Tag: #familyiseverything

Weekend Coffee Share; April Flowers & Horses!

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share31 Comments
I LOVE SPRING!

I think Spring might be my favorite season. I love all the flowers and they sure are blooming. I am thankful you are here, can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? I made chocolate chip cookies last week and there are a few left, yummy. Can you believe it is April? March seemed to fly by and I had so much fun keeping busy with all the usual things I do each week. I wanted to share more flowers that are blooming as my Iris plants are going crazy. I am growing Iris in a big container and they are happy campers blooming like crazy. 😀

It was not a sunny day when I took these photos but the flowers are so pretty. We have gotten some much needed rain last week. It rained all day and into the evening. We got a lot more rain than I thought we were going to get but it doesn’t slow us down. I still get outside every single day as I tend to my horses and I enjoy all the weather. It’s been really overcast all weekend and very cool and cloudy. I am enjoying all the coolness as the heat is around the corner as we slowly head towards summer here. I see so many blooming flowers on my trail rides. I took this next photo yesterday!

Flowers blooming on my trail ride with Miss Chloe! ❤

As I sit here writing this I am thinking about all the wonderful people in my life. From my wonderful family who I love dearly to all the friends that I know and love. I also am thinking about my Mom and Dad up in heaven as they bestowed their best qualities in all of us children. We are all loving and giving people and we care deeply. Sometimes it is hard to balance as you realize we can’t fix the things that need fixing and no matter how hard you try you can only change some things which is often just the things close to you as the bigger picture stuff is pretty hard to change. I sometimes enjoy thinking about and pondering all these thoughts in my head. I think it’s important to not sweat the little things. We are here to enjoy each day as best as we can, how do you enjoy your day? I will tell you that smiling makes you feel better, I always feel better when I smile.

Miss Chloe after my trail ride. She is the sweetest horse and pretty too! ❤
Murphy is so silly trying to play with the big poles on the ground! ❤

I’m not free from stress, who is these days? But I try and release the stresses I feel by enjoying my time at the barn. Horses do not like stress, they can feel your anxiety through your hands and arms from your heart rate, it is an incredible thing. Breathing or taking a few deep breathes is a great way to release stress. As I take deep breathes and shake my hands to release the anxious feelings I can feel my body relax and as I talk to my horses you can see them relax their head and get soft in their necks and settle that big giant head and nose near your heart. Horses can sense a heartbeat from 4 feet away. Yes, they can and that is how they can sense any anxiety you feel as your approach. Think about your day but leave your day in your car when you arrive at the barn.

They are so sensitive that even if you do not feel anxious but are just not in a good mood, or say rushed and not paying attention, yes, this will all be picked up by your horse. They are amazing, fascinating animals and they are so centered and in tune with their bodies and far more aware of their surroundings that humans can’t come close to relating. They can also move 7 times faster than any human being, especially when they do not feel safe, we want them to always feel safe. Some days can go awry, you can have a bad day with your horse, but you must shake it off and move on to the next day. They do not hold grudges, they do not think like humans as they do not have a developed frontal lobe, they don’t lie or plot. In this way they are very forgiving, the next day is a new day. Interestingly, they have great memories. They can remember words and humans and things taught to them (good and bad) for up to 10 years. So abusing a horse can do some real damage as that can destroy trusting humans.

Clearly, I could talk all day about horses. I am so enjoying sharing these intelligent animals as they bring me so much joy in my life. I would be happy if I just had them and took care of them, but there is so much more as I am able to ride them and enjoy all that they give to us in their incredible lives. I have had a couple days this last week with some bobbles I’ll call it ~ Some miss-communication with my horse Murphy. (It was related to me feeling anxious, which in turn made Murphy feel anxious and worried). We are doing great, he is a good boy and really doing well. Learning with a horse is a gift and so I like to remember and think about all they have to offer to us humans. I am truly grateful and cherish every minute with my horses.

Murphy enjoying some yummy grass. He is such a sweetheart! I enjoyed having coffee with you today and as I head into next week I am thinking about my hubby who is traveling up north to my daughter’s place to house sit while she is away for training. She has a cat sitter, but thought it would be good if someone could stay for a few days. My hubby and best friend will be heading there tomorrow and it will be fun for them to explore the area. There is so much to see, Solvang and Pismo beach with their amazing cinnamon rolls to name a few places. I thank you for visiting and I also thank Natalie for hosting the #weekendcoffeeshare. If you would like to visit other shares click here for the linkup.

Appreciating life and horses,

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; March 27 ~ Staying Busy!

On By DianaIn Horse stories, Living life, weekend coffee share23 Comments
Welcome to my weekend coffee share where we share what’s been happening in our lives!

Welcome, can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? I have so much to share. This month of March has been full and busy. With my busy life comes hard work with my full-time job and of course my time spent at the barn with my two horses Miss Chloe and my young guy Murphy! I try and fit in so much including some relaxing time doing my crafting. I am either doing crochet projects or my cross-stitch. I am currently working on my cross-stitch and here is my completed project! I am also going to share the first 2 projects that is from my pattern book of seasons. I have now started on the Winter scene.

I just finished this one which is Fall
This one is Spring (Click on photo for full view)
This is Summer! I love all the colors, so fun to stitch up!

I have been thinking about what I will do with these seasons once completed and I decided I am going to try and make a quilt throw or hanging. (The photos make them look like they are crooked on the edges but they aren’t, its just the material is not completely flat. I will rinse them with safe soap and water, let them dry and iron them flat before I sew.) I have never sewn a quilt before but have helped my sister and have a new book on quilt making for first time beginners that I got for Christmas. Since I have helped with many quilts my sister and I did together I am hoping I can make something pretty. I know it won’t be perfect, but then I am just hoping to get it all sewn together properly, haha! And not fall apart. I know all crafts take time to get down as practice makes perfect, or at least makes you better and more confident.

I’ve been wanting to put together a small quilt like a throw or wall hanging for a long time and now that I have these cross-stitch pieces I feel inspired and the timing is perfect since I received the really helpful quilt book since my sister’s do not live nearby any more. I figured if I run into any problems I can always call them or ask my good friend who sews. My bigger challenge is to learn how to use my sewing machine, haha! It’s always something!

Speaking of sister’s ~ this same sister that I use to sew with is also my riding partner and who I grew up riding horses with and she now lives in Idaho. She has been there now 7 years, we can’t believe how fast these years fly by. She was so excited to come and visit for a week and she stayed with her son nearby and she was over every day to help me with my horse Murphy. She and I have had tons of training with young horses and with many horse trainers over the years. Together we worked on some new things with Murphy and he is so smart and easy going it made our time together a blast! Here are some photos and videos of our week here in March! 😀

I gave Murphy a bath the weekend before my sister arrived! He’s so handsome! ❤
I also gave Miss Chloe a bath as it was so nice and warm! She’s so beautiful and I do Love her so much!
My sister on Murph (click on photo for full view)
Me and Murphy, so very smart, calm and willing to learn!

My sister was here this month for a full week and I am so grateful for all her help. She flew down which gave her more days to visit. I am planning on sending her videos as I go and we have already talked since she’s left as she has remembered a few more things I can work on with Murphy. Training a horse takes time and she and I are so happy that I am in no hurry and I am giving him plenty of time to grow into his body as he is 3 years old. He turns 4 beginning of May which I am excited about. He is still growing but I feel like he is pretty balanced for a 3 year old. I know with this training and riding he and I are getting stronger, he is so much FUN to ride! 😀

Murphy and I trotting in the arena. We are working on softening with his head and neck and moving forward into the bridle. We are also working on circles. The first circle he was going a bit fast but has a better steady trot for the second circle. It is all a work in progress and I am so proud of him!

I thought long and hard last year when I purchased (adopted) my young horse Murphy, can I start and work a young horse again? I knew I would have to get into shape and get my riding legs and upper body stronger and I am slowly accomplishing this. Riding up on a horse like I am in the video I shared is very aerobic, and to those who don’t ride you probably do not realize how much work it is as we make it look like we aren’t doing much. I can get so out of breath that sometimes I need to take a break before Murphy needs a break. I was riding him yesterday and I wanted him to stay steady with his head down and I was getting more out of breath with each stride. I’m getting stronger each ride. Riding the trails on my other horse Chloe is not very aerobic at all since all we are doing is walking. It feels great getting into shape! I LOVE YOU MURPHY! He is the best gym and this is my most favorite exercise!! ❤

Me and my shadow with Miss Chloe!

On to my trail rides and Miss Chloe! She is a trooper and her and I go out alone often. I will partner up when there is another rider at the barn ready when we are to head out. I have to fit in Murphy and Chloe in my mornings and some days I have time to ride both of them and other days, it’s one or the other. Chloe and I have been together now for 16 years and so we have years of trail rides under our belts. She is trail savvy, its what we do and owning and riding horses is all about repetition and consistency as they are smart and willing as long as they feel safe. We are all about safety in all that we do and so we have a great time together! Here is a video I took just this last week. It was a few days after my sister left and a beautiful day. We are expecting a very rainy day tomorrow which I mention in the video. I hope you enjoy!

Such a lovely day for a trail ride in my hometown in California!

So much FUN! I love the trails but I also love the arena riding and training too! I have no doubt that Murphy will be a wonderful all around horse eventually. I am in no hurry with him and when you take the time they need, they turn out so well rounded and confident. I’m excited for our future together.

I’m so happy you visited today. I know I am not sharing as often as I once did but this is working out better for me and my busy life. I don’t want to stop blogging altogether, I will just share when I can and I do appreciate this wonderful blogging community, more than you know. I can’t say enough for all the wonderful bloggers I have met through blogging. I do try and keep up reading and commenting on other blogs but apologize because it can get overwhelming sometimes. I do what I can when I can and you all are so wonderful, forgiving and caring individuals. Thank you for being you! Have a wonderful week and stay smiling. 😀

Horse Crazy Crafty Gal,

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; March Is Here!

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share19 Comments

Welcome to my coffee share! Can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? I also have apple juice or cranrasberry juice if you prefer. I have so much to share as its been a few weeks and so much is happening in our lives. We made it to Arizona last weekend for my grandson’s birthday and we celebrated and made it special for him. I am also thankful that my family wasn’t planning a very big party (so very thankful) because my grandson ended up with a fever on his birthday so we had to cancel the event. We were to drive to my daughter-in-laws aunt’s house about an hour away to celebrate. It turns out my little grandson had a mild case of hand, foot and mouth virus which we found out he was exposed this last week when he was brought back to day care. That was why he had a fever, and we made his birthday a fun day none the less and celebrated at his home. ❤

We baked him a smash cake and the cupcakes with a Mickey Mouse Funhouse theme!
Me and my selfies that I so enjoy taking! He doesn’t know “smile” yet, and my granddaughter likes to make silly faces which makes me giggle! She has a beanie baby octopus in her hand!

My hubby and I enjoyed visiting and we did not catch any sickness which I told my family I don’t care, I would have come anyways. Unfortunately, my son caught the hand, foot and mouth virus as he came down with a fever at the end of this last week and he has nasty rashes on his hands and feet! Hence the name, and he says these rashes burn and are very painful. I feel so badly for him as he is the only adult that caught it from my grandson. My granddaughter and my daughter-in-law are fine. I am praying for my son to recover quickly. He is out of time off at work, so he can be out sick but can’t get paid since this has been a rough couple of months for illness for my little family. They all had Covid at the beginning of January and it has been one virus after another the last 2 months. Please say a prayer or send good thoughts their way, they sure could use a break right about now. This is SO HARD being so far from them so that I could help. But it is what it is, and all I can do is be supportive from afar. I Love them so much!

Ugh, there are lots of sad things happening in the world today and everyone has their own set of problems and/or issues to deal with. I certainly do not want to add to any of that and as you know I am usually full of optimism and positivity, but I will say even I can struggle with that from time to time. I am thinking if I share what makes me smile and brings me to a special place where I can forget all the scary sad stuff then maybe if I share it will bring a smile and a bit of positivity your way as well. I decided that is one reason why I like to share here on this blog. I have been questioning why I blog lately, and so I am only blogging when I have a collection of fun and enjoyable shareable things that not only make me smile and feel good, I hope you can enjoy and smile too! It’s my contribution to keeping my mental health happy, and in turn I hope it can do that for someone else too! I don’t even know if I am making any sense, but these are my thoughts today. 😀

These blooms in my garden sure make me smile! Spring is in the air!

My Iris plants have multiplied since last year. They are in a container and I am thinking I should thin them out this year. I am not sure what to do with the extra plants? I guess I can start another container and have more Iris plants! Haha, I do much better growing flowering plants then vegetables. Since I am not sharing daily or weekly posts I have accumulated lots of pony photos and fun videos that I wanted to share. 😀 As you all know this is my happy place, the stables or barn where I board my horses and the horses are what fill my heart and help me with my mental health. They bring me so much joy, so let’s get started with what I have to share.

Miss Chloe with a big bouncy ball to play with only she isn’t very interested!

My girlfriend at the stables (we call each other pony sister’s) brought the bouncy ball and let us all take turns using it in the arena with our horses. It is fun for them to see something different, it helps desensitize them and get use to different objects. We have horses that love playing with the ball. It is very bouncy and soft. They can bite it and throw it around with their teeth. It is so fun to watch them play! Chloe just stares at it but didn’t move as it headed towards her and then walked away, haha, and she did go up to it and push it once but I didn’t make a video of that. She just isn’t interested in playing like the geldings, especially the younger horses!

Murphy with the bouncy ball. He licked it and tried to bite it and will need time to learn to play with it!

Murphy was really afraid of the ball at first. I carried it into the arena and walked up to him holding it and he stood still and I let him reach out to touch it with his nose. I will say that for Chloe I knew it was not her first time with the bouncy ball as I have had it in the arena with her and my other horse Zack some years ago before he passed away. So that is why I was not worried about her reaction when I kicked it towards her. I knew Murphy has never seen the ball, so I introduced it carefully. I decided to let him check it out by himself and left the arena at which time I could take the video above. 😀 I know he isn’t doing much with it but he is very brave and is a good boy!

I had time this weekend to shorten their manes. It is good for them to learn to stand still as it takes a good half an hour or so to get this completed.

As I am sharing my horsey photos I am realizing that this could be a very long post. I am thinking I will save some of them and write another post soon. Either a Smile post or horsey post of some sort. I’ve been wanting to shorten their manes. I like to keep them tidy and they were getting pretty long especially Murphy’s mane. He got tired of me messing with him and when he gets antsy he starts to paw at the ground. He does not really enjoy being pampered and groomed. Unfortunately for him, I’m the type of owner that loves to brush and groom them. I do not overdue it and ask for his patience kindly and I don’t groom him every day because when it’s his day off of riding he just gets turned out and then I put him back in his stall. I am being gentle with him and give him days off from grooming since he doesn’t enjoy it that much. I’m hoping when he gets older he will enjoy being groomed, hopefully. 😀

Murphy is the second horse on the left. I just love this photo of the paddock row with the beautiful clouds!

We have been getting some weather which is always something exciting for us here in sunny CA. I just love the clouds and we got a little bit of rain. It has been chilly and cold a few days this last week. The sun was out today and that’s when I trimmed up their manes. I also had a nice trail ride. Saturday was fun with the bouncy ball day and I am hoping to ride Murphy tomorrow. I usually take turns riding one horse one day ~ the other the next day. It works out good for all of us! I’m going to end with this pretty photo which was taken by my pony sister who brought the bouncy ball! Thank you Jane! ❤

Murphy standing tall near the back of arena! Such a pretty photo! I hope you all are doing good and thank you for visiting and having coffee with me this weekend. I am so happy I shared and I will try and write and share again soon. Have a wonderful week!

Loving Grandma, Loving Horses!

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; My Heart Is Full

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share25 Comments
Welcome to my weekend coffee share! How are you today?

Welcome and how are you doing? Can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? I am doing great and am so excited because next weekend is my grandson’s second birthday. I can’t believe he will be 2 they grow so fast! My hubby and I will be traveling to Arizona so we can spend some fun family time with not only our grandson but with our granddaughter and my son and daughter-in-law! I pray that someday we won’t all be living so far apart and am thankful they are a short flight away and its not a bad drive. We will be driving there and my daughter will be joining us flying in Friday evening. 😀

They are so adorable! My granddaughter is 6 1/2 and my grandson will be 2 at end of Feb. ❤

Boy, just looking at this photo fills my heart with so much love for them. I could just stare at it all day as I miss them so very much. We do video chat, sometimes I wish we could more often but they are really busy and I will keep hoping that someday they will move closer to us, or vice versa. My son has been applying for a new job and has even mentioned maybe moving back to CA. Oh my, that would be so GRAND! But I should not get my hopes up too high as who knows where is next job will land them. He has been applying all over the Pacific Northwest.

As I am getting excited about my upcoming little vacation next weekend I wanted to share this last weekend and the fun I had with my ponies. I have been struggling a little bit with Murphy and getting him to participate more willingly in our rides. He has a bit of a stubborn streak in him, and I have been gently working with him in a positive way to keep his feet moving. I have to say my eyes opened up yesterday when I was reading Anne’s blog (HorseAddict) she shared a lesson with her trainer (her trainer is an Olympian!) She rides dressage and at the highest levels and I am just trying to get a nice walk, trot and canter in the arena.

Murphy is so young I am teaching him the basics but he would rather just stop and stand. So I asked Anne a question after watching her video and I asked her about riding with the dressage crop or whip that she carries while riding. I have one to use but it has been so long in using it I wanted to ask an expert and she gave me great advice about tapping Murphy with the whip near my leg when I cue him if he doesn’t respond immediately and it worked GREAT! I only had to use it on two different occasions, once to trot and once at a halt I asked him to walk. I barely touched his side, it seemed more like a tickle but he is sensitive enough it motivated him perfectly! I have to give her credit as it definitely helped him keep his feet moving which made my job riding him so much easier. I wasn’t so exhausted trying to push him forward. I am so excited! Thank you Anne!! Here are some photos from my weekend.

Before my rides I always get him warmed up by trotting and cantering in the arena!
I set up some trot poles that you can see in one of the photos. He did great trotting over them today!

He was such a good boy today as I was able to get him to move forward and into the bit with him being supple in his neck and he does this best at the walk. I am working on him to stay supple at the trot and having the dressage whip helps immensely and he is much better going to the right, I need to strengthen my left leg when we go to the left as he is a bit stiff. It is all a work in progress and I need to take one day at a time. But I was so impressed as he had a good attitude and moved forward more easily! YAY!

I also rode Miss Chloe today out on the trail. Her and I had a great ride!

I can’t leave out Miss Chloe. She can’t trot and canter any more with me riding her as she has a bad back leg that does fine at the walk but not so good at the faster gaits. She has an old injury in her stifle which is like our knee. She can run around free in arena with no problems but with the weight of saddle and rider it just isn’t a good idea and would put more pressure on that old injury. She does great on our trail rides! Walking is motion lotion!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I know some are still really cold and living where they may even have snow on the ground. I know others across the world are still in Summer probably heading into Fall. It is fun to share my rides and my adventures with my horses. I am having to reach far back in my memory in riding now that I am starting out a young horse. He is very, very calm and doesn’t get rattled very easily. He is smart (sometimes too smart) and forgiving as I am getting in shape just as much as he is with our training. I will end with a pretty photo of Chloe as she is shedding out her winter coat and getting a nice shiny one as we get closer to Spring!

Miss Chloe looking very pretty! My heart is full!

Have a wonderful week ahead!

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; Winter in California And Horsey Fun!

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share40 Comments

Welcome to my weekend coffee share. We have had lots of weather this winter. Last winter was very dry and we had hardly any rain. We made up for it this winter and this photo is of our local mountains after days of rain and snow. I love the lingering clouds in this photo and thought I’d share. Nature provides us with such beauty, I can’t get enough of the snow capped mountains! ❤

I am okay not living in the snow. I lived in the local mountains 20 years ago and the snow and icy roads were enough to drive us off the mountain back to moderate weather. My heart goes out to all that live in cold and frigid weather, battling the elements snow, ice and wind. Here, where we live it is so mild that the lows do not quite hit freezing. We had low’s in the high 30’sF (2-3C) at night and it rarely dips lower and even if it gets to freezing in the night it will only be for a few hours and it warms right back up again. During the coldest days its in the high 50’sF and for us Cali’s we think its soooo cold outside, brrr. Haha, we don’t know what cold really is as I know this is actually nice weather.

Oh how rude of me, can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? I forgot to offer as I ramble on about the weather. Hmm… I think that’s like an old person ramble isn’t it? haha, I know I am not that old yet, but I know my posts reach others all over the world. I know it’s summer in places as we are wintering! Just filling you all in on this beautiful Southern California weather! We made some decisions this last week and contacted the piano mover and person that came and took our piano for parts. It was a very old parlor grand piano in disrepair and in such bad shape it was not worth the money to repair it. I am happy it went where its parts can be used and now we have some extra room in our garden room. Here are some photos. 😀

In its day, this parlor grand piano had the most beautiful sound when it was opened in all its splendor!
You can see how the finish is flaking off, its very old and holds lots of memories. It’s time to say good-bye!

You can see the room is now empty. I actually shared about this about a year ago and we finally decided it was time and so I am focusing my energy and any extra money to save for a keyboard as they make some really nice ones and I really miss playing. I play mostly classical music with some of my favorite pieces from Chopin, Beethoven and Rachmaninoff to name a few composers. I’ve enjoyed playing Bach and Debussy as well. I miss playing so much as I’ve held on to this piano which has been so out of tune it truly is unplayable. I’m excited and hope I can get a new electronic piano sometime this year!

Can I get you a refill? I have some Swedish pancakes I made for dinner tonight. I wanted a light dinner and these crepe like pancakes were perfect filled with a little sour cream and raspberry jam. Yummy! I enjoyed them very much and I will eat light if I have a big lunch. My son told me my granddaughter lost her first tooth this last week! She is 6 and in kindergarten and doing great. I miss my grandkids and I will see if we can Facetime tomorrow. They live in Arizona for any new readers to my post. 😀

My horse Chloe and I riding around the block in my hometown of Norco. She is such a good girl!

My horsey fun throughout this last week was fun rides and turn outs as we dry out. As you can see the ground dries out really fast and we were able to ride a couple days after all the soaking rain. It rained for at least 2 weeks maybe 3 on and off sometimes for a few days straight. For us it was a lot of rain which in turns means a lot of snow pack for the mountain ranges all up and down the west. This will help with our droughts that plague our region. I have some more photos to share with my horse back riding fun and just photos of these pretty ponies!

My dusty boy after my ride! He rolls a lot in the muddy dirt but I cleaned him up!
Murphy all cleaned up and eating his lunch. He is doing really good and enjoys his new stall!

Murphy is doing great and has so much more room in his new stall. I am so happy that he is happy and he is really fun to work with each day. He and I are getting along famously and one of these days I will get a friend to video one of my rides in the arena on him.

Goofy photos of my sweet girl Miss Chloe! She let’s me kiss her nose for a treat! I taught her this, so she begs often and I was able to take these silly photos!

I like how she has one ear forward to hear if I am going to say something I think! She knows when we are done riding I will give her horse treats. It wasn’t too difficult to teach her kisses as I kiss her nose and give her a treat, now she pushes her nose at me like you see in the photos hoping I have a treat in my pocket. I keep them in the tack room where I have my saddles and bridles. She can smell them in my pocket, so I can’t keep them there as she is too smart! Haha, these horses are such characters!! I just love them so much! ❤ ❤ ❤

Me and Murphy’s eye and ear, haha! and Miss Chloe looking pretty!

My hubby bought me a selfie stick for Christmas and I haven’t taken it out of the package yet. I actually need to find it as I am not sure where it is after we cleaned all the Christmas stuff up and put everything away. So when I take selfies as I’ve shared before, my arms are not long enough to get all of their head in the shot. And Murphy being even bigger than Chloe it’s twice as hard! Hahaha, I still like taking them!

I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend and I thank you for stopping by for coffee. It’s been fun filling you in on the happenings around here. I want to say that I am truly thankful I can ride all year round here in California as I know there are so many that can’t ride in the winter. I also am thankful for all of you blogging friends and family who take the time to stop by and read my blog. I thank you too for your wonderful comments! I have to thank Natalie who hosts the weekend coffee share and you can visit hers and others by clicking here.

Enjoying Winter Horse Gal,

~Diana ❤

Happy New Year! I Can’t Believe It’s 2022!

On By DianaIn Barn stories, Living life, Memories25 Comments
Christmas in Solvang!

Happy New Year to all! As my title states, I can’t believe it is 2022. I made it through Christmas as I accidentally stressed myself out a bit by not being better prepared. There were so many things I wanted to do that I didn’t get too. I wanted to do more baking which I mentioned in my last post. I ended up not baking like I wanted and making all those goodies I usually make during the holidays. The time just got away from me! I did leave the day after Christmas to visit my daughter who lives 3.5 hours north and we had a great time together!

My first photo is a pretty Christmas tree in Solvang, CA. We had so much fun visiting there even though it was raining. We have been getting a lot of weather this last month which we need. Tons of rain and snow in the local mountains. As we walked around Solvang with our umbrellas visiting bookstores I bought a Swedish cookbook and can’t wait to make a thing or two. We visited a few other stores as we meandered around. Here are a few photos I took while there! 😀

I just love the Danish architecture, love the photo of my daughter and her girlfriend and my Swedish FIKA book!

What fun I had getting to know my daughter’s girlfriend. We also exchanged gifts while visiting. On Christmas day we zoomed with family as we did a secret Santa exchange with the Elfster app. We have been using this app for about 4 years now and it is nice because it picks the name for us and then we can put items on our wish list which makes shopping easier. Usually all the shopping is done online. It was great to zoom, it’s like we are all together! ❤

I returned home from my daughter’s and it was back to work until New Years. I took two days off so I only worked three days last week which was nice. My daughter drove down here for the New year and left this evening. It was great to see her again, and she helped with our New Year dinner. Traditionally, we have Turkey dinner with all the fixings on Thanksgiving, then for New Years I buy a honey baked spiral cut ham with all the fixings. We include black eyed peas for New Year’s day which is a southern tradition which my mother-in-law always made for us and so I am keeping this tradition going. Eating the black eyed peas is supposed to bring you good luck for the new year. I think we all need all the luck we can get, right? 😀

New Year’s dinner, and two very yummy dessert’s while visiting my daughter!

Oh I have so much to share and could probably break this down to a few posts instead of one very long post! My daughter made from scratch the homemade cheesecake. It was AMAZING and it was a recipe from Chef Tyler Florence. I will have to look it up and make it too as it just melts in your mouth. She happened to have a can of cherry pie filling which we put on top. The ham dinner was amazing as was the middle desserts made by my daughter’s girlfriend who has opened up her own bakery! She is a master baker from Italy and makes amazing chocolates and other baked goods. I had so much FUN! What a great holiday it turned out to be. I’m smiling! 😀

This is downtown SLO a fun college town and the Pacific ocean as we drive by Pismo beach!

We went to SLO (San Luis Obisbo) and we visited my daughter’s girlfriends bakery which is inside an Italian restaurant. It is small but we got to taste her wonderful baked goods. This is a good way for her to start her business as eventually she will get her own place as it grows. It was a beautiful day as we drove to Pismo beach to get those wonderful cinnamon rolls to bring home to my son and hubby! ❤ (They loved them!)

There’s no easy way to change the subject, so on to my other love, my horses! I will always try to put family first and they are part of my family as well so of course I just have to share. I am thinking ya’ll like to hear how things are going with my ponies as I love to call them. They are certainly far from being ponies, especially that big tall boy Murphy! I recently measured him and he stands at 17.2hh, very tall and as I work with him each day I make sure he respects me since he is so big. He does, it doesn’t take much at all but I need to always be aware of his size. I also never hand feed him any treats as he is rather food aggressive which just means he LOVES food. So it’s best if I want to give him a treat it goes in a bucket in his stall, not from my hands. He gets plenty of pats and loving scratches which he loves.

Murphy in his new stall. He is very happy and doing great in the outside paddocks!

I have some updates and fortunately for Murphy a couple of horses moved out and two stalls opened up at the barn where I board the horses. These stalls are out in the paddocks and are very big and wide. He is doing great and I can tell really enjoys all the room he has now. I took a little video I will share!

He is doing great in his new digs, Yay!

He is so cute and I wanted to tell you of a fun thing he enjoys. He will lick your hand and as he licks if you hang on to his tongue he will just stick out his tongue while you play with it! Hahaha, I know this sounds weird, but horses can do the funniest things. He is very gentle as he licks and he enjoys this interaction as one of the girls at the barn showed me this the other day. Hey, if it tickles his tongue or he likes the salts off your hand? I’m not sure but It is great fun to pet him and interact with him without any treats of any kind! He is so silly! 😀

I took this impromptu selfie this evening before dinner!

My daughter says to me as I bring over my camera “I don’t have any makeup on!” Haha, us horse girls rarely if ever wear makeup! What’s makeup anyways, hahaha!!! She is beautiful without makeup and of course is beautiful all made up too. I actually sat here thinking should I share this photo? Yes, I want to share and send out happy healthy thoughts your way and hope everyone has had a wonderful new year no matter if you celebrated or not. I wonder what 2022 will bring our way? We will see! I’ll end with this quote;

You can't go back and change the beginning,
but you can start where you are and change the ending.
C.S. Lewis

I think of my dad as he loved C.S Lewis. Love you Mom and Dad up in heaven! He passed on New Years day in 2003. ❤ ❤ ❤

Grateful, thankful and feeling blessed,

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; December Fun, in 2021!

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share48 Comments

Welcome to my weekend coffee share! The last coffee share for this year to share with our coffee share group hosted by Natalie! Her blog is so fun, positivity flows and her photos she shares are so beautiful. She hosts our group #weekendcoffeeshares and you can click here to visit hers and others if you are interested as there are wonderful bloggers out there and I love our coffee share group! We will be breaking for the holidays. Can I get you a hot cup of coffee or tea? Or maybe a glass of milk to go with the sugar cookies I baked. I actually made them last weekend and they are almost gone. 😀 I am planning on baking more this weekend. I also want to make ginger molasses cookies, maybe some magic cookie bars, fudge and I am not sure what else as I will look through my cookie recipes and see what jumps out at me to bake!

I had to use my horse head sugar cookie cutter with the gingerbread man!

Sugar cookies are so messy but hey, you have to make a mess sometimes! I had a ton of fun baking last weekend. It always feels more like the holidays when I bake cookies. It is a fun tradition and I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. I am hoping to bake enough to be able to make some gift bags that I can give some baked goods away. I also need to figure out Christmas dinner for next week. I am not sure what I will make but I work all week including half the day on Christmas Eve. We still need to work to run the blood work for those sick animals heading to the vet on that day. It will hopefully be light, as most likely it will be mostly emergency vet visits and we are closed Christmas day.

I finished my cup of coffee as I love coffee with my cookies. I got myself a refill, can I get you one too? Winter is here in Southern California and we got a lot of rain this last week. We are in a drought so the rain is welcome. I wish it would rain more often and not all at once for hours at a time, but we can’t control the weather so it is what it is. It rained closed to 12 hours straight I think and when we get that much rain, it floods at the barn. The horses do fine in their stalls and stay under shelters or in the barn. Our arena has a low spot and always puddles, or to be honest it is like a huge pond. It is now almost dry as a trench is dug along the fence line to drain the water out of the arena. I have shared over the years my photos of Zack and Chloe out in the water and now it’s Murphy’s turn with his first winter here!

Murphy having fun in the water on this beautiful day after the rain storm!

He was so cute walking around and pawing which is their way of playing in the water. I thought maybe he would roll but the video was getting kind of long so I ended by showing the snow on the mountains. When I left him alone in the arena I looked over and there he goes, down in the water!! As he rolled his head went into the water and he got water in his ear as he shook his head and promptly stood up. Haha, I couldn’t get my camera out fast enough to catch him rolling darn it all….. But I took another short video of him all wet. Silly guy had a lot of fun turned out that day!!

Silly guy is soaking wet! I wonder if he will ever roll in it again?

I wonder if he will roll again in the water if I give him the chance. I ended up working him and not turning him out again with all the water which is now almost gone. We are expecting more rain next week and I am sure it will pool up again and I am also sure I will turn him out again, but he may be done rolling in the water. Haha, I wonder though?

Here is Miss Chloe in the water. I didn’t take a video, but she pawed but did not roll in it on this day. She has rolled in the water before but now that she is older, she rarely even rolls at all let alone in water. She is so sweet and had fun being out on this day.

I forgot to mention that after Murphy rolled in the water he went ahead and rolled in the wet arena dirt. Oh boy, he was so dirty I ended up hosing him off to clean him up. Here is a photo of a very dirty Murph!

This is my December fun here riding my horses and trying to keep up when the weather turns. We are expecting a lot of rain next week and probably a wet Christmas. I can’t say white Christmas because it does not snow at our elevation which is basically sea level. Our local mountains do get tons of snow and as you have seen we have gorgeous views of wintery snow capped mountains. After the rains the air is so clean and crisp, our winters are beautiful in their own way. And in one day you can visit the ocean and smell that salt water, or surf if you are so inclined and in just over an hours drive away (without traffic) you could be sledding down a snowy mountainside. I am always grateful for our weather because I can ride my horses year round and I know there are many places in this world where that is not possible due to inclimate weather. ❤

Miss Chloe dry and happy under her shelter in her stall. She is so beautiful and I Love her so much!

I have been struggling a tiny bit with Christmas time as there is always a certain amount of stress that I think we all do to ourselves and it is mostly stress in planning stuff. That is what I do to myself. I have my own personal plans as you can see and read here which is doing all the things Diana loves. Which is tending and riding my horses! Haha, and when home I will do house chore’s and take care of my home animals, our dog and cats but then I sit down and cross-stitch or crochet while watching cooking shows or sometimes a movie! It’s all wonderful with the exercise of horse care and horse back riding, and relaxing while creating. BUT what about getting some gifts or planning some dinners!! Hahaha, I do and can make myself get this stuff done, I just have to do it without stressing. Thanks for listening as I am motivating myself by writing this. 😀

I am sure some of you are great planners! or are you like me with a middle name of procrastinator? I will give myself a break because I do work full-time, 40 hours a week so for me there is a lot to fit into each day. I rarely do my crafts during the week as I just don’t have time so there is even more I want to fit into my weekends. I am sitting here writing this thinking I can’t believe there is only 2 more weeks left of 2021. As there are things in the news that are sad, in my bubble I am going to try and enjoy the end of December with as much FUN as I can fit into it and stay safe at the same time, I hope! 😀

As I think of the holidays I am missing my family and I am so thankful for technology and video chats. I had so much fun as we have been video chatting each weekend with my grandkids in AZ. Oh my, they are just so cute and I have so much fun with them. They melt my heart and we have done a gift exchange and will Zoom on Christmas day as we each open the gifts together. It’s so fun having them on our TV set! Speaking of my son and family, he continues to send photos of his kitties cuddling!! CUTENESS!!

My son’s cat’s, the brothers Wolfie and Dublin! I share frequently the photos he sends to me!

The above photo is how I feel sending warm hugs to everyone! These brothers do not disappoint and cuddle each other often. I just love when they send me these wonderful photos and since they are such a handsome pair I can’t resist and need to share! I hope and pray for everyone affected by this virus and pray for our country and mankind. These are crazy times but I can remember growing up having other things that made our world feel crazy, for us old folks out there I am sure you remember too! Let’s take in the beauty and keep smiling for all the good out there and so I will end with this beautiful photo my daughter-in-law took and shared. Let’s enjoy this season to it’s fullest and remember what Christmas is all about. I hope your holidays are filled with peace, joy and happiness! ❤

With Love to all and thank you so much for sharing coffee with me today!

Happy Horse Crazy Grandma,

~Diana ❤

My Weekly Smile; Nov. 15, 2021 Family Fun!

On By DianaIn Living life, weekly smile21 Comments
  • Pismo beach, California!

Welcome to my weekly smile post. I am back from a super fun weekend visiting my daughter who lives 3 1/2 hours north in Orcutt, Ca. She is currently a Major in the Space Force and she is stationed at Vandenberg Space Force Base. They have officially changed the name of the base and so here is to a new era of a new branch of our military. We visited Pismo beach and had the best ever cinnamon rolls which I have shared before since we often go there when we visit. The place is called Old West Cinnamon Rolls and oh my, they are so delicious and every time we sit down at the pier to eat them I forget to take a photo of them. Haha, trust me, they are to die for!! 😀

We then went shopping at a local mall as it was recently my youngest sons birthday. Oh, I forgot to mention he came up with me to visit as he hasn’t seen my daughter’s house she is leasing and he hasn’t met her kitty, Evie! He is bad about shopping and buying himself clothes and so we went to Macy’s and they had great sale’s and he got the pants he needed and a new belt. I found a pair of shoes with memory foam that I was looking for at a great price and my daughter ended up buying 2 pair of shoes. A totally fun day! I am always smiling when I can spend time with my family.

I took this through the front window of the car when we came up on the light at this intersection! I thought it so cool!
My son meets Evie, my daughter’s kitty!

Evie is such a friendly cat. I am so incredibly happy my daughter found her and was able to adopt her as she cuddles and plays. She is such a wonderful pet and friend for her and its so fun to visit as she sits on all of our laps and treats us like family! For those of you who don’t have cats, some cats can be really scared or do not like strangers. Then when you visit they just hide under the bed! Haha, we have 2 cats and one of them is like what I described. She will hide until the strange people have gone, but thankfully she will come out if you spend the night. Then she realizes she doesn’t need to be that scared. I just LOVE Evie! ❤

Funny story, my daughter is taking piano lessons. She took lessons as a youngster following in my footsteps as I took lessons for many years (which I followed in my father’s footsteps as he was almost a concert pianist!). I am so proud that she is back taking lessons again. She has a wonderful piano teacher who put together a recital with all of her students. I was so excited and told my daughter I wanted to attend. She said it is a Sunday night and that she didn’t really want me there because she thought that would make her even more nervous. It turns out our visit up there was from Saturday thru to Monday and what a coincidence the recital was this last Sunday evening! We were able to attend, she didn’t mind and even though she was nervous she performed well. Here is a half a minute snippet and a photo at the recital. She played a Chopin Nocturne, one I was not familiar with but it is beautiful.

I’m so proud of my daughter and the teacher is nearby to turn the page for her so she doesn’t have to stop playing the piece.

This teacher explained how this was a casual recital and that it is good to have casual performances to work out the nerves and to have fun with the pieces you play. We are all so hard on ourselves when we perform and I was so pleased to see how encouraging this piano teacher was with all her students. There were many children, I think more boys than girls playing and a handful of adults as well. It was such a joy to see and hear them all! I am SMILING! 😀

This is just a 30 second snippet. I thought it was a beautiful piece but then I just LOVE Chopin and can play many Nocturnes and Preludes. She is doing great and I’ve already said but will say it again, I am so proud of her and for her getting out there and performing this piece. She struggles fitting in all the practice needed since she does work full-time.

I wanted to mention that the gentlemen you can see his head in the video brought the really nice camera and recorded the whole recital. He also played in the recital and takes lessons with his very young son and daughter. They will edit the video and then send to all the students. I think that is so COOL!! Another huge smile on my face today! 😀

I started a new project, cross-stitch which I haven’t done in some years! Can you guess what I am making?

On to my last subject, my new craft project. You know I share my crochet projects and I make a ton of crochet things from blankets to crochet animals. After I finished the baby blanket and mailed it off to the Mom who absolutely loved it thankfully, I decided to pick up my cross-stitch. This piece I am working on is the third project in a book of four. They are called Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. I am working on Fall, and you can just make out the beginnings of a barn! I will share photos as I go, and my next blog post I will share the other ones I have completed. I wanted to end with this sunset photo and ask you, what makes you smile?

The sunset from last night! We didn’t stop and I just took a quick photo and I thought it’s worth sharing.

I hope you all have a wonderful week. I can’t believe Thanksgiving is just over a week away! The time just flies by but I am enjoying each day to it’s fullest. Keep smiling! 😀

Happy Smiling Mom,

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; October 24, 2021

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share47 Comments
Welcome! My sister and my best friend went in together to buy me this cool mug for my birthday! I LOVE IT!

Howdy! How are you doing, can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? It’s very gloomy outside but it’s a good gloomy because we have lots of clouds and are expecting some much needed rain! Tomorrow it is to rain almost all day and we really need the rain in our dry climate here in California. I have some small cupcakes for a snack to go with the coffee, can I get you one? I didn’t make them but they are really good. It was my birthday this last week and my hubby picked up the cupcakes so I didn’t have to bake for myself. I’m the only baker at home. 😀

I can’t believe there is only one more week left of October, but it’s been a very fun month. A couple weeks ago I went to Arizona to see my son and his family and I was there with my daughter who bought tickets to a comedy show. I went to babysit for that evening and it was so fun watching movies with my grand daughter and grand son. Well, my grand son went to bed and was super easy to put down which I was thankful for since he’s 19 months old and I know at that age they can be a handful. But they have a wonderful routine and that helps so much with young children. I had a blast and I’ll share a few photos.

My daughter enjoying Wolfie kitty who use to be her kitty, but now lives with my son. And a blurry selfie! Kids just don’t sit still!

Wolfie remembers my daughter!! He slept with her while we stayed the two nights for our weekend visit. For those of you who follow me will remember Wolfie’s brother Dublin is my son and daughter-in-laws kitty. My daughter tried to have Wolfie live with her but he was a handful and actually was eating her guinea pig hay and there were other problems and so we did some kitty swapping. I took 2 cat’s my son had (two sisters) and Wolfie was brought to live with his brother in AZ. Now my daughter adopted a beautiful black kitty she named Evie. We are all happy and the cats are all happy too! Thought I’d fill ya’ll in again and for any new followers. Haha, it was a bit of kitty drama at the time when we went through the exchanges!!

These brothers still lay together all the time! This is my photo of them sleeping on my bed when I visited AZ! Adorable!

I had such a nice weekend and when I returned home my sister from Idaho came back to town with her husband because it was her husbands 40th High School reunion. It was so fun because this is my sister who also rides horses and who is the sister I adopted my horse Zack. She couldn’t take him to Idaho, so I kept him and had him until earlier this year when he passed. Now, her and I are having fun with my new horse Murphy! Together she is reminding me about bringing along a young horse. Since he is almost 3 1/2 years old now, he is learning so much every time I ride. He is like a sponge, soaking up all that he is learning. I was able to take some photos when Sharon rode and I will share a video I took as well. We had so much fun as we also took him out on some trail rides too!

My sister riding Murphy! She and I ride alike and he was such a good boy for her. He is so relaxed and calm. He is a joy to ride!

Can I get you a refill on your coffee or tea? We have some Halloween candy too. We do not have Trick or Treaters in our neighborhood because it is considered a rural area. We do not have any street lights and the houses are a bit far apart so we do not have any kids that walk any of the neighborhoods in this area. They all usually drive to local residential areas to Trick or Treat. So we usually buy ourselves a couple of small bags of candy and we buy our favorites! Usually they are chocolates of some kind. YUMMY!

Back to the horses, sorry I got off on a tangent but you know, candy is always worth talking about and more importantly consuming! Haha! I was so happy I took my phone with me into the arena when I asked my sister if she wanted to ride Murphy. That’s when I was able to take these photos and the video I will share. After the arena we went out on a short trail ride and I was able to take a couple of photos out there as well. I am so proud of him and I thanked my sister so much for all her help and encouragement as he is coming along nicely.

My sister riding Murphy and he is so relaxed and now I have him on video cantering to the right. He is doing great!

I am so enjoying my time here with you and I am also enjoying celebrating my birthday this last week. My family in Arizona sent me a bouquet of flowers, they are so beautiful and smell wonderful! They arrived Saturday and my daughter sent me some fun Star Wars things as I Love all things Star Wars! Including a coloring book, The Princess Diaries by Carrie Fisher to read and these cool light saber earrings! Yes, I am a geek when it comes to Star Wars!! My hubby got me a cool Disney cookbook. I have a small collection of specialty cookbooks so this is a nice addition. I will finish up with these last photos.

I am a happy Grandma, Mom, wife and horse crazy gal! Thank you Natalie for hosting the #weekendcoffeeshare! I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead and thank you for visiting with me today. 😀

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; It’s October, My Favorite Month!

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share21 Comments
Beautiful wild flowers blooming at my friends house in Kentucky! She is so kind and sends me photos!

Welcome to my coffee share, can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? I am remembering summer as I share these wild flowers from my girlfriend. She has shared with me some beautiful photos of her flowers in bloom. She knows I have a LOVE for all flower photos, I could actually have a separate blog just for flowers except then I would have trouble keeping up so I’ll just share them from time to time here on this blog, my one and only blog. Can you believe it’s October? I can’t believe it as September just zipped by and here we are starting a new month. I have had Murphy for over 4 months now and he is learning and growing and is so much FUN! 😀

When Murphy arrived I took my time getting to know him as he got to know me and remember, he needed time to heal up a splint bone fracture. It is completely healed and he is perfectly sound and it is a non issue. But that time was well spent as he learned our routine. I could have done this earlier but never seemed to have enough time in my day to do some extra trimming and this weekend I was able to trim up his mane. Some people leave their manes natural and let it grow long. I prefer to have it shortened and an even length across his neck. I think it could be even shorter but that would have taken me longer and he stood so well while I spent the 30 to 40 minutes it took me to shorten his mane. When he first arrived, he did not stand still very long and was restless as he got to know our routine. Now he has gained great patience, I am very proud of him!

  • Before I trimmed his mane, it’s pretty but very long!
  • After I trimmed his mane. I love it shorter. He is so shiny too!

As I share my horsey stuff which includes riding Murphy in the arena and Miss Chloe on the trails, I am looking forward to a visit to Arizona to see my family. My daughter bought tickets to a comedian show in Arizona and is treating her brother and his wife. I asked if they needed a babysitter and they said Yes! So we will head out to AZ this coming Thursday and spend the weekend until Sunday. My son has some new games that we all can play together and Alice can join us playing some of these games too. I am looking forward to a fun game night with our visit. My son found a fun small water park for the kids and I look forward to taking them there as well. My son sent me this photo of them just the other day and I thought I would share. 😀

They are so adorable! I know they are my grandkids, but they are so darn cute ~ how can you not smile! ❤

Oh how they melt my heart! I have the hugest smile on my face right now! I have to say they are two such different children which makes sense. Alice is so sweet and cuddly. Loves hugs and attention. Teddy is very much the opposite, as independent as they come getting into everything and is not cuddly, so curious and very busy. Of course, he doesn’t know me as well as Alice got to know me at his age but he is all boy. Climbs up on everything and is as smart as they come. He will push chairs over to climb up on the countertop, he is such a handful and then some!! He is not even 2 yrs old yet and I would say has already had a few of those terrible twos temper tantrums. He will turn 2 in February. My goodness, they grow up fast! ❤

Thank you for visiting with me today and I so enjoyed your company. Do you have any travel plans? I am enjoying being able to have these long weekend get-a-way’s. I also am looking forward to my sister who lives in Idaho to visit again in a couple weeks. She is my horsey sister so we will have fun riding together again! Her husband is coming with her this time as he has a reunion to attend and she decided to come and visit too.

I want to thank Natalie for hosting our #weekendcoffeeshare link up and if you want to visit her blog or other weekend coffee shares I’ll add a link here. I hope you all have a wonderful week and I will see you again in two weeks time since I will be traveling this next weekend. Take care and stay safe out there!

Horse Crazy Grandma,

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; September ~ Fun In The Sun

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share23 Comments
These blooms are going crazy this time of year in my front yard!

Welcome to my coffee share and yes, I usually share a cup of coffee as my first photo but I got to thinking the last few posts I’ve featured some pretty flowers. This bush in our yard is just going crazy and so full of blossoms I just had to share. Fall is in the air here even though we are still getting pretty hot each day, we can feel and see the days slowly getting shorter as we head into fall. I have been busy the last few weeks which include visiting my sister in Colorado for a long weekend and riding and taking care of my ponies and working. Of course, being busy includes family time here at home and if you know or have known any horse crazy people you will realize the horses take up much of my free time! 😀 😀 😀

Can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? I will have some ice tea since we are having a hot weekend. I have so much to share. I had a grand time with my oldest sister and her beautiful family in Colorado. She lives south of Denver and the day I arrived there were scattered thunderstorms and rain. We had to drive home in the rain and at her house it even hailed! The hail stuck and looked like snow, and I asked if they get big hail and yes, they can get such big hail storms the hail can dent cars and cause damage. We never get hail that big and it never lasts long in our area on the ground.

Some beautiful trees and my sister’s backyard. It was so pretty in Colorado! Perfect weather!

The first photo is a beautiful tree in my nephews front yard. The second photo is my sister’s front yard with the pretty aspen and her back yard with her deck and greenery. My nephew and his wife live a couple streets away from his mom. I am so happy my sister has family so very close to her since she lives alone, family isn’t far away. Her grandkids would come over weekly or more often when they were younger. She always has a Sunday dinner so her son and his wife always get together with her to break bread. I just LOVE that tradition and it helps bring everyone together. I think family that eat together, stay together. I enjoyed being there for my long weekend to enjoy all the things they do together and their wonderful company.

My sister treated me to sushi! Thank you Sis for the wonderful dinner! YUMMY!

Here is to more visits with not only my sister in Colorado, but I am hoping to visit other family members as we wrap up this year and if I can’t fit it in these last few months then I will be traveling next year for sure! I have Portland, Reno, Idaho and Northern Calif to visit. Who knows? Maybe I will head back to Colorado next year too!

Some pretty photos of Murphy I took this last week. I am actually standing pretty far away, but zoomed in to create these photos! He just melts my heart and makes me smile! ❤
I am riding him both English and Western. I am actually riding him the same way, just with different saddles. My go to training is hunt seat. In the Western saddle I ride more forward because that is my go to training. I like the western saddle for the trails.
I am riding with my friend Jane, on her horse Irish! Murphy was a good boy and I thank you sweet Jane for the ride today!

I had such a great weekend with my horses. I like to call my horses my ponies, even though they aren’t ponies at all. I have mentioned it has been hot getting into the high 90’s (37C) and so I actually gave my ponies Saturday off but was able to ride both of them Sunday. Even on their day off I turn them out and let them be horses, meaning I am not doing any particular training with them. They can mosey around or run around and enjoy the time out and about in the arena. Can I get you a refill on your coffee or tea? I can tell you that the trail ride with Murphy went really well and I am so proud of him.

He remains calm through out the ride as we head down the trail. He will spook on occasion which is totally normal. I am always praising him and reassuring him which helps him learn that the little bit of scary stuff isn’t that scary. He is a very brave horse especially at his age of 3 and so I know that every ride he will just get better and braver. He has a lot to see out on the trails, so in time he will be just as seasoned as my girl Miss Chloe! ❤

Miss Chloe is the sweetest horse I have ever owned! She melts my heart just as Murphy does and I am a lucky cowgirl!

I had a super fun ride on Miss Chloe after I rode Murphy with another friend at the barn. We rode around the block and it was a bit hotter and later in the morning but it was a lovely ride. She is such a good pony, walking along as not much phases her on most rides. She is a horse of course, so there will be times when she will be frightened or scared but we have been together for so many years it doesn’t take much to reassure her that we are fine and she calms right down if she spooks.

Thank you for visiting my #weekendcoffeeshare and I want to thank Natalie who hosts as she is doing a wonderful job. I am just going to make it for this weekend share, but wanted to join in since it has been a couple of weeks. I want to thank my best friend for a wonderful lunch we had together this last weekend. We don’t see each other like we once did and so we are going to meet for lunches more often to stay in touch! YAY! I just love that and I will try and stop by her barn more often as well. I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead! 😀

Happy Trail Riding and Traveling Cowgirl,

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; Last Week Of June Fun!

On By DianaIn Barn stories, weekend coffee share33 Comments
  • Welcome to my coffee share!

My goodness this year is flying by and here we are just about half way through 2021. Can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? I do have some juice as well but let’s get to the happenings around here as my daughter came home this weekend to visit with her friends and see the new floors in our house. She will be heading home tomorrow, a short visit but it is always wonderful to visit and see family.

Today after I enjoyed riding my Chloe girl with my girlfriend on Roscoe, I finished up with Murphy who had a turn out today. I then joined my daughter at her friends house and we went to downtown Riverside to eat lunch and visit some shops. The lunch place was a really nice food court and we had some wonderful vegan burgers and fries. We were close to an open market and also found a really cool old bookstore! We had a lot of fun walking around and I took some photos today. We then went to Trader Joe’s and after that bought mini Bundt cakes at a specialty store called Nothing Bundt Cakes. They are the perfect size and they have a lot of flavors and so we will have that for dessert later!

Super good lunch! YUMMY! and mini Bundt cakes for dessert!

I love the sayings 😀 I should have bought them but I didn’t. I Love all the trees that line the streets so I had to take a photo!

It was hot today but we weren’t outside walking around too long before we were in a shop or bookstore. There was a wonderful breeze which made the afternoon really pleasant. It is always great fun to be out with the girls. My daughter’s girlfriend has two children who stayed home with dad, so I am thankful they let me tag along! They are the sweetest girls, so thankful for them. They make me smile and laugh. I try hard to keep up, sometimes feeling so much older (which I am of course) I am not one of those Mom’s who try’s to stay hip or anything….. I am just grateful they enjoy my company too. My daughter is spending the evening at her friends as well. We have plans to visit my daughter next weekend for July 4th. My hubby and I will drive up north the 3 hours to see her new house and spend time with her there. We all need to fit in all the family time we can, so here’s to FUN family weekends!!

Back to the horses, I have not only photo’s but a video to share. I had ridden yesterday by myself on Chloe and had passed a lot of other riders on my ride. There are so many days that I ride and don’t see anyone, but maybe they were out early like I was to beat the heat! I also have a few photo’s of Murphy I wanted to share as well. It is so fun to share!

There’s horses coming down the trail towards me and my camera focused more on Chloe’s head then the horse ahead!

She’s such a good girl as each horse or horses rides by, but then we are out on the trails all the time. She is very seasoned and not much bothers her as we stride along enjoying our day. Sometimes we come across bigger groups and so we will stop and move off the trail a little bit if needed. Mostly, we all just walk by each other and wish each other a good day and a good trail ride! Here is my video, I hope you enjoy!

I’m enjoying my time working with young Murphy! He has really settled in and is learning our routine. I think routines are so important as it not only helps solidify a bond between horse and owner, the horses learn by doing and they will relax and learn. They will realize what is asked of them is not hard, or scary and when you communicate what you want while doing this routine you can layer their training and they will then feel safe in your presence and with everything you ask them to do.

He is finally standing really well to be groomed. He was more antsy, moving around and he didn’t really enjoy the whole grooming process when he first arrived. With routine he is learning that if he stands, I can get done with what I need to do and his reward is getting back to his stall where lunch is waiting for him. Win, win! He is doing great!

Murphy out in the arena! Too funny, I caught him licking with his tongue slightly out on the photo to the right! Haha!
I took these photos of him standing next to another horse and he was respectful and quiet and stood like a champ!

My girlfriend with her horse Irish was next to Murphy. I went behind them so that you can see how tall Murphy is and Irish is pretty tall himself. Irish is a Morgan, so we have a Thoroughbred next to a beautiful Morgan! ❤ Okay, I think they are both so beautiful! And I have to say, I am so proud of Murphy! He has been such a joy and I am going to start riding him more regularly going forward.

Murphy and I getting along famously! Thank you pony sister for taking these photo’s for me! ❤

Thank you for visiting my #weekendcoffeeshare! It is always so much fun to share my days whether its family fun or horsey fun! I am keeping busy as you can see and I haven’t even written about my crochet projects and/or my coloring fun. Its just some fun things to do when I get home from work to unwind after a long day. Thank you Natalie for hosting the weekend coffee share, and if you would like to read more coffee shares click here!

Grateful Mom and Cowgirl,

~Diana ❤