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.
Sweet horses! So nice you have a great place to walk and to visit! I read that book and it’s really good. I’m continuing my slow process of purging and cleaning and finding places for the things I’m keeping. I got the sound machine you mentioned and it is helping me sleep so much better without the freezing of the fan! Hope you get your sleep patterns back to normal. I must admit to trying to ignore what is happening in Washington right now. I will feel stronger soon and be back to fighting! Hugs!
So glad you’re enjoying that sound machine Linda. It’s perfect, isn’t it?
The horses are beautiful; that sweet Sissy has the dearest face and her expression is wonderful. Can see they are a true source of joy at this insane time in history…….Dianne
They are. Innocence and pure beauty and love. Something we all need.
love the photos of sweet embey and sissy … and especially that you and don visit them, feed them carrots, show them love … and their owner encourages that. thank you for doing that and sharing it with us.
hope your sleep roller coaster turns into something more like a kid’s choo-choo train ride. :)
as for me … i am looking for a new job and a new place to live (was robbed a month ago of very precious, irreplaceable jewelry and the apartment owner has not returned my calls. makes him look bad, doesn’t it? the detective thinks so, too … ugh). been looking at pawn shops and that has been horrible, too. in an effort to balance that stuff, i’ve been doing more knitting, walking/stair-climbing, praying …
sorry to add that depressing news. no one needs it, but it’s what i am dealing with right now.
hope you all have a great rest of the week and weekend (it’s coming)!
kathy in iowa
Oh, no! Kathy I know how that feels, my apartment was robbed when I first moved to San Diego. My grandmother’s topaz ring and my great-grandmother’s wedding band were taken. It broke my heart. I’m so sorry. I tried the pawn shops, but I never found them. Were you subletting the apartment?
Take care, my friend.
sorry to hear of your losses, that you never got your rings back. :( it is heart-breaking, isn’t it?
i pray for a better outcome for me. i want back the rings my parents gave me. i want back the ornament that everyone else in our family also has. i want back my sense of security and comfort.
no, i wasn’t subletting (it’s not allowed and i wouldn’t be comfortable with that even if it was). after moving in a few years ago and following an emergency in our family, i gave a copy of the apartment key to my parents, brother and sister. no problem … of course they wouldn’t steal from me! also, no visitors! given our schedules, work/home locations and my love of driving, i visit them at their homes; none of my family or friends have been in my place for maybe a year. so that leaves my landlord and his crew. he told the police that he’d not been in my place for a long time … and that’s just not true. he was in at least once when i was there (sink problem) and he or his staff were there at least three other times (to repair his “repair”, bi-annual inspection and winter inspection), all within the past two months.
thanks for your wishes, claudia. i hope you won’t mind if i add the following:
to anyone reading this …
i know we’re not to keep our treasures on earth and i don’t want anyone to live always in fear, but if there are things that you adore and would be devastated to lose, consider what i’ve been reminded of – the hard way – in this awful experience … take clear photos of those things you value, have them appraised (keeping the photos and appraisals in a separate, safe place) and – especially if it’s things like jewelry you don’t wear often or if there’s been any workers coming into your place – look at/for those things on a regular basis and include them as specific items (riders?) on your home/renter’s insurance policy. always lock your doors. consider getting a safe-deposit box. stay in the same room with anyone working in your place. document when workers come to your place (name, company, reason, date). be aware of who has copies of the keys to your place (especially as a renter). insist on having locks changed when you move into a rental (i did … after having the last tenants walk into my old apartment during the week i moved in (not this current place). think they wanted to see what i had … thankfully i was home) or change the locks the first day you can after buying your home. be aware that someone can (via cameras on smart-phones) very quickly take photos of your important files without having to leave with those papers obviously in their hands. check with the better business bureau/city inspector/police/whoever to learn about any known problems with your landlord – and report any problems (to help future renters). trust your instincts. get a motion-activated video camera if you suspect someone’s entering your home without your permission. i did and do all those things (except for the video camera), live in a nice neighborhood and was robbed when not home, so am now looking for a new place and hoping you all never have to go through something like this.
thanks for listening.
kathy in iowa
ps: i am obviously still mad and freaked out about the robbery. and sorry; i didn’t mean to hijack the comments.
Don’t worry!
First of all: great advice for everyone.
Secondly: not being able to trust your manager or his employees makes for an impossible situation. I pray you find your missing items, there is sentimental value there that makes them priceless. I’m glad you’re going to move, Kathy. Hang in there, my friend.
thanks, claudia. :)
if i may, here’s a little more advice from the police and other people that i’ve since learned were robbed in the past:
if you suspect someone’s been in your place (as a single-female neighbor in the same building recently told me about), help the neighbors you trust – talk with them to learn if they have had similar problems/will help keep an eye on your place as well as their own/ write a group letter to the landlord, police and/or whoever can help …. also, if you notice something’s been moved or removed from your place, protect your other stuff, too – put it in a safe deposit box or some other truly safe place (police have some suggestions and the internet has lots of ideas and things for sale, too). keep in a secure place the registration numbers for all your appliances/ computers/ etc. know that not all thieves want the big-ticket items like a tv or laptop; often they want the smaller stuff that’s easy to pocket (jewelry) and bank account numbers. always lock your laptop and change passwords often. don’t leave password lists in an obvious or easy-to-find place. as a renter, be home whenever the landlord, his/her staff or contracted workers/city inspectors will be there and keep an eye on them – or arrange to have someone you trust there with them.
sigh. time to change the subject. and my address.
thanks again.
and don’t think “it will never happen to me. i live in a nice building/ neighborhood” or “my landlord seems nice”. always do your research (background checks, talk with the police and current renters/neighbors, really look at the locks/lighting/whatever …) and trust your gut.
xo
xoxo
thanks for your support and letting me kind of monopolize your comment section, claudia.
xo
You’re welcome, Kathy. Thank you for sharing your experience with us. I know time will help to heal – but having been through it, I know how devastating it is.
Such sweet horsie faces. They look so gentle.
I’m slowly and tentatively working on a drawing project I’ve had in mind for years. So much has jumped to the front of the line ahead of this project, it’s ridiculous. So easy to put it off…but I’m trying, once again to get it done. We’ll see.
Good for you, Shanna. Do what makes you happy – especially now.
Hi Shanna, I just had to stick my 2cents in here.When you said Horsie faces,that was so cute,and it reminded me of an old joke that I Love. It makes me Lol everytime.
So this horse walks into a bar, he steps up to the counter, the bartender walks up and say’s hey why the long face? Judy A-
hahahahaha.
Love it! Lol, Judy!
Claudia – I was going to comment yesterday but when I scrolled down to the comment box, the name and email address of another reader was pre-filled in the Name and Email fields. I fretted about not being able to tell you but was afraid to leave a comment lest my name and email be displayed to someone I don’t know. It’s good to know I guess that your service provider was having issues yesterday, but the fact that someone else’s information showed up had me wondering if there was a security issue. I saved a screen print if you want it.
On to better things. I love horses and it’s so sweet that you and Don feed them. Kindness matters to every creature. Have a lovely day.
Crazy. There were problems with the server yesterday and with emails, specifically. If that happens again, clear your cache, and it should disappear. Was it fine today? The caching on the blog was also acting strangely. So it might be due to that.
Just talked to my host – has nothing to do with anything on this end. More likely with the browser and a bizarre rarity of signing into a comment at the exact same time as someone else. I’m thinking it was a one time only.
A higher mortgage payment? He sure is out to help “the little guy”, isn’t he?? He seems to dwell on the Island of Fairy Tales. Maybe it is part of his bargain with the devil…. he has to make up a new tale each and every day in exchange for this new “job”. (Remember, as we have heard, it is only a Temp Job!!!!)
We are getting that yuck that falls from the sky today. Schools closed. ugh. 55 days til Spring. Hope the remainder of your Wed is great!! That is truly a wonderful book. Enjoy!
He stopped a reduction of mortgage insurance, so any savings we might have had will be gone and, most likely, given what we know of this man, it will go up.
Thanks, Chris!
The pictures of the horses are great! I am not a fan of horses I will admit. They kind of scare me. But I enjoy looking at pictures of them anyway. I loved the book you are reading. My brother gave it to me for my birthday last year. It took my OCD -ness a lilttle while to get used to how he wrote each short chapter. But I ended up loving the book by the end.
Yes! The chapters are so short and it is sort of disconcerting at the beginning. I trust I’ll get used to it. Thanks, Carol.
I am hoping the research I have been able to do so far, will help to settle your fear (and mine) about any increases to existing FHA mortgages.
The executive order as signed by Pres. Obama on 1/9/17 was to enact a temporary .25% reduction of the monthly mortgage insurance premium (MIP) for new homebuyers securing a FHA backed mortgage. The executive order recently signed by Pres. Trump removed this temporary reduction that was to go in affect on 1/27/17- again, still only affecting homebuyers coming into the market, not current home owners with existing FHA backed mortgages.
Having said that, my state did, for a period of time, offer a temporary subsidy for the MIP for first time homebuyers of FHA secured mortgages. If I remember correctly, the subsidy was in place for the first five years of the mortgage.
So far I can find nothing indicating any increases to the MIP of existing FHA backed mortgages. The temporary reduction would not have reduced your payment as an existing FHA mortgage holder, it was for purchase money mortgages only (new buyers).
Perhaps you are under a NY state subsidy that is running out?
Any increases you might be seeing could be due to increases in real estate levies or increases in your home owners insurance premium, should those be escrowed.
May this information clarify for you and any readers with existing FHA mortgages that you have nothing to fear on this issue. Of course if your research finds information to the contrary please do share.
Chris
(PS Perhaps you have been in your current mortgage long enough to consider refinancing and dropping your existing MIP)
Thanks for clarifying, Chris. I really appreciate it. We have refinanced in the past, but NY State has such unbelievably high closing costs, that, in the end, it only reduces the payment a bit. A pain in the tush. We may try it again sometime, but not now.
Oh Great Thank You Claudia! I really need a new book,not from lack of having enough books . But I definetly need to read in a new direction. Im in a real reading rut,Thank You.
As far as the White house, His ignorance astounds me, but his Irresponsibility Is Way over the top. As President Obama used to say, “Please God, Bless the United States ofAmerica!”
(I put my spin it.)because we need it now more than ever before. -Judy A.
He is endangering us and the rest of the world. Not to mention the planet!
The horses are beautiful Claudia… I have been wanting to read that book for quite a while now…I will wait for your review…
Thanks, Nancy. Since it’s been out for such a long time, I probably won’t official review it. But I’ll chat about it a bit.
Horses are good for your soul, how nice to make a visit with them part of your day.
Kathy, I am so sorry you were robbed. It was thoughtful to pass on the info on what to look out for and how to prepare should it happen to any of us.
I have been working morning to night organizing my house. Every spring I waste so much time stuck in the house with taxes and other paperwork. My goal is to get it all done this winter before spring even arrives. Wish me luck.
hej, jay. :)
thanks for the support and appreciation. that is very kind of you and helpful. :)
it’s been awful, devastating … and that’s with fighting so it doesn’t become pervasive in my life …. am sure everyone can tell that from the length and number of my comments here. :) i do hope those suggestions help anyone else dealing with a robbery (and there are plenty of other strategies available from police, insurance agents and online). better yet, may they prevent one.
best wishes on the organizing and tax preparing. i hope you get a great big refund!
thanks again.
kathy in iowa
I need to start organizing – I’ve been doing a bit of it since I came home. Thanks, Jay!
Those horses are beautiful.
Marilyn
They sure are! Thank you, Marilyn.
Oh, those velvety noses! Great capture, Claudia.
Thank you, Nancy.