Category: Living life

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

Weekend Coffee Share; Crazy Week, Busy, Busy!

On 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 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!

Loving my grandkids!!

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!! 😀

MY SWEET GIRLS!!!

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 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? 😀

  • Duchess in her hammock
  • Dinah all comfy!

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 ❤