Happy New Year, Goodnight and Good Luck

Here's hoping everyone has a safe and happy new year, and best wishes to all for peace, happiness, health and prosperity in the coming decade.



Time to put this blog to sleep. It's been fun and educational for me, at least.

Peace out.

Snowball fight!

(courtesy of the Peas!)

Big snow!

It started snowing at about 11pm last night, which sent the card players home early. We've got 12-15" so far and it's still snowing. It's just beautiful! The feeder birds are happy, there are robins, cardinals, red-winged blackbirds, sparrows, juncos, titmouses and woodpeckers. Yesterday the red-shouldered hawk was around for about an hour in the late morning. I wonder if she knew the snow was coming and was looking to get a squirrel to feast on. I'm watching the juncos on the suet feeder outside my window, not four feet away. I love watching the little birds.

So does Ebony. Whenever birds are on tv, she runs to the foot of my bed and sits and watches them intently. She'll continue watching for several minutes after they are gone, no doubt hoping they'll come back. She's one of the cats who would be very entertained by those videos made for cats.

Queenee is wrapping presents and PopPop is gearing up to give his new snowblower its maiden voyage up the driveway. The air is filled with anticipation!

What do you want for Christmas?

A cave would be nice. Or maybe a hippopotamus...

I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas - Gayla Peevey

She was only 10 or 11 when she recorded this!

Miss P's surgery

They really cleaned up her ankle and took all the spurs, growths, etc. off, and are very proud of the "Perfect" alignment and precision of the replacement. The inside ankle bone did crack under the pressure of moving the foot after so long during surgery, so they had to put some extra hardware in there to stabilize it - they actually wanted to strengthen that bone anyway due to it having been not in shape to hold in long run (I don't mean run).

She is still on the lower leg block and out of pain. The PA said his main concern now isn't the draining, but pain management after this block wears off. She still cannot feel or move anything below the knee. Thank goodness for that! 6 1/2 hours in surgery, but she looks great and is feeling good, for now.

• two weeks wrapped up in bed
• four weeks in a cast no weight bearing
• two weeks in air cast no weight bearing
• then begins very gradually putting weight on the foot and very slow movement/therapy
• about a month after that, then begins the constant therapy on it...

All the while being checked up on in Miami. Baptist Health Doctors Hospital is I think the best facility I've ever been in. Wow is all I can say!

Good luck tomorrow, Miss P!

Polly is scheduled for her ankle replacement surgery tomorrow morning. Everyone here sends their very best wishes for a perfect ankle!!

Miss P, I hope your recovery goes well and quickly - remember, don't push too hard, but do all the exercises they give you, it really makes a difference.

Happy birthday Elder Pea!

She's not a teenager anymore! Twenty years old today - Happy Birthday Miss C!!

The Twisted Sistahs have been busy!

We've been busy helping raise funds to get daughter/neice Miss Polly a new ankle!
Please stop by the website and check it out!!!

Ankle4Polly

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy eating day, everyone. I heard that most people who celebrate the day will consume about 5000 calories.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WWABBIT!!!

I consider today the day you are now older than me................ Hope yesterday was a wonderful day for you!!! Now we begin the process of me catching up again. Hope you had cake and icecream to celebrate. Love from the Krew!!!

ZENYATTA!!

I know I wasn't the only one watching at home who was on my feet when Zenyatte came down the stretch. If she doesn't get Horse of the Year, all the voters should be investigated. There is no way Rachel Alexandra, good as she is, deserves it more than Zenyatta. RA's connections have avoided every opportunity they had to run against Zenyatta, and that says it all for me. She doesn't like the surface? Too bad. She's only had eight weeks off? wtf? She's 8 for 8 and has beaten the boys three times this year? Great, fantastic, but not good enough. Zenyatta's people took a chance yesterday, risking her perfect record to give her the chance to prove she really is all that she seems. She would have won the Distaff without question. They put her in the Classic, a race at a distance she had never run, against a loaded international field of colts and stallions she had never run against (and that RA will probably never meet). Despite some drama at the start, she mowed them down. She beat Gio Ponti, a colt who has been getting some HotY support. If that isn't Horse of the Year material, I don't know what is.

With Zenyatta out of the race, her stablemate Life Is Sweet got her chance to shine, and she won the Distaff. The little filly She Be Wild, who's owners kept her when they were unable to sell her for $19,000 at the Ocala Breeders' Sales spring 2-year-old in training sale, won the Juvenile Fillies and may end up as the 2-year-old Filly of the Year.

Goldikova scored her second victory against the boys in the BC Mile. Her trainer, Freddy Head, won this same race two years in a row as a jockey on Miesque, a filly who was the first to win the same race in consecutive years in the BC. I don't usually pick favorites to win, but I had the exacta in this race, with Courageous Cat as my place horse.

It was a good year at the Breeder's Cup. No horses were injured, discounting Quality Road cutting himself a bit at the gate for the Classic and being withdrawn. The Sprint had a four-way photo finish, with 25-1 shot Dancing in Silks getting the win. Dancing in Silks was one of three geldings to win a big race. Favorite California Flag won the $1 million Turf Sprint, and longshot Furthest Land won the $1 million Dirt Mile a year after being claimed for $35,000 at Belmont Park. Never underestimate the eye of a handicapper when he decides to put his money down to actually buy a horse!

C'est l'homme!!

Never let it be said that lack of a corkscrew got between a man and his bottle of wine.