Tending to my garden and my life; nurturing each day to see what unfolds.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Another Foggy Morning

This morning I woke to a gloriously cool morning, though still a bit muggy. There was no surprise when I encountered dense fog when I headed to the car. The fog was beautiful and gave the earth an eerie feel, making me want to turn the car around and go back home.

The lack of sun didn't affect my morning glories, they were out in full force. Each day I have more blooms on the arch. It is a great way to greet the day!




I need to rearrange the morning glories, because soon I will not be able to make it down the steps to my car. Would that be such a bad thing? I could work from home? It has possibilities.

Unlike the morning glories this sunflower wasn't too thrilled at the lack of sun.


Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Orange Cucumber

Yesterday, after work, I took a peek at my garden to see how the vegetables were faring. And behold, I had tomatoes that were finally ripening up and cucumbers hanging on the vine and what looked like squash! Wait...I didn't plant any squash, so what was it doing there? I reached down and plucked from the vine an...ORANGE CUCUMBER! The color closely resembles goldenrod from the Crayola crayons box.



What could this be? Did I have a different variety of cucumber that I had forgotten about? Nope, looks like the bees cross-pollinated my cucumbers with my tomatoes. :) I had heard that I I would need to keep a 100 yards between cucumbers and watermelon, but I didn't think that I might have needed to use this guideline for my tomatoes. For now I will happily pluck goldenrod cucumbers off the vine.




I also retrieved one ear of corn that was ready and that the raccoon hadn't already enjoyed. He does tell me that the corn is sweet and delicious, just how I like it. It is nice to have a taste tester to make sure the food is ready.



I was trying to get fancy in my vegetable display. With this bounty I felt like a real farmer, too bad I didn't have any wheat to stick chew on and my overalls were in the laundry. But I was barefoot, I have the mosquito bites on my feet to prove it.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Kelly Ripa visits Lexington

It is all over the news here in Kentucky...Kelly Ripa was here in Lexington attending the USEF Pony Finals!


Yesterday morning on Regis and Kelly, she spoke with Ashton Kutcher on how wonderful and beautiful Kentucky was when she visited and what great people live here. What a great promotion for the state of Kentucky! And for Pony Finals!


Pony Finals has been a National Championship show for Hunter/Jumper ponys since 1967. The past several years it has been held at the Kentucky Horse Park. For a week the park is packed with ponys of varying colors and sizes, though all under 14.2, kids, parents, trainers and the occasional dog or two or three... It is just adorable to watch the little girls in pigtails flying around their hunter or jumper courses on their ponies!


Clubequestrian.com has some video footage from this year's Pony Finals. All I can say is "CUTE!"

Monday, August 10, 2009

Noo Shoos

Have you ever experienced love at first site? I have and it was with a wonderful pair of suede ballerina slippers that I found this weekend! They fit my foot like a kid glove. When I wear them I feel happy and buoyant, and feel I could conquer the world.


What is it about the perfect pair of shoes that can make a person fell alive? Whether they are 4 inch heels, flats, flip flops or sneakers, a new pair of shoes brings joy...at least to me. It all started at a very young age...


My mother has told this story about me and a pair of new shoes for as long as I can remember and to whom ever will listen. It seems that when I was just learning to talk and walk, my parents took me to get a good pair of shoes at the local Buster Brown's in South Point, Ohio. When I walked out of the store with my wonderful new shoes, I was fascinated by them. We walked along the sidewalk and everyone I met along the way I would stop, look at them, point at my shoes and in my sweetest voice say "Noo shoos!".

Mom says it was just adorable, I will have to take her word on it. To this day when I mention that I bought a pair of new shoes, whether it is a swanky pair of hears or everyday flip flops Mom will recite, "Noo Shoos". And me being the ham that I am, will repeat this time honored phrase. We have also used the phrase when my horse got two new pairs of aluminum shoes.

All this talk of new shoes has been yearning for another pair...hmmm, looks like shopping could be in my future.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Learning a new skill...

I am learning a new skill: Photoshop Elements. i just received my software in the mail after purchasing it on ebay. So far this is what I have done. Not too outstanding...yet. I hope to keep playing with my photos and see what I can do to enhance them.

For now here is my first attempt:



My new header was done with GIMP with the embossing effect.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Cozy, Foggy Morning

With all the rain we have been getting, throw in cool weather mornings and we get dense fog. For the past two mornings the world has looked like this when I had to work. There is something cozy about it. It says to me crawl back in bed, pull the comforter up and sleep awhile. If only...










I love my views out the back door, especially when the horses are at the fence.


The sunflowers add a bright spot to the early morning without sun!





Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Have they come and gone yet?

Boy, those storms yesterday sure were doozeys! The office shook and rattled with the pelting of rain. We got reports that Louisville was flooded and we were supposed to get similar amounts of rain. Luckily, we the weathermen missed their mark. I was concerned about a few low spots near the river along my road home. This was where getting off late from work pays off, the water had receded and there was no oncoming traffic when I needed to get in the opposite lane to pass high water.




The pasture in front of my house was now a "pond". Too bad it didn't come stocked with fish, I could of had a really good fish dinner. Willow enjoyed our temporary "pond", she is half-lab and that water-lovin side comes out even if there is only a drop of water on the ground.




The poor darlin' didn't understand when I wouldn't let her come in the house after her swim. If it had only been water, she could have stayed in the mud room/breakfast room. But since the "pond" was really a pasture it was marshy and muddy, so in turn, Willow was muddy. She went from being a yellow pup to a brown pup. At least she was happy.

Surprisingly Kody didn't take a dip. He normally heads for the water just as fast as Willow. I think the impending storm had him heading for the house instead of the "pond".



At least towards the west the sky was looking better. But it looks like we will be getting some more rain as the days go on. I think I will get my floaties ready!