Seriously?? You Had To Park There??

There were at least 20 cars blocked in yesterday (with a half a dozen people actually sitting in their cars -- including me!) at Wally World today while this rude trucker took his sweet time unloading 3 racks of plants.

He could have parked a little farther down where no one would have been blocked.  He would have had to walk a bit more.  But no, everyone else could just wait on him instead.

Thanks a lot Joe for the 15 minutes we all sat there waiting on you.

German Christmas Market in TN

I discovered a new holiday activity for us... a German Christmas Market held at a local Lutheran church.  From the posts on its Facebook page it looked like a lot of fun with some high-end arts and craft vendor booths.

We weren't disappointed.  There was some very nice things for sale.

Loved this booth with wood works from Germany.

And this artist was incredible.

She paints in the style of the Old Masters.  My one purchase of the day was a print of a Magi with his gift.

These ceramics were fun.  Don't you love the caterpillar.  It would be great in a fairy garden.

Some nice gourd ornaments.

Handmade knives.

The whole time this group provided live Christmas music.  That's where Himself ended up hiding out.  (He can only take so much 'cute' before he starts looking for cover!)

There was a very unique aspect to this market... one that I'll write about next week!

Two Feet Move Your Body, Four Feet Move Your Soul...

Did you know that today is The Day of The Horse?

Hmmmm... on my calendar that comes 365 days of the year (and I'm noticing that Little Bird has the same calendar as I have).

I don't remember not wanting a horse.  Every mechanical horse had to be ridden (and I knew were they all were...).  Favorite ride at the carnival?  The ponies of course.  Favorite toy?  Model horses... Breyer and Hartland, and just about any other I could find.

You tell a gelding, 

Ask a stud, 

Discuss it with a mare.

And if it's a pony... 

you pray to God Almighty!

Midget

I probably learned more about 'staying on top' from that snotty Shetland than any other horse... from my very first ride on him.

That first time was supposed to be just a lead-line trip around the stable yard.  One of step-grandfather's grand kids was leading Midget with me happy to my bones.  Then that snotty pony jerked the line out of his hand!  

Off we went to the pasture.  I was younger than in the above photo and was afraid to 'bail out'.  Whenever anyone came close to try to catch him, off we went at a canter.  I was a little bit afraid but that rapidly changed to ecstatic... this was WONDERFUL!

That day was my first riding lesson.  Step-grandfather walked out to the pasture; staying just outside the zone that sent Midge off, he quietly told what I was to do in order to control the pony.  It wasn't too awfully long before I had that brat trotting in figure eights.

After that many rides were taken... and never again on a lead line!

There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a (wo)man.

Bozo

It didn't take long before I was too tall to ride Midge any more.  He was given to a family with small kids and I graduated up to riding Bozo, Step-grandfather's grade Quarter Horse gelding.

Since I was too small to hoist the heavy Western saddle onto his back, I did without.  Bozo and I were all over that farm.  As I grew more confident in my ability, I was soon hopping over fallen logs and narrow ditches.  Yes... bareback.  I could stick to him like a burr!

"A girl's place is on a horse."

Dutchman

I've told Himself that Dutchman is the reason we are married.  Not my horse, he belonged to a classmate... who became a friend largely because she had him.  Said friend ended up marrying Himself's brother and we were both in the wedding party.  Fourteen months later we were married.

"Throw your heart over the fence and your horse will follow it."

Cameo

After we married, we lived at Ft. Bragg for four years.  During that time I took 'hunt seat' riding lessons on a schooling horse.  Cam had a nice jump and a cast iron mouth.  Riding him was like trying to hold in a tractor!  

 "If you've never fallen off a horse... you probably haven't been riding long enough."

Storm (aka Bud)

Once we came to Ft. Campbell I started volunteering to work at the stables for free riding.  At that time it was great.  Miles and miles of trails through the woods and you could go out without a guide.  

I got the chance to 'lease' Storm in exchange for preparing him to be one of the stables new trail horses.  I got him just a week or so after Himself was deployed to Desert Storm (his unit was one of the first in).  Having Storm gave me something to do.

The above photo was taken about an hour, maybe two, before my first 'horse wreck'.  I was coming back from an organized overnight trail ride.  One of the stable employees broke every rule in the book... she let friends come along free... and one brought a stallion.  At one point the stud was freaking out over a mare who had come into season.  Storm had not been all that long been a gelding, and thought he had something to add to the 'conversation'.  He was seriously trash-talking at the stud.  I got him away to the back of the group when the stud must have said some thing like "Yo mama was a plow horse!".  Storm yelled back... both reared up and Storm, who was on an incline KEPT going up... and over.  I bailed as fast as I could but he ended up landing across my left hip and thigh.

My first trip to the ER and he had to be trailered back to the stables.  Saddle was busted all to pieces.

Long story short, I had no breaks but was black/blue/green/red from calf to shoulder blade, with a damaged nerve sheath that runs under my hip.  Storm was lame for a couple weeks.  Five weeks later I was released to ride again.  I continued training Storm for another 5 months, then he was placed out on the stable line where he was considered a very well behaved mount.

"Every rider has that one special horse... that one horse who changes everything about them."

May

My once-in-a-lifetime horse.  

Plain as a mud fence, with a bull neck and a Roman nose.

She would do anything for you and had more sense than most people I know.  She could be sassy when I rode her, but put a child up on her and she was a gentle as you could ever want.  There's not a horse on this planet that I would have taken over her.  I lost her to laminitis.

The hole is still there in my soul.

Travel Trinket: Guatemala Jade

After our cruise left Nicaragua, we headed next for Guatemala.  For our excursion we boarded a bus for a long ride to Lake Atitlan.  As the bus came down the hill towards the lake, the vendors came running after it.  I thought the Maasai ladies were aggressive sales people... they are lightweights compared to the Mayan ladies!

I love bargaining, so I watched carefully as they thronged around the first bus.

There was definitely a feeling of desperation that I did not feel with the Maasai.  Maybe it was the fact there were WAY more vendors competing for each tourist's attention.

They definitely fought to get your attention.  But I noticed they did not actually go as far as touching/grabbing the shoppers... which is a good thing.

So I jumped into the thick of it.  

As soon as I saw this necklace, I knew I found 'it'.

Green and purple... my favorite colors.

Our guide later told me that the pendant was Guatemalan jade.

Linked at:

https://nihongojapango.wordpress.com/2015/12/10/rugby-santa-trinkets-and-memories-28/ 

If It Fits... I Gets...

How do you like my latest roadside flotsam find?

There's a story behind it...

Himself and I were out for a country drive combined with some 'power walking' for him (meaning finding the biggest hills to climb) and I looking for some photo ops.

When we met back up, he told me that on the other side of the valley someone had been dumping some yard debris off the side of the hill and had lost their wheelbarrow.

What??  A free wheelbarrow??

Well Alrighty then!

(We figure whoever had a truckload of stuff and not wanting to get too close to the edge of the drop-off, had been using the wheelbarrow to haul stuff to the edge... and lost control.  Now their wheelbarrow was 20 feet down the embankment with their junk, and they weren't feeling it to climb down to retrieve it.

Himself said "No problem" and in short order it was up on the roadside.

Now there was a problem...

You see, little Mattie is a sweet little car with a nice size trunk for her size.  But she is no Little Red pick-up.

And that wheelbarrow did not fit.

I was determined it WAS coming home with us.  We spent a good 10 minutes rigging it up to get it back to the house.  An Ikea tote and some plastic grocery bags to tie it down did the trick.  (Note to self: get some rope and bungees in the trunk!)

A third wheelbarrow is going to be so useful!

A Small Town Parade

Macy's Thanksgiving parade.  The Rose Bowl parade.  National Independence Day parade.  All are grand and wonderful parades with jaw dropping floats, incredible bands, and amazing costumes.  

But there is something about a small town parade that is even more grand and wonderful.

The hospitality.

Little children waiting with their mamas.

Local heroes - the first responders - leading the way.

Simple decorations.

Floats made by families.

And ridden on by local children.  So fun to hear the calls... "Hi Mommy!"... "Grandpa!  Look at ME!"

Even the back of a pick-up is grand!

School mascots come visiting.

Safe behind Mom's back is a perfect place to watch.

Guess who?

Bringing up the rear... the long-ears!

There's another way that small town parades are the best...

Thrown candy!!

So much that a Wee Princess needs help getting it picked up before the next group rolls by!

Run!  Here they come - with more candy to catch.  (Note the Princess's candy tote purse sitting ready.)

What a haul!  Her bag is almost full.

She shares too.

Yes, small town parades are just perfect.

A New Table Setting

About 10 years ago Himself was going through a bout of dish breaking.  Seemed at least once a week a dish would hit just wrong in our enameled iron sink and shatter.

Our stack of dishes was dwindling rapidly!

So I headed over to Dollar Tree to pick up 14 new ones.  My thought was that I wouldn't care when the cheap ones were broken.

For NINE years that man did not break another plate!

Then last year we each broke one.  And that is when I realized I was hoping more would break...

I was so, so tired of my dishes.

In October I was back at Dollar Tree purchasing the plates and bowls for my Homemaker's Club cake stand project.  As I looked over the selection, bells rang and the angels sang...

I found a set I loved!!

However I was really in a hurry and leaving in two days for our trip to MN.  I reasoned that I could get them when I got home as they had just been set out.

Two weeks later, the beginning of November... they were all GONE!  Cue the weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Dropped back in to Dollar Tree last week to pick up some little thing.  I decided to make a pass through dishes to see if some new had come in that I liked.

My dishes were back!

Himself told me to load up the buggy (he likes them too).  I have a full set now plus a few to make some serving pieces with.

Cue the angel choir!!!