Yes, another long dry spell, too darn busy and distracted to “blog” and I just plain-old forget. For some reason, I looked at the blog and saw that it has been 9 months since the last post, so I better make this a quality catch-up tome.

2013 was good for Frank and me, full of the usual bumps, highs and lows. Here’s a few highlights in no particular order.

1. Smokey the cat has thrived! Frank nurtured and loved him and “Smokes” has grown up to be a beautiful and affectionate cat-boy. Last month at the vet’s he weighed in at 10 pounds! A big thank you goes to Susan and David Maurice for their instruction, encouragement and friendship; couldn’t have done it without good friends!

2. The “girls cruise” in April, aboard Carnival Magic was interesting, to say the least. Started off fine but the tension grew and peaked when Peggy shook her fist in my face, yelling and screaming at me like a crazy demented person, all for something she did to herself. Paula just sat there silent. All I can say is that it true that you never know someone until you live with them, their true nature comes out. We have not spoken since the cruise ended and that’s the way I like it. Life is to short to waste my time on a person like this. Good riddance! (call me if you want the sordid details).

3. Dad had back surgery (spinal fusion) in June, a very serious operation. The surgery went well and Dad was up and walking soon after. The rehab place wasn’t like I expected it to be. Very little time was spent in rehab. More thoughts on this later.

4. We love our church, Faith Lutheran in Lampasas. Pastor Tim is the best (hate using a 4-letter word), again, more on this later.

5. Frank had all new windows installed in the house. It has made a big difference! The electric bill has been much lower and the old house feels snug.

6. After the furloughs by the Federal government, Frank has been beyond stressed at work. Everyone is forced to do more with less. So it was good that we had a Royal Caribbean cruise scheduled the first of December. Went with the Maurices and enjoyed relaxing, eating, drinking, laughing and getting warm in the Caribbean sunshine.

Now we have a whole new year to look forward to. Here’s what we have planned that I can remember:

* Season tickets to Baylor Lady Bears basketball

* Navigator of the Seas cruise, 9 Feb 14 (our Diamond Plus)

* OES installation in June (Worthy Matron/Patron)

* Grand Chapter in July or August

* Long weekend in Galveston in July (for my Number One).

I am making a resolution to continue this blog and my goal is to post weekly and hopefully I’ll learn to attach photos.

dmk

Yes, it’s been a long while. I just don’t spend much time at the computer pondering what to write in the blog. Life happens. We keep busy. We have the best intentions but the worst memory. Getting old. Here are a few landmarks over the past few months:

Labor Day 2012 – Traded Stormy for Ryder, a 2 year old paint gelding.
12-2-12 – Amigos of the Seas cruise out of Galveston, another “two thumbs up” experience!
1-1-13 – RABC changed my job and took my meager salary away. Much heart searching. I submitted to God’s will and decided to stay.
1-13-13 – Adventure of the Seas, out of San Juan with Jay & Michele. Definitely a different cruise experience. If it wasn’t for quality time with Jay & Michele and friends, it would have been a bust.
1-31-13 – RABC reinstated my salary. Assoc. Pr. fired.
FEB 2013 – joined Cove Saddle Club so we can use their arena.
3-8-13 – Surgery to remove gallbladder and repair hernia.
3-31-13 – Found a kitten by a burning brush pile, scorched but not harmed. Frank’s tender heart is bottle feeding and nurturing it. I guess more on this subject later.

Upcoming events:
4-14-13 – Girls cruise on Carnival Magic out of Galveston! FUN!!!
MAY/June 2013 – trip to KC.
July 2013 – OES Grand Chapter in Arlington, TX

Yes, I will try to keep up the blog with our current events. It helps to look back and see the record of what’s been going on. So much gets lost in the memory.

dk

One week ago, we went to Briggs and picked up Stormy, a 9-year-old paint mare, 15 hands. She is very beautiful and has a willing but calm spirit. Frank fell in love with her and decided to buy her from Marci.

When Frank rode her, she did everything he asked. We brought her home and Cochise and Holly were very aggressive to her. Really, it was mostly Cochise. Click on the link below to see the video.

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Stormy was scared to death of him!! Frank made the decision to take him back to his owner, Heather Davis, in Gatesville. Since Cochise is gone, Holly and Stormy have gotten along with no problems; they are calm together but Holly asserts herself as the lead mare. We’ve been riding the two girls and they are doing great. When Frank works Stormy in the groundwork training, she does her best to do what he wants; she is a quick learner. Sherry came out Saturday and trimmed her feet and said she will put shoes on her front feet in about 5 weeks.

I think Stormy will work out to be a great horse to ride around the pasture and on trail rides.

dk

Frank called Jim “Jimbo” Davis, who came out with another man and cleared out the 3 acres of land north of the barn. We have lived here for 24 years and the brush and cedar was thick then and has gotten too dense. It was too much work for Frank and me to clear it by ourselves. Here are a couple before photos:

Here you can see how thick the grapevines were next to the barn. Hard to tell what was living in this mess!

Looking to the north, toward the neighbors, it’s solid cedars and cactus and mesquite.

Frank kept some trees and cedars behind the barn as a windbreak. Now, here are some “after” photos:

Here, you can see that the vines and brush is all gone on the west side of the barn. (hi Holly! hi Cochise!)

This photo was taken from up by the county road, looking west. The trees on the left are behind the barn (windbreak) and the big brush pile is on the right.

In this photo, you can see the neighbor’s barn. The cedar and brush is in a big pile.

Standing behind the giant brush pile (to be burned later this year), facing northwest, you can see the neighbor’s house. Frank saved some of the smaller elm trees.

I’m so glad this was finally done! (dk)

Things are growing in the little garden!

We’ve had some nice Spring showers! I have also planted flowers in the pots.

dk

We spent Easter Sunday at Jen and David’s home and had a wonderful day with family. David prepared an excellent dinner, much better than I could have done!!! Good to see Jer too.

We’ve been thinking of the time when Jen was riding Rascal through a field of bluebonnets at West Fort Hood and we finally found the photo. Hard to believe it was taken 25 years ago!

It’s another good year for bluebonnets throughout Texas. We’ve received a nice amount of rain this Spring.

d

Sammie turned 8 years old on Sunday, April 1st. We celebrated by going to Petsmart and getting some treats and new toys!

We put the birthday hat and bandana on her and she got extra special attention from all the folks at Petsmart!

With a beautiful, sunny, warm and clear day, we decided to give the horses their first bath of the year.

It’s that time of the year to start planting! We went to Lowe’s and got more topsoil and peat moss and add to that a healthy dose of composted horse manure (I wonder where that came from) and got to working the soil. With daytime temps in the 80’s, I’m sure there is no danger of frost. We’ll be planting the seeds this weekend: peas, beans, cucumbers, radishes, and we planted some tomato plants we got earlier.

Farmville 2012