MY RODEO COWGIRLS, ANNE AND LEIGH

I think it is about time I did an update on my lovely twin daughters, Leigh and Anne. The picture on the left was taken at Keeneland and is one of my favorites. Don't you think they look alike? That's Leigh Harper on the left and Anne Parker on the right. They light up my life!

The girls live a very busy life with boyfriends, jobs, rodeo, and taking care of their farm but they always find time to call "Mom" every day. Leigh calls each morning on her way to work and Anne calls on the way home in the afternoon. We recently made our annual trip to Amish country

and I will be making a trip to their place for an overnight visit in the next couple of weeks.

Anne has a new man in her life. She is in the process of training him and took him to his first rodeo last night. That's Anne with her new man, Roanie on the right. She also has Drifter that she has trained. He is up for sale at this time and a beautiful horse. Anne is riding Drifter in the ring in the picture on the left.

Leigh has been doing great and came in second overall last night at the rodeo and won the second division placing in the money! That is Leigh with her barrel racing horse, Dually, in the picture on the left.

The farm seems to be growing. They now have four horses, two dogs and a cat. Dodgie is Anne's dog and Spur Dog belongs to Leigh.

Greeley, the cat, stays at the barn and keeps all the mice out of the horse feed. Greeley, is named for the hat company in Colorado that makes custom hats for cowboys and cowgirls.

The girls each had a hat made on a recent trip out west to visit a friend.

Below are some videos taken at last night's event. This was Roanie's first time at the barrel race and he did great. Leigh and Dually beat their best time last night.

I hope I got these videos uploaded correctly.

I am so proud of my girls and all they have accomplished in their lives and love them so much.

I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family.

IT'S BEEN A SHORT SUMMER HERE!

I could feel fall in the air this morning when I went outside. It seems like summer has come and is almost gone in a very short time this year.

My flowers are beginning to look sort of ragged around the edges.

I planted a lot of new stuff this summer after having several big trees cut down. I now have sun in the backyard. Most of my plants in the front have to be shade plants such as impatients, hostas, vines and ferns like in the pot in the photo.

I planted a small double knockout rose bush about a month ago and it is full of blooms and has grown since it was put in the ground. I can't wait to see what it does next year.

The hen and chicks pot on the left has a succulent that I bought not long ago. It has put out this long tenacle that seems to be reaching for the sky. If anyone knows if this is going to bloom or seed or keep growing straight up or what, please let me know in a comment. I may need to put it in a bigger pot. I don't know if I need to bring it in for the winter either.

I finally got some mint and herbs started in my yard this year in several places and planted two crepe myrtle bushes near the back fence.

My impatients flourished with all the shade. The pot on the right sits on the front porch of my home.

I sit here on the concrete bench and rest for a spell when working in the yard.

The hanging baskets are overflowing with impatients, too.

I plan to grow some garden stuff next year and have lots of new flowers in my backyard.

Soon, the leaves will be falling and Bob and I will start our yearly raking and mulching. I won't have nearly as many this year but still enough to keep us pretty busy with the trees that are remaining.

I love fall and the cool, crisp, days and evenings but always feel sad when summer ends!

Do you have a favorite season of the year?

MY WEEKEND VISITOR - THOMAS WYATT!

It has been a while since I did a post on my grandson, TW. He has been here several times to visit and he turned 2 years old in June.

We had a birthday party at my house with two cakes, cupcakes, and all the trimmings. Dad took lots of pictures and made a video.

He is all boy and has the cuts and scrapes to prove it.

His favorite toys are those little diecast cars and trucks.

The World's Longest Yard Sale has been going on right near where I live and I got him lots of those little cars to play with on this visit and even found a school bus he has been wanting for a while now and a big dump truck.

We always watch the movie, "Cars" and "Elmo" and "Toy Story" when he visits. He loves oatmeal and as soon as he is awake (usually around 5:30 a.m.), Nanna is making oatmeal with bananas and applesauce. Then, around 8:30, we have sausage and waffles. It takes a lot of food for such an active little person!

He has to go outside to see if there is anything new since his last visit. TW enjoys looking at my owl, "Hootie". Hootie keeps the birds off my patio furniture.

He likes to show Nanna his muscles! Mom, Sarah, thinks he looks like a little bumble bee in this picture.

Climbing is a favorite thing, of course, and Nanna's shoes have to be tried on for size every visit.

Bathtime is fun and after a very busy day TW settles down for a little more t.v. and off to bed.

I love my time with Thomas Wyatt and enjoy his visits.

He is a beautiful little boy and his Nanna loves him very much

GREEN TEA - THE MIRACLE DRINK!

I love tea! I drink tea almost all day every day. I like it cold or hot and with or without sugar and I like all kinds of tea.

Did you know that next to water, tea is the most consumed beverage in the world?

Research indicates that green tea contains polyphenals that act as antioxidants and are reputed to be very helpful in preventing and treating certain medical conditions.

The Chinese have been drinking green tea for centuries and in 1994 the Journal of the National Cancer Institute published the results of an epidemiological study indicating that drinking green tea reduced the risk of esophageal cancer in Chinese men and women by nearly sixty percent.

The list of benefits from green tea is a long one. I am going to list a few of them.

Prevents and helps in treating:

1. Blood clots
2. Tooth Decay
3. Arthritis
4. Atherosclerosis (where plaque builds up in the arteries)
5. Parkinson's Disease
6. Osteoporosis
7. Bad Breath
8. Reduces Inflammation
9. Gastritis
10.Colitis
11. Improves memory
12. Blood pressure
13. Stroke
14. Controls weight
15. Lowers cholesterol
16. Diabetes
17. Heart Disease
18. Alzheimer's Disease
19. Increases life span

The only negative side effect so far is that it contains caffeine. You can buy it without caffeine but the decaffeination process removes one third to half of the antioxidants. I think the positive outweighs the negative when it comes to green tea.

If you are not a green tea drinker, maybe you should consider trying this beverage and enjoy some of the benefits it has to offer.

My doctor told me recently that I was very lucky to be in my sixties and not on any kind of medicine and to enjoy good health. I wonder if the tea has anything to do with it.

What is your favorite drink? Are you a tea drinker, too?