When you wish upon a star!!

Okay, Natie and I were going crazy one day, listening to every rendition of "when you wish upon a star" we could find and these were 3 of my fav's~~so now it is your turn to choose!! Just click on "pop-out" player and scroll down to the 3 star songs; one by the original Disney movie guy Cliff Edwards, one by Nsync (yes, Nsync, can you believe it) and #3 by Bryan White ( a country singer) who knew there were other people who sang this song. Then let me know your favorite, if I hear back from you I will send you a homemade journal (see next post for particulars on those!)
Oh, and keep wishing!!!

Jon and journals

Jon Boy

I must not be the only one who is either too busy or doesn't have much of a life to blog about (the latter for me), everyone in my blog world has been pretty quiet--I miss you all! I had a grand day with my horse yesterday. He had not been brushed or cleaned for a few days so he was a royal mess--I loved it--I had to wash my clothes twice to get the smell and hair out! Rear view! (That's Maggie the goose, she is always just a step behind!

I have also been digging through my scrapbooking stuff and working on a book I am putting together of my Dad and his life. I also am thinking of selling my journals at the local farmers market--going to check into the logistics of it all. Here is a sample of what they look like~~

They start out like this:

And then I go crazy:

I love working on them and some days I am more inspired than others, but I especially love the "traveling" type journals. I have thought about putting them Etsy--does anyone have experience with that?

Bold Spirit

I just finished reading "Bold Spirit: Helga Estby's forgotten walk across Victorian America" by Linda Lawrence Hunt and thought I would share some thoughts on this amazing story. "In 1896, a Norwegian immigrant and mother of eight children was behind on taxes and the mortgage when she learned that a mysterious sponsor would pay $10,000 to a woman who walked across America.

Hoping to win the wager and save her family's farm, Helga and her teenaged daughter Clara, armed with little more than a compass, red-pepper spray, a revolver, and Clara's curling iron,(my kind of gal) set out on foot from eastern Washington. Their route would pass through fourteen states."
This sounds like a fictional story, but it is true.
I can't imagine doing this now..in 2009 much less over 100 years ago, dressed in Victorian dress and wearing leather shoes-no Nike or Adidas. That in itself would make a great story, but add to it the devastating consequences of their trip: Women of this era did not just up and leave their families--even for a good cause, and the death of two of her children from Diphtheria while she was gone added to her deep grief and guilt. This caused the family to blanket her great achievement in silence, even burning the detailed memoirs that Helga had written.
I thought this would be a good story of an adventurous woman, but it was more than that. It made me ponder the importance of family stories, good or bad, they are part of who we are and who we come from.
This was a stunning book...I recommend it! Anyone want to borrow it? Let me know!

Harley

This is how I felt today...just taking a break and napping in the sweet hay! So I didn't get a lot done today, I have these pesky fibroid tumors that act up on occasion and today was not a good day.
This is Harley the resident pig at the stables where I go to take care of Jon. What a life, he just snorts around the place until he feels like napping in the hay. I think I could take a few lessons from Harley!

Just Horsin' Around!

I am in the middle of a remodeling project~~a life remodel. I just decided that my life doesn't match up with how I really want to be living so I'm tearing out the old and building it new! Kind of like a kitchen, new cupboards, counter tops and flooring! And boy is it going to look good when I'm done! But before the new me is accomplished there will be pain~~oh yes, the pain. Physical and spiritual. The spiritual may be too personal to talk about here, but I can tell you about the physical~~it hurts! Every bone and joint and muscle and whatever else is in there that can hurt--does hurt--most everyday! I have given LA Fitness a new name "La Torture Chamber" I just go there to see what new place I can cause to hurt on my body! Even my armpits~~how can that be? But, enough complaining...it is a journey, Rome wasn't built in a day and fat is not removed overnight! So I will continue on!
What I really wanted to talk about today is another part of my "remodel". Horses. Yes, Horses. I have always loved animals, and felt that I have some kind of special connection to them, my Mom even commented on it in my baby book: "Rebecca has a special affinity (a natural attraction or feeling of kinship) with animals" anyway, the point is I love animals and horses are on the top of the list.
For my 16th birthday my Dad surprised me with a mare and a colt, Babe and Daisy, and there my love continued to grow.
Since we live in a townhouse in the middle of Vancouver it is a little difficult to get my horse fix, so I decided to pursue it and make my self extremely happy by putting horses back into my life. This all leads to yesterday afternoon...and the wonderful time I had with Jon. Jon is a beautiful Arabian and and we bonded as I brushed him down and cleaned his hooves and soaked in the wonderful aroma of horse~~there is no better smell in the world, not even fresh baked bread can equal the smell of horseflesh..they should bottle it! Pungent and spicy! Eau de Equine!
So I will continue to go once a week for my "date" with Jon and others in the barn until I reach the acceptable weight that I can hoist myself onto the back of one of these wonderful creatures and gallop off into the sunset! It is a great "carrot in front of my nose" to keep working at getting the weight off, all the while bringing pleasure back into my life. Giddy up!!