Horse Trails!

Growing up in Texas, I was never very far from horse stables or barns! When given the choices of summer camps to attend, as a youngster it was always horse camp for me! So whenever I get the opportunity to ride these days, I jump at it! 

So today I had the opportunity to ride the Blanton horses with Ms. Robin and Ms. Cathy! Above is Sydney, the horse I rode today! Sydney is a mare, and a Quarter horse! There is a horse trail park about 20 minutes from where we live called Old Welcome Trails. I learned that it is an management property that the county owns! The early rise on a Saturday morning was a little rough, but totally worth it! 

This is Dieago who is the Gelding horse that Ms. Robin rides! Diego is half Arabian half Saddle bread! 

We rode for close to 4 hours, and at least 5 miles! It was a perfect day weather wise, not too cool or hot! We even got an afternoon shower back at the barn! One day I would like to own a horse of my own, but for now I'm glad I have friends that teach can teach me the in's and out's of horse ownership! 

About 2 miles out we ran into some horse friends! You should recognize them from the many Budweiser commercials they have been in, the world famous Clydesdales horses! They are so beautiful! I want! Santa take note! 

The day ended with hay for the horses, and beer for the humans! I had a blast and can't wait to go again! Stay tuned for more horse tales! Happy riding! 

Peppers A Plenty!

One of my guilty pleasures in life is PEPPERS! Any form will do! Red, yellow, green, sweet, savory, and the hotter the better! About two years ago I decided it was time for me to start growing my own! We currently are renting a town home, so we do not have a yard for me to plant in. The next best option, clay pots! I started with a few scoth bonnet pepper plants, just to see how they would do! Here are the red, and green ones! 

Scotch bonnets like alot of peppers, is hottest after it's turns red! Long story short the pepper plants faired very well, so now my garden has grown to include, yellow scotch bonnets, jalepenos, habaneros, and even Thai peppers plants! Thai peppers are pictured below!

I use the scotch bonnets to make pepper jelly, the jalepenos for salsa, and the Thai for crushed red peppers for chili and stews! Below is a picture of my famous pepper jelly! Canned and ready! 

When growing peppers it is best to water frequently, keep the soil fresh (if your using clay pots, like me), and place them in direct full sunlight! All the seeds can be found at your local Hardware store, except for the scotch bonnets, those you have to find an actual pepper and extract the seeds! One day I will have an actual vegetable garden, but for now these peppers keep me busy! Happy gardening ! 

Snake Trails!

So as I've told you before, no biking trip would be complete with out an animal sighting! Today was a first for me on the trails, a baby coral snake! 

Coral snakes are very poisones, however bites from them are very rare because they have such small mouths! The venom is the same as a Cobra, however most bites are to children because they will pick them up. This is really the only way they can bite you because their mouths don't allow them to bite anything but the webbing in between your fingers, or something like that!

Bike Trail Tales!

Mountain biking here in Florida is more of a conceptual thing! We don't have any mountains per say, but we do have an old Phosphate mine that was converted into state park biking trails! Boy do we have fun on the trails! No trip is complete with out at least one injury, smack talking, or an animal sighting! I have seen everything from deer,  to soft shell turtles, to armadillos!

A brand new bike was given to me last year by my amazing man, a Giant 29" with sand tires! I absolutely love it! 

Speaking of animal sighting look who I found hanging out on the bike path the other day....

....Wilbur is that you?? 

Pheasant Phenomenon!

Recently my boyfriend and his brother took a trip out west to Nebraska to hunt Pheasant! It was very cold and grey out, which I'm told makes for a great hunt! Pheasant is something I have on my to do list, school prevented me from tagging  along this year! Hopefully next year they will let me come along, until then here are some pictures I received from their adventures! 

These are the tail feathers from the birds, that will be made into mounts! Aren't they beautiful! God sure put some thought into these wonderful animals! 

Duck, Duck, Lanyards!

Since duck season is upon us, the boy asked me to make him some new duck call lanyards for his upcoming hunts. Since I love him, and I also don't want the 300 dollar duck call falling into the water, I agreed to make a couple for him! I found the Paracord I needed at my local home improvement store! I choose 4 different colors, two for each lanyard! 

This is the first color scheme I choose...

...and this is the second....

it took me about 8 hours to make two, they take awhile to make if you make them nice and tight! Like I said we don't want them falling apart on the water when he's hunting! Here is the finished product..

The boy was kind enough to send me a picture of him and the lanyard in use on his latest duck hunt. He said they worked great! Wish I was able to go on this trip, I had some studying to do for finals! Next time however, ducks beware!

And of course I had to make one for myself ;). Pink and black for me!

Dove Love!

Dove season has just arrived and today was my first chance this season to brave the field! Just a small group of four of us today, but we saw about 50 birds fly in! I shot two only, but two is better than none! Next item on the agenda, hit the sporting clays range for more practice! Dove are a great appetizer grilled over a campfire and wrapped in bacon!