Keeping Warm

October is here and with it comes colder days and the ultimate search for warmth. Me, I am already counting the days until spring. There are 2 kinds of warmth that I seek this time of year. One is the obvious, physical warmth and the other is spiritual warmth.





Spiritual warmth is that inner peace that sometimes becomes so difficult to find. The skies are grey, the sun rises later and sets earlier and we feel as though we are stuck indoors. I am an outdoor person by nature. I love to be out in the barn or the kennel playing with the dogs and the horses. I despise putting on an additonal 10 lbs. of clothing and carrying around that extra weight while doing my chores. It seems to take twice as much time to get half as much done. This makes me sad and my inner light grows increasingly dimmer. I have to find inventive ways to feel warm inside and to find inner peace. At 52, I've had a lot of experience with it so I thought I would share a few ideas with you to get you through those cold winter months that lay ahead...





Find a good book and don't try to read it all in one sitting but rather spread your reading time out over a period of days or even weeks. Once you finish that one, start another.





Find comfort in what you enjoy the most whether it is baking, sewing, chatting on line, anything to embrace the time rather than just kill time.





Don't shut yourself off from the outside world. We all know its easier to close the curtains, stay in our warm jammies and not venture out in the cold. If you must do this, invite a few friends over for a movie or just a chat but try and leave the house for something other than work at least twice a week.





Start a journal or try your hand at a story or two but write! It is therapeutic and you'll find that before you know it, you may just have written your first book!





Moving on to physical warmth... bonfires, dress in light layers of clothing, keep your clothes dry and find at least one good pair of boots and my personal favorite item of winter warmth is a warm wool blanket. I have a plaid stadium blanket that I've had for years. I dont even remember where I got it but the minute the temperatures drop below 40 and the furnace kicks in, I pull it out of the closet and keep it close by. There is nothing warmer than wool and it reminds me of a saddle blanket so I feel closer to the horses even when its too cold to ride. Mine has holes in it because Ive had it for so many years. Not big gaping holes but little holes created by puppies nursing on it or wear spots from age but it is my favorite blanket and I couldn't survive winter without it.





It was made by a company we all know and love...Woolrich. THE name in wool clothing and blankets but now synonomous with all kinds of home furnishings as well. Since 1830, Woolrich has been the name to trust for winter warm clothing with a western feel but now offer items for your home that will surprise and delight you. For clothing, the place to go is still www.woolrich.com but for that warm winter blanket, try www.woolrichhome.com .

Curl up in front of the fireplace or in front of that bonfire or even watching a movie with your friends with a new Woolrich Hudson Bay (my favorite) blanket and feel the warmth both inside and out. Heres to summer my friends but until we see it again, stay warm, be happy and lets keep in touch.
Blessings
Tena

New and Improved!

For quite a while, Ive been sharing stories with you. Whether they are inspirational, heartbreaking, funny or insightful, through them and your many emails and comments, we have gotten to know each other pretty well. I've decided to take that one step further by giving you my views on products and services that I have the opportunity to review.

My goal is to let you know what I think of companies and their products and services in the same straight forward way that has become my trademark through this blog. My opinions or rather the view from the back of my horse will allow you the opportunity to recieve an honest insight into products you use everyday, not just in the horse or dog world. Everything from the food we eat, the clothing and jewelry we wear, the latest gadgets and technology and any product or service in which we invest our hard earned money.

I will be doing this not only through my blog posts but also on Twitter and Facebook and any other outlet that I have had the privledge to gain an audience through my years of being a large part of this evergrowing industry. I will be sampling various products or using various services and giving you my honest opinion on whether or not I feel it is worth the effort. Good or bad, I promise you reviews that will help you decide whether various products and services are for you.

On the other side of that coin, if you have a product or service that you would like me to review, please contact me either through email at bearbkra@aol.com or by calling me at (419) 826-5129 for more information. Help me get the ball rolling as I intend to be THE place to go for reviews of some of the best and worst products on the market. I promise to give every product that I review every chance to impress me and if it does, I will make it my job to spread the word for you.

I look forward to establishing excellent and honest working relationships with all of you through my experience. Contact me for more information and lets get this up and running.

God bless
Tena