Ruska

This week started off with the first day of fall, and is finishing off with the end of September, so I feel like autumn is well under way.  Some leaves have been changing color, and now with days being shorter than nights and temperatures decreasing, the show of fall colors is becoming more apparent.





Sunday 9/23 - the sky was an eerie kind of pink when I took Maggie on our first morning walk, at a later than usual 6am time.  I had troubles getting a good photo to show it, and then before I had gotten too far from home, I could hear the rain coming, hitting the leaves in the distance.  We made a mad dash for home, and almost got there before getting hit with rain drops.


I sat with Lisa and Nolan at Church.  It rained gently during most of the worship time, but had stopped long enough before and after the outside (pavilion) service, that I don't think anyone had to open an umbrella.  

While sitting here after church, finishing up last week's blog, I watched the wildlife as it rained.




I saw a hawk scoop down and nearly catch a squirrel and then the big Blue Heron caught a frog.  He struggled to position it before swallowing it whole.  I could see through my binoculars, the frog legs kicking.  I chose not to watch any longer, and eventually the struggle was over.








Before Joe left for his noon poker game, I had him help me assemble the cat ladder that Allen had helped me get started.



It went together fairly easily once we had the correct drill bit, and we got it done without too much disagreement.

I wasn't ready to mount the ladder on the wall yet, but was testing to see how it would look.

I just leaned it against the cat tower, and immediately it was being inspected.

I am not sure what I did early in the rainy afternoon.  I was supposed to work, but the pool was closed for the day because of the weather.  Possibly a nap took place.

A deer splashed and drank in the pond, even with noisy golfers nearby.



I went to the barn at 3:00 to check on Amiga.  She was already in for the night.  Again she was quite stiff when I lead her out of her stall.  So I gave her a Bute, brushed and cared for her and put her back in her stall.

Patty came by at 6:30pm to help me figure out how to assemble the cat shelves.

This photo shows how the four shelves are to look when completed, although I will place them in a different arrangement.

The instructions were horrible and I hadn't found any help on line.  Patty has a knack for seeing how things fit together, so she came to my rescue.  By the time we had it all pieced together, we realized we were missing the attachment screws in the front of the hammock hanging rods.  It also appeared it was going to be tricky to hang the two large pieces on the wall and the screws they provided looked wimpy.  All of this would have to be dealt with another day.

Monday 9/24 - I was still stiff and sore (I guess from all the hiking and dancing that occurred Friday) even after Ballroom Aerobics (which I thought would help loosen me up).  So, instead of lifting weights, I did the elliptical for 35 minutes.  A quick shower and I was off to Crossville to shop.









I went to five stores (including a thrift store next to Big Lots that I always duck into).  I could not find the screws I needed to fit the cap board over the hammock rod, even though I had two different people helping me at Lowe's.  But I did find this really cool wood carving at the thrift store for only $15.00.  What a great buy.





I hung it on the wall once I got home.

Then Joe and I went over to Brian's with snacks and beer.  Ken, Linnea, and their daughter Brittany were there as well as Chris, Andy, Rita and Michelle. 

As always, the conversation was lively and funny.  Sometimes it was informative and other times it was raunchy.  But it was all fun.  We enjoyed Rita's birthday cake and ice cream before coming home around 8pm.

Tuesday 9/25 - Mom and Rita's real birthday.  They were both born the same day, the same year, and even in the same town of Muncie Indiana.  What a small world we live in.  Michelle found Mom's photo in Rita's high school year book. Crazy.  I don't think this is the right photo though.

I went to the barn at 7:30 to check on Amiga.  She didn't look too bad considering she had been in the stall all night.  I went ahead and gave her a Bute because she was still a little off and I didn't want her resisting the farrier later in the morning. 

Can you see the other two deer behind the shrub on the oasis?  They were there when I took the photo of the deer in the pond.

I zipped home for my second cup of tea and then went back to the barn at 10:15 for the farrier.  He trimmed Amiga and then put shoes back on the front.  

Amiga did act sore and not want to give Tom her front right foot.  We discussed her lameness issues.  Her feet and hooves looked fine so she probably has a flare up of the old suspensory ligament injury.  I just need to be more careful with her.  She is a very delicate horse.  Sometimes I wonder if I should trade her in for a sturdier breed like the Walking Horse or Saddlebred.  Actually, Amiga will be perfect for me when I am ready to slow down, but I would still like to do some long trail rides even with overnight camping, and maybe even endurance rides.  The thought occurs to me of leasing a horse for a year or two, until I get this type of riding out of my system.  It is one of the few things on my bucket list.  

Steve (the roofer) came by to look at the leaks we have had (although I hadn't seen any in a few weeks).  His helper fixed one spot where the flashing wasn't tight and caulked another problem area.

Joe helped me get the one kayak hung from the ceiling under the sunroom.  

I was supposed to open the pool at 1:00, but it was cool, cloudy, and threatened to rain.  Occasionally the sun would peak out and I would think again about opening the pool.  A call to Nancy, who chatted with Cindy, and it was decided to just stay closed.  Probably nobody would come on a day like this, it was just too cold and cloudy.


Joe and I decided to take our chances with the weather, and go hiking.  We needed to get two distant hikes done for the marathon.  Even though the leaves overhead looked green, there were all sorts of different colors and shapes on the trail.


First we hiked  one section of the Cumberland Trail up on Black Mountain.


Because we had 5 1/2 miles total to cover, we did not take all the off shoots from the main trail to look at a few manmade ruins, rock formations, and views; except these two that were very near the main trail.

Next we drove to Hebbertsburg to hike another section of the Cumberland Trail.













Maggie sure enjoys cooling off and playing in the water.  This last photo is an action shot of her jumping back out onto the banks of the creek.

I really had sore and tired ankles, knees, and hips by the time we were done.  Going up the hills and rock steps was especially hard on my knees.

After dinner and two episodes of 'Safe,' I put my weary body to bed, thinking my lameness may be similar to my horse's.

Wednesday 9/26 - During Ballroom aerobics my knees were really bothering me.  So I kept all my moves slower and under control.  I did part of my weights, skipping all the leg ones, so I wouldn't further strain my knees.  Then I did twenty minutes on the elliptical which didn't seem to bother them either.

Joe was off to run errands and play poker by the time I got home at 11:30.  Eating lunch on the screened porch, I noticed the leak was back.  I sent the roofer this photo, pointing to the new wet water drops, with the old dried spots below my hand.

I had had big plans to work on the cat shelves but first wanted to take care of some things here on my computer.  Well, I never got to the shelves.  But I did do two more loads of laundry, fill and start the dishwasher, and took care of other household tasks including pets and plant care.

It rained most of the day and I took Maggie out on short walks between showers.  We actually got in a 20 minute jaunt mid-afternoon.  I also got these photos of the high water level in the creek down back. 

Thursday 9/27 - was a repeat of the last four days of rain.  Keeping the pool closed (so I didn't have to work my am shift) was a no brainer.  My plan was to get cat shelves hung after first making some changes (hopefully improvements to them).

The first change was to add a hole in the side of the box that faces out into the room. 





The entrance hole will face the ceiling when this is hung on the wall.  This will allow me to be able to see into the box and they can look out this 'window' if they want to.

So I drilled a hole large enough to get my hand jig saw blade in, cut and taped the fuzzy fabric back out of the way, and then drilled the hole.

Then I pulled the excess fabric from the inside through the hole, gluing it around the edge of the hole and on both boards inside and out.  

While that dried I then worked on the end caps of the rods that the hammock will hang from.  I was going to use dowel rods and glue to hold the part on, but then realized I wouldn't be able to take the hammock off to wash it.







I figured out I could use the bracket screws that were intended to hang the box to the wall from (which I was replacing with larger, stronger screws).  I attached them to the end caps and they will now screw into the rods that hold the hammock, and can be unscrewed to remove the hammock for washing.

Midday, during yet another heavy downpour, while the glue was still drying, I ran some errands.  I had to turn in the job completion on our siding restoration, sunroom, and roof to the ACC (Architectural Control Committee).  I was late with this because I didn't realize I needed to do it.  They were very forgiving.  Next I went to the pool to feed the cats.  The water level was above the tiles.






Thirdly, I went to the barn to see how Amiga was doing.  Judy was about ready to bring in the horses for the night, so called the mares first.  Amiga came slower than the others, but walked without apparent lameness.  Zorro had been in for a few hours, getting a break from the rain and a chance to dry off.  I brushed him and then put him back in his stall until Judy was ready to turn out all the pasture board horses that stay out overnight.




"Back at the ranch" I went out on the porch, using the floor to do some design plans for how I was going to hang the shelves on the sunroom wall above my desk.  This is what I came up with.







While out there, I noticed worse leaking on the wall by the kitchen window.  If you look closely, you can see several clear drip drops on this wall in the photo.

Then I did more gluing of the fabric around the hole.  It isn't perfect, but I hope it holds up to cat use.

Friday 9/28 -It was 55 degrees and foggy while walking the dog at 6am.  It really looked, smelled, and felt like fall.  This was the first day since last Saturday evening when rain was not in the forecast.  We had gotten seven inches in five days, but finally we could expect a break from it.  And I kept thinking, at least we aren't in the Carolinas.

I moved furniture out of the way from the wall where we would be hanging shelves.  Look at all the cat toys found under the storage bench.

Then I hiked Stonehenge trail with Patty, Joe and Maggie.  On the way home, we hit the Police department for the ice cream social and a tour of their new facility.




I worked (with lots of Joe's help) all afternoon on hanging the four cat shelves.  Standing on the tool box, up on the step stool was not the best idea, nor did it get me tall enough, so I borrowed Allen's eight foot ladder.





I stood on one ladder holding the shelf and directing (bossing) Joe as he drilled and then screwed the shelves into the wall.  The two heavy ones got four screws each.

We had to reposition the two heavy shelves, and I was thinking Joe would like to shoot me, but he was very patient and helpful through it all.

With little time to spare, I got ready and went to Connie's house for our girl's night.  It was a pizza party, and we watched the movie (The Book Club) which was hilarious, and then played Sequence, also lots of fun.  Seen in photo, Sherri, Mary, Connie, Michele, and I.

Saturday 9/29 - was my last day of working at the pool this season.  Tony, from a cat rescue group, came by to figure out how best to go about trying to trap mama cat Dorry and her three remaining kittens (two have disappeared).  I helped her get some photos.  With only two swimmers, my shift was easy but kind of dragged.










At 12:30, I scurried off to the Music Festival that was being held at the Four Way.







I sat with Mary's group, and Michelle came a little bit later.  We dancing girls broke the ice and got up to boogie, and soon others joined us.

 

I got home at 6pm for a short break in the action and then met this clan at Red's at 7:15.  Mary and Shirley arrived from Iowa, at Patty's, late afternoon.  Shirley C. and Michelle also joined us for some fun.













We had a good time goofing off, talking, and even got up and sang a few sing-a-long songs (video).  In the photo we are doing Sweet Caroline, "hands, touching hands, reaching out..." etc.

As this week ends, fall colors continue to emerge, but have not reach their pinnacle of brilliance yet.