When life gives you lemons...

...go make yourself a fruit tart. And then go plant some daisies.

Okay, so yesterday was one of "those days". I haven't had one of "those days" for quite sometime and I have been very much enjoying the lack of drama or major strife in my life these days...things certainly haven't always been this way. My 28 years on this planet have definitely been full of ups and downs, and I'm well aware of the fact that sometimes things are just out of our control.

Having this awareness, I really strive for a drama-free existence and for the most part enjoy a pretty darn simple life. Which suits me just fine. However, with this being the case, I think having one of "those days" affects me more now than it used to...even when it's not really all that bad. I'm a pretty upbeat person, though, and will generally try to see the positive side in most situations. It just might take me a day or so to get there. Having said that, I do feel much better today. ;)

You know how the saying goes...when it rains....yep, you got it. When it rains, it pours. Well, I guess I don't need to be quite so dramatic. It didn't really pour on me yesterday. It was more like a drizzle. A heavy drizzle though.

The crappiest part of yesterday was finding out that our trusty truck has sprung a major oil leak and will need the rear main seal replaced. Which just happens to be the most expensive type of oil leak repair there is. The whole transmission needs to be pulled in order to get to it. The part itself is cheap, cheap, cheap, but the job is super labor intensive. If you were lucky, you might just be dealing with cracked valve covers. Oh, but wait! We have those too! Cha-ching! Not to mention a whole laundry list of other maintenance issues that need to be addressed. Cha-ching, cha-ching!

The other crappy parts really weren't that big of a deal at all, but they didn't help my sour mood. First, I had an appointment to go get hay. The sky looked a little threatening, but so far it hadn't started raining. Until I got the trailer hooked up and was heading down to the barn. Of course. Thankfully, it was just a light drizzle passing through. Then, after unloading the hay, I leveled one of my temporary T-Posts with the trailer. Comical. Then, the trailer got stuck on my towing ball. Had to try all sorts of trick maneuvers to get it to lift off. Took the dogs for a walk after all this, thought it would be good to clear my head. Dogs not so cooperative. Caleb gave me a "flat tire" in his excitement to get his leash on. I might have cursed when this happened. Neither felt like walking politely, but instead wanted to pull me in two separate directions the whole time.

After the walk, I decided to to work with Caspian a bit. I took some deep breaths first...no point in working him up too. I felt like I was in a pretty good state of mind and everything started out well. We were working on "round penning" without the lunge line and he was doing great until he decided it was time to be done and that he didn't want to trot clockwise. Which he demonstrated to me by kicking out at me when I was getting after him. Buger. He got in some trouble for this one. Don't be surprised if you don't hear about it on his blog. I think he's a little abashed about the whole thing. Thankfully, he wasn't really packing any oomph behind it and he just barely grazed my hand...didn't even leave a sore spot. But still, way to kick your Kuntry Girl when she's down!

I finally just had to get a good chuckle out of it all...most of it was comical. Then, I started singing that Wynonna song, "I Feel Lucky"....ya know how it goes at the beginning "the stars are stacked against you girl, get back in bed"? I kept telling myself, "you should just call it a night and get in bed before something else happens!"

So anyway, back to the truck. After finding out the good news we went through the usual debate...fix the truck or break down and get a new one? My hubby has actually been dreaming of a new truck for at least a year now, but it just isn't all that practical at this point in time. We can't see forking over a big ol' down payment as well as taking on a car payment (and increased insurance) for a truck that would sit for 6 months out of the year. However, if we traded in our truck, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. But, it really is a good truck and we always said that even when we do get another one someday, we will always keep this one around. It's a perfect little workhorse...which has also happened to be a great every day truck for us.

For the most part, we've been lucky with it...we've taken care of the regular maintenance...timing belt, brakes, etc. This is the first surprise it's pulled on us.

Anyway, after mulling it over, we decided that the best option would be to fix it. Hopefully, this will get us a few more good years of life from it. Neither one of us is all that comfortable with taking on a new truck payment in this economy. Not for the kind of truck we would want anyway!

I feel thankful because at least we have the means to get the repair done. However, I'm irritated because that means I'm probably going to need to re-evaluate the current state of my projects. Again, I always try to find the positive side of things so here goes:

• I will now be seeding our lawn, instead of laying sod. This is going to save quite a bit of $$ and won't be so labor intensive. I was initially overwhelmed by the thought of doing it this way, but I think I'm gonna do it in sections so getting it established will be more manageable. Another benefit is that I will be able to follow the contours of our flowerbeds easier, rather than having to cut a ton of sod to the correct shape.
• Rather than buy new plants for the landscape, I can divide ones I already have. Also, I've been meaning to dig up some of our native daisies for our flower gardens. So tonight I did. I really love them and they were free! :)
• Instead of getting overly ambitious (which I tend to do) and starting all sorts of new projects, I'm going to hunker down and focus on finishing ones that I've started. I will work on collecting rocks around the property (for free!) to finish placing around the pond to cover the liner. Instead of stressing about getting all of our fencing up, I will focus on a couple of areas. I will work on digging into our dirt mound (free native dirt left over from excavating) to build up our flowerbeds around the house. This list could go on and on. The point is, I have plenty to finish and most of it won't cost a dime. I think every once in awhile it's good to get a little reality check.

And now, for those of you who have been patient enough to read through this lengthy diatribe...thank you. I shall now share with you the recipe for the tart I referred to at the beginning of this post. For those of you who got to this post by clicking on my "cooking" label...very sorry about the novel that preceeded this recipe. ;)

CREAM CHEESE FRUIT TART

• 1 pie shell...regular or graham cracker. Your choice. I used graham cracker. And I really liked it. Not that you have to like it the way I like it. (Does anyone know what movie that's from? If you do, I will be super impressed.) Moving on...
• 2 8 oz. packages of cream cheese (let it soften a little)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons of lemon, orange, or lime rind (whatever kind you're feelin' like)
• 2 tablespoons of juice from whatever fruit you chose
• Whatever fruit you feel like arranging on top (see my selections below)

1. In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, sugar, fruit rind and fruit juice.
2. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, scraping sides of bowl often, about 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Transfer into your chosen crust.
4. Chill at least one hour before placing fruit on top.

Super, super easy (and way yummy) recipe.

For this tart, I used orange juice and rind. The fruits I used were kiwi, banana, mandarin oranges, raspberries, and a pineapple bulls-eye in the middle. I felt compelled to elaborate on my selections due to the foggy plastic cover obscuring the view. What kind of food photographer am I anyway?!

This was my first attempt and for it I used lemon. I liked this one, but not as much as the orange one.

Alright, so there you have it...even when things aren't so great, I think to myself...there's gotta be somethin' good about it. If nothing else, it could probably always be worse, right? Not that I'm hoping for that. Now I'm crossing my fingers. Hopefully I didn't jinx myself. ;) Thanks blogger buddies for letting me ramble on!

Keep on keepin' on!

Schnauzer Sunday

Well, I've been a total slacker this past week with my blogging. I even missed Wacky Weimy Wednesday! Aahhh! What can I say...it was kind-of a crazy one! So, since I just know that everyone's lives were totally turned upside down with the lack of a Wacky Weimy post, I hope to make it up to you with...Schnauzer Sunday.

This is our neighbor's dog, Bruno. He's a hilarious little guy with a big personality to make up for his little size.

In these photos he was trying to make his way outside to visit with us on the deck, but couldn't muster up the courage to bounce past the fan...which he's definitely capable of. Bruno and "bouncing" are synonymous.

So instead he stood there barking at it, with his moustache flying in the wind. Maybe we're just easily amused, but it was HILARIOUS! I even took a video of it, but had trouble transferrring it to my computer. Darn it!

Sorry Bruno...we were laughing with you, I promise!

Sunday Stills: Wildflowers

This week's Sunday Stills challenge is wildflowers...yay!! What a fun one!

Kicking things off with native Yarrow. I haven't really paid much attention to this plant in the past, in fact, I didn't really like it from a distance, but getting up close to it, I realized that the flowers really are quite pretty!

Thistle. Ugh. This stuff is everywhere around our house. Thankfully, it stays on the other side of our road and has not (yet) started populating our pasture. I told myself I would be weed-wacking these this year, before they went to seed, but the flowers are so unique that I decided to keep 'em around.

A few days ago, my neighbors came back from a walk exclaiming about this beautiful orange flower that they encountered on their adventure. I thought it might make a good subject for this post, so I had my neighbor drive me by the area when we were headed to dinner the other night.

Turned out to be native Tiger Lily! Wow! These were just at the edge of the woods, where they were able to get sunlight, but still have moist soil to grow in.

Native lilies...what a trip!

Baby's Breath buds. Okay, so these aren't actually native wildflowers, but ever since I sprinkled out a teeny tiny seed packet of them our first summer here they have been growing everywhere...spreading like wildflowers! Note to self: don't necessary believe the seed packet when it tells you the plant is an annual. Good thing they're pretty!

Daisies in the road...why is it that anything and everything will grow in gravel, but I can still manage to kill plants in a nutrient rich garden bed?

Even though I had Foxglove in last week's post, I would be remiss not to include it in a wildflower post. This is certainly one of my most favorite wildflowers around here.

Clover. The bane of my existance.

The end. ;) Thanks for visiting!

Sunday Stills: Things with Wings

This week's Sunday Stills challenge is "Things with Wings". Once again, I didn't venture very far from my home for this one. I didn't have to though! We have so many critters around here that it was very easy to find some inspiration.

Bumble bee on a blackberry blossom. Can't wait for these babies to start bearing some fruit!

Honeybee gathering pollen from a foxglove.

Next, a couple of moths that have been hanging out.

Not sure what this one is called, but i thought its color was interesting. He was hanging out on our porch for a couple of days...'till my dog ate him.

Now, this moth was a trip! I was out watering one night and noticed this brown spot on my petunias. From a distance it totally looked like a dead part of the plant. I reached towards it to pluck it off and realized that the "dead part" had legs! Holy moly! This is definitely the weirdest moth I've ever seen. After looking it up, I believe it's called "Enyo Lugubris", which means...are you ready? "Dead Leaf Moth". Clever, huh? ;)

How else would you describe it though? Again, nature never ceases to amaze me.

Moving on to birds...

I've been seeing this guy and a friend hanging out lately. He's different from most birds that we usually see around here and I'm thinking he's a dove...

Last, a photo of a cute little robin taking an afternoon bath in the pond. This is always one of my favorite things to watch...looks like so much fun on a warm day! Well, I think that's it! Thanks for stopping by! :)

Slowly But Surely...

Well, it might look as though a bomb has gone off around here, but I'm starting to get excited, because we're actually making some progress! This past Monday, Kuntry Boy and his cousin installed our sprinkler system, which is a huge project checked off our list! His dad also helped by getting the zone valves and timer all wired up. It was so nice to have their help!

We ended up with two extra zones, so we added this pipe through this flower bed (if you could call it that right now). It's capped off for now, but eventually we'll dig another ditch along the back of this flower bed so that we can have three sprinkler heads watering the top portion of that back pasture area. It won't cover a huge area, but it works out really well, because that's the part of our pasture that gets the most dry. As you can see here, I need to add some more good topsoil and do some over seeding. Oh, great...just added another project to my list! ;)

Having the sprinklers done is major, but there's still lots to do! Now, I get the fun task of backfilling all the trenches, which have to be "hand bedded" so as not to disturb the pipe too much. I only have to get dirt underneath and right on top of the pipe by hand though, then I can use the tractor to fill the ditches the rest of the way. Another project that I'm determined to get done is our pond! Finally! I plan to use some of the rocks that came out of our ditches to fill in the bare liner spots around the pond, but before I can do that the skimmer needed to be set all the plumbing needed to be in place. I've been working on this the last couple of nights and plan to finish it today. Yes!

That big black thing you see here is the skimmer. It houses the pump and has a built in filter. These things make pond maintenance a breeze! The little spot you see above is where I have started digging the hole for the skimmer. It gets set on the edge of the pond and connected to the liner with a waterproof seal. The way the skimmer is set is crucial; too high and it might dry up...too low and it might not do the best job skimming the surface for leaves, etc. Plus, it needs to tilt just a little bit forward Well, I got this sucker set last night and I *think* I nailed it. I hope. The real test will come later today. Fingers crossed.

While I've been working on the pond, I've been having to drain and refill it and during one of the drainings, these little gold guys come swimming out from the rocks. I was surprised to see them! I thought they were goners. I put them in here about a month ago, to help eliminate mosquito larvae, but hadn't seen them since the day of the "release"! And now they're back in hiding. This was two nights ago and I haven't seen them again. They're good little hiders!

More to come on the pond...it's getting so close! YESSS!!


Another thing I was excited to get done is these hose holders. I've been so sick of hoses being sprawled out all over the yard! I didn't want to mount them directly to the house, so I just set a 4x4 post and mounted it to that. Not the most aesthetically pleasing sight in the yard (why can't hose colors be just a little more neutral?!), but at least they are now being stored in an orderly fashion. I think it's the only thing around here right now that's "orderly".

Of course, Lunar is never far when I'm working outside. I just love having his company. He has turned out to be the sweetest kitty.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! This morning I will be heading to a horse event with my mom, but then it will be back to work! I'm determined to get this pond finished!!

Gettin' 'er dun!

Wacky Weimy Wednesday: Doggie Butts

Seems like whenever these two are outside playing, the only "still" shot I can ever get of them is of their butts!

See?!Of course, I was just using my point and shoot for this. I bet if I was using the Nikon and had it on sport mode it could keep up with them. Maybe.

I'll have to try it...

...because with my little Kodak, THIS is all I get!
I can practically hear it breathlessly shouting, "dogs...too...crazy...just...can't...focus..."

Off to pat my Weimies on the butt,

Honest Scrap Award

Ooh, this is gonna be a fun one! I was recently presented with the Honest Scrap Award from Paint Girl at Adventures of The Painted Creek Farm! Thanks Paint Girl! You're a great blogger buddy! :) I just love all of your posts!

Okey dokey, the rules are as follows (there are a few conditions):

First, you have to tell your readers 10 things about you they may not already know, but are true. Second, you have to tag 10 people with the award. Third, you have to let the people you've given the award to know that they've received this award from you. Finally, make sure you link back to the person who awarded you.

Here we go...

1. When I was a kid I was painfully shy. I avoided birthday parties, stood aside from the rest of the kids at gymnastics practice...I always thought people were going to make fun of me. This lasted well into my Jr. High years. One of my worst memories is from 7th grade. For P.E. we had this unit where for about 2 weeks or so we split up from our normal gym class (where I was just starting to feel comfortable) and divided into classes based on the sport that you were interested in. The few good friends that I did have were all taking volleyball. Well, I was no good at volleyball (or any other sport for that matter), but I was really interested in basketball at the time...my dad and I were avid Seattle Sonics fans. So I decided to join the basketball unit. Bad choice. I had no friends in that unit and as it turned out, the unit was comprised mostly of the "popular girls" who were really good at sports. Adding to my awkwardness at this age was the fact that I wore glasses, but I refused to wear them for basketball class. FYI: a nearsighted, non-athletic girl playing basketball = A LOT of air balls. No one would ever pass me the ball (which was fine with me). I'll never forget though, the one time that I was the only person open and ended up with the ball in my hands. I threw up a "Hail Mary" shot, knowing it had 0% chance of going in. Well, God must have been feeling sorry for his little four eyed geek that day, because I sunk that baby! Not that I could see it go in, but I will always remember how everyone stopped, looked at me, mouths agape, and one girl exclaimed, "she actually made it!" Ouch. I was completely miserable for those two weeks. Do you remember that mom? ;) P.S. Wanna hear an interesting tidbit about a girl named Patches? Even though we didn't "meet" until High School it turns out that we had actually attended a birthday party for a mutual friend in fourth grade. I remember that I had fretted and fretted over this party...what to wear, etc. I didn't know anyone who was going to be there. Well, we had to do a scavenger hunt and I remember Patches being really nice to me when we were going around gathering our items. We talked about horses a little and I just remember feeling a little less dorky since someone was talking to me. Thanks Patches! You know it meant a lot to me if I remember it this many years later! :)


2. I'm a little bit of a tomboy. Even if I was shy around others, I was always comfortable in my own skin when I was by myself. I had a lot of fun by myself! A Kuntry Girl to the core, I used to put on my stars and stripes bathing suit and go out into the pasture where I would play in the mud (mixed with manure no doubt). Then, I would get clean by "swimming" in the horse trough. I also loved riding my bike (even in the rain) and climbing trees. Although I might not swim in the horse trough anymore, I still have plenty of tomboy qualities for sure!


3. I have a very special middle name, as I am named after my great great grandmother, who we've been told held a world record for the greatest number of children who served in World War II.


4. Even though I totally have a sweet tooth, I did not get any cavities until my senior year in high school. Don't ask how many I've had since then. ;)


5. I can foil my own hair (and I'm thinking it might be about time to do so). This saves me some major dinero, as I have very thick, very long hair.


6. I am a whipped cream aficionado...don't try to sell me on the non-dairy stuff, okay? Cool Whip? NO THANKS! Give me some hand whipped, REAL whipped cream. Reddi-Wip will do just fine, too. And can I get on my soapbox here? My most favorite espresso stand in town recently switched owners and when this happened, do you know what also changed? That's right! The whipped cream on their drinks is now "non-dairy". Humph. There's another stand in town, which I have now been frequenting because the other place also did away with their "daily special". I like this new stand just as much, but they also have the bogus whipped cream. Is it just me? Anyone?


7. I love orange juice; so much that I have been known to sit down with a can of concentrate and take a few bites before mixing it up. Weird you say? Ever tried it? GOOD STUFF! I also love to make home-made orange juice floats, where I just pour orange juice over vanilla ice cream. I have to watch the intake though...can't be drinking this stuff all the time. It's ridiculously high in calories! Maybe one of these days I'll get me a juicer.


8. I started talking at a really early age (before walking) and I haven't stopped since! (Can you tell?) ;) Once I get started on something, I can talk and talk and talk.


9. Sorry Paint Girl...I have a horribly messy car. I do. It's bad. Pretty much everything else in my world is clean and organized (for the most part), but my car is a different story. I'm trying to be better. It's hard. ;)


10. Hello, my name is Kuntry Girl and I belong to Twilighters Anonymous.

Okay, I've only come up with six fellow bloggers that I'd like to give this to, without duplicating. Hopefully I'm not missing anyone...

I'm looking forward to hearing your lists!

All Horse Stuff

Pony Girl Rides Again

Musings From Montana

A Spot of Mercy

Writing and Riding

Old Centennial Farmhouse

Have fun! :)