Weekend Coffee Share; February Is Here!

On February 5, 2023 By DianaIn Barn stories, weekend coffee share19 Comments

*On my trail ride this last week. Such beautiful blooms!*

As I ride by this beautiful tree on my trail rides I really wanted to have it be my opening photo. The sunlight just glistens off of the blooms. I just love it and it makes me smile. I welcome you to my weekend coffee share. I have so much to share, can I get you something to drink as I fill you in on a months worth of happenings? I will tell you that this post is all about Horse Stories. Yep, my horses can sometimes be so all consuming for me as I worry about this, that and the other with them. I know I have a lot of readers that are not horsey folks and I will try and share in a way that should make sense to everyone. I hope the horse adventures aren’t boring, haha, you know I’m going to share anyways! I’ve run across some challenges which I’ve decided to take as learning lessons instead of beating myself up for even deviating from my training methods. I’ll explain. 😀

Before I get to the training issues I wanted to share this next photo that I took after the blooms on the tree. My favorite view between her ears!! I am starting to realize that this could be bittersweet as I am not sure how much longer I will be able to ride Miss Chloe out on the trails. She is having issues with arthritis that is affecting her left front knee and is limping more because of it. There are two large lumps on the knee cap that are getting a bit bigger as the months go along and she is very stiff in the mornings. She walks better once she gets going and today I decided to up her pain medicine and hope this helps her out.

She enjoys going out and I don’t think my tack and myself are too heavy for her. If she starts tripping or limping too much I will stop riding her and she will be retired. I will try and keep her as comfortable as I can but I do believe that “motion is the lotion” and so our rides keep her muscles in shape and I know if she doesn’t use it she will lose it and decline at a greater rate. I will monitor her progress this year and hope I have many more rides to come. I didn’t like the way she was limping today, it’s been a rough winter for her this year. She has my heart and has been with me for the last 17 years. She is 19 this year. ❤

*Murphy quenching his thirst! And he spent most of December and January dirty from all the rain and muddy sand!*

WHAT A WINTER! YIKES! I know I shouldn’t complain but I feel better complaining about all the rainy weather we had this year. Okay, I know we need the rain and snow pack but it took a lot of patience (I had to tell myself be patient Diana, we will dry out eventually!) when you have to deal with large animals in outside pens and try to have a dry place for them to eat and sleep or just stand without standing in muck. I’m thankful I was able to keep my horses high and dry through the worst of it all. They do have a shelter to stand under, here are a couple of photos.

I sometimes keep a support wrap on Chloe’s back leg. I buy bedding for their stalls. They sell lots of different forms of shavings which help soak up the water and provide a dry place for them to lay down or roll if they are itchy. 😀 We haven’t seen this much rain in years.

The lesson I have learned is with Murphy who is 5 years old this year. I can’t believe that I will have owned him for 2 years now. I had decided when he arrived as a 3 year old and with his size and age I would not feed him horse treats of any kind from my hands. He is very food aggressive and I would even say that food is his currency as he would do anything for food. I love listening to podcasts and have some favorite horse podcasts and even searched for some called Positive reinforcement training (R+). I even watched some Youtube videos but I should have never given this R+ training a try a few months ago because I turned Murphy into a monster! (You may be wondering why I was even looking at this training method and what led me down this road and that is Murphy’s stubbornness, I thought the R+ would help – that’s a big NO!)

Murphy is a growing 17.2hh Thoroughbred who is very smart and aware of his size. He’s not mean at all but can be very stubborn and when I hand fed him hay pellets and/or treats he did very well in the beginning. He really wasn’t a monster mind you, he just is this giant horse who lost respect for my boundaries and for me in general. He can’t be in my pockets with his size, and I can’t think of any other way to describe it but I had to stop all hand feeding of any kind. If I want to give him anything to eat I put it in a bucket.

I really do not know much about R+ training and since I do not have a trainer to go to for that kind of thing, I’m going to do what I know best. Murphy and I are back on track with him respecting my space and I respect his. Nothing bad happened, he just was pushy and was disrespectful. (What got us back on track is I have to use a stud chain which goes over his nose on his halter. For non horsey people its like using a slip chain for dog training if you know about dogs. He respects this and I know how to use it kindly. He is very respectful now and his stubbornness has all but faded away.)

*I was finally able to wash off all the dirt on this nice warm day. He rolled in his stall after I took this photo, silly guy!* ❤

Now that Murphy and I are back on track I was able to ride him twice this last week. We have had to take this winter off of riding with all the bad weather. I did lots and lots of ground work and turn outs to keep him exercised. I rode him once at the beginning of January and then three weeks later we had nice rides. I’m looking forward to riding him much more often with the good weather we now have!

I was so angry with myself over the hand feeding debacle because I knew better and yet I went down this road and it backfired. It took me a couple of weeks to connect the dots as his behavior worsened with his disrespect. Once I figured it all out I told myself to use it as a learning curve. Not all horses can be hand fed treats, it’s just not a good idea. Just put them in a bucket and give it to them that way. I respect all trainers that use this method and I am sure there are horse personalities that do well with the R+ training. I will say that it is not anything I had ever learned in the 50 years I’ve been riding and my work with all the horse trainers I worked for in my youth. Murphy, Chloe and I are doing great – so I remind myself to keep it simple Diana! I got this! 😀

I’ll end with a photo of my sweet girl. Although I wasn’t riding Murphy this last month I was riding Chloe on the days I could. Just our half hour trail rides. The trails are not muddy and I can ride out the day after rain. I so enjoyed sharing all my horsey adventures as I ramble on and on about things. I hope you are having a wonderful weekend as I am smiling from ear to ear with happiness with my sweet horses. I LOVE to call them my ponies even though they are far from being any kind of pony!! ❤

Thank you Natalie for hosting the #weekendcoffeeshare. I enjoy sharing my world and this weekend it’s all about my ponies. I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead. I know I will!

Crazy Horse Loving Gal,

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; December Fun!

On December 11, 2022 By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share24 Comments

Welcome to my weekend coffee share, can I get you a cup of hot coffee or tea? I made some homemade from scratch brownies and oh my, I can’t stop eating them they are so darn good! I am looking forward to doing some baking this next week as I plan on baking up cookies and packaging them up for friends and relatives this year. It has been a few years since I’ve done a lot of baking for Christmas since 2020 and the not sharing. I am excited to get that together as it always feels like the holidays and I am having a hard time feeling festive this year. I had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family but have felt a tinge of holiday blues this year. Seasonal depression I know is real and so I just give myself permission to have some days of thoughtfulness and tell myself it’s okay to feel a little blue. I know the holidays can be stressful, and things are falling into place so the stress is less and am looking forward to our vacation to Arizona next weekend.

Yes, I am so excited to see our grandkids! I miss them so much, my son and family are doing good and more often now they talk about moving back to California some day. That would be so incredible if that were to come to fruition, but what is important is that they are happy and healthy. They have had their struggles, but are doing good in Arizona. I miss them terribly and can’t wait to see them. My granddaughter is in a Winter Wonderland Play at her school which we can’t wait to see. I am so happy we will be able to celebrate Christmas with them. I will share my visit when I return.

Let’s see, I have a lot of rambling thoughts rolling around in my head. As I write this I am staring off at the weather report showing up on the news here and we are getting a big rain storm. It’s already here in Southern CA, it’s just not at my house yet. It’s to rain all day long tomorrow and into Monday! I just knew this was going to be a wet year which should help our drought. I have a love/hate relationship with rain, mostly because my horses have outdoor pens. They have solid roofs and a dry area that stays dry no matter how much rain, but the back of their pen can get soggy wet. Oh, speaking of horses ~ I found one of my old show helmets!

*My black velvet show helmet*, *from the 70’s*

Me and my crazy selfies, it still fits my head perfectly!

*I thought I would include an old photo from 1979. This is me and my horse Norwegian Wood (Chester) at a horse show!*

I have to say and will admit I do not get rid of sentimental things very easily. Unless it is falling apart or is broken then I trash it but some of my horsey stuff from back in my show days I have kept. I do like to display these helmets and will add the new find to my helmet display or display it somehow as it is in great condition. It can’t be used for horse shows any more because there are no chin straps which are required on show helmets today. Plus with their age, they may not be much protection to your head but they sure are beautiful! I don’t think we hoard stuff, just keepsakes and things from the past that do not take up much room. I have a ton of photos and things like that I need to go through. I did not keep any of my show clothes as I grew out of them and they would not fit me any more. Those are long gone! Haha!

*Riding Murphy, crazy hair day on this day! Haha!*

My horses are doing great! I have been getting in some nice rides on both of them. I ride Murphy in the arena as we are still learning all the things together and we have really bonded. He has learned and understand words as I ask him to walk, trot and canter. He is so darn smart, he is so much FUN! And Miss Chloe and I walk along the trails almost every day. Sometimes I am with a friend but many days I ride her alone and she does great by herself as she is so seasoned and knows the trails well. Here is a short video I took about a week ago, on a Monday. I hope you enjoy!

We have been getting a lot of rainy weather. It was blustery and lots of stormy clouds around but no rain on this day thank goodness!

Since I did not finish writing yesterday, here it is Sunday and it rained for many hours and more rain tonight and all day tomorrow! I will be buying shavings so that I can add them to their dry area under their shelter. I know I worry about them more than needed and they do just fine in our winter weather here and it really doesn’t get too cold for them here. I am thankful for that, no snow or freezing weather. Here is Murphy earlier today as I got a bit wet tending to him and Chloe. 😀

*This was yesterday! A beautiful sunny day ~ what a difference a day makes!*

Funny story about this weekend. My daughter has been wanting to treat her Dad for his 70th birthday earlier this year to driving a race car at a raceway here in Southern CA. She decided over a month ago and bought him the tickets needed to race or drive at Pomona Raceway on Dec. 11th. Here in sunny California we have had lots and lots of sunny weekends, we have more sunny days than rainy days and as you can see by the photos of how it can change in one day, if she had scheduled the drive for Saturday it would have been great. It’s all good, but the odds of it being rained out is crazy and the raceway has contacted my daughter to reschedule the drive for next year. She has picked a weekend near my grandson’s birthday at end of February and the raceway is in Chandler, Arizona ~ so it will be a fun trip to visit family there and watch my hubby drive a Lamborghini or Ferrari on a racetrack. He couldn’t decide on the car so my daughter will pick and surprise him!

Thank you for joining me for coffee and for letting me ramble on about the happenings here. I have been busy with my work (full-time job) my horses and fitting in as much family time as I can. I sometimes make Christmas gifts, as I’ve crocheted fingerless mittens one year. I started some crocheted socks, but lost interest in them and hence have not gotten motivated to make anything lately. I am actually cross-stitching right now, and next time I share I will include my work. It is almost done, and so fun and relaxing. I hope you all are doing good and enjoying the holiday season. Stay warm and I shall pass you the coffee pot and ask you to share how your week has been.

Thank you Natalie for hosting the #weekendcoffeeshare!

Your Horse Crazy Grandma,

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; September Wrap Up!

On October 1, 2022 By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share20 Comments

Welcome to my weekend coffee share, can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? I can’t believe its the last day of September and we have moved into Fall! I do think this is my favorite time of year. Oh wait, I do love Spring too ~ no, no, I think FALL WINS! There is just something special about the turning of this season as we cool down as the weather changes and we head into the winter months. Here where I live the winter is extremely mild and there is so many fun things to do as well. As you know I love being outside and I am very fortunate to be able to ride my horses all year round. This month started out hot which is typical and we are now seeing some much cooler weather as we head into October which makes me smile! 😀

Earlier this month my daughter, hubby and I visited President Reagan’s Library in Simi Valley. It is almost exactly half way to my daughter’s house up north. So she drove down and we drove up and met there on a beautiful Sunday morning. They had a WWII Exhibit there which was leaving in early October and we have been wanting to visit this library for a long time. We spent most of the time seeing and reading all about Ronald Reagan’s life as we toured the museum which left not as much time for the WWII event. We did walk through it and it was put together well. I only took photos to share of the Library on this beautiful day (no photos of WWII exhibit).

My most favorite thing is the horse lover of not only Ronald Reagan but of her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth and so I just have to share these iconic photos that they had on display, so beautiful. May they both rest in peace. ❤

*My daughter as President! I Love this! Haha!*

They had mock ups of so many things including the oval office. It was so educational learning all about his young life and into his political career. I remember him well as President of course, and I knew he had a ranch in Simi Valley. But I didn’t know how much of a ranch and horse lover he was until I visited the library. He had a whole bunch of saddles and belt buckles which were gifted to him by famous political leaders and others that gave him the belt buckles. Some buckles were so huge, just for display I am sure. Here is a few photos.

The belt buckles are all along the bottom of this four sided display. There were plaques explaining where the saddles came from and I had to take a photo of the jumping saddle plaque. Not only is that my discipline of riding (I use to show Hunter/Jumpers) but I noticed he had a horse named Sergeant Murphy! That is so cool, since I have a Murphy too! I know I am silly, but fun to have little connections none the less. 😀

This was definitely a highlight Air Force One and Marine one overlooking Simi Valley all enclosed in a giant hanger type area all built around the airplane and helicopter. It was seamlessly added to the library and they show photos of how the plane was disassembled and towed up the hill to its resting sight. Boeing put it all back together and it is opened to tour the inside of both. It is really amazing and VERY COOL to walk through where President’s and many important people sat and did their work for our country. They had a kind of musty smell inside as they are both well over 30 years old. Air Force One served all US presidents until George W. Bush and was retired in 2001.

*My daughter taking a photo of the amazing view!*

I couldn’t resist taking a photo of my daughter taking a panoramic photo of Simi Valley. The library sits on top of a hill with a breathtaking view. I love taking candid photos when I can and thought this was a good way to end my share of this beautiful tribute and wonderful library. We have another library very close to where I live. It is President Nixon’s Library which is located in Yorba Linda. I actually drive by it every day I go to work. I have visited his library many years ago and it is not as large as President Reagan’s. At President Nixon’s Library it is located at the house where he was born. The house is still there and has been turned into the museum. I remember well the day President Nixon was brought in to be buried at this library as they had a big presence on the freeway as they drove him through and oddly enough we had a hail storm blow through on this day. So strange, I’ll never forget that day. We lived across town about 10 miles from Yorba Linda at that time.

How is your coffee? do you need a refill, or are you drinking tea? I decided to get a refill with my favorite sweet Italian creamer and I have some small donuts for a snack. Lets go outside as it is a beautiful weekend. I can’t believe we are heading into October, and as we say goodbye to September I will look back at some important things with my horses. I made a dental appointment with my vet with my young horse Murphy. He needed a tooth pulled, called a wolf tooth it sits right in front of his first molars and in his case it was at least an inch or so more forward than normal. (He should have had 2 one on each side of his mouth, but the right side no tooth descended which is considered normal. There are horses that do not have wolf teeth, my mare Chloe was born with no wolf teeth.)

This tooth was interfering with the bit he has in his mouth when I ride him and I will say he is much happier when I ride him now. He was drugged up so he stood good for the vet and they gave pain meds afterwards so he stays comfortable. He also got his teeth floated, which means they use a tool to smooth out the sharp edges that can occur from chewing on his molars. This will keep his teeth healthy.

*The vet and his assistant working on Murphy’s sharp points on his molars. He was a good boy!*

I wanted to ride Murphy more often than I ended up riding him through the month of September, but we had some unbearable heat. It also can get really busy at the barn and so there were many days so many people came early to beat the heat that I just couldn’t fit in a ride. I have to remember I am in no hurry with Murphy and we have plenty of time together and since he is so young I am just going to take one day at a time. I am happy that I rode him yesterday and then again this morning. 2 days in a row! YAY! I have to remember to stay positive and on the days I do not ride I try and do some meaningful ground work with him. I also have my other horse Chloe to take care of and her and I head out on the trails when it is crowded at the barn. So in the end I ride just about every day, it just might be Chloe instead of Murphy!

I am having a ton of fun with this cross-stitch project I started in September! I love the colors and the quote. I have this really cool cross-stitch book full of patterns called Cross Stitch For The Earth, 20 patterns. They have some small designs that I can stitch up for gifts too! This fulfills my creative mind as I am addicted to creating something with my hands. Whether its cross-stitch or crochet, its so fun to create!

I better wrap this up as it is getting pretty long. I really wanted to do a wrap up post of September and am looking forward to October. I so enjoyed having coffee with you today and I hope you have a fabulous week (and month ahead). I have to thank Natalie for hosting our #weekendcoffee share hook up and let me know what’s been happening in your world!

Staying Busy Cowgirl,

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; Summer Reminiscing!

On July 10, 2022 By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share30 Comments

*A beautiful magnolia bloom I took on my trail ride last week!*

Welcome, can I get you a cup of coffee or maybe some tea? I made some blueberry muffins and they are delicious. I am enjoying summer. It has been a bit hot but we usually get a nice breeze by noon so being outside has not been that bad. I am also thankful it cools off at night usually into the 60’sF (15’sC) and so in the mornings it is really beautiful and it takes awhile before the heat sets in (up in the 90’sF) and I think this is because we are not to far from the ocean. My poor family in Arizona, this last weekend it has been averaging 110F (43C) and at night it only has been getting down into the 90’sF (32’sC). Now that is really hot! It is truly a dry heat with little to no humidity but now that I think about it I am happy we were unable to make the move to Arizona. I miss my family there immensely but I know here in California is better for me and my horses and not too hot!

My hubby has been working around the house and he keeps busy with the yards and house upkeep. I know I have shared before that he built a saloon in our backyard. He originally was building a storage unit, 10X20ft but since we live in a horsey town he decided to turn it into a saloon and so it is decorated inside and out like one and my kids through high school enjoyed spending time out there and had small parties there too. The saloon is mostly a storage unit now, just half full of boxes and holds some saloon furniture. The thing that excited me was I totally forgot that we had purchased a small wall piano for $50 from a yard sale years ago that fit perfect in our saloon! My hubby was working out back on the saloon cleaning up the dust and spiders and so I went back there to see him before I went to work and my heart leapt as I saw the piano! YAY! Here’s a few photos (click on photos for full view!)

Its in good shape and plays fine. It needs a tuning but truly there is only a few keys that sound tinny but it actually plays better than my old parlor grand piano that really fell apart and it became unplayable. Currently we do not have a place for it to be in our house so if I have a yearning to play, I will have to sit out in our saloon! Haha, that’s fine with me. I just miss playing and being an accomplished pianist hearing music that we can impart with our own hands just brings joy to my heart! The action of the keys are not the best, that’s okay as it sounds like an old timey piano. So FUN!!

*My sweet girl BZ, my hubby named her so many years ago!*

The photo with my sweet girl and all the chairs is looking out from the saloons porch. That barn in the photo is the back of a storage unit built like a barn that you buy from Lowes or Home Depot and it came with the property when we bought here. My husband decorated the back finding that “Stables” sign here in town. As a matter of fact so much of the decorations on our saloon are from farm or ranch properties that had yard sales or items with “free”. There is one more photo I can share of the front, but I wasn’t planning on spending so much time out in our saloon. It is really cool though, eh?

Shh, don’t tell my hubby that I am sharing his photos with the world. (He’s fine actually) Haha, I’m thinking he looks pretty dang good for turning 70 this year. He is eight years older than me and is doing great! He has worked so hard all his life and is now partly retired, is a Vietnam Veteran and the best hubby, father and best friend. I will say since I am on the subject that I can see why marriages change as we get older. Things are definitely different now than with little babies running around and then teen-age kids, and now they are grown adults with kids of their own. My goodness, I never wanted to dwell on aging and I am so thankful we are super active (I still work full-time) and as you know I do so much with my horses. 😀

Can I get you a refill? As I am writing this post I started out wanting to share summer and as always my horses which I will save for another post. I absolutely love it when I start to write and as the words flow from my mind to my fingers I end up sharing a subject that is near and dear to me and I am feeling rather nostalgic and so this is what I want to share today! It is so much fun for me! The next two photos are photos of a photo that my hubby came across going through some photo boxes. We have tons of photos we need to go through eventually. These caught my eye and so I’ll share here!

My son Harrison with Darth Vader. He is now 33 years old and a Dad himself. We are huge Star Wars fans so it was fun to run across this photo. That lightsaber he is holding looks like it is as long as Harrison is tall almost! Haha! And the second photo is such a neat photo of my niece Allie who came to visit back in the 90’s and I am on horseback as we ride around my sister’s backyard. I just love the accidental lighting on our smiling faces. These kinds of photos are just the best! I shared these photos with them on my social media and it was so wonderful to reminisce with them. And to think there is hundreds of photos to go through and I am sure there will be more gems to find.

Thank you so much for visiting my coffee share and I am just making it into the link up. I appreciate you visiting and I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead! 😀

Feeling nostalgic Mom and Grandma,

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; May 22, 2022

On May 22, 2022 By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share23 Comments

Welcome to my coffee share, can I get you a cup of coffee, latte or tea? I just have to share my pretty blooms when I can and thought this pretty rose deserved the top spot today. This weekend is a special weekend as I continue to celebrate my horse Murphy entering into my life. This weekend a year ago is when he arrived in the big trailer van that delivered him from Oklahoma! I can’t believe it’s been a year as it seems like it just flew by, but it was filled with so much fun with my sweet horses. 😀

As I shared in my last post, I will be traveling to Arizona to visit my son and his family next weekend and I am SO EXCITED!! I can’t wait to see them all which includes my grandkids. I am also really excited because my daughter and other son will be joining us so all my grown children will be together. The only one staying home is my hubby who will be working and taking care of our animals. It’s all good as my hubby and I went to AZ in February to celebrate our grandson’s birthday. I thought I would put together this post as I won’t be posting anything next weekend.

*Murphy’s arrival one year ago this weekend! This was the first time we met in person, so crazy but exciting!!*

Happy anniversary to you Murphy! I can’t believe how much he has grown in this last year. Not only in size and has filled out with his weight, he has grown in maturity too. When he arrived one of the biggest things I noticed right away was how he did not appreciate humans in his stall while he was eating. He was fine with the people who cleaned his stall, but when he I gave him extra hay in a hay net (which is a netting that we use to slow down their eating. They have to pull hay through little square holes so the hay will last longer and it is more like grazing which they would do out in a field.) I gave him the space he wanted and did not brush or groom him in his stall. I could barely pet him or rub his neck because he would turn and nip at me and pin his ears. He clearly did not want to be bothered. He had just turned 3 and he was VERY protective of his food ~ he still is today but he is very polite and has learned I am not in his stall to take his food! ❤

He now let’s me groom him in his stall while he eats! YAY! And I am able to pick out his hoofs in his stall all while he munches on his hay. I do not have him tied up nor do I have a halter and lead rope on him. He is just a very content happy horse munching away while I care for him. What a sweetie, so smart and kind! A different horse (or more importantly) different attitude in the year in my care. I could not be happier! We have such a great bond and I know it will grow stronger every day and that’s so important for a good foundation, good horsemanship and friendship between horse and rider. 😀

*I feel so blessed and lucky to have Murphy in my life!*

I thought I would share this photo again of him eating and when I turn him out and I don’t ride him I will groom him in his stall. It took time and patience to get to this point but he is very trusting and understands now that I will not be taking any of his food. I know I explained all this, just thought I’d share this photo! It is these fun stepping stones of a young horse that is fun to gain their trust and see how they mature and grow!

I will wrap up this post as I am barely going to make it to add to the #weekendcoffeeshare linkup with Natalie. Thank you Natalie for hosting and I am happy I could join in even though it is the last minutes of the weekend. I hope you all have a wonderful week and thank you so much for visiting!

Happy Anniversary Weekend Crazy Horse Lady,

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; May 1st Birthday Fun!

On May 1, 2022 By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share24 Comments

*Thank you Natalie for hosting the Weekend Coffee Share!*

Welcome, can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? I think a nice big glass of ice tea is in order as it is the afternoon here as I get to this special day written out and shared. Today is my sweet horses birthday and although it is not a particularly special year, it is his first birthday with me. I adopted Murphy from a Thoroughbred horse rescue who takes in Off The Track Thoroughbreds and finds them a new career. Murphy’s Jockey Club name is Midnight Murphy, I had to call him Murphy as the name fits so well. He came from Oklahoma from Horse and Hound Rescue Foundation and he arrived last year on May 22, 2021. I can’t believe it has been a year in a few weeks that he arrived. Today I celebrated his birthday by making a few video’s of my weekend and I bought him a few horsey made treats to spoil him. Haha, he was probably wondering why he got an easy free fun weekend and extra carrots, apples and these yummy sweet treats! We are just crazy horse people!!

I do not know Chloe’s birthday as she is not a registered breed. She was from a rescue though so I know the year she was born. She turns 18 years old this year and I shared with her the treats I brought to Murphy and I bought enough treats so I could share with other horse owners (and their horses) at the barn. I am so proud of Murphy as he is a fine looking 4 year old thoroughbred. 😀

I hung a Happy Birthday on his stall. I will share a video I made of him eating a few treats. Yummy, he kept looking for more. I do not normally hand feed him and will put all carrots and treats in his bucket, but today is a special day and he will be fine if I go back to putting the treats in his bucket. Feeding treats by hand can encourage them to possibly nip your fingers. I do feed Chloe by hand and she is gentle and has never bitten me or gotten aggressive in any way. Murphy is so young, he already tries to put the lead rope in his mouth, he is like a toddler wanting to put everything near him in his mouth. I have had to pull my sweatshirt out of his mouth and sometimes my shirt. He is getting better as this year has passed, keeping the treats out of my hand has been extremely helpful in him learning to let things go and it doesn’t belong in the mouth! Haha, he’s such a baby but this year has grown tons in respect and in size!

Murphy enjoying his birthday treats! He is so very sweet and looks forward to our time together each day!

*On the left are donut hole horse treats with sweet toppings! and the squeezy buns I shared with the barn!*

At our local feed store I heard they make horsey birthday cakes and when I got there they had packaged up horse donuts and donut holes (made with grains and horse food with sprinkle icing. They can eat sugar, think sugar cubes and peppermints. Murphy does not like peppermints yet, Chloe loves them!) The icing we were curious and tasted and it is just sweet icing like on cookies. The horses loved these treats. I asked about a horse cake and they said the lady that makes them will be in on Tuesday. Oh shoot, I didn’t realize you had to place an order for a cake. So donut holes it is as to me they looked like small cupcakes. I decided for next year he will turn 5 and so I will plan and order a cake then. I continued shopping and found the Uncle Jimmy’s Squeezy Buns. I put one on top of the container so you can see they are all individually wrapped grain filled molasses scrumptious horse treats! YUMMY! I shared with others at the barn handing out the Squeezy Buns! Hahaha!! 😀

Murphy’s second time with the big ball. Wait for it, I did get a reaction from him! Silly boy!

I can’t believe how laid back this horse is to be honest with you. He really doesn’t want to exert a ton of energy. There are horses at our barn that run around and kick at this ball and there is one horse who will bend down with his knees and try and squeeze the ball between his front legs. He is very energetic and runs all around. Murphy? just meanders around, runs a little because it was coming after him there for a second. Haha, but he meandered back to it sniffing it. I just loved how he pushed it with his nose towards me, which makes me wonder did he want to play? Haha, horses do not think like people do but they are very smart. They can learn words and he responds to “Good boy” and he knows these words, “walk”, “trot” and “canter” and “whoa” for stop. Horses LOVE routine, because they know what to expect and they learn much easier if you keep their routine as close to the same as possible. It’s okay to deviate some days for enrichment and for learning new things, they learn that much faster when their routine and safety is A-Okay!

*He has been such a joy! So fun to watch him interact with this toy!*

As I enjoy Murphy I also enjoy my other horse Chloe and she is very spoiled and loved too. I take her out on the trails and I took a few photos with a girlfriend who joined us today. The Jacaranda trees are starting to bloom. We rode by one before I realized I should have taken a photo so in front of us was a baby tree and the tree behind it is a huge Jacaranda that is just beginning to bloom. I’ll share the photos and ask you do you need a refill? I think I will get one as I finish up this post.

*Chloe on the left and my girlfriend’s horse Fashion. Yes, a funny name for a horse but it fits her well!*

*Miss Chloe after my ride. They all enjoy the grass that grows on the property!*

I can’t believe it is May 1st! This day now has new meaning to me and my life since it is Murphy’s birthday. April was a great month and went by way too fast. My husbands birthday was April 13 and my daughter’s was April 14 and she was at training for work in Colorado and for my hubby that day was a Wednesday. I made the day as special as I could and I think I forgot to share in my last blog post. Forgive me family! Haha, if they ever read my blog. I do not think any of them do. I have a couple of sister’s that read my blog from time to time. As I share my all about horses blog, you can see I do sprinkle in the family happenings.

As I write this my son in Arizona has been applying for jobs outside the state. He has a job interview at the University of Maryland Teaching Hospital in Baltimore this coming Thursday. It would be better pay and advancement opportunities but oh my, it’s across the country. I am thankful I have a job that I can take many vacations so I can visit my only grandchildren if he should be offered and if he takes this new job. I am so excited for him but a bit sad they will be so far away. We will see what happens!

I’ll end with this selfie. I took several with Murphy and I like them all for different reasons but I will only share one, hard decide which one to choose! 😉 I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead and thank you so much for stopping by my coffee share and If you care to share, what’s been happening in your week?

Happy Horse Loving Grandma,

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; February Fun!

On February 13, 2022 By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share18 Comments

Welcome to my weekend coffee share and instead of my coffee mug I wanted to share my pretty roses as they are starting to bloom. I can still get you a cup of coffee or tea if you prefer as we sit and chat about the happenings here. We are in a mini heat wave, feels like summer has come really early! But this heat shouldn’t last too long and we are expecting some rain this coming week. It was almost 90F (32C) this whole weekend. I am praying for the rain as we never really get enough here in Southern Cali. I am thankful the winds seem to have stopped for now. We can really get some howling winds and these winds have been relentless the last few weeks. 😦

I am really late writing my coffee share this weekend and I know I’ll get late responses and I don’t mind at all. Today is Super Bowl Sunday and so I am expecting most everyone is watching. I am not a big sports nut (just a big horse sports nut! Haha) and so I have the Super Bowl on as I am writing this and I was telling my daughter that I don’t think I have ever been to a Super Bowl party, nope. My hubby is not a sports nut either, he watches and keeps track of things but we do not have party’s and I can’t remember if I’ve ever been invited to one. Maybe I have gone to my sister’s when they lived nearby many years ago, so maybe family party’s. Clearly they didn’t leave an impression because I can honestly say I can’t remember.

*I asked a friend to take some photos of me and Murphy!*

I have some photos to share and I zoomed in on the one above and you can see Murphy is sticking his tongue out! Haha, he is such a silly boy. Here are a few more, from afar and then I zoomed in close up!

*Aww, I love this photo and the ones above. I’m not in many with Murphy!*

Murphy is so much FUN! He is so tall that I can’t see over his neck, shoulders or back or rear end for that matter! 😀 He will be 4 years old this coming May 1st and he is not done growing. He has such a personality and is what I like to call a gentle giant. I am so use to handling him now that I forget how big he is (I guess I don’t forget but am use to him) I am always mindful of his size and we have a good respect for each other and our space between us. I make sure he understands what I want when I groom him and when I need to pick out his hoofs. His legs are so long and when I see others work on him I notice his hugeness. My farrier was out this weekend and he was such a good boy and when the farrier picked up his front legs with his knees bent I just stared at this huge knee! I’m in awe as I’ve never owned a horse so big!

Since I am on the subject of the farrier, I thought I would share how smart Murphy is and how with his behavior we solved a mystery. Horses love routine and with what ever routine you develop they can anticipate and start to do what you may ask them to do next. Because he is so big and so young I needed to have him be comfortable with me picking up his hoofs and holding them so that I can get the dirt out of the bottom of his hoofs. This is called hoof picking and when Murphy arrived he was a bit antsy about being groomed and getting his hoofs picked out. So I kept the same routine starting with his left front hoof working my way around counter clockwise to the back left, then back right and front right hoof.

When the farrier comes he just starts wherever usually trims the front hoofs and then finishes up with the back hoofs. He has been very good with the farrier, never tries to kick but a couple of months ago Murphy was very confused as he picked up one back hoof, then the other, and wanting to take his leg away as he wanted to pick up the opposite hoof. The farrier said maybe he is in pain? Look how every time I pick up this left back foot he picks up the right back! Something must hurt. Gosh, I know its possible but he is only 3 yrs old and it got me thinking about how horses think. That’s when I figured out the mystery. Murphy is use to my routine and so now I have asked my farrier to please trim his hoofs counter clockwise and guess what? Murphy is perfect! He has the next leg sometimes lifted waiting for the farrier. Smarty pants!! ❤ He’s my counter clockwise horse! Haha! 😀

*Miss Chloe out for a run in the arena and eating her grain back at her stall! I Love her so much!*

I have shared a lot about Murphy! I had some friends on Facebook ask about Miss Chloe since I’ve been sharing more Murphy photos than Chloe photos. I will try and be more mindful to share both. She has my heart too, so much so it is really good to love on another as she ages. She is doing good and I can still ride her on the trails and I ride her out with my girlfriends at the barn. I know all of you who have animals knows how hard it is when they age, and I am getting to the point with Chloe that I want to be careful and stop riding when she can no longer carry me. I will ease her in to retirement when the time is right. Having Murphy is a great distraction and my heart won’t ache quite so bad when I use her less. She is so LOVED. ❤

Thank you for sharing coffee with me as I chat away! I know I am so late in putting this together. My weekend was busy, my daughter drove home and so my Saturday was busy. I so enjoy having her home to visit and she visited her best friend here in town as well. I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead! And thank you Natalie for hosting #weekendcoffeeshare. 😀

Happy Valentine’s Day tomorrow! ❤ ❤ ❤

~Diana ❤

As Odd As It Gets; Square Odd Challenge

On February 6, 2022 By DianaIn square challenges16 Comments

Welcome to my challenge post where I am sharing all things odd. That’s right! Becky B’s square photo challenge for the month of February is in full swing and I thought I would join with some photo’s that I am deeming odd. It can be an odd number which is how I started this post with three roses, or what ever we see that we think is odd, as like beauty is in the eye’s of the beholder. Let’s see what else I can find to share and that I find is odd. 😀

*My creativity for odd so far is three’s as there is three family members here at Pismo Beach!*

I have to admit that I am finding this challenge, challenging. What exactly is odd? I am enjoying going through my archive of photos and the photo above is great memories when we went up north to visit my daughter and visited Pismo Beach. They have the best cinnamon rolls which is what we ate before we took this photo. I have a lot of photo’s of three people since I am usually the one taking the photograph. I won’t cheat and share too many of these. Haha, not that it’s cheating but I am trying to be creative here!

*That’s odd, the fence is only posts and I counted there are 11 posts in this group! (Did you count them too?)*

We got new fencing on our trails in town. Out with the old wooden post fencing and in with the new white vinyl fencing. I thought it would be fun to share the oddness of the fence as it is erected with the posts first. I took this photo a couple weeks ago knowing I could use it for this challenge. It’s fun to look for things that may be odd.

*Since I am outside the stables in the photo above I figured why not share a photo of Chloe napping!*

You know I always go there and yes, I thought this the perfect photo for this challenge because I try to take photos of my horses looking at me with their ears forward and those beautiful eyes staring my way. As I was getting Miss Chloe ready for a trail ride I hung her bridle on the horn of my saddle so I could go use the restroom and when I came back she was just napping away in the warm sun. What a sweet girl, and so I had to take this photo. I think it is an odd horsey photo and fits perfect here! Don’t you think?

*And this is the end! And I’m thinking isn’t this an odd photo too? I deem it odd! Haha* 😀

Like poetic license I am thinking that Murphy’s photo is odd, what are you looking at Murphy? He stood there for quite some time staring at the neighbors coming and goings or whatever he saw next door. He is so tall and all legs! And he is still a growing boy!! Thank you for visiting my #squareoddchallenge and I hope you enjoyed all my odd photo’s.

I enjoyed this challenge, as odd as it gets!

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; Winter in California And Horsey Fun!

On January 8, 2022 By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share40 Comments

Welcome to my weekend coffee share. We have had lots of weather this winter. Last winter was very dry and we had hardly any rain. We made up for it this winter and this photo is of our local mountains after days of rain and snow. I love the lingering clouds in this photo and thought I’d share. Nature provides us with such beauty, I can’t get enough of the snow capped mountains! ❤

I am okay not living in the snow. I lived in the local mountains 20 years ago and the snow and icy roads were enough to drive us off the mountain back to moderate weather. My heart goes out to all that live in cold and frigid weather, battling the elements snow, ice and wind. Here, where we live it is so mild that the lows do not quite hit freezing. We had low’s in the high 30’sF (2-3C) at night and it rarely dips lower and even if it gets to freezing in the night it will only be for a few hours and it warms right back up again. During the coldest days its in the high 50’sF and for us Cali’s we think its soooo cold outside, brrr. Haha, we don’t know what cold really is as I know this is actually nice weather.

Oh how rude of me, can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? I forgot to offer as I ramble on about the weather. Hmm… I think that’s like an old person ramble isn’t it? haha, I know I am not that old yet, but I know my posts reach others all over the world. I know it’s summer in places as we are wintering! Just filling you all in on this beautiful Southern California weather! We made some decisions this last week and contacted the piano mover and person that came and took our piano for parts. It was a very old parlor grand piano in disrepair and in such bad shape it was not worth the money to repair it. I am happy it went where its parts can be used and now we have some extra room in our garden room. Here are some photos. 😀

*In its day, this parlor grand piano had the most beautiful sound when it was opened in all its splendor!*

*You can see how the finish is flaking off, its very old and holds lots of memories. It’s time to say good-bye!*

You can see the room is now empty. I actually shared about this about a year ago and we finally decided it was time and so I am focusing my energy and any extra money to save for a keyboard as they make some really nice ones and I really miss playing. I play mostly classical music with some of my favorite pieces from Chopin, Beethoven and Rachmaninoff to name a few composers. I’ve enjoyed playing Bach and Debussy as well. I miss playing so much as I’ve held on to this piano which has been so out of tune it truly is unplayable. I’m excited and hope I can get a new electronic piano sometime this year!

Can I get you a refill? I have some Swedish pancakes I made for dinner tonight. I wanted a light dinner and these crepe like pancakes were perfect filled with a little sour cream and raspberry jam. Yummy! I enjoyed them very much and I will eat light if I have a big lunch. My son told me my granddaughter lost her first tooth this last week! She is 6 and in kindergarten and doing great. I miss my grandkids and I will see if we can Facetime tomorrow. They live in Arizona for any new readers to my post. 😀

My horse Chloe and I riding around the block in my hometown of Norco. She is such a good girl!

My horsey fun throughout this last week was fun rides and turn outs as we dry out. As you can see the ground dries out really fast and we were able to ride a couple days after all the soaking rain. It rained for at least 2 weeks maybe 3 on and off sometimes for a few days straight. For us it was a lot of rain which in turns means a lot of snow pack for the mountain ranges all up and down the west. This will help with our droughts that plague our region. I have some more photos to share with my horse back riding fun and just photos of these pretty ponies!

*My dusty boy after my ride! He rolls a lot in the muddy dirt but I cleaned him up!*

*Murphy all cleaned up and eating his lunch. He is doing really good and enjoys his new stall!*

Murphy is doing great and has so much more room in his new stall. I am so happy that he is happy and he is really fun to work with each day. He and I are getting along famously and one of these days I will get a friend to video one of my rides in the arena on him.

*Goofy photos of my sweet girl Miss Chloe! She let’s me kiss her nose for a treat! I taught her this, so she begs often and I was able to take these silly photos!*

I like how she has one ear forward to hear if I am going to say something I think! She knows when we are done riding I will give her horse treats. It wasn’t too difficult to teach her kisses as I kiss her nose and give her a treat, now she pushes her nose at me like you see in the photos hoping I have a treat in my pocket. I keep them in the tack room where I have my saddles and bridles. She can smell them in my pocket, so I can’t keep them there as she is too smart! Haha, these horses are such characters!! I just love them so much! ❤ ❤ ❤

*Me and Murphy’s eye and ear, haha! and Miss Chloe looking pretty!*

My hubby bought me a selfie stick for Christmas and I haven’t taken it out of the package yet. I actually need to find it as I am not sure where it is after we cleaned all the Christmas stuff up and put everything away. So when I take selfies as I’ve shared before, my arms are not long enough to get all of their head in the shot. And Murphy being even bigger than Chloe it’s twice as hard! Hahaha, I still like taking them!

I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend and I thank you for stopping by for coffee. It’s been fun filling you in on the happenings around here. I want to say that I am truly thankful I can ride all year round here in California as I know there are so many that can’t ride in the winter. I also am thankful for all of you blogging friends and family who take the time to stop by and read my blog. I thank you too for your wonderful comments! I have to thank Natalie who hosts the weekend coffee share and you can visit hers and others by clicking here.

Enjoying Winter Horse Gal,

~Diana ❤

PastSquare Challenge, Last Day To Join!

On October 31, 2021 By DianaIn Past Squares, square challenges19 Comments

I thought I would join one last post with Becky B’s PastSquares’s Challenge for the month of October. This is where we can share our favorite square from a previous theme or if we have leftover squares from a previous theme. It just opens up such a whole bunch of square photo challenges that I have missed in the past and Becky has kindly provided all the square challenges that she has done. It can be a bit overwhelming to decide what to share but I’m going to put something together. I hope you enjoy!

I thought I would try and share one photo of each themed previous square challenge and I am not sure I have all the square photos needed but I’ll give it a try! 😀 I may combine some like I did above for “In The Pink” and “Flowers” pastsquare challenges.

*This PastSquare photo is from the challenge “Trees” best view through the ears of my horse Chloe looking at a Jacaranda Tree!*

I joined Becky’s square challenges late last year and have enjoyed sharing photos that I make square in shape and fit the theme’s she provides. The “Tree” theme was one of my favorites and so is this photo above! As I look at the list of past theme’s, I am not sure I have photos to represent all theme’s. But I know looking at something that isn’t exactly the name of the theme we can use our imagination a bit to “fit” a photo into a theme. You will see what I mean as I progress and see what I can find in my archives.

*I may have used this in a challenge before but this is for the theme “Sky” isn’t the sky so expressive!*

This photo is taken at the barn where I board my horses not far from my house in my hometown. This was taken last winter and I may have used it in a previous challenge. I can tell you that I don’t have time to research where and when I’ve shared all these photos, could be coffee shares, smile posts or trail rides! Haha, or challenge posts! How fun to share again!

*Ha! I didn’t think I had a photo for “Circle and Squares” but here you go! Circle ball with the square tiles! And cute grandson!*

*This photo is for the theme “Roofs” and I’m combining “Perspectives” as those mountains look closer than they are because of the snow!*

This is turning out to be fun looking through my archives, like I am on a treasure hunt and I am checking off the boxes of each themed box! I don’t really take many photos of roofs, so this one will work just fine and I just love the perspective as how huge and close those mountains appear when they are covered with snow. This is taken on the street I live on about 2 years ago when we had a lot of rain which in turn means a lot of snow in our local mountains. A sweet photo! ❤

*This is one of my son’s cats and a photo they took and can you believe those “Bright” “Blue” eyes? Just an amazing photo!*

*I found a photo for the theme “Lines” and I am so excited when I found it! I thought I’ll never find a photo with lines in it! Wow!*

Haha, I get so excited over the silliest things. I couldn’t believe it when I saw the lines in this portable cage for the guinea pigs. I take care of my daughter’s guinea pigs from time to time and we have to put them in here so we can clean their cage. I combined another two themes above for the theme “Bright” and the theme “Blue”. I’m wondering, can I find photos for all the themes? What’s next?

*This is a perfect photo for the theme “Top” as you can’t get up on top of anything higher than the kitchen cabinets!* 😀

*This is for the theme “Kinda” as aren’t they kinda in a shape of a heart? I think so! I ❤ them very much!*

*My phone is looking “Up” for this photo and I am thinking this works perfect for that theme!* 😀

*Aww, my family in Arizona (grandson is in the stroller). This is for the theme “Spiky” as I think spiky cactus works perfect! And a very cute photo of this precious family!*

Aww, I had to use this for the theme “Time” as time can be fleeting, but we need to make the most out of the TIME we have and so for those of you that have lost, this was sent to me from a friend for my beloved horse Zack who passed earlier this year. I picture him running free which makes me Smile! ❤

*This photo is for the last theme on my list, the hardest one in my mind “Word’s containing the word light” Sunlight shimmering on the ocean! This is the Pacific ocean not far from where I live.* ❤

I did it! I didn’t present them in any particular order but I think I got them all from the list provided, I’ve shared every theme. Here is the list I used and I hope I didn’t miss anything but I’m very close if I did. Flowers, Sky, Circles and Squares, Roofs, Time, Spiky, Blue, Lines and Words containing the word light. There is Top, Perspectives and Kinda, Up, Bright and Trees. This was a ton of FUN and I hope you enjoy and I am so happy to join in on Becky’s wonderful Challenge of #PastSquare Challenge! Thank you so much for visiting! AND Thank you Becky!!

Squaring with Photos!

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; October 24, 2021

On October 24, 2021 By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share47 Comments

*Welcome! My sister and my best friend went in together to buy me this cool mug for my birthday! I LOVE IT!*

Howdy! How are you doing, can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? It’s very gloomy outside but it’s a good gloomy because we have lots of clouds and are expecting some much needed rain! Tomorrow it is to rain almost all day and we really need the rain in our dry climate here in California. I have some small cupcakes for a snack to go with the coffee, can I get you one? I didn’t make them but they are really good. It was my birthday this last week and my hubby picked up the cupcakes so I didn’t have to bake for myself. I’m the only baker at home. 😀

I can’t believe there is only one more week left of October, but it’s been a very fun month. A couple weeks ago I went to Arizona to see my son and his family and I was there with my daughter who bought tickets to a comedy show. I went to babysit for that evening and it was so fun watching movies with my grand daughter and grand son. Well, my grand son went to bed and was super easy to put down which I was thankful for since he’s 19 months old and I know at that age they can be a handful. But they have a wonderful routine and that helps so much with young children. I had a blast and I’ll share a few photos.

*My daughter enjoying Wolfie kitty who use to be her kitty, but now lives with my son. And a blurry selfie! Kids just don’t sit still!*

Wolfie remembers my daughter!! He slept with her while we stayed the two nights for our weekend visit. For those of you who follow me will remember Wolfie’s brother Dublin is my son and daughter-in-laws kitty. My daughter tried to have Wolfie live with her but he was a handful and actually was eating her guinea pig hay and there were other problems and so we did some kitty swapping. I took 2 cat’s my son had (two sisters) and Wolfie was brought to live with his brother in AZ. Now my daughter adopted a beautiful black kitty she named Evie. We are all happy and the cats are all happy too! Thought I’d fill ya’ll in again and for any new followers. Haha, it was a bit of kitty drama at the time when we went through the exchanges!!

*These brothers still lay together all the time! This is my photo of them sleeping on my bed when I visited AZ! Adorable!*

I had such a nice weekend and when I returned home my sister from Idaho came back to town with her husband because it was her husbands 40th High School reunion. It was so fun because this is my sister who also rides horses and who is the sister I adopted my horse Zack. She couldn’t take him to Idaho, so I kept him and had him until earlier this year when he passed. Now, her and I are having fun with my new horse Murphy! Together she is reminding me about bringing along a young horse. Since he is almost 3 1/2 years old now, he is learning so much every time I ride. He is like a sponge, soaking up all that he is learning. I was able to take some photos when Sharon rode and I will share a video I took as well. We had so much fun as we also took him out on some trail rides too!

*My sister riding Murphy! She and I ride alike and he was such a good boy for her. He is so relaxed and calm. He is a joy to ride!*

Can I get you a refill on your coffee or tea? We have some Halloween candy too. We do not have Trick or Treaters in our neighborhood because it is considered a rural area. We do not have any street lights and the houses are a bit far apart so we do not have any kids that walk any of the neighborhoods in this area. They all usually drive to local residential areas to Trick or Treat. So we usually buy ourselves a couple of small bags of candy and we buy our favorites! Usually they are chocolates of some kind. YUMMY!

Back to the horses, sorry I got off on a tangent but you know, candy is always worth talking about and more importantly consuming! Haha! I was so happy I took my phone with me into the arena when I asked my sister if she wanted to ride Murphy. That’s when I was able to take these photos and the video I will share. After the arena we went out on a short trail ride and I was able to take a couple of photos out there as well. I am so proud of him and I thanked my sister so much for all her help and encouragement as he is coming along nicely.

My sister riding Murphy and he is so relaxed and now I have him on video cantering to the right. He is doing great!

I am so enjoying my time here with you and I am also enjoying celebrating my birthday this last week. My family in Arizona sent me a bouquet of flowers, they are so beautiful and smell wonderful! They arrived Saturday and my daughter sent me some fun Star Wars things as I Love all things Star Wars! Including a coloring book, The Princess Diaries by Carrie Fisher to read and these cool light saber earrings! Yes, I am a geek when it comes to Star Wars!! My hubby got me a cool Disney cookbook. I have a small collection of specialty cookbooks so this is a nice addition. I will finish up with these last photos.

I am a happy Grandma, Mom, wife and horse crazy gal! Thank you Natalie for hosting the #weekendcoffeeshare! I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead and thank you for visiting with me today. 😀

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; Trail Riding Fun in August!

On August 15, 2021 By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share17 Comments

*Welcome to my weekend coffee share! Cookies anyone?*

Howdy! I got inspired by my daughter when she told me she has a friend who had trouble making a good chocolate chip cookie and her friend decided to make Mrs. Field’s Cookie recipe. I looked in my cupboard for my Mrs. Field’s cookbook and I have 2 copies of her cookie cookbook from the 90’s. One is new and one is well used, not sure why I have 2 and will give one to my daughter if she doesn’t have one. I just looked it up and it was published in 1992! My daughter told her friend those are cookies from her childhood, yup! I cooked many, many cookies from that cookbook. I haven’t cooked from her cookbook in quite a few years, sticking it in the cupboard I just stopped using it. I know one reason is she bakes her cookies low and slow, it takes double the time to bake one sheet of cookies! BUT IT IS SO WORTH THE WAIT!! These Blue Ribbon Chocolate Chip cookies are the bomb!! YUMMY! ❤ ❤ ❤

Forgive me, can I get you a cup of coffee or tea with some cookies? I sure wish I could share them with you all! I just could not resist sharing a photo with you today. I may use this photo from time to time as cookies go with coffee very well! Now onto my weekend, and I had a ton of fun with my stable friends and both my horses. I am getting to know my new horse Murphy better every single day. He is so much FUN!! 😀

*My girlfriend at the stables saw me ride in from my trail ride with my friend on Roscoe and took these photos!*

*This was on Saturday and I was able to trail ride both Saturday and Sunday!*

I will tell you that I am a bit out of shape. Riding the trails on my other horse Chloe does not take all that much effort on my part so my riding legs are out of shape. Too be honest, after riding each horse the last two or three days I am a bit sore. My legs (or thighs) are sore this evening but it is a good sore meaning it is worth the riding as I want to get in shape. I need to get stronger, but Murphy is out of shape too because he is young and hasn’t done much which is perfect. We will both get into shape together! We are a team! Haha, a wonderful team and we are working really well together! YAY!

I am sharing my video’s a bit out of order but I figured it doesn’t really matter what day is what ~ it all happened this weekend. This video I took on Sunday as I didn’t think to take a video on my Saturday ride. I have another video I am going to share which I took on Saturday on Miss Chloe. It was so fun to be out with my horses this weekend. Here is Miss Chloe!

She is such a sweet horse and we have so much fun just checking out the neighborhood. I don’t know why, but I was noticing the trees and I have walked and driven by all of these houses countless of times when this one house just caught my eye with all the palm trees. I wish I kept the video going as I rounded the corner as the line of palms continues down the other side of the property!! They have quite the palm tree collection that is for sure!! I hope you enjoyed my video’s for this weekend. I have so much FUN making them, and I so enjoy sharing them!

I am going to end this coffee share with a couple of photos of my sweet horses and I hope you have had a wonderful weekend in this month of August. I can’t believe it’s the 15th, half the month is gone already.

*My horse LOVES!! I am completely obsessed with these beautiful animals. They melt my heart and fill my soul!* ❤

I want to thank Natalie for hosting this weekends #weekendcoffeeshare as she is doing a wonderful job. Thank you Natalie!!

Happy Trail Riding Cowgirl!

~Diana ❤

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	Diana on Weekend Coffee Share; Crazy Mo…
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	Diana on Weekend Coffee Share; Crazy Mo…

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Tag: #photofun

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