Horses and Ponies #MusicMovesMe

It's Monday and it's time for music!!

Who are the Music Moves Me bloggers?  We are a group of music loving bloggers who blog about music each Sunday or Monday (or even later in the week). If you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join!  We are brought to you by Cathy of Curious as a Cathy, Stacy of Stacy's Random Thoughts, Marie, and myself, plus other music loving bloggers.  

Why not join us? 

Our optional theme for this week is:  "May 11th Kentucky Derby has long been hosted this month since 1875. This event has a long history of traditions. Use some of the traditions or gallop with the ponies in your own direction sharing your song inspired picks this week."

There are quite a number of songs mentioning horses or ponies.  Many times the horses/ponies symbolize freedom or connection.  Other times, they are songs about....horses.  There are a lot of playlists online for the Kentucky Derby but I decided to go my own way. I grew up in New York City and, while I never got into horses, my best friend did. (Yes, there are ways to learn to ride a horse in New York City.)

Rolling Stones - Wild Horses, recorded in 1969 and released in 1971.

From 1975, Wildfire, Michael Martin Murphey, a song about a girl and her horse, based on a legend about a ghost horse told to Murphey by his grandfather, combined with a dream Murphey had once.

The older I get, the more I get into the great songwriter and singer Willie Nelson.   Ride Me Back Home is a song from 2019 about rescuing horses.

One Trick Pony, a 1980 hit for Paul Simon.

Couldn't resist this; the theme song from a childhood TV show.

Finally, My Old Kentucky Home is traditionally sung by the crowd each year before the Kentucky Derby.  This was recorded in 2024 at the 150th Kentucky Derby.

And that's a wrap!

Join me again next week for another episode of Music Moves Me. 

Plant Shadows #ShadowshotSunday

Plant shadows are a sneaky way to blog about my plants.

 This may be brunneria Diane's Gold. 

Brunneria.  I love their early blue flowers but they were caught in a frost in April, and are just now blooming again.  I wish their blooming season was longer.  We have three varieties, the green the gold and a variegated one. (You can see one of the leaves in the phto below on the right).

In a shady spot, I have trillium has a flower that doesn't open completely.  It has been slowly spreading. I bought it years ago at a plant show in Ithaca, New York.

The day before yesterday, the sun came out for a while.  That's a good thing, because my mail order plants from Select Seeds came on Thursday and they need to recover from transit stress.  They also need to be hardened off, which I am in the process of doing.

This is my second year ordering plants from Select Seeds.  Last year, I put I in a small order of annual varieties I can't get locally and was pleased by the quality.  I didn't lose any to shipping shock, either, a far cry from the last time (2015?) I tried to mail order plants.  That time it was from a well known plant retailer and my experience was way different.  So I finally tried again, this time with Select Seeds, and I am now a repeat customer.  (Not being paid for this plug, either).

Mail ordering plants are expensive but it's also a big convenience for me.  For example, scented geraniums and fancy geraniums are hard to find here. 

So here are my plants, along with two basils and a rosemary (rosemary has to be grown as an annual where I live) I got the other day at a big box store. Three geraniums, two cuphea, two fuchsia, a salvia destined for a hanging basket, and a lavender plant, all perfect for containers. 

Maybe next week (we may get a frost Tuesday) I'll be able to buy sunpatiens, million bells and a patio tomato. 

Joining Lisa at This and That: A Blog, for her #ShadowshotSunday.

A Spring Sky Variety Pack #SkywatchFriday

Today, some skies from the last couple of weeks, mixed in with views of spring. 

Baby redbud, several years old, in a local park.  Our redbuds are finishing up now.

Yesterday, sky framed by a building.

This past week, rain ahead.

From Sunday, sky and white lilac.

Finally, from Sunday, sky before a rainstorm.

So far, we've had one of the wettest springs since our area started to keep weather records 73 years ago. 

Joining Yogi and other skywatchers for #SkywatchFriday.  

20,134 and Counting #WordlessWednesday

The other day, I wondered if I had reached 20,i000 photos on my phone.  I hadn't when April started.

Well, last night, I looked and I have (drum roll):  20,134 photos.  

Yes, I'm a photo hoarder and I am not ashamed.

Yes, I delete photos every once in a while but, in general, my photos are precious to me.  Each holds a memory.

Like this primrose, for example, from May 2.  This was given to me by my late mother in law and reminds me of the Mother's Days (coming this Sunday in the United States) we used to travel some three hours to plant flowers in her yard for the summer and take her out to dinner.  Now, we need some of that help.

I don't think this pansy is too impressed, though. 

Doesn't it seem like the pansy is frowning at me?  

What, I wonder, did I do to make it give me that face?

Was it because I didn't feature her in the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge?

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday

2026 A to Z Reflections #AtoZChallenge

It's time to reflect on my experience in the 2026 Blogging from A to Z Challenge.

Along with many other bloggers, I participated in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge this past April  I've done this Challenge successfully every April starting in 2015, missing only 2025 because, well, life happened.   What happened also made the 2026 Challenge more difficult than previous Challenges but I had the time and energy this year.  Last year, it never would have happened.

Life lesson:  never take anything for granted.  Life is fragile and can change in an instant.

Many of us assign a theme for the month and yes, I did, also.  Mine was: beauty of our land.  

If anything, I appreciate the beauty around me even more than in the past.  I am a digital photo hoarder (I may have passed the 20,000 mark on my phone recently-I'm almost afraid to look) and going through my photos to choose the ones I would post this past April brought back so many memories.

Good memories.

Good memories sustain us for the hard times, and also make us realize that beauty still exists even if we are not in a mindset to enjoy it.  It will be there for when we can be receptive enough to enjoy it.

So, looking at these photos also made me feel, once again, gratitude.  Gratitude for the blogging community I discovered, after nearly two years of blogging, when I participated in my first blogging challenge (not A to Z) back in 2011.  Gratitude for the blogs I read regularly and for the blogs I discover each year of the A to Z Challenge.

We are asked to answer some questions.  I'll put them at the end so if you weren't part of the Challenge, you can skip them, but I'll answer one up front so you don't have to wade through questions and answers that don't interest you.

I won't name the blogs, as I don't want to leave anyone out.

So, how am I feeling?  Tired.  I pre-wrote many of the posts, but still had to scramble towards the end.  But then again, I wasn't the only one.

In reflecting, I also decided I would not go back to daily blogging like I did for so many years, but it's good to know I still have it in me to do that.

Finally....

Today is a special one year anniversary in my life.  

So, to any new bloggers who discovered me during the Challenge, thank you.  And, if you are a regular reader, thank you, too.

I appreciate all of you.

And now the questions and my answers in red

Our team theme this year was: A is for Aspirations: Blogging hopes, dreams, and goals

Do you feel like our team's posts from this month met your expectations for that theme?  True confession: I didn't read the team's posts.  

While you reflect on your blog's April Challenge posts, please consider this:

• How do you feel about the Theme Reveal? (Especially if this is not your first year doing the Challenge.). I always find it helpful; I base some of the blogs I will read on their reveals.
• In what ways does the reflection post help you? It helps me look back on the month, something that's impossible to do in the midst of the Challenge.
• What experiences have you had in the past, or hope to have this year, with the Road Trip? I haven't taken the Road Trip in the past; I don't plan to this year.
• Does the HTML on the badges/ graphics page help you? Yes.
• Did you meet your blogging goals in April? Yes.
• What were your top five favorite blogs from the challenge to visit in April this year? I choose not to reveal them because several common blogging genres don't interest me at all and I'm sure my subject matter isn't universally loved, either.
• Did a co-host (J Lenni Dorner, Arlee Bird, Zalka Csenge Virág, John Holton, Jayden R Vincente, or Ronel Janse van Vuuren) comment on your blog during the challenge? Yes.
• Is there a comment you received on your blog in April that is your favorite? I don't rate my commenters; I appreciate everyone who takes the time to visit and comment.
• Who were your top comment-leavers this challenge, and did they do the challenge? Hard to say because some of my favorite bloggers were those I met through the challenge -some years back, some recently, and some don't do the Challenge every year. Some didn't do it this year but still read my blog.  
• Is your blog open to comments from everyone, or only comments from those who "sign in" to the platform?  Open to everyone, although I moderate posts and therefore they may not be published for hours or even the next day.
• Do you feel this helps or hurts your blogging comment goals? I have no blogging goals other than making myself happy.  I don't blog for revenue or to promote a business.  If I didn't enjoy blogging, I wouldn't do it.

• • Are there any other blog hops you regularly take part in? Yes, all my current blogging involves participating in blog hops: Music Moves Me, Wordless Wednesday, Skywatch Friday, Shadowshot Sunday, Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.
  • Did you discover anything interesting because of the Challenge? Yes.
  • Will you plan to do the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge in 2027, and why (or why not)? That will depend on my personal situation in 2027.  I had to sit 2025 out due to the fickle finger of fate saying otherwise.  Life is always uncertain.
  • Will you recommend this blog hop to others? Yes.
  • If RoadTrippers only visit one of your Challenge posts, which would you suggest and why? (This question is also the prompt if you create a RoadTrip post.). 
  • Do you plan to visit the A to Z site every month? No although I may drop in from time to time..
  • The site gets many hits, even in the off-season!
  • Did you refer someone to hope to win a guest post spot? No, because what would I say? 
  • What else could the team offer you to persuade you to encourage others to join the challenge? Perhaps come back and ask me that next year.

Feelin' Alright? #MusicMovesMe

It's Monday and it's time for music. Sadly, it's also time for another induction (actually, three inductions) into Rock and Roll Heaven.

Who are the Music Moves Me bloggers?  We are a group of music loving bloggers who blog about music each Sunday or Monday (or even later in the week). If you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join!  We are brought to you by Cathy of Curious as a Cathy, Stacy of Stacy's Random Thoughts, Marie, and myself, plus other music loving bloggers.  

Why not join us?  Our theme for this week is "you pick".

Dave Mason, a founding member of the group Traffic, died on April 19 at the age of 79.  He was a singer, guitarist, and songwriter. 

Here is one of his songs with Traffic:  Feelin' Alright? performed by Traffic.  You may recognize it from a cover by Joe Cocker in 1969.

Dave Mason also enjoyed a solo career.  This is a 1977 hit from Mason:  We Just Disagree. 

Nedra (I've also seen it spelled Niedra) Yvonne Talley-Ross, last surviving member of the Ronettes, also died on April 27 at the age of 80.

Here is their hit song Be My Baby. 

Country singer/songwriter David Allan Coe died April 30 at the age of 86.  Some of the hits he wrote are known even by non-country music fans, such as Johnny Paycheck's 1977 hit Take This Job and Shove It. 

Finally, because this is (the way we write dates in the United States) May the 4th, we informally are celebrating May The Fourth be With You, so I can't resist this Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band theme.  Enjoy!

And that's a wrap! 

Oh, wait.  One more thing.  How am I feeling?  All right? Actually, tired, after a month of daily blogging in April.  But now, I am going to return to my normal Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday schedule, except for tomorrow.

If you followed the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, I invite you to tune in tomorrow for my Reflections post.

Join me next week for another episode of Music Moves Me. 

Crabapples and Tulips #ShadowshotSunday

Crabapple shadows from April 27.

Three small tulips all in a row in my front yard.  The name is long forgotten.  

Joining Lisa at This and That: A Blog, for her #ShadowshotSunday.