Tag: #myweeklysmile

My Weekly Smile; Jan. 16, 2022

On By DianaIn Barn stories, weekly smile21 Comments
My giant ginger cookies! Yummy!

Welcome to my weekly smile. I can’t believe it’s been two months since I wrote my last smile post and that surprised me as I didn’t think it had been that long when I checked. I will blame my work schedule as I try to balance work, my horsey time, my blogging time and I like to spend some free time with my crafts. I haven’t been able to fit in reading as I’ve been wanting to get back into novels I have sitting here just waiting for me! I have to set aside some time to read. I would read before I go to bed, but my hubby is in bed before me and I can’t have a light on and I don’t want to wake him. Hmm… I suppose I could read in the family room before I head to bed. I’ll figure it out! This sleeping at night thing takes awhile to figure out scheduling things. (For anyone new, I use to work grave yard shift for over 30 years!) Now I work swing shift.

I am smiling as I devour my giant ginger cookies. They are delicious and I will share! 😀 My son has been asking me to make them since Christmas and I ran out of time to bake my cookies this year so I finally made them this last weekend. The house smelled wonderful while they baked and I am very happy to bake for the family. I have a few other things that bring me smiles and I hope they may bring a smile to you!

An accidental photo of Murphy galloping and Murphy checking out the neighbor steer!

I thought I would share a couple of photos which the galloping one was an accident. It may not be the best photo but I liked how I caught him with almost all 4 feet off the ground! 😀 I thought I was taking a video when I snapped a photo. I like accidental photos, they are fun!! And at the back of his stall on the neighbors property they have cows and steers. You can see the steer with its horns in the next photo, Murphy is very curious. We have had horses boarded here that have been very scared of the cows that get close to the fence. I am proud of Murphy as he checks things out! Not much phases this big guy!

He is such a fun horse checking out the bags of bedding for his stall! Silly guy!

I thought this a funny video as Murphy is a curious 3 year old! He is so darn cute, and I usually take him out to add shavings to his stall. It was fun interacting with him. He has such a personality, they all do and I mean all animals do right? I have so much fun and I knew as the months go by, I can say that we are really bonding. It’s so wonderful and that truly makes me smile!

Murphy and I riding in the arena! Me and my shadow, I just love shadows!

I have to tell you of one last smile. After Murphy and I had a fun ride together I rode to the gate of the arena and pushed it opened and we walked down the aisle and I decided to ride out the front gate all by ourselves to the trails out front. He has gone out through the gate before but with other horses. When we walk off the property we have to walk between the house and the garage of the owners place and since there are trees and bushes around too, it can be a bit scary for the horses. Also, horses don’t really want to leave the herd (or all the other horses that board there which they would consider “their herd”) so it can be challenging to get them to be brave enough while riding them out the front gate!

I am smiling from ear to ear as he just walked right on down and through the gate and out to the trail! YAY! 😀 Once we got onto the trail out front we turned right and took a few steps and then he stopped. He just looked around and did what I had asked him and I didn’t really have a plan once I was at the trail. This was all fine because I am not ready to go down the trail by ourselves yet at his age. We will take our time, and so I let him turn and head back into the stables and back to the hitching post or cross-ties where I dismounted and tied him so I could untack him and get him ready for his stall. He is so much FUN!! ❤ ❤ ❤

One more photo of my ride with a great shadow! His mane is so thick it falls on both sides of his neck!

I hope you all have a wonderful week, what makes you smile? And I have to thank Trent who hosts the weekly smile post each week. It is so much fun to join in and linkup with his blog which is here.

Smiling, Baking, Horse Crazy Gal!

~Diana ❤

My Weekly Smile; May 5, 2021 – Busy Days!

On By DianaIn Living life, weekly smile16 Comments
Look at all the buds and flowers! I couldn’t resist and had to take a photo!

Welcome to my weekly smile post and I have a lot to smile about these days. I wanted to share that I went and visited my daughter this last weekend and enjoyed some much needed mother/daughter time together. I have been wanting to go see my daughter and her kitty that she adopted at the beginning of this year. I finally got to meet Evie and I have to say she is the most friendly, lovable kitty that I have met in awhile! She walked right up to me like we have met before and meowed, so adorable!

As I visited throughout the weekend there were many times she sat with me or laid on me as we watched some TV. Haha, my daughter was getting a little jealous I think! BUT that’s exactly why we love these animals so much, right? She found the perfect kitty, so snuggly, warm, gregarious, fun to play with and is into everything but in a good way. She finds the silliest things to play with, such a cute kitty! Here is a few photos of Evie! She makes me smile! 😀

She is so black with a few white hairs on her chest. The sweetest, friendliest kitty! ❤

While visiting my daughter she took me out to dinner for Mother’s day which is this coming weekend so we celebrated early. We made reservations and arrived at Ada’s Fish House in Pismo Beach. We got there a little early and walked to the pier. It was a bit chilly with the wind coming off the ocean. It was a great evening and the food was delicious!

My daughter ordered a Lobster roll and I ordered Sand Dabs with au gratin potatoes ~ They both were scrumptious!

I so enjoyed my time with my daughter. It is so wonderful to be together and connect and enjoy each others company. One of the things we like to do together is color in our adult coloring books! Haha, I know it may sound silly but they are a great stress reliever and another fun thing to do is to shop for… try and guess? more adult coloring books! AND colored pencils and crayons which I have plenty of so I bought some colored pencils!

The next day we got up and decided to eat breakfast in Solvang. We had breakfast at Brekkie’s restaurant! I took a photo of their coffee mug which I will be sharing on my next coffee share. We forgot to take breakfast food photos, it was really good. And then we shopped a bit and if you had to guess, we went to a book store and I bought a Swedish book that is really inspiring on how the Swedes live and their philosophy of life and I couldn’t help myself, more coloring books. Haha, this one is all horses! I couldn’t resist and when I finish my first page I’ll share a photo! SMILING!

Sending HUGS AND LOVE to my daughter!! I had a great time and I know it meant a lot that we got to spend this time together. We will do it again soon!

Heading down the trail with my bestie Sally on her new horse Roscoe!

Wrapping up my smiles for this week is being able to see this view! I love the view between my horses ears! My bestie girlfriend and I had super fun trail rides. It is warming up but we ride in the mornings so we aren’t melting. Haha, it’s not that hot yet and I didn’t want to go down the rabbit hole talking about the weather. We are so lucky to have the nice weather that we do, so no complaining from me today!

Thank you so much for visiting and I thank you Trent for hosting all the smile posts and if you want to visit more click here!

Smiling Animal Loving Mom,

~Diana ❤

My Weekly Smile; Nov. 19, 2020

On By DianaIn blogging, weekly smile17 Comments
Welcome to my weekly smile! Isn’t my grandson cute? Haha, this makes me giggle!

I am enjoying this week and wanted to share a smile post. I thought this photo was so funny and couldn’t find a place to share and thought this smile post would be perfect! So silly, but how can you not smile! What makes you smile, are you having a good week? It’s almost the weekend, that should be something to smile about!

I am enjoying my second week at my new job. I am now on the swing shift schedule which is going well. My sleep is great which was the goal of making this change, but my eating patterns are all over the place. The way I ate working night shift was rather strange, so it is all I can do to figure out how much food I want to eat and at what time. May sound strange but I was use to eating only 2 meals a day, may not be the healthiest but my sleep and work hours makes 3 meals a day almost impossible before. I never ate at work, so that was part of the problem. Now, I am to take a 30 minute lunch on swing shift, so I have brought a sandwich with chips to just snacks. I’ll figure this all out eventually! I am happy and smiling at my new hours!

I received baby Yoda as a good bye gift from one of my employees. He fits in with all my crochet Star Wars figures! I need to make more!

I thanked yet again the young man that worked for me at my old job for the gift he got me as he knows I love Star Wars. I sent him this photo and I thought I would share as I just love my little community of Star Wars figures. I have given away many of my crochet figures and need to make more. I am currently making fingerless mittens and if I can make enough of them I wanted to send to family for Christmas. I am a little late getting them stitched together but they stitch up fast, so I’ll see what I can make. After that I will make more Star Wars figures. They are so fun to make! 😀

I really wanted to share a smile post this week and this is going to be fairly short. I say, short and sweet! I need to make a little lunch and then make a sandwich for dinner at work. Haha, here I go again trying to figure out food! I am really happy to be worrying about something like my diet and food instead of all the stress of my old job. Being the supervisor at my old job was really stressful, so much to worry about and 9 employees to deal with! I am a happy camper!

My pretty ponies this week! ❤

I’ll end by saying I am having enough time each morning to tend to my ponies. I am having to sleep later because I go to bed late but that’s to be expected. I am giving myself a break this week as I know everything will fall into place as the weeks go by. Sometimes it seems like weeks have gone by, and then I remember it’s only my second week! Crazy year!! I hope you have lots of smiles this week. Looking forward to the weekend. 😀

Smiling, crochet loving Grandma,

~Diana ❤

My Weekly Smile; Oct. 14, 2020

On By DianaIn Barn stories, weekly smile21 Comments
My grand daughter Loves to cook as she helps her momma in the kitchen!

Welcome to my weekly smile as I love to share the things that bring me joy in my life and as I look at how happy Alice is in this photo, she just brightens my day! I am grinning from ear to ear, she is just adorable! My birthday is just a week away and these little ones will be coming here for my birthday ❤ that is the best present EVER! I miss my son and his wife and to be able to see baby Teddy crawling, I can’t wait! And my daughter will be coming home too ❤ my heart will be full as we celebrate this milestone birthday. I also treated myself to most of the week off from work! I am grateful the stars aligned so that I didn’t have to cover vacations or any other issues at work to get the days I needed off. Yay! Lots of smiles going on over here! 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀

This year 2020 has been a very strange year. We all know one of the big reasons why. It seems like this year has messed with our brains, haha, not really but I have made decisions I regret but I am thinking I need to learn from these decisions. Exactly six months ago with emotions running high (I am thinking now, don’t make big decisions based solely on emotions) I decided to move my horses with my girlfriend and her horse to where I am at now. Of course, I tried to not be emotional about this move and my girlfriend did have needs she wanted for her horse as she wanted more shade from the sun. The covers where we were didn’t provide enough shelter like she wanted. But I figured this would be a good move for us both.

Fast forward to now and I have made the decision to move my horses back which I am doing at the end of this month. There are many reasons why I am not happy, one of the biggest is not having a riding partner on the trails. Since Gracie is 28 and has EPM which she is being treated for she has a risk of tripping and falling. EPM is a protozoa which lives in her brain, and they are trying to get her immune system to fight it. Zack has EPM too, but he is in remission as far as I know and is doing fine. So, no more trail rides with my dear friend and I have no other riding partners as there just isn’t any boarders that trail ride. All my friends are at the other stables. It is bittersweet leaving my best friend as she wants to stay with the shady stall!

It’s hard to take action shots, but I love how pretty Zack is moving. See how he is stretching out his front and back legs, that is what we consider a good mover with the stretch coming from his shoulder! Chloe is not a good mover, but has healed injuries that have added to her bad movement. She does have a lovely gallop!
This is how I’ve been riding lately. I ride on my bareback pad either on Chloe or Zack in the arena. It’s fun, but I miss the trails and its difficult and not as fun riding alone on the trails here in my town. I am just a bit lonely at this stables when my girlfriend is at work.

I am really excited to move back across town to where there are lovely trails and all my other friends. I was tearful after making this decision. I’ve been torn and almost made this decision a month ago, but didn’t want to leave my best friend. (We have been friends since 10 years old) She finally gave me permission as she said to me last week, take me out of the equation. If you remove me from all your decisions what would you do? I knew in my heart of hearts I wanted to be back to where I was, so I decided to make that happen. Shedding a few tears along the way, I didn’t realize how much I miss all my other riding buddies. My best friend is like a sister to me, we will always be BEST FRIENDS FOREVER!

Instead of regrets, I am going to look at this adventure as a learning experience. I did not know or realize what a social girl I am and how important all the social interaction is to me. Currently when I am at the barn it is like my own place because rarely is anyone there. Maybe one other boarder, but she is up at the barn so we don’t visit. It’s a ghost town, so I get very lonely even though I love my horses, I miss the people. I realize I never want horse property, unless it could be a small gentlemen’s ranch so I could have boarders. Not going to happen in my lifetime, but good to know! 😀

My girlfriend is more of an isolationist, loving the peace and quiet and aloneness way more than I can bare. I guess that is why I blog. I didn’t know what blogging is or how it seems to be and with all the friends and lovely people that share their thoughts and kind words, oh I am in blogging heaven! I never knew and drink it all up and love each and every blogger out there who want to share with me their world. It’s been amazing and am smiling at my smile post! THIS IS ME! and I am discovering me with new realizations all the time. You are never too old to learn, I am grateful for this adventure! I am going to end with a video of Zack feeling his oats running in arena.

Thank you for visiting my smile post today! What makes you smile? I am loving October so far….

Happy cowgirl Grandma,

~Diana ❤

My Weekly Smile; Sept. 23, 2020

On By DianaIn Horse stories, weekly smile15 Comments
Welcome to my weekly smile! Some teeny tiny flowers blooming today!

We do not see the seasons change much here in Southern California but I am excited it is now Fall. My tiny garden in my other container is done. I had fun growing my tomatoes and bell peppers this summer. We are not cooling off as much as I would like as we still are hitting 90F to 100F degrees high (32C to 38C) but getting down into the low 60’s at night (15’sC). I sure wouldn’t mind a rain storm to blow through, where are you rain? I am smiling as we head into Fall, what makes your smile? How about some horse fun, that always makes me smile! 😀

A cute little pot belly pig I passed by on my walk this morning!

Before we go to the stables, I ran across this cute guy on my walk this morning. As I walked by he ran up to the fence when he saw me, friendly little thing as its little tail twirled in circles and he was doing his little “oink” “oinking” noises. He had me giggling to be honest. I do not know the people who live here so I didn’t stay long at the fence and quickly took this photo to share. Haha, I could have a little piggy, or some goats and even some chickens living here if I wanted. But even though they are all adorable animals, I feel like its just one more thing to take care of so we don’t have any more than what we have ~ 2 dogs, 2 cats and 2 horses, plenty! 😀

  • Miss Chloe is the same color as rusted tin siding! My Camouflage Pony! ❤
  • Further away, she blends in even more as she stands in the shade!

Funny story, my girlfriend was taking care of my ponies the other day and had them all lose in the big arena. As she was finishing up her chores over near the paddocks, she looked in the arena and saw Zack and her horse Gracie but she couldn’t see Chloe anywhere. She started to walk a little closer to the arena but could not see her and thought maybe she got out some how, But how? you never know, maybe a gate wasn’t latched? But as she looked through the trees and she could see Zack who was blocking Chloe’s black tail and Chloe did not look at her so she couldn’t see her white blaze! Haha! She blended right in with the tin siding! Especially when there is shade, Chloe just blends right in and we were cracking up with my bay roan who is the color of rusted tin! She is way prettier though! Haha!!

Fun day with the horses!

As I was riding Zack with my bareback pad (which has no stirrups) I thought how about going faster! Smiling here as the video turned out way better than I expected. My hand as I watched it was bouncing up and down when I was bouncing on Zack’s back as I was taking the video. But I guess my wrist and the phone didn’t jerk up and down like I thought when I played it back. YAY! And I have had in the past some people tell me I should buy a GoPro but I am just too cheap. These short handheld videos work just fine for me and what I want to share. They are enough to smile about right? They sure make me smile and giggle too! I ain’t no professional, just a pony loving gal enjoying my day.

I always have fun with these pretty ponies and I already thanked my girlfriend for a fun day. I will say this again, as I think anyone who spends time outside the weather plays a part of a great day. It was nice but I can’t wait for it to cool off. Thanks for visiting my Smile post! 😀

Riding and watching my camouflage pony!

~Diana ❤

My Weekly Smile; Sept. 8, 2020

On By DianaIn blogging, weekly smile16 Comments
Welcome to my weekly smile!

I haven’t said this in awhile, I can’t believe it is September! Wow, this year is flying by and I think I can speak for everyone that I really want to put this year behind us and am hoping and praying for a better year, next year. But as we push through this year we should all remember to smile, what makes you smile this week? I have a few things I want to share that make me smile and are helping me stay busy getting through these crazy days! 😀

This last weekend my daughter was able to finally come home for a visit. We were so excited to have her home and we were able to eat outside at the Original Pancake House in our town. We had a delicious breakfast, and not only did I smile with my yummy food, my tummy was smiling too! 😉

  • Apple crepe, filled with diced apples, pecans, sour cream tempered with triple sec, and cinnamon syrup. Topped with warm apple syrup! YUMMY!

Oh My Goodness, that was the BEST Breakfast crepe and I am thinking I am going to have to go back again in a few weeks to fill my tummy again. They have so many good things to choose from, and I have never tried this particular crepe and boy, it did not disappoint. I am smiling just looking at it and thinking about the taste! We really had a nice time this last weekend even though it was brutally hot. I mean the hottest it has ever been in the 20 years I have lived in this area. We hit a high of 117F (47C) on both Saturday and Sunday, YIKES!! It was extremely difficult to be outside, which I had to check on my horses and make sure they had plenty of water. They were fine and made it through the weekend. CRAZY! It is much cooler this week, thankfully.

  • Historic Route CA-66, this part is called Foothill Blvd

Last Friday the family and I went to an outdoor mall. My daughter treated us to a wonderful dinner. I had wild salmon crab cakes, another yummy to the tummy treat! We stopped at a light and these were right next to us so had to take a photo. My grown kids were asking questions, does this route go all the way to the beach? Yep, landing you in Santa Monica in Los Angeles. I can’t imagine driving all over the states with just route’s and no freeways or highways. The good old days, but that’s a whole other blog about historic routes in the United States!

  • My crab cake dinner with wild salmon! Delicious!

My last smile goes to my crafts I like to share. I mostly crochet and I whipped up some mittens with no fingers, something I want to continue and will send to family as Christmas gifts. And I am making one more baby blanket. I looked at some different patterns, but I just LOVE the Sweet Dreams pattern I have been making this year. This is for my niece who just had a baby boy. So it will arrive when he is about a month old and since it’s a blanket and winter is coming it should come in handy. I always use a different color background so no blanket is alike. They are super fun to make, love all my crochet projects!!

Probably my last Sweet Dream blanket for ahwile. And my mittens with variegated yarn!

Thank you for visiting my smile post. I hope you all have a wonderful week. I am very thankful I had two days off in a row! So happy and am smiling again. I had Monday, Labor day off and Tuesday night my normal day off. I hope you all have a great week!

Happy Smiling Crochet Gal,

~Diana ❤

P.S. I wanted to say my prayers go out to all affected in the California fires. We are safe and not close to any but close enough to be affected by clouds full of smoke and ash. We have had ashes on our cars for two days now. So very sad and pray for all our fire fighters.