The Mighty Oak

These oak trees are in my in-laws front yard and some are over one hundred feet tall. When I look at them I always think of these quotes and of the acorns that stood their ground.



"Large streams from little fountains flow, Tall oaks from little acorns grow."



"The greatest Oaks have been little Acorns."



Great things may come from small beginnings.

Mighty oaks from little acorns grow.

The word acorn doesn't come from 'oak' and 'corn', as is popularly supposed, but from the Old English 'aecern', meaning berry or fruit. The tree genus Acer comes from the same root.

Before oaks were mighty they were first either great, tall, sturdy or even just big. Examples of early variants of 'mighty oaks from little acorns grow' are found in Geoffrey Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde.

Pop And His Horses

Growing up Pops dad promised him that if he never smoked he would buy him a horse when he was grown. He had wanted a horse when he was young and they had lived on a farm. They had mules that worked the farm but they were nothing like a horse, so he kept his promise that his dad had made with his dad, but he never got the horse.



As a young man he loved to ride his friend's horse as he never lost that love for horses.

After he was married and they had there first child (my wife) they had her picture taken on a horse in there backyard..



As more children came along and they grew older he bought them each a horse and they rode horses out on their farm. And they all had a love for horses just like he did. As the families grew up and married and grandchildren came along they inherited the same love for horses.



He enjoyed spending time with his grand kids taking them trail riding, horse shows or just a buggy ride.



Whenever he was outside and the grand kids were there they were outside with him because they knew that he would let them ride a horse or go with him to the farm.
Sometimes they would help him around the barn when hay was put up for the winter.



Sometimes it would take two kids working together to get the job done, but working together was fun.



Sometimes they got carried away in there fun and Anna got a load of hay.



As the family has grown and there are more grandchildren, so has the family of horses grown and there are enough for each grand kid to have a couple each to ride. The have names everyone of them and their love for them is the same as their Pops.

Pop has taught them to respect and care for the horse and he will respect and take care of you.

This picture is one of our son on one of his first horse rides.



He loved to ride barrels and ride in the speed class in horse shows and did quite well in these events.



This is one of his favorites, Blackjack and he had one speed, fast. He also had another favorite Sampson.



Sampson had one brown eye and one blue eye and they were one whenever they rode.



Amber riding one of the horses, getting the kinks out.

The third generation of great grand kids are getting riding age and the horses are ready. Pop teaches Chloe how to take care and respect them.



She loves the white horse even though it is to big for her because it reminds her of Peagus, Barbies horse. (minus the wings)





He is teaching Chloe how to put a lead rope on the horse so you can walk them.



After checking on the horses Chloe enjoys walking and talking with Pop and he answers any questions she has. There is no generation gap here just pure love.



Chloe putting out some hay for the horses to eat. She doesn't look at it as work but as time to spend with her Pop.



Pop feeding some of the horses a snack of load bread.



Well the holidays are approaching and the kids, grand kids and the great grand kids will be coming and the horses are ready for their friends and riders because Pop has been taking care of his favorite friends.









We have all heard the saying, "We think that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence," well in this case it is.

The Baby Calf

A new calf was born on Pop's farm in Mississippi, and the mother got sick and couldn't take care of the calf. Pop brought it home with him so it could be fed three times a day until he could eat feed and grass.



He mixes up the milk in the house and takes it out and feeds the calf faithfully every day. Chloe and Debby have fed him and Chloe decided to play with him and he would run after her like another child would.



Debby has fed her several times and she said that he will drink it up very quickly, smacking it up.



The other night Chloe went out to the barn for his evening feeding with her grandmother. After the calf had had his feeding Chloe was playing with the calf and it was dark and the calf decided he was ready to go into the barn to his stall. Chloe doesn't like to get her clothes dirty as a rule but that wasn't the case this evening. She went right into the barn with the calf and set down with the calf in his stall. Grandmother was watching from the doorway and Chloe exclaimed, " I think he wants me to spend the night with him tonight." Where is the camera when this would have been a perfect picture?

"Happy Thanksgiving"

Her Own Little Car..,

We recently had a neighbor pass away and their children have been cleaning the house out. They have been putting things out for the recycle and garbage man to pick up.



The other day as I was going to the Grocery Store, I saw beside the garbage can a small red pedal car. I thought that probably one of their grand kids had had that little car to play with on their wonderful circle drive and all of the enjoyment that they would have had.



The more I thought about it, I thought that if it was still there when I went back home I would stop and check it out and if it wasn't to bad I would fix it up for Chloe to play with at our house.



Well when I got back to my surprise the little red car was still there, so I stopped to check it out. It was covered in years of dirt and a headlight cover was missing and the horn cover was torn but over all it was in great condition. I put it in the back of our SUV and brought it home. On closer inspection I found out that it was a treasure indeed.



I kept it in the garage and when Friday came I picked up Chloe at school and I told her I had a surprise for her. When we got home she was so excited she wanted to get in it right away, but I explained that first it needed to go thru the car wash. She wanted to bring it into the house and wash it in our shower so she could play with it sooner. I told her that on Saturday she and I would go to the car wash and give it a good wash and rinse.

When we got home she got a clean rag and dried her little red car off. She was so happy with her little red car. Look Poppy, "It has the key in the ignition and the door opens so you can get in. On closer inspection we discovered that it was made in the 1960's and it was a 1957 Chevrolet Belair. Yes It will need a few decals replaced but it will give her many hours of fun.