This is the last day of the photo challenge #SquareUps photos share with it featuring the word “Up” ~ I went through my photos and had a few in mind and so here is what I decided to share. We were able to travel to Hawaii last year in February. We made it there and back again before the shutdown and some day I would love to go back. Here are a couple more photos I wanted to share. 😀
This was at a luau as you can see he is Up in the tree getting some coconuts!
The rules of the challenge for my friends who will read this post wondering what am I doing? I have to format my photos to be square. Thankful this is easy to do before I post them. I edit them into a square shape for this photo challenge hosted by Becky B ~ The Life of B blog. She has these wonderful photo challenges throughout the year every quarter. This challenge for Square “Up” was for the month of January. You could post a photo every day, or every week, or whenever you can. I decided to join right on the last day. The next Square photo challenge will be in April. Here is the last photo I will share for Upright and Upbeat!
This was in Honolulu and we ate at this wonderful restaurant right on the water! Upright masts and ahhh, so beautiful!
I hope I met the challenge correctly. I made all my photos “square” and I love the theme “Up”. I had fun looking through my photos when these popped up and I thought what a fun way to finish out this month!
I know I could have shared 31 photos for all the days of January, but I am afraid that would take me too long. So I guess I am joining with 3 photos for the last 3 days. Lol 😀
Thank you for hosting Becky and including us all on this fun #SquareUps photo challenge. I hope ya’ll enjoy!
Welcome to my coffee share! Can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? Let me tell you about my morning…..
As I left my house this morning for a walk I was looking down and was positioning my walking stick in one hand and opened my front gate with the other with the cool air on my face. It was a nice 44F degrees and the sun was up above our hills shining on my back. I haven’t been walking as much as I would like, something I need to fit into my schedule. I was feeling happy to be out and as I walked I thought to myself what always makes me smile is mother nature and her wonders. Isn’t it so wonderful to enjoy all she has to give to us? I stopped in my tracks, I looked up at the sun, and then I decided to turn around and as I turned this is what I saw. Wow, majestic! this view took my breath away!
I couldn’t believe my view as I turned around from my walk, WOW!
I wasn’t paying attention as I headed out the door and I turned right to walk down this road which is away from this mountain view. I was so happy I slowed down to stop as this was a great place for a photo. The blocks I walk I saw more wonderful views, but this one set me in a good mood as I took in a deep breath and went back to my walk. My walk was a bit slow as bones creaked a bit and as the sun was rising I decided to take another photo heading more along the path I was walking.
The sun rising above the hills. I felt like I was getting a sunrise hug!
As I finished up my walk I got to thinking about how fast this month flew by. I can’t believe in about a week it will be 3 months since I started my new job. I can tell you I have never felt better sleeping every single night. (For new followers, I use to work grave yard shift full-time and had been on that shift for over 30 years!) I think I feel 30 years younger! Except for my creaking bones, a bit of arthritis in my feet and with this cold weather my right arm that I broke some years ago which has a plate and screws will ache a bit. I found some wonderful cream that helps with pain in muscles and joints that I use. So I get some relief and go about my day not thinking about it again. But when I get up in the mornings, I am a little creaky! Haha! 😀
Can I get you a refill? As I am enjoying the rest of my coffee, I just can’t stop thinking about how I am so enamored by the great outdoors. As I sit here and write on my laptop I can look out my front window and this is what I see. I can honestly say that this house we have here has some pretty cool views. I thought I should try and take a photo. So here it is!
Haha. the view is through a screen on my front window. Not the best photo but I love the view.
With it being a sunny day the snow melts fast and within a few days these snow capped mountains will be no more. However, there is another storm coming this next Wednesday so the snow will return once again. I don’t think one will ever tire of the snowy mountain views! I use to live in the local mountains many moons ago. It was an experience, but am happy down in the valley with my horses.
I have been in a bit of a funk. That’s a strange word “funk” but its a good description. I am in between crochet projects and have been doing nothing but coloring. Yup, you heard me correctly ~ coloring in my adult coloring book! It is rather therapeutic to color, but it is not motivating me to start a new craft project. I’ve been wanting to make this shawl which I bought yarn to crochet but the pattern is a little complicated. I started it but got a little discouraged and stopped. I also could get back to making my crochet animals? I usually am not so distracted. I usually move from one project to another, I am hoping to find my focus soon.
This is the shawlette I am going to crochet. Power of positive thinking as I work out the instructions! Haha!
Maybe I should just make some ponies! Okay, they look so cute!
Maybe I should just make these really cute crochet ponies and they will help me with my funk. Aren’t they adorable? I think I will work on these and get back to the shawl at a later date. I will share what I make once I get some of them completed. There are a whole herd of horses to create in this book, 10 to be exact. I have to thank my daughter for buying me this crochet project book. I am getting excited writing and thinking about these crochet ponies. I find working on my crochet crafts brings me much comfort and I LOVE creating things with my hands. It is so rewarding and always makes me smile. I also find the more I crochet the better I get, and so I enjoy my projects even more! What do you do that stirs your creative juices? I am sure many of you bloggers enjoy writing! I also have friends and family that love to sew. My sister’s sew quilts, so talented!!
I am going to wrap up with some kitty photos just because they make me smile. 😀
These are my kitties who are sister’s. Duchess closest with Dinah behind her. They were fast asleep until I bothered them with a photo!
These are my sons cats, the brothers. I love this photo as they are shaped like a heart! One is Wolfie, the other Dublin but I don’t know who is who! Haha, they make me smile!
Thank you for joining me for coffee today. Sorry about being in a funk, haha, I had to use it again because it’s such a funny word. Makes me smile to think I’m in a funk! I also want to do some gardening but I want to educate myself about gardening. I have been bad about my teeny gardens which the last one was in containers. I am just winging it, buying some fertilizer and then some starters and all I do is water. I know I live in an area where I could grow some serious food if I put some effort into it, which means taking the time to read and learn how to really garden. I need to know how to take care of said garden, and be a more mindful educated gardener. Sounds great! Now just need to learn! I’ve enjoyed sharing the beautiful mountains and kitties. I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead!
Welcome to winter in my corner of the world. We get snow in our local mountains and it is a beautiful sight. I decided to drive to a street nearby my house to get this view. It’s rather pretty with the clouds I think. As I write this smile post I am listening to more rain as a big storm has arrived and we will get more snow in the mountains. The skiers and snow boarders will be in heaven. Where I live we have all these outdoor activities only an hour or so away from you in almost any direction in southern California. If you want to scuba dive, or surf, or go whale watching the pacific ocean is right here for all your fun-filled beach activities. If you love to ski or snowboard, the local mountains have plenty of ski slopes at many locations in the winter. The amazing thing is you can enjoy the snow by owning a cabin or renting one, and visit the wintery months without having to deal with commuting in snow or living in freezing cold weather. I grew up here so it is a great place to enjoy what ever is calling your name. I know you all know my outdoor activities, my horses. 😀
I am so happy with my horses as Chloe, Zack and I head down the trail!
I am REALLY SMILING BIG! I have been able to ride this last week after last weeks rain storm seven days. That just amazes me as I haven’t ridden that many days in a row in years! The shortest ride lasts about 30 minutes and I rode two rides about 45 minutes. This is the whole point of having these cute ponies is to be able to ride them out on our local trails! Not only am I enjoying this immensely, but I know the horses are enjoying our rides as well. They are eager to go out and I believe are getting some really good exercise. It’s a win, win for all of us and I have been joined by my best friends at the stables for a couple of the rides I am counting. I am a lucky gal, and am thankful that I am now at a location where I have easy access to the trails so there is no excuses not to tack up and head out for a ride! ❤
We have had many pretty days and it has been cold for our area.
I know I write a lot about my horses and I do share my rides but for this last week what was exciting was to get out there on the trails almost every single day. I mentioned that another storm is here and it will be raining all night and all day tomorrow so I won’t be able to go out again until sometime this weekend. I am so happy my horses are doing good, are in good shape and are more than happy to get out on the trails! I am smiling from ear to ear!
Thank you for visiting my smile post this week. What makes you smile? I am enjoying our weather, my horses and looking forward to working on some of my crafts with all this rain. I may pull out a gardening book I have so I can start teaching myself how to garden. I have tried a bit and posted about my teeny tiny gardens. I have been thinking I have enough room I would like to make an attempt at a bigger veggie garden this year. I want to put more effort into this and see what I can grow. I hope you have a great day in your part of the world!
Can I get you a cup of coffee? I enjoy mine with my favorite sweet Italian cream. I also have tea, hot or iced as well. I am having a nice hot cup of coffee as we have a cold storm outside and it has rained almost all day today. We are getting a ton of snow in our local mountains so when the storm blows through and the sun shines we will have beautiful snow capped mountains to admire. I am happy to see my sister and her hubby from Idaho as they are in town visiting friends and their son who lives here nearby. My sister use to own my horse Zack and I adopted him when she moved as she was unable to take him for a few reasons. One of the biggest reasons is it was in Zack’s best interest to leave him here because the stress of moving would have been hard on him because he has EPM. He is symptom free and has been after being treated five years ago. We were able to squeeze in a short trail ride this morning before the rain. It was fun to all be together again! These are my pony sister’s, two are great friends and one is my sister riding Zack. 😀
From left to right, Sally on Ava, Sharon on Zack, Jane on Irish and me on Chloe ❤ ❤ ❤
Jane on Irish took this photo of Sally, Sharon and I heading out on the trail before the rain ~ FUN Times!
A couple more photos of us on the trail 😀
We arrived to the stables with a break in the weather. We all got the horses out and ready to go (tacked up) and asked others at the stables if they could take our photos. Lucky we did this before the ride because we rode back with it drizzling. I just got my horses back in their stalls when it really started to come down. We thankfully decided to just go on our short ride as we looked up and saw many dark clouds heading our way. What a good decision. Although we wouldn’t melt in the rain, it’s just uncomfortable to get all wet. I had a big jacket on which isn’t water proof but it takes a lot of rain to soak it through, but when riding your pants can get pretty wet especially your thighs. Haha, I have been caught out on trail and have gotten pretty wet in the past!
I’m so thankful Jane took these photos as I do not have many of me riding. Thank you Jane!! I also am enjoying these photos because you can see our faces as I am the one usually taking photos and I take them from behind so often. Haha, a lot of horses butts and the backs of my friends! It’s the best I can do so many times out on the trails. These photos just make me SMILE! We will go out again tomorrow as this storm is suppose to be gone by tomorrow morning. There are more storms on the way with some pretty chilly nights. We are at 44F tonight with it dropping down to the 30F’s Monday night. With this cold front the snow levels are down near 2000ft in the local mountains so some of the high deserts are getting snow as well. With such a low snow level the mountains will just be blanketed ~ I know I’ve mentioned this already. It’s just such a beautiful sight! I can’t think of a good segue to the next couple of photos I wanted to share so I’ll just say kitties and grandkids!
The brothers! The one on top was my daughter’s but now lives with his brother in Arizona!
My daughter’s newly adopted kitty!
My son so kindly sends us these funny photos of these two brothers. They are quite the characters and as you can see love each others company. I have shared many photos of them throughout my posts and this was the latest photo. They are so beautiful and they make me smile. This beautiful black kitty my daughter adopted about a week ago which I shared last week. She finally decided on a name “Evie” which is the name of a character from the movie V for Vendetta. My son said that there is a Pokemon name Eevee (which is how you say “Evie”) and the whole family agreed it is a great name for her! When we asked my daughter how she is settling in, my daughter replied “She’s doing good, but she thinks she owns the place!” Haha, “She does own the place don’t you know?” I replied. Cats, if you’ve ever owned one I think its they own you! Dogs are the other way around and love them too!
I’ll end with saying I’m missing my grand children and thought I’d share as the last few weeks I’ve just been a bit homesick for them. That’s just the best way to explain it when you miss family. I’ll be able to visit them soon enough (I hope) but as I will never get tired of saying, I am so thankful for technology and the instant sharing and video chats. ❤
Teddy Loves to eat! Such a happy boy!
My sweet Alice, Love you baby girl!
Thank you so much for visiting my coffee share today. I enjoyed sharing my weekend and even though I have stopped and wondered if all I am doing is repeating one weekend to the next, the stories I share are often woven with different events and I sometimes get lucky to share some fun photos. I hope you all are safe and sound and enjoying your weekend. For us here, winter is truly here bringing in the much needed rain and cold weather. If you would like to read other coffee shares, the link is here. And thank you Natalie for hosting our gatherings.
Welcome to my weekend coffee share where we share what’s been happening in our lives with old friends and new!
How is your weekend going so far? I can’t believe it’s Saturday and it’s late afternoon. I am actually drinking some ice tea because it is a warm January day. It was 86F today and very windy. We get winds here called Santa Ana winds. These winds originate inland and affects coastal Southern California where I live. I thought I would try and get in a ride this morning before the wind was to pick up. I didn’t succeed as the wind blew us down the trail but I am so proud of my ponies today! I thought it not a safe idea to video my ride, but before the wind really kicked in I did take a couple of photos. 😀
My favorite view, looking down the trail on Chloe! And Zack walking right along side us!
As I head down this block, the wind was reasonable and just gusty. I thought I could head down this way which made my ride twice as long before the wind would get stronger. I checked the weather app earlier in the morning or was it last night? And the wind by late-morning was to be around 12 miles per hour, or so I thought and I thought I had plenty of time. Little did I know that within the next 15 minutes or so the winds were going to pick up. You can’t really see the end to the road ahead, but it turns where you see the mountain rise in the background past Chloe’s ears in the photo to the right and as we headed down the turn to the start of the next block home the gusts turned into 18 to 20 mile per hour sustained winds, with stronger gusts! We had to cross the street and as we walked this next block home with what felt like howling winds which were very warm, my ponies just walked along like another day on the trails. I am so very thankful for their steadfastness.
They didn’t seem to blink an eye to the wind, and I am thankful these strong winds were not blowing any debris, lose tree limbs or trash which can all spook even the steadiest horse. As I made it up to the last block and street to the stables I could feel Chloe increase her pace. Yes girl, I know you want to get home and I did too! I did not plan on riding in this rip roaring wind! I think I would rather get caught out in the rain! As I arrived at the barn the other ladies that own horses there were all saying, boy are you brave! Haha, I didn’t plan on this I said. It really wasn’t that windy when I left and I was gone all of 45 minutes! CRAZY WEATHER!
Zack is begging for a treat! This is when we returned. They did not care how windy it was as I cleaned them up and spoiled them!
She stands so pretty! And I gave them extra treats as I really could not believe how good they were today! ❤ ❤ ❤
I am giggling sharing these photos as my good friend Jane was sitting nearby as we chatted and Zack just would not stop begging. Haha, he just would not stop with his goofy sideway looks! His way of begging for something please! I thought why not take more photos. Oh my, I have so many photos of these ponies, I never tire of them and love to share. I am so very thankful I can ride them on the trails as they age and they are a bonded pair. I think Chloe would be fine without Zack, but Chloe is Zack’s best girlfriend and where ever Chloe goes, Zack goes too! It just is, what it is!
Zack is home after a nice windy trail ride! Chloe’s stall is across from his in the barn.
Here is Chloe’s stall!
Can I get you a refill? As I sit and think about this last week I was feeling rather emotional. I know that is normal right? There are many reasons for these emotions, missing my family in Arizona ~ so much so I am going to try and visit in a few weeks if possible. I am hoping to visit there in February because my grandson will be turning one near the end of Feb. Wait what? I can’t believe it and I am so excited about baby Teddy’s birthday as this year has gone by fast and am so sad it has been near impossible to spend time with my grandchildren. No wonder I am so emotional. I am also saddened by all affected by the virus. We have employees out and some in the hospital. I am now getting tested weekly. I just checked and I am negative, so thankful as I continue to be needed at work filling in holes of absenteeism. This next week I will go in early and stay late, thankful I get paid over-time now. I think it will just be for this next week, hoping things get better soon.
As we all deal with all these changes and I have read of others affected by more lockdowns in their area, or mask wearing where they hadn’t been but now it is deemed necessary. I am thinking maybe sharing and writing about this is somehow cathartic. So, I’ll say it here to stay safe and stay strong. We will all make it through these crazy times and all we can do is take one day at a time. I am glad to see vaccines rolling out even though it will take time for this to become effective especially since there are booster shots involved. Some how I feel better expressing my feelings on this subject, so thanks for listening. On to happier news…
I do have some really happy news and that is my daughter adopted a kitty last week. If you were to read through my blogs (or have been a follower) my daughter once owned one of the brother kitties that I share that both now live with my son in Arizona. Wolfie was such a handful (that is an understatement) and one of the biggest problems is he would not stop eating the Guinea Pigs hay and so he would upset his stomach and she ended up at the vet so many times that she decided to give him up. So, off to his brothers house he went. (That’s her brother and Wolfie’s brother, Haha!) It has been one year now, and she found this beautiful black kitty that is about a year and a half old. She hasn’t decided on a name, but she is sweet and calm. Here is a photo. 😀
My daughter shared this with me as she was working on her computer but kitty had other ideas! YES! A good lap kitty! ❤ ❤ ❤
Thanks for visiting and having coffee with me today. The link up you can find here, and thank you Natalie for hosting the coffee share. ❤
These are my sons cats, they are brothers and so handsome!
Welcome to my weekly smile. I have to say I am telling myself to just smile as I was messing around with my WordPress sight trying to manage all the emails that go to my AOL email account. It really doesn’t matter but everything posted through WP whether its notifications or posts or whatever goes to that email. So, I went through the settings and turned a bunch of stuff off under the title “emails” but it somehow stopped sending the notifications to my phone app. So I have posted several posts since New Years and was wondering after this last week why I wasn’t seeing any ones comments. I was thinking maybe my posts didn’t post or something and that’s when it clicked in my head, I think I screwed things up!
I only go on my laptop to write these posts. I enjoy typing on it much better than trying to write posts through the phone app. That’s where I found all these comments I haven’t been seeing, so I apologize and feel lost in space! 😀 This last week I have made a few blunders, and this is one of them! I also messed up the beginnings of a lemon bar, putting 3 cups of sugar that was suppose to go into the lemon curd into the cookie layer underneath. I had to throw it all away and start all over again. I have to laugh at myself, read the recipe carefully Diana!! So I am smiling at making mistakes, because it seems that is my theme this week! 😀
This is a little blurry I think, but I got brave and wore my Star Wars mask at work. Haha, no one cared at all! I felt like such a nerd! 😀
I am also wearing a nerdy Star Wars shirt to go with the mask. Now that I am not a supervisor, I don’t have to have that “in charge” look? or you know, be the responsible looking supervisor. I can be my geeky self and not worry and of course I also work as responsibly as I can and everyone knows that I work hard and do a good job. Anyways, I really wanted to get this smile post out there as I know I don’t need to apologize but as I went through as many missed comments as I could and I tried to respond I may have missed a few folks. I just love the comments and interaction so I have to say, sorry if I missed ya!! Here’s to leaving things alone the way it is set up which works great and I will not mess with the settings again! (I even uninstalled, then reinstalled the WP app on my phone so it would reconnect with the correct settings!) Sheesh, I was really wondering what was going on for this last week or so! Haha, I need to slow down and read instructions and leave some things be just like they are when they work just fine.
Welcome to my coffee share and before I get started I want to thank our new host Natalie the Explorer for hosting our coffee share gatherings on WordPress. I share my blog posts on another social media so those people would not really know what I am talking about if I don’t explain that this is linked to other coffee shares within WP. Anyways, I am enjoying a nice cup of coffee can I get you a cup too? I bought a new cup at a small farm in San Luis Obispo, we call it SLO for short. It’s a neat little farm where you can buy lettuce to feed goats, and they have chickens a couple of cows and two ponies. They have a store where they have lots of fresh produce grown on the farm and fresh eggs, and lots of jarred items, jams, chutneys etc. It is fun to visit there and this time I decided to buy this coffee mug because it was so pretty. Can I get you a biscuit or english muffin with your coffee? I have hot tea and ice tea too!
As I write this I am thinking back and I wanted to write during the week this last week but it started out really busy. My work is extremely short handed as positive Covid cases has hit the night shift and in numbers. We have at least 8 positive cases and other’s out because they were near a positive person, a protocol our work has put in place to help stop the spread. Per state protocols the remaining employees are to be tested which my work set up this last week and we all were tested. My test came back negative. As they clean and we all take precautions they do have an action plan if the spread gets worse as we are dwindling in numbers. But as the weeks pass hopefully those sick will recover and return to work. I don’t talk much about the virus, but since it is spreading and reaching closer it is affecting my schedule and so I thought I would share. Last week I worked earlier 11a – 7:30p. I will work this schedule one more week and then hopefully go back to 2p – 10:30p.
Either way the earlier schedule isn’t all that bad as I am still able to go to the barn before work. I live so close to the barn (it’s just a mile away) that I can get there and ride and return home, change clothes and am off to work. I have some photos of my ride this week. I actually was able to ride 3 times but only took photos on one of my rides. What I noticed when I rode at 9:30am is the morning shadows as I rounded the block. So these are my shadow photos! I just LOVE them! 😀
As I rounded the turn in the block, I noticed these cool shadows! And Zack looks so handsome walking along side us too!
Me and my shadow pals!
These two shots are my favorite! Best view ever sitting up on your horse looking between those ears! ❤
The mornings have been crisp and cool. Usually in the 50’s(F) and beautiful sunshine. I finally got to my day off and it was super windy! Darn it all, it was too windy to ride. But I will be able to ride tomorrow and am hooking up with my best friend who is now leasing a horse at my stables. Tomorrow will be our first ride together on her leased horse which I am really looking forward too. We haven’t been able to visit as often and so we will be able to chat and catch up with our lives during our ride. It will be great FUN!
I wanted to look at this year anew, the dictionary describes anew ~ in a new or different and typically morepositive way. I think we all need to look at this year we have started anew. My ideas are thinking positively towards the world and each other. I just need more positivity which I try and have each day as each of us take care of ourselves and our loved ones. I have furry loved ones as well that need my time and attention. So I am thinking my word for this year is ANEW ~ I do not usually have a word for the year, but I think I will have one for this year!
Thank you for visiting my coffee share. I hope you all are safe and sound and I enjoyed sharing with you my happenings. I wish you could go on the trail with me, as the weather here has been just fantastic this time of year (other than the wind). I have a kitty near me and was on my lap earlier so I will close with one of my pretty kitties. I hope you all have a great rest of the weekend and a good week ahead!
My pony sister friend took this photo of me and my pretty ponies! Yes, I have treats I am getting ready to give them. A very candid shot!
As 2020 came to an end I was able to enjoy the morning with my horses before work. This photo is actually from a few weekends ago but I thought it was a good opener as this is me, and this is what I do as I groom them and get them ready for a ride. I tie them to the hitching post and they are very well behaved. This is where I tack them up with saddle and bridles. Before I head out on a ride, I often turn them out either in the bigger arena or the small round pen to get them moving. With the nights getting pretty cool, they can get stiff and need some warming up and on this day the static electricity in the air was something I captured on the next photo or two!
I can’t believe how the light from the sun and the static electricity has his tail standing on end! Look at the shimmers, I’m so amazed!!
Hi Zack! He is body clipped and I decided to clip most of his hair except where the saddle goes on the top of his back. He is much more comfortable and easier to groom and care for.
Chloe’s tail was not spectacular like Zack’s. I am not sure why his was more static charged and hers was not, but her tail is black and would not be as dazzling in the sun. I get excited over little things such as static electricity and hair! Haha, It reminds me of when you blow up a balloon and then rub your hair and you can pull the balloon away and your hair stands on end going to the balloon. This just happened in the round pen when I was exercising them, so it was a strange sight to see!
It was a crisp morning New Year’s Eve as I prepared these ponies for my ride. It was calm and serene, no wind blowing yet and as I mounted up and headed out I can tell the horses had a nice step to their gait and were ready for the trails. As I turned the corner out to the trail and headed down the street, the horses were walking so well together it was as if we were all in sync and enjoying this beautiful, lovely day. I was able to put Chloe’s reins around the horn of my western saddle, and I looped Zack’s rope around the horn. Not too tight, just lightly looped so that I didn’t lose the rope and it was right there if I needed it and the remainder of the rope was in my other hand as I reached for my camera to record this last day of my 2020 trail ride.
My ponies know these trails so well. I was calm and very relaxed which in turn makes the ponies very relaxed. They can feel your anxieties, your nervousness, your breathing. They can feel you relaxing, your calmness, its their language to feel and recognize things humans don’t even think about. They can feel if you are “there” in the moment, or if your mind wonders and is somewhere else. They are always “in the moment” as they live their lives in the here and now. They are flight animals and it is their instinct to be aware of everything.
They see things you don’t. They hear things you don’t. They know with each step if it is safe or not to continue down the road. They have my life in their hoofs, as I ride on their backs as each step they carry me down the street and around the block in unison as if we are one and connected. Zack is right in step by Chloe’s side. Chloe is like valium to Zack. She brings him peace and calmness as she is the alpha mare and exudes confidence in each step. This is how my beautiful ride went on this gorgeous morning as we completed our ride around the block. I took a video of my ride and want to share it. In the video Zack is walking so nicely and walks up fast almost to pass Chloe! BUT he can’t because he needs to stay back a bit behind. You will see her as he puts his nose towards her, she will nip at him to get him back where he belongs. I don’t let the lead go to long and he will slow a bit and walk where he should. They are very mindful of each other and I try and be just as mindful back to them in our threesome wondering the Norco trails.
This is the best video I have made with two horses in hand. I hope you enjoy as I practice and am enjoying these ponies!
I am not to far into my ride when I made this video but to be able to do this with solid horses that feel confident is a testament to what I like to say “Time in the saddle” as with anything you do in life, practice makes perfect. I am so proud of my horses. They bring so much joy to my life and I feel truly blessed and thankful I can share my life with them. I thank my family for their patience and love for them as well. I have enjoyed many rides throughout this last year, and being able to go to the barn and enjoy this is how I have been able to survive the craziness of 2020.
Welcome to my weekend coffee share where we share what’s been happening in our lives with old friend’s and new, what’s happening in your part of the world?
Can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? as we sit and enjoy this first weekend of this new decade. In this crazy world we are living in today, I have to keep my head grounded and enjoy my family, togetherness, good food and great company. We keep the company very small, my bubble is not that big as we try and stay safe. As I sit here writing my daughter is making us dinner and the smell is amazing. As she is browning onions and bell pepper the kitchen is filled with such wonderful aroma as she teases the guys (my son and hubby) this will be a vegetarian dinner. They will love it as she is a wonderful cook. It will be a “meat” and potatoes dinner only the meat will be made with lentils, mushrooms and quinoa. She made vegan pancakes this morning without any eggs! What? and they were delicious. They were banana with mini chocolate chips, yummy! I am so happy she loves to cook, and she has so many cookbooks she has often told me she gets lost in recipes. Haha, that can happen when you have too many to choose from. As I am sitting here thinking about food, I wanted to share what we did today. Oh wait, I forgot to tell you we drove up to my daughter’s to spend the New Year weekend with her up North.
Downtown Solvang. Beautiful day today!
Our favorite book store in Solvang
My hubby and I in Solvang
We got there early today Jan. 1st and there were not a lot of people so the shops and eatery’s were not crowded. As the day wore on, more and more people filled the streets. My family and I were happy to be on our way to avoid the crowds. I will say it really wasn’t that crowded, but definitely more people than when we arrived. While we were there we bought lunch at a take out place and my better half and I had bratwurst sausage with sauerkraut and it was one of the best brat’s I’ve ever had! (We clearly aren’t vegan, but support my daughter and I should really eat a plant based diet. Not such an easy change to make, so I try and eat healthier every day.) My son had cheddar and bacon sausage and my daughter had a huge Bavarian pretzel with cheese. 😀
Looks delicious! She’s so ADORABLE! I can’t help myself as she’ll always be my baby girl!!
I am writing my coffee share in the middle of my weekend away and so I will probably post an after weekend smile post next week as we are going to Pismo Beach tomorrow morning and we will have the best cinnamon rolls I have ever had at this famous cinnamon roll place in Pismo. AND it is just one or two streets from the Pacific Ocean! I have shared our cinnamon rolls from there in previous posts when I have visited here but my hubby has not been there yet as I often come to my daughter’s with just my son. My husband works every weekend, so I have traveled more with my son or by myself than with my husband. We asked him to take this weekend off and to be honest I have been trying to get him to retire. We will see if this will be his last year or last few months. He only works 2 days a week and has been doing this same job for the last 10 years. So he hasn’t had weekends off in that long. Only rarely when we decide to travel or make a special weekend vacation is he off of work. I digress, it will be so fun and special to eat our cinnamon rolls on the pier in Pismo and smell the ocean and watch the waves. The seagulls or pigeons will be nearby begging! Can I get you another cup of Joe? or more tea?
As I wrap up this evening so I can get this posted I will tell you that the dinner we were smelling as I started this post was absolutely delicious. Here is a photo of the finished product! My hubby is from the south and his Mom from Arkansas and as it goes all or most southerners eat black-eyed peas to bring good luck to the New Year. So for the last 36 years we have made black-eyed peas with our New Year dinner. My daughter found a really good recipe as they tasted great. Everything on the plate was super tasty!
Scrumptious vegan meat patty with kale and grilled onions. Roasted small potatoes and for good luck, black-eyed peas!
Mylife-and-Horsestories 