This is the end of year photographic wind up, hosted by Ashley Sisk of Scavenger Hunt Sunday fame.
I really enjoyed doing this last year, even though it took me nearly all day! It was fun though, to look back at all the pictures I had taken and to choose the ones that worked best with the prompts.
I’m just going to jump into the prompts without listing them first, because, well, there’s 25 of them.
Let’s start!
Me!

❤ ❤ ❤
Me and my favorite horse. My bestest Girl. No surprise that any picture I choose of myself has her in it.
I Love You
Not only do I love them, but these two love each other. I can trust that horse to keep The Kid safe, no matter what. Our Sable is a blessing, for sure!
Still Laughing
I’m still laughing about Ruby and her in-front-of-the-camera antics…
She’s a card, that horse…
And she knows how to play to the camera!
Winter Wonderland
I had to go all the way back to March for this…we haven’t had enough snow yet to get some great asshat-ery shots, so here’s last winter’s Bella and the Ball series for some Winter Wonderland fun…

Evil ball!!
Popped out and scared her…

“What the hell Ball?!?”

Get away! Get away!
“Ima teach you, ball!”
Birthday
Cookie is the only one of the Girls whose birthday I know for sure. That’s because it’s on her registration papers. When her birthday comes around, everybody gets a chance to wear the birthday hat though…

Daphne modeling the birthday hat.

Then came Astrid…


And finally, the Birthday Girl herself…

Friends
What better for friends, than images of Cookie and Felix?

Or Nancy and Daisy Mae?

Or the 4 horses together?
🙂
I Was Inspired
Remembrance Day was the inspiration for these shots…

“Soldier’s Daughter”

“Soldier’s Horse”
Spring Fever
Spring fever always bring on the Krazy Kantering Horse Games!

Sable makes the best faces, when she’s being silly!

And looks right at the camera when she does! “Look at me Mom! Take my picture!!”

They got around front, trotted up for some snuggles, and then, were off again!
Travel or Vacation
We have livestock…no such thing as a vacation. 🙂
But, we did do some traveling. Just day trips…
To a couple rodeos…

Saddle Bronc Saturday…

After the ride…I was torn on whether or not to share this one. It’s a powerful image, and yet, it feels like I, as the photographer, am intruding on the rider’s pain.

Freedom!!!
We also made our weekly trips to the Stable, where Hubby has been assisting with the rebuild of the owner’s home after a fire consumed it in May.

Summer Days
More rodeo shots, because our summer days were filled with rodeo fun and much editing afterwards.

Saddle bronc, sans rider

Saddle bronc
And, with rodeo pictures, I learned a new editing technique…

Here’s a sample of that new technique I learned.
A Day In My Life
A day in my life has this:

Dorkite
And this:

Tools of the stinky trade…containers, toothbrushes and paper towels. And a place to do it outside…
And this:

That’s our Daisy, bites Nancy’s butt to force him out of the box.
And this:

“Mine! Mine! Mine!”
In short, a day in my life is a mixture of mad crazy motion being photographed, quiet work on jewelry and the day-to-day running of a hobby farm.
All Smiles

Hello Not-Bob!
I was all smiles when this guy showed up.
Seen a couple of others since. Makes me smile every time. 🙂
Autumn Harvest

Blue Bean Killer
As the garden was finishing up, BlueCat decided to help me with the final bean harvest…

Storm
While StormCat did what every good farm cat should do…
Home
Home is where my Girls are.

My symbol of Home…the 4 nags together.
Celebrate
We had many celebrations here this past year. And many that I took pictures at. My favorite (at least photographically) was our Samhain bonfire. I really enjoyed taking pictures of the bonfire.

A few folks standing ’round the fire.
This ^^^ was my favorite one of the night.
Let’s Do It Again
The garden. Because we’re gonna do it again…and again, and again, and again…

Corn!!

Rows of tomatoes

A row of lettuce

Purple pole bean flowers
I Miss You
Yeah, I got nothing for this one.
The folks who made the choice to leave my life this past year are gone, and I don’t have the energy, or the urge, to miss them.
Beautiful

Sable and Astrid
Yup, they sure are!
Dress Up
Hahahahaha!!!
Happens a lot here…we dress up the horses. 🙂

MudaMino!
And sometimes, they dress themselves up…in mud!

MudaStrid
You know the mud was bad when Astrid is covered!

MudaRoo
Really, Ruby does have white spots…

MudaCoo
So muddy, her white neck spots are gone!
Macro

Love those short, fuzzy hairs…and the colors. She just makes me smile. 🙂
Holidays
We did a bunny ear hat for Easter:

Astrid 1 eared it…

No surprise, Sable wore it like a champ!

Cookie was not. happy. 😡
My Favorite
This is a tough one. I had a ton of great shots in 2015. Finally, I settled on the Miniature Lions.

Don’t Ever Change

Cookie
I don’t want her to change.
I love her just the way she is, Miserable Cow and all.
I do want her to learn and grow and be the very best horse she can be…all while keeping that amazing, sweet personality (yes, it is in there!!) and incredible heart.
Just Because…So There!

Best. Joke. Ever!
It’s a terrible angle.
It looks like her head isn’t even attached to her body.
It’s odd and just plain off.
But, it makes me smile and I love it.
So there.
Hopes and Dreams
Hopes…
I hope to grow so much more food on the Farm in 2016.
The chicken coop is done, and ready for birds.
We have the spot picked out for a couple of feeder piglets.
The garden seeds are picked and ready to be ordered.
I am tired of being a slave to food prices in grocery stores.
I am tired of someone else growing my meats and eggs.
I am tired of not being hands on in our meat eating.
It’s time to utilize as much of this land that we have worked so hard for, to grow our food. Not just the fruits and veggies, but the meats as well.
Dreams…
I dream of getting on Cookie.
Of taking the next steps in her training. Not until her feet are 100% grown out. We are so close…once those cracks are gone, then, then, I can seriously consider getting up on her. Not before though.
I dream of Equi~Gems becoming my full-time job.
Not just fits and starts, here and there. But solid, steady work, that brings solid, steady $$$ into the Farm.
I’m working on it.
I am happy with the new gemstone settings.
I am happy with the new earrings I’ve been working on.
I am excited to share those with you all!
Most of all, my hopes and dreams revolve around the happiness of everyone who calls Midnight Calico Farm home.
The Kid.
Hubby.
The Girls.
Daphne.
The Marauding Hoarde.
The Meatloaves.
And yeah, even myself.
Here’s to a happy, healthy, prosperous 2016.
Not just for us at Midnight Calico Farm.
For all of you, our readers and followers, too.
Ruby says…”It shall be so!”
Sharing with Ashley Sisk, who is hosting Memories, Dreams and Reflections.