Tag: #staystrong

Weekend Coffee Share; As The Wind Blows!

On By DianaIn Living life, weekend coffee share26 Comments
  • Welcome to my weekend coffee share where we share what’s been happening in our lives with old friends and new!

How is your weekend going so far? I can’t believe it’s Saturday and it’s late afternoon. I am actually drinking some ice tea because it is a warm January day. It was 86F today and very windy. We get winds here called Santa Ana winds. These winds originate inland and affects coastal Southern California where I live. I thought I would try and get in a ride this morning before the wind was to pick up. I didn’t succeed as the wind blew us down the trail but I am so proud of my ponies today! I thought it not a safe idea to video my ride, but before the wind really kicked in I did take a couple of photos. 😀

My favorite view, looking down the trail on Chloe! And Zack walking right along side us!

As I head down this block, the wind was reasonable and just gusty. I thought I could head down this way which made my ride twice as long before the wind would get stronger. I checked the weather app earlier in the morning or was it last night? And the wind by late-morning was to be around 12 miles per hour, or so I thought and I thought I had plenty of time. Little did I know that within the next 15 minutes or so the winds were going to pick up. You can’t really see the end to the road ahead, but it turns where you see the mountain rise in the background past Chloe’s ears in the photo to the right and as we headed down the turn to the start of the next block home the gusts turned into 18 to 20 mile per hour sustained winds, with stronger gusts! We had to cross the street and as we walked this next block home with what felt like howling winds which were very warm, my ponies just walked along like another day on the trails. I am so very thankful for their steadfastness.

They didn’t seem to blink an eye to the wind, and I am thankful these strong winds were not blowing any debris, lose tree limbs or trash which can all spook even the steadiest horse. As I made it up to the last block and street to the stables I could feel Chloe increase her pace. Yes girl, I know you want to get home and I did too! I did not plan on riding in this rip roaring wind! I think I would rather get caught out in the rain! As I arrived at the barn the other ladies that own horses there were all saying, boy are you brave! Haha, I didn’t plan on this I said. It really wasn’t that windy when I left and I was gone all of 45 minutes! CRAZY WEATHER!

Zack is begging for a treat! This is when we returned. They did not care how windy it was as I cleaned them up and spoiled them!
She stands so pretty! And I gave them extra treats as I really could not believe how good they were today! ❤ ❤ ❤

I am giggling sharing these photos as my good friend Jane was sitting nearby as we chatted and Zack just would not stop begging. Haha, he just would not stop with his goofy sideway looks! His way of begging for something please! I thought why not take more photos. Oh my, I have so many photos of these ponies, I never tire of them and love to share. I am so very thankful I can ride them on the trails as they age and they are a bonded pair. I think Chloe would be fine without Zack, but Chloe is Zack’s best girlfriend and where ever Chloe goes, Zack goes too! It just is, what it is!

Zack is home after a nice windy trail ride! Chloe’s stall is across from his in the barn.
  • Here is Chloe’s stall!

Can I get you a refill? As I sit and think about this last week I was feeling rather emotional. I know that is normal right? There are many reasons for these emotions, missing my family in Arizona ~ so much so I am going to try and visit in a few weeks if possible. I am hoping to visit there in February because my grandson will be turning one near the end of Feb. Wait what? I can’t believe it and I am so excited about baby Teddy’s birthday as this year has gone by fast and am so sad it has been near impossible to spend time with my grandchildren. No wonder I am so emotional. I am also saddened by all affected by the virus. We have employees out and some in the hospital. I am now getting tested weekly. I just checked and I am negative, so thankful as I continue to be needed at work filling in holes of absenteeism. This next week I will go in early and stay late, thankful I get paid over-time now. I think it will just be for this next week, hoping things get better soon.

As we all deal with all these changes and I have read of others affected by more lockdowns in their area, or mask wearing where they hadn’t been but now it is deemed necessary. I am thinking maybe sharing and writing about this is somehow cathartic. So, I’ll say it here to stay safe and stay strong. We will all make it through these crazy times and all we can do is take one day at a time. I am glad to see vaccines rolling out even though it will take time for this to become effective especially since there are booster shots involved. Some how I feel better expressing my feelings on this subject, so thanks for listening. On to happier news…

I do have some really happy news and that is my daughter adopted a kitty last week. If you were to read through my blogs (or have been a follower) my daughter once owned one of the brother kitties that I share that both now live with my son in Arizona. Wolfie was such a handful (that is an understatement) and one of the biggest problems is he would not stop eating the Guinea Pigs hay and so he would upset his stomach and she ended up at the vet so many times that she decided to give him up. So, off to his brothers house he went. (That’s her brother and Wolfie’s brother, Haha!) It has been one year now, and she found this beautiful black kitty that is about a year and a half old. She hasn’t decided on a name, but she is sweet and calm. Here is a photo. 😀

My daughter shared this with me as she was working on her computer but kitty had other ideas! YES! A good lap kitty! ❤ ❤ ❤

Thanks for visiting and having coffee with me today. The link up you can find here, and thank you Natalie for hosting the coffee share. ❤

Happy crazy trail riding Grandma,

~Diana ❤

My Weekly Smile; May 6, 2020

On By DianaIn weekly smile12 Comments
My Beautiful flowers!

I am going to say that I can’t help sharing all my flowers that are still blooming! They not only smell wonderful, they are so pretty to see each day in my garden. How can you not smile? Welcome to my smile post this week!

I try and keep up reading all the wonderful smile posts, I so enjoy them and enjoy writing them. So to get back to my smile, I can’t help myself sharing my flowers and will continue as long as they keep blooming. I am also smiling because my horses are settling really well at the new ranch I moved them too. I am really thankful as Zack is getting old and was worried most about him and the change. He is doing great. ❤

I can’t believe that in less than a month half of the year has gone by. Can you believe it is May? And I would say that Spring is the best time to move horses because we don’t have to worry about winter weather and horses usually are less stressed in the Spring and Summer. It’s just the way they roll. So I am very happy as we have enjoyed some nice trail rides this last weekend! 😀 😀 😀

After one of our trail rides this last weekend! Wonderful shade tree and pretty ponies!
The horses were so good out on the trails! Makes me so happy ~ SMILING!

We rode several days in a row and I took so many photos that they seem out of order as I wrote on the first set we returned from the trails and then the next photo I am out on the trails! Haha, I am going to leave it as I know it doesn’t matter, but it is fun to share and I am super duper happy at this new ranch! YAY! 😀

The brothers taking over baby Teddy’s stuff! Haha, my son sends me lots of photos. Silly Kitties!

They barely fit in this baby swing. Such silly kitty brothers, as my son shares photos of them they make me laugh. I hope you all are staying safe and staying strong. I really wanted to share a smile this week and if I don’t get this finished up, I won’t have time once this day is over. I have to thank you for visiting my Smile post for this week of May.

Happy Smiling Cowgirl,

~Diana ❤

My Weekly Smile; April 15, 2020

On By DianaIn Family is important, Living life, Love being Grandma, weekly smile15 Comments
THE SUN! Makes me SMILE 😀

What a difference a week makes! I had to look back at last weeks smile partly because when I looked at my stats, last weeks smile was viewed and read by many, and so I thank you all for the reads. I also am grateful and thankful for all who comment. It was so wet last week, so much rain. This week is sunny and bright! The sun has finally decided to stay for awhile and I can’t tell you how happy the sun makes me feel. I think this is true for us all, we all need the sun!! I have a lot to SMILE about this week!

My smile this week also goes to my family. Sunday was a fabulous day as I was able to video chat with my family in Arizona. Oh my, it was THE BEST MEDICINE in these times. I laughed so much as my grand daughter was so entertaining! She watches her mama put on makeup and she gave her some so now she has her own. Her mama also watches makeup videos and so Alice was explaining how to put the makeup on! She did a great job considering, but had me in stitches as she applied eye makeup to only one eye, and blush to one cheek and lip gloss. I suppose you had to be there, makes me giggle just thinking about it!

I am really blurry, so much so I took myself out of one photo. I think I like seeing both of us though as you can see how much fun we have together!

She is so adorable, I can’t say enough about being able to spend time with family even remotely! Baby Teddy was very sleepy. He opened his eyes literally for a minute before dosing back into mama’s arms. I didn’t get a good photo of him this time, such a little guy but just as adorable as ever. Of course I am prejudice as ever, loving my grand babies, I’m in grandma heaven! ❤ ❤ ❤

The next day, Monday April 13th was my hubby’s birthday! We ordered an early dinner from a nice restaurant and he bought a pie too. We are continuing the celebration of birthday week as I made a chocolate cake today which I will frost after it cools. The next day April 14th was my daughter’s birthday! We video chatted and she was able to celebrate with her best friend who she also works with so they see each other every day. I am so thankful her friend was able to make her birthday a special day, and these birthday’s will be longed remembered – Birthday’s – during a pandemic.

Happy Birthday, Love You! I can’t wait until I can come and visit, hopefully soon!

I want to continue my smile post with more things I found to smile at which includes the flowers I like to share that I found on my walk this morning. The sun hitting them as it rose in the sky. I am trying to motivate myself to get to Home Depot to buy some starters for my container garden. At one point some weeks ago there was long lines to get in and I totally understand why as they were only letting in so many at a time. I will have to set aside half of my day just to buy or shop for what I’d like to plant, my how things have changed. Praying for a return to normal, for us all.

On my walk this morning! That’s the morning sun making flowers bright and beautiful!
Same flowers from above but really close up! This is my phones “live focus” feature. ❤

I will end with the last photo my son sent to me of the brothers. For those of you who follow my blog, these kitties were split up (in my family, different houses) and then reunited. I have the sister kitties which I share often and are doing great! I hope this week finds you well. What makes you smile? There must be one thing or some things? I am staring out my front window of snow peaked mountains, as the snow has not melted away yet from last weeks storms. The world is a beautiful place, the plants blooming from spring rain, and we all need to stay strong as we can get through this and we can do it with a smile! 😀

Brothers 😀

Smiling, happy, grandma!

~Diana

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My Weekly Smile; April 7, 2020

On By DianaIn blogging, Living life, weekly smile8 Comments
RAIN, please go away and come back another day!

We need a break. Why can’t it rain a lot on one day and then we get a break for a few days? This year and last year it has rained weeks on end or a week at a time which just saturates everything to the point where flooding is inevitable. I want to smile at the rain, the only thing I like about the rain is the sound. I do love hearing it rain, and I love what happens after it rains. The air smells so fresh, and the flowers start to bloom. But it severely interrupts my daily activities, which is walking and riding and caring for my horses! Darn rain, I need to go buy shavings for my horses stall as it is getting very wet this week. 😀 (Trying to smile in the rain!)

RAIN, is very hard to photograph! Haha, it is pouring in this photo!

I’m wanting to write about smiling and all I can think about is how stressed I’ve been lately. My work has been very stressful, mostly because of all the changes taking place with the shutdowns it is causing my work to cut hours to employees. It is sad, but at least we are still working and hopefully this all won’t last too long. So last week was difficult but as I see it now, this week is much better. I feel calmer and less stressed so that is something to smile about! I have been continuing to share flowers, not daily but often. I am going to share the last 2 photos I took of some really pretty flowers at a stable I visited this last week. I hope it makes you smile! 😀

Such pretty flowers!
My favorite! Such beautiful flowers all growing together!

I feel like all I want to talk about is rain. It is to rain the rest of the week. I’m looking at 5 days of rain including today, which is almost over so that leaves me with 4 more days of rain. Haha, I have to be the crazy person writing about rain and I write about it often! Maybe my smile should be about how mother nature messes with me and I have to learn to smile! 😀 😀 😀

Mr. Zack ALWAYS makes me smile!
Hi Miss Chloe! After a nice trail ride!

As I sit here wanting to share and be uplifting I decided that I am going to share what makes me smile because I can’t help myself. YES, Zack and Chloe this last weekend looking at me in their most goofy ways and of course I just keep taking more photos. I can’t imagine how many photos I have of these two ponies. I take so many photos which is so much FUN!

I think as I am writing I am feeling better and better! YAY! I am so glad I am writing and sharing this week. Thank you for visiting my smile post and I hope you all aren’t going stir crazy. What makes you smile this week?

Stay safe and Stay Strong!

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; Horses and More…

On By DianaIn Living life, Smiles, weekend coffee share14 Comments
Photo from Kauai, Hawaii last month!

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? It’s been crazy in this world, right?

I wrote the above last weekend and I think the craziness is even crazier than ever. We are not only worried about getting sick but we are worried about our economy and how hard hit we all are going to be. At least I am worried about all of this as we had plans on getting the house on the market to sell and move to Arizona. That has all been put on hold for now and maybe, just maybe we will bounce back faster than I think but I may be dreaming. We are working as we speak on our house, new paint inside!

I forgot to offer you some coffee or tea, I have both with my favorite creamer, Italian Sweet Cream! Or you may want some ice tea? I have green tea! We went to the grocery store and it seems like we keep going back to fill our kitchen with food. My hubby usually does the shopping and he went with my son and this last week was able to get some meat we froze. But he doesn’t think like me and I felt like our cupboards were fairly bare. I know what I need for some good old comfort food and needed some canned soups for easy sauces in the crock pot and frozen veggies. I bought some fresh veggies too, that I will chop up and freeze for future use and some dried package goods. The one thing I thought I had at home was flour, so I bought more sugar! YIKES, when I got home I am almost out of flour! AND now I have a ton of sugar. UGH! 😀

There was only 1 bag of flour left at the grocery store. I wish I had grabbed it but thought no, I have an extra bag at home. But I didn’t actually check it at home this is just my memory. Darn memory, WRONG! Lol 😀 I can’t believe how frustrated I was that I am almost out of flour and I am sure that store was out since there was only one bag. FRUSTRATING, I can’t believe I am writing a blog post about flour and how scarce it is…. crazy days!

I put together a box to mail for my kids in Arizona, my baby blanket I made for baby Teddy, the cute Hawaiian shirt I bought for Alice plus a few more gifts for Alice. Once we got the box together and mailed it we stopped by a different grocery store. NOPE! That store was completely out of flour! Darn it all…. the frustrations are real. But I know they will restock, just crazy that stores are completely out of so many things. I pray it’s not the new norm!

I wasn’t planning on writing all about this stuff but it is what we are facing and each day is something different and new. What has happened in one week is AMAZING! But we will survive. I am going to dedicate the rest of this post to my photos. I just can’t help myself. The stables is a place I can go and feel safe and be outside with my horses! They just make me smile and laugh, LOVE IT THERE! ❤ ❤ ❤

It has rained a lot this week so we still have a small lake in the arena! My ponies love this water!
Haha, caught her licking the water. Not the first time! Silly pony!
Hi Zack! Love his personality.

How is your coffee or tea? Need a refill? I have toast or crackers. I was able to buy cream cheese to go on the crackers and its really good with my hot sweet pepper jelly. YUMMY! I can’t believe how obsessed I have been this last week about food. In my head, I am thinking the good ole USA should not run out of food. AND I hope I am right, right? But the anxious part of me looks in my cupboards and think go buy more food! I have worried about my ponies food too. I am writing this trying to calm my fears, as this has been a rather fearful week. What is HAPPENING!!!

My girl Chloe! Look at the clouds! Lots of weather this week. RAIN! lots of rain!

It’s been a rainy week, seems like it will never stop. I am always saying we need the rain. I LOVE seeing the sun as the sun is warmth, and makes me smile. Somehow it makes me feel better. I am anxious for some sun which we may not see for another week. More rain predicted next week and then maybe it will start to warm up and feel like Spring. I am literally typing what is running through my mind this weekend. I guess that is how I usually write, but I always try to stay positive and write uplifting (hopefully) FUN posts.

I always try and put a positive spin on even the most dire situations. I think we need to somehow find the good, even in uncertainty. I try and won’t stop trying to see the good and some of this seems silly, like not finding flour…. but its reality! I am trying to smile, and some of this is almost laughable, but its the truth. Hoping maybe I am bringing a little smile to you as well! 😀

I enjoyed having coffee with you today. I hope in your part of the world you are able to get what you need and are able to stay safe with what ever protocols are put in place. I pray for all who are affected with the virus and I am hoping next weeks coffee share we will be at a different place, a better place!! Take care and stay safe. ❤

Staying Strong, hopeful and am thankful!

~Diana ❤

Weekend Coffee Share; My Horses and Staying Strong!

On By DianaIn Barn stories, Living life, weekend coffee share28 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? It’s been crazy in this world, right?

I can’t believe it is Friday, March 13th. Next week my daughter and I are traveling to Arizona to meet baby Teddy, my new grandson and I can hardly wait. I will be seeing my beautiful granddaughter as well, I miss her so much! And as I sit and write this I have to admit I am thinking that the world has gone a bit crazy. I understand the need for precaution and it’s just a WOW! All the things that are shut down because of the corona virus. I totally get it and understand and will just touch upon it here. Wash hands, keep up good hygiene and stay strong. Praying for all who are affected, and praying for a small spread with all that everyone is doing. One last thing I will mention is I am glad my family and friends are the ones scratching their heads to all the toilet paper buys. I don’t mean to offend…. Just why?

I won’t get into the psyche of the human phenomenon of needing to stay in control, hence the buying frenzies! I hope this all subsides soon. Can I get you another cup of coffee or tea? Lucky we can sit separated in our own home, right? No fears in our nice talk here! I shouldn’t joke, but boy the memes I’ve seen on social media are crazy! I probably could write this post and write the word crazy about 50 times because I have never seen anything like this in all my life! It’s CRAZY! I digress, as I am going off the deep end here. How are you? Need a refill? Some cookies maybe to go with your tea? 😀

We have had LOTS OF RAIN! My ponies love the water!
YES! they walk into the arena and straight into the water! Silly ponies!
Haha, yes she is licking the water and yes, they drink the water. I know it doesn’t look good but I can guarantee it is fresh rain water!

I know I post a lot about our weather which usually consists of rain. Lots and lots of rain. It is funny that it seems like when we finally get the rain it seems to come all at once. It will rain for days at a time and we just get saturated. We need the rain, I just wish we had a few days of reprieve in between storms! I will say though that the stables I board at handles all the water pretty well. Yes, we get muddy, but it isn’t too bad and we dry out pretty fast once the rain stops. More importantly, the arena is usable so we can exercise them and the trails are usable too! So in between the showers I was able to go on a short ride with my girlfriend today. That put a huge smile on my face! We were rained on, but only a drizzle. It was really fun actually to be outside and in some weather with our ponies! We did not have a care in the world, right? right!! 😀 😀 😀

Miss Chloe in her stall and I am thankful it is dry up under her roof. I provide the shavings!
I pulled out a light waterproof blanket for Zack. Since I shaved off all his hair it will help him stay warm and dry. He loves to stand in the rain, silly guy!
This is across the street from the stables. That hill is not very big and the clouds are so low!

As I was walking to my car parked across the street from the stables I noticed the hills and the low clouds. I can’t remember seeing the clouds so low, and it was rather eerie out. With the drizzle and low clouds it felt like I was somewhere else, like I was visiting my sister in Oregon. It’s very rainy where she lives, much like today. I checked the weather report and even though it changes daily, we are looking at another week of rain. So much rain….. It will turn everything green, flowers and my roses will love it and hopefully get big blooms! I need to plant a little garden soon. I keep thinking about it but I don’t do anything about it. I need to get off my lazy butt!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We all need to stay connected, supportive of each other and pray for quick recovery from what ever it is we are facing. I enjoy sharing and I know this is kind of a crazy weekend share, but I really wanted to write and maybe I should have written this and seen how many times I can write the word Crazy! I think that is the word of the week!

Take care and Stay Strong!

~Diana ❤

It’s May, Staying Strong!

On By DianaIn Family is important, Goals and challenges, Living life7 Comments

I can’t believe it’s May! My how the weeks fly by and I keep meaning to write every week and the time slips by and I am so busy I’m finding it difficult to fit everything into my days. My motto for this month is to STAY STRONG! I need to keep centered, and not let my thoughts stray to far to the future for as everyone knows the future is hard to see. No matter how hard we try, and I was raised with the attitude that you can do anything you set your mind too, it isn’t always that easy to get to your goals – if you have set goals. How do you handle crazy busy days? do you stop and give yourself a break? Stop and smell the roses? Stop and rest and regroup your thoughts?

I need to regroup my thoughts, reorganize them and start having smaller goals. What I mean is to set goals for my days off. Then when I conquer one goal, move to the next and so on and so forth because I find myself not accomplishing anything, thinking too far into the future, feeling sad about the future not coming to fruition. Like I can make changes instantly, NOT, it takes planning and I am finding myself feeling sorry for myself and not moving forward. I’m finding myself in stagnation.Ugh, a terrible feeling! How do you stay focused, on track and moving forward? Or is it just me, overwhelmed and trying to find my path? Hmm… Writing this is helping me focus! 😀

My daughter’s guinea pig Rey, I am babysitting her piggy’s and they are adorable!
This is Jin, and she is a bit more shy and so beautiful with her curly coat!
Up close! I love their squeaks!
Hi girl! I see you as she is looking for more pea flakes! ❤

As I am sitting here writing this I am realizing that I have lost focus because I am putting others before me and worrying about these others has got me lost. I am talking about my grown children. I LOVE THEM so much that I want to live and be near all of them (which is impossible) and of course I want to be 100% available (which is impossible). I work a full-time job and of course have my own responsibilities and so how can I be available 100% of the time? It’s so crazy that I have gotten into this rut because I need to move forward and not be stagnant. I am realizing that I am there for my children and I am putting incredibly silly demands on my time! Oh dear, I need to realize there is only so much I can do, and only so many places I can be and still be HAPPY! AND that’s all I want for my children is HAPPINESS! ❤ ❤ ❤

How can you not SMILE at his handsome face! ADORABLE! 😀

STAYING STRONG is so important as I know how important my role as a mother, wife, co-worker and friend to others can be and I think setting smarter shorter achievable goals are not only more realistic but doable. I am going to try and cook more (I work crazy hours and so I don’t make dinners like I use to but I can use the crock pot and or plan and freeze meals to make life easier. Just takes planning). I need to plan and be more in the moment not only for my animals but my loved ones as well. I CAN DO THIS! My am I in a funk, haven’t felt this way in a long time. Holy smokes, maybe it’s just my age, I think they sometimes call this mid-life crisis?? Haha, maybe that’s what I am experiencing. I wouldn’t be surprised! I feel like I want to make a LIFE CHANGE, But how? Life is challenging, hard, fun, and I have always loved life to it’s fullest! I feel like I’m drowning a bit. My head is above water though and am feeling better by the minute!

It’s BIRTHDAY month for my son Harrison and is wife Amber! Here is Harrison from last year as he takes a selfie with Chloe, Alice is on her, I miss them so….

I am hoping to set a goal to write each week. I sometimes overthink this process, get overwhelmed and so I don’t write anything. I also want to focus on my house and it’s needs. Who likes housework? Not me, but I shouldn’t be so neglectful. Not that we live in a pig sty, haha, even though I now have piggy’s in my family room, but I can do more and help out more. I did rake the backyard last week to help my husband, so I am doing more each week. I don’t want to apologize for my blog post. I don’t feel like my sunny self, but it’s coming back I promise. But I am human, and want to be real. I don’t want anyone to think my life is perfect, far from it and I know sometimes reading things that may be sad isn’t fun, but I don’t think this is that sad just not my bubbly self. I’ll be back, and you know I LOVE my life, my family and all of you that take the time to read my posts. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! ❤

STAYING STRONG! Always,

-Diana