I hate to have my indecision appear as a moving target, especially when others are waiting on me to make up my mind. So I finally decided to adopt Robbie (kind of rescue her) after sleeping on it Friday night.
Covid and all it's 'rules' also seems to be a moving target. One never knows exactly how to proceed when dealing with the prevention, diagnosis, and treating of it.
Saturday 5/7 - You know why they call it May, because the weather this month is literally a moving target. It may rain, may sleet, may hail, may be sunny or cloudy, may be 40° or 80°, and this may even happen all on the same day. The rain from Friday continued all night and into part of the morning, but at least it wasn't storming. It was definitely a lot colder than the day before. The cats can be an indicator of how cold the house is. If they are curled up or snuggling, it is probably cloudy out and cold inside.
I spent more than the usual amount of time here at my computer and on my phone; calling, texting, and e-mailing to communicate with several people about various things: adopting Robbie, the Derby party, Mother's Day planned gathering, Covid testing (I had taken a home Covid test that was negative), and Jean's condition. This was in addition to my usual blogging and Face-booking.
I got to the Derby Party at 3:45 and the fun was already underway. This is just two of the many derby hats that entered the contest. And the winner was Pat Kane, who like myself is not the feminine type, but really pulled off this hat well. 
We all enjoyed libations and great food, watching some of the early races, and talking horses, about ours and the Derby entries.
There was opportunity to buy chances on horses, with entry names in balloons you popped after purchasing and also a blind draw on poll positions. Neither Joe (who arrived a little later) or I had very good prospects. 
It was a cold, cloudy, windy, misty day and at one point when there was a light drizzle blowing sideways at us, several took shelter in the green house, which was warm, dry, and out of the wind. It never rained hard, but the cold did take its toll on most of us.
The running of the race was quite exciting as we watched and cheered for the horse who's name we drew, and other horses we also had hopes on (video). What an exciting ending, at 80-1 odds, Rich Strike won. He scored the second-biggest upset in Kentucky Derby history and paid $163.60 on a $2 win bet. This Derby (video) posted later on Facebook, shows an overhead view of the race. It makes Rich Strike's comeback for the upset Kentucky Derby win look even more incredible.
Sunday 5/8 - It was a cold, gloomy Mother's Day that turned out different (but okay) than originally planned. We were going to have dinner here with Dan, Val, Ava, Courtney, and Patty, but with my possible Covid exposure (before Jean knew she had been exposed) we cancelled the gathering.
In this photo, I was enjoying down time, reading on the couch and snuggling with all my kitties.
For Mother's day, Joe and I had a face-time chat with Britney, Cathy, Courtney, Dan and Ava, and Jean.
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At lunch time I took this photo and (video) of Monita, my most obnoxious cat, that I love in spite of her being relentless when it comes to wanting something, which is usually attention and to be played with, not just food.
When I got to the ranch, I helped Joe put the agar on the back of the tractor, and then went up to the house to take Jean a few things and check on her and the chickens. She was feeling a bit better. The chickens were out in their little yard enjoying scratching around in the grass.
Courtney had planned to come to visit in spite of the Covid dilemma. I was feeling fine, no symptoms, and probably did not have Covid. So we were going to picnic lunch outside and go on a mother/daughter trail ride. Well, Courtney had been up late into the night with a water leak (the plumbers left at midnight after fixing it) and still had a mess to deal with.
So I went for a ride on my own. But, I could not get Amiga to go out through the back gate. Come to discover, this dead opossum was on the trail just outside the gate.
Once past this scary (smell of death) obstacle, Amiga did well for the rest of the ride. She kept wanting to push up into her smooth little gait, so I had her do so. Back at the ranch, Jean reported that Zorro had gone a little crazy, called for Amiga some, but soon settled down. Amiga had worked up a bit of a sweat, which is good for her, and thankfully, she showed no signs of lameness. We were only out on the trail just under an hour.
Joe had gotten me a nice card for Mother's Day and was going to get carry out for dinner, but none of the restaurants were answering his calls. They must have been too busy. So he went to Food City and got salad and flat bread pizza which we baked and enjoyed.
By 9am, time for the gym I was way too tired, so took a 50 minute nap. By 10:30, felling like the day was slipping away, and I not wanting to lift weights, I decided to go to the ranch. Joe was going to be there and I could use his help me with a few things.
First we muzzled Amiga and Zorro, opened the gate to the front pasture, and off they went for some grass.
The main task was setting up this temporary, larger outdoor space for the chickens. I had to redo the compost area to be sure to keep them out of it. I also raked loose the ground under the little roof (seen far left in this photo) so they could use it as a giant dust bath. 
The girls were very tentative at first, and stayed very close to the coop. It is possible they were staying in the shade also. 
And before long they all returned to the coop. When I went to check on them, they had all settled in for an afternoon nap.
Joe had brought the trailer of gravel up by the deck where I was going to start putting it under the stairs and around the edges of the deck, and then I got a text from Polly. She was coming to ride and invited me to join her. I had planned to go to the gym late afternoon, but time
had gotten away from me again. The gravel project and gym could wait
another day. 
So, I caught Amiga and went down to the barn, tacked up, and joined Polly. We had a good, easy little ride. Amiga refused to go out the gate again, so I just got off and led her. And then part way into the ride, she started the head bob again. I don't know what is bothering her, but am concerned about this being a chronic problem. Her lameness issues has been a moving target. With Previcox, she shows no lameness, but I hate to have to always medicate her. 
The chickens were back in the yard and enjoying their 'sand box' dust bath grit container. I spoke, from a distance with Jean. She had the Covid headache but otherwise was feeling better. When she went down to do chores for the boarded horses, I fed Amiga and Zorro and gave Amiga a Previcox.
I got home to a quiet house with poker Joe gone. Although, my five pets were quite vocal about wanting dinner, because I was late.
Tuesday 5/10 - I had a great workout, increasing my weights on a few machines and finally completing seven full pull-ups in a row (with a goal of being able to do ten someday).
On my way to the ranch after lunch, I stopped in at the pool and saw that the cover had arrived and they were working on installing it.
My day's goal was to get gravel under one side of the deck, and under both sets of steps. I wanted all the grass (and weeds) gone from underneath so it would look better and be easier to maintain.
Well, removing the old sod/grass/weeds from underneath, proved to be more trouble and time consuming then expected. Putting down the landscape fabric and gravel was fairly easy though. 
By late afternoon I got the job done on this one side of the deck. As I always say (and my Mama said) tomorrow is another day.
I had taken some breaks to move Amiga and Zorro so Joe could mow the weeds in their very over-grazed paddock which is becoming a dry lot.
It was very hot so I also took some water breaks and rested in the shade for a bit. And I also enjoyed chatting with Jean, the chicken whisper (video).
Jean made the girls this little chicken swing, which she hung from under the roof. 
Next was the task of introducing the chicks to the swing. Jean started with two of the girls, because they do not like to be isolated from the group (safety in numbers). 
The brown hen ran off when Jean turned to get the 'treat' bowl of dried oatmeal. But the buff colored one was food motivated enough to stay and have a snack. 
When the 'treat' bowl appeared, some other chicks headed over towards Jean to see what they were missing out on. But when they saw this unusual thing (chicken on a swing) they decided to keep their distance. 
Meanwhile Jean sat quietly talking to the buff chick and giving her some oatmeal. It was a little difficult for the chicken to stand balanced as the swing was moving slightly. Wheeee.
Once settled in for the evening back home on Flossmoor Circle, Joe and I watched the true story movie 'Argo.' It was suspenseful and enjoyable.
Wednesday 5/11 - I had my first day (2 hrs) at work at the pool. All the pool attendants, pool maintenance, and our supervisor were there to work together to figure out the best way to operate the pool cover (actually three covers on hand cranked reels). It is going to be a two person job, and not an easy one at that.
I have been doing a lot of butt dialing, texting, etc. and am not sure the reason. And today, I actually sent myself this photo of Ava from my archive, with butt text printed on it. What in the world? 
I went home from the pool, grabbed my boots (I had forgotten), lunch, and the dog and then went to the ranch. Maggie has not been allowed to come to the ranch because she has taken a likin' to the chickens. Actually she quivers and shakes with excitement wanting to catch these fowl. I thought I would desensitize her a little, and tied her nearby to watch.
My only goal was to finish getting the gravel under the rest of the deck.
I forgot to take a before photo, but here is a during, and then after shot.
It actually took me all afternoon to complete the project because of rest breaks and interruptions.
I stopped for several water breaks and to sit in the shade and also messed with our horses, moving Amiga and Zorro on and off the pasture, which included putting their grazing muzzles on and off.
This killdeer with her nest at the edge of the drive was also a concern. I decided to protect it from getting driven over by stacking a few larger rocks near it. The mom is posturing at me bottom right in photo and her 'nest' (if you can call it that) is in the upper left.
Here is a close up of the nest. She had four eggs, but unfortunately, now there are only two. Maggie was chasing the mom, and I called her off, and she came running to me and stepped right on the nest. What are the chances? Anyway, two eggs got broken. I was so sad. They were just all yolk, so the eggs had been recently laid. Research says it takes 22 to 28 days to incubate, but babies have their feathers and are up and walking within hours after hatching. So this mom is gonna be sitting there all month. I cleaned out the yolk mess as best I could. Hopefully the two eggs left will hatch and she will have success at a little family.
It was 8pm by the time I finished around the deck, including planting some grass seed. Here are a few more photos of the finished project, taken from different angles. 
Jean had fed Maggie her 6:00 dinner so just the cats were anxiously waiting their meal when I got home. I was starved, tired and still had chores at home. By the time I took care of everything, and flopped into bed, it was almost 10pm.
Thursday 5/12 - Joe and I got to the ranch early to finish unloading gravel from the trailer (that I hadn't used under the deck ). We put it down by the barn in the 'pot holes' that get muddy after rain. I checked on the killdeer nest and there was no sign of the mom. 😢
Meanwhile, next door the neighbor was getting electricity (the big power pole and lines) installed for his second house. There were three large trucks to get this job done.
This photo of Amiga was taken a year ago. I would ride her from Wildwood to the ranch, put her in her stall to rest while I worked, and then ride her back. Her lameness issues have kind of been a moving target. Sometimes she is 'off' and other times she isn't. My best guess is that it is the arthritis in her front leg (suspensory tear 11 years ago) that bothers her off and on. I hopped on her bareback today to see how she was feeling, and she showed no signs of lameness.
I dumped the wheelbarrow load of dirt and sod down on the hillside next to the shop, and was relieved to see that mama killdeer was back sitting on the nest. I stayed clear so as not to scare her off of it.
I watered all the new grass and seed and the fruit trees. Then as I was headed down the ranch drive for home, I stopped to let the three electric trucks out in front of me.
I snacked on nuts on the way home, gave it 40 minutes to digest and then went to the gym. Even though I had been hot and tired, I got a second wind and had a decent workout.
I stopped in at Food City on the way home and got news that Joe, Patty, Courtney, and Will were dinning out and then headed to the Don McLean concert. In the morning, Joe would be flying to CA for the next six days.
Friday 5/13 - When not to move. Prey animals know instinctively to hold still when a predator is in the area. They do not want to become a moving target. Maggie and I spotted this mama deer and two babies while on our second walk of the morning. Because there was no movement, Maggie was not incited to chase or bark.
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This is a photo taken from the video that neighbor Michelle had taken and posted on Facebook earlier in the morning.
When Maggie and I had walked by, the Mom had been laying down but the two babies were standing by her.
By the time I got back home with the dog, left her and got my phone, and came back to get photos, both babies were also laying down. I could only see one of them, the other is on the other side of the mom. 
These potted flowers I bought for Mother's Day are still looking pretty.
I ran some errands here in Fairfield Glade; had to update some paperwork at HR, did a little computer refresher training, and then took a look at the free compost the Glade is offering. Once home, I walked the dog, grabbed a bite to eat, and then headed into town.
I saw this plant at Lowe's while buying flowers. It looks just like something we have growing wild in several spots in the ranch barn yard.
Once back home again I unloaded everything, re-organized, loaded up the dog and a few things to take to the ranch and headed there. 
Polly out for a little ride on Rio. Both are lookin' good.
I putted around, stowed away some things, and at different times chatted with Yvonne, Polly, and Jean.
A little thunderstorm rolled by in the distance, sprinkling on us a little bit, but sending Maggie into a panic, so I put her in the house. 
After doing horse chores Jean and I had libations and dinner together out on the front porch because it was raining and we weren't sure of her Covid status at this point. Maggie reluctantly joined us. We had a good time chatting and planned for Robbie's probable adoption and Katie's visit next week.
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