Her Journey Home

Last night, we went to look at a baby mare that I was considering maybe getting for Gregory. I had seen the ad on craigslist and told the guy the story about Gregory. He said he would love to give us her for Gregory, because of his situation. 

In the ad, it stated that she was trained to trailer but not much else. Trailering is important, so that we could get her home. She had an injury to her back elbow, we knew we could heal it, but the owner kinda just blew it off and it obviously had not been doctored and taken care of.

So, off we go to look at her. SWEET girl. Immediately took to Gregory. We all fell in love with her. So then we are ready to get her in Brandy's trailer.....not happening!!! FOUR times she reared herself back and fell to the ground. The fourth time she did this, she gashed open her face just to the inside of her eye. The owners acted like they didn't even care.

Brandy jumped into action. The eye needed stitches, so she called the emergency horse vet. The vet was in emergency surgery and the best he could do (he knows her and her equine knowledge) is sell Brandy the things we need to stitch the cut. He told us NOT to attempt to trailer her anymore. We had no choice but to walk her home.

We were 4.8 miles away from home. We walked it. Brandy got one of our neighbors that has horses to help. Felicity and Stetson began the walk home with her while Brandy went to the vet and I went home for supplies.

Brandy did the suturing on the side of the road by the railroad track at less than half way home.  The horse had already gone down again refusing to go over the railroad tracks. 

So many people stopped and offered help.  There was a huge storm brewing. After the sedation and stitches, Brandy and our neighbor were able to finally cover her face and coax her over the railroad tracks. She has so many little cuts, her hurt leg and her eye. She is here though. We walked the entire way home.

Felicity walked all but about a half mile, I walked with her a little over 60% of the way. 

We left our house to go see her at 6pm. We got home with her at 10:50pm.

Her name is now Journey. Rightfully earned.

Recipe - Steakhouse Salad

This is my interpretation of a salad from a major steakhouse restaurant chain.


Steakhouse Salad
Iceberg lettuce (I cut the head into 6 wedges)
Cherry tomatoes
Purple onion
Chunky blue cheese salad dressing
Blue cheese crumbles
and…Balsamic Reduction Glaze

Source

I had no idea about the Balsamic Reduction Glaze, so off to google I went. I found this recipe & tutorial. Mine turned out perfectly. However, it took mine nearly 4 hours. I think I cooked it just way too low in the beginning, once I turned the heat up a tiny bit, it thickened right up. Of course you can purchase Balsamic Glaze ready-made at the grocery store.

Place the lettuce wedge on a plate. Place a few cherry tomatoes along the sides of the lettuce. Garnish with a few slivers of sliced purple onion. Drizzle chunky blue cheese dressing over everything, to your taste. Drizzle glaze over everything, lightly. Even let a few drops hit the plate for “presentation”. Sprinkle a few blue cheese crumbles on top. There you have it! Enjoy!


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My Day in Photos - July 15, 2014

We spent the evening at Brandy's house watching the trainer work with her horse, Mirage.









And my favorite of the day...


All of my photos are taken with my iPhone camera. I use many different photo apps for effects, etc.


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The Long Walk

...to the barn after their first accident together.

I wish this was a clearer photo, but I had one chance and it was dusk, so this is what I got.



Felicity and Abel went down last night. Scratched and bruised, but both will heal fine. She was destroyed about the accident because she made a mistake. We all explained to her that the way to learn is by mistakes sometimes. He got himself up then stood dutifully with her until she got on her feet and they walked home together. She cried and told him how sorry she was for the mistake. Time will heal and they will be off riding together soon.


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Happy Girl!

More photos of Felicity and Abel...






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My Day in Photos - July 7, 2014

Woke up to a sick kiddo....



Went to town, stopped by a garden center...





Then spent the afternoon and early evening canning...

Brandy(adopted/family by choice daughter) made amazing salsa, includes 4 different types of peppers. You should have smelled this house while this was cooking!!!





Skillet Creamed Corn. I used this recipe, using 15 ears of corn and multiplying the recipe times 2.5. I then pressure canned in quarts (did pint-and-a-half size the other day) for 85 minutes at 10 pounds.





Canned a few more green beans.



Annnddddd.....17 ears of corn cut off the cob and frozen.



Finished up the day with a silly kids using their imagination and a moving box...



Now it's time to relax and get ready for bed.


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Felicity's Dream Come True

Felicity has had a passion for horses since she was 3. Passion may not even be the correct word, more of an obsession.

She is now the proud *person* of Abel. Abel is a +/- 10yo Sorrel gelding Quarter horse. He's gentle and well mannered and loves Felicity.

She has had him about 2 weeks. Here are some photos along the way.








I am so thrilled to see Felicity so happy!

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Another Las Vegas Vacation

David and I LOVE Las Vegas!!!

We were married in Las Vegas on August 24, 2012 at Chapel of the Flowers.

We vacationed with my children, Felicity and Gregory, there in June of 2013.

Saturday (3/1/14), we returned from another trip there. This time, just David and I went and for 6 nights! Pure heaven!

David had been there a couple of times with his ex-wife and children and I was there in 1996 during a previous relationship. I knew then, in 1996, that I wanted to live there, someday, whenever I could get there.

Here's some photos from our trip:


I just love all of the gorgeous lighting at the hotels and casinos in Las Vegas!

Yummy specialty beverages at Hard Rock. Mine was a fruit smoothie (right), like no other I've ever had! It was delicious for breakfast.

Yes! I won $60, actually $40 net profit because I had put a $20 bill in the machine...and my smart hubby convinced me to cash out and walk away. To bad that didn't happen again...

Photo bomb!!! David and I...and his cousin, Rob. Rob and his wife Heather met us in Vegas. We had a great time and cannot wait to get there again!

An amazing and gorgeous chocolate fountain at the Bellagio. I could have watched this thing for hours. It was stunning!

Beautiful flowers in the gardens at the Bellagio.

It is late as I am posting this and I cannot remember the name of this glass exhibit on the ceiling at the Bellagio, but it is gorgeous!!!

David and I with the Paris Resort across the fountain lake of the Bellagio behind us. Beautiful and the day was amazing!

I would love to see this exhibit!!! I hope it is still there, at the Bellagio, the next time we go back!

I took this photo at a strange angle and zoomed in. This is actually the Fountains at the Bellagio, but from the angle I shot it, Caesars Palace is in the back but is actually beside the fountains.

"The Year of the Horse" statue in front of Planet Hollywood. Seems most of the larger hotel/resorts had extravagant exhibits for the Chinese New Year.

Bacon Popcorn anyone? This was in one of the shops in New York, New York. They had several really fun "bacon" themed gifts.

Very fun and interesting museum. We didn't feel it was overpriced and was very well done. Does take some time, as it is 3 stories of information.

A bit of trivia you may or may not have known. David didn't, which surprised me.

The mini-bar in our room at The Aria. We won free nights for all nights we stayed this time. I will give more information in other posts on how you can win free nights, too. This had pretty much any "late-night munch" you could want. But it will cost you. It's all weighted, so the hotel is aware if you consume an item. If you even just take an item out to look at it and put it back....you paid for it.

The buffets in Las Vegas are amazing!! We got an all-day buffet at The Monte Carlo one day...ate 3 meals (planned on 4, but just couldn't eat any more food). Delicious foods and all you can eat, we pad $31 each after our mLife discount. Well worth it for all you can eat (and beverage included) and delicious food!
I am stopping here for tonight. I have hundreds of photos that I took...I do the same every time we go.

So many people give Las Vegas a bad name and think it's just for adults and gambling and the like. As you can see, it's not! It is what you make of it. So much to see and do without touching gambling. We love it and hope to move there some day.

Enjoy the photos and I'll be back to post soon :-)

Thanks so much for stopping by.

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