Little Horses

"All horses deserve, at least once in their lives, to be loved by a little girl." author unknown.





Less than a mile from where I live in the suburbs, is a miniature horse farm. It has been there since before we moved to our present house, 27 years ago. When the girls were little, we would often stop the car and feed them apples or carrots. In all those years, I have never taken for granted the opportunity to drive past the pastures of these beautiful creatures. There are two ways into town, and I always take the road past the farm. Yesterday, I went by in early morning and stopped to get these pics.

 
This is the pasture that the newest born are kept in. These little guys came up to the fence to see what I was doing. They are so young, they are  still fuzzy!
 
 

Then later in the evening the same day, my daughter and I drove by, and horses were up close to the fence. She was just as anxious to get out of the car to see them as she was when she was 3!

 

 

 

Another little one, and this one has blue eyes!

Beautiful little thing. Look at those dainty legs and hooves.

 

You can tell how small they are compared to my 5'4" daughter. Not Shetlands....miniature horses.

 

As we were leaving, one little one still had not gotten enough scratches and rubs, but he found a way to scratch that itch.

I am joining Sunday Favorites. Please go see many lovely reposts at Char's.

The Great Blizzard of 2011 (not that great)

February 1 and 2, 2011 we got some snow. Not soooo much snow, but with 40 mile an hour winds and low temperatures, it's called a blizzard. Visibility was 1/4 mile, and it snowed about 8-10 inches, but we had 3-4 foot drifts.

I started snapping pics of the little stone rabbit in the hosta garden through the day.

Here's what he's suppposed to be surrounded by:

The snow was not very deep here, it blew away along this area.

Drifts against the 6 foot fence.

It's fun for a few minutes!

How ironic!! This is one of my daylily markers! Here's what is SUPPOSED to  be there.

And this is NOT....

This is......

Here's the only little guy that looks the same year around.

I am linking to Outdoor Wednesday today.

http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/

Two Snow Days for the Teacher.... A Seasonal Thing

Ok, you gotta know the teacher loves the snow days as much as the kids. Got the call at 5:30 am, but the dogs had already gotten me up at  5:00 am, the usual time to go outside and then  eat. So, after two cups of wonderful vanilla caramel coffee, and two hours on the computer, we were all ready to go back to bed. The dogs sleep on this old loveseat and keep one eye on me while I am on the computer.

As soon as I said, "Let's go back to bed," they were ready. I like agreeable companions. In order left to right, Tilly, Oscar, and Roxy.

I stayed in my pj's until 2:00 pm! But I did get a lot done. I played wtih dishes and made a list of what I need for some different table settings. I did lots of  laundry AND put it away. (yes I did, Mama)

The only reason I got dressed was because, I must admit, I have a hard tiime staying home all day in the winter. I think it is something about not supposed to be out on the streets, and I just have to get out and try it. But first a walk around the back yard.

In the summer when I can work in the yard all day, I don't leave the place for a couple of days at a time. Oh, summer......  

So, after getting dressed, I drove over to Mama's house, and filled her bird feeders for her. Then I went to BB&B, Pier One, and Michael's, as they are all lined up in a row. I didn't buy a thing! Oh, well, I tried.

Today is ANOTHER snow day.... really? Up at the usual 5:00 am, etc. Checked the library online to see if any books I am waiting on are in yet, of course not.  I have some good cranberry orange bread just out of  the breadmaker, smelling good.

A walk outside to see if there is anything new.

Looks like we got about 8-9 inches of snow total.

Tilly's path is about covered over.

I have already called a teacher friend to see if we should go to an antique store today. I could scrub floors, clean the basement, or something else boring...... naaaahhhh.

The Old Fashioned Christmas Parade

For 17 years, Lawrence, Kansas (home of the Jayhawks!) has hosted an Old Fashioned Christmas Parade. This was the first year I was able to attend. Requirements are that all entries are horse drawn wagons, carriages, or small buggies. Most all entrants dress in 1800’s fashion. There were about 70 entries this year, some from as far away as Minnesota and South Dakota.
Many of the wagons were drawn by draft horses. It was amazing how big they are up close. Their hooves are the size of dinner plates! Thousands of draft horses were imported from Western Europe into the United States in the late 19th and early 20th century. The ones we are most familiar with are the Clydesdales from Scotland and the Belgians from Belgium.

Enjoy this adventure with me, and know...... I am still the little girl who wants a pony. ( my back yard is pretty big, Mama!)

There were the very very big, and the very small!

This little burro was doing some turns and tricks at the intersection which won him some applause!

MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

After the leaves have fallen......

This is a reprise from approximately 1 year ago.

Mom and I went for an afternoon drive today and had a little adventure.  We drove to a nearby lake with sunny, 50 degree weather. While the leaves were already off most the trees, we still saw some of fall's bounty. The nice, fat buck was too fast for me to get a picture of, and so was the coyote, who was fat and fluffy.  There were all kinds of berries, though, once we really started looking.

Mom is 90 and she was telling me stories of walking to school, seeing lots of bittersweet in the ditches along the way.I  mentioned I would love to have some, I wished we would see some in all the wooded areas around the lake. She kept saying if there was any we would easily see it, it is so bright. Then we did!!

It was right along the road, easy to get to! I picked, and Mom sat in the car and laid it carefully in the back seat.

Couldn't reach this bunch, but there was plenty within reach.

There were lots of hedge apples on the ground.

The woods were full of beautyberry bushes.

In the ditches, the honeysuckle vines still had berries, and the crab apples were full of fruit.