Takin' It Easy

After being on the go so much, I decided I needed to take it easy for a little bit.  I kept telling myself I needed to relax, chill out, unwind, slow down, decompress, put my feet up, chillax, and sit at home and enjoying some down time.  Well, as fate would have it, I ended up testing positive for COVID Sunday morning, so home quarantining was going to make me take it easy whether I wanted to or not. 


I find it easier to disengage my body from work than it is to stop my mind from churning.  I kid you not, even while I sleep at night, I think my mind is thinking.  I'll wake up and have apprehensions about something or an idea for a solution to a problem running through my mind.  My wheels keep on churning whether I am awake or not.  It's enough to drive me crazy. 
 

Saturday 6/25 - I woke with a slight sore throat and thought nothing of it, because I had been in and out of the air-conditioning at work, the ranch, and here at home.  Also, my allergies will give me a sore throat.  However, in hind sight, maybe the fatigue I was feeling on Friday and Saturday should also have been a warning.  I just figured I had been working too hard. 





I left for the ranch before 7:30 and went to fetch Amiga right away.  She is in the background, with Robbie seen up close, enjoying the hay.  Robbie didn't interfere with us until she realized I was taking Amiga away.  But she stayed back, with my warning swirling of the end of the lead rope, so I could get Amiga through the gate. 

 



Walking Amiga down to the barn, we came across this toad and garter snake.  I could not bear to think about the fate of the toad, so stepped between them.  The snake did not move but the toad hopped the other direction and continued on its way.  Sorry Mr. Snake. 
 

Amiga did much better with leaving the barn yard this time, but it still took some time and persistence on my part.  And a couple of times when we got to a turn in the trail, she would not go the route taking us father from the barn.  But again, she came around and gave in to me.  I always rewarded her, even for the tiniest of effort.  Heading up the power line towards home, she was very willing but did not rush (video).  Progress.
  

Jean was coming down the drive towards the barn with Robbie when I got back.  I switched out Amiga for Zorro and got him tacked up and then Jean and I hit the trail.  I didn't take any photos, but this map shows where we went.  We covered the 3.7 miles in 78 minutes.  Both Zorro and Robbie did well, but we could tell they did not like all the gravel we were on for much of the ride, and they were a little tender footed on the last stretch home, coming down our driveway.

I found myself quite tired by the time we un-tacked and walked the horses back up to their field.  So both Jean and I sat to rest in the sunroom.  I nearly fell asleep again, like last Wednesday. 

Parm came over to see if I might make a good spot for him to lay down on, but soon left.  I must have been too bony for his liking. 

I was soon back up and watering all of the trees to help Jean out with ranch jobs.  It was my big idea to plant the 18 trees, so I feel obligated to water them as much as possible.  Jean does a great job tending to all the gardens and plantings. 

I ran out of time (the story of my life) and had to head to work (for the 4th day in a row) at the pool.  Thankfully it was a bit overcast so we weren't near as busy.  I still had folks in the water until 5:55 though, but had most of my cleaning done ahead of time.

Jean sent this photo later in the afternoon.  Amiga and Zorro had sought shelter for shade, but Zorro was still standing guard, not letting Robbie into the loafing shed very far. 

It was good to get home, do all my chores here, and go to bed early to read.  I didn't last long though. 
    

Sunday 6/26 - I woke with a bad sore throat and a headache and immediately recalled Britney's first symptoms of Covid.  She thought she had a cold.  Tea helped my headache, but I still decided to take a home Covid test, and much to my disappointment, it turn out positive.  So I had to contact several different people (probably 20 total) who I had been in close contact with the last few days).  Courtney and Will cancelled their visit, we cancelled our plans for swimming and pontooning, and I quarantined myself to my office.

I wore a mask each time I went into the rest of the house, mostly kitchen to get food and plenty to drink.  I did a lot of reading and some napping and was just going to let my body recover from the busy week and try to get a handle on the virus which had invaded it.  To feel somewhat productive, I ended up doing two loads of laundry. 






Rain was foretasted off and on for some of the day, but we never got any here until evening.  Jean sent this (video) mid-afternoon, saying that Zorro was telling the three boys in the adjacent pasture that Robbie and Amiga were all his.  She also pointed out the lightening bolt that occurs midway through.  Yikes. 

Towards the end of the video (this second photo) you can see all six horses who are at home on our ranch.

Ominous storm clouds rolling in, out at the ranch. 

I really didn't feel too bad physically, but was mentally down.  Another family visit had to be cancelled, my boss was not happy with me going to work with a sore throat Saturday, and I was concerned for those I may have infected (especially Joe).

Jean was finishing up chores before the storm hit. 

Joe and Patty went out to the ranch to join Jean for the cookout she had planned and prepared for.  I was glad the party wasn't a total loss. 

The storm hit here and out at the ranch at about the same time.  And boy did the rain come down and the wind blow (video). 

When the rain hit out at the ranch, Joe was in the process of grilling the chicken Jean had marinated all day.  Joe can grill rain or shine. 

In this last photo, you can see one of the horses out in the rain and the wind sock nearly horizontal. 

I went upstairs (sleeping in the guest bedroom) to read in bed just as Joe got home.  Having taken Tylenol PM, it was lights out at 8:30.

Monday 6/27 - Second day of quarantine.  The Mockingbird seemed happy about the calm after the storm (video).  Maggie still wasn't sure it was all over with. 

I felt no worse this morning.  It was mostly a sore throat, runny nose, cough, sneezing and feeling a little bit achy. 

At one point when I was trying to nap, Monita kept trying to lick my face.  I had to hide under a blanket. 

Then Stevie hopped up on the couch seeing if she could get some lovin'. 


As the day progressed, so did my symptoms.  I started sneezing and coughing more, and blowing my nose a lot more frequently.  

During another nap attempt, Monita settle at my feet and Stevie at my belly. 

When the headache emerged again (first since Sunday am) along with worse body aches, I started taking Tylenol.  I was probably experiencing a slight fever. 




Joe had brought home leftovers from Jean's cookout, which I thoroughly enjoyed for lunch. 

I did computer games including jigsaw puzzles and July 4th Mahjong.  How festive.  I also read a lot, and stayed in touch with the outside world, texting and Facebook messaging. 

I feel like my body has been plodding along at turtle speed even though my mind is racing a gazillion miles a minute.  I was anxious to get busy again.

I was feeling pretty good, thanks to Tylenol, so took Maggie for a 45 minute walk.  We went up Library Trail towards Mirror Lake, where I could hear the music playing at the Blast. 








Maggie enjoyed a drink and cooling off in the little bit of water in the creek that eventually runs into our pond.  Then Maggie and I cut through on the short section of trail to Cromwell Dr.  On our way down the road towards Snead, I discovered this new little shortcut from Cromwell over to Lakeview. 

The Hiking Club / trail builders do an awesome job.  The steps, bridge and trail were so easy to navigate through the thick woods and ravine.  

The hike had done me good.  I read out on the porch for awhile once we got home.  In the photo below, we are on the new trail, approaching the Library Trail bridge over the creek.  You can see the big dip of Lakeview (near where Flossmoor turns on to it). 

I went up to bed at 8:00 but wasn't really ready to sleep since I had taken three little naps.  I read for a bit and then the Tylenol PM hit and I turned out the lights.  I slept okay, except for bouts of coughing and sneezing.
 

Tuesday 6/28 - Day three of quarantine.  Unfortunately, I felt worse instead of better.  The headache was back with a vengeance (ears were ringing) and I also had a stomachache, I think from all the post-nasal drainage.  I was probably dealing with a slight fever too.  But I told myself, 'all this shall pass.'

I did my usual computerizing and then started in on games.  It took me almost an hour to do this 260 piece on-line jigsaw puzzle of down town Curacao, where we have visited during one of our cruises. 

As my symptoms continued to worsen, I wondered just how bad I was going to experience Covid.  Boredom was also rapidly getting to me.  I moved from the sun room/office, to the porch, where each of my four cats joined me.  Monita →

← Babe     Stevie ↓

And Mama Styx








At one point (around 10:00) I went outside on the deck.  I thought sitting in the sun would help bake this darn virus out of me.  I didn’t even last 45 minutes and it was only 73° out.  Go figure

I got my 'Ava fix' with some videos and this cute photo.
My 'baby' holding his baby.

Jean reported that Wanda has found a new safe place to nap.  This is a shelf, under a little roof, on the side of the boarders loafing shed.  It is a perfect spot out of the sun and the shelf is unreachable by most predictors.  I found a photo of it from March to give you a better idea. 

We are so glad Wanda is back and doing better. 




Rose disappeared when the rains came Saturday, and I haven't seen her since.  I am not near as worried about Rose though, because so far, she has always shown back up, even after being gone for three weeks.  I really wonder though, where she goes.  I am almost positive we are her second home. 

Jean also sent this photo of our three horses.  It is a little difficult to tell them apart, all three are bays. (Wikipedia- Bay is a hair coat color of horses, characterized by a reddish-brown or brown body color with a black point coloration of the mane, tail, ear edges, and lower legs. Bay is one of the most common coat colors in many horse breeds.)  All three of our horses also have a dark dorsal stripe, so are actually called dun bays.  Below is a photo of Zorro's strip.  Looking at the white on their legs, I would say Zorro is far left and Amiga is in the middle, with Robbie on the right. 

Wanting to slim down our flock a little, we gave two of our hens to Bonnie, who has one, single, lonely rooster.  Now we have ten, a more manageable number.  But at 'bedtime' Jean only counted nine on the roost. 

 

Long story short - the tenth one was on a shovel hanging on the garden side of the shed.  (Time to clip wings again.)

It was a long, boring day, laying around wondering how long I would feel so crummy.  Times like this, we can really appreciate our good health, which we often take for granted.  It is good that I have been forced to take it easy.  I probably had been pushing myself too hard recently, which made me more susceptible to coming down with Covid.

Wednesday 6/29 - I woke after ten hours of sleep, thanks to Tylenol PM, and was finally seeing improvement in my condition.  From Sunday morning through bedtime last night it seemed I had gotten progressively worse.  I was hoping I had 'turned the corner' so to speak and was now recovering, getting better.  But I was cautioned by several to still take it easy. 

I hadn't seen the black horses next door out at the ranch in quite awhile, and asked Jean if she thought they were gone.  She later sent this picture to show me that they were, in fact, still next door. 

I thought this blog would be a record short one, since I had no activities to report on, but apparently I have been so bored, I can ramble on and on about nothing.  Sorry.  And of course, there are always tons of cat and dog photos to take and post while I sit around the house with nothing better to do.

Poker Joe left at 10am for an appointment, then golf, and then poker.  So I was able to enjoy moving freely about the house without my mask on. 

I mostly stuck to the porch reading my novel.  And the cats and dog mostly stayed out there with me.  In the above photos are Stevie, Babe, Monita, and Styx.

Jean reported at bedtime the the same chicken was back up on the shovel on the wrong side of the dividing wall.

Jean had also reported that Wanda looked bad again, with swelling in her neck and face and would not eat.  So this was on my mind as I was going to bed.  I took a Tylenol PM one more time to assure a good night of sleep.   

Thursday 6/30 - Day five (and last day) of quarantine and also the last day of June.  My Covid symptoms continued to improve and I was glad to be feeling better.  I was out at the ranch by 8:15 to help Patty catch Wanda.  Bonnie was also there.  We called for Wanda but she didn't come to eat.  Then I decided to go up into the loft to see if she was there.  And she was!  There was snot coming out of her nose and the side of her face was swollen.  It looked to be an abscess. 
 

Well, our attempt to catch her failed.  She caught Bonnie off guard, scratched her, and got away.  There was no way she was going to let us near her now.

I went up to do a little more work with the chicken coop window and then water all 18 trees.  Just that small amount of effort really pooped me out.  I got kind of dizzy and lightheaded even. 
 

Susan and Bonnie, who had been working with Cowboy, reported that they had spotted Wanda, and even got her to come out of hiding to eat.  But we decided to wait till later to try and catch her again. 

Once home, I ate an early lunch and took a nap. 




During the afternoon, several of us barn ladies brainstormed about what to do about Wanda.  Jean looked for her around 2:00 and saw no sign of her.  But when she went back down around 5pm to do chores, Wanda came out and ate.  The fact that she was eating gave us hope.  But it was too late to try and catch her today because the vet office was closed.  

Friday 7/1 - First day of July and I am officially done with my five day quarantine.  I can now go out in public places (and work at the pool) wearing a mask.  Luckily, I have the next five days off work (which had been 'set aside' for our holiday weekend at a house on Dale Hollow Reservoir).

I didn't sleep too well last night (first night I haven't taken Tylenol PM since Sunday) so when I took my thyroid pill at 2am, I couldn't get back to sleep.  I eventually read for an hour and tried to get to sleep again, which I finally did.  Anyway, I felt more tired than usual when I did get up.  Sun - Wed night, with Tylenol PM 'on board' I had gotten ten hours of sleep almost every night.  As far as my symptoms were going, I still had some post nasal drip, a slight sore throat, and an occasional cough.  But I knew the worst was behind me.

I was done blogging etc. and sitting here working on this on-line jigsaw puzzle (picture of finished puzzle) when I got a text message from Yvonne.  She had caught Wanda, had her in the crate, and set her by Jean's front door. 

I jumped to action.  Communicated with Jean and Patty, got dressed, and headed to the ranch.  I drove Wanda to Patty's and handed her (well, the crate Wanda was in) off to Patty who proceeded on to the Village Vet office. 

Dr. Jenkins handled Wanda very well.  She diagnosed Wanda with a respiratory infection and gave her nose drops and a steroid shot to help her get over that.  The vet also checked her all over and thinks Wanda had a wound on the side of her face and neck that caused the swelling but looks OK now.  Patty asked about Wanda's previous injury and Dr. Jenkins thinks Wanda was in a cat fight several weeks ago when she first disappeared.  During the cat fight Wanda hurt her left rear leg and got the injury (puncture wound) on her back.  She had basically gone off to lick her wounds for the next 11 days.  Those were nearly healed up.  The vet warned that we may not see Wanda for a couple of days and not to worry.  




Patty took Wanda back to the barn and let her loose.  She ran off at first, but then came back and ate her food (sardines and can cat food) and was being very friendly with Patty.  Hopefully there will be no more problems or cat fights.  We are all so relieved and glad that Wanda is back on the mend and will soon be her old self again. 
 

Jean surprised me with this document today:  She has been in contact with the American Morgan Horse Association, in search of Robbie's registration.  This is not an official registration certificate.  The original papers were most likely lost in the 11/8/2018 Paradise CA fire.  In all, 86 died in this deadliest and most destructive fire in California's history. 

I still remember Jesse telling me of her harrowing escape off the mountain, through the thick smoke and fire (an inferno on both sides of the road and overhead), blinding her at times, making breathing impossible, sparks and flames hitting her car and making the heat inside unbearable.  And in some places, trees and telephone poles were burning and falling into the road.  It was a miracle she made it down the mountain and out of the fire alive.  Jesse boarded her horse Robbie in the nearby town Oroville, but because there was no affordable housing available, Jesse later moved (with Robbie) to Tennessee. 

I cut and paste this from the above photo:
It was interesting to see Robbie's pedigree, but what was really fun to see was her real name and date of birth.  She was actually born the same day as Amiga and Zorro, two years earlier.  How cool is that?

Once back from dropping Wanda at Patty's, I finished my online jigsaw puzzle and resumed my morning routine.  The whole rest of the morning and through the lunch hour I sat here at my computer. 

Finally, I headed out to the ranch to do chores etc.  Maggie came with me and Wanda was so happy to see her.

I mucked the loafing shed and dry lot, helped Jean with a little project, and then we had a celebratory drink while takin' it easy, sitting in the chicken yard.  (We were celebrating the weekend, me being out of quarantine, and that we got Wanda to the vet and she is going to be okay.) 






This is Babe, the not completely black Australorp, so a mix breed of some sort.  And she might possibly be a rooster.  Time will tell.

My evening and bedtime routine were as they have been the last five nights, although I did not take Tylenol PM when I went up to bed in the guest bed room.