At the park

I need to get some photos posted on my blog this morning because hubby will be moving them all to our portable hard drive.  They tend to get lost on that thing!  So, anyway, one morning last week (the LAST week of school, whoo, whoo!) I went to the park early.  I saw lots of interesting things like a heron stalking 3 turtles.  It turns out, it was going after some fish in the water right next to them.  The Canadian goose with the broken wing is still at the park (she's recouperating) and I found an interesting duck with a cotton ball on its head.  It turns out, several of my students go to the park and feed the ducks, so I gave them a baggie of duck food.  One little third grader wants to be a vet and she loves the duck with the cotton ball!  Now that summer vacation is here, I hope I run into them at the park over the summer.

Can you identify all these peppers?

Good luck!  Here are the peppers which were at our daughter's party last weekend...a "pepper" party!  Oh, and that's their dog, Wilco, and the grandson having cool whip and strawberries!  :-)

Quad gets some R&R

Quad is really good about letting me know when he wants some R&R in the arena.  He'll come up behind me and nicker softly and nuzzle me.  Then I know he wants out.  So, Sunday I took him down to the arena.  He tried to bolt, but I held on and said, "NO!"  So, he stopped and looked at me and settled down.  Apparently he's also been doing this with my trainer...sigh...So, I lunged him and worked him for a while and then let him go.  Off he went!  I didn't do much other than just hang out with him.  3 more days of school and I'm DONE for the summer, although it's a short one, only 8 weeks.  Gosh, we used to return to school after Labor Day.  Not it's August 22nd!  We're heading up to the Sierras for a week, then back home, and the nights up there are in the low 30's!  It was 107 degrees here yesterday and today should be 109...ugh!  Summer's here...

Pepper party

Our daughter and SIL had a pepper party last night.  Everybody had to bring a dish with some sort of pepper in it.  Hubby went to COSTCO and spent 2 hours slicing and dicing celery, onions, peppers, and I don't know what else for his!  Some kind of "deconstructed" Greek salad.  Don't tell him, but it was AWFUL!  (...gag...) He put WAY too much dressing on it and it was kinda bland.  However, I did try some gnocchi with a pepper sauce which was delicious and brownies with peppers in them!  :-)  It was fun, but it got so loud that the hubs and I left about a couple of hours.  They have done this kind of theme dinner before.  One time it was a garlic party.  Ohhhhh....I would have liked that one!  Anyway, our mouths were on fire and I'd only had water to drink all night (designated driver), but hubby had a beer and 2 when he got home!  I'll be heading up to the horses today and I can't WAIT!

I'll Have Another is retired

Surprise, surprise~!  (...not!)...I'll Have Another is retired from racing...sigh...

Really, WHAT can I say?

40th wedding anniversary!!

Yes, can you believe it?  Today is our 40th wedding anniversary (it hasn't always been EASY!)...anyway, we're having dinner with our daughter and some friends.  I'll post pics tomorrow or next week...salmon, Bobby Flay chipolte sweet potatoes, German apple cake, and a salad.  Oh, and champagne!  We drove up the hill to buy horse pellets this morning and to check on the horses...all are fine.  Cali looks really good and shiny and sleek!  She does have to wear her fly mask already, as the flies really bother her.  Quad nuzzled me and squealed for his extra meal!  He's SUCH a big goofball!  I really enjoy him!

Two days of 114 degree temps!

We've had two days of 114 degree days here in the desert and it's been rough on all of us and our pets and animals.  I leave the hose on out front so that the birds can get a drink of water in the afternoons.  Believe me, they need it!  I immediately let the dogs inside in the afternoons and they appreciate it!  PE was cancelled at school in the afternoons, so everybody took the kiddos out in the morning, when it was only 100 degrees!  I understand that the last 2 days have tied the heat records for this time of year in Palm Springs...ugh!  That's not a record I'm proud of!  Today it is only 103 degrees and believe me, that's quite a difference! The birds are out eating and drinking but they aren't panting!  The dogs are asleep on the tile next to the front door, but I'm completely out of energy.  One teacher at my school went home with chest pains (either due to stress or dehydration)...I'm really NOT looking forward to this summer.  First, we have only 8 weeks off, then back to school.  Second, it has been a L-O-N-G school year with this group of kids and I'm exhausted, even after a 4 day weekend in Idyllwild last weekend.  I told hubby I'd drive him up there for breakfast tomorrow morning and he agreed.  Only two more weeks of school and then I'm DONE!