Happy Halloween!

It's Halloween so I have been trying to do a little decorating outside for the little spookies that will be coming around tonight looking for goodies. I usually do a lot more but with the house painters here and then going on vacation I didn't get much done. It is just BEAUTIFUL out today, just perfect to be out trick or treating tonight.

I just L.O.V.E. fall. It is my all time most favorite time of year. I know the flowers have gone by and the leaves have fallen but the air is crisp and it sure cuts down on the hot flashes! I love walking through the leaves and the sound of the crunch it makes. I love seeing the neighborhood kids raking up a pile of leaves and jumping in the middle of them having such a good time. The horses are getting fuzzy and little Kipper looks like a Beanie Baby Pony as he is so round.

Did get some pumpkins out and my friendly crow put on a bench out in my garden that is close to the road. I'm still mad at Mister Bear for eating my HUGE pumpkin that I grew and pampered all summer! Well I guess it's better then eating one of my cats. Speaking of which, Noodles just came in with a bird in his mouth but it got away and flew off so hopefully it wasn't injured too badly.

I always feel like cleaning more in the fall. I have already tackled several cupboards that needed organizing desperately. Why do we keep things? There were cold medicines in there from 2004!!!

Mom and I went out to get her blood work done this morning. We are participating in a cancer genetics research program. Mom is a cancer survivor for 15 years. She had the kind that wasn't a hard lump but was a mass that could not be detected by touch. A mammogram saved her life as that is what detected it. GALS, GET YOUR MAMMOGRAMS!!!! They aren't perfect but they do save lives every day, my mother is walking proof of that.

We had to meet with a genetics expert a few weeks ago to get all the family history down on paper. We have lots and lots of cancer in our family. My mother is being tested for the BARC 1 and BARC 2 gene and if she has it my sisters and I will have to be tested for it. If she doesn't have it then Yippee! Some people prefer not to know if they have the gene but I am the kind that wants to know so that I can do anything and everything to help prevent getting breast cancer. So again, get your mammograms!!!

Dawn over at Grandma Of Three posted a recipe for homemade crescent rolls that look absolutely YUMMY! I am going to try them. You mix them up the night before and then let them rise over night. She even posted pictures of the process and they just look so good I had to print it off and will let you know my results on my next post. If they come out anywhere near what hers look like I will be happy!! :o)

Did you all go over to Pea's Halloween Bash at Pea's Corner? It is a hoot and I'm sure there will be some goodies left to eat. I especially liked the hot dog mummy wraps! Yum!

Guess that's it for now. Hope you all have a fun Halloween and have lots of candy left over to munch on for the next week or so!

Monday, Monday.....

Just checked out a give away over at Heather's that is super! She is going to be giving away a candle each month and this month it is Cinnamon Pumpkin, now is that yummy or what???? Also my niece dcrmom at Musings of a Housewife is giving away a nearly new Vera Bradley bag!!! Be sure to check out both of these giveaways!

Things are back to normal, I'm all unpacked and things are put away from our trip. I haven't been up to see the boys yet but will go this afternoon when I go out to do some errands. I haven't done my Halloween bags yet, don't know why I didn't do them before I went away. DUH! There probably won't be much to pick from so I may end up just getting the regular size candy bars and not doing the bags.

I have a few more pictures I want to post from our trip. This first one is of cousin K as he won a coloring award at the restaurant at the resort. He was so excited and got to come up front and everyone applauded and he got a certificate plus his picture was displayed on the counter until the next day when some one else was chosen.

T was excited as she pulled a baby tooth while we were there. The permanent tooth was coming in behind this one so we were glad that she got it out. Already the permanent one is moving into place.

This was at MGM and T likes to ride on Grampies shoulders so that he can see better. We were watching a Star Wars Show.

Some of the characters were out playing Simon Says with the kids. Notice that T has her arm around D. Hummmmmm....sometimes they fight like cats and dogs! ha! T in the yellow shirt and D in the red stripe shirt.

Here are the old duffers sitting on the bench waiting for the bus.

We went to Shepler's one afternoon. Now you non-horse type people won't know or care what Shepler's is but for us horsey type people it is a gold mine of western wear that you just don't find here in Maine at least. I did a lot of Christmas shopping while there and shipped it home. I did a lot of drooling over the boots. I have boots but really wanted another pair but resisted and now wish I hadn't. Rats! They had some gorgeous red ones that I loved. Funsize and I had a great time there and did get some jewelry for ourselves.

Guess that's enough about our trip for today. I think one more post and I will have everything in that I want and then need to print off the rest of the pictures for my memory books.

We're Home! Yippee!

Going on vacation is wonderful. The weeks and months leading up to it are so much fun planning and thinking of the things you want to do. I think that is a big part of the whole experience. Then you get home and you start thinking about what you did, who said what, downloading pictures, deleting the ones that make you look fat, you know all the regular things.

We arrived home about two hours ago. It was raining cats and dogs to say the least. We got up at 3 am this morning to catch our 6 am flight out of Orlando. Now I am a detail person. I plan our trips, make the arrangements, call ahead and confirm things, I want to know that everything is going to go smoothly. Is that too much to ask??

Anywho, this morning we were up way before the crack of dawn all showered, packed, suitcases out on the curb and a single cab pulls up. Now there were 7 of us going. How do you put 7 especially with two needing booster seats in a single cab? I had ordered a VAN! I had even called the day before to make sure they brought the booster seats for T and D in this VAN. I was not happy. It was raining. Four went in this cab with the promise of another one on the way.

There we sat on the curb with our luggage getting wet, actually we were getting wet, like three little lost souls. Time was inching along as it does when you are waiting in the dark, in the rain, for a cab to come so that you make your flight out of Orlando. He arrived and we made it in plenty of time but why doesn't anyone do what they are supposed to do?????? I wanted a VAN!

We got to Philly with a three hour layover, once again because someone (U*S A*ir) changed the time of our flight, and it started to rain. It just poured so the plane we were were waiting for was late getting in so we were late getting out. We arrived at our airport and I happened to glance up at the board and I guess Philly must have really gotten hammered with rain and fog as most of their flights were either delayed or cancelled all together! Yikes! And I'm complaining about not getting my van, I should be ashamed. We could still be still sitting in the Philly airport with the kids playing UNO for the 77th time! Instead we are all home safe and sound. I can tend to be a bit crabby when my well thought out plans don't go just as they should and I think I need to work on patience. Remember last spring they (Hard Rock Hotel) put us on the dog wing, now that is something to complain about! Dogs barking at all hours of the night is a legitimate case for crabbing.

I have quite a few pictures to post and you will have to bear with me as this is my online journal of sorts and I do print each post off for my grand kids to read later on when they are older. When I try to post pictures they always go to the top of the post and then I have to move them down where I want them so then I have to move everything up to the top of the page again. Do you all have that same problem or is there something I should be doing so that the picture goes to the paragraph I am writing about????? If you have a solution PLEASE tell me!! :o)

This is Hubby taking some things into the condo. There are LOTS of palm trees there so I thought of my buddy Tina at Palm Tree Fanatic very often!!!

This is Funsize and T at The Dix*ie Stamp*ede. You could only take pics of the horses outside.

Of course we had to have a visit from Pluto at one of our meals. D and K really enjoyed that but T wasn't into it this year.

Here they are coming down the River Rapids, that is Son with his arms up in the blue shirt. They got soaked to the skin! Sure glad I didn't go on that one . I am not partial to walking around the rest of the day in wet underwear!!!

Guess that's enough for today. I will be writing more for a few days to get everything in that I want. (I can see your eyes glazing over now!) But back to this vacation thing. It's all about family. It's giving your grand kids your undivided attention for a week without your day to day distractions. It's staying with them when they are all tired out and need to crash for a day and pampering them. It's sitting around playing UNO with anyone who wants to play. It's holding those freshly bathed kiddos that smell of shampoo and soap that you wish you could just remember forever. It's time well spent. It doesn't have to be at Dis*ney Wor*ld or any fancy resort, it can be in your back yard. They will always remember. :o)

The Last Day Of Vacation

Amazing how fast 8 days goes when you're having fun! Doesn't seem possible it's time to pack up and head out tomorrow morning at 3:45!!! Yes, you heard me 3:45 am! Thank you US Air for changing my reservations by two hours..........grrrrrrrr....... Now two hours later wouldn't have riled me up much, but earlier and not getting home any sooner is another story. Just a longer layover in Philly. Any way it is what it is so not one bit of sense getting upset over it.

I am all packed except for the essentials for the morning. I doubt I will sleep much, just wake up every hour and look at the clock. Yawn....... Actually it will be good, I will sleep on the plane. D has slept all day practically. He just plain ran out of steam from our busy schedule and said enough is enough and has been taking in the z's all day.

Funsize, Hubby and I just got back from checking out a gorgeous equestrian center a few miles down the road. It is something made in the dreams of horse lovers! I have seen quite a few centers in my travels but nothing that compares to this one. The board starts at $800.00 a month for a year contract and $900.00 a month when paid monthly. Rather expensive for my pocketbook especially with 5 horses! Anyhow it was fun looking around and seeing everything and checking out all the horses, taking a few pictures here and there. Don't see anything like it going up in my neck of the woods in the near future though!

When you go on vacation shouldn't you BE on vacation? How come then is there something charging in practically every outlet in this place? Of course cameras don't count but what about cell phones, two Blackberries, handheld play stations etc etc? Really, every where I look there is something plugged in. Guess it's the age we live in and the cell phones sure do come in handy don't they?

I guess we've seen everything there is to be seen, ridden on everything that goes forward, backwards, upside down and fast. We've eaten more then our share of junk food but have had some lovely meals here too. If you check it out you can find things other then mickey burgers and fries. It's time to go home and have some good home cooking. Funny how restaurant food gets old after awhile. Don't know how people eat out every meal. I have a friend at home that doesn't cook and eats out all the time. That may sound good in theory but in reality for me....yuck!

I'm anxious to see my horses and cats and of course Mom and Dad who have been holding down the fort. They will have some tall tales to tell of the bear on the back deck and such. I'm tempted to hang a cooked chicken out there to lure him back so that I can get some pictures but then my common sense jumps in and and says NOT! We had one a few years ago that came around a few times and I did get some pictures and when I get a scanner I'll have to post them. I'm just not ready to try to learn a new technology right now. Haven't mastered this one yet by a long shot.

Next time I write it will be from home. Yippee! I love it here but there's no place like home!!!

More vacation fun

Another day in fantasy land. Today we chose to go to Animal Kingdom. We arrived when they were opening the doors so got on some of the rides before the crowds got too thick. It was VERY hot so those in my group that are adventurous didn't mind getting all wet on the Water Rapids. I chose to stay dry. If you are wet it's fine if you are outside in the heat but when you go inside with the cold air conditioning you really feel chilled. We took along dry clothes for the little ones to change into for that reason.

We had lunch at The Rain For*est Cafe and it was so dark in there I couldn't read the menu! I should have taken it outside to read in the sun!! The food was very good and way too much of it! Came back to the condo and had a nap, should have walked off the meal instead!

Everyone is out again tonight except me and D. He was a bit tired still so we stayed in tonight and had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner. After that huge lunch we really didn't want anything more. Some of the crowd has gone back to Mag*ic Kingdom and some to Ep*cot to see the fireworks. Son and DIL have gone to Down Town Dis*ney for dinner and a show.

Called home tonight and Mom and Dad were having some excitement! As we were talking a Maine black bear came up on the back deck looking for bird seed!!!!! They were a bit startled to say the least and I was yelling to get the camera! (always looking for good blogging material you know!) Guess the bird feeders will have to come in at night from now on. Glad the boys are at the stable and not out back in the barn or they would be in a snit!

Someone mentioned that I hadn't posted any pictures of the horses at Dix*ie Stampede. I did take a few before the show of the horses in their stalls but they won't let you take any during the show at all. Bummer! Also I'm on Hubby's laptop and I can't download any pictures on this thing. it's hard enough just to try to type! ha! I'm used to a big keyboard not this little one. Hard to teach an old dog new tricks.

Tomorrow we head for the water park. Just my favorite day, getting into a bathing suit...........NOT! I think I will threaten everyone within an inch of their life if they get near me with a camera! Today was bad enough trying to run to catch a bus with someones video camera going........not a pretty sight! But you know what, I am thankful for two legs that work, I saw a young man today with just one leg and one prosthesis and realized how blessed I am to have two! :o)

Well D has had his bath and has his jammies on and is laying down on the sofa watching Dis*ney channel. Guess I should be getting him off to bed in a few minutes. Maybe he will be in a snugly mood and let me rock him. Love the smell of a little one all clean from their bath and shampoo. Should bottle it and make a million!

The dixie Stampede!

Another nice day in the sunny south. A bit warm but lots better then the rain they were predicting. Yesterday we went back to the ma*gic Kingdom to hit a few of the rides that we'd missed the day before. It was a special day for kids under 9 years old over in fan*tasy land with all the characters around for those photo opportunities. It was fun for the kids to have that interaction with their favorite character and of course our cameras were clicking from all directions.

That evening we had reservations to go to one of our new favorite shows, The Dix*ie Stampede put on by the Doll*y Parton organization. This is a first class show if you are into horses, comedy, excitement, interaction and fairly good food. We got there early to look at all the horses and they were just gorgeous. Spit polished and ready to go. They are so well trained they make my guys look like stick horses with splinters!

One guy comes out standing on two horses that aren't hooked together and gallops them around the huge arena and then jumps them through a hoop of fire. Now horses are deathly afraid of fire so this is a major accomplishment. The costumes are gorgeous especially during the finale when the room is darkened and they light up and sparkle red, white and blue. The kids and adults alike loved the baby pig races and the other comic routines.

There is an hour preshow that was kind of cute but not earth shattering but it got the crowd in a good mood or maybe it was the drinks that a few of them were consuming with abandon! Actually this was a very clean show that was appropriate for all ages, not a cuss word to be heard.

I would certainly go again next time we are in the area. It amazes me the training these horses have and the things that they can do. I wonder if they burn out doing several shows per day though. They certainly have wonderful care, they looked fabulous.

Today we hit Ep*cot. There are several fairly new rides that we wanted to go on so went right to those and skipped the stuff we've been on a gazillion times. We love the new Soaring ride which makes you feel like you are soaring up over many parts of the country, it's just gorgeous. We had lunch at The Land in the revolving restaurant that has characters, Mickey, Chip and Dale and Pluto. The food is good there too, they grow their own vegetables and fish.

I am getting caught up on every one's laundry. DIL and I DO LOVE OUR WASHING MACHINE AND DRYER! There's an actual laundry room here in the condo not the tiny stackables that are in the newer resorts tucked in a tiny closet! Seriously even though this is an older resort there are a lot of perks. Now if you like nightlife and clubs on site don't come here. You have to go to Down*town Dis*ney for that which is just a couple miles away.

Have tried to call the stable a couple of times to check on the boys but haven't caught the owner at home yet. Makes me homesick for them when I don't know what's going on. I know they must be fine or she would have called me but I still like to know every detail of what they are doing.

Took some pictures of palm trees today for my friend Tina over at Palm Tree Fanatic. Tina, you would go nuts here over the different types of palm trees!!!

Guess I'll go check T again. Went up to her room a few minutes ago and she was grinding her teeth like mad! Hope she is feeling better tomorrow.

Dis*ney Happenings

Here we are at Dis*ney's Old Key West. It is my favorite place to stay when we are bunking at Dis*ney World. It is one of the older resorts built here which was before they started cramming each resort into as small a space as possible. This unit is big and airy with three bedrooms, four bathrooms, kitchen, dining area, living room area and a nice balcony overlooking the golf course. You get the most for your money here and when I get home I will post some pictures and you will see what I mean. Now you are not within walking distance of ant of the parks, you have to take the bus, but it's close to Downtown Disney where all the shops are which is a major draw for me.......ahem.......

This morning we got up to pouring rain but by 10 o'clock it had stopped and although not sunny was pleasant and not too hot. It had been in the 90's so we liked this weather much better. We went to MGM Studio and hit the high spots, had lunch and then came back to the condo so the kids could rest......I did manage to catch a few winks myself.........Some of our crowd went to the pool and then we all met here and headed out to dinner. DIL's family is here with us only 10 minutes away at their time share.

The trip down was a bit long as we left our airport at 8 0'clock then on to Philly for a three hour layover. They finally loaded us on and we taxied out when the pilot came on and said we had to go back to the gate as the luggage was loaded unevenly and had to be fixed! Even the pilot was miffed and said so which surprised me. It took some time to get the luggage straightened out so we were an hour or so late leaving Philly. To say that some people were grumpy would be an understatement. I had my Ipod on so dozed contentedly amidst the crying babies and complaining adults. I purchased some new headphones in the Philly airport that filters out background noise that was well worth the price! These things are amazing, wish I'd had them before.

Dis*ney is great. It's clean, wholesome, entertaining and there is always something new here to see and do. AND I LOVE this resort. I think I said that before didn't I? The landscaping is lush and tropical as it's been here for almost 20 years. There are bird of paradise plants right outside our door.

I called the stable tonight to check on my boys. The owner wasn't home so I will try again later. I continually look out towards the barn and pasture when I am home and even after they left I kept doing so out of habit. Sniff, sniff....

Tomorrow night we are going to the Dixie Stampede. We love that show, HELLO, there are horses there!!

Poor T. She talked about The Tower Of Terror ALL the way down. Couldn't wait to get on that ride. It's not for the faint at heart as it goes up 13 stories and drops like a rock! I gave it up years ago as I don't like heights and free falling in the dark. Anywho, she got on the ride and did okay until the total darkness and then decided it wasn't so much fun after all..........guess that's the end of that.....Her highlight of the day was pulling a baby tooth that was hanging by a thread. Her other grandfather Bampy told her that the tooth fairy leaves $50.00 here at D W! Yikes!

I don't know what happened to the rest of this, guess Blogger ate it as it's not here this morning as I came on to edit a couple of things. I forgot to put the * in Dis*ney and didn't want to get Googled for everyone wanting information! Anyway the crowd has left for the Mag*ic Kindom so now Grampy and I will catch up after I dry my hair. It's not raining so far! Yippee!

I guess I'd better get a post out this week as we leave on Friday for Florida. I have been watching the weather channel and it looks like the rain is heading out of there so should be good by the time we arrive.

I called my travel agent to check on some seating issues and boy did she have a surprise for me! On the way down there is only a ten minute difference in our flight schedule but on the way back instead of leaving Orlando at 8 AM we leave at 6:15 which means we will have to be at the airport at 5ish, which means we leave the resort at 4:30 which means we get up at 3:30!!!!! Yikes and double yikes!! Now this wouldn't be so bad but we don't get home any earlier just a longer layover at our one stop........

I am not a happy camper. With three young ones it will be a long three hours in that airport. AND when were they going to tell us about these changes? Now I know we live on the edge of nowhere but we still do like to know what's going on. My travel agent tells me this happens all the time so I guess we have just been lucky that it hasn't happened before to this extent. Also our flights are all overbooked so we run the risk of getting bumped. Do you think they would let us sleep at the airport the night before????????

Tomorrow my boys go back to the stable for the winter. Once again I am not a happy camper. I miss them when they are not here, especially sitting on the sun porch and watching them graze in the pasture or taking treats like carrots and cucumbers out to them. It has to be this way due to zoning issues even though we have 400 acres, plus we travel more in the winter and it's hard to get someone to come in and take care of them. They have a nice place at the stable and two of them have been going there for 15 years. There are 6 others there including Lil' Bud, Funsize's Morgan.

I have been packing up their things today and putting them in the trailer and tomorrow morning Dad will help me hook up to the Tahoe and my friend Ann is coming to help me load them and unload at the stable. It's always a hard day but I can go up as often as I want and I sure won't miss feeding and all when it's -20* this winter!

I need to get packed but will probably do that on Thursday night. This is an easy trip to pack for as it's all casual, no dress clothes like on the conventions that we go to. With the washer and dryer in the condo we don't have to take as much and can also come home with clean clothes and not a suitcase full of dirty ones! You gotta love that!

Funsize is excited as she hasn't been to Dis*ney for about 15 years and a lot has changed since then. We will hit Universal again too as T and D loved it when we were there in May. We are staying at Old Key West this time. No more chances at a Universal resort of being put on the dog wing!! Being a member of the kennel club once was enough for me.

I have to go in and see my doctor tomorrow. My elbow where I took the fall off Lil'Bud is all swelled up again and seems to be full of fluid. I am envisioning a huge needle coming towards me tomorrow to drain it off...........aaaaaaaccccckkkkkkkk!

DIL, Mimi and I have all our things ready for the craft fair that's going to be held while we are gone. My sister J is going to man the table for us. Nothing like doing a craft fair and not even being there. When we get back we will have one week to finish up anything that we want done for the big fair. Funsize and I went to a big one at the University of Maine on Sunday afternoon after church. It was held in the field house and I couldn't tell you how many vendors were there, it was full! We did mostly looking and comparing prices of other peoples totes but did buy a couple of things. The new smokeless soy candles seem to be the thing now and we each got one and we always buy new catnip toys from our favorite organic catnip vendor.

We got home in time to get the barn cleaned again and spiffed up as we had about 30 children from our church Awana program coming for a hay ride, hike, story time, bonfire, food and song time. They all got to go in the barn and see the horses and then the hayride was pulled by Hubby on the John Deere. I loved watching them sing the Praise and Worship songs by the bonfire, wish I had gotten some pictures. What's wrong with me, I missed a blogging opportunity!!! :o( I think I must be slipping!

Guess that's it for tonight. Halloween will be here before you know it so watch out for all those friendly spooks!

Friday Happenings

It's raining cats and dogs today with intermittent thunder and lightening. The horses are pouting as I won't let them out but I don't want them to get soaking wet with their heavier fall hair. The cats were pouting but have decided a nap in a chair is just as good as being out in the rain!

I have been watching the mailbox closely the past week or so waiting for my Halloween Swap package to arrive from my blogging buddy Pea and lo and behold it arrived today in the torrential rainstorm. The mail lady bright it right up to the porch and rang my doorbell so I got it immediately! Miss Pea you were VERY generous with the goodies!!!! I kept opening and opening and my Mom said it was just like Christmas! What fun! I would urge all of you out there that didn't participate this year to be sure to do so next Halloween 'cause it's just so much fun!

There are so many things I don't know where to begin! I guess I will let the pictures speak for them selves but one thing is missing as I have the socks on already!! I have never seen ghost Peeps, they are soooooo cute, I'll hate to eat them.....well........Also chocolate which will probably be gone before tonight is over......... I have already lit the little witch with the tea light in it and have made decisions where all the other things will go!!! Thank you so much Pea!!!!!! :o)




Also I want to say that the packing box was decorated with Halloween stickers and everything was wrapped in little bags with raffia bows and Halloween colored tissue paper. This gal knows how to do up a package! I think Pea should start one of those businesses where you make up baskets for people to give for gifts. Hey Pea, doesn't that sound like something you would enjoy doing?????

D and T were over yesterday and after dinner we did some cupcake decorating. I made the cupcakes ahead of time so that they would be cool so that they could dig right in.

These are D's.

These are T's.They sure had fun decorating and took them home for Mommy and Dad. Of course I had to finish up any unused frosting............

Was out by the barn a few days ago and noticed some tracks going up the side of the barn by a couple of the horses windows which are open this time of year. We decided they are raccoon tracks and they must be looking for winter lodging. Let me just say that there's not an opening for any new tenants!!!

I don't normally get on a soapbox but are any of the rest of you getting a bit fed up with television. Now I have shows that I like, mostly on HGTV, but others on regular tv too. It's the ads that are very obnoxious and racy. When watching tv with my 10 year old grand nephew it is rather embarrassing to have ads come on for very personal problems for men or women, people in their underwear like Vic*torias Se*cret, things for itching, impo*tence, odors, rashes, you get my drift. I try to have the remote in my hand to change channels quickly when I need to.

I also am getting fed up with Survivor a show that I have watched from the beginning. Why do they have to make it so they have to run around in their under*wear all the time? During the competitions they have to blank out parts of almost every person. Gag! I don't want to watch people in their under*wear in a mud fight or whatever. Are they doing this for ratings? I need to find out who to complain to and send off a letter. Okay, I feel better, I have vented to you all!

We're getting ready to go to Florida next week. The kids are all excited and can't wait to get there. I'm trying to get everything finished up for the craft fair and clothes ready to pack. It's been rather warm here so I still have my summer clothes out which is a big help. The boys are going back to the stable on Wednesday. I called and made arrangements today. I HATE it when they are gone but it has to be this way, the city fathers will only let me have them here in the summer as we are on the edge of a development. I think one of these days I will build a house right in the middle of my 400 acres! At least I am only 5 minutes away from the stable.

Again thank you Pea for such a wonderful Halloween package!!!! I love everything!!!! :o) Also a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Hope you have a wonderful day!!

Not So Wordless Wednesday.

It's Wednesday and I usually ride but I have a cold and it's damp and cold out so guess I will stay home. Have things to do anyway as I was gone all day Monday and most of Tuesday. Monday Husband and I joined six of my other family members and drove to western Maine to visit some of the other members of the family. On the way down we picked up my two sewing machines that had been cleaned and repaired so you can imagine I am glad to have them back. I have been using my 35 year old Singer! It still works beautifully but doesn't have the decorative stitches that I use so often. I was glad to have it in a pinch though!!! :o)

We visited my older sister first and her son and family. My sister is the master decorator and her home did not disappoint us. She had everything Halloweeny that there is on the market and more! It was all done very nicely though, wish I had taken some pictures. :o(

Next we went to my nieces new home that we hadn't seen before and it is lovely. She has quite an assortment of pets including dogs, cats AND SNAKES! My grand nephew and I were the only ones that would hold them. They aren't scaly the way I thought they would be, very smooth. She takes beautiful care of them, they have everything going including.........gag........mice to eat regularly........gag..........

Next we went to my sister E's home which we hadn't seen before as she and hubby just moved there recently. It is an absolutely gorgeous setting with fields, mountains and a pond to look at. She too has some interesting critters to watch.

I don't know if they all have names or not but they are very friendly especially if you have some grain in your hand!

My sister had a nice snack for us when we arrived including some homemade apple cider that had a little kick to it....ahem.........good thing we weren't driving.......heehee! My sister and her husband have been singing for years all over so I had to get a picture of them with some of their instruments. I took some video but Blogger wouldn't down load it onto this for some reason.

This is Dad Snowbird, younger sister J, older sister E, Mom Snowbird, oldest sister L and me on the end. Only one missing is baby brother Bill who was working that day.

It was a great day seeing everyone in person. We talk on the phone each day but there's nothing like a real visit.

Have been taking Buddy for walks on the new carriage trails. It's good for him to get out and get some exercise and see something different then just the pasture. Can't ride him yet but that's okay, I need the exercise too. I'm really not as big as these pictures look. I had on two coats! lol! And to think they say that pictures don't lie.........

Next week we head for Disney World for a week. Mom and Dad will be here to hold down the fort and the ponies and horses will be back at the stable. I may bring Buddy back here for a while longer when I get home. We lost our old kitty Morris on Saturday due to old age so there will just be the two monsters Noodles and Munchkin for Mom and Dad to take care of.

Morris was 17 or 18 years old, he came to us as a stray and we took him in. In recent years he developed a thyroid condition that caused him to lose weight continually. We tried the medication but it just wasn't meant to be. We miss him and I still think I see him coming around the corner sometimes looking for his food dish. He had a good life here on the farm though and we can't expect to have them forever. All of you that are animal lovers know how I feel right now but time eases the pain and we have lots of happy memories to think about. :o)

Guess that's it and now I need to go down to the sewing room and get to work. If you have a chance stop over to Pea's at Pea's Corner and wish her a happy birthday as she has a birthday this week. She is always so nice about wishing other bloggers happy birthday on their special day. I will warn you though that she just celebrated Canada's Thanksgiving and there are some pictures of turkey and pumpkin pie that will have you drooling on your keyboards!!!!! Please wear a bib as I won't be held responsible!! :o)