XXL Micro Minis!

These great, big photos celebrate the tiniest flowers blooming in my sunny window:

That sweet little bud I discovered on Saturday has blossomed into a perfect micro-mini rose. Shown here, much bigger than life, she's about the size of a quarter.

I was so very excited about my baby pinks that I didn't notice the micro-mini yellow roses are also back in bloom. And, this one's a biggie. Over an inch in diameter!

Cramped quarters. I've also got some white roses (just for you, Wunx!) living in the same pot as a very productive African Violet. It's not, exactly, a match made in heaven but as soon as I get paid they're both getting new homes...

Update on reprogramming the Belligerent Bella:
A 2-step backwards day. I did my homework. I watched the training dvds over the weekend and I even tried out a few techniques on Bad Dog . (All he did was howl.)

Bell wasted her weekend lolly gagging around the stables! She forgot everything. We accomplished nothing.

In fact, I'm so mad at her I thought I'd show you her worst photo instead another pretty one...

Radiating Happiness

New bud on my indoor micro-mini roses. When fully opened, her flowers are about the size of a quarter.

I'm blessed (and a little bit cursed) with a very sunny house. So sunny the furniture fades and it's hard to watch t.v. until the sun goes down.

Kalanchoes in desperate need of deadheading.

So super sunny I can grow small batches of pretty much anything indoors ~ including spinach and tomatoes.

But, I don't. After the first experiment, determining that I could be practical and grow veggies...

One over-achieving Amaryllis bulb in my herd of future holiday gifts.

I went straight back to the thing that matters most: Bright, happy indoor flowers who keep me somewhat sane throughout the long, cold winter.

Update on reprogramming the beautiful Bella:
I have grudgingly accepted the rule that 'you can begin gently, but you cannot stay gentle forever.' Just so I'm crystal clear ~ that doesn't mean harming, or frightening, B in any way, shape or form. More on the order of sticking up for myself so she doesn't run over me anymore. I thought for sure she'd hate me because of this new authority, our relationship is so very fragile. Interesting, though, she seems to like me more than ever... I'm astonished at the progress we've made in one wonderful week.

Bell's 1 Up On Me

If you wonder why I only show parts of Bella it's because she's gigantic and I don't quite know how to photograph her ~ much less find her good side...

I committed to NaBloPoMo (blogging every day during the month of November.) I thought this was as simple as blogging on MY BLOG every day...

No, no, couldn't be that easy... I actually have to write daily posts on the NaBloPoMo site. Argh. So, I'm already out of the running for most annoying blogger of the month award. And, I don't know what to do with the two kind women who joined my NaBloPoMo Horse Lovers group. This is such a tangled web...

Anyhoo! My 30-day blogging commitment was on the beautiful Bella and how she and I are going to become great friends. Hopefully soon.

I was all excited about our training session today. Right up until I got there and Janet turned the spotlight onto me. Me? What's this all about? She's the bad horse! I didn't kick anybody. Why, pray tell, are you picking on me?

It sort of went like this...
Now, Kate, in the horse/owner relationship who is in charge?
"Well she is naturally. She's a helluva lot bigger than I am."

No, Kate, you need to be in charge. You need to be firm. You need to manage her...

And, so it went. Enough already. Bell's had 4 lessons and she's got an A. I've had one lesson and I'm hovering at a D-.

I SWEAR I heard that horse chuckle as we were marching back to the barn...

* The horse lovers picture is a sign that hangs on our front door.

Blue Skies and Good Lessons

I love the brilliant blue of our Wasatch Mountain skies.

The pesky snow I whined about last week has all but melted away. Trees have donned their party dresses and we find ourselves lazily basking in the warmth of a second summer.

Did you know that the Golden Delicious apple tree variety
is a pollinator for all apple trees?
I didn't either!

In my garden grows Gala, Fireside and Honey Crisp ~ simply because these were the beauties I knew from my old life in Minnesota. Apparently, if I plant one Golden Delicious as a pollinator I'll have apples coming out my ears. Rather the horse's ears. They are terrible at sharing this bounty.

Day Two of Reprogramming Bella:
Infinitely better than day one! We're doing groundwork in an arena, where I stand in the center and guide her with my hand to walk, trot and canter. She runs free ~ no saddle, bridle or anything to freak her out. I say 'we' because I realized after Day One that I'm in over my head and solicited the help of my friend, Janet (horse woman extraordinaire.)

As silly as it may sound, I love this horse because she reminds me of me. Overly-sensitive, easily scared, unwilling to admit to either weakness. There's just something in her, something broken I desperately want to fix. I don't know that I can. But I do need to give it a try.

* For NaBloPoMo I committed to blog every day during November about my adopted horse, Bella. It's doubtful I'll make it through a full month o' bloggin' but I'll wrestle with Bella for an eternity.

NaBloPoMo and the Project Horse

If I knew what she was feeling, this would take no time at all.

Took a quick jaunt over to visit OmegaMom yesterday. She's heading into the long dark of an Alaskan winter and I wondered how she was coping with that.

In good spirits, despite the lack of sunshine, she introduced me to NaBloPoMo ~ while vacillating on whether to give it a go or call it a day.

I tossed my cowgirl hat into the proverbial ring.

When you're a blogger your life is an open book. Right? Wrong. This summer I adopted 2 horses and I never said a word. (What???) Details of such stupidity will no doubt be exposed during this NaBloPoMo of far too frequent blogging.

So, how about this? Since gardening season is over the subject of my daily blogging will be the slow and steady gentling of Belladonna. (A nickname that came about after some hellishly erratic behavior.)

High maintenance barely scratches the surface.

Day 1 of Bella's reprogramming went precisely as expected.
Bell loves me. She whinnies hello as soon as she sees my car. She runs toward me, eagerly shoving her nose into her halter, happy to go anywhere with me and then... a rapid evolution toward bonkers.

When we get near the barn and she sees a saddle, she starts breathing heavier. Sweating. Nervously looking around. Suddenly I'm on the fence between friend and foe. So, we worked a little bit. About 45 minutes. Before she reared up and made a half-hearted attempt to strike me. At that point I suppose a lot of people would have punished her severely. But, I kind of think that's what made her this way in the first place. I just stood there and stared at her. A minute later she came toward me, acting like a big, sad puppy.

* National Blog Posting Month is simply a challenge to post every day during the month of November. That's it. That's plenty!