Biding time is easy if you are patient, thus I struggle with it a bit. Cats seem to be very good at biding time. Me, I am twiddling my thumbs, pacing the floor, and awake at night contemplating. I am currently waiting for spring; to re-home Robbie; to know Jean is relocated; for one of our boarded horses to leave (which will enable us to finally put Amiga and Zorro down in the lower paddock); and for Wanda's tail amputation surgery.
Her one eye opened after I snapped this photo, and then it closed again.
I hit the blogging hard, seldom leaving my computer, in hopes of finishing my Cruise blog post.
It was rainy most of the day and gloomy ALL DAY LONG.
Mama Styx's little tongue was sticking out in anticipation of feeding time.
In order to finish my Cruise blog, I skipped the gym and even had Joe do the evening ranch chores. He was out there taking photos for a plumber anyways. We hope to put in a water line from this well, up to the corral. 
Other than a load of laundry, pet care, sorting through thrift store stuff from Jean, and feeding myself, I did nothing else but blog all day. I never got out of my pj's and I took two naps.
By evening I was almost done with the Cruise blog, but too tired of it to finish the last day. I read in bed for a bit (I am in the thick of my Patricia Cornwell murder mystery so I have been reading quite a lot lately). Before I turned the lights out, I was happy to hear that Jean had made it to Needles, CA.
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Sunday 2/25 - I was up at 3am, finished and posted my Cruise blog 90 minutes later, and felt pretty accomplished. I had kept up with last weeks blog fairly well, but still had two days to finish before posting it.
We got word from Jean that she was biding her time this morning, waiting for snow removal and overturned vehicles on the Tehachapi Mountain pass to be dealt with, to get her free breakfast at the hotel, and for her internet to start working again.
This is Parm, looking quite regal, sitting in his pan taking in the view! He was just biding time, surely wondering when the road trip would be over.
Jean reported this gas price in CA. Quite a difference after paying $2.83 for it here, before leaving.
I think now that I’m caught up with most things, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief and relax. But now my body fatigue has caught up with me, and is asking for more rest. So, I continued with reading my exciting novel and took a 30 minute power nap. 
Maggie biding time, waiting for some action. She likes to bunch up her bed and make a pillow while she rests. 
It was my night to feed and muck, so I went out early enough to do a few things at the ranch house. Looks like Robbie is enjoying 'mudding' also. I now have the job of collecting trash and recycle so made my rounds from the house, feed room, chicken coop, garage, shop and barn.
Whenever anyone goes out to the coop, the chickens are right there (in your face) looking for handouts.
Joe had gone to Nashville and treated Courtney to a Beatles Brunch.
I
did evening chores at the ranch and was glad the chickens were in the
coop by 5pm. Joe had dropped in on a poker game on his way home from Nashville, so wasn't home, therefore I had to scurry back to feed Maggie, etc.
I was glad to finally hear, after 6pm, that Jean
had made it to Watsonville, Ca. where she will be staying three nights
while she searches for a sublet.
Monday 2/27 - I was up real early, finished and posted last week's blog, and was out at the ranch for morning chores at 7am. This is Cowboy, biding time, waiting to be let out into the back pasture with our three, which I did once he had been fed.
There is very little to report about my day. I did some house keeping things at both the ranch and here at home. I spent two hours at the gym, and then went right to the (nearly three hour) training session for work.
Joe did evening chores at the ranch for me and I fixed dinner for the two of us. He had reported Amiga looking fairly lame on her front left leg, so I instructed him on how to give her Previcox.
Once home, I ate lunch on the deck and took advantage of the sun. I laid out to catch a few rays (to keep my Caribbean tan from fading too much), and ended up falling asleep. Rose (and Maggie) joined me for some sunning.
Napping too long, I then scurried to get out to the ranch and care for Amiga. Walking her down to the barn she didn't seem too lame, and we both noticed this (scary to her) sight.
The high winds we had had over night, damaged the roof on the former donkey shed. The list of repairs never ends, and often seems to get longer no matter how quickly we try to get things done and crossed off of it.
The photo below was taken from in the donkey shed, looking up out the gaping hole.
Amiga was caked in dried dirt again, so I brushed her first. I did lots of other little things, cleaning her up and caring for her. 
It was difficult to pin-point the cause of lameness, but may be due to a kick to her shoulder. I rubbed liniment oil on it. It may also be her old suspensory ligament tear that is acting up, because she seemed more lame after standing in the barn for half an hour. I gave her a Previcox once back up to her shed.
Jean reported having found a sublet she can stay in until she finds a permanent place. I had been up 'gaming' on my computer past my bedtime, and then couldn't get to sleep.
I arrived at the ranch at 6:30 and went down to the shop and barn to move some things. Maslo was biding time, waiting for his breakfast, playing with a feed bucket that had inadvertently been left out on the fence overnight.
Next I worked at cleaning out our feed room a little bit.
Below, a photo from the roof, taken later in the day.
Once Bonnie and Susan arrived, I helped them, using the gator, to move their feed stuff from the barn up to our feed room. Today we started a co-op together, since they have felt a lot of pressure to leave (and been wanting out of) their co-op down at the barn.
Joe arrived (coming from his hip Dr. apt. in Knoxville) and we started on some jobs that required the two of us. A few days ago, Patty had pointed out that the reason some drivers may be going off our drive (giving us a lawn job which Joe has added some gravel into the big ruts) is that when they are pulling a trailer, they may be avoiding the low tree limb, seen in this photo.
So I held the ladder while Joe cut the large branch and some smaller ones off the tree, seen removed from the tree where the branch stubs are sticking out. When I took this photo, Joe was headed down the drive with the ladder, going behind the barn to fix the metal roof on the former donkey shed. By the time I got down there, after mucking out our sheds, Joe was already done.
I have no photos of Joe working, but took this one of the finished job. He used some
cinder blocks to hold the metal down because the roof joist boards were too
rotten to hold screws. We may decide to tear this whole thing down, or
at least replace the roof. It would be nice to have it higher, to
accommodate horses.
After we shoveled shavings into the shed, Joe left and I continued work on the to-do list. The former wood burning stove pipe needed to be insulated and sealed inside and closed off up on the roof to keep rain and birds out (it has leaked blowing rain into the house twice and last week we had the bird incident).
Up on the roof I managed to get the rain cap off (seen in above photo) and then was better able to get duct tape over the top of the opening, and more on the underside (as seen by the X in this photo while work was in progress). We had used the chimney sweep brush but a lot more soot had been knocked down in my effort to remove the cap. So I had more of a mess to clean up once finished on the roof.
Then I plugged the 8" hole with the circle I had cut. I did not have time to finish the job with duct tape.
Next on my to do list was the chickens. I worked out in their coop adding feed (I bought the day before) to their storage can, and cleaning and filling their self waterer. I also removed some extra dishes and things off the floor, to make cleaning up after them easier.
Our sheds and the fire pit seen from my roof top view.
I used the gator to pick up the pine tree branches and take them down into the woods behind the barn. I also delivered hay to the barn.
Once it was time, Bonnie, Susan and I set to the task of feeding the (four total) horses, including Cowboy (for a first) together with ours.
All went well, except Cowboy was pretty confused about coming into our paddock to eat. Here he is, roaming around after mealtime, trying to decide where he should go and what to do with himself. 
Bonnie's husband Rick hung out with Maggie part of the time while he waited patiently for us ladies to get done.
After S,B,&R left, I had dinner and waited for the chickens to go to bed.
Three of the four horses, seen while I headed to the chicken coop. The forth (Robbie) was in the shed finishing off the hay.
I packed up the horse puzzle (onto sheets of cardboard to keep as much intact as possible) to bring it home to finish.
Having only gotten four hours of sleep (10pm - 2am) the night before, I was in bed and fell right to sleep at 7pm.
Thursday 3/2 - I didn't wake up until 5am, so got a total of ten hours of sleep, and this was without any sleep aid. More of my Lenten Rose blooming.
It had stormed overnight, and we got 2" of rain.
This snapping turtle was making its way up our creek in back when I went down to feed the deer.
Poker Joe had slept at the ranch and got home about 9am, after doing morning chores out there.
I noticed this peach blossom on the smallest of one of our fruit trees out at the ranch.
After my two hours at the gym, I ate a sandwich while in the SUV with Joe, going out to the ranch. I finished the stove pipe project and think it looks much better now. Before and after photos: 
Plus now I know it is better insulated and that no birds or rain can get down it.
Once finished with the big step ladder, I helped Joe move it out of the house, and then he was dismissed for the day.
As I was going out to muck, Patty and then Bonnie, followed by Susan, arrived. We chatted briefly and then decided to feed since all the horses were coming into the dry lot. They were all milling around the sheds when I went to take a photo, but Zorro saw me and started to come over. Since Cowboy had come in with our horses, he did not have to be lead in. We got Amiga and Zorro in their stalls and then started the feeding process. Bonnie and Susan filled the three feed bucks for our horses while I watched, and then I filled Cowboys while they watched. We all did it correctly.
Robbie always finishes first and then starts on her hay. We kept A&Z in the sheds until Cowboy finished. In this photo, Patty is showing Bonnie and Susan how to shut the gates. Once all feed buckets are collected, A&Z are let out with the other two, and they go about eating the hay we have set out.
Patty gave me a ride home because Joe had left much earlier, not wanting to be out at the ranch as long as I.
Joe and I watched the first episode (two hours long) of Season 44 of Survivor.
Joe left for Nashville to pick up Tango because Dan, Vale, and Ava were going to Chicago for a long weekend. Look at Ava's curls! Also, I can't help but wonder if Dan gets his clothing style genes from his dad.
I made a quick trip out to the ranch to hook a second crate to Wanda's up in the hay loft. Now she has a place where we will keep her when she needs time to recover from her tail amputation surgery in three days.
And this port-a-potty had blown over.
We later got word from Daniel, that his shed had blown away, into his back yard. He sent this photo of what was left of it.
Courtney had lost power most of the day, but at least Britney was enjoying nice weather and a visit from her cousin Ben, seen here with one of her guinea pigs.
The rain had finally stopped and the sun came out, but it was still way too windy to enjoy being outside. So I started re-building the horse puzzle I had brought from the ranch on sections of cardboard. Notice Tango (whom Joe had brought home) in the background.
Working this puzzle here, on this larger table, will be much better than on the card table out at the ranch.
I needed to get some exercise, so went with my weighted vest to the gym and wore it for 40 minutes while on the elliptical. I also did rowing and walking. They had lost power there, so none of their TVs were working. So I did not have my usual entertainment. 
Power (and internet) had also gone out at the ranch. Patty did chores this evening, and reported that the gas grill had blown over. She also had to lead Cowboy through this big puddle that was right at the gate.
Poker Joe was gone, so I walked both dogs a few times. Here is another nice photo Patty sent.
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