Days of Daisy

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 “I discovered that the horse is life itself,

a metaphor but also an example of life’s mystery and unpredictability,

of life’s generosity and beauty,

a worthy object of repeated and ever changing contemplation.”

~Jane Smiley~

This is my Daisy girl, my first horse.

I thought I’d share a couple of pictures of her today for the Black and White Challenge. This was from a recent visit with her where I was walking around the pasture. Most days, she follows me about and studies me, like I study her. On this day, I crouched down to look up at her. She stared at me with wonder, like I did her. I don’t think she realizes just how cool she is.

Together, we have been figuring out life, and I am glad she has been part of it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For Sally D’s Mobile Photography Challenge ~ Black and White.

 

56 thoughts on “Days of Daisy”

  1. Pingback: Sally D’s Mobile Photography Challenge: Black and White (Experiment with Photomontage) | Lens and Pens by Sally

    • Yeah, she is a normally happy girl and we seemed to enjoy each other’s company. I think she enjoys just hanging out more than riding though. But, I might too if I were a horse, lol.

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  3. Going to be in Wyoming soon and I’ll get to see our horses and do some riding. I couldn’t go last year and will only get a week there this year, but a week is so much better than nothing. Say hi to Daisy.

    janet

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        • It really is. I wish I had property to have her at my own house. Then, I could enjoy my coffee each morning as I walk with her. But, she is boarded at a farm so it makes it harder to go out daily with work…. So, its a special treat even more then.

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          • Have always wished to have my own smallholding but they’re such a huge amount of work! I did a bit of Riding for The Disabled a few years ago but places are scarce. It’s the getting on and off a horse that’s the big problem for me these days so I think I would like to just be able to go for a gentle stroll like you 🙂 My aunt in Scotland has always had ponies. There were three when I was a kid and we used to go up to visit in the holidays. The smallest at 9 hands, Pepper, is still going at around 40yrs old and now lives out on the muirs where my aunt goes twice a day with porridge for her as she has no teeth left! When I was young Pepper was always my favourite of their ponies as she just had the most cheeky personality. I remember waking up one morning to find her in the bedroom (it was a bungalow!) staring down at me! My aunt had gone out to put their feeds out for them and she’d escaped the field and just invited herself into the house. It’s one of my favourite childhood memories 😀

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            • Oh wow! Scotland and ponies sounds like a wonderful memory. LOL-I would love to wake up with a cheeky little pony staring at me. So awesome! Thank you so much for sharing:) This story made me giggle and gives me ideas for a children’s book! When I was young, I wrote a story about a little girl who had a flying pony. I even illustrated it! ha! I should post that one day since I am lucky enough to still have it.

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                    • I agree. At least those things we liked when we were younger could give us a hint to what we like and may be good at when we are older. But then again, I used to like playing marbles…not sure what that is in the adult world. Gambling with rolling dice? Pool? lol, either way, I agree!

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                    • Playing marbles with the younger generation 😉 Having kids around is a great excuse to indulge in all the things you loved as a kid too!! There’s a wicked place in Devon, just off the moors, called The House of Marbles and it caters to fans of the marble from all generations 😀

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                    • House of Marbles! That sounds so cool! I so agree. I used my kids as ways to do things when they were young. But now they are off and on their own. So I am just doing things without a care to what others think. I just started some aerial classes (yoga, lyra and silks) and I am bruised but having fun flipping around.

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                    • Oh wow, that sounds brilliant but hard work too 😉 Always such an amazing skill to watch! I have two fantastic godchildren that I still have hours of fun with and when I married Simon I instantly became a grandmother of two 😉 His daughter Charlotte was already 16 when we first met so I missed out on the full on parenting bit! Having the boys around is great though 😀 They’re 5 and almost 3! Cheeky little monkeys and the younger one does “cute” professionally 😉 Hoping to see them tomorrow afternoon! School holidays get a bit hectic trying to fit in when to do stuff with all the children.

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                    • Oh, they sound adorable:) Who can refuse a professionally cute cheeky little monkey!? It all sounds like a wonderful family! I hope you have a good visit with them tomorrow.

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                    • Oh 🙂 I swear God makes them absolutely adorable when they are little so that by the time they are mean/moody teens we can’t help but still love them through those stages, lol.

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                    • Oh gosh. I DON’T miss those. I do miss those adorable baby and toddler years though. But… I can wait for grandkids since I am happily enjoying my empty nest:)

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                    • I’m afraid I’m guilty of laughing when one of the kids throws a tantrum! I often have to walk away as laughing often makes kids worse at doing naughty things. Can’t help myself though, especially when it’s such obvious acting and crocodile tears 😉 I like having a bit of space to myself but I do have such fun with all the kids when I see them!

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                    • I am sure they are much funnier when they are not your immediate kids. I will try to remember that for when I get grandkids over. Right now, I have the grand dog until then…

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                    • Totally 😉 Haha, grand dog! Love it 😀 I refer to my parents as Nana and Pops with our cats. Mum loves cats and has lots of fun coming over here to play with ours but my dad has never been a cat person 😦 I keep telling him it’s been enough years that he’s had his own way and it’s about time he let my mum actually have a cat of her own!! He’s stubborn though. I might just get her a rescue cat one day and tell dad to put up with it 😉 I’m sure there’s some rule that states that when your parents reach a certain age you’re finally allowed to tell them what to do?!?

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                    • Yeah, my daughter’s do… is really my dog. But now my dad lives with me and him and the dog are inseparable. So that makes the dog a great grand dog to him, lol. My ex hated cats and the kids wanted one so badly we just did it. We successfully hid the cat in their bedroom for like nearly two weeks. Then, he burst in on us to see what we were all doing and in came the dog too…. it was a big scene to say the least. But he came around and loved the cat eventually. Sadly, I never got to say goodbye to my Smokey cat. He was killed while I was deployed. But my ex did get him cremated for me. So yeah, life’s short…get mum the cat. Dad may come around…hopefully.

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                    • I can’t believe you managed to conceal a cat for two whole weeks!!! I can empathise over the sadness of losing him while you were away. My first cat was run over while I was visiting my brother in Wales. She was only two years old! It absolutely broke my heart. Glad to hear your ex came to love the cat 🙂 Dogs are such good companions, they just love to be friends with people! Is it strange living with a parent again? I don’t think I’d cope! Mum’s a bit full on 😉 I do a lot with her every week. She thinks that she’s helping me but I allow it all because I know she gets lonely while my dad’s at work! I now have her coming to open water swimming with me. I can’t walk far but I can swim for hours 😉 I think it will be good for her. She really enjoyed it this week even though she didn’t go far!

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                    • Yeah, I was surprised that we hid it that long too! After that, Smokey was more of an outdoor cat and happily too. He would perch himself on top of things and sit looking down at the dogs arrogantly. 🙂 The dogs would just try and try to get him. Not sure what would have happened had they succeeded. (They were big mastiffs.) But all worked out. Well, until I left of course. Poor Smokey cat.

                      Living with a parent is different. It has its perks: grand dog has a constant companion, garden is always watered, he likes to fix things about the house, my TV actually gets used, he eats my recipe experiments. I guess the main downside is sometimes I really just don’t want to talk or want to sit around in my underwear and eat ice cream while watching overly dramatic movies that make you want to cry. That’s hard to do with dad, lol. However, my sister lives in the next town over and dad goes to stay with her from time to time, like this weekend. So, after military duty, I’m breaking out the mud mask, dramatic movies and girl PJs!

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                    • Haha, recipe experiments lol! My hubby loves to experiment and he’s actually a great cook 🙂 I have awkward dietary requirements with my Crohn’s so he adjusts various standards to become Sarah-friendly 😉 We had a pork and pear casserole at the weekend done in the slow cooker! Cats either love to sit up high and look down at everyone (and every dog!) or they like to hide under things and appear as if by magic, like our Luna. How she still squeezes under the coffee table is beyond me!! She also refuses point blank to go outside. Such a princess!! Juno likes being up high and outside. Doesn’t work to well when she’s stuck up a tree 😉 She also follows around the local fox who actually seems to be a bit wary of her! That’s so great that you have the kind of family who stick together and help out. I actually bagged myself a husband who loves all the so-called girly films 😉 He actually forced me to watch Titanic! I had avoided it for years on the grounds of historical inaccuracies 😉 We both love lots of the other classics though! Went to see Dirty Dancing at the open air cinema at Wisley Gardens the other week which was awesome 😀 Hope you had a good weekend!

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                    • A man who cooks and like girly movies! Whoo hoo. You are a lucky lady indeed. I do love to cook new things so it is fortunate that everyone around me is willing to try my new dishes. And, when there is time, my boyfriend does enjoy cooking with me in the kitchen. So fun doing that with some wine and music-great date at home:) My cat now is indoor-outdoor as he likes. He is quite the hunter and brings me dead mice gifts 2-4 times a week. I had him declawed in the front when I first got him so I am kind of surprised…and feel a little guilty. But he seems to be earning his keep around the house. I pay the bills/cook. Dad waters yard/washes dishes. Cat catches mice and bugs. Dog chases the squirrels away from dad’s bird feeders and alerts us of visitors. Even my boyfriend helps out when he comes over: helps in yard/cooks/cleans. I am a lucky lady:) This weekend I will have both of my adult kids home too! We may have to have a Thanksgiving in August. That will be a way better weekend that this last one which was spent working. Regardless, it was still a decent weekend though.

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                    • Yeah, we can even do the classic bits of script from Top Gun in perfect synchronisation, it was obviously fated 😉 I really wish we had a bigger kitchen though as cooking together is a bit impossible. Simon is a bit of a stickler over his kitchen rules too 😉 We have fun baking together! Cupcakes mostly. Simon does all the difficult mixing and get to do all the fancy buttercream icing and decoration 😀 Juno, the cat the goes out likes to bring me live gifts when she gets a chance! There was a phase of frogs last year and this year has mostly been wood mice and moths. They’re all completely unharmed, even the moths! She carries them in her mouth so carefully. She also drops them on command which is pretty weird for a cat 😉 And now we get to the difference between the US and the UK in keeping cats. Declawing is illegal hear unless a cat has some sort of injury or infection that necessitates it. Vets and owners can both be prosecuted. I know it’s a common practice in the US but I hope that over time people come to realise the reasons why it shouldn’t be done and the practice fades out. I guess it’s still just seen as the normal thing to do! As you have discovered it won’t stop your cat from finding a way to hunt and kill if it wants to. I keep Juno and Luna’s claws trimmed when needed as even with scratch posts etc they can still grow a bit long and uncomfortable. Always had to do our dogs too even though they had plenty of outdoor time! The cats are pretty good about using just their scratch posts and not the furniture. They have a big cat tree in the sitting room and a smaller one in the bedroom so they can still mark their territory scratching the shit out of them and leaving everything else alone 😉 Sounds like you have a real teamwork thing going on at home! It’s a good way to be 🙂 Dog definitely has a vital job!! Will be lovely for you to have all the family together I’m sure, definitely something worth having a Thanksgiving for 🙂 Are you being posted away again?

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                    • Cupcake icing! Oh I love cupcake icing! I can’t don’t anything fancy though. That is one of my bucket list items: make and design fancy icing that didn’t come from a can.

                      Yeah, declawing is just expected and I figured I needed to do it if he were to remain in the house. It’s as common as getting your kids vaccinated. Interesting to hear that it is illegal there. wow. What a dramatic difference. I have a scratch post and Simba will still go up to it and scratch at it. So who knows? Maybe he would not have destroyed the house after all.

                      That is wild that Juno will drop the mice on command! Do they run off then since they are unharmed? Simba’s prey are definitely not alive when he gifts them to us. However, there are no obvious signs of trauma. Well, other than the no breathing and moving factors.

                      Yeah, the dog stays busy with my dad. He is like his shadow. Today, I am taking him out to see my Daisy girl. I need to check up on her. I sure wish I had land big enough for her to be at. It would be so much easier and nice to walk out and say hi to her each morning. But, she is happy at her farm house and has other horsey friends to mingle with.

                      Yes, I am looking forward to having both kids this weekend!!

                      As for leaving, nope. I am just working around my local area and happy for that! At least for now:)

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                    • Glad you are able to stay close to home, family and pets for now at least 🙂 Simon makes the butter icing under my supervision to get the right consistency. If it’s too thick the trick is to add a spoon of milk at a time til it’s right 🙂 The milk adds a smoothness to it too! I love doing thick swirls of icing on the top, always the best bit. Picked up a recipe for doing ice-cream cone cupcakes!! Could be a bit of fun 🙂

                      I think the whole de-clawing thing started as people in built up areas kept their cats in for safety but just didn’t understand that they would need to really adapt the house! Cats are still far more wild than dogs and they need to be able to climb and scratch as much as they need to sleep 😉 Dogs can easily take a house apart if they’re bored too of course!! Claws on cats have far more purposes than just scratching and catching. I think one move my animal welfare groups in the US has been in getting people to have claws trimmed and capped rather than removed. Some of the caps make it look like you’ve taken the cat for a fancy manicure and although I find it quite hilarious it does seem to be encouraging the popularity of going for caps. Some animal rights groups argue that even caps are inhumane but they’re far better than full de-clawing! Please know that I’m not having a go at you, I am totally aware that it’s just the done thing in much of the US still. If I can spread some awareness though and if you can share it further then that would be brilliant 🙂

                      Most of the time the animals that Juno has dropped for me are still in the shocked-keep-very-still defence mode they take on so if I’m right next to her when I say drop I can usually scoop them up quickly while heaping praise on Juno herself! We have had a merry chase after a couple of mice and one frog that went under the sofa 😉 Moths tend to fly all over the place until I get a chance to sneak up on them with a cup so I don’t do any more damage to the wings! I had a feeling she’d be a bit of a hunter and you have to accept that it’s what they do but we’re very relieved that she’s such a gentle huntress! I think pet cats kill in a similar way to wild big cats by either breaking the neck or more commonly using pressure to asphyxiate the prey. Anything your cat brings in is generally a gift for you! Bless them 😉 My aunt and uncle had a farm cat that brought me gifts every night whenever I went to stay with them in Devon. Large rats!! They were already dead and although I have kept the pet variety of rat I wouldn’t like a live wild one dropped on my bed at 3am!! She brought me three one night. Very efficient farm cat, misplaced affection though 😉

                      I’m sure Daisy will be pleased to see you 🙂 Horses value friendship and company from humans and other animals! Farm life is good for a horse I think but totally understand your wish to have her closer. You’d probably have to get her a field friend though! Which is what led to my aunt and uncle having a number of cute miniature donkeys 😉

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                    • The icing sounds great! I will have to try some soon. So far, most of my icing is just store bought.

                      It is great to get info about the nondeclawing practices there. I can certainly pass it along to my daughter and her new kitty who is still just as God intended. I can see that Simba has coped just fine. He is a hunter indeed. Yeah, rats in the bed would not be my favorite either! aaahhh!

                      I thought of that issue: Daisy needing a friend if I moved her to my house. I was probably not ready for my own barn and horse and horse friend in all honesty. She was happy for the visit indeed. Not nearly as excited as the dog, Guy, though. He was like a kid after eating soda and cake. He was running here and there and everywhere. Bless his excited little heart! LOL

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                    • Yeah it’s a lot of work to do all the upkeep on a barn as well as taking on another animal friend!! I’m glad that Simba hasn’t had any of the adverse effects that can go with de-clawing 🙂 He sounds like he adjusted well and just gets on with being a cat! Dogs love being out with horses 😀 It’s always nice to see dogs that have been socialised well around horses out on a hack in the countryside! Great exercise for them. I really miss going out on a long hack! We have some fantastic countryside with really good bridleways in Surrey. Never liked taking the horses on the roads but sometimes you do have to go a short distance down them to get to the next bridleway. Guilty pleasure this week has been watching the Olympic dressage! I was never any good at it myself but the partnership between horse and rider in dressage has always astounded me. Looking forward to seeing the freestyle to music on Monday as those horses are far more elegant dancers than most people I know 😉 You need to make your own icing!!! It’s just so much nicer than anything out of a tube. Plus anything left over gets to go straight in your mouth 😉

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                    • Yeah, Simba is thriving pretty well. Oh yes, Guy gets his exercise when we go to the barn. He is a madman, lol. I love watching dressage but have no talent for it. My Daisy girl and I are simple wanders. She may have some hidden skills but I don’t know how to bring them out. So, she just tolerates me and my can-barely-ride skills. Riding there on the bridleways sounds fun!

                      I agree, I do need to try some icing on my own!

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                    • Haha, I love seeing dogs having fun like that! There were a few going bonkers playing out on the meadows today and they had my grandsons in fits of giggles 😀 I was pants at dressage!! Loved jumping and eventing. Adrenaline junkie in my youth 😉 I would happily just wander with a horse for company though!

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                    • Oh it really was lovely 😀 Simple pleasures!! The no fear part of being young when you first learn something makes such a difference I think. My step-daughter never learned to ride a bike and absolutely refuses to even try now as she’s too scared of falling. So glad I did all those things when I was a kid just to learn to have faith in myself!!

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                    • Yes, the simple are the best many times:) I so agree! Now that we are older, we consider the risks more. Not that doing that is always bad. However, having faith in yourself to try something new is wonderful. I am taking aerial classes now. (aerial yoga, lyra and silks) And while I am trying to climb up the fabric or hoop, I am wondering….what in the world am I trying? Why didn’t I do this like 20 years ago? But, I am trying nonetheless and having fun AND its a great workout. So exercise, fun and bucket list check. Those are all wins!

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                    • Oh brilliant 😀 I have recently photographed a few aerial performances at festivals and at the Wisley Arts Fair! It’s just beautiful to watch and must be a real thrill to do 🙂 I think I would love to be able to do silks!! Keep winning and enjoying it 😀

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                    • Oh my, it is soooooo hard! Of course, they make it look easy but the strength required to do some of those things is crazy. So, I am still at the baby level on all things. Why I am doing this at 45??? I guess cuz it is now or never. I am not getting any younger so I don’t want to have any regrets. So bucket list watch out!

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                    • Never ever have regrets!! They only hold people back I think. Age is just a number really 😉 Yes, some of the professional performers make it look effortless but I know that’s far from the truth! Main thing is that you have fun with it 😀 As a fellow forty something I know that feeling of not getting any younger but then I remember what teenage and young adult years were like and I really don’t think I could ever go through that again!!

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