Egads!

This word kind of sums up life this week, or at least what I was thinking some of the time.  Phooey, golly, jeepers, ahem could all work for expressing my thoughts at one time or another. 

Thursday 3/10 - Excuse me!  I am trying to get some work done here.  Each of the cats were really bugging me for attention and affection.  They missed me.  I would finally convince one to move along and let me work here at my computer, and another one would move into my space and be rubbing on me and trying to get in my lap.  Egads!
I was trying to finish and post my Mexico blog but wasn't able to get it done.

The daffodils were blooming out front and a welcomed reminder of spring's arrival.  I was struggling with jet lag, lack of sleep, culture shock, temperature trauma, and too much that needed doing.  I just couldn't cope, and I wanted to go back to bed.  I didn't have the gumption to go to the gym, buy groceries, or even unpack and do laundry.  Phooey.

Maggie didn't seem to want a kiss during morning chores with Jean.
 

I don't know how Joe rebounds so fast, but he was already making phone calls (post office, 911 services, county commissioner, TVA electric, and Crab Orchard water) to look into a few things concerning our neighbor's request to have us sign a document allowing for a 911 address change to accommodate his second house.  (As it turns out, the neighbor needs the 911 address to get a permit to hook up to city water, but this also means we have to change our LLC business address and Jean her home address... Egads, what a hassle.)  


We had planned to go out to the ranch to pick up Maggie after Jean got off work at noon.  We also wanted to look over the footings that had been poured for the neighbors new house, or whatever building he was going to call it.  Thankfully, it wasn't as close to the fence as we had originally thought, so we felt much better about that at least.

I helped Jean with chores and bandaging Amiga's hoof.  It was still clean, but the healing process seems to be going so slow.  She has really been a good patient though.

Joe and I headed home with the dog and I have no idea what I did with the remainder of my afternoon and evening, probably blogging because I still hadn't unpacked.

Friday 3/11 - We dropped my car off for an oil change and then went to Food City together to get groceries.  After swinging by the house to unload and stow away our stash, Joe dropped me off to get my car and he went on for a day of golf followed by poker night.

I went straight to the gym to work out, and when I came out to drive home, I noticed this big wet spot under my car.  Egads!  My car appeared to be running fine, but I am keeping this photo encase I need to take it back to the mechanic.

During my workout, I immediately noticed a 'catch in my back' actually more like in my upper left gluteal muscle.  I could not do several of my usual exercises at my usual weight, so really cut back on the workload and number of reps.  I am thinking I must have pulled something wrestling with my suitcase to get it in and out of the overhead compartment on the two planes we took on Wednesday.

I had planned to spend the remainder of the day at the ranch so had lunch and then went out there. 

It was my day for chores, but thankfully Jean was willing to help me with Amiga's bandaging.  Interspersed with horse chores, I did some yard work.  

I am going to make this flower bed smaller and angle the border with the blocks Shirley had given us.  This will make it easier to mow around.  Also I need the cinder blocks down behind the barn.  So I started by removing mulch.  



I had noticed the azaleas I planted in the fall looked flooded after it rained, so took a big load of soil up from Joe's old raised bed and planted the three bushes higher in the ground.  When I had dug them back up, the holes they were in were swamped with underground water.  I added the dirt, and put the bushes 4" higher up and used more dirt to bank around each bush.  Next I used the mulch I had gathered and continued to bank it around the bushes.

Jean had sent this photo of her and Wanda when she went down to do morning chores.  Look at the threatening sky.  Rain changing to snow was predicted for overnight.

My next project was to start preparing the little garden by Mom's memorial bench.  We had daffodil bulbs we wanted to get in right away, with more plantings to follow.  I started removing sod and putting it in the holes in the yard where the big tree limbs had gouged up the ground when they had been cut down last fall.  

  
This is all the farther I got before it was time to go in for dinner.

We had libations while preparing our meal.  I had brought a frozen pasta dish I cooked and Jean tossed together some lettuce and veggies for a salad.  

Jean showed me the tricks she has been working on with Maggie and Parm, trying to get them to do the maneuvers simultaneously. 

Maggie was really workin' it in hopes for extra treats (video). 

They did both do the spin at the same time.  

My cats got an 8:00 late dinner when I got home. 

And Joe got back from poker just as I was turning out the lights after reading in bed.

Saturday 3/12 - Egads!  The 6" prediction of snow was spot on.  I was glad I had nowhere I needed to go, so it was a snow day for me and I stayed in my PJ's all day.
Today also marked the 20th anniversary of my Dad's passing and Ava's 11th month birthday (photos of her to follow).  

The snow was pretty to look at, but our house was freezing.  Our heat pump was malfunctioning.  It was 63° when I got up at 4:30. (The thermostat is always set at 65 at night.)  I went out and swept all the snow off of the heat pump, but it was dark so I couldn't see that it was also iced over. 


I had the space heater going out in the sun room and turned on the gas fireplace to help warm up the house.  These two sought warmth here. 

By the time Joe got up at 8am, the house temperature was down to 60°.  

After his coffee, he went out and de-iced the unit using a hair dryer.  That still didn't fix the problem because the fan blades were frozen.  So per advice from a few sources, he poured warm water over the fan blades.  It did the trick.  And soon we got the house warmed up.  It also helped when the sun came out.
 

Meanwhile, out at the ranch, Jean was having her own struggles.  Because of the wind direction and velocity, over half of A&Z's loafing shed was full of snow.  

Jean later worked at shoveling it out, which was back breaking, time consuming, and miserable work in the bone chilling wind.  In this (video) she took of the horses frolicking in the snow, you can hear the wind and see the blowing snow.    


And this is how much snow blew into the feed room beside the shed.  So Jean took time to sweep it out.  

She did chores for the boarders so they wouldn't have to travel out on the hazardous roads.  Look how much snow had blown into the barn, even with the doors shut.  



There was snow up in the hay loft, and Wanda's domain did not look near as protected as I thought it was.  Jean moved her feeder back into the crate where it was dry.

My day was spent in my PJ's, but I did get all of my travel bags unpacked, two loads of our laundry done, and travel paraphernalia packed away.  

A touch of spring up on our mantel brought cheer.  I was glad I had gone out in the dark the night before and cut these flowers before the snow hit. 

Joe and I ended the evening watching the first two episodes of the Netflix series, Pieces Of Her.  It is a thriller for sure, and I had to read in bed for awhile before I could relax and go to sleep.  

And here are the photos Val took of our granddaughter Ava, on her 11th month birthday today.

Is she not the most stinkin' cute child?


And look at all her different expressions...


...she gets them from her Dad.

Wayfairs newest, youngest, and cutest employee!

And we love the matching outfits.  



And some more great expressions.  

 

Sunday 3/13 - Well, I woke to a cold house again.  60° is not in my comfort range.  The thermostat had automatically switched to aux emergency heat over night, which it does when it gets too cold outside (it was 12°).  But when the heat pump goes into this mode, it seems to stop heating the house, even though the unit is running. My morning was also darker an hour longer than yesterday.

This photo shows how much snow had melted during the day yesterday.  Thankfully it warmed up today and we got the heat pump working again.  But I still think something is wrong with it. 

I stopped by Cheryl's to chat with her about our common health issues with osteoporosis and sciatica.  She has been dealing with both a lot longer than I, and has additional medical issues, but she had some good information about medications and problems to share with me.

Since Cheryl can no longer ride, she also gave me a big tack box and some gear she no longer needs.  It was very generous of her.

On my way to the ranch, I stopped in at Wildwood to say hi to Judy and see what Patty and Karen were up to.  They were all busy working.  Twice a week Karen and Patty are looking in on and taking care of Jack and Mary's two horses, while they are in Mexico.  Look at these two big boys!

When I arrived at Mountain View, Jean was just finishing up the snowman she had built.  How cute, both she and the snowman.

We discussed some future plans with the possibility of me getting a second horse, we figured out a way to hang the hook wall plaque Jean had gotten, and we talked about what we wanted and were going to do about chickens, A&Z, and flower plantings.

It was Jean's day of rest, so I went out to do horse chores.  Zorro immediately came in from the front pasture to see if there was any food to be had.  And then he spotted the snowman.  

 

Zorro was scared of the snowman and wouldn't go close, but he was also curious.  His head was high and his nostrils flaring.  Eventually he decided to have a good roll, and then he hurried off back out to the front pasture with Amiga.

These horses are so fun to watch.  They are each so different, funny and interesting, and a joy to get to know. 

Jean helped me re-bandage Amiga's foot at feeding time, and took this photo of it to see the healing progress made.  We didn't feel like it was healing very fast.  Amiga's frog is yellowish green because of the colored vet wrap that was on it.

 




The composite picture below shows the hole in Amiga's sole and the date each photo was taken.

I was home for dinner, did a load of dirty work clothes/ranch laundry, and later Joe and I watched the first episode of Survivor, which has just started.  We don't have access to it on our TV so had to watch on Joe's computer and sit through ALL the commercials.  Egads!  What a pain.

Monday 3/14 -   The saga with our ranch neighbor Jim continued to evolve and get more convoluted before it was resolved.  The biggest issue, was Jim wouldn't answer or return Joe's four calls (Thur - this am) and when Joe talked with 911 this morning, they told Joe that Jim was in last Friday and told them he had been trying to get a hold of us but we wouldn't answer.  Egads, what was going on?  Joe was also told since Jim started this 911 address change process last Tuesday (3/8) he has until this Thursday (3/17) to get the form back to them.   We and new neighbor Jim must agree on a road name or as the document you see below states, 911 will be forced to name our private drive themselves.  So, our address will be changing, we have no say in the matter.
 

The state of Tennessee has given E911 (Enhanced 911) the authority to assign names to private drives.  When there is a private driveway with more than two houses off it, that driveway needs a name to be able to get emergency services there quickly.  In this type of case the road needs to be named with addresses assigned to it and a sign posted so the road can be identifiable as a private drive and shown on the 911 map.  This document gives us the chance to name our shared drive what we want if we can all agree on a name.  Our road will still be a private drive, but has to have an assigned name per 911 law.  Terry and Billy had unofficially named it Walker Lane (their last name) and Terry said at our May closing last year that I could change the name to what I wanted (after Ava, born 2 weeks before closing) once they moved out.  

I called the 911 office and let them know we had been unable to get a hold of Jim.  They offered to call him for us.  And two minutes later Jim called us.  Humm.  Anyway, Jim had no preference for the drive name, he just wanted his permit to hook up water.  So we filled out this form, Joe took it to Jim's house to have him sign it, and then he went on into town to deliver the document to the 911 office.  So, even though we aren't thrilled with the addition of a second house on the neighboring property, or having to change our addresses, at least we got to officially name our private drive 'Ava Way.' 

I had a much better gym workout than last Friday, and the sore area I had only bothered me a little bit. 

I ate lunch (PBJ) while driving to the ranch.  Joe helped me cut a board before he left and then Jean and I decided to work with and take A&Z for a walk.  In this photo Jean is free lunging Zorro in the round pen while I am finishing grooming Amiga in the barn.

We (including Maggie) headed out through the back gate to take a little walk out on the back roads of FFG.  Jean did a lot of work with Zorro, needing to correct him on his leading manners several times.  He is a good boy, just a bit ADHD and overly curious.  Plus he thinks he is a puppy and practically wants to get in your lap.  He just needs more training and experience.  

Amiga did great walking on her bandaged hoof, not seeming bothered by it. 

We probably did a one mile loop.  It was a pretty day, and fairly warm in the protection of the woods.  Out in the open the sun was hot but the wind was cold.

We were trying to get Amiga to look at Jean and put her ears forward for a photo - but without any luck.

So as to discourage rushing back to the ranch, once 'home' we tied these two here.  Also we needed to put a new bandage/wrap on Amiga.  I don't know what I would do without all of Jean's great help.
Jean went down to do chores for the three boarded horses and I finished feeding our two horses and worked at cleaning up the tack box from Cheryl.
I headed home in time to get my dog and cats fed by 5:30.  I love that it is light later now.

Tuesday 3/15 - I checked on my project, flattening this warped piece of plywood I needed for hanging the horse plaque Jean had bought.  It would go much better if I had a sunny day and our blacktop drive was hot, as a few 'help' videos showed.  (There was also the option of a hair drier or iron, but not my choice.) 

At noon I met Steve out at the ranch.  He gave us a bid for a deck to go off the laundry room (back door) which will make it much easier getting in and out of there.

Jean, Joe, and I were working on putting up a temporary fence across A&Z's pasture, to limit their grass intake when it starts really growing this spring.  And look what showed up.
 
Now that a 911 address has been assigned to each of the houses on our private drive, Jim has his permit to hook up water, so he wasted no time getting his second house moved in. 

While working on our fence, we watched the house moving process and I took photos and a few (videos).  It was quite amazing.

Getting the house turned around and backed into place was a challenge, but they had this red machine that was hand operated by a guy walking and watching from the side and communicating by radio with another guy who was in back.  Once they had it in place, they left to get the other half.

Jean and I were just getting ready to take A&Z down to the barn for a little ground work, and Joe was waiting to leave, when the next house half came down the drive.  This time, they accidentally went off the edge of the drive and kind of got stuck in the mud.  

They unhooked the trailer from the big truck and the red machine was hooked on to it for slower, more precise maneuvering, to get it out of the ditch.  



These two photos, taken later, shows the big rut left by the trailer.  It had gone off the driveway up at the beginning.  

Here, where neighbor Jim's drive branches off, is where the trailer got stuck.  You can see how it kind of slid farther off the drive.

As Jean and I were heading to A&Z's feed room to get halters, we noticed that they had gotten the other half of the house out of the ditch and were moving it along our fence row to put by the first half.  

You can see in these two photos the new, temporary double stranded electric fence we had just put up.  




We were short on time, so didn't do much with Amiga and Zorro.  But any handling is better than none.  Jean did round pen work and I chatted with Polly.  

On our way back up to the side pasture, when I said 'stop, let me get a picture,' Jean peeked out from around Zorro.  She is so cute, silly, and fun. 

Once up to the side pasture, we walked Amiga and Zorro along the new fence line and let them get a look at that.  They were also really looking over the new house down next to Jim's house where Terry and Billy are still living. 

So this is what the new house looked like by the time we fed A&Z.  They obviously are not done yet.  So far, I really think it detracts from the beauty of the other house.  If it becomes too much of an 'eye sore' next door, or we feel like our privacy is being invaded, we'll plant some fast growing evergreen (probably Leland Cypress) along our wood fence.  






With it staying light later, I had time once home to take corn out back (first time in a few weeks) and Rose also showed up for some love and food. 
My Lenten rose down back survived the snow.  More leaves have blown into our yard from next door, and collected around these plants again.  I have SO much yard work to do around here.

Wednesday 3/16 - Rain had started about midnight, and ceased around 11am.  But clouds remained in the area until late afternoon.  The warped plywood had not flattened where I had it in the garage, so I decided to try the heat method.  I wet it with warm water like I had the day before, but put it on the drier while drying a load of sheets and towels.  It worked!  The board flattened.  

After a good workout, I came home and had a big lunch, focusing on eating plenty of protein.  Then, with the gloomy skies and full belly, I was feeling sleepy.  I got my book, laid on the living room floor where the sun occasionally peeked in and started reading.  

In no time Stevie showed up and settled onto my back (seen above).  At some point I shifted my weight and she left, and then Mama Styx moved in (seen left).  

 


Before long, Maggie wanted in on the lovin'.  I never really fell asleep, but at some point rested my head on the pillow and closed my eyes. 

It did warm to 63° and I noticed Rose out on the deck.  I went to say hello and give her some lovin'.  She is still dirty on her left hip and leg and also on her right shoulder and neck.





She really is a sweet cat and has become so trusting of me.  She will even let me hold her for a little bit.  I think she would love to take a nap on a warm, soft bed or couch, as long as she could have the freedom of the outdoors most of the time.  




I took Maggie on a long walk and then ran to Patty's for some white paint.  I filed the edges and sanded all of the board, which was nice and flat.  But after two coats of paint, it started to slightly bow again.  I may do one more flattening treatment just before hanging it up on the wall.  It will be screwed in to help keep it flat.  





I took a pain sleep aid because I have been struggling with muscle and join pain and a dull headache.  I think it is the new medication for bone growth I started a month ago, and have made an appointment with my doctor. 
I was waken briefly when poker Joe came home, but I fell right back to sleep.

Thursday 3/17 - Happy Saint Patrick's Day!
 
Jean reported that it had poured last night.  I hadn't heard a thing.  And she sent this photo of fog on the ranch early this morning.  There was none here.  

I had a big shopping trip planned for in town and headed out a little after 8:00.  

It was nearly 2:00 by the time I had gotten home, unloaded stuff, and put perishables away.  And then I drove the 18 minutes to the ranch.  Jim had made a temporary sign for our shared drive.  

After answering some of Jean's inside questions, we unloaded flowers and then set to work getting a bin ready to put chicks in.  

We set up a storage can for chick feed and stowed it away.  And Jean washed out the food and water dispenser that had been left from years ago.  

Checking Amiga's foot wrap, we decided it would hold another day, especially since we added a little more duct tape reinforcement. 

Time kind of got away from us.  Jean did chores for the boarders and I hustled home to clean up and do my pet chores.

I left my car at Patty's and we drove to a seamstress place where Jean left her choir skirt to be hemmed.

The three of us went to town to meet Carol at Dynasty Restaurant and enjoyed very filling and tasty dinners.  

This was the moon rising on our way to Stone Memorial High School for a concert.  






We enjoyed a well played and good selection of music by the Community Band.  It was also fun to see Shirley.

Bedtime was quite a bit later than usual.