JUNE 2021

Only 114-115.  LOL.......it's cool here.  I will bring the horses in about 11-12 this morning.  They
are happily munching right now.  It's no different than your very hot humid days......not good
but bearable.  BUT, we're having a big population explosion......I can't believe the changes.

Our fires are out of control and many have been evacuated as far as Klondike......that's
over where Pirrko went to ride in Aravaipa years ago. Gads.  Prayers needed.

On to make some sun tea...............

Addendum: It's a beautiful day in England.............Go Stratavarius. He reminds me of Secretariat.

He couldn't quite get the job done this time. He was fourth. I think he got boxed in for too long and had too much to do at the end. I would have liked to see him win it for the 4th time.
Did you notice that Princess Anne is there handing out the trophies instead of the Queen? Last year was the first time in 75 years that Queen Elizabeth did not attend Ascot. She must not be there this year either.

My feeling Stratavarius was blocked.........He still might not have done it but he would have had a better chance.
Yes, I noticed Princess Ann was presenting trophies. Maybe the Queen will appear tomorrow or ride in a
carriage again. Anyhow, it was exciting and always a privilege to see.

It was hot today, of course, but the wildfires are still the big news. We irrigated and had good water, enough
to get the entire property.................

Tuna for dinner with salad.............

Ark, did you have a good ride?

ELLEN:
 I did have a good ride!  Ivan was on his good behavior, except for a minor kick towards the new gelding who came along.  He didn't land the kick, just wanted to let Balti know he couldn't be quite so close behind him.   So I either rode in front of the other two horses, or behind.  Not in the middle.  Ivan always stays out in front far enough that followers don't get too close to him. Balti is a 7 year old Islandic horse, 13.2 hands tall, and incredibly cute. He does that gait called a tolt. Very interesting to watch.
   
  The day was so pretty!   The entire summer could be like that and it would be perfect.  

  That was ride 20 of the 100 I am trying to get in this year.  I need to get busy if I am going to make that goal.

I got so carried away I didn't pay attention to the Ascot schedule, LOL.  I just got used to tuning in each morning
for some exciting horse entertainment.  Racing in England has more horses in each race so it's more competitive.

113 today............but it seemed hotter.  In for the afternoon for sure.

ELLEN, were the tornadoes anywhere near you?  I saw them on the news and didn't know their
location.

Nice picture ARK.  Can you take Aerion out yet?  We had a little girl fall off today in the hood (early AM).
I didn't see it but it created quite a ruckus.........I think she's fine but don't know the outcome.

No further news.  Any news from RICKSTER?  Or BEECH?   Everyone have a good evening

Nope.  No tornadoes in this area. That was about 75 miles southeast of me.  There have been some thunderstorms all around us, but nothing here.  We could use some rain, so I was hoping for rain here.  I even washed some windows, which is almost a sure thing to bring rain.

Ark, it looks like you had another good ride.  

I managed to get tuned in to Ascot by the second race.  I forgot early, but watched until the end.  The Queen was there, but they didn't do the carriage procession.  The lady loves her horses!

Then, I watched American horse racing for most of the afternoon, washing windows between races.  LOL

Yesterday was the first day of summer, the longest day of the year.......Ours was 14 hrs and 22 min long,
as stated on the weather news. How accurate that is, I don't know. I don't place much trust
in weathermen/women. LOL. Today is cooler as predicted at 106 I think.

I'm headed out for dinner with the gals so it will be a gossip and food fest.

Everyone have a good day...............

ARK you and Ivan look great. Horses are good at determining their personal space. Your description of his minor kick made me think back to when I was a kid and was out riding with my mother and a group of others. My Mom's mare did not like others to crowd her. There was a place on the trail that someone started to dig out a basement and then stopped. Over the years it became one of the few places we could ride our horses down a hill and then back up the otherside- always single file. They were waiting their turn when another horse decided it didn't want to wait and crowded up next to her and BAM. Mom's horse kicked out. Only problem was the horse doing the crowding spun to get out of the way and the blow landed on the rider's knee. It taught me a very good lesson about teaching my horses to wait and not crowd others. I can remember that ride very clearly and it was 50 years ago. Too bad I can't remember what I did yesterday.

We had storms off and on since Wednesday. Fortunately I did not have any damage. Unfortunately my brother did. He called me up and asked me to come over and take care of a limb that came down Wednesday night. The good news was the only thing it it was the clothes line. The bad thing was it was the size of a telephone pole. It took me a couple of hours to get the most of it cut up and hauled out to the street for the city to pick up. I still have about an 8 foot log to cut up but it was just too hot for me to finish on Saturday. I told him I'd get it another day. Storm came through last night. Dang if the other tree didn't drop another limb about the same size. Again it missed the fence, thank goodness.

GRAYMARE:
 How is the little girl doing who fell off the horse?  Hope she is okay.
 I haven't been riding Areion, so haven't taken her off property except to go to the vet school for trims.  She is doing fine, I just haven't found energy enough to ride two horses seriously.  Ivan is kind of my go-to horse.  I do need to start riding Areion, though.  She needs the exercise, I need the exercise.  
 I see BEECH and RICK post occasionally on FaceBook, so I guess they are okay.  Wish they would check in, though.

INDYAPP:
 I had a TB horse kick me in the knee while I was riding Arkady once.  It was the instructor's horse who did not want to cross a bridge and was acting up.  He was aiming for Arkady, but got me.  I thought my knee was broken, but it didn't show up on x-rays as such.  Walking was fun for several months.   I understand about not remembering today, but everything is clear from many years ago, .  I still see that horse shoe coming for my knee!

ELLEN:
 We did have a good ride.  We are supposed to go tomorrow, but my friend is wiggling out of it.  I may just ride here.  I did get in a brief ride yesterday on Ivan in the arena.  He did pretty good.  It is nice to have a horse that I don't have to warm up for a half hour before getting on him.  Ivan knows what to do and doesn't complain too much most of the time.  He can be very sweet sometimes.  At times he will come in from the pasture to hang out with me at the barn while the others graze.

Not much going on here in PA.  I'm still on the mission to trap the feral cats.  Needless to say it is NOT going well at all.  A few of the cats have moved on so that's a good thing for me, not so much for the neighbors who probably think they are MY cats. Once the stupid trap fell apart and smashed a couple of them, they are not getting anywhere near the trap again.  George thought I should try the old trick...just throw a towel on the cat and scoop it up.  HAHAHAHAHA  As soon as the towel touched the cat she was gone in a cloud of dust.  My dear sweet husband had the nerve to say "you are just too slow".  WHAT?????  He is still alive. Yes I am almost 73 and a tad slower that a feral cat who is running for her life.   One more attempt on Friday then I QUIT.

Have a great week everyone...enjoy the cooler temps...it was 48 here this morning.

I wouldn't have thought that getting new blades for my lawn tractor would develop into a boring story.
1. Spend considerable time looking in stores and online for the correct blades. Unsuccessful.
2. Find a website that looks promising, finally calling the number, talk to a very nice man who was sure he had the right solution. Order blades.
3. Blades arrive on Sunday. Travis tries to install on Monday. Won't fit.
4. Contact seller. Blades will be returned at their expense. (So far, so good)
5. Made decision to replace both blades and spindles. (Suspect man I bought it from had done that and used blades that were not made for this tractor. But tractor is good, so no problem.) Nice man on phone puts through the order and sends an e-mail with shipping label embedded for returning first set of blades.
6. Ask very good neighbor to print shipping label since my printer doesn't work. She is nice enough to do it right away.
7. Stick label to box and take box to FedEx pickup in Warsaw.
8. Incorrect shipping label.
9. Go to Staples to see if they can/will print correct label. VERY nice young gal takes my phone in hand and goes tap tap tap and gets correct label printed.
10. Go back to FedEx place, where they are kind enough to let me have some tape to stick on the new label.
11. WHEW! It's finally on the way.

The new blades and spindles have been shipped but probably won't get here for several more days.
In the meantime, Travis sharpened the old blades that are almost beyond sharpening and I mowed the yard. Thank goodness for Travis.

Oh brother, ELLEN............I'm glad you finally got it all straightened out.

I sort of had the same type of day............We went to chemo today, that was fine. The transport couldn't
get in to pick us up as some guy fell in his car......half in, half out, fire engine was there and we we
were blocked in. So then transport finally got in and we got home find our transfer sling battery was
needing a recharge...........did that and finally got him transferred. Then he asked for ice cream
and promptly spilled it. My fault actually as the bowl was too close to the edge of the table. Then went to RX and it wasn't ready. I then tried to put on my happy face and ate Hershey's almond bar. That worked.

Home and relaxing now after dinner. Everyone have a good evening.

While there were a lot of steps to get through the blade buying process, in the great scheme of life, it was soooo minor. I just thought it was a little bit funny.

Graymare, spilling the ice cream would have been the biggest tragedy of the day. Such a waste.

The aggravations of modern life.....Sorry about the day's obstacles, and the ice cream and lawn mower blades.

We are having a bit of a discussion over a little obstacle here. The bank made a mistake. We are going to pay for it if we don't get involved. It's not a big thing, but it is an aggravation. The bank teller typed in the wrong amount of a check we wrote to pay for our credit card bill. It is a 9 cent error on her part. We wrote the check correctly. It is going to cost us $7 in interest payments for having not paid the original 9 cents on time, added to the next month's charges. It isn't a lot of money, but we do try to make sure our bills are paid on time so as to not have interest payments. We are still debating as to whether or not to take on the bank over the 9 cent/$7 error. The aggravations of modern life....

No ride today. It rained yesterday, so today Donnie raked the arena and we installed "Caution Horses" decals on the new trailer. Not much else.

ARK, have you called and talked to the credit card company? I've had something similar and found that a telephone call, asking that they reverse the fee works. I'm betting they'll see you are a good client and just reverse the service charge. Sometimes you just have to ask.

ELLEN, your lawn mower blade sounds like something that would happen to me. LOL. You're just lucky to have a Travis. I wish I had a Travis.

MANYGATES good luck with the feral cats. We have a local non-profit that helps people with managing feral cat colonies. They provide the traps and discounted spay/neuter service. It allows the feral cats to do what feral cats do without reproducing. And it allows the crazy cat ladies (let's face it, they're always ladies) to feed and enjoy them.

For the last several years, I have been using my bank's bill pay service to pay almost all my bills.  They don't charge a fee for it, and it a very quick and easy way to get everything paid.  If there are any mistakes, they are mine.  No check writing and no stamps.  I also have their deposit app on my phone, so on the very rare occasions that somebody writes a check to me, I can deposit it without making a trip to the bank or putting it in the mail.
I also check my account every morning, just to make sure there hasn't been any nefarious activity.

Indy, while I am very very grateful to have a Travis, he and his wife are very grateful to have an Ellen who babysits with three little girls once or twice a week at no charge. We're all happy.

CAUGHT ONE this morning. She is one of the cats I wanted to catch. She is a little Tuxedo cat. She was in the trap all stretched out trying hard not to touch the plate that shuts the trap, but when she tried to turn around BAM got her. She is at the SPCA having her operation. The girl at the SPCA said "you finally caught one, good job." LOL 2 more girls and then the little boy tuxedo cat.

There was a nice little Paint horse at the SPCA this morning, I wanted to bring him home. Good thing George was with me and said "no way are you bringing a horse home." I thought my offer of trading the cat for the horse was a great idea. LOL

Here's what I do each morning:

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Phooey.............

It was a rainy day, but we needed the rain, so it was good. A neighbor and I decided to go run around a town to the north. We started at a store that makes noodles and sells all kinds of home made jams, jellies, pie filling, and spices. I couldn't get out of there without buying a package of fudge. Then it was lunch at a small local place that serves great breakfast. A couple more stops, and we headed for home. Yeah, it rained some, but not enough to stop us.
All in all, it was a nice day.

TRUDY:
Congrats on catching the kitty! I love tuxedo cats. My very first cat I ever had, at ages 8-22, was a tuxedo cat named Boots. She lived with us in a bunch of places and had a gazillion kittens, poor thing. She definitely loved her people over where she lived.

INDYAPP:
 Thanks, I will do that.  Couldn't hurt!

ELLEN:
 We are dinosaurs and have been slow to give up checks.  We have been getting a lot on direct deposits and having bills put on our card, we are down to two monthly checks to write.  I guess we need to bite the bullet and go full on internet checking.  We is slow.... I want a Travis, too. And a maid....

I rode Ivan yesterday and then exercised him and Areion by having them run around the arena.  They seem to enjoy that.  Ivan can go a long time and never break a sweat.  Areion breaks a sweat fast. She and I are out of shape.  

Here is the photo of them running yesterday:

After significant rain over the last few days, the water level has gone up.  Yesterday morning, I checked on the jet ski and it seemed to be okay.  A couple of hours later, I looked again and it had decided to go walk-about.  By the time I got down the hill, it had gone just beyond my reach.  I was just about to go in after it, but a couple of nice fishermen were kind enough to bring it back to me.  I tied it to the lift.  Then later, Travis saw what I had done and he must have decided it wasn't good enough, so he cranked it up high and dry.  
It's still cloudy today, and threatening rain.

Indy, are you getting rain about every 15 minutes? I have opened and closed the sliding doors a lot of times today. People have been out on the lake, and then making a run for their docks all afternoon.

Rain on, rain off. Rain on, rain off. All weekend. and HUMID! I think I've sprouted gills. I know the yard has grown like crazy and I really need to mow now. Everything is green and lush. I feel like I'm in a tropical rain forest.

I think the paint for the kitty would have been an excellent trade MG.

Areion and Ivan look fantastic!

Indy, you are sure right about the humidity. It's AWFUL today. One more hot day, then we should get a bit of a break.
According to the weather forecast, Saturday is supposed to be good. Since we will have fireworks here on the lake Saturday evening, I'm glad for that.

I met with a friend yesterday that now has blue & purple hair. I couldn't believe it. Her husband died a few years ago
and she also has a tattoo in a heart with his name on it. If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't believe it.
How people change. She's still a really good friend just time has changed her. She said she is going to buy a cabin.
I asked her who would help her take care of it. She, of course, said "I will". Her children are married and out
of state. I got up the nerve and asked her if she had a boyfriend.........she said "sort of". I then asked her
if it was serious and she said,"I think so". We then chatted about that and I told her to not think about
marrying him...........I don't know where it will all lead but she did say "if I get married, I will have two
of the same tattoos, one on each arm." She's 74. It all sounds too fishy for me.

It's not so hot today and rain is predicted for tonight. Boy, Seattle is sure burning up..........as is the Northwest
in general. Our weather has made a drastic change.

More later.............