A Year in Photo - Day 108 + Completed Summer Bucket List Item

Sorry for the delayed post but after a day at the IPE I was exhausted by the time we got home. I LOVE the fair; I'm like a kid in a candy store....walking through the barns, watching the chuckwagon races, eating fair food and of course, looking at all the beautiful horses. To top it all off, the rodeo. So much fun!

Mini-Chuckwagon Races - These little guys just wanted to race!

The colouring on this bull was beautiful...errr, I mean handsome?

So tiring to be the pretty cow at the IPE.

Babies :)

The sheer size of these bulls is amazing....and I don't mean their bits!

We stumbled upon a farrier demonstration...with the knowledge I have about different methods like barefoot, which I prefer, I found it very difficult to watch. 

This big guy won my heart, I know I'm destined to own a draft at some point in my life. As soon as I walked up he pushed his body up against the fence demanding a massage, and then proceeded "release", stretch, yawn, quiver his lips etc. while I massaged his neck, shoulders and withers...all I could reach, he was HUGE!

Rodeo Time!!

"Stay close to anything that makes you glad you are alive."
-Hāfez

A Year in Photo - Day 107

What is all this? Well you will just have to wait and see :) All I will say is it is one of the Pinterest projects I have been working on and I am so happy with how it is coming along.

To thrive in life you need three bones.
A wishbone.
A backbone.
And a funny bone.
-Reba McEntire

Bucket List Documented: A Year in Photo - Day 106

Bucket List Documented: A Year in Photo - Day 106: Feeling a little off this evening, I went for a drive after I saw the horses, something I often do when I'm feeling out of sorts. I turn...

A Year in Photo - Day 106

Feeling a little off this evening, I went for a drive after I saw the horses, something I often do when I'm feeling out of sorts. I turned down a road I didn't know, came up over the crest of the hill and this is what a saw. A reminder of why we live where we do. In that moment, although I didn't feel 100%, I felt grateful for the opportunities I have been given, for the amazing people in my life and for where I am today.

Don't Quit

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sign,
When care is pressing you down a bit -
Rest if you must, but don't quit.

Life is strange with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a fellow turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow -
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a fair and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor's cup,
And he learned too late when night came down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out -
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar,
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit,-
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit.
-Author Unknown

A Year in Photo - Day 105

This is what happens when you bring two tomatoes to the barn. The chickens, the roosters and Max the cat come running. And then they decide that Rhonda (my car) is their friend. It was good for a giggle.

"Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens." -Carl Jung

A Year in Photo - Day 104

This is my happy place. The smell of a barn, the sound of a horse's hooves walking a across the floor boards, the chickens and ducks following me around and the cats stretched out on the hay. I had the greatest day; practised some new massage techniques, worked two horses in the round pen and just enjoyed the beautiful sunshine, and the peace and quiet of the farm.

"Sometimes, you just need a break.
In a beautiful place.
Alone.
To figure everything out."
-Unknown

A Year in Photo - Day 103

Now I know this may come as a surprise to you all, but my husband Steve isn't perfect. Shocker, I know! I'm doing a weight loss program through my doctor and I have 2 books that are always on the counter because I'm always recording in one and referencing in the other. For whatever reason, when Steve comes home he always puts his stuff on top of them. His work papers, his watch, his cell phone and/or his wallet are always on top of at least one of my books. Despite repeatedly asking him not to, because they get buried and I can't find them, it keeps happening. 

Now I know he isn't consciously doing it but the message just isn't getting through. So when I went to find my book today, low and behold it was under his stuff, again. Time to make a point.....  

Under this heap of my things are his work papers, his cell phone, his watch and his wallet. I was in another room when I heard him giggle, I think I made my point and even if I didn't, we had a good laugh.

"Laughter is a sunbeam of the soul." -Thomas Mann