Just Lovely

 

I just want to acknowledge and say thank you for the award that was recently bestowed upon me, not once, but twice.

Thank you Deanna from My Country Genes

and

Wolfie from What was I Thinking?

I think it’s lovely!

 

I’m also supposed to follow the guidelines that come along with this award, like sharing this award with some of my favorite blogs. I’m sure some of you have already received this award, but I just can’t keep up. Also this is by no means a list of all of my favorite blogs. This post would stretch far too long if I did that.

Fern Valley Appaloosas

Cowgirl by Proxy

Gravel Roads and Daiquiris in the Dirt

Of Horses and Boys and Everything in Between

Mustang Saga

California Cowgirl

Celestial Ramblings

Nuzzling Muzzles

Equestrian Vagabond

Stefrobrts View

Wildlife, Wildflowers and a Window

My Country Genes

At the Farm

Bay State Brumby

Dan and Betty's Place

Fantastyk Voyage

Southview Farm

Postcards from Arizona

Life on a Bison Farm

Zambito Oaks Farm

Little Keebler

There is a Horse in my Bubblebath

The Daily Coyote

I’m also supposed to share 7 things about me that some of you may not know about me.

Ok. So here are my 7 things:

1)I don’t mind dust bunnies, but clutter and lots of knick knacks freak me out.

2)I have no problems throwing stuff out or giving things away (see #1). My hubby does. He’s probably a good example of a pack rat. Hence, much of my purging and tossing must be done with lots of stealth.

3)I’m a military brat and grew up with both of my parents serving in the Navy. We moved often…and purged often (see #1).

4)When I worked for the airlines, I would drive all sorts of vehicles, including: Tractors, Mules and Tugs (both stick, automatic, diesel and electric) that pulled baggage carts(often 4 or more), baggage conveyor belts (parking them right up against a jet), jetways (yes, they must be driven), fuel trucks (yes, I used to refuel commuter planes), pushbacks (that pushed the jets away from the jetway and out to the runway), and even double connector buses (essentially a bus towing a bus) to transport passengers from the terminal out to the commuter planes (and I had to maneuver these double buses filled with passengers around 2-6 small commuter planes. And I never clipped a wing or ran over anyone!). But get this…..I’m still nervous about towing a horse trailer. Why? I have no idea!

5)Hubby still works for the airlines, so we can fly for free anywhere in the United States and just about anywhere in the world. But I rarely do because I prefer the relaxing, no hassles, freedom of driving. My last time flying was when I went up to Nevada in November 2009 (wow! time flies!) to spend the weekend with my sweet friend, Nuzzling Muzzles. (Click to visit that post).

But I’m going to be taking my first flight, since that last one 2 years ago, with my twinlings out to North Carolina for Halloween Weekend….and I am nervous but very excited!

6)I still haven’t ridden my horse around my barn or house, since August a year ago. All of the bad things that have happened to me with horses have all happened here at home. It’s weird, isn’t it, that I’ll ride my horse just about anywhere, but not at home?

7)I have many different hobbies and interests, so my blog is probably just a little too varied for most bloggers, who decide to read based on similar interests. Some of my favorite interests and hobbies are: Letterboxing, Hiking, Camping, Road trips, Horses, ACTHA, Llamas, Chickens, Gardening, Knitting, Spinning, Cooking, Reading, Homeschooling, Hanging out with my awesome kidlets, and exploring every inch of my enchanting New Mexico that I possibly can.

           

Horse Award~INTREPID RIDERS FACTION

My beautiful and kind, horse-loving friend Kacy, over at  All Horse Stuff created this unique and meaningful award and then generously chose me as her very first recipient. The following description is her own words:

This Award is dedicated to those Horse lovers and riders that inspire others to go deeper in ability, knowledge and understanding of the Equine(s) they have been entrusted to.The good of the horse is the ultimate goal apart from pressures to achieve ribbons and fit into lesson schedules.

~Some of these riders are fearless, when it comes to weather conditions and the forecasting of them...being with their horses  fills these folk’s soul and takes the cares out of daily routines.

~They are unconditionally loving to the horse and may have rescued it from known ailments or living conditions.

~Others have researched and purchased/acquired their horse, to find a difficulty in temperament or a physical burden within the animal. Yet, being dedicated , they have persevered to proudly be in partnership with their horse, lovingly striving for deeper awareness's between them.

~Some horse lovers may have been riding for years and suddenly, had an accident that takes them away from the great joy and freedom they have, being aboard such a magnificent animal.

~They have allowed the healing horse to rise in their hearts once again, and beckon them back!

~This is a symbol or an emblem to give away to those we are aware of that have uniquely nurtured and loved the Equine in a special way.
In turn the equine has inspired them as well, to be more and to go further in trust and ability.
It honors the unique drive they have for going the distance, understanding the needs, and rising to the occasion of, supplying the care/training for their entrusted Horse(s).

There are not many rules with this award...JUST :

1)that the person who is given this award, give it to only one person.

2)link back to this post, so they may have an understanding to it's true nature. ( Intrepid Riders Faction Blog Post )

3)You can choose either the style at the top of this post or the one below:

And after much thought, due to the many horse-related blogs I read every day, and the many favorites, of whom I’ve even created friendships with, I found it so difficult to choose one, but I will follow the rules faithfully and choose one blogger that I believe meets many of this award's descriptions:

Nuzzling Muzzles

I’ve been following along on her blog for over a year now, even before I brought my own mare home. She’s taught many horse owners helpful and interesting information just by sharing her own experiences in an honest and straightforward manner. While some horseriders and owners only share the ups and good stuff, Nuzzling Muzzles talks about her downs and challenges, even with the possibility of others that might judge or make assumptions.

She knows that the only way to learn good horsemanship is to share knowledge honestly, even if everything doesn’t go exactly as planned. In the end, there is always something good to be learned.

Nuzzling Muzzles is also fearless and bold and has helped her spirited Arabians stand up to fields full of horse-eating llamas, scary upside-down chairs, monster bicycles on trails, and horse-clueless neighbors. And with her endless patience, she has been teaching her horses good manners, and training them, not only to be good trail horses one day, but for one filly, also to  accept a rider on her back.

She works long hours at a thankless job, while running a home and family, but she always has the responsibilities of her 3 beautiful horses in the forefront, and always over her own needs.

So, although I can think of a few others who fit the descriptions for this award, I know that Nuzzling Muzzles is fully deserving and I’m happy to pass this special award on to her.
Congratulations, my friend!!! Display it proudly!

From the Tower of,

Silly Saturday~Dippin' Dots and Awards

A few days ago, we had a dusting of snow, but it was not really snow, it looked sort of like Dippin' Dots. Imagine this with a some colorful food coloring. Can you see it, too? Ok. Tell me I'm not crazy. lol! (And for those who don't know what Dippin' Dots are, they are basically ice cream in tiny individual pellet shapes. They are often sold at carnivals, fairs, sports events, the zoo, shopping malls, etc)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm so far behind in posting, thanking for and gifting out a few awards I've been given over the last 2 weeks.

The first award comes from my glamorous blog friend, Ms. Punchy Queen, Meg of Lucchese to Louis Vuitton.
And I choose the following lovely blogs to give this award to:
*Colleen
*Desert Horses
*Melanie
*Callie
*Farmer Jen
*Lytha
*White Lilly
____________________________

The very funny and awesomely wonderful Andrea of Swamp Suburbia, created this next award, and chose me to give it to. And then a little while afterwards, the ever interesting Mikael from Rising Rainbow gave this award to me, too.

Andrea tells me that the word 'Hamfattery' originated in the early 1880s from a song called The Hamfat Man. It was a black minstrel song about an awkward man. After that, people would use the term hamfatter when someone was trying too hard to be funny and not succeeding. That was ultimately shortened to the word ham. Very interesting!!
So, now we know! And now we have the Hamfatter Award! (And I'm just relieved it's not given only to fattery people, who've eaten too many cookies during the holidays. whew!)

This award is given to the blogs that make you laugh. The blogs that stand out and just make you smile and chuckle. The rules are easy and simple.
1. Blog about the Hamfatter award, tell where the name came from (you can copy and paste, that is what I did!!)
2. Post the Hamfatter Award Proudly on your blog!
3. Pick 5 blogs that just make you laugh and link to them in your post.
4. Link back to the person who gave you this hilarious Hamfatter Award.
5. Let your blogger friends know they were awarded a little something.
I now will bestow the Honorable Hamfatter Award on five blogs that just make me laugh. You guys are such Hams!! Thank you Andrea!

And I choose these 5 blog friends that always make me smile:
*Cing Spots
*Gail
*All Horse Stuff
*Yellow Jacket Ridge
*Goat Girl
__________________

Another award passed on to me from my sweet and always interesting Desert Hen is this Friendship Award. And this is what is said about the recipients given this award:
"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."
And I choose:
*Kacy
*Melanie
*Gina
*Good Life in VA
*Fantastyk Voyager
*Nuzzling Muzzles
*Andrea
*Stephanie
_______________________

And last but not least, my big-hearted friend over at Wilmoth Farms awarded me the Fabulous Blog Award. And for some reason it comes with the stipulation of listing 5 of your favorite addictions.

So here goes:
1)Blogging, of course!
2)Chocolate, especially brownies
3)Horse Riding and spending time with my horse and other animals
4)Letterboxing
5)Drinking Hot Tea
And I choose the following 5 bloggers to gift this award to:
*Pony Girl
*World of Ezra
*Esther Garvi
*Wrensong Farm
*Claire
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And finally, I wanted to let my blogger friends know that if you think I've either given you the cold shoulder or lost my directions to your blogs, I truly haven't. I'm just a little bit slow in making my rounds to all of my favorite blogs. These Physical Therapy appointments are exhausting for me, and not just the work-out while I'm there, but all the effort into getting there and back home: butt crawling up and down two flights of stairs and hoisting myself into and out of the back seat of our van several times(my knee still won't bend enough for me to sit in the front seat yet) just wears me out. By the time I get home my left knee and entire leg is throbbing, my right leg is aching and shaking from having to do all the work, and my shoulders and arms are burning from lifting my large frame everywhere.

When I finally change clothes and slip back into bed, I pop my Tramadol and Flexiril, and then it's all I can do to just visit a couple blogs, try to leave a few comments, maybe watch a little TV, or thumb through a magazine. Then I'm toast! lol!

So, what I find works better for me is to go on blog binges. Basically, visit one blog and play catch up reading all of the posts I've missed at one time. Instead of a quickie visit from me, it's more of an extended stay. hehe

How do you keep up with your favorite blogs? Do you sometimes read several posts but just leave one comment for all of them? And do you ever skim through and read a post and then come back later to leave a comment. Do you tend to be a lurker and not leave comments at all? (Time for you lurkers to speak up now. lol!)

And finally, do you ever get the shakes when you discover yet another terrific new blog that you just have to add to your favorites?
How do you keep up?
I'm thinking I could really use an extra 8 hours every day, just to blog! lol!
How about you?


From the Tower of,

I'm not Chicken!

Thanks to those of you who recommended that I bring some of my critters into the house for a visit. I thought it would be too messy, too much of a hassle, too whatever. But I'm glad I did. It really cheered me up and made me smile. My twinlings participated in the critter visit and gathered up a couple chickens to bring inside. This is Kipper, one of our Heritage Breed chickens, a Speckled Sussex.It has been 3 weeks since I touched my chickens. I don't think I realized how much I missed them. Please ignore the dirty hair and double chin. Laying down for a photo is not the best position for an attractive photo. gah. And I haven't washed my hair or had a shower for a week. Ewww. But isn't Kipper pretty? Looks like she's trying to peck me, but she was actually very sweet. I enjoyed my chicken visit so much and was sad when they went back outside again.
Rhoda the Rhode Island hen wasn't so sure about being inside. I think she thought we were hiding an axe or something. She finally did calm down and seemed to enjoy the petting and cuddles, though.
~~~~~~~~~~~

I have a couple thank you's to dole out, too.
Tammy of Wrensong Farm sent me some goodies. Some yummy chocolate, some cute and friendly cards (my favorite is the card showing Tammy on a trail ride), and a beautiful calender produced by her friend Tara Felder of Western Views about her beautiful horses and her life in Okanogan County in Washington.

And Christy over at Farm Dreams has been a dear bloggy friend this past year and she sent me that cute little ladybug that she hand-crocheted, just to make me smile. She previously sent me the cutest little hand-crocheted eggs for me to treasure, too. Thank you Christy! You guys are the best!

Here's a couple pages from the calender. Each page shares information about Tara's horses and their pack trips. My beautiful calender is even signed and numbered (99/250). Makes me feel special to be given this, especially since, for some odd reason, I didn't receive any calenders for Christmas. I usually get more calenders than I have wall space for. But most of all I just love this horse calender because of it's more personal nature. Thanks Tammy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've even got a few awards to share, too!

White Lily, my beautiful bloggy friend in Australia chose me for the "Marie Antoinette: Keeping it Real Award".
I'm not quite sure of the history of this award, but it seems to be for someone who blogs honestly, 'warts and all'. Yep, this is me. lol!
And it could not be better timing...the irony of it makes me smile.
Here I was typing about my hospital experience and post surgery challenges thinking maybe it's too much info, I know I sound like a whiner.
But then I said to myself, "Self, it's my blog, and I'm just gonna keep it real"
And then White Lily goes and gives me this "Keeping it Real" award.
How cool is THAT?!
And these are the blogs I've chosen to bestow this award because they know how to "Keep It Real":
~Jocelyn at For the Love of a Horse
~Gail At the Farm
~Nuzzling Muzzles
~Mrs. Mom of Oh Horse Feathers
~jacksonsgrrl at Always there are the Horses
~Jamie at Seatbelt for my Saddle
~Mikey at The Horseshoeing Housewife
~Lytha of Horse Crazy American in Germany
~C-ing Spots Appaloosas
~Tammy of Wrensong Farm

~~~~~~~~~~~
And my cowgirl friend Karen, at Life at the Rough String gave me this award for being able to read her rather lengthy, but enjoyable and exciting post about her up and coming buckle-winning horse, Colt. Truly, Karen could be wordy anytime and I'd read every word. She's just that good.

~~~~~~~~~~~

And last, but certainly not least, my funny, talented and interesting friend Gail At The Farm chose to give me this fun blog award.
And I choose to bestow it onto ALL of my blogger friends that left me a comment in my LAST TWO POSTS, which I am calling "Lisa's Darkest Moments".

You all just knew the perfect things to say to cheer me, lift my spirits, support me in my saddness and frustration, and make me feel cared for and not alone. You gave me wonderful advice and ideas to make this time a little less painful and trying, and you made me laugh and cry...and it was all good.

To me, you are all Blog Stars. You came into my life and shone your twinkly light on me, to brighten my darkest moments. Thank you my bloggy friends. Love and Hugs to you all!!!


From the Guest Room of,

M~is for Muck Boots and Meme

Today's post is one about something that doesn't get much focus. They get tramped around in poop, crud, mud, and other icky stuff. As long as they keep our feet dry and clean, we're happy. They work hard and they have to be tough.
Today's post is about footwear, specifically Muck Boots.

Last Spring I got bored with my plain brown muck boots. I wanted to have some fun. The chore of standing in mud and poop is much improved when wearing bright colorful boots. I bought these from Target online and they make me happy and keep my feet comfy, too.

I also have a wild, naughty-side and bought these boots, too. Also from Target. Aren't they cute?!

And then I saw these adorable, bright boots, and I knew if I wore them, scooping manure and squashing through mud, would always be a little bit brighter and cheery.(Or is that Cherry?) So I had to have them, too. Are they fun, or what?

And see? It's true. Even with poo on my flowery fun boots, they still make you smile. (Go on. Admit it. lol!) And yes, I'm wearing jammies.

I knew you might want a closer view of my jammies, so here ya go. What do you wear to the barn?
These are probably my favorite muck boots. I know, I know. They're boring black. But they're clogs, so they easily slip on and off quickly, so I can run out to feed chickens, gather eggs, and run up to the barn. They're not so great for serious mucking with the open heel, though. And when I first bought them (also from Target online) my entire family called them "Mama's Fart Shoes" because these rubbery shoes farted at each step I took. I sort of miss that sound, as a matter of fact. Nothing like a fart sound to make you laugh!

Now that I have shown you mine, you can show me yours. lol!
And I've got a little goodie for you, if you choose to participate. Just do a blog post about your muck boots and share a photo of them, and let me know in the comments section, that you're participating, so I can see your muck boots, too. Doesn't matter if your muck boots aren't fancy. If you use 'em, they count!
And, if you don't wear muck boots, and instead wear cowgirl boots, or something else to take care of your critters, then those count, too.
You'll get to choose from one of these two hand-made stickers to proudly display on your blog. (Don't I make it sound so exciting? hehe)

You can choose from this cute sticker:
Or this stylish one:
So, let's see your muck boots!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mikey over at The Horseshoeing Housewife and Jamie at Seatbelt for my Saddle both tagged me for the 6 Things About Me Meme. So here it is:

1)I hate to dress up or wear anything fru-fru. I would love to be in my jammies all day if I could. I wear them to the barn and I'd probably wear them to ride, too.
My clothes are usually chosen without too much thought most days. Comfort is my main focus. I'm sure I'd be an excellent contendor for "What Not To Wear" lol!

2)I've always loved horses, but was also afraid of them. I still feel pangs of anxiety when I'm tacking up my horse or when she tests me out on the trail. It's been very liberating for me, as a pacifist, to learn to reach deep inside for courage while demanding respect from my horse.
(Oh. And I bought a little saddle flask for myself, for Christmas...just to take the edge off. lol! What do you suggest I fill it with?)

3)I have gourmet taste in food. And love to cook ethnic food, especially East Indian. I also enjoy trying out exotic recipes, but my family usually turns their noses up at anything that isn't the same old-same old. They only recognize salt and pepper as approved spices. sigh.

4)I want to get a tattoo, but can't make up my mind on a final design. And I'd rather go with someone who's already gotten tattoos or with someone who's getting
their first one. I think it would be more fun and I could use the support.
(Maybe I should bring along my flask?? lol!)

5)I treasure handmade gifts much more than storebought. I have a thing for quilts, handmade bags, soaps, and anything creatively made by hand. I'm always touched by gifts given to me by people who know my interests and my heart. And I especially love gifts that make me laugh. Like this hilarious "Pay It Forward" gift package that Gail over At The Farm sent me.
The gift was so funny because it had alot to do with this post: 'Count the Cats'. When I opened the package Gail had sent I immediately 'got it' and couldn't stop laughing. She apparently had a "herd dispersal adoption clinic", and I was one of her recipients. lol!
What a clever and creative gal she is!

And then Christy from Farm Dreams recently gifted me with these adorable hand-crocheted eggies. Aren't they the cutest?! The horse book was a gift, for my birthday, from my neighbor friend, Val of Fantastyk Voyage. And the horse hair inside belongs to my Baby Doll and her sweet Arabian mare, Nadia.

6)Finally, I'm very quirky and am interested in non-mainstream activities and ideals. I've never been a sheep. I like to walk my own path. I'm usually very open-minded and enjoy and respect differences of opinion, but I sometimes have strong opinions and get annoyed when I feel as if I'm not allowed to speak my mind.


I won't tag anyone else specifically because I think this has already made it's rounds. But if you'd like to participate, please let me know, as I love to learn more about my blogger buddies.

J~is for John Deere and Jewels

Before I get started with the letter 'J', I must take a moment just to THANK YOU(!!) to all of you awesomely wonderful bloggy friends of mine. I so appreciated every single one of your supportive comments and kind words and understanding left for me in the previous post. I appreciate all of you, I really do.
And thanks, too, for all of the helpful and useful icy bucket tips and ideas and for sharing with me and others, how you handle pesky ice in your buckets.

Now, onto the letter 'J', which Ranchman John reminded me not to leave out one of the most important 'critters' on our little ranch. The John Deer tractor. Even before we moved out here, Ranchman John dreamed of his very own bright green tractor. Check out that happy grin, folks. lol!
It's a toss up between the horse and his tractor, for what's his most favorite. But he sure does love his tractor.
He loves to just take it out and give the kids a ride up to the barn or around the neighborhood. I wouldn't say the tractor works all that hard around here, but it is lots of fun to drive.
I was surprised when Ranchman John offered to let our sons drive it. The twins are 11yrs old, so I know they can handle it, but Ranchman John almost swoons when he he sees his tractor. I think he likes to see his boys helping out around the ranch, though.
And whenever kids come to visit, Ranchman John and the boys enjoy taking them out for tractor rides. It's always a huge hit.
Down the road they go.
And up to the barn.
Where are they going? They don't even care. It's just fun bumping around in the John Deere.
Jax says "Come back soon, y'all"!


Ranchman John wants to know if our readers have tractors, especially bright green tractors. (lol!) He also has a thing for Allis Chalmers tractors, too.
And, if you don't mind answering, how do you use your tractor?.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now it's time for Jewels.....for blogs.

Lovely Victoria, over at Teachings of the Horse gave me a very pretty award. Thank you, Victoria. It's so tough to choose who to give these awards, too. I really just want to give them to everyone who reads my blog, because I enjoy so many special blogs. But I know when a blanket award gifting is given, many folks aren't comfie with grabbing the award. So, I'm going to choose a whole bunch of my favorite blogs, that I read for many reasons. But most of the bloggers below all enrich my life in some wonderful way:

CDN Cowgirl
Mell
Carolynn
Melanie
One Acre Wood
Stephanie
Kathie's Birds
Pony Girl
Callie
Gravel Roads and Daquiris
Cing Spots
Barn Door Tagz
Stef Roberts
Life at the Rough String

~~~~~~~~~~

And finally I decided it was time to design my very own unique 'award' to gift my readers. This one is very specialized and is for those bloggers who have owned, do own, and who love the Paint Horse. This is not a pass-it-on kind of thing. If I gift it to you, it's yours alone, to display on your blog, like a proud little jewel.
And here it is! What do you think?

These are the bloggers I know of, that love their paints:
(If I've left you out, please let me know, and I'll be happy to include you):

Callie
KD
Val
Arlene
Meg
Jamie
Ezra
Gail
CDN Cowgirl
Stephanie
Wrensong Farm
(I know it's not a horse, but her paint donkey is just so pretty!)

Enjoy!

A~is for Ambulance and Awards

Well it just so happens I have two choices for today's letter "A". My first choice was Awards, because I've generously been gifted with a few recently and wanted to say a big thank you and pass them on to some of my favorite blog buddies. But then on Friday night, things went a little awry and one of these had to be called........ Thanks for all the well wishes. I'm feeling a bit better today, but I truly believed that death was at my door early Saturday morning. I started to feel ill while babysitting Friday morning. The house I was in had a malfunctioning fireplace that made everything smell like smoke. I felt nauseated and dizzy and had to keep the window open, even though it was cold outside. By the time I got home, I was weak and could barely stand up. I hadn't been able to eat all day and by the late evening, I started having intense chest and upper abdomen pain.

After the ambulance showed up, my heart checked out ok by the paramedics and when I arrived at the hospital, the EM room Dr. finally concluded that I either have a stomach ulcer and/or gastritis. It couldn't be confirmed from the CT scan and X-Rays, though. And the nasal tube they tried to insert into my stomach punctured my (previously unknown) deviated septum. Talk about painful and terrifying! The two techs raced out of the room, looking for help, as I sat there with blood gushing out of my nose. They had never had that happen before, but still I was all alone bleeding uncontrollably and in intense pain. That was so scary.

After several injections of morphine, anti-nausea and Pepcid meds, I was feeling much better. Later in the afternoon, I was finally released from the hospital, with more meds, and on a strict B.R.A.T diet. blah.(Stands for: bananas, rice, applesauce, toast...basically anything bland and easy on the tummy)

On Sunday morning I was very dissapointed because my neighbor friend, Val, and I, with my kids were supposed to drive down to celebrate the Festival of the Cranes at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. And of course there were some letterboxes place there that we wanted to find, as well. And the proverbial cherry on top was to be one of the best meals in New Mexico at the famous Owl Bar and Grill. Just the thought of one of their juicy burgers smothered with grilled onions and fresh roasted green chile makes my mouth water! Which of course, does not bode well with a bland and boring B.R.A.T diet...sigh.

So depending on how I feel, we're rescheduling our trip to the Wildlife Refuge and Owl Bar to Tuesday. If y'all wouldn't mind saying a few prayers for good health and positive vibes for a quick recovery, I'd be much obliged.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now onto the second "A".

Awards.

First I want to say thank you to Carolynn at the Glowing Ember who always writes the most creative and thought-provoking blog entries. She gave me this award.

And I want to pass it on to:

Gail
Pam
Goat Girl


Second to thank is Adventure Girl Wanna Be for always being so upbeat and fun. She passed out this award to her bloggy readers:
And I want to pass it on to:

Carolynn
Nuzzling Muzzles
Val
Christy


And even though I had already received the next award, I was still touched that my bloggy pal Nuzzling Muzzles thought so much of me to gift it onto me, too.
And I'd like to gift it onto:

Andrea at Swamp Suburbia


And finally, another award that I had already been given, but I still was very pleased to be given it by this special blog friend of mine. Christy at Farm Dreams is finally living her Farm Dreams and I could not be happier for this special lady.

And I want to send it along to another special lady:

Pony Girl

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please note that two words for the letter of the day will not be a common ocurrence. So don't let this little blip sway you into not participating in my Alphabet Blog Challenge contest.

Starting today, anyone participating in the Alphabet Blog Challenge is invited to post my logo on their blog or website, and include a link back to my blog, so others can join in if they would like.

Also, whoever wins this contest will also win 'bragging rights' and be permitted to keep the Alphabet Blog Challenge Logo, created by me, on their own blog. In addition, they are also welcome to continue the tradition by hosting the Alphabetical Blog Challenge on their own blog, if they would like. And you can bet that I'll be excited to participate, too!

So.....GET YOUR GAME ON FOLKS!!

I've Uberly Fallen for Million Dollar Hot Blogs

Aren't y'all diggin' that title?

The warm-hearted and talented Tile Lady of A Colorful World honored me with THREE amazing awards last week, and I figured it was about time I thanked her and passed along these fun awards to some of my favorite bloggers, too.

I can never choose just one because I have so many special bloggers that I enjoy visiting. So here goes:

For the "I've Fallen for your Blog" award.....

I choose:
Fantastyk Voyager
Amy at Twelve Acres
C-ing Spots
KD at Zambito Oaks
White Lilly
~~~~~~~~~~~~

And what a cute award, the "Million Dollar Friend" award!

I choose:
Melanie and her horse BoBo
Lydia and her horse, Stewy
Mellimaus and her horse Daisy Mae
Callie and her horse Kola
Laura and her horse Rusty
~~~~~~~~~~~


And for the honorable Uber award...

I choose:
Desert Hen
Stef Roberts on 3 Acres
CDN Cowgirl of Not Quite Home on the Range
Grammy at the Empty Nester
Gail At the Farm
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And finally, Grammy over at the The Empty Nester awarded me with the 'Hot Blog' Award just to thank me for encouraging her to get involved in Sky Watch Fridays, because she posted some amazing Sunset Sky photos yesterday.

And I'd like to pass this fun award to the following HOT bloggers:

My buddy Grey Wolf Too old Cripples
Funny Vonda over at Little Egg Farm
The talented Tile Lady A Colorful World
Kind-hearted and silly Mikey of the HorseShoeing Housewife
Fellow New Mexican and Sky Watcher, Louise of The Potted Frog

Thanks Everyone for reading my blog and being so supportive. And most of all, thanks for sharing your lives with me through your own blogs.

Have a terrific weekend!