Friday Happenings

It's Friday afternoon and T just got off the bus from school. She spent the night here with us as Son and DIL went to see Elton John in concert last night in Portland about two hours away. D was with his other grandparents at the lake getting spoiled I'm sure! :o)

We're supposed to get another big snowstorm tonight and into tomorrow. They were saying a foot of snow but now it's up to possibly 16 inches. I really don't know where we are going to put it all especially on the main streets and sidewalks. I gave the turkeys a much bigger feeding today to tide them over as they won't come out in the storm, they will be hunkered down in one of the big pine trees out back. Also will put out more for the deer too as they won't come around if it is really bad out there. Read in the newspaper today that one man feeds about 200 deer!!!!!! That's a lot of grain to be putting out!!!

I like bluejays. Now I know some people think they are hogs and drive off the smaller birds but I have enough feeders out for everyone so I like them. They are the most beautiful shade of blue. Notice the second one has a seed in his beak.

I have been filling my feeders at night when I go out to put deer grain out but come morning sometimes they are empty and I know the birds aren't coming out after dark. Early one morning I caught this gal helping herself! She would hit it with her face and knock seeds onto the ground and then eat them.

This is Rocky the black and white lamb. He weighs a little over a pound. He is named that as he kind of got off to a rocky start in life. He was born premature and his mom rejected him. He lives next door to my sister so she gets to check in on him regularly. His owner is bottle feeding him and he is doing really well! (Now strains of Eye Of The Tiger should be playing..) More pictures of Rocky in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.




Haven't we all had a day when you just have to scratch where it itches?

LATER

It's very quiet here tonight. Son, DIL and D came to pick up T and stayed for dinner but now they have gone home. The Elton John concert was amazing with just a piano, no back up singers, bands or orchestra. He sang for two and a half hours. Anyhow what I was leading to is how much energy little ones have. We have a playroom downstairs and one of the kids most favorite things is just this big thick lead rope that is hooked to the ceiling that they can swing on.

They do this by the hour when they are here. So much for the fancy schmancy toys.

Now Noodles on the other hand likes his fancy schmancy cat condo. He has claimed it for his own and spends a good part of the day right on the top in the sun. This guy likes his comforts. Munchie, not so much, she would rather be upstairs under one of the beds out of sight of the grandchildren!

Hope you are having a good weekend. Just think of us up here in Maine digging out from another storm!

Give Away Winners!

Today is the big day! I had Hubby draw the names out of the basket for my give away. I want to thank all of you that participated. The winner of the cookbook is Tina at Palm Tree Fanatic and the horse book goes to Barn Goddess at Ramblings From the Reservation! Congratulations to both of you and I hope you enjoy the books as much as I have! Just e-mail me your snail mail address and I will get these right out to you. thediz@roadrunner.com

I've been knee deep in horse poop this week. The owner of the stable where I keep my 5 guys in the winter has had eye surgery and still has another one to go. I guess she has a bleed behind one of her eyes where they did the cataract removal. She has been unable to lift or do much of anything so we all have been helping out with barn chores.

This afternoon the horses were so cute when they came in with a dusting of snow on their backs. They were very impatient as we were about 30 minutes later feeding then usual so there was a lot of snorting and blowing going on. Funny how it all quiets down once they have their face in their feed bucket. There is something very calming about listening to horses eat, I've always loved it along with the smell of the hay and grain. (I know, I know, you city gals are rolling your eyes and thinking that I need to get a life!)

This morning when I got up to feed the turkeys the sunrise was just beautiful. I ran back in and grabbed my camera and got a couple of shots. This was with the 500 lens. Doesn't it look like a big ball of fire in the background?

This little guy was sitting patiently for me to throw out the birdseed and peanuts. Actually he's a she and she's not very little! I think we have little ones on the way by the looks of her 'bump' as they call it now days.

I needed some catnip so went into Pet*co yesterday to pick some up. Mistake. Big mistake. They had some great looking cat condos and I have been wanting one for Munchkin and Noodles. Well, let's say it hardly fit in the backseat of my Tahoe.....

Can you see Munchie in there on the right hand side?



Now they both are in there. They have such fun climbing on this thing and sleeping when the sun is shining in the window.

Had to go feed the stable horses again this morning. If you want to feel popular walk into a horse barn in the morning at feeding time! There are lots of whinnies and happy faces. Buddy is starting to shed already and I got a ton of hair out of him after he had his breakfast. Must be that spring is coming even though it sure doesn't look like it today. We got hit with another 10 inches of snow last night. Yikes! I think I will go out and make a snowman as it's the really heavy, sticky, wet snow that makes for a great snowman!

Birds, squirrels, turkeys and various other creatures!

If you have stopped by to participate in my 250th Give Away it's in the previous post so just hop on over and throw your hat in the ring!

I have noticed that there haven't been any horse type awards that I am aware of so I decided to take the horse/bull by the horns and have one made. My designer Nap Warden made it for me and I love it. Now I don't want you non-horsey people to get your knickers in a knot because there may be an award for you too in the near future! heehee! :o) But for my maiden voyage of award creating I went with a near and dear to my heart theme of loving horses. So to all of my regular horse bloggers I give you the Horse Lovers Award! Please put it on your sidebar and pass it along to fellow horse lovers that deserve it! Take your choice of the two on my sidebar or take them both!

This award represents the people in this world that care for and love horses.

Hubby bought me a new 500 lens for my birthday and I have been having fun trying it out. It really picks up features that my others can't. This was a hard shot as the woodpecker was in back of the wood on the feeder but at least I got part of him.

This little gray squirrel was digging around in the snow probably looking for the peanuts that I put out for them.

Now this is a face only a mother could love!

Momma doe is thinking I am getting so sick of that woman taking pictures of us! Look at those big Bambie eyes!

Here are some birds on one of the feeders and then one in the bush that they like to perch in while they eat their seeds.



I can't wait to go to Florida in a couple of weeks to go to the mini horse show! It will seem good to have lots of light and beautiful palm trees and flowers for a backdrop.


I hope this video comes through for you all. It's about 7 minutes long so if you don't have time to watch the whole thing at least watch a couple minutes. This is another one of the most incredible horses that I have ever seen. They are doing dressage and doing it beautifully!






FIL is coming for dinner tonight so guess I'd better finish getting things put together. The days are getting a bit longer and most of the ice is gone from the driveway so I won't have to worry about him taking a fall.

I will be announcing the winners of the give away on Wednesday! Good luck!!

Stephanie the Mississippi Songbird is having a great give away also. She is a Watkins Associate and has a basket just full of her products to give away! This is what she had to say about it:

I have decided to have a Watkins Easter Gift Basket Giveaway!Above is a photo of the gift basket. This is a $43.63 VALUE!Here are the contents:(1) Watkins Cinnamon Cocoa (6.7 oz.) (1) Watkins Lavender Firming Lotion (11 fl.oz.)(1) Watkins Gentle Facial Cleanser (3.4 fl.oz)(1) Watkins Peppermint Room Freshener (4 fl.oz.)(1) Menthol Eucalyptus Room Freshener (1 fl.oz.)(1) Watkins Roasted Garlic Snack & Dip Seasoning(4.2oz)(1) Watkins Shortbread Cookie mix (12oz.)This giveaway is open to all U.S. Residents!~Here is what you do to enter:1.Post This Giveaway on your Blog .2.Leave me a comment that you have posted this on your blog 3. E-mail me your e-mail address.(mine is emeraldrose63@yahoo.com)

I want to win this one!!!! :o)

My 250th Post!

This is my 250th post! Whew! Where has the time gone? When I started this a year or so ago I didn't think I would make it past 10 posts let alone this many! It has been fun meeting so many wonderful people from all over the US, Canada and beyond.

To celebrate as you can see I have had a new blog design made by NW Designs. I was itching for a different look as I like changes and Nap Warden did a great job for me! Take a look at her site and see what she does!

I also am going to have a 250th Post Give Away. Actually I am going to have two, one for horsey type people and one for you more sane people that aren't obsessed with the big 4 legged creatures! The first is a book, The Riders Handbook by Sally Gordon is just jammed full of information on all types of riding and horse care. It's an amazing book. I have to limit this to US and Canada but you don't have to have a blog to enter. Good luck!

The other is the Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Cooking From the Heart cookbook. Again this is an amazing cookbook with things that you don't have to cook just at Christmas time. I guarantee that you will find some new recipes that will become some of your families favorites! I am drooling on my keyboard as I type.....





To enter just leave a comment on this post and mention it in one of your posts with a link back to me so that your friends have a chance to enter. People don't blog as much on the weekends so I will leave it open until Wednesday of next week. Put on your comment whether you are a horsey person or a normal person and tell me one fun thing about yourself that I don't already know! :o) I will draw the names out of a hat on Wednesday noon EST.

We had the lunar eclipse a couple nights ago and I got a few pictures. It was very cold out so I didn't stand on the porch long. Wish I had gone out a few more times and taken more of the progression but Noodles was trying to get out the door every time I went out and we don't allow them out at night as it's so cold.

My sons cat, my grand cat, was missing for a day and a half so my son called to see if I had seen her. She comes over quite frequently, coming in via the kitty door but I had hadn't seen her for a day or two. I decided to take a look around just in case she had gotten in the barn but the door is open enough so that she can go in and out so I knew she wasn't there. I came back into the garage and could hear a faint meowing and sure enough she was locked in the third garage where we keep the pickup! We don't use that unless it's really storming out so she must have gotten in there when Hubby took the truck and hid in the attic! There are plenty of things up there for her to sleep on but no food or water so I'm glad we found her when we did!!! She ran for home, went in and got something to eat and then went back out again!

Here's another shot of my hungry deer. They love their grain and usually fight over it but were actually sharing last night!

Spellcheck is back! Woohoo!!!!!!!!! Do I hear a collective sigh of relief? I was ready to give my first born child to blogger to get my spell check back!!! Thankfully I didn't have to, he might not have appreciated it.....

The Big Boys Are Back!

I'm not talking about the horses. I'm talking about the turkeys. I looked out this morning and the big males were back with the flock. Usually I have the hens and the juveniles together but today everyone showed up for their breakfast.


These are B.I.G. boys!

Momma deer caught me taking her picture this morning and we had a stare down. She won and I backed off. I took these pictures with my 300 lens, I have ordered a 500 and I am hoping you'll be able to count every eye lash with that one!

Mary over at Mary's Writing Nook has struck a cord with me as she has been writing about doing random acts of kindness. This has been something I have been trying to incorporate into my life since about a year ago when a lady was very kind to my mother at the mall one day. My mother has a pair of Crocs and was looking at the little buttons that go on them and found one that she really liked until she looked at the price and decided she wouldn't buy it. She left the store and in a few minutes this lady came up to her and gave her the little lady bug button with a smile and left.

Now this touched my mother's heart and mine too when she told me about it later. We have no idea who the lady was and will never know but that small random act of kindness will never be forgotten.

I had an opportunity to do somewhat the same thing a few weeks later. Now I am not telling you this to pat myself on the back in any way but to reinforce what these small things can do for someone else.

I was in the card shop and an elderly lady came in with her oxegyn tank in tow. She picked up a few cards and went to the check out counter to pay for them but her energy left her and she told the check out lady she would have to go sit down a while and could she come back and pay in a few minutes. She went out into the mall and sat down on one of the benches and I could see her from the store. I was next in line and asked the lady if I could pay for the cards and give them to the little lady that was trying to catch her breath and she said it was okay.

I took them out and gave them to her and just said have a nice day and smiled at her and left. I wish you could have seen the look on her face. It was so nice and she gave me the nicest smile back and said thank you so much. I hope I made her day the way it made my mother's day a few weeks before.

Again I don't tell you all this to make myself look like this wonderful person as I'm not but so that maybe it will inspire you to look for chances to do random acts of kindness and to make someone else's day a bit brighter! Thank you Mary for inspiring me!

In a nearby town we have a blind man named Dan who has one of the first seeing eye miniature horses. They have been on television and in magazines. This horse (and it is a horse not a pony) takes the man around town, through traffic lights the same way as a seeing eye dog will do. She is house trained so can live right inside. Her name is Cuddles.

She has even flown on an airplane in the cabin!

Here she is in full working harness. I have never seen her in person as I don't get to this particular town very often but would love to. You might see her on television some time so keep an eye out for her! Amazing isn't it???

We all love to get comments don't we? Well this morning one of my first blogging buddies KC over at Mindless Chatter Of A Busy Mom left me a comment that really gave me a good belly laugh and around here there is plenty of belly to laugh with!

On my previous post I had confessed to using my hairspray instead of my deodorant one morning and KC left a comment that said and I quote "when you style your hair you want it to stay in place...even if it's under your arms." I just thought that was a hoot, thank you KC for making my day!

Saturday Ramblings

Hubby and I can hardly see anything without our glasses. I am blind as a bat and he comes in a close second. This morning was one of the reasons why we should put our glasses on the minute we get out of bed. I used my Vavoom Freeze Spray hairspray for deodorant and he put cortesone cream on and used it to brush his teeth (briefly)! Are we pathetic or what?!! (Don't answer that!) Sigh.......

It's terribly foggy here today. Going across the bridge to go to the camera shop the fog was so thick you could hardly see anything. The haze was rising off the river just like in a Stephen King movie, very spooky. It's much warmer then usual for this time of year too which makes for big potholes to try to drive around if you can without hitting someone head on. Otherwise you go through them and are lucky not to knock a tire off or at least blow it. Spring like weather in February just doesn't cut it for me. If it's February I want to be out snowmobiling and playing in the snow not dodging potholes.

Whether you are a horse person or not you have to go over to Donna's and watch a 5 minute video that she has posted on her site. It may be a couple back by now but it's well worth the time to go take a looksy. It's called An Awesome Horse Video. This gal comes out on this incredible Quarter horse without a saddle or bridle and does a reining pattern sometimes at a full gallop plus a couple of slide stops that will just amaze you! I have never seen anything like it and I have been around horses for a long time. It's very heartwarming as this gals Dad passed away just 24 days before this and he must have been her trainer. Trust me, it's well worth seeing. Thanks Donna for posting it!!!!!!!

Was cleaning out some drawers the other day and came across this picture from 1980. We used to go to a small local horse show every Saturday night called Hermon Boots and Saddles. It was such fun and didn't have the stress of the large shows that we gradually started going to. We had an old ratty trailer, that probably wasn't fit to be on the road and carried our stuff on the back of the pickup. A real high class deal! lol! That's my son who is now 32.

Also found this picture of me in 1964 (I know, most of you weren't even born yet!) jumping my mare over a pretty bleak looking jump, bareback even! We never wore helmets back then, I just had a scarf over my hair. I was very brave back then or stupid......... Notice the old trucks in the background!


I don't know how old I was in this picture but by the looks I was pretty happy with that chemistry set! Can you even get those now? Notice the wall paper in our living room!

This was my dear grandmother in 1945. She had red curly hair and was the sweetest woman you would ever want to know. She passed away about 10 years ago due to Alzhiemer's disease.

This was my uncle, looks like he just got a new car! Don't know what year it was, oh I bet Cliff will know! What about it Cliff????

My FIL lives next door. He is 91 years old and an amazing man. He goes to work every morning at 7 o'clock and doesn't get home until 6 pm. He lives by himself as my MIL passed away about 15 years ago. The only household help he has is a gal that comes in once a week to clean and do laundry. We keep an eye out on him and he comes over and eats with us some but for the most part he does his own cooking too.

He needs a hip replacement. He has a lot of pain due to this hip but can't decide if he wants to have the operation done or not. He told Hubby last week that the replacement hips only last 20 years and he doesn't want to have it done again!!! Now is that a true optomist or what????

Hope you're all having a great weekend! :o)