Katherine Spinney - Throughout the year, across the country and across the world, people come together to celebrate various types of occasions such as holidays, natural events, sports victories and life milestones. Every day of the calendar now seems to include several occasions to commemorate- pizza day, sibling day, pet day, teachers day…you name it.
Celebration is a necessary and joyous part of life. So take time to celebrate, whether it's Independence Day or just a small milestone in life.
Saturday
7/3 - It was 52 degrees when I got up. Burrr! It was going to be
beautiful weather all weekend and with family coming, I was getting
excited, although, upon rising, I had a lot to do before guests arrived.
Saw this cute little motorcycle/car (single car type seat, one wheel in front, two in back) when I went to the library to re-new my book the day before.
Courtney was the first to arrive as I was finishing up some cleaning tasks. We soon had lunch, and then ran to Food City. We started this horse jigsaw puzzle just before Dan, Val, and Ava got here. 
Ava
was a bit out of sorts and was just having a rough time of it. Dan and
Val tried everything. Ava would settle down for a bit, but then she
would start crying again. I felt bad for Ava and her parents, but there
was nothing I could do.
She did enjoy sitting out on the porch swing where the fan kept the cool air flowing.
Tia (Aunt) Courtney telling Ava everything is okay. And then Monita adds a little comic relief for good measure.
Ava was acting very sleepy and eventually gave in to fatigue and slept awhile.
My dinner preparation was your typical failure. Thankfully Dan, Courtney, and Patty came to my rescue. Dan, who had run to Food City for some medicine to calm Ava, bought me chicken broth and butter which I needed for the rice. Courtney had read the directions for me and did the math conversions. Patty was the taste tester, added spices, and determined when the rice was finally done (It ended up needing over 45 minutes.) Meanwhile, Joe did great on his own grilling the teriyaki chicken.
Dinner was an hour later than planned, which might explain why it tasted pretty good. LOL 
The evening was spent watching TV, chatting, and caring for Ava, who was not as fussy, but still a little out of sorts. Dan, Val, Ava, and Tango slept in our room and Joe and I in the guest room up stairs.
It was reported that Monita had pestered a few during the night, so of course she was ready for a long nap by morning. She is unbothered by lots of people and an extra dog in the house. Stevie is pretty outgoing too, but Babe and Styx are much more shy (cautious).
Here Britney is with Gloria and Juanita in their home on the reserve in KéköLdi. All morning long I was feeling sad for Britney and all of Gloria's family and friends.
We had a slow relaxing morning with computer and TV time, watching and playing with Ava, working the jigsaw puzzle, and eating, chatting, and laughing.
Tango photo bombing. Maggie was always concerned when Ava cried, but a bit jealous when Ava was being played with.
Ava was in much better spirits today, and did great during this little photo shoot.
I love this sweet, beautiful, silly, loving family.
Joe was golfing with Nolan while we hung out here. Seen in this photo, he is on the 17th green.
Me drinking tea and working the puzzle while Daniel plays with Ava, and Tango keeps a watchful eye.
Ava enjoying more play time in this bouncy seat.
Many of us took a morning nap.
Then, after lunch, we put on our swim suits and headed to the pool. Patty and Shirley met us there.
We got a little area of lounge chairs set up to begin with because there were no tables and umbrellas available.
Pretty soon the people in the corner next to us left and we grabbed their spot also. 
It was a beautiful day, although rather hot in the sun, but at 82° it was not a scorcher by any means. People cooled themselves in the shade, with a fan, or by getting in the water.
We tried Ava in the baby pool because the water in the large pool was rather cold, but she couldn't use the Otteroo because the water wasn't deep enough. So into the big pool we all went.
Notice, most of my pool photos are of Ava, because she is just a lot cuter than the rest of us.
She really loves her Mom and Dad and they are both so good with her. Daddy even put a bow in her hair.
We were at the pool for over two hours, and once we'd had enough sun and water, we dried off and went home.
I am not sure how much napping occurred (other than Ava), but we all rested.
More work was done on the horse puzzle and there was play time with Ava, the dogs, and the cats. 
I got dinner started, which was an easy party size frozen lasagna that just needed to cook for two hours. And I made a lettuce salad.
Patty, Shirley, and Karen arrived over an hour span. Look, our drive is sporting red, white, and blue!
The three ladies enjoyed hangin' out with our kids and granddaughter, almost as much as I did.
Patty helped me with the garlic bread and Karen brought water melon and a pasta salad. So we feasted. 
Look at this little firecracker, so cute in her red, white and blue. In preparation for the firework show, Dan and Val were trying different methods to block Ava's ears from the up coming loud noise.
We enjoyed the two yummy deserts Patty and Shirley had brought, and were soon on our way up to Druid, 9th hole.
A good sized crowed had gathered and we all were full of anticipation as we waited for it to get dark and the show to begin.
Ava never made a peep, and as she finished her bottle, the show began. Ava seemed to watch, mesmerized.
We were a good distance from the park where the fireworks were being set off, so it wasn't too loud.
Val was in a festive spirit along with many others in the crowd.
For a little community, the Fairfield Glade firework show was actually pretty good.
The show lasted probably 30 minutes. The grand finale was bright and loud. Getting home was not bad, in spite of the crowd, which in comparison to Nashville, was nothing at all.
Ava got a warm, relaxing bath once home to remove the sun screen, pool water, and bug spray from the day's events. She was a real trooper all day, and did great.
It was 10pm by the time I went to bed. Courtney was up watching CSI and later reported that Monita had been bothering her while she was on her lap-top.
Here are a few more photos from the day before.
I just love this little family.
And look at Tia Courtney with Ava. They are both so cute.
Courtney got a good photo of Mama Styx, who slept upstairs with her part of the night.
Even though it was after 10pm when I went to bed the night before, I woke at 4am and couldn't get back to sleep. So I got up for the day. I had lots of blogging to do, with all the photos to edit that had been taken the past two days.
It was a fairly lazy morning. Joe had gone to play golf, Courtney slept in, and I was feeling tired as I worked at the difficult jigsaw puzzle.
Dan and Val cared for Ava as needed and we sat relaxing and chatting.
Once Courtney was up, she and Val both came to my rescue to help with the horses mane. It was quite difficult because all of the pieces were the same shape and similar in color.
After lunch Dan started packing up, and then once Ava woke from her nap and had another bottle, they headed home to Murfreesboro (about 2:00).
Courtney was bound and determined to get the puzzle done before leaving so stayed until she got the last piece in at 2:50. It was 3:15 by the time she was packed up and gone. And then, there I was, home alone (Joe was off playing golf all day and poker all evening). I did have Mirror Lake Blast to look forward to, but was feeling nostalgic, sentimental, and kind of misty-eyed. Why is it that this happens to me right after my loved ones leave? I suppose because I think of them so much more than usual.
I
was also feeling worried about Britney because she was on her way to KéköLdi where she would be helping support her Bribri family in
the loss of Gloria. She had last contacted us during an unexpected 2½ hour long wait for the
bus because of its reduced schedule. And then she had an even longer bus ride to
get to KéköLdi.
She would not have internet access until she got home (which wound up
being quite late Tuesday night) so I ended up worrying for two days. 
Mirror
Lake Blast was a blast. Soul Soup, a favorite band of many,
played until after 9pm, so there was lots of dancing to be done. Even
Patty and Shirley danced some of the time. For me, dance is a celebration to life and of life.
Tuesday 7/6 - I had started stripping beds and washing sheets and towels the day before, and continued with those tasks much of the morning, while also trying to get caught up on this blog. Babe and Monita were enjoying life on the cat tower as usual.
I continued my worries about Britney, but also for Val, her first day back to work since Ava was born, and for Dan who would be on his own caring for Ava all day.
After lunch I took Amiga on a ride over in the winter pasture. This field has been planted with beans, but a few others remained unplanted. This late in the summer, I am not sure if any more planting will occur.
This equipment looks ready for action, just not sure what work it will be used for.
It was 87°, so I did not ride Amiga long or hard. I was also going easy on her because a week ago she had been kind of sore/lame. She only got hot under her saddle pad and did not seem too lame or sore, only a little tripsy where the footing was tricky.
Before driving home, I decided to drop in on the ranch to leave a few supplies out there I have been carrying around in my car and to check on a few things. My grass seed was growing, but only on part of the wooded trail, in the low spot where it always seems damp. I also walked the fence line of our whole property and was impressed with all of the clearing Joe had done.
Wednesday 7/7 - Joe woke me up coming home from poker at 1:30 am and I couldn't get back to sleep, so I read until 3:30. The next time I woke up, it was 6am. The golf course workers were soon at it, knocking down this dead tree and cleaning it up.
I ran into the Kroger pharmacy on my way to the gym. Working out once a week is not the best practice, so I am going to try and get there more often. Life has just been too busy.
It was a drizzly afternoon and I had no pool customers the whole time, so I got a lot of reading done. A friend did drop by to see how things were going and what I was up to. And then a customer came to swim, but changed her mind because it was too rainy.
I closed the pool an hour early and continued reading when I got home. I need to finish this book by next week because I have already renewed it twice.
Thursday 7/8 - I was back at the pool at 8:20, soon enjoying the music of the water aerobics class as I worked cleaning tables and sweeping the deck. It was a gorgeous morning and the water felt great.
I had a decent crowd, and later, several stuck it out during the twelve minute downpour we had at 11:00. By noon the skies had cleared and more people were coming to enjoy the day.
I got off work at 1:30, changed in the locker room, and went to the barn to ride for a little bit. It was hot and humid and I didn't have tons of time, so rode bare back and stayed fairly close to the barn area. Amiga was very responsive to my leg ques and I kept her at a walk or slow gait.
On the way home, I waited for this gaggle of geese, who were in no hurry, to cross the road.
Joe and I had dinner out at Stonehenge with Brian and then the two of us watched a good, old movie, Burn After Reading, a 2008 comedy crime film.
Friday 7/9 - This buck came by fairly early in the morning. Wish I had gotten him in better focus.
I was caught up with blogging, so had some time to play some games on by computer. Then at 9am, I headed outside for a day of yard work, finally taking care of my neglected flower beds. I did a lot of trimming, some weeding and watering, and actually had more dead leaves to clear out from under and behind bushes.
Maggie was out front with me part of the time. She loves her Jolly Ball, but I have to take it away from her to get her to calm down and cool off.
Many of the shrubs around our foundation were quite overgrown, so I cut them way back. You can see all the trimmings on the ground in this photo. I had worked my way up the side of the house and across the front. Then after a break, I got distracted. Joe agreed to cut down this tree that is a pain to keep trimmed back from the roof and getting more and more gangly looking. 
Well, I decided to dig around its roots and hopefully we can cut back much of the trunk/stump so I can move the retaining wall in towards the house a little and plant a little grass over this spot. The old wall went around the outside of the tree. Not only did I unearth these big roots, I hit plenty of little ones and lots of rocks. 
My mid-day break included reading and a little nap on the porch swing while I cooled off.
I worked until a late dinner time. Joe was playing poker so it was a quiet evening at home for the cats, dog, and I.
No comments:
Post a Comment