Category: Uncategorized

Pre-Fall.

On By AveryIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Unconventional I would imagine to think of July as a pre-fall, but here we are in my unconventional brain in pre-fall. I can not help but think it with the wet stormy skies (that we were having when I started this post…no longer wet stormy skies!…but a possible tropical storm is coming!). It has me thinking of sweater weather (my rebellious fingers wrote sweather, so there is that), steaming mugs, and reflection if you know me a little bit. Well, know me on here anyhow. Maybe I am like this outside of my musings here. Probably am. I hope I talk about more than the weather outside of this space too! Any proximity to August regardless of the weather really gets me there. The heat does it too!

I have really been thinking of H a lot lately. I think of her often of course, especially this time of year given August is when she passed, but lately the urge to pick up the phone and call her has come up again. It has been five years almost now since that fateful day.

Gosh, I tell you it feels like it has been ten or twenty years since we lost her. Five years feels like an eternity and all the years run together. It normally is not so much of a surprise any longer when the feelings and memories come back, but they hit me with a bit of a surprise the other day thinking about how in the world we are already more than halfway through July. Then BAM. August and all its memories came flooding in. Wishing I could just call and talk about all the things. There are so many things I wish I could talk to her about. Even just the weather and getting winter hay secured away.

It has been a rainy summer for us here in Texas and I could not be more grateful. In some ways the landscape looks better than it has in a long time, but in some other ways the pastures are mostly weeds after the grasses took such a hit after the drastic lack of rain in the last half of 2025. That is life though, is it not? It feels like a recurring theme or something. Something like that.

I snuck away to Scotland for a week in May. Snuck. Ha. Not really. It was not like I just up and went, but it felt that way. I booked the trip somewhat hurriedly in January without much prior thought or planning and since I went solo, it felt like sneaking.

It started out with me very much almost accidentally booking airfare to New Zealand in the middle of the night when I was half asleep after seeing that a spot on a ride over there had unexpectedly opened up. I am not sure which side of me, the half asleep or the half awake side, wondered what it would cost right now to fly to New Zealand. As one does. You better believe I woke up really quickly once I realized what I was doing! Anyway, I booked Scotland that very week.

Naturally, the day before I left we needed to start bottle feeding a rejected calf. Life.

Everyone, meet Cindy. For Cinderella, named by my nieces.

I got her going on the bottle and hoped that everyone could keep her going until I got back.

It was an amazing little getaway filled with horses and great food. I got to ride a different horse every day and have a different guide every day which was quite something! It was like my own personal, private tour every day of the Borders! When I was not riding, I was driving myself to as many places as I could see with the time available. Let me tell you, driving on the wrong (sorry, wrong!) side of everything was a real trip! It was not as bad as I thought it was going to be (YouTube videos really helped!), but wowza! Also, I really feel like I got robbed on the price of the car over there. If you are looking for a lovely place to stay that has out of this world food, Cringletie is the way to go!

I got back home to Texas to a mostly thriving bottle calf Cindy and apparently a dead truck. The latter fully not expected and not welcome! One really does not expect to have to get a new vehicle right after going on an (expensive!) international trip!

But, again, life, that is the way it goes sometimes. I am now firmly in the ‘intentionally saving money and not traveling’ camp for a little (or a lot) bit! Outside of maybe a quick flight on points to the west coast of somewhere to visit friend D while she and her husband are passing by on their sail boat.

ANYWAY………The truck situation really put me out of commission for almost a week, but thanks to R, life could go on. So now we are with a new truck back to our regularly scheduled programming!

Cindy is now doing very well and is at a wonderful place with other calves, goats, sheep, and donkeys to finish out her bottle feeding. When she is ready to have a little less support, i.e. she is off the bottle or mostly off, she will be able to be turned back out to finish growing into a hopeful mamma cow!

Summer riding this year has been quite good even with all the rain and mud. There has only really been a couple of weeks we have been sidelined.

The weekend before last we danced around the rain which was so nice. Saturday Lito and I had a good ride and managed to get into the barn right before we got dumped on. However, on Sunday we got caught in a lovely light rain while on a walk ride with my mamma.

This past weekend the heat really hit us in my opinion. It did not help that my Lito ride was really one of those not so great ones that happens every so often. The kind that sends you into a bit of a tailspin for the rest of the day…or until you decide you just need to go make up and fix it. A sunset bareback ride in the arena just walking around did just the trick. Sunday’s ride made up for anything that was left to make up for and boy am I glad for it. I would still be in the funkiest of funks were it not for being able to make it all better.

So! Here is your friendly reminder, your AHA moment…Life happens and sometimes it sucks. That is the way it goes, but tomorrow is always a new day! AND. It does not always suck! So very profound, I know.

Are you ready for fall yet?

Until next time!

Walk in love, dear readers!

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

On By AveryIn Dogs, Horses, Life, Uncategorized1 Comment

oYe. Uh, hi. Hello there.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But he did! My Merley turned 6!

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

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

OK, where were we?

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

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

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

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

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

It began with a major high.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Walk in love, dear readers. Until next time.

Colorado Dreaming.

On By AveryIn Uncategorized4 Comments

Since I have apparently run out of ways to begin these posts after a long hiatus…

…h.e.l.l.o.?…Hello!

Hey hi how is it going?

Life has been a bit hectic since APRIL and time has been utterly FLYING by. I have felt more than a bit like a chicken with my head cut off, but that is life for you! I was starting to feel like things were beginning to feel a bit more comfortable, which they really are, but I do not see anything slowing down until October…which really means it is not going to because that is basically already Thanksgiving and then Christmas! I said it! You were thinking it!

Texas had one of the most lovely springs, which is where I left you in April. Now we are solidly seated in August! To which I am sure you can guess, if you have been around here for a bit, also means we are in the literal thick of summer (and the ramp of hurricane season) here in Texas. This summer has really been nice weather wise and we have been blessed with quite a bit of rain…the pastures are NUTS. I am not saying anything, but we could use more grazing animals at the moment. Anyway, back to summer…when I say the thick of summer, I mean it. It does not matter that temperatures have been mild…the air is so thickly bedded with humidity you can cut it with a knife. Like mattress thick. It is wildly oppressive. Everyone is miserable outside of basically 2 hours in the morning and right before sunset. The horses have been in a full body sweat daily and their skin is not happy. This all really seemed to develop in the last couple of weeks. There has been a lot of cold hosing and treating of skin and hooves.

This bold doe chased my Merle, presumably from her fawn. I have never seen anything like it!
I feel like there have also been more butterflies this year than any other.

So. Now that I have set the scene for present day mid-August…where have the last three months gone? To the dogs or something as they say! Which all totals up to a pretty…impressive year so far! Buckle up, buttercups!

Lito‘s neck wound from the world’s largest splinter healed up beautifully and you can not even tell there was anything there. I sold a saddle, but not the saddle I was advertising. Funny that, but the original saddle is indeed still for sale if anyone is interested. Please, someone buy it. Lito’s new saddle, fingers crossed, will be completed soon!

RIP beloved pecan tree. Keep reading for details.

Somewhere in the later half of April, I learned that I was in need of new living arrangements for myself and the Merle and I had two months to figure it out. You could say this is where everything kind of fell off the rails.

You see, I had been in talks with my parents about how it was about time I start looking for a place of my own and to no longer be a renter, Set myself up for the future. We had been talking about it and casually looking, but nothing too serious, thinking the right thing would pop up at the right time and that would be that. Well, that was not that. The right thing had not popped up and I needed to find somewhere to live! It felt like the rug had been ripped out from under me.

I will admit I was completely paralyzed for about 24 hours. By Monday morning I could barely get dressed for work. I was just sitting on the couch staring at the wall. Very not normal for me. But I got myself to work and by the time I got in the truck to go home, I got myself in gear. I stopped at the store to get some wine (a needed ingredient for progress), I ordered a pizza, put some music on, and got to work. By Tuesday morning I was loading up my first Good Will donation that I dropped off on my way to work.

I was determined to not lose any horse time, best friend D was coming into town to visit, and I had already planned for a long Memorial Day weekend away to go fishing. I pretty quickly decided to be fully moved out and done (stick a fork in me!) before we left to go fishing. I did not want any of this hanging over my head. This meant I had less than a month to pack and move, even if only temporarily. If that sounds a little, um, mad to you, that is because it is. I have lived in the same place for, well, a long time.

I drank way too much wine and went through a lot of audio books (I also spent many hours on the phone talking to friend S, another needed ingredient for progress), but I got it all done. I made like four or five big trips to the Good Will. I sold some things. I found a charity to donate my old text books to (yup, I still had all those). I got rid of a lot of stuff. I packed boxes and more boxes (thanks to R for the exact number of boxes I needed!). I moved to our temporary home with our necessities. I booked the movers and reserved a storage unit. I did not miss out on any horse time. D and I had a great, if not way too short of a time.

So, the day before the movers were to come, I was wrapping up the last of what I needed to do when we had the craziest of storms whip through (literally) and just destroy the city with crazy flooding, trees down everywhere, most without power, no internet, and cell phones not working (the clean up after that storm is still going on!). This made for an exciting moving day, let me tell you. I had no idea if the movers were going to be able to show up. I had no idea if we were going to even be able to get into the storage facility or if they sustained any damage. It was not the most fun day, let me tell you. It all worked out for this first part, but I did have to last minute find a different storage facility to move my stuff into. I sure am glad I spent all the time I did doing research and cost comparisons. NOT.

Anyway! With the move complete, Mamma and I did a final deep clean and I handed over the keys after I locked the door for the last time.

Merle and I had a great weekend away fishing. We caught enough fish for some lovely meals in addition to enjoying the bay. It was very windy though!

Those guys in the background lost their boat!

All this time we were also scouring the internet and looking at properties trying to find the right thing. D went with us to look at one while she was here.

So many calves!

Luckily for me I also had weekend that popped up in the first part of June to go ride with friends in the hill country at Parrie Haynes. Lito was a rock star and I really needed that weekend away. Somewhere in there I kind of lost the ability to sleep with my anxiety over the whole moving situation. Not to worry, I am sleeping soundly now, but the situation was getting dire there for a little bit. I have not lost so much sleep since I graduated from college.

The farm garden produced many tomatoes, basil, peppers and peaches, so I had some fun in the kitchen cooking and eating.

Like I said, many butterflies this year. It is wonderful to see and feel. Especially this one. I was just focusing on getting Lito’s ears and cows. It was not until after that I noticed the butterfly. I do not believe in coincidences if you did not know that about me. Everything happens for a reason.

I will not lie, the butterflies feel like a God wink to me. A message. A message from H. It has been a long three years without my best friend. A very technical three years come tomorrow. I saw and felt butterflies flying free in my mind on that day, well really it was the day before, but who is counting. August 13, 2021 was the technical day. I can not remember if I told you about those butterflies. But, how has all this time gone by? I think about her all the time, but especially now, in this time with all this change in my life and I can not just call her.

August is a hard month. In Texas of course, that is no surprise. It can be just plain miserable. Sometimes I try to take the month ‘off,’ so to speak. Or as much as one can, anyway. I can’t really do that, but in my mind I pretend I am sometimes. Something about it, that hardness, that heat. It all stacks on. Makes you think. You just have to get through the days until they are over. Find the shade, drink the water, stay cool. Do the bare minimum. Sometimes that can give your mind just a little too much time to think. Think sometimes entirely too big of thoughts. At least I am predictable. Regardless, this happens just about every August, just a little more so these days. I am grateful that I have been so busy that it only just hit me.

The butterflies remind me of the beauty that comes. How quickly our thoughts become shadowed if you are not focused on the light. An important reminder!

That all seemed to get a bit dark and I did not intend for that to happen!

I kind of jumped ahead there…by like a whole month…back to beginning of July…

Somewhere in there hurricane Beryl came on through and, well, left its mark, shall we say. Back to more flooding, down trees, no power. Many had it worse. We have been blessed in years past to not lose trees. It is our turn.

All the pecan trees are special, but they seem to become more so once they are gone.

Then, remember most of my things are in storage? Well. That stuff got wet thanks to Beryl. Woohoo. That was exciting. Going through it. Taking pictures and making lists. Doing what remediation I could. Filing an insurance claim. While a big ‘ol not fun hassle, it was not all too terribly bad. I am still waiting to hear back from insurance though.

OK, back to August.

Somebody tried to break into my truck and left me with a shattered window. That was really not nice, but I will take that over the alternative. That is probably the last time I sleep at my parents house. I am so glad my alarm went off and they were not able to get in. There is a lot more to this story that I just can not bring myself to say again, but it ends with me running and yelling in my pajamas. I just hope the perpetrator was running scared. I still have my truck though and nothing is gone. That gentleman there is installing a new window, just in case you thought something else.

Then we suffered the loss of another pecan tree and a half on Friday evening when a storm popped up. This crazy storm came out of nowhere. There was so much rain and wind you could not see. Then when you could…

At least only this half of a tree is requiring fence work as well.

So. I am Colorado dreaming right now! I am getting away for a week in the mountains to escape!

Come Sunday I will be there enjoying the cool temperatures and mountain views. I will try not to leave y’all hanging this time!

Walk in love, dear readers!

And, well, August is just about half way over, so never fear! It is like hump day, you’re almost there to the ‘ber months! And you know what that means!

Spring Is Here.

On By AveryIn Dogs, Horses, Life, Uncategorized3 Comments

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

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

So, what is that? Where have I been?

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

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

Anyway, I am here now and that is that!

We have of course been riding and enjoying the weather.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Walk in love, dear readers!

Monday Morning Coffee Moment.

On By AveryIn Life, Uncategorized2 Comments

Good morning, my dear readers!

A little Monday morning coffee break moment for you.

A reminder for you on this fine day.

Remember those life lessons you have learned over the years.

They were presented to you for a reason, for you to learn what works and does not work for you.

Stir that around in your pot of thoughts.

Sometimes those same similar situations will present themselves to you again from time to time and you will recognize a little something that will raise a flag to get your attention. Are you paying attention? It is up to you to see and feel that flag and move accordingly if you want to keep moving forward.

Your AHA moment for the day!

Walk in love, dear readers! Have a great one!

Spring Is Coming.

On By AveryIn Uncategorized4 Comments

Real quick here today, but newsflash, spring is coming. It is, trust me.

It may be windy and cold today, but the trees are budding, the bees are pollinating, and the horses are shedding.

It. Is. Happening.

Anyway, the horses are finishing their breakfast and I am waiting on my coffee before heading down to feed the cows.

Another news flash….

I finally rode last weekend!

All became right in my world the minute I swung my leg over.

Today won’t be a riding day as almost all the horses seem a hand higher than normal with the wind, but tomorrow and Monday are looking promising!

Walk in love, dear readers! Spring is coming!

Rainy Winter Blues.

On By AveryIn Dogs, Horses, Life, Uncategorized4 Comments

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

What do you know?

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

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

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

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

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

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

So, you can now scratch all of that above.

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

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

ANYWAY.

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

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

The day started out like this.

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

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

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

Then the winter weather came.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I just.

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

Anyone want to gift me a covered arena?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Fall, Y’all!

On By AveryIn Life, Music, Uncategorized2 Comments

It is here. Finally.

It is finally fall.

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.

Have a great day, dear readers, and walk in love!

Trip Hangover.

On By AveryIn Horses, Life, Uncategorized10 Comments

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???

Walk in love, dear readers!

Begin As You Mean To Go On.

On By AveryIn Uncategorized1 Comment

Or you know, a recipe for a good year!

But first (do not you just LOVE when I do that to you?!), back to Christmas real quick.

Happy Christmas, dear readers! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Kwanzaa! Happy New Year! Happy NEW DAY!

We can not just let Christmas slide right on by, even if that is what it seemed like it was going to do. I mean, can you even believe that I almost did not put up a tree?! Just so you know, I still have my tree up and the ornaments are still hanging and the lights are plugged in right now during my coffee time for my enjoyment and it will stay that way for several more days. Why not? It brings me joy! Happy Christmas! I told you I would get there.

Anyway, here is where we left off, lest you forget. The horses were less enthused with their annual Christmas portraits.

Merley Bob also got his turn by the tree and he was also not feeling it. At all!

He would not look at me.

At.

All.

Just look at that face. How anyone could not recognize animals’ personalities is beyond me.

Between horses and dog, I am not sure we could handle any more personality around here.

If you remember from when when we spoke last, I mentioned a little predicted winter weather before Christmas and, well, that prediction did come true. However, there was no precipitation and that alone was and is cause for celebration! Even if some snow can be pretty and fun for a little bit, the wet cold is so hard on the animals…and their caretakers. The weather we did have did mean that I had to be at the farm from the Wednesday (I think) before through to the day after Christmas to cover all pipes, break ice on water troughs, feed all the horses and cows, haul water, muck stalls, and blanket and re-blanket. Rinse and repeat and do a dance! I learned long ago from this man that dancing is how to get through winter, even our little Texas winter spurts.

I am just so blessed to have a working manure spreader, warm clothes, and that I have the ability to stay and work from the farm for the duration. To not have to spend valuable time burning up the highway to and from the office. At its coldest this time it was 16 degrees F with a feel like temperature of 1 degree, but it was definitely not as bad as the big freeze. I will say, these cold mornings are stunning and warming your hands on the horses is hard to beat.

I of course got some baking and cooking in as I am sure you guessed. I baked a pomegranate cake for Cousin H’s party before the winter set in. Then from the farm for Christmas day I baked a chocolate peppermint cake and a ridiculous pumpkin pecan pie cheesecake Aunt M sent me from facebook. I also put together a baked brie with homemade cranberry fig jelly.

I do love to do all this baking! It is a lot of work, especially to get it all done between winter chores to then get them undamaged an hours drive into town for our Christmas Day celebration, and then after all that, drive all the way back to get everyone fed and set for another cold night. I would not change it for a thing. It is so much fun to get everyone’s reaction to the treats.

To end a great Christmas Day that I got to start with my horses, I got to give all the horses a Christmas peppermint before dark. It is like insert peppermint quarter for a good time!

OK, now on to the point of this post! Here is your first AHA moment of 2023. Begin as you mean to go on.

This is the part where you take notes.

“Begin as you mean to go on, and go on as you began, and let the Lord be all in all to you.”

― Charles H. Spurgeon, All of Grace

Think of this as a recipe for a good year, if you will.

This is how I spent the first day of the year 2022. You can substitute whatever makes you happiest.

I remember thinking that this seems better than black eyed peas. I said a little prayer of thanksgiving for the blessing of being able to ride my best boy.

Fast forward through a lot of good times to December 31.

This is how I spent the last day of the year 2022.

I rode and spent some good time with R.

I think the year came out of the oven pretty alright. I think I did something right. 2022 I think was a pretty dang good year!

Were there hard times? Surely, everybody has them. Nobody is immune to the hard times.

I backed my car door into a tree, did several things I did not want to do, cried for and with friends and family, saw our vet (and others!) more than any other year, battled Mother Nature, WordPress lost some very important additions and edits on this post, and experienced grief in waves. Many waves.

There were more not so fun things I could mention, but at present I do not recall them or do not wish to. All of that is OK though because we are here today, surviving and doing it, and that is what matters. The thing is, no matter what you do you can not avoid the hard and the difficult. If you try to, you will miss and not experience the good bits. You can not selectively dull emotions. You dull one, you dull them all, including the happy.

I choose to focus on the good parts, and there were many.

I rode a lot, I rode alone, with friends, and in new places, played with my dog and watched him run and hunt and swim and smile, listened to a lot of music and books, traveled to Hawaii and spent time with family and made new family and rode, created art, experienced and enjoyed art, cooked, baked, one of my best friends that I had not seen in years came into town for the best visit, I went fishing, went to the beach, visited long time human and horse friends in my college town, got my own truck, learned a lot, made new friends, spent time with family and my people, celebrated, prayed, made memories, I looked a little bit past my grief.

I said YES.

Every day we wake is a blessing we were not promised and we should be grateful for each day we are granted. Every day is a new day. New Year’s day is not the only chance for us to start new. Every minute of every day we have the chance to make a choice. A choice to see the light, to be positive, to say yes, to do the right thing. To live in gratitude.

Thank you to 2022.

Happy 2023!

I have not said that much here since I carved this little corner of the internet.

Tell me about your holiday if you were celebrating! Tell me what you are grateful for this past year! Tell me what choice you are excited for this coming year!

Walk in love, dear readers!

Insert peppermint for a good time! I already have some exciting things in the works for this year.

I promise to use less commas and explanation points next time!.