For my broken heart

"Last night I prayed the lord my soul to keep, 

then I cried myself to sleep,

so sure life wouldn't go on without you .

 But now the sun is breaking through as it wakes me from the dark.

I guess the world aint gonna stop,

for my broken heart " Reba McEntire 

This has been a hard post to write, and one I was never sure I would be ready for . 

I have posted on FB about it but this place is where I have the opportunity to share a bit more. First of all this is what I wrote to honor my mother who passed away on Saturday November 21,she had been ill for many years and was a hero to many in the way she faced her illness and pain;

When we think of warriors we think of the strong giants who have battled throughout our history. Valiance is defined as: courage and determination. Not all valiant warriors are giants. Remember David was small and overcame. A great warrior in our world was my mother, in the face of pain and illness she overcame again and again with grace courage and determination. When a warrior lays down their arms it is not necessarily concession of defeat. Sometimes the battle ends because it is simply time to do so. Saturday night our great warrior, Patricia Alice Horricks completed her battle of 32 years and has gone on to rest in the arms of the father.A beloved wife, mother ,grandmother and so much more.We will miss you but remain ever proud.

The only way I could think of to describe and salute such a strong and inspiring woman. 

I have not written a poem for her, I seem unable at present to do so. I was worried and upset about this feeling like I should and that by not doing so I was letting her down, but it is what it is, and maybe someday when the hurt is less I will be able to.The eulogy is prepared and I spent the last couple of days gathering photos for the slideshow that will be shown at the service.

Mom, like me had fairly eclectic taste in music, from rock to Opera and all in between. But one of my favorite memories of her was her cleaning house to "Joy to the world" by Three dog Night, windows flung wide open and volume on high. That was my mom.

And then,on Sunday, while we were still only beginning to process the loss of my mom. Winston collapsed in the barn,and with me sitting holding him on my lap , he also took his rest.

It was quick and very peaceful. Goldens are like that, they are fine until they are not. Someone commented that Mom needed a friend with her. What better friend to have than my big golden boy.I guess he did what he was meant to do here, and having raised up little Henry right and saved my heart so many times, it was time for him to go. 12 and a half years of unconditional love and joy, I would be selfish to ask for more. 

And I am, I wanted forever.

Stay safe and well my friends

Picture this, oops! forgot to hit post!

I started this Post on November 4, then , not sure what happened  but I am finishing it now.

I had a request for more Henry pics, so here you go! 

As you can see we had a dusting of snow! 

guys that play hard, sleep hard too 

Henry and his pet kitty Delilah

" I jes rode into town looking for the man who shot my paw" LOL hat is backwards but he was not actually cooperating as well as it looks 

 Also a distant cousin of Martins ,that we met just last year sent me these lovely little tree ornaments! custom made for the boys!

Henry ,like Winston is an animal planet junkie! 

 I also captured some pics of this little fellow  tappity tapping away

Finally got the feeder barrels hung, took a couple adjustments and some false starts to keep them hung up, but they seem good now, tied in place with holes drilled in the side then stabilised with a rachet strap.LIkely U bolts would work better but I think they would seize in the weather and we would have difficulty moving the feeders if we wanted to.This makes them easy to shift around . As for how they work? so far so good Phoenix is doing very well with his and Cactus. well although he is not impressed he is using it and holding weight without wasting hay so I call it a win.

I have one day a week now that I am gone from 9 in the morning to & at night. I could get family to do chores but I wanted to see if this worked. So Marc or Dad let the dogs out for me ,but I feed the horses in the morning , filling the feeder with what would be almost a full days ration, and they still have hay when I get home !  I call that a win! 

Speaking of my long day, I am travelling quite a ways north and ,my drive can be a real Hinterland who's who lol .

Last week I saw a black bear (too far for pics and I didn't really want to get a whole lot closer) 

and these three lovelies! 

Life is pretty good, I am getting ready to haul Cat and Andee to the barn for the winter and get back on track coaching, hoping to also get back into swimming again now that I am healed up. 

Gotta move it or lose it!

Stay safe  my friends