What's Up Wednesday

Nothing terribly exciting to report here this week. I've been plugging away in the craft room, and it's just about finished. I have one more small bookshelf en route, and then then some stuff to hang on the walls, and that should be that! I'm really happy with it. It's morphed into a craft room/library. And it's pink! I've tried three times to upload a little video tour, but to no avail. So here are some photos instead.

 It was terrible weather this weekend, cold (in the 40's Saturday!) and really windy. So I didn't feel so sad about staying inside and getting things done. I did get to visit the horses on Saturday morning. I had to drop off supplements again and Pammon was almost out of his treat pockets for his meds. It was perfect timing as he was just heading out for his walk. While I was watching him walk, Eros came out for his hand walk, too. So I got to see both boys out and about. Shiny I visited in her stall, and everyone was pumped full of snacks accordingly. Still waiting on the quote to fix my ring, but hopefully that will get moving along soon. I haven't talked to the parentals yet, but I'm leaning towards bringing Eros and Shiny home and keeping Pammon at the barn with Fefe for the summer. But we'll see. Eros isn't just my horse, so I have to see if the family will be okay with that.

Sunday was a little nicer, fortunately, and I got to socially distantly visit with my mom for Mother's Day. I had flowers delivered ahead of time and her gift had arrived earlier in the week. So no contact required. And I even brought my own folding chair for comfort. Ha! Life is so weird right now.

I got to see my nieces from a distance last week also as they both had birthdays. So I guess it was a very "social" week for me! It was really nice to see my family, even from a distance. Dad and Stepmom will be home in a couple weeks (Fefe too) so that will be nice also. 

So I guess that's it for now. Hope you're all hanging in there!

What's Up Wednesday

Another week! Things in my state are teetering on being able to move to phase 2, but yesterday our hospitalizations spiked again, so we have to see how that goes. My dad and stepmom (And Fefe!) will be heading home at the end of the month, so I think I'm going to aim for that as my return to the barn time. We'll just have to see how things are going! I really want to start riding again. Pammon is on full training board right now, so may wait on him until June. He's pretty hot and needs a lot of sedation for his walks. So probably best I don't get on him after not riding for two months. I'm hoping to have the ring work done by June ish, so maybe I can bring some horses home then. I'm thinking about asking the fam how they would feel about letting Eros come home for his rehab (with Shiny of course!) and keeping Fefe and Pammon at the boarding barn for the summer. Eros is an easy going guy, and I feel much more comfortable managing his rehab on my own. Hopefully they'll be on board! But we'll see where things are with the ring too.
I did get to see the horses again this weekend as I had to drop off some supplements. Which I get to do again this weekend too! Shiny's and Pammon's come together, but on a different schedule from Eros. Kinda nice since it means I have more excuses to visit my ponies.

We had a glorious weekend here. It was actually warm out! And we saw the sun! So I did just a few small things in the house because I really want to get it all finished before I jump back into the full swing of horsing. Namely, I moved my shoe chairs from my shoe closet to the craft room, and put together the book shelves that had arrived.

So this room is close to being done. I just have to organize all my crap and put it away. I'm planning to actually put books on those book shelves too, which are mostly down stairs. So that will be good exercise one of these days... This leaves some cleaning up in the office/spare bedroom, fixing the mess I created in the shoe closet, and the same in the downstairs spare bedroom, and finally the switching over to spring/summer clothes. Phew. Sounds like a lot left. Ugh.
Anyway, the puggers and I had lots of fun outside this weekend.

I also did some work out in the barn and the shed organizing all the saddle pads and horse boots. Over the winter, my helper did a deep clean of the barn, but he moved everything around to get that done. So I started putting things back where they belong and getting things organized in there. Definitely a few more days of work to do in there still. But it's a start! I also want to get all the show stuff sorted out and moved back into the trailer. It's only been two years that it's been sitting in an extra stall... No rush still obviously, but I feel like this is the best time to do it.
In other news, my 40th birthday turned out pretty decent! I had a social distant visit from a friend from work who brought me flowers and a balloon:

Got some lovely cards:

Had a zoom with some of my favorite people, AND got this delicious basket of cookies delivered from my bestie:

And of course I made myself a cake which I enjoyed with a little too much Rose.

This weekend's quarantine craft (maybe not a craft... but whatever) was putting together the Lego version of Central Perk.

So that's it from here. How was your past week? How is "The Situation" where you are? 

What's Up Wednesday

Another week has passed. And mostly it's just more of the usual around here. Been working the job during the week and the house glow up projects on the weekends. Same old mostly.
It has been cold (mostly in the 40's) and raining. Pretty much ALL THE TIME. But Saturday we actually had a nice day so I took the dogs out to play.

And they were like "OMG mom so hot bring us in." (It really wasn't hot. It was like 61. But the sun us a whole new thing for us.) So I brought them in and went and did my boot photo shoot.
On Sunday, I got to visit my tall kids. Pammon needed grain, so I went over early (8 am) before everyone would show up to ride. And I got to see all my kids and pump them full of delicious cookies. Pammon and Shiny were having their turnouts, which was nice since I didn't have to loiter in the barn much. And Eros' stall is right next to the door so I feel pretty safe by him too.

Pammon photos are always a challenge, so I'm kind of mad i cut his ears off in the one above... I mean, these are the others:

Such a goof. I miss him.
So updates on everyone! Eros and Pammon saw the vet on Friday. Eros, unfortunately, has another month of hand walking. He's healing but it's slow going. Pammon started tack walking this week. I haven't heard anything, so I'm guessing no news is good news on that front. And all is well in Shiny land. I think she's perfectly happy being temporarily retired.

I need to call and get my ring graded this month and have my fence fixed so the kids can get back here.

But while I'm waiting on all that, here's what else I worked on this weekend:

My craft room! So I have this super weird room in my house, upstairs. It's very narrow and long. I always joked about making it a bowling alley. But I finally decided that it will be a craft room. And it will be pink, because why not? I got these wire shelves and put them all together on Sunday. They fit almost perfectly in that recessed area!

I didn't get to finish filling them yet, as I have some more organizing to do. I have some other book shelves en route, so the room isn't done yet. But it's getting there! It will be so nice when this house is organized and neat. I really like things orderly and in their place, but my house is nothing like that which makes me antsy. But it's getting there!
So this weekend I plan to move a few other things in there, and hopefully work on getting more of the organization done. Be nice to start on another room as well, but we'll see how far I get.
Not much else happening here... so I guess I'll just show you some of the crap I bought and/or that arrived this week. I know you all love when I buy stuff I don't need!

I wound up going an entirely different route for the browband for my side pulls bridles than what I had posted on Instagram asking for advice. Instead of the Boy O'Boy browband, I decided to brainstorm with Dark Jewel Designs. And we came up with this:

I wanted to make sure it would be as perfect as I hoped, so I photoshopped it onto the bridle:

Looks good to me! Be nice if/when the full sized bridle arrives. So obviously no rush for the browbands to get here. Plus you know... I'm not actually riding.

I found my dream Winston coat on sale on ebay earlier this month and it arrived today, just in time for my birthday tomorrow! Happy Birthday to me!

It's perfect and I'm so excited to have it finally! Maybe someday I'll actually horse show in it! (Maybe.)
The MOST exciting items to arrive though, were the rest of my items made with Rio's hair. I wanted some very customized pieces so the wait was a bit lengthy, but TOTALLY worth it!
First up is the belt:

Yes, it's green, and it's completely amazing. I'm so in love with it. I also got two bracelets. One the same as Jampy's green one, but with Rio's info. And the other I designed to wear with my apple watch. It's black and a thin wrap so it won't be too much with the watch. Here they are in the order of introduction:

They are from a lady on Etsy, her shop is called The Sugar Lady. She's super nice, and does an amazing job. I'm so grateful she let me get creative with all of these.

And the last thing is the most ridiculous. Because you knew there would be something a little silly and totally extra right?

They read "Social" on side and "Distance" on the other. Totally necessary purchase during these crazy times.

In other news, my helmet hasn't arrived yet. I received the package that was supposed to be my helmet and all it contained was the free pair of sunglasses it came with. Lame. I bought the helmet from Ebay because I had some Ebay bucks to use, but the seller was actually Stateline. They are a complete hot mess right now though. I called Friday to see what was happening, and was told they would ship it out immediately and send me tracking. But heard nothing. So today I called again, was on hold for 11 minutes before finally getting a human. She told me she sees the replacement was supposed to go out asap with upgraded 2-day shipping, but that there was no tracking number. So she's "checking on it and will get back to me". I guess we'll have to wait and see. She sounded very confused, and potentially a little stoned... so my hopes are not high. It's not really a hurry obviously, but I have very little to look forward to, so I'd like to get it sooner than later! #firstworldproblems

Tomorrow is my 40th birthday which is kind of depressing. I don't mind getting older, but I had always kind of hoped for a big bash for this milestone. Instead I'll be by myself. BUT, I'm not one to let that get me down. I am making myself a strawberry funfetti cake tonight (for tomorrow) and obviously I got myself that great coat for a gift. And I have wine. So all is not that bad.

How are you all holding up? Buy anything fun while stuck at home? Have any weird rooms in your house? I still have one more weird one to share with you guys, but right now it's a disaster/holding area.

What's Up Wednesday

Another week in solitude. Gonna be honest, I'm pretty good at this sheltering in place stuff. Laundry is so close to being caught up. I've been getting a solid 30 minutes of exercise most days... Of course I miss the ponies horribly. And I miss being able to just go and do stuff. But this is where we are, and so I'm trying to embrace it. I have lots of projects for this weekend so hopefully I will stay motivated and get them done. It's really amazing how many available hours there are during a weekend when you don't have horses to take care of. (See? Finding the positive!)
This past week was a fairly busy one. Work let us have a half day on Friday which was nice because I had a couple of errands to run. (Anyone else kind of dread having to leave the house now? Small chance I'm developing agoraphobia. Time will tell on that.) Anyway, my first stop was to my mom's house. I had some things I needed to drop off for her. And she had baked me some delicious Passover friendly snacks. She left them on the bench outside her door for me, so I grabbed them, and dropped her things in their place. Then I stepped way back to my car, and she came out so we could chat for a few minutes from a safe distance. It's weird isn't it? Only talking to people from many feet away? But it was really nice to see my mom. I didn't stay too long since it was freezing cold out. But long enough to feel a little less like a recluse.
My other stop was to the barn to drop off supplements and the horses' fly sheets. I hadn't planned on them being there for fly season, so I had to order new ones in acceptable barn colors (eye roll). Fortunately, they were on sale since I had already splurged on new fly gear in MY barn colors.
So I got to see these faces!

I think they were happy to see me. Might have just been the treats I brought. Hard to say for sure. But Shiny nickered when she heard my voice and maybe I cried a little. I didn't take them out or touch anything, I only stayed long enough to tell them I love and miss them. And stuff them full of cookies of course. And maybe I cried like a baby on the way home. Whatever. These are weird times. I'll cry if I want to.
Since running those two errands was apparently very emotional and exhausting, the rest of Friday was spent snuggling pugs. Because that's the best way to handle anything really.
Saturday I made myself do productive things that I didn't want to. Like cleaning the house, especially the bathrooms. Only to discover everything was broken (ugh) so I didn't really get everything done I wanted. But hey, I'm not going anywhere! I can do it another day.
What I did finally get finished was putting my bedroom together!

Yeah, the treadmill kind of doesn't go with the decor, but I have no where else for it to go. So it stays. At least my sneakers match.
After completing those things, I finally tested out the purple Overtone conditioner I got for my hair. Thanks to my... um.... glittery strands, it looks like I have lilac highlights, which I think is super fun.

The color is pretty subtle since my hair is dark. But I like it! Something different and fun while I can't see my actual hairdresser. (Ugh, I miss her!)
And then there were still like ten million more hours left to the day so I took the pups out to enjoy the sunshine.

The day wrapped up with a zoom Passover meet up with some family and friends.

It was great to see everyone, especially my dad and step mom. My dad is growing a quarantine beard and he looks an awful lot like David Letterman these days... I think it's hilarious. He emailed all of us yesterday asking if he should shave it or let it grow. We unanimously told him to keep it going. You can tell we're all stir crazy because that's the highlight of life right now.

Sunday was somewhat less productive. It wasn't as nice outside, and I told myself if I was super productive on Saturday I could be a little lazy on Sunday. And so I was. I got some exercise, sat outside for a bit with the puggers, and made myself some day of the week bracelets to help me keep track.

Oh, and it was Pia's 14th birthday! My little girlie is getting up there, but she's still the cutest.

Work is busy this week. Price changes are coming and new allocations, and there's just lots to do. I'm glad for it though. Glad to have a job, and the days pass pretty quickly when they're busy. I have definitely turned into a dog though, popping up at the window when the UPS man comes to say thank you. (Hey, at least I haven't started barking yet. We'll see what next week brings.)

I mentioned last week about having bought some stuff for my horses that I don't really even have right now... So I took some photos of the stuff that's arrived. They're terrible photos since everything is still packaged mostly. But you can get an idea.
First up is the side pull Amanda made me buy. I ordered a horse and a cob because that's how things go now that I have a pony. Everything needs to be in two sizes. The horse size was a pre order, but the cob arrived along with the horse sized reins... ha. Good thing I don't need to use it yet I guess!

I like it! The leather feels nice, but the browband is kind of awful. Probably going to swap that out eventually.

Next, prior to deciding to stop going out to the barn, I had ordered halters and leads from Two Horse Tack. I figured I could keep them in my car and disinfect them with bleach or alcohol easily so I wouldn't have to touch the nylon ones that other people are touching all day long. Of course I bought them in both barn colors... (Seriously, there's something wrong with me.) Anyway, here those are:

I figure they'll still be useful when quarantine is over because this virus isn't going away any time soon. And it's always good to have extra halters around anyway.

Oh! This one I hadn't told you guys about. Horseloverz had my favorite ice boots in their last bogo sale. And they come in hunter now! So I got two full sets. Can never have enough ice boots.

Of course that doesn't mean I don't still want the space boots. But those can wait until I have horses that do stuff. Or you know, have horses in my life again.

And finally, the new fly gear!

Embroidery was free so I got their names on everything. I used to never do that (would only put my last name on things instead) but fly stuff doesn't generally live that long, so I'm okay with it.
And that's it. All my new loot, and the current events from the horseless Winthrop Corner Stable.

I hope you're all staying healthy and sane during this weird time in our lives. I know it's really hard. But we're all going to get to the other side as long as we're patient. Stay well friends!