Picture Perfect

     I look around and see beauty everywhere.  Sometimes it is what people call "picture perfect."  However, getting a perfect picture to capture it is not so easy.  As the sun moved, hitting the ornamental grass in an ever changing view, it was so pretty.  I took several photos trying to catch the artistry, but this is the best I could do.  It still doesn't show the beauty I saw in that instant.  A photo just can't capture the warm sun, gentle breeze and smell of fall leaves... which also made it a picture perfect moment.

     "That Winning Feeling" book I have been reading teaches the rider to visualize a skill they are trying to master, done picture perfect... then that positive imagery will carry over to it's accomplishment.  I have been trying to do this with Roni... but maybe subconsciously I envision failure, because I don't often get what I am wanting.  Maybe I can't really picture what it is I want nor do I know what I should be doing or what Roni should be doing to get it.  

     Saturday morning there were two poopie dog messes on the dining room rug awaiting my clean up.  I couldn't get Kaysha to go potty Friday night because it was pouring down rain before I went up to bed.  I knew I was taking a gamble... and I lost.  Not a picture perfect start of the day.  Lately, Kaysha has been acting very strange.  She has been stressing out regularly.  She will start barking, or growling for no apparent reason.  She will stand panting and trembling or wanders and paces all over the place.


     She acts very concerned, even when it isn't storming or raining.  I don't know if it is her age or what.  She has been needing to go out to the bathroom more frequently, but that doesn't seem to be why she is so nervous.  With all the rain (and some storms) we have had,  I have been leaving her untied, so she can roam the house, because she seems less stressed when given this freedom.  

      Joe helped me with lots of winterizing and party pick up jobs outside.  I brought in the rest of the plants, re-potted some, got all the hoses drained and stored away, and cleaned out more from the flower beds.  Courtney came late in the afternoon to try a saddle on Zorro.

     A silly horse for a silly young lady.  Courtney got Zorro cleaned up while I did the same with Roni.  Then we switched Amiga and Zorro and got her and Roni ready to ride.
   
     After some round pen work, we gave it a go out in the side pasture.  The cows darted around at first, but then decided to ignore us. 


     It wasn't picture perfect riding, but we had a good time.  Amiga did fairly well and Courtney did a very nice job with her.



     Before Courtney left, she helped me out by giving all three horses their worming medicine.  It was picture perfect... first time for her to get it in all three horses without any coming back out, which usually makes a mess on their face, on Courtney and goes to waste.  She has become a pro at this job.  Joe was off playing cards and Dan at Valencia's, so I had a quiet night at home, except when the dog had barking/stressing out episodes.

     Joe and I went to early Church and then dropped by Courtney's to store 3 of my aquarium/hamster cages.  It was part of my d-clutter project.  Joe was off to golf with the guys and I came home to an upset dog.  I just don't know what sets her off.  I took her on  a walk which helps her relieve stress.

     It got up to 70 degrees and turned out to be rather warm Sunday.  The cows were so glad to have me come fill their water bucket.  The horses relaxed in the shade of the trees.

     After a ten minute (not so picture perfect) trailer loading, Roni and I were soon at Moraine View and ready to enter the woods for a scenic walk.



        And scenic it was!











    
     Different parts of the woodland displayed different colors.  I did not forget to occasionally look over head at the canopy of color we were also under.  It was a gorgeous day for a ride.

     Sometimes I took the path less often taken.  Because the undergrowth was so scant in some places, I had troubles discerning where exactly the trail was.  Like off roading, I was kind of forging a new trail.

     Roni always perks up when we return to the campground, but I never let him rush back.  He has done very well with this, which used to be a real problem.  The campground was deserted when we got there, but by the time Roni was ready to load, a couple had ridden in to get a drink, but said they were going to head right back out.  Perfect timing I thought... so I cut Roni's grazing time very short and loaded him.  The man was walking over to see if I was going to need help,
                                                     and that was all it took for Roni to
decide to get right on the trailer.  So... when we got home, I gave him grazing time.  I had put Amiga in the paddock with less grass and left Zorro out front.  I thought it would be good for them to be alone, separated from each other while I was gone with Roni.  Zorro followed us up the drive and Amiga greeted us at the gate.

     I am always tired after a ride, not that it is that much exercise, but I wanted to call it a day.  So after chores, including stall cleaning I hadn't done in the morning, I came in to cook dinner.  I used a Mongolian Beef seasoning mix to put with some stew meat I had thawed, along with veggies and noodles.  It smelled and looked good, but with the first bite, I was very disappointed.  It was way to spicy for my liking.  I ate a small serving but then treated myself to a bowl of ice cream... to help cool my hot mouth and throat. :-)

     The cat and dog provided their usual distractions/interruptions/ entertainment while I sat here at my computer in the dinning room.

Hey, what do you think you are doing?

Bad cat, get off the roll top desk!



 

      And stay out of my plants!



     So what does she do after I
yell at her?
Lays down to take a nap.  Scheesh






     We were greeted by more incoming storms Monday morning, moving in from the southwest. 



     They were predicted to hit mid- morning, so I went out to do some quick mowing of the peonies (no longer seen below), knowing I could rake up the debris after the rain.

     We got hit with a pretty strong storm and it poured for quite some time.





     Abbey and I were content to spend the day inside, I up-dating this blog, as the cat looked for trouble.  I got in a walk with the dog, but later, finally gave her a tranquilizer because her pacing and barking were driving me nuts.



     Joe came home from work at noon, deciding to take a half day sick leave... for mental health reasons.  I had re-stacked the straw around the chicken coop for more wall coverage, but it fell, so I re- re-stacked it.  Then I had Joe drive two metal fence poles in to help hold the bales in place better.

     We left early for Growth Group to pick up table and chairs for Friday's party.  We had to be extra patient for Linda's treats because there was an oven mal-function... but it was well worth the wait.

     The rains held off longer than predicted Tuesday, although it was cloudy and dreary most of the morning.  I made it to and from my riding lesson without getting wet.  Roni gets right on the trailer to come home... it's from here, to go somewhere, that he hesitates and puts up resistance.  Maybe he is a little like me, and would rather stay at home. 

     I ate lunch before my walk, and then had to temporarily postpone the walk because it started to rain.  In this photo, Hercules and the chickens have decided it is safe to come out from under the bushes where they hide from hawks, or in this case, stayed out of the rain.

      I continued my clean up the clutter project after my Bible reading and Facebook/E-mail communications.  A few loads of laundry while cleaning out and re-storing stuff in the furnace room were accomplished.  I re-organized our horse first aid kit and finished straightening up the dog room.  Then I started clean-up of the garage, but barely made a dent in it.

     I just found this link, (click on photo below) with great ideas for reducing clutter. 



     It includes the following rationale that I have recently tried to embrace: "Are you eager to free yourself from the demands of your material possessions, so that you can fully enjoy and engage in the parts of your life that are most important? Relationships with family and friends, time spent with the Lord, serving and giving to others, opening your home for hospitality, having time for creativity, for rest, and for purposefully pursuing the things you are most passionate about."

     During my routine evening task of shutting the chicken coop, putting the horses in the barn, moving the cows from the side pasture to the paddock, and feeding Stew his bottle, I noticed...









... there were lots of noises.  Crickets and other insects and maybe even toads were making their evening calls into the night.  It really sounded like summer and felt like it too with the warm temperature and high humidity. 
     
     Wednesday was a great day for working outside, so I directed my attention there.  Our fire pit was over flowing with sticks so I started it burning, and then spent well over an hour picking up sticks and adding to the combustion.  Joe had collected a bushel of pears earlier, (some of which he blanched and froze) so after dog poo clean up, the yard was ready for mowing.  I started with the tractor out front mowing the ditch and along the side pasture.  Then, instead of walking the dog, I walked the mower.  Ha ha ha.
I spent over two hours mowing with the push mower.  This time of year it is difficult to find all the dog mines because they are hidden by the ton of leaves, so I wanted to do an extra good job by bagging the grass and leaves.  It looked good when done, but I knew it wouldn't last long.  (Quick, take a picture... it lasts longer.) 

     It was another beautiful, sunny, yet very windy, day Thursday.  I walked the dog early looking for Brother who had been missing nearly 24 hours.  Having no luck finding him, I did a second search of all the buildings in case he got locked in one.  Still no cat.  Then I wondered if maybe he got trapped or squished by hay bales in the loft.  The bales sometimes fall over especially when the cats climb on them.  So up the ladder I went to take a look, all the while calling and then listening for him.  And there he was... sound asleep in a lose pile of hay.  He must have had quite the hunting expedition to be so tired as to not come when I called.  

     Garage clean up along with other pre-party tasks were accomplished while Abbey looked for mice.  Dan brought Valencia home Wednesday night and  a mouse was seen and eventually trapped in her room.  I also caught a few in the furnace room.  It's that time of year where they are migrating in from the empty fields.

     A sizable storm blew in Thursday afternoon as I was leading the horses to the barn from the front pasture.  The wind was up to 30mph and the temperature dropped 15 degrees.  Dan had to go to work late afternoon and evening, so Joe, Valencia and I went out to eat and then did the grocery shopping.  It went much faster dividing the list into thirds.  Joe's valet service also helped us ladies not get too wet.

     My ambitious plans to dust, Thursday evening, were defeated by my need for sleep.  So almost first thing Friday morning, I started on that job along with mopping all the hard wood floors and doing some other house cleaning.  I had started to make Daniel's bed, got interrupted by something, and when I returned, Abbey was taking a nap on the clean sheet.  I hoped Carol wouldn't mind.

    Carol arrived mid-afternoon and started right in helping me out after she unloaded her car and gave her dogs a quick run.  Then, two hours before the party was to start... five of our neighbors horses showed up.  They circled our property and ended up stopping on the west side of the front pasture to visit our horses.       

 
     Carol, Joe and I were eventually able to coral the loose horses and get them into our back paddock.  The owners were out of town and unable to get back for almost an hour. So we continued last minute party prep.  When Mary and Patty arrived, they pitched in to help out as well.

     The neighbors finally came to retrieve their horses.  Their plan was to walk them each back.  They only had two halters, so I offered to lead one horse with them on their first trip... and then they would only have to make one more trip. 


     That done, and the party soon to start, we set the food out on the table Carol had so nicely decorated.






     Dan's gift to me from Afghanistan made a perfect candy tray.

     Joe got the bonfire started and soon folks were arriving with food and good cheer.

     It got dark quickly, and was cold, so right after we ate, we migrated to the fire.  Randy was our head pyro, fire tender.


     Randy, with Joe's help, had retrieved a big ole stump from the wood shed that he put in the fire.

     It kept us warm for the duration of the party.


     We had fun telling stories,



        and joking around,






and recalling past times with family and friends.


     As the temperature dropped, Teresa and Dan sported "matching hat styles."







     Different groups took different excursions from the fire... below to look at Dan's car.





     We didn't have as many guests as expected, so there was plenty of food and drink left over.



     Even though it was a small crowd, it was just about picture perfect weather and everyone seemed to have a good time.














     Most folks headed home around ten, so it wasn't a very late night... and I must admit, getting into the warmth and comfort of bed was quite nice.

     I think this is  a perfect picture, that my cousin's daughter (Robin Bullock) took this week, of the sunset at Point Loma Nazarene University.  And I love her caption, "Every ending is a new beginning."