change the topic

When you get tired of the negative.

2.6.25

Change the topic.

2.9.25

Move on.

Look for better things.

Branch out. 

Share smiles, and Hope.

Get moving. 

Don't forget to include others.

Share hope and joy.

2.9.25

are you a believer?

Yesterday was 111 (2024). 

I have not returned to Spacebook (as a friend calls it) since before my mom passed in 2021. I ditched being a Twittler a long time ago. Before it turned into a letter. I still enjoy Instafamily, as a reader. Yes, yet another rabbit hole. To avoid falling, I have the Insty app on my very last phone page. I have to swipe, swipe...swipe to Gram it. I only browse when I am too tired to do anything else. Learning things from people far away is enjoyable. I scroll past the rest.

All that to say 111 came across my feed. Are you a believer?

"A powerful portal for new beginnings and manifesting" I don't know if I actually believe numerical sequences are true portals, but believing in anything is inspirational.

No, I will not drink the kool-aid.

Thursday was also the first New Moon of 2024, which amplifies energy. I absolutely DO believe in the power of all things sky related!!! 

My insta-info suggested on 111 to "focus on what you are calling in...spend time alone without distractions". 

........................

I watched the gorgeous light of dawn from the kitchen window, while doing mundane dishes. Knowing I was missing the good stuff is agonizing. I do not remotely care about sparkling homes and should have dried my hands. Grabbed my camera and run for the hills. I had already started washing before I saw the light. Ha haa! I am going to leave that alone. One thing I am not, is a quitter. I finished the dishes, and then headed out to see what I could manifest. Besides being cold.

barn/arena path

With no phone, dogs or defense mechanisms. Me, myself and I.

I was hoping Hope would follow me, she started. In fact, I had all the horses ears and action coming towards me. Monopods are scary don't-cha-know. It was then that Tank came running out of the barn and joined me. With deeper snow and 21F temps, his back legs started cramping. Sigh.

I turned around and slowly trudged back up the hill to the house. Knowing more light and photo opportunities would pass me by.

You want to know what else doesn't have an off switch? A Labrador. It is up to us humans to do right by them. It was easy to let more opportunity go. Tank is way more important to me than any photograph ever will be.

self interpretation

I stood in silence. Listening and observing. Surrounded by quiet and utter beauty. Looking for a sign. Any sign from nature.

Onward.

auspicious area

These trees! The feeling of these magical tree's (and surroundings) cannot be captured. Believe you me I have tried! Even with video. They prompted the naming of the Enchanted Forest. When Brad and I first walked our property, I told him if you are ever looking for me you can find me ^ here.

At first, I wanted to add a bench to the area. A place to sit, feel and create some art. The reality of me sitting comfortably, focused enough be creative and alone in nature is not a reality. A portable camping stool/chair would serve a similar purpose. It might actually get used and not just pooped and chewed on.

leaving the forest

Again, I stood in silence. Listening and observing. Watching for a sign. 

It doesn't work that way. You can't will things to appear. Or at least I can't. Nothing appeared, other than my wandering thoughts.

one of our wildlife crossroads

My favorite pine tree is just beyond the bluebird house. An incredibly unique and special soul rests at it's base. My beloved cat Sydney. 3 struggling apple tree's and my dormant butterfly garden are out of frame. To the right.

butterfly snowflake garden

........................

There was so much more goodness to my 111 day! Another photo opportunity presented itself. A heart centering Yoga practice, and more!

Have to admit my utter disappointment when I first reviewed my nature walk photos. They look like regular ol' snowy photos, sans magical light. I told Brad my photos "don't look anything like what I saw". Wondering, how am I going to convey my feeling/message. I am aware photos do not capture what the naked eye does. Thank goodness for words! Even my wordy words.

If you are wondering (I am!) did my attention to 111 actually motivate me to work on any of those endless stagnant stuck old projects that I eluded to on my last post.

Not yet but I thought about them, and where they may lead me. Only the shadow knows.

Like the Little Engine that Could, I believed. 

hanging on by a snowflake

In the midst of our last snow storm I strapped on my snowshoes and took the two labs for a walk to the pines. The same day they poured the arena walls. Notice I said "to the pines". Have you ever had pine trees throwing "snowballs" at you? Well, let me tell you the trees always win!! Not the best time to be walking in woods, just like high winds. 

18 seconds of our main trail entrance

our main trail normally looks like this in Winter

Jameson waiting for me in the distance
February 2, 2021

We hiked one very short loop near the entrance to check for tracks near an opening trespassers are/were using. I think our method of discouraging them finally worked?! I did however notice this for the first time on what looks like a healthy pine. Or was a healthy pine.

huge woodpecker holes

Guessing the holes were made by a hungry pileated woodpecker. Haven't seen one in many years. I used to get an occasional pileated at my feeders at our old place. The birds are elusive on this property. No clue why, other than they have a lot of places to hide. 

Sadly that was our last walk before the endless bitter good for nothing cold arrived. And stayed. One whole week later, the cold front is still hanging around. We won't be above freezing, but should be warmer next week. Our dogs back legs freeze up just walking running around on the way to the barn. Mostly because I can't keep them out of the snow. It doesn't normally bother their legs, except for when it is deep and frigid. 

Six seconds of our non-stop jack rabbit

(Tank, January 2021)

Side note: the buildings & equipment in the video are our neighbors. Funny how close they look. We are two fields away.

I can't wait for our arena be done. Next Winter the arena will for sure get put to good use. For more than just riding. I could be using it daily, tossing toys and doing some agility with our dogs. They are as bummed as I am that we can't enjoy being outside. I live for being outside. I have the gear to safely enjoy a frigid hike, but feel bad leaving the dogs behind all cooped up. 

Our horses are still being turned out, for shorter days. However this weekend, I don't think we will even get above 0F. They might only get to stretch their legs outside while we clean stalls. They just aren't conditioned to elements like they were when they lived outside full time. 

I truly love Winter, but this year has been harder to enjoy for many reasons. Let's just say I am hanging on by a snowflake. 

expect the unexpected

Not sure where I am going with this post, but hopefully by the end it will be clear (er). We have had more then our share of a very wet cool spring, and it makes me think. About life. About expectations. About purpose.

Our horses are an important part of our life. Every time we seem to get past "things" as they occur, we take a turn. Sometimes better, sometimes worse, and many times just different then we expected - or hoped for. Which is practically the same thing. 

Nemo's allergies are back. Did we really expect them to go away? We sure hoped they would. They are not as bad as last year, but his allergies are back. I don't think it means the subcutaneous immunotherapy isn't working, I think it means he is still being exposed to high environmental allergens. Once we have him at home, we can limit exposure much better. At least with Timothy Grass, we planted a mix without any. 

Grey Horse Matters (or other's with related experience) did your daughter do anything in conjunction with her horse that was on allergy shots? or did the shots control the allergies? Feel free to message me if you prefer.

We've got a call into the vets to see if he has anything more to add. We are already doing the basics (masks, adjusting turn out time etc) but maybe there is something else??

Life these days revolves around the land/building X2. Last night we agreed to cancel our upcoming annual trail riding trip up north. I keep telling myself, it's just this year - but will it be? Who knows what life holds in store for us. 

After a horseless weekend, we arrived to the barn on Monday with high expectations of riding and spending time with our horses. All I can say is, our move can't happen soon enough! No use whining about all the silly stuff. I'll just say - Brad couldn't ride Nemo and I chose not to ride Koda for long. I wasn't a whole lot of fun on the 40 minute ride home.

It had been a week since I've ridden Koda, and my last few indoor rides were marginal. When you add feeding time and commotion, he get's his appy-tude on. There were waay too many riders that are never usually there (surprise!) to get anything accomplished, and it was wet and sloppy outside. Sigh. When do I get to ride and be with my horse?? I had such high hopes. Patience. I have learned some over the years. I always say I was in the bathroom when patience got handed out ;) it's not one of my better virtues. 

Then there is this thing nagging at me, called purpose. Brad thinks my purpose in life is to drive him nuts. That's true, I do it all the time - hah!! But seriously, life's purpose makes a person think. I try not to dwell on it, but who wants to aimlessly float down any ol' stream of life? Not me.

Photography? Sure. It can be a beautiful thing, with purpose. But I don't want to snap photos, just because I can. The whole entire planet is doing that. I've been trying to figure out my style/purpose. My most recent effort lasted 56 consecutive days, almost to the end of February. It's further then I thought I would get, but a whole lot shy of 365 days. The daily challenge was more "pressure" and less purpose. Now I only shoot the days I feel compelled to. Most people who accomplish the 365 challenge year after year, do it for fun. Some do it for recording daily life, others enjoy sharing detailed life out loud. 

My self restriction was no phone photos, and no quicky photos just to get it done. I wanted to practice with my camera more, take thoughtful photography, with hopes that there would be a revelation. I may try the challenge again under different circumstances, but it simply wasn't serving my purpose. Whatever it may be.

Woodland ~ 96/365 photo challenge

So much for clarity. Welcome to my overcomplicated brain. If you've got all this life stuff figured out, do tell.


..................................................................................


Expectation is the root of all heartache.

 ~ author unknown

what's in a name

For years we have wanted to have our own horse related brand name. You know, something like " _________ Appaloosas" or " _________ Quarter Horses". We got as far as deciding we did not want to designate one specific breed, so that left us with this for a name " _________ " !!!!

Without being in the horse business, and no relatable physical location of our own, naming ourselves didn't really make sense. The whole idea got put on hold. No fun logo designing for me, and no embroidered matchy-matchy apparel for us. Bummer!!

Now that we have land, the whole naming idea has since resurfaced. For some reason, coming up with our name is my job. Guess that's the price you pay for being dubbed "the creative one"!  I've been doing a lot of thinking, googling, observing - and I still can't figure a name out!!

We decided to wait, something will stand out with the land. Right??! If you've read earlier land posts, you know at least one unusual prickly thing. 

There is ton's of info on how to name, naming generators, tips on naming, and ways to come up with variations on the internet. 

I looked into how to create branding combinations (as in ranch brands), the history of the town, the native americans that were here before us and unusual features in the area. I even looked into words in spanish (my heritage). There are nearby roads with really cool names, and a nearby creek, that would have made great horse property names. We ended up with a boring plain road name, and no creek. Sigh.

This is what I learned about the name game:

Ideally you want a combination of two or three of these things: an adjective, an attribute, and type of place. A descriptor of sorts. Who you are, what you do or where you are. 

Some things we've discover about our land, mixed together with a few of our intentions:

Possible adjectives: Wild, Windy, Rolling, Sandy

Possible attributes: Pines, Cactus, Oaks, Horse related words

Possible type of place: Farm, Ranch, Homestead

The names we've liked so far, are all taken. Go figure. I won't bore you with my long "taken" list. I really liked "Wild Cactus Ranch" but it is a pretty prominent bucking bull breeding ranch in Texas. We are not really wild, nor into cactus. Guess it's just not for us. 

My hubby doesn't like warm & fuzzy names, doesn't want to use our last name, or my studio name, and isn't into cute or funny names. Who is the difficult one now?? Ha ha!!  

What's in a name?? A lot of indecision. So much that I wrote this post five months ago, and never published it. The name topic has resurfaced at home, and in blogger land. 

Farm names are very visible at Horse Fair, which is in two weeks. It will be a constant reminder of our lack of nameability. There are things we look at and leave saying "when we have our ranch name"...we do have a few contenders, none that we all like. Maybe something will come out eventually, that feels right, or maybe we shall remain nameless.

where I stand
76/365 ~ photo challenge

thursdays thought

Previous Clues: mystery monday - tuesdays tip - wednesdays wonder