Girls and Their Horses

It's spring, and while many people are excited about college basketball, these girls are enjoying time with their horses.


They've got to get their trail riding time in before the farmers start working the fields.


Because combines and horses really don't mix....


We are in the process of moving the horses to a new stable. We own Caesar, the Appaloosa, and another family owns Cody, the Quarter horse, but they are such good friends, we are keeping them together. The move is scheduled for April 1, so this may the last time they ride in this particular field.

I don't know who enjoys it more - the girls or the horses, but they have the best time galloping in.

Note - I uploaded too small of an image, I'll fix it later....

Linked to This or That Thursday

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The Weekend

I'm reflecting on how NICE the weekend was. The boys were away at the NCAA Big 10 Tournament, so it was just a girls weekend in the house. I didn't cook, I didn't straighten anything up and I watched whatever suited my fancy. I didn't even mind making special trips to the Super Pantry just because my daughter was craving some Krispy Kreme doughnuts - it was just low key like that.

So the weekend recap?

Friday night - We watched the movie "Stupid Crazy Love". Trailer is below:

If you haven't seen it, go rent it next weekend. Funny and touching.

Saturday morning, I made a trip out to Marathon Training headquarters because the training T shirts were being distributed. Hey, I paid for it, and even if I can't run this year's race, I'm getting my T shirt.

Bright, eh? It's even brighter in real life. I desaturated the photo because it hurt my eyes.
I ran into a couple friends from my pace group and gave them the update on my knee. They think I should train for triathlons now. Hmm, I'll have to think about that really hard. After next year's marathon.

Saturday afternoon, a late lunch with Erica. We originally planned to eat at Red Lobster, but right before leaving, we got into an argument. This resulted in a two hour silent standoff delay. Panera was easier and just as good.


Saturday evening, and it's time for me to go out with several friends. We ventured down to campus to eat at The Flat Top Grill - a custom stir fry restaurant where you pick out the ingredients for your stir fry, and they cook it up fresh for you on this open grill. A really neat restaurant.

But since there was an hour wait, we ventured around the "Main Strip", aka Green Street:


Into the Urban Outfitters store, that has cool stuff that I would buy if I didn't already have a bunch of similar toys:

The clothes there are really cute, too, but at my age, I really can't pull it off....

Finally, it's dinner time:


We were tucked into a nook at the back of the restaurant and I loved the big red lamp above our table:


Sunday Afternoon - we went out to the horse stable and the girls took Caesar and Cody out for a trail ride.


And I'm having fun with the self timer on my iPhone camera:


I took a bunch of pictures of the girls galloping in on their horses, but I don't have time right now to get them off my big camera - perhaps tomorrow.

And that was our relaxing weekend. We're looking forward to the warm week ahead and Spring Break just a few days away. I guess that mean more relaxation for the kids but not for me.

Linked to Mosaic Monday

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P365+1 Week 10 - Winter into Spring

It's Saturday night and couples night out to celebrate Buck's birthday.

I noticed that even though we arrived as couples, within 15 minutes, the group diverged into the wives and the husbands. My comment to my girlfriends - starting in elementary school, it was the girls group and the boys group. Enter adolescence / early adulthood and the girls and boys start to mix, eventually pairing off into couples. Then what happens? The married couples revert back to elementary school - separating back into the girls group and the boys group.

Sunday - we took a tour of the newly opened YMCA. The facility is beautiful, spacious and airy. Tons of exercise equipment, running track, climbing wall, pool, gyms, group exercise rooms, teen and little kids room. We joined right on the spot. The photo below is the ceiling details in the pool area.


Monday - a surprise dusting of snow!

But the bright sunshine melted it all away.

Tuesday - more bright sunshine.

I love this time of year. In the morning, it's light outside starting around 5:45 (although this won't be the case next week with the start of daylight savings time). You can almost smell spring knocking.

Wednesday - I took advantage of the recumbent bikes at the Y and worked out my knee for over 20 minutes.


Thursday - It was vet day at the Stable. Caesar received his spring vaccinations, had blood drawn for a Coggins test and his sheath cleaned. The vet had to sedate him slightly for the sheath cleaning, and he looked droopy after his shot.


Friday - Scott and Brian head out to Indy for the Big 10 Men's NCAA tournament.

Unfortunately, the Illini lost on Thursday, so they won't get to see the home team play, but they'll have fun with Dave and Alex G who will be rooting for Michigan State.

Extra note: On Thursday, I had my 7th physical therapy session in my ACL Reconstruction Rehab. I thought it would be interesting to note what my therapist had me do during my session, and this is what I recorded:
Heat wrap on knee
Warm up with 5lb ankle weights:
30 bent leg lifts, 30 leg pushes, 30 hanging leg extensions
6 minutes on the bike, seat position at 6 (I think). A lower seat position results in a deeper knee bend while pedaling.
20 Back extensions, weight was increased from last time and this was hard
30 Donkey kicks / hamstring pushes at 40 lbs
30 hamstring curls at 40 lbs. This is always a challenge.
30 squats at 40 lbs.
Balance exercises - 4 sets at 15 seconds/set
Hamstring lifts and hamstring stretches
Leg / step presses (new) on the stair master - 4 sets of 10
Finished back on the table with Straight leg extensions
Checked leg flexion, but I don't know the number - it just hurt when he bent my leg.
Iced down and I hobbled out... We'll see what weight increases and new exercises he adds next week....

Until next Friday, have a great week!

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Just a Dusting of Snow

We have a "privacy" window in the master bath - the kind made out of blocks of glass, which lets in lots of light, but distorts the view in and out. Even though I can't see details outside, I can always tell if snow is on the ground, based on the amount of white that permeates through the marbled glass.

Needless to say, there hasn't been a lot of "white sightings" this winter.

But last night, as I awoke for the third time (seriously, I seem to wake every two hours these days - probably a side effect of my knee condition), I noticed a white sheen through the bathroom window. I didn't recall any snow being forecast, but I also know the window doesn't lie.

Sure enough, this morning, a light dusting of snow covered the lawn, blinding white in the morning sun. Wow, I knew it was going to be a great day.

Sorry, no pictures of the snow on the lawn. Instead, I got out my big camera and carefully crunched through the snow.

Yeah, the sun was starting to melt all the snow - can you see some of the white stuff in the crevices?

Oak Leaf Hydrangea from my neighbor's yard. See the white bokeh? That's snow. You need to trust me on that.

Finally, another hydrangea, this one with a texture for Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday. This week's challenge is to use her free Happy Heart Texture. I used it twice here - one layer in the Soft Light blending mode, the other in the Multiply blend mode, both layers at 40% opacity.

As much as I liked seeing the bright sun and snow this morning, I'll be just as happy to see the emergence of spring flowers.

Also linked to Tuesdays Around the World at Communal Global.

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My One Little Word - Faith

I know, I know.... most people picked out their one little word back in January, when the promise of the new year prompted them to choose a word that would bring direction and focus to their year. Yeah, I didn't pick one out last year and I didn't pick one in January for this year.

So call me a late bloomer. Or maybe the January time wasn't the right time for me.

February was the time I picked out my little word. The choice was clarified by my injury and subsequent upheaval of all my plans for the coming weeks, months and probably the rest of 2012. Yes, I generally have a positive attitude about my circumstances, after all, it's just a knee and totally fixable. But I won't lie and say I've been all sweet and sunshine in my thoughts and actions. I've had to reflect upon the why and what does the future look like. I don't have the view I used to have and guess what - that scares me a bit.

So I've had to get back to basics. Not of my own strength or belief. Back to Faith, that intangible, trust in something I can't see.


That's my little word.

I'm not a jewelry person, but I found this locket on etsy, made by Christina at somethingsoulful. She has a collection of lockets and can custom emboss a word inside.



I wear the locket so I can be reminded of my faith, held close to my heart.

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P365+1 Catch Up - The Last Three Weeks Have Been A Blur

I've been diligent about taking my daily photo, just not diligent about blogging my weekly recaps, so today I'm covering the past three weeks, which really feel like a blur. I've compiled each week into a mosaic to keep the sheer number of photos down.

Week 7, February 11-17, aka the week of my knee surgery:

1. 42/365+1 Afternoon Visit to the Barn, 2. 43/365+1 Tulips I Couldn't Resist 3. 44/365+1 Band Concert, 4. 45/365+1 Happy Valentines Day!, 5. 46/365+1 Prepped for ACL surgery, 6. 47/365 Recuperating, 7. 48/365+1 Bedside Controls
Early in the week, there was my son's band concert, then Valentine's Day, followed by my surgery. The surgery itself went fine, but the day after was a little rough. The next day (Friday) I started physical therapy on my knee - there's no rest for the recovering patient! I barely remember anything from those first two days after surgery. Maybe that's a good thing....

Week 8, February 18-24, Recovery:

1. 49/365+1 Leg Lifts, 2. 50/365+1 - Late Night Snack, 3. 51/365+1 Stiff Peaks , 4. 52/365+1 Milestone - Driving, 5. 53/365+1 Morning Latte Syrup Choices, 6. 54/365+1 No More Staples, 7. 55/365+1 Look! No Crutches
A week of tremendous progress - I went from barely being able to get myself off the couch to being able to drive, going back to work and walking unassisted.

Week 9, February 24 - March 2, Moving Along:

1. 56/365+1 Crazy in the Kitchen, 2. 57/365+1 Green Onion pies, 3. 58/365+1 Morning PT, 4. 59/365+1 Goofy Girl and Cat, 5. 60/365+1 Leap Day!, 6. 61/365+1 I'm Not A Jewelry Person, but Couldn't Resist this Locket, 7. 62/365+1 I May As Well Have A Snack and Drink While I Wait
I spent the weekend cooking (that's what I do when I'm home bound), then resuming somewhat of a "new norm" of physical therapy, work and kids. High School soccer has started, which means new chauffeuring duties. I think I did more driving this week than I have all month long. It's OK - that means Spring is just around the corner and each day I'm closer to getting my knee back to where I can hit the pavement again.

Friday, I'll go back to my normal P365+1 posting. And since I've created all these mosaics, I'm linking to Mosaic Monday at Mary's. I hope you have a great week!

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Custom/Preset White Balance with the ExpoDisc

I'm always on the lookout for neat photography tools and my latest purchase has given me great results.


It's an ExpoDisc, a white balance filter, used to achieve accurate white balance results.

You use it to set a Custom or Preset White balance on your DSLR, much like you would use a grey card. The difference is that you place the ExpoDisc on your lens and shoot through it at the light source rather than shooting at a grey card. Because you shoot through it, it gives more accurate white balance results than a grey card.

Here is an example of the ExpoDisc results (all photos are SOOC).

Using the Auto White Balance setting on my D300, I snapped a picture of a bamboo plant sitting by the kitchen window in the morning sun:


Auto White Balance does the best it can to estimate the proper white balance, but has rendered the scene on the cool side. The resulting photo doesn't represent what my eye saw - no golden morning light on the stalks.

After using the ExpoDisc to set a Custom / Preset White Balance, here is the result:

This is what the bamboo really looked like in the morning light.

Normally, I don't get all that excited about White Balance because I shoot in RAW format and can adjust the White Balance in post processing. But sometimes that can take a long time. I was really happy with the ExpoDisc results and happier to have one less thing to monkey with in post processing. Hopefully I'll be disciplined enough to take the time during while shooting to set that Custom white balance.

Finally, one more shot of the little bamboo plant that sits by the kitchen window.


Linking up with Deb Duty and This or That Thursday

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