A Dusting of Snow

The joy in being a grandmother comes from watching my daughters raise their children with the same values that they were raised with, and sometimes I find my daughters are even more rigorous than we were with them. The other benefit of being the grandmother allows watch by the sidelines and cheer the children on as they pursue their interests.

Such was yesterday as I sat with the other grandmother and watched the girls compete in the last horse show of the season, a fun show that began the Halloween costume competitions. Now, I have to admit that as a mom I was horrible at creating costumes for the girls, so they ended up in the Target plastic ensemble: Big Bird and Strawberry Short Cake.

My daughters do a much better job. Not only did Jen have to dress her daughters yesterday, but three horses too. It was so much fun to watch.

Elinore and Hank were a dragon and a princess. 

Lucy and Mariah were a pirate.

 Lily and Bubba were a rainbow unicorn and were voted the Most Magical.

Hank wore a horse bonnet, designed to keep flies out of the ears, but his were dragon's ears with sparkles.

Lucy and her friend had their own interpretations of a pirate.

Then the gymkhana events began. Because Lily is under 9, her horse had to be led by an adult. Bubba belongs the college student, Katie, a CSU veterinary student who is a neighbor and allows the girls to use her arena. She is kind enough to let Lily ride him. He actually is more horse than what she should be riding, but she is only allowed to walk and trot and Bubba who is actually a trained barrel racer and used in roping events listens to her and with a watchful eye she is learning to ride. Katie got quite a work out yesterday running along side Bubba with his lead line. Thank you, Katie.

Lily was having so much fun.

It was good day.

And today Fall is acting up. The weather people have promised snow for the next four days. We have a dusting of snow here at the Garden Spot. The little water garden in the front entry has a bit of ice on the top. The gold fish are hardy little creatures. The Head Gardener will add a heater--soon, I hope.

The boys are out and about after their warm mash breakfast. 

Some are writing about their lovely fall decorations. Here I am keeping it simple, putting out my Halloween decorations because we've had some company. I purchased the table cloth a few years ago, along with the napkins and for the valance, I used another table cloth that I cut down and hemmed for the valence. 

Outside, the decorations are really simple, like something that wind won't blow away. I had festive autumn leaf wreath on the exterior wall, but the wind carried it away. We are back off the road, so much of fall decor doesn't show from the road. It's pretty much just for me.

Thank you for your kind comments on the cards that we have been working on. I know that the veterans will appreciate them.

Wishing a fine week.

I'll be joining Angie for Mosaic Monday.