Horse Crazy

Okay here I go again. I'm experimenting with some graphics that I found when surfing around. I should have learned my lesson when I surfed onto the vile horse site a few weeks ago but I'm a slow learner. I just thought this picture was so beautiful I had to put it on my post.

I have had a love affair with horses ever since I can remember. I used to collect horse statues and had tons of them. I don't know what happened to them, they would be antiques by now. (that's rather depressing isn't it?) I cut pictures out of magazines, I drew horse pictures, I pretended that my statues were alive and real. I had it bad. We didn't have the money to have riding horses when I was small but up the road was a kind couple with an old retired work horse that that I was allowed to ride. He was big and gentle with feet the size of pie plates and didn't have a saddle so we rode him bareback. His back was so wide you could set a tea cup on it and it wouldn't fall off. He'd served his years as a woods work horse and twitched out his share of logs.

I think he really enjoyed the attention he received from us kids, the brushing, the treats and even the strolls around the pasture with three of us on his back at once. Three of us didn't weigh as much as his big work collar and harness had so it was an easy job.

Eventually we did get our own riding horses, many different ones over the years. I don't know what ever happened to the old work horse but he sure filled a spot in my life that I will always remember. He was so kind and gentle, just what a little girl needed.

Now some 50 years later I still have the same love affair with horses. I think if you catch the bug it's always with you. I know my granddaughter has the bug and it tickles me to pieces. I guess it was just born right in her. Those of you that have the bug know just what I am talking about.

They make liars out of you every time.

I took Noodles and Munchkin to see our vet yesterday. It was just to get them established as a patient so was really just a check up. They have already had all of their shots, spay and neuter operations, micro chips put in, all the things cats need now. When I think of the barn cats on the farm growing up they didn't have any of this done and lived to a ripe old age but do think we need to practise better animal husbandry methods then we did then.

We got off to a bad start when Noodles threw up on the way over in his carrier. This is the cat that howled all the way from Florida, had an accident in his carrier and had to have a bath in the plane restroom which is as big as a small refrigerator. With turbulence. Yes, turbulence. I felt like I had been drinking and I don't drink.

After checking in, Melanie one of the techs came to my rescue and took Noodles out back and cleaned him up, gave him a new blanket and brought him back to me in the waiting room. Now, I think they should have separate waiting rooms for dogs and cats. I was sitting there with two cats surrounded by dogs the size of Volkswagons with drool hanging down and collars on with spikes on them. Yikes! That's enough to make a cat or a person a bit nervous. Those were the biggest Rottweilers that I had ever seen.

Finally got in to see Doc and I was telling him how good the kitties are with the grandkids while he was examining Noodles and all of a sudden Noodles had had enough and turned into a spitting, hissing, clawing bundle of fur! Doc looked at me like 'oh yeah, this is a great child's kitten!' But they don't do this at home I wailed.....again the 'look' from Doc.

Munchkin was a total lady and purred and rubbed and did all the cute little kitty things that they are supposed to do. I felt validated. These ARE child friendly kittens! The moral of this story is don't ever guarantee that your pets or your children are going to act the way they are supposed to.

Granddaughter was here yesterday and had fun with my camera and took some pictures of them.

Real Estate 101

Having nothing exciting to write about today I think I will reminisce a bit about a project that I did last summer. I always seem to have some kind of a construction project going on here at the house, at the lake or in the barn so thought I'd try my luck at rehabbing a house and selling it. I inherited a small house about 4 years ago and did some updating, nothing major, mostly cosmetic and enjoyed the process and sold it myself so figured I had some 'experience'.

I looked at numerous fixer-uppers and finally found a cute 1920's cottage style house in a good older neighborhood and bought it. I have a reliable crew that I have worked with over the years on projects and they came with me and gave me a good idea what it would involve to fix it up and that I should be able to make a buck or two so we went for it.

I had the outside painted, put the flowers in the window boxes, trimmed up the overgrown shrubs and cleaned up the yard.

As you can see the kitchen needed to be totally torn out .


The tin ceiling is original so I left that and just had it cleaned and repainted.

The bathroom was a dark cave with just a shower and a utility sink.

I had everything torn out and replaced it with a nice bright new bathroom and I really think this is what sold the house.

I put in a tub with a shower as I felt this most likely would sell to a young family with children and they would want a tub not just a shower.

I had all the floors redone, had the whole interior painted, repaired windows, put all new appliances in and made it look cozy and fresh.

It had original hardwood floors and with refinishing they looked just like new.

It was a fun project and it sold in about two weeks to a young couple with a little girl. It warmed my heart to see their excitement in owning their own home and it warmed my bankbook....ahem...

I'm getting the itch again to start another one so need to call my realtor and put him on notice. Let me warn you though, this is not for the faint at heart. You have to look at some really dirty, disgusting houses before you find one that you think you can do something with. Also with older homes there can be lots of 'surprises' that you don't anticipate concerning things with the wiring, plumbing, etc.. that you have to deal with. All in all though it was fun and I will do it again when the right thing comes along.

Hot Flashes

I finally discovered a benefit for having hot flashes. Yes, you heard me right, hot flashes. Now you young chickies don't have a clue for what you are in for but you mid life gals like me know EXACTLY what you are in for. They creep up on you in the most inconvenient times, like when you are meeting your husbands important business associates for the first time at a convention, in church where you just can't take your clothes off to cool off, when you are happy, when you are sad, when you are trying to dry your hair, when you are hurrying to get to an appointment etc etc etc Just about anywhere, anytime, for any reason. Unfortunately I have been plagued with this dilemma for several years and until this morning could say nothing but bad things about them.

I got up and the house felt unusually cold even for my standards, I like to keep it rather cold to help keep the hot flashes at bay a tiny bit and poor husband has to wear several layers just to keep from freezing. I checked the thermostat and it was way below what it should be so I went down in the basement and checked the furnace and it was 'deader then a door nail'. I tried the reset button and that didn't work so I called the repair man.

They said it would be about an hour before they could get here so I started to bundle up when all of a sudden I started to feel very warm.....a hot flash.....hey, this isn't so bad here after all. I took off my coat and it really felt very comfortable at 50*! The repairman finally got here and I am here in short sleeves and barefoot and comfortable. He had the furnace going in no time so now it's starting to warm up here. For once I had a few hot flashes when I needed them.

Saw this house when out for a ride last summer and thought it was an interesting picture. Might be a bit chilly this time of year but would probably work for me!

National Hockey League it isn't!

We rushed home after church this morning to get changed to go to the grandkids last hockey game. We made it on time as the games were running late thankfully. It is the cutest thing watching these little cutie pies out there trying to stay on their feet.

My grandson has a 'walker' that he uses as he is only 3 and he does not want to give it up. I don't blame him, I would need one too! My granddaughter has graduated from hers as she is a 'big girl' and doesn't need it any more. She is 14 months older. There were many falls but at their ages they just hop right up again. I would be down for the count! Really.It was a fun afternoon. These little ones grow so fast that I just don't want to miss anything that they do. They are so proud when they accomplish a new skill and I am so proud of them. Tonight they have youth group at church and will say their verses and pass their sections. How easy they memorize at that tender age. It's so much harder for me now then it used to be. Just remembering my own name is hard sometimes! lol!

I'm experimenting with some graphics tonight. Let's see what trouble I can get myself into now! I thought this barn looks a lot like mine except we don't have ducks and pigs just horses and cats. Not even a dog. We had a dog once but that was years ago and we just never got another one.

I'm the animal lover in the family. My husband says he married the Ellie May Clampett of Maine. He has been exceptionally understanding with my desire to be surrounded with my furry friends. He especially likes the horses and loves to drive them in the cart. He loves getting harnesses in the Amish country, they are just beautiful. We have them in all shapes and sizes for all our different horses and ponies.


This is me doing a little training out in the street. I'm just glad they decided to be good boys and not take off on me at a dead run. This is Kipper and Skipper. Skipper is the palomino and is our little rescue pony. Kipper is our show pony but he is kind of retired right now until our grandchildren are ready to show.
This is Kipper in the sulky. He is still just learning but is doing a great job. You should see him now in the winter, he is just a big chubby ball of hair! This is an antique doctor's buggy that we bought a few years ago. You can put the top down if you want and it has the 'boot' in the back for the doctor's medical bag. This fits our full size horses. In the fall I put it on the front lawn and decorate it with pumpkins and fall flowers. On Halloween I put in a Pumpkin Man stuffed with hay and a pumpkin head and put orange and black lights around the wheels.
These are some friends of mine and we were getting some publicity shots for our upcoming Vacation Bible School. We were here at the barn using some of the equipment for props.

This shot is supposed to be Kipper stealing a carrot out of the 'unsuspecting' farmers back pocket. I thought Kipper played his part well.

This last shot is my 'cast' for the skits that we put on every night at the beginning of Bible School. We sure had fun with it and have a different theme each year.

I don't know what got me going on all of this tonight but I have had fun going through pictures and memories. I am blogging mainly as a journal for future enjoyment for my grandchildren so I think they will enjoy these little bits of fun history from the 'farm'. They sure love coming over here and spending time with the horses and ponies and being in the barn. It's the same thing I liked doing when I was growing up. We lived right down the road from my grandparents and they had a real farm with chickens, pigs, horses, cows, ducks, dogs and cats that lived in the barn and kept the mice at bay. The cats always were lined up at milking time as Grampa would squirt milk right in their mouths much to our delight. There were no milking machines then, everything was done by hand. It was a hard way of life in some respects but I think life was much simpler then without many of the problems that we all face now.

I'm glad I experienced it and I'm glad that in a small way my grandkids can experience some of the 'farm' life.

It's an osprey nest.

I couldn't stand it. I had to call my neighbor who is a wildlife biologist and ask him the name of the bird that made that nest. I knew I would drive myself nuts trying to think of it. It's an osprey which is a smaller bird then our bald eagles that we have here also. The eagles are top in the pecking order and get the best nesting sites along our river so the osprey have to use the power lines. They eat the fish out of the river and small things like mice. Now I can relax. Don't you hate it when you can't think of something? I seem to be doing that more all of the time lately.......

A Fun Saturday

Just got back from a 40 mile snowmobile ride with my son, grandson and K. It is beautiful outside although cold if you're not dressed for it. We had on enough layers for the whole town so weren't a bit cold even though the wind was really blowing hard when we were out in the open.

In the woods it was toasty warm, I even turned off the seat warmers and put the hand warmers on low. A beautiful doe jumped out in front of us and then just walked off in the woods just far enough so we could see her but by the time I got my mittens, the camera out of my pocket, lens cap off, the thing turned on etc etc she was gone. I did get a few good shots of other things though that I will try to put in here.

This is a HUGE birds nest up in the power lines. They are really good builders as these things don't move even with heavy wind and snow. Can't think of the name of the bird, it will come to me in the middle of the night.

I don't know if you can see the mountains in the background or not. It is Mt. Katadin and it is beautiful on a clear day. It was kind of cloudy when I took these.

Of course we had to stop at a little country store for a snack as we were out for a long time. Don't those hotdogs look good??

I only got stuck once as I got off the trail too far when letting a couple go by. Thankfully they stopped and pulled me back out which was nice. It sure was fun being out in the nice crisp air with my guys on a beautiful day. Husband was home doing taxes so he wasn't in any mood to go anywhere. That is no fun.

I need to go put a different blanket on one of my horses. He is getting a little rub on his shoulder with the one that is on him now. My ponies look like little fur balls with all of their winter hair. I don't put blankets on them, they get more then enough winter hair to keep them warm. It sure is good to have all the horses healthy again after our outbreak of the strangles in the barn a few weeks ago. Actually it took about six weeks to get everyone over it. This is the first time and hopefully the last that I will have to deal with that nightmare. We have an absolutely wonderful vet and he not only took care of our horses he really took care of us too during this time.

Guess that's it around here today. Tomorrow is Sunday and that is always a busy day with church in the morning and evening and the grandkids hockey practice in the afternoon. The day sure goes by fast.

Friday's Gripe List.

I have several items on my grumbling list today so you'll have to have patient with me while I vent a bit. I went to the gym this morning and I mentioned that I was blogging and my trainer went into a tirade about the dangers about it to the point that I feel like an axe murderer is hiding out behind my barn. Now I know I am new to this and have a lot to learn but I think I am being careful and following good advice from my Blogging Mentor Master dcrmom and several others that I have met. Other then unfortunately opening the terrible horse blog mess that I still can't get out of my mind I have 'met' some wonderful people and am having a delightful time getting to know you all. Have even met a fellow horse lover, Hi Donna! and am anxious to get to know all about her horse escapades. Ok that's my 1st gripe.

The second one is this whole Anna Nicole Smith thing. Let the poor woman rest in peace. After watching some of the legal wranglings on television I was just saddened by the whole thing. Now I know she was over the top in a lifestyle that I certainly wouldn't condone and I was not a fan or anything but she was a human being and deserves some dignity in death.

Next........ now I warned you I was on a roll today......is the whole celebrity thing. These are people that influence our young people and many (not all) of them lead a lifestyle that is into excessive alcohol use, drug use, immoral behavior and they get paid these gazillion dollars making these movies which most of them are not fit to be seen. Now....on the other hand are people like our teachers, pastors, policemen, firemen etc that spend their life helping us in this world and they live on fairly meager salaries. Our police and firemen put their life on the line everyday. Our teachers spend time five days a week helping our children learn and grow. Our pastors put in more hours then any of the above dealing with crisis after crisis and teaching us to love our Lord and to live according to His principals. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

There, now I have that out of my system. Well at least for the moment anyway until something else winds me up.

On a much brighter note let me tell you about Steven King. He lives a short distance from us and when anyone is in town visiting they always want to ride by his house. We don't have many celebrities here in Maine but we do claim Steven and Tabby. They both grew up in small towns near here and still have a home here although since his accident a few years back they don't spend as much time here as they used to because the cold weather bothers him. They have donated so much time and money to so many good causes here that you can't even imagine. To mention just a few they have built a baseball complex for the high school as their son Owen played ball, they built a swimming complex in honor of a young lady swimmer that died very young, they have given millions to the libraries that we have in our community, I personally know of numerous young people in this town that they put through college, I could go on and on. I don't read his type of literature but appreciate what he has done with his celebrity and continues to do so. All this said just so you know I am not against all celebrities and know that many of them support good things.

Now I need to go finish up a tote bag and do some housework. It is a beautiful sunny day here in the great state of Maine and I am happy to be here!

The Maiden Quilt Class

The quilt class went GREAT! What a nice time we had laughing and chatting while learning a new project. It was a small class thankfully, it's school vacation week here so quite a number of the ladies didn't want to bring their kids so opted to start next week child free. I only had 5 and that was the perfect number to start with. I got there an hour or so early to get everything set up so that I'd be ready to roll when everyone came in and we were off and running.

No one cut off any fingers with their rotary cutters, no one stitched their finger into their fabric with the machine needle and everyone made excellent progress. I am really excited for them because they are really gung ho about their quilts and are already planning to make more.

We haven't come up with a name for our group yet. A few possibilities were tossed around but nothing really catchy that we all liked. Any suggestions anyone????

So all that 'fretting' over this was just wasted time and useless stress eating. Well, the stress eating part was fun........

I am going to take some pictures of their progress so you will be subjected to that but at least it will be a change from all of the kitty pictures who btw are still just a joy! I woke up in the night and Noodles was asleep right on Husband's chest! I removed him very carefully and he climbed right back up there so I figured they would have to work it out between them and I went back to sleep.

Talent Show

I have been working with one of my students this morning. She has never sewn anything in her whole life so I thought she should have a little heads up training before we get to our class tomorrow. The class has turned into something a bit more then I bargained for, there are 13 people signed up and for a beginner class that is way too many. I guess I am starting to 'fret' a bit about it and that is ridiculous! These are all people that I know, related to three of them and all nice people. I'm just a bit concerned as beginners need a lot of one on one and I can't do that really well with so many. Thankfully my daughter in laws Mom is going to help so maybe we will do the class in two groups based on their experience level. Anyway it should be interesting.

I'm looking for a couple of skits for the upcoming Talent Show that we are having at our church on the 31st of March. Is there anyone out there that knows any funny, church appropriate skits? I have quite a few things lined up already, a barber shop quartet, a dance routine , a guy that sings country, a men's quartet, a ladies quartet, a skit about two cheerleaders, three little girls singing something from the Sound Of Music, a lady singing Why I Cry at Weddings which is a hoot, and a few more requests that I haven't heard back from yet. So I am looking for a few more things to fill in the gaps. If any of you do know any please let me know, I would be forever grateful and will send you my first born! lol

Tina the Palm Tree Fanatic Had a terrific dessert in a week or so ago that I made. It is the peanut butter pie surprise and it is just delish! If you need a quick easy to die for dessert to take to a church pot luck or for a big crowd at home this is the one. It makes a pretty big bowl full and is rich so you don't need huge servings of it. My crowd loved it and I finished up every last drop myself. Ahem...... It didn't help in my quest to lose a few pounds but that was before I was really serious about it so I think that is a loophole.

For a really hilarious read go over to dcrmom's site and read her post about taking her three young kids to a swim party. It is a hoot! I almost fell off my chair before I got it all read!

The Closet Cleaning Blues

I need to clean my closet. I mean I really need to clean my closet. I forget what I have in there and go out and buy something that is already hanging in there with the tag still on it. I know what the problem is, it's not because it's not a big enough closet although an even bigger one would be delightful. It's because I have three different sizes in there at one time. I have the wearable size which is still comfortable, the tight size that isn't comfortable and the NEVER IN YOUR DREAMS size that should be sent to Good Will. Am I the only one that thinks that they will at some point be able to get into the N.I.Y.D. size again?

It's not looking good for me. I am consistent......in the fact that I'm not consistent when I am trying to take off a few pounds. For example, I had a Slim Fast for lunch, now that's good..... but.... I had a Dairy Queen Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard last night that Husband brought home to me because he's a nice guy and knows I LOVE them! That's bad. So you can see why it's not looking too good.

Now I do have a really good incentive this time around. We're going to Bermuda in May for another business convention and I love the beaches there, they are wonderful, but you have to wear a bathing suit when you go swimming. Well actually you don't on some of the beaches but you can bet your boots I won't be on that beach!

Why Can't I Remember to do Spell Check?

Disgraced again. You know I used to be a really good speller. Used to be. It seems now that I have gone back to a 4th grade level. Any how, in the previous post I once again forgot to do my spell check and in reading it over I see I really butchered a few words.

You know what I am going to blame it on? I have my new Ipod Shuffle thingy in my ears blasting some really good music. Yeah, that's it.

I received an Ipod Nano when I bought my new washer and dryer and it just seemed like too much effort to learn another new technology so I gave it to my nephew and he was thrilled. He's 10, he knows how to do all of this stuff.

On our recent trip to our convention, guess what, they gave us each an Ipod Shuffle. So here I am struggling with Itunes, downloading and learning another technology......... so far so good though. My ten year old nephew was here last night and got me up and running. If you need help with any of this new stuff just find a ten year old kid. Now if he could only help me remember to Spell Check!

Fun With the Grandkids

It didn't seem like it was a holiday today, it seemed like a regular Saturday and tomorrow will be Sunday. I'll probably get up tomorrow and put on my church clothes instead of my work out clothes.

The grandkids spent the day here with Grammie and Grampie. Their Mom and Dad had gone looking for new dressers for them in a town about an hour away. It's Moosehead Furniture, a company that builds extremly well made sturdy furniture. Unfortunately it is succuming to the compitition of the big box stores and going out of business after many years and putting many people out of work in a small community in Maine that will never recoup from it. Anyhow, I digress.

What do you suppose the grandkids want to do with Ole' Grammie and Grampie today? It's -20* wind chill factor outside so that lets out snowman building. "Let's go to Play Place!!!!!!" they yell! Oh great, it's a holiday and that place will be mobbed with little goobers high on sugary drinks and way too much energy in the first place!

So........off we go.

Guess what? It was mobbed with a capital M with hardly room to move around and the only table left had obviously not been washed in a while. Of course they had to get the obligatory Happy Meals so that they could fight over each others toy and eat about 4 bites before they were off and running with the rest of the crowd.

All I could think about was the germ infestation that must be all over all the the slides, ladders and ropes. Do you think they ever wash those things?

Anyhow they had a blast and both had bright red cheeks and sweaty foreheads. Thankfully they were ready to leave after only 45 minutes, my granddaughter came to me and said that there were some children that were just too loud and she was ready to go. Hummmmmm....I thought I heard her voice over the roar just minutes before but it was a good excuse to move on.

Noodles was happy when we got home and got a good work out chasing my grandson around after a rope with a knot on the end of it. Munchkin snuggled in when I put on a movie so that everyone could rest a few minutes and Noodles joined them a couple minutes later. We couldn't have gotten two better kitties with children if we had special ordered them. Just two little rescue kitties that had been left on a door step in a cardboard box and they are perfect for us. It was meant to be.

Homemaking Meme

I have never done a meme before but got this one from dcrmom so thought I'd give it a shot.

Aprons Y/N Only at Thanksgiving and Christmas
Favorite thing to bake: I love to make yeast rolls and bread.
Clothesline? YES! Nothing smells better then sheets dried outside although I never hang out towels I like them fluffy from the dryer or underwear, I don't want ANYONE looking at my underwear!
Donuts-Ever made them? Yep, but not for years.
One thing you do every day? Yikes! there's not just one, but I love doing laundry even if it's just a small load. I know, I'm weird.
Freezer? Do you have a separate freezer? No, unless the one at the lake counts.
Garbage Disposal? Yes
Handbook? No, I didn't know I needed one.
Ironing love or hate it? I only hate it when I get way behind.
Junk Drawer-where is it? In the kitchen.
Kitchen design and decorating? Maple cupboards, blue speckled Corian counter top, open floor plan into dining room with bar in between, white appliances.
What is your favorite part of homemaking? decorating and making my home warm and inviting.
Mop? Nope, but my cleaning gal has one.
Nylons: Wash them by hand or in the washer? In the washer in a little mesh bag.
Oven-do you use the window or open the door? Both depending on what I'm baking.
Pizza what do you put on yours? Pep, onions and green peppers.
What do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment? check my e-mail, blog, read
Recipe card box? No, I use one of those magnetic photo albums.
Style of house? Two story, big front porch, three car garage, back deck, 15 years old.
Tablecloth and napkins? No tablecloth for everyday or cloth napkins just good paper napkins. I HATE cheap paper napkins.
Under the kitchen sink? trash can, dishwasher detergent, extra paper towels and a little Have A Heart Trap for the occasional mouse that comes in from the horse barn!
Vacuum? A couple times a week, more if company is coming.
Wash, how many loads a week? As many as I can, I LOVE to wash!
Yard, who does what? I do all of it, I love being outside and have a huge riding mower with a 5 foot wide deck. I do have a handyman that comes and helps me with the heavy stuff though.
ZZZ's What is your last homemaking thing you do for the day? I go around picking up any clutter, straighten up the pillows on the sofas and fold the throws if I have used them.

Which hand has the M & M's?

IT WORKED! I clicked on the names and it took me to their sites. Now you are probably thinking I am getting awfully worked up over such a small feat..... Just let me say that at my age and my lack of computer knowledge it IS a big feat. lol! The only problem is in all my excitement I forgot to click on spell check and spelled glutton wrong.

I think that was just to keep me humble!

It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks!

I got too sure of myself. Pride goeth before a fall. My pictures in the last post didn't stay where I had put them! You could put my blogging knowledge in a thimble. No, that would even be too big!

So, now I am going to try something else even though I messed up the picture thing. Am I a gluton for punishment or what?

I wanted to thank a couple of people for helping me with my blogging adventure and I wanted to learn how to put in their names and when you click on them it would take you to their site. dcrmom I call my Blogging Mentor Master. She actually is my very bright, beautiful neice and it was her blog that got me interested in starting one. She has helped me so much but I wish she didn't live so far away then I could bug her even more for help!

Recently I stumbled on to Susie's site and she has been so supportive and given me some good ideas to follow to meet some other nice people. She has to be nice, she has a Maine Coon Cat named Vincent. I'm trying to get something going with Munchkin and Vincient, I think they would make a nice match! lol!

I had a nice afternoon after church in my sewing room. I had some bags to finish up for my daughter in law and there was skating on television so I was in my own little world. Noodles and Munchkin came down to help but you can see by the pictures that they really didn't contribute much. (here I go again trying to get the pictures to stay here with this sentence!)

So.........I am going to publish this and then click on those names and see what happens. If you hear a big groan you'll know I've flunked again!!!!

My Granddaughter under the hat! K. on his 4-wheeler.

It has been a nice quiet Sunday afternoon here in the North East. They were predicting some more snow but we only got a little dusting so we were kind of disappointed but at least we have enough to get out and play a bit. Yesterday was K. birthday. K is actually my daughter in laws sisters son but we consider him another grandchild. He has always been a part of our lives and actually lived my son and daughter in law for a couple of years along with his Mom. His party was at the lake and it was a gorgeous day for it. The kids were out on the ice having a great time, snowmobiling, sledding and all the fun things we do here in Maine in the winter. Nothing melts my heart like a youngster with bright rosy cheeks from playing out in the snow. It is beautiful! I'll post a couple pictures but in my blogging challenged state they never seem to be in the order I want them but you'll get the drift........no pun intended.......

My grandson coming back up the hill. Some of the other children having fun.

Oh my. So far the pictures are going where I want them to go! Now whether they will be there when I publish this that remains to be seen.

It was a fun party and so nice that the weather co-operated and wasn't too cold on the lake. My son and a friend rode out on their snow sleds and it took them about 3 hours to get there but they enjoyed the ride.

My son after a LONG ride. Like father, like son.

On the way home I was thinking of just a few of the many blessings that we have been bestowed. Family, good friends, fun, joy, a beautiful place to live, just to name a very few as there are so many more I couldn't begin to list them all. We had one child and he married a gal that we love as a daughter. We have two plus one grandkids and in-laws that we like so well we vacation with them several times a year. I couldn't have asked for two families to blend as well. Hey, it could have been the Hatfield's and the McCoy's!

A Sad Story.

Recently I was perusing the blog world looking for some potential horsey type people to hook up with. In this process I came upon a site so vile that I was sickened when I read just a small part of it. It was titled something like 'I Hate Horses' and it gave all the reasons why and all the abusive things that should be done to horses which I won't repeat. It even included pictures of said abuse which I am having trouble getting out of my mind. Our horses are part of our family and receive tender loving care at all times. They have personalities and enjoy attention and love showered on them. Even our little rescue pony (pictured) that suffered abuse at the hands of the former owner is learning to love and trust us and will put his head on our shoulder and enjoy some ear scratching and treats.

Why would anyone feel so strongly about disliking one of God's most beautiful creatures so intensely that they would publish this horrendous site? I just can't seem to get my mind around this, it just won't compute in my head. I don't particularly like spiders but I certainly wouldn't want to abuse them. If I find one in the house I always get a piece of paper and scoop it up and put it outside rather then killing it.

I have decided the way for me to deal with this issue is to pray daily for these people and ask God to change their heart and mend whatever experience in life has left them with this intense hatred. I don't know what else to do and I don't want to go on with this ache in my heart for these undeserving horses that are being subjected to this torture.

I am asking all of you dear bloggy friends to put this on your prayer list. I know we all have bigger and more important things to pray for but this is on my heart and I ask for your support and maybe we can make a difference in this matter.

Thanks for listening!

Another beautiful day in Maine with turkeys on the deck........

Went to the gym this morning for my work out and of course had to stop at Jo-Ann Fabric on the way home. I don't care much for their fabric but they have all the other tools that I use for sewing in abundance and of course they have a great scrapbooking section. I needed to pick up some extra seam rippers for my quilt class as I know my beginners will be doing a lot of tearing out until they get the hang of things. I still have days that I tear out things, some projects go together beautifully and others it seems like everything goes wrong and you have to rip it out. Oh well, keeps it interesting.

We went out snowmobiling last night after dinner. It was probably -20 wind chill factor but we dress accordingly so weren't cold. In the woods it is much warmer and with the ice on the overhanging branches glistening in the moonlight it was like going under a beautiful sparkling arbor. Forgot to take my camera but there will be another time for that.

Just finished up the yummy dessert I got from Tina at Palm Tree Fanatic. It is the one with double stuff Oreo's, cream cheese, powdered sugar, Cool whip etc etc.. It is just delicious and I'm sure it's calorie free........

Going to try one I picked up over at Susie's Space next, it is a Strawberry cake with strawberry jello in it plus frozen strawberries, eggs, frosting, oil, etc etc another one of those calorie free desserts. Ahem...... I knew I was going to like blogging and meeting all kinds of interesting people but I didn't know I was going to gain weight in the process!

It's beautiful here today, the sun is shining and the snow is fresh and clean. Cold weather is a middle age woman with hot flashes dream come true! Sometimes I feel like going right out and rolling in the snow to cool off when one of those power surges hit. Suppose the neighbors would call the men in the white jackets to come get me if I did that?

The Big Let Down.

After fretting and stewing for the past few weeks over this quilting class that I am going to teach it got canceled today due to the weather....... hummmmmm......I thought I would have this one under my belt and I would be safely in my comfort zone again. I guess I have another week to fret and stew, oh, I meant to say to organize. Ahem.

I did have one student come to my house and I showed her how to run a sewing machine, the poor thing has NEVER had the opportunity to sew. She did quite well and we got one block made for a quilt and she didn't cut any fingers off with the rotary cutter which was a major accomplishment. For those of you that quilt you know that this is just a glorified rolling razor blade and you have to be very careful.

Later my sweet daughter in law called and is swamped with orders for the bags that she and I make and wondered if I could put some pockets in them for her and help her get caught up. It was just what I needed as the plumber was putting in a new garbage disposal and kitchen faucet for me so it gave me an excuse to retreat to my sewing room along with my two new buddies Noodles and Munchkin who immediately fell asleep on my cutting table. Of course you have all read the saga of their journey to Maine from Florida with us a couple weeks ago. (I will never think of an airplane restroom the same.)

Any way I got some sewing done and will post a few pictures of some of the bags we make for you to see. Last Christmas we made over 100 and they take about four to five hours apiece to make so we were busy. We sold them in our Bible Book Store but now we just do special orders so that we can keep up and keep our sanity.

That's about it from here. Not much to write about but we're going snowmobiling tonight after dinner so that will probably produce some good bloggy material. (Is that a word?)