Everyone Needs a Little Goat.....

Therapy!!
This is a picture of my daughter, Jenn, receiving a little lovin from "Spider". Spider is one of Star's babies. He was born almost two weeks ago with very contracted (stuck in a bent position) legs. Becky worked on stretching his legs and vet-wrapping them in place. Her treatment was the answer, because, as you can see, he is in great shape now and quite affectionate!
This is Spider and his little brother using Jenn for climbing practice.

Jenn and I spent the day on barn cleaning detail....but rewarded ourselves with several sessions of goat therapy. Check out my farm blog for more baby pictures.

I Just Might Be a Bag Lady!

There is something wonderful about always having a place to keep your "stuff". I love bags! I love big bags, little bags, all types of bags. I started out making grocery bags and decided to branch out a bit. Now I am trying bags of all shapes and sizes. Who knows, maybe luggage is next! These little numbers were really easy and took barely any time at all. But then, they are small and will carry barely anything at all!!

Welcome to PA, Sheryl!!

What a wonderful afternoon I had. Sherl-lyn (my friend from MJF, by way of Long Island) and her friend Deb are in PA for a girl's getaway. They are staying at a B&B in Lancaster; learning to make soap, shopping for antiques and visiting quilt stores. Today they travelled a bit farther and came to see me. We spent the afternoon at the farm playing with the goats. I only wish Sheryl lived closer and could visit more often....we had a blast! It was a beautiful, temperate Spring day here....sun shining, birds singing.

I think Sheryl is ready to add a couple of goats to her menagerie (You will need a little fencing, Kenny, although Sheryl mentioned keeping them in the house!)

Back from North Carolina

What a wonderful trip I had. I learned to drive horse carriage. Here is a picture of the horse and carriage that I drove. They belong to my neighbor, Ann (pictured). This horse is a Friesian, from Holland, named Roelof. What a blast we had. Southern Pines is beautiful horse country.


Aren't these fellows magnificent??

One Last Apron.....

......before I go. Well, early tomorrow morning I am leaving town for the rest of the week. My next door neighbor (and terrific girlfriend) and I are heading to North Carolina horse country, Southern Pines. She winters her horse Roeluf (beautiful black Friesian) there each year. While we are there I plan to take some driving lessons so that I can eventually start carriage driving my horse, Moonbeam.

This is a picture of the barn at Dragstra Stables. We will be staying in a small apartment above the barn. During the week we will drive Ann's horse, help out with some farm chores and do a little investigating of the town of Southern Pines. Hubbies are joining us on Thursday. More pictures to come.........

Embroidery Lessons

Yesterday I had an appointment at my favorite quilting store for a lesson with my embroidery machine. Up to this point, I have been making aprons with it, piecing a quilt together, and using some of it's fancy stitches. Venturing into the embroidery feature has been a bit daunting. So, after a 2 1/2 hour lesson I was ready to start....the only problem was....no time left in the day to practice. I had an appointment at the hair salon for a color touch up and ended up with a polka dot (fixing it took a little extra time!)

I made up my mind that this morning I would take a little time and practice what I learned. I have several sweatshirts that my stepmom had given to me to cover up an old logo. Here are my first attempts in transforming her shirts.....not the best, not the worst.....just a starting place. Hopefully by the time I finish the rest of the shirts I will get a little more adept in placement.







This is how the shirt started out.










This is my first attempt.....off just a bit.






And another try....still off.....oh well, back to the drawing board. Still, all in all it was great practice with the machine.....boy am I going to love this feature!

It seems like forever since I made an apron. I made this reversible one yesterday and gussied up the pocket with some fancy stitches on my new embroidery machine (yes, Jack got me an embroidery machine for my birthday. I know, I AM spoiled. I AM overjoyed with this machine....the possibilities are limitless now!)

How Many Baskets are YOUR Eggs in?

From time to time I will hear someone say to me..."all I ever wanted to do was....". This phrase is often followed by a lamentation about how that person's happiness has been diminished due to the inability to accomplish that one life's goal that they held. Hearing this reminded me of the saying: "Never put your eggs in one basket!" Although sometimes it seems more like we hold too tightly onto just one egg.

It has taken me 50 years, tons of life experiences and a couple of really great books to come to the conclusion that we too often tie our happiness into one single thing. Our perceived source of happiness might be another person, a hobby, a sport, or an occupation. Or perhaps that one single thing is whatever lies around the next corner...that is...some event in the future that will bring us happiness. It seems to me that making just one goal the source of your happiness is a recipe for disappointment. There is one certainty in life....change is inevitable, we grow older, and tomorrow never comes. Today is all we ever really have.

I truly believe that setting goals is necessary in life...especially if you ever want to accomplish anything. But happiness cannot be dependant upon accomplishing those goals. Happiness has to be found in whatever the task at hand is. My conclusion is this. Develop lots of interests...don't be afraid to try new ideas, new hobbies, new paths. The more varied the activities that you involve yourself in, the more diversified your "happiness" will be. In other words...find lots of different baskets within which to place your eggs. And, perhaps even more importantly, don't hold on to just a single egg....carry lots of spares with you....just in case one get's broken.