

Walking and Horse Loving Grandma!

~Diana

My Weekly Smile; Rain and Crochet!

On By DianaIn blogging, Living life, Projects, weekly smile15 Comments

Rain, lots and lots of rain! It is pouring outside right now and I am enjoying the sound of the rain as it comes down on the roof. BUT rain and my outdoor activities do not mix that well. My horses don’t mind but I mind the muddy mess that happens when it rains non-stop. We need rain. Here in California they have been saying we are now in a drought. We were out of drought after last years deluge of massive amounts of rain. But it doesn’t last long when you have a dry winter. I guess winter is coming late! I can’t complain too much, I have a love/hate relationship with rain. What do you do when it rains? or when you have inclement weather? I catch up with things around the house which includes my crochet projects. Oh yes, my smile this week is for the rain! After all, who wants to be in drought status?

9 days of rain! Wow, I wonder if it will rain all these days? We see the forecast change daily as I’m sure many places do. I had to post this before it changed!

The other reason I’m smiling for the rain is even though I have a personal love/hate relationship which directly involves my horses, outside of the horses I just absolutely LOVE the rain and all that it brings. It will bring beautiful spring flowers, maybe we will see some California poppies bloom again this year. Last year was a record bloom all over our hills. It was absolutely beautiful and we do not see these huge blooms every year. I know we really need the rain, so I wonder if the weather report will hold true? We will see! 😀

I also wanted to share on this smile my projects that I have been working on since I am spending more time indoors because of the weather. So I have two things to smile about this week, why not! It is fun to share what I am working on and a few things I have completed.

I am making another baby blanket only I’m using a teal blue. Something a little different than the blanket I made for baby Teddy.
I just made the Jawa, the other Star Wars characters welcomed him to the group! 😀

My nephew and wife are due a baby boy in May so I have time to make another Sweet Dreams blanket. I thought I would use a slightly different blue so it would be unique and be a little different for me when working on it. This pattern is really fun to make and goes together really quickly. I’m thinking of making more with different colors, like pink and lavender. I was thinking I could sell them at our local craft fair that we have in town. I have already sold these Star Wars characters there, so I will have to make more of them as well. They stitch up quickly too, especially once I have made them and I have made many of some characters. I’ve lost track of all the Yoda’s I have made. Haha, he is popular!

We make a BIG DEAL of weather here where I live. Love all the clouds!!

Thanks for visiting my smile this week. What makes you smile? Anything happening in your world this week. I really enjoy sharing and I am going to get busy with my crochet and will be visiting my horses even in the rain and make sure they have a dry spot under their shelters. I will buy some shavings which help soak up any wet areas and helps keep a dry area for them. They don’t care, but I care and us crazy horse people have to do what we can. I hope you all have a great week!

Smiling in the Rain,

~Diana ❤

My Weekly Smile; March 3, 2020

On By DianaIn Barn stories, Love being Grandma, weekly smile15 Comments
What makes you smile? I so enjoy sharing and I have to thank Trent who hosts the Weekly Smile so we have a place to meet and share!

I can’t believe it is March already, wow, see how the time flies? I think its crazy but I think its because I am so busy that these weeks just fly by. But it is a good busy, and so this week my smile goes to my horse Zack. He gets a super fluffy, thick winter coat every winter. It is really a bit too thick for the mild winter we have here in southern California.

I had already clipped him once in October and I did this clip called a trace clip which is just removing the hair along the sides of his body and up the bottom part of his neck and under his belly. In this way when he is exercised he stays cool while the rest of his coat all along the top half of his body will keep him warm on the cool nights. Now that it is March, he is shedding buckets of hair so I decided to clip all his hair off. This made me very happy, I am smiling for me and for him! 😀

I took a photo before I finished up on this side, his hair is so thick!

Not only did I make Zack more comfortable by clipping all his hair off, I made my life easier as grooming is super easy now and I don’t need to spend hours brushing and trying to shed all the hair off of his body. The poor guy would just stand in his stall and sweat on hot days as the days are getting longer and hotter. Now he is sleek and beautiful, I am so happy I decided to do this now. I usually just suffer through the shedding season and he suffers too. Well, he doesn’t suffer that much, but it was totally worth clipping him.

I am so happy I was able to do this and my ponies always put a huge smile on my face. I was able to get a few trail rides in before more wind came and I think the wind is gone for now. What makes you smile this week? Anything fun happening?

After clipping, I gave him a bath. His color is called flea bitten gray. He has tiny brown flecks all through his coat. I think he is so handsome!

I really wanted to share a smile this week and I can’t help myself as I have one last smile to share. And that is my new little grandson. My Loves, my ponies and my family which is growing and I feel so truly blessed. I hope you are having a wonderful week and thank you for visiting my smile!

Sleeping like a baby. Love you sweet boy! ❤

Always Smiling Grandma,

-Diana

Hawaii Vacation; Oahu Photo Fun!

On By DianaIn blogging, Living life, Vacation Fun2 Comments
Waikiki Beach, Oahu. You can see Diamond Head off in the distance on the right!

I had so many photos to share I decided to make a second post about my travels to Hawaii with my hubby and my daughter. She packed our vacation full of fun adventures which I just loved! I shared a photo similar to the one above but I was turned a bit to the left in my previous Hawaii post which is here. It is fun to use the panoramic setting on my camera, and I thought this turned out rather nice. I also wanted to share some fun photos from Pearl harbor and the museums and Memorials we saw there. We were blessed with absolutely the best weather!

Pearl Harbor, USS Arizona Memorial.
The museums had some amazing models. I didn’t exactly know what it looked like under the Memorial. This really shows what is sunk in the water entombing 1,102 Marines.
History pauses you to honor those fallen soldiers when you visit Memorial’s. I have been to many and I always pay my respects.

After visiting the USS Arizona we went over to the USS Bowfin Submarine. It was pretty busy with full ferry’s of people going over to the Arizona, but by the time we got to the submarine, no one was in it and we were able to get some good photos. A few people trickled in but it was nice to be able to view without the crowds! The sun came out finally as it was rather overcast when we visited the Arizona.

My daughter in the submarine. We were surprised at all the small bunks. I am amazed people could be in such tight quarters under the seas.
Haha, me on the submarine!
I can’t believe how polished all the brass is and how shiny and pretty everything is in this photo, including my daughter! 😀
My daughter in action! Haha! Great photo!
It really is a pretty day! I can’t thank my daughter enough for this vacation!
My hubby in action!
My two Air Force loves, Veteran hubby and Major Daughter! So very proud of them!

We went to the air museum they had there and this type of jet was at Nellis AFB, Las Vegas where my husband served. So I had to take a photo of them, such dedication, so very proud. She is now in the Space Force, isn’t that crazy? She will help develop this branch of the service being right there as this all unfolds. I find it all very fascinating and interesting! I do not know too much about it all, but she has been briefed by Generals and what she tells us is very interesting. 😀

Waikiki beach, what a beautiful place! ❤

I hope to return to Hawaii someday even though it is an expensive adventure. If I am never able to return then this will end up being a trip of a lifetime. I wanted to share like it is since we had never been and I do not know if we will be able to return. Thanks for visiting and enjoying my Hawaii trip with me. We had a blast!!

Traveling Fun!

~Diana