Welcome to my weekly smile! What made you smile this week?
I can’t believe three weeks have passed and in my head it seems like maybe just a week maybe two at the most have gone by as I’ve been meaning to get my smile post written. I did take a bit of a blogging break, just needed to clear my head and before my eyes the weeks slip by. I mentioned I injured my knee in another post and I now know that it is most likely from riding my horses. I am having to take a break from riding the next few weeks as it heals, so I am working a lot on my crochet project. I am smiling as I see some good improvement on my knee. I think its just a ligament sprain.
I am also wanting to thank you all so very much for liking and following my blog! I received this the other day, I thought a rather random number but since I don’t look or track these things on my blog it was a nice surprise! 😀
Thank you for all the Likes!
This is the first time I have received this congratulations and again, it is ALL OF YOU that made this possible. I just think it’s a funny number! Why not wait until I hit 1,500 Likes? or give me a congrats at 1,000 Likes? BUT This put a HUGE SMILE on my face. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Ya’ll made my day! 😀 😀 😀
I am more than half way through this baby quilt. I thought I would share as it makes me smile. I think it looks pretty in pink for a sweet baby girl due in September. It is so fun to create these projects and I can do them pretty fast.
These are long gone, missing my roses blooming! They will bloom again one day!
These are very small tea roses. I have two tea rose bushes and this one finally bloomed like crazy this year. Its a much more vibrant pink than the other tea rose which is a lighter gentler pink. I do not have any more blooms, kind of missing my roses. I am waiting for my tomatoes to ripen. I will go check on them after I finish this post. I think they are just starting to turn red. I read that I can pick them before they are totally red and they will finish ripening on my counter. I don’t want a bunch of bugs to get them before I can pick them. I just have one tomato plant and I think I can manage eating all the tomatoes it provides! I am smiling all the way to my bounty of salads I will be eating in the near future! Haha, does that even make sense? 😀 What makes you smile? Thank you so much for visiting my smile post this week!
This mornings sunrise! Walking for health and well being.
I wake up feeling a bit stiff. I stretch and stretch again and can’t wait to walk. I am writing this to keep myself accountable because I want to walk every day, but I don’t. When I am working I am walking and I walk when I am at the barn but that is not what I am talking about. I want to walk miles, but my busy life makes walking miles challenging! How do you fit exercise into your schedule? I LOVE the endorphins from exercise, I think I would be an exercise addict if I didn’t own horses, or LOVE crochet and the other things that block my way, like work and my crazy schedule. 😀
So I am writing this to encourage myself. Haha, maybe I may encourage you too! The stretching I did after my walk after my synovial fluids were warmed up (they say it takes 20 minutes for your synovial fluids to flow and lubricate your joints, this goes for horses and all animals so consider a good warm up as you exercise!) that stretching felt SO GOOD! I am feeling my age these days and if you do not stretch, DO IT! I can’t tell you how tight your muscles get, whether you are sitting all day or standing a lot. I can’t tell you how much better you’ll feel if you add stretching to your daily routine. I am no exercise guru, just an average Grandma/Mom and am feeling great and adding this to my routine has really changed my life. I never thought stretching and walking could make me feel so GOOD! YAY!
I do get exercise at the barn with my horses. I get upper body work out with the pitch fork and raking. I also carry bags of grain and shavings. I lift my saddle (a saddle can weigh from 10 – 60 lbs) my western saddle probably weighs between 30 – 40 lbs as it is a flex tree and is lighter than the average western saddle, my English around 20 lbs. I have never weighed them but that is another upper body work out. AND brushing (grooming) my horses, definitely a good upper body work out! This is my outside gym! ❤
My grooming helps them shine! This is from last weekend after a beautiful trail ride!Zack to my left (really my right) and Chloe as I walk them to their stalls!
My girlfriend at the stables was walking up the aisle as I was walking my horses together back to their stalls after my ride. She said “whoa” HAHA! and I realized she meant for me to stop as she pulled out her phone to take some photos. THANK YOU! I don’t have many photos of myself with my ponies. I just LOVE THEM!! I am going to share a few more as I so adore my Equine friends. I am so blessed and truly thankful I can have these beautiful animals. They really listen to me and we have such a good time together.
As I walk both of them I have learned that keeping their feet moving is the best way to get from point A to point B. You see they are 1,000 lbs and are very strong and they know their strength. Yes, they are compliant most of the time, and while leading them if I let them put their head down and take a bite of grass, it is all over. They are too strong for me to pull their heads up one arm at a time! Haha, they are not bad, they just act like they are starving and that they must eat the grass. So if I keep their heads up and don’t let the lead line get too long, especially walking both together I am good! Silly ponies!
I just LOVE this photo, such pretty horses! Uh Oh! I need to move their feet! Zack wants to eat, and Chloe too! If they get the upper edge I just leave one to eat and take the other to the stall. No use fighting or pulling and not winning the grazing need.
As I walked into the tack room yesterday and with all the rain I noticed all the leather smells in the tack room. I think when it rains it really makes the Earth smells a bit stronger, don’t you think? That smell of leather is just wonderful. Have you ever walked into a tack store with all the leather and its smell? I do know that you can walk into a stable or even a petting zoo and I know you can smell the animals, right? I just LOVE the barn smell, all the hay and horses! but I get use to that smell so I only smell it when I am away and then return. Maybe some may not like it, but I can’t believe people wouldn’t like the smell of leather. This got me thinking about ALL the leather stuff I own. I wonder why when you own a horse (or two!) ALL the amount of stuff you accumulate. I have enough horsey stuff for probably 4 horses, hehe, maybe my hubby will let me get another horse!!
This is a peek into our tack room at our stables. Oh the WONDERFUL Leather smell today!This photo is all my horsey stuff! There is the 3 tree tier to the left and the 3 tree tier to the right. YUP! It all belongs to me, except for 2 saddles which one is my friends and the other is my sister’s. I have to admit, my sister did leave me a bunch of things when I adopted Zack. 😀These are my 3 saddles. The top saddle is over 40 years old and is my original English jumping saddle. It is called a Crosby and can still be used today. The middle saddle I bought used at a yard sale for $250 about 10 years ago (good deal) a nice riding English saddle. The bottom saddle is my western trail saddle. I bought it barely used for $750 (good deal) it has served me well and is very comfortable!
As you can see us horse people NEED a lot of horsey stuff to ride with and to take care of our beautiful horses! In that white bucket near my saddle tree is horse treats. I have to keep them in plastic so that I don’t invite mice and/or rats into the tack room. I like giving my horses treats after my ride and since they are not suppose to eat carrots (too much sugar) these horse treats made for horses are a good substitute to carrots or apples. I have many bridles, bits for bridles, leg wraps, clippers oh my, so many things. I decided that it is a good idea to have these photos and thought it fun to share. Just in case I see anything missing (we haven’t had any issues with theft) but it always a good idea to have these kinds of photos!
I have so enjoyed sharing with you today my need to hold myself accountable and to share my horses and all the fun I have with them. I am thinking I may go through all my horsey stuff and pull out items I can sell. We have a wonderful store here in town called Thrifty Horse, and you can bring them items you can sell, a horse consignment store. Its great as you can find things used and cheaper there and/or sell things you’ve collected and don’t need any more. With these rainy days, this week would be a good week to do some Spring cleaning! I hope you all have a wonderful week.
Mylife-and-Horsestories 