Your AHA moment for today is brought to you by The Exquisite Equine. I have mentioned Emily’s blog on here once before. This where IT is at. What IT is all about. I could not have said it better myself. Can you see the metaphor and message for life itself?
Be yourself. Do not compare yourself to anyone else. Do not try to fit yourself into a box. You are uniquely and divinely made in His image. Speak to your intuition. Feed your flame.
Horses have shown me their flames to have me see mine. I see God in them and He teaches me through them. The horses feed my flame, show me my true self, and keep me honest. When everything appears to be blowing up in life, like it feels right now, they remind me what is important.
What feeds your flame???
“When you connect with yourself and nature, you can see that you’ve had everything all along. Everything: the answers, the peace, the harmony, the joy, the happiness, the love…it has all been inside of you all along. What other people say and do and think, well it just really doesn’t matter much. Trust your horse to be your wisest teacher, trust your gut to lead you in the right direction, and trust yourself that everything you need is already within you.” Thank you, Emily, for being you!
Connect with nature and yourself, for they are things that He has made. I trust the horse because they are God’s creatures. I have everything I need within me because He put it there. I am grateful for it.
I can not wait to get out to the farm after work today. I need all the time with them I can get. The cold weather is coming in and I have to put extra feed out and blanket old man Apache.
This is my first blog hop, and it will not be my last! It has rained basically non stop since Friday, so I have no fun riding stories. I basically did chores and fed while getting wet. Then on Sunday, my parents and I got the family Christmas tree. I finished decorating it last night with the help of wine. The decorating is almost finished. Normally, I would be finished with Christmas deco within a couple days of Thanksgiving, but given the events of late, it just has not happened.
I digress, I am going to jump on the TB pedigree blog hop bandwagon eventually, but I can not remember who started that one? Cheetah‘s dam was an OTTB and has a fun pedigree. I did all the research while I was in grad school. It was great for procrastinating.
Today’s blog hop comes from A Soft Spot For Stars. I already like her because we both have dun mares. Anyway, I too am curious about fellow bloggers locations and what it is like where they are.
No secrets here, I am a Texas gal. I reside in the ‘southern half’ of the state, in a big city. My horses stay at our family farm an hour away. That makes things difficult for me and my fuel consumption. However, it is an easy hour drive and I can go out after work whenever I need or want. The time change makes it hard to ride when I go after work during the winter, but I can blanket the old guy and feed him before it gets dark on cold nights. I will be doing that the latter half of this week.
Demographic? Most people that live in and around the city board their horses if they do not have property outside of town. There are several equestrian friendly communities outside of town where you can live and keep or board horses. We are probably 50/50 mix of western to english riders of all kinds. There are many shows and clinics in the ‘general area.’ Most shows and clinics are just far enough away from where the horses are to not be ‘convenient’ (1.5-2+ hr haul). This is very frustrating for me as I am hungry for more knowledge and do not want to let my riding get stagnant. BUT there are many great trainers and I have a few that I plan to haul to for lessons in the near future. We have a few good tack stores in town (good or bad considering how you look at it!). There is a big tack store in the area. It is generally an hour from town or an hour from the farm, but I ride horses for people out that way sometimes.
Costs of horse keeping in my region of the great state:
Trim-$35 (Lito just gets a trim, as do the other geldings and Petunia)
Front shoes-$70 (I keep front shoes on Cheetah Beets)
Average cost of a month of full time training-$800
Average cost of monthly pasture board-$400
Average cost of monthly stall board-$600 (All kinds of board and prices range wildly. These averages might be on the high side, but there are places I have seen that have exorbitant prices. The ones that I have looked at and work for me are not all that much closer than the farm)
Hay, good horse quality Bermuda-$8.00 (I have not looked at the prices for this year yet)(We high quality pasture and have had good rains this year…I do not think we will need to buy too terribly much this year)
What I consider priceless? Feeding in my pj’s. That Texas sky. Sunrises and sunsets viewed from the back of my horse. When I am at the farm, I can do whatever, whenever.
Weather? In the summer it is hot and humid. The only ‘good thing’ about the humidity is that it keeps us from generally having too many 100+ temp days. The heat index is the killer…and the bugs. All of our cows have some percentage of Brahman in them to help with coping with bugs and humidity. I ride all year round. In the summer on the weekends, I wake up and feed in the dark so I can be tacked up and mounted by the time I can see with the first light. I generally ride 2 horses (groom, ride, cool out, hose down) and get some chores finished by 11 AM. I do not do much else until 7 PM when I will ride another horse. It also limits when I haul. I do not like to haul during the hot, middle of the day. During the work week, I hustle out there and get 1 horse ridden and get back home late. Sometimes I stay out there for the night and come back super early in the morning for work. Winter is pretty easy by majority standards. It will freeze a few times. Lows are generally in the 40’s. A cold night is in the 30’s. It will only do that for a few days. It is not uncommon to be riding in short sleeves in January.
Lito has what I think is an allergic reaction to mosquitoes or flies. Does anyone else have this problem???
Hot Darcy.
A ‘frosty’ morning ride on Cheetah, looking at the geldings.
Other notes? Hunting season. It cramps my style a little bit because some in the family like to hunt at the farm. That is all fine and good except that requires me to not ride. That bugs me. Other than that it is fine. Our property is on a river and there are some duck hunters that like to come and park themselves behind the barn. The barn is not right on the river, but it is close. Anyway, I can hear them and let me tell you, it is funny. They are not very good at their duck calls and I can hear them talking. That is not how you do it!
Frustrating things?
The drive. I wish they were closer. However, I like not having to pay board. I have contemplated it so I could have at least a horse closer. I also like them being able to live like horses. It is also simpler to have them at the farm with the others. I have also contemplated moving to a place somewhere in the middle.
I miss the barn community. It is a great thing. I have horse friends that I ride with, but most of them are not in our neck of the woods.
Join in on the blog hop if you have not already! I have had fun reading them!
I started decorating for Christmas yesterday after work. I put on my Spotify Christmas playlist entitled ‘The Reason For the Season.’ It all really lifted my spirits and today is a new day!
For a new influx of happy/fun/positive on this Thursday, I have for you some of my past years animal Christmas photos! It is December 1st after all. I will take some new ones soon. This is to prep you. I know you are just too excited. If you are well behaved, I might rustle up some old Christmas photos of us sisters all in matching outfits…that is a real hoot.
Have you ever taken funny Christmas photos??? Share them with me!
Walk in love, dear readers.
The first year I made everyone do it. Look at Apache’s face! He was wishing he was not retired so he could buck me off.
Darcy’s first Christmas photo.
Darcy is a good sport.
Look what I made baby Lito man do. Maybe not such a baby. This was last year when he was 2.5+ yo. Yes, those are jingle bells. He is a good boy. I am mean.
Life is interesting. I have been very introspective as of late. You have probably noticed this. I would say it is the holidays, but really every year it begins in October because that is when my birthday is.
I began 2016 with such hope and many plans. Even with the state of the oil & gas industry and the death of our Mr. Man just a few months prior, I was prepared to make it a good year. Here is a little confession time, I put myself in a safe and protected position. I moved back in with my parents in case I lost my job. Bless them. I am so grateful for my parents allowing me (and my Darcy dog) to move back in. It has not been easy. This was really not something I wanted in my life plan and do not like to admit, but plans change so we change. We accept and move on. It is always hard. It was/is temporary. It was/is the smart thing to do.
I was going to focus on the good and make it good. I still had a job and I was saving money. I worked at a place that allowed me to have a schedule and life and they were great people. I was going to continue going to bible study and start reading my bible daily. I even got one of those read the bible in 365 days deals. Really, I bought it way before that, but I was going to start it. I was going to start riding my Lito man in the spring. I had some goals set for us. My middle sister was getting married in the summer to a wonderful man. At the end of the summer I would find out if I got accepted into this exclusive, ladies group. If accepted, we would go on a week long riding retreat vacation in the fall. I am person who tends to be resistant to change, but I was ready and open for the change that could happen and wanted things to start moving in my life.
2016 has been a hard year. Some are extremely difficult to digest and talk about. Our ranch hand that took great care of my babies and buried Mansebo was tragically killed in a car accident. He worked for us for seven years. We have yet to find a suitable replacement after trying three different people. The river flooded twice, taking fencing, water lines, and water troughs with it both times. Lito’s goals came and went like a flash before my eyes without my say thanks to the weather. We have lost a few big calves for no apparent reason. There have been several unexpected deaths, human, equine, and bovine. Since spring I have only been to bible study a handful of times. I am currently on day 11 of my daily bible reading. Day 11. I read day 11 yesterday. Go me, and I still live with my parents.
Many great things did happen though. I still have my job at this wonderful company with great people. We are hopeful to see this thing through to the other side. I still have two full sets of grandparents. I am a proud new member of an equestrian sisterhood and had a blast on our week long ride. My sister is happily married to that wonderful man. They are coming home for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. My niece turned 1 year old. Lito has been started under saddle and is a great youngster. I could not have dreamed up a better one. I am in no hurry with him and have no reason to rush or get upset if it is not as I expected or planned. This is about him and us, not me. I even got to ride him through the shallows of the flood at a big, floaty, water splashing trot. Think big boy trot down the diagonal and that was only his 4th ride. We had several grass growing rains, even if they did flood. Better than the drought. I am trying to make reading my bible part of my routine, absorbing the messages He is trying to teach, and pray every day.
I feel in some ways very much the same as I did almost a year ago in January, in other ways I am different. I adapted and changed my plans. I moved on. Made new goals and kept some old ones.
I still feel stagnant in my life. Change is happening, but it feels as if it is happening around me. I still am unsure if I am doing what I am supposed to be doing with my life.
I did read my bible yesterday and prayed a couple of times. Here is the interesting thought were I started off writing this post. How it took that many words to get here, I am not sure. I woke up twice last night and remember even though I was not fully awake thanking God for everything I have and everything He has done for me, with me, and through me. Hello Holy Spirit! Something is happening inside me even if it feels like am standing still, my feet stuck in concrete blocks. Today I am praying for intention. To be intentional in my bible reading. To be intentional in my prayer with Him. To be intentional about being open to His will for me. I am going to read day 12 when I get home.
Spread the peace, love, and joy my dear readers. We all need it. Everyone is walking in their own shoes. Help each other focus on the good and the positive.
Tomorrow is Friday. That means the weekend. Then it is Thanksgiving! Then it is Christmas! How is that for positive!
Darcy’s story is truly a special one. At least to me anyway, and not just because she was the absolute best dog on the face of the earth. A dog of a lifetime.
It begins with a ‘long story short’ kind of deal. I was ready for a dog. I was wrapping up my first year of grad school. If you have put two and two together, you have gathered that at this point (I suppose that is dependent on my story telling skills, which are not that great, but let us not focus on that at the present moment) I have 2 horses and am in grad school. Perfect timing for a puppy! I would not recommend it for most people. I arranged a deal with my eldest sister to get a female puppy from a litter sired by her Irish Field Setter (because I love her dog) as her stud fee. She was to give the pup to me. Here comes the long story short part. The litter did not make.
My sister’s Irish Field Setter.
It was August at this point. I was pretty upset. I broke a cardinal rule and had already bought a collar with a name plate. What did this mean? Do I not get one? Do I try to find one? If I was going to get a puppy, now was the time. I would have plenty of time to train a puppy while in school before I had to join the full time adult world. I needed to either get one now or wait till I was settled in a job. I am not one for waiting once I get my mind set on something if you have not figured that out yet. I decided to ask and look around. If I found a puppy that somehow was available and filled the necessary qualifications, I would THINK about getting it.
My chances were next to none. Most field bred, bird dog litters are only bred when the breeders know a full litter is committed for. I decided not loose heart and began my search for a Llewellin Setter (basically a specific line of field bred English Setter) which is what I really wanted in the first place. I grew up with English Setters and they are easier to find than the Irish.
My childhood English Setter.
One thing led to another and I got in touch with the owner of a stud dog in Minnesota that sired a litter with a few puppies still available. She put me through a little bit of an interrogation until she heard my story and figured out I was not making an impulse decision. She deemed me worthy enough to get me in touch with the owner of the dam…in Michigan. That is really far from Texas, but I figured it was worth a call. If anything, they might be able to recommend me to someone in a more reasonable location.
Darcy’s sire, King.
Darcy’s sire, King.
I called him on a Sunday on my way home from the farm. We talked for almost the whole hour drive. It was great. I had a feeling. I had a feeling about the dogs. I had a feeling about him. I had a feeling about the owner of the stud dog. It all just seemed right. I needed this puppy that was not even born yet, but I could not let my feelings get away from me. I had to be logical and practical. Despite my ‘feelings,’ I had never met either of these dogs. I had always intended to get a dog from down here that was used to the climate. Anyway, How does one get a puppy from all the way up there to all the way down here without spending more than the cost of the puppy???
Daisy, Darcy’s mother. Darcy runs like this.
Darcy’s dam and grand sire.
Daisy.
A proud bird dog.
The next day I called him back and expressed my concerns. Now, here is where it gets really good. He tells me that it is really no big deal. He just so happens to be driving right by the stud dog owner’s house right when the pups would be 7 weeks old (which would be within the week before my birthday). He already spoke with her and she just so happened to be driving all the way down to Ft. Worth that very next day he was driving by and would be happy to bring the puppy along for the ride. He said not to worry about it, they would work it out to ensure the pup had a good home with me. How crazy is that?! It was fate. I agreed to drop my down payment in the mail that day.
Fast forward to the beginning of October and my mother and I drove up to Ft. Worth to pick up my Darcy girl. I chose a ‘D’ name after Darcy’s mother, Daisy. Darcy came from Pride & Prejudice because I am obsessed with Jane Austen and that particular novel. With Darcy cuddled in my arms, my mother and I checked into a fun hotel for the evening. Middle sister came to meet the puppy and spend the night as she lives in the vicinity of the Metroplex. We had a grand time with takeout for dinner and right before bed, I look over at my bag and what do I see? Darcy is curled up in a ball IN my bag, looking at me. It was at that moment I KNEW I made the right decision. I had found the sidekick I had been waiting for.
The first weekend home together we loaded up and went to the farm. She learned everything from riding in the back of the pick up to being around the horses to drinking out of a water trough. The rest really is history, as they say.
She was at my side ever since. I took her everywhere I could. In the last weeks of her life, after getting diagnosed with cancer, I took her to work with me every day. She had a huge personality and was extremely expressive. She hung out at the barn with me and went with me on all my rides. She was my farm buddy and was so so good at it. I would not have changed a single thing about her.
I am forever grateful and I feel so blessed to have had her in my life, even if it was only for less than six years.
My gal pals
I hope y’all liked Darcy’s story. Do any of you have wingpups that do with you what you like to do?
Be grateful all the time, but especially coming into Thanksgiving and Holiday season. Every one of us is blessed. Can you see what makes you blessed? Are you grateful for it? Open your eyes. That is a blessing in itself. AHA moment. It is a blessed day that the Lord has made.
Last night I went to the farm to spend the night and have the horses up in the morning for the farrier to do their hooves. This makes me grateful that I am able to do that. Grateful for the farm. Grateful for the horses. Grateful for a great farrier that works with our situation. Grateful that I got to drive to work watching this sunrise.
The hood of my car may be dirty, I may have been tired from my 5 AM wake-up, and the terrible traffic made my drive longer than an hour, but look at the beauty in those colors and the reflection in the clouds and on the hood.
What are you grateful for?
Walk with love. Lead with love. Spread the love, dear readers. Allow the love to drive out the hate. Let the light shine out the darkness. Choose to make peace and share joy.
Settle in with some coffee, y’all. Here is the good part. Full disclosure, get ready for cuteness overload. It will be worth it to get to the bottom of this post! Check out part 1 from yesterday if you missed it.
It was Tuesday. Before 7 AM. I was in the computer lab on campus finishing an assignment for a geophysics course that was due later that day. As I worked, I pondered to myself, “I wonder if today will be the day?” I had grown weary of waiting on Cheetah…and paying for board. Horse people problems, I tell you. I shook my head and got back to work while at the same time cursing myself for signing up for more school, assignments, and having to learn MATLAB. I loathe MATLAB.
I looked at my phone for the time (why not the computer I have no idea) and just as the clock turned to 7:20, a call came in from the lady I was boarding Cheetah with. A fleeting moment of panic rushed in as I got the all familiar, punch in the gut sickness that there was a problem. Colic? Breach position? Still birth? Was she having trouble? You name it, I thought it in that moment. I can not tell you how long I stared at the phone while it rang before I came to. Answer the phone you idiot!
My mind jumped to the present as I answered the phone. I do not even remember what was said other than that the time had come! I immediately called my mother and started to cry the moment I heard her voice. I feel now is a good time to tell you a little something about me. I am a crier. Not a pretty one. And sometimes a catastrophic thinker, if you didn’t already pick that up. This is a genetic trait. OK, now back to the story. My mother answered the phone saying something like, “oh, is it time!? I had a feeling!” Then she heard me and assumed the worst, forgetting that I am me and her daughter. I somehow got the message across that there was not a problem and we needed to go!
Best mom ever was waiting in the driveway with the carrots, champagne, orange juice, and coffee cake packed in a cooler. How I managed to drive the 40 min out there through my excitement is beyond me. As we got out of the car and walked into the barn, I could see my now pair of horses. I about fainted when I saw the dorsal stripe on that tall, lanky foal. I knew it was a colt just by looking at his face. I had hoped and prayed for a dun filly. I expected a bay colt. I got a pretty good middle option! The biggest dun colt in the barn! He was bigger then the 1.5 week old foals in the barn and just a complete spunk of a personality. I was, and still am, a goner.
Cheetah apparently just popped him right out like it was nothing. I filled her full of carrots and thank yous as mom popped the champs and served coffee cake. Truth be told, I got so worked up I was sick to my stomach and could not enjoy the coffee cake for more than a couple of bites. The mimosa helped to settle me a bit as I got to know my new colt.
When my mom had her full of barn time and I was assured my dun duo were OK, I agreed to leave them on the condition we have Mexican for lunch on our way in. I arranged pickup for a week later. I was full on hangry at this point with a couple of mimosas and having not eaten all day. I got my bearings enough when we got to the restaurant to email my professor and ask for an extension on my assignment, stating a family emergency. That counts in my book and I was granted one! Winning!
The little booger needed a name. No easy feat, naming a baby of any kind. Now I will be honest and tell you that I had a couple picked out prior to the birth, but I was not committed till after I met him. If it came out to be a colt, I knew I wanted an ‘M’ name in honor of Magico. I first came up with the name Manolito from a song (I know, go figure). It is half in English and half in Spanish. Just like my new colt. It is about a great ranch horse, just like my new colt would grow to be. Have a listen to the story about the inspiration and to the lyrics of the song. I know some of you are rolling your eyes at me right about now, but just give it a chance! I love this song. Thanks to THE Wylie Gustafson for the vid on YouTube!
I started to research the origins of the name and this is what I learned. It is a nick name or term of endearment for the name Manuel. Manuel comes the name Emanuel. Emanuel means ‘of God’ or ‘God is with us.’ It sure seamed to fit him and the situation. Kept everything in perspective. Naturally, I thought Lito would be a great name for the biggest colt in the barn! Lito is not so little lito!
I picked my duo up to bring them home one week after Lito’s grand arrival. He loaded right into the heavily shavings bedded trailer right after his dam, and he unloaded just the same. He fit right in with everything and everyone. At 2 weeks old, he was a better equine citizen than most mature horses. Before I knew it, I looked up, and he is now 3.5 yo, standing at 16.2 hh, and started under saddle by me. I am one blessed human to have the best mare and colt.
This is Lito’s story. From the very beginning. Which, really, is a lot of Cheetah‘s story.
It has always been a life long dream of mine to breed a mare of mine and then raise and train the foal. I never knew when it was to be, I just knew that it was going to be. I am one of those ‘mare people.’ I will always have at least one. I have been blessed with some great ones. While in college, I found THE MARE. We clicked almost right away. I knew I would have this horse for life and I would one day breed her. My secret planning commenced just a couple short months after she was officially ‘mine.’
I did not tell my family for I thought they would think me crazy. I did however tell my close horse friends, naturally. The dream would have to wait till after I graduated and, ideally, I had a stable job. You know, to be responsible. I also had been chunking any and all money that I could into savings. Next came the fun part. Choosing a stallion. This surprisingly, did not take too terribly long and all came about in a wonderful way. I knew I wanted PRE (Pura Raza Espanola/Pure Spanish Horse/Andalusian) and narrowed it down to two reputable and well known ranches within the Iberian horse community here in Texas that have more than one successful stallion, both in the show ring and the breeding shed.
One definitely stood out from the other in that I thought I recognized the owners. I dug a little deeper and came to find out that my grandmother (the one where I get most of my horse gene from) bought her last horse from them! I met them when my grandparents bought the horse, but I can not remember what year that was. That is another story for another day. Anyway, when my grandmother was no longer able to ride anymore due to her health, they bought that horse back from her at the same price she paid. They are lovely people and treated my grandmother with such kindness and respect. Couple that with the quality of their two top stallions at the time and their outstanding reputation, I knew my choice. It was really at this point, when the decision was so easy, that I knew breeding Cheetah was the right thing to do.
Are you tired of waiting to hear about the stallion I chose? OK. I chose Rancho del Lago‘s Magico VIII. This hunky 1997, bay stallion has quite the resume. He was successful in the show ring. Check. He has w truly wonderful temperament. Check. He has an established foal crop. Check. His get are of good temperament/mind, trainable, brave, and successful in the show ring. CHECK. I also met him those several years ago with my grandmother. These lovely photos of Magico are from Rancho del Lago’s website.
Fast forward to after graduation and half way into my year ‘off.’ I call it my ‘lost year,’ but that is yet another story for another day. Now was the time, I thought to myself. I had seriously saved every possible penny. I had already decided I was going back to school to get my graduate degree. I had time to tend to what it would take to get Cheetah bred, have the foal born, and handle/gentle/train him before I had to become a real adult. This was when I broke the news to my parents. They thought I was crazy and I do not think they believed me. Never a good thing. This was very much happening.
It took two tries and a twin reduction to get her bred, but pregnant she was (and, yes, I have ultrasound pics)! I will save that story for another day or else we will be here all night. It was fun to watch her transformation, both physically and emotionally. She was a great mom even before the foal was born. Just look at the happy pregnant mare face at 11 mos, 9 mos, and 6 mos.
almost 11 mos.
9 mos.
6 mos.
At 10 mos., I took her to a lady that foals out mares for people. I give you permission to marvel over that life! Given that Cheetah and I were both maidens (ha!), I wanted her to be somewhere where she got constant supervision from someone experienced in case of an emergency. Here she is in all her glory, getting very close.
A couple days away!
A couple days away!
After this visit, I went to the store and bought a bag of carrots, several bottles of champagne, fresh squeezed orange juice, put them all in the fridge, baked a special coffee cake, and stuck it in the freezer. I could practically feel she was going to foal any day and I wanted to be prepared to celebrate.
Thank you to everyone that commented with support on Friday! I really do appreciate it more than you know. I am going to focus on taking it one day at a time and try not to worry about things that are out of my control. I am going to focus on remembering to pray and tell Him about my worries. Give it up to Him. Why is that so hard??? New day, new week, new attitude. I am starting this work week out well. I came in early today have gotten a lot of work done while listening to Nelo, Penny & Sparrow, and The Head And The Heart to keep me on track.
This weekend was good to get away and get my center/focus back. I got in some chores and rides, but I spent most of my time just absorbing the essence of horse: watching them graze, listening to them eat, breathing them in, and spending an exorbitant amount of time picking burrs out of everyone’s manes and tails. My fingers still hurt. While on a nice bareback ride with Cheetah, I noticed this little guy, just chilling.
The niece and nephew were there as well. Niece LOVES horses. A girl after my own heart!
When I got back to town Sunday, I got the Darcy dog bathed. She truly hates baths, but man does she love the toweling off part! It is so funny. This is Darcy’s day light savings look while I waited for the pumpkin bread to bake and laundry to do itself. I think day light savings is harder on them than us. She wanted her dinner earlier than the old time! Poor Darcy, she has it so rough.
That face just gets to me, I tell you. I almost caved and fed her early. I said ALMOST.
What is that you say? You heard me mention baking pumpkin bread? Yup, you are correct. I baked pumpkin bread yesterday! No experiments this time. This is a tried and true recipe that I grew up on. You can tell by the state of the cook book. Just look at all that love. I am pretty sure it was me that colored scribbled on those pumpkins. Thank you to Frances Robinson of Mobile, Alabama for this recipe in the Southern Living 1985 Annual Recipes cookbook!
We eat pumpkin bread all year round in our family. We always make a double batch because more pumpkin bread is always better and it makes everyone happy. You see those lines there crossing off two items in the recipe? Those two items are chocolate chips and pecans. My mother is strictly against those in her pumpkin bread. It does not sound all that bad to me, but somehow I can not bring myself to add them. Funny how that works. If we do the glaze, it is for Christmas or Thanksgiving…and we add chopped pecans. Pecans are OK on the outside, just not on the inside according to mother. It makes a really nice Christmas gift. Just picture it: beautifully baked pumpkin bread, drizzled in a spiced pecan glaze, wrapped up in clear cellophane and both red and green ribbon. Gets me all excited for Christmas! Sometimes, like yesterday, I do half all purpose white flour and half whole wheat flour. I think it adds a lovely texture and makes you ‘feel’ like you are healthier…ha. I just love these loaf pans. They show as much love as the cookbook.
Well, that is all for today. Thank you, dear readers, for being you. I wish I could share this pumpkin bread with you. Oh well, more for me! What did y’all do this past weekend?
Stay tuned this week for Lito’s story. Click here for his dam’s story and here for the intro to this new series I am doing if you missed them last week!
