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You are here: Home / Archives for horses

Horses and Books

January 25, 2017 at 9:19 am by Claudia

We took a little walk down the trail the other day to visit two of our favorite horses. They board at the farm that initially took in Pliers and Ashley. We’ve come to know the owner, who loves that we stop and feed them carrots. Don has been visiting more than me. Of course, I’ve been away, but even with that, Don just loves being around horses and he is devoted to them. I hadn’t seen them in a while.

They are the sweetest beings.

This is Emby, or MB, or Embee; I’ve never thought to ask how it is spelled! He is gorgeous and funny and feisty. Both horses were a bit muddy from all the rain we’ve had.

And this is Sissy. She’s much smaller and the older of the two. One of them is a Peruvian breed.

Emby looks like he’s chewing on some straw.

Both of them have thick coats for winter. They love being petted and eat right out of our hands.

Elsewhere, the weather was just plain yucky for the past two days. Sleet, snow, ice, and rain. Don couldn’t even get all the way up the driveway yesterday afternoon. It should all melt today, as the temps are rising into the forties.

I’ve been taking it easy, cleaning here and there, getting used to being back home again. My sleep schedule is still off; now I get to sleep earlier, but I’m awake much too early. It’s a little like a sleep roller coaster.

The horrors that are coming out of the oval office just keep on coming, don’t they? The first executive order raised our mortgage payment. (I’m sure you can imagine the words I used when I heard that bit of news.)

I’m finally reading this book, which was given to me by reader Barbara, gosh, it must be over a year ago! It was very chilly this morning, so I wrapped myself in my throw and read for an hour. I’m about 60 or 70 pages in, so it’s early days, but I really like it. What a beautiful writer Doerr is.

I completely forgot about the book giveaway! I was so busy last week that I neglected to pick a winner. Here we go…the winner is Judy Ainsworth! Judy, I’ll send you an email. Congratulations!

What are you up to today?

Happy Wednesday.

Filed Under: books, horses, reading 39 Comments

On: The Blog, Nancy Drew, and An Update on the Rescued Horses

December 29, 2016 at 10:00 am by Claudia

Blog business first:

Oy. What a pain in the tush this has been! Last week I noticed something had been added to my blog and, at first, I thought I’d been hacked. A call to my host determined that I hadn’t been hacked but that the host had added a plugin to my site. A caching plugin. Plugins are the method in which a WordPress blog/site can be enhanced and adapted by the owner – just as widgets are for Blogger. Caching is the way in which static files can be created that ultimately enable a faster load time.

But they are not without their problems. I don’t like caching plugins and, early on, eliminated them on my blog. They don’t work so well when you post frequently, as I do. In addition, I was ticked off because something had been added to my site without my permission. I am the owner of my blogs and I determine what goes on the blog and what doesn’t. And it turns out that my host did this to all the sites under their umbrella. I called my host a couple of times last week, including on Christmas Eve, to get to the bottom of this and thought it had been resolved. Some of you, or many of you, would visit my blog on your browser and it would look as if I hadn’t updated the blog in several days, even though I had.

I can’t have that. So, last night, after receiving another email from a concerned reader who wondered why I hadn’t posted lately, I called them again. And the plugins are now powerless. It may take a day or two for all the caching complications to stop, but soon everything should be back to normal. I will keep an eye on things, of course. Sorry about that – but it was done without my knowledge and there has been a lot of blowback about it from other site owners, as well. This was not  a good idea!

Okay. Business over. Fingers crossed. If you have any trouble, just reload the blog on your browser, but that shouldn’t be an issue for much longer.

• Something arrived in my mailbox while I was in Hartford.

Number eleven in my collection. Another great cover illustration by Russell H. Tandy. It’s amazing to me that the colors remain so vivid many years later. Between my Nancy Drews and Don’s Hardy Boys, rearranging the bookshelves is fast becoming a priority.

• I want to share four links with you concerning the two local horses, Ashley and Pliers, that were rescued by the Catskill Animal Sanctuary. I just discovered some videos done by the Sanctuary about their rehabilitation and the good news is that they’ve been moved from their temporary quarters on a farm to the Sanctuary itself. If you watch the videos, you’ll understand why they needed to be worked with before that could happen.

Intro to Ashley & Pliers

Ashley & Pliers, Day One

Ashley & Pliers, Setting Boundaries

Ashley & Pliers, Home at Last

We were so concerned about them, as were other local residents, and seeing how well they are doing fills me with gratitude – gratitude for the Sanctuary and for our friend who gave them a temporary home and initially contacted the Sanctuary, hoping they would take them. They will live out their days in peace and when Ashley leaves us, Pliers will be much better prepared for life without her.

What a blessing.

Happy Thursday.

Filed Under: animals, blogging, Catskill Animal Sanctuary, horses, Nancy Drew 54 Comments

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Welcome!

Welcome!

I live in a little cottage in the country with my husband. It's a sweet place, sheltered by old trees and surrounded by gardens. The inside is full of the things we love. I love to write, I love my camera, I love creating, I love gardening. My decorating style is eclectic; full of vintage and a bit of whimsy.

I've worked in the theater for more years than I can count. I'm currently a voice, speech, dialect and text coach freelancing on Broadway, off Broadway, and in regional theater.

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