Tag: #lovinglife

Tree Square Challenge; The Sky and Trees!

On By DianaIn square challenges, TreeSquare19 Comments

Trees! How can you not Love trees? I suppose many take trees for granted. I just love trees and everything trees bring to our lives. They sure can help a sunset right? Look how much prettier this sunset is by having the trees in the foreground. I like the line of mountains too but I need to keep the focus on the trees as this is a tree challenge after all. I am sharing all things trees for BeckyB’s #Treesquare challenge and I am sharing photos I have in my archives. It’s been fun going back through and am hoping what I share today shows a theme. 😀

I have little stories to tell as we go through the photos. I hope you don’t mind a little reflection of my week last week. Sunday was a wonderful day until the afternoon when my new horse Murphy got sick. I am so grateful and thankful for a stable friend who saw him rolling and pawing and realizing this is not normal and he had a bad belly ache, it is called colic. He had a bad case of gas colic. He is doing fine now, but we had to call the vet out for an emergency vet call (it seems to happen on Sundays, this costs even more than a weekday call) but worth every penny spent. She treated him for the belly ache and I can report he is doing great. I now will keep some meds on hand to manage the pain that can come with gas colic. Murphy is so loved by all at the barn, and I love him too! ❤

Haha, as I chose the photos and placed them I realize I have the first 2 photos out of order. But instead of changing it let’s say I went to bed and saw the sunset and then the next morning I got up early for the sunrise! Here is a beautiful sunrise as I walk around the block and the sun is rising to a beautiful morning.

Day 2 of last week brought a power outage at our house. I tended to the horses which included a mash for Murphy with electrolytes in it for his tummy and then headed to work. I got the call at work all the power went out in our house except for our enclosed garden room. At first my hubby called an electrician which he promptly canceled after going outside and talking to neighbors who all had some power outage at their houses as well. It turns out a neighbor across the street was having solar paneling installed on their roof, and the guys working on it blew a transformer on a telephone pole along the street which affected a bunch of houses. We were lucky SC-Edison restored power by 7pm. My hubby ran extension cords from back room to fridge and fans. On to day 3 of last week.

Looking up at the tops of the trees you can see all the birds. I don’t have a long lens so this is as close as I can get. I like that you can at least make out the birds with the beautiful blue sky as background! This is a late morning walk and the eucalyptus trees are so very tall!

Day 3 I woke up to make my breakfast when my hubby called me. He had gotten up early to go eat breakfast with a friend. He was at the gas station and after pumping gas his car would not start. Yup, dead battery. That makes number 3 and we have been fine after this event. I believe things happen in 3’s, which I know is silly and I know it is probably just all ironic, or coincidental. I had to drive there with jumper cables and after that I could get back to my day. He had to buy a new battery and it was just over 3 years old and in an older car we do not drive everyday. Glad last week is behind us to be honest! It was just one of those weeks. It started out very gloomy…….

This is a wonderful photo as what stands out in the fog? The trees of course with the lights confused and on this morning, I love how crisp the foreground is with the brown fencing seemlingly outlining the photo.

And the gloom and doom of the foggy morning makes me happy that things are not doom and gloom at all. And I wanted to share my week as I still wanted to smile and remember the bright side of life. I want you all to know that this blog brings me much pleasure to write and share all the things that happen. It’s all called life, and we have to take all the curve balls that are thrown our way and figure out a way to keep seeing through the fog! ❤

Weather is wonderful for trees as they get fed with precious water. Where are you rain? It was absent this year, a very dry year here where I live. This was one very wet year we had just about 2 years ago. You can see all the water as the ground is very saturated. I suppose I should have put this in my palm tree post that I already shared, but this fits my theme which is the sky. I suppose it could be weather too, but I have so many photos of the sunrise that I wanted to dedicate a whole post to sky, sun and trees! That is my theme today, with a few stories thrown in for good measure!

As much as we need rain, the sun just makes me smile. We make a big deal about weather here where we live because we have far more sunny days then we do cloudy rainy days. We can get some foggy mornings but the fog doesn’t last long.

The sun so bright its rays bringing warmth and growth to trees and plants alike. I just LOVE the glow of the sun in this photo with the eucalyptus standing so very tall next to the row of palm trees! I think it’s gorgeous.

As I passed my 3 day event mark and feeling like things had settled down I was able to share my previous post which I did a double tree square post with my weekly smile post. I said to myself, I just can’t smile about all the events that happened to us this last week. But I can certainly smile about trees, and so that’s how that post came to life. And as I close this post out I have to say I so loved this challenge and this will be my last #treesquare challenge share as this month is coming to an end soon. (I may do one more post if time permits, but am not sure) I hope you enjoyed my tree photos as much as I do by putting this altogether to share!

Looking between Chloe’s ears as I ride back in from trail looking at the big beautiful tree that is so tall I could not fit it all in the photo. It is a California Pepper Tree and it provides a ton of shade as you can see on the barn there which is our tack room and row of cross-ties where we groom and bathe our horses!

Sharing my trees all around my neighborhood has brought me great joy. I wanted you all to see what I see through the lens of my camera. Thank you for letting me share the happenings intertwined within this challenge. Living life, it’s what we do! Thank you BeckyB for a wonderful challenge for #Treesquares!

Loving Life with Sky and Trees!

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; End Of February

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share19 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; Spring Trail Rides!

On By DianaIn Barn stories, Horse stories, Living life, weekend coffee share27 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!

I am really happy it is Spring! The weather is warming up a little bit. As a matter of fact, the weather here where I live is actually PERFECT right now and has been for the last few weeks. Other than the rainy days, the temps outside are so nice. It has been in the 60’s most days which is so comfortable. The horses don’t get too hot after a ride and the fly’s at the stables are not bad, still asleep or whatever they do when it is cool outside. The fly’s are terrible in the heat, as that is when they are most active. Sorry about going on about bugs, and the only ones we really complain about at the stables are the fly’s. Mosquitoes don’t come around until Summer, and they aren’t bad here either. We are looking at temps in the 60’s into next week where it will start to warm up into the 80’s by end of week. Great trail riding weather! Can I get you another cup of your favorite drink? I wanted to share the last two days, riding in the best weather! 😀

Let’s get ready for our trail ride Zack!
Come on Chloe! Let’s go for a ride. Today it will be just Chloe, Zack and I on the trail.
This is our tie rail where I am tacking up Chloe. My saddle is on her and Zack waiting with his trail boots on for our ride. They are well behaved and tie well.
You know I have to take a lot of photos of getting ready for our trail ride! I think Zack’s tail looks so beautiful. I make sure to keep it clean and it’s not hard. I just brush it every day! 😀

I ride Chloe and pony Zack which means that he walks with a lead line next to Chloe and I control him by keeping her by her side with his lead rope. He LOVES Chloe, and willingly walks along side her and my horses now have months of training on the trials riding side by side. I am so very proud of them and proud of myself going out and getting trail miles. It’s so fun riding with these two ponies. It is such joy to be outside listening to the birds sing and seeing the spring flowers bloom.

I had to take this photo quickly as I have a lot of ropes in my hands. Not the best photo but still wanted to share!
I am using cross-ties which is where we have hoses so we can wash them off if needed. I just washed their legs today. They are all done today, my pretty ponies! ❤

I am enjoying my weekend as I got to ride the next day with my girlfriend and her horse Gracie. I told my girlfriend I wanted to ride to River Rd. where I can get a great view of our local mountains. The last of the snow for this season is about to melt away from the last storm that blew through. I will share a photo I took of Mt. Baldy. I’ve shared this mountain before and its snow peaks, just trying to get all I can get outside this weekend. How is your weekend going? I know we all are staying home, I am lucky to be just over a mile from my stables. And our stables is open, lot’s of space and am thankful for my trail rides. It is the best therapy in the world, at least in my world.

The last of the snow on our local mountains. This is Mt. Baldy! All the trees in the foreground is the Santa Ana Riverbed. There are a lot of trails in the riverbed.
My girlfriend on Gracie and I on the trail! We are on River Rd after I took my mountain photo!

Thank you for visiting and am always so happy to hear from you. Drop me a comment or two if you feel so inclined. I always love hearing how you all are doing. My life has not really changed too much, mostly eating out is gone for now, but everything else is good. I am so thankful I can get outside not only for walks but also for my trail rides. ❤ ❤ ❤

Stay safe, stay strong! AND don’t touch your face, and always wash your hands!

Love, Diana 😀

My Weekly Smile; Feb. 5, 2020

On By DianaIn Family is important, Living life, weekly smile16 Comments
What makes you smile? I so enjoy sharing and I have to thank Trent who hosts the Weekly Smile so we have a place to meet and share!

Proud mama weekend! I had the best weekend this last weekend being able to see my daughter be promoted to Major in the Air Force. How she has excelled and her dedication to serving this great country is humbling and I admire her determination and fortitude. I know I shared last week but the cup runneth over with gratefulness as I sit here thinking about this last week. As I share we have a lot happening as we have a planned vacation with her to Hawaii next week! (So EXCITED!) Lots to smile about! I’m smiling from ear to ear! 😀

Major Greener with her father. Smiling big, so very proud! ❤

We had a nice time up in Orcutt, CA which is next to Vandenberg AFB. We explored a bit and I took a selfie of my family, minus my daughter who had unfortunately got a 24hr flu bug before she was promoted. She was home resting and of course made it to the ceremony but it was a bit stressful for her but it all worked out and she is thankfully feeling much better. We had great weather while there and thought I would share that photo too!

Me, hubby and brother!

As we headed into this week we had really strong winds. These winds can be so bad, up to 25 mile gusts and it just makes being outside miserable. They were cold winds as well, and so I really missed riding this week. It is calm outside today so I think I will be able to ride. I took the next photo of my trail ride on Sunday afternoon as it was not windy and we made it back in time for me to see my ponies. My obsession with them will never cease! They are my therapy, my muse and what helps keep me smiling! 😀

Beautiful day with my horses. Zack is here too walking by my side! I’m smiling!

Thank you for visiting my smile for this week. Can you believe its February? I probably will say this every month as these months just tick by. Haha, time just flies but I have to say that this blog has helped me slow down and enjoy each week. It makes me think back and be more observant which makes me appreciate each day. What makes you smile? Anything happening in your neck of the woods?

Thankful Proud Mom,

~Diana ❤

Walking, Invigorating!

On By DianaIn blogging, Living life, Walking for Health and Well being7 Comments
On my walk this morning. The sun comes up over the hill and illuminates the buildings, it may be too hard to see, so far away. As I look at this photo, I can see Catalina Island! Pretty cool! I am looking towards the Pacific Ocean.

Many folks are exercise guru’s, so motivated that they do not need much prompting to get out there and exercise. I’m the type that procrastinates but once I get going I really enjoy the exercise, it is so invigorating that I know once I keep up my walking schedule that I actually look forward to it no matter what the weather. I do not have a gym membership, and there is a simple reason why. I own horses! Haha, they are my gym membership as I really would rather spend my money on them and try hard to stay fit and active outdoors. I am also including with my walks, lots of stretching and yoga. I think any little bit you do is better than nothing, what do you do for exercise? I know many run (I’m envious) but I’m just not a runner. And I know many do the gym and I think if I didn’t have horses I would definitely join a gym! 😀

Haha, trying to capture the sunrise here! Love the sun rising up over our local hills! ❤
My temps for today. I am going to get my gloves for my next walk! My hands just get so cold but otherwise I am loving the cool mornings! ❤
YIKES! The wind is coming today. My girlfriend and I are hoping to get in a trail ride before the wind this morning. Trail rides and wind, not going to happen.

As I get ready for my day I am enjoying this weather. It has been a mild winter for us here which I have to say I am enjoying immensely. I am sharing my walking partly to keep myself accountable. I can’t believe how much I can procrastinate, and so this helps me stay motivated. I enjoy sharing my walking expeditions, even though they are small and in my neighborhood!

I am praying the strong winds stay away long enough to fit in a trail ride as my best friend is off today and the wind is coming. We can’t ride in the wind as it is dangerous. We have a lot of palm trees around the streets on the trails. If a palm frond fly’s off in the wind they have spikes on them and you do not want to get hit with one and they are usually huge! Also, the horses can be very spooky in the wind, although our horses are seasoned trail ponies, anything can be blowing around so of course it is just not safe.

SUNRISE in my neck of the woods!

I will close with my sunrise photo. It sure puts a smile on my face and am so happy I went out on my walk this morning. I hope you all have great day and week!

Walking for health and well being,

~Diana ❤

Trail Riding Adventures!

On By DianaIn Barn stories, Horse stories, Living life10 Comments
Love this view!! Looking between the ears of my mighty steed! ❤

I started writing this blog because of my love for my horses! As the title states I definitely want to share my life but I don’t want to forget about my horse stories and so I wanted to get back to sharing my beautiful horses. I have a fun story to share, it really wasn’t scary, I suppose it could have gone awry but my calm and well trained horses took everything in stride. And the key to a great outcome is I didn’t get nervous or show fear, I was more like “really? did this just happen? “

I was out on the trail with my best friend who was riding her horse Gracie. I was riding Chloe and Zack was at her side as I was ponying him on this ride. We crossed a busy street and as we were walking along the trail and talking, I noticed that the lead rope on Zack had slipped under the front of my stirrup and went under my leg back to his head. He was walking by Chloe’s side (on my right side) and I thought this is not good, as I now have no control over his head. So I told Sally I have to stop to fix this rope and I said “Whoa” to Chloe and pulled back on her reins. As I pulled the reins, SNAP! my left rein just pulled off of her bit and I now had only one rein controlling her head!! OH NO!

Zack walking along and you can see the blue and black lead rope which went under my right leg on the stirrup of my saddle!

As I pulled Chloe’s right rein to stop I hopped off of her as fast as I could because I had no control to speak of, just turning her would not last and I have Zack to think about also. Oh dear, as I look at my rein I could see right away what happened. The leather that keeps the reins attached to the bit is called a “water loop” and the small leather pieces that ties it onto the rein had come untied! As Sally sat on her mare watching me work on the rein, she told me Zack is lose on the other side of Chloe! “What? Oh no!” BUT he just put his head down close by her and was eating some weeds and grass. I went to the other side of Chloe and took the lead rope which fell from behind the stirrup and I put it around my saddle horn. I just looped it around a couple times because I wanted to get that darn rein tied back onto Chloe’s bit!

This is a photo to show the reins coming from her bit. They are tied on and I never thought in a million years that these leather pieces would come untied! THEY DO! This is not from the day in my story as I had no time or inclination to take any photos as things unfolded!

I was very thankful that I had not lost the leather piece that needed to get threaded back through the holes in the reins and retied. I checked the other side and sure enough it had come untied once. These leather pieces are in triple knots and over time these knots loosen and come untied! YIKES! I am learning, CHECK YOUR TACK before you ride. I purposely do not have these screws that can hold your leather together. In western gear, these screws are called Chicago screws and once they come unscrewed and fall, they can be hard to find. I suppose you could carry extra, but then you would need to carry a screw driver to tighten them. English gear just has buckles, very small like how you would buckle a belt around your waist, but they can break too…. I have had a thin leather english rein break riding Chloe years ago, same scenario only I was just riding her and did not have another horse with me.

After I attached the rein, I lead the horses to a fence that runs along the trail so I could step up on a rail to get on Chloe. She is tall so a little step up is nice if one is around. As I was walking my girlfriend says “Zack is lose again!” DARN IT ALL! the rope which was just looped around my saddle horn slipped off and he was just walking over to eat again! Haha, I have to laugh, because in the end it was rather comical and I am so thankful nothing bad happened. I slip knot tied his rope back on the saddle horn, led Chloe to the fence and once on we just rode down the trail like nothing happened!! I know all the non-horse people out there may not be able to picture what happened, but I am sure thankful for very calm trail ponies!!

She is the BEST EVER Trail Pony! Miss Chloe is so calm, I LOVE her so much!
Chloe and I, my girl, she is the sweetest horse I have ever owned!!!
I rode Zack the next day!
Zack is so silly, he would not open his eyes! He probably didn’t like the rim of my hat. HAHA! I have to share anyways!
He is a goof ball. This is him begging for a treat! Silly boy!

I enjoyed sharing my trail fiasco as anything can happen and am very thankful my girlfriend was with me as I was so busy attending to Chloe and the reins I could not keep an eye on Zack. I may have been more nervous or upset if I had been by myself when all of this happened. I just know that remaining calm in a sticky situation is key to a much better outcome! How do you handle problems that arise that are out of your control, until you can get things back in control again?? Haha, that was a really long question. I hope you enjoyed my trail story. I have SO MUCH FUN with these horses. They bring me much joy and happiness. ❤ ❤ ❤

They melt my heart!

Crazy horse loving cowgirl!

~Diana

My Weekly Smile; Jan. 1, 2020

On By DianaIn Family is important, Living life, weekly smile7 Comments
Happy New Year! My sister loves sunsets, and takes many photos of them where she lives in Northern CA. She took this photo of the last sunset of 2019. It made me SMILE and she said I can share with you all! What makes you smile? This is my weekly smile hosted by my blogging friend Trent! I just love to share!

I can’t believe it is 2020! I can remember back when I was in my teens the year 2000 was so far away, a date that people talked about and the scariness of what will happen when we hit the year 2000! Of course, nothing happened but it is I think wondrous to think we are well on our way into this century as we start this new decade. The New Year can be so revitalizing, a time for us to start anew, maybe rethink our future and/or start working on that resume to find a new job. Or maybe it is a time to reflect and see how far we’ve come and look forward to new things that may be coming into our lives. I think this rings true for so many people around the world. My smile is the future and what it will hold for me and my family. My smile is also for family as that is what I LOVE so much about the holidays. 😀 😀 😀

I have a lot to smile about and this is my family’s Christmas tree in Arizona! It is beautiful!
My granddaughter and her Papa! I Love them so and we had a grand time visiting! 😀
This is Dublin the brother to Wolfie which is here to live with him. He is in a room and will be slowly introduced back to his brother. We will be taking 2 cats home with us, the sister’s.

I have so much to be thankful for and I don’t know if any of my family members read this (I know my sister’s read my blog and I so appreciate their support and kind words) but my immediate family may read from time to time, I am not completely sure but I do know I tell them all the time how much I LOVE them and how much I support all that they do and it is important to me that they know I want nothing but happiness for them.

I am straying from my smile, as I get to rambling on and on sometimes. I just want to say that how can you not smile coming into the New Year? I suppose if you are struggling (there are many things that one can be struggling over) just know that a smile can brighten your day. Everyone at any time can smile, and it will bring some peace if you just take a moment to smile. I am bringing in this New Year with a huge SMILE, AND I am really excited about this New Year! Lot’s coming up this year in my family and it will be fun to share. I’ll end with a photo of Wolfie who’s in the bedroom with us in his transition to his new home. He is really cuddly, sleeping practically on my head! Not really, but on my chest and then in between my hubby and I as we keep him very warm. I will share photos of my new kitties soon!

Wolfie in his new home; this is New Year day morning! I will miss him but he is with family and we will see him often! ❤ ❤ ❤

Thank you for visiting my smile!

~Diana ❤

My Weekly Smile; Nov. 25, 2019

On By DianaIn Family is important, Living life, Love being Grandma, weekly smile14 Comments
My weekly smile this week goes to my family in Arizona!

I am smiling from ear to ear going over my photos for this weeks smile. My hubby and I headed to Arizona last week to help my son and his family move from one house to another as the lease was up and they found a more affordable place to live and so we helped them move and unpack in their new town-home. It is a lease as well and it is only 2 years old so it has new appliances and a beautiful kitchen. There is tons of cupboard space, and it has 3 bedrooms and is perfect for them I think. I just love their new house! I wish we could have stayed longer but we got a lot done and I know they got a good start in their new home. 😀 😀 😀

This cute girl is getting so big! She has gotten so tall, I can’t believe she is 4 years old! ❤
Through this last year when I visit I tell her I want to take a selfie with her! Oh dear, she is so silly making faces and moving so much it is hard to photograph! ❤

When we arrived in Arizona last week it was not raining which was Monday afternoon. By Tuesday it started to rain and it rained for 3 days with thunder storms and flash flooding alerts. It made moving a bit of a challenge and both my son and hubby got drenched one day trying to take items to donate. They got it all done but every time we went outside it was drizzling and or raining. It was also pretty chilly and am thankful we brought jackets. It was definitely an interesting trip! I took a photo of their neighborhood and I wanted to get this smiling post completed so I’ll keep it short and sweet. How much sweeter can you get with this beautiful family right? I am prejudice because they are just the best!

This is my daughter-in-law and she is just so beautiful! I just love this photo of her and her kitty. He is about 5 months old and such a fun kitty. They love animals, especially their cats!
I wanted to go outside for photos but never did with all the rain. This is their neighborhood.

What is making you smile this week? Maybe you are smiling as this week is Thanksgiving. We will have family here this Thanksgiving as my sister is coming from Idaho and will be staying this week. Her son is still living here in CA attending college and so she is coming to be with him and us as well. My daughter will be here for thanksgiving, I am so excited she can come and we are all going to my daughter-in-laws baby shower this coming Saturday. It is going to be a busy week. I need to make a shopping list for Thanksgiving dinner, clean the house, oh my, so much to do and I have to sleep soon as I work tonight.

I’ll be so busy, I will try and write a weekend coffee share this coming weekend but I can’t promise anything. I want to thank Trent for hosting the Weekly Smile, I love that he does this for everyone and I know we are all busy with the holidays. Thank you for visiting my smile this week. I REALLY wanted to share and am glad I was able to get this together. I hope you all have a fabulous Thanksgiving and the rest of your week!

I took this driving home this last Friday! The storms all blew through and it was a beautiful sunny drive home to California! 😀

Happy Smiling Grandma!

~Diana

My Furry Friends, Kitty and Horses!

On By DianaIn 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

Weekend Birthday FUN!

On By DianaIn Barn stories, Family is important, Horse stories, Living life5 Comments
My Birthday cake made by my good friend Colleen! She is a friend at our barn and loves to make the most delicious birthday cakes!

My birthday was October 21st and I have to say I had a ton of fun this birthday weekend. Colleen at the stables has been making cakes for each of us and we have had some fine cakes as she always changes it up and makes something entirely different each time. This cake was featured on Facebook called Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Cake including the recipe and Colleen asked me if I’d like this cake for my birthday. YES! I said, if you are up for it as I knew it would be a bit complicated. Colleen said it was a challenge with a cake layer top and bottom, and a blueberry cream cheese filling. The cream cheese icing was lemon cream cheese and oh my, this was SO DELICIOUS! ❤

This was one of the best cakes I’ve tasted in awhile. LOVE homemade cakes!
I think my lens was dirty. I took this photo out because there is a distortion in it, but I decided to put it back in just because I think its fun to share even though its not perfect. Nothing is ever perfect right?
Getting ready to eat cake! Thank you all ladies, making my birthday weekend special!

I had a wonderful ride this weekend. I rode by myself on Chloe and ponied Zack along side and we just went on a short ride as I had to get back so we could eat cake. My birthday wasn’t until Monday but there are ladies that work day shift so we had the cake on Saturday to include as many as possible. It all worked out great! There is another birthday being celebrated today, so more cake on the way to my tummy. It seems October is a busy month for birthdays, so here is a shout out to ALL celebrating birthdays this month, HAPPY BIRTHDAY YA’LL!

Zack walking next to me on the trail!
The best view EVER! Looking between the ears of my horse!

As I am writing this I am thinking I should have started out with the SURPRISE of my life as seriously, I do not get surprised often which is a good thing. Maybe this is a fun way to end as I am actually writing in chronological order as all of the above happened on Saturday. When I returned from the stables with the left over cake, I drove up into my driveway and opened up my garage and low and behold I am staring at this white car in my garage. What???

My daughter was so sneaky telling me she was driving to SLO (San Luis Obispo) as we chatted on the phone while she was actually heading home. She spent the weekend with us and left Monday evening. THANK YOU LINEA from the bottom of my heart for this wonderful surprise. We had cake, lots of time together chatting while she went through cookbooks and I worked on my crochet blanket. These relaxing girl times are so precious to me and that was all of Saturday. I had to work this weekend but I work night shift so I still have time to spend awake during the day.

Sunday she drove down to my work as I am 10 minutes from IKEA. She had already items to be picked up that she bought online. We had a great lunch of Swedish Meatballs, so yummy and we shopped. I bought a few things and she bought more to help fill up her new apartment. Her items are like a coffee table that also is like a basket that can store items. And she bought a kitchen table which is what she ordered online. So FUN shopping with her, one of my favorite things to do for sure!

Monday was really fun too, but I felt bad because I already had an appointment with my farrier. My daughter’s best friend came over thankfully and hung out with her so they had some good girl time together. Then we got lunch and we went and got our nails done! OH MY, that is a treat and my nails look so beautiful. It is fun to look pretty as I am not much of a girly, girl. What an amazing, fun, surprising, fantastic weekend. I just had to share and I am going to end with a photo of my pony as I am heading out to take care of them this morning. I can’t believe it’s going to be in the 90’s today and its near the end of October! Cool down please! Go away Indian Summer as we call the fall heat wave here….

Miss Chloe coming to me for a trail ride!

I was so busy I didn’t take any photos with my daughter. Darn it all, but the memories will be with us forever never the less. I hope you all have a great week. I wanted to share my birthday happenings yesterday but just could not fit it in to my very busy day and weekend. I hope all the birthday celebrations this month are fun for everyone. Thankful and grateful to my family! I do LOVE YOU ALL so much! ❤ ❤ ❤

Birthday Pony Girl,

~Diana

My Weekly Coffee Share; Keep Smiling, Life and Horses

On By DianaIn Family is important, Living life, Love being Grandma, 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! What’s been going on in your life? any weekend plans?

I LOVE this photo of my daughter as we shared coffee a few months ago. I also took a photo of just my mug that I got served with the “D” on it, how appropriate and what’s the odds that the server at this restaurant happened to serve me a mug with the first letter of my name? Ironic, and fun. I could not help but take these photos as it put such a huge smile on my face! I am missing my daughter and thought what better way to share my weekend but with this cool photo. How is your coffee? or would you like some tea? Hot or cold, I don’t know which I love more, coffee or tea? and I was busy today making something that I wish I could share with you all! 😀

With the cool fall weather I wanted to make ginger cookies. This is before the bake!
After the bake and oh my, so DELICIOUS!! I wish I could share with ya’ll!

I’ll be honest, when I woke this morning I was feeling rather blue. I know this is normal as we can’t always be upbeat and happy day in and day out. What a melancholy morning and with the clouds and threat of rain it just seemed so gloomy and added to my gloomy feeling. I know you don’t need a reason to feel this way but I can’t help but ponder why and I got to thinking that I truly miss my family. My daughter who I mentioned and also my Son, his wife and my granddaughter. We are approaching here the longest time I have been away from my granddaughter and my heart aches to see her in person. I just miss them so much! I will survive and I know I will be visiting them in about a month or so. I was able to keep busy today and thought I would really like to share my thoughts here so that is why I want to KEEP SMILING! I read that smiling for just 30 seconds a few times a day can help you stay upbeat. I know smiling can boost your overall health as well. It is helping lift my mood and it always makes me happy when I share and write my blog. 😀

Feeling a little frustrated with my granny square blanket. I will have to take 3 rows apart as I don’t like how I’ve sewn it together. I have looked at many ways to put together and I decided I like the closer squares pictured which I chain stitched together. The back rows I will take apart, they are sewn together. That’s what happens when you work with these projects, trial and error! 😀

I shared a photo of all the granny squares in a previous post and I am loving how it is coming together. I am trying to get it completed because I want to start on a project for my new grand baby coming next year. I know I could just set this aside, but it really is more than half way done and I still will have time to work on the baby project once I complete this granny square blanket. I must say that part of why I want to complete this granny square blanket is because I’ve never made one and I want to see what it looks like completed. I will share once done so you all can see how it looks. I’m hoping really good. I love all the colors of it so its just a matter of making it look great all crocheted together! I can’t wait, I’m very motivated!!

These next 3 photos are from about 4 years ago. I was going to share with a throwback post but just never did so I am going to share here as they just make me SMILE! I need to smile today!
This was from the same day, I should make prints of these pretty ponies! They did cheer me up earlier today, I go to the stables every single day. It is my second home I think! ❤
Just something about this photo! Another one I should print and frame to see it everyday!!

I am enjoying sharing my coffee with you today. I forgot to ask if you needed a refill? I will say that this blog has really helped me as when I want to share it helps me sort out my thoughts. What do you do if you are feeling blue? I will say that my lower back has been a bit sore so I did some yoga this morning. I know I need to do more stretching and walking and it helped immensely so my blue feelings are pretty much gone now. Thank you for your support and I can’t wait for tomorrow to ride and work on my granny square blanket. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! You all help make me smile. 😀

Life is too short to be sad, so happy smiles help!

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; Trail Riding Success!

On By DianaIn Barn stories, Horse stories, Living life, weekend coffee share12 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 completely enjoying this month as we move into fall. You can smell it in the air as we cool down especially at night so the mornings stay fairly cool for many hours. The nights will start to dip down into the 50’s soon a very welcome reprieve from the summer months. I often mention how time flies as we get older, it just goes by faster each year so it seems. I really do try and savor each day. I have dreams for the future that sometimes feel out of reach, so instead of getting frustrated I try and concentrate on each day to each week. It does make life more fulfilling this way in my eyes! How is your coffee this morning? I had a delicious cup with my oatmeal and english muffin. Or maybe you are drinking tea? I have been having a wonderful time this last month trail riding on my horses, and it took some experimenting but I figured out a way to pony Zack next to Chloe with little to no biting. I’ll explain!

Miss Chloe and Zack, I ride Chloe and have Zack follow on the lead line. This is SO DIFFERENT for me and my youth training of riding Hunter/ Jumpers. This is a whole new discipline of riding that I am enjoying very much! ❤
I ride Miss Chloe with a short rein that is easy to hold, since I have to hold Zack’s lead rope as well. I am getting very comfortable with them both. TONS OF FUN!
I bought a trail riding muzzle, not very successful! He can still be annoying!

When I started on my trail rides ponying Zack I started with just his blue halter with a stud shank (the chain that is attached to the halter) and the lead rope. For those of you who do not know horses, the stud shank chain adds a bit of strength for us puny humans. Most horses weigh around 1,000 pounds give or take 100 pounds. (Zack weighs about 1,000 pounds, Chloe weighs just over 1,200 pounds. We use a tape that measures their height on one side of the tape and measures their weight on the other side that goes around their barrel/belly and approximates how much they weigh. We use it for treatment purposes, as I have to watch Zack’s weight because he has Insulin resistance a metabolic syndrome older horses sometimes acquire as they age. It is nice to have if you want to see how tall your horse is too!)

Zack knows his strength and my sister and I have had him just put his head down with us holding the lead rope while we lead him and he would trot off pulling us on the other end! He is too strong and he knows exactly what he is doing and so we have to let go or be dragged. I have been working on his ground manners with GREAT SUCCESS! And he hasn’t tried to “run off” like that in some years. But I do not want to lose him on the trail, should he shy or spook at something I want as much control of him as I can while riding Chloe. This chain works PERFECT! It goes over their nose and up the side and they have nerves on their nose which when pressured applied, they will comply. It doesn’t hurt him unless he tries to pull away. He actually LOVES Chloe so he stays pretty close, but that’s where the biting comes into play. He just nips and bites her butt, side or my leg as I ride! He is such a brat!!!

He can actually bite the lead rope through the muzzle I bought him which I show in the last photo above. He can grab the lead rope with the muzzle and lead rope in his mouth and then pull and pull on my arm. UGH! He then bumps Chloe trying to bite her through the muzzle which after awhile she gets VERY ANNOYED! STOP IT ZACK!!

I decided to try a bridle with a bit and I took off the reins. Low and behold he is so much happier with the bit in his mouth. He has an oral fixation and just chews and chews on the bit and rarely tries to bite as we ride along. I finally found a solution to my problem as the trail rides were getting more and more annoying with all the nipping and biting. I was about to give up, but it is absolutely the best thing I started doing because I can exercise both horses at the same time and he really needs the exercise! It is usually 30 up to 50 minutes of walking depending on the trails we choose to ride on any given day.

I am a happy cowgirl, thankful for my ponies and the fun and joy they bring to my life. I was asked on my weekly smile to share a photo of my haircut. So I will share what I took here. 😀 weekly smile

I didn’t share because I thought it was a little blurry in the background. I love my color as it always comes out great. Thank you Preference by L’Oreal! Hehe!
I can barely braid it now that its cut, but a small braid is better than none. I like a braid for the stables as I ride with a helmet. So now I have a short braid, better than no braid at all! Haha!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and thank you for stopping by my weekend coffee share! I am heading to the stables and am thinking this will be bath day for my ponies. Zack is starting to grow his winter coat and each year I always pray it won’t grow to thick. I know I am hoping for a miracle because he just grows a super thick coat like he lives in Alaska or something. I will just shave the hair off once November arrives. It is just to hard to manage in this warm winter climate here in So Cal. Chloe does not grow a long coat, Love that girl! ❤

Happy trail riding Cowgirl!

~Diana ❤