Saturday Night Ramblings

When I first started blogging over a year ago it was primarily to keep a journal for my grandchildren to read when they get older. Hopefully they will be interested in what their dear old grandmother had to say about things in the 'olden days' because you see when they can read well enough to read all of this foolishness I will be old. I have been thinking lately that I really should change my bloggy name from Midlife Mom to Old Age Mom, Ancient Mom, Old Geezer Mom or something of that sort.

I didn't feel that way until I read in a blog written by a youngster in her 30's that she is now middle aged. I guess at 56 I am a little more then middle aged as I don't think I will live to be 112. What are the chances? I guess other then a few aches and pains I don't feel my age, well except when I go flailing off my horse at a canter and end up with a plethora of bumps, bruises, scrapes, concussion, blood clots, and broken finger nails.

So I ask you, what do you think? Any name suggestions?

I saw this cartoon the other day and thought it would make me a nice new career. I like to decorate and I like cats so this would be perfect! It would be the one job that might bring me out of retirement! :o)

It's now Sunday afternoon. After church we went to the Rudder for lunch with a delightful couple that have been married 46 years. I asked how they met and they each had their own version with his being the funniest. How nice to see a couple still in love after all these years. :O)

I must start thinking about packing for our trip. We leave for Key Largo on Thursday morning for a convention that we go to every year. I have been shopping for some new clothes and thankfully they have some spring clothes out plus I ordered some online from Talbot's one of my favorite stores. We have a Talbot's here in town but they don't have as much of a selection as the catalog. I still need a few more things, one being sandals but those aren't out anywhere so I guess I'll have to wait and get some in Miami.

This was the infamous trip we went on last year and brought home Noodles and Munchkin. For those of you who weren't reading my blog at the time here's a quick recap. We adopted Noodles and Munchie from a cat shelter in Key Largo. They came home with us on the plane and Noodles yowled all the way from Florida to Maine and also had an accident in his carrier so I had to give him a bath in the restroom on the plane. Now you know how small those rest rooms are and we were having turbulence at the time which made matters even worse. The sinks are the size of tea cups and he was not happy having his inflight bath! We got the job done though and things smelled much better. :O)

They have been a wonderful addition to our family. They, well Noodles, loves the grandkids and plays with them every time they are here. They have adapted to our cold temps and love to go out in the snow if only for a few minutes and then come back in where it's warm. Munchie is much more timid and hides if there are people in the house that she doesn't know but the minute they are gone she is back out sitting in my lap or wrestling with Noodles. They are brother and sister and play well together racing and tearing through the house. Am I glad we did it, yes! Would I bring more home on the plane, NO!

Good night kitties!

Wednesday Sunshine

The rocky coast of Maine.

The sun is out today warming up the sunroom nicely even without the fire going. I have been waiting for the generator people to get here but just got an e-mail and they are behind so won't be here till tomorrow. SIGH......... I know it's not their fault but I had everything ready and tomorrow I have three appointments that I can't cancel so right at this point I don't know what I am going to do. Maybe I will eat a bowl of ice cream with a banana cut up in it. That would help.

Chyrlls over At Chyrlls Corner is having a super giveaway this week! She is not just giving one prize but four! Hop on over and throw your hat in the ring for a chance to win!! One prize is a cook book that I have my eye on so don't any of you choose that! Just kidding. Maybe. Yes, alright I am kidding but seeing as I have never won a give away I don't think you have anything to worry about!

My Dad sent me this picture this morning of a cactus that is growing out in front of their home in Florida. They planted it about 18 years ago and it was only about a foot or so tall when they set it out. As you can see it has grown a little! I hope the darned thing doesn't fall over on Mom, she'd be an instant pincushion!!! Yikes! Mom go in the house where it's safe! NOW!

Today is Bloggers Share National Pie Day. I had never heard of it before but read about it over at BJ's at Sweet Nothings. I don't need much of an excuse to make a pie, made pumpkin pie on Monday, so guess I'll have to throw together an apple pie today in celebration. BJ has a really nice blog with lots of decorating ideas that I love. Go on over and give her a howdy!

National Pie Day - January 23rd
Created by the American Pie Council, National Pie Day is dedicated to the celebration of pie. As part of our American heritage, this day is a perfect opportunity to pass on the love and enjoyment of pie eating and pie making to future generations.
Each year the American Pie Council sponsors the National Pie Championships where some of the best pie makers in the United States and Canada enter their pies to compete for the "American Pie Council's Best Pie in America" award.
To celebrate National Pie Day share the warmth of the ultimate "comfort food" by giving the gift of pie to a friend or neighbor. Your generosity will be long remembered.
If pie making is not in your schedule, stop by your favorite pie shop or grocery store and bring home a gift of love and enjoyment for the whole family. The coldest of January days will be warmed by a special pie dessert.

If you aren't a good pie crust maker go over to my nieces blog musingsofahousewife and read her tutorial on crust making. It is a no fail recipe passed down to her from her mother and grandmother. Just click on The Perfect Homemade Pie Crust on her sidebar. It is soooooooo good!

Now I will give you my tutorial on making pie crust.

1. Get in your car.

2. Drive to the grocery store.

3. Go to the refrigerated section.

4. Pick up a box of rolled up pie crust.

5. Bring it home.

6. Open box, roll out pie crust.

7. Slap it in the pie dish.

8. Add your filling.

9. Slap the top crust on.

10. Cook

Works every time for me but don't tell anyone, they think I make it from scratch!

Is this the cutest thing or what???? Do you suppose Mama Kitty is wondering why her babies have a funny smell?? It looks like she is saying "I washed them twice already this morning, I just don't know what they got into."

Now I've heard the old saying 'when pigs fly' but never 'when pigs swim'......

Tuesday Talk

We're still in the deep freeze here on the coast of Maine. The only reason I left the house today was to meet Hubby for lunch at The Muddy Rudder in a nearby town. There are a few things that will get me out no matter what the weather is and eating is one of them, especially at The Rudder. They have a wonderful selection of steaks, seafood, pasta, salads, sandwiches etc all with a little more flair then your ordinary restaurant. Now you can't tell me that you're not drooling on your keyboard looking at that lobster and corn on the cob! Slurp!


Today several blogs that I read had to do with children and the love we as parents and grandparents have for them. Sunday T was sitting in my lap before it was time to go down to Children's Church. (D was already downstairs in nursery) She had snuggled into my neck and I could smell the sweetness of her freshly shampooed hair and the feel softness of her cheek. I was trying to glue a remembrance of that into my mind when all of a sudden she blew the biggest bubble with her gum and it went POP! I almost laughed out loud but really didn't want a frown from one of the ushers so I didn't but it kind of broke the spell of the moment. heehee! Was it Art Linkletter that said "kids are funny" no I guess it was more like Kids Say The Funniest Things. Or do the funniest things!

A few years back Hubby was a couple hours north checking on some logging companies and got some great moose pictures. (Now Moose Buyer hang onto your seat cause these are good!) The first one he saw was a bull moose. He was fairly close as Hubby wasn't zooming in on him.

After watching him awhile the big guy swam across the pond. The moose not Hubby.

A bit later they saw a cow with her baby and got a pretty good shot of the two of them. There are some better shots somewhere that we had made up into big pictures for our camp but these are still pretty exciting. I just love the wildlife that we have here in Maine it never ceases to thrill me.


Speaking of wildlife, my parents are in Florida soaking up the sun while we are here chipping ice. I found these pictures of them on Buddy taken a couple summers ago. Just before these pictures were taken they were doing trick riding, jumping from the ground up on Buddy's back and then my mother would get up on my father's shoulders as they galloped around the pasture........ I figure if I am going to tell a whopper it might as well be a good one........ahem....

Buddy looks like he is thinking 'wake me up when it's over.'

Also found this picture of Son when he was just a wee one. He and Hubby had been putting together an Incredible Hulk puzzle and I guess Son just got all worn out as he was sound asleep! Notice the orange wallpaper........aaaccckkkk! I also had the orange counter tops and the orange Tup*perware canister set. Those were the 70's!

Speaking of wallpaper look at it in the old homestead living room in 1957! Yikes, can we say BUSY....... This is me and my two older sisters, we must have been ready for church with our dresses and petticoats on. Do any of you remember the petticoats that you would starch with the liquid starch so that they would be puffy and swing when you walked? The only puffiness I have now is under my eyes. :O(

This picture is just one I picked up off the Internet. Bet that ole' dog keeps his behind out of the pasture from now on!!!

Well Amer*ican Id*ol is on so guess I'll check that out.

Sunday Evening

This is a drawing by artist Paul Cameron Smith. I learned about him from Jen over at Copenhagen Kisses. I just love his work and plan to order some prints after I finish this post. This one is called Sugar Kisses. The other one I am ordering is Daddy's Ranch Hands:

If anyone is interested you can see his work at paulcameronsmith.citymax.com No, I don't get a commission, I just like his work! :O)

Jen and her Hubby just went on a trail ride with 300 other riders! I just can't even imagine going with that many people. I think the most I have ever gone with is maybe 10!

It's Sunday night and bitterly cold here in rural Maine. I just got a call from the stable and my young Thoroughbred/Welsh pony seems to be cold. The stable owner threw one of her blankets on him but it is a bit big so I went down in my barn and got his own winter blanket. I had just written in my last post how we like our horses to go without blankets in the wintertime if at all possible and usually they grow a nice thick coat and don't need them.

There's always the exception and our Nick is one. He came from Maryland originally and then moved to Massachusetts when his owner bought a stable there. He had never seen a really snowy winter until he came here when we bought him. Last winter he just didn't seem to be growing much hair so I put a blanket on him as the vet said it might take him a couple winters to acclimate. Guess he was right as this is the second winter and he still doesn't have the nice heavy coat that he needs.

Horses are funny though. They get varying amounts of hair, some of them like Buddy get coats that are like a woolly mammoth and some of the other ones don't have nearly as much but they are plenty warm. Bucky, my friend Ann's horse doesn't get a long coat but it's thick and stands right out straight. Kipper our little Welsh pony looks like he was put through the dryer without a dryer sheet as he has soooooo much hair and it sticks out all over! Skipper our other little Welsh has a thick coat but it lays flat and he get lots of hair around his feet like the big Budweiser Clydesdale's.

Anyway that's my Horse Hair Class 101.

One of my horse buddies Rising Rainbow has given me an award this week called You Make My Day Award. Thank you so much, it's such a delight to receive an award from a fellow blogger and know that you've made someone smile! Now if you want to smile go to her site and see and read about her GORGEOUS Arabian horses! The stories, which are true, will keep you on the edge of your seat! This gal has more horse knowledge in her little finger then I have in my whole body and I learn something from her posts every time! Thanks again!!!

I just turned on the back flood lights and my deer herd has grown again. I counted 8 this time and they were chowing down like little pigs! This has not been an easy winter for them with all of the snow so a free hand out is like manna from heaven. I can see my grain bill is going to be substantial this winter.......

Today is my son's 32 birthday. We are celebrating tomorrow night when he and his family come over for dinner. I wished him Happy Birthday today in church and we all went out to lunch together but tomorrow is going to be the main event with his favorite meal and pumpkin pie for dessert. How do you think a candle will stand up in pumpkin pie???

This picture was taken when he was only 3 and half months old in 1976.

He was an easy baby. He weighed 10 and a half pounds at birth and started sleeping through the night at two weeks. We was a compliant child, a very mellow disposition and could entertain himself for hours. This picture was taken when he was about two months old.

He has grown into an adult that I am really proud of. He has a good work ethic and provides for his family. He married a lovely gal that we are blessed to have as the mother of our grandchildren. They are teaching the children the ways of the Lord and for that I will be eternally thankful.

When he got into junior high he decided he wanted to lift weights. My husband being a former weight lifter himself was a wonderful coach and together they made a good team. By high school we were traveling all over the US with him competing in Drug Free sanctioned meets. It was a wonderful family time which I felt brought us even closer together. I think this meet was in Oklahoma City and these were some of the trophies that he won.

We have been very blessed. Our son works in the business with his father, grandfather and one of his uncles and he lives just a 3 minute walk through the woods from us. I could go on and on and you all would be asleep at your computers so I will stop and just say Happy Birthday Son!

Saturday Ramblings

This is what I should be doing instead of checking out every one's latest post and writing one of my own!

It's a beautiful day today with the sun shining. We just had lunch at the Texas Roadhouse and I over did with the Blooming Onion! That thing was huge and it was a long time before they brought our entree so it gave me plenty of time to over indulge! :O( I brought the rest of it home along with all of my entree as I was just too full to eat any of it.

We went to the tack shop in a small town about 40 minutes away to get Buddy some Old Mac Boots. These things are amazing and made about as sturdy as anything you could find. The only thing is they didn't have his size so we had to order them. Also they didn't have the cushioning pads that go in them and she wasn't sure she could get them????? I would think if it's the company that makes the boots they would make the pads that go in them, but we shall see. These are great for all kinds of different ailments plus are good when trailering the horses as they have a good heavy tread on the bottom and protect their feet in case they get stepped on. I hope they get here quickly as I think the hard ground is bothering Buddy's soles.

I'm still wading through old pictures and I know some of you out there like old tractors so I'm wondering if anyone knows what kind this one is that my Grandfather is standing on??? Or this one my Dad is on??? My money is on Cliff over at Donna's to know!

I found this picture of the first pony I ever rode. I am the smaller one standing beside my sister and the pony. His name was Scout and he belonged to one of our neighbors. Their kids had lost interest I guess so we would go get him every day after school and bring him to our house to ride. He was a nice little pony, don't know whatever happened to him. This was probably about 1957.

These next two are just a few of the teams that my Grandfather had over the years. That is my mother on the left and Grampie on the right holding one of the kids, probably one of my uncles, it was 1943.

I don't know why there were so many teams at the farm in this picture. They certainly were getting ready to do something that needed a lot of horse power! I think I can see five teams.

This was my dream car. It belonged to my aunt and uncle before they passed away a few years ago. It was sold, sure wish I'd had the $$ to buy it! :O(

Guess that's it for Memory Lane Volume 3 today. I need to get all of these pictures in albums. I used to be a really hardcore scrapbooker and made all the fancy pop up pages but now I'm lucky to even get the pictures in a book! Sigh.......

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend! :O)

Friday Happenings

I got a lot done today. The phone didn't ring at all. The cats knocked the phone off the hook. Funny how that works....

Poor Hubby had been trying to get me on the phone and it just went to voice mail so finally he e-mailed me so I went around checking the phones. With the slushy weather today the two goobers didn't want to go outside so instead they played tag all through the house. They have rather long hair especially Noodles and he doesn't like the snow sticking to it, so he comes in and finds a warm spot and dries out.

My computer man was here this morning. Those two hours just fly by for me, there is so much to learn and there is always something for him to undo that I have made a mess out of! Today I had somehow put a gazillion pictures on the desktop so that there was absolutely no room left. Don't know how I did it but he undid it!

Many of you have asked me about Buddy. (THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!!) We don't think that this is going to be anything serious. The vet thinks that possibly it is the ground in the inside arena getting frozen as our temps get lower and that it is hard on his bare feet. This is the best case scenario and the one we are hoping for. He doesn't have any heat in his feet which is good and he doesn't have a temp. Tomorrow we are going to go to a tack shop about 30 miles away and get him some Mac Boots to try. These are made out of rubber and hook onto the hoof with a strap and make a cushion. If this is what it takes to be able to ride him in the winter this is what we will do.

Someone asked about the cold and if this would be bothering him. No, he is nice and warm with his long thick coat that he grows every winter. We don't have blankets on any of the horses, the only reason we would put them on is if they got sick or if we had a long stretch of terribly frigid weather and then we would have to leave them on for the rest of the winter. Ideally we like them to grow their own 'blanket' we feel it's healthier for them in this climate.

I took a friend of mine to lunch this week. We work together on the decorating committee at church and are very close friends. Her Hubby is in a nursing home due to Parkinson's Disease and it is very hard on her. She would love to have him home but it is just not possible due to the amount of care that he needs. No one knows until they have been through it how difficult it is to have to place a loved one in a nursing facility even if it is for their own good. I admire her for keeping a positive attitude even though I know it is so hard for her.

I missed National De-Lurking week a few weeks ago but decided to put this in even though it's late. (Thank you Pea for providing the buttons for us to use!) De-lurkers are people that read our blogs but don't leave a comment or identify themselves in any way. I am finding according to my sitemeter that I am only getting about 1/3 of the people leaving comments and I would love to have you all put your 2 cents worth in! It makes it so fun to read the comments each day and to respond to them. So come out, come out, where ever you! You don't have to write anything long, just say hello if you want! :O)

I came across this picture of the farmer squirting milk into the mouth of one of his cats. It took me back to my grandparents farm years ago that was just down the road from us and my grandfather would do the same thing. They didn't have 'house cats' the cats lived and earned their living in the barn keeping the mice and rats at bay but at milking time there was always a pan of nice warm milk for them. It seemed like there was always one cat that Grampie could squirt the milk right into his mouth and it never ceased to amaze us as little kids! We just thought that was the greatest thing since sliced bread! :O)

Oh me oh my, I think my turkey flock is growing daily! Probably has something to do with the nice wildlife grain that I put out every day. Last night we had two does and they each had twin fawns. Quite a sight to see, wish I could get a picture for you all!

I have been back at the gym on a limited workout since my fall off one of my horses. I do mostly upper body work so that my leg and knee have time for a complete recovery. If you are wondering what I look like in the gym here are a couple of shots that my trainer took of me.

As you can see I have a long way to go......ahem..... I think I am going to start my own line of workout wear, what do you think??????

Funsize is off on a cruise to the Caribbean tomorrow with one of her friends! 80* and balmy breezes sure sounds good right now! She works two jobs, sometimes three and certainly deserves a nice trip!

Guess that's it for today. I'm looking forward to checking out the new tack shop tomorrow. Maybe I should leave my purse at home....... Anywho, hope you all have a great weekend! We'll be here by the fire!

Wednesday Sunshine

We finally got dug out from our big storm but the snow banks are sure huge. It makes it fun for the children to slide down them and then on down the hill but it's a little hard to see when coming out of a street onto the main road. I worry about FIL who is 91 being on the road when the banks are like this but at least he rides with Hubby to work on days when it is snowing. I admire his independence living alone and being very self sufficient, must not be easy at that age. Hubby goes over every night about 8:30 and checks in on him and visits for an hour or so. It has been such a good thing having him move over here beside us instead of living several miles away across the river.

Ann and I (Funsize was working) went to the barn this morning to work with the 'guys'. It was bitterly cold when we first got there and our hands just couldn't seem to warm up even in the barn. The horses are cozy and warm though with their thick long hair and were itching to get outside. She rode her horse Bucky, you know the one that was bottoms up in the snow last week, and I rode Buddy. Buddy's feet are a bit tender so I am waiting for a call from the vet to see what he thinks. I think it's because with the cold weather the footing in the inside arena is hardening up a bit and making it less comfortable on his bare feet. Hopefully that's all it is. My stomach is in a knot thinking of what it could be and I know that is wrong to do, worrying never accomplished anything but it's hard not to after the year we have put in with him.

American Idol has started up as of last night. There is one very talented gal that sold her best barrel racing horse so that she would have the money to go try out on AI. She will have my vote no matter what! The horse is gorgeous, one that I wouldn't mind having in my barn. (as if I need another one!) I was very disgusted with Paula and Randy last night as they made fun of the young man with the really deep voice to the point it was cruel. He didn't have a good voice but they didn't have to be sitting there laughing their heads off with the poor guy looking on. Now some of the contestants knew before they went in that they were ridiculous, like the guy that had his chest hair waxed off, but this young man really thinks that he has talent. I will be glad when the preliminaries are over and the 24 contestants are chosen.

Went through a few more old pictures today. This first one is of my mother and father in 1942. What kind of car is that???? It must have been taken before Dad left for the war.

This next one of me is with my blanket that was never far out of my reach! This would have been 1953. Again look at the old vehicles in the background! My mother sure spiffed us up.

This mare belonged to my grandfather, her name was Bess. Have you ever seen a head that big on a horse????????? Wow!

This last one is a picture of my older sister sitting on a cow. Don't ask me why she is sitting on a cow but I guess that is just what you did in 1949!

The house smells delish as I have Pioneer Woman's pot roast simmering in the crock pot and I just took two loaves of pumpkin bread out of the oven. Pioneer Woman has some really nice recipes and directions that are very easy to follow as she puts in lots of pictures.