My Blog is called Holly's Happenings, but I also like to give a name to each weekly post. Depending on when I start my blog for the week, I'll either look ahead and think of a title to depict what my week will be like, or something will have occurred once I am already into the week a few days and gives me an idea for a name. This week I drew a blank, although I would be working five days at the pool instead of the usual three, and had several outings planned, so it was going to be a busy week.
She has always had a love for animals, especially cats.
Now a missionary in Costa Rica, Britney still has a love of animals, and lives with her cat and two guinea pigs in her tiny (and it is tiny) house.
I was up at 4am, earlier than wanted, but I had a busy day ahead of me so felt compelled to get started with it.
I got last week's blog finished and posted and arrived at the ranch at 7:30, with a sack lunch and dinner and my pool work clothes.
Jean and I were 'on the trail' by 8:15, heading out the front gate.
Down our drive (which has a name - Ava Way) we turned right on Eli Ford and rode it to the dead end where we then take a trail over to Marmaduke. We were headed for Lake Kirkstone where we planned to ride the trails (dirt & grass roads) between the hiking trail (gravel road) loop. 
After stopping at the lake to let Maggie get a drink, we went to the 'trail head,' studied the map, made a route plan, and continued on our way.
The map below shows the actual riding route we took, start to finish. We covered 5.54 miles and were in the saddle 2hr &10min.
When I take photos (like the one below) while we are on the move, they often times are not in focus. But look how relaxed Robbie was and the loose rein Jean was sometimes able to ride with. 
We love it when our horses can be this relaxed. 
There is this large rock 'flooring' (for lack of a better name) that is right along Marmaduke, and something different to have the horses walk on. Robbie did great with it. 
I had Jean get some photos that showed the expanse of this rock. And in the photo of her and Robbie, you can see how close it is to the gravel road. 
Maggie and the horses were getting hot and tired, so we stopped a few times to let them cool off and rest. It is great practice to make the horses stand still while we are in the saddle. And it is easier to get them to do so when they are tired. 
On the way home, we stopped at Lake Kirkstone again. We both dismounted. I let Amiga eat near the water's edge and Jean tried to get Robbie to go down the boat ramp to get a drink. In this first photo, Robbie is looking at the water under the dock.
We could tell Robbie wanted a drink, but she has a fear of 'open water' that she couldn't get past to go to the water's edge to quench her thirst.
The whole time we were there, Maggie splashed in the lake and got several drinks. You can only see parts of her in the first two photos because she is mostly blocked by Jean and Robbie.
Leaving Maggie with Jean (for a sleep over) I headed to work. It was a crazy shift and abnormally stressful. One customer only had a $50, so I used all my 5's and 10's to give him change. I called the Center and was brought more little bills. Then we had a storm system blowing through (for two hours) to the north. It never rained, but because of thunder, I had to clear the pool three different times. Ugh.
Patty treated us to the play 'Margaritaville' at the Playhouse. It was so much fun, with Jimmy Buffet songs coming one after the other. And many of them the audience was encouraged to participate in. 
It started raining as I drove Jean back to the ranch. I waited for the downpour to let up before going out to do chores. I had left Maggie there Saturday morning because my schedule was not conducive to dog walks. I headed home with her about 7pm.
Joe had busted out of the poker tournament in Iowa late the night before, and was due to arrive home after 10:30pm. I did not wait up for him, and actually took a sleep aid to get a good night of sleep.
The cats (Monita and Styx) were quite interested in this locust the dog had brought in during her second walk of the morning with Joe.
But soon, Maggie decided to re-claim her toy.
There was an 80% chance of rain in the afternoon, so I decided to do work at the ranch until I got 'rained' out. I planned to then go to the gym.
Maggie and I got to the ranch about 10am. Joe was just ahead of us and already mowing. I wanted to get the two Rose of Sharon and the two ornamental Fountain Grass planted before the rains came.
There is this narrow storage area on the backside and separate from the chicken coop/garden shed. After getting my wheelbarrow and fencing out, I left the door open so the chickens could go in after the crickets that inhabit this space.
When I went into the other side of the shed to get my shovel and wire cutters, I noticed two eggs in one of the nest boxes where Jean had put a golf ball. Yay, two of the girls have started laying finally, with hopefully eight more to follow.
We are curious as to who laid these first two eggs. I suspect it was the two Rhode Island Reds. They are earlier layers and have brown eggs. Jean has named most of the girls, but there are still a few with no name.
I got this first Rose of Sharron planted and had to fence it off right away because the girls were quick to investigate. 
I moved down the line to the other side of the Crape Myrtle, to plant the second Rose of Sharon. I had not fenced the Crape Myrtle off when I planted it last Friday, and the girls ate many of the leaves off the lower part of it. So it got fenced off, as will all trees and shrubs in the chicken run until the plants are well established. 
Then I left with Joe and Jean on a little adventure. Oh, and Maggie came with us also. Jean directed Joe to the tarp in the woods fairly close to the back of our property, but you have to drive way around in the Glade to get to it.
We saddle sisters have been riding the horses past the tarp for trail obstacle practice. Jean and I wanted to salvage the tarp to take for our 'back yard' obstacle course. Jean (a girl after my own heart) had checked it out while walking Maggie over the weekend, and said it was full of shavings, just like what we put in our loafing sheds. So we took our trailer and dark blue tarp to also collect shavings. We had to do a lot of digging to free the tarp, so half of the shavings (even though quite damp) were loaded into our trailer. The lighter blue tarp is the one we were salvaging. 
Since Joe knew the way back, he left with the trailer while Jean, Maggie and I walked back. We had about a ½ mile to go while Joe had about three to drive. 
The dog took the opportunity to cool off and get a drink in this mud puddle.
I continued planting and fencing off everything, but forgot to get pictures of the finished work. Photos will be included later.
I also had some pieces of sod I had dug up when digging the holes, so put them in bare spots or low spots in the yard. 
In this one low spot, my shovel sunk way in when prepping the spot for the sod to go. It was like a sink hole. And very quickly, I discovered there was a toad living in it. So I reached in, pulled it out, and took it to a safe spot to find a new home.
Rain had been threatening and I did work through a short, light shower. The chickens always take cover when the rain drops start hitting them. Under this old, white Rose of Sharon by the coop door is a favorite spot.
Mirror Lake Blast was cancelled due to the impending weather, so it was a quiet evening at home.
I saw Mama doe down back and when I went down to put cracked corn on the rock for her, I noticed her two fawns in the pond. The one to the left in this photo scurried out of the water when I approached.
They were quite skittish, so kept their distance, but also watched every move I made. Behind me, Mama was eating the cracked corn. 
Once I had moved away, back up the hill towards the house, they joined mama for a snack. And not long after I was back here at my desk in the sun room, the family had laid down to relax and chew their cud. 
We ended up getting more thunder and lightening, than rain, much to Maggie's chagrin.
Joe and I finished the series Body Guard. It was a constant guessing game as to who were the corrupt police and security service personnel, and kept me at the edge of my seat for most of the two hours. And then I wasn't ready for sleep until 10:30, needing to come down off my adrenaline surge from the show.
For much of the morning, I ended up watching this guy work, and I took many photos and this (video).
I was really on the edge of my seat, worried the worker would get the bulldozer stuck in the pond, and it also broke my heart to hear all the small trees being torn down.
As the bulldozer operator worked his way out into the pond, he saw his predicament and started moving trees into the marsh so he could drive on top of them and get farther out into the swamp to continue clearing the muck out of it (video).
As I sat here, I watched more and more of the pond become visible. It was past time to get to the gym, so I tore myself away and off I went, at 11:00.
When I got home at 1:00, the big orange 'monster' had moved from the pond and up onto the hillside. It was now knocking down more trees and moving dirt up the hill.
After lunch, I went down to the water's edge to get a closer look, since they had stopped, and were gone on a lunch break. I hated to see so much of the woodland cleared and feared without the vegetation all this dirt would wash back down into the pond. I could only hope they had planned to plant grass on it at least.
Jean and I had planned to go to Lake Tansi to listen (and dance) to Soul Soup since they had been cancelled from playing at Mirror Lake Blast the night before. Well, again due to predicted thunderstorms, this event was cancelled also. And it never rained here and only for ten minutes out at the ranch. 
As a constellation for missing out on fun,we decided to go for a ride. I did chores, fed our three horses half their dinner, and then Jean and I went on a short little two mile ride. In this photo, we are going up Beachwood towards Chestnut Hill, where it is roadblocked and Cathy got lost following her GPS from the grocery back to the ranch. On horse back it is quite doable. In a little car, it was precarious to say the least.
I returned home about 6:45 and saw that more work had been done down back. The bulldozer was now parked for the night, but I could see that they probably weren't finished. 
In the bottom right of this photo is the start of our oasis (not ours really, but we have maintained it). 
And in this photo, looking from upstream into the pond, you can see where they really 'cut' into the oasis. It used to have a gentle slope into the pond along the whole edge of it. My phone battery had died, so I plugged it in up at the house and came back down later to take these last two photos.
In the photo to the right, you can see where they had worked on the creek, widening and deepening it. The panoramic photo below distorts the curve of the creek, but enables you to see where it has (and has not) been dug out. You can also see how much of the hill across the oasis has been cleared, and all the pond muck (dirt) that has been piled on it.
To end our day, Joe and I watched the first two episodes of season four of Virgin River.
Wednesday 7/27 - Mama deer and her two fawn were back for their morning treat. They were more curious and cautious than usual, with the change in scenery of the pond and the opposite hillside.
Once
they had finished off the cracked corn, they decided to explore the
pond and creek. There was no racing up and down the creek this morning. 
I wonder what goes through the mind of wildlife when their habitat has been altered (or destroyed). 
Eventually the three deer made their way up the opposite hill. Rather than trotting up their old path, they picked their footing cautiously, since their deer trail (my little walking path) had been buried under dirt and trees. A clear walkway no longer existed and the treck up the hill was now a bit precarious.
Since I was not needed to watch Rita while Micki played pickle ball (because Micki had returned to her home in CA) and because I had been to the gym the day before, I chose to work in our yard (which has been quite neglected). I started out trimming branches from several trees that were getting scraggly or over grown.
I was piling brush on the sheet which Maggie was also lounging on. Then while picking up the trimmed branches, I jumped right in on leaf, stick, and weed removal. So I have no before photos. I took this shot while I was in the process of weeding. And then the after shot below.
I put in a few hours of work before cleaning up and heading to my real job which is actually easier work.
It was much hotter than expected at the pool, and the forecast for rain and been removed. So I kept busy.
Below is a before and after photo of one Red-bud I really trimmed back.
When I got home from the pool at 6:30, I took cracked
corn down back and fed Rose as usual. I noticed that they had finished
'grooming' the hillside and the big orange
'monster' was
gone. The dirt wasn't piled as high in one spot, more spread out and
most of the brush was buried. But it was still quite rough, with a few big craters in the ground and many large roots randomly sticking out of the mud. 
I walked across the creek at the narrow part that hadn't been dug out and went up the hillside to get this photo looking down. I could see that they had sowed grass seed, so I guess they are finished. 
But what about this big section of swap in the middle of the pond? It is going to act like a dam and catch everything coming down the creek. Maybe that is the intention.
Joe and I watched the two more episodes of Virgin River. It is mostly a feel good show, although quite dramatic and everyone has their share of troubles.
I had a morning shift at the pool, and it looked like the predicted rain was going to wait till afternoon before hitting the Plateau, so off I went at 9am.
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I hadn't had time to finish yesterday's blog entry or do the day's Wordle in the morning, so I sat at my computer awhile once I got home from work at 2pm. I really struggle when I don't get the first letter of the word early, and when there are repeating letters. 
Jean had offered to take us out to dinner, so after a short nap, I got ready to go.
Joe drove and we picked Jean up at 6:15. We went to Bunker's, where Terry sings and runs karaoke two nights a week. It was pouring when we arrived at the restaurant, so we opted to sit inside where it was quieter and dryer.
Most of the crowd had cleared out, so Terry sang every third song in the rotation. He has a great voice and is a joy to listen to.
He also sang several dance tunes we requested. Jean and I enjoyed boogieing for several of them. I got this photo from a video Jean took of Joe and I dancing.
Once home at almost 9:00, I couldn't get to sleep, so got up, took a sleep aid, and then read out on the porch till almost midnight when I finally got sleepy.
Friday 7/29 - After finally getting to sleep, I did pretty well the rest of the night, and didn't get up until 6:30. I don't think it rained much during the night, but we had some downpours, off and on most of the morning. Jean sent this photo. Amiga and Zorro were in the shed and only letting Robbie stick her head in to stay dry. The shed is not big enough for all three horses. 
I went to the gym and then to work at the pool. It had been closed all morning but rather than Mike open for just an hour of his shift once the skies cleared, I went in early.
I only took two photos all day and that was while I was driving home from the pool. In the first one, you can see the rain cloud that was actually right over our neighborhood.
In this second photo, I had stopped for this deer that was taking her time crossing the road. I saw deer near the road in four different places while on my way home. I am not sure why they were out and about at 6:15, although the days are getting shorter and with the clouds it seemed darker than usual.
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