Tag: spring

It Is Coming.

On By AveryIn Food, Horses, Life2 Comments

Spring that is. Spring is coming. Forget winter.

Or at least the time change is coming. In 14 days the interwebs says. Anyone else have a countdown going?

The horses are starting to shed and they feel like I do. Everyone has been in a bad mood every time the winter comes.

I am not a fan of any time change to be honest, but I can not wait for more daylight in the evenings after work. Basically being dark when I get home from work during the week when it is cold is one of the most depressing things to me. Just me and the Merle staring at each other, longing to play outside. It always has been this way for me, but it is getting worse with age and especially now that I no longer live in town. I feel like a horse that has been locked in a stall and needs out. A caged animal. I need the sun! And the green, I LOVE green landscapes. The winter drab is getting to me. Yes, we still have green winter grasses and green clover, but it is not the same against a low, gray winter sky. Yes, there it has its own beauty, but at times like these, it can sometimes be hard to see! (I am fully aware how bonkers this sounds. Our winters are really beautiful and we do get a lot of sun and beautiful days!…as you will see in some of my pics!)

The wet and the wind, also not helping. It is messing with my riding (read mood)(I am unwell). OK, to be honest, I did get a little ride in last Saturday. Bareback, in a halter, and crusted in mud. Do not judge me, I had a window and I took it, but it dang sure feels as if I have not ridden since New Year’s Eve (I think I have only ridden one other time since NYE). That is the hardest thing about winter for me, the lack of riding. Long time readers will not be surprised by this. I am pretty sure I write this same thing every winter.

My point, dear readers, is hold steady and be strong! Spring is coming! Warmth and sun are coming! Our time is coming! We can do it, I promise. And really, I do not mean to complain. Especially after winter 2021, but it is still hard! I have been thinking a lot about the tropics!

Enough of all that winterness, and more about what has been going on since before Christmas (GASP!).

Well, Christmas happened! Ha! Two months ago was a long time ago.

I had my usual fancy coffee while cooking and baking!

I made a spiced chocolate cake for one party. This one was truly the best. I have figured out a good base chocolate cake that I have adapted originally from Ina Garten’s Aunt Beatty’s Chocolate Cake and I had fun creating a Christmas tree forest!

I of course also made my cranberry sauce with peppers and apple. It is so easy to make a plain cranberry sauce from scratch and I really would encourage everyone to try it!

I also attempted to make pomegranate bars. Think lemon bars, but pomegranate. Yet, do not think too hard about it as they did not work out. Back to the drawing board on that one! I will get there eventually, but this first pass did not pan out! Hey, it happens to everyone, that is part of the fun in trying new things.

Merle had his annual special Christmas treat for which he worked really hard for and was very grateful for!

He was not overly pleased though to be posing yet again this year. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas night at my parents’ house in town. As per usual, we were up early as you can maybe tell from the darkness in these snaps. All for good reason though! Christmas! We had work to do!

Like bake off these puff pastry Christmas tree appetizers! The green one was filled with spinach artichoke dip and the red one had my cranberry sauce with brie. Both so good!

I also had to pull out my cheesecake and dress it for the party!

I had baked it the 23rd and I knew there was a crack, whomp whomp. No worries though! If your cheesecake has a crack, it will still taste good and you can cover it with whipped cream or, like I did here, with gold star flake sprinkles! Except, do not do that too early like I did. The condensation that you can also see here will make your stars bleed and melt. Triple whomp.

The cheesecake was pumpkin pecan pie cheesecake. I have done something similar to this once before and my thoughts were that it was just too much. I felt the exact same this time. The pumpkin part, very good on its own. The pecan part, very good on its own. Together, just too much. Someone remind me of this next time I say I am going to do that again. More is not always better.

At least I did not mess up the pony’s Christmas dinners! Peppermints for the win!

In the after Christmas and before the new year, I did do some riding.

We rode down the road with my Momma. This actually was not going to be the plan as we had not ridden in a while at this point…winter and festivities. Anyway, we rode down around the pond and Lito spotted Mom walking and made a B line for her, so we changed plans and followed her down the road! I am so glad we did! He was very good and it was a pretty day for it.

For New Year’s Eve, R and I continued our annual close out ride.

We came across a big down tree across the trail and had to blaze a new one to get around.

Merle was the king of the trailer while we rode.

Then the winter came.

This picture is rather deceiving. This was right before the first event. After all the early feedings, the cows showed me their thanks by putting two dents in my truck.

The cold does make for pretty night skies!

I do love when they cuddle when it is cold!

I did break down and order Petunia a blanket a couple days ago for a steal in a sale. She never seems uncomfortable, but she deserves one and she is older.

Like I said, pretty!

Finally a ride!

Can you tell I have a thing for the sun? Which is pretty funny given that I am fair skinned and have to always be covered up.

Merle also loves the sun.

We had some snow at one point. We really did not get that much, but any amount is a thing down here.

I did sneak behind a pair of bay roan ears a couple of times, so actually you can add two more rides to my 2025 count.

We all love the sun.

I delayed our annual vet appointment with vaccines and teeth because of the weather, but we did get it done.

I made red velvet cupcakes for a galentines dinner! Galentines and valentines good, cupcakes only OK though…I have not done so well recently with the baking! They were tough and not very tender. Very annoying to me. Icing was pretty tasty though and they looked tasty so I guess that is good. Oh well, that is just how it goes sometimes. I will try again another day!

Merle, well, he is just always living his best life. I am not sure why WordPress cut off the left pic, but I kinda like it this way.

Then the real excitement came when this last winter episode was about to begin. I arrived to my Cheetah‘s left eye swollen shut, weepy, and painful!

Joy.

For anyone who does not know, horse and dog eyes are not people eyes. They do not heal all that well without support.

Luckily, my vet is just ten minutes up the road from the farm. So, down the road we went and we pulled in just as the last patient was leaving. She ended up having a woody piece of hay or something up in her eyelid that had scratched quite a big, yet superficial, ulcer on her eyeball. Back to the farm we went with three ointments and banamine and instructions to treat four times a day…in addition to winter feeding and ice breaking.

Joy.

It could always be worse though and I am just glad this was not worse. It has been hard enough to have her basically (I cannot admit to full) retired because of her arthritis, I would hate for her to have any amount of vision alteration because of this to boot. My girl is the best girl though and has been a doll for treatment.

That about catches you up!

How has your winter gone?!

Take a deep breath and know that spring is coming! Very soon!

Walk in love, dear readers!

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!

Alas.

On By AveryIn Faith, Life4 Comments

Alas, here we are, at the beginning of another month. Several days in, actually. It feels spring as sprung, as they say. The Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrushes have arrived. They are the first of the wildflowers to show their colors. The Bluebonnets in particular are only here for a short time, so one must get out and enjoy them while they are here! I have not taken a close look at the Pecan trees though, they are the real tell on if we are here for good. The grass has really turned on which I always love to see. And, the horses are in real shedding mode, another thing I love to see! There is nothing more satisfying or exciting. Especially since we are knocking on Daylight Savings’ door. One week and we are really in business for more riding.

Anyway.

Time is relatively just flying right on by as evidenced by the fact that I have again not written to you in over a month. As I utter those words here I cringe. That is about as riveting a topic as the weather, and yet, here we all are, continuing to discuss them! One may ask why do we keep bringing it up? Is not there anything better to discuss? To be perfectly frank, many times there is not anything better or safer to discuss with darkness and negativity ever at the forefront. However, that very point is the lovely thing about time and weather. Intertwined they are like infinity. One does not exist without the other. They are ever present. They are one of the things that controls us, that brings us back down to the ground, and reminds us that we are only mere humans. As time staunchly marches forward and the globe makes its revolutions, the weather does the same from one season to the next. From one leads to the other. From the dark and cold reflectiveness of winter bursts forth a bright, young spring, beaming with light and life. The light of the sun and moon are always there regardless of the darkness of the clouds. And again, no matter how dark the clouds are, the clouds are what bring the rain, and the rain is what brings the life and the light.

I suppose the point of all of that rambling, the AHA moment, is do not let the darkness get you down. Between the world and the people, there is very little we have control over. People are going to disappoint you. You will disappoint you. Other circumstances will disappoint you. That disappointment, or any other word, is on you. What you do have control over is you. The negativity and darkness are always going to be around, but if you look for the light and focus on it, you will begin to embody it. You will begin to emit it. Try every day to just block out what is not light, what is not truth, what does not bring you joy. Those other things are not for you. It is like that saying, you are what you eat. Garbage in, garbage out. The laws of attraction. What you focus on is what grows. It becomes easy to lessen judgement and follow the golden rule we are all taught as children. To treat others as you wish to be treated. To only say nice things and not just nothing at all.

Stand up as a light against the darkness and fight for the truth. Let it grow like the spring. Take a deep breath.

Walk in love, dear readers!

The Colors of a Volunteer Spring.

On By AveryIn Faith, Horses, Life2 Comments

Spring.

It is a glorious thing. Everything is so pretty! And fascinating.

I have both the green and some blue for you.

First the blue.

This past Sunday, the sky was almost impossibly blue. There was a slight breeze. The ruffling kind. It was a spring cleaning kind of day. Lito and I rode with friends on Saturday and everyone wanted to bask in the warmth of the bright sun on Sunday. So, that is what happened. I mucked the barn out and cleaned the feed room before joining the horses in the sun with a shedding blade. Everyone lost a lot of hair that day!

There is just nothing like that Texas sky, no matter what dime of day or year.

Now, for the green and your inspirational poster.

Do you see that there?

Yes, it is more than a bit in shambles. Yes, I have to do something about those leaves.

But, do you see all that green there? Those are volunteer plants.

You know the kind. The kind that just grows up in the most seemingly impossible and interesting of places without you doing a single thing. In a tree stump. A crack in the side walk. On a brick wall. Or, in this case, a seemingly barren pot.

You see, right before the covid shut down, I took some time to spruce my patio up a bit. Why not? Anyway, I planted some herbs! I had three pots at the time, the two you can see and the one in in a broken heap on the bottom shelf. I watered and talked to them hoping they would flourish.

Well long story short, without sufficient sun (thanks to a lovely large oak tree that provides all those leaves) and water (the before mentioned shut down during which I lived at the farm) my little herbs took a turn for the worse and did not make it.

My fresh pots turned to just dirt.

Over time, I had some volunteer plants take up residence. “How lovely,” I thought and I would water them when I thought of it and enjoyed them being there just because.

Then one day, a certain shade of green and texture caught my eye. Do you see that herb?

Yes, that there would be sage!

I had sage in that pot once upon a time two years ago! And what do you know, here it is again!

Let us see. What saying should we attach here?

Walk in love, dear readers!

Once Upon A Time

On By AveryIn Dogs, Horses6 Comments

Once upon a time…

Sounds like the promise of a good story, right?

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Ha! I shall leave you to be the judge of that. There are at least some good pictures! 

Once upon a time, it rained and rained and created all kinds of mud all over the state of Texas. And everywhere else across the land. A gal named Avery was kinda busy and losing her mind for lack of riding time.

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What is that? You have heard this one? No, no, no. The ending is good. Just stick with it. OK. Where was I? Oh ya…

Then it got cold while it continued to rain. That gal named Avery became even more busy (in a good way) and wondered if she would ever be able to really ride her horses again or write to her dear readers. Please forgive that gal named Avery for falling off the face of the earth and going MIA. Time kept passing her by.

This is where it gets good.

Then one fine day, spring appeared. The rains let up. The mud dried. The horses started to lose their winter coats. The pecan trees started to bud. All of a sudden, the stars aligned and the time was right. That gal named Avery loaded up that dog named Darcy and booked it out of town. She rode by herself. She rode with important people in her life. They rode. And that is what they did. And it was glorious.

The horses lost more hair.

Darcy took some naps when she was not running or getting dirty.

They rode by the river.

They rode under the clouds and across green pastures.

They rode down to the river on the beach.

The sun came out and sunsets were watched and it was magical in more ways than one.

They rode under the trees, over logs, and among favorite blue flowers down in the river bottom listening to the breeze and the light rain in the leaves.

They watched a little rain storm roll by and felt the drops cool their skin with the threat of the last cold snap.

Then more rain and wind and cold came. But that did not stop them. Still they rode.

It got even colder, but fun was still had by all.

Manes and pony tails went everywhere.

And that is what they did.

Then all was right in the world again.

They could not be more thankful or blessed.

The end.

Best story you have ever heard, right?!

I knew it.

How is it already April?! APRIL!!!

I am back, y’all, I promise.

Walk in love, dear readers, and I will talk to you soon.

The Season Of Spring

On By AveryIn Horses, Life, Music, Uncategorized3 Comments

It is upon us.

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Do not say it too terribly loud though. Or play the music too loud. Or dance too much. Or drink too much bubbly, even if it is Wine Wednesday (I may or may not be imbibing at this very moment). We do not want to scare it off. I do not think any of us can handle that, but I think it is safe to say we can celebrate a little and I am celebrating spring today. Remember there is always something to celebrate every day! You will know when it is time to turn the celebration up.

I almost can not believe it. It feels like just yesterday I was writing to you about the beginning of fall. The past several months have left me stunned with wind burned cheeks and windswept hair from the time speeding past me. I have entered a new season in my life apparently, but that is a story for another day. A whole other pot of thoughts to stir around.

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Anyway. Back to spring because that is what we are celebrating today.

The time has changed back. Do you know what that means?

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You think I am kidding? This is no laughing matter. Ask any horse person. Well any horse person without arena lights. This means MORE RIDING TIME. Seriously. I can actually go out to the farm after work and have time to ride! I could start jumping up and down this minute at the very thought.

The horses are starting to shed. All of them. Not just the early ones. All of them. I can see it now.

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Horse hair everywhere.

We have had the showers. For months actually, but we do not need to go on about that any more than I already have. You know what they say. Showers bring flowers.

Which brings me to…Wildflowers. They are coming out to play and things are getting green!

It is actually rainy today, but that is not raining on my parade today.

Spring, it is coming! Go smile and have some bubbly and celebrate.

Walk in love, dear readers! You made it through hump day!

 

Laugh Because Dogs Will Be Dogs.

On By AveryIn Dogs, Faith, Horses, Life9 Comments

Sometimes, you just have to laugh. Although really, this is no laughing matter.

I went to the farm Tuesday after work to ride my gal pal Cheetah and let Lito stand tied for a while. You know, send him back to Kindergarten. Sometimes we all have to take a step or two back before we can move forward, so this is where we are. And I am OK with that.

Hey look, he has not completely forgotten!

It was a luscious and luxurious day. The sun was out in full backed by the big Texas blue sky. The air was soft and comforting as it softly caressed the bare skin on my arms and face. Almost pillow like making my long curly hair flow like the wind through the trees.

Or the grass that hasn’t gotten long enough yet. And really, more realistic would be the wind through the pollen pods. Are they pods? I do not know, but man the pollen this year. Is it me or is it in overdrive production? Almost makes me reconsider a black car. Almost. I am still going to get one.

Anyway, yes, the sun, sky, and breeze. Lovely, take my word for it. Be jealous because you should be. There is no better place. With or without the pollen. It was great.

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My original plan was to go on Wednesday, but I just could not wait that long.

Darcy did her normal farm thing while I rode. Or so I thought. Such a naughty, scrappy girl. A lady she is not. Dogs will be dogs I guess.

She really got into something this time. Whatever that something was, which I am sure was what was left of the drippings on the ground of this heritage breed pig we roasted on Saturday (which, I still do not get because that was forever ago),

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These two photos were taken by my Bro-in-law. Pig was also cooked by him. It was tasty. 

was good enough to also eat a bunch of dirt and sand. And cause all bodily functions to go awry. Big time.

A day at the vet and big bill later, poor little Doolittle is a little worse for ware. And so am I, but who cares about me.

Here is hoping everything keeps, uh, moving along. Cough. There really is not delicate way to put that.

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So Darcy is my work companion at my feet today so I can monitor her.

I just had to look up at the sky, shake my head, and chuckle. Some people say, when it rains, it pours. That may be so and sometimes it sure feels that way, but I am just going to laugh.

Why? Because laughing is better than any other option! Focus on the positive. She is eating, drinking, and resting.

He gives us nothing we can not handle.

Walk in love, dear readers!

This Time Of Year

On By AveryIn Horses6 Comments

You know, I generally think of Christmas and Thanksgiving as the best time of year. A close second has to be starting about right now.

It is glorious, wonderful, exciting and yet, at the exact same time, tortuous and agonizing.

What is it, you ask, that could possibly be all of those things?

Foaling season, my friends, foaling season.

Every year people all around me are sharing pictures of their cute and furry wobbly bundles of legs. A culmination of a year of waiting and even more planing.

It all brings me such joy! However, it absolutely turns me green. I mean, you might as well call me Irish.

I either want to go back to Lito being born or breed my Cheetah again!

It makes me crazy and jittery to see all these foals popping out. To see the images of them meeting their dams for the first time and getting to their feet for their first nurse. Exploring the world and figuring out miles of legs.

I all but have to sit on my wallet so I do not go out and book a breeding. Yes, it could be that easy! I already have a couple studs lined out if I am blessed enough to be able to breed again.

Does this all make me certifiable? Probably, but hey, I am more than OK with that.

Alas, until I can do what I call ‘the greatest experiment ever’ again, I will just relive the last one. And you have do that with me too. It is the perfect thing to do while waiting for my work conference to start.

You’re welcome!

Tired of waiting already at 9 months…

11 months…any day now!

The grand arrival!

The rest is history!

Take me back!

Sigh. Time to get back to reality.

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

Waffling

On By AveryIn Faith, Horses, Life, Uncategorized7 Comments

On Monday I dropped my phone, again, and rendered it basically useless. It was time for a new one anyway.

So, yesterday, I went out during my lunch hour to get a new phone. It took longer than an hour if you want to know. The sales attendant and the phone itself made me feel dumb. I also had zero contacts or settings because the man told me I could not have them. “I do not understand, that has never been an issue before. I have never had to pay to access my information. I have always walked out of here with a fully functioning, loaded phone.” I am sorry, the man said with a chuckle, there is no other way. You have to be on the cloud and pay for space. There is no other way. He shook his head at me. Then he kept trying to sell me stuff I do not need. Rude. I was bewildered.

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I spent an exorbitant amount of time trying to set up a phone that would not let me log into anything or do anything. Angry, I reset the phone and started the set up from the beginning. I logged in and, like a gift, there was all of my information. So much for that guy at the store. Maybe I should quit my day job? No, just kidding.

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Then I went to play dominoes with some friends after work and all was well with the world.

Today is Wednesday and I am hungry. This fasting thing is hard work! Brings a whold new meaning and feeling to intentional prayer.

When I am hungry, I get even more random than normal, if that was even possible. Which I am sure you can tell if you have read this far.

My research thesis professor in college, a Scotsman, used to tell me to stop waffling in my writing. Just get to it and say it and move on to the next point. Well I can waffle all I want to now. Take that. Aren’t you glad?

Speaking of waffles, I love waffles. And bacon. And maple syrup. And basically anything you can put maple syrup on.

Anyone want to go grocery shopping?

This is going to be a long day!

I have not taken any pictures in practically 2 weeks. Which is odd. I rode Lito on Saturday with a trail riding group that I am in. It was cold and wet, but it was a pretty good day. Lito was a bit jumpy which was odd. I did not have any other horses there and it has been a little while since I have hauled him by himself. I also did not ride him the weekend before because we had family in town for the service. I guess all of that and the weather explains most of his behavior. By the end of the day he was pretty lined out and it was a lovely day, even with the weather. I was still happy with him and glad I got him out in those conditions.

Today it is again cold and wet. Last I checked, it is going to be wet this weekend. It will definitely be muddy! We shall see if I can get some riding in. We all need it!

Come on Friday! And spring!

Walk in love, dear readers!