A Child's Dream Come True

This October my granddaughter, Lexie, will turn 10. If she could have only one gift, her request would be for a horse of her own.

Photo above ... Lexie, the taller child wearing the cowgirl hat, and her new love Scooby. 

Lexie took to horse back riding much like the proverbial duck takes to water. After just a few short lessons she was infatuated with the sport and with the animal. So it was with no surprise that for the past few months she had been asking, well perhaps more appropriately begging, her parents for a horse.


Everyone told my daughter to wait until Lexie was older because children's whims change and what she is fervent about today may be different by next year. But Lexie seemed head-over-heels in love with horses and with the sluggish economy many horse owners were now relinquishing their beloved animals; the cost of feed and care having cut deeply into their once well padded wallets.  Now is a prime time to purchase as there are many fine horses being sold well below cost and many come complete with tack.



Lexie and her parents looked at several fine steeds and narrowed the field down to 3 of the most gentle that were within their budget. In the end the winner, hands down, was Scooby. Scooby is 9 years old, not a huge horse, he is very docile and for $500 comes with all his tack ... a match made in heaven!
As Roy and Dale used to sing; "Happy Trails to You".  May they have many happy trails together!

Don't Count Your Chicks...

More Fuzzy Photos follow below...

July is a busy month for my family as, along with our Nation’s Birthday on the 4th, we have 3 other birth dates to celebrate.  John, my darling hubby, has his birthday on July 11th, our oldest daughter was born on July 2nd and our youngest daughter will be celebrating her birthday on July 20th.

Since my daughter, Kathi, was preoccupied on her July 2nd birthday, we got together on July 10th to have a family get-together-BBQ.


At this point I wish to explain that my lovely daughter seems to have a thousand and one things always going on at the same time, Kathi is mother to 4 beautiful and very active children, works a full-time and very demanding  job, plus she keeps the books for her husband’s lawn and yard maintenance business.
Currently she has 3 beagles and 5 cats to care for along with a nice size garden of corn, tomato, cucumber, watermelon, cantaloupe, okra, and soon to sprout pumpkins.
Her garden has been her pride and joy this summer but it does take time to water, weed, spray and tend.
On top of these basic responsibilities she has her son’s baseball practice and games to attend, not to mention the post game parties and barbecues; her youngest daughter has softball practice and games, her older daughter has golf lessons and horse back riding…barrel racing lessons no less!

When I close my eyes and try to picture Kathi running around  taking care of all these responsibilities, switching from one of her many "job titles" to another, all I can see is a blur, so it is hard to express the surprise I got when I heard that she now has a brood of little baby chicks … thirteen in all!

Photo above..."Wait hold that shot!  I've got a few pin-feathers out of place."

Photo above...Really, they were facing me and then suddenly turned away, guess it was time to eat.  Cute fannies though!

Photo above...No the chick is not dead !  Just dead tired.  They tend to lay down and pass out anywhere and in any position.  The first couple of  times it happened my daughter had a panic attack and thought the chick had died.  Rest assured that little Blondie is perfectly okay, just sound asleep...until one of the other chicks decides to try and walk on top of her.

Sorry that so many of my pics are a little fuzzy (no pun intended) but baby chicks do not stand still for man or camera and I didn't think to set my shutter speed on fast until the very last photos.

Photo above..."Hey! What You Lookin' At?"

Photo above..."Aw gee!  Do I have to have my picture taken...again?"