MAY 2023

Yay Jamie................you rock!!! We'll keep praying for more good news...............

Hurray for Jamie!!!


Remember when that truck hit our house a few years ago? One of the things it damaged was our tv hanging on that wall. It actually put a curve into the tv and caused several lines to appear on the screen. It threw the tv off the wall into the couch we had been sitting on 10 minutes earlier.
We looked for months for a replacement for it, Donnie gets into researching stuff like that. So we ended up watching our curved, broken lined tv for several months before we finally got a new one and put it on the opposite wall away from the outside. The next truck will have to travel clear thru the house to hit the new tv. Anyway, the good news for ELLEN, I think, is that the price of the big screen t.v.s has really dropped. It sort of makes us queasy to see the same size screen we bought now about a third of the price we paid for it. But our tv is still going strong and we love it. I hope it lives many more years!

I rode Areion today for 2.1 miles. She wasn't quite as spooky as yesterday, but had some moments, it is still cool here. We are now at 24.3 miles on the Virtual Tevis trail and have passed the famous Cougar Rock. If you'd like to see the real Cougar Rock, go to: https://teviscup.org/goal_cougarrock/

Ark, you're sure right about the prices on TVs dropping.  Back when I bought the last one, I considered anything like I just bought completely out of my price range.  This one is bigger and better than the last one for about the same price.  
At the moment, it is still sitting in the box waiting for my good neighbors to hang it on the wall for me.

Later:  We made progress.  It is out of the box and sitting on legs on the floor.  The bolts that hold the bracket are too long.  As soon as I get shorter ones we'll hang it on the wall.


Well, no Triple Crown this year. Mage just couldn't get the job done.

Johnny Velasquez did a GREAT job.  I don't care anything about racing politics any more but
he was great..........AND, he's 58............GO Johnny.

Also, 3rd in the Preakness isn't bad..............

Jockeys are tough little guys. Mike Smith is still riding well at 57, after two knee replacements. Jon Court is still riding at 62. It takes a special kind of tough to keep riding those unpredictable young horses.

Where is everybody? It seems odd without the regulars.

Everyone have a good evening.

Donnie's making hay in the lower field, I have been walking, walking, walking Areion. She was acting a bit off today and we finally decided she is either in heat or going into heat. Daisy is definitely in heat. We are up to 27.5 miles on our Virtual Tevis Cut ride, most of the last 4 miles has been hand walking. On a good note, i can definitely feel myself getting stronger. The exercise is good for me.

Ark, great going!  You're more than a quarter of the way there.

The next day:  I made a Wally World run this morning.  There is a lot of hay being cut all around this area.  We've had good rain and some dry days ahead, so it should make for some good hay.

Pizza night at the hotel. Yum! They don't do the half-price-pizza night anymore, but the pizza is still good.

Still here, enjoying keeping track of you all off and on.
 
And I'm always amazed, after watching news reports about horrendous weather events, that we all seem to have escaped them thus far.  That's good!
 
The warmer weather has me back in my workshop. Took me forever but last week I finally finished another marshmallow crossbow, this one for my PCP doctor. She's new to me, and I haven't yet decided whether she's actually crossbow-worthy, but I loved getting back to playing with all my woodworking tools. The job should have been a breeze, but when I used the drill press to make the hole for the firing pin, I failed to clamp the stock in place, so the hole ended up out of alignment. No matter, I thought at the time; I'll make allowances for that with the pin. Ha! Hours and hours and hours of fiddling and fudging and fuming later, I made adaptations that make it work just fine. This week I'll add a stain and some finish for delivery at my next appointment on June 8.  I told her I'd make her one only if she'd promise to contract with me for 5 more years of life (mine)-- or 10, if we both can stand it.
 
Speaking of which, I should get pics of myself working around here. I gave up on getting a portable O2 concentrator (very expensive) and bought a backpack for the O2 canister instead. I don't need it in the house (if you don't count huffing and puffing up to the second floor), but now I wear it all the time out of doors. Makes me look, I think, like some kind of grotesque gnome. But it affords me a degree of normalcy, and that makes me a happy gnome!
 
Forsythia blossoms a little past here, but lilacs and fruit trees now in full bloom, lawns all come back to life, and almost all trees fully-leaved and making the world hereabouts richly green, green, green.
 
Tomorrow I make the 50-mile drive to put geraniums on the family grave behind the church where my paternal grandfather was minister for a few years in the 1890s.  Looking forward to that Memorial Day backward glance...

Hi BEECH, so good to see you...........very sorry you have oxygen problems at times. I hope you're PCP
knows how special the marshmallow crossbow is...........and you are, too.

Sorry you have to make that drive tomorrow but it's admirable of you to do it. I'm in AZ and my family is
buried ni Illinois.......in different areas. I still remember them prayerfully with respect and treasure
my heritage items from them.

It was a calm pleasant day today about 90 with a gentle breeze. Lot of hard work this Saturday
tossing the junk (literally junk) out of our garage........then city will come get the small dumpster.
I dread it but it needs to get done.

Prime rib steaks grilled on Sunday, leftovers on Monday.................

Everyone have a great evening...............

Good to see you here, Beech.  I'm glad to hear that you are back in your workshop.

Nothing too much going on around here.  A friend came yesterday.  We ate lunch, hauled the old TV to recycle, talked and watched the new TV.  She helped me "shop" for it.  LOL

 




Today is mowing day.  With the tractor I can go down the hill, mow three yards and be back in the house in 20 minutes.  I love my tractor.  

We're soooo tired! We put up 106 bales of hay today, racing to beat a possible thunderstorm. It didn't make it here, but got close. The last load of hay is still on the trailer with a tarp over it, we'll put it in the hay building tomorrow. The hay comes at a good time, I was down to 3 bales.


We took the mares to Va Tech yesterday for trims. Both seem to be doing well. They both got their teeth floated, too. Areion was especially good this time, even when a very handsome TB gelding walked right past her on his way to his hoof trim. She gave him a good looking over, then minded her own business. Usually she would get very hyper, but was quite calm about him. Daisy didn't pay any attention to the guy. It must have been humbling for such a handsome fellow.

BEECH:
Good to see you! Glad you made it thru your Maine winter. I bet your oxygen contraption makes you look like an astronaut, not a gnome! I am happy you are getting around better. Your doctor/friend will love that marshmallow crossbow!

ELLEN:
I put your tv photo in your last post. NICE!!! Happy watching!

GRAYMARE:
Yum! Grilled steaks sound wonderful. Now that the hay is done, I have got to get to the store and find something special for this weekend.

My new saddle girth is supposed to arrive tomorrow, Friday, and hopefully I can get back to riding Areion again. She seems in a better mood now.

That's a beautiful TV, ELLEN...............it fits well on your wall. AND, I love the Discovery picture. Mine isn't
as big but it's beautiful. Glad it's finally up and wish you many happy hours watching.

I'm not so sure that the new TV is a good thing. I think it might be addictive

Trust me.  It will be.................



We're 80. SO WHAT.

Ahhhh. Home. I love my cousins and I love visiting with them, but it is soooo good to get home. One of the third cousins graduated from high school and they had a big party for her. She deserves it. She been honor roll all the way through, and National Honor Society, state winner in weightlifting for her age and size and is now accepted in college for the fall. She has always been a really good kid, never causing any problems ever.

Turn on the TV to the Washington DC concert and relax................

Summer has begun.  There were lots of boats and pontoons out on the lakes today.  My cousin and her husband and boys ("little" Alex, 6'3") came to put in my dock and jet ski lift.  So is the jet ski.  Tomorrow will be my first ride of the summer.    YEA!!!

I hope everyone had a good Memorial Day, remembering why we have it.  I appreciate all those who have given their lives and parts of themselves so that we can have a free country.  I wish that younger people could understand that.

We had a wet and relaxed weekend. It has rained 4.8 inches here in the last 48 hours. We finally got the barn cleaned up this evening after it stopped raining. It was a mess. After that, I walked Areion 1.1 miles in the arena. The drainage in the arena is pretty good, all the puddles had gone before we did our walk.

Tomorrow we are taking Shadow, our collie, to a new vet. He is 11 years old and starting to slow down. I suspect he needs his teeth cleaned and maybe some kind of arthritis supplement. He seems pretty healthy, but it would be nice to hold off any big problems. He still runs around, but not nearly as much and you can tell his rear legs aren't as strong as they used to be. He's such a good dog. The last vet retired and I don't care for the new management, so we are changing to a more local one.

How's Shadow?

GRAYMARE:
Shadow is in pretty good shape for 11 years old. He's a fairly large dog at 79 pounds and is showing his age. He will be getting his teeth cleaned in mid-July and he is starting on a mild pain killer for the arthritis in his legs tomorrow. Hopefully those two things will bring the spring back in his step. The new vet seems quite nice and has been a vet for 20 years, so should know a few things.


I rode Areion a mile this evening with the new saddle set-up. It needs a few strap adjustments and the stirrups lowered a little, but worked pretty well.

I'm glad to hear that Shadow is doing well.  

It is a BEAUTIFUL day in the neighborhood this morning.  About 75, crystal clear blue sky, no wind, and a jet ski that goes fast and makes me smile.  

My cousins are big Cincinnati Reds fans. They went to a home game a couple of weeks ago. This is the link to the post game fireworks and drone show. I was able to go to YouTube and stream it on my TV. I think it's a really neat show. Programming all those 200 drones must have taken almost forever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLjA-hVSXJE

I really like the drone light shows. Some have some incredible displays. I'll go look at this one, ELLEN.


Time to change the calendar. It's June and summer time. Our weather doesn't show it much, it's fairly cool.

Go to:

https://horsefriends.forumotion.com/t144-june-2023#15119