One More Cup

I had been short on sleep multiple nights in a row, stressing about the wedding.  With the wedding now successfully past, I was still wanting an extra cup of tea in the morning or during the day...  partly to warm me up, but also to energize me.  Evidently, my body had gotten used to the additional caffeine. 

Saturday 2/5 - I didn't wake up at the hotel until almost the 7am breakfast buffet opening time.  I had a cup of tea in my room and then a few more while down at the breakfast/brunch buffet from 7-10, with everybody coming and going from the hotel lobby area.

Some of us stayed down in the lobby almost the whole time.  Britney was joking about going for a 5th time through the breakfast line.  And who doesn't take advantage of getting one more cup of a hot caffeinated beverage (or more food) when it is there for the taking?  

Once the 10:00 hour hit, the departure of many began.  Chris and Travis; the Sidensticks; Patty, Mary, Jean, and Britney all headed for their homes, or a visiting home.

The Volks went sightseeing in Nashville, Joe took me back to Courtney's and then he soon headed home.  Valencia's family was chill-axing at the hotel (and some would be staying there another night) and some went back to Dan and Vale's house.  I was hoping to join a group to go Honky-tonkin, but the logistics didn't work out, so I too headed back to Fairfield Glade, arriving about 4:30.

I dropped by the house and then Joe and I picked up Maggie from the kennel and proceeded on to the ranch, where Patty, Mary, Jean, and Britney were gathering for dinner.  








Parm has gotten used to the dog and guests coming and going.  He is a sweet boy and very lay back.


 

We had Maggiano's wedding leftovers for dinner.  And there was still plenty left by the time we all had our fill.

The natural gas wall unit near the kitchen, seen glowing in this photo, was doing great heating the room.  







But Jean built a fire which added ambience.  The ranch house is really feeling cozy and comfy. 
Soon after dinner, Joe and I went home, Mary went to Patty's, and Britney slept at the ranch with Jean.

Sunday 2/6 - Britney, Parm, and Jean enjoyed breakfast in the sun room.  




Jean took Britney down to the barnyard to meet Wanda.  

It was another cold day, but at least it was sunny. 

I had slept in, but was up and ready when the two arrived from the ranch mid-morning.

We three girls went for about a 1½ mile walk.  Just before Jean snapped this photo, she said "Give me a ‘real’ smile."  Bah ha ha ha.

 


Mary and Patty had arrived while we were out walking and we soon started work on the puzzle and playing with cats.  This is Styx on Jean's lap.

As usual, we had to guard the puzzle from Monita, seen here ready to move in on the table.

It was a pretty, sunshiny day, although fairly cold still, but nice just hangin' out in our living room.

I had to deadhead some of the flowers Jean gave me, but these still look nice, and I added my wrist corsage from the wedding to around the vase.    

Shortly after Tracy and Teresa arrived from Nashville, we had a 2pm dinner, again Maggiano's leftovers.  With almost a fourth of the guests unable to make it to the wedding, there had been a lot of food left over.

Jean returned to the ranch with me following to do chores.  Amiga was really lame, and a bit stocked up on her back right leg, so I gave her a Prevocox. 

Before I got home, Joe and Britney had left for Nashville, and Mary and Patty returned to Patty's for the night.  Tracy, Teresa, and I snacked on popcorn while watching a Disney movie.

Monday 2/7 - Dang it, I was up at 2am for my usual thyroid pill, but then unable to get back to sleep.  I finally got up, and two hours after taking my thyroid pill I started my new, once a week Fosamax (which I sure hope helps strengthen my bones).  I have to wait at least 30 minutes after taking the Fosamax before eating and drinking, but the instructions said it is better to wait an hour or two.  So I gave it an hour... and then had my much need first cup of tea.  Joe had dropped Britney at the airport in Nashville (having slept at Courtney's) and was home by 5am and went back to bed. 

Jean sent this (video) of Amiga rolling.  She was much less lame, so the Prevocox was working.  

I made scrambled eggs (with ham and cheese) and then by 10am, the Volks hit the road to pick up Mary (who stayed at Patty's) and head to the Nashville airport. 

I proceeded to have one more (my fourth) cup of tea.  And, as always happens, after all the fun, ruckus, chaos, mayhem, shenanigans, and bedlam; it was now peaceful - but terribly quiet, lonely, and sad.  The big day we all excitedly prepared and waited for had come and gone... all too fast.  I had a load of photos to put on the wedding blog (for some reason this photo had not made it on) and worked at it all morning while doing laundry and running the dishwasher.
  

Later in the day Jean sent this photo of Amiga.  My girl loves the mud, and had done a good job rolling in it earlier.

Finally at 3:30, I got out of my PJ's and into some exercise clothes.  I started slowly at the gym, but built up steam.  With the worsening osteoporosis, my doctor advised against the exercise where I do a pull up and drop.  So to get some weight bearing exercise for my back and core, I put on a weighted vest and walked almost for ten minutes.  That was all the longer my legs, back, and core could do without loosing form.  I got on the scale to see how much extra weight there was - 33 pounds.

I had to take a pain/sleep aid at an early bed time, because I was already feeling the effects of the load bearing exercise.

Tuesday 2/8 - The only photos I took today, were of Jean and I horsing around. 

I had woken up feeling terribly sore, aching all over actually, almost as if I had the flu.  But I really thought it was probably from my workout the afternoon before.  Especially from walking with that 33 pound weighted vest for nine minutes.  I had to tighten all my core muscles to support my frame as I walked.  Evidently my neck, obliques, and hamstrings were working harder than usual too.  I hurt just about all over.

Wanda really wants and likes attention.  

I went to the Center to sit in the hot tub for quite awhile.  But, their rather cold showers kind of counter acted the warm, relaxed feeling I had achieved. 

I had leftovers for lunch, eating more than usual or than I should have.  And then I went to the ranch to horse around with Jean. 

We are going to do the 100 miles in a month challenge, but definitely take longer.  We aren't paying the 99$ for the actual training videos, but are going to do ground work and try to do 100 miles of walking with Amiga and Zorro.
 

We were off to a good start, after Jean did some round pen work with Zorro, but we forgot to use our app to tell us how far we walked.  We guessed 1½ miles.  

Wanda was trying to follow us, but eventually decided we were getting too far from the barn and she headed back on her own.   

 

Our coats on the ground were shed because we got too hot.  They are right at the trail that goes back through the woods to our barn.  

Amiga and Zorro both needed lots of reminders to not crowd into our space, and to pay attention to us.  We made progress and all got a little exercise.  

 

 

While Jean groomed Amiga and Zorro, I went up into the hayloft to fill Wanda's dry food feeder.  She always acts hungry, but is actually quite plump.

Once home, my morning dose of Acetaminophen was wearing off.  I was feeling sore and also tired, so went to bed at 8pm, taking another pain/sleep aid.
 

Wednesday 2/9 - After eight hours of sleep, I woke feeling well rested and not near as sore.  I didn't even finish my second cup  of tea.  I talked myself out of going to the gym, thinking one more day of rest might be helpful.  So instead, I worked on and finished the puzzle.  I later found that one missing piece under the living room swivel chair.

 
Maggie and I met Jean at the Overlook trail at 1:00 to hike it.  Here Jean is with the view of the overlook behind her.  Daddy's Creek is down in the valley.  

Jean took this photo looking back up from where she was.  The parking lot is up the hill beyond the wooden fence.

We enjoyed the scenic two mile hike that descends down to Daddy's Creek and goes along it for quite awhile.  



Daddy's Creek is really more like a little river.  Maggie enjoys getting in it for a drink of water.  






It was a pretty day, fairly warm, and perfect for hiking.  Although the ground was rather muddy.  


It was cooler in the shade of the woods, but warm enough that the ice hanging from the cliff rocks was dropping off.  You can see the ice pile on the ground. 

Jean was enjoying the scenery and took all of these scenic shots.  


Maggie loves going on hikes.  She stayed within our sight as usual, and did her 'trick' of getting up on the benches. 

I really wanted a cup of tea when I got home, but it was too late in the day.  So instead, I took a nap (90 minutes) scheesh.

After dinner, Joe and I continued watching “Welcome to Earth,” a National Geographic series, on Disney Plus I had started with Tracy and Teresa.

 Thursday 2/10 - Getting up quite early (as often happens) I had plenty of time after my usual computerizing, to do the (Wordle) of the day.  But I goofed up, thinking yellow was the correct position of the letter.  I ended up with one more guess, and absolutely no possible word to fit using the remaining letters in the last two blanks.  I did not want to ruin my winning streak, so cheated, having Joe work it and give me the last two letters once I changed the position of the three correct letters into their right spot.

Anyway, all this extra time made me late getting to the ranch.  It also didn't help that the garage door wouldn't shut all the way as I was trying to leave.

Just after 9am, as I came up the drive towards our ranch entrance, Joe, Billy, and Jim (the new owner of Terry and Billy's second house) were already done removing the three fence posts.  These photos were taken a day later.
 
  


Their drive turns off to the left, ours goes up to the right and they own the field to the left of our drive, in front of the cinder block wall.  Well, come to find out, Jim (and his wife Denise) are adding a second house (a double wide trailer) to their property and need to bring it in through their front pasture.  The temporary orange fence is where they will be bringing the house through. 

The farrier was due at 10am, so after Jean and I worked at mucking out the wet part of A&Z's loafing shed, we went to catch our horses in the front pasture.  As often the case, Amiga was not wanting to join up, this time with Jean.  

But after working with her for a little bit, Jean was able to 'catch' Amiga without her running off.  Maggie and I watched (video).

Meanwhile, Joe was wanting to get the shavings unloaded from the trailer, which we have been trying to get dried out. 
 

Chris (the farrier) was running a half hour late, so Joe brought the trailer into the barn and started unloading shavings. 

Since Joe was then in our way, we had the farrier work on our two horses in the corral.  This also meant we were not available to help unload shavings. 

Jean took this photo of Wanda coming up the ladder into the hay loft.  The silly cat still does not use the wooden ramp to go up and down.

We finished mucking out the loafing shed, spread barn lime on the wet area and then put down the shavings (with only one little mishap with the tractor). 

After sandwiches for lunch, we hit the back trails for a one mile walk with Amiga and Zorro.  We didn't want to go too far after their trimming because they are always a little sore.

Joe and I went to the gym once I got home.  My right knee was sore from tweaking it on our hike Wednesday, so I had to back off on my weights with the quad and hamstring machines. 

I cooked some noodles and Joe and I finally finished off the rest of the leftovers from Maggiano's.  I have had a LOT of pasta lately.

Friday 2/11 - I woke at 1am and was never able to get back to sleep.  So I was ready to get on with my day by 6:30.  I headed to town early for my 'big' shopping day.  On the way home, I stopped in at the pet shop to get more crickets for Pilgrim, and had to get a photo of these cute Guinea pigs to send to Britney.

I had everything unloaded, ate an early lunch, and had just fallen asleep for a nap, when I was rudely awaken.  Stevie knocked the glass jar with the crickets in it off the kitchen counter.  Thankfully it didn't break because it is Jean's sprout growing jar.  It is perfect for bugs because of the mesh lid.

 
I took some things out to the ranch and Jean and I went on a reconnaissance walk to find where Yvonne has been riding Maslo through from the Glade onto Eli Ford road.  We did a little clearing and then decided it was doable.  If you are really interested, click on this map to enlarge it and see where we went (the red line). 

After I did my ranch chores, I came home to hungry cats.  Poker Joe was gone so after the cats, dog, and I ate, we had a quiet evening at home.  I was in bed with lights out at 7:56, and fell asleep immediately (having been up since 1am).