Preview...Horses For A Cause, Courtesy of Glenda/Mid-South

All of our beautiful photos today are courtesy of a sweet friend and regular reader, Glenda/Mid-South. I recently put out a call for someone to share photos of the beautiful horses that had been placed around the Germantown area for the past several months, and she enthusiastically and graciously agreed to share the photos she had taken of them.

Didn't she do a wonderful job capturing these horses in all their glory? The horses are the creations of local artists and were placed around the Germantown Charity Horse Show arena in June, and later around the city of Germantown after the Germantown Charity Horse Show had ended.

Some citizens expressed wishes that they might become permanent additions to the city...everyone has enjoyed their presence so much. They are being auctioned for charity this weekend, and I'm so glad that Glenda captured their beauty in her photos so that we can remember and enjoy them any time we wish.

My observant and thoughtful husband noticed that the horses had been displayed one last time at Saddle Creek Mall in Germantown this weekend. We took photos of each horse yesterday, and my father went with us. I think that he enjoyed them as much as we did, and we took some photos of him by one of the horses, too. He took my sister and niece to see them today, and they enjoyed seeing them, also.

I will be sharing photos of each of the 20 artists' horses, including photos of the detail of their beautiful work, occasionally over the next few weeks, and I hope that you will enjoy seeing them as much as we have in this area.

Once again, thank you so much to our friend Glenda for her great eye and generosity, and this great preview of some of the horses commissioned for this charity auction. We so enjoyed your photos!!

I hope that you're having a great weekend!

Charming Farming, in the Middle of the City...

This photo above started out as an attempt to share with you a charming little estate and mini-farm in the middle of East Memphis (shown just below). My husband noticed that the horses were out, and thoughtfully pulled over so that I could take a photo or two (I'm lucky to have a fun and spontaneous hubby, who also knows a fun photo-op when he sees one!)

Every time I pass this little estate, I'm reminded of the charming photos I see posted by bloggers in the British Isles or Ireland. This area at one time was filled with estate-sized lots with beautiful houses and sometimes livestock, but most land in this section has been sold and developed into upscale hotels, restaurants, shopping centers and offices.

This family seems to be the lone holdout (good for them!), and I always enjoy riding past their property. Soon, I'll show you more photos of this land, complete with two old silos covered in wysteria, which is breathtaking in early Spring, and a lovely home. Absolutely dreamy.

As soon as I took the photo above, the tan-colored, smaller horse (Shetland?) took a keen interest in what I was doing. He immediately started toward me at a quick trot.

By this time, he is coming fast and hard (and he's not a small one), and through the still-open car door, I can hear my husband and son laughing loudly, wondering if I'm going to stand my ground and still take photos. (Of course I am...I'm not scared, after all, there's a chain-link fence between my new friend and me!).

He stops for a moment, perhaps to make sure I'm also friendly (he doesn't know me, either, does he?)...

...and then comes right up to the fence to see if I have anything yummy to offer him (sadly, I didn't). I'm laughing and at the same time wishing I had much faster-shutter speed!

Here, he's looking down to see if perhaps I've dropped something yummy instead...I must have been a huge disappointment as his newest friend!

I hope that you enjoyed meeting him, too....he really was a sweetie. I also hope that you are having a warm and fun-filled weekend!