this week I...

Enjoyed warm days and cool nights

Rode Chance during my lunch break, everyday

Watched Monkey fall off Brandie during her lesson

Watched her get back on trot and lope like a rock star she is sitting much better in the saddle

Made plans to see a friend

Lost two cauliflower and one tomato plant to the gopher hiding in my garden

Purchased pellets and more C02 for the pellet gun for said gopher because a 12 gauge would explode the dang thing

Finished weeding the garden

Switched from chick starter to layer crumbles

Watched the preview of Hungry for Change

Bought a long awaited juicer


Hobo G is happy it's Friday. The weather man say's we finally get a weekend without rain and i am super happy about that! Woot Woot

In my kitchen

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson





We kicked off this weekend with some extra time in our kitchen. I love this place and the joy it brings me. It really is the heart of our home. We poured a glass of wine, boiled some water, turned up the music and worked with a bit of flour and egg.





I am so thankful for clean, nutritious and delicious food i am able to feed my family. Check out my new new coffee table the music man built for our family room, i love it and him, he is so talented.

Saturday the music man and i spent a large part of the day in the garden shoveling, shoveling and shoveling. Finished weeding, harvested more chard, planted more onion bulbs and tomato plants of which i now have over a dozen. If all goes well i should be able to can some of my own sauce this summer. We finished the day visiting with close friends.

Sunday the rain and cold winds were back. I decided on barn red for the coop paint and have a gallon ready to go once we dry out. In the meantime i am enjoying the day quiet inside, watching a movie with yarn in my hands and again listening to the storm outside. Life is SO good!

garden update and a shout out to spring

Energy on fire, that's how i feel lately. I've dusted off the cobwebs of winter and am seriously busting a move now that I've adjusted to the time change. I'm getting so much done and am exhausted in a good way at the end of the day.

I've spent a bit of time in the garden harvesting and weeding this week.



Rainbow Chard was a huge success this season, i even had enough to share and the red cabbage is thriving. I am looking forward to harvesting it soon.



more cabbage, yum.



Sweet Walla Walla's, i have these and purple onions planted. The potato's and garlic are doing well too.



My lettuce has survived the bunnies this time around and is doing better although, there are little nibbles as you can see. Not sure what animal is doing it, maybe a gopher i had one in there the other day.



Spinach take two after my 25 foot row was enjoyed by the bunnies earlier this year and just before harvest no less. I know I'm still a bit bummed about that. Luckily I found some transplants late in the season so it looks like we'll be able to enjoy a little bit of Popeye's and my favorite food after all. The bokeh plants in the background are broccoli and cauliflower.

Our winter garden only had one failure and that was the sweet Ann peas, they were a bust in that i was only was able to harvest a few pods. Early on something came in and ate them, once we reinforced the barriers they developed mildew and stopped growing. I'll definitely try again next year. Composting, chicken poop and Miracle Grow are working perfectly to bring some much needed nutrients to our stripped soil.

With our soil and animal barriers in better shape along with the equinox earlier this week I've been planning and planting for our spring and summer garden. I am excited and hoping for big results.



The music man and i will be planting more this weekend and if the rain holds off I'll finally be able to paint the chicken coop. I'm looking forward to covering over the raw wood and finishing it up, just not sure what color to use. Maybe light beige to match the house or perhaps red like a little barn. What do you think?

I am loving these slowly growing longer and warmer days. I am not in a hurry for the hot days of summer just very much enjoying right now... Hello Spring so happy you've arrived.

weekending

Friday Chance and i kicked off the weekend by going on a nice trail ride after breakfast. We rode back through the vineyards and saw sleeping owls in there boxes and the promise of spring. The vines are now pruned, tied and in various stages of budding. It felt great to be away from my desk and outside soaking in the cool crisp air ahead of another rain storm.



Friday night the music man had a show up north so i was able to spend the evening with the Bug and some good friends.

The photo shoot for Saturday was rained out, maybe i should say i was rained out. The event was outside on the beach and weather was nasty. The rain was coming down in sheets sideways because of the wind and our umbrellas were no match, think of a bowl instead of a dome haha. So sadly i wasn't able to bring my camera out of the truck, we watched for a bit and left drenched.

Speaking of the beach, monkey went camping and was rained out too, they packed up and left Saturday morning soaked and cold. The music man is sick again so we spent the rest the weekend quiet, inside and close to the fire place listening to the storm outside.

Our weather is a kind of crazy, a few days ago we were in the 80's and today we didn't get out of the 40's, we've had hail off and on and even a dusting of snow right down the road last night. Nope, it doesn't typically snow here and it did melt right away, in a couple days we are supposed to be back into the 70's. The garden is loving the rain and since i haven't planted any warm weather veggies yet it's all good.

The girls are big enough that the cold is not bothering them either. They do have shelter in their coop and i gave them some strawberry stems and melon for snack and something to do, they loved it. Finally, Jack is putting more weight on his leg and seems to be getting a bit better every week, thankfully.

Happy St. Patty's to you

For each petal on the shamrock, this brings a wish your way ~
Good health, good luck, and happiness for today and every day.

I'm off to shoot pictures for the Professional Strong Man Competition down at the beach tomorrow. This is a definitely a new adventure for me and i am looking forward to it with a bit of nerves and lots of excitement. My buddy is competing and asked me to shoot it for him, I hope i get some good photos. Afterwards i plan on enjoying a very cold green colored beer with the music man and some friends.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend full of Irish blessings and joy!

Late Monday but i made it

What a day, I can't believe i am still awake it's so late! I'm adjusting to the time change and let me just say this morning... was a bit rough. I do love the longer days and having light after work is so nice.

This weekend the Bug made it out, we had plans to celebrate all weekend. But he woke up with Strep throat and after spending the morning at the doctors he decided to go home. I was disappointed and felt really sad for him, what a crummy way to spend a birthday weekend huh. His 22nd birthday is today though, i spoke to him and he is feeling a bit better. I am looking forward to seeing him Friday night if all goes well, fingers crossed we'll celebrate then.

Saturday the music man's Fleetwood Mac Tribute band played a Hot Rod festival here in town. I am not a car kind of person, but this was a very big deal. I understand they had around 75,000 visitors over the weekend to attend the show. The weather was perfect and they sounded great. Monkey even came home with a bit of a sunburn.




The Music Man





My parents came out Sunday and met all of our new family members, we ate pasta and celebrated my mom's birthday. It was a really nice day. Jack was able to start putting a little bit of weight on his back leg as well. This is a good sign and I'm hopeful.

Today at lunch i was back in the saddle woot woot, a little sore still but feeling better. Life is so very busy these days but full of Joy.

Happy Monday I hope you have a wonderful week.

oh boy, we have another...

introduction that is. Our family is growing so fast and i feels so right. We're just living dream over here, literally and i am feeling so blessed.

At our barn where Chance is there is a little Mustang girl who is so sweet and the owner is looking to feed lease her. A feed lease is where you help pay for feed and take care of the day to day chores. Monkey rode her for her lesson and well...



Meet Brandy girl, Monkey's little Miss for a few months anyways. She is so sweet and incredible smart. Monkey will be able to hone in her riding skills with Brandy much easier than with our big boy.


Isn't she cute

I have been spending my lunch breaks during the week training and riding Chance. Today while out on trail, at the end of our ride he spooked at something and bucked me off. I know not the best for someone who's already broken their back. It wasn't anything crazy, he didn't mean to hurt me, he just freaked out on a noise in the brush for whatever reason. Fact is, is when you ride there is always a chance something can happen and you can get hurt. I am bruised, sore but okay, thankfully. Heat packs alternating with ice and i hope to be back in the saddle soon.

We have a very busy weekend full of fun stuff. We'll be celebrating my mom and the bugs birthday as well as watching the music man and his band perform at a large venue. I'll be back Monday with some pics to share.

still

With all the activities lately, I've been feeling the pull for some much needed quiet. No movement, either physically or mentally, simply some time to quiet my mind. Fortunately for me i find this when i knit, the clicking sounds of the needles are comforting, the progress i make one stitch at a time brings me quiet joy, rejuvenates and fills my need of stillness.

I saw this cowl pattern over at Spider Woman Knits and knew it was perfect. Just what i was looking for to quiet myself, a quick and easy peasy project with an almost instant reward. So i started rolling...



a couple minutes later i was ready to cast on.



and a couple hours later...



Bam! I was done and ready to enjoy my new cowl. The yarn i used is from a little fiber store in Ojai that i bought a few years ago. The yummy alpaca fiber is so soft and warm around my neck. I wore it out with and without a jacket over the weekend and love it! If you're looking for a quick, almost instant knit check this pattern out, i think you'll love it too.

a brown dog update ~
Jack's pain seems to be subsiding, thankfully and he's getting the three legged hop down so he's able to move around a bit more. Still lots of quiet for him, after a lot of research it seems we are really looking look at three to four months of rehab. That's okay we'll spend some quiet still time together and maybe I'll crank out a few more of these cowls. It's all good.

He blew out his flip flop

After the dogs had diner last night Jack followed Hobo G down in the vineyard like usual. I went back to working but after a bit of time i thought Jack had stayed out longer than his usual, shortly after that thought i saw him outside my office window. As i was letting him in the house i noticed instantly he was lame and could barely walk. Oh no what the heck happened! I checked for a thorn... nothing... checked his hip...seemed fine too. Still he was walking on three legs holding his left back leg high, careful not put any weight on it and in a lot of pain.

I didn't see him crash but assume while running through the vines he must have stepped into a gopher hole or something and tweaked his leg.



After monitoring him overnight the music man carried him to the truck and we drove to the vet early this morning. Diagnosis is he severely tore his ACL and the only fix here is a very expensive surgery. He is in excellent health for his age but the cost of this surgery makes it not a viable option. Our brown dog is one tough doggie though. Seriously he has survived a couple things that he shouldn't have. The days of him running are done but I am praying that the meds, rest and once the initial trauma has subsided over the next 4 to 6 weeks we will be able to get him back walking on all fours and pain free. I'm hoping we will be able to manage this enough so that he can enjoy his senior years happily and comfortably.