Good morning, dear readers! Or, whatever time of day it happens to be for you wherever you are!
I just wanted to tell you that joy abounds this very day.
It may begin with you or it may begin with a stranger.
Let it grow, dear readers. Choose to believe it and choose to see it. Let it spread.
It is there!
I was blessed by strangers today and I pray that I blessed others in return.
I had to go downtown this morning to the County Clerk’s office to record a deed. Yes, I realize you can do this by mail, but we needed it done in a timely manner and I had never done this before so I wanted to learn about it by doing it in person. I find it humorous that I never go downtown and I will be there twice by the end of the day.
Anyway, I got up early and finished my eggnog cake for Friday this morning and then got dressed and in the truck before 7:15 to make my way downtown well before 8. I had to find parking, pay for said parking, and get to the door ideally before anyone else. I got there in a round about way because I missed a turn of course (we will not talk about how I made a big goof yesterday by making the wrong turn, so much for GPS), but I was able to find a spot a block down.
While I was in the process of gathering my things, I was approached by a man on the street. I will admit to wanting to ignore him and send him on his way while I thought about how to protect my purse. He babbled on about this and that and all I heard was cancer and tacos pondering what to do. At some point I realized that he was offering to help me use the parking meter correctly to avoid extra fees if I needed it…in exchange for tacos. Still being somewhat confused, I accepted his offer while he told me about his cancer and how how he was about to go in for another chemo treatment. He was very nice and respectful and wanted to show me the taco stand around the corner, presumably so I knew that it was tacos he wanted and not something else.
Now, I am aware that this story could go in any which way and very likely in a bad direction. I just did not feel like this was that kind of situation. We talked for a little bit and I gave him some money for tacos and coffee. He was extremely grateful. I asked him his name, to which he told me was Anthony, and I gave him a hug and a prayer.
I made my way down to the courthouse passing many smiling people. Normally I find that people just look down or have a scowl on their face. I walked into the building and made my way through security…more in depth security than you will find at the airport. TSA is not accepted there, if you were wondering. I asked as I was told I had to take my shoes off. They offered a laugh at my question, possibly in pity. They more than thoroughly went through my purse after it was scanned and smiled and laughed at my ridiculous number of keys. They said I must be a busy person to which I had no response but a smile and a nod. They wished me good day and a Merry Christmas after pointing me in the direction of the County Clerk’s office.
I arrived outside the door five minutes to 8 AM and I was the only person waiting. The door was opened at 8 and I was so nicely asked what I needed. I halfway thought he asked because I looked like I needed help, but I was happy for it none the less, maybe I did look that way. I was still surprised by my morning thus far. I told him what I was there for and he said with enthusiasm, “Yes mam, right this way to the right!” I practically snapped to and said with as much enthusiasm, “THANK YOU!”
The office was joyfully decorated and everyone had a smile on. I followed the signs and stopped at the stop sign. The lady at the window smiled brightly and asked what she could do for me. Her desk was so clean and organized, but it also had very personal things on it including her devotional. The whole encounter was just so nice. She was so happy and helpful and smiley. Is that even a real word? It is now. The whole errand took less than five minutes. She told me she loved my name and that it sounded like a super hero! Color me whatever you wish, but that made me stand up taller! I said thank you about five times and we both wished each other a Merry Christmas.
As I walked back through the building, I swear it got more festive. Everyone was wearing something red and green. Even those in uniform. I complimented everyone and everyone was saying Merry Christmas! On my way back to the truck were even more smiling people! I passed someone carrying red and green cupcakes and I told her to have fun at the party, to which she beamed.
Anthony was not there when I got back to my truck. Hopefully he was filling his belly with tacos.
Joy is here, dear readers.
Love is here.
God is here.
Everyone is in different circumstances and it can be had to see it. The light, it is here.
Walk in love, dear readers!
Enjoy some of my Christmas favorites to help you get in the spirit!
See what I did there?! HA! Anyway, take it from me, do yourself a favor and go to a doc if you start to get symptoms because I would still be under it all if I had not. Thankfully, I got some steroids, Tamiflu, and some magical DM cough syrup that has really, really helped. Even still I am very tired and draggy.
Last week really just disappeared before I even knew it while I was wallowing away on the couch. Merle did not even want to play fetch if that is any indication on how very clearly poorly I felt! And now we are already half way through another week!
So, before I got sick, we were enjoying the wonderfulness of Texas in December while getting ready for Christmas.
Christmas time in the southern half of Texas can be truly spectacular!
We fit in a ride before I got sucker punched by the flu.
Merle is generally swimming hot or cold, but you get the idea!
Early mornings are always special, with or without the moon and the start to the sunrise.
Now that I am seemingly and hopefully on the other side of this, it is full on Christmas time!…and past time for me to catch up!
So…
Cue the decorations!
Thankfully for me, I got my cute little tree all dressed not long after Thanksgiving.
One of the things I like to get when I travel is Christmas ornaments. You can see my Aspen leaf from Wyoming, art globe from Hawaii, cross from Ireland, and Santa moon from Santa Fe. It is getting hard to stick with the table top tree now that I have accumulated many ornaments. You can not see it here, but I actually had to tie the tree to the blinds to keep it from falling!
Cue the music!
One of my favorite parts of Christmas!
Cue the ovens!
It is time to get baking and cooking!
I have already made Christmas lemon bars for a white elephant party this past weekend. If you look closely, you can see the Christmas tree. I colored some of the filling with pomegranate juice and red colored sugar sprinkles (because we did not have any red food coloring at the farm) and used a bottle to draw the tree. It turned out OK in looks (very good in taste!), but I think what I will likely do next time is use a tree stencil and powdered sugar to make the outline of a tree, and then just fill the tree with pomegranate seeds. I have decided pomegranate seeds are the perfect finishing tough to almost everything anyway!
I still have not figured everything out, but I know I am baking an eggnog cake on Wednesday for Cousin H’s party on Friday, going to the Nutcracker on Thursday, of course the party Friday, and then Saturday making at least a chocolate gingerbread tart, maple bourbon pumpkin pie, and cranberry sauce for Christmas Day! There will likely be something in there for Christmas Eve, but I have not been able to think that far ahead yet.
The good news is, I got most of my shopping finished before I came down with the black plague, so I can just get to work! It is also going to be a rainy all weekend, so it will be a good time to hunker inside, play music, and create. I also need to wrap my presents somewhere in there, but we have time!
Walk in love, dear readers!
Let The Spirit overwhelm you and carry you. This is truly a special time. I know it is a very hard time for many people out there, but just know you are not alone. Reach out, I am always here!
R, L, and myself took a long weekend a couple of weeks ago to visit our friend V at her new place in Santa Fe. Our mutual friend K was also there which made it all the more special. R and I had never been to Santa Fe before, but this trip was more for us all to get together again and have time together as it has been years since we have been able to do that.
Spoiler alert: a special time was had!
If you ever make it to Santa Fe, we did some things that you might enjoy.
I have been to New Mexico before while I was in college, but it was a different experience entirely as we were mapping, hiking, and camping. I will tell you, waking up in the trees at elevation with the nip in the air and an elk bugling will remain one of my favorite memories. I am a Texas gal through and through, and no skyline will beat the great state for me, but I do like a full spectrum experience!
V bought her house in the historic district of Santa Fe about a year ago and it has been under construction a work in progress ever since. She has been doing a lovely job of restoring it to its glory and it was really fun to see her in her element giving us a tour of the house and explaining all of her plans.
We arrived at the house midday on Thursday after flying into Albuquerque, renting a car, and making the short drive to Santa Fe. After we unloaded our bags and got settled, we had sandwiches for lunch at the house and made a plan for the coming days.
The first thing we did was explore Canyon Road. Canyon Road is full of art galleries and shops. We began at this art store where they make their own paints and then worked our way down.
The street views were quite pretty and there it a lot to explore. It always fascinates me how different every city and town is. No two are the same even in the same state, much less the same country.
In addition to the main Canyon Road, there are little side streets and alleys with shops nestled here and there. You could really spend quite a bit of time exploring if you wanted. There are galleries of all kinds (some with live music) and shops galore.
None of these pictures show it, but the fall colors and leaves were quite pretty. If we had come a little sooner, there would have been more yellow leaves. Many of them had already fallen. On the flip side, if we had delayed our trip a little later…we could have experienced a white Santa Fe. V just sent us some photos of Santa Fe covered in snow, and it looks nothing short of magical. While I am most drawn to more green landscapes, I think Santa Fe is probably the most pretty under a fresh, heavy snow.
Rachel and I did buy ourselves some jewelry while we were exploring.
We found a wine bar in the back of one of the galleries and enjoyed some local red wine as we explored their courtyard patio. The people were very nice everywhere we went and there are dogs everywhere! You can see one here in the wine bar. As you can imagine, I missed my Merley bob. Luckily, V’s two dogs at the house made me feel better.
I probably broke a rule by taking this picture, but I wanted want it really bad. Who does this look like to you??? Maybe only long time readers will be able to name it, but this looks like my Lito as a baby! Thank you to Gregg Albracht for taking this stunning and inspirational photo! If I was made of more money, I would have purchased it to enjoy for the rest of my life. Gregg, if you’re feeling charitable, I would love this for Christmas!
The city has a strong Spanish Catholic history and there are Saint Francis statues everywhere. I even bought myself a little Saint Francis (and a Christmas ornament) at one of the consignment antique stores we went to. Do yourself a favor and see the chapels at night and go to the store called The Raven. You will wish you had a lot of money and a house to fill. This is a common problem for me.
On Friday, after a leisurely morning talking over coffee while it lightly snowed, we went and explored Meow Wolf. There is no photo evidence of this as it is meant to be experienced, but it was definitely an experience! An art installation experience. I was very impressed even though I was overstimulated and got a little claustrophobic. I would definitely recommend going, but maybe try and go when there might be less people? I am not sure how you accomplish this, but I think there were too many people there and it took away from the experience for me. Meow Wolf was started in Santa Fe by Santa Fe artists and there are now installations in Vegas, Denver, and Grapevine, Texas. There is one to open in Houston sometime in 2024.
V, L, and K had to retire early to go sit in the cafe while R and I continued on. When we felt we had explored enough, we met them in the cafe and sat for a little bit with coffee before we left to head to lunch. It was also snowing very large flurries at this point. None of it stuck, but it was a precursor for what was to come after we would be back in Texas.
We were able to get into La Choza for lunch and if you ever make it to Santa Fe, you MUST go here. The food is AMAZING. They have goofy hours and do not take reservations, but it is worth it. Go here.
On Saturday morning, we hit up the farmers market. This was my favorite part as you can likely imagine. When I went to France, my favorite day was when we went to the local farmers market. It is my scene and you guessed it, this is a must do!
I did wish we could have had a another day so I could have purchased some local foods to cook a fun meal, but alas, we did not. We will have to do this next time. About a third of the market is art and the rest is local produce and foods etc. I bought a few gifts here as well. The weather was really amazing as you can tell by these stunning blue skies.
I really loved all the wreaths made with the chilies and I almost bought some to bring home, but I did not want to have to carry them on the plane along with my other purchases.
After the farmers market, we grabbed a quick lunch before going to see the Loretto Chapel and the Plaza.
The Loretto Chapel is another must in Santa Fe. I am not going to share pictures of the inside because, to be honest, it felt kind of wrong to take them in the first place. Even still, I did get some very special ones to share with a friend who has a connection to the chapel. There are pictures on the internet to give you the feel, but you really should go and experience it in person. This is another one I would suggest trying to go to when there are less people. I am not sure when that would be though. I would have liked to sit and appreciate it more.
Do not hate on me, but to me the Plaza is a skip item for me. I was shopped out at this point and maybe I would feel differently at another time, but I just did not feel like it was worth it. I am also not a big shopper and especially not for big name labels. I would have rather done Canyon Road again. It looked like there was a nice place on the square with a patio to stop and sit and have a drink or a meal, but I was also very distracted and uncomfortable as a protest was going on.
After the Plaza, we went back to the house for a little rest before a very fun evening to come.
If this fits your budget and schedule, GO DO THIS.
I did not ask many questions when both V and K said this is quintessential Santa Fe. I knew I wanted to go.
The Flamenco Dinner Show was very special. Partly because it was all of us together, yes. But the food was amazing. The drinks were great. the flamenco, well, that was moving!
Drinks and a three course gourmet meal capped off by magical Santa Fe flamenco music and dancing. Now do not get me wrong, the food was fabulous and not to be missed, but this was all about the performance.
The musicians and dancers change I think from dinner to dinner according to V and K, but here is a little taste. I do not want to share too much video to take away from the experience, but I was very impressed and our whole group agreed.
I have not had very much exposure to flamenco previously. I knew it was passionate. What dancing and music and art is not? What I did not know though, was how varied flamenco dance can be. I very much enjoyed each of the ladies’ versions and feelings during their dances.
This show was more than just a few songs and some dancing. They all left their feelings out there on the stage. The performance began with each dancer dancing an introduction to a short song. Then each dancer got to tell a complete story on center stage. This is the part that really got me. I felt like I had a history lesson of flamenco in addition to a passion lesson! Each dancer’s style was as unique as their look. At this point, I thought that would be the end of the show, but there was more! The dancing was then in twos as each dancer danced with each of the others. The finale was the perfect ending of all three dancers dancing together. The audience was enthralled and completely captivated for the entire performance from start to finish and there was not an empty seat.
We were the last ones to leave the restaurant and we were sure to thank the performers on our way out. They thanked us for our attention and participation!
We were all exhausted at this point and were happy to get tucked into bed before our early departure back to Albuquerque. I myself was ready to get back to Texas and my animals.
I will be back to New Mexico one day. There is quite a bit to explore outside of Santa Fe and we all hope to have a reunion once V is finished with her house. And one day, Lito and I will go there to ride in the mountains. One day.
Walk in love, dear readers! Have you gotten your Christmas spirit on yet???
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?
Side note…how is it that December will be here by Friday!? It feels like just yesterday I was anxiously awaiting my trip to Ireland. I barely got my grocery shopping done before the crowds descended! This all seems to be just how it is now. Gone are the days of our youth when we had all the time in the world to wait on things to come upon us.
ANYWAY. I digress, as per usual.
I hope you had a wonderful time however you choose to celebrate it if you choose to celebrate it!
We had a week full of family and food at our special place, the farm. We made a lot of new foods and some staples…like pumpkin bread!
We used to have two big family celebrations every year. One in town and one out at the farm. Between families growing exponentially and the results of covid, the new tradition has become a slightly less loud and chaotic one at the farm with only my immediate family (which is a lot). I have mixed feelings about the new tradition, but I will never ever complain about more time at the farm with my horses and my Merley Bob.
I had nine glorious days out there and now I am still doing laundry while I enjoy my morning coffee. I am not allowing myself to get my Christmas tree until the laundry is finished and put away. No small feet, I grant you.
Merle and I got there the Friday before Thanksgiving with all my groceries is tow. We were able to enjoy the calm before the storm with a nice ride Saturday morning. Our time. Just my boys and me. Where is Merle you ask? He was off running somewhere. Probably in the direction that Lito is looking. Lito loves to keep track of the Merle and use him as an extra set of eyes.
We did not do too terribly much, just relaxed and meandered around. We did a little trotting, We did a little loping. We did a little grazing.
I did lose my hat at one point and I blame one of the heifers. She was acting like she wanted to chase us while we were trotting so we turned around to tell her that was not acceptable. Well, the wind caught my hat while we were turning and landed it at the heifer’s hooves. We stood there for a while while I decided if it was worth me dismounting to get my hat to then have to mount back up. 16.3+ hh is a long way up there in a flat meadow. I opted to leave the hat for when we were finished in that pasture. I have a somewhat crooked hat now thanks to that heifer! It could have been worse and there are worse things! The hat still goes on my head and does its job.
We have been listening to a playlist on Spotify called ‘Outdoor Zen’ and it is zenfull.
Look, there is the Merle! Enjoying a mud bath!
I had lots of help feeding the horses through the week. Feeding seems to be the kids’ favorite part.
I normally do not keep the horses in their stalls for anything but feeding, but since they were kept up for the whole week and the kids were always running around, I put them all in their stalls for a few hours morning and night to enjoy their hay and rest alone before feeding. Have their quiet time, if you will. This kept everyone relaxed and made the routine a little easier. It created more work with more mucking and dealing with water buckets, but it was worth it.
We enjoyed many gorgeous sunsets and sunrises that photos do not do justice to.
We had all the traditional Thanksgiving favorites for an early dinner as opposed to lunch, We had most everything prepared by the day before so we could take the whole day to leisurely enjoy a snacking lunch with mimosas and setting the table and doing crafts with the kids.
Y’all know I love to do a special dessert and this year was no different, even if it was a little more simple than in years past. I made a chocolate gingerbread tart. A new type of dessert for me, but it was really really good. There are some changes I would make to improve it (to the crust mainly…you can see it does not look quite right), but it was a good first effort! Very elegant I think. It was a big hit. I used two different recipes as go inspiration go bys to create it (recipe 1 and recipe 2…I can not find…it was a chocolate amaretto tart). Sister A also made a pumpkin tres leches that was amazing. Pops really likes pumpkin desserts so we had to include one!
You can not by any means skip the pomegranate seeds. Gosh. Those really were the finishing touch. These are not the best pics, but trust me, it is worth repeating!
The great thing about giving everyone quiet time in their stalls is I always catch at least someone having a nap. I love to watch them nap!
On Friday I took my Lito to our friend M’s house for a body work session. He felt good and really seemed to be thankful for it! It was cold and windy, but he relaxed into it. I did not catch all the yawning and releasing on the camera, but there were many! We are going to look into getting him set up with the chiro to be adjusted soon. M thinks that will help his two spots of soreness.
I was blessed to have to make a quick run back out to the farm Monday afternoon thanks to Pops leaving a gate open. I got the gate closed, checked all the animals, and did some fence work before I took some time to hang out with the horses a bit. It was cold, but it was a pretty day. Almost as pretty as my queen Cheetah. She will be 20 in May and I am having a hard time that. She is still the spicy four year old I met all those years ago despite the gray hairs and effects of arthritis.
It has been a busy week catching up after Thanksgiving, but I would not have it any other way.
How was your Thanksgiving? What did you do? What did you cook? Check back soon for riding and Santa Fe adventure updates!
Walk in love, dear readers, and continue to give thanks!
I have to say, I think all of our wishing for summer to hurry up and get on out sure seemed to make it get up and go! This weekend we will have highs in the mid seventies and prayers for rain on the way there. Which, it is currently raining right now while I drink my imaginary cup of coffee. Why imaginary, you ask? Imaginary because I am just a good adult, and I am out of coffee. Well, technically, I am not out as I have a bag of coffee packed for next week, but I do not want to get into it, so I really am being a good adult. Just your average every day musings going on over here.
So, here we are, October, and there you are! If you can not tell, I am more than ready for it. If you know any Texans, I bet you already know this. I might freeze with lows in the low fifties.
Chance started growing his winter coat a couple of weeks ago, which is normal for him, and it was actually noticeably cooler on Sunday morning. My brain wanted to tell me it was even cold! It was not actually cold, we have still been having highs in the nineties and so humid, but the horses’ coats were the tiniest bit puffed up that morning and the nineties are on their way out.
The crazy thing is the timing of it all, but there is never any surprise there. I am just grateful for it. Lito and I will be headed to our annual ladies ride in the hill country for the week starting this weekend and through next week and we will be glad for the cooler temperatures, I grant you that. I think we might both be a bit fresh with it! I will have my lunge line at the ready just in case and his sheet. When temperatures drop while we travel, I always throw his sheet on for some extra comfort. It may just be for me, but it is just something I do along with giving probiotics and electrolytes every time we travel.
ANYWAY.
I have been jamming to this song and those like it these days. It will make for good driving music.
We are mostly ready to go! The trailer is mostly packed and I have most of my things ready to throw in a bag. I do have to pick up some things at the feed store after I drop my Merley Bob at the kennel tomorrow on my way out to the farm. Leaving Merle behind is one of the worst things about some travel.
I sure wish I had some real coffee right now to go with the pitter pat of the rain on the car port tin roof.
Well, it is way past time for me to get going for the day and I have lot to do before I head out tomorrow.
I think trip hangovers just get worse with age, just like regular hangovers. Why can’t it be the opposite? Like wine and beauty?
This time, the trip hangover lasted about a good week and it felt like it took me almost a solid two weeks to get to feeling like my regular self and back in the groove, but truthfully I did/do not have time to wallow in a trip hangover even if it was obviously and absolutely worth it.
I have of course been back to riding my big boy, as per usual. He had a little two week break with my traveling which is good for him.
We ride all summer and all year, so periodic breaks are good for his mind and body. Besides the fact that I would do it anyway, riding through the summer is important around here unless you have your own covered arena…which I do not. Most people seem to take the heat of the summer (which has been about three months worth this year) off of riding in addition to winter, but you never know when in the winter or more desirable temperature months you will not be able to ride because of rain and mud. We really generally only have two seasons, summer and winter. The other two seasons kind of only pass through. Keeping a higher level of baseline fitness for them (AND you) is better and easier and SAFER to me than having to hurry up and get one legged up two different times of year in a hurry before it gets two cold/wet or too hot.
THE POINT IS (don’t worry, you did not miss anything), news flash, Lito is the best boy and acted like he did not even have a break.
Last weekend I was in Dallas for my niece/Goddaughter’s baptism.
We have been busy this year and it is not over yet! We still have a couple exciting things coming up.
Long time readers know we go on a big adventure every October and this year is no different. We will head to the hill country in about three weeks (actually, less than!) and the count down has begun in earnest. No rest for the weary, as they say, but hey, we can rest when we are in the nursing home, right?! We have good reason to hit the fitness grindstone. More riding equals a happy Avery and Lito, so it is no hardship to be sure.
Then in November, I will be headed to New Mexico for a long weekend with good friends to visit another good friend. You will hear more about this later.
The even more good news is that we have had a bit of a shift in the weather. Knock on wood, but I think we are finished with triple digit temperatures for the year. Hopefully. It was beginning to feel like it would never happen and we were going to be stuck in a perpetual August. That is really how it feels. Like it is never going to change, even though your brain knows better. We still have highs in the nineties, but we are trending in the fall direction. I can feel it.
AND, we got some rain. At least and inch and a half. I will pause here for you to do a happy dance on my behalf. Then I will do one for you, just give me a reason to! You can count on me, dear readers!
We still need quite a bit more rain for the grass, the pond, and to start to bring down the drought deficit, but we will take any we can get. Lito and I rode the pastures Monday morning after checking the cows and calves and I can see some grass growth and some greening up. There was still barely any standing water and there are still a few cracks in the ground, but again, we are trending in the right direction.
The rain and the ticking down of temperatures really put me in good spirits after Ireland. As if the trip of a lifetime was not enough! I treated myself to a pumpkin spice late while I did some grocery shopping AND I made pumpkin bread. Ya, you heard me. We are all in the ‘ber months and fall is HERE. Get with it and get ready! It is time for baking and the season!
Tell me, have you started to celebrate fall? Have you decorated yet? Pulled out your sweaters? Indulged in anything pumpkin? Baked anything???
That we are not even half way through the trip story and this is the last installment. Also, why can’t you put a week long trip into one post?! Just pick the highlights and move on!
OK, fine, maybe you are not thinking that, but I am.
That is part of my point. How does one pick their favorite part of something like this? How do you accurately describe it?!
But who cares, let us get to the good stuff. Buckle up and have a whole pot ready.
Even if I feel like my pictures do not do the countryside justice, this is where the views really kick it up a notch. For me, this is true especially on Wednesday and Thursday. Not to discount Friday though, just wait till you see. This is also my favorite part of the trip because Wednesday and Thursday night we stayed in two different villages in B&Bs and hotels. Staying in any village means one very important thing: PUBS. Pubs mean sessions. MUSIC! We may have only had two nights, but we had to make them count. Thursday night really did not disappoint! We also raced to see the Cliffs of Moher up close and personal right before sundown, so there is that too!
So…
Here we are packed and ready on Wednesday morning, ready to throw our bags in the van and drive to the horses.
The field the horses were in for the night was somewhat split level. Naturally, they were all at the top. We looked at each other and started to climb the hill. I am not sure if these pictures really show the level of incline or size, but we were all winded by the time we got to the top.
The horses did seem to enjoy watching us climb the hill. They know what they are about. Just look at them.
Like I said, they know what they are about. After I grabbed Bulmers, I turned around and saw.
Only a horse such as Bulmers could add to a view like that.
It is like he has a sense of humor or something.
It is like a post card.
So this was one of my favorite days. The views were spectacular before we even started riding and we got to ride in some of the more open country off the roads with no power lines. It was really special to see after we climbed the hill the junction of the forest, the heather, and the green fields.
I am not sure if you can really see it, but where you can see the purple flowers is a little creek/drainage/riparian area. This farmer had it electric fenced off to prevent damage by the cows.
Electric fencing us used primarily everywhere we went in conjunction with the walls and hedges. Interestingly, we also saw quite a bit of barbed wire which was a surprise to me. Four pronged and most of it looking new.
Before this trip, I did not realize the nature of the hills here. I thought gentle rolling hills. While they do look like that maybe from a far or in pictures, the hills are quite steep.
Should I mention again how much I love the heather? No? OK.
The reward at the top of the hill!
This is my favorite moment of the trip. I think Bulmers quite liked it too.
I thought this is was a cool little shot at the top of the hill. While in the wild and free heather, you can see the dark green forest there with the old and new timber and the stark contrast of the soft, light green field.
This country side here to me you really can not capture in photographs.
One more for good measure because you can not get enough!
Some cute horses we met on the road.
A farmer baling haylage or silage.
After a long and great ride, the horses were loaded up in a lorry to take them across some more populated areas to their field for the night. We would meet them there the next morning on Thursday.
A big lorry for big horses. The nice driver Declan said to me, “You only have to say goodbye until tomorrow. Not long.” Did I have hearts in my eyes or what?
Our drive into town was interrupted by the diary cows by the looks of it going to be milked.
We were dropped at our B&B’s in Corofin (I think that is where we were, don’t judge me. We were moving a lot!) and basically ran to a pub. We only had so much time and we needed to make the most of it!
We found this charming place which looked to be the best around! Also almost the only around, but it was only Wednesday and the village was quite small.
I found it interesting the Coors was on draft everywhere. No, I did not have any, I stuck to Irish. I should have asked the bar tender what it is about Coors that is so popular. Alas, I will just have to go back.
I enjoyed my first ever glass of Guinness. It was worth the wait. I liked it a lot more than I though I would. I did not have three by the way. I had two. Not that anybody should be counting when on vacation in Ireland anyway. I also moved to Irish whiskey later…so…there.
Spot the pup in the pub! We moved to another pub called the Yellow Submarine where we would actually be having dinner. They opened up just for us. It was arranged again for us to have a three course dinner there. I had a salad which was good, but I should have gotten the veggie soup, it was really good. I had a ham and tomato toastie with chips (and vinegar!) for the main. Basically a grilled ham and cheese with tomatoes. They had a choice of apple or rhubarb pie for dessert. As a group we all decided to share so we could all taste both. They were both amazing (I need to learn some new words), but I think the rhubarb was particularly wonderful. The crust was perfect and one of the best I have ever had.
After dinner we went back to the first pub for music and drinks.
We walked back to the B&B and hit the hay to do it all again tomorrow! Our group was split into two B&B’s. I can not remember the name of the place we stayed at, but it was really nice. The rest of the group stayed at Lakefield Lodge which was reportedly also lovely.
The next morning our breakfast table was set very nice and we even had the treat of French press coffee. I am a sucker for French press! After a nice visit with the owner, we drove out to the field to meet the horses.
The morning started out stunning and blue, but got rather Irish and rainy pretty quickly!
There is only one other kind of rain that is more pretty. You guessed, Texas rain, especially after you have not had any for a while, but this sure is pretty! Especially with Bulmers’ ears in it. I finally brought along an extra hair tie, so he got a braid to last the day. I stuck some fern leaves in it to dress him up for the day and set out with the goal to build a bouquet in his braid through the day. You all know by know I am just a horse girl kid at heart. The adulting of the world has not beat it out of me yet.
We were riding through the Burren landscape this day through to the coast on Friday.
After riding for a while, we stopped to explore a cool Celtic ring fort!
I am sure you’re not surprised by now to know that I was clearly the photographer of the group. I do not like to generally share pictures of other people for protection and privacy reasons, but it is hard to see details in this picture for the landscape.
It was a very dynamic weather day. It rained enough to soak through my breaches, but the sun was still there to play.
Bulmers’ bouquet growing! One of the other horses kept trying to eat it! The horses there eat mostly everything around. From grass, to flowers, to hedges. There is not much they do not touch. Apparently there are no poisonous plants in Ireland. In Texas, we have not only poisonous plants, but sticky and pokey plants that practically jump out to bite you!
The peat is everywhere! I do not think we got to enjoy a peat fire once though.
It was fascinating to watch the landscape change as we trekked west.
Before we knew it, the sun full on with blue sky and we could see the blue Atlantic!
Like I said, colors. This was only a taste of what was to come tomorrow on our final day.
On this night we stayed in the village of Lisdoonvarna. We were again split between the Bellview B&B and the Rathbaun Hotel. Dinner and Breakfast for us all would be at the Rathbaun.
We did the same thing of drop and run to a pub. This is a cute village that has a bit more going on that where we were the previous night. We were also missing, by a day, the famous match making festival that happens annually here. It is apparently quite a ‘scene.’
We walked around for a few minutes to take it all in before heading to the pub in The Ritz for a drink.
We had dinner at our usual time of 7 at the hotel, another three course meal with many options to choose from. There was no lack of food for us! I had the veggie soup for my appetizer. For my main I had the traditional lamb stew. I wish I could have this all the time or at least taken the leftovers! Ice cream for dessert with some sort of chocolate fudge sauce was the perfect ending to the food portion of the meal. We had to get a move on from the table if we wanted to catch the Cliffs of Moher before sunset! We took our Irish coffees (not as good as the ones on the farm!) to-go as we hopped in the taxi van to head to the Cliffs.
When we arrived at the Cliffs, we decided to divide and conquer. Half of us went right, and half of us went left. I went with the left group. It was nice and quiet. No other people there and light winds.
We had the taxi driver John drop us at the best pub in town. He knew what he was about.
We started with four playing and singing and ended the night with six. It felt like all the stories you hear about what Irish pubs are like. This was obviously my favorite evening of the trip.
I went for the good stuff and had a good conversation with the bar tenderess.
I could have stayed there for hours. Just tucked into the corner with the stayers of our group. Listening to music and lilted conversation. Conversing with the locals and hearing stories. One day, I will be back for more horses, pubs, and people, but not everything lasts forever and we had one last full day of riding to rest up for!
Friday morning brought us another good meal at the hotel for breakfast before we made our way to the horses for one final time.
Another day and another adorned braid for Bulmers! His flower is what they call a butterfly bush. Beautiful color and an even better fragrance. I should have saved my butterfly shirt to wear on this day!
We stopped to explore this chapel ruin and grave yard. While I enjoyed being up close to it, it felt wrong when I was inside. Like I was invading someone’s privacy.
It was very beautify though.
And the horses really were a compliment to the scenery. Which I do not think will surprise anyone.
We also saw a lot of happy cows everywhere we went.
The clouds really cleared for us to show off the blue sky, green grass, and wildflowers when we started to climb some hills on our way to the coast. Yes, hills, plural. Two very large hills that by the end felt like mountains.
This was the first reward for the first climb. We dismounted and led the horses down a steep gravel road to have lunch in the valley.
After lunch, we then led the horses up another very steep hill with smooth, slick, old rocks. It does not show, but we did some serious hike climbing. At some point during our climb, I was doing quite a bit of thinking about my paddock boots. We were all pretty winded by the time we made it to the top.
BUT IT WAS WORTH IT!
This was at the very top and look at the flowers. I mean the picture does not show anything like what it looked like in person. Nicola the owner and one of the guides we had part of the week even exclaimed at the particularly special and unique beauty.
The Cliffs of Moher are there off in the distance.
For such a small island, it sure is big!
After a spectacular final day of riding, the horses were again loaded on the lorry and taken back to their starting field for a well deserved week of rest.
We had a long quiet drive back to the farm that evening.
I know for me, I was feeling very grateful. Grateful to be blessed with this trip and to experience a beautiful culture. Grateful for time with friends and the people we met. Grateful for the horse I got to ride and who took such good care of me and for being able to spend so many hours in the saddle. We rode a solid five and a half active days with almost half of it trotting and cantering.
I was also grateful to be heading back to a home a love and to be coming home to my own animals that I love.
This whole trip was an amazing experience. Every horse you ride has something to teach you and Bulmers was no different. As a lifelong and frequent rider, I would not consider myself to have low confidence or registerable fear. It is however a nature of the game to have some level of healthy fear. They are horses after all and even professionals have some level of fear and anxiety. All of that said, I found Bulmers a lovely confidence builder that I did not know I was needing. It was surprising to me. He reminded me to ride the horse you have. I was not even feeling scared, but before I even put a foot in the stirrup he almost grabbed my hand and said, “I got you, let’s go have some fun.” You can call me crazy, but long time readers know by now I am into the woo of life. That is where the carry descriptor for Bulmers came from. He carried me I felt like. He was so naturally uphill feeling when he moved, it felt very literal.
The whole week was a truly special experience.
I was sad to say goodbye to Bulmers, but I was also happy to be coming home to mine. I will carry Bulers and his feeling with me.
Dinner that night was late, but it was still festive. Sweet potato sliders for the appetizer, coconut chicken for the main, and brownies for dessert. Really good brownies! We had an after dinner champaign toast of thanks and gratitude with the owners and staff.
We stayed up late and packed late. We would have an early and long day on Saturday beginning with an 8 AM departure to make our way back to the airport.
Thankfully our travel was safe and event free. I got home in time to have a hot bath before jumping in bed. I think I was asleep by 11 PM and I slept all the way through to about 6:15 AM Sunday morning Texas time.
I was feeling pretty good! I figured I had escaped any jet lag.
That is what I get for thinking! It hit me hard by Sunday afternoon and the hangover lasted almost week! The good news was, I was at the farm by Sunday midday and would pick up my Merley Bob on Tuesday morning (thanks the Labor Day).
I hope you enjoyed coming along for the ride on my trip to Ireland! Thank you for letting me share this all with you. Sharing this with others is almost as good as going for me. Not everybody can go and do this for any number of reasons. Just another reason I feel grateful.
Walk in love, dear readers! Where should we go next?!
At first I typed ‘Drowning.’ Just…Drowning. So dramatic!
Have no fear, I am not DROWNING. Other than in sweat.
I have been drowning in sweat.
Happy 3rd August, Texas!
Do you remember that time I made a comment about it being ‘real’ hot when you have sweat in your eyelids? No? Well I do and I am here to tell you we somehow skipped that phase and went into full on deluge. This is very reminiscent of the awful summer of 2011.
Yes, I know the heat is old news (I am so tired of getting heat advisory warnings every day!), but I needed to set the scene for what I had got to do on Monday.
This is the end result and I am thankfully not sore:
Thankfully for all of us, there are no progress photos! Ain’t nobody wants to see that! The amount of sweat was surprising to me. I have never sweated that much in my life. It felt like a spigot had been turned on. I started a little after 6 AM and finished before 10. All still morning and in shade. I was not in any hurry other than to finish before my shade ran out. I took many hydration breaks.
84 bales of hay unloaded and crammed stacked into the feed room for winter feels like winning. Anybody who cares for livestock in the winter knows how great this feels. Even if you were completely soaked through with sweat when you were only half way finished. Exhausting work, but it is the most satisfying work at the same time. It is a joyful chore for such a blessing. An even bigger blessing given the drought situation. Hopefully I will not have to use any of this hay before December.
Actual footage of me when I turned around after the last bale was loaded in:
You know it really is dry and HOT when the weeds and trees even look hot.
Anyway, I feel like a kid on the last day before summer or winter break and it is not just because I finally got this important chore off the list.
Why, you ask? Oh, I dunno, because I get to do something exciting soon. Go somewhere exciting soon.
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!
