My family is everything. My life is full, thankful for my horses they fill my soul!
Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day. ~ Henri Nouwen
When friendships are real, they are not glass threads or frost work, but the solidest things we can know. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson Have a blessed week! ~Diana ❤
Welcome! Please enjoy a piece of my birthday cake! It actually was the perfect size to share with my daughter last weekend. I really wanted to write last weekend but by the time I returned from visiting my daughter on Sunday and taking care of my horse I ran out of time. I had one last birthday dinner with my hubby and son who I left behind when I visited my daughter up north. That dinner tasted great but we had to wait awhile to be seated and then the service was a little to be desired. It took almost 2 hours to eat which made it too late to write. I am making up for that as this is going to be two blog posts in one as I really wanted to join in on Walktober and share my post with Dawn! Can I get you a cup of coffee or tea as I share the happenings this month of October? I have a nice decaf as its the evening here in CA.
I’m not sure where to start as I believe the Walktober is suppose to be all about the Fall colors that are so vibrant and beautiful in all the areas that have that kind of foliage. Here in Southern California there isn’t much color change at all. We are more desert and I believe way too warm/hot and so I have photos of the new stables I moved to where there are a lot of trees, but they are very green. I was at the beach up North and there isn’t much change there either, or the right kind of trees. It’s still fun to share my area, and the month of October, my favorite month!
My first night at my daughter’s she brought me to Pismo Beach for the most delicious dinner at the Oyster Loft restaurant. She lives just 5 minutes from Pismo and I drove into some fog as you can see in the foggy photos of the town and the Pismo Beach sign. To the right of that sign is the pier and the ocean. We tasted two types of oyster’s with the Morro Bay oyster’s which are at the top of the photo being our favorites! Yummy!! I’ve never had duck, and that grilled duck was absolutely divine. It may not look like much but everything was grilled and the gastrique sauce was so FULL of flavor I couldn’t believe it. I’m thankful my daughter can afford to treat me at these foodie places. I was in foodie heaven!!
My daughter had a tuna tartare with avocado and cucumbers. She said it was delicious but I told her she should taste my duck and she loved it. I gave her a few more bites and later on in the weekend she said she can’t wait to go back to order her own grilled duck. It truly was that good! I’ll go back any day! Haha, I know we are loving something that isn’t seafood at an ocean restaurant, but wait, as I had my favorite seafood dish the next day!
I wish I brought different shoes which would have made my pants look nicer! Haha, the things you think of after the fact. I brought a nice blouse because it was a nicer eatery, and my daughter said the jeans are fine because its the beach. The food I had the whole weekend was definitely the best present my daughter treated and bought for me. Love her so very much! She also bought me a few things I found while we shopped as gifts. Oh she is SO MUCH FUN!! I am hoping some day (in the near future hopefully) we can move up near where she lives so we all can be closer. She is about 3.5 hours away. 😀
We drove to Solvang where we visited our favorite stores. We walked around a bit but spent the most time in our favorite Spice store and book store. I bought one of my favorite spices called Sweetie Tweetie, a blend the store created. I also bought two new spices to try and we also enjoyed the book store in Solvang. Afterwards we went to a Michelin star restaurant near Solvang for lunch. That is the two photos above where she had the egg salad sandwich with a yummy spread and I had the cheese crepe with the roasted tomato’s. We also enjoyed an appetizer of sardines with home made saltine crackers. DELICIOUS! And such a treat!
For my birthday I had my favorite, Pacific sanddabs with sweet potato fries and green beans. The last time I had these sanddabs at Ada’s I had scalloped potatoes as the side dish. We ended up going there for lunch instead of dinner and so I wanted to try a different side and the sweet potato fries were super yummy, the fish was AMAZING! My birthday weekend was so beautiful and it was so great to spend it with my beautiful daughter. I’m so proud of her and her accomplishments as a Major in the Space Force at Vandenberg Space Force Base. She brings me such joy!!
I so wanted to share my birthday weekend last weekend and I am not sure how this falls into Walktober other than it was a fun-filled October event. I know not everyone is a foodie and/or loves food photos but I was excited to share my adventures both in visiting, shopping and of the culinary kind. 😀 I’ll head into the rest of my October which is photos of my horse Murphy at our new boarding facility. There are tons of trees there, but no fall colors to speak of. Haha!
I can’t believe October is almost over and Halloween is next week! CRAZY! This year has flown by and the holiday season is right around the corner. I thank you so much for visiting with me today and I hope your October has been good to you. I will end with this fun photo my sister shared, and I hope she doesn’t mind me sharing here on my blog. It’s a sweet photo of Gracie who is up in horsey heaven now (my best friends horse). She was taught to smile for a treat, and I’m smiling right back! And there is a cool tree in the background!
I have to thank Natalie who hosts the #weekendcoffeeshare link up and for Dawn who is hosting the #walktober and I will share a link to her blog. I also want to thank all my friends and family who made my birthday so special and my sister who shared this photo, which I think of as a gift to me as I just LOVE IT!!
Have a wonderful day!
Love, Diana ❤
"If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins" ~ Benjamin Franklin
Welcome to my weekend coffee share! I still get an occasional rose bloom so I thought I would share. We are still pretty warm here, actually more than warm ~ how about hot! It’s cooling off at night though and we do get marine layer clouds that roll in through the night as the warm air over the ocean creates the low clouds and even some fog from time to time. I love the Fall as we are slowly seeing the leaves change.
We can see the change in weather in our horses too. They have been shedding their summer coats as they grow their winter coats. Murphy doesn’t get very long or thick hair in the winter which I am grateful for as if they grow too long, and it stays warm here they can get pretty hot during the day. I had to body clip (shave) off the hair on my horse Zack as he turned into a wooly bear every winter! I’ve shared that I body clip other’s horses for them. It’s a messy job with hair going everywhere but it’s fairly easy and they pay me for the job. I am body clipping a girlfriend’s horse this next Tuesday as a matter of fact!
I’m keeping busy working during the week and taking care of Murphy every morning. I shared that I was working on an ocean cross stitch which I’ve completed and I have started a new one. Here is a photo of the new one so far, I am almost half way complete. 😀
I made the photo into a square and it zoomed in, so close up! Haha, the whole thing will be twice this size as this is just the top half of the project. I am working on the sun in the left corner. I thought I shared my finished ocean project and was going to link it here, but I can’t find it and as I look I don’t think I shared the completed cross stitch. I’m also going to share what the one above looks like completed. The saying is a Native American Proverb. I’m loving how this is turning out so I may keep this one and gift the other one I just finished. I haven’t decided yet!
The ocean cross stitch was suppose to be stitched on a dark blue or navy blue fabric which would have made the white stitching pop even more. I happened to have this gray fabric and thought it would still look good. I think I will frame it with a navy blue border as that should help it pop better, I hope! I am always changing things up. The new one I am working on called for the white fabric as you can see in the photo of the completed project. I decided to follow directions with this one and I am falling in Love with it!
I just love creating things with my hands. Much like sharing and writing here, the creative process is so rewarding. I am wanting to crochet, but if I start another project I won’t have time to finish what I am working on, so I tell myself one thing at a time! I am more motivated to complete one when I stick to it so I can move on to what stirs me to make next!! 😀 Do you like to do crafts of any kind? I know many find creativity outside too, for example in their gardens. Or playing and creating music, I miss my piano!!
Onto my other love, my outdoor time with Mr. Murphy! He has settled in so nicely at the new barn. We are slowly developing a nice routine. It was much like the routine I had at his old barn but one huge difference is minus the grassy areas. I do not miss all the grass at all. It became a challenge walking over the grass and try and keep Murphy from stopping to eat. He is so huge, I had to create a queue for him to understand we were all done grazing. Here at the new place there isn’t any grass and he gets plenty of hay to eat almost all day long. He is more respectful and pays attention since there is no “candy” he is walking over, haha! What a nice change!!
I am so excited I can ride any day I want to and every day if I so choose too! There are no turn outs allowed in the arena. This means it is open and available for any rider at any time. We did ask about the rain and the owner said he will close it for one day and then drag it and it will be ready the next day. That isn’t a problem, and it keeps the footing better so they know how to take care of arenas! I am beyond happy making this move to this new barn. I missed riding, as it was very difficult at the old barn to get the arena to ride. They use the arena there as a turn out where people leave their horses lose sometimes for hours. I did use it for a turn out too, but I watched my time where many didn’t seem to care.
I just want to kiss his nose! Such a sweetheart! He did really good for the first time tied to the rail near my tack room. There was a rail just like this one at the old barn that I had been practicing with so he knows he’s to stand there but he plays with the lead rope and sometimes unties himself! Haha, silly guy! Also, I am too lazy to take off the chain over his nose, but I never tie him or attach the cross ties to the chain as that would be dangerous if he pulled back or spooked. Same at the tie rail. The lead rope is attached directly to his halter. You can see the clip in the above photo is attached to the halter. I need the chain because he knows he is huge and he knows without the chain he can pull Mom around and isn’t as respectful. Anyways, I can go on and on with all the horsy fun I have each day. This is long enough and I thank you for sharing a cup of coffee with me today as I muse about my sweet Murph and my crafty fun.
I usually thank Natalie for all she does for the link ups to our coffee shares but she is on a blogging break as she has had a death in her family. My heart goes out to you Natalie and your family, sending hugs. I enjoy sharing with you all. I hope you all have a wonderful week and October! This is my favorite month of the year, my birthday is next weekend and I will be spending it up north with my daughter! YAY! ❤
Horse crazy, crafty loving gal,
~Diana ❤
I can’t believe it is October 1st! I was stressing myself out for this last weekend as I worried about moving my horse Murphy to a new stables. I can worry needlessly as all my worries were for nothing as the move went really smoothly. The first thing I moved was my tack room with the help of my hubby and his nice big truck!
I have too much stuff with all my hanging bridles, halters and miscellaneous things. There is so much to go through and lots I want to try and sell or I’ll donate. I will work on everything little by little. Some of the collection of stuff was donated to me from my riding sister (I am one of 6 kids and only one sister is a horse back rider like me.) She has moved to Idaho. I have shared her riding Murphy as she’s come often to visit (if you follow my blog). Now, a lot of my horse things like extra bridles for instance will not fit Murphy as his head is bigger than the average size horse. It is nice to have extra tack in case you need it but if it will never fit him, I am thinking it will be time to sell. This is a work in progress!!
My hubby was invaluable as he helped me prepare for Murphy’s move. After we moved the tack room stuff, the next day was preparing his stall. The stable owners provide the mats where my husband is sweeping. I bought mats some years back that is in Murphy’s stall at the old stables. With my husbands truck and C-clamps to help pull and move the mat’s we moved 7 mats from one stables to this new place. The 7 mats will help pack down the new dirt the owner put in the stalls to raise them up and with the mats it will help keep the stall drier when they urinate and easier to clean. All the mats I moved are covered in shavings. The entire stall is not matted. There is a section in the middle that is just dirt with shavings on top if Murphy prefers to lay down there. I also do not have enough mats to cover the entire thing. I would have to go buy more which I am not planning to do. I think it looks great and Murphy should be happy with how it is set up.
Move day for Murphy! I stressed and stressed over this day!! I’m so crazy, but I stressed myself out of stress – haha – seriously, I got so tired of thinking he was going to be horrible walking 4 houses down the trail and down a very long driveway with dogs barking in one of the yards, I exhausted myself and had to tell myself I know what I am doing, after all I’ve been riding for 53 years! I’ve got this I told myself. Once the stress and nerves went away, I knew we both would be fine. He is just super tall and he did jump up a little as he got closer to the new stables, but nothing I couldn’t handle.
I knew I couldn’t get Murphy over to the new stables unless he was following another horse. My best friend who already moved her horse to the new place rode to me so Murphy could follow her back to the new place. It worked perfect. Once we arrived at the new barn, he was standing as tall as a giraffe! looking everywhere like where the heck are we? You are a good boy I told him, and I decided it best to get off. We didn’t know what to do once at the new place and with his stance and he’s so huge I decided let’s just put him in his stall.
The photos above are from his first day. He was a little nervous but settled a bit and started to eat. He also called out with a loud whinny as he misses his buddies at the old barn. He called most of the afternoon now and again. I went back in the evening and he was fine and I didn’t hear him call out. He seemed fine and made it through the night without incidence. ❤
I am so thankful that the round pen at the new place is really big. It’s almost twice as big as at the old barn. The only thing I was worried about is the really high fencing. Many trainers/ranches purposely put up high fencing in the round pen so that the horses can’t see out so there are no distractions when you are working your horse in the pen. The problem is, they can feel more nervous because they can’t see any herd mates and can really freak out if you leave the pen and they are in there alone. It was no problem letting Murphy be in there by himself as he could easily put his head over the fence and see me and all the other horses! He was very calm and never ran around crazy. He is so leveled headed, he amazes me and I couldn’t be more proud!
Day two with Murphy went wonderful. After the round pen I decided to tack him up and introduce the arena to him. I decided to hand walk him all around the arena to sniff and see everything. I didn’t bring my phone with me so I don’t have any photos of the arena. I will get more photos soon for future posts.
He was such a good boy. Along one side of the arena are trees, much like the last place we were at and you can’t see through the trees very well, so there’s always a chance they can spook if they hear rustling of the leaves or something they can’t see. There are a handful of goats that live next door beyond the trees which we could see through a small opening and he was fine looking at them and watching them. It was so wonderful to walk all around, the riding and bonding we did just filled my soul. He is so much fun!
I thought this was enough for the second day at the new barn. We went to the cross-ties and I groomed him and we went back to his stall. He was such a sweetheart and I didn’t have a problem with anything we did together. He entered is stall like he’s lived there forever and I prepared his lunch/grain which he was looking for and he was a happy camper! Those are the photos above! Him eating his grain out of his bucket and then eating his hay lunch. 😀
My girlfriends horse Roscoe has boarded at this stables a couple years ago and for about a year. He was moved back a few days before I arrived with Murphy. Roscoe is who I followed on the trail and I am so thankful my best friend could help me out by being the lead horse. I haven’t been off the property on the trail with Murphy for many, many months. I pulled back from the trail riding so that I could concentrate on training in the arena so Murphy and I could bond and I could teach him more things to be a better, safer riding companion. We are getting there!
Thank you for coming along with me on the start of my new adventures with these two boys and the new stables! Today was the first day in a long while that I felt so happy and at peace. I think reconnecting with my best friend has helped heal my heart. After losing my sweet Chloe in May, my heart has been sad. I’ve also been having some family issues that still linger, praying for my family every day. But I need to keep going forward and try and enjoy each and every day!
Grateful, Horse Loving Gal,
~Diana ❤
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