Happy Tuesday! Happy Year of The Horse! It is our time!
Vibe plate for The Man before some body work, thanks to our friend, M.
I hope this finds you all well, dear readers! I have missed our little corner of the interwebs. These days it feels like the only safe place on the internet.
Do tell, how have you been, what have y’all been up to?
Doing our secret society thing.
My little Christmas Tree is still standing strong giving me all the joy, complete with a big, long pink bow for Valentine’s Day. I am thinking I am going to keep it up most of the year and just add things each month of the year. Something for St. Patty’s day, Easter, Memorial Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Summer Solstice, 4th of July, you get the picture. I think we could all use the increased joy!
Holiday baking also brings joy!
Anyway, I have something for you.
I just wanted to say that we are less than a month away from MORE DAYLIGHT. March 8, we are coming for you! I need the sunlight! I will say that this year I have been able to ride more than some years and it has kept me a little more sane.
Just some snap shots of life since we last spoke.
You can do it, we are almost there!
The horses are shedding. Actually, that reminds me. My shedding blade broke the other day! Can you believe that?! All our shedding blades are OLD and it seemed like that would never happen!
The wind is…winding. It feels like springtime winds and everything else that goes along with that…frisky horses and broomstick tails.
The grass is finally green as we finally have gotten some much needed rain (still dancing for more though!). I spread some wildflower seeds a while ago and I can see their beginnings sprouting.
I feel like I can almost feel the pecan trees thinking about greening. Look, OK, I know that is a bit jumping the gun, but just go with it!
I am choosing to believe that the worst of winter is over. That could have been a bad thing to say…but I am not going to think about that. I am just not! We are focusing on the light! Manifesting the good and positive. That dang groundhog just wants to keep hibernating.
The moon and fog were just stunning and I couldn’t not snag a pic.
I wanted to give you a reminder to give yourself grace this season. But not just this season. Give yourself grace every winter. Remember, winter comes every year not matter what!
And winter is hard.
You know it even if you do not want to admit it. It is cold and wet and dark and dull. Do not get me wrong, it is beautiful and wise in its own right, but it is also heavy. It is necessary to get to spring, yes. But, it is OK to slow down. To rest, reflect, and recharge. I dare say you are SUPPOSED to do that! And I loathe that word.
I want you to think about what everything else does in winter and give yourself grace. You work hard all year round, winter is the time to slow down. Allow yourself to do it too! Just think about what happens come spring because of winter’s dormancy. It is coming!
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.
Or at least the time change is coming. In 14 days the interwebs says. Anyone else have a countdown going?
The horses are starting to shed and they feel like I do. Everyone has been in a bad mood every time the winter comes.
I am not a fan of any time change to be honest, but I can not wait for more daylight in the evenings after work. Basically being dark when I get home from work during the week when it is cold is one of the most depressing things to me. Just me and the Merle staring at each other, longing to play outside. It always has been this way for me, but it is getting worse with age and especially now that I no longer live in town. I feel like a horse that has been locked in a stall and needs out. A caged animal. I need the sun! And the green, I LOVE green landscapes. The winter drab is getting to me. Yes, we still have green winter grasses and green clover, but it is not the same against a low, gray winter sky. Yes, there it has its own beauty, but at times like these, it can sometimes be hard to see! (I am fully aware how bonkers this sounds. Our winters are really beautiful and we do get a lot of sun and beautiful days!…as you will see in some of my pics!)
The wet and the wind, also not helping. It is messing with my riding (read mood)(I am unwell). OK, to be honest, I did get a little ride in last Saturday. Bareback, in a halter, and crusted in mud. Do not judge me, I had a window and I took it, but it dang sure feels as if I have not ridden since New Year’s Eve (I think I have only ridden one other time since NYE). That is the hardest thing about winter for me, the lack of riding. Long time readers will not be surprised by this. I am pretty sure I write this same thing every winter.
My point, dear readers, is hold steady and be strong! Spring is coming! Warmth and sun are coming! Our time is coming! We can do it, I promise. And really, I do not mean to complain. Especially after winter 2021, but it is still hard! I have been thinking a lot about the tropics!
Enough of all that winterness, and more about what has been going on since before Christmas (GASP!).
Well, Christmas happened! Ha! Two months ago was a long time ago.
I had my usual fancy coffee while cooking and baking!
I made a spiced chocolate cake for one party. This one was truly the best. I have figured out a good base chocolate cake that I have adapted originally from Ina Garten’s Aunt Beatty’s Chocolate Cake and I had fun creating a Christmas tree forest!
I of course also made my cranberry sauce with peppers and apple. It is so easy to make a plain cranberry sauce from scratch and I really would encourage everyone to try it!
I also attempted to make pomegranate bars. Think lemon bars, but pomegranate. Yet, do not think too hard about it as they did not work out. Back to the drawing board on that one! I will get there eventually, but this first pass did not pan out! Hey, it happens to everyone, that is part of the fun in trying new things.
Merle had his annual special Christmas treat for which he worked really hard for and was very grateful for!
He was not overly pleased though to be posing yet again this year. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas night at my parents’ house in town. As per usual, we were up early as you can maybe tell from the darkness in these snaps. All for good reason though! Christmas! We had work to do!
Like bake off these puff pastry Christmas tree appetizers! The green one was filled with spinach artichoke dip and the red one had my cranberry sauce with brie. Both so good!
I also had to pull out my cheesecake and dress it for the party!
I had baked it the 23rd and I knew there was a crack, whomp whomp. No worries though! If your cheesecake has a crack, it will still taste good and you can cover it with whipped cream or, like I did here, with gold star flake sprinkles! Except, do not do that too early like I did. The condensation that you can also see here will make your stars bleed and melt. Triple whomp.
The cheesecake was pumpkin pecan pie cheesecake. I have done something similar to this once before and my thoughts were that it was just too much. I felt the exact same this time. The pumpkin part, very good on its own. The pecan part, very good on its own. Together, just too much. Someone remind me of this next time I say I am going to do that again. More is not always better.
At least I did not mess up the pony’s Christmas dinners! Peppermints for the win!
In the after Christmas and before the new year, I did do some riding.
We rode down the road with my Momma. This actually was not going to be the plan as we had not ridden in a while at this point…winter and festivities. Anyway, we rode down around the pond and Lito spotted Mom walking and made a B line for her, so we changed plans and followed her down the road! I am so glad we did! He was very good and it was a pretty day for it.
For New Year’s Eve, R and I continued our annual close out ride.
We came across a big down tree across the trail and had to blaze a new one to get around.
Merle was the king of the trailer while we rode.
Then the winter came.
This picture is rather deceiving. This was right before the first event. After all the early feedings, the cows showed me their thanks by putting two dents in my truck.
The cold does make for pretty night skies!
I do love when they cuddle when it is cold!
I did break down and order Petunia a blanket a couple days ago for a steal in a sale. She never seems uncomfortable, but she deserves one and she is older.
Like I said, pretty!
Finally a ride!
Can you tell I have a thing for the sun? Which is pretty funny given that I am fair skinned and have to always be covered up.
Merle also loves the sun.
We had some snow at one point. We really did not get that much, but any amount is a thing down here.
I did sneak behind a pair of bay roan ears a couple of times, so actually you can add two more rides to my 2025 count.
We all love the sun.
I delayed our annual vet appointment with vaccines and teeth because of the weather, but we did get it done.
I made red velvet cupcakes for a galentines dinner! Galentines and valentines good, cupcakes only OK though…I have not done so well recently with the baking! They were tough and not very tender. Very annoying to me. Icing was pretty tasty though and they looked tasty so I guess that is good. Oh well, that is just how it goes sometimes. I will try again another day!
Merle, well, he is just always living his best life. I am not sure why WordPress cut off the left pic, but I kinda like it this way.
Then the real excitement came when this last winter episode was about to begin. I arrived to my Cheetah‘s left eye swollen shut, weepy, and painful!
Joy.
For anyone who does not know, horse and dog eyes are not people eyes. They do not heal all that well without support.
Luckily, my vet is just ten minutes up the road from the farm. So, down the road we went and we pulled in just as the last patient was leaving. She ended up having a woody piece of hay or something up in her eyelid that had scratched quite a big, yet superficial, ulcer on her eyeball. Back to the farm we went with three ointments and banamine and instructions to treat four times a day…in addition to winter feeding and ice breaking.
Joy.
It could always be worse though and I am just glad this was not worse. It has been hard enough to have her basically (I cannot admit to full) retired because of her arthritis, I would hate for her to have any amount of vision alteration because of this to boot. My girl is the best girl though and has been a doll for treatment.
That about catches you up!
How has your winter gone?!
Take a deep breath and know that spring is coming! Very soon!
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!
Or, as us cool people know, the best month of the year.
Ah, my dear readers. How I have longed to sit down and chat with you. How have you been?
I am still over here just a runnin’ ’round like crazy. What is really crazy to me is how long this little corner of the internet has been around. EIGHT years (back in August). Can you believe that!?! That is just wild. I created this blog on a whim it felt like. I had been thinking about it for a long time and had done a very little research, but then one day, bam, I just went for it. While at work, no less. Don’t tell anyone. I remember being so surprised at how easy it was and also too, very proud of myself. A part of me longs for when I could write to you most every day like I used to. The majority of me though is just so glad about where I am at. I am working on being OK with stopping in here when I can.
I am currently sitting on the porch, sipping on some rose wine (long time readers know how this can go sometimes!), enjoying the sunset while I write. I am sitting in the same place I drank my coffee this morning to enjoy the sunrise. In fact, if I am being truthful, and you know I always am, what is left of my coffee is sitting here next to me on the table next to my glass of wine because I willfully left it there this morning when Merle and I hopped in the truck to head to work. I know, how very adult of me. I will be even more honest and tell you that I even put my bottle of wine in an ice bucket and that is sitting at my feet. It would be even better if Merle was at my feet too, but alas, the smells in the country can not keep that dog down for long (or really at all). He is out there sniffing and wagging his tail, living his best dog life.
I am feeling blessed that I am looking at some green grass in front of me, but pretty much everywhere else has been burned up to a crisp. Texas summer is holding on strong and keeping us rather warm in the afternoons with highs in the mid to upper nineties. That is one of my justifications for the wine in the ice bucket. It is still so hot! I plopped an ice cube in my wine (gasp!) to keep it cool when I sat down and it has already melted in full.
Pops asked me just the other day if we were going to have a fall. I have two horses growing coats. Which the one I know he starts that early every year no matter what. The trees are turning and beginning to drop their leaves. We have had some semblance of a cool front that has granted us some admittedly very nice mornings, they just do not linger all that long.
I am not complaining though, do not get me wrong. I so feel for everyone that has suffered in the path of hurricane Helene. Some of that destruction many did not see coming at all. You know we know how you feel. One thing after all of these storms that I can remember is that you have to remember ANYTHING can happen in the storm path. No two storms are the same. Scale category means absolutely nothing. Obtain any and all information you can from varied sources.
Anyway, here I am again talking to you about the weather. I can not even remember what all I have told you other than sharing my trip to the mountains of Colorado.
Here is the thing. Shhhhhhhhh. Don’t tell anyone. Life has changed for me in a (big) way, but it does not feel or seem that way. It is so natural and comforting I can not explain it and I really can not explain how grateful and blessed I feel. Really it happened a little bit ago, but I am keeping this quiet for a while to really let it all absorb. Let it settle. BE PRESENT. Get used to it. I have not shared it with really anyone, and that is OK. I may share it one day. Everything with work and the animals and everything else is the same and as great as ever and there is nothing to worry over. The most grand AHA moment there ever was.
Another, even bigger AHA moment. You will likely be tired of this one, but I do not care. This is the one ‘never’ you can say. NEVER forget that you are not promised tomorrow. LIVE your life for real. I lost someone near and dear to me and to my Mamma and to my family. She and my Mamma were the very best of friends. One of my God Mothers. Sad business that. Took me right on back to H and I felt like I could barely go through the motions.
I baked pumpkin bread for the first time already this season (not that I need that excuse, but go with me here) way back some time in August. It felt good and right. There was just the slightest inkling of a fall thought in the air. If you believe the air can have thoughts. It was not really fall at all then (and I knew it would not be), but it sure was good. I stashed the second loaf in the freezer. I am feeling the need to pull it out now.
Lito and I have been riding, as per usual (I could go on and on about how year 11 is the absoulte magic year for homebred horses, but I think I will leave that for another day other than to say that this/he was the best decision I have ever ever made), but we have been getting ready for our big ride coming up in a couple of weeks ever since I got back from Colorado…I actually went back to Colorado for my cousin’s wedding the week after I got back from my Colorado vacation if you missed that…did you follow that???….ANYWAY…In just over a week’s time we will be making our way in that direction. If you don’t know, we go on a big week long ride in the hill country of this great state every October (outside of COVID…but a small group of us had our own little one that year anyway in the east Texas pines) with a group of ladies I belong to (since I am nice and always here for you, if you missed it and are interested and want to see what it is all about…within reason (some of it is like secret society stuff…see the following 2023202220212019 201820172016…you’re welcome, there are at least some great pics). There is always a lot of prep work leading up to the ride outside of the riding hours to get you and your horse ready. Maintenance on the trailer. Stocking up on horse essentials and feed. Then the actual packing for both you and your horse and traveling.
I have been obsessed with this song lately. Really hitting my jam. Not really sure why, other than I have lived in this space. And, sometimes still am…like when I have to go to funerals. Anyway, It is so so good. Sometimes some of you good readers would ask me my favorite song or band of the moment. This is where I am at.
Give it a listen and remember, “you are still fine…God’s perfect wording…you’ll be alright…God is not giving you up,” OK that is the actual biggest AHA moment.
I am on a roll here tonight, OK? The coyotes like this song too if you were wondering.
You know there is always a song or band. Which! Hey! By the way, one of my favorite bands, Cross Canadian Ragweed, is kinda (sorta) getting back together! They broke up way back around about when I graduated from college. They once (or many times) said they would never get back together. Well, never say never because they are going to do a show (a big one…with a bunch of greats) and see how it goes! Fingers crossed it goes and sounds great and they go all in and make a new album. Honestly, waking up to that news today (well really they have been teasing the news for a little bit if you didn’t and wanted to know) sure made me feel like dang near anything is possible in this world. The press on this is overshadowing their website on google, otherwise I would link it for you. Really, I could try harder, but at the moment I am not going to (so sorry!). So, who wants to go to Oklahoma with me in April? I bet the tickets are already sold out. The internet and the world basically died (and went back to high school) when the news broke I think. I am not sure I could tell you which of their songs is my favorite.
Well, my dear readers, it is time. It is (past) dark now and feels pretty dang good out (and the bugs are being summoned to my computer screen….and a frog is hopping across my porch rug), but it is about time I get ready for bed…and have no more wine! We are up early and back to the office in the morning! Work is always busiest when you are! And you know what? I would not have it any other way right now.
Walk in love, dear readers! Tell me something good!
Tune back in for some great hill country between the dun ears pics!
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.
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!
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!
Sometimes the stars align and everything is just right for things to feel like old times. Old times that are good for the soul. The weekend before R and I flew to New Mexico was like that. It was a horse girl weekend.
We planned a weekend to ride on some quiet country roads that were new to my Lito man and myself. On Saturday morning, we took our time having coffee and breakfast, grooming, and tacking. We glittered our horses! We packed a lunch and left R’s husband with instructions of where to meet us for lunch. We got the music hooked up to the speaker on R’s saddle and struck out. The sun was shining. The air was right. Our horses were amazing…albeit a little quick. They could have won a powerwalking relay race! It was good for the both of us.
The roads were for the most part quiet. The only thing we could have wished for was for the haying to take a break while we rode, but our horses really did handle it well and they have to make hay while the sun shines, you know! Some of those rakes are rather large and scary!
Madeline put it best when talking about ‘barn friends.’ I may not be a part of a boarding barn community (I once was and I loved it) where we are in the same place already to hang out and do horse girl things just because, but you can create that if you want to with a little work. R and I have done that for ourselves thanks to being thrown together as friends in 2012.
I almost felt like a kid again that weekend. Just two horse crazy girls having a good time.
I am not one for really having a word for a year or having resolutions, but 2023 I think has been my gratitude year if I had to put a word on it.
I think 2024 will be my horse girl year. And by that I mean the inner kid version of myself. To more than continue to embrace my inner kid, my inner horse obsessed little girl, but to be her again.
To really live it and breathe it. To be the girl that has fun just because it is me and my horse. To do it for the glory and the grace and the gratitude of it. No worries or excuses. The girl that does not take things or herself too seriously or gets bogged down by unimportant things. Does not worry about what others think. The saddle club kid. Riding. Hanging out. Grooming. Braiding. Glitter. Sitting in the stall while they eat. Sharing space and energy. Just because. To be with others like this. Even more, to create more of this community of quality. Build my own little saddle club. To honor my energy, my self, and my time with those around me more seriously.
I am almost there and I am catching up, my friends!
Since we are coming up on the last month of the year, if you had to give 2023 a word, what would it be? Looking forward to 2024, what word would you like to bestow on the coming year?
