Category: Living life

Weekend Coffee Share; End Of February

On By dprastkaIn Living life, weekend coffee share19 Comments
Welcome to my weekend coffee share where we share what’s been happening in our lives with old friends and new!

Can I get you a nice hot cup of coffee? I do have tea and I can serve either hot or cold! I do love ice coffee for a change of pace, but my favorite is a nice warm mug of coffee with my favorite sweet Italian creamer. I am doing pretty good, how are you doing? I am enjoying our Southern California weather and my heart goes out to all in the frigid cold. I pray for all in areas where they met some bitter cold that affected not only households but farms and ranches. I am hoping some warm weather is near so that the thawing can begin. As I sip my coffee, I ponder what the future holds which for me is feeling more and more comfortable as I am enjoying my new job. Less stress and normal working hours, every weekend off! I feel like I am in work heaven, and that is my work at the veterinary laboratory. I can honestly say it is definitely the best decision I have made in a long time. I am so happy I decided to leave my other job after 20 years of night shift and supervising my department. I worked very hard, and now am working just as hard but without being in charge. I am SMILING! 😀

I am not sure why I am being so introverted with my thoughts. I guess because when you lose something so near and dear, it makes you look at your life and your decisions and what is happening now and what will the future hold. So much retrospection, it comes and goes but when I want to write this is what comes to the forefront of my mind. I believe this is natural, so forgive me as I wonder around my head with these things. I will say that as I am trying to focus my thoughts I am very grateful to be here to share. I really enjoy blogging and sharing. I have some fun photos I wanted to share. They are all kinds of random things I enjoy.

Some blooms in my garden today!
  • My daughter’s pretty kitty amongst the fluffy stuff!
  • The two brothers, my sons kitties. They are so adorable!
My happy, handsome, funny, smiling grandson Teddy! Howdy Teddy!! You make me SMILE!!

His mommy and daddy say he can say “awww duu” for “all done” which is so darn cute. He also purposely puts his foot in that position in the high chair to be “stuck” and laughs about it as you can see in the photo! Haha, he is a cutie patutie and is just as cute and adorable as my grand daughter was at this age! AND those kitties are so cute. My daughter use to have one of the brothers but he was really hard to have in her apartment with her Guinea pigs. So he went to live with his brother at my sons house. So it’s funny she gave her brother, the brother to his cat! Haha, follow?

And to make things more complicated my son had three cats when he took in the brother which made four and they all didn’t get along. My kitty was very old and went to kitty heaven, so I took two of my sons kitty’s and they are sister’s which one of them didn’t get along with the others. Between all of us (in different houses) we have six cats! I am so happy my daughter has found a nice beautiful black kitty that is so happy in her apartment with her Guinea pigs. The Guinea pigs live in a cage most of the time, it was the hay that the brother kept eating which upset his stomach and made messes all over the place. Anyways, fun to reminisce on how who got where! And I love to share their photos.

Candid selfie as I try and take a photo of my girlfriend and I out on trail. She can’t see when I am taking the photo so she wasn’t looking at me. I like the photo and really wanted to share so forgive me Jane! It’s still a nice photo of our ride!
Another candid shot with Jane on her horse Irish! He is so beautiful with his ears looking forward. We can’t remember what we were talking about, probably the photos I was trying to take!

I have another photo of Jane on Irish but his ears aren’t forward but Jane is smiling. Haha, Jane still looks fine and I’ll call this my action shot! I have a super cute and heartwarming story to share about Jane and Irish. She told me this last weekend that since my horse Zack passed away Irish does the most sweetest thing. You see, Chloe lives in the barn up near the cross ties area where we all tack up for a ride. As Jane gets on Irish and they start walking to either the arena or the trail, she rides with a lose rein and he chooses a path directly to Chloe’s barn stall. He checks on her every day! They nose each other as if he is saying “it’s okay now” and then he walks off to a ride with his owner. I’m incredibly touched and I actually witnessed him doing this and it touches my heart. Chloe is well known at the stables as I have ridden with so many at the barn. They are feeling, sentient beings. ❤ ❤ ❤

Thank you for joining me for coffee today. I so enjoyed sharing and even though I have shared random items they are all near and dear to my heart. I am hoping you all have a wonderful week of the last week of February! I can’t believe March is around the corner. I am going to work on my gardening and am going to try a little bit at a time. I don’t want to bite off more than I can chew, because I would like to have a successful garden! I would love a super huge lush garden with many veggies and beautiful flowers and shrubs. I want to learn how to garden correctly, and do it all by myself or with help from hubby. And I will just slowly build on my garden, that’s more my speed. Looking forward to Spring!

Happy Gregarious Grandma,

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; Taking a Short Break

On By dprastkaIn Living life, weekend coffee share17 Comments

Welcome to my weekend coffee share. Can I get you a cup of Joe? or maybe some tea? Sigh, I have had a crazy couple of weeks and so I am going to take a break. I wanted to write one more coffee share this weekend and let everyone know I am doing okay. For those of you who may not have read my last post I had to euthanize one of my horses last weekend, I’ll offer you the link here. But I totally understand if this is something that may be hard to read and I respect any and all decisions. I wanted to write a respectful and thoughtful post for my sweet boy, and it has helped me process the whole event. Anyone who owns animals knows these times are difficult but happen. Now I have to take one of our dogs to the vet as she has a growth on her belly (near a mammary gland). I hope it isn’t cancer, but it is getting a little bigger and is bothering her and now has some swelling so off to the vet we go. She is a super sweet girl, so I am praying it will be benign. We have another older dog who is just about completely deaf, but doing good otherwise. It seems the circle of life continues and so I thought I would take a couple weeks off of blogging. I just want to be in a better place and so I think since I have to deal with my sweet girl, this would be a good idea to take a break.

The shep/mix is my girl which has the small growth. The border collie can’t hear so he won’t stay sitting for photos!

Haha, I caught her licking in the photo. They are the sweetest pups and Love my hubby! Not that they don’t love me too… They love my attention but the border collie is more attached to my hubby. It’s all good, it just is what it is. I can’t take dogs to the barn as they aren’t allowed. I know I don’t talk about my puppy dogs much, they are loving and are loved but you all know the center of my life is really the horses. I am surrounded by furry friends and love them all! ❤ ❤ ❤

I have been going to the stables every day to take care of Chloe. We have been going out on trail rides and I have to say she is super calm and seems very happy. Part of the reason why is because we don’t have Zack along as he was rather a bugger, nipping at her, he even use to bite my stirrup as we walked down the trail. It would be akin to an annoying brother or sister. You know, when you are young and they just don’t stop annoying or bothering you? That basically was Zack on every trail ride. I tried my best to get him to stop, but he never did and so Chloe would walk a little bit faster, sometimes moving over or nipping at him. You can totally tell how much at ease she is now. I have known this about the duo, but I couldn’t leave him at the barn alone with all his anxieties. As I write this I can say that I have felt guilty the last few days because there has been a sense of relief. I was always worried about Zack, now I don’t have to worry any more. Here is a cute photo of Zack I wanted to share!

My good friend sent me this photo. She gave us these treats that he is begging for, he was so adorable! This was some years ago.

It feels good to see him and I want to get some photos printed and framed. I may use this one but haven’t decided. Or I might just print up a photo book of all my photos of him. I think I would enjoy that too. I thought I would share some photos of Chloe and I on the trail this last week.

Me and my shadow and Miss Chloe!
Chloe has a bigger back paddock! And those are guinea hens that fly in and out of the stalls. I also am finding an egg being laid behind that black feeder in her box stall almost every day. That is from chickens, not guinea hens.
She has a double wide back paddock as you can see she can see out in two places now! She is much happier in this new stall!

I moved her over one box stall with the paddocks and Zack was to be right next to her. She has more room now and I can tell is much happier with the room and the look outs. She can see what is happening and is content. She and I are doing good, and I am so thankful I have her to focus my energy on and it has made the healing go faster. I have lost 2 horses while owning Chloe. I had a Morgan before Chloe and when Chloe was 6 years old (I bought her when she was 2 years old) my Morgan passed away. It was another rather tragic event, we found him very ill and he passed away before we could get a vet on sight. I have been told by my vet he probably had an internal rupture (a twisted gut) which can happen with these rather fragile equines. Sorry for talking about this sad stuff, obviously on my mind with all the recent events. Chloe and I moved on from that and then 5 years later adopted Zack. I don’t want another horse, it will just be Chloe and I for a long time.

I don’t know what I will do when she gets older or starts to develop medical issues. She is 17 this year. Hopefully, it will be many years before I have to worry about all of that and we can just enjoy the trails. I think for my mind, heart and soul a short break will do me some good. So I appreciate you all, I won’t be gone long and I will most likely continue to read other posts and comment when I can. I am so happy to have this lovely coffee share group of amazing people and all other blogging friends here on WordPress. Natalie is doing an awesome job hosting and I am so thankful she took on the coffee share!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and week ahead. Stay safe and healthy!

Love,

~Diana ❤

Tribute To My Sweet Boy, Zack

On By dprastkaIn Barn stories, Living life37 Comments
He was such a handsome, beautiful horse!

Last weekend I shared that I was feeling a bit in a funk. It was because of this big beautiful animal that had me in a worried state because he is the sweetest horse but also a bit neurotic. Zack has separation anxieties, he is what they call “herd bound” where he whinnies and calls for Chloe if she is out of sight, or too far away from him. He has always been this way and most often these horses that have these kinds of anxieties are their own worse enemies. We try and make their life less stressful and so I have tried my best over the years to keep these two horses that I own near each other so that Zack would not be living a life of anxiety.

Back to last weekend. Zack was living in a barn stall and across the aisle was Chloe. Zack’s barn stall is a box without a run. Chloe across the aisle is in a box stall with a run or paddock. My plan is to move Chloe over one stall so that I could move Zack next to her, but here lies the dilemma. Once next to her, the only way he could see her is if he walks out into the run or paddock ~ they can’t see each other if they both are in the box stall while eating or drinking. (I wish there was windows in the barn. This is an old wood barn built with no windows. Many barns do have windows with bars so horses can see each other.) So we made a plan of sorts. I bought plastic mirrors safe for animals to put up in the stall so he could see himself (another horse) which should calm him and I asked the employees of the stables if they could feed my horses out back in the paddocks so they can eat next to each other. In this way, I thought Zack would end up being more comfortable with a bigger stall and right next to Chloe, his herd mate.

One of the prettiest horses I have ever had the pleasure to call my friend! He was very spoiled and loved!

As Chloe, Zack and I figured out even more ways to ease anxiety, one of the smartest things I taught myself was to pony Zack next to me so that every single time I rode out on the trails he always came with me. I know I made his life that much better by doing this because he was very stressed out when I took Chloe off the property and left him behind. Sometimes I had friends or my sister if she was in town, ride him out with us and so that worked too. But that was not every ride, so I was very proud of us as we have had a wonderful time out on the trails. I even posted just over a week ago where we rode seven days, a whole week out on the trails! We were doing so good. I am very happy that even though Zack was declining in age, losing muscle tone which is normal, he was feeling good and his anxiety was always right there but manageable. It would never go away, hence why I was so worried about moving him to a different stall. I just figured I was in for some weeks of anxiousness and I didn’t know what to expect. But what happened next no one could ever predict!

Such personality! This is his way of begging for a treat! PLEASE!
Our last ride together. How fortunate my sister came to town the week before for some fun trail rides!

As I write this I thought I would be unable to make sense of things and would be crying my eyes out. I have done plenty of that, and is partly why I waited to write this because I wanted it to be understandable, relatable. I knew this would be cathartic and this would help start to mend my heart as I honor my dear sweet boy. I can tell you it has been the most absolutely shocking weekend and my heart is broken but I know he is in a better place. You see, last Sunday I had to euthanize my sweet boy Zack. Sunday was the end of the month so the stalls were open as the other horses had moved out. I decided to put Chloe in her stall and I went and got Zack and put him in his new stall and as I did this I closed the barn door to his stall and walked over to get their Equoxx pills (horse pain pills, like Ibprofen for people) that I give them before our trail rides. That’s when I heard this banging noise, like someone was pounding the wood on the barn. I looked up and saw my pony sister coming my way, with a look of terror as she said he jumped over the door!

I walked around the corner and there he lay unable to get up. My girlfriend said he just walked up to the door with his ears up and looking straight ahead and he lifted himself up with his legs up high and tight to clear the door. What made him think he could jump out of the barn? He was in this stall for barely a minute, maybe two. He walked to the back and I walked away where he promptly walked to the front and up over the door he went. He somersaulted out and landed in a way where he basically could not move anything but his head and neck. I don’t want to be too graphic, his weight and body mostly landed on his shoulder and neck. (it was not that gruesome, no blood, its just really sad) because of his catastrophic injuries once the vet arrived it was in his best interest to be euthanized. I am so sad. He went so peacefully and I owe a huge debt of gratitude for by bestest friends (ALL OF YOU AT THE BARN) for the love, support, loving on Zack while we waited for the vet. THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART! YOU ALL ARE AMAZING WOMEN! ❤

I’m going to miss you silly boy! He was so spoiled and loved! ❤ ❤ ❤

I love so hard. When you love hard it just hurts so much but that’s me. It is worth the hurt to love as much as I do and these animals, these huge giant beasts have such personalities I can only try and show through my photos! They are smart, have feelings, they play and call to you! They melt my heart! I wanted to write a tribute to him because he was such a huge part of my life, including my blog. Imagine, people from all over the world know my beautiful horse Zack and Miss Chloe!

I will be okay. This is not my first rodeo, I could write a novel on loved ones I have lost. I had been beating myself up because I thought I could have done better, that I screwed up somehow making this move with him. But it has been said to me that no sensible horse would do what he did. He use to be a jumper, so to jump like he did – well, he knew how to jump. But he is old and the door too big for him to jump. He suffered from EPM which is a protozoa living in his brain and maybe this affected his thinking. Maybe he was not with a sound mind, but no one can know what he was thinking when he jumped out of that stall.

Because this is how I roll, I would like to end this sad post with smiles. I want to remember my sweet boy with tons of SMILES! I don’t want to look at photos and cry. I am planning on getting prints of my favorite photos. I am so thankful I have a horse to Love on as Miss Chloe needs me and her and I are doing good. The vet said it can be helpful for the herd mate to see the passing, so I took her out to see Zack after he was gone. She did not want to sniff him or get too close. The vet said that’s okay, they each do their own thing. She has been nothing but stoic and strong. You would not know she lost her best friend. Definitely, I believe he was more attached to her than her to him. I am feeling better each day. The self loathing is gone (you just hate yourself for a day or two because you think what have I done!) But I am smart enough to realize that no one could have seen this coming or know he would do such a thing. My best friend said to me, he had 26 years of a beautiful life and one hour of pain. Run free my friend! ❤ ❤ ❤

With Love To You Zack!

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; End of January!

On By dprastkaIn Living life, weekend coffee share34 Comments
  • 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!

Enjoying Mother Nature and furry friends!

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; Rain and Smiling!

On By dprastkaIn Living life, weekend coffee share30 Comments
  • Welcome to my weekly coffee share!

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.

Happy Cowgirl Grandma,

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; As The Wind Blows!

On By dprastkaIn Living life, weekend coffee share26 Comments
  • 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. ❤

Happy crazy trail riding Grandma,

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; Begin Anew

On By dprastkaIn Living life, weekend coffee share21 Comments

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 more positive 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!

Shadow Loving Cowgirl,

~Diana ❤

My Last Ride of 2020!

On By dprastkaIn Barn stories, Horse stories, Living life13 Comments
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.

Happy Trail Riding Cowgirl,

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; A Week before Christmas!

On By dprastkaIn Living life, weekend coffee share29 Comments
  • Welcome to my weekend coffee share where we share what’s been happening in our lives with old friends and new!

I am enjoying a nice hot cup of coffee with my favorite creamer, sweet Italian cream. Would you like coffee or a cup of tea? Maybe ice tea for those enjoying summer right now? I can’t believe in less than a week it is Christmas! WOW! This month is flying by at record speed. I am in a happy place getting most of my shopping done and I even managed to mail out some Christmas cards. I only receive a handful these days and they are fun to receive. I have some nice cards I was gifted from my daughter (ones she bought and never mailed) that I used. I enjoyed sending the cards, fun to write a little something and send on their way. I have friends/family that do the photo’s as Christmas cards which are so special and I love to receive each year. Maybe one of these years I’ll do the photo cards!

I was hoping to get more fingerless mittens made and I already have given a few away as gifts. I have a lot of yarn so I can make a bunch of them and I think will sell at the local craft fair. Or, I can really get my act together, keep stitching and have them all ready to mail out to family next Christmas. I will share what I have completed so far.

Here are the four colors of yarn I bought. Now you can see the blue gloves are really blue!
One more burgundy to stitch up and I’ll have four complete sets. I have already sent one set to my daughter-in-law. I hope she likes them!
I think lighting is everything as this photo I’ve shared before and that is the blue glove from above! BUT it totally looks grey! I took this photo at night with just a lamp on nearby. Crazy!

I forgot to offer you something to go along with your coffee? I have some fresh bananas, just thinking healthy as I am planning on baking cookies next weekend. I can’t bring cookies or baked items to work as they don’t want any food sharing. Understandable, so I thought I would wait and bake with my daughter when she arrives for Christmas. I really want to bake sugar cookies, maybe some different flavored ones and get creative. I’ve been watching a lot of baking challenge shows and one of them is the Christmas Cookie Challenges and they make cookies that have all that elaborate icing. I have a bunch of horse cookie cutters and I thought it would be fun to decorate them and then hand them out to the ladies at the stables. I am a complete neophyte to Christmas decorating on this scale. I watch them as they make a border, then flood the cookies, then decorate wet on wet. Just some of the terms I see them do as I watch some amazing decorating!

It looks like great fun and I thought what better way to practice but on horse sugar cookies! Maybe I will make some lemon sugar cookies or cinnamon (like snickerdoodles) pecan sounds good too. I could make chocolate cookies for the darker shades for the horses. Oh I have so many ideas! Haha, I am getting excited to bake!! I can’t think of a good segue into my next subject which I am so passionate about and I have some new photos (I have so many photos on my phone, it’s just crazy!) but I feel like documenting these beautiful horses as they age and fill my days with so much joy and pleasure. I don’t have many photos of them in the small pasture they have at the barn. They enjoy being out together so I thought I would share! 😀

This is a small pasture that we are not allowed to work them in, they are just out there to eat or run around on their own!
Zack is in need of a new haircut. He is already growing in his coat and so I plan on clipping it again. You can see the lines where I leave the hair along the top of his back and his legs. Its called a trace clip.

Today was farrier day, they needed their hoofs trimmed. At one time they both wore horse shoes, but not any more. With their age and arthritis issues there is no need to have horse shoes. Instead of shoes, Zack has trail boots I put on if needed. Chloe’s leg issues are so bad that the farrier can’t pick up her right back leg. She has an old injury (broken stifle, it is a hairline fracture that is healed and lots of scar tissue has formed). It truly is amazing Chloe gets around as well as she does. She is lucky to be alive, as there is no way she would survive surgery on that huge joint as she is a big girl. (The stifle of a horse is equivalent to our knees, so this is her knee joint. A devastating injury, but she protects that leg and is thriving.) Anyways, it was a great day at the stables, beautiful sunny warm day! Here is a few more photos!

Miss Chloe is such a sweetheart. She is chewing as I gave her a treat!
Goofy Zack is so inquisitive and l LOVE how he expresses himself! Do you have a treat for me? Haha!
Usually the grass is very green, but it dies off a bit in the winter months. It will green up when spring arrives.

My horses, which I love to call “my ponies” live up in the barn. These were the only open stalls and I am actually really liking them because I know they are sheltered from the wind and rain. Some of the horses at this stables are nervous being up in the pasture because it is away from the paddocks. I’m so thankful Zack and Chloe do really well up in the small pasture since their stalls are nearby. My horses live across from each other way up where the aisle starts on this pretty red barn! My ponies are out in the pasture when I took the photo. You can make out a white horse Zack and Chloe is there but she is hard to see! She is standing at the gate if you click on photo and zoom in. Haha!

Thanks for having coffee with me today and I will end with one last Christmas photo. The tree we bought has lights that change colors, so I took another photo with the colored lights! So pretty! I hope you all have a wonderful, beautiful Christmas! I know many, many zoom and video chats will be held to keep us as close as we can be with family! ❤ ❤ ❤

Enjoying the holidays, Cowgirl loving Grandma!

~Diana ❤

Thank you Eclecticalli for hosting our coffee share link up! Click here to visit!

Weekend Coffee Share; Sunday Dec. 6th

On By dprastkaIn Living life, weekend coffee share25 Comments
Welcome to my weekly coffee share where we share what’s happening in our lives with old friends and new! Can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? These pretty flowers are blooming right now in my yard.

I have been baking brownies, chocolate chip cookies and some giant ginger cookies this evening! All go well with a nice hot cup of coffee and I made mine decaf since its the evening for me now. I can’t believe how fast these weeks are flying by as I had started a coffee share last weekend and only had written a sentence or two and was unable to finish. I ended up deleting that one and started all over again for this weekend. I am really loving my new schedule but I will say for some reason I am finding it difficult to etch out time for my writing. I am trying to keep up with my reading which includes many, many blogs that I follow. I don’t want to get discouraged, so I will do what I can when I can if that makes any sense!

As I assess the last month I will say that I am feeling very happy with my decision to change jobs to a day shift position at another lab. The hours are actually swing shift which is even better. I am now feeling really needed at my new job becoming an asset as I hoped I would be with all my knowledge and experience. I plan on writing a blog post about my job and all that I do there which will include some job history too. I have read a few other bloggers that have shared and it is fun to read what ya’ll do for a living and how you got there! I thought I would give it a shot and am hoping I can get that completed by end of this next week. How is your coffee? need a refill? I have been keeping busy with Christmas decorating, horse back riding and of course my crochet. I have lots of photos I like to share!

I have shared my bears before and this is only half of them! I now have a Christmas horse which is adorable!
Two of my favorite ornaments! Haha, Star Wars and Star Trek ships. Do you know their names?
We got a new Christmas tree this year. Yes, we have an artificial tree and to be honest I love them. Saves trees and no threat of fires! My usual tree topper doesn’t fit on this new tree so I found this cute little silver bird. It will be my new tree topper for this year!

My cute little tree topper looks completely adorable up on the top of our Christmas tree. My son thought I was nuts when I picked it up at the last store we were at and I thought this will work great! He looks so proud standing at the top of our tree. We bought a smaller tree than our old Christmas tree. Our old one was probably 18 years old and it was getting harder and harder to put together. We really don’t need such a big tree and now they make them with lights already on the tree. That’s what we bought and it is so pretty. I just have a lot of homey ornaments and decorate simply so my little bird fits right in. I have a big star that is just too heavy for the top of this tree which fit fine on our old big tree. Haha, I am going on and on about all this and I must say this year is just full of changes, new job, new Christmas tree, we even bought a new (used) car! I think I could write a novel about all the changes. Maybe I will write a separate blog post about all the changes our family has had for this year because its been more than any “normal” year!

Baby Yoda with my crochet crew! He is so adorable and a loved addition. I need to crochet more figures. And I have been busy crocheting fingerless mittens.

I am working on my third set of fingerless mittens. They crochet together pretty fast and I almost have the pattern memorized. I am planning on sending them off as Christmas presents so I will continue onward. The one pictured is actually a blue grey, looks grey to me in this photo. I have a dark green yarn, brown and burgundy red. I will take more photos when I get more done. Super fun to make and are perfect for a little warmth in our mild winters. I find my crochet projects very therapeutic as I love creating things and this medium provides incredible colors and I love watching my work come to life! Whether it be a mitten, a scarf, a nice warm hat to a crocheted farm animal, Star Wars figure or a potted cactus. I have so much to work on and I find myself so excited to come home and get my projects going. I must say I am rather addicted to these fingerless mittens. I am not sure why, I just think they are useful and pretty! I can’t think of a good segway to the next subject, can I get you more cookies? a coffee or tea refill? We are now heading to the stables!

Beautiful day out today for a trail ride!
Zack by our side as usual! Both horses were great! The sun was sparkling off of the tops of the palm trees today!

What a beautiful day for a trail ride and as we (my horses and I) were heading down the trail the sunlight was shimmering off the tops of all the palm trees. It really was magical and I was just taking in the day and enjoying every minute of my ride. I tried to get a photo of the sparkles but of course it is difficult without a good camera with a zoom lens. I decided to include the photo anyways, just because it is worth remembering this beautiful day! I like how bright the sun is in the corner of the photo, and it was a pleasant 65 degrees today. I can’t complain at all. It was a fun day at the barn with my ponies Chloe and Zack. ❤

Chloe looking for a treat and I Love how Zack has his ears up, inquisitive!

Thanks for sharing coffee with me and I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Looking forward to this next week trying to keep up with all the busyness this holiday season brings. I really want to send Christmas cards to my friends and family this year. I use to do this and I think this year would be a good year to get those cards out and mail them. I love the holiday’s and I am so happy we got our decorations up right after Thanksgiving this year. We had to make some changes with the new tree and all but totally worth it! Happy week ahead!

Busy, Sparkling Cowgirl,

~Diana ❤

P.S. The ship’s are the Millennium Falcon and the Enterprise!

Weekend Coffee Share; I’m A Happy Girl!

On By dprastkaIn Living life, weekend coffee share10 Comments
Welcome to my weekend coffee share where we share what’s happening in our lives with old friends and new! What’s been happening in your neck of the woods?

Welcome to my coffee share, can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? It’s been getting pretty cold at night for our area, which is a nice reprieve from the super warm days we had heading into November. I think a nice hot cup of coffee will go nice with the cookies I just made. They are chocolate peanut butter chip cookies! They are delicious, I know you will enjoy them as they are warm from the oven!

I bought a bag of Reese’s peanut butter chips and had to make these yummy cookies!

I will be honest, as I have all these thoughts running through my head and I am trying to get my thoughts organized so that I can share how this last week went for me at my new job. I think I will just write as the words ramble out and hopefully this visit with me will all make sense. It was an intense week as I had to shake out all the thoughts in my head of my old job and concentrate on my new job. Thankfully, these jobs are really similar and are actually both Veterinary Laboratories and they both use the same exact instruments to run the animal blood work. The biggest difference is the new job has a new computer system (they use to both use the same computer laboratory system, so the switch would have been even easier). But I take good notes and picked it up quickly. There is still more to learn but I am off to a good start! I am a happy girl!

As I sit and think about this last week I will tell you that switching shifts was a bit more difficult than I anticipated. It felt like I had jet lag at the beginning of the week which makes sense because I switched from working night shift to day shift. I worked Saturday night shift, slept Sunday night and was at work last Monday morning at 10am. By Tuesday I was exhausted and I thought it was Thursday, but by Thursday I was feeling much better and was not that tired any more. I am thankful the switch over went well and actually it was probably better I had to train 10am – 6:30pm for the first week. Now I am staying up later in the evening to start my new hours 2pm – 10:30pm this next week. 😀

I have been walking every day. This was this morning and there are a bunch of crows in the top of the middle tree in this photo! They are very loud and caught my attention. Sorry I don’t have a good zoom. One day I will have to buy a nice camera!

As I head into this next week I realized I can walk every morning. I had trouble walking every day working night shift because I often was too tired or I got home from work too late to fit it in on the days I worked. This is a super happy discovery as I head into this next week. I actually was a bit sore on my walk this morning because I have been able to get out there and exercise. Its all in the plan to get in shape! I’m so happy I can get out and walk more often and I can ride on trail more often too! Win, Win!

I guess my thoughts are coming out pen to paper okay. But I wanted to write this yesterday and almost didn’t get my coffee share completed. I know I just have to give myself some time to get organized or feel like I have some control over my schedule. I feel like I was at a training class last week, and so as I head into this week I need to find my footing with my new hours and figure out what I will accomplish at work each week. I am going to be taking care of all the maintenance on the instruments and I have been told to just do it however I want. I love that autonomy, and I love how they trust I will get it all done each week.

How is your coffee or tea? Need a refill? I am glad I baked so many cookies as there is lots here to eat. They are rich and so tasty, a few is all I can eat at one sitting.

How can I not share my ponies! They have thankfully settled in so well in their new stalls.

I so appreciate all the support I have in my life. All of you fellow bloggers, I so appreciate all your wonderful comments and support. I thank you for reminding me to take my time and breathe through all these crazy changes I have made the last few months. I am telling myself to be kind to myself and that training at the new job takes time. I think I have been able to demonstrate to everyone at my new job that I do know what I am doing. I also want to thank my friends and my family for all their wonderful support, such kind words all coming my way with all the love in the world. I am humbled and grateful for you all. THANK YOU, ALL OF YOU!!

Baby Teddy has outgrown his bassinet, so the brothers are as adorable as ever at my son’s house in Arizona! My daughter-in-law shared this cute photo!

I will end with Dublin and Wolfie, the brothers who are just so beautiful and so photogenic. Such personalities! Thank you for visiting my coffee share. There is something cathartic about writing about my week with all the thoughts ruminating in my head. I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Happy, Grateful, day shift working cowgirl!

~Diana ❤

My Weekly Smile; Nov. 11, 2020

On By dprastkaIn Living life, weekly smile11 Comments
My beautiful daughter with her Dad! Both Veterans! ❤

Happy Veterans day to all the veterans currently serving our country and all who have retired and who have served this great country. I have shared this photo before when my daughter promoted to Major, but I surprised my hubby by ordering this canvas print of my veterans that I Love so dearly. I have never ordered a canvas print (all my photos go to Google cloud, then I order from them photo books and decided to try canvas prints. You can order regular prints too. It’s quick and easy so I love it!) I am not trying to write a commercial or promote Google photos, but I am so impressed with its ease I thought I would mention it. I know there are many places to get prints and photo books.

My daughter is finally recognizing her accomplishments, giving herself some credit for all her hard work. I tell her often how proud we are as graduating from the Air Force Academy is no easy feat and she did this with flying colors 10 years ago. This year she has transferred to the Space Force so we will see where she goes on this new career path. My husband is a Viet Nam Vet, and very proud of his service. He served 8 years in the Air Force. He did not fight in Viet Nam, he was supporting the troops that were there.

I am smiling as we honor all that have served. Again, Happy Veterans Day!!

My ponies as I attend to them early morning before work!

I am on day 3 of my new job. Switching to day shift has been a bit tougher than I thought it would be. By the end of the day I feel jet lagged, as I stand all day at work which also includes walking around but it feels like a long day. I know I am feeling a bit tired too because I am learning a new computer system. So my brain is full of all this new stuff. It isn’t difficult now that I see it in action and I am seeing the flow of work through this computer system. Last night driving home it really felt like Thursday, and its only Tuesday! Haha, 3 more days to go but I am feeling refreshed this morning. 😀

I am smiling at this new adventure and am sure once I am on my swing shift schedule I will feel better. I don’t have much time in the mornings to attend to my horses. It’s all I can do to go turn them out and make them run around the arena a bit to stretch their legs. These photos were from yesterday morning. I like the rising sun in some of the photos!

Pretty ponies scratching each other!
What are you looking at Chloe? Zack getting a drink!

I am so happy I have the time to see these pretty ponies every morning as it is my bit of normalcy. I can’t wait for this week to be over because I do not have time to ride. But I tend to them, getting some blood flowing and moving their stiff legs as it’s in the 40’s now at night. I groom them and put them up until tomorrow. I miss riding, but will ride this weekend and any day I want starting next week! So very THANKFUL this new job decided to create these new hours just for me!! They have never employed someone swing shift before, I feel like a guardian angel is looking out for me! SMILING from ear to ear when I think of my new hours! One more photo to share, I hope you all have some great smiles this week. I think there is a lot to smile about. 😀

I kissed her nose, picked up my camera and snapped! Looks like she’s saying thanks Mom! HAHA!

Transitioning Smiling Cowgirl! Loving my Veterans! ❤ ❤ ❤

~Diana