July 23rd, Thankful For The Summer Breeze!

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share
My summer rose bloom! It smells heavenly too!

Welcome to my weekend coffee or tea share where I enjoy sharing what’s been happening here in Southern Cali where I live. It is definitely summer time here as the heat is on and we are hoping for a break but there isn’t one coming any time soon. I am thankful for the summer breeze! It almost always shows up every afternoon and it feels so good and helps you cool off. I had to look it up as I was pretty sure there was a song about the “Summer Breeze” by Seals & Crofts and it’s a nice relaxing song to listen to on these summer days, I do date myself!

As I share a tall glass of ice tea with you (I have lemonade and we can make it an Arnold Palmer if you’d like!) I decided I would share my cross stitch I have been working on the last month or so, I am nearing completion and this is my winter scene. This is the last one I needed to complete for my 4 seasons pattern that I started many years ago and am determined to finish. (I’ll share the photo of the other seasons here too.) I am planning on making my first quilt with these cross stitches as the star or center pieces of the quilt which will be the size of a wall hanging or small throw blanket. If I run into trouble I’ll have to have my sister’s help me as they are the expert quilt makers in the family!

I have a confession and that is this coffee share I started late last weekend and never finished it so I thought I would just add to it and finish and post it this weekend. I took the above cross stitch photo on July 2nd and I have done a lot more since then so here is a current photo of it today. I am working on the bottom portion as you can see the cart the horse is pulling, a sideways tree and some snow texture stitching. 😀

Winter!

Some of the funny colored shapes will eventually be people and things really become defined when I am done with the stitching and then I will outline everything and that will make everything pop and look completed. It is so fun working on these projects! I know it is another way that I can relax and create and keep my brain thinking as I count away. I am hoping this and other things I do in my life will help keep me healthy. What do you do for fun or for relaxation? I know many enjoy their gardens, and they are a wonderful source of healthy cardio work and relaxation too! And others enjoy being outside exercising. Here are the other seasons. (Click on photos for full view).

Spring
Summer
Fall

I am motivated to finish my winter themed cross stitch because I was gifted this last Christmas some really cool cross stitch pattern books I had on my wish list. I will be diving into these new patterns when I finish here and I won’t start working on the quilt until I feel inspired or motivated to sew. Maybe I will dive into it sooner, I just take things one day at a time and see how I feel when starting new projects. I know my “in the house” projects I call them are not cardio, but it’s important to have the relaxation to help lower blood pressure when relaxing. I get all my cardio from the stables and I like to call the barn my outside gym! I love my segue as I want to share my horses this weekend. My last share about the barn was how busy I have been and thankfully it has calmed down now and I am not having to take care of so many horses!

Getting ready to buck!
And a big BUCK! Go Murphy!
Pretty trot
Standing tail! Such a handsome boy!
A girlfriend at the barn took these photos even catching him getting ready to buck and the buck, such pretty photos of Murphy and me out in the arena together!

I am having so much fun with Murphy! Him and I are really bonding and he is always excited to see me which to me indicates he enjoys our time together. He is vocal about this nickering as I arrive! 😀 Today I started some liberty training with him which basically means working in the arena with him lose and following my lead as I ask him to work with me free or at liberty. I also have thought long and hard about his training and I decided to introduce R+ training which is Positive reinforcement (+R) is a form of learning that occurs when a desired behavior is rewarded. It’s based on the idea that reinforced or rewarded behavior will be repeated out of want for a reward. I have found that Murphy would rather not do much of anything and although his defiance is not bad (he does not bite, rear, kick or do anything nasty) on the contrary he is very sweet but can be a bit stubborn. He is also very food driven! I have already started to introduce treats in a meaningful way and he has not started biting and/or is not aggressive at all. He has remained very respectful and sweet which is perfect for this kind of training! I’m very excited!!

He loves to splash and play in the water bucket and every time I see him and want to video he stops and comes to visit me instead. I LOVE you Murphy, but I just want to get some water fun action!

You can see how wet he got and all the water he splashed all around the bucket as he practically emptied half of hit splashing away! Haha, he’s so funny and has so much fun in this summer heat! With horses when you are with them whether it is every day (yep, I go every single day to see them and usually work with them) or every other day or once a week you are always learning and working together as a team. You should be growing your bond with them and mine grows each day. I have this wonderful bond with my other horse Chloe. Her and I are a team that just gets stronger every day. The trust the two of us have in each other is hard to describe. It would be like the trust you have with your best favorite dog or cat, it’s strong and we enjoy each others company. I am so grateful and thankful Murphy and I are bonding like Chloe but as I learn and grow reading/attending/watching other trainers I am growing and am doing more with him than I did when Chloe was his age. IT’S SO MUCH FUN!

Chloe and I out on the trails!
Murphy and I in the arena!
Miss Chloe after our ride!
Murphy after our ride!
I am enjoying riding him and working with him in Western Dressage!

I have a video I made all by myself by propping up my camera but since I don’t have a Pivo I ride out of frame a lot and so I decided not to share here. I will ask someone to video one of my rides soon. It is fun to see his progress. He is learning so much, a little each ride. I don’t ride him every day as he is young and growing and I don’t want to bore him to death. PLUS as I have recently shared I can be busy and so I usually ride one horse one day and then the next I ride the other. This is working out great! Happy horses means a happy Mom. Now that I want to incorporate R+ training, it is all started and performed while I am on the ground, we call this ground work with horses. So on the days I do not ride Murphy we will be working on things together which will be stimulating for him and I. Anyways, I enjoy learning new things as well and there is plenty of YouTube videos out there to visit for ideas. Can I get you a refill? I know I can ramble on and on sometimes! Haha!

He almost always rolls after a rinse or bath in his dry shavings! You can see them all over his back!
This was from a few weeks ago! All that I am sharing is from this month of July!

I am so thankful we have a huge pepper tree that has grown so tall now that it provides a lot of morning shade where we tack up our horses. This is why this photo is in the shade. I like it’s soft tones and you can see part of the tree in the upper right corner. Near noon the shade is almost gone except for closest to the tree. As July seems to be flying by we are getting closer to my granddaughter’s birthday August 3rd. She will be turning 7 years old this year and I can’t believe it! I am so excited to be heading to Arizona to help her and family celebrate my sweet girls birthday. YAY! This time I will be flying there!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I thank you kindly for visiting with me today. I am always grateful for all the support I get from fellow friends, family and the blogging community. I enjoy sharing when I can and so I will get this wrapped up and get back to stitching. I am getting super close to completing my project. I’ll have to pass the ice tea and say how is your (week) or weekend going?

Loving Our Summer Breeze Cowgirl,

~Diana ❤

33 thoughts on “July 23rd, Thankful For The Summer Breeze!”

  1. Hi Diana, Thank you for your weekend coffee share and beautiful pictures. Your cross-stitch projects look amazing. I know they take a lot of focus and time to finish so good for you to have done all four seasons. Quilting is another labour intensive activity, too. I enjoyed reading about Chloe and Murphy. They look really good in all of your pictures. It’s kind of you to introduce R+ training to Murphy. I’m glad to hear things have calmed down at the barn for you. Safe travels to AZ and have a wonderful trip!

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    1. Thank you so much Natalie for visiting and I’m so happy you enjoyed my cross stitch and my horsey photos. You are right quilting is another labour intensive activity, but I’d like to give it a try one day. I’m excited about Murphy’s R+ training because it will reinforce our bond together. I’m excited to see my grandkids in a few weeks. I’ll be sharing my travels when I return! You are so very kind, and I hope you have a great week ahead. 🤩

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  2. I bet any shade around the stables are highly appreciated. I worked at a big ranch in Nevadas desert for a year and there was very little shade around the stable. All the horses had shelter, but they were so tiny, I often felt for them.
    Your stable look like a place where horses and humans can feel good. I really enjoy reading about your training. That’s a lot of both heart and brain behind individualised training for each of your horses. I am sure the variety makes them very happy.

    Enjoy the rest of your weekend my friend ❤

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    1. Thank you so much Maria! The shade is so wonderful and yes, incorporating some fun hands on ground work will be fun and something I know we will both enjoy. All the horses are so relaxed at this stables. It is a gem and I’m so happy to be boarding here! Enjoy your weekend and week ahead! 💞

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  3. Hi Diana I hope your doing well. I love your cross stitch they are coming out beautiful I can’t wait to see the quilt when it’s finished. I as always love seeing your babies don’t you just love now wonderful a horse smells it’s what dreams are made of 😀

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    1. Hi Robin! Horses smells are the best ever smells. Everything about the barn smells wonderful, right? Just the best!!
      I’m doing great and thank you for the kind comments with my cross stitch. I wish I was closer for sewing help as I know you are so creative and make quilts all the time. I’ll figure it out eventually! Haha!

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  4. I continue to be impressed with your cross-stich skills! I can cross my legs, but that is about as close to cross-stitch as I come. 🙂 Enjoyed seeing your variety of fun horse photos, too. Our four-legged friends do add so much pleasure to our lives.

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    1. Hahaha! You are too cute, crossing your legs well, that made me giggle. 😄 I have to tell you as a teenager I ate, drank, lived horses ALL day (after school of course) every day. So much so that my older sisters were all learning and doing things like sewing clothes or quilts. Crochet or knitting and I joked how can one sit still long enough to do such domesticated things?

      Then I got married and pregnant and felt more relaxed and decided maybe I can learn one thing, and so I started with cross stitch. A very small pattern and then I was hooked. I eventually with the help of my mom and sisters learned crochet and figured out patterns etc. I don’t like knitting and never learned how to use a sewing machine hence why I want to learn how to sew together a quilt. It’s on my bucket list of figuring this all out! Haha, but I do appreciate your kind comments!!
      My horse obsession is going well too and I’m so happy to share, they sure do bring pleasure to our lives! 💞

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  5. When I use to cross stitch I was addicted to those tiny little X shapes individual and as they created beautiful pictures! I was looking at your first cross stitch house and thinking it would make a lovely throw pillow, but then as I kept reading and saw the group of images together I can see why you are thinking to make a quilt from them.

    Love the action picture’s of Murphy bucking.

    Great coffee share, Diana. Hope you have a great week.

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    1. Thank you so much Shari! I have a few cross stitch pillows my sister made for me and I agree, they would make great pillows too. But I’ve always wanted to sew a quilt, it will be small like a throw or wall hanging and I’m flush with pillows so that’s my plan. I can’t believe my friend got some great action photos, even though it’s the front view they are fun! Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week ahead!

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      2. That’s WONDERFUL Susie!! You are quite the seemstress! I had a very good friend of mine sew my wedding dress since I knew nothing about making a wedding dress. I just Love that you made everything!!! ❤️ WOW! 🥰

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    1. Thank you so much Anne!! I wonder if he would like to jump? Erase that thought as I’m happy with arena riding and the trails. I’m enjoying the western dressage!
      The cross stitch is so much fun! 😊

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Trent! It definitely is very rewarding working with these animals and I’ll try and stay cool. Same to you as well, hope it cools off soon there! 😊

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  10. Yea – I’ve driven through your area in the summer and gads – it was so hot. . .
    As you shared your cross stitching I thought, the house looks cool but there’s going to be horses in here somewhere and on the very next scroll – there they were. Hahahah
    I’ve seen several horse related shows but lately if a show fatures some facts about the horse in the show I catch myself wondering if Diana would agree with or scoff at what the show presented..
    It’s so nice that they are such good friends of yours. Like very loving extra-large pets.

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    1. I’m amazed I’ve acclimated to this climate so well. I think the horses take my attention away from the heat and it’s been a little bit humid this last week with the monsoon affects pushing their way towards California from the east. We had possible thunderstorms and dry lightening in neighboring cities. Yucky weather but tolerable with a breeze! 😆

      And you nailed it! One of the big draws to these patterns I’m stitching was the horses!! Haha, they are small but so cute! Hopefully the horse related shows got it right, there’s some pretty good stuff out there about horses as it’s such a huge community most film makers want to get it right! And thank you for your last sentence as they truly are very loving extra-large pets!!! They give back so much I wish I could share that with you all! I guess I do some how with this blog!! ❤️

      Thank you Gary!! You make me SMILE! Have a wonderful week! 🤩

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      1. Yea but Diana, you’re easy to make smile.
        You’re one of those gals who might say, “love my children or my horse and we’ll get along fine. Reject either and you’re gone.”
        How close am I?
        😃

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  11. Thank you for the yummy ice tea Diana and for sharing these wonderful photographs of your beautiful cross-stitch seasons and Chloe and Murphy. The boy looks so well and has an amazing buck on him! Great to see how much you have bonded and all these positive training methods will be a joy for you as well as for him. Wishing you happy trails together and please give sweet Chloe and Murphy a big pat from us all 🤗🥕🧡🥕🐴 xxx

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    1. Thank you so very much Xenia for your wonderful kind comments. I’m enjoying my cross stitch and of course my horses so much and I’m so happy you stopped by for some ice tea! It is so fun to share with you all. I will give those cute ponies many pats from you and please share the pats with Misty! 🤩🐾🐴💜🤠

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    1. You are so very kind Anne! My horses truly are loved so much I am having to remind myself I have a family to love too. Shhh, don’t tell them I said that but I can get a bit obsessive about their care. 😆
      I can’t wait to see my Arizona family and those grandkids! I can’t believe Alice is turning 7 this year! 🤩

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