A Switch

It was a big switch to come home from 80+ degree Caribbean weather to 50 degree weather here on the Plateau.  Fifty is not that cold, but after the warm days and nights we had, it seemed freezing to me.


I think the cats were happier to have me home than the dog.  Seen left, Monita gives me a welcome home kiss.  Below, Stevie lets me have a big hug.












It seemed late when we got home Friday evening, but it was only a little after 6:00.  I had PBJ for dinner but was too tired to do anything else.  I flopped down on the couch with Joe and watched the season openers of Designated Survivor and Survivor.  The second show was two hours long and I couldn't even finish it.

Saturday morning I got more lovin' from the cats and took the previous photos.  Joe was up earlier than usual and on the road for an eight day trip.  First stop, Cherokee NC for two poker tournaments.  I guess it was a switch in guards - now my turn to watch the house and pets.









On my first dog walk, I had immediately noticed daffodil blooming in the garden.  Even though it seemed cold, it was so refreshing to come home to greener grass, daffodils and forsythia in bloom, and buds emerging. 

The sun was pretty and bright and I was glad to see that a switch from winter to spring had occurred during the nearly two weeks we were gone.  I spent the morning catching up on e-mail and Facebook while doing four loads of laundry, including our linens and the pet bedding.  A lot of cleaning in the kitchen and laundry/pet room also occurred. 

Mid-afternoon I went to the barn to pay board, see and ride Amiga a bit, and just get outside.  Jan was there riding Cash, whom she has moved back to Wildwood from Terry's... another switch.

I rode with Jan for a little while, and got some photos of the woods greening up.  Jan had been in the saddle two hours so quit before I was ready to.

I took Amiga on the beginning of the Holly trail, but it and all the trails were very muddy and on the slippery side.  So I just sat on Amiga and let her graze for quite a long time.  I was getting chilled as the sun lowered in the sky and the wind picked up, so headed back to the barn.

A stop in at Food City, salad for an early dinner, and a fire after a hot shower, still found me feeling cold.  I did finish watching Survivor but went to bed early again.

Sunday morning I woke with a sore throat, cough, and headache.  I felt very tired and my body was telling me it was way past time to slow down.  So I stayed home all day.

I took these photos of the emerging buds while walking Maggie along the path by the Lutheran Church.

I had a lot of blogging to do so worked at it much of the day.  Sorting through photos and editing them was quite time consuming.  I decided to try to do one day of vacation each day, while also working on this blog post.  During an afternoon dog walk, I realized how warm it was, so sat out on the deck and read and napped in the sun.  The forsythia below were turning yellow with flowers.  I did finish unpacking and got one last load of laundry done.  There were other household chores I also tended to.  I didn't last long after dinner and was in bed before 8pm, staying up that late only on the dog's behalf, for one last walk.

Monday morning I put my travel suitcase out with the trash.  It had served its purpose.  I also noticed this sign on Brian's garage door.  His son is home from China, for a week, and then heads to Hawaii where he is stationed next.

I met Patty at Ballroom Aerobics.  It seemed like the music was too slow.  Then I lifted weights, sort of.  I was quite surprised to see that I had only gained two pounds on the cruise.  All of the dancing must have helped.  I came home, had lunch, and was going to work outside, but it was very cloudy and I was still cold and too low on energy.  Since I wasn't feeling great, I decided yard work could wait.

I got back to blogging, with the cats sitting here on my desk as usual.  They look out into the yard, especially since Hobo has been around a lot and more vocal than normal.  I wanted to get back into my PJ's and warm up, but decided to first go sit in the hot tub and sauna at the Conference Center. 

I was back home, in my PJ's drinking tea, toasty warm and relaxed, by 3:00.  I was so relaxed I didn't blog long before needing a nap.

I had just nodded off on the floor in front of a fire and the dog woke me up.  She hadn't done anything during her last two walks so I decided I'd better take her out again.  Once back and wide awake, I swapped out the seasonal flag by the mailbox while getting the mail and put the Easter decoration in the front wreath after removing the snow man.  There was a bird nest on the wreath, without any eggs, so I removed it... seen in my hand in this photo.

I had to call Shirley to get some information about our cruise.  She had done a better job of saving the daily activity papers than I did.  Then after dinner, I settled in to work on the cruise blog, but once again, didn't last long.  In addition to the sore throat, my dry coughing increased.  I took cold medications, was in bed at 6:30 to read, and had lights out at 7pm.

Tuesday morning I was up at 5am, after ten hours of sleep.  My cold had moved to my chest and now it wasn't just a dry cough.  More meds kept the symptoms tolerable. 

The cats had made a switch from my desk top to the nearby chair where they cleaned each other (video) before taking a nap together.






The sun was shining and it was going to be a beautiful day, but wintery weather was predicted to return.  Even though I had a lot of blogging to do and was feeling below par, I decided to get some work done in the yard before going to the barn.  Joe called from Jacksonville FL. to inquire about a report of a missing dog in our neighborhood that fit the description of Maggie.  I assured him she was right with me watching me work in the yard, and sent him this photo.


My "yard work" consisted of transplanting two plants into pots and then two redbud trees.  I moved this 'trunk' of the young tree that the deer had decapitated this winter.  It had a few buds along its side so will hopefully send up new shoots and branch out and survive.  I just stuck it in the hillside by the drainage ditch to help hold the soil in place.






Then in its hole (where I really want a well established redbud) I moved this second redbud from behind the bench on the rock, a place I didn't really want it, so I made this switch.

I gave everything a good watering, grabbed a quick lunch, and headed to the barn at 1:00.  Amiga let me walk right up to her and today I was finally able to jump up on her bareback from the ground!  I did have her standing on the down hill side from me. 

I rode her in and brushed a very dirty and shedding horse.  After riding bareback for about 45 minutes, I rode Amiga back to the barn and parked her here.  You can see the dust and hair I had removed from her.  Then while Jan got Cash ready, I worked at repositioning this saddle bag Shirley had given me.

It had been tied to rigging eyelets farther back behind the cantle but sat on Amiga's back and swung around (side to side) too much. 

So I found a way to feed wire between this screw, and attached the bag this way, on both sides.  Now it sits up on the back jockey right behind the cantle and the leather rigging straps are free to tie a jacket or more gear on farther back if needed.  I like this switch in tack placement.


Finally, Amiga and I were ready to hit the trail with Jan and Cash.  We did the top part of the Holly trail and then did some of the livery trail to check out the waterfall.
I took a (video) and there was some photo swapping.



It is good to have Jan back at Wildwood where we will see each other regularly and ride together more often.

I didn't leave the barn in time to make it to Stretch Class, so went to Patty's to get cat care instructions, before coming home to enjoy a quiet evening with my pets.

When I work up Wednesday morning, as predicted, winter weather had returned even bringing a little snow.  And I thought 50 degrees was cold.  This was a good excuse to stay home and work on my blogging. 









It remained cold and cloudy all day and I got a lot done with photo editing and note taking for my cruise blog post.  Unfortunately, I still had a long way to go.





I did get out of the house for a few dog walks and then for dinner, meeting up with some horse people at Legends for the chicken pasta buffet.  We (Jean, myself, Judy, Jerry and his wife Betty, from left to right in photo) thoroughly enjoyed the food and conversation, and we were all there for almost three hours.

Thursday morning on our way home from our first walk of the day, it began to snow.  It was coming down so fast, it started accumulating immediately.



As usual, Maggie supervised while I hung out the bird feeders.  Snow was even sticking to her.



I like the peace a gentle snow fall brings, and looked out my window more than I blogged.  There was quite the accumulation of birds and snow (video). 

My cold symptoms were much better but I was glad to be 'stuck' here because of the weather.  I needed to continue working on blogging.


Our house always feels colder on cloudy days, which it was.  In fact, I turned up the thermostat one degree and switched on the space heater next to my desk.  Monita and Maggie napped by the heat vent that blows air out from under this pot stand.


I took a break from blogging and ran over to Patty's to feed her kitties while she is in Iowa.  I ran to Food City on the way home, getting some salads to share at dinner time.
And then I sat home the rest of the day, watching the birds and snow flurries come and go, while blogging.

Finally, it was time to head over to Brian's, who was having a party for his son Brian who leaves Sunday.  I was glad to take a break from this blog business.  There was a nice crowd of about 15 of us and we enjoyed eating, drinking, and chatting.  This is the only photo I took, catching Brian midway, eating his sandwich.  Sorry Brian.

It was warmer Friday, but still seemed plenty cold to me during my first two dog walks.  I blogged while watching birds and cats.  This photo shows the variation in color of the two cats.  And look how big Monita is getting.

I went to the barn at 1:00 and rode with Jan.  Once finished, Zorro came over to the fence while I was riding Amiga and letting her graze.  The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

I stopped in at Patty's for cat care before coming home from the barn.  A quick dog walk and change in clothes and I was back out the door, heading to the gym.  I felt strong and energized, lifting more weights than usual.  This surprised me because out in the field I was unable to jump up on Amiga from the ground and got tired from trying four times.  Amiga had been so good and patient to just stand there.

I had a quiet evening at home watching TV because I was tired of blogging.  I also continued reading a good Patricia Cornwell book, The Bone Bed.