Whimsey has come to live with us!! And she is even cuter than her picture.

I haven’t been able to take new pictures because the weather has been awful! In July and August we get terrible thunder storms and it’s so humid you never dry off after you shower.

Moving along… she’s settling in very well and getting along with my big horse, Ferro, which is one reason we got her.

Yesterday they were out together and even ran around a bit. It’s nice to see them have fun.

Anyway, just wanted to let you know. I’ll be taking some good pictures to share with you soon.

Most of you know we have horses. We had 4 when we moved here, but 2 have gone to horsey heaven.

We now have 2 left and one of them is very old and probably won’t be around much longer. We don’t believe in animals not having a companion, so we’ve been trying to figure out what to do.

It’s time to down size, and I don’t want another horse, so we’re trying to make the right decision. So…… after some research, I think we might be getting a donkey.

Whimsey is actually a hinny which, from what I understand, is a baby with a donkey mommy and a horse daddy. She’s only 41.5 inches tall and sooooo cute.

She’s 19 which is perfect since my horse is about 15 and donkeys tend to live a little longer than horses. So they both will grow old together.

Whimsey loves horses so this would be perfect for her too.

Unfortunately she’s about 700 miles from us, but if necessary, we can go pick her up. She’ll be fine for the ride home.

So what do you all think? Donkey or not??

Today I had to say good-by to one of my horses. He was a very old pony and I guess it was his time.

That of course doesn’t make it any easier, but with the help of a wonderful vet, we put him to sleep. He was unable to even stand and was very uncomfortable.

I guess the hardest part was seeing him suffer until our vet came to handle the procedure. His name was Scooter.

As I walked back to the house, I thought, Lord, another sad interruption in my life, and He gently said, My child, this is life. Somehow that made me feel better, as God always does. I got to enjoy many years with Scooter and care for him through his old age. I was also blessed to be a part of caring for him in the end.

I don’t exactly know where animals go when they die, but I sure hope I get to see mine in Heaven. We’ll miss you Scooter.

Did you know that the Hawaiian Islands were original called Sandwich Islands? These islands were originally discovered by Captain James Cook and he named them “Sandwich Islands”, after his sponsor, the 4th Earl of Sandwich.

I owe credit to 2 sources. One, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader, (which I’m not) and The Sandwich Islands, a website devoted to all that is great about the Hawaiian Islands.

What Your Shamrock Says About You

You are brilliant, analytical, and somewhat of a perfectionist. You are ultra competent and knowledgeable. At times, people find you intimidating. You can be a bit sarcastic and harsh. You don’t really consider yourself a lucky person. In your view, people create their own luck. You are creative, innovative, and complicated. You definitely have a unique spin on the world.

What’s your personality type??

You Are an Espresso

At your best, you are: straight shooting, ambitious, and energetic At your worst, you are: anxious and high strung You drink coffee when: anytime you’re not sleeping Your caffeine addiction level: high

I think I’ll get a cup right now.

Come back and let me know!

I LOVE Nascar!!! In case you’re not familiar with it, Nascar is stock car racing.

The Daytona 500 was yesterday, the first points race of the year. You can bet we watched it and it was a great race.

My favorite driver is Dale Jr. Although he didn’t win, he did very well. He came in 9th after struggling a little with his car.

One reason I like Nascar so much is because it’s a sport where they honor God and our country. Before each race they say a prayer and sing the National Anthem. It moves me every time.

Dale Jr. has had a couple of really tough years, but this year has started out GREAT for him. You may recall his dad was killed in the Daytona race in 2001. A very sad day indeed!

So come on, there MUST be some fans out there to join me, as I cheer my favorite driver on!!! Who’s you favorite driver??

I recently purchased a couple of buttons and a banner. I’m so happy with them, that I wanted to share with you. For some reason, I’ve had a hard time finding just banner graphics.

Lori Piper from Web Graphic and Banner Design worked with me to come up with these designs.

I had to reduce the size of this banner for this page, so you’re not able to see the true beauty.

If you like these, you may want to go visit Lori. I’ll be back there again.

My goal is to bring as many visitors to my blog as I can. One way of doing this is through SEO or Search Engine Optimization. What??? you might say.

Definition of Search Engine Optimization according to Web 1 Marketing:

“Search engine optimization (SEO) consists of various techniques that seek to improve the ranking of a website in search engine results. Websites should be optimized for keywords that are frequently searched upon by prospective customers. Optimization includes incorporation of these keywords into copy, page titles, link text, and various other elements of the website.”

What this means, in a nutshell, is using key words and phrases in your blog, that people are looking for. Of course, you want these key words relevant to the purpose of your blog.

In addition, you want to use titles that include these key words. Now I’m not familiar with other blogging platforms, but with Word Press, it’s relatively easier to accomplish this.

I admit, I’m partial to Word Press, IF, you have your own domain on a server of your choice. But there is a way for your titles to show up as the title of your post, not the title of your blog or just a number.

Since I’m not great at explaining this, I’d like to send you to one of the most helpful sites regarding SEO and Marketing, that you’ll find on the internet.

It’s GNC Web Creations and Cricket Walker is the owner and training instructor. Her FREE SEO and Marketing classes are a must for anyone wanting a successful website.

She has some excellent information that will help you with blogging as it pertains to business. I hope you take time to visit. See if this is something you may be looking for.

If you enjoy this kind of information, please leave a comment. Much of what I’ve learned is relevant to blogging for business, or in conjunction with my website. Blogging has been a wonderful boost to my webshop. And I’d love to share it with you.

For those of you that have been waiting for this, I’m sorry it took so long. All my days seem to be crazy lately.

OK, where did I leave off?? Oh, yea. I made it to town after a very nice drive…..

I had several errands I needed to run so I started with the Post Office. Although I was second in line, it still took forever. There was only one worker helping one woman. I have no idea what service she was needing, but she took 15 minutes doing who knows what. I don’t know about you, but I try to be as ready as possible when I arrive at the window. Others seem to forget there’s anyone else around.

Now I do feel for our postal workers, because they have been cut back, but please. If there are 3 other workers just looking on, don’t ya think someone would come to our rescue? But nope, I waited until she was done.

Wheww….Finally done, on to the next errand. Returning items.

One return went very smoothly, but the other, well let’s just say it took a little bit longer. They wouldn’t just issue a store credit, which I could use later, they wanted me to take care of it right then. Another 1/2 hour, out of my already busy day.

Now it’s time to drop off and wait for my husbands pain medication. Most of you already know, Walmart is about the only store in town. So to Walmart I go.

And so does everyone else. My first clue was the parking lot, my second clue, the line at the pharmacy. I think EVERYBODY had to pick up their prescription that day, because they were all in that line. Breathe Sherry, breathe.

I dropped the prescription off with the pharmacist and was told it would be 30 to 45 minutes. Hummm, I think to myself. I should probably just start standing in line right now.

I decided to pick up a few things, real quick, then head back to the pharmacy to stand in line. And stand, and stand. At least I was able to talk to my daughter for a while and, don’t tell anyone, but I saw the most beautiful man. Now I don’t usually talk about stuff like this, but he had the looks of a young movie star. I’ll bet he was a fireman. I digress.

It’s finally my turn and guess what. The girl at the counter that was supposed to take care of me, walked away. No comments, no looks, no explanation. She just simply walked away.

Forget the deep breaths, this time I had to bite my tongue. This act of oblivion even shocked the only other counter girl. All she could do was roll her eyes, and keep on working.

Knowing she didn’t need to hear it from me, when I finally got to the counter, I just ask for my prescription and moved on.

Now, after a morning of doing for others, I felt like I needed to take a little time for me. I love to browse, so I decide to take 20 minutes and just look around this cute little shop, taking in all the pretty things. But…. no sooner had I arrived than my phone rings, again.

Oh Brother!! I know who it is and I know what he wants. Yep, as soon as I say Hello, he says Where are you? I need you home. At this point no deep breath or biting of the tongue is going to work. I quietly say, I’m in line and will be on my way home momentarily.

He proceeds to ask what’s wrong with me and I just say I’m tired and will be right home.

Time for more prayers for kindness and patience, which are spoken on the way home. By this time, I’m really physically tired and just want to be left alone. However, before I could even make it to the front door, I hear my husband hollering at me to hurry up. Oh my, what is it now???

Well, my OTHER geriatric dog was having a seizure and I needed to get to him quickly. All I can do is hold and love him until he comes out of it, but it’s so hard on him and it worries me so.

Slowly, he comes out of the seizure, is resting quietly, when my husband says, I need this, can you get me that, and will you???? To keep from exploding, I slowly turned to him and said, Right now, if I don’t have some time to myself, I’ll end up snapping at you and saying something I don’t mean, so please let me have a few moments to pull myself together.

I quickly got him the things that couldn’t wait and told him I needed to be left alone for 20 minutes. I think he got it. I had 20 minutes to myself and believe it or not, I really felt better.

To some, I may sound very selfish, but I NEED to have time alone, once in a while, and believe me, it’s better for everyone that way.

The remainder of the evening was rather uneventful. My husband fell asleep early and I was able to finish the book I had been reading for a month.

God is really helping me handle the extra work and emotions. Each day seems to get a little better, but He has also shown me, that I count too. That He desires to help me through it and that He is always there with me. And I’m sure glad He is.