Monday, October 31, 2016

Happy Halloween from November Hill

The Pumpkin King overlooks a tragic accident in the Graveyard of Lost Souls.


The cake my mom, daughter and I made this weekend during our three-generational sleepover. So much fun and the cake was delicious too. Carrot cake with lemon cream cheese frosting. Those chocolate pumpkins were pretty good too but I think the favorite candy ended up being the white chocolate peanut butter ghosts! They disappeared fast.

Happy Halloween to all!

Thursday, October 27, 2016

Goodbye Sweet Kyra Corgi

We said goodbye to our sweet Corgi girl Kyra yesterday morning. Closing in on 17 years with us, she has been an amazing and feisty member of our family. She thankfully went peacefully and although I feel a huge empty space in our lives and home right now, I'm grateful for all the time we had with her. Bear Corgi took it hardest of all, and although he seems better today I am fretting a little about what this means for him. We'll figure it out.

Meanwhile, here are a few of the thousands of photos of Kyra - who I now picture running with Chase and enjoying her youthful body again.


Kyra with her best girl. My daughter was only 3 when Kyra came to us and they became best buddies very quickly. I don't know why we don't have puppy pictures! I couldn't find a single one.


She and Chase went with us almost everywhere. Kyra was a terrific hiking buddy for her girl.


The day Bear came to live with us she took him under her Corgi paw and became his very best friend.


And even when he outgrew her and revealed himself to be a huge ball of energy, you can see who remained "top dog." 


It's almost unfathomable to me that she is gone, but as we all know who live with and love animals, they are never REALLY gone - their spirits remain in our hearts forever. We love you Kyra girl. You'll be with us always.

This last photo says it all.


Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Worst idea ever: "Handispur"

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< This keeps popping up in my Facebook feed asking for support on Kickstarter.

Ummmm - how about NO THANKS. 

Let's call it what it is, a torture tool. If you want your horse to pay attention to you, develop a relationship with him/her and get quieter, not louder with inducing pain. Sigh.

If you agree, head on over and report this campaign for the cruelty it is.


Monday, October 24, 2016

one of those little things that makes me happy: Mrs. Meyer's rhubarb hand soap



We've used goat milk-based bar soaps from our local farmer's market for years now but I encountered this at my office and became enthralled with the rhubarb scent. Now this is in 2 out of 3 of the bathrooms at home (her bluebell scent is in the 3rd one and I love that too). Every time I wash my hands I stand at the sink and smell the scent and it makes me happy.

The same way putting Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap in the wash bucket in the barn does when I'm de-webbing or wiping down dusty things.

Same as putting a few drops of lavender or peppermint or eucalyptus essential oil on the mop when I'm cleaning floors does. 

The power of scent is amazing! Just ask Keil Bay how much the smell of a peppermint in a pocket brightens his day. :)