The Purr-fect Cure

Cats are one of the purr-fect cures for what ails.  So is time with my horse, laughing with family and friends, dancing, walking the dog, exercise, sunshine, resting on a rainy day, gardening, a good night's sleep, etc.








But faith and trust in God really is the perfect cure.  He heals our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual ailments.  And remember, He gives us all the blessing of family, friends, pets, good health, and fun things to do.

Saturday 8/3 - I know I seem like a fairly happy person, and I am most of the time.  But life gets to me too.  I have aches and pains (physical and otherwise) that I deal with.  I have numerous concerns for family, friends, and my world (from my house to the Earth I live on).  But I try not to let these worries get me down.  I pray about them and then I find solace in things (all my blessings) I enjoy.  

My kitties always spend the morning hanging out with me while I am here at my computer.  I had to leave for work at 8:30, so the relaxing morning was cut short.

Pool patrons, many who are also friends, as well as the sunshine and fresh air, made for a wonderful time working.

I wasted no time coming home from work to get cleaned up and ready to go to Hebbertsburg at 3:30.  This was their last dance of the summer.

I am seen here next to Rita, her daughter Micki, Joan across from her, and friend Patty caught with her eyes closed.






Connie and Sherri were also at our table.






There wasn't room for all of us, so Patty and Therese (and also Shirley) sat at the table next to us.  We all enjoyed a good home cooked meal, and then the band started playing and we started dancing.








Donna and DJ, who did our pool party, enjoyed having fun on a night when they did not have to work.

Micki gets her mom moving during the cake walk.

Dancing has many health benefits, from exercising the body to working the mind.  And it is a ton of fun.

Seen in this photo (during a very crowded cake walk when there was hardly room to move) are Sherri, a random guy, Micki's back, Shirley, Patty, Therese, and Patty.

Rita, Micki, and Carolyn wait to hear the winning number.







After the four cake walks, the Sweet T Cloggers performed and then the dancing continued.

City Lights is a fun band, who plays great songs to dance to, and we all had a good time.  Even the slow songs were welcomed to give us a chance to rest.



Sherri, Micki, and I hadn't gotten enough dancing in, and besides, it was only 7:40 when we left Hebbertsburg.  So we went to Reds where there is Karaoke and lots of fun on Friday and Saturday nights.







Fred, a friend of Micki's, is a regular who sings quite well.  The place was hopping as usual, even though there were a couple of really raunchy singers in the line up.  It is all about having fun anyway.  Many of the singers do ballads, but Terry, who runs the show, is a great singer, and did several dance numbers for us and the many other folks (FGCC members, resort guests, and townies) there.  We got our fill of dancing and I was home by 10:00.

Sunday 8/4 - The forecast wasn't great and Courtney had not slept well and was feeling too tired to come for the day.  She was thinking of cancelling her visit, but I talked her into it, knowing some horse time would help 'cure what ailed' her.

I got busy neatening up around the house and cleaning the guest bathroom.  Courtney arrived at 11:00.  We made ourselves salads and enjoyed lunch on the screened porch.  Then we were off to the barn.


Patty met us out there and helped Courtney out with Zorro.  She even got Courtney's moldy saddle all cleaned up for her.



I got Amiga tacked and we were ready to ride.  Neither horse was very cooperative for the photo shoot.






Patty gave Courtney some tips with Zorro and followed us out the back end of the barn.  Amiga and I lead the way down the trail.







Both of our horses did a great job for us and we had a nice little ride in the woods.  We went to, and part way down the Holly trail and turned back when we got to the top of the big hill.

Courtney and Zorro lead the way back to the barn, seen on this (video) while on the Holly Trail.  He was doing so well, Courtney even did a few sections of gaiting down the tail on him.

Once home, a nap was next on the agenda, Courtney was just so tired.  We were going to wait and see about swimming or potooning.

Monita joined us, and notice Maggie was on the floor napping also.

We watched two episodes of Bob Ross painting and had a nice rest.

A storm blew in while Courtney slept.  Maggie went to hide in our closet and I got up to close a few windows.


Later, when Courtney woke, the front had passed, the air had cooled considerably, and the weather had settled in the area as a constant light rain.  Outdoor activities were no longer a choice.

We found a movie to watch on Netflicks and Courtney knit (one of her 'cures for what ails') while watching a light hearted comedy.

We had the leftover lasagna (brought home from Patty's) for dinner and soon Courtney hit the road for home.  I was in bed reading when she texted at 9:06 that she had gotten home safely.

Monday 8/5 - The morning saw me at the gym for over two hours.  Then Joe and I met Patty and Therese at the pool.  It is nice to spend time there as a customer, rather than an employee.  After almost three hours, we headed home to get cleaned up for Mirror Lake Blast.










I got there first and tried to find shade to set up mine and Joe's chair.

By the time the other four arrived, it wasn't as shady.  But it was a beautiful evening, mid 70's and very little humidity.










Patty and Therese brought food they shared with us and Joe brought popcorn and additional beers which I shared with Therese and Micki.

When Micki and Sheri arrived, always a little late after Pickleball, Micki shared her funnel cake with Bob as usual.  I got in on the greasy, sugary, scrumptious delight.  We always get the powdered sugar all over us.

Borrowed Mule was the evening's band.  They were not all that great.  The music was good, but the vocals were sometimes off.  And they played many songs we didn't recognize and not very many dance numbers.  But we made the best of it and still had a good time.

Tuesday 8/6 - I didn't sit here long with Monita, because I met Patty at the barn at 8:00.



We went on a nice leisurely ride on Amiga and Zorro, before it got too hot.










These two Paso Finos, half brother and sister, born the same night, get along so well together.

We went on the same ride as Courtney and I had done on Sunday.  For some reason though, Zorro was hesitant (several times) to go down the trail.  He especially did not want to go through this larger mud/water hole.  Patty does very well with him and got him to do it though.














He was much more willing to move out, and lead the way when we turned to head back to the barn (video).

Next on our agenda was pontooning.  We met Patty, Therese, and Shirley at Dartmoor Marina.  Joe did most of the driving, but took breaks to sun and swim while others took the helm.









He wanted his photo with the golf course in the background.





We anchored to swim and eat lunch, a pot luck of good stuff everybody brought.

Therese, Patty and then Shirley all drove the pontoon for part of our excursion.

 

We ran into Ken and Linnae, who were out with their two girls and two grandsons.  We had anchored near each other and swam together.

















It was a beautiful day on and in the lake during our two hour excursion.  It was relaxing and fun, and a good cure for anything.

I was at work by 2:15 but feeling pretty tired after all of my morning and noontime fun.  The pool was busy, but the crowd quieter than usual.  I did have customers in the water until 8pm.  Notice, it was kind of getting dark.  By the time I got home it was dark.

Wednesday 8/7 - The groundhog was spotted over in Brian's side yard, and I snuck to take this photo before going out with the dog.  This destroyer of yards has a big hole by Brian's house.  I do all I can to keep it out of our yard.

I decided to play 'catch up' here around the house rather than go to line dancing.  During two loads of laundry I got my daily chores done and also fought my phone, Blogger, and my computer, trying to get photos downloaded, edited, and posted.  Then after getting the second load of laundry folded and clean sheets on the bed, I went to the gym to lift weights.





It was a purr-fect day for lounging around, but I needed to make my big, intown, Walmart shopping trip.  So after a leisurely lunch on the porch, off I went.

I ended up running behind schedule to get to the barn at 4:00, but wasn't too late.



Jan, Polly, a new employee - Jean, Emily, and Little Kayla, were all out horsing around.  The young ladies were practicing the rescue relay, where you pick up the second rider as fast as you can.  I gave it a try (on Bullet with Little Kayla) a few times, and realized it was a lot harder than it looks.

Amiga was behaving poorly, crow hopping and going too fast while I was working her out front.  I took her on the trail after everybody had quit, and her behavior greatly improved.  We do much better, one on one, by ourselves.

Thursday 8/8 - A fog moved in an hour after my 6am walk and the day felt gloomy and lazy.  I sat here extra long, enjoying my tea with the new cookies I had bought the day before.  Looking down at our back yard and watching wildlife is always a joy, and a good cure for my troubles.  This morning, a bird was seen chasing the Red Tail hawk.

Later, when I was out cleaning and filling bird feeders, I could hear the hawk quite close, and took this (video) to try and 'capture' it on film.  You can't really see him, but he can be heard.

I decided to skip Zumba and spend the time before work, out in the yard.  I get a lot of satisfaction from yard work, because it usually involves neatening things up, and once done, where I have worked looks so much better.  Besides, the fresh air, sunshine, exercise, and dirt under my nails does me good.

I finished leveling this little walking path, and then started on rebuilding the rock wall, which was made by randomly stacking rocks here as I have collected them over the last several years.

The before photo (lower left) actually looks better than the after photo on the right.  I had run out of time and had to quit before I got finished, so there are random rocks everywhere (I lay them out to pick size and shape - like working a jig saw puzzle).

 

I had to rush to get to work on time.  Once there I got in the water to cool off.  Then I ate a snack for a very late lunch.  I was tired my whole shift, yawning and feeing so sleepy.  After I had a big tossed salad for my dinner, I felt a little more energized.  This large bug (a female dobsonfly) was scaring guests, so I moved her out into the woods.

My last swimmers took showers so I didn't lock up at the pool until 8:10.  I am so glad people are enjoying the evening swims, just wish I didn't have to stay so long because of them.  Oh well, August will be over before you know it, and hopefully September we'll close earlier.

Friday 8/10 - Here's the finished section of wall I got done later in the day, compared to photo above, before I had started the day before.

At the gym, I increased the intensity of my weight workout, with either more reps or more weights, depending on what I could handle.






Once home, I got to work in the back yard, to finish up the section of wall I had started Thursday.  The satisfaction gained from completing a project gives a sense of accomplishment that is a good cure for feeling lazy or unproductive.



This photo was taken from the hill above, looking down at the wall.









And this photo shows a side view of it, including the newly leveled path which exposes more of the larger rock.

Next on my agenda, was taking Amiga on a fairly long ride and working her out in the front yard again to get her to walk calmly out in the open space.

The bean fields were newly plowed and we spotted this tractor working at removing larger rocks from the field.

Amiga did great on the Holly trail hills and moving out when I asked.  On this 'map my route' app, you can see that I had her going at a fast gallop (in red - 16.37 mph) at one spot.  The orange was a slower canter, and we did a lot of slow gaiting also.  But we only did four miles during our 90 minute ride, so I gave her downtime to graze or rest. 

She also did very well riding in the front yard of the barn and over in the new arena across the street.  I was the only one out there, so this helps her focus on me.   

Amiga was very hot and sweaty by the time we had stopped, so I hosed her off and then let her go out and roll and scratch, her favorite thing to do after a ride (video).

I had to keep moving once I got home, to get to the Light and Lively Dance by 7:00.  I had a good time with Jo and Joane, and their family and friends.

I sent Joe a photo of the wine bottle I won in the door prize drawing.  He later messaged me that he had gotten 28th in a tournament in Cherokee, out of 400 entries, and won $850.00.  (I wonder how much he really made, once he subtracts the tournament entry fee, and the cost of  hotel, food, and gas.)