Kerfuffle

I am tired of all the kerfuffle going on here in America.  Of course we are all sick and tired of  Covid-19.  But many of us are also fed up with black vs. white, Democrats vs. Republicans, gay vs. straight, Christians vs atheists, etc.  I am really up to here with the media.  I’m tired of no one being allowed to think what they want & feel what they do, without offending someone.   I am sick of blaming the whole for the sins of a few.  We are one race - the human race, so stop all the bickering and try to get along.

Dear Lord, please help us all
get along with each other.

People don't need to be thrusting their beliefs on others.  We all need to deal with the fact that many don’t have the same exact mind-set as us.  Having our own minds is what makes us all individual and beautiful.  I don’t have to agree with everything you believe to be a decent human being and your friend.  The kerfuffle needs to end.  We need to listen to each other so our voices can be heard without us having to shout.  And sometimes, we need to agree to disagree. 
I saw this baby photo on Facebook and had to use it, cause that little face is just so cute.

Saturday 6/20 - Photo from the night before.  Major leg cramps woke me at 5:30, five hours after I had gotten to sleep.  I guess my dancing muscles are out of shape. LOL  But hopefully this will be rectified.  I really had fun at Reds the night before.  I was home before 11pm, but then talked with Shirley on the phone for an hour.




Brian shared this photo of a big snapper down by the pond.  Yikes!  Don't mess with this dude.


I met with Mike and Nancy out at the pool with the hopes of getting ready for our big opening day on Monday.  It did not go well and we all left, almost two hours later, somewhat frustrated.








I had lunch on the deck, and read and napped out there before doing anything productive.

First I moved the mulch bags so I could start planning and working on the corner by the garage.  How best to get water to drain into the drain pipe in this area is going to be the biggest challenge.









Then I finished mulching this bed out front.




I made an adjustment to the stepping stone and phlox that was beside it, getting a larger rock and moving the phlox into one clump.



I had to hustle to get showered, all the pets fed, and the dog walked and then get to the barn party (Christmas in June).




What a fun group of friends and acquaintances I have out at the barn.  





Michelle and John served up a ton of great food and there were several libations and beverages to enjoy.


We had each brought a Secret Santa gift, and played the gift stealing game, with 21 packages to choose from.  There were little kerfuffles over some gifts that were stolen, and also commotion made by those trying to get rid of their gifts. 
I was the last to go, and stole this bottle of wine.

Jan got Mike up on Cash who took his annual, 'once a year whether he needs to or not' ride.







He actually looked like a pro, very natural and relaxed in the saddle.

When I went in to see and check on Amiga, I discovered a fresh kick to her chest, which was still bleeding.  So I got it cleaned up and treated with triple antibiotic.

It was almost dark when I got home to water grass seed.

Sunday 6/21 - Father's Day and Summer Solstice.  I wondered if this buck was a father, knew it, so was proudly parading around with his ladies down back.














I enjoy cat antics while sitting here at my computer in my sun room / cattery.  Monita was doing some gymnastics on the wooden crate.  She was actually blocking Styx (who had been in the litter box) from coming out.

Maggie often wonders about these unpredictable feline.

I was not in a hurry to get out in the yard to work, which proved later, to be a mistake because I got rained on in the afternoon.

I ate an early lunch on the porch, and had to have the light on to read the paper because the skies were so dark.  Just before this, I had taken a (video) of the wrens.

Our group chat went well and was fun, after all my technical difficulties were resolved.


It was thundering again, while we chatted, so Maggie was clingy, laying right underfoot.

After our chat, I got outside to work in the bed by Allen's.  There were lots of leaves and weeds that needed removing.  I decided to first trim the hedges and then clean everything up off the ground.

I got rained out twice, and the second time I put away my tools, I decided to give up on yard work.  I did stand out in one heavy downpour to observe how water was draining. 





At one point, a lightening strike hit right across the fairway in front of Rodger's house (two doors down).  Later he told me about it.  Anyway, it knocked out our internet/TV.    I decided this was a good time to go to the barn and check on Amiga.  Her kick injury looked to be healing okay.  When I arrived home, Comcast was right out front working on our line.


I did a few inside jobs just to make myself seem useful.  I decided to put a 'grab bar' on the top of the ladder because the cats were still having problems getting to this top step.  I decided to use a rope, but couldn't find a big enough one, so braided this old electrobraid cord that we brought from the farm.  The hot glue worked great for sticking it to the ladder.


Time will tell if this is going to help the cats climb up there.




Joe reported about his adventures in Illinois, and seemed to be having a crazy and fun time.

Monday 6/22 - We had morning fog, with the cooler air temperatures and added moisture condensing, the steam was rising.  It seemed the day was going to be muggy, yet more rain was predicted.









When I took Maggie for her first morning walk, I noticed that much of the grass seed had germinated.  It seems to have sprouted overnight.  It was sowed six days ago.

More seed will germinate still and these spots will soon fill in.  I hope the new grass will also get greener.

 Look at Stevie's pretty eyes.



She looked down to see what I was up to.

And then along came Monita (the spoiler and disrupter) to also see what was going on. 






Look at Stevie's expression, not happy.  Monita started harassing Stevie, who soon sent her on her way.














I worked outside from 8am till noon.  The front flower bed by Allen's was next.  Before weed and leaf removal, I decided to trim shrub first.



It is tedious and time consuming work picking all the weeds, leaves, and shrub trimmings out of the rock.









I didn't get done, but it started to sprinkle as predicted, with more rain coming.  I had planned to run errands in the afternoon anyway.

My first stop was the CCC to figure out why I couldn't get logged into the computer.  Kim was great help.  Apparently, I had not been activated as an employee yet.  With-in an hour, she had me up and running and ready to go.

Then I ran to town for a quick and very successful trip... hair cut, got a smaller tire from Shadden, cracked corn at Tractor Supply, flowers and a new (larger) flower pot at Lowe's, and some necessities at Walmart.



Home to unload everything, feed the cats and dog, and then I went to the pool.  I wanted to see if Mike needed help with closing and to mess on the computer for a bit.

My last stop was the barn where Scruffy was relaxing out in front of the office.  I checked Amiga.





She did not want to be in the selfie with me.  I treated her ouchie, which I could tell still hurt, and then brushed and loved on her for a bit. 

It was dark when I got home, but I didn't get to bed until almost 10:00.

Tuesday 6/23 - Some people make a kerfuffle about baby fawn left all alone for hours.  It helps to know how to tell if a fawn has been abandoned and is in distress.  According to Red Creek Wildlife Center, "Dehydration will be visible within a day or so and is indicated by curling of the ears, ruffling of the fur, and dulling of the eyes. Ear-curling is the first sign seen as the rounded edges of the ears will dry and begin to roll back at the tips. A fawn lying flat out on its side with its legs extended is in severe distress".
Rodger had called me about this little one between his and Brian's house.  It had been here since 4:00 the day before.  I gave him the above info, and went to look at it.  I felt the baby was okay, and just to keep an eye on it.  Mama deer may have showed up overnight, and hopefully would be back before too long. 

It was my first shift at the pool (subbing for MJ) and the second day of it being open.  My new rain gauge had indicated one inch Sunday and another inch on Monday.  It rained most of the early morning, sometimes quite hard.  But made for a slow start at the pool, which was fine by me as I got re-acquainted with the POS computer.







I was home by 2:15 and got right to work planting these flowers.  You can see the difference in size of the flower pots (the small one from the garage sale).  I felt this space by the drive needed a larger pot.  The pop of color here is nice and I think these flowers are so pretty.

I fed the cats and dog and was then off to run a few more errands.  I got some drain pipes from a dump site you will see in my next project, took a video of a townhouse Jim was interested in, checked in on Mike at the pool, and then went to the barn.

I rode bareback for 30 minutes and treated Amiga's wound, which is healing quite nicely.  Karen contacted me as I was driving home, with a bunch of iris bulbs she thinned out, so I went and picked them up.


Babe doing her gymnastic routine before bed.  In the second photo, you can see Monita planning to disrupt.












I read until almost 10:00, late bedtime for me.



Wednesday 6/25 - Since I would be working a 1:45 - 6:45 shift, I was out in the yard working just after 8am.  My first task was to replace this bush with the two Azaleas I had bought a few weeks ago, when the bush looked completely dead.






I don't like to discard any landscape plant that has a chance to survive, so I transplanted this bush which had sprung new life, after trimming all the dead growth off.  It is down by the oasis now (yellow) with several others (red circle - Lilac from Karen, blue circle - Bamboo Nandina from the barn, pink circle - Ruby Barberry from front yard).  They have all been saved here.


I dug a second hole on the other side of the drain pipe.  This is at the corner of our screened porch.


Babe was up above watching and trying to figure a way to get down to me.




Both Azaleas now in there new home.  They have a better chance of survival now that the gutter has been replace and most of the roof water doesn't pour over on this spot anymore.









My next job was to work on the drainage area by the garage.  You can see the drain pipes I took from a dump pile.


First I wanted to build a better retaining wall around this Dwarf Alberta Spruce, and raise the tree up five more inches to get it equal with the drive and match the one on the other side of the garage door.








I moved all building materials out of my way and added dirt under the tree as best I could.  I hope I didn't do too much damage to it's roots.



My first block needed to be as low as the drain pipe, which you can see in the first photo.  I had placed a rock in front of it and one on top of it to protect it while I worked.







I continued to dig up and re-arrange the rocky dirt as I added blocks to the wall, trying to get them level and place them where needed to end up with the top row where I wanted it.



There was a lot of re-arranging and adjustments as I stacked the border blocks up.














I had to kind of scramble to finish the wall, and was not happy with the top row because it was slanting outward and mulch could spill over into where I will be putting rocks.  I had to get to the pool, so left it for the time being, knowing more adjustments would be made. 




I was busy, productive, and happy with how my second day on the job went.  Pool customers are doing a nice job of self distancing.

Maggie and the cats were glad to see me when I got home.  They were past ready for dinner.  I hadn't had time to eat (I didn't take time) at the pool, so I was ready for dinner too.

Thursday 6/25 - I worked 9:15 - 2:15.  Took a selfie of me at the pool before opening.  At one point during my shift, a fawn tried to come through the gate, but I blocked him, standing in the way and putting my arms out.  He had been running panicked and looked very hot.  He went around the back of our building and across the lawn and across the street.  Evidently, he was trying to cut through the pool to get over there.  I hope he found his mom and got a drink.



Joe was home from his six day trip when I got home.  I changed and was soon off to the barn to check on and ride Amiga.  Her kick mark was healing a lot quicker than mine.  LOL

These are the Standing Tall horses, tacked and ready for class.




Standing Tall Life Skills Program provides a safe environment for improving physical agility, social skills, and communication, with the use of horses.  They meet across the street from the barn.  I took this photo while riding Amiga in the front yard.  The flies were bad in the woods, so I didn't ride on the trails very long.




Amiga horsing around at the cross ties, waiting on me after I took care of her and was cleaning up tack.








I took Maggie for a long walk after dinner.  We would have covered more ground, but I stopped to talk with three different people.

Friday 6/26 - I was woken by Joe at 2am, and never could get back to sleep.  So I read for a few hours and finished with computer time by 7am.  I started laundry, did dishes, ran to the grocery on our way to drop Joe off to pick up his scooter, and watered grass and all my potted plants.  Finally I was able to start work on my corner drainage ditch.  The first task was to raise this wall 1½" and level it.  So I had to rebuild it from the first bottom block.  I am much happier with it now.


Preparing to put in some drain pipes, I first wanted to visualize where the rock would go.  I used these old concrete border block to do that.

Then I got an old coffee can and cut it to use as a connector piece (fits inside two pipe ends to hold them together).  I poked holes in the end piece of the can and put it over the beginning end of the pipe to keep dirt and rocks out.  
















I had the pipe about ready to go (still needing to cut the bottom end once I was sure how long I needed it).










I started to dig the trench for the pipe, but the over-grown holly was in my way.  So I got distracted for quite awhile, trimming it.


At this point, the stump grinder guys came, which was another distraction.  I have wanted to level a big bump in the front yard but there was a rotten stump under ground.  It caused difficulty for the grass to grow here as well. 





It didn't take these guys long and the stump, roots, and even a couple larger rocks were removed.







Once the stump guys were gone, I raked the piles of dirt out.  A little more leveling is needed and probably some additional fill dirt, before I seed this area.














I then went back to work digging the trench for the drain pipe.


When I had been raking up holly leaves, I discovered this frog.  I moved the toad house under the sruce and put it over him where he would be safer.  Well, he came out of the house, but just sat here the rest of the time I worked.


I 'hit the wall' just before 4:00 and decided to quit for the day, even though I was not yet done.  I was just too tired.

After a well deserved and needed shower, I sat on the porch swing to read and hopefully nap.  Babe and Mama Styx were playing and grooming each other.




Stevie soon got on my lap and Styx moved to the corner shelf.  Meanwhile, Babe then started a kerfuffle and playing with Monita.

I did take a 20 minute power nap.



I ended the day with a fun evening at Sherri's along with Connie and Tammy.  We enjoyed a shared dinner (Sherri - pizza, Tammy - strawberry spinach salad, Connie - drinks and snack mix, and I desert).  We played Pit and then Sequence, having lots of fun.

Joe was already in bed asleep when I got home just before 10pm.