Debbie Gallagher | Lifestyle

I'm excited to introduce you to my new site & blog...Debbie Gallagher | Lifestyle....in that my life (and our family life) has moved into a new chapter and I'm ready to embrace the change! We own a new farmhouse with a big red barn on 19.5 acres of pastures and hay meadows overlooking a lake in the quaint village of St. Albans, Maine. I'll be posting our progress as we fix up this 1800s farmhouse, plant new gardens, restore the old cow barn into horse stalls and a barn shop...and generally enjoy this fun new phase of our lives! So come on over to my new blog and don't miss the Farm Journal & Gallery page...where I've got the latest photos and updates on the farmhouse fix-up! : D

Our New Farmhouse Gets a New Frock

So what can I say? The summer is gone! And Fall is definitely in the air. I've been so out of touch and have plenty to catch up on....so where do we start?? We came back from an event filled trip to our home state of Texas to immediately get started with the fixing up of our new lakeside farmhouse and 20 acre property, getting our horses moved over, keeping up with the mowing and maintenance of two properties (three, if you include our gracious new neighbor across the road from us who granted us unlimited lake front access from his place in return for keeping the back quarter acre mowed for him)....and of course attempting to enjoy the gorgeous summer weather that Maine always has to offer.

We've also been painting every spare moment available over the past several weeks...months....and as of this weekend, we have just about completed the multiphase process of pressure washing, scraping, and then painting the exterior of the main house with its first super-thick coat of primer. The kiddos have pitched in as well....and we've promised ourselves a ski get-away to the slopes of Sugarloaf for all the hot, tiring, sweaty work that went into getting this old farmhouse freshened up and into her new frock of white paint. This 'old gal' is finally beginning to look much brighter and spiffier than she has looked in quite some time...

Hmmmm...the romantic mom's looking quite enthused these days, isn't she......

Asheley's especially all smiles at the moment because we decided to let her paint all that totally annoying gingerbread work on the front porch all by herself. Yay! Yippee!! This is so much fun!! 

Actually she's all smiles because she's the only one who gets to paint in the shade....

Now they're ALL happy that they get to paint the annoying gingerbread in the shade!  

What can I say about this lovely front porch and all its sweet gingerbread? Really. It's soooo pretty....
it's wonderful, it's gorgeous, I seriously can't get enough of it....

but scraping and painting it??...it's sooooo tedious....

Now, just for now, please try to keep these 'before' photos in mind, got it? I'm determined to have those 'after' photos up soon......after we get the last of it done....hopefully this is the last of it!!....done by the end of our sunny afternoon today. Then it's kick-our-feet-up time and I should say that the adults in the crowd will be enjoying a glass of wine on the porch....not that we still don't have that infamous to-do list 100 miles long. But at least this Fall, our old farmhouse will be wearing her new white frock! : D

Diamond C Ranch

My brother Clint's daughter, Angelina, has been taking riding lessons at Martin's Diamond C Ranch for a couple of years now....and my! how her confidence and knowledge has grown! She's gone from being too scared to even touch a horse to now grooming, picking out the hooves, tacking up and riding with ease! 

Martin helps Angelina get ready for some ground work exercises...

A nice shady spot to relax out of the summer heat!

Watching Angelina go through her ground work exercises for the upcoming horse show she entered for Saturday....

The pony says...get me in the picture, too!

The quintessential Texas Ranchstyle house....built back in the late 1960's or early '70's...this house was already here when our family built our home in 1971.

This ranch is located just two 'doors' down from my parent's homestead house where I grew up. Martin was raised on a ranch in British Columbia and has lived out west along the Pacific coast in Washington and California before settling here in Lucas, TX. What really fascinated me, however, was to learn that he got his degree in performing arts and is, of all things, a trained and talented opera singer. How's that for a singin' cowboy!! : D

Time to Hit the Trail

Saturday the big day arrived! A sturdy breakfast of donuts and coffee and we were good to go. We went over to load Mitchell's 4 horses then took off for Kansas...about a 2 hour drive....to convene at my Uncle Lee's place....

Now, I can't begin to tell you what all this meant to me. The memories and good times of all my childhood days came rushing back like a tidal wave. My uncle Lee still lives on the old farm place that was part of my Grandpa and Grandma Cady's farm near Bronson, KS. This part of Kansas was my escape and I spent every spare moment of vacations, Christmases, summer and spring breaks,....you name it....this is where I'd be if at all possible....with cousins, relatives, and old family friends that always managed to show up just in time for homemade ice cream and fresh strawberries or blackberry cobbler. These back country roads, pastures, and hay meadows were where we would ride horses, swim and fish in the ponds, feed cattle, hunt coyotes and quail....and ride horses some more!

Mitch saddling up Lee's horse, Steel.

Tina's pretty Palomino. 

Lee (to the right) saddling up Mitch's horse, Cash, for little Asheley to ride.

Meanwhile, kids and cowboy boots bouncin' on the trampoline....

My Dad visiting with Tina...I'm so glad he made this trip with us...while Heater brushes Bailey's tail.

Caitlyn and Heather on Mitchell's horses, Belle and Bailey. Later, I had the pleasure of riding Belle while Caitlyn rode Carrie's little Paint, Shadow. Belle had a bit more zip than little Caitlyn wanted to deal with...I thought she was a blast! (And got to ride her again, Monday evening, as we made our way back through Oklahoma. Fun!! : D)

Tina's little girl, 5 yr. old Cassidy, rides her horse Stormy....or rather gets 'ponied' on Stormy. Look at those cute little stirrups up there! Love that idea....wish I'd had those when I was her size!

Caitlyn on pretty Belle.

Heather on beautiful Bailey.

Mitchell's son, Tyler, on his horse Rhea.

Tina and little Cassidy....ready to ride!

Asheley on Cash....her jeans match her saddle and bridle. Cool!

Lee's mule....never a dull moment there....and Lee's wife, Bev, on her lovely horse, Gus. I loved riding Gus when we went out again on Sunday....such a heavenly lope and slow trot!

Uncle Bud helping Shadow say, "CHEESE" !! Gotta love that smile!

Shadow was hands down my girls' favorite pony! Gotta love ALL those smiles! : D