We love horses...

taken quite a few years ago... (before hair turned white)

We love horses... or at least all the girls in our family do. I never owned my own horse growing up, but grew up riding at  local stables whenever I had the chance. At 9 my cousin and I rode his old mule, Buttons, everywhere around his place in Mississippi.  In college at LSU (as an Animal Science major) I had to take on both an Angus steer and a Quarter horse for show. It was an interesting experience. My steer, (a black Angus) whose name was "Monster", was cantankerous. He tended to kick me a lot. The little mare I had to show was  a sweetheart. She did well .

When our daughter was 8,  we gave her riding lessons at a local stable here in Texas. At 12 we had the opportunity to get her a 2 year old Quarter horse named Cider.  She was a beautiful little palomino filly. The two of them spent a lot of time together both at the barn and at shows.

Cider

But our daughter eventually grew too tall for Cider as Cider was only 14 hands. So we passed her down to another young girl at the stables... and got Smokey. Smokey was a 16 hand black Thoroughbred (couldn't find a pic). He was bought from the racetrack through the stables. She rode Smokey in hunter-jumper classes until it was time for her to go off to college. 

Then we had to find a home for Smokey. Paying to board a horse at a stables for 4 years with no one working him was not an option. We ended up giving him to the police department who used mounted horses for some of their events. We later heard that one of the men there became fond of him and ended up taking him home.

Now our daughter has a daughter of her own and she too rides. They started her riding at 3... and she loved it! She now rides in cross country events on Tootsie, her own quarter horse mare. They also have Hemi, Tootsie's sibling. 

And at one time they had Goliath, an absolutely gorgeous black Friesian (17 hands). But Goliath was abused at some point in his early life and was very skittish. My daughter bought him from the stables that had taken him in and she spent years working with him. He would follow her around like a big puppy. He was beautiful and he was sweet, but he was also unpredictable. Goliath died of serious colic... or torsion due to a twisted intestine a few years ago. We all still miss him.

Here are a few photos:  

oldest granddaughter starting to ride

oldest granddaughter loving it!

finally getting to canter...

Later with Goliath

and still later...

Granddaughter is now in college at A&M, but luckily my daughter has a barn on her property so Tootsie and Hemi will always have a home...

Now for an update on my strange symptoms: tingling sensations, light-headed and the original problem of waking up with my heart racing and headache (tested me for sleep apnea and heart problems - all negative). 

Well, we may have found the cause - borderline pernicious anemia due to low B-12, low D, and low MCHC. Apparently a low MCHC means not enough hemoglobin/oxygen in your cells. I'm thinking that during the day with me moving around, the oxygen is not a problem, but during the night when still and asleep, it drops to a point where I wake up with a headache and a racing heart due to lower oxygen and the heart beating faster to compensate. They say this is caused by the low B-12. So I'm taking B-12 injections. Hopefully this will help... 

And I just got my first Shingles injection Monday. No reaction as far as feeling bad, but my arm sure hurts and there's an area about 2x4 inches that is red and hot. I've been putting cold compresses on it. 

That's it for today! But I can't close this without saying how awful Hurricane Ian has devastated Florida. Praying for all those people there. Unbelievable how quickly life can change. Having grown up in Louisiana with hurricanes, I really wonder if the numbers and the strength of them are increasing due to climate change. I suppose it is a possibility.  When I googled this, I got some confirmation... but not anything conclusive. 

Closing this with a picture I took from Facebook that made both DH and I laugh. Technology vs Nature!

Love it!!

Hugs (virtual),

Rian

friends... so many kinds

We all have 'friends'... to different degrees. There's the one or ones we grew up (stayed close or just kept in contact) the ones we met along the way (some clicked, some didn't), work associates (again one or two who may have stayed in contact), and then the neighbors that have come and gone throughout our lives. 

I have only 3 real life friends, one I grew up with in New Orleans who has always been my bff... I know her family, she knows mine, we stood in each other's weddings, etc. She will always be very dear to me. But we don't see each other a lot. We do meet for birthdays and do go out to eat on occasion and text back and forth. I love her and always will. She lost her oldest daughter recently to Cancer. I can't imagine her pain... but we talk about it. 

Then there's my good friend that I met in my 20's here in Texas. Our husbands worked together and our kids were the same ages. We have been friends for over 50 years, took many a road trip together, and spent time in England, Ireland, and France together. Before the pandemic, we met once a week for coffee and talk. Now we have virtual teas and call each other to share what is going on... good and bad. She lost her husband this past year and is dealing with her BC returning and with surgery scheduled next week. I can only be there for her when she needs me. But she can't leave this earth. I need her.

The other one is a room-mate from my college days who lives alone in New Orleans and has a daughter with mental health issues. We are on the opposite side of the political issues, but have the same basic values and beliefs (which is hard to understand, but we agree to disagree there ).  She and I Skype and text... 

And now in this technological age, we have online friends and blog friends. This is a fairly new area and one that has become increasingly interesting... and useful. 

I think having online or blog friends is new territory that is becoming more and more popular... especially with the pandemic and people who live alone.  It also creates an environment which allows one to share things in writing that might be hard to share in words face to face. But of course, like everything else, one must proceed with caution.  Sharing too much personal info is dangerous in today's world.  

I have several online/blog friends that I do consider dear. Out of all that may follow me or those I may follow, there are only a few (probably 4-6) that I love to hear from and am interested in what is going on in your lives. I look for your posts and comments and am worried if I don't hear from you. How about you? Do you feel this way? We may never meet, but I do think of you as real friends and would certainly miss you if you stopped blogging. Sharing my life and your lives has become an integral part of my daily or weekly routine. 

I think it's important to have someone to talk to... whether it be about everyday life, health, or big important world issues. Growing up in the South, I was taught not to talk about religion, politics, or finances... and of course in my day, no one talked about sex. Those were the unwritten rules. Today I don't think there are any rules - except those concerning racial issues whereas anything and everything pertaining to any or all races seems to offend someone.

Not sure what the point of this post is... but I think it was to say that everyone is different and whether you have 3000 followers or 3 friends doesn't matter... if it works for you, then it's all good. (to be honest, I don't know 3000 people, probably don't know more than 30 - we're not terribly social) But I consider myself lucky because besides my 3 real life friends and my blogger friends, I still have DH, my 3 kids, grandkids, and my cousins to keep me in line! 

Something I didn't mention and probably should have are the friends we've lost along the way. With our advancing age, this isn't unexpected, but still hurts deeply and becomes something we must learn to accept - (if this is possible). As time goes by, the losses will only increase. Hopefully our ability to deal with them will get better with time...? 

Closing this now. Didn't mean to run on so. It's Friday so I hope you all have a wonderful cool weekend to enjoy. Fall is finally here! (I even bought some lettuce starts to plant in my veg trug)

Hugs (virtual),

Rian

Family weekend...

We have 3 kids. Oldest son is living in Texarkana at the moment. Daughter lives in the hill country around San Antonio, and youngest son just moved to Rockwall - which is about 30 minutes from us. 

Well, this week was our youngest son's 49th birthday.  So since our daughter was coming in to visit with a friend for the weekend, we went out to eat Friday night at a Mexican restaurant, then back to the house for cheesecake and coffee. 

Then Saturday night daughter's friend came back to our house for pizza and wine and spent the night. It was fun reminiscing about things that went on in the past (girls have been best friends since elementary school), and catching up on what was going on for them now (both have daughters now in college - one at A&M and one at Colorado State).

daughter (with hat) and friend by stables

granddaughter almost 21 years ago

daughter and granddaughter now

Time Flies...

On another note: I've really had the baking bug lately. Tried 2 more new recipes: I've never made oatmeal raisin cookies - mostly because I'm not too fond of raisins. But LaMadeleine makes really good and really large oatmeal raisin cookies. So I decided I would try making my own and use half the amount of raisins and add chocolate chips and pecans! They turned out pretty good. 

And then DH and I have been watching "Martha Bakes" in the evening when nothing else good is on TV. And something she made got me interested in trying her lemon drizzle on my teacakes instead of the usual almond flavoring. I used the lemon juice and zest in both the cookie and the drizzle and they also turned out well - and is a nice change. Here's a pic of them:

lemon teacakes

They are similar to sugar cookies, but not as sweet. Great with a cup of tea or coffee. 

And lastly, I've made a doctor's appointment this week to check on some strange symptoms that have cropped up lately. They are probably just more of those aged-related mysteries we have to endure as time goes by.

But lately (maybe the last 2 months or so) I've been getting some tingling (mild pins and needles?) sensations down my neck, sometimes down my back or legs, and recently on my head. They come and go... and I notice them more at night when I'm lying still. This as well as being a bit light-headed in the morning when I wake makes me wonder what's going on. 

I am low on B-12, so that could be a reason... or a pinched nerve? When I google these symptoms they come up with a host of possible problems... none of which I care to think about. So I thought I'd have it checked out. The only thing that makes me hesitate is that doctors always want to send you for a ton of tests... and I just dislike the thought of all that... or put you on medications 'to try'... (and I don't do well with meds). At the moment, I'm 77 and only take Tylenol and Vitamin D3.  I'm supposed to be taking Macuhealth for my eyes - and do (but not daily as I should).  

Anyway, if any of you have or have had these symptoms, I'd appreciate knowing what they could have been and if anything you did helped. Again... it might just be another mysterious age-related thing.

As always, thanks for listening to me rattle on. I will mention before I close this that I'm also watching (off and on) Queen Elizabeth's funeral. It is definitely the end of an era... and one that will be difficult to live up to. She was the epitome of grace and honor... and that doesn't mean that I agree with everything she did... but I respected her and the way she handled her obligations as Queen.

My dad and his family came to the States from London and I guess this made us pay attention to what was going on there throughout our lives. But from what I've been hearing and watching on TV, Queen Elizabeth life and rule has made an impact on almost every country in the world. She will be missed.

Take care. Have a wonderful week and know that I really do appreciate you being there and sharing this bit of life with me.

Hugs (virtual),

Rian 

(oh, and thanks to all of you who have checked out my new book. I do hope you enjoy it!)

just me again...

I've been baking a lot lately. Made a batch of home-made nutty granola and some of Martha Stewart's favorite chocolate chip cookies to send to my oldest granddaughter in a care package.  She is going into her 3rd year studying Urban Development at Texas A&M. She tells me she is interested in using Urban planning for firms that are hired out to incorporate green spaces such as parks into cities. Apparently this major encompasses some architecture...  which makes me think she may have inherited this desire since my dad, sister, and brother were all architects (I'm the odd one who went into Veterinary Medicine).

Unfortunately I forgot to take pics of any of my baking. But here is a pic of the granola taken in the past. 

Both these recipes are keepers. The nutty granola uses pecans, cashews, almonds, and Macadamia nuts. It is so-oo good. And the MS favorite chocolate cookies were a hit too. This was a new recipe for me (and I added not only chocolate chips, but a combination of  Reese's mini's, peanuts, caramel pieces, etc.). The cookies were large and I could only bake 6 to a pan... so I had to make several batches.

And I also baked a large banana nut loaf - because I hate to waste bananas and I had 3 getting soft. This is also a great recipe that comes from my King Arthur cookbook. It is so moist and tastes wonderful. I halfed it - putting half in the refrig for the boys and the other half in the freezer for later.

And I have to send you this video of Winston, my oldest son's dog. He recently had surgery and we sent him a Get Well gift which he received yesterday and we received this pic and video showing how much he liked his gift. You might have to enlarge the video, click on it twice and sometimes there is an option to enlarge to whole screen.

Winston had a real frog that used to visit him when they lived in Granbury. So we were looking for a toy that resembled a frog (but it had to be tough enough for a big dog to play with). This is the closest thing we could find... kind of a cross between a frog and a gator?  But he seems to like it.

Also my youngest granddaughter spent the night last week. She's been wanting to do this for the longest, but for many reasons (overcrowded computer room, no bed in upstairs 2nd bedroom, etc.) Anyway, since we finally furnished the upstairs guest room, we said, Sure! However, she didn't want to sleep up there alone, so I sent DH up there and she slept with me. It was fun. She is a talker... (and a kicker- restless legs?) and we talked late into the night. We had pepperoni pizza for supper and chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast! Here is a pic of her at the breakfast table with her eyes glued to her cell phone.

Guess that's all my news for today. Going to leave you with this cute meme I found that reminds me of Ghost - our departed gray kitty. She used to lay with me on my bed (my favorite spot to read) when I read in the afternoon and/or at night.

my favorite spot to read...

Ghost laying with Snuffy

 

and a few more funnies:

Really closing this now. Hope I didn't bore you to tears...  but outside of my book, "Carrick Cove",  finally being available on Amazon, life goes on as usual around here. 

I will recommend a series we've been watching on Netflix. It's called "Virgin River" and it's really good. 

Hugs (virtual),

Rian

And I heard about the passing of Queen Elizabeth today. I have to say that she was someone that I greatly admired and I doubt that anyone will ever fill her shoes...  but I do wish the best for King Charles and her family. 

Sept 1, 2022 Rabbit Rabbit! White Rabbit!... and more

Rabbit Rabbit! White Rabbit!

Yes, I did remember the Rabbit! Rabbit!... just didn't get to post this until this afternoon. We went out to breakfast this morning! Well, maybe it wasn't breakfast since it was 10:30 or 11:00... early lunch?? 

The reason we went was that we have been wanting to check out this place that was recommended to us a while back. Well, it was well worth its recommendation! This is what we had:

My BELT - Bacon, Egg, Lettuce, Tomato on  Gluten free toast

DH's Southern Benedict - sausage on a biscuit with an egg, and white gravy

Everything was very good... even the coffee (and the grits!) DH would have normally gotten hashbrowns with his Eggs Benedict, but he ordered the grits so I could try them. (I have this subconscious thing about judging a place by it's coffee and it's grits). Anyway, the place passed with flying colors. 

This may be a hodge-podge post with lots of unrelated pictures, but life seems to be this way lately... a bit erratic.  These next pics were sent to us by DH's brother in Houston. They have 2 beautiful Night Blooming Cereus... and they just bloomed a few days ago. This is what they look like. 

And they give off the most heavenly aroma! But... they only live a few hours and then the flowers close up and die. An amazing plant!

Oh, and this next pic is a succulent that was on display at our mall. They didn't have a name posted and we were wondering what it was?

Anyone know?

And then I saw this on Facebook and had never seen this Orchid mandis before. I've seen many live green preying mandis' - but this was unbelievable.

Isn't this something?

Well, enough of my ramblings, I'll leave you with a few posters that I like...

Thank you!

Again... it's Thursday and last Thursday I thought we were going into Labor Day Weekend... but oops! that's this weekend!  So I really hope all of you have a wonderful safe Labor Day Weekend!

(And do still be cautious - although things seem to be better, a neighbor of ours just recently lost her husband to Covid.)

Hugs (virtual),

Rian