Thursday Thoughts

It is cold today! When I checked the outside thermometer this morning it was -1*. This is the coldest it has been so far into this winter. Now snow wise we have had new record breaking amounts but we will see colder temps then this, hopefully not till February.

I went to the gym this morning and had other errands to do but I came right home. Sometimes it's just nice to be in where it's snug and warm.

I took some pictures of the darling little chickadees yesterday but they aren't very good at sitting still very long! If you look really close at the second picture you can see the wings fluttering. Hey, anyone out there know how to tell me how to be able to click on my pictures to enlarge them????

Bar-be-cue anyone????

The trees are still laden with snow from this last storm.

The snow is sure piled high on the bird feeder, looks like a hat!

Noodles knows what to do when it's cold outside..........

Remember making snow angels when you were a kid? Kids are still doing it today, some things just never go out of style! D was out behind Great Grampa's house making them the day we were sledding.

Great Grampa's house looks like a picture post card in the winter.

This is looking over at our barn from Great Grampa's house.

Just wanted to add a little color to this post!

The pot roast sure smells good, I hope it's cooked! Guess I'll be going out and buying a cast iron pot to cook in soon. Continued next time. Did we have pot roast or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner????? :o) Now is that a cliff hanger or what??????

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Wow! Have we been hit with tons of snow this week! Now I'm not complaining mind you, but it is noteworthy as it's the most snow we have had this early in winter for 100 years! Now that's a record!

Saturday morning Funsize, Ann and I went to the stable to see the guys. They don't mind the snow at all especially since they get nice hay put out for them to munch on all day. No green grass under all that snow!

Nick, Kipper and Skipper are in a different pasture so that all the big boys won't pick on them. Of course they fight amongst themselves like naughty little boys until we get their hay out to them! Notice the laid back ears!

Nick is embarrassed because he still has on the old hunter orange halter. Hey Funsize, how about a new halter????

Kipper looks like he is having a static hair day!



Came home and got the snowmobile out as the kids were coming over. We decided to do some sledding next door at Grampa's on his back lawn. It's a great place to slide, all the neighborhood kids come over to use it.

D was flying down the hill and tipped over but came right back for more! Dad was running a shuttle service back up the hill.

I decided to take a ride down with T. I'm the one that looks like Mrs. Conehead from Saturday Night Live!

Poor T, I think she is going to give up on riding with me on ANYTHING!

The kids got a new toboggan for Christmas and wanted to try it out.

We were all ready to come in and get warmed up after that. I had a nice yummy lasagna ready to go in the oven that was calling our names too....... It was a wonderful New Years Day! :o)

Friday Happenings

I just finished reading the pioneer woman http://thepioneerwoman.com/ and she has a new puppy. He is soooooooo cute. Now basically I am a cat person, well, actually Hubby is not a dog person which makes me not a dog person as we have to live in the same house but I digress...

Ree's new puppy looks like a beagle but it might be something else, not sure. Anyway he is adorable with the big floppy ears and soft muzzle. Too bad they have to grow up and lose that puppy look. Maybe that's why the pocket pups are so popular now that all the celebrities seem to be carrying around, they are small and keep that puppy look. Sort of.

It snowed last night and is supposed to again tonight. Yippee! Last night we only got 3 or 4 inches, just enough that the plowman thinks he has to come plow us out as if we couldn't get out of the drive way in 3 inches of snow. Now in some areas that might be a lot of snow but here in Maine it's just a 'dusting' and wouldn't stop anyone from going anywhere.

You know it's amazing how much better a scanner works if it is plugged in.........my computer guy got a real kick out of that 'repair'! So consequently I have been scanning my little heart out today with some of the horses that I have had in my life.

No this isn't a young Buddy, it is Smokey Jack an appy that we had about 25 years ago. We bought him from a struggling college student who couldn't afford to pay his board for $350.00 and it's the best money we ever spent on a horse. He went western, English, drove and was great trail riding. We did really well with him at the smaller regional shows. We had him for many years. Yes, that is a much younger me, oh to be that thin again, I'm depressed!

This is Joe's Ginger Snap an appy mare we got in New York state. She was a lovely mare and we showed her all over New England. We used her for Leadline, Trail, Western, English and Halter. Son was about 4 or 5. We had her also for many years and then she went on to be a side saddle horse for a lady in Massachusetts. The next picture is of her foal only a few minutes old and the next one she is a couple months old.

This is Skipper B Brave a leopard appy that belonged to my sister in law. He was gorgeous and a nice gentle guy with a big heart. We had him till J went off to college and then he went to a family that had him till he died of old age. Yes, that is me on the fence. I'm more depressed!



This next one is going WAY back and this is Misty Dawn a filly we raised from a foal. She was our surprise baby. We didn't know her mother had been bred when we bought her. I think I was about 12 years old then, she was about 2. The next picture is her mother Flicka a little grade mare that we bought from a local horse dealer. I remember the day vividly as Dad and I went out to look at the horses and came home with her on the back of the pick up truck. Didn't have a horse trailer back then! It was the most exciting day of my young life to drive into the drive way with her!! Little did we know that in a few months we'd have Misty Dawn. We had her until she was 17 and she died with a twisted intestine. I was devastated, I'd had her so long, she was such a big part of my life from such a young age but these things happen.



This next one is Comanche a paint that we had for a while. He was a nice horse and we used him for parades and trail riding, didn't show back then.

This last picture is of Son when he was about three years old. He had ridden his pony in leadline and won his first ribbon. I probably still have it tucked away some where. Sniff..sniff..

Now isn't he the cutest thing you've seen in a long time? Hey he's even cuter then Ree's new puppy! :o)

Christmas Day Fun

The big day is over and what a lovely day it was. Where do I begin? Well, I guess with Christmas Eve which is actually the biggest day for us here on the farm. We have a big crowd which is what I like, the more the merrier! The grand kids were excited and could hardly eat any supper but we like to get that out of the way first. I took the easy route and got Kentucky Fried Chicken with all the fixings plus others brought yummy stuff to add to the meal. The wassail was simmering on the stove which just fills the house with a wonderful aroma. We went through a serious amount of wassail! :o)

We opened gifts next and the paper was flying everywhere! What fun to watch the kids open their packages and see their eyes light up at the contents. Makes all that shopping well worth the while! T LOVED her Dis*ney princess dresses! She would put one on and wear it until she got another package with one in it and then she would change into that one. She told her Mom that she was going to sleep in one! Sorry the second picture is on it's side. My 'photographer' took a lot of the pictures that way and I don't know how to change them without putting them into Print Shop or something and that's way too much work today. Also I think the camera was on the wrong setting as most of the pictures are blurry. I'm glad hubby got me a new camera for Christmas as this one has been acting really bad lately.

This is T with her cousin. she has on her Enchanted dress with the hat, mittens and scarf set that she got. I think it goes good together, don't you? heehee!

D's favorite gift was his Leapster video game. It's so much fun the kids don't even know that it is educational! K's favorite was the new Monopoly game with the electronic banking system. He and T had fun playing it. They also liked their digital cameras that I found at Staples. They hook into the computer and they can do projects with the pictures they take.

What fun to be all together. The cousins have such a good time together. Making memories.

There is always the obligatory be-hind shot of me getting the gifts. I think I will stick this one on my refrigerator and maybe it will keep me on a diet!

Christmas morning the phone rang at 6:30 to let us know that T and D were up and ready to have their tree at home. I had to hurry and get the turkey in the oven and then we headed over. Once again there was excitement galore. Mimi and Bampie arrived from the lake and we had fun watching the grand kids that we share having such a good time.

We went home after awhile as I had things to get ready for our Christmas dinner. The guests arrived about noon and we all pitched in getting things done. I mentioned to my sister that we have it down to a science now, the girls get the ice and water in the glasses, SIL makes the gravy, sister whips the potatoes, the nieces get things put on the table and I over see everything seeings as I am bossy. :o)

After a leisurely meal we all clean up, have dessert and sit around talking, enjoying the fire out in the sun room. What a blessing to have our family close by so that we can all be together enjoying each other as some families hate each other. What a blessing that we love DIL's family and have such a good time together as some in-laws squabble and just can't seem to get along. What a blessing that we have a warm home and plenty to eat as a lot of families don't have that luxury. What a blessing to be able to celebrate our Saviour's birth in a country with freedoms that some other countries don't have. :o)