Tag: #horseridingfun

Labor Day Weekend ~ Sept 2

On By dprastkaIn Barn stories, Horse stories, Living life5 Comments

It is Labor Day Weekend, What? I can’t believe it is September 2, 2019. As I am writing this I have the news on watching Category 4 Hurricane Dorian stalled along the coast of Florida, my heart and prayers go to all those that may be affected by this hurricane. I know we can have disasters here where I live, earthquakes and wildfires to name a few and am thankful they are far and few between at least in the location of my house. But what I wanted to talk about was the lovely weekend I had at the stables. I am so thankful for my horses and all the joy that they bring to my life. It is also helping me to stay grounded as there are new stresses at home, so the escape to the stables is a blessing in disguise.

Zack on the left, Chloe next and then Gracie on the right in the cross-ties. ❤

It is getting more crowded at the stables. We have always had the same amount of stalls, but sometimes they are rented to people that either don’t ride or don’t come down the same time as all the “trail riders” and so there is sufficient room when I am there to exercise my ponies. Now there are more and more woman that are riding in the mornings making things like hitching posts or cross-ties a commodity. So all the photos I am going to share today are my ponies after my trail ride this lovely weekend but I had to tie Zack to the side of the cross-ties because there was no where else to tie him. Thankfully, he ties REALLY well, so does Chloe for that matter and there is a place to tie him to the side of this cross-tie. I LOVE all the grass at this boarding stables, for many reasons and one of them is when I hosed off Zack I was just watering the grass, NOT making a mud hole since this isn’t really a “place” to tie your horse. It works, it works really well I think! I can see myself doing this more often in the future with all the new ladies at the barn! Lol 😀

A more candid shot. I like it! If you look closer, Gracie isn’t “tied” she is what we call ground tied. Just standing without being clipped to the cross-ties. She pulls back and does not tie, silly girl gets scared when tied to anything. But she stands perfect without being tied! ❤

We have had really FUN rides and it has been great bringing Zack along as I am getting more and more practice ponying him next to Chloe. I now have gone across our busy 6th street with no problems (I didn’t think it would be a problem, but I wanted to feel confident before venturing out on trails where there could be more for either horse to spook at and I am getting it done with confidence!). I am very proud of myself and all my riding experience is paying off as I train more each time I ride out with both horses. Today we rode out and on our ride a motorcycle came towards us down the road and Zack got really upset as he doesn’t like motorcycles or bicycles especially riding towards him and he jumped up and really bumped Chloe hard but stayed in my hand on the end of the lead rope really well. He calmed right back down and just started walking again with no issues. Chloe was a superstar as she always is and just took the bump and let him be up and scared and she just stood her ground. I was really happy how it all turned out, no ride is perfect and you just have to be prepared for anything. This all turned out fine.

A friend at the stables asked if I wanted her to try and get their ears forward? Sure I say, silly ponies!!
Finally, with a bucket of carrots Zack is interested and giving us that pretty look! He has lost hair around his eyes, this happens to Chloe too, from fly spray use during the summer! That’s why he looks like he has dark circles under his eyes.

I so enjoyed riding this weekend and every day I can ride. I am so very happy I decided to try this ponying thing, bringing Zack along on our rides and it is a great challenge and is turning out to be a ton of fun and also is a super time saver. I am “killing two birds with one stone” as they say, which with what free time I can dedicate to my horses always has me leaving one of them less exercised as the other. Now they are both getting a nice 1/2 hour to hour ride each trail ride we go on and I am a happy camper with my new found confidence and trail ponying abilities. ❤

I started out this post with a beautiful rose bud from my garden. To say good bye to summer and to say hello to fall. We can still have some summer heat through the month of September, I pray it will start to cool off soon. It does cool off at night so that is helpful, if you get up early the mornings are really nice. I will end with a photo I took as my son and I went out on a late walk this weekend as the sun was setting. I hope you all have had a nice holiday weekend and enjoyed this last weekend in August.

Pretty sunset, good bye August!

Happy trails with my ponies Zack and Chloe!

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; Great Trail Ride Today!

On By dprastkaIn Barn stories, Horse stories, Living life, weekend coffee share6 Comments
Weekend Coffee share is a time to share with friends and family. What are you up to this weekend? Are you staying home and relaxing or enjoying the great outdoors?

I decided to share what I am doing this weekend which is enjoying my time with my horses. I sometimes get so darn busy I have to slow down and savor my days off and really stop and smell the roses, or smell the horse stables and the horses!! What made this day so incredibly enjoyable was a beautiful cool summer morning. It was a cool 65 degrees this morning at 9am and it warmed up to the low 80’s a definite improvement from 100 degrees which it topped earlier this last week. The week coming up will climb up again to 102 but am thankful it cools off in the evenings. I feel very thankful it does cool off here in Southern California. It has been a hot summer but not as bad as some summers we have experienced so I can’t complain. It is going to be beautiful tomorrow as well. So LOVING this weekend weather! I forgot, since I am talking about all this weather I think a nice iced Latte with almond milk would hit the spot for me, what are you drinking today? 😀

Hi Chloe and Zack! looking for their treat after our ride today. I now take Zack every time I ride out by having him follow me with a lead rope on his halter. It is called ponying, it is what they do when they take pack horses on long trail rides. He is in heaven walking along side of Chloe!
Please can I have a treat? I only spoil them after my ride, they were GREAT today!
Silly photo, they LOVE their treats!!

I went on the trail with my girlfriend Sally and her horse Gracie which I have shared many photos of them here on my blog. The 3 horses are like their own little herd and so enjoy being together. I am learning to pony Zack and we did not know how Gracie would be with both Chloe and Zack walking along side and she was perfect. We turn them all out together so it makes sense that they were just fine walking along the trails here in my home town of Norco. Today as we rode, I was just feeling so relaxed and was so very happy that I had both my horses with me getting some good exercise and we got to chat and catch up riding with my girlfriend. I am so lucky and thankful for such a great day. I hope to have many more! How is your coffee or tea? or maybe you are drinking some juice? How is your weekend going for you, I hope it has been as nice as mine. ❤

Zack after a nice grooming after the trail ride. He is a happy boy!
Chloe after our ride today. So funny I manage to catch her as she is taking a bite of her hay!

I was going to talk about some of my other projects that I do at home. I so enjoy my crochet projects but I think I will write a separate blog about that and I can take a few more photos of my project before I share. So I will just stick with my coffee share this weekend and keep focused on these pretty ponies. 😀 😀 😀

I am feeling so accomplished by getting more and more confident in taking them both on the trails. I am getting better at figuring out what to do if things go awry (for instance; one of the horses could spook at something, or they both could spook, I am thankful they are not really spooky horses.) You never really know what you may come across while riding throughout the neighborhood. But I do feel like both horses give each other comfort and I also feel like Chloe’s experience with me holding the reins gives them confidence as well. They are VERY responsive and aren’t the type to panic and the few little things that have come up so far we have managed with perfection. I am so excited to be riding and training them together on the trails because some day if I am able to move to Arizona, they will be good to go together and will already have the trail miles on them to start right out trail riding together anywhere where move.

I hope you are having a great weekend. I am so happy that I take the time to slow down and enjoy what I can when I can on my days off. I’ve enjoyed sharing as always, these ponies bring me so much joy and I am so happy, grateful and blessed to be able to ride and care for these beautiful animals!!

Horse crazy Grandma, Mom and Wife!

~Diana

Riding Before The Storm!

On By dprastkaIn Barn stories, Horse stories, Living life, Love being Grandma4 Comments

There is a storm brewing and the forecast is 100% rain for later this evening into the morning hours. This has been the most rain in a very long time this last winter and I have to admit a very cool Spring. I can’t complain about cooler weather for Southern California, especially since I live inland, we see over 100 degrees in the Summer months. Thankfully, we just spike 100 degrees but we can live in the 90’s through the Summer so I WELCOME the cool and I do welcome the rain. I know it won’t rain for long, but I also know I won’t ride tomorrow. So I took advantage of my day off and rode both horses! 😀

I turned around after hanging up my bridle and thought what a neat photo! I can’t believe I caught him with his tongue out! Haha! Funny boy!

I have to thank my best friend Sally for a wonderful trail ride on Miss Chloe! It was very uneventful which is nice as we chatted about her granddaughter, our travel plans to visit both our granddaughter’s next month, FUN times! Yes, we rode around the trails through the neighborhood here in Norco and enjoyed a leisurely walk as our horses know where to turn and take us for our ride. I was thinking I need to ride Zack since rain is coming and I just rode him in the arena. He is settling in to our leisurely rides since he is retired, he has finally figured out it’s not going to be a hard workout. I know I spoil them but in a respectful way as I don’t want them to take advantage of me which they don’t. They are respectful back!

I should count the pomegranate trees at the stables, there’s at least 10 running along the arena outside the fence. The blooms are beautiful!
I have shared other photos of my horses treating themselves with a nibble of these trees!

I had a really nice day off enjoying my ponies. The wind started to pick up, so I was able to finish all my chores and then come home and work on my crochet as I have some zoo animals I am trying to complete. I just wanted to share my day and must say I really needed the riding, it relaxes me so much. I also enjoy grooming and caring for these giant animals. I fed Chloe and got her to look at me for a closing shot. The sun peeking through the clouds to shine on her face a bit! What a beautiful girl! ❤ ❤ ❤

My beautiful trail pony!

Stay dry if you live in California or in other areas that are still having winter/wet weather. And smile big as we are all truly lucky to be enjoying this wonderful life we have, right?

Warmly, feeling blessed,

-Diana

Family Visit’s, Busy Days!

On By dprastkaIn Family is important, Living life, Memories8 Comments
California poppy’s are blooming everywhere! This is at Chino State Park.

It has been a crazy, busy last two weeks. It seems as I get older instead of slowing down I am getting busier and I seem to try and cram in all I can in one day, or in this case two weeks. But it is all good and I hope all the family that I saw in the last two weeks enjoyed our time together as much as I did, especially because we got to see and do some very fun things. Breaking bread together is on the top of my list of favorite things that I enjoy, probably because I LOVE FOOD! ❤

I am going to share some food photos I did take as we ate at a yummy Mexican restaurant, Anchos in Riverside and my oldest sister treated us and it was absolutely delicious. They make homemade tortillas and we all got some sort of fajitas and with those homemade tortillas making soft tacos, oh goodness, my mouth is watering just thinking about all the good food we shared together! We also ate Sushi two times with my other sister who was here too, the last dinner she treated, Thank You both – sister’s rock! ❤

Shrimp fajita’s, with jalapeno butter for dipping! Best taco’s I’ve ever had!
Sushi which I LOVE! This is actually my sister’s plate as her’s looks the best. ❤

As I write this things have settled down. I had two sisters (out of 4, and I have 1 brother) come and visit for different reasons, but there was an event we shared together and that was to go to my Aunt’s 90th birthday party. What was fun is that we were able to celebrate my oldest sister’s birthday as her birthday is close to my Aunt’s so we were able to take her out to celebrate before she had to fly home. And we were able to eat great food with yummy dessert’s, we all had a piece of pie instead of cake for her birthday! It was a wonderful day and we had a great time at my Aunt’s festivities too. ❤ Do you have busy family days? Sometimes the busy gets crazy busy, but am thankful we all made it work.

I was so thankful that my sister’s came to share my love of my horses. Intermixing each other’s schedules, trying to make it all work, one of my sister’s is a horse back rider and use to own Zack which I adopted when she moved to Idaho. My other sister is not a horse person but spent time at the stables visiting while we went on a short trail ride. Here is a photo of my Aunt who is doing well, and looks good at 90 years old! ❤

My Aunt Rene who turned 90 in February, 2019 ❤
Sally is on Gracie, Sharon on Zack riding one of a few trail rides this weekend!
My sister Bonnie sitting, and Sharon is standing as we visit at the stables!
The view leaving Chino State Park, such a beautiful view!

I take so many photos and I want to share so many, but I also want to share my story as so much has happened in the last two weeks. I am just touching on my busy days, no use boring everyone with all the details. Suffice it to say that there was a lot of decision making in trying to figure out how to fit everything in we wanted to do together. Amazingly we made it all work which I am proud of and I am hoping my sister’s enjoyed their time here in Southern California. 😀 I think I’ll just write another post about my visit to Arizona to help my family there and most importantly I got my granddaughter’s hugs in which I cherish. ❤ I can’t help myself, one more photo! Thank you for spending time with me and reading about my busy weeks! 😀

She melts my heart, my granddaughter and me! ❤

Family crazy times, visiting sister fun and grandma joy!

-Diana ❤

Horse Therapy for Me!

On By dprastkaIn Barn stories, Horse stories, Living life15 Comments

I think everyone should have some outlet to unwind and for me the best place to unwind and de-stress is at the barn with my ponies. I know many people enjoy hiking, walking, maybe spending time with a good book. Maybe you live near the beach or a lake to relax and unwind. How do you like to unwind? I know sometimes weather does not permit outside activities as I also enjoy crochet and baking to help me relax. I absolutely love crafts and I know some enjoy sewing and quilting. I also think many find cooking and/or baking as a go to therapy session. Is there something that helps you with the daily stresses of life? Back to horses……

I believe most horse owners like to call even big horses ponies, it’s an endearing way to call them and they bring us much love and therapy. It was a beautiful sunny day today, no wind and not a cloud in the sky. My girlfriend and I had a most excellent trail ride, temps in the 60’s (I did not take a photo of that ride, I wish I had) I would categorize this day as a perfect day!  ❤

My Chloe girl after a beautiful trail ride!
Selfies are difficult with these huge animals! But fun to try! 😀

I had so much fun taking my photos today as I tried to take a selfie with each horse. I’ve tried before with the same outcome. I think they are cute even though we both don’t fit into the photo very well. Hehe, they make me giggle! I had a really tough day at work yesterday, the stress from my job can sometimes get almost unbearable as I was pulled so many different directions, trying to put out fires and answer questions…. I would have to say one of the most stressful mornings that I have had in a long time. I went to work Monday night shift at 12:45 am and because of unforeseen circumstances of one of our other lab sights needing to send us lab work to be completed at our lab, I ended up staying into the next day to 2:30 pm. I worked 14 hours straight, no lunch, and we couldn’t even finish the job when I just had enough and had to go home. My legs were so sore from standing and just a very long shift. After such a long arduous day, to be able to have the most fabulous relaxing trail ride with my girlfriend -we have what I call therapeutic talks – this day with my ponies just filled my soul. I feel so lucky and blessed! ❤

My selfie with Zack! ❤

After my trail ride on Chloe I had time on this day to ride Zack. I’m thankful I had the day off today. He is my second horse that I adopted from my sister who moved to Idaho. I have many posts about my horses, and I just had to write about them today. One of the reasons this day was so good is because the rides were just perfect. Each horse walked on our trails here in Norco which has trails all over town, absolutely perfect. Not one spook, sometimes there is a little something to jump or spook at, all horses do as they are horses. It could be as simple as a plastic bag on the trail, something Zack would look at, or a dog hiding in the shadows to jump out and bark at their fence as we walk by. Both horses have gotten barked at and shy away or jump a little, its expected and they come right back and continue walking on like nothing happened. All in all they are excellent trail ponies with tons of trail miles!

Zack and I walking on the trail! ❤
The sun felt so good on my back today, the shadows are amazing!
I took this shot because I LOVED THE SHADOW!

I felt like a kid again noticing my shadow! The sun was in such a great location high in the sky for perfect shadows. I have to say that I so enjoy the outdoors with these beautiful horses. Did I say how lucky I am? I know I say it often, lucky and blessed. I’ll say it all day long. I would much rather share the FUN even though I have bad days, I so enjoy sharing these wonderful days. I hope you all have had a great day, or even better a great week. I am hoping for less stressful workdays, boy, yesterday does not need to be repeated any time soon. Here is to therapy for a happy life! I hope you all can do things that you enjoy and that bring happiness, relaxation and much needed therapy to your life! ❤

Thank goodness for the good days,

-Diana

For the Love of HORSES!

On By dprastkaIn Barn stories, Horse stories, Living life15 Comments

This weekend is my younger sisters birthday. Actually her birthday was Friday 9/14 and she was born in the best month as fall approaches, I LOVE fall, probably my favorite time of year. It’s a toss-up between fall and spring with the other two seasons right behind. I would not mind living where there were more distinct seasons, a colder winter, maybe even a little snow. It would be great fun to live where the pace was slower, a bit more relaxed and not so crazy like it is here where there are just waaayyy too many people in Southern California!

Happy Birthday Sharon! As I ramble on about other things, how my mind does that as I try to put thoughts down, and I do it in person as we were changing subjects today when my best friend and I were enjoying each others company at the barn. We ramble on from one subject to the next and then back again! Haha, I think it’s a girl thing, so I apologise to those who find my writings crazy or off topic sometimes. I do edit, and try to fix it if it’s too off topic but I haven’t written in a while so I have lots of stuff ruminating in my mind! My sister Sharon and I have had a love story for horses, I know she misses me as much as I miss her and we shared so much together and one of the biggest things we shared were our horses!! So I dedicate this blog to my sister Sharon as I envisioned her on our beautiful trail ride today with my best friend Sally. The weather was amazing, sunny and just right and I want to share with you the photos I took of this blessed day in the saddle!  😀

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I just stare at this photo, the LOVE for my girl Miss Chloe is hard to describe. It is a lot like owning a dog, as they display unconditional love like dogs do and the bonds you form are the same as they see you walk onto the property they whinny for you as they walk around their stall anxiously waiting for you to take them out for what ever you will be doing with them for that day. They are so willing to please, and consistency is so important with these large animals. She knows we will go to arena for a turn out or a turn out and a trail ride. Today was trail ride day, she knows I have apple treats as she reaches for one in the next photo!

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She is so adorable, fun, trusting, pretty as a princess! Her and I are like peas and carrots, knowing each other like we can read each others minds. Actually, they can read your body language, very, very well. So we head out on the trail and Sally and I on her pretty mare Gracie walk along our trails as we catch up on our busy week we had. We talked about how many trail rides we have been on over the last 40 years we have known each other and we figured it to be something like 5,000 trail rides!! That’s just so awesome!  ❤

All us mares and girls on the trail!
Haha, Sally and I selfie!

I have probably written before about how I have adopted Zack and today I rode him on the trail by myself as I have two horses and Sally only has one. Occasionally, I am able to hook up with another rider at our barn, but the timing didn’t happen today so I just went on a second trail ride alone on Zack. I did not go as far on Zack, but I took some photos as I thought it would be fun to share and since it is my sister’s birthday weekend, he was her horse for many years. I adopted him from her since she moved to Idaho. She didn’t want to bring him for several different reasons one of the biggest was he was diagnosed with EPM. He is all healthy now as he has been treated and is doing great! He and I have formed a nice bond too. It will be three years soon that I have owned him and Chloe and Zack are best friends too!!

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He is such a handsome boy, he is looking for treats too. Okay, I know I spoil my horses but they are easy to spoil. I do it in a way where we still have mutual respect for each other. Here he is looking like he is winking at me, I think he chews the side of his tongue and lately a lot of my photos I’m catching them with them blinking. Oh well, I’m going to share anyways! 😀 😀 😀

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Zack and I on the trail!
ME! Haha, I’m not good with selfies!

For the love of horses, they are amazing animals. I absolutely love everything about them. I can groom them for hours, I love the smell of the barn, the hay, the leather in the tack room. I could be there all day, cleaning tack, cleaning stalls, I am not there all day but I can spend a good half a day there on my days off. I could easily get back into competitive riding, but I do not own horses that are able to compete. I know I have that drive in me, but I am also very happy that I am able to do what I can with the horses I own and trail riding and light arena riding is doable and absolutely FUN. They truly make my life rich, and I feel like I am living a dream. Thank you for reading my fun-filled day with my ponies and my friends at the barn! I know my sister is having a wonderful birthday weekend enjoying it with her family up in Idaho. LOVE you sister, love to all my family who live all over these United States. I hope you all had a great weekend too!  ❤

Loving Horses forever,

-Diana

Keeping Up, One Day at a Time!

On By dprastkaIn Gardening, Horse stories, Living life, My Life as GrammyLeave a comment

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Have you ever felt so busy that you wonder how can I keep up? I feel this way often and just when I feel like I’ve caught up, I’m actually behind! My sweet hubby bought me these beautiful flowers, so colorful with this wonderful card which has such great advice. One day at a time, one step at a time….. Let’s take a deep breath and say it again. One day at a time, one step at a time. We can do this, we should not let our crazy busy lives spiral out of control. It may be you do not have this problem, but there are many of us that our plate is so full its overflowing. So full we do not know how we do all that we do, and this is what I’ll be writing about today. MY BUSY LIFE! CRAZY, FULL, FUN, SATISFYING most days, and I will say I feel blessed, even though I also want to say Whoa, let’s slow down just a little bit please! 😀

I work full-time at a Veterinary laboratory on the night shift. I have been working night shift for some 35 years, and even though I had a couple of breaks from night shift work I actually prefer the shift and being the supervisor of my department at the lab this shift works best. As many who have read my blogs know, I own 2 horses and working night shift has enabled me to be able to see and take care of my horses on a daily basis. I sleep in the late afternoons into the evenings and so I feel like I do get some of my sleep at night, its just early evening and not all night. But it does make for a crazy schedule and the pressure of being the supervisor rears its ugly head when things go awry and so I need to remember to take one day at a time. I have been working on some projects at work that has pulled my crew together as we join forces in keeping the department running smoothly and more accurately we are all working hard to do better at our jobs. I don’t want to get into the details as I’m sure this can all get a bit boring, suffice it to say that I feel personally that the affects of my broken arm from last September bled into my work or lack of it and so I had to take the bull by the horns and get serious and get things in line. I feel very confident at work now, things are all going in the right direction!

But for all my hard work I then get to enjoy these incredible animals!!

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Zack is so fun to ride and I wish I had more time to ride him! Something that I find hard to fit into my busy schedule. I did have time the other day and he is so FUN to ride English in the arena. He has such a great trot, a nice gate that when riding English its a great workout for me as I post along doing figure eights with him and moving on and off the rail. I canter sometimes, but I rather trot and he moves out well and I know it is a nice work out for him as well. I tell myself on any given week, I am going to ride him twice or three times this week…. sigh…. I am lucky to ride him once a week. One day at a time… Oh well, he is retired and I do get him out every day for a turn out but riding is not as regular. We are doing okay with that I think and his weight looks good and I think his muscle tone is okay too. He makes me smile! ❤

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I also fit into my schedule babysitting my grand daughter Alice! Oh my how she melts my heart and she just loves grandma’s horses and with the help of my girlfriend Sally, we went riding the other day and my girlfriend took this photo of Alice and I on my horse Chloe! I have had Chloe since she was 2 years old and she is turning 14 years old this year. Chloe and I can read each others thoughts, maybe not word for word but darn near close to it as we have such a close bond, for any horse lover out there it is incredible. Chloe absolutely loves people and especially children. She is so patient and kind and we had so much fun just walking around the arena on this day. These are my favorite days, a true blessing to be able to enjoy my horses with my friends and family. I have to work hard for what I have but it is worth all my efforts and I take full advantage of my morning hours with my ponies. ❤ ❤ ❤

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And I have managed to fit in gardening. I love being outside and it thrills me to see it grow, but this heat can be daunting. I have to tell myself one day at a time…. I probably didn’t feed my garden as well as I should have so we will see what grows, but I also have some containers and am planning on planting more and I will manage to squeeze in watering and enjoying watching my garden grow! I also spend time crocheting and I have made many crochet animals, Star Wars characters (my favorite!) and many more items. Scarfs, small purses and I’m working on a shawl. I’ve made baby blankets and baby dresses, the list goes on and on…. I also have done a ton of cross-stitch but have not done that in some years prefering crochet as the projects are completed much faster!!

Lastly, I am trying to find time to blog!! I so enjoy writing, AND I would love to write more but I do find it hard to find the time! Oh my, I can’t imagine writing every day. I would want it to be readable and enjoyable and so here I am hoping you are enjoying my busy day. I am getting really tired as it is my day off and I’ve been up all night last night. I use to take naps during the day, but as I’ve grown older I seem to be able to stay up but it’s getting late in the evening so I will turn in soon. I know some of you may not be that busy and I’m rather envious of you, but those of you that have an overflowing plate will relate and so I hope you all can take – One Day At A Time – and enjoy that day fully!! 😀

Love, Di-