Edumacation

This blog post has nothing (or little) to do with our new secretary of education, Betsy DeVos.  I don't even want to go there.  Since I have thought about broadening my horizons for awhile now, I have finally started acting on the idea.  At my age, it often seems like an impossible task, and I just don't want to take the time or energy.  However, learning should be a life long process. 
The Bible study I am in, is giving me more insight into God's word and helping me apply it.  Playing bridge with the Coultrips has rekindled my desire
to get back into that game, so I have been practicing it online.
Spending this coming weekend at RTTH (Rode To The Horse), I hope to relearn some horse training techniques and start working on new ones, which would do Amiga and I both a lot of good.  And I have always wanted to learn more Spanish.  To be able to converse in it, sing Spanish songs, and understand the lyrics.  So I have also started work on Spanish online.  All of this edumaction will be great stimulation for my brain.

Joe got up and left Saturday morning before sun-up.  I was a little slow to rise and shine because I had been out so late at Red's the night before.  My morning was spent with some Bible study time and then here, drinking an extra cup of tea and doing some online learning.  My head hurt before I started, and all this edumaction didn't help any.
<- (Replace horse for bike on this poster.)

By 11:00, I had had enough learning, and decided to go to the barn and ride Amiga. 

The temperature had finally warmed up and the sun was shining.  Seen right, Chester leads the way as we head down the trail.





I investigated our new trail to see how it was holding up.  It gets quite close to the golf course in this one spot.  The muddy hill was a little slippery and I didn't want to work Amiga too hard, so turned around at the creek crossing.  All the rain from the day before made for a full creek.
 
video


Amiga did great during our 40 minute ride.
Once home, I went to the gym to work out.  I was a tad sluggish on the weights and then because all the ellipticals were in use and the gym closes at 4 pm on Saturdays, I decided an invigorating walk with the dog would be good for both of us.

We walked the back nine of Stonehenge, taking an hour to do so because it is quite hilly and there is some distance to cover between some of the holes.  This mysteriously bent tree behind Maggie is actually a Native American trail marker, sitting at the edge of the 16th fairway.
The Native Americans would bend trees in order to create trail markers that formed an early routing system, which served multiple purposes. (see poster ->) From indicating that water and food was nearby, to warning travelers of rough country ahead, these landmarks were important features in navigating the early Americas.  Here is a Link for more edumacation on this.  You can see the 'nose' and the 'hip scar' on the bent tree in my photo.

I needed to stretch tight muscles before my shower.  Then after dinner I worked on Spanish and bridge.  The language learning is difficult, which equates to not so fun.  Bridge is easier, so is fun.

Sunday, before and after Church with Shirley, I worked here on this blog and then on my learning projects.  I also got a load of laundry done.

Early afternoon I spent a few hours out in the yard working.  I picked up sticks while Maggie soaked up rays and 'helped' with stick removal by chewing on some.  Then I transplanted two small bushes into the bare spot where the propane tank used to be.














This side of the house gets sunlight in the afternoon.






But this corner of our house, where our master bathroom is, faces due north and stays fairly shadowed.  ->

Once tools were picked up, Maggie and I headed out on foot for a long walk.  We went up the trail along Lake view were the Hiking Club has been working recently.

Seen left, this tree still needs to be cleared from the trail.  Where Maggie sits, it is about three feet off the ground.  She jumped up on top of the tree trunk effortlessly.

We took the paved trail past mini golf, all the way down past the Conference Center, and onto Village Dr.  At this point, I saw something amiss.  There was a man on a back balcony of a Wyndham condo trying to get in a sliding door.  He was in a dark gray hoodie with his head covered.  He turned and walked to a window and that's when he noticed me watching.  He ducked down behind the railing.  I quickly started walking again, using my peripheral vision to keep an eye on him.  He didn't move a muscle, and kept watching me.  Once I was out of sight, I called Public Safety, which took 5 calls actually.  I called four friends to get PS phone number.  Finally I got a hold of Carole, who gave me their number.

We continued our excursion, going to Stonehenge where we walked out #10 and back #18.  I love this pond behind the club house/bar and grill.  There was a Killdeer on the rock, walking all around, looking like she wanted to set up camp.  Seen below, she is at the right edge of the rock.








It was 7 pm and still fairly light out when Maggie and I got home.  We three (Stevie also) had dinner, I did some more edumacation activities, and then went to bed at 11:00, just after Joe got home.

Monday, the first day of spring, was a warm and sunny day.  This Northern Flicker was at the suet feeder.  I enjoy watching all the different birds that come and go and would love to take a course on TN birds and trees.  Shoot, I'd love to get more edumacated about all TN wildlife for that matter.

I had my usual morning of blogging, reading, and practicing bridge and Spanish.  I had begun to think the bridge program was not that great because the bidding and playing of cards was not that accurate.  I had Joe try it out and he said it was a bad bridge program.  So I needed to look for something better.






After making some calls to Jan and Shirley, to plan for our weekend get-away, I went to the barn.  Seen left, when I went to get Amiga, Zorro ducked under the lead rope and got between Amiga and I.  Her neck is just to the right of his head.  What a goofy boy. 
 


There was a lot going on at the barn, with it being spring break.  It is so nice to have lots of people and horses around again.  The dogs are so happy for the company too.  However, because they are so used to accompanying me on rides, they went with me when I headed out on Amiga.





We met a trail ride that was returning to the barn.  I had taken Amiga into the bean field to give them room.  The dogs went with that group and I proceeded down the new trail and met up with Jan on Stratford Dr.









It was a beautiful day, 70 degrees, perfect riding weather, and I could have gone longer than the two hours I was out.  But I am trying to be careful with Amiga.  I took this video of Jan cantering away at the end of our ride together.  For some reason it got cut short.

I took my time un-tacking, brushing Amiga, and doing preventative treatment on hooves and legs.  I don't want thrush, scratches, or anything else hindering her.  Then I brought Zorro in and got some winter hair brushed out of his coat, along with plenty of dirt.

Joe and I joined Brian and Drew at Vegas for a delicious steak dinner.  It was 8:30 by the time we got home.  As I have been doing lately, I took my computer to bed with me and listened to Spanish music before shutting it and myself down for the night.

Tuesday I woke in the middle of the night, fought getting back to sleep for almost an hour, and finally got up at 3:15 am.  What does one do at this time of 'day?' ... online learning while sipping tea.  I didn't get sleepy until 7:30 am, so went to bed for a short nap because I had to be ready to go to Bible study at 9:00.

These ducks came to feed on the corn I had just put out.
 




Rain was predicted, so once home from Jan's Church where we have the Bible study, I had lunch and then went out to get my asparagus planted.






I needed to spread the bulbs out in a deep trench in good soil, so removed the rocky clay that was here and used a top soil peat mix I made.

Okay, here is another thing I need to edumacted myself on... how to get blogger to let me rotate the left photo 90 degrees.  It wants to orient it in this direction.  Ugh.  The photo shows the finished bed.  As the asparagus grows, I am supposed to add more soil on top. 

Working in the 78 degree sun, with jeans on, caused me to get quite hot.  I sat on the screened porch, resting and drinking water, deciding if I should go back out and work more.  The rain never came and looked like it wouldn't until later.  And then I got very sleepy.








I finally decided I best get to the gym, to stay with my weight workout regimen.  I was so tired, I just went through the motions.  Then during my stretch class, I was so relaxed, I could have fallen asleep.






The hot shower, left over steak and potato for dinner, two hours of TV (24 Legacy) and I was done for the day, except a little more Spanish edumacation in bed before lights out.

This series of big time cat and dog wrestling was taken Wednesday morning.

Joe was actually up and out of bed before me at 6 am Wednesday.  He has had a bad cold, and a coughing spell woke him, and I.  I was not ready to rise and shine, but the noise and light coming from the kitchen stimulated my brain and I couldn't get back to sleep.  I need to edumacate Joe on how to NOT wake me up. 😴







At Ballroom aerobics, I was not in my usual spot behind the lady instructor, but instead I was right in front of her husband.  The ladies are on one side of the room and the men on the other.  The instructors are side by side, with her facing the men and him facing the women.  Well, instead of watching her, I kept accidentally following him, doing the male lead.  So I was on the wrong foot, stepping out to the wrong side, turning in the opposite direction, etc.  Yikes.

I worked on my Bible study before lunch, and then after lunch I took Maggie on a long walk.  We did the front nine of Druid, because it was being aerated and there were no golfers on it.  We went out and back hole #18, to get to 1-9.  Seen left, the 18th green covered in sand, all part of the aeration process.







You can see from this photo of our house, the grass is greening up, and actually, so is the underbrush in the woodland.  But the trees have yet to leaf out.  I don't know if the drought from July to November will affect the spring blooms or not.

I went to the barn for a late afternoon ride.  Amiga was with the herd, way out in the back part of the pasture, no where to be seen (video).  The horses were all revved up, because a new horse had been added to the herd earlier in the day.  Amiga would not let me near her and Zorro was trying to keep the new mare away from the herd (video).  Finally catching Amiga, I rode her bareback on my return trip to the barn.

I had a great trail ride, being out almost 2 1/2 hours.  I met Jan out on the trail, rode back to Terry's with her, and then back to the barn.  Listen to the frogs (video) in this pond that the trail rides go past.

It was poker night for Joe, so Shirley and I had the Chicken Pasta buffet at Legends and finalized plans for our weekend trip.  

It was another sunny morning Thursday with the cat and dog watching out the window as birds came and went from the feeders.

I did a load of laundry and got most of my things packed.  It was hard to decide what 'handbag' would be best to carry into the coliseum during our three days of horse show watching.




Early afternoon I took Nancy and Hanna (Carole and Allen's daughter and granddaughter) hiking.  Maggie came too of course.

During trail hikes, the dog runs ahead but is good about never getting out of sight.



In the lower photo, she climbed the rocky hill side, got up on the bench, and watched us approach.




After our hike, I changed into workout attire.  I had a few minutes to spare, so did a couple of household chores and then went to the gym.  I accomplished my usual Thursday routine.  The rain started right after dinner, but was more just a drizzle. 




Seen left, Maggie and Stevie settled in beside me as I worked here at my computer.
Other than getting this blog finished and posted, I needed to pack a few last minute things (like cooler, snacks, purse, and stadium/car bag).  I also wanted to download (or is it upload?) some things onto my i-pad.  That's another thing I could use a lot more edumacation on.
Anyways, I am ready to roll before sun-up tomorrow, when Shirley comes to pick me up.