Making Spirits Bright

It tis the season to be jolly and making spirits bright.
I, like so many of you, have been listening to Christmas music, going to parties, giving and getting gifts and cards, seeing and/or hearing from family and friends (some from afar), and enjoying this Christmas season.

Thursday morning I worked on last week's blog post, but had too many photos to sort through, and videos to post on Facebook, to get very far.

Stevie's antics make my spirits bright, even though she gets into so much trouble.  Seen left she is hiding in the maze, which doesn't look too pretty from the back side.




When she saw me peaking at her, to take the above photo, she shot into the next (partial) box and knocked it over.  Then she ran back into the blue box.

By noon, it was still only in the low 20's, so outside work or play was not desirable.  Tired of looking at this computer, I decided to go shopping, buying the remainder of what few Christmas gifts I would give.  I also went to the salon, getting 4" of hair cut off.

Maggie and I rode with Joe when he went to workout.  A herd of eight or nine deer crossed in front of us on Snead.  By the time I got my camera out, they were disappearing into the woods.

Maggie and I walked home from the gym.  It was invigorating since the temperature was still in the 20's.  We did come across the same group of deer as we walked down the 18th fairway, but they were quick to run away.


Stevie, blending in with the plush leopard fur, enjoys the new chair, while Maggie keeps an eye on her, and on life outside the window.

After dinner, the wind had really picked up speed.  Joe and I watched, for three hours, the end and reunion show of Survivor.  The cast really played hard this season. 

I did not sleep well, resulting in a late wake up at 7 am Friday.  The internet was down (probably because of the high winds) so I couldn't work on last week's blog post or catch up on Facebook, e-mails, or play computer games.


Once Joe was up he called Comcast, and eventually we got internet, but then he discovered our TV connection was down.  I can do without TV but not computer.  LOL

Late morning the TV did start working again, and also, Joe left for Normal IL.  I worked on my blog, wrote a few more Christmas Cards, and read some of my book.

I could not get motivate to go workout since some of my insomnia the night before was because of joint and muscle pain.  So I decided to give my body another day of rest.  Because of the wind, and with rain coming, I did decide to work on leaf clean up out back, but it was too windy.  I also walked the neighborhood, hand delivering Christmas cards to five homes, saving me 49 cents each on postage.  Seen right, Maggie inspects the stake that has been added, along with a tie string, to keep the camel from wandering off on windy days.

I went to the barn at 3:30 and all the horses were already in their stalls for the night.  Even Boz and Georgia were nestled all snug in their bed.

I cleaned up Zorro's wound, and was at the point now, where I was wondering if I should leave it alone so it can finish healing.  I don't think it is draining all that much anymore, and it seems like I should just leave it scabbed over now.

I rode Amiga bareback, for just a little while, seeing how she was doing (video).  She did not act sore.  She also responded pretty well to just my leg cues.  Here she is looking in on Zorro's stall.
 




Between taking a shower, cooking and eating dinner, and then getting the dog to do her business, I was running late when Shirley arrived to pick me up.  Thank goodness for patient friends.  We did get to the Baptist Church on time, where we met Judy, and enjoyed a wonderful Christmas program... making spirits bright.

Shirley gave Judy and I each, a very special travel photo album.  We girls have done a lot together in 2016.  What fun!  And hopefully our good times together will continue for years to come.


Saturday morning went as usual, with e-mail, Facebook, playing solitaire on the computer, and blogging.

The winds and rain had dumped a bunch more leaves in the drainage ditch, creek and pond so I went out to render this.  

I raked the yard and ditch for a few hours.  I didn't do much down in the creek and pond because it seemed rather pointless.  I just don't want all the leaves settling to the bottom and filling it in too quickly.  The wind seemed to be pushing them NW, to our end of the pond and up the creek.  I was hoping, along with a change in wind direction, that the next rain would wash them back out towards the dam.  Seen right, Maggie is watching me (and creatures of the woods) from on top of the picnic bench.  She is not on the railing.


I continued raking the side yard by Brian's, where there are lots of acorn and Shag-bark Hickory nut hulls.  Seen left, a Chipmunk hole, with a stash of hulls remaining just outside.

I ended up breaking the rake on the heavy debris, which gave me a good excuse to quit.

I was sweaty and tired, and had planned to go to the gym, but it closed at 4:00, only giving me 90 minutes.  That was not enough time to change, drive there, and accomplish much.

So I decided to take a long, brisk walk with Maggie, only changing from my boots to tennis shoes.  We walked the back nine holes of Druid in 50 minutes, that's under six minutes per hole, not bad. Seen left, someone must have removed much of the moss from this rock, to leave the heart shape.  Cool idea.

We also came across this tree with the strange growth, knot on the side of it.  I often wonder what causes things like this to happen.  Maggie was more interested in the prospect of locating a critter.
The photo below was taken from the 17th green.  The fairway is on the right side of the photo, our house center, and an arborvitae tree to the left, that doesn't look to have survived the drought.

The high Sunday was 35 degrees and occurred at 6 am.  I did a quick walk with Maggie, in a steady rain, and turned for home as soon as she did her business.  Sitting at my computer, I watched the rain turn to sleet and then snow as the thermometer steadily dropped.








Mid-morning we were walking in the sleet.  I recently noticed that these two arborvitae out front (seen right behind Maggie) look to have dried up and died.  Because they were mature bushes (not newly planted) I didn't water them that often.  Shoot.

The freezing rain ended before noon, the temperature leveled off at 26 degrees and remained that way the rest of the day, while the sun continued to be obscured by clouds.  Most of the leaves in the pond have sunk to the bottom.  I see more dredging in my future.


My new neighbor Jim came over, bringing cookies and dog treats (seen right), that his wife Liz had baked.  It always humbles me to receive gifts and makes me feel so special.  When I had given them a Christmas card, I did not expect anything in return.  Now I felt like a cheapskate, receiving something so much more treasured.

After two days off, I did get to the gym and then next door at the CC to soak in hot tub.  I also finished my book, rather than expending effort at wrapping a few Christmas gifts.  As a kid, and even when our kids were young, I can remember that wrapping the gifts and getting them under the tree was a high priority.  They were part of the decorations.  It was part of making the season bright.  I have gotten so lazy these days, after 5 pm dark.

During my second dog walk of the morning Monday, once the sun was up, I noticed ice on the ground that looked strange.










Upon closer inspection, it appeared that the ice was coming up out of the ground.

Maggie was trying to figure out what I was so focused on.  She ate some of the ice and then grabbed this stick.  I broke off a piece of ice (below), to show it in my hand, to give you an idea of size.  They were about 3" in length, but many were curled. 








When I researched this, Wikipedia said it is: "Needle ice, which has extruded up from the freezing front through porous soil from a water table below."



My morning routine was shortened because I had to prepare the kitchen for Scotty, our new (and improved) fix it man.  He came at 9 am and installed our new disposal and faucet.  He said the old ones were really shot.  He was a little pricier than Jeremy, but he is insured, bonded, and reliable.  A very nice guy too. 
Seen left, I told Scotty I would pick up after him, to save him time.  Since everything was out from under the sink, I gave the cabinet a good cleaning as well.  And now, no more drip pan is needed under there.



The cat and dog had fun playing in the faucet box.  Do you see Stevie's foot sticking out of it in the right photo?   The next series of photos should have been a video, but I didn't realize what action was going to take place.  I just wanted a photo of Stevie hiding in the box.

Frosty mountain tops seen from #18 of Druid

I was due to treat Zorro, but decided to skip going to the barn because it was so cold.  I ran to the store for a few more last minute gifts and supplies.  Then I took Maggie on a long walk mid-afternoon, covering the front nine of Stonehenge.  

Frosty mountain top seen from Stonehenge

Parts of Stonehenge were under construction

Many of the sand traps were being re-done, including installation of new drain pipes and sand.







Joe was still in Normal, so my evening was spent sitting quietly at my computer near the fire.  I was feeling peaceful and nostalgic as I looked back on past Christmases.  While thinking of all the good times, it was making my spirits bright.  I was also anticipating another warm, fun, family holiday in Florida.

Tuesday I worked on this post much of the morning.  I also got started on wrapping Christmas presents.


I was going to use the new faucet box and was getting it ready with green tissue paper, when Stevie decided to gift herself.




Mid-morning I took a longer walk with Maggie, even though it was a bit cold.  She grabbed the long, skinny stick (seen right) and would not give up trying to carry it off.  Here is a video of her.

At the spill-way of our pond's dam, water was splashing onto this stick (seen below) and then freezing.

Seen lower right, Maggie found a beer can which was much easier to run with.

 

I finished wrapping Christmas presents just as Joe got home from Indiana.  Then, as I left to go work out, I backed into his SUV.  😭  Ugggg!!!   I am devastated.  I was swearing at myself, but Joe didn't even get mad at me.  He was so calm about it.  While backing out, I was trying to not have the garage door open too long so my plants in the garage wouldn't get too cold.  So I was looking up at the door, to back out as soon as it was high enough, and then close it right away.  Whhhhaaa   I can't believe I did this.  And worse yet, it is the third time.  It always happens after Joe has been gone for awhile.  I guess I get in the habit of backing straight out, thinking the drive is clear.  I CAN'T BELIEVE I did this again!  Oh I am soooo mad at myself.  This does NOT make my spirit bright. 

I continued on to the gym, pushing hard during my weight workout, trying to release my anger while holding back tears.  While on the elliptical and in the hot tub, I thought constantly about what had happened and how calm, mild, and willing to help Joe was.  I am sooo lucky to have such a mild-mannered husband.

Once home, I fixed dinner, then we watched the season endings of Mars and Designated Survivor.  After that, we opened each others gifts.  Look at the awesome wood duck house I got.  It had been in the big red package.  (I took this photo the next day.)  Eventually I went to bed, but was slow to get to sleep because I was still fuming about wrecking my car and doing more damage to Joe's.

Wednesday marked Winter Solstice.  It was the shortest day of the year in terms of hours of daylight.  However, the solstice also signals more daylight to come in the following days.  Yay.  From here on out, the span of daylight gets longer, sometimes at sunrise and sometimes at sunset.

The day was sunny, and warmer than we have had in a while.  Joe went out to rake leaves (I helped a little later) and Maggie sat out on the deck watching Joe, golfers, and nature.  She was so cute, watching her from my desk, I took these photos.

Joe left for town to get an appraisal on my car repair and then play in his weekly poker game.

I went to the barn to check on Zorro and ride Amiga. 

All three dogs joined Amiga and I out on the trail.  It was very muddy and rather slow going.  I hadn't plan to ride long or go fast.  Amiga acted stiff going out, but once I turned to head back to the barn, she perked up and pushed the pace.






While treating Zorro, Brooke and Ambrie were horsing around with Redman, one of the livery horses.  He was being so good.  The girls were silly and having fun.   Zorro's wound was looking great.  It should heal up fine while we are gone.   



Horse time didn't completely brighten my spirits, but it helped.  Shirley picked me up for dinner, and we went to Legends Chicken/Pasta buffet.  We enjoyed good food and conversation.  My spirits continued to brighten. 







Shirley helped me to put my car mishap into perspective, and realize we all do dumb things in our life, but need to give our anger to God, forgive ourselves, and move on.  And she warned, if I let the anger fester, it will ruin my vacation and the fun for others quite possibly.  What helpful advice from a great friend.  When Shirley dropped me off, she came in and I showed her the cat and house care duties.  I moved most of the plants to the front foyer to make watering easier.  Joe got home from poker earlier than usual.  He was way up for the night.  In fact, his winnings would just about pay for my car repair.

Thursday I worked to get this blog post completed.  I finished up two more loads of laundry and continued the packing process.

Stevie playing in the big box and giant bubble wrap.








At 11:30, Joe and I went to work out.  Then we went to Gwen and Mike's party.  But Gwen was sick.



Nancy, my boss from the pool, 'filled-in' for Gwen, and is seen here with Mike.
We all enjoyed great appetizers and conversation.

Joe and I got home at almost 3 pm.  I spent the remainder of the day packing bags and boxes and loading the SUV.  I was getting excited, thinking about the holiday to come.
I love this season of Making Spirits Bright!