August 2023

Welcome to August!



Giant sea turtle meets horses on Outer Banks, NC last month.

Ark, you always find the BEST pictures! I love them. Thank you.

Thanks AEK...........

Love the pictures ARK.

Thank you all for the cyber hugs and good thoughts, they mean a lot.

Yesterday took Bill for his second cataract surgery. He has steroid eye drops he has to put in both eyes. The first week post op is 4 times a day, second week 3X, third week twice and fourth week once a day. Because his surgeries were a week apart his right eye is getting this drop 3x a day and the left eye 4. On top of the steroid drop he has a lubricating drop that each eye gets 4 x a day. I have this chart to keep track of when each eye gets what drop. I never heard anyone talk about post op treatment so I never gave it any thought. I never thought it would be this much of a pain.

Indy, I had one drop a day for my eyes after cataract surgery. They gave me a chart that I could fill in each day. Naturally, the first eye started the drops immediately, and then the second eye was done a week later. Each one had drops for 28 days. Considering how much better I could see, it was worth it. Hang in there. You are doing a great job taking care of your brother.

Best wishes on your trip ARK & DONNIE.....................

I'm looking forward to hearing about Ark and Donnie's trip.

I spent a couple of hours last night working on mowing the pasture. It was very pleasant as the sun was behind the trees for the most part. Unfortunately I discovered that the deer had run through the electric fence and one of the strands broke and the deer drug it out into the field. I heard the odd "Twang" and immediately stopped before it got caught up in the mower. So I can add restringing a strand of fence to my list of things to do. Good news is I got the fence all picked up before I did any damage to either the mower or the tractor.

I also discovered that being a good neighbor can have unexpected results. I told you this spring I let the neighbors in the back have a cement truck go through my field to pour a slab. I didn't realize just how heavy the cement truck would be and just how deep the ruts would be from driving through the field. Not huge ones, but big enough to add a decided bounce to the tractor as I mowed over them. I won't be agreeing to do that again.

Indy, you can be glad you don't have a concrete truck as a permanent pasture ornament. It would have been nice if they had come back and leveled it out.

On a train almost to Chicago. Got on after 1a.m. In Cincinnati. Fun, so far, but learning how to sleep in a moving train with its horn going all night has been an adventure. We switch trains in Chicago and will be in a sleeper car to Flagstaff. We’ll get there Sunday night. Folks on the train have been very nice! Stay tuned…….

Ark, I'll wave as your train goes through Indiana.


Today is Whitney race day at Saratoga. Cody's Wish will be running. The boy, Cody, is there. Once again, the 5-year-old racing stallion showed what a sweet horse he is. They led him out to see Boy Cody and once again, Horse Cody dropped his head into his lap. He definitely remembers the boy. It's very sad to see the boy who can feel so much excitement but cannot display it at all.
Richie Migliori, a very successful retired jockey, said he wouldn't believe it if he hadn't seen it.
Guess who the world is hoping wins the race this afternoon. There are some other good horses in that race.
It will be aired on Fox. They will cover racing starting at 3:00, with the big race going off at 5:42.

And that's why I don't "play the ponies". I was really hoping he could win one more.

Still on a train, the Southwest Chief. We just got outta Dodge….

KC ia decent place...............You're getting there..............how's your bunk?

Getting sleep on a moving train in a terrible storm wasn’t possible. I had the top bunk and spent the night holding onto the safety harness to keep from being thrown out of the bunk. No rest for the wicked. There was a terrible windy storm.
We are doing the Grand Canyon today.

Ark, I hope you have a good visit to the Grand Canyon. It's such a beautiful and unusual place to see.

The last two evenings they had the Saratoga yearling sale. A colt by Curlin and out of Beholder brought $4 MILLION!!!
A colt by Into Mischief out of All American Dream (by Pharoah) sold for $3.2 MILLION!
That's a LOT of money for a horse. I can't even imagine that.

Talk about having a lot riding on a horse. And a yearling at that. I have trouble wrapping my mind around the fact that backyard horses are now selling for thousands of dollars. I can't remember the last time I saw a horse for sale for under $1,000. Won't be much longer and the only ones that will be able to afford to have a horse are the uber rich. Fifty dollars for a trim, a hundred plus for shoes, vet bills, feed, hay etc. and that's just basics. More for unexpected vet calls, competitions or even just to go camping. It's a good thing my guys are in the back yard and I have a good hay guy.

I haven't ridden in ages but I sure do enjoy them coming up to me when I'm out there just to get loved on.

Indy, I remember back in the dark ages when I was a little kid that only "rich" people had horses. In our tiny small town, NObody had a horse. There was one guy who had one horse. He had been a rodeo cowboy for a few years and brought the horse home with him. That did not even make a dent in how much I wanted one.
I was nearly 17 when my parents finally decided that it was not a novelty to me and relented.
Shortly after that, several people in the area got horses and I was no longer the only one. At that time, $300 was a lot for a riding horse. Shoeing was $25, but the shoer told my dad how to do it, so that expense went away. Hay was 50 cents a bale and I had to ride my horse to a barn two neighbors away to drag a bale home.
Yeah. Things have changed just a bit.

Just sitting here waiting for Ark to check in. I hope they had a good trip.

Only I could screw up shipping an envelope by Fed Ex. I need to send some medical reports and images for Dan to the doctor in Chicago. I went on line, filled out all the information, who it's from, where it's going, charged it to my credit card, e-mailed the receipt to myself and printed the label. When I was looking over the label, the ship to address is something completely different than what I typed? I tried the virtual on-line help and got no where. It took me three tries to get a representative on the telephone. He then tells me that the address cannot be fixed without sending the package out. Wait WHAT? Evidently somehow I told the system that I wanted the package held at the FedEx sorting center in Chicago. I have no idea how I did it. The correct address is on my receipt. I now have to send my package out, and then call Fed Ex after they have the package in their system to get the address changed. Unless, of course, I want to reenter it into the system and pay again. I sure hope this works. I'll keep you posted.

It's been very quiet from ARK. I hope she is super busy and having a wonderful time. I've always wanted to go to the Grand Canyon. I'd like to do the mule ride. I understand you have to book your ride a couple of years in advance.

FedEx used to be a really great reliable company. Notice the words 'used to be'. In the last two or three years, I've had some problems getting things delivered.

We are home!  We got here Saturday evening and have been basically in a state of collapse since then.  We do what needs to be done, then crash for awhile.  Vacations, preceded by intense house cleaning, are not relaxing!  

We did have a great time.  We've wanted to do a long distance train ride for a long time and Donnie had never seen the Grand Canyon from the ground.  He had flown over it several times.   It was well worth the visit!   He was amazed.    I was there in 1970 and there weren't the crowds and park facilities that they have now, but it was still nice.  

The Amtrak tour package took care of almost everything for us.  Meals and hotel stays were all included, along with the 60 mile train ride from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon....which got robbed by bandits on horseback.     It was a lot of fun.  

Sleeping on a train is an adventure in itself.  We ended up fairly sleep deprived from the movement and noise, and leaving or arriving at 3 a.m.  several times didn't help.   We gained at least 5 pounds each from the great food.   What we didn't know was that we HAD to check our luggage, we thought we could carry it on the train.  So we wore the same clothes we had on for 2 1/2 days.  I am going to burn the shirt I wore!  We were all a bit rumpled by the time we got to Flagstaff.

My dog hasn't let me out of his sight since I got home.  My cats are all over us.  Even Ivan has been exceptionally lovable since we got back.  I think they missed us.  All the animals survived and the pet sitter did a good job.  Our neighbor, James, took care of Shadow and then mowed our yard!!  We didn't expect that.   We got t-shirts for him and his wife and baby...and my sister Annie and the pet sitter.  Carrying breakables on a train isn't recommended.  

 My sister, Vicki, and husband, Danny....Donnie and me.  Grand Canyon.

Ark, I'm glad you enjoyed your trip. I know I will never forget some of the scenery of the Grand Canyon. I hope you took lots of pictures so you can relive the trip many times.