Weekend Coffee Share; I’m A Happy Girl!

On November 15, 2020 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 November 11, 2020 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!

*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

Weekend Coffee Share; Crazy Week, Busy, Busy!

On November 8, 2020 By dprastkaIn Living life, weekend coffee share18 Comments

*Welcome to my weekend coffee share where we share what’s been happening in our lives from old friends and new! What’s been happening in your world this weekend?*

I can’t wait to share a cup of coffee or tea as we catch up! I think either one will go great with the left over cake we have and it tastes wonderful! Yes, another birthday in the house. It was my youngest sons birthday on Nov. 2nd. I can’t believe how busy it’s been here with one birthday leading into the next and while all this is going on, I am trying to train my employees as I get ready to move on from one job to another. I know when I stated above crazy week, it was one of the craziest for me since add to all the pressure of quitting one job, to start a new one, add elections and all the other things life throws at you that can make you feel crazy! I am glad this week is over. Can I get you another piece of cake and refill that coffee?

I have to say that because of this crazy, busy, busy week I have fallen way behind reading all the blogs I follow. I know, no apologies needed as they are all just waiting for me to read and catch up on. Now that I think about it, it just may take me a few days to go back and get to everyone. I keep forgetting I do not need to head to bed early because I worked my last night shift last night!! WOW! Pinch me! I can’t believe it!! Maybe I will get to all the blog posts sooner than later! But I digress from birthday celebrations as I’d like to share a few more photos. 😀

*Fun making and decorating this yummy cake! And birthday wishes! HAHA!*

I can go through this last year with a laundry list of craziness. For the world, a pandemic that is still here and praying for all. Then I go and decide to move my horses from one barn to another only to be unhappy enough to move back. Wait what? The horses are settling in back at the old/new barn, just had to say that to keep things as confusing as possible! I’m being silly, but its true I am all over the map. The horses recognize they are back to their original barn where they have been living for at least the last five years. I am so proud of them as they settle into their new barn stalls (because I’ve lost their old stalls, they were rented out) and since it is almost winter here I am really appreciating the warmth these stalls will provide. It’s all good, but crazy days all around for my horses and my girlfriends horse Gracie!

*I am not often in the photos. A good friend took these photos! We call each other Pony sister’s*. *Thank you pony sister for the nice photos!*

I decided to buy Zack and Chloe new halters and lead ropes. It has been years since I have bought new ones and I thought how fun to get these new barn stalls with new halters and leads! I went with red for Chloe and a dark blue for Zack. You can see these halters on them in the photos above. I am feeding them horse treats!

*Gracie is at a new barn too. She is a couple of houses down on the same street. She has a full roof in what we call a mare motel. She is loving her new home!* *My girlfriend is very happy!!*

The silver roofs across the way in the photo on the left is where I keep my horses. I am at Gracie’s home looking at where my horses live. So it’s just 2 pastures away but we have to walk out front to get to each others stables. I am so happy we are still close to each other!

Zack’s photo is rather funky as the angle makes his head look big, but I still wanted to share! Haha, but this is the barn stall where he lives. I am very thankful the barn employees take Zack and Chloe out and put them together in a small pasture while they clean the stalls. It is a free turn out, I am so appreciative! Since I can breath a sigh of relief with the move of my horses, I am breathing another breath of stress. As I am sitting here writing this, my shoulders are killing me! Oh the stress! I need to let it ALL GO!!

The stress was from this job I just left. It is not an easy thing to leave a job that you have worked at for 20 years!! Oh my, it was so incredibly hard to say goodbye and since the managers said I am welcome back any time to visit (and they said they would welcome me back to work there if I so choose to go back) it made the departure a little bit easier knowing I could visit. I hate goodbyes, I am more a “see you later” type of gal and I plan on eventually making some visits.

How is your coffee or tea? do you need a refill? I know I do as I’m a bit sleepy after my night shift.

*My precious granddaughter! She was Tinkerbell for Halloween. You can see how she is growing up! SHE MELTS MY HEART! Love you sweet girl!* ❤

In my quest of this most crazy year, moving horses and lastly finding a new job, it is my hope that I can visit more often these sweet grand children! Isn’t she just so beautiful? but then I am prejudice. My weekends going forward will be free, something that I have not experienced in 20 years. I can’t wait to visit both my grand daughter and my grand son often. I’ll close with his cute photo!

*He is so ADORABLE! Just want to kiss those sweet cheeks!!*

Thanks for visiting and listening to my rambling craziness. Now that I’ve completed this last week, I know things will settle down. I just walked away from a very stressful job, that I loved and worked so hard at and I am leaving with the door open to return some day if I so choose. I am hoping the new job is all that I envision so there won’t be any changing jobs again. I also think they are in shock, as they did not see this coming and quite frankly I think I am in shock too. I can’t believe I will be working day shift starting tomorrow!

Crazy, super busy Grandma,

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; Better Late Than Never!

On October 26, 2020 By dprastkaIn Living life, Love being Grandma, weekend coffee share25 Comments

*Welcome to my weekly coffee share! I have a lot to share and I am a bit late to the party!*

Can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? I am trying to catch up and didn’t want this last day to share in this group to slip by without sharing the most wonderful week. To be honest, this whole month of October has been really good to me. Last week was incredibly busy with family in town as we celebrated my 60th birthday! I still have some cake, would you like a piece? It was delicious. I will share some birthday photos as I have a lot to share. It was a beautifully fun, very horsey celebration. I felt like a kid again! A great way to feel when you are turning 60! 😀 😀 😀

*A very HAPPY grandma and papa, little Teddy and cutie pie, Alice!*

*Not every day you turn 60! What a FUN day!*

The necklace I am wearing in the photo is a gift from my son and wife and it is stirrups, which are on an English saddle. I love it! They also gave me a beautiful scarf with horses on it and my hubby got me wireless earbuds. My daughter gave me a cookbook from a favorite cook and the picture of her and my granddaughter which is behind the cake in the first photo! (You scrolled up and looked! I did! Haha) My sister who lives out of state, her gift was all our food that we ordered from a wonderful BBQ restaurant. Oh my, I hope I am not forgetting anything as it was a wonderful day, with beautiful weather, food and fun times! Here is the horses with Alice!

*Chloe just Loves children. She actually really Loves people!! Sweet Girls these two!!*

Zack (my other horse) is around too, but I didn’t catch him in any of these photos. We didn’t have a lot of time to ride and so we walked around a bit and gave Chloe pats and hugs. Alice helped me put together their grain buckets and then put them away as we needed to head back to the party. I am glad we had this time together. I also am glad the weather was nice, not too hot or cold. Just perfect! I want to share the next day after my birthday. My daughter, son, hubby and I went to Long Beach for lunch and then went to the Aquarium of the Pacific. Only the outdoor exhibits were open and we had to buy tickets at a reserved time which is how they control the crowds. So there were not too many there at one time for safety.

*Love the dolphin fountain out front of aquarium. And Penguins!*

*My hubby and I standing and my daughter and son sitting!* ❤ ❤ ❤

It truly was the most wonderful week. I forgot to mention I got to babysit baby Teddy Monday before the birthday party. It was so wonderful to have him for the day as my son and wife with her side of the family went to the San Diego Zoo with Alice. I just have to share a couple more photos, I can’t help myself!

They are just so adorable. But before I close I had told you that I had a surprise and I didn’t realize when I mentioned this surprise what it all entailed. Because of this I thought it best to wait to share until I had 100% confirmation and now that it is all confirmed and all the important people know I can share my surprise! It is a surprise because I have made a decision to look for another job. It’s a surprise because I can’t believe it, but YES! I have acquired a new job and it is a day shift position. I can write a novel about my job history (I will share that in a separate post soon!) as I think it may be interesting and something that would be fun to have written down. I have been working night shift (grave yard shift) for 30+ years with only a couple of breaks in between. How have I done this for so long you ask? Perseverance!

I am not sure why I thought nights are the best hours and to be honest I have been a supervisor at this laboratory working nights for over 15 years. The money is good and I just always thought this was the best for us, the family. But as I am getting older, and a bit burnt out, the stress of supervising and working night shift led me to the decision that I should look for a day shift position. I am beyond EXCITED!! I shouldn’t be surprised I got the job because it is a laboratory job in Chemistry, my cup of tea and I will be taking care of instruments and working swing shift so I can take care of my horses in the mornings. No more night shift, and another plus, no more weekend work! I won’t have any excuse to missing another Weekend Coffee share again!! I just have 2 weeks to go and I will be like other humans, and living a more normal life! YAY!

I had a lot to share today. I may be writing about the difference between night shift hours and living and working day shift and sleeping at night! Haha, I still can’t believe it! I owe a lot of this wonderful decision to my daughter. Everything just fell into place and that’s my surprise!! 😀

Thank you for sharing coffee or tea with me today. My life is full of changes. I know changes can be hard but I think changes are good. I was getting so burnt out at my job. I was also feeling like I was not taking care of myself by working these crazy hours. I started to think why don’t I take care of myself? I worry so much about others, I forget about myself. I think we should all take some time and look at our situations and see if there isn’t some way to make things better. After all, we are worth it! ❤ ❤ ❤

Excited, Loving 60 Grandma!

~Diana

Weekend Coffee Share; Busy Days!

On October 9, 2020 By dprastkaIn Family is important, Living life, weekend coffee share31 Comments

*Welcome to my weekly coffee share where we catch up with old friends and new! Can I get you a cold brew? or an ice tea? Too hot here to share a warm brew. How are you doing?*

Welcome, and for those of you that need a hot cup of Joe, of course I have that as well. It was a bit cooler today but will be hot again going into next week. It’s going to be a very hot October, time for me to body clip my horse Zack. He grows a thick winter coat and so to keep him comfortable in our warm winters here in Southern Cali, I partially clip him (it’s called a trace clip) and I shave off the hair where he sweats the most and leave the hair along his topline to keep him warm. It’s an easy clip and I have these huge sheep shearing clippers that makes it a fast and easy job! Now I’ve gone off on a tangent, which I do sometimes. Let’s bring this back to heading into the weekend as I wanted to share a sunrise photo which I took on my walk this morning.

*This is across the street from my house, the new school buildings are almost complete!*

The last month or so have been hard for me as we are trying to figure out our future and what plans are good or bad which include where we want to live. I’ve shared lots about moving which may not make sense at this time and so because of this it is taking time away from what I would call my “normal life”. It’s been a roller coaster of emotions and I won’t delve into all the details here but suffice it to say I have been a bit absent from blogging. It has been a bit hard to focus my thoughts and when you feel anxious and a bit confused, it makes it difficult to put thoughts to virtual paper. I am pretty sure by the end of next week I will be able to write about something I have been working on, so it will be a surprise! Excited? I am, as it will be something totally worth sharing and am hoping set me up for a much better future!

So, I am going to share my kitties, my sons kitties and my sweet grand daughter which I miss terribly. I know I am not alone missing grand children and am thankful for technology since we can visit virtually which I am hoping we can do this weekend. I have been crocheting a baby blanket for yet another relative, my niece who had a son. Families growing, no matter what happens time keeps ticking. Oh speaking of time, this month is my birthday month. Hold on, I will post a birthday post as its a few weeks away. I think I am extra emotional because I am turning 60 this year. Yep, I can’t believe it and want to just stop counting. But I am a proud 60, healthy and going very strong. Here I go rambling again! Can I get you a refill? 😀

Funny story, my hubby came across a cat tree for free that was really tall. I didn’t take a photo of it but it had lots of cubby holes and was at least 5 feet high. Hanging rope to play with, all the fun things cats love so you would think this is a wonderful kitty jungle gym. After the cats checked it out it began. Dinah started hiding under the beds and would barely come out to eat. She would leer towards the room where this big cat tree was waiting, and running back under the bed at the slightest noise! YIKES! I told my hubby that cat tree has to go right away! He said he cleaned it really well, vacuumed the heck out of it and sprayed it (not sure what with) but it doesn’t matter, the scent will always be there and my Dinah was sure a new cat was in the house!

It took her 3 days to finally come out and about sort of ~ she is almost back to normal except if she hears a loud noise she scurries back under the bed. She is doing much better and I told my hubby no more used cat trees, EVER! Duchess didn’t blink an eye, so interesting their personalities. She doesn’t let a thing bother her, Duchess is brave and unaffected. 😀

*If you follow my blog, this is my 4th sweet dreams blanket! Haha, I know, again? It is actually really fun to make, I can’t help myself and each one is a different shade of blue, one was pink!*

*Aww, my sweet grand babies! Alice and Wolfie kitty as they watch Saturday morning cartoons. You can see baby Teddy sleeping on Dad! My son and wife have the sweetest family!*

My niece had her son at the end of August and so I am trying to get the baby blanket completed so I can send it to her. Darn, it’s already October. I just have threads to tie off on the back and stitch a border and it will be complete. These Sweet Dreams blankets are so much fun to stitch up, but this will be the last one for awhile. Next year I may make a few to sell at the local craft fair.

I just had to share the cute photo of my grand children. Oh how I miss them, but it is what it is and I know they are happy and healthy. I will be visiting them sometime soon so I have that to look forward to and I am thankful I can easily drive there, flying even better! ❤

*My sons house, Wolfie and Dublin ~ Brothers, being brothers!*

Thank you for having coffee with me and sharing with me my ramblings. I am hoping to get back on track soon. I will call it growing pains, haha, since my family is growing and there are so many moving parts. I have family all over the place when I think about it and so I need to be thankful I have the wonderful family that I do. I had a wonderful chat with my sister today, and I just have to be thankful to be here and that I am able to share. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Confused kitty crochet loving Grandma,

~Diana ❤

August 19th, 36 Years Together!

On August 19, 2020 By dprastkaIn Family is important, Living life, Memories6 Comments

*Earlier this year, together in Hawaii with my daughter!* ❤

I can’t believe it is our anniversary today and to think we were married 36 years ago on a hot sunny afternoon. My dad walking me down the aisle, all my family gathered in a small quaint church. Oh the memories, and there are lots of them. I wonder if he sometimes looks back and wonders to himself, what did I get myself into? Haha, he married me with 3 dogs and 2 cats as I was in-between horses at the time. I think we would have a much better nest egg for our retirement if we did not own horses. But I have always said I don’t ever want to retire, not completely. I want to stay busy even with a part-time job so that I can keep my hobbies and my horses! We have never ever in my entire life not had an animal in our home. I grew up with parakeets, cats, dogs, guinea pigs, rabbits and lots of fish in some cool fish tanks and when I was 10 years old my first horse. AND I didn’t even live on a farm, nope, just suburbia with an animal loving family!

When my husband met me I was riding my sister’s horse. She needed help and so of course I loved helping her keep her horse fit and exercised. This is back in the early 1980’s, I should have warned him but he had to have known as horses are in my blood. I am hoping to be riding as long as my body can ride! My husband has actually ridden with me before. I had a gentle bay Morgan that would rather eat than work. My husband did very well with him but riding really isn’t his thing and he only rode a short time. If you were to ask my husband his love, he would have a sweet corvette in our garage! Haha, cars are his thing. Maybe one day he can buy a nice Sunday car to drive around and go to car shows with ~ someday! ❤

*I’m sure you don’t have to guess, this is my card to my sweetheart!*

It’s funny because my hubby texted me after I got my card this morning saying he hoped I didn’t think it was too cheesey! I LOVE Cheesey, the more gooey the better, because the love of my life isn’t a gooey, cheesey romantic kind of guy, far from it – so a nice card like this is from his heart! Even though he says he isn’t good at picking out cards. I am glad he went this route. LOOK, I did the same thing! Haha, If you look at my card with the horses (I think it is cool I found one with a grey horse like Zack, and Chloe isn’t that color brown, but has white on her face!) My card is pretty cheesey too! It says inside ~ Sharing life with you gets more beautiful all the time ~ AWW, and the front is the most beautiful art work with lots of birds, butterflies, flowers, nice and cheesey. But worth sharing because life is too dang short to not be ooey, gooey, and cheesey, every once in awhile. What loving fun!! Especially after 36 years. I JUST LOVE IT AND I LOVE HIM!

As I was trying to figure out what I wanted to include in this post, I went back through the photos of this year and some videos. As I try and share as many smiles as I can, this video I made when we were in Hawaii made me laugh! We had so much fun on that trip, I can’t wait for the day we can freely travel again. We were visiting the Dole Plantation and they have the most scrumptious Dole whip. We all know what it should taste like, and I sometimes ask silly questions. Haha, I am kind of a nerdy gal, but hey, that’s me and as I laughed I decided heck, why not share! What a fun memory!

So happy I can share videos! Fun vacation!

*My daughter surprised us with these beautiful flowers!* ❤

When I got home from the barn this morning I found these beautiful flowers which were delivered on my front porch! My daughter sent them, she is so very sweet, with a loving note that just melts my heart. I am so truly blessed and lucky to have the most loving children. I want only the best for them as parents do…. This anniversary fell right smack in the middle of the week. So we still have an anniversary dinner to celebrate and am not sure how this will take place as we may just have to order food. But I am feeling really good about our future, as plans to be closer to my grand kids are still in the making. Thanks for visiting today on my anniversary, it was fun to share!

Happily married Cowgirl!

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; Mini Vacation Fun!

On July 31, 2020 By dprastkaIn Living life, weekend coffee share22 Comments

**Weekend Coffee share is a time for us to take a break out of our busy lives and enjoy some time catching up with friends (old and new). Please grab a cup of coffee** ***or tea and share with us!***

Welcome to my weekend coffee share and I am sitting in my daughter’s apartment not far from the cafe where I took this photo of my coffee in Orcutt, CA. It is so beautiful up here on the coast with the best weather! The high’s here are in the low 80’s and at night cools to the 50’s. We went for a cool morning walk this morning as it was foggy with the marine layer which has been rolling in each evening. Such a nice relief from home which is in a heat wave this week! Crazy, we picked a good week to visit.

My daughter can’t come home and visit as they still have restrictions on traveling as she is in the military and not allowed to venture fair. Not worth detailing all that out but since we are just over three hours away, it is not hard for me to take some vacation days which I need to use anyways and we just drive up and stay with her and this visit we did some shopping for my grand kids and put together care packages which will thankfully be delivered on my grand daughters birthday! I am SO EXCITED WE were able to get that all together yesterday.

*On our way to Pismo Beach. I like how the clouds leave a shadow on the hills!*

Today we ventured out and traveled up the coast to Pismo Beach. I took some photo’s I will share and a short video of the Pacific ocean and some pigeons that thought we had food for them. 😀 In Pismo Beach they have this AMAZING cinnamon roll shop which is thankfully open for take out only. It’s called Old West Cinnamon Rolls, and oh my, we bought an original, a pecan and one with cream cheese frosting and then split them up to share! ❤

*My son and daughter Pismo Beach pier. Cinnamon rolls in that box!*

After we cut up the cinnamon rolls and began to eat them my daughter says we should have taken a photo! Darn it all, I wish I took a photo but my hands were so sticky even though we had plastic knives and forks I couldn’t get my phone out and didn’t want to stop eating them to be honest. So DELICIOUS! I was able to get some photos of the beach after cleaning up!

It wasn’t too crowded thankfully as you can see not very many people on the board walk to the pier. The pier is closed but the beaches were open and you could see people kept their distances from each other which is good. There were some surfers too. There were plenty of shops and restaurants open. Masks are mandatory everywhere in CA so we always wear them on all outings. The restaurants here in California are all serving outside with all the tables with umbrella’s or easy ups to block the sun. I feel really badly for all the business’s so it seems this is working pretty well. All the fast food joints that have drive thru’s are drive thru only and the other ones like this cinnamon roll place only allow 4 customers at a time into the building and there are plenty of lines out the door waiting to buy food. These are crazy days but it seems to all be working! I always carry wet wipes and we always wash up when we get home. It was a FUN morning!

The pigeons were being fed by some people nearby and thought we had food too! Nope!

After enjoying our cinnamon rolls and walking around a bit we then headed up the coast to a small farm that had some goats and chickens, cows, typical farm animals – Avila Valley Farms. You could buy food to feed them but what we went there for was the farms store. I bought some raspberry pepper jelly, honey which is from a local beehive and some peach salsa. I wanted to get unusual items to try as they are all made locally. There was so much to choose from, fresh produce, my daughter bought a bunch of items that she needed so it was a fun stop. We bought fresh artichoke’s and are cooking them up now as my daughter and I LOVE FRESH artichokes. (The men in my family won’t touch them!) We boil them and eat the meat off every leaf and then devour the heart! YUMMY! We are having a salad with these beautiful, delicious artichokes.

Thank you for joining me on my weekend coffee share adventures! We are traveling during the week as I will be working Saturday and Sunday night shift so we travel home tomorrow. I thought since I missed last weeks coffee share I really wanted to join in this week. I am so happy to be able to visit with family and spend time with them really fills my heart and makes me so very happy! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and if you are sharing coffee I will make sure to stop by and join you.

Happy traveling Grandma and Mom,

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; Gardening and Outside Fun!

On July 17, 2020 By dprastkaIn Living life, weekend coffee share27 Comments

Welcome to my yard from Spring as I reminisce. I am missing my roses, they are not blooming right now and so I thought I would feature these beauties. It is amazing how this rose starts out a darker yellow and pink and then fades as it ages and opens up as you see these two roses blooming next to each other. They are heavenly! Can I get you coffee or tea? Iced is my preference on these warm summer days. As we sit outside enjoying this beautiful summer day and chat, I will tell you how I am looking for tomato recipes as I am getting a lot of tomatoes! Lol 😀

I am loving all these tomatoes and my neighbor is growing them as well and has given us eight more that are in my fridge. The lighter ones you see in the photo I just picked today. I read that it is good to pick them as they start to turn and then you can let them ripen on your counter. They are absolutely scrumptious!! I have been eating them on salads and in my sandwiches but I want to use them in some recipes. I know I can make salsa and spaghetti sauce. I looked up baked tomatoes and the recipe I found looks delicious! I’ll let you know how it turns out if I bake them. (Basically, they are stuffed and baked with breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese, garlic, you know…. all the good stuff!) I am also thinking of making homemade ketchup. I LOVE ketchup! Do you have any good recipes when you have a lot of tomatoes?

My teeny tiny garden – container gardening is working out very well. I have mulched it and I think its helping tons. The plants look very healthy and I know it might look crowded but the bell peppers don’t take up much room. I have two bell pepper plants and one tomato plant. I knew I would have a ton of tomatoes with just one plant, and I didn’t know if the bell peppers would grow well, so I guess that’s why I got two of the bell peppers. You never know what will live, and I haven’t killed a tomato plant to date! I wanted to share a couple more photos of some plants that are looking great. Can I get you a refill? I better get more iced coffee, cafe mocha is my go too..

These really are house plants but the weather is mild enough here where I live that they thrive really well completely in the shade outside on my front porch. I have two of the variegated philodendrons on my porch along with an ivy and of course the arrowhead.

I have a story about the Arrowhead. My hubby came home from work one day after our second son was born and walked into the house and I will never forget I was washing dishes and he walked up to me and asked me how I was and I just burst into tears!! I could not stop crying, and he was very consoling but the hormones raged and the postpartum blues had hit me hard. Usually about two weeks after birth I just can’t control my emotions. The next day he came home with a beautiful plant arrangement. It had a small palm and this arrowhead philodendron, and it meant so much to me that he bought these to help soothe my hormone depression. This arrowhead that is thriving on my front porch is 31 years old this year! AMAZING! I think all my potted plants on my porch are well over 20 years old and going strong. ❤ ❤ ❤

*My huge Ivy on my front porch! It’s VERY HAPPY!!*

Oh dear, I hope I am not boring you with all the plants. The plants are looking so great it just makes me smile and so in turn makes me want to share them. Since we are outside, how about we head to the stables and we can turn out the horses! GREAT IDEA! 😀

*Gracie and Chloe enjoying a turn out in arena!*

*One of her favorite things to do, eat!!! Especially grass! Mowing machines!*

Thank you for visiting today and I enjoyed our visit together. It is great to reminisce and to share my garden adventures. I would have shared baked tomatoes, now that would be a perfect lunch! I hope you are enjoying summer, I know I am the best I can.

Happy gardening horse loving gal,

~Diana

Weekend Coffee Share; July 4th Weekend!

On July 5, 2020 By dprastkaIn Living life, weekend coffee share16 Comments

May peace, love, and happiness always be with you! 
Wishing you a very happy Fourth of July ❤

Welcome, I got back from my first walk in about a month. I was giving my knee time to heal and it is progressing nicely. It got a little sore as I was on the last leg of my walk which was just under a mile which I didn’t mind because I knew it was a good sore. Meaning I need to strengthen my knee and I know I didn’t over do it, just got it working so that I can get back to my normal walks. I took a few photos when I was out this morning. It was a nice 65 degrees (18C) this morning which is so nice to walk when it is cool. The high today is expected to be in the 90’s – 96 (35C) to be exact and believe it or not as long as it stays under 100 degrees it is tolerable to be out and with my horses.

I forgot to offer you a some ice coffee or tea? I am thinking it is summer and already pretty warm and so the iced drinks are just so refreshing. It’s definitely summer and we try and ride early to beat the heat and am hoping we don’t see too many days over 100 degrees. We don’t ride when its that hot, and we try and keep the ponies cool by hosing them off on really hot days. My girlfriend and I have been enjoying this weekend and trail riding on our ponies. I was able to take a short video I will share. I have so many ropes to take care of when I am riding and taking Zack along ponying him that I have to be careful. Chloe is a steady trail horse and the trails we ride on they know very well. I am very grateful having such great trail horses!

*My girlfriend and I, not sure what she is pointing at? Lol*

Our 4th of July trail ride! LOVE our ponies! ❤

I hope the video plays correctly. I know the last one worked fine. It is so FUN to share, we have such a great time and our ponies bring us much joy and happiness. I say this all the time and can’t say this enough. We have such a connection with these giant beasts, they rely on us to keep them in a safe place and we in turn try and be gentle, kind and give them guidance in a way that is respectful for both horse and human. They really understand so much and they always amaze me how smart they are and how we can actually communicate with each other. So MUCH FUN!

Thank you so much for enjoying coffee with me today. This weekend we celebrate Independence day and I can’t believe how different this celebration has been this year. We heard and saw some far away fire works from our front porch. There was plenty of fire works going off around the neighborhood (which is illegal) but plenty still fire them off which I know can scare many animals. My horses do fine, I have one dog that gets nervous but they did great as we keep them near us through the worse of the fireworks going off.

I hope you all have a relaxing weekend. I hope you were able to get outside even if it is a walk around your block. I think being able to get out of the house and doing some sort of exercise is so important for your mental health. I am not an expert mind you, I just know that one needs to get some fresh air and keep moving no matter what age you are, this is so important and can sure bring smiles your way, I know it does for me! 😀

Happy 4th of July Weekend!

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; Summer is Here!

On June 20, 2020 By dprastkaIn Living life, weekend coffee share14 Comments

She is clothed with strength and dignity
and laughs without fear of the future
                                                    ❤ Proverbs 31:25

I am sitting here enjoying my cup of coffee reflecting back to all the summers that have come and gone. Boy, has there been a lot of summers. Haha, I am getting old (but feel young) and don’t really want to count them all but I will say I usually have really fun summers. We live where in the summer it gets a bit hot but honestly, you can’t beat the weather here in Southern California. There is no humidity and we are close enough to the ocean that the nights cool off really well. There is a lot to do in the summer if you have the time. I am not retired, so I have to take vacation days to enjoy any extra days off to explore or enjoy weekend retreats. 😀

As I am finishing my coffee, may I get you something as we sit outside enjoying the cool morning? We are still in June and so we usually get a lot of marine layer that rolls in and keeps us cool. Us locals call June “June gloom” Haha, it is very welcoming as it is the last of the cool weather as we approach July. I am feeling more confident each day I see all the tomatoes growing in my container. I am watching a lot of Youtube videos learning lots about tomato gardening. I didn’t realize there is so much to this to get the best out of your plant and fruit! I have grown before, but my plants were tiny with barely any tomatoes. I am learning a lot this year!

I think it is fun to learn about gardening. I think container gardening is a great way to start, plus I don’t have to worry about gophers and I do not have any other critters that climb into my containers. My girlfriend who lives in a different area, about 15 miles from where I live planted veggies in a couple of containers last year and once the plants started to sprout up (she started with seedlings) something jumped into her containers and ate everything that she tried to grow! Maybe ground squirrels? She never saw the critters but needless to say she gave up after several attempts. She ended up giving me her containers. She is having better luck with fruit trees! How is your coffee? or can I get you something else? The sun is still not out, very overcast today.

*A combo photo, place mats are complete and started another baby blanket that is pink!*

I loved crocheting these pretty pastel placemats for my daughter. They are like doilies all connected only not as tiny as real doilies. They will be cute on her table in her apartment. I also am starting another sweet dreams baby blanket and this time it is for a girl! I just love this pattern and it stitches together quickly and I LOVE seeing how it comes together in a different color. So many babies this year!! This really eases my stress being able to create and make all my crochet fun creations. I thought I would share my latest projects.

I must say as we sit and chat enjoying this cool morning that my emotions and thoughts are all over the place. We are trying to figure out the best way to move to Arizona and oh my goodness, this is not going to be an easy thing to do at all. I find myself feeling anxious because this all takes time, and I feel like a little kid wanting answers and decisions right NOW! But that’s not how this is going to work, we need to take it one day at a time. SO I waffle back and forth with, screw this idea, this is HARD – to I can’t wait to move to where cost of living will be better and I will be close to family and friends in AZ and feeling excited. Holy Smokes! I need to think about our future as we age! Shoot…. I find the process frustrating. And that’s all I will share about this subject right now. Thought it would make me feel better sharing, haha, its just tough to know what will be best for us and our future. On to what I know makes me smile and keeps me sane! 😀

*Little patches of grass are delicious! Haha!*

Chloe and Zack running lose in the arena for exercise! Pretty ponies!

Oh my goodness! This day is so exciting! I FINALLY figured out how to upload a video! I am so silly. I have been trying and trying and finally found on the editor I am using the video icon. I take a lot of videos so ya’ll beware! You might being seeing a lot more of these. I have trail rides to share too. I get so EXCITED over silly things but I have been wanting to share videos of my horses for a very long time. (I am embarrassed to say how long, haha, I’m so happy I finally figured it out). I hope it plays correctly when I publish for everyone. All I can do is try and see if this works!! YAY!

Thanks for joining me for coffee this weekend. I showed you my tiny garden and enjoyed sharing my craft projects. We then chatted about the future, what is in your future plans? And finally we drove just over a mile to the stables as I turned out the ponies! I had so much fun with ya’ll!

Have a wonderful weekend!

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; Days off are wonderful!

On June 14, 2020 By dprastkaIn Living life, weekend coffee share22 Comments

Welcome, can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? I am enjoying my coffee with some oatmeal and english muffin that I make on my days off. DAYS OFF! Oh how I love weekends and days off. I do have this weekend off, but usually my days off are split up and working night shift I actually like it this way. But I just worked a very long stretch covering for vacation, so I am extremely happy to get this much needed R&R. I am doing the things I love which is tending to my tiny garden and my horses. I love to walk but am taking a rest from walking around my neighborhood because I have injured my knee. I think I tweaked it riding a friends horse. I have been helping a lady with her young horse who is a very nice ride, but she is bouncy and I think I am out of shape and this made my knee a bit swollen and sore. Darn, I am getting old!

I was at work this last week and I tripped but didn’t fall down, my foot got caught on a wire I walked over (I know, not too smart but it was behind my big chemistry instrument and I just didn’t lift my foot up high enough) darn it all, I jerked my leg and pulled a tendon coming from my knee! UGH! so I have been taking care of it with hot and cold compresses and slow stretches and it is much better today. I just need to take it easy and not over do it as it heals! Sorry to go on so, I do not get injured often and I can’t stand to sit around so I am up and moving taking Ibprofen for pain and inflammation.

*Chloe and I, she is so sweet! She’s my muse!*

I was going through my photos and this was taken a couple years ago. I wanted to share because I do not share many photos of myself with my horses. I have more I took this weekend I will share.

I had FUN with my horses and my camera! You know I just can’t help myself as I enjoy their company so much. It truly is my therapy, these horses just help ones well being in so many ways. I think animals in general are therapeutic but these gentle giants have an intelligence that is so amazing as we have this relationship and understanding together as we get up on their backs and view the world from their point of view. They walk us all over our trails, since that is mostly what I do is trail ride and enjoy the weather and the beautiful days on this Earth. I wish I can thank them, and I do the best I can by providing them bedding for their stalls and nice meals to munch on each day. I enjoy grooming them and getting their coats to glisten in the sun. They mostly enjoy the grooming, Chloe enjoying it more than Zack. He has thin skin I think as he doesn’t enjoy it as much as Chloe! Silly ponies, they just melt my heart. ❤

How is your coffee or tea? Can I get you a refill? I hope you are all having a great weekend. I feel like I can just go on and on about my horses. I also think often of my family and will save those photos for my smile post this next week. I will just dedicate this post to my weekend fun. I am also crocheting a lot finishing one project and starting on another. My crochet is another relaxing thing I do to unwind and get my mind on to the creativity of my projects. Crochet is very rewarding in many ways! ❤

*Nice and clean after a beautiful trail ride!*

Thank you for sharing coffee with me today. The reason I get photos of my horses with their tongue out is I feed them treats after I ride. These are small pellets that are made for them and they just LOVE them. I have been buying treats that have alfalfa and raspberry flavors, I am not sure what all are in the treats but they smell wonderful. They love them and after I feed them they literally lick their lips over and over, YUMMY! So when I take a photo, it’s turning out to be pretty easy to get a photo with them sticking their tongue out! HAHA! I just love it and I hope you enjoy seeing my ponies this weekend.

Crazy horse loving girl!

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; My Tiny Garden

On May 31, 2020 By dprastkaIn Living life, weekend coffee share11 Comments

Welcome and how are you today? I am having a nice cup of morning coffee with my oatmeal and english muffin with jam. I have bananas too, would you like to join me as we finish out this weekend and this month? Yesterday was my son’s birthday, and wish I could have been in Arizona to bake him a cake! That would have been divine but it was not in the cards and with all that is going on totally understandable. I miss him very much. I also miss his wife and 2 children too, so much my heart aches but we stay in touch as much as possible. How’s your coffee? or would you rather have some tea?

Before I get into my tiny garden photos my husband and I had an interesting conversation last evening. He got a call from a very good friend of his in Arizona and they asked him to ask me if I would be interested in living on 37 acres in Williams, Arizona? He explained that they were looking for themselves when they realized this is also horse property and wondered if I wanted to have a horse ranch there! WAIT, WHAT? I told my husband YES! This is just all thoughts from our friends, but they are thinking of purchasing the land. It would be 2 1/2 hours from my family there, much closer than where I am at here and the weather there is wonderful because it is higher elevation. It is only 35 miles from Flagstaff, Arizona which is a bigger city and I could find work there. Oh my, this is only the first conversation but if it were to come to fruition, it would be a dream come true. Enough land that I would have my own trails to ride on with my horses!! I just had to share, it may not happen. Maybe talking about it will get the ball rolling in that direction. Maybe?

On to my teeny tiny garden. But this tiny garden sure brings me big smiles! I believe I will get a few tomatoes and bell peppers. So far so good!

*My beautiful blooms! They make me smile!*

I will be doing some gardening work this afternoon and prune my roses and spray them for aphids. I use a mixture of a couple of drops of dawn soap in a spray bottle with water. It doesn’t hurt the plants but really gets rid of those darn bugs. We have an over abundance of earwigs this year, and have seen a fair amount of lizards which are eating those bugs. The roses continue to bloom and I believe once I prune them I will get some new growth with more blooms in the coming months!

I bought a small plant for my daughter to put on her patio table. I was surprised she had the same assorted plants as a canvas photo in her bathroom. Like minds think alike, and it was a purchase on a whim. I had to share, Love my daughter so much!

My explanation of the above photo is enough. I will say though that when I placed the plants on her patio table she told me she would probably kill them. I almost said, well at least you have a photo of them to enjoy! Hehe, these are rather hard to kill, and so hopefully she will have some success with them. If not, its all okay. She is doing really good, and I am so excited to hear where her next assignment will be. She will be moving at the end of this year.

*My son sent this and he set one of the brothers in a little sit up chair they bought the baby. I thought it was adorable and he said he sat there for a few minutes! Silly Kitty!*

Those brothers are just the best cats and to me very comical. I know I have shared some really wonderful photos of them, sleeping together is just so cute. When he shared this photo it made me laugh, its just too funny! He looks rather content even though he did not stay long in there, he is so mellow! I really enjoyed sharing coffee with you today. I really can’t believe it will be June tomorrow. The time sure flies, and I am looking forward to the summer but praying we don’t get too much heat. It can get pretty darn hot, but I think we will be okay until July. Have a great week!

~Diana ❤

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Mylife-and-Horsestories

Category: Living life

My Weekly Smile; Nov. 11, 2020

August 19th, 36 Years Together!