Wedding Shower

With my oldest daughter getting married soon I am learning more about the wedding scene in the 21st century.   Instead of bridal showers for the bride and women friends and family, we now have wedding showers.  That means the men can come too.  I'm not too sure J thought he should be going.  But after assuring  him several times that my brother would be there he finally relented. 

 V's Maid of Honor Jordan, did a wonderful job planning and directing the festivities.  She had some fun games lined up and there was plenty of good food.

 On the gift opening Mike dug right in.

 There was lots of chattering and laughing throughout the afternoon.

 V's house was packed with about 30 friends and family.

 Did I mention that Mike really liked the gifts?

 V was a beautiful bride to be.

And she got some time to catch up and chat with her bride's maids.  

36 more days to go. 

Trophies

When I was growing up my father hauled me and my horse to lots of shows.  

 I was fortunate to win lots of trophies.

 They were all very special to me in my youth.  But ever since my mother made me remove them from her house, they have been living in a box in the closet.

So I have decided to share them.  I am donating 20 to our local saddle club for their 2 shows this year.  I plan on them going to the youth classes. 

I am keeping a few that are very special to me like my championship trophies. 

 And I have the keep these, they were my first two trophies.  They receive quite a bit of polishing.  I was 10 years old and it was a very small local fair but I couldn't have been more proud.  I had always suspected since they didn't match, that they had been donated.

 I hope this lot all get new life in another horse lovers heart.

Just Kit Sunday #116

Another episode of "Kit in a Box."

Not sure how fragile his is though.

In Bloom (For Now) At the 4R's

Things are blooming 2 to 4 weeks early around here.  We have had some very mild weather and the plants are very confused.  

 I think the forsythia has bloomed this early before.

 But I know we won't have any peaches with this tree blooming now.

 The hyacinths are up,

 and the Hawthorne tree is blooming.

 And the daffodils are still going strong.  But with the forecast for freezing temperature for the next week, even down into the teens, they won't last long.

But here is a sure sign Spring is here.

Trail Class Prep

I noticed the other day that the downspout on the barn was just dumping water out around the post.  The drain pipe was rotten and needed to be replaced.

I had some help while I was digging the old pipe out.

She was very curious about everything and loved standing in the ditch.

Anything new required a thorough inspection.

I think I have a trail horse in the making.

J came out to finish digging the trench deeper.

Draper helped him out too.  Now it is all fixed up and ready for some rain.

Road Trip

 I fell in love with this china cabinet as soon as I saw it on Craig's List back in January.  It was at a vintage shop specializing in mid century modern.  I thought it would be perfect in my living room.   I just couldn't picture anything else in that spot after I saw this. 

 It is a Kent Coffee piece from the Perspecta collection.  I loved how the sides were glass too, not just the front.  I kept talking about it until E got tired of it and said she would go with me to get it.  It was a 3 hour drive but I think it was worth it.

The weather was nice, no rain or wind but the trip back was still nerve racking.  We made it back with no damage.  Now it is sitting in the garage waiting for some stronger help to move it into the living room.

Bee Prepared

With bees it is better to have and not need than the other way around.  

 If the temperature is over 65 then the bees can be active.  Last week we had a few of those days and we saw a lot of bees from both hives coming and going.  There can still be plenty of bad weather before spring but it looks like both hives have made it through the winter.

So to bee on the safe side, I went ahead and ordered more bee stuff.  This way we are  ready in case there is a swarm or if the nectar flow is good and we need more supers.  I ordered a full complete hive and 3 more supers.   Since we didn't get any honey last year we are really hoping for a good bee season this year.