Friday, August 27, 2010

Heard in the Pasture....

Jazzy: What?
Kaci (in a British accent): Come my pet. Let us move.

Bullwinkle: WHAAAT is THAT?
Angel: It's a grass cutter.
Bullwinkle: What's it doing to mom?
Angel: Nothing. Mom's riding it.
Bullwinkle: Are you sure? It looks like it's eating her or something.
Everyone snickers
Angel: Yes. She's fine.

Texas Chili (with a Texas accent, of course): C'mon sweet thang. Let's mosey on over here.
Lucy: Hmmm

Jazzy: Yooo hooo Soonnnyyyy.
Sonny (in a sexy Italian accent): Yes my precious?
Jazzy: Wanna sniff my nose?
Kaci: I say! Come back here!
Sonny: ooooh yes, mi amore. Let me snuffle you.
Jazzy squeals and squats
Kaci: Old chap. Do you mind? The lady is spoken for.
Sonny: So you say.
Shyanna: Jazzy, you're a slut.
Jazzy: So?

Texas Chili to Lucy: I'll have you know my pet, you are my only love.
Lucy: Whatever. You're eating my grass.
Texas Chili: I beg your pardon. Here, take mine.
Lucy: Whatever.

Bullwinkle: OH NO!! IT'S COMING TO GET ME!!
Angel: Just move out of the way.
Bullwinkle: MOVE? I need to run! It's gonna get me.
Angel: No it's not. Mom cutting the long grass.
Bullwinkle: Are you sure?
Angel: Yes. Look. In front it's long, and in back it's short.
Bullwinkle: Why is she doing that?
Angel: Because you aren't eating it.
Bullwinkle: Eww! No! I pooped there.
Angel: So what's the problem?
Bullwinkle: I'm going to the barn. It keeps trying to get me.

Jazzy: Oh Sonny. You're so cute.
Kaci: Madam, I simply can not tolerate this behavior.
Sonny: My love, you are exquisite.
Kaci: I say, old chap. Bugger off!
Shyanna: Give it up, mate. She's ignoring you.
Jazzy: Well, all the boys DO love me.
Shyanna: That's cuz yer a brazen hussy.
Jazzy: Giggles...

Bullwinkle: Angel! Look out!
Angel: I'm fine. See? I step out of the way and she goes right by.
Bullwinkle: Oh my gosh!!! oh my gosh oh my gosh!!!
All snicker...
Angel: You're such a scary cat!
Bullwinkle: I am not. What's a cat?
Angel: That little fuzzy animal that catches mice in the barn.
Bullwinkle: What's a mice?
Angel: Those tiny fuzzy animals that eat your grain.
Bullwinkle: Oh. Are you sure mom is ok?
Angel: Yes. She's just riding the thing, just like she does us.
Bullwinkle: She doesn't ride me.
Angel: She will.
Bullwinkle: Nuh uh...
All snicker...

Texas Chili: I love you.
Lucy: Whatever.

Jazzy: Woo hoo... Sonny... I'm standing here and junk...
Sonny: Why yes you are..
Kaci: Sir! Please leave her alone.
Shyanna: Give it up old man..

Monday, August 23, 2010

Catching up...

We've moved back into the living room. It's amazing. I wish I could find the battery charger for the camera so I could take pictures.

HOWEVER... the dust from the carpet that we pulled up went EVERYWHERE! Add that dust to the paint dust, and you guessed it... we've been cleaning everything and just when we think we're done, we get to start over.

Learn from my fail - close all the bedroom doors and turn off the AC BEFORE you pull up the carpet!

I still haven't been able to ride Sonny. Or Angel. Or any of the horses. First it was too hot. Then when it cooled down, I caught up on cleaning the barn and stalls. Then I was too tired. Excuses I know, but I don't have anyone to ride with yet. My friend Mindy moved back on Sunday, so once she's settled in, I'll have a riding buddy. Quirky neighbor??? Um... NO! It's a long story that doesn't bear repeating. But it was the final straw. I'm still civil, but not interested in anything more than the occasional chit-chat. 'nuf said.

I've got a BUNCH of horses here. Lucy, Chili, Bullwinkle, Angel, Shyanna, Sonny, Jazzy, and Kaci. Millie is in training and will come home Sept 15. Foxy will come to retire as soon as she gets a ride. And, there may be another horse coming to stay. Shyanna will go home to live with her mom, Mindy. I may do a lease deal with her and have her take Sonny too. He's just sitting here getting fatter, and he and Shyanna are buddied up. We'll see. I gotta figure out where to put everyone for the winter. UGH! I need more property...

So for now, we are trying finish up projects and get ready for winter. I know it's only August, but there is a chill in the air and it feels like fall already! Either that or I got acclimated to the 104 degree weather we were having.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Inside Project #2 - The Floor





Christine - The Floor Goddess


Steve - The Floor God!




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Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Inside Project #1

Paint. I HATE painting!! And since we have vaulted ceilings and I also HATE ladders, we paid professionals! I think they did a nice job and I really like how it turned out. There will be MORE pics of this room early next week after we get the new floor in and the furniture moved back it.



Friday, August 6, 2010

Doin' a little landscapin'

We just had to. It looked like crap. I'm SO HAPPY with how it turned out. I still have to plant my Spring bulbs (Daffodils, Tulips, and Crocus) but I've got a few months to get that done.












Monday, August 2, 2010

The Vision

This weekend was hell for me and migraines. I lost all of Friday, part of Saturday, and Sunday evening. Nothing helped. I just laid in bed and tried to find sleep.

At some point, I dreamed. I call it a dream, because I am still alive. Either that or I had a short near death/death experience where my heart actually stopped and I went to another place. Regardless of what actually happened, I want to share the vision/dream with you because it gave me such comfort and peace, especially since I’ve lost three animals this year and it’s really been hard on me.

I was surrounded by darkness. Complete and total, it surrounded me, but I felt no fear. Gradually, the black gave way to grey, as if I was in a fog that got brighter. I could see nothing through the fog, no shapes, no sounds, nothing to give me an indication of direction or a sense of space.

The fog brightened to a brilliance, bright and shiny, then cleared so I could see in front of me, a grassy area that rose a few feet before leveling off. The grass was lush and green and bordered a stream, which was crystal clear, shallow, and gently gurgling as it passed.

There was a bridge that crossed to another grassy area that appeared to drop out of side, as if once across the bridge, there was a slope down the other side. The light was bright, but seemed to come from everywhere and “just was”, rather than from a single source.

As I stood, I noticed people appearing on the far side, of to the right of the bridge. They smiled at me. The smile shone of love and acceptance, but I felt that they weren’t welcoming me. I saw in the faces my grandfather, and maternal grandparents, a couple aunts, and a high school friend who’d been murdered in her early twenties. Others that I knew in life that have died. They knew me, and I knew them.

A movement on my left. Several dogs crested the slope on the far side and came to sit, watching me. I recognized them and said their names in my head. Brandy and Britt from my childhood. Cinder, Pepper, Nikki, Koko, Sheena, Quilla, Cooter, Bandit, and Boomer. Dogs I had loved and still thought about.

More movement and behind the dogs came horses. Marna, the snotty little grulla pony I had when I was 7 years old. Ricci, the palomino mare that I was stupid to sell in high school. C-Bey, the sweet ancient arab mare that taught me as an adult that old horses don’t have to be skinny. Joy, Heddy, Honey, Dobbs, Jinx, Beau. They all stood watching me.

I knew where I was. There was a moment when I thought, “I am dead”. But the overwhelming response to that thought was “No. Not yet.” It wasn’t a voice, more like a feeling. I wanted to cross the bridge and greet my loved ones. I wanted to kneel in the grass and hold my dogs. I wanted to stand and rub my hand down the silken neck of the horses. Again, the feeling was “Not yet”, and the light began to dim and the fog grew ever thicker, before once again, I was in the darkness.

I opened my eyes and saw my bedroom in the dimming light of the day. I felt no pain, my headache finally gone. I laid there quietly for several minutes remembering the sight of my animals and loved ones, so close, yet so far away across the stream. Just out of reach, but always close to my heart.

One thing about this that I have noted, I was most concerned about being with my animals. I am left feeling grateful and blessed to have been given this gift, this vision. To see something that leaves me nostalgic and yearning, yet brings me comfort and peace.