Category: Dogs

Hello, Ju. Jul. Aug. SEPTEMBER. FALL!

On By AveryIn Dogs, Horses, Life, Uncategorized1 Comment

oYe. Uh, hi. Hello there.

How many times now have I basically began to you in this exact same manner?! Too many to count, now that is sure. One of these days I will come up with a different opening. Maybe. Who knows. I am not sure I even believe that, so it is OK if you do not.

I started a post back in June, planning to catch up. I got a couple paragraphs down and then never came back to it. In fact, it took me quite a while to even find where WordPress now hides draft posts.

How is it already September…FALL!?! Yikes. Each month is going by like a the blink of an eye. It seems to have felt like that for the last two years to be honest! Since it was FEBRUARY that I last wrote, I am sure this is no surprise to you, dear readers. F. E. B. R. U. A. R. Y.

So, here I am for my seemingly new, regular, season change update. Back in February it was the anxious await of spring with the countdown to time change, greening landscapes, and shedding horses. Welp. Now it is the flip side. The change of fall has been in the air for a little while now while we all await the cooler temperatures. The foliage is starting to change. Horses (the one horse, Chance, like clockwork) have started to put some hair on. Cousin H and I have already had a fall cooking and movie fest and I am brainstorming holiday desserts. Pumpkin bread is happening soon.

Anyhoo…what all has been going on?! A LOT! Strap in and hold on. Get your drink of choice. I am sat here with my vino. Some things are going to need their own posts later on, but here are the highlights. This is going to be all over the place most likely and fair warning I will not be re-reading before hitting publish!

Lito celebrated his 12th birthday! Talk about a yikes! It feels like just yesterday he was a gangly colt. Sometimes I still see that colt in there, but his is a full grown Spanglish man full time now. I made him have a photo shoot and he was none too pleased about it, but he gave me some good looks so I will take it.

I will tell you it really was a lovely spring. One we are not always fortunate to have. I had to have a sweater on a few times in May with my morning porch coffee time. I know, crazy, right?!

I snuck away for a week to Hawaii just as the summer heat started to show itself.

What is that you say?! Slipped that one in there, didn’t I?

Yes! I got invited to come to Hawaii and ride Carino into the crater! I of course could not turn an adventure like that and the opportunity to visit my Aunt and Uncle down. Life is about saying ‘YES‘ when you can! Carpe diem, YOLO, all of it.

Then my Cheetah turned 21. Talk about a mind boggler. I made her do the same photo shoot as Lito. She did not really show up to play, but I got some decent enough shots.

Merley bob also celebrated a big birthday this summer and got to go to the hill country for a ride with Lito to celebrate. This birthday was one that honestly, I have been…I do not even know the word. Fearing, I guess. A birthday I never got to see with my Darcy girl. It does not help that the end of May was the anniversary of her passing. It is always a strange time for me. A big part of me actually subconsciously thought we would never get here.

But he did! My Merley turned 6!

I am a bad mom and never got around to his birthday photoshoot, so please enjoy these other snaps.

Need a break yet? OK, hurry fast. I won’t wait long.

OK, where were we?

Lito and I had a big adventure with his first out of state mountain trip to New Mexico!

New Mexico was a great end cap to summer. This morning I enjoyed pinon coffee that I bought there.

The summer really was lovely and quite mild. Many places got quite a bit of rain. Some places tragically too much. Others like us have had almost none. But, I have even had some nice mornings out with my coffee since August and I just got my winter horse hay loaded in last weekend. It sure is nice to get that chore finished. Now to source hay for the cows, which we will need more this year than in years past.

September and fall have gotten off to…um…a rocky start? Dichotomous? Is this a train wreck of a transition?

I guess that is how I could put it. I could use a myriad of different words.

It began with a major high.

I brought Lito home over Labor Day weekend for the first time and it was lovely. I had a pajama party ride with friends down the road followed by a care free afternoon with them in the pool. The rest of the time was spent enjoying our first rides at home, homemade brunches, and movies on the couch with Merle for the afternoon rain storms. It was the most truly relaxing time I have had in a long time.

After that high came the nightmare of a low. The kind that makes you regret everything. If I had not had that weekend, maybe this would not have happened. If I had never gotten into horses. I am going to be really quick here. Cold even, at least it feels that way to me. It is the only way I can put it down. It still haunts me and it will for quite some time.

We lost our dear Lei Lei. I never did introduce you to her I do not think. She was the most perfect of large bay pinto ponies. She had spirit and spunk. She fit right into the very heartbeat of our herd. I do not know how else to put it. She was perfect in all the ways. Even in her naughty pony ways. Her loss is palpable. If you could see a literal hole, it is there. A hole in the herd. In the energy. In the pasture. In the barn. In the soul. The property.

It was a fluke that I was even at the farm that morning, but it was clear from a far that something was very wrong. I got mad at first, who has the time for this? I got a call into the vet right after that. The rest of the heard knew everything was wrong. I cried with our vet before we loaded her up and I drove her to the hospital for her last chance.

Chance knew she was not coming back. The look on his face when I came back alone. He turned away from me the following morning.

We prayed she would just have an impaction in her small intestine and that fluids and pain meds and all the juju dances would get her through. Unfortunately, we believe she had a fatty, strangulating mass and quite possibly a resulting rupture. We could not get her stable and had to make the call at 3:30 AM.

I do not know what else to say. I proceeded to clean and prep her stall anyway because I did not know what else to do. I sat and stared at the box her mane and tail came in for days.

It is the very worst part of being involved with horses and animals in general. That is the unfortunate reality which is why I am even sharing this.

Then, in the truest way of horses, Lito was lame the following weekend. That will have to have its own update later as well because now I am worn out, but he is making progress in the correct direction. So there is that.

I really am very sorry for dumping on you. If you have made it this far, I appreciate you being here.

Walk in love, dear readers. Until next time.

Knock Knock!?!

On By AveryIn Dogs, Food, Horses, Life3 Comments

Who is there, you ask?

Well, it is Christmas Spirit, that is who!

Ha!

Did you know that kids still do knock knock jokes?! Ya, I too have learned that recently from my nieces and nephews. Pretty interesting actually. Some things are just apparently timeless I guess. Who would have guessed that knock knock jokes would be one of those things.

Anywhhooooo.

Have you felt your Christmas Spirit yet??? ‘Twas late coming for me, but it is here now! Do not you worry, dear readers, if you need some help, I am comin’ in hot for y’all to try and help if I can!

The Christmas Spirit really began for me this year with a little lunchtime party our office building threw for the tenants last week of all things. The festive decorations, treats, and sounds of mingling surrounded by poinsettias and I looked up and felt it. Why hello there, long time no see! I have most of my Christmas shopping complete and I am getting the itch to BAKE. Better late than never! I am pretty sure I said that last year, oh well, please don’t judge me. I have the Christmas music on now and am in the middle of decorating the tree and wrapping gifts! Yes, I know, late also too with the tree. I just have not made the time for it (you have to make the time for the things!) and I was again considering not even doing it. I again told myself that was unthinkable and a friend of mine actually offered (again) a little pre-lit tree to borrow if I wanted it. When she offered this time I jumped at it. I have my other little decorations out, but it is not complete or the same without a tree with lights and loved ornaments.

SO, it is here and I am doing it!

I started a post to you back in the beginning of November about gratitude and being grateful for the rain…you know, Thanksgiving and all…and now here we are half way through December! Oh well, if you were wondering, I am indeed grateful for the rain. So much so that I was almost complaining about it come Saturday because the forecast has been all over the place and it seems to always change over night. I have been surprised a few times this fall/winter and your gal just wants to ride her horse! I seem to have forgotten my rule about not making plans around the weather man and the fact that this i s one of the reasons we ride all year round. You know, should one need a reason or something.

It is little matter now though that I finally got to ride on Sunday! And, boy was it a stunner of a Texas December day!

So, let us rewind, shall we? What has happened since October???

We are all just over here living our best lives, I guess!

Mid October we went on our annual ladies ride. The beginning of October was a lot of preparing in gathering supplies, packing, getting ahead in work, and getting as much riding in as possible.

Upon our return, I got our big order of winter horse hay loaded in the feed room (which is the scheduling, driving, picking up, paying for, driving back, and then unloading), of which there is no photo evidence of except for the clean up crew. Normally I do this much earlier, like July, August, or even September, but because it was so so hot and we had previously had so much rain, I was not overly concerned about hay supply. I put it off several times, but there is only so long you can do that!

They are a pretty good clean up crew!

I apparently made a margaritas for Momma and myself in the beginning of November. There is never a bad time for a marg!

Oh look, more riding before Thanksgiving! I certainly can not complain! Just so you know, I do not take pictures every time I ride.

Merle living his best life going to check the mail.

I did do a little baking for Thanksgiving…I made a chocolate pie bar! The pie was more of a cheesecakey mousse with some warm spices mixed in topped with a sweet whipped cream. The crust was made of these mini chocolate graham cracker cookies…that grew up to be a big pie crust! I usually go for those famous chocolate wafers made by Nabisco, but sadly they are not made anymore apparently. The toppings I went a little bit crazy with to try and please the masses: pomegranate seeds, strawberries, pumpkin seeds, pecans, slivered almonds, toasted coconut, two kinds of dark chocolate with orange and chili pepper, crushed peppermint candies, and chocolate animal crackers. It paid off though and I had many takers, adult and child alike!

We played fetch in the pond while I admired my Merle.

Between my dog and my horses, I have the best views!

A post chaos bareback ride.

I think that about brings us up to date!

Holiday parties are in full swing and before we know it…quite literally…Christmas is here!

Walk in love, dear readers! Christmas Spirit, coming right up!

Spring Is Here.

On By AveryIn Dogs, Horses, Life, Uncategorized3 Comments

In case you missed the memo, spring is indeed here and it has been lovely! I feel like last year we only had a flash of spring before it was full on summer hot, so this has been really nice.

Except it actually got a bit cold at the end of this last weekend and I was quite glad I still had a sweater in the truck!

So, what is that? Where have I been?

Ha, that is a good question. Contrary to some beliefs, I have not fallen off the face of the earth. Yes, I know you are glad. I have just been very busy. How boring of an answer, I know! The truth is, I just have not had much free time to make for the blog unfortunately. Not for lack of want to, mind you. This is just where I am at right now. I even started this post over a week ago if that gives you an idea.

In fact, the other day…which actually means well over a month ago…I took a bunch of pictures of young wild flowers and budding plants as evidence of spring’s official arrival with full intentions of writing to y’all about it.

Anyway, I am here now and that is that!

We have of course been riding and enjoying the weather.

I have actually been working on getting my Cheetah girl into some semblance of riding shape just for fun. She is missing that part of our relationship I think and I absolutely have. We take it day by day and meet her where she is at with the goal of staying inside her comfort zone. She has good days where you might think she has no arthritis at all and she has some not so good days. Her brain on the other hand thinks she is about four years old all the time as opposed to almost twenty. It is a fine dance.

Close your eyes and your ears, but I ordered a new saddle for Lito. Which means, I have a saddle to sell. It has to happen, I have reached that point. If anyone is needing a saddle or knows someone that is…please send them my way!

On Good Friday, Merle and I went to meet R’s new foal and then went over to her new property to celebrate the closing and being closer to each other geographically. We had a dang good time exploring. Merle also had a very proper, good time.

Then on Easter Saturday my Grandmother came out to the farm for a visit which was really nice as she got to visit all the horses and give them treats.

Lito also turned 11! It feels like just yesterday he was born!

Then we went on our annual Spring Ride with my ladies riding group. We were blessed with spectacular weather and My Lito was very good. Especially since he apparently had the world’s largest splinter in his neck the whole time.

If you look really closely at Lito’s throat latch area behind his jaw, you can see the abscess.

…If you are squeamish, you may just want to scroll on…it is going to get a little gory…

Yes, splinter. When we arrived on late Friday afternoon, I noticed a little tiny scab and a swelling that grew up and away from the scab on his neck. He was mildly bothered by it, but I decided to watch it over the weekend. It did not do much changing, but by Monday morning it appeared to be a little more raised and possibly a little harder. Luckily, our vet was able to fit us in Monday morning so I loaded him back up to go investigate at the clinic. The ultrasound probe was barely on his neck before Dr. F swung the screen around exclaiming, “Yup, look, there it is!”

After a little sedation and a little cut, we had the world’s largest splinter thankfully out of his neck.

Naturally I took the splinter home so I could show all my horse friends!

Dr. F was quite happy with how it all went, but of course wanted daily treatment.

So, that is what we have been doing lately! Monitoring, hydroing, cleaning, and treating. All the while running up and down the highway working both in and out of the office. My phone is full of daily progress pictures and we are now almost healed up. We have just been taking it easy since then, but I had a full on proper horse girl bareback Saturday with all the ridden horses followed by a deep grooming session for My Lito Man. All the horses are looking really good and shiny. The best thing coming out of winter.

I am currently wishing I could go back to Saturday as life is about to get even more hectic.

Walk in love, dear readers!

Rainy Winter Blues.

On By AveryIn Dogs, Horses, Life, Uncategorized4 Comments

Well, uh ya, hi there! How are y’all this evening?

What do you know?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I will just go ahead and throw in a Happy Valentine’s Day as well! And everything in between for good measure. Why not?! It is right around the corner. It is OK if you only just realized that point and, hey, we can always use more love, right!?

Get yourself a little libation of some kind and catch up with me. It is just that kind of evening.

Let us see. Long time no talk! I can not believe it has been since before Christmas I last wrote. What has been going on?

I suppose a lot has happened, but then again, not quite a lot actually has! Life just took over and I seemed to have no space in my little pot of thoughts for blogging or any other forms of social media. Good or bad, right or wrong, it does not matter, it is what it is. I looked up and here we are in February.

I started to write a couple of weeks ago and it went something like this…

My dry and crispy little table top Christmas tree is still standing there, droopy limbs and all, on my table. Said table is covered in folded laundry and my hampers are full of dirty laundry waiting to go through the machines. But, hey, my machines are going, so we are making progress. My truck is a disaster, just full of living, shall we call it. It might as well be a closet. However, the barn is clean, or at least it was when I left the farm on Sunday. Who knows what kind of horsey party shenanigans have been going on in there since it has been raining since I left and will continue to until the weekend.

So, you can now scratch all of that above.

The Christmas tree has been dismantled, decorations have been put away, and the table has been cleaned and set…actually, all the surfaces have been cleaned. The laundry has not only been done but it has been put away (gasp!)…well, the hamper is full again somehow, but forget about that. My house is the cleanest it has been in a while and I even have bagged up 3 bags full of clothes to take to donation. Something happened and I went into full deep spring cleaning. I am hoping it is not premature! I had to put all that energy somewhere I guess.

The barn however, that is another story. We have had even more rain and therefore more mud. I did not leave it as clean as I normally do. I just could not do it. I needed a break. It feels like all I have done for a month is feed, muck, treat hooves, and try not to slip and fall in the mud. I even left early on Sunday…to clean my house…

ANYWAY.

Since we last spoke, Christmas was celebrated and baking was done. I could write a whole post on the life lessons learned from baking, but I will spare you. The flavors were good, but nothing really turned out as expected or played by the rules. It was all fine and everyone seemed to like the desserts, but to me this year they did not pass muster! I am not even going to share finished pictures!

New Year’s Eve was peaceful and quiet, blessedly. R and I continued our tradition of closing out the year in the right way with a ride.

The day started out like this.

Just us and our horses. We packed food and had our music. We rode for hours and then sat and talked for hours. It was the best day.

On New Year’s Day I rang in the new year from the backs of my dun duo before I had to go back to town. It was the best way to welcome the new year. For me, the only way to ensure a good year is to begin and end it with a ride. Forget the black eyed peas and all that other nonsense. Spend it doing what you love! Begin as you mean to go on! It sure has worked out for me lately, so I bet none of you are surprised I made sure to do it again. NYE and NYD are just another day like any other, but if you have the right mindset and try and keep the perspective every day…you are setting yourself up for success.

Then, Lito decided to colic. He recovered fine. I waffled on and off about whether or not to even write that as I don’t want questions or to keep that energy, but horses are going to horse and sometimes it sucks. There is no avoiding it. That is fact. That is life. So there it is. Keeping it real.

Then the winter weather came.

Now, I am fully aware that y’all up north have ‘real’ winters with much lower temperatures and much more snow and ice. I am also aware that this latest winter event was also nothing like that crazy big freeze we had a couple years ago, but we did have noisy sleet (and much more of it than they were predicting….also, can we please talk about how awful sleet and ice sound? It is gross) and temperatures at about 20 to 18 deg F with wind chills at about 7 deg F.

It is still a lot of work and stress to make sure all horses and cows have enough to eat and drink and that the barn is mucked (yay for frozen poop being easier to scoop!). That certain horses have access to wind breaks and shelter, to make a four horse barn work for six. That certain old and young cows have made it to morning. It will sure make you grateful for a barn! I was also still on hyper colic alert, so you can bet everyone was getting electrolytes and probiotics the whole time.

I will say cold mornings are really pretty and hot chocolate in your coffee makes it all easier. Take my word for it and do it. Maybe not not the best idea every day if you live in perpetual winter, maybe just when it is really bad. You do you though!

Once everything thawed out, we did discover a few broken water troughs that needed fixing after the freeze. I think their main downfall was actually age coupled with multiple freezes. It was just their time. To be honest, I am somewhat glad as it gives us the opportunity to get them set up better than they were to begin with. Life is all about perspective, I tell you!

Winter is just hard on living beings, especially the old ones. That is the hardest part above and beyond the work. Every morning I went down to cube the cows and break ice I was extra excited to see our geriatric Longhorn steer ready to get fed with everyone else. His name was Chacho. A staple in our herd as we had him for well over 20 years. He was even first in line to get fed the last cold morning. He got his own special, large pile of feed and hay as he has gotten for years. He ate well and I was surprised when later that morning Pops told me he was down and believed this was it. He seemingly laid down with a belly full of breakfast and went to sleep. That was it. It is crazy how you go for years thinking this is going to be it. He won’t make it through this winter and they prove you wrong so many times. Then when their time finally comes you are shocked. It is the end of an era, but what a blessing to have it be the way it was.

He was really old even here. Curly the bull has been gone a long time. Now these two bros are reunited.

Now here we are in our rainy season (which I will take over freezing). We have gotten many inches of rain in a couple of weeks. I think last week we got eight inches or more and on Friday night alone we got close to 2 inches. It is like the water is just coming out of the ground. Everything is slick. The pond is quite large. All the terraces are full and flowing.

I am not complaining about the rain. I will never complain about the rain.

I just.

I have MAJOR rainy winter blues. I have not ridden since New Year’s Day I do not think. I am not handling this well either. I feel like I am in a major funk.

Anyone want to gift me a covered arena?

Even still, with all of this rain, we have also had sun. Blessed sun. The pastures are benefiting. I have seen it with my own eyes. THE GRASS IS GROWING.

We have also done some of this. A happy Merle makes me happy and growing grass makes me happy. JUST LOOK AT HIM.

I did take a free weekend between the rains to slip away and go fishing with my parents, so that was nice to have little mini vacation away to one of my favorite places.

Tell me what you have been up to? Anything. Good or bad. Distractions or something to look forward to. Oh! Or vacation plans!

I do know this though. Spring is coming. I know it is. We have rain and sun AND lots of hair coming off the horses. You can do it spring!

Walk in love, dear readers! Have a good evening!

When Holidays Are Hard.

On By AveryIn Dogs, Faith, Life6 Comments

Joy, it is here! I practically yelled that at you yesterday.

I am still yelling it and feeling it today, but as we all know, life is funny. Facebook slapped me with a memory of one of my Darcy’s Christmas portraits and it just sucker punched me right in the gut.

I was almost literally stomach sick (no mincing words here!). This happens from time to time, that is how grief and memories work, but I also had a dream about her earlier this week and I just can not get her off my mind. So many memories. So many feelings. I tell you I could almost feel her in my arms in the broad light of day.

I got to thinking and I realized that in the last eight years, I have experienced eight deaths. Three of which were tragically devastating.

What a statistic. Numbers are just that, numbers, but that is kind of a lot of deaths in a short period of time for someone who had previously not really experienced any beyond the passing of a well loved pet that lived well into its golden years.

Grief is funny in that when you are in it and close to it, the loss and the myriad of emotions that constitute grief lace all your thoughts and actions. You can not escape it and it seems to shape all you do. Blessedly, time does goes on and it morphs into something a little different bit by bit, but it is always a part of you, part of your inner tapestry, shaping you in different ways and giving you life perspective.

The point of all of this is that the holidays can be a very hard and lonely time for many people for any number of reasons, but chief among them is that in this time of togetherness and in the reflectiveness of winter, one thinks of those they can not gather with.

However, this is the AHA moment. One thing that we ALL share is loss. Grief is something that, while unique to each individual, is a universal connector of us all. NOBODY is alone in their grief for the simple reason that everybody has it. Even if it feels like you are alone at times. When you are in it, you can not see much else.

Here is what I want to tell you. What I have come to live for myself.

Through all the grief and loss there is another side to discover. Somewhat removed, but in a bird’s eye view kind of way. Not just a light at the end of the tunnel as they say.

There is triumphant gratitude.

Gratitude to the souls you got to encounter.

Gratitude for being able to be grateful for the grief.

I am wonderfully changed because of it all and you, my dear readers, will be changed as well.

I want to share this with you this year because I can and because you, and anyone and everyone else you know, are not alone in your grief.

It is important for me to share this, not just for me, but for all of you as well.

You are not alone and the light and the joy are there and they were with you the whole time.

We will always have our moments, that is how it works, but it does not last.

I am living proof and I am here to tell you.

Walk in love, dear readers. Share it and spread it far and wide!

Grinches!

On By AveryIn Dogs, Horses7 Comments

If you guessed that my animals are completely over my antics now and are total GRINCHES, you win.

What do you win, I do not know, but you win.

They looked at themselves and each other like this!

They are over me! They were not there to play. Side eyes galore!

Just look at these grinches…Maybe I should have picked a better weather day?

“Do not come at me with that elf hat.”
“This is what you can do with your hat.”
“Lito. You are not supposed to look cute at the camera.”
“Mom, I thought you said not to do that?”
“Are we finished yet?”
“No, I will not accept a treat for that hat!”

Do whatever you have to do to zoom in on Merle’s face! And, if you will notice his total Grinch feet.

“Not this again. Is this why you brushed me?! Good thing I ran off, rolled in all the stuff, and made it look like you didn’t!”

“I am displeased.”

“Dude! You look funny!” “Be quiet, Lito.”

I can not help but laugh! They might have been calling me a grinch.

Even with all of that said, they made me smile and laugh, accepted my treats and apologies, and I snagged some cute expressions anyway.

He has his mother’s ears and that makes me immensely happy.

Just a regular Blue Steel.

And then he was done!

I think I am going to have to take a break from the Christmas portraits for a while!

Although…

@aguyandagolden

I really need to take the laptop away from my dog… #dog #goldenretriever #dogsoftiktok

♬ original sound – AGuyandAGolden

Walk in love, dear readers! Happy Christmas!

Christmas Spirit Cuteness.

On By AveryIn Dogs, Horses3 Comments

OK, dear readers, I am here for you to help jumpstart your Christmas Spirit!

You heard me, I am here for YOU!

So.

I have just a whole pile of cuteness for you to get you ramped up. Long time readers know that I like to take Christmas portraits of my animals. For today, walk with me through time and our past portraits to set the stage!

You will have to wait until tomorrow for this year’s. It is one of my own traditions to do every year and this year is no different. It generally makes for great fun. I say generally as you may notice the most recent portraits look a little…bah humbug! Grinch like if you will.

ANYWAY.

To make you smile, I give you my animals who have grown tired of my antics. Enjoy a step back in time from 2022 and beyond.

Stay tuned for 2023! Will they be the grinchiest???

Walk in love, dear readers! Pass it along to one and all!

Life Lessons From A Stranger.

On By AveryIn Dogs, Horses, Life4 Comments

Happy day to you!

Keep it simple, like a Merle. They call it a dog’s life for a reason!

How are you?

I had an interesting day yesterday. I had to take my truck into the shop for some regular, routine benchmark service (and fork over a lot of monies, but oh well, better than a more expensive problem because I did not do it). Here is your reminder to take care of your vehicle before you have a problem!

Anyway, I had some encounters with two strangers that had a lot to share about how their days and lives were going. I think I have one of those faces that people like to share things with, I do not know. Maybe they just needed someone to share with and because I asked how they were doing and how their day was going, and they answered truthfully. Their words and feelings really struck me.

Mean what you say and say what you mean, as they say. Whoever ‘they’ are. I try to ask those questions because I really do care about the answers. Words and how we say them really matter. I think people often forget that. I hope their days got better.

This is what Texas feels like. Never be too far from water.

I will not share their stories as they are not mine to share, but they served as good reminders for walking through life.

A reminder to always be kind. A reminder that any one person can have no idea what troubles another is facing.

A reminder that your struggles are no bigger than any other person’s. Everyone has them and they all add up to the same thing at the end of the day.

It is more than the Golden Rule. It is compassion and grace.

A reminder to keep moving and not stay in the troubles. A reminder to not judge a book by its cover. Or one page. Or one chapter. Any one thing does not define us.

A reminder that one person’s definition or vision of success is not another’s. A reminder that difference does not mean less.

A reminder again that there is more than one way to make a life and that one is not better than the other.

The best way to get through summer afternoons is to nap in the shade.

Walk in love, dear readers, and offer some kindness to your fellow stranger today. Coffee break is over, let us all get back to work! It is yours to get!

Special.

On By AveryIn Dogs, Life6 Comments

A special day for a special boy. This can be your daily dose of cute with a side of an AHA moment.

This past weekend my Merley Bird turned a big 4 years old and celebrated by doing his favorite thing, romping around the farm. There is no better way to celebrate if you ask him, or me for that matter.

True to form, he had to have some pictures taken. If you ask him, he is just glad he did not have to wear a hat. He struck is signature look first.

Then he had some treats for breakfast.

Then he had a little dip n’ shake in the pool.

The pool that apparently has a leak. Not the best time to discover this little tid bit given the lovely heat we have been having if you ask me! We have been enjoying close to triple digit deg. F temperatures with 1000000% humidity. They say the heat index is over 110 deg. Thankfully we got a little break with a good rain last night. The animals, land, and humans are very grateful!

The Merle can and does cool down just about anywhere between the water troughs and the pond and even the river. However, I sure will miss my post summer work cool down! We will see how long it is before I snag another one. It is a nice treat to sit there in the heat of the afternoon in the shade with a cool drink and a book while the horses do their summer ‘training’ standing tied in the shade. It is the best way to get any horse good at standing quietly while tied.

Then my parents and I beat the heat with a brew and lunch at the brewery to celebrate Father’s Day. Merle had to stay home as it was too hot to sit outside. I did snag him some special birthday things though. Treats and brew just for him! Even if it was a girly ‘beer’ (it is not actually beer, there is no alcohol), he really seemed to enjoy it poured over his dinner.

He also told me these are his new favorite treats.

Every Merle birthday is a special birthday. I am just ever grateful to have him. He is a blessing to me.

With every passing day with him, I am reminded of my Darcy Girl. I did not get six birthdays with her. Her heart tree still shows her heart sometimes, if you look just right. If it were not for my Darcy, I would not have my Merle.

This is part of my reminder to stay present. To enjoy the now and be grateful for what I have. I do not think it will ever not be a kick in the guts to remember (nor will I honestly ever not worry about losing Merle early, if I am honest, but I do not want to talk about worrying today), but I can also now be glad and grateful in the remembering. And see her here and there.

Grief, it is a funny thing. It is also a universal connector. We all experience it. Even though we all experience it differently, none of us are alone in it and nobody can avoid it. Remember that.

That is it for your coffee break this morning! So, happy birthday, Merle! Enjoy some more cuteness before you rush back.

Walk in love, dear readers!

Call Me Augustina.

On By AveryIn Dogs, Horses, Life4 Comments

“Ain’t nothin’ better than ridin’ a fine horse in new country.”

~spoken by Augustus McCrae”― Larry McMurtry, Lonesome Dove

I can not help but think of the above quote every time I ride in a new place. My critters and I seem to have the same thirst as Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call for seeing new country. Call it adventurous if you will, I do not even know what to call it. Lito especially just eats it up.

This past weekend, Merle, Lito, Petunia and I loaded up and headed to north central Texas to ride some new country. It was a great and relaxing time getting used to the place, despite the big time rain we got Friday night and the resulting winds. On Saturday morning, both Lito and Petunia felt as if they had been bathed, if that tells you anything about the kind of rain we had.

Today, I will just let the pictures speak for themselves, so please click trough the slide show, watch the videos, and enjoy! This is about as close to a wordless Wednesday as you will get from me as I have found out over the years.

I particularly want to point out MVP emotional support donkey, Petunia, who travels with us when we go places without other riders and the insane wildflowers. Honestly, saying the pictures do not do them justice is the biggest understatement. They give blanket of Indian Blankets a whole new meaning. There are even still bluebonnets there!

Your AHA moment for today is brought to you by Augustus McCrae, by way of Larry McMurtry:

“It ain’t dying I’m talking about, it’s living. I doubt it matters where you die, but it matters where you live.” ~spoken by Augustus McCrae”

― Larry McMurtry, Lonesome Dove

Not just where you live, but how you live.

If you have never read the book or watched the movie, I highly recommend it!

I want to thank each and every one of you for being here. For coming along with us on this journey. For enjoying my pictures. For reading. For commenting. For your sweet email notes. I am grateful for it all!

Go make your bed, get your second cup of coffee, and get after it today!

Walk in love, dear readers!

We are headed back to the water this weekend for some bay fishing in our favorite place! Talk soon!