Memory, All Alone in the Moonlight, I Can Smile at the Old Days...

Recently my dad decided to move and sell the house. Unfortunately we are a whole family of pack rats so we have tons of things to go through. Between the basement, main level, and my bedroom, I have dug up tons of old things and memories. I am trying to be pretty ruthless in getting rid of all my (let's be honest) crap, but it has been tough. I am waaaay too sentimental for my own good.

The first day I was doing this, my mom and I worked namely in the basement. While we did get through all of my boxes down there, it's a scary place. Hence my protective equipment:

Yep, gloves! To protect me from spiders! (We didn't have another pair of gardening gloves, so snow gloves were the next best thing).

And look at some of the things I found in my boxes:

Pogs! Yep, that's right! I don't ever remember playing, but friends must have given me some.

VERY old clothes. Some of these things will be kept. I am determined to be a quilter one day, so the fabrics/memories will come in handy.

Lots of Polly Pockets which will hopefully make some other little kids happy soon.

And just because I can post them, here is the kitty (Faithful aka Fidge, Monster, Bug, etc.) and the doggie (Amber).

Once my dad sells the house, my brother or I get to adopt Amber. Luckily my mom will take the Fidge so they will go to good homes. My poor old doggie. She's about 13, has arthritis, and is just about deaf. Someone has to take her home, right? She's so sweet and loves everyone. And I would be happy to have a dog! At the moment I have a little hamster, but he's more than three years old (and if you don't know hamsters, three years is about the maximum lifespan). I've had him since he was born, his name is Pico, and I love him more than I love most people. I will be sad when he's gone, so Amber will be a great comfort for me. Just for fun, here is little Pico eating an apple!

My Life in Quotes

I have a bit of a confession: I love and collect quotes. Sound odd? Yes, but it's true. I am not sure what it is; I guess I love how people can sum up ideas and feelings so well with their words. As someone who is not much of a writer, I attach myself to the words of others. Quotes I like a) are funny, b) are touching/meaningful/inspiring,  c) pique my interest or d) are relevent to situations and feelings I have. I find these quotes in movies, books, or song lyrics. I am blessed with truly wonderful friends and they are a great source of quotes as well, usually of the funny variety (ie: "Glitter is the herpes of art projects; it gets EVERYWHERE"- My friend Cat). I feel that many things I think and feel can be accurately expressed with the words of wiser people than myself. I suppose that is why I love to find quotes. On this note, here are a couple quotes about quotes! Obsessive? No...

"Collecting quotations is an insidious, even embarrassing habit, like ragpicking or hoarding rocks or trying on other people's laundry.  I got into it originally while trying to break an addiction to candy.  I kicked candy and now seem to be stuck with quotations, which are attacking my brain instead of my teeth."  ~Robert Byrne, The Other 637 Best Things Anybody Ever Said

"Most collectors collect tangibles.  As a quotation collector, I collect wisdom, life, invisible beauty, souls alive in ink."  ~Terri Guillemets

I am a very sentimental person, so words often hold strong feelings for me and they stay with me. So when you see quotes popping up (and I know they already have been), that's why. And I hope others will be willing to share their thoughts on them, too. I think I have quotes for just about any situation, so I'm sure my readers will find lots of them.

"It has power because you believe it does." -Practical Magic

Horse-hearted

This week at Hearts and Horses, I mucked more than enough stalls to earn a ride! One ride per 50 stalls/runs cleaned and I usually clean 15 each week. I am not sure how the rides work, but I will find out next week (I didn't ask today because I am still more comfortable with the horses than with the people). I hope I can choose which horse I would like to ride. If so, I think I will have to pick Sole here:

Sole is an eleven-year-old Haflinger. He is very social and very, very mouthy! (That is, he likes to put things into his mouth. He doesn't bite, just lips and licks, whether it's clothes, hands, tools, rails, etc.). He is very cute. Exceedingly stocky, he looks like a miniature Belgian draft, which I love. While cleaning his stall, he mostly stood right in my way or tried to tip over my wheelbarrow. When I went out to clean his run, he followed me in and out as a ferried manure from the run to the stall. The bottom picture is of Sole about to follow me back into his stall for the up-teenth time.

In other news, the weather was beautiful! The horses enjoyed it, too.

  Above: Mista and Tem laying out in their runs. Bottom: Gavin in his run looking at me in the stall.

And because I thought it was entertaining, here is Tem playing with an empty bag that blew into his stall:

That's all for now! I hope those who read my blog can deal with my love of horses!

"She's--what's the K'miri term?--horse-hearted." -Numair Salmalin, Wild Magic by Tamora Pierce.

"'D'you ever want to run with the herd? To just--be a horse? Do what the herd does?' She sweated, waiting for an answer. It had cost a lot to ask.
"''Course I do,' was the mild reply. 'Don't everybody?'" -Daine and Stefan, Wild Magic by Tamora Pierce.