Out With the Old and In With the New...

Here is something that I wish to say...


Dear Mom:

That horse-crazy gene came out of the blue,
I know that it made no sense to you.
You took me for lessons, bought me horse books,
helped me at horseshows; whatever it took.

Though they were never your cup of tea,
you always, always supported me.
The horse who trod carelessly on your big toe,
(bet you'll never forget that show :o)

The Breyers you bought me, and small figurines,
to have a real horse was always my dream.
And now that I am a woman grown,
God has blessed me with ten of my own.

Your horse loving child, now the mom of a teen,
surrounded by horses and on a  new dream.
To share the wonder of horses with many,
as a non profit charity, pinching those pennies.

I know that you are still shaking your head,
wondering how we will keep them all fed.
You don't understand their meaning to me,
yet you still help without needing to see.

Constant support and unwavering love,
these are things my mother's made of.

I love you Mom!

I made my mom a slide show video on DVD using some photos I took a few weeks ago of the flowers from her gardens, which are gorgeous! (the first four photos, however, are from my own much smaller garden). We were so darn happy for spring, it seemed that even the weeds looked pretty. Not only will these virtual posies live longer than the "real" thing (but hey, I suppose we can call them the "reel" thing right? *GROAN* :o) I wanted my mom to be able to take her beautiful gardens with her if and when they ever need to move to a smaller house. Enjoy!

Springtime in the South from Jen on Vimeo.

I'm thinking of doing a post Mother's Day giveaway of this DVD - what do you think? Interested? Have a wonderful and blessed week!

The Sarabear Chronicles: Part III

...With one scary purchase, my shopping is through!

For the past several years I have been ogling (and subsequently drooling over) digital cameras, but never could afford anything close to what I wanted. Trying to get a fledgling Non-Profit off the ground means that the bulk of my paycheck gets pretty much re-routed before I get to see it.  This year, however, DH gave me money (and made me promise not to spend it on bills or anyone but myself; horses included) and my parents gave me a big Walmart gift card so I went a little crazy... 

First: A Byte of Background

The digital camera on the right was on perpetual loan from a dear friend; I've been using it to take the listing photos for our Etsy Shop.  Before that I was using my camera phone (sad, but true :o)

Because it didn't belong to me (and I am paranoid) I rarely took it outside. Most of my outdoor shots were taken with my regular camera or my handy-dandy cell phone (well whaddaya want on a no budget budget?)

The Blast from my [not too distant] Past  

I took a picture of our Christmas tree for the scrapbook before we dove into the small pile of presents underneath it on Christmas morning. My dad, who was standing nearby, held out a hand and said, "Let me see". Thinking he meant my camera, I handed it to him. He turned the camera around and in utter shock stated, "This is a FILM camera!" Apparently, he was expecting to see a small digital screen instead of the black plastic view he got :o)

"Thanks for pointing that out, Pop", I returned with a laugh. "There are a few of us that still use them, you know." At least I think there are...are there? Do any of you guys still use 'regular' cameras, or am I the last one left on the planet? Not that it worries me to be bringing up the rear mind you, I'm just curious...

"Welcome to the 21st Century"

Was my father's response to my extravagant Christmas purchase (of course it was 100% sponsored by the presents from DH and my parents; and it was also on sale - WooHoo!!)

There's probably something off about a senior citizen being shocked by his offspring's lack of technology (in fact, I'm sure of it :o) but that doesn't bother me in the slightest. To be honest, I thought it was pretty darn funny myself, because it was just so wrong.


Of course now I have guilt;I should have saved the money, bought feed with it, paid a bill with it, etc.  I seem to have an awful lot of trouble spending "me money", do you?

I've never participated in one of these, but thought I'd throw this in as a tribute to my cell phone camera (another oldie, but goodie :o)

Theme #194 "Lick"

Er, this is Shadow "cleaning" my daughter; he's our resident treat vacuum and people washer... 

She thought it was funny. Me? I was kind of thinking more along the lines of...


 EEEEEW!


 

Mean Girls

 

Well Miss Sarabear may be settling in okay, but it seems that some of her pasture mates have opted to stage a protest.  Rina, in a bout of teenage drama, has decided that Sara's presence here is unacceptable and ruining her life. Really.


SPATIAL RELATIONSHIPS
Rina has a very large personal space, and gets very cranky when a member of her herd trespasses in said space.  It would seem that Sara missed that little tidbit of important information, and had the misfortune to wander just a teensy bit too close to her new leader.




Unfortunately, when Rina explained this egregious error in no uncertain terms [photo right], Sara compounded the problem by rather desperately lashing out in self-preservation before fleeing the scene. Uh-oh: contact. Houston we may have a problem...



THE DETESTABLE DING

To say that Rina was put out by Sara's audacious behavior would be somewhere along the lines of calling a backhanded slap to the Queen of England "an unfortunate incident" (you know, the understatement of the century).

Rina has finally stopped chasing Sara at 5 minute intervals, and has opted to remind Sara of her place only periodically and at a much slower speed.  I have also noticed, however, that this is now done from a much safer distance :o)

THE DOMINO EFFECT
 
Now that Rina is offended by Sara's presence, Lady [Photo right] has decided she feels exactly the same way. Hmmm, can you say brown noser?? 

Taya only makes ugly faces at Sara when Rina is looking, otherwise she is pretty much ambivalent. She is pleased, though, that she is no longer the resident peon and has been spotted practicing her important new status by butting in front of Sara at the water trough every chance she gets. 
 



 Seems Bella doesn't really care one way or the other either, except to be happy that Rina is no longer chasing her around the haypile.


Ahhh well, such is the life when you're a horse.  I think it's time for a nap...