Friday Happenings

I only got to the gym once this week. It has just been one of those crazy weeks.

Do you ever notice when you do things out of order you get mixed up for days? I can't be the only one with this dilemma. This week has been totally changed around and I have been struggling to stay with the program. Today seems like Saturday as I always ride with my friend Ann and Funsize on Saturday but we had to go today as we are going to visit Hubby's sister tomorrow. I told them I would probably get up and go to church tomorrow as it seems like it should be Sunday. They told me I would be the only one there.

It is snowing again today. Again. Yes, again. It has snowed all day but we haven't got much over an inch or two. It's that fine half sleet half snow stuff. The poor people in Northern Maine are getting tons again. I just don't know what they are going to do with all that snow. It's six feet deep in some places already!

We gave the horses a good brushing this morning. Some of them are really shedding monstrous amounts and some are hanging onto that winter coat for dear life. They were out enjoying the snow and rolling around in it. They all need a bath but not in this weather.

I've been working on a project this week in my sewing room. We still haven't heard whether our totes and kids towels will be accepted for the craft show in Camden in July. Everything has to be juried to see if it's what they are looking for to sell in this particular show. Lots of tourists will be at this one so I thought I would make up quite a few coastal themed totes. Once we get the word the fur will fly and we won't see the light of day for quite some time!

I got this in an e-mail this week. Evidently this man has been feeding the bears in his back yard for over 25 years! He just kind of hangs out with them like they were his pets or something. I think he is tempting fate on this deal! They sure do look like they are part of the family though don't they???? I guess I wouldn't be late with their supper any night!




The turkeys have been eating me out of house and home lately. A couple of them are really mean looking dudes! Can you see that horn looking thing above this guys beak? Anyone know what it's called?

This guy was really strutting his stuff. Now admit it, some of you are thinking Thanksgiving dinner aren't you????

This little guy is what keeps Noodles and Munchkin occupied for hours on end every day. They set very quietly and watch him just waiting for a chance to pounce on him and have him for lunch. They have been doing this all winter so I guess he's pretty safe.

Came across this old picture today. This was my family back in the early 1960's I would guess. I am the middle child (I know you all could tell that anyhow) with the long ringlets. My mother used to wind them around her finger after shampooing my hair. I didn't appreciate the curly hair then or in high school but do now! :o) In high school I, or one of my roommates would iron it to straighten it out as long straight hair was all the rage then.

Guess I'd better get packing as we head out to Boston tomorrow. Just a quick trip but will be nice to see SIL and all her family. Have a good weekend everyone! :o)

The Milkman

Now I know I am dating myself with this but how many of you had a milkman? Back home on the farm we didn't always as we had fresh milk straight from the cow every day. It wasn't pasteurized or homogenized and in the spring when the cows first went out to eat the new grass we always said that it tasted 'green'. I didn't like it those few weeks before it went back to tasting normal.

My grandmother used to 'separate' the cream from the milk in the milk room and make what we called 'cows' butter or 'real' butter. It sure had a lot more flavor then margarine and probably is one reason I have a tendency to spread it on thick on my toast like we did 'back then'.

When hubby and I were first married we had a milkman. He came twice a week and left the milk in a box on the front steps that was sort of like a cooler only it wasn't made out of Styrofoam. It was so handy to have the milk delivered and I missed it when they stopped that service. It seemed like such an inconvenience to have to go to the store to pick up milk. I guess I don't know where I was going with all this, I guess I just liked the graphic. :o)

We were watching the deer out back tonight while we sat in the sun room. I had the floodlights on and the lights inside off so we really had a good view of them. They don't all look alike you know. Some are prettier then others. Tonight there was one that was really outstanding, the Faith Hill of the crowd. Not that she was singing mind you, but I think Faith along with being a wonderful singer is very beautiful.

Also there are some that are rather bland looking. Can't you hear the bucks along the edge of the woods saying, "oh, look at that one, what a dog! I wouldn't date her if she was the last deer in the woods!"

We really enjoy our deer. Our land is posted so that they have a safe place to live. I don't enjoy them when they eat my shrubs and flowers though. I buy this terribly putrid smelling stuff to spray on things so that they won't eat them. I looked out the front window a couple nights ago and one was almost looking me straight in the eye as she was munching on a shrub! Stick to the grain I put out my pretties or I may un-post my land! (I can here my family saying, yah right, as if that is ever going to happen!)

Isn't this the cutest thing you've ever seen?? We had hamsters and guinea pigs when we were kids and I loved how they filled their pouches with their food.

Made the appointment with our vet this morning for spring shots and check ups for all the horses. He can't get here till April 25th so I'm glad I didn't wait any longer to call! We are so shorthanded for large animal vets here in Maine. It's really hard to get anyone to come here to practise on large animals when they can stay in the comfort of their warm offices and take care of small animals.

While in Florida we went by a vet clinic that has 22 vets on the road for large animals and 10 small animal vets! We struggle here with maybe 5 large animal vets for a tri county area and it's a good thing I have a trailer as some people don't so they have no way to haul in and have to wait a long time to get things done.

Got to get T signed up for her riding lessons that start in May. D doesn't have any interest at this point but I am hoping he will eventually want to ride. You can't push it with kids, they either like it or they don't.

Some of you have asked me where I get my graphics. If you go into my credits at the bottom of my post you'll see Hug Bug in there. If you click on that it should take you to the site where I get them. They have HUNDREDS of different themes of graphics to chose from. You have to buy them and get permission from the company to use them in a blog but it's worth it especially if you do a lot of scrap booking and crafts.

We are expecting some snow tomorrow. Sigh........ Northern Maine has set a record this year of 189 inches of snow so far, we are still at about 100 and it has dropped a lot but still has a long way to go. I guess it's time to put the snowmobile away for the season though. The trails are rough as there is no soft powder to cushion your ride. You just hate to pound your machine to death on rough trails let alone your body.

I can't decide whether to watch American Idol or Dancing With the Stars. Oh such decisions to make!

Saturday and Sunday

Don't 'cha just love the slippers?!

It's a sunny but blustery day here in Maine today (Saturday). The winds last night took several sections of roof off the indoor arena at the stable where my 5 guys live in the winter. The owner had been to Home De*pot and picked up replacement sections but I hope she waits till the wind dies down before she climbs up on the roof as she could get blown right off.

The boys all wanted to go out in the pasture despite the wind and with their long winter coats they will be warm and stay behind the barn out of the wind. We turned the three little boys out in the inside arena and they jumped and leaped and ran and kicked and snorted and anything else they could think of until we decided whether to put them outside or not.

Kipper, my little Welsh pony hit some ice with his back feet and they went right out from under him and he landed right on his fat little behind! It didn't hurt him at all thankfully and he jumped right back up and then went to roll in the snow with the others.

These are a couple of pictures of T grooming him two summers ago. She is my little barn rat and just loves doing anything out there including mucking stalls. I hope she still enjoys it when she is old enough to really clean them out and take the Gator and dump it!

I'm anxious for the boys to come home but it will be another month before they can. We've had so much snow and rain it will take longer for things to dry out enough in the pasture so that they can be out there.

This picture was taken last summer, it's one of my favorites.

I have met a few new bloggers that are into quilt making so I thought I'd post a couple of pictures of some quilts that I have made. This one is Texas Star and was really fun to make with a grid. Very easy!


This is a fun appliqued one that I made for D to hang on his wall in his bedroom. Again it was really fun and easy and a good way to use up a lot of leftover scraps.

This is just a little wall hanging that I made for DIL one Christmas. Hummmm...I like it I think I will make myself one...

Well I can't find my quilt file so I guess it's so much for that idea of showing you a lot of quilts. I'll have to take some pictures although I don't have too many quilts around here as I give most of them away. I must have several thousand pictures in files on my computer, well actually I have them on a back up Maxtor thingy so that if my computer crashes I won't lose all my pictures. BE SURE YOU ALL DO THAT! YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN YOUR COMPUTER MIGHT DECIDE TO UP AND DIE ON YOU!





Sunday:



We had a lovely Easter. The church was full to the brim, the message was thought provoking and meaningful, and the music was good as we celebrated the resurrection of our Lord. It was such a blessing to set there with my family and take it all in. We came home to a ham dinner and yeast rolls that had risen right out of the pan and over the edges! I baked them off anyway, we ate a few and the rest went out back for the deer to munch on tonight. I can just hear them talking amongst themselves about what an awful cook the lady is that lives in this house!! :o)



WHERE IS SPELLCHECK? IT'S DISAPPEARED AGAIN! WAA-WAA!

This And That

It is Thursday already, it seems like I should still be in the sunny south soaking up some rays and eating all the yummy things at The Golden Corral buffet. My waistline tells me I indulged too much but oh was it worth it!

I have lots of odds and ends to attend to today so here goes.

BJ over at Sweet Nothings is having a give away that only has a few days left to enter so run over and take a look at the adorable rooster plate that she is giving away on Saturday! Actually let me see if I can paste and copy the picture........isn't that pretty!!! Of course I am going to win it so I don't want the rest of you to be too disappointed!

Stephanie over at Mississippi Songbird gave her regular readers two nice awards this week. Thank you Stephanie, I love them and will proudly put them on my sidebar! I also would like to pass them along to my regular readers to enjoy. Admit it, awards are so much fun to get, I think it makes us all feel special.

I had a nice surprise when I got home from Florida waiting for me. Myrna over at Cherish the Word had a give away that I won (see me smiling!)! It was Jan Karon's latest book in the Mitford series called Home To Holly Springs. If you haven't read the Mitford series you are really missing out. I have read all of them so far and they are a delight! I will read this one and then pass it along for some one else to enjoy. Thanks Myrna!!!!! xoxox

I want to announce that my dear niece Jo-Lynne better known as dcrmom is now designing blogs! She has a real fresh approach to her designs that are fun and eye catching. If you are in the market for a new design check her out at dcrdesigns! She also has been selected to go to Disney World in April for a Mom's Blog Seminar, all expenses paid!! Congratulations Jo-Lynne, I know you will have lots to contribute to the seminar!

Now I am going to do something that grandmother's do occasionally....... ahem.....I am going to brag about my granddaughter T! She is in kindergarten in a school with about 110 other youngsters. They have an art program and every year pictures are chosen to be displayed at our local Mall. The pictures are by students from K through high school and T's picture was chosen to represent her school. (grandmother with another big smile) Of course we had to go out and see it on the wall and take a picture 'cause that's what grandmothers do! They were supposed to draw something with shapes, designs, along with the subject which is a cat. She said it is Noodles. Good job T!
Have to put in just a couple more Florida pictures from our mini adventure.

Back Home Again!

Jet lag even without time changes.

It's always good to get back home after a trip. My sister and I had a wonderful time visiting with our parents for a week in Florida and the weather was glorious. Sandals for the feet and T shirts and capris were the dress for the week. It seemed funny putting on a pair of jeans this morning to fly home in. Our snow has dropped considerably since we have been gone and the temps are in the 40's which is not bad at all seeing as it was 12* when we left.

We went one day to the mini horse show and it was so much fun! Those little guys are just so adorable and could almost fit in your lap if you wanted. I took tons of pictures but will only put a few of my favorites in here today. This little guy was in a halter class and just looked fabulous! I could have put him right in my pocket and brought him home!

This is the one I wanted. We went to a mini farm to see the babies and what was for sale. Bad Move!

Yes, that is me with a blouse, sweater and plaid jacket on (real fashion statement). That was the only cold day we had and we had to stop at the tack shop and get jackets to wear over our short sleeved sweaters. I'm not really that big......ahem......it's all the clothes............

This little girl is named Lacey and she is a yearling. She has the sweetest disposition and will only get about an inch taller. IF I were to buy one she would be the one. BUT with five equine mouths to feed I don't need another one. When she sheds out she will be a real dapple gray with the white mane and tail. I was soooooooooo tempted!

There were babies everywhere and they were so small you could pick them right up in your arms if you wanted to.

This little one looked like he hadn't combed his hair yet that morning!

Look at the gorgeous mane on this little guy!


Ocala is the place to live if you are into horses. Horses of all kinds from 18 hand warmbloods to these little minis. Our friends took us around and showed us all the farms, or I guess they call them ranches there. Everywhere you looked there were huge pastures with horses grazing and big horse trailers parked beside the barns. There was every riding discipline from eventing to dressage to western. It was a fun filled day and I wish we had had time to go the other two days but we wanted to spend the time with our parents and do things with them. We took a few pictures of them out on the front lawn. They are celebrating their 64th wedding anniversary today, the 18th! Still in love after all these years!

This is a bit of the local wildlife.

Now I know I'm a bit of a redneck but I've always wanted to go to Tractor Supply. We don't have that here in our part of the woods and I was sure I would walk in and see George Strait standing there greeting everyone like the Wally World greeters. He wasn't there! Now isn't he the spokesman for Tractor Supply?!!! I feel cheated! Seriously though they did have great Wrangler jeans and overalls plus boots, shirts, jackets and the regular grain store stuff. I got myself, T and D new overalls and Hubby a new shirt. I think I will write a letter to the corporate headquarters though and complain 'cause George wasn't there. They didn't even have his songs playing in the background........

We did a lot of shopping while in Florida. Our favorite place for sportswear is Beall's. I think we went there five times. I had to ship home a box full of stuff as I only took one suitcase. We also ate out a lot..........a lot........ We hit Golden Corral about four times, Ruby Tuesday, Pizza Hut, Cracker Barrel, Hardees and a few more spots.

We had a hotel debacle on the way home. Will write about that next time!!

Hello from Florida!

Hi all! It's lovely and warm here in the sunny south! The weather has been just gorgeous since my sister and I have been here. It was 12* when we left Maine last week. I'm going to have lots of adorable pictures of the miniature horses when I get home. We went up to the show yesterday and may go up again tomorrow for the last day. We hooked up with friends from Maine that live down here in the winter time and they took us to a huge mini farm and we saw lots of new babies. They are just soooooooo cute!!!!!! I am totally smitten but decided with 5 horses at home I don't need to bring any more home!

I have gotten a couple of weird comments on my last couple of posts so if you are reading the comments and it just says 'read here' DON'T click on it. I will deal with it when I get home. Why is there always someone out there to try to spoil things?

Anywho that's all for tonight. Will be home on Tuesday and catch up with you all. I have read some but don't have my addresses here on Dad's laptop so can only go to the ones I can remember. With my memory the list is short!! :o)

Things From the Past

Got a cute forward the other day that I really could relate to. Now I know I am dating myself with these pictures but I think I have a lot of company out there in Bloggityville! This isn't the whole list but a few of my favorites!

How many of you had a Brownie camera?



I loved going to Micky D's on the way home from boarding school on the weekends. I actually could eat two cheeseburgers, a strawberry shake and fries and didn't suffer from it after!



Green stamps. The more books filled that you had the bigger and better the prize you could select. They would start burning a hole in my pocket and I would give in and go to the redemption store and cash them in before I got very many books filled.

We used to make these chains out of folding gum wrappers. I preferred Juicy Fruit wrappers as they were yellow and prettier. Wish I could still remember how to do it.


Couldn't go by a week without watching Timmy and Lassie!

We had one of these old wringer washers that Mom would use every week or several times a week actually. No dryer then, the 'ole clothes line did the drying.
Last but not least is the Jiffy Pop popcorn. We thought that was really high tech in those days but boy did it stink if you burnt it on!!! P.U.

It's getting to be that time again. We have several craft fairs that we are considering so we have to get our noses back to the grindstone and get some things made. My inventory is very low so I can see I am going to have to cut down on my blogging time a bit when I get back from vacation. Sigh....

T's birthday is this week so we are celebrating the night before we leave on our trip. It just doesn't seem possible that she is going to be 6 years old. I remember the day she was born just like it was yesterday. Mimi and I had the privilege of being present at the birth. It was one of the most exciting and memorable times in my life to see that new little girl being born. I will never forget it and will always be in debt to Son and DIL for inviting us to be a part of that day. HAPPY BIRTHDAY T! WE LOVE YOU!

I'm trying to get things done before I leave. Why does one have to clean the whole house before one goes away? Is this OCD or what??? Also all my horses have to be clipped, brushed, washed (if even only a spit bath as it's so cold) before I go. It is shedding season so there is a lot of work to be done. Yesterday Buddy got a partial bath as he is a slob in his stall even with all the extra shavings that I buy so that he can have a plush bed. He manages to poop right in the middle of it and then lay in it. Gross I know but I try to keep it real on this blog! lol! It's still not warm enough to body clip them but I at least can do the whiskers and bridle paths. Makes me feel better and they could care less. Funsize is going to keep an eye on them while I'm gone.

At lunch today we were talking about trail riding and gearing up for the summer. T was with us and she is excited about doing some trail riding. Of course I will keep her on a long line until we see how the pony is going to act, especially on the way home towards the barn. As you horsey people know they always go faster on the way home!

My Hubby sent me a nice e-mail yesterday that touched my heart and I am going to share it with you. I don't think he will mind. It is a song that he found in one of his songbooks.

The Autumn's Coming On

Thru changing seasons we've shared life's little days
Still in Love
Though Autumn's Coming on
It seems unreal, our souvenirs still look so new
We reminisce and must confess that this is true
We sang lullabies to babies cries of spring time
O how the time seemed to fly
We had scarcely put the crib away when like magic
We looked up the aisle and beheld a lovely bride
We waved goodbye, as one by one they joined life's parade
When at bugle call, he stood proud and tall - there went our baby:
Those seasons change. hand in hand we travel on
Still in Love though Autumn's coming on

It does seem like life goes awfully fast. Enjoy your little ones because all to soon they are grown and on their own. I'm sure at times with dirty diapers, sleepless nights, scattered toys and all the rest the days seem long but believe me it goes way to fast! Take time for the little things, it doesn't matter if the house is spotless, have a canned whipped cream fight with your kids out on the lawn, they won't remember whether the bed is made or not but they will remember the fun they had doing that. Trust me on this. :o)

See you all when I get back from Florida in a week! Tina I will be thinking of you while I sit under the palm trees!!