JULY 2021

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.....

I'm glad Nemo is fine.............I hope your neighbors consider a new vet. They seem to have had a bad couple of years.
I'm also proud that you & Donnie befriended them.

Oh man, did we get a storm............We lost two big branches off trees.........fortunately they didn't hit the
house. More rain is predicted..........

More tomorrow.............

Graymare, sounds like feast or famine with your rain. We got a bit more rain overnight, but nothing big.

I think I'd be looking for a new vet too, if the one I relied on never called back or gave any options. I'm so glad that Nemo is okay.

Where did everybody go? I'm talking to myself here.

ELLEN:
Still kicking. We are trying to get ready for my sisters coming in 2 weeks...( ) Windows to wash, house to declutter, boat to arrange, etc, etc. It's supposed to be a vacation. Today we are going over to the lake to check out the cabin and marina.


My riding friend's horse has had multiple abscesses in his rear left hoof. Poor guy was in extreme pain. It finally ruptured yesterday while the vet was there. No trail rides with her for awhile. I don't care much for her vet or farrier, but she loves them. I don't argue with her. The horse's trims are too long in the toe, which is probably what caused the abscesses. I would take the horse to Va Tech and have them do x-rays and a proper trim based on that. Then her farrier could take over again. She won't. The horse is 24 years old. After he is gone, she will be out of the horse biz.

We've been getting thunderstorms about every afternoon. The mugginess is incredible. We've not been in the 90s all week anyway.

Ark, around here, the pontoons are taking over. There are a lot more of them than boats now. Some of the manufacturers are creating super fancy pontoons that sell will into six figures. Very high powered motors and luxurious seating. There aren't any of those on these lakes, but the two bigger lakes have some of them.
I'm still a boat lover and have settled for the jet ski.

Hi guys.  Not much going on here in PA.  Storm after storm, sleeping on the couch with Ace almost every other night.  Poor dog, he was so scared he tried to get under the desk.  He lays right next to these two ceramic cats that George made to look like Tuffy & Sassy.  They are his protectors just like his cats were when they were alive.  Brings tears to my eyes to see him do that.  He misses his kitty friends.

Went to the eye doctor, had to wear a mask...when she asked me what letters I could read I said "NONE" she said "what?"  "I said my glasses are fogged up from this mask, I can't see a thing."  OK you can remove your mask.  Good grief...On a great note I don't need new glasses and all is well with my eyes except for the dry eye nightmare.  More drops and hot compresses.  Recheck in 3 months.

Stay safe and well everyone.  This morning is our coffee group with my girlfriends.

Hello All,

Not much happening here. One of those fancy boat making places is here in Elkhart. I always get a kick out of boats being made someplace that doesn't really have any water to speak of around. There are a couple of rivers and a smallish lake, but in my mind boats should be made someplace they can be tested and with a big marina. They probably get made here because of all the RV suppliers here. There is probably a lot of cross over in materials.

Reading about Nemo reminds me I need to call my vet and get Sophie some more bute powder to mix with applesauce. She's been tender footed lately. With all the rain we've had green grass has sprouted again and if there is a wisp of it in the pen, she will find it. Some day my vet is going to retire and then I'm going to be in a pickle.

It has definitely been soggy around here the last few days. I am not a fan of 90% humidity. My hair is always a bit curly, but it's been REALLY curly lately, so I got some of it cut off today.

My hair is nice and wavy, too, ELLEN.............

Our tree is about fixed up now.....pro's are coming Monday to finish up.

It's hot & humid here so just makes me blah. I mostly talk on the phone to my friends and eat sugar.
Boy, that's smart, huh?

Horses are fine and enjoy munching in the morning, coming in around 12-1 to stay in the shade.

Oh. I have a friend that just broke her hip at Disneyland.............tripped over a scooter. I don't
have all the details but she is in the hospital preparing for surgery........maybe already in surgery.
Oh gads, life is just one step from an injury when you get to be our age. So, I guess for now, beware
of scooters.

Graymare, if they do a complete hip replacement, she'll be up and going probably sooner than if they repair what she has.
I know that I will have to have my second hip replaced sometime in the not too distant future. I'll postpone it as long as I can, but I also know I'll be better off once it's done.

Wendy's frostee tonight....................MMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Boring hot day today...............it did rain tho, so that's good.

Had a couple of friends over for a visit and we chatted over the monsoon. At least we're not near
any fires, floods, tornadoes, or storms of any sort. We have had lots of flooding in the Phoenix areas.
Far more flooding up north.

So now I ask, masks or no masks...............I wear them when I'm out. We need more to get vaccinated
in AZ

It's that time of year.................

God bless..................

ELLEN:
We rented a pontoon that seats 8. There are 7 of us. We have it for 6 hours. They want to fish, I just want to float. Now we have to hope it doesn't rain that day. I should probably get some Dramamine or something. I get seasick very easily. Does that happen on a lake? Vicki, my sister, and I went on a gambling boat on the ocean for a four hour tour many years ago.. I spent the entire time trying not to disgrace myself by losing my dinner. Longest 4 hours in history. Didn't gamble at all.

TRUDY:
I'd love to see the cats that George made that looked like your kitties. Poor Ace. My dog is afraid of thunderstorms, too. And gunshots. He seems to think I can save him from both somehow.

GRAYMARE:
We got Frosties yesterday, too. Yum! We got those keychain tags for free junior Frosties with any meal at Wendy's the first of the year. We have made up our money on those, and we keep ourselves from getting much larger Frosties with them. Facemasks: We are going to start wearing them again indoors, Virginia's infection rate is starting to climb due to the delta variant. We were down to 1.5 or so and now are over 3. I can't understand anyone not getting vaccines when people are dying of a preventable disease. Supposedly those vaccinated won't die of the delta variant, in all probability, but can get sick. So masks it is!

INDYAPP:
Both my favorite horse vets are leaving this month. One retiring and the other moving out West. I hate that they are leaving. I use the Va Tech vets, so will have someone, but like those two. The older one is the best lameness vet I have ever dealt with. He saved Kazi for many years after she got severe laminitis. He will be hard to replace.

We are still cleaning, cleaning, de-cluttering, cleaning, rearranging furniture, hanging artwork and quilts differently, and more cleaning. I actually washed all the windows yesterday. They are amazingly clean and I found a method that was quick and easy! We hope to shine up our tile floors in a day or two. Everyone should have visitors after having NO ONE in their house for over a year. I have two weeks left to get things done.

Ark, most pontoons have a canopy that you can put up overhead to protect from sun or rain. A pontoon is very stable and won't give you much wave movement, so motion sickness shouldn't be much of a problem. Since I don't have that problem, I am sure no expert on the subject, but I've heard that keeping some food in your stomach will help. That's why cruise lines keep food available all the time. Also, since you will be outside rather than inside like on a cruise ship, you'll have the horizon to keep you oriented.
I know what you mean about having people come being a good incentive to house cleaning. Been there done that.
For the shiny floors, try a steam mop. I have high gloss floors and it took me a long time to find a way to clean them that didn't leave a cloudy film. Amazon sells the Shark steam mop for about $50. It was worth every penny. Quick and easy to use, and the mop covers are washable and reuseable.

I will spend this week getting ready for a whole bunch of cousins to come this weekend to stay for a week. They have rented two large houses here on the lake. A good time will be had by all.

ELLEN:
Which Shark steam cleaner did you get? You have us inspired and we don't want to get the wrong one. We like our tile floors, but they are hard to keep from being cloudy when mopped. There seem to be a bunch of them on Amazon and at WalMart's website. Thanks for the help!!

Ark, this is the one I got. Very easy to use and works very well. The small water container lasts for quite a while, but is easily popped off and refilled. It only takes a few seconds for the water to heat enough to be steam.
I always empty mine if I don't use all the water, but I don't know that I'd have to do that. I just know that my water has lots of lime and iron, so I'd rather that didn't stay in it.
It comes with two mop pads, but you can easily buy more if you need them. I just washed mine and it came through the laundry just fine.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0768ZC23W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

ELLEN:
Thanks!  We ran over to WalMart and found one!  We have tried it out on a stretch in our livingroom and it works great!!  After it dried, we put on a tile shine product and it looks brand new.     It's going to take awhile to do the entire house, we have about 1600 sq ft of tile, then the tv room and 2 small bedrooms in carpet.  Once it's done, it should be much easier to maintain than what we have been doing. Thanks again!!

TRUDY:
 Got your pix!  Very cute cats, George did a great job!  Poor Ace, I bet he does miss his friends.

More storms yesterday.  Another night of couch sleeping until around 1.  Poor Ace, he is so stressed by all these storms.  Our neighbors house was hit by lightening, it blew the curtains off of the windows and up rooted a tree in another neighbors yard.  On my way to church on Sunday I counted 7 HUGE tree uprooted.  What a July this has been.  I'm getting stressed myself.  When the storm hit on Saturday, I jumped off the couch, George jumped up and hid behind George, his other protection.

Ace's cats are cast iron, George made them when he worked at Watsontown Foundry and he painted them to look like Sassy & Tuffy.  They have become Ace's protectors just like when they were alive, they slept with him on his dog bed.  I know where to look for him when I hear thunder.

I have 2 Shark vacuums.  They are great for dog hair.  Got rid of the big old Kirby, replaced it with 2, one for upstairs and one for downstairs.  No lugging vacuums up and down the stairs any longer.

Today is supposed to be storm free...I don't believe a word the weatherman says any more.  He doesn't have a clue.  I'm becoming Amish...look out the window or look for Ace.   LOL

Ark, I'm so glad the steam mop is working for you.  

Trudy, have you ever tried a thundershirt for Ace?  I've heard those help dogs that are nervous about storms.

Wow!  I just watched Jeff Bezos do his space launch.  They went up 66.5 miles.  And back down, safely, in about 8 minutes.  The passengers were Bezos, his brother, an 18 year old kid, and an 81 year old woman who wanted to be an astronaut 61 years ago.
I'm not a huge fan of Bezos, but he and the other billionaires will show that private enterprise and competition will get things done more efficiently than government.

Very exciting in space today...............it's all foreign to me.  I'm sure not brave enough to consider
being an astronaught but it is all fascinating to me.

I'm watching the Suns play the Milwaukee Bucks...........REALLY exciting basketball.

I have to go.....the game is too exciting............

Addendum: We lost.............

ARK, have fun on the pontoon. Here is a silly question from someone who knows nothing about boats other than they float. Is a pontoon boat and a deck boat the same thing? I went to a picnic a few weeks ago and we went out on a deck boat and motored around the little lake. I really enjoyed it and can see why so many people enjoy living on water. This boat wasn't designed to go fast, no water skiing or anything like that. It was a beautiful evening and 6 women and a little wine, it was great.

Poor ACE. Everything about that picture says I'm scared.


Saturday I decided to work on an area of the yard that I've been ignoring because there is a fence and a hill and it's just a pain to mow. I got it in my mind that I was going to tear out all the weeds, vines and volunteer trash trees that have taken up residence. I started yanking out vegetation only to anger the ground bees that I didn't realize had also taken up residence. I was hot and I bent over and put my hands on my knees to catch my breath and managed to catch an agree bee between my gloved hand and my knee. That really made the bee mad. By the time I realized I had angry bees buzzing me the one between my hand and my knee really stung me and another got me on my arm. Fortunately I had jeans on and not shorts. I immediately left the area and the angry bees behind. Also fortunately I didn't have any horrible reaction to the stings. Sometimes I have really bad reactions to mosquito bites. So there is one section of the area I wanted to clear out still weed (and bee) infested, but the rest looks good. I'll circle back to that area another time when I have bee spray. Or not.

Indy, a pontoon boat has two or three long aluminum tubes (pontoons) with the deck built on top of them. Most are not too fast, although some people are putting HUGE motors on them. A deck boat has a boat hull that sits down in the water with a large area of deck on top. A pontoon boat sits well on top of the water, while a deck boat sits down in the water.
To give you more information than you want, some of the upscale pontoons are like a living room on the water. Very plush seating, motorized canopies, and twin 300 horsepower motors.

INDYAPP:
 I am sure glad ELLEN answered the boat question.  I didn't have a clue!  I know what a pontoon boat looks like (think water landing airplanes only boats), but never heard of a deck boat before.
 So sorry about the bees!  I hear they are bad this year, lots of talk on horsey sites.  Years ago my Great Pyrenees puppy, Dragon, bumbled over a nest of them while we were sitting in some woods overlooking the road crew working on our road at our former place.  The dog and I would go out with my goats about every day.  Anyway,  Dragon got into the ground nest which swarmed over him and me.   He didn't have enough sense to run, but I ran screaming down the hill, leaped over a 4 foot fence and landed in the road in front of an astonished road crew, who didn't know I was up in the woods above them.  Bees were under my shirt, and of course I wasn't wearing a bra, so I ran screaming down the road beating myself up without taking off the shirt since the embarrassment would have been worse than the bees.  I am sure they thought I was a crazy person.  I got stung 20 times.  Poor Dragon finally ran off, his entire head swelled up, but both of us recovered.  


ELLEN:
 The floor is going well.  Donnie is getting into it, I think he has a second career awaiting him as a tile floor cleaner/polisher.  He has about half the living room done and today is working on the kitchen.   Not a stick of furniture is where it should be.

Ark, your floor looks great! Those steam mops are a great invention. My floor shines like new with nothing but steam. Well, new with some scratches; that's the bad part about high gloss wood floors.

Here's another little trick I learned the other day. My kitchen rugs are very stiff and won't fit in my washer well enough to get clean. I laid them out on the concrete driveway and went after them with the pressure washer. Then, they laid outside in the sun to dry. It did a much better job of cleaning than I expected.
They are old and inexpensive, so if they had been ruined, it wouldn't have been a big loss. Nice gain that they didn't get torn up and are clean.

ELLEN
Donnie loves that steam cleaner. We are slow, we had never seen these before. We rented a Stanley Steamer many years ago to do carpet at our old place and ruined a carpet, so we haven't been very interested since. This little steamer works great!
That's a good idea about the carpets. We have our living room rug out on the porch waiting to come back in. It would be a good time to do that.

Today we have smoke from the fires out west here, it is hazy and the air quality isn't good. Amazing.