JULY 2021

Hmmm, the link may not of worked for this month, but I suspect you all know how to get here by now...

I got here at least. Nothing important going on. Going to the bank later. Will post more later.

After all the heat, rain, and humidity, we have a gorgeous day today. Not hot and much lower humidity with a nice breeze. FINALLY! The water level is still up, but it didn't come up any more over night, so it should start going back down a little, to the normal level.
Now, for some mowing...

I can't believe I'm about to say it. I'm COLD! It's interesting how the perspective changes as the seasons go along. Two months ago, 68° and breezy would have seemed warm. Now it's COLD!

ELLEN:
It's great here, 75 degrees, partly cloudy and breezy. Perfect temp!! It can stay this way all summer...

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. It's windy and stormy but nary a drop. It poured at my friend's house 2
miles away..............oh well, I can still hope.

Today has been a perfect weather day for the holiday weekend.  The activity on the lake has been at an all time high, I think.  There was an inboard boat parade.  Other pontoons and boats have been parked on the lake most of the day for swimmers.  About supper time, a lot of it cleared out, but they are coming back now to be in position for the fireworks.  There is plenty of time for more good swims before that starts.
Gas prices are up more than 50% in the last 6 months, but that doesn't seem to be stopping people from using a lot of it.
I'm guessing that it's going to be a noisy night until about 2 AM.  I hope that at least some of the partiers remember what they are celebrating.



There is now a huge flotilla of boats, pontoons, and swimmers all over the lake. My neighbor's adult son is here. He plays a great trumpet! He stood out on the end of their pier and played America the Beautiful. It was amazing how fast all those noisy people got quiet to listen. When he finished there was a huge cheer and horns blowing. It gave me chills.

Hello, FOOPS! Raining here, lightly but steadily, for several days now, with heavier rains pouring down right now --pinging off the steel roof and shunting so much cold air into the house that I'm sitting here sheathed in fleece tonight. BOY, does that feel GOOD!! Relief from that long ungodly heat, a little help for our drought.

Still plugging along here, still incredulous at my 84 years. "Leaky, wheezy, creaky, cranky," is what I say when asked how I am -- though I've probably said that already, so you can add forgetful to that list.

Spent gobs of time this spring planting vegetables, planning on doing container gardening only, to make it simple and easy, and so bought 10 15-gallon bags for that. But what to do with the other five seedlings from the tomato six-pack after you've plunked one in the one bag allotted to tomatoes? So I've ended up with seven of my 10 available 4 x 8 raised beds also chockablock full, along with 8 of the 10 bags. Potatoes, carrots, beets, corn, beans, cabbage, kale, onions. squash, peas, spinach, peppers, garlic, pumpkin, cucumber...

But I'd rather be woodworking. Bought a planer several months ago and haven't had a chance to use it yet, and this week, a jointer. Y'd think I was rich. Not. Just rich in dreams. Or illusions. Going to get back to woodworking projects (building fancy little boxes and jig-saw puzzles to go in them is a major plan) after I replace six rotted planks on my deck, and finish the frame I started last summer to cover the generator.

My big scooter is long gone, but I just reregistered the Ruckus.

I reread all this and realize I make myself sound active. Not true. Spend lots of time slumped in my recliner glued to YouTube videos -- some about how to do things (grow cukes, or handle a router, or fix a lawnmower), but also many about narrowboaters on the English canals, and many about current politics.

ARK -- Thanks, again and still, for keeping this going. I continue to be in awe of all you do, and to enjoy your and all others' posts. Losing lots of friends to death now, at my age, so what constancy is left is the more treasured.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness."

Happy July 4 my friends!  I hope you have great weather and celebrations.

We had Canada Day on the 1st and it was subdued.  All the unmarked graves being found at Native Residential “schools “ have really hit us all hard and we are feeling so much for our original peoples, now and in the past.

I did have a Canada Day gig at a wonderful swanky retirement community but Norm and I both wore orange ribbons and said some words about it before starting. Then onto lots of Canadian artist music

Beech you have some really interesting projects!  So glad to hear about them   Container gardening is just the thing in many situations. And I love your woodwork project.  Would love to see pictures.

I echo your thanks to Ark!  I don’t come often but I sure appreciate being able to be in touch with you all.

Ellen, sounds perfect at your place as always.

Everyone enjoy the day.  Hope life is continuing to improve as the pandemic comes under control.  It is starting here and we had our second vaccinations almost two weeks ago.

Beech!  It is so good to see you here again!  It's good to know that you are doing well and keeping busy with creative fun projects.  

Nancy, it's good to see you too.  I'm glad you are still performing and enjoying it.

After all the festivities last night that went on until after midnight, it's very quiet around here this morning.  It's going to be hot today, so a perfect day for swimming and barbequing.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, USA!!!! 245 and counting.

BEECH and NANCY LEE!
 Great to see you posting!  Hope you both had a wonderful holiday!  And everyone else, too....

 Our July 4th was rather low key, but nice.  We grilled out, then ate out in the yard rather than disappoint a dog and three cats about sharing our steak, LOL.   The dog is polite, but we have some rather greedy cats.   I got a watermelon to share with the horses and chickens, but it's still in the fridge uncut.  I guess we need to get to that.  

 I rode Ivan on Saturday here at home, then today (Tuesday) we took him to Pandapas Pond Park.  Saturday was wonderfully cool, today it was 87 degrees and more humid.  It wasn't too bad in the woods, though.  Ivan was really good today.  One thing good about hot weather, he is usually more mellow.   We only rode with one horse, so he was even more mellow.    Both horses were wearing very bright yellow rump rugs to ward off horseflies, and they seemed to work!  We didn't have a single horsefly land on either horse.  I put plastic dragonflies on wires over Ivan's head to scare off deer
flies.  They were not impressed, I killed at least 6 in Ivan's mane.  So blue dragonflies don't work with deer flies.  I may try another color...



BEECH:
  Have fun with your woodworking plans!!  Sounds like nice projects.  I did woodworking in college, a million years ago, but haven't done any since.  They had such great machines.  The last thing I made there was a cradle for my sister's soon to be born baby.   That baby is 44 years old this year.    My sister gave the cradle back to me after the baby got too big because she didn't have room for it, so it sits in my garage.  I am going to give it to her granddaughter soon, who is 10 years old now.  It was made with cherry wood.  Donnie and I still sleep in the mahogany bed I made for one class.  I sort of wish I had made a queen sized one instead of a double!  Makes for snugly sleeping, though.    Anyway,  have fun with your projects.... and stay safe!  Count your fingers every night....

NANCY LEE:
 How are you doing with your horse these days?  We need pix! We rode in the hot weather today after canceling out the last two weeks because of the heat. We decided we were wasting the summer by trying to avoid hot weather.

GRAYMARE:
Any news on your friend with purple and blue hair? Hope she is careful with her date choice. I do enjoy looking at the dye jobs folks wear these days. It would take so long to get coloring out of my hair, I won't do it, but some of the hair jobs are amazing!

Ark, we sent Dusty back to his original owner after six months. She had said that if it didn’t work out that’s what she wanted

He had my number and he knew it

He spooked and either took off or went so fast sideways that I couldn’t  stay on. We can’t use him for learners either if he’s going to do that.  He dumped me 5 or 6 times.  I broke my collarbone and cracked ribs.   I’m too old for that and have some physical issues that won’t help  I worked with a trainer and did everything I could-reading, watching videos, ground work etc.  My confidence is badly eroded and I am working on getting the old confident me back

I will be riding some of Helen’s horses. She has several who need exercise and I love grooming and giving attention to the others she has who can no longer be ridden

I’m okay.  Sad because I had such high hopes for him but I know it’s the right thing

NANCY LEE:
I am so sorry about your experience with this horse. I hope you are well on your way to recovering from those injuries. Not every horse works out. It is sad for that horse that he didn't realize he had landed in a good spot....I do hope you find the perfect horse for you, though. I feel like I will get old fast if I stop riding my horses, or at least taking care of them. I would become a major couch potato. Get well soon, NANCY!!

Aw thanks Ark, I am well healed now. The broken collarbone and ribs was 3 months ago and I got back on after 7 weeks.  But things didn’t improve and I was still getting thrown so had to make the decision.
 I won’t be looking for another one to buy (maybe lease if something comes up) but will continue to ride Helen’s for her.

Not every horse is for every rider. So much better to find one that you like and likes you. I'm glad you are healing well and will be ready to ride again.

NANCYLEEI'm glad to hear you've recovered from your falls. Also glad that said horse was able to go back to his previous owner as he didn't work out for you. It's good that your friend has extras that you can get your horse fix from.

ARK, it looks as if you are not only ready for the bugs, but for hunting season too. No one would be able to say they couldn't see you coming. I think Ivan is a real champ for tolerating the dragonfly head gear. I just don't see Tiberius going for it. But then again, he's a brat. I'm also impressed with your woodworking skills. A cradle and a bed. My woodworking skills consist of using a chain saw to cut tree branches into manageable sizes. Speaking of which, last night I had to resort to the old hand saw to cut the top of a branch that came down on the fence Monday night. It was the neighbor's tree. He wasn't around and I needed to get the top off the fence before Tiberius figured out he could step over and go exploring. My chain saw is being used by a family member. I only cut off what was on fence and left the rest for the neighbor to deal with.

BEECH you go girl. You may not be riding the big scooter any more, but the smaller one still gets you out and about.

ARK, I've not heard any more from lover girl just about her from another gal that's worried about her, too.
Actually quite a few are worried. I did hear that the trust is in charge of her daughter, rather than her.
I don't know if that's true and I'm certainly not going to ask. I'd just like to think she has more brain than that
and more respect for herself.

BEECH, good to see you here and that you're still into woodworking. You go girl ................

NANCY LEE, don't kid yourself. You're plenty tough on a horse. How many other people do you
know that practically got shot riding a horse? Do you remember listening to bullets buzzing by
our ears and yelling to stop the blankety blank shooting outside Sedona? We were very lucky not to be
on the national news.............It is still the Wild West out here.

ELLEN, I'll bet the trumpet solo was beautiful.

No more news and still on fire in AZ...................no rain here....pray for our country...........rain in the SE,
fires in the west, heat in the NW, protesting and killing all over...............

I choose to be a bright flower in life..............

GRAYMARE:
You are a bright flower in life! One of the reasons I don't mind keeping this forum going. You and several others would otherwise not be in my life, and I would be less for it.
You and NANCY got shot at? Yikes!!! How did I miss that news? Be glad you weren't wearing my anti-horsefly outfit, the shooters would have no excuse for missing you! I am glad they did miss you!

I was sure not camouflaged during our ride . Only horseflies seemed not to be able to see us!


BEECH:
I forgot to mention that Donnie and I watched the Narrowboat series, too! You know how songs get stuck in your head sometimes? Well that fellow's boat engine's noise stuck in my head.... chuga-chuga-chuga-chuga...... We both loved watching his adventures and occasional recipes. It would be fun to take a canal trip like that.
We just finished watching Clarkson's Farm and really enjoyed that fellow's farming attempts in England. He was a riot sometimes.
I am so impressed with you taking up woodworking now! Have lots of fun!

INDYAPP:
Well thank you! I was in my woodworking phase during college and made a lot of stuff (rocking chairs, lamps, dulcimer, footstools, etc). We still use a lot of the things I made. I actually majored in Industrial Arts, which, sadly, barely exists in the real world anymore. I ended up teaching high school Drafting instead of woodworking, but did have a little shop class of rotating 7th graders where we did a little bit of stuff with wood. It was only a 6 week course, so not much got done. It was fun, the kids liked doing it. I never again had access to the type of machines they had at our college, so sort of lost interest and got into a crafty mode, then goat/mohair/fiber arts mode, then horsey mode. That is where I am today. Still stuck in horsey mode! So I haven't done anything with wood besides helping to build our houses since college. It was fun while it lasted, though!
Chainsaw work is beyond me! I always think of cutting off my foot. So good for you for doing that!!!
I don't think Ivan noticed the dragonflies over his head, or he didn't care if he did. Poor guy puts up with a lot, .

ELLEN:
Your lake sounds wonderful right now, it has been fairly hot the past few days. My sisters are coming here and renting a cabin on Claytor lake, nearby, and my job next week is to rent a pontoon boat for a day. I hope someone has one to rent, there are a couple of marinas on the lake.


NANCY LEE:
It is nice your friend has other horses you can ride. I do hope you find a sweet one you fall in love with.


We may get some rain off the hurricane tomorrow or Friday. Won't be much, it's supposed to go further east than us. Our pony and donkey farrier is coming tomorrow, so hopefully the rain will hold off for awhile.

After several really hot humid days, today was a welcome change. It was almost too cool, but at least it didn't rain.
It's Friday, late afternoon. All the weekenders are showing up. They'll keep things busy until 4:00 Sunday afternoon.

Enjoy the break, ELLEN.  Sit on your nice porch and watch what's going on below.  I'm glad your rain
has stopped and it's cool enough to open doors and windows.  We're still on heat restriction and no rain right here
as of today.  BUT, we shall see.

I observed my friend's horse in a clinic today.  She did very well and her new horse is going to work out well.
It's a Tennessee Walker with a superior disposition and she's very excited.  She is 50, so still a youngster.
It's certainly not for me........LOL. There's still a lot of work to be done, but it all just takes time.

I"m whupped................

Bye for now...............

ADDENDUM: Clinic started early and went from 6A-9A...................I left here at 5A to make certain I wasn't late.

Walkers certainly can give a nice ride, but I still prefer traditional gaits. Well, I think I would. I haven't been on a horse in several years. No opportunity.
My imagination gets some exercise as I watch racing. I am ride high in the stirrups, take a cross, and go galloping down the trail or track. Then, the real world re-emerges and I remember that was a loooooonnnnnggggg time ago.

Our new lady farrier came on Thursday before the rain. She did Trinket and Cactus very well. She is kind of a character! She specializes in donkeys and minis, which the farriers around here complain about doing.

Then we got some needed rain Thursday afternoon, and a little bit later. No wind off the hurricane made it here.

Today we went to WalMart and Rural King. At WalMart there was a young lady carrying around a very baby pitbull pup. I don't think that puppy was over 3 weeks old. When did it become okay to bring dogs into WalMart? It was cute, but too young to be away from its mother.

Then we went to Rural King to get a weedeater. I went over to the chicks and bunny isle and there was a lady carrying a baby Marmoset monkey! It was 4 weeks old. She went on to tell me it was removed from its mother at 2 weeks old so it would become a tame pet instead of mean and when I asked if monkeys could get Covid, she said they catch everything. Honestly. Getting people to wear masks at Rural King during the height of the epidemic was impossible. You know half the folks in there haven't had a shot and weren't wearing masks. That little monkey will be lucky not to catch something. It was about the size of a month old kitten. She paid $6500 for it. I hope it lives....

Then we went home and did several chores, including weedeating, and finally got settled in for the night after taking care of the barn, horses and chickens. At 9:45 pm our neighbors down the road about a mile called up and asked if we had any bute or Banamine, one of their two horses might be colicking and they couldn't get hold of their vets. So off we went to help with the horse, a big bay thoroughbred gelding named Nemo. He wasn't eating, his gut sounds were minimal, but he looked bright and wasn't showing pain and had no temperature problem. I gave him the bute and we hung around talking for awhile. Nemo started eating before the bute would have had time to kick in, so I suspect he might have had a bubble or something, but it may have passed. They will keep an eye on him overnight. Hopefully their vet will call them. That's why I use the vet school vets, there is always someone on duty there and they have all the latest technology and information at hand. Horses always have a problem after normal business hours or on a holiday.

ARK, did they call the vet for Nemo?

GRAYMARE:
They did call the vet, never got a reply. This morning Nemo seemed to be normal. That was lucky. They got up several times overnight to check on him, but he never had any more visible problems. I think the vet should leave word on an answering machine as to who to call if they aren't able to respond. Nemo's owners haven't lived here long and don't have much in the way of knowing where to turn.
Nemo's owner has MS and is no longer able to ride, or even walk. She used to do dressage. Her husband, who has a nice British accent, was a sailor and not a horse person. He does the best he can to take care of her two horses now. It's got to be hard for them both. Nemo is a TB, their other horse is a bay mix. Buddy is 30 years old and very friendly, but has EPM and stumbles a lot. He is not able to be ridden anymore. He was her special horse. Nemo was supposed to be her birth to upper levels dressage horse, but she got MS at about the time he was born 17 years ago. He is a pet. A very big pet.


I've been soaked once so far today. Now going out to feed for the night and dodging another storm.....