Festering

I couldn't resit posting this picture, which I found when I googled fester.  And then it made me wonder, what does happen to un-released farts?  Do they just dissipate and get absorbed?  Or are they like wounds that can fester and get bigger and worse?

A problem, like a wound (and maybe like a fart), if allowed to fester, only gets bigger with time.   

Don't ignore a negative feeling or a problem, because it may become worse or more intense and start to gnaw away at you.  Address the things that cause you angst.  Take care of what you can, but let go of the things which cannot be changed.  I don't really have any major problems troubling me, but I will let little things get under my skin, fester, and then they become problematic.  I don't like to let this happen, but when I realize it has, I try to re-adjust my mindset so the issue no longer festers.  Usually, what may appear as a festering problem, is just me ruminating on an idea or looking for solutions to, or improvements on different things I want to "fix."  But ruminative thoughts can keep me up late at night (or pre-dawn) when I start over-analyzing the situation, idea, project, etc.  I find I am happiest when I forget my concerns and take time to play, laugh, and be joyful. 

Maggie has her own list of "problems" to worry about.  She is doing well with not barking and seems to just enjoy watching the wildlife, dog walkers, golf course workers and golfers. 

Saturday I worked quite awhile here at my computer to get last week's blog done and posted.  I managed to multi-task with messaging Britney, doing laundry, and taking a few short dog walks.  It was an uneventful day, although the numerous chigger bites I have, continued to fester and drive me crazy with their itching.

Joe left for Courtney's in Nashville when he got home from work and I went to work at the CC.  I was having some digestive issues for some reason, and was trying to think what I had eaten (was festering down there) to upset my gut.  I took a dinner break to come home and walk Maggie and also took a gas relief pill, which eventually worked.

Joe got home from Nashville while I was at Church Sunday, and later reported really enjoying the Styx concert Courtney took him too.

I had an hour of time to work in the yard so planned to plant flowers and the tree I had purchased.  I started with the weeping willow.  When I dug the hole down by the pond, it immediately filled with water (seen right).





I ended up hauling twelve (5 gal) buckets of dirt to raise up the ground level so this little tree would not be swamped.  They love water, but it said the top inch of dirt should be dried out before re-watering.  Because of all the dirt moving, I did not have time to do any more planting, and headed to work (for a 2-8:30 shift).

I was at the barn at 7:30 Monday morning.  Amiga got new shoes and Tom trimmed Zorro's back hooves.  He checked Zorro's front hoof to make sure the thrush is not festering.  It was no worse, and I put thrush treatment on it when we were done.



Usually blog titles just pop into my head, but sometimes I fester on ideas, or have a title that I pursue, and end up using a lot of time looking up and thinking about.  This occurred with this week's blog title when I got home from the barn at 9:30 Monday.  I was festering about festering.


Finally, I did get outside and got some flowers planted.  But not all of them, because I had to do A LOT of weeding first.  I actually spent five hours weeding this bed and only got it half done.  Seen lower left, the section I still need to weed.  Seen lower right, the part I did get weeded.  

This panoramic photo shows the left side of the front bed (weeded) and the right side, with the weeds out of control.  I'd also plan to add mulch between all the flowers, shrubs and trees once I get all the weeds pulled.

Lisa dropped by, because Joe had been trying to call me, and asked if I wanted to join them for a beer.  My back and knees were hurting, and even though I had a lot more to do, I dropped everything, and made a quick change while Lisa walked Maggie.  I jumped into the car with Lisa, and off to Stonehenge we went.

The guys had just gotten done with their nine holes of golf and Nolan brought two pitchers of beer to the table.  It was a perfect evening to sit out on the patio.  This is not a great photo of Lisa and Nolan, but look at our view.

We were enjoying ourselves so much, we decided to linger (not fester) and ordered dinner.  On the way home, Joe and I went to the CC to swim and sit in the hot tub.  It felt great on my sore joints.  Once home, Joe messed with his new computer and I watched a Fixer-Upper on HGTV before calling it a day.


I have been festering about Goldie.  Britney had messaged me right away, after reading that we were going to trash her beloved chair.  She convinced me to hang on to it a little longer, but where to put it is the problem.  Britney's bedroom and the bunk room are both quite full.  Well, here's (seen left) an idea.


Tuesday morning I was up and at-em outside fairly early.  Joe mowed the lawn and then left for Kentucky, to play in a poker tournament.  Seen right, Maggie waiting patiently while I took photos of the front flower bed.

Basically I worked all day on the drainage ditch project.  I am getting tired of the back breaking, knee battering work and really want to be done with this.  But have a ways to go to complete it.

I am enjoying the design aspect of the work and can't wait to get the flowering shrubs planted among these trees and then mulch this whole area, and later get grass growing along the ditch walls.

I sat out on the back porch eating salad for dinner when I heard a couple down by the pond feeding the fish and turtles.  Then I heard a big splash, thrashing in the water and panicked voices.  I yelled down, did not get a response, so ran into the garage, grabbing the kayak paddle and ran down to the pond with it.  By the time I got there, the man was sitting on the large rock trying to help his wife get out of the pond.  They were both drenched.  She was having troubles getting out because the rock was so slippery.

After helping the husband get her onto dry land, I got the scoop... she had gotten bitten by the snapping turtle, causing her to fall in, and the man went in after her because she was not a good swimmer.  At the rocky ledge where she fell in, the pond is quite deep.  He said he never touched bottom.  Anyway, her finger had a big, deep slice in it and she was missing one of her sandals.  The next morning, I saw it floating in the middle of the pond, and took this photo of it.  In the upper right of the photo, is the grass at the edge of the pond.  The reflection of the trees in the water makes this photo seem upside down.


Rain was predicted Wednesday, and it was quite cloudy.  I decided not to do cement work but found other projects to do outside until I would get rained out... or should I say rained in?  But, it never did rain, and there were moments of sunshine throughout the day. 







My main project in the back, was to move some mulch.  Again, I have changed my mind about where to seed and where to mulch.  It seemed odd (and is inconvenient to mow) to have the stretch of grass going down towards the pond (seen above in an April photo), and this mulched area (seen right) felt larger than necessary.

So, to balance things out, I decided to move mulch to the grassy area, and get grass growing where the mulch had been.  The hose (seen above) marks the new border. 










I dug up and moved some of the sod, (seen above) and raked up and moved mulch.  Seems crazy, I know.

I added some top soil in preparation for seed (which I ran out of).  The 4x10 section of mulch (where I had taken the sod from) looks dark like dirt, but is just wet and partly dirty wood chips.









It is hard to distinguish the dirt pile and area that needs to be seeded, from the newly moved mulch.




In the process of moving things around, I also leveled out (moved rock from) a path (seen left) I regularly take when putting corn out each morning.

I ended up digging up two huge rocks that I would use later.  They were too heavy to lift, so I had to roll them out of the way.  I filled in the holes that part of the rocks had made and then added mulch.  I did not have near enough mulch so will be calling for another free delivery from the tree service guys.  There was a bunch of moss I transplanted down by the bench on the rock, and another little path I leveled and need to mulch.

I was running late for my 7 pm dinner time to go out with Shirley to Big Boy's Barbecue, so she offered to pick up carry out and bring it here.  She is a saint.  This enabled me to water all the newly transplanted moss and sod.  Shirley and I thoroughly enjoyed our loaded baked potatoes and chatting out on the porch.

Joe messaged me that he had won the Southern Indiana Horseshoe Poker Classic Seniors tournament (over 2K) and was on his way home, to arrive after midnight.  I didn't wait up for him.


Thursday morning I was at the barn by 8 am.  Jan and I were on the trail before 9:00 and went for a two hour ride going along Daddy's Creek and to the swimming hole.  It had rained a little, before dawn, so the woods were truly like a rain forest.  Tree branches were laden with water, drooping from the weight, so we had to do a lot of ducking to get through some spots.  We both ended up getting fairly wet, but it was refreshing, and a wonderful ride.









I noticed last week that one of Amiga's udders and teat was slightly larger than the other.  (I regularly clean that area of her belly between her back legs because she gets gunk caked in there and the flies start biting.)  She was a little more swollen on Monday and even more so Thursday.  There was no heat or tenderness, but I did get lots of a milk like substance when I squeezed.  She behaved no differently and didn't appear sick.  We gave her a Bute for inflammation and googled her symptoms... getting several possibilities (from gnats, hormonal, fat deposits, sweat glands, estrogen like substances in clover, insulin resistance,  or the onset of cushings, an ovarian cyst/tumor or mastitis). 

I had a little time to hang out here with the cat and dog before going to work from 2-9.  Stevie is so cute.





 











The crazy summer season has started so we were pretty busy for most of the shift.  It helps the time fly by and is enjoyable meeting so many different folks.

I have been festering about this wood totem I found on a walk over a year ago.  It was covered in dirt and the wood was rotten in spots from mold and bug damage.  I cleaned it off, liked the piece, and wanted to put it with my other jungle themed 'art work.'  However, I didn't think it matched well and I was indecisive about what to do to refurbish it.  I took it to the experts who work in the arts and crafts room at the CC and they convinced me it went well with the other things and to leave it as is, not paint it.  They did suggest spraying it with a clear, flat, acrylic spray to preserve its natural beauty.  So, I have been giving it numerous, light coats of the finish.

I was at the barn Friday morning at 8 am to check on Amiga.  Her udders were even more swollen so I gave her another Bute with her morning feed.  Then I went to town shopping, getting some needed food and supplies, but also some more plants.  I can't help myself.








I am so excited about the new bed I am going to put in.  I rolled the two huge rocks up the hill and placed the plants where I envisioned planting them, along with the rocks.

A small chance of rain was predicted for late afternoon, so I decided to do one batch of cement to finish the ditch wall next to the area where I want to plant, and later mulch up to the wall.  I got sprinkled on as I was completing the concrete work at about 1:00 and I started to panic.  But that was all it amounted to, and there was no more the rest of the day.

I cleaned mud from the ditch at the bottom of the hill that feeds water into the creek.  You can see some of the rock on the hill in the left photo.  The right photo shows the ditch as it feeds into the creek.  About two inches of dirt, sand and small rock had washed into this trough, so I moved it back up hill, and put it on the outside of the retaining wall, on Allen's side of the ditch, seen below.














Since I now had more shade varity grass seed, I prepared and seeded the area I had removed mulch from the day before, and sprinkled dirt on top of the seed.


Joe grilled dinner and I ate and ran... back into the yard to do more work.  I started digging up sod and moving it onto the dirt to help hold it in place.  I had a little mulch and put it down where some of the sod had been.  The garden hose shows where I want the border of the bed to go.  Moving sod is more work, but this way I don't have to use Round-up to kill off the grass before I put mulch on top.




I put all the shrub together to water them, the new grass seed, and the sod.  It was well after dark by the time I came inside (which is at 9 pm these days).

I could not keep my tired body up to clean house for tomorrow's company or even work on this blog post.  I didn't even spend any time festering about it and was soon sound asleep.

Letting Go

I like this poster and also a comment one of my teacher friends (Jayne) made about dancing... "Sometimes, you just have to be happy, feel the music and let it go."  When the music starts, so do my hands and feet... at first clapping and tapping, but soon, I just have to get up and dance.  I invite all of you to not be afraid of letting go, like this guy in the video, and join me in the dance, any time. 

As I was looking for a "let it go" picture, I found many things which people suggest letting go of.  One was in this article (by Chuck Queen) on Christian Exceptionalism and it also discusses American exceptionalism:  Letting-go-of-christian-exceptionalism-does-not-mean-letting-go-of-jesus.  It has helped me to better understand my feelings on Christianity and figure out what it is I believe and how to live by those convictions.  I need to humbly seek God with an open mind and an open heart, and (like Jesus) be faithful, loving, peaceful, compassionate, etc.  The love that 1 Corinthians 13 speaks of is of the most importance.

Saturday morning the sun was shining, but the air temperature was in the mid 50's.  Rather than eating at my feeders, Mr. Squirrel felt the need to let it go, and lay in the sun and soak up some of its warmth.

As I finished up last weeks blog, and reflected on different events, I wondered how the rescued dove was doing.  A little later, this dove came to the feeder, and I took it as a sign that the other one had survived... but who knows.




The dove also spent some time sitting in the sun.














Callan was subbing for me so I could attend the Rotary Club music festival.  I got there shortly after noon, just when it started to drizzle.  It was cold and damp, but the first band, The Soc Hops, (seen bottom right photo) was a lot of fun to sing to and boogie with.  I didn't completely let go and break out some moves, but beboped enough to keep warm.



I sat with Don (a St. George employee), his wife, and two other couples.  Joe joined us after he got off work.  The drizzle stopped but it was windy and cold.  Dancing helped warm me up, but there wasn't enough of it, because the 2nd and 3rd bands mostly played music they wrote.  Good listening music, but not dancing music.



Joe had gone home and returned later with Maggie, at the time the 4th and final band (and the best one) had taken the stage.  At this point I was chilled to the bone, so we left before the festival was over.


This photo was in this week's Glade Sun news paper.  The photo was taken by Rebekah Bohannon Beeler.  We're famous.  Ha ha ha.


It had been announced that some of the band members were going to Red's for Karaoke, so the eight of us, plus Brian, decided to go check it out.  The festival band people never showed up, but we let it go, and still enjoyed some other good singers that were there.  We had a fun time singing along, over good grub and ale, as we also chatted and got to know each other better.


I lost track of time here at my computer on Sunday, and missed Church again.  It would have been really cold (51 degrees) at the outdoor service.  Once I got going, I went to Shirley's to check on and play with Miss Kitty (seen right).

The rest of my day was spent out back, working on the drainage ditch.  I laid out the pavers to get an idea where and how I wanted to cement them in.  I plan to widen the trough near the bottom so that the wall doesn't have to be so high.  And at some point, I will stop using concrete and just place paivers and large flat rocks over dirt or sand I haul in to cover all the exposed roots.  Seen left, photo taken after rain the next day.  You can seen how uneven the paviers are because they are right on top of the exposed roots.





These two photos I took (left) before, and (right) after the day's work.  You can see in the right photo the seven additional paviers I got cemented in.  

I also cemented some rocks to a few low areas along the sides where the water had washed over during last weeks gully washer.  And I added a rock at each side of the top end (seen right) because it had washed over here also.  At the lower end of the trough, you can see that I covered the paivers with plastic.


I got a slow start Monday morning.  It was cold, damp, (rainy actually), and a second cup of tea appealed and was needed.  Then I remembered my farrier appointment and had to rush to get dressed and to the barn in time.

Tom worked on Zorro's front hoof that I have been treating for thrush.  I haven't been 'letting it go,' but decided that it needed some additional treatment to help get completely better.

Tom said it wasn't that bad, but he notched out the outer hoof wall where the crack was and removed some of the inner hoof wall and toe callus where the thrush had grown up into Zorro's foot.  Now I can get the medicine to the thrush better, this will allow the tissue to dry out, and Zorro won't get little rocks and mud trapped up in the hole. 

Since I was in barn clothes when I got home at 9:30, I skipped out on more computer time and worked out back for awhile.  I checked on the new concrete, cleaned it off in some areas, wet it down, recovered it with plastic, and put the hose away since Joe was going to mow in back.

While Joe was mowing, I went into the woods, across Lakeview and upstream from our pond.  I was looking for some larger rock to use for the ditch retaining wall, and to also partly clear a path I have been taking to cut through to Cromwell Lane.

I took these photos when walking the dog later.  Above, you can see the natural rock outcropping.  Basically I followed it from the Lakeview hiking trail to Cromwell, raking leaves and dirt off of it.

I had to cut down a few seedlings, and move the large log (seen left) and many other tree limbs off of the rock walkway.  Leave it to me to get carried away, and work back there for over an hour, clearing this trail.  In the right photo, you can see it coming from Lakeview, the road in the background.  Oh, I also collected a few rocks and carried them home.

Next I ran out to Terry's new property, where she was cleaning the house and getting ready to move in.  The photo seen left, she took a few days ago.  Part of that mountain ridge in the distance will be where they are planning to put the ginormous windmills.  We chatted about the possibility of me boarding Amiga (and maybe Zorro) there at Terry's barn.  I have lots to consider before making this decision and am very much up in the air on it right now.  There are many pros and cons.

I ended up being late getting to the barn to ride with Jan, so quickly got Amiga from the pasture and tacked up.  We left the barn in a hurry and I rode her hard until we caught up with Jan.  We decided to ride to Terry's property to again check it out and say hello.

We rode for over two hours, and once back to the barn, I noticed that Amiga had lost a back shoe sometime during our ride.  Nuts.  Now I worried that her foot could have gotten bruised and I also need Tom again.  :-(

There was time before dinner to work out back, so I moved lots of rock farther down the hill to cover the dirt and act as temporary edging, seen below. 

Seen left, the rocks had been piled by the tree up the hill, at the start of my drainage ditch work.  

I also removed the plastic off the pavers, because rain was expected, and I hauled more sand up the hill that had washed into the creek bed (seen below).



After dinner, Joe and I sat by a fire (it was 46 degrees out) and watched a movie (Brooklyn).


Rain started during the night and continued off and on through Tuesday morning.  Britney and I chatted on FB Messaging (like we do many mornings).  I took this selfie of Stevie on my lap to send to her.


I finally got my rear in gear and went to the gym to work out.  I had forgotten my weights note sheet and head phones, so made do without, going with the heaviest weight I could do at least ten reps with.  Then, instead of the elliptical, where I watch HGTV (with head phones) I did a class, 'Rockin to the Oldies.'  Well, it was more of a weight work out than a dance / aerobic workout, so my muscles were screaming by the end.  At least the class ended with a good stretch, which I usually skip.

While I was gone, this unfortunate Pileated Wood- pecker flew into our front window.  Joe took these two photos.  He said it had been 30 minutes between them.  And later, when Joe checked, the woodpecker was gone.  Thankfully, it appears he recovered and flew off.

I had gotten up earlier than usual because of the loud storm, so ate lunch and then took over a 90 minute nap.  It was a good one.  But I had to kind of hustle to get to work on time (subbing for Callan).  It was a slow, uneventful afternoon and evening at the Conference Center.

Wednesday morning I worked here at my computer and finalized plans to trailer into the Glade with Jan.  It was much more overcast than predicted and actually rained some.  (Seen left, Amiga and Cash in the trailer) 

I took a detour while driving to the barn, to find a place we could park the trailer to off load and tack up.

Jan and I got the trailer loaded with gear (first time since last fall so we were rusty and took awhile).



Then Joe came to hook up the trailer and help us load horses.  I was amazed (and most thankful) that Amiga got right on with only a moment's hesitation to look down and sniff at the ramp.

We drove to Laurelwood Dr. near Lake Malvern and got tacked up.  Joe took a few photos while we got ready.

Joe drove the trailer back to Wildwood Stables and we had a wonderful (adventuresome) two and a half hour ride back to the barn.  Both horses did great and got some new experiences.  I wish I had taken more photos.

As we rode along the geldings pasture towards the barn, we noticed Bahem's grazing muzzle was messed up.  Once I got Amiga cared for and turned back out, I went out to get Zorro, but first rescued Bahem by removing the muzzle.




Bahem really had the muzzle in an awkward position, but kept trying to eat more grass anyway, poor guy.

I treated Zorro's thrush, came home and took Maggie for a long walk, sat in the hot tub, got a fire going, ate dinner and then watched an episode of Fixer-Upper.  (Joe was at his weekly poker game.)  I don't think I even turned on this computer, but read in bed before conking out.

I woke up at 3 am Thursday and finally got out of bed after 30 minutes of trying to get back to sleep.  Much work on this blog was accomplished as I consumed three cups of tea.  The dog and cat were quite playful during the wee hours but took naps after the sun came up.  I finally got in my nightly quota of 6 1/2 hours of sleep by taking a two hour nap after Joe left for work.

Once out of bed for the second time, I worked in the yard, tying up all the daffodils (as Cathy suggested) rather than trimming them.  Maggie laid in the grass watching, chasing flies, and chewing on sticks.  Once  that was done, I proceeded to pull weeds and spray (with Round-up) the random poison ivy and other weeds that were too well rooted to come out with a tug. 

I put in my usual Thursday 2-9 shift at work.  We were busy (because of the Comedy Night performance) with lots of folks coming in, buying snacks, and asking questions.  Also, the early summer vacation crowds have started to pick up.  And then, because of a 5:30 accident, Public Safety was tied up, so all the business POS's (ten total) came in with their deposits for us to later turn in at 9 pm.  I was a little too wound up to go to bed right away once I got home, so I took Maggie for a night walk and had popcorn while catching up with Facebook.  

Friday, rain was expected, so I took my sweet time in the morning working here at my computer.  I did get in two 20 minute walks with Maggie, thinking we wouldn't be able to go later in the day, and sure enough, we weren't.

Seen left, Maggie was lunging and licking her chops with the hopes of helping Stevie take care of the little furry mouse that swivels around in this cat toy.




I reminded her to leave it and the cat alone, but she had troubles completely letting go, so I was okay with her in a 'down' as she kept a guarded eye on the toy.

Letting go of any hopes of getting work done outside, I took the SUV into town to shop.  The marinas were closed for the day, so Joe was home and his vehicle available.



While shopping, I dropped in on three furniture stores looking for a bench and two swivel chairs.  It wasn't until I saw a set of swivel patio chairs at Big Lots (at a great price) that I decided this might work and would definitely be a cheaper way to go, than buying nicer padded accent/ side chairs.





Once home, I moved our two patio swivel chairs inside from the porch, to give them a whirl.  Something like these would work if they had cushions, a lower back and were a little more comfortable.  Seen right, Stevie has to get in on the photo, disturbing the dog in the process.




Unfortunately, we have to get rid of Britney's chair (Goldie), which is broken and not really usable anymore.  Britney salvaged it from the curb for her dorm room and I grew fond of it after she had moved out and left it behind.  Letting go of this nostalgic piece of furniture was bitter sweet as we moved it to the garage. 

I finally found a bench (at a very reasonable price) for the foot of our bed.  I have been looking since we bought the bed frame over two years ago. 





It actually was with a dinette set.  It will be a place to sit to put on shoes during the day and can hold bed spread and pillows during the night.  It works for Stevie too.







I was in search of my blue hoodie all week, literally checking everywhere I have been and might have left it in the last ten days, even though it was rather worn and had a few stains, it was one of my favorites.  I forgot to check at Ruby Tuesday's when in town though.  I guess I am officially letting go of it, or at least trying to, but I still find myself looking for it.

Not only did I buy a pair of black slacks for work, I also bought three pairs of jeans and two shirts.  Then at Lowe's I picked up a Weeping Willow and five Mountain Fire Pieris (seen right).  Eight stores, almost four hours, and minus a little over $350. I guess I am a supporter of capitalism.  The State of TN profited $35 as well.

Joe and I had dinner at the Mexican restaurant and then watched the three hour end of Survivor.  I wasn't a fan of the winner, but will be watching the next season this coming fall.  Life is good.

I think  Steve Maraboli had me in mind when he said “You must learn to let go.  Release the stress.  You were never in control anyway.”  Going for long walks, riding my horse, exercising at the gym, working in the yard, and dancing, all help me de-stress, but when I wake up in the middle of the night, the wheels start turning and I have troubles letting go of my worries.