Good News Friday

I couldn't resist stealing this photo from my daughter's blog this morning.  It's another shot of the babies at the Irish National Stud.  

Annie has a wonderful camera with a fantastic lens.  The babies were clear across a huge fenced pasture when she caught this shot.  My heart melts any time I see images from our visit to that beautiful place, and to Ireland in general.  

If you want to see an assortment of Irish photos, seen through the lens and the eye of Annie Love, visit her photo blog at http://www.nnlove.blogspot.com/.

This is a good-news morning, for sure.  The great, fantastic, wonderful, uplifting, joyful, etc. news is that my friend Ann sent out a photo of her husband Rick last night.  

He's the former teaching colleague who suffered a massive stroke six weeks ago in Florida.  This week Rick moved from his second hospital to full-fledged rehabilitation.

For Ann's birthday he gave her a hug.  Later, he ate applesauce by himself and it went where it was supposed to go.

For the photo, Ann said he was sitting on the bed by himself and had combed his own hair for the occasion.

He's got a long ways to go, but this week has been monumental in his recovery and definitely a wonderful birthday present for Ann. Keep up the good work, Rick.

I told Ann this morning that it was time for Rick to speed it up because we'd had TWO STRAIGHT days without rain.  It's time for them to return from Florida and start enjoying North Idaho again.  Maybe we'll have some normal spring.

When I returned from Ireland last week, I had a stack of "to do's" to do.  They're finally almost finished, so that's good news.  If the weather cooperates, I can continue on outdoor yard work, maybe even some touch-up painting.  

If the weather does not cooperate, I'll concentrate my efforts on planting more seeds in pots and transplanting tiny plants into bigger pots.  After following the directions closely, my shamrocks, planted from Irish seed have popped up.

My collection of goodies brought back also included some Irish wildflower seed----little secret:  the seeds are mostly the same flowers we grow here----but the seed came from Ireland so that makes it extra special.

Can't wait to find a place specifically for that packet. 

And, maybe if it stays dry for a while, I can start tackling the loose, dirty hair on those horses.  I figure a good run or two in the round pen will heat them up enough to help the hair drop off with ease.

This is definitely a good-news day here at the Lovestead, and I can even feel a "spring" in my step.  So, that's all for now, and it's off to work off this case of spring fever. 

Have a nice Friday.