First, thanks so very much to all of you, my dear friends and family for your sweet words and  thoughtful notes of kindness over the last few days. I miss my old girl and am glad that she was able to have lived a full happy life. I miss running my fingers through her soft silky white mane, touching my cheek to her fine velvety muzzle, breathing in the earthy good scent of her.

I was there when she gasped her first breath of life, which was followed by a little high pitched nicker, calling out to her mommy. Then for nearly three decades there was rarely a time that I didn't look out my window to see her peacefully grazing or romping with the other horses, at times with a baby by her side. In the end holding on to her tightly one last time as she let out a final weary breath, I had no choice but to let her go.

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Yahni will always hold a special place in my heart. But life does go on.....so it was a much needed distraction to discover a robin red breast's nest tucked inside the clematis vine at the edge of our front porch a few weeks earlier. We were just in time the other day to spot the four little babies, one by one hop to the edge of their nest and fly bravely away into the big wide world. Witness once again the joy of life renewing.

Now to leave you on a happier note, here are a few precious baby pictures of our front porch robins: