Tag: #kittyphotos

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

My Furry Friends, Kitty and Horses!

On By dprastkaIn Barn stories, Horse stories, Living life, Memories14 Comments
She was the best kitty I have ever had and someday I will have another kitty! ❤

What a crazy month, October. I had a birthday and I was crazy busy working way too many days at work covering for a few vacations. My employees need vacations and so I didn’t mind and they are very thoughtful about taking them too. Meaning they will work with me as I can’t afford to have more than one employee off at one time, so we all work together figuring out who takes what days or weeks when. I am trying to avoid talking about the pretty kitty that I had to send to kitty heaven at the end of October. I kept wanting to write a Weekly Smile, but was too sad the last few weeks to participate but as my heart heals I am needing to get back to writing and sharing. Rest in Peace Mara, aka, mini kitty. She was all of 6 pounds, a small white with a splash of orange domestic short haired cat with a personality twice her size. She will be greatly missed. LOVE HER SO!

I’m getting better each day. We’ve had kitties all my life, we do not have any now but I have my pups so we are not without our furry friends!

As I am finally feeling a little better and always try and keep a smile on my face even if I am feeling sad inside this post is going to be all about what keeps me sane. I have in my mind all these thoughts but what helps me through each day is what I really want to share. I will just keep this simple as these next set of photos make me smile and these giant animals amaze me and really have a way of healing my soul.

Chloe on Monday. It’s been pretty hot in the high 80’s and this was after a nice relaxing trail ride! She was eating when I called her name she looks up at me!
Zack got a really good bath Monday. I am planning on clipping him to help him stay cool. I will share a photo when I am done with the trace clip I’m going to do tomorrow!
Zack eating his grain and hay. They get lunch most every day!
I couldn’t get my girlfriends horse to look at me with ears up! She has rolled in her shavings after her bath!

My horses are so darn sweet. I am so truly lucky to have them and even though they are not 100% sound, they are serviceable sound and can be ridden on the trails and lightly in the arena. My girlfriend who owns Gracie has been struggling with some health issues with her and bless her heart we are finally seeing some positive results with her issues. She has been having skin issues and we were able to get her moved to a different stall at the barn. We think this should help as we don’t know if it was the tree or other issues in the stall where she was living, but we feel strongly that this move will help. This is a photo of her in her new stall! She is near and dear to my girlfriends heart, I totally understand. She is in her late 20’s so every year she is here with us we cherish. I help care for her, so I am very attached to her as well. ❤

After I made them exercise lose in the arena I sat on a mounting block in the middle of the arena. My horses came to me on their own, visiting as I sat and took in their kindness. Or are they just looking for a treat? Haha, either way the attention I adored!
Haha, he had been drinking water so his nose was wet and the sand in arena is sticking to his nose! What a silly boy, this is how he entertains me and himself!
Chloe was standing right next to Zack, as he entertains me – she was nuzzling me as well. This is up close and personal! They never left my side!
I am sitting as I take this photo. I am not sure what she sees? But I like this photo. I rubbed their face and we chatted. Yes, I talk to my horses. Mostly I ask them what they are thinking and I think out loud they are most likely looking for a treat which I eventually got up and did exactly that. Gave them a treat!

Thank you for sharing my furry friends with me. I use to not like calling my animals my furry friends. I don’t know why but I’ve warmed up to calling them that or thinking of them in this way. I know that we out live our furry friends and as I see it we need to enjoy every moment we can with them and be thankful for them in our lives. As we lose a small piece of our heart with each one that passes, I always hope that someday we will all meet again.

I am glad I take as many photos as I do as I love to have the memories. I have been printing photo books and am planning on having more printed soon. I hope you have enjoyed my photos as I think you can see their personalities, a little bit anyways. I sure enjoy sharing and will continue to share as it brings me much joy and happiness!

Feeling better each day, crazy animal lover,

~Diana

My Weekly Smile, July 24th 2019 #weeklysmile

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

My weekly smile as I sit here thinking, is about my daughter. I am sitting here thinking of her and I have a great big smile on my face. She is coming home Thursday night and is visiting for a couple days then heading back home to Orcutt, CA. She works (and is stationed) at Vandenberg, AFB and I have had the pleasure of taking care of this cute little kitten for her and I thought I would share some photos of him. He grows each week and he moves so much he is a bit difficult to photograph. In one photo he looks like he is almost winking at me, as he started to blink or something. Silly kitty is always on the move!

This is Wolfie, I LOVE his blue eyes!
He looks like he is winking at me! Silly kitty!

I forgot how much energy kittens have, oh my, he can run and play and play and play! AND he has learned to not scratch me! He was a little crazy at first but has learned the word “No” and is very respectful of our human space. Sort of, most of the time. We constantly remind him, but he is smart and is learning. He is SO ADORABLE! If you Love kitties, he is really a lovable guy.

My daughter’s flowers she has in her apartment! ❤

I was chatting with my daughter this last weekend and she told me she bought some flowers and I asked her to share with a photo. I told her I’d like to share it on my blog and what a better place since this blog is about her and how she makes me SMILE! Thank you sweet daughter, I am so truly lucky to have such a WONDERFUL daughter as YOU! ❤ ❤ ❤

Eating breakfast with my daughter just a few weeks ago! Isn’t she beautiful? YES!!

I am having such a great time sharing my smile with you today. I love sharing what I love and I do not think I have had a chance to dedicate a blog post specifically about my daughter and only my daughter. I have shared my grown children here on my blog, and my love for all of them makes me SMILE! They are all beautiful, loving human beings and I am truly blessed. What are you smiling about today? are you doing something special this week? it doesn’t have to be special, it can just be something simple that makes you smile. Thank you Trent, a friend here in this blogging world who hosts the weekly smile. This just made my day! ❤

Smiling with my pretty daughter!

-Diana 😀

Weekend Coffee Share; Dreaming

On By dprastkaIn Living life, weekend coffee share2 Comments 
Enjoying a wonderful cup of coffee, I love the smell and taste of coffee!

I am enjoying a cup of coffee and am hoping you are having a good start to your weekend. It has been a busy week and I can’t believe in just over a week it will be Christmas. I have been wanting to write about dreaming, mostly because I do believe dreams do come true! Maybe not all of them as what would life be if ALL your dreams ALWAYS came true? We all should dream, and even as one dream may be full-filled you should replace that one with a new one, it should never end as that is what keeps you moving towards your goals. I guess goals and dreams are two different things, but are they really? I think they are intertwined, as without dreams your goals would be boring. At least that is how I think of it as I dream about our future!

I am glad I have the time to dream and I know our move to Arizona will come to fruition it is just going to take time to get there and as I think and dream it seems like I am thinking and dreaming of someone else in my family moving, not me as I go through my day to day schedule working and doing all the scheduled things in my life. I work full-time and so I go through each day, week, even month and am not really worrying about the move. I know things will eventually sink in and get hectic as we move closer to our goal, it takes time, seems like forever! I hope you are enjoying your coffee I am all done and have a kitty on my lap making it difficult to write. I think she is a distraction, she can be a very needy kitty wanting all kinds of pets, silly kitty! 😀

She is on my lap not letting me type, silly kitty!

I love my kitty Mara! she weighs about 7 pounds, a small female cat the smallest kitty I’ve ever had and she is so attached to me which is really cool unless I am trying to do something like use my laptop and she wants to be petted. It makes things difficult. She also has a knack of wanting pets right when I pick up my crocheting. I crochet a lot of things, I find it really relaxing and it seems that right when I want to continue with my project here comes kitty! Haha, I always stop and give her the pets she needs and then she will curl up next to me and sleep. I shouldn’t complain because cats sleep a lot and I do appreciate the attention she gives me as I have owned cats in the past that never gave me the time of day! 

Its hard to get a good photo, the last I will share as the other ones I took are blurry. She doesn’t sit still as she wants me to pet her as she sniffs my arm! She is really loving and very spoiled!

As I sit and enjoy my coffee, I got another cup if you were wondering, I am thinking that life is definitely complicated. I think the holidays can be crazy but I am really excited about this Christmas because my whole family will be traveling to Arizona next weekend to be together for Christmas at my son’s house. SO I am excited as I will be seeing my son, daughter-in-law and my granddaughter!! I can’t wait to see them and my daughter and son-in-law will be flying in and staying too with my youngest son traveling with us by car. We will be there for 5 days and we will have a grand time, I can hardly wait!  This is truly one dream of mine to have my whole family together for Christmas and this dream will come true next week. I am a lucky Mom, Grandma and wife – no doubt about that!!  ❤ ❤ ❤

I think or dream about the future as I do not know what the future holds for me. It is scary not knowing where I will be working or if I will have a job once I move to Arizona. I do believe my current job is going to keep me in the company and provide me with a job at our Phoenix Lab location, but it is not set up, or more like there is no opening at that lab so I don’t know if a position will open up in a few months?  I believe they want me to stay in the company as I bring a lot of experience to the company and my job and so I know I have value. But it still is disconcerting to not know what exactly I will be doing for my job or how much money I will be making. I am just having faith that this will all work out for not only me, but for everyone involved. Praying for a wonderful outcome! I also dream about other possibilities, working with horses maybe?  Maybe that won’t be full-time but it would be awesome to find some part-time work with horses or I can expand with the horses I own, lessons maybe? It’s a thought! Definitely a dream, dream big right? 

Although this photo was from the last time I was in Arizona it will one day next year be what I will see every day. That is so strange to me, its like pinch me, are we really moving? I am watching my husband go through our stuff and donate things we don’t need and packing other things. What a job, we have lived here for 15 years and when we moved here we did not go through things like we should have and a lot of what we have were my parents and so we really need to figure out what to keep, what to donate or what sister or brother may want some of my parents keepsakes. It can be a difficult task but it needs to be done and so I do dream of less clutter and of less things. It’s amazing what you can collect after 34 years of marriage! YIKES! 😀  I am totally enjoying my coffee and I hope you enjoy my weekend coffee share. I am not very good at providing links something I need to learn one of these days! 

Dreaming of Arizona! dreaming of the future!

Diana