Welcome to my weekly smile! What made you smile this week?
I can’t believe three weeks have passed and in my head it seems like maybe just a week maybe two at the most have gone by as I’ve been meaning to get my smile post written. I did take a bit of a blogging break, just needed to clear my head and before my eyes the weeks slip by. I mentioned I injured my knee in another post and I now know that it is most likely from riding my horses. I am having to take a break from riding the next few weeks as it heals, so I am working a lot on my crochet project. I am smiling as I see some good improvement on my knee. I think its just a ligament sprain.
I am also wanting to thank you all so very much for liking and following my blog! I received this the other day, I thought a rather random number but since I don’t look or track these things on my blog it was a nice surprise! 😀
Thank you for all the Likes!
This is the first time I have received this congratulations and again, it is ALL OF YOU that made this possible. I just think it’s a funny number! Why not wait until I hit 1,500 Likes? or give me a congrats at 1,000 Likes? BUT This put a HUGE SMILE on my face. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Ya’ll made my day! 😀 😀 😀
I am more than half way through this baby quilt. I thought I would share as it makes me smile. I think it looks pretty in pink for a sweet baby girl due in September. It is so fun to create these projects and I can do them pretty fast.
These are long gone, missing my roses blooming! They will bloom again one day!
These are very small tea roses. I have two tea rose bushes and this one finally bloomed like crazy this year. Its a much more vibrant pink than the other tea rose which is a lighter gentler pink. I do not have any more blooms, kind of missing my roses. I am waiting for my tomatoes to ripen. I will go check on them after I finish this post. I think they are just starting to turn red. I read that I can pick them before they are totally red and they will finish ripening on my counter. I don’t want a bunch of bugs to get them before I can pick them. I just have one tomato plant and I think I can manage eating all the tomatoes it provides! I am smiling all the way to my bounty of salads I will be eating in the near future! Haha, does that even make sense? 😀 What makes you smile? Thank you so much for visiting my smile post this 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!
Welcome to my coffee share, can I get you a strong cup of coffee? or maybe some tea? I am having ice tea as I am getting an early start to this weekend and its rather warm out so ice tea is very quenching right now. As this week ends I am realizing it has been 2 months since I moved my horses to a new stables. I live in Horse town USA (It really is what our small town is proud of with over a hundred miles of horse trails all over town). There are a ton of stables, too many to count but that being said I had decided to move across town to a bigger place with more amenities. I can’t believe 2 months have passed! WOW! Time flies!
The horses have settled in really well. I did have one little hiccup with the hay I chose for Chloe that she ended up not liking. This new stables offers 5 different types of hay. She has lost some weight which isn’t a bad thing as she’s a big girl, but I think she was getting an ulcer from this hay and so I had them switch it out with what she is use to and she is much better now. Zack I didn’t change any hay when I moved him so he is doing well and I like his weight. Chloe may gain weight, I don’t want her to get too heavy as they can get something similar to diabetes called Insulin resistance which can cause many metabolic problems. Zack has this Insulin resistance, so I have to watch his weight and what he eats. It makes me very happy to see them thrive and enjoy where they now live. 😀
This is the front of their stalls. They are nice and big
Zack and Chloe eating lunch!
I have to say that I personally have settled in as well. I had many regrets after I moved the horses leaving many friends and I found that change is hard. I think change is harder than we think and sometimes we just want “normal” back, even if that normal had some underlying emotional strain. I had some issues at the old stables, some things that happened in the past that left some wounds. Wounds do heal, but I just felt that it was a good time to try something new and change things up and boy, that’s exactly what my girlfriend and I did, changed things up! We are finding our groove and a new routine. I am enjoying our new stable digs! ❤
Zack enjoying lunch today!
Hi Chloe! She’s a happy girl!
I have one last thing I need to accomplish and as we get into July I want to go out on the trail by myself with both my horses. I have only gone out on the trail with my girlfriend and her horse Gracie at this new stables. I have confidence that my ponies will be just fine together without my girlfriend, and it’s important to me that I give this a try as there are days my girlfriend is working and I LOVE the trails so I need to get out there and my world will be complete. Just a goal I would like to complete sometime in the near future. They needed time to get use to all the new things out on these trails on the other side of town. My horses have had plenty of time to settle in, and I am settling in too!
Silly kitties, sleeping together!
Duchess, you barely fit!
Dinah is so beautiful!
I usually try and have a segue into the next subject, the photos will have to do as I really wanted to share the kitty photos. The boys are the ones that are probably in baby Teddy’s bassinet more than the baby, aren’t they silly and my family in Arizona provides me their photos. These kitties live there. Duchess and Dinah are with us and they are the best girls. They are sisters and the boys are brothers for those who are new to my blog posts. I’ve posted many photos of these kitties, they bring us much joy and happiness! Thank you for visiting and having coffee or tea with me today.
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!
She is clothed with strength and dignityand laughs without fear of the future
❤ Proverbs 31:25
I am sitting here enjoying my cup of coffee reflecting back to all the summers that have come and gone. Boy, has there been a lot of summers. Haha, I am getting old (but feel young) and don’t really want to count them all but I will say I usually have really fun summers. We live where in the summer it gets a bit hot but honestly, you can’t beat the weather here in Southern California. There is no humidity and we are close enough to the ocean that the nights cool off really well. There is a lot to do in the summer if you have the time. I am not retired, so I have to take vacation days to enjoy any extra days off to explore or enjoy weekend retreats. 😀
As I am finishing my coffee, may I get you something as we sit outside enjoying the cool morning? We are still in June and so we usually get a lot of marine layer that rolls in and keeps us cool. Us locals call June “June gloom” Haha, it is very welcoming as it is the last of the cool weather as we approach July. I am feeling more confident each day I see all the tomatoes growing in my container. I am watching a lot of Youtube videos learning lots about tomato gardening. I didn’t realize there is so much to this to get the best out of your plant and fruit! I have grown before, but my plants were tiny with barely any tomatoes. I am learning a lot this year!
Happy Tomato plant!
Tomato and bell pepper plant!
I think it is fun to learn about gardening. I think container gardening is a great way to start, plus I don’t have to worry about gophers and I do not have any other critters that climb into my containers. My girlfriend who lives in a different area, about 15 miles from where I live planted veggies in a couple of containers last year and once the plants started to sprout up (she started with seedlings) something jumped into her containers and ate everything that she tried to grow! Maybe ground squirrels? She never saw the critters but needless to say she gave up after several attempts. She ended up giving me her containers. She is having better luck with fruit trees! How is your coffee? or can I get you something else? The sun is still not out, very overcast today.
A combo photo, place mats are complete and started another baby blanket that is pink!
I loved crocheting these pretty pastel placemats for my daughter. They are like doilies all connected only not as tiny as real doilies. They will be cute on her table in her apartment. I also am starting another sweet dreams baby blanket and this time it is for a girl! I just love this pattern and it stitches together quickly and I LOVE seeing how it comes together in a different color. So many babies this year!! This really eases my stress being able to create and make all my crochet fun creations. I thought I would share my latest projects.
I must say as we sit and chat enjoying this cool morning that my emotions and thoughts are all over the place. We are trying to figure out the best way to move to Arizona and oh my goodness, this is not going to be an easy thing to do at all. I find myself feeling anxious because this all takes time, and I feel like a little kid wanting answers and decisions right NOW! But that’s not how this is going to work, we need to take it one day at a time. SO I waffle back and forth with, screw this idea, this is HARD – to I can’t wait to move to where cost of living will be better and I will be close to family and friends in AZ and feeling excited. Holy Smokes! I need to think about our future as we age! Shoot…. I find the process frustrating. And that’s all I will share about this subject right now. Thought it would make me feel better sharing, haha, its just tough to know what will be best for us and our future. On to what I know makes me smile and keeps me sane! 😀
Little patches of grass are delicious! Haha!
Chloe and Zack running lose in the arena for exercise! Pretty ponies!
Oh my goodness! This day is so exciting! I FINALLY figured out how to upload a video! I am so silly. I have been trying and trying and finally found on the editor I am using the video icon. I take a lot of videos so ya’ll beware! You might being seeing a lot more of these. I have trail rides to share too. I get so EXCITED over silly things but I have been wanting to share videos of my horses for a very long time. (I am embarrassed to say how long, haha, I’m so happy I finally figured it out). I hope it plays correctly when I publish for everyone. All I can do is try and see if this works!! YAY!
Thanks for joining me for coffee this weekend. I showed you my tiny garden and enjoyed sharing my craft projects. We then chatted about the future, what is in your future plans? And finally we drove just over a mile to the stables as I turned out the ponies! I had so much fun with ya’ll!
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!
Welcome, can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? I am enjoying my coffee with some oatmeal and english muffin that I make on my days off. DAYS OFF! Oh how I love weekends and days off. I do have this weekend off, but usually my days off are split up and working night shift I actually like it this way. But I just worked a very long stretch covering for vacation, so I am extremely happy to get this much needed R&R. I am doing the things I love which is tending to my tiny garden and my horses. I love to walk but am taking a rest from walking around my neighborhood because I have injured my knee. I think I tweaked it riding a friends horse. I have been helping a lady with her young horse who is a very nice ride, but she is bouncy and I think I am out of shape and this made my knee a bit swollen and sore. Darn, I am getting old!
I was at work this last week and I tripped but didn’t fall down, my foot got caught on a wire I walked over (I know, not too smart but it was behind my big chemistry instrument and I just didn’t lift my foot up high enough) darn it all, I jerked my leg and pulled a tendon coming from my knee! UGH! so I have been taking care of it with hot and cold compresses and slow stretches and it is much better today. I just need to take it easy and not over do it as it heals! Sorry to go on so, I do not get injured often and I can’t stand to sit around so I am up and moving taking Ibprofen for pain and inflammation.
Chloe and I, she is so sweet! She’s my muse!
I was going through my photos and this was taken a couple years ago. I wanted to share because I do not share many photos of myself with my horses. I have more I took this weekend I will share.
Selfies+ horses = challenging!
Zack and I say Hi!
Chloe and I say Hi!
I had FUN with my horses and my camera! You know I just can’t help myself as I enjoy their company so much. It truly is my therapy, these horses just help ones well being in so many ways. I think animals in general are therapeutic but these gentle giants have an intelligence that is so amazing as we have this relationship and understanding together as we get up on their backs and view the world from their point of view. They walk us all over our trails, since that is mostly what I do is trail ride and enjoy the weather and the beautiful days on this Earth. I wish I can thank them, and I do the best I can by providing them bedding for their stalls and nice meals to munch on each day. I enjoy grooming them and getting their coats to glisten in the sun. They mostly enjoy the grooming, Chloe enjoying it more than Zack. He has thin skin I think as he doesn’t enjoy it as much as Chloe! Silly ponies, they just melt my heart. ❤
How is your coffee or tea? Can I get you a refill? I hope you are all having a great weekend. I feel like I can just go on and on about my horses. I also think often of my family and will save those photos for my smile post this next week. I will just dedicate this post to my weekend fun. I am also crocheting a lot finishing one project and starting on another. My crochet is another relaxing thing I do to unwind and get my mind on to the creativity of my projects. Crochet is very rewarding in many ways! ❤
Zack after our ride!
I love when I get their tongue out! Haha
Nice and clean after a beautiful trail ride!
Thank you for sharing coffee with me today. The reason I get photos of my horses with their tongue out is I feed them treats after I ride. These are small pellets that are made for them and they just LOVE them. I have been buying treats that have alfalfa and raspberry flavors, I am not sure what all are in the treats but they smell wonderful. They love them and after I feed them they literally lick their lips over and over, YUMMY! So when I take a photo, it’s turning out to be pretty easy to get a photo with them sticking their tongue out! HAHA! I just love it and I hope you enjoy seeing my ponies this weekend.
Welcome to my weekly smile! What made you smile this week?
Courage is not having the strength to go on; It's going on when you don't have the strength. Theodore Roosevelt
I thought an inspirational quote would be a nice way to start out my smile for this week. This is particularly appropriate for me as I am working an extremely long work week as I am covering for a vacation in my department. And it is extra busy at work, so much so that I am having to dig deep to muster through it all, but I will succeed with a smile. Why? because that’s the way I roll. I want to complain, and it slips out here and there and there isn’t much any of us can do about the crazy busy work load. I guess everyone is needing to take their pets to the vet! Who knew it would go from really slow to exceptionally busy?
I am going to make some chocolate chip cookies to bring to my employees tonight, they will be surprised and I know that will put a huge smile on my face! 😀 I have been trying to find a day that I am not too tired to bake and today I have the time to not only write my smile post, but to bake up some cookies! YUM! Now that’s something to smile about right there! 😀
I have been able to get to the stables almost every day. Today my girlfriend took care of the horses so I am able to be home to bake and write! I have been thinking a lot about our plans to move to Arizona, and the 37 acre idea has been scrubbed. We will figure it all out, but I sure miss my grand babies. I think of them often. I try and stay in touch as much as I can and I have a new photo to share. My garden is coming along, lots of tomatoes and it seems it may be a bit too hot for bell peppers. I have a grouping of roses I will share. I let these bloom but pruned the rest of the plant.
The last of my blooms for awhile! So pretty and they smell divine!
I know I am rambling. I am feeling a bit tired with the very long work week. I was too busy to write over the weekend and/or any other day. I really enjoy the SMILE POSTS! So I am happy I can get this put together to share. I’ll end with baby Teddy! He is now three and half months old, missing him and his sister so much. I know I’m one of millions of grandma’s missing their grand children. I’m so thankful of instant photos and video chats! 😀
Now there is a SMILE!! ❤ ❤ ❤
Thanks for visiting my smile this week. I hope you all have a wonderful week and if you want to share what makes your smile, that would be great!
Welcome to my weekly smile. I almost was not going to write because of what is going on in this country its incredibly…… I can’t seem to find the words to describe. Brings tears to my eyes for many reasons. I can’t talk about it let alone write about it and thought let me try and write what makes me smile.
I hope that’s okay? Isn’t it crazy I am actually worried about writing a smile post as if it isn’t okay. I guess if I had to explain my feelings, I would explain it like this – I am so overwhelmed that all I can do is live my life and try and keep things moving forward. I know I do not need permission to smile, but I do not want what I write to be taken like I don’t care, as I care so deeply about our country and all the people living here. I care about humanity, and pray for peace around the world. ❤
Hmm…. I think of myself as a happy go lucky horse crazy young girl (I am not young any more, but will always feel young at heart!) I sometimes just want to be that naive young girl, looking forward to my horse back riding and getting ready for the next horse show. Those were the days! My smile this week is you guessed it, my pretty horses. ❤
My horses checking out the turn out pen!They are really exploring and eating the grass and weeds growing in the arena!Such a beautiful girl! Love these horses so much, they sure make me smile! 😀
I really wanted to share this week. What makes you smile? I hope and pray for peaceful protests. I understand the unrest. I do not want to make light of any of it and hope we can still find smiles in this crazy world we all live in today. After I go to the stables to exercise these pretty ponies I will be working in my garden. Something that is good for my heart and soul!
Thank you for visiting my smile post this week. I hope everyone is staying safe and I hope you can find a couple things to smile at this last week and into this week. I am looking at working a lot of days this next week as I have an employee taking a week long vacation. I love my job, but that means I will be busy and so am not sure how much writing I’ll be able to fit in the next week and a half. I’m off to give these pretty ponies a hug and a kiss!
Mylife-and-Horsestories 