I Unpacked an Angel

  Yesterday I unpacked an angel.

She had been lying in "wait" for a very long time.

She had been through 3 different moves. 

She waited "quietly" undisturbed
 in her box for 2 of those moves.

Silently she waited while all the

 "finery" was unpacked and then packed again.

and recently unpacked again.

She was starting to feel "not so special" compared to the

items that had been"let loose" during the other 2 moves.

She knew that those items may be all "fancy schmansy"

but they didn't have a story to tell.

She started her story with an 
realization of why I love bling...
and beautiful china.

Why I LOVE color.

and what the world "looked" like over 30 years ago.

Not only did she tell me about the world in general

she told me about a very special lady,

and how she "lived" her every day life.

She told me about how much love and skill was 

put into the "things" she hand made.

and that all things don't need to be finished

to be cherished.

I almost felt like she was telling me about myself...

but NO she was telling me about my Grandmother.

Things that might seem trivial to many, 

 tell me how much my Grandmother loved 

the same things I do.

Now I can only hope that I can be the 

TRUE LADY 

that my Grandmother was her entire life.

You never know when an angel
 will appear in your life.

I am thankful to this little angel 
for waiting so long to tell me her story.

Thanks for Visiting,

Kelley

everything in this post was my Grandmother's

Passing Time in "Horse Years"

As we welcome the New Year

 we are reminded how fast our lives fly by.

It is a gentle reminder that events of the past year

 are just that...the past.

I don't know about you,
 but I feel the speed of life
increases as we age.

We all are amazed at how our
 children have grow and left the nest.

How fast the grandchildren grow.

Another "year marker" for me are the foals
 that are born each year on our farm.

They start life on our farm.

Their moms and dads are horses
 that have played a large part of our lives.

"Oh My Lena" with her 2012 colt
Dam of"Oh My Lila Rose"

"Smart Little Levi"
Sire of "Oh My Lila Rose"

Each foal born represents a
 little package of "hopes and dreams"

Some of the foals steal our hearts more than others.

One of the foals that has stolen my
 heart from the day she was born.

"OH MY LILA ROSE"

She is out of a mare, "OH MY LENA", 
I showed "Lena" for 2 years
 and then she was retired 
to the farm to have babies.

"OH MY LILA ROSE" 
was born early in 2009.

The first 2 years of her life she 
"entertained" us on the farm.

When she turned 2 all the fun and games were over.

It was time for her to "go to work"

For the last 18 months
 she has trained to be a "Cutting Horse"

It is hard work.

For all the shenanigans she pulled when she was a youngster

she is now VERY SERIOUS about her job now.

How do I know?

I would love to tell you the fairy tale version that is often told.

"Oh I just knew from the moment she was born." 

We have heard that so many times
 when it comes to very successful horses.

But I have learned that we have
high hopes for all the foals.

Certain foals that I think will be super stars,
sometimes are not.

We rarely hear that side of the horse business.

It can be heart breaking when high hopes don't happen.

But..high hopes did happen for 
"OH MY LILA ROSE"

Just recently she was shown by 
my husband in the most important show of the year.

The NCHA futurity, is thought of as the
 "first jewel" in the cutting industry's triple crown.

The show has around 600 entries,
 all the horses must be 3 years old
 (yep they check all horses mouths)
and have NEVER have been shown.

The odds are against you from the start.

So only the very best are entered.

Only 30 horses make it to the finals.

It doesn't make sense to

 even show up...but this is where the
dream kicks in again.

So you enter your best horses
 (you can only show 2)

and wait for your chance
 to show your horse(s) in front of 5 judges.

Oh "My Lila Rose" did her "job"!

She made the finals!

To top things off one of our
 other foals made the finals too.

He was the first foal of 2009.
His name is "Cheldaichi".

He is all grown up now and has
 made an outstanding "cutting horse".

Its hard to imagine 4 years
 have gone by so quickly.

Now we wait for the 
new super stars to be born.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Wishing you Health and Happiness!
Kelley

Merry Christmas

Listen...



 

In the spirit of Christmas,

let broken hearts heal

and

happy hearts sing.

 

Merry Christmas!



100 Poinsettias

The is the first year I have attempted a "Florida Christmas".

I do miss the snow this time of year.

 

I feel that snow is just part of the Christmas equation

So...No snow,

No ideas

I don't want to have a cliche Florida Christmas.

 

Mermaids riding alligators just don't do it for me.

 

Palm trees are pretty with lights but...

 climbing all the way the palm trees sounds very scary

 even if I would have someone else do the climbing.

I'll leave the climbing to someone else.

SO what is a northern girl to do???

 

 

Palm trees are out

Alligators are out

Sorry Mermaids you are out too

 (but only at Christmas time)

So...Project Poinsettia!

YES,

 poinsettias "say" Christmas to me.

 

So I persuaded my son-in-law a

 native Floridian to help me with this project.

I simply asked him to go and get 100 Poinsettias.

Raised eyebrows would be an understatement.

Although he should be getting

used to my mild craziness after 3 years.

Off he went returning with the requested 100 poinsettias,

several flats of white inpatients and he found the most

beautiful purple bougainvilleas I have ever seen.

He planted everything

making for a thrilled mother-in-law.

(Thank you Chris)

I love my "green" Christmas decorations.

I even have solar lights along the

sidewalk to illuminate my Christmas Fun.

Making my decorations politically correct:)

 

I think I will be able to make it this year without snow,

although I think every other year in

 Florida might be my "cup of tea".

 

I have been absent from my blog

 too long for my liking but as you know

 life comes before blogging.

 

I know I promised you a continued

tour of our farm.  I will fulfill

that promise but I thought I would

sneak in a little Christmas

before it passes us by.

 

Thanks for your visit!

Enjoy the Season,

 

Kelley

Not Very Good at Multi-Tasking

I am trying that multi-tasking "thing".

Pssst... let me tell you a little secret...

that usually means doing what I like

rather than doing what I should be doing.

 

 

What I like...leaving for Florida soon.

What I don't like....having to pack for Florida.

 

What I like...is editing, reviewing photographs.

What I don't like...is figuring out how to build  

our new website for our farm with those photographs.

 

 

What I like...is blogging.

What I don't like is...packing for Florida

 

Okay you get the picture.

 

When I was editing I thought

I would share our farm with you.

I don't think I have ever posted about just the farm. 

 

We purchased the farm in 2000.

It's condition was worse than you can imagine

It was a family affair,

 my mother ,father, brother, his wife and my husband.

 

It consisted of 3 buildings.

 

An old barn in desperate need of repair, it was

 very "breezy" and swayed with the wind.

It was completely open to the ceiling

 with a large claw on a pulley at the top.

It was used for scooping up the hay

to feed the horses that were housed below.

This fact makes the estimated date of the

barn being built is around 1900.

An old shed. It is pictured in the background.

 

The third building was also an old shed.

 

I don't have any before pictures,

handy, but take my word,

they were a mess.

Initially we thought the buildings

were not worth saving. When we met with

 our architect he thought they could be saved.

Hmmmmmm.... really???

My mother made the decision to

 rehab the old buildings and add

on a new structure for the "working" barn.

 

It was a major undertaking.

The whole process took 3 years.

We added loafing sheds in each of the pastures,

with LOTS of white fence.

 

WHOA NELLIE!

 REALITY CHECK....I do have to pack for our trip.

Perhaps you can tell I am

very passionate about the farm.

If I were to go on today it might

look like a novel rather than a blog post.

 

Hopefully you will stop by again soon.

Next time I will take you inside the

 buildings and continue with the history

of Kel-Chris Farm.

 

Thanks for stopping and lending me your valuable time.

 

Okay I am off to finish packing...
the thing I don't like to do:)

 

Wishing you good health and lots of smiles.

 

Kelley