Idol, Ideal, or Idle

The three words, ‘idol’, ‘ideal’, and ‘idle’ are a little confusing at times, as they sound a little similar to one another.  According to Learnex:
idol - is a person or thing that is greatly admired, loved, or revered.
ideal - means most suitable, favorable, desirable, or best
idle - refers to stagnant, lazy, inactive, and without purpose


I know I am not ideal, and definitely not an idol, and I try not to be idle too much of the time. 

When it comes to my relationship with God, I strive for ideal worship and not idol (my horse, my cats, my house, my way) or idle worship (only going to Him for my problems, forgetting to be thankful everyday, and not doing His good works through helping others).

Saturday 8/24 - When I took Maggie out for her second walk of the day just before going to work, I noticed my little pine tree looked like it was dying.  Upon closer inspection, I saw these caterpillars all over it.  So I sprayed them with an insecticide.  Later I learned that they are the pupa stage of the Redheaded Pine Sawfly.

I was so surprised to only have three customers during my total five hour shift at the pool.  It was a little cool and overcast, not ideal for sunning, but still a nice day out, with very little chance of rain.  The three people that did come, each spent almost an hour in the pool exercising, and none of their time at the pool overlapped with each other, so they each had the whole pool to themselves.  It also meant that I was only alone at the pool for two of my five hours.

Having been up late the night before, when I got home from work, I sat on the couch in the sunroom and read for a bit and then took a nap.  Later, I spent some time here at my computer with all the pets nearby.









I started this blog and then learned about the bugs on my pine tree.  I did not want to be idle about the infestation, because they can kill a small tree, so I went out and manually removed all the bugs from the tree.

After dinner, I took Maggie on a long walk.  I can't believe that leaves are already turning color on some trees, and falling to the ground.










Maggie and I made our way over to Stonehenge and walked hole #18 and back on #1.  She needed a drink from the pond to cool off.

She found a golf ball and I let her carry it for quite awhile.  She also likes to play with them as we walk.  I decided she couldn't pant with the ball in her mouth, and might get too hot, so I put it in my pocket.








Dark was encroaching on us as we headed for home, and finally, there was no evidence of daylight as we came down #18 of Druid.



I ran the 'map my route' application I use while riding and it showed we had gone almost five miles at an average pace of 22 minutes per mile.  We had stopped several times to chat, drink, get a golf ball etc.

I did jog at one point, and went at a 7.45 mph pace.  Just the day before I had ridden Amiga at a top speed of 7.81 mph, which shows how slow I was going on her.




Maggie had found two more balls, which I also put in my pockets till we got home.  She was quite happy with this find, but I put two of the balls in Joe's stash, and let her keep only one of them.

Sunday 8/25 - After church, Courtney, Britney, and I chatted on Facebook messenger from noon until 2:30.  We were all feeling lazy and the need to catch up with each other.  While chatting with the girls, I took breaks to baked a loaf of beer bread and later corn on the cob which I had for lunch.












Monita was eyeing my meal while Stevie knew better and was in pursuit of a bug.  The fresh corn was delicious.

Once my beer bread was cool enough to slice, I enjoyed it, along with a cup of decaf tea here at my desk.

The extra cat and food photos is because that was what we girls were sending each other.








Finally feeling the need to move, and wanting to see Amiga, I went and had a nice little ride on her.  After a short trail ride, I took her across the road to the new arena and horsed around there with Jan and Karen.





Then back across the street we worked in the front yard (field).  This is where Amiga gets all wound up, and she did as usual.  I kept at it, and finally ended when I could get her to circle slowly (quietly with out pressure from the bit) in both directions.  To reward her, I hopped off and walked her back to the barn, praising her.

It was late by the time I got home, showered, and cared for the animals.  Then, as planned, we three girls had a three way conversation on the phone, while we could also see each other.  This photo is of a screen shot from my phone.  Only the right side of Britney's head can be seen at the time of the screen shot.  Britney and I got a kick out of Courtney's app that put flower's on her head.  When she raised her eyebrows, the flowers would go up.  Silly technology and girl.  I like this shot, with a view showing some of my cat shelves on the wall up overhead.





We talked for an hour and then I went to bed.  It was hard to get to sleep because I was thinking of several things involving Courtney.  I also keep Britney and Daniel on my heart and mind regularly.  At church, the minister had said, if someone responds FINE when asked how they are doing, it might mean "Feelings I'm Not Expressing."  So we should seek for more than FINE as a response.

Monday 8/26 - It was a rainy, gloomy day.  I tried to walk the dog when it wasn't raining, but it never really stopped.  At least it wasn't coming down too hard most of the time.  I sometimes put my feet under the bean bag that Stevie often sleeps on, and I needed to do this Monday morning, because it was chilly.  Monita usually stays up on my desk where she can keep an eye on me.






Maggie was sleeping in this very unusual position.  I think she was trying to keep her nose warm, but what about her front legs?

My three hours at the gym included rowing, line dancing, weights, and a good stretch.


Once home, I spent more time here at my desk and took a nap on the couch.  Monita was watching me from a different spot.









Every step you take, Every sound you make,
Every food you take, Every move you make, 
I'll be watching you.

Mirror Lake Blast had been moved indoors, so I left home a little early to be sure to get good seats.










It was a large crowd because Soul Soup was playing.  They were fantastic.  I especially like the lead singer, Jonas Weathers, who also plays the saxophone.  The band played an hour longer than usual, and we girls danced most of the time.  Great band!  Great time!

Joe arrived home from his Iowa trip soon after I got home.

Tuesday 8/27 - I woke at 3 am, unable to get back to sleep.  I had things on my mind.  I did get tired while sitting here, and laid down for a short nap.  Monita gets sleepy watching me, but tries to keep her eyes open.

A herd of six deer came through in back, seeking food and water.  I couldn't get them all in one photo.














I skipped Zumba, waiting to hear about a morning meeting Courtney had.  I was thrilled and relieved to get good news.  Do I make idols of our kids?  I don't think so, but I sure do want the best life for them.

It was not an ideal morning, because I was way too idle.

I worked from 2:15 to 8:15.  This is my last customer of the night, swimming laps almost until closing time.  Then, in my rush to get home, I locked my purse in the pool office.  My car keys and the keys to the office were in my purse.  Luckily I had my phone, so called Joe to bring me my spare set of car keys.  Needless to say, it delayed my getting home.  Sheesh, I hate it when I do dumb things.

Wednesday 8/28 - Was a far more productive day for me.  Almost three hours at the gym for line dancing, weights, and stretching always makes me feel energized.

After refueling with protein, I went to the barn.  I had all afternoon, so enjoyed talking with several saddle sisters.


Patty arrived a bit later and we decided to ride out together.  We took turns leading and following on Amiga and Zorro.

Patty coming out from the Holly Trail to head back to the barn.  I turned back into the woods and took the Holly Trail into the Glade for a very long ride.  Seen below, Amiga spots cattle at a farm adjacent to the properties at the far west side of the Glade.  We were on a four wheeler path at the time.

After 2 1/2 hours of riding, when we got back to the barn I decided to ride Amiga out in the front yard thinking she would be so tired I could get her to walk out there.

Well we added another mile to total 9 1/2 for the day and an additional 30 minutes to our riding time.  We were both so tired, and I still couldn't get her to walk, but she did at least slow down.  She would not stay relaxed and listening to me and kept trying to turn towards or shoulder in, in the direction of the barn.  I wanted to quit on a positive note, which we kind of did.  But I was still feeling frustrated.

I took time to cool Amiga down, brush her well and put her in the pony pen to let her roll.  I also gave her a Prevocox because she had worked so hard.

I didn't get home till 7pm, and I was quite stiff and sore by the time I went to bed at 10:00.

Thursday 8/29 - Most of my feeders were about empty, except this one that is inaccessible to the birds because of all the sprouts growing.  Cleaning and filling feeders was on my mental to do list.  I noticed a squirrel, missing his front left foot.  His tail is shorter than usual and I have seen him around in the yard and at the feeders.  He was scampering up the nearby tree quite well, but his irregular movement of that leg brought it to my attention.


After a Zumba class and then a good stretch, I went to work at the pool.




It was my last night to close the pool at 8:00!  Joe came out to enjoy the sunshine and later went to the Dorchester Club house and got us dinner to enjoy together by the pool.  My hamburger was very tasty.  The crowd really thinned out by 6:00 and I was able to do some extra cleaning at the pool and close 30 minutes early.  But still, it was dark by the time I got home and my energy was spent.

Friday 8/30 - August is winding down, and so is the summer.  This morning visitor (not the one with the short tail and stub for a left front leg) has a different affliction, probably Dermatophytosis, caused by a fungus.

After weights and a good stretch, I came home to take care of household chores.  My birds, especially the hummers, got clean feeders and fresh feed.  And my kitties got a fresh litter box.

I packed up and left for the barn at 1:45.

Below photo, Polly and Jan as we leave Wildwood for the fair grounds.



Seven of the gals were getting ready to take their horses to the fair.  I was going along as Jan's 'groomer' because she was presenting the flag for the start of the horse show.  Polly brought Rio as a buddy for Cash.
I had gotten to the barn early to check on Amiga and try her again in the front yard.  I was glad to see she was not sore from the very long ride two days earlier and she did so much better when I rode her out in the front yard, than she had on Wednesday.

Kaylah, Jean, Kayla, Emily, and Brooke all arrived at the fair grounds shortly after us and all three trailers from Wildwood were parked here together.

We unloaded Rio (left photo) and Cash (right photo), got them tacked, and Jan and Polly rode them around to acclimate them to the fair surroundings.  There was a lot to take in.













I took tons of photos as the afternoon and evening progressed.


Tom and Mike came to support their wives, Polly and Jan.  They are seen here with Polly and Emily warming up their horses.  Below Polly follows Jan.















Emily on Tasha.

Below, Kaylah on Desperado.
















Kayla on Sky, right photo.

Below, Kaylah on CJ, warming up in the arena.











Jan, finished with warm ups, rode out of the arena on Cash.





Almost show time.
Jan and Cash wait patiently, while the hustle and bustle of fair activities occur all around.















Jan and Cash enter the arena, presenting the flag.








Cash was a handful, but Jan handle him very well (video).
You can see the relief on her face as they exit the arena.



This is most of our group, photo taken later in the night after the crowd started thinning down.

Back row - Karen hiding, Patty, I, Polly, and Jan
Front row - Michelle, John, Sarah, and Judy















Jeshua on CJ, Brooke, and Nick as the Avengers getting ready for the costume contest, and then out in the arena.



Emily got 4th place in pole bending.






Kaylah placed 2nd in Country Pleasure with CJ and 2nd in Western Pleasure with Desperado.

There were lots of mules (and separate events for them) in the show.  Here are two competing in the panty hose race.






Barrel Racing, the last event, ended at midnight.  Jean, Emily, and Kayla competed in it, but the competition was too tough for any of them to place.

It was 1:00 when I roll into home and went straight to bed.  It had been a long, not idle day, but with ideal weather for the horse show.