Spring Is Coming

With each passing day, the sun is rising earlier and setting later.  Snow is melting and flowers are emerging.  The days are getting warmer and the reality that spring is coming, is more tangible.  Thankfully, the worst of winter is behind us.
Winters can be difficult, especially if you have horses to care for.  Fortunately, our Tennessee winters aren't too brutal for too long.  And this winter Joe and I 'lucked out' missing the worst of it while on our cruise.  

Patty sure had a time of it while we were gone.
Having horses isn't always fun, romantic, or beneficial to a person’s mental, emotional, or physical well-being.  
This narrative sure rings true:
By Jill McCabe - "Horse ownership isn’t always therapeutic. Sometimes it’s just exhausting. Winter is hard and responsibility is heavy. Short days. Long mud. Frozen taps. Wet gloves that never dry. Everything takes twice as long and gives half the reward. What once felt grounding can start to feel relentless. The therapeutic part of horses is not constant calm. It is showing up anyway. It is quiet moments that happen despite the exhaustion, not because of a picture-perfect version of it. If winter has you questioning yourself, you are not failing. You are just in the season where survival mode does more of the talking than romance. Spring will come."







Actually, now with spring coming, so will the thawing and rains.  The potential for a muddy mess is very real.  We do what we can to manage water run-off and high traffic areas that get muddy.  

Saturday 2/14 - I was moving a little slow this morning, having been out late dancing, the night before.  

Joe and I left for Murfreesboro just after 11:30, and arrived at Dan and Vale's at 1:15.








Layla was napping and Ava wanted to go for a walk, so off Joe and I went with her, going just over a mile.  It felt good to move after sitting (well I was laying down napping most the way) in the car.  

 
Ava showed us all the Valentines she'd gotten at pre-school the day before. 










Then we went shopping for tea bags at the Dollar Store, five minutes away, because I forgot to pack any and would need a good black tea in the morning.  Ava had fun picking out a few things for herself as well, and Papaw paid the bill.



Layla woke from her nap shortly after we got back from our little shopping trip, and just about her first reaction to me, was to start crying.  Wahhh.  I may have come on too strong, and she wasn't fully awake, but really, she just didn't recognize me and I must have looked a little bit scary.


Once she was happily playing in her 'play pen,' I went in and laid down to interact with her.

Before long, we were having fun playing.  




It's difficult to capture the action in focus.  


Dan and Vale's date night included dinner and movie, so Joe bought carry out Chinese for just us and the girls.  Layla waiting for her noodles. 




We got an update from Patty, that she, Karen, and Joanne had an enjoyable ride on Zorro, Cash, and Rico.  



She went on to say that the boys were well behaved during their four mile outing.



Their day had been like ours, 65° and overcast.  Not bad for this time of year.





Patty picked up Maggie at our house on her way home.




Soon the dog was sharing her bed and chillin' with Ellie.  











After the girls got their bath, we had the nightly dance party.  As I said in the post of this (video), it's always so heart warming to see Dan and Vale, with their two precious daughters.  These parents are so wonderful, loving, and fun.
  

It's not exactly a calming activity before bed, but a chance to release any pent up energy and serve as an after dinner constitutional.

Layla was put to bed, Dan and Vale headed out on their date, and Papaw and Nana watched a 30 minute episode on TV with Ava.  

I tucked Ava in, read her a story, and was in bed myself before 9pm.  

The only 'difficulty' Joe and I had, was that the power went off from 9:30 to 11:30 and the baby monitor stopped working for those two hours.  But both girls slept through the night.

Sunday 2/15 - Dan and Vale hadn't gotten home until after 2am, yet Vale was up giving Layla a bottle when I got up at 6:30.  

Once Layla was done and changed, I joined her in the playpen and Vale went back to bed.  What a cutie patootie (video). 



Ava was up a little later and joined Layla and I in the playpen.  







Yaneth had taken this photo last weekend, put this was part of the play also this morning.  Peek- a-boo.  Fluffy Kitty was peering in at Layla and I at one point.  

It was a very rainy day (at Dan's and at home), not too cold, but very wet.  Dan, Papaw and Ava went for a walk in the rain while Layla and Kitty napped.

Layla loves 'running' around in this walker, and is quite proficient at it.  She goes forward and backwards, can spin and turn, an maneuvers around corners.  She is quite good at chasing Ava.





In this photo, Ava has gone partway up the stairs to play on her 'Tablet' so Layla can't get her.  

We took everyone to lunch before heading home, driving in the rain the whole way.

We picked up Maggie at Patty's and had a quiet, rest of the day, at home.
 

Monday 2/16 - President's Day.  

I didn't take any photos all day, except the one below, from Eric Alan Soldahl's book about his life. 

He went on to explain about these additional healthy tips: *Exercise, *Avoid prescription drugs if possible, *Less sugar, *Limit alcohol, *Laughing, *20-30 Minutes of sunshine per day, *Communicate, *Forgiveness, *Sing songs of gratitude, *Walk in nature, *Get out of debt, and  **DRINK WATER - Jesus is the living water.  

My day was typical of most; blogged, computer games, worked out at gym (although it was wimpy because I was too tired) and rode.  Jan, Karen and I went out together... but it was slow and short because all three horses acted so tired and sluggish.  They'd probably had a rough day and night, with all the rain we had gotten; and maybe they were too warm. (It was 65°)  

I picked up sticks in the yard for an hour and then totally missed a beautiful sunset (reported by nearby friend) because I was in the shower.  

Dan's sent above photo of the girls with their sunset and Courtney replied with this photo of her view. 
Joe grilled and we enjoyed a dinner together.

Tuesday 2/17 - Fat Tuesday: marking the final day of Mardi Gras Carnival and the last, indulgent celebration before the 40-day Lenten season begins tomorrow.

Fat is how I have been feeling lately.  I put on two pounds during the cruise and they are still with me, but also, for some reason I have had a lot of bloating.  I plan to take action.  




I had a better morning workout than yesterday.  I did legs and abs., followed by an hour on the elliptical.  When stretching though, I kind of strained my epigastric abdominal muscles or the rectus abdominis.  

I got to the ranch mid-afternoon, to start on chores.  Joe arrived a little later, after golf, and we started the process of putting in three fence posts, because we need better fencing (that Rico won't break through) for our upper paddock.  
Patty had arrived just as we started our second hole that the gate post goes into, so needs to be extra deep. 








We quickly ran into some rock and had to re-adjust our hole placement, making it larger to dig out a few of the rocks.  Patty took these (videos: #1,  #2,  and  #3) and then helped us get the last two posts plumb as we cemented them in. 

The third hole had gone quick and easy once we established where exactly to put it.  Although here we had a lot of wet, gooey clay that stuck to boots and shovels.  



This will be the corner post.









I had taken Maggie with us, who hung out in the house with Debra and Pugsley after running around outside for a while.

Maggie and I got home just before 6pm.

Bedtime is always welcomed, especially after a day of hard work.  And the Tylenol PM was an added bonus.

Wednesday 2/18 - Ash Wednesday: the first day of Lent in the Western Christian Church, with services of repentance and marking the foreheads of penitents with ashes.  It marks the beginning of the Lenten season, which continues for 40 days (Actually 46 this year with excluding Sundays and Holy days) leading up to Easter. It is a solemn period of fasting, and prayer, symbolizing Jesus's 40 days in the wilderness.
I have not done anything for Lent in several years, but have decided to give up sweets this year.  It will do me good.  
 

Why is sugar bad - it promotes cancer growth, obesity, chronic inflammation, and insulin resistance.  It drives heart and fatty liver disease, causes severe energy crashes, and tooth decay.  I love candy, cookies, and anything sweet!  Every time I crave it over Lent, I will say a prayer, so this will also draw me closer to God.  




I was again at the gym earlier than usual, to do an hour on the elliptical, shower, and then get to 'The Cabin' by 11am.  I met up with Patty, Karen, and Jan (who was treating us to lunch).  






The only two photos I took today were of the displays of these taxidermy mounts at the restaurant. 

We ladies enjoyed a delicious meal and talked (just about nonstop) for the two hours we were there.

This last photo is one of many Linda Sue took and shared with me today.

From lunch, I went to town to do my big shopping.  We had a wet drizzle all day with winds that really picked up by the time the day ended.  Is spring coming?

Joe and I watched a movie after dinner, with the fire going, giving ambiance and warmth to the room, and drawing our pets in.

Thursday 2/19 - I had woke up at 1:30am.  Unable to get back to sleep because I'd had five hours, I finally got up at 2:15.  I usually take an early morning nap when this happens, but was never sleepy enough to do so. 

I did get in a decent workout from 8:00 - 10:30.  
After an early lunch, Joe and I went to the ranch, he to work on fencing and I to work with Patty on some inside home repairs.  



First we determined the problem with Debra's closet door that got broke.  The pivot pin at the bottom of the bi-fold door came out because the wood had gotten damaged.

Then we re-glued the wood transition strip that had partly come loose, first scraping all the old adhesive off the floor.

Lastly, we determined one laundry room light bulb was burnt out and the other was 'dieing,' so we got the information for bulb replacement.  






We gave Joe some in-put on fencing decisions and then mounted this blue bird house on the new post by the house yard.  





Joe had completely removed the old paddock fencing, and when we let Amiga and Zorro back into the area, they went along the old fence line, investigating it.  They were also eating some of the longer grass that they had not been able to get to because it was under the former electric rope line.


Joe had gone home earlier so I helped Patty with chores and later got a ride home with her.


These two boys were ready to eat, as was Cowboy, who was already down in the shed waiting.  





I had 'hit the wall' or 'crashed' while helping down at the barn, so went in to work on the puzzle while Patty finished chores up by the house.

Patty took this photo before we headed home, the sun was mostly out, and it felt like spring.  The morning had been gray and drizzly, but it cleared somewhat in the afternoon, with some partial sunshine.

Once home, I had to put the clean sheets from the drier, onto our bed, before I could hit the hay.  I didn't even make it till 8pm... it was lights out at 7:30.  

Friday 2/20 - I was woken up by a storm at 3:30.  I was wide awake, having gotten my preferred eight hours of sleep.  It sounded like we were getting a little bit of hail along with very strong wind.  I got up to look outside, and then started my day.

While walking into The Center to get some copies made for a perspective new boarder, I noticed all these little green shoots, ready to spring up and produce flowers.  

On my way home, driving up Lakeview towards Druid, I took these two photos.  

They show the ugly concrete retaining wall, rather than what I hoped and thought, would be a view of the beautiful new club house, up on the hill.  

This Facebook photo shows a view of the current progress of the clubhouse, looking up the 9th fairway at it.  The retaining wall (red arrow points to it) is coming out at ground level from the right side of the building.
Below is a view of the other side of the club house from the road at the top of the hill.   

While parked to take the photos, Debra called to say the ranch refrigerator was not working, at all, and all her frozen food was thawing.  So rather than wait till later in the morning to go out to the ranch, Joe and I got there by 9am.  


Debra had loaded up her car with frozen food to take to her friends house.  The two of them were on their way out of town for the weekend.  We helped empty out the rest of her food into a cooler and the two small refrigerators in the garage.

I visited with Jan and her two granddaughters when Joe and I went down to the shop to get some tools.  They were working in the barn yard because the round pen was flooded and muddy.  











Jan was giving Lyle a little lesson on Cash at the time.  He is a silly boy, that or he was getting bored with it all.  

I helped Joe with fencing and picked up a lot of sticks in the side pasture, while 'killing time' when Joe didn't need a second person.








I used the riding mower to pull the wagon which I filled with sticks.  This photo was taken late afternoon, after I had emptied one load.  The buckets contained acorns I had raked up from the yard.  

When Karen came out to ride with me, Joe and I needed a third set of hands, so we recruited her.  Once the electro-brade was taught, and secured to the three corner posts, Karen and I got our horses and Joe finished attaching brackets and fencing to all the T-posts we had put in.
  
 

Rico was quite the dirty boy.  Once brushed and saddled, Karen and I hit the trail, with her riding Zorro.  


It was beautiful weather and we had an enjoyable ride, although it was a little slippery in spots out on the trail.  Our boys did great during the 3½ miles we rode.

Joe had finished the fencing (seen below) while Karen and I were out on the trail.  Then he waited for the appliance repairman.  

Well, the repairman 'fixed' our refrigerator in two minutes.  The control panel needed re-setting, which we could have done had we known how.  That was an $80.00 lesson.  




Amiga heading out to the front pasture after eating her hay, but Zorro hung back to finish the rest off.

One more photo of the serene scene.  

  

I had worked in the yard another hour and then parked the mower & wagon in the garage and took the fencing photos before leaving.  

On the way home I got a call from Micki, and re-called seeing a text from her earlier, but not being able to read it because I was in the middle of something (pulling fence rope, walking Rico, or out on the trail).  Did I want to go to Club 1660 with her and Johnny, there was a good band playing.  I had to dig deep for the energy, but life is short and ya got to dance when given the opportunity.  The band was great, they played three sets.  I had a wonderful time.  However, I didn't get home until 1am.