Tag: #kittyphotos

Weekend Coffee Share; End Of February

On By dprastkaIn Living life, weekend coffee share17 Comments
Welcome to my weekend coffee share where we share what’s been happening in our lives with old friends and new!

Can I get you a nice hot cup of coffee? I do have tea and I can serve either hot or cold! I do love ice coffee for a change of pace, but my favorite is a nice warm mug of coffee with my favorite sweet Italian creamer. I am doing pretty good, how are you doing? I am enjoying our Southern California weather and my heart goes out to all in the frigid cold. I pray for all in areas where they met some bitter cold that affected not only households but farms and ranches. I am hoping some warm weather is near so that the thawing can begin. As I sip my coffee, I ponder what the future holds which for me is feeling more and more comfortable as I am enjoying my new job. Less stress and normal working hours, every weekend off! I feel like I am in work heaven, and that is my work at the veterinary laboratory. I can honestly say it is definitely the best decision I have made in a long time. I am so happy I decided to leave my other job after 20 years of night shift and supervising my department. I worked very hard, and now am working just as hard but without being in charge. I am SMILING! 😀

I am not sure why I am being so introverted with my thoughts. I guess because when you lose something so near and dear, it makes you look at your life and your decisions and what is happening now and what will the future hold. So much retrospection, it comes and goes but when I want to write this is what comes to the forefront of my mind. I believe this is natural, so forgive me as I wonder around my head with these things. I will say that as I am trying to focus my thoughts I am very grateful to be here to share. I really enjoy blogging and sharing. I have some fun photos I wanted to share. They are all kinds of random things I enjoy.

Some blooms in my garden today!
  • My daughter’s pretty kitty amongst the fluffy stuff!
  • The two brothers, my sons kitties. They are so adorable!
My happy, handsome, funny, smiling grandson Teddy! Howdy Teddy!! You make me SMILE!!

His mommy and daddy say he can say “awww duu” for “all done” which is so darn cute. He also purposely puts his foot in that position in the high chair to be “stuck” and laughs about it as you can see in the photo! Haha, he is a cutie patutie and is just as cute and adorable as my grand daughter was at this age! AND those kitties are so cute. My daughter use to have one of the brothers but he was really hard to have in her apartment with her Guinea pigs. So he went to live with his brother at my sons house. So it’s funny she gave her brother, the brother to his cat! Haha, follow?

And to make things more complicated my son had three cats when he took in the brother which made four and they all didn’t get along. My kitty was very old and went to kitty heaven, so I took two of my sons kitty’s and they are sister’s which one of them didn’t get along with the others. Between all of us (in different houses) we have six cats! I am so happy my daughter has found a nice beautiful black kitty that is so happy in her apartment with her Guinea pigs. The Guinea pigs live in a cage most of the time, it was the hay that the brother kept eating which upset his stomach and made messes all over the place. Anyways, fun to reminisce on how who got where! And I love to share their photos.

Candid selfie as I try and take a photo of my girlfriend and I out on trail. She can’t see when I am taking the photo so she wasn’t looking at me. I like the photo and really wanted to share so forgive me Jane! It’s still a nice photo of our ride!
Another candid shot with Jane on her horse Irish! He is so beautiful with his ears looking forward. We can’t remember what we were talking about, probably the photos I was trying to take!

I have another photo of Jane on Irish but his ears aren’t forward but Jane is smiling. Haha, Jane still looks fine and I’ll call this my action shot! I have a super cute and heartwarming story to share about Jane and Irish. She told me this last weekend that since my horse Zack passed away Irish does the most sweetest thing. You see, Chloe lives in the barn up near the cross ties area where we all tack up for a ride. As Jane gets on Irish and they start walking to either the arena or the trail, she rides with a lose rein and he chooses a path directly to Chloe’s barn stall. He checks on her every day! They nose each other as if he is saying “it’s okay now” and then he walks off to a ride with his owner. I’m incredibly touched and I actually witnessed him doing this and it touches my heart. Chloe is well known at the stables as I have ridden with so many at the barn. They are feeling, sentient beings. ❤ ❤ ❤

Thank you for joining me for coffee today. I so enjoyed sharing and even though I have shared random items they are all near and dear to my heart. I am hoping you all have a wonderful week of the last week of February! I can’t believe March is around the corner. I am going to work on my gardening and am going to try a little bit at a time. I don’t want to bite off more than I can chew, because I would like to have a successful garden! I would love a super huge lush garden with many veggies and beautiful flowers and shrubs. I want to learn how to garden correctly, and do it all by myself or with help from hubby. And I will just slowly build on my garden, that’s more my speed. Looking forward to Spring!

Happy Gregarious Grandma,

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; End of January!

On By dprastkaIn Living life, weekend coffee share34 Comments
  • Welcome to my coffee share! Can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? Let me tell you about my morning…..

As I left my house this morning for a walk I was looking down and was positioning my walking stick in one hand and opened my front gate with the other with the cool air on my face. It was a nice 44F degrees and the sun was up above our hills shining on my back. I haven’t been walking as much as I would like, something I need to fit into my schedule. I was feeling happy to be out and as I walked I thought to myself what always makes me smile is mother nature and her wonders. Isn’t it so wonderful to enjoy all she has to give to us? I stopped in my tracks, I looked up at the sun, and then I decided to turn around and as I turned this is what I saw. Wow, majestic! this view took my breath away!

I couldn’t believe my view as I turned around from my walk, WOW!

I wasn’t paying attention as I headed out the door and I turned right to walk down this road which is away from this mountain view. I was so happy I slowed down to stop as this was a great place for a photo. The blocks I walk I saw more wonderful views, but this one set me in a good mood as I took in a deep breath and went back to my walk. My walk was a bit slow as bones creaked a bit and as the sun was rising I decided to take another photo heading more along the path I was walking.

The sun rising above the hills. I felt like I was getting a sunrise hug!

As I finished up my walk I got to thinking about how fast this month flew by. I can’t believe in about a week it will be 3 months since I started my new job. I can tell you I have never felt better sleeping every single night. (For new followers, I use to work grave yard shift full-time and had been on that shift for over 30 years!) I think I feel 30 years younger! Except for my creaking bones, a bit of arthritis in my feet and with this cold weather my right arm that I broke some years ago which has a plate and screws will ache a bit. I found some wonderful cream that helps with pain in muscles and joints that I use. So I get some relief and go about my day not thinking about it again. But when I get up in the mornings, I am a little creaky! Haha! 😀

Can I get you a refill? As I am enjoying the rest of my coffee, I just can’t stop thinking about how I am so enamored by the great outdoors. As I sit here and write on my laptop I can look out my front window and this is what I see. I can honestly say that this house we have here has some pretty cool views. I thought I should try and take a photo. So here it is!

Haha. the view is through a screen on my front window. Not the best photo but I love the view.

With it being a sunny day the snow melts fast and within a few days these snow capped mountains will be no more. However, there is another storm coming this next Wednesday so the snow will return once again. I don’t think one will ever tire of the snowy mountain views! I use to live in the local mountains many moons ago. It was an experience, but am happy down in the valley with my horses.

I have been in a bit of a funk. That’s a strange word “funk” but its a good description. I am in between crochet projects and have been doing nothing but coloring. Yup, you heard me correctly ~ coloring in my adult coloring book! It is rather therapeutic to color, but it is not motivating me to start a new craft project. I’ve been wanting to make this shawl which I bought yarn to crochet but the pattern is a little complicated. I started it but got a little discouraged and stopped. I also could get back to making my crochet animals? I usually am not so distracted. I usually move from one project to another, I am hoping to find my focus soon.

This is the shawlette I am going to crochet. Power of positive thinking as I work out the instructions! Haha!
Maybe I should just make some ponies! Okay, they look so cute!

Maybe I should just make these really cute crochet ponies and they will help me with my funk. Aren’t they adorable? I think I will work on these and get back to the shawl at a later date. I will share what I make once I get some of them completed. There are a whole herd of horses to create in this book, 10 to be exact. I have to thank my daughter for buying me this crochet project book. I am getting excited writing and thinking about these crochet ponies. I find working on my crochet crafts brings me much comfort and I LOVE creating things with my hands. It is so rewarding and always makes me smile. I also find the more I crochet the better I get, and so I enjoy my projects even more! What do you do that stirs your creative juices? I am sure many of you bloggers enjoy writing! I also have friends and family that love to sew. My sister’s sew quilts, so talented!!

I am going to wrap up with some kitty photos just because they make me smile. 😀

These are my kitties who are sister’s. Duchess closest with Dinah behind her. They were fast asleep until I bothered them with a photo!
These are my sons cats, the brothers. I love this photo as they are shaped like a heart! One is Wolfie, the other Dublin but I don’t know who is who! Haha, they make me smile!

Thank you for joining me for coffee today. Sorry about being in a funk, haha, I had to use it again because it’s such a funny word. Makes me smile to think I’m in a funk! I also want to do some gardening but I want to educate myself about gardening. I have been bad about my teeny gardens which the last one was in containers. I am just winging it, buying some fertilizer and then some starters and all I do is water. I know I live in an area where I could grow some serious food if I put some effort into it, which means taking the time to read and learn how to really garden. I need to know how to take care of said garden, and be a more mindful educated gardener. Sounds great! Now just need to learn! I’ve enjoyed sharing the beautiful mountains and kitties. I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead!

Enjoying Mother Nature and furry friends!

~Diana ❤

My Weekly Smile; Jan. 12, 2021

On By dprastkaIn weekly smile22 Comments
These are my sons cats, they are brothers and so handsome!

Welcome to my weekly smile. I have to say I am telling myself to just smile as I was messing around with my WordPress sight trying to manage all the emails that go to my AOL email account. It really doesn’t matter but everything posted through WP whether its notifications or posts or whatever goes to that email. So, I went through the settings and turned a bunch of stuff off under the title “emails” but it somehow stopped sending the notifications to my phone app. So I have posted several posts since New Years and was wondering after this last week why I wasn’t seeing any ones comments. I was thinking maybe my posts didn’t post or something and that’s when it clicked in my head, I think I screwed things up!

I only go on my laptop to write these posts. I enjoy typing on it much better than trying to write posts through the phone app. That’s where I found all these comments I haven’t been seeing, so I apologize and feel lost in space! 😀 This last week I have made a few blunders, and this is one of them! I also messed up the beginnings of a lemon bar, putting 3 cups of sugar that was suppose to go into the lemon curd into the cookie layer underneath. I had to throw it all away and start all over again. I have to laugh at myself, read the recipe carefully Diana!! So I am smiling at making mistakes, because it seems that is my theme this week! 😀

This is a little blurry I think, but I got brave and wore my Star Wars mask at work. Haha, no one cared at all! I felt like such a nerd! 😀

I am also wearing a nerdy Star Wars shirt to go with the mask. Now that I am not a supervisor, I don’t have to have that “in charge” look? or you know, be the responsible looking supervisor. I can be my geeky self and not worry and of course I also work as responsibly as I can and everyone knows that I work hard and do a good job. Anyways, I really wanted to get this smile post out there as I know I don’t need to apologize but as I went through as many missed comments as I could and I tried to respond I may have missed a few folks. I just love the comments and interaction so I have to say, sorry if I missed ya!! Here’s to leaving things alone the way it is set up which works great and I will not mess with the settings again! (I even uninstalled, then reinstalled the WP app on my phone so it would reconnect with the correct settings!) Sheesh, I was really wondering what was going on for this last week or so! Haha, I need to slow down and read instructions and leave some things be just like they are when they work just fine.

The boys saying, hang in there Diana!

I hope you all have a great week!

Crazy setting changing gal,

~Diana

Weekend Coffee Share; I’m A Happy Girl!

On By dprastkaIn Living life, weekend coffee share10 Comments
Welcome to my weekend coffee share where we share what’s happening in our lives with old friends and new! What’s been happening in your neck of the woods?

Welcome to my coffee share, can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? It’s been getting pretty cold at night for our area, which is a nice reprieve from the super warm days we had heading into November. I think a nice hot cup of coffee will go nice with the cookies I just made. They are chocolate peanut butter chip cookies! They are delicious, I know you will enjoy them as they are warm from the oven!

I bought a bag of Reese’s peanut butter chips and had to make these yummy cookies!

I will be honest, as I have all these thoughts running through my head and I am trying to get my thoughts organized so that I can share how this last week went for me at my new job. I think I will just write as the words ramble out and hopefully this visit with me will all make sense. It was an intense week as I had to shake out all the thoughts in my head of my old job and concentrate on my new job. Thankfully, these jobs are really similar and are actually both Veterinary Laboratories and they both use the same exact instruments to run the animal blood work. The biggest difference is the new job has a new computer system (they use to both use the same computer laboratory system, so the switch would have been even easier). But I take good notes and picked it up quickly. There is still more to learn but I am off to a good start! I am a happy girl!

As I sit and think about this last week I will tell you that switching shifts was a bit more difficult than I anticipated. It felt like I had jet lag at the beginning of the week which makes sense because I switched from working night shift to day shift. I worked Saturday night shift, slept Sunday night and was at work last Monday morning at 10am. By Tuesday I was exhausted and I thought it was Thursday, but by Thursday I was feeling much better and was not that tired any more. I am thankful the switch over went well and actually it was probably better I had to train 10am – 6:30pm for the first week. Now I am staying up later in the evening to start my new hours 2pm – 10:30pm this next week. 😀

I have been walking every day. This was this morning and there are a bunch of crows in the top of the middle tree in this photo! They are very loud and caught my attention. Sorry I don’t have a good zoom. One day I will have to buy a nice camera!

As I head into this next week I realized I can walk every morning. I had trouble walking every day working night shift because I often was too tired or I got home from work too late to fit it in on the days I worked. This is a super happy discovery as I head into this next week. I actually was a bit sore on my walk this morning because I have been able to get out there and exercise. Its all in the plan to get in shape! I’m so happy I can get out and walk more often and I can ride on trail more often too! Win, Win!

I guess my thoughts are coming out pen to paper okay. But I wanted to write this yesterday and almost didn’t get my coffee share completed. I know I just have to give myself some time to get organized or feel like I have some control over my schedule. I feel like I was at a training class last week, and so as I head into this week I need to find my footing with my new hours and figure out what I will accomplish at work each week. I am going to be taking care of all the maintenance on the instruments and I have been told to just do it however I want. I love that autonomy, and I love how they trust I will get it all done each week.

How is your coffee or tea? Need a refill? I am glad I baked so many cookies as there is lots here to eat. They are rich and so tasty, a few is all I can eat at one sitting.

How can I not share my ponies! They have thankfully settled in so well in their new stalls.

I so appreciate all the support I have in my life. All of you fellow bloggers, I so appreciate all your wonderful comments and support. I thank you for reminding me to take my time and breathe through all these crazy changes I have made the last few months. I am telling myself to be kind to myself and that training at the new job takes time. I think I have been able to demonstrate to everyone at my new job that I do know what I am doing. I also want to thank my friends and my family for all their wonderful support, such kind words all coming my way with all the love in the world. I am humbled and grateful for you all. THANK YOU, ALL OF YOU!!

Baby Teddy has outgrown his bassinet, so the brothers are as adorable as ever at my son’s house in Arizona! My daughter-in-law shared this cute photo!

I will end with Dublin and Wolfie, the brothers who are just so beautiful and so photogenic. Such personalities! Thank you for visiting my coffee share. There is something cathartic about writing about my week with all the thoughts ruminating in my head. I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Happy, Grateful, day shift working cowgirl!

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; Busy Days!

On By dprastkaIn Family is important, Living life, weekend coffee share31 Comments
  • Welcome to my weekly coffee share where we catch up with old friends and new! Can I get you a cold brew? or an ice tea? Too hot here to share a warm brew. How are you doing?

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

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

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

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

  • Duchess in her hammock
  • Dinah all comfy!

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

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

If you follow my blog, this is my 4th sweet dreams blanket! Haha, I know, again? It is actually really fun to make, I can’t help myself and each one is a different shade of blue, one was pink!
Aww, my sweet grand babies! Alice and Wolfie kitty as they watch Saturday morning cartoons. You can see baby Teddy sleeping on Dad! My son and wife have the sweetest family!

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

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

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

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

Confused kitty crochet loving Grandma,

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; Sept 19, Wait What?

On By dprastkaIn blogging, weekend coffee share24 Comments
Welcome to my weekly coffee share where we catch up with old friends and new! Can I get you a cold brew? or an ice tea? Too hot here to share a warm brew. How are you doing?

Welcome and I can explain – Wait what? I am amazed because September is half gone. I just can’t believe how the weeks fly by and so I figured it is worth contributing a bit of time conversing over time and its passage. That’s right, how in the heck do these days, months, and years go by and as I look forward to a new chapter in our lives I am also looking back. There will be a lot of heart string pulls as we go through items packed up that belonged to my parents that have longed passed. I’ve been really bad about keeping things and/or not going through stuff, STUFF! There I said it, we really have too much STUFF! One thing I did want to share is a very old parlor grand piano. My dad’s pride and joy, and I am sad to say it is time it goes to piano heaven. 😦

Parlor Grand Piano. In her day she sounded amazing and so beautiful with the top open. Unfortunately it has been taken apart so I can’t open the top. Someday I’ll find old photos I can share. I have played such beautiful music on this gal!
She served us well with many piano lessons. My Dad was almost a concert pianist, he was so talented! He ended up choosing to be a physician instead.

My kitty Duchess enjoys being up on the piano. We often have a small blanket on it and both my kitties enjoy time laying about on it and it has served its time as a beautiful sounding piano. Back in the 70’s my Dad invested over $10,000 rebuilding the entire inside of this antique piano and we then enjoyed many beautiful preludes, sonata’s and other classical pieces played on this beauty by my father and me. But as she’s aged, she has really fallen in disrepair and for us now as we age we just do not have the money nor think it is worth salvaging her. It is extremely expensive, not only to repair but to move around the country. She has been with me my entire life and through 6 moves as we are in our 6th house with my hubby and I. She has actually lived in 8 houses total. She will be missed and this is my tribute to our Grand Piano! ❤ ❤ ❤

Just want to add that a parlor grand is the smallest of the grand piano’s. It is longer than a baby grand which helps create a deeper overtone when being played, hence why my father chose to buy this and it isn’t as huge as a regular size grand piano. I also want to add that as sad as I am to see the piano go to piano heaven, maybe where it is headed somebody might see its inner beauty and decide to invest in repairs. It will take a lot of money, she may make beautiful music again some day. I will always remember her and the beauty that filled our ears!

This is Dinah, my other kitty! They are so adorable!

I can’t share photos of one kitty and not share the other. They are sister’s after all. Can I get you a refill? I forgot to ask earlier, but then that’s how I roll. When I get going talking it is really hard to shut me up! Haha, sounds harsh. When I was growing up my older siblings nick named me “motor mouth” because I would just talk and talk and talk… I think you get it…. I digress.

I wanted to share something I am extremely excited about and that is my daughter who was the one who turned me on to blogging and hooked me up with WordPress is going to start blogging herself!! YAY! I am so excited as I am so enjoying all that blogging has brought to my life and I know she will really enjoy it too! We are so much alike, I can’t wait to read what she shares! I am so proud of all her accomplishments and it would be so fun to share in our blogging world her blogs as well. She wants to improve her writing skills which in turn will help her at work. I told her to go for it, and it can be a bit scary to hit that publish button but it has been the most amazing journey so far and I can’t wait for her to join in on the fun! GO BLOGGING FUN! 😀

  • Taken last year! Love my Chloe girl, thought I would share again!

Thank you for visiting! I am hoping for some cooler weather soon. It cools off at night but it is still hot during the day as it usually is in September. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. And I am so thankful for my blog and my blogging friends. I also want to welcome some new followers, you all are awesome. Thank you!

Pianist, needing a new electronic piano! (someday)

~Diana ❤

My Weekly Smile; July 14, 2020

On By dprastkaIn Barn stories, Memories, weekly smile10 Comments
  • Welcome to my weekly smile! What makes you smile this week? I have a lot to smile about this week!

We are half way through July and summer is here, definitely no bones about it, it’s SUMMER! ! We’ve crested 100F (38C) several times through this last week. It is to be cooler as we head into this weekend. I’ll take anything under 100 degrees as I spend at least 2 hours each day outside with my horses. With my work schedule I am sometimes getting to the barn near noon, so silly hot but there is almost always a breeze which helps and I must take care of those cute ponies! My smile is for hot summer days and pony fun!

  • Bath day for Zack! He looks relaxed!
  • Enjoying a turn out together!

Not only is my smile for summer days, it is for summer fun eating home grown tomatoes! Not only am I getting some nice tomatoes my neighbor has given us some of theirs and so I am sharing with my girlfriend at the stables. My dear friend Maria suggested I mulch the bell peppers which are with the tomato plant and so I mulched them yesterday. I have been watering them a lot with the heat and there are many flowers on the bell pepper plants so we will see if they grow some bell peppers soon. Weeks ago one plant grew one bell pepper which I chopped up and froze. I haven’t taken any photos of my veggies lately. I’ll share this next weekend.

  • My next project! Doesn’t this cute cactus make you smile? 😀

I’m smiling as I finish up my pink baby blanket and looking to make these cute little crochet cactus! Oh my, so much cuteness! There are 12 different cactus that I think will be so fun to stitch up and have a collection of cacti! I plan on giving some away as well. They should stitch up fairly quickly and am looking forward to making something new.

I’m going to end with a memory photo that popped up with the sister kitties. These cute kitties are my son and daughter-in-law’s kitties. I am thankful I am able to take them and enjoy their company as they now live with me, hubby and my youngest son. This was when they were just kittens 4 years ago. How can you not smile! 😀

  • ADORABLE! Sister’s Dinah and Duchess!

Enjoy the rest of your week and I hope you have some things that make you smile. I have enjoyed sharing with you all and stay cool and safe.

Smiling pony loving crochet crazy gal!

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; June 26, 2020

On By dprastkaIn blogging, Horse stories, weekend coffee share24 Comments
  • Weekend Coffee share is a time for us to take a break out of our busy lives and enjoy some time catching up with friends (old and new). Please grab a cup of coffee or tea and share with us!

Welcome to my coffee share, can I get you a strong cup of coffee? or maybe some tea? I am having ice tea as I am getting an early start to this weekend and its rather warm out so ice tea is very quenching right now. As this week ends I am realizing it has been 2 months since I moved my horses to a new stables. I live in Horse town USA (It really is what our small town is proud of with over a hundred miles of horse trails all over town). There are a ton of stables, too many to count but that being said I had decided to move across town to a bigger place with more amenities. I can’t believe 2 months have passed! WOW! Time flies!

The horses have settled in really well. I did have one little hiccup with the hay I chose for Chloe that she ended up not liking. This new stables offers 5 different types of hay. She has lost some weight which isn’t a bad thing as she’s a big girl, but I think she was getting an ulcer from this hay and so I had them switch it out with what she is use to and she is much better now. Zack I didn’t change any hay when I moved him so he is doing well and I like his weight. Chloe may gain weight, I don’t want her to get too heavy as they can get something similar to diabetes called Insulin resistance which can cause many metabolic problems. Zack has this Insulin resistance, so I have to watch his weight and what he eats. It makes me very happy to see them thrive and enjoy where they now live. 😀

  • This is the front of their stalls. They are nice and big
  • Zack and Chloe eating lunch!

I have to say that I personally have settled in as well. I had many regrets after I moved the horses leaving many friends and I found that change is hard. I think change is harder than we think and sometimes we just want “normal” back, even if that normal had some underlying emotional strain. I had some issues at the old stables, some things that happened in the past that left some wounds. Wounds do heal, but I just felt that it was a good time to try something new and change things up and boy, that’s exactly what my girlfriend and I did, changed things up! We are finding our groove and a new routine. I am enjoying our new stable digs! ❤

  • Zack enjoying lunch today!
  • Hi Chloe! She’s a happy girl!

I have one last thing I need to accomplish and as we get into July I want to go out on the trail by myself with both my horses. I have only gone out on the trail with my girlfriend and her horse Gracie at this new stables. I have confidence that my ponies will be just fine together without my girlfriend, and it’s important to me that I give this a try as there are days my girlfriend is working and I LOVE the trails so I need to get out there and my world will be complete. Just a goal I would like to complete sometime in the near future. They needed time to get use to all the new things out on these trails on the other side of town. My horses have had plenty of time to settle in, and I am settling in too!

  • Silly kitties, sleeping together!
  • Duchess, you barely fit!
  • Dinah is so beautiful!

I usually try and have a segue into the next subject, the photos will have to do as I really wanted to share the kitty photos. The boys are the ones that are probably in baby Teddy’s bassinet more than the baby, aren’t they silly and my family in Arizona provides me their photos. These kitties live there. Duchess and Dinah are with us and they are the best girls. They are sisters and the boys are brothers for those who are new to my blog posts. I’ve posted many photos of these kitties, they bring us much joy and happiness! Thank you for visiting and having coffee or tea with me today.

Have a wonderful weekend!

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; Keeping Busy!

On By dprastkaIn Barn stories, Living life, weekend coffee share15 Comments
Weekend Coffee share is a time for us to take a break out of our busy lives and enjoy some time catching up with friends (old and new). Please grab a cup of coffee or tea and share with us!

This last weekend came and went like a whirlwind for me and I so wanted to participate in the Weekend Coffee Share and decided to call this the weekend wrap up. At this point it may be a little late to offer you coffee and for me it is lunch here. Can I get you some Ice Tea? or maybe some lemonade? I am a tea drinker and prefer tea over lemonade, or maybe we can mix it and make it an Arnold Palmer!! I ate breakfast so it will have to be lunch, sandwich with potato salad for me, can I make you the same? Sounds yummy. 😀

I wanted to share some photos as I always do and I also am going to just go through my weekend and the fun I had as you know I am always mixing it up with my crafting and horse back riding. The first photo is of a project I am working on for my sister. I am thinking of making a bunch of these as gifts as they stitch together easily and I am so happy I finished one! On to the second one, after I tie up and stitch in the ends! They come in a pair! SO FUN! 😀

Finger-less mittens. I know it’s Spring now, but they will come in handy this next winter!

I also finished another baby blanket for my nephew and his wife. Their baby is due in May. Here is a photo, look familiar? I made the same one for my grandson, only I chose a different blue so no two are alike, that’s how I roll! I have to personalize them. This baby blanket stitches up fast. So fast I may make more in different colors and sell them at the local craft fair!

I used a baby blue for baby Teddy (my grandson). I Love this too! Lots of boys this year adding to the family tree!

I stitch at home in the afternoons before I have to sleep. Since I work night shift I need to have some down time so I crochet while I watch some TV. Usually I am watching recorded cooking shows, I am really into them and like the competition shows the best. I feel like an old lady saying that, but oh well, I’m probably an old lady! HAHA! I watch other shows too…. some news but that gets old after awhile and there’s other recorded drama shows my hubby and I watch together. Holy smokes, how did I get on that subject! So silly. On to my weekend, and I really wanted to share a few photos from my trail ride. 😀

My best friend on Gracie, the chestnut and I am riding Miss Chloe and ponying Zack!

We were heading back to the barn when another best friend was heading out and saw us and stopped and took a couple of photos of us coming in and I am so thankful for these photos as I am terrible about asking someone to take them of me riding! AND we have our masks on too, so it will be our photos to look back on during a pandemic! CRAZY DAYS! Our friends at the stables call each other pony sister’s, so Thank You Jane, my pony sister for these wonderful photos. ❤

Zack looks like he’s thinking, are we done now? We went for a longer ride so I think he is tired!
I gave Chloe a bath after my ride this weekend! She is SO SWEET!!

After our ride I cleaned up Zack and put him away and then gave Miss Chloe a bath. I really need to give Zack a bath and am waiting until it warms up this week. By Thursday it will be in the 90’s (32 Celsius) so I will give him a bath then as he takes longer to dry. His coat isn’t as short as Chloe’s and I would like it to be nice and warm for him since he is a bit older.

As I wrap this up I have all these thoughts running through my head. I usually try hard to write my blog with a theme, whether it be my horses, or my family or sometimes just my crafting. I think I’ve mixed my crafting and horses often as I do take the most photos of these two things. I am finding that my mind is kind of all over the place, probably because our every day lives are a bit tenuous, and that is probably an understatement. I want to stay positive and keep this post about the weekend, I think you all won’t mind. 😀

Aren’t they just ADORABLE! ❤ ❤ ❤

These two brothers are just amazing to me. How can you not say – AWWW! Sending my hugs like these two kitties, from my house to yours!

Happy thoughts, Happy Loving Cowgirl,

~Diana

My Weekly Smile; Jan. 22, 2020

On By dprastkaIn blogging, Living life, Walking for Health and Well being, weekly smile10 Comments
An early rose bloom! 😀

I went out for my walk this morning and saw some early blooms on my roses and thought I would share. I have posted before my rose blooms and although I love how pretty they are what I love the most is the smell. Just LOVE rose, definitely one of my favorites. This put a huge smile on my face as it is still winter and yet some of my roses are blooming! They have loved the rain we have been getting and the cool weather. My smile today is just enjoying another day off. I so look forward to my days off, who doesn’t right? My days off are split which is okay with me as I work night shift so it works out working a few nights and then getting a day off to recharge. I’m happy with my schedule! What makes you smile? Is there anything special happening this week? or maybe just enjoying your day?

This is my tea rose which is getting a few blooms.

It’s been very cool the last few weeks with temps barely hitting 60 degrees. For us here in Southern California, it is nice and cold. It gets down into the 40’s at night with cloud cover and down in the 30’s when the clouds are gone. The morning dew is here and with all the clouds and rainy weather its such a nice relief from our many months of sun and heat. I took a few photos on my walk this morning. I love the clouds, haha, we do not get clouds as much as sun in this part of the world. 😀

This is heading down the hill to my house. So wintry out!
The sun rising and illuminating the clouds. So pretty and silvery grey!

I am enjoying my day off so much. I am seeing the sun shining in the front yard now that it is rising and that puts a smile on my face. The high today will be 65 degrees and I just looked at the 10 day forecast and starting tomorrow it will be in the 70’s and by the end of this month the high will be 80 so it is beginning to warm up.

I also wanted to post an update with the kitties as they are doing excellent! They are so happy and they have settled in so nicely. I am really happy about the transition and am very thankful they have adjusted and find us enjoyable to be around. They will follow me around the house, so cute. They play with the kitty toys and let us know it is time for breakfast or dinner! Their meows are so cute, and they rub on us and let us rub and scratch their chins. Happy kitties! 😀

Tried to get them to look at me, they are so adorable as they love laying and sleeping together!

I want to thank Trent for hosting the weekly smile! Thanks for visiting and smiling with me today! Have a wonderful rest of your week.

~Diana ❤

My Weekly Smile; Kitty Swap 2020

On By dprastkaIn Family is important, Living life, Smiles, weekly smile11 Comments

We are one week from our family kitty swap! This week my smile is for a smooth transition and for HAPPY CATS! All of the swapped kitties are settling in and all is peaceful which was the goal of kitty swap 2020!

The run down of what happened in case you didn’t read my previous posts. There were 2 kittens available to adopt. My daughter had one brother, Wolfie born last year around May. The other brother went to my son’s house who they named Dublin. They are part Siamese and amazingly look almost the same. (My daughter-in-law had a family member who’s cat had kittens and is how the brother’s came to be available). My son already had 3 cats so Dublin = 4 cats. My daughter’s cat was a handful, so much so (long story) she asked me if I could take him as I had put down my kitty so I became cat-less. I was able to take in cats and LOVE THEM and have always had cats, dogs (and I have my horses too!)

As this was happening my son’s cats were not all getting along. For whatever the reason the dynamics of the 4 cats the spraying and even fighting was getting worse each week. They did try many things to get them all to get along but they were not having any of it and so we came up with a plan. It is working out great and I do not need to find kittens to fill my home as I now have the sister’s! The drive with all the cats went so smoothly. They were mellow, a little meowing but nothing bad as it is a 5 hour drive to and from Arizona. Here are some photos of these pretty kitties, first are the sister’s that now live at my house!

This is Duchess and she is not bothered by anything or anyone. She settled in the fastest like she has lived here forever. She is a solid, calm kitty which helps calm her sister. ❤
It took them 3 days to sleep together again. They have done this since they were kittens with my son and his family! ❤
This is Dinah enjoying the sun! I like how it is lighting up the back of her head! She is a beautiful dark gray and the sweetest of the two of them. She still looks around as she was the one being picked on when she lived with my son and the other 3 cats. ❤
I was going to edit this photo but I really like it as this is my family! My son is drawing a treasure map and his daughter had so much fun with it. My other son is on the couch with the 4th kitty, Penny. This orange tabby was the one fighting with the dark gray Dinah. Silly kitties, wishing they all just get along. We fixed all that!!

Once we arrived in Arizona, Wolfie was kept in the bedroom where my hubby and I stayed. I shared photos already of this in my last post but those brothers immediately knew there was a kitty on either side of the door! They were so cute, playing with each other under the door. They had this low growl – or weird growl they both would make. I can’t say what they were saying to each other but they were playing what we called paws! You would see these long kitty legs sticking under the door, hilarious!! They have since been introduced slowly and are doing great!

The brothers back together again! Dublin is in front, Wolfie behind him. I can tell because Dublin has a spot on the right side of his nose, Wolfie has the spot on the left side of his nose! Aren’t they just the most handsome cats? I Love them!!

What makes you smile? I sure do love sharing my smiles each week. It makes me think of things I love or just to be thankful for as we go through this crazy thing we call life! I hope you are having a wonderful week and I hope you will share something that makes your smile!

Cat bliss Grandma,

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; Travel and Cats

On By dprastkaIn Family is important, Living life, weekend coffee share9 Comments
Weekend Coffee share is a time for us to take a break out of our busy lives and enjoy some time catching up with friends (old and new)! Please grab a cup of coffee or tea and share with us! What’s been going on in your life? any weekend plans?

I am here up North about 3 hours from my house visiting my daughter. My son came along to see her new apartment and I always LOVE our little trips as we usually visit some local cool places. We ate dinner in Solvang which isn’t too far away. It was a wonderful dinner and the evening was brisk as we walked around before our reservations. We went to a book store there, one of my daughter’s favorite stores. It is mine too, I love books of all kinds and usually my daughter and I end up in the cooking section perusing through cookbooks trying to figure out which one to buy! We both have quite a collection of cookbooks, haha, but neither one of us have time to cook like we would like! We both will be trying to cook more, as it is probably cheaper and a healthier way to sustain ourselves! Dang, I forgot to ask you would you like coffee or tea? my apologies, as I ramble on here I have cold ice tea as well. I try very hard to not drink soft drinks, I think I lost a pound or two removing them from my diet, hehe, I try where I can!

All decorated for Christmas in Solvang!
To the right is a park and they were playing live music. Love this little town!
Goofy photo of the three of us! Haha, I only took this one and decided to share!
Dinner, sea bass with rice and veggie. Delicious and thank you my sweet daughter! ❤

While visiting my son and I have been helping my daughter build some furniture she ordered. One of the bigger items was a couch frame. She just loves the 60’s look, it is called boho (bohemian) and I love her spirit and eclectic artistic style! She had bought these big long cushions that are for a couch frame but she just had them on the floor. After a few months living with these on the floor with a bunch of pillows she realized that having it raised would be more comfortable. It was fun to build the couch frame and it is really comfortable now and the small coffee table she bought from Ikea is now the right height near the couch! She will be hanging some tapestry, I can’t wait to see it hung up on the wall! It will look really COOL! But we can’t hang it while Wolfie the kitty is here as he will tear it down, or try too… How is your coffee or tea? Need a refill? I just refilled mine and am eating some homemade cookies we got from the Christmas party last night. We went to my daughter’s work party, what FUN and it was cowboy themed! Yeehaw, my kind of party! I wish I brought my cowboy hat, but I had boots on and a flannel cowboy shirt and jeans. Fun times!

I didn’t take a photo of the couch, but I also put together 2 stools from Ikea! They were really fun to put together. They are very sturdy and will be an addition to her kitchen table with 2 chairs. Eclectic all the way, I just LOVE IT!

On to cats, we just LOVE cats but cats can be a handful and a 6 month old kitten who is very mischievous living in a small apartment who’s mom is very busy working very long hours is difficult and since my dear sweet kitty has gone to heaven, I am catless. I just made up that word but it makes sense to me. But the cat story gets a bit convoluted and crazy because we are going to do musical cats! You see my son has the brother to the cat my daughter has and when they took home this brother kitten 6 months ago, it made the total cat number in their house 4 and it seems with this number things have gone awry, and one of their cats is spraying or marking (because of stress, most likely) and they had never done this before. My son and family realize now that 4 cats overall is just too much, so here is the plan.

My son and family have 2 cats that are sister’s and these litter mates will come to live with me and my hubby. When they bring these 2 cats they will take Wolfie, the brother of the kitten they have. So the 2 sister’s will be in the house by themselves and then the brothers will be back together again. My son has one other cat which gets along with Dublin the other brother. I am bringing home Wolfie and the exchange will happen next week when my son drives home from Arizona before Christmas. That is one reason why I am up at my daughter’s to bring kitty home for the exchange. We will go from no cats to two cats. My daughter from one cat to no cat and my son from 4 cats to 3 cats. Haha, are you following along? Did you do the math right? Are we in school with a math problem? how many cats do I have? 😀 😀 😀

Wolfie the obnoxious but absolutely loveable kitty. He loves his cat toys!

As I write this my daughter is making cinnamon rolls. I am hoping for more coffee to go with my cinnamon roll and I am wondering what this kitty pictured above is going to do to my Christmas tree at home! YIKES! I am sure he will try to climb to the top! And am praying he won’t knock it over, I think my coffee share next week will be very entertaining of what this cat is going to do to us for the one week he will stay with us, maybe he will surprise us and not cause to much damage or wreckage or upheaval – what ever word to describe it. I purposely did not put any of my really pretty ornaments that could break on the tree this year. I don’t think it will fall over, but you never know. Think the worse and hope for the best? isn’t that a saying?

Thank you for having coffee with me this weekend. What are you up to this weekend? Shopping for Christmas? Oh dear, I’m behind on shopping and gift buying. I am going to be a last minute shopper this year for sure, I already know this!! Just always busy and the harder part, what to buy? Sometimes just small things from the heart is all you need, usually that’s what I do. I will try and put in a link to the coffee share’s here. And ya’ll have a wonderful weekend!

Cat wrangling grandma!

~Diana