Spring Cleaning

This is not one of our horses, but very well could be.  They tend to roll in the mud to help cool off and shed their winter coat, which probably itches.  We have been brushing often because of the massive shedding.  I have also noticed more cat and dog hair when cleaning house, so they too are shedding.  I thought I was going to start Saturday morning with major house cleaning, thinking Dan's family was coming for the weekend.  But it didn't happen. 

Saturday 3/11 - I had gone to bed Friday night, mentally planning in my head for the cleaning and cooking I would be doing this morning.  I woke after ten hours of sleep (thanks to sleep aid) and read on my text messages that Dan and family were not coming because he had injured his ankle while at the gym.  He had gone to the ER late last night.  Luckily it is not fractured, but it is a severe sprain, so he will get a boot and crutches for the next month or so.  Oh boy.  Courtney sent this photo.  She had gone there to babysit Ava while Vale took Dan to the ER.  They didn't get back until 4:30am.  Ughhh! 

Patty had spent the night at the ranch and did morning chores.  This was taken from the lower paddock.  There is a fence between our four on the back pasture and Rio and Maslo in the paddock.  Horses are herd animals and tend to congregate near each other. 

Since I didn't have company coming, I was a big bum most of the morning. 

After an early lunch, I was at the ranch just after noon.  I opened the gate to the front pasture for Rio and Maslo, and when they got just a few feet inside the gate, they were eating the smorgasbord of grass. 







I took a serving of tuna up in the hayloft and fed Wanda.  She let me pet her while she ate, so maybe we are friends again. 

I left the crate open and pretty soon Wanda cautiously came out, walked over to the ladder, and headed down it.  I wondered if her balance was off (or at least different) without the end of her tail.  But it was dead and had drug on the ground much of the time. 





I cleaned up in the crate, and brought the food and water dishes and the refill containers down from above.  I also cleaned the litter box, but left it knowing rainy days were coming and Wanda might want to use it still.  When I placed her food and water on the bench, she came right up to eat and drink, and let me pet her some more.  Her tail looks nasty, but hopefully will be cute once it grows hair.  I just hope it heals well, without any complications. 





Next I got distracted, looking back behind the dam at how Joe had piled manure.  There was a lot of debris (cinder blocks, concrete slabs, tires, and old rusty metal stuff).  A lot of it was mostly buried, but I tried neatening it up some (the pieces sticking up high) so that the manure can be pushed (with the tractor) over it to better cover it up.  This will just add to the thickness of the dam.  Photo of a mallard pair, seen from where I was working. 

I had thought about riding Amiga, but was too cold.  Well, I heated up working, but then was out of time.  So I did a little extra spring cleaning in our paddock area.  I spread out the little piles of manure all around the pond area.  In the process, I found this catfish skull.  You can see the pectoral spine (black spike) coming off the side of it at the base of its skull. 

While feeding the horses, I noticed this very soft pile of manure Amiga left in her stall.  She seemed fine otherwise, so I was hoping it was just from the deworming Patty and I had done the day before. 


Cowboy looking in the smaller, new shed to eat the hay Zorro had left.  While waiting for the chickens to be ready for 'bed,' I picked up more sticks from the yard and gave the heated water tub a good scrubbing before storing it away until next year.  

Then back in our feed room, I gathered up all of Robbie's supplies, leaving two bagged meals, and took everything down to the trailer, in preparation for taking her back to Celtic Rose.

Cowboy likes a room with a view.

Well, I saw Amiga leave an even runnier pile of manure, which then made me more concerned.  So I decided to stall her for the night, to give extra hay and monitor her 'output'.

By now the chickens were ready to roost in the coop for the night.  And it was 6:30 when I finally got home.  I set all the clocks forward an hour and went to bed at 8:30 (7:30 on the old time). 

Sunday 3/12 - My concern for Amiga had me at the ranch just as the sky was getting light enough for me to see, around 6:30 (with the new time).  It was a cold, damp, drizzly morning.  I was so happy, and relieved, to find two normal manure piles in Amiga's stall.  And she was her usual sassy self, wanting out of her confinement.  I had opened the chicken coop and mucked and then went down to the barn to check on Wanda, who didn't show up for breakfast.  Now my concern was for her.  Had she slunked off somewhere to hid until her tail was 'better?' 






I was home enjoying my second cup of tea and another breakfast by 8am.  This squirrel was added to the cat's bird watching delight.  I met Shirley at church, and then came home and started food preparation because I was having some of the girls for dinner.  Once the stew was in the crock pot and the fruit and lettuce salads made, I had lunch. 




It was time to start cleaning, but I thought it would be fun for us to work a puzzle together so I chose this colorful fish one that had varying size pieces, so Patty could have success with the larger ones. 

I got all the pieces turned over and sorted, and completed the edge (Jean would be proud of me) and even started on the inside of the puzzle with the smallest pieces.  I had gotten sleepy at this point and took an hour nap. 



Waking at 2:30, I realized I only had three hours before company arrived.  I kicked it into high gear and cleaned house until 5pm, jumped in the shower, and was ready for the party to start.

Patty arrived after doing chores at the ranch, and reported that Wanda showed up for dinner and was actually more interested in affection than food. 
Karen and Shirley soon showed up, and we all enjoyed an evening of chatter and food.  Joe also ate with us but took cover in the Mancave most of the evening.  We ladies didn't work the puzzle but did try Mexican Train (with confusion about rules) and then 31.      

Monday 3/13 - Every morning I make the bed once Joe is up and out of it.  Well, I held off this morning because Mama Styx had taken advantage of the warm spot Joe left when he got up, and I hated to disturb her. 

It was a very cold morning (compared to last weeks warm days) and I even saw snow flurries for about five minutes.  So I stayed in my warm jammies and and started work on the jigsaw puzzle.  And I couldn't pull myself away until it was finished. 

I had seen a few golfers on the course over the weekend, in spite of the cold, drizzly conditions.  But today it was closed for aeration.  Seen here, sand on the green after the holes had seen punched and the plugs removed. 







Joe had gone to get more hay and once back, noticed this stuff in the shop in disarray.  He sent this photo, wondering if I or Patty had moved the wood pallet and the things that had been neatly stacked on it.  No!  And then there was the question of was someone rifling through this stuff?

I had worked on my project of sewing the Christmas ornaments together, waiting for my 11am meal of leftover stew to digest before going to the gym.  I did not feel like going, or exerting myself, but knew once I got there and moving, things would improve, which they did.  It was a decent workout, other than both elbows and my lower back bothering (hurting) me now.

I was at the ranch for chores by 3:30, checking out the shop situation first, which just seemed strange.  I cleaned out the corral (after last night's over-niter) and hauled sticks and manure down back.  At feeding time I gave the horses a little extra hay because it was supposed to get cold over night.  Seen here Robbie enjoying her hay as usual, with Cowboy and Zorro seen in the background.  This was to be her last 'dinner' with our herd.

Tuesday 3/14 - I was back out at the ranch at 8am to open the chicken coop and let the horses out.  I decided to wait for it to warm up before doing anything else outside, so went into the ranch house to read.

Once Joe was up and at the ranch, he straightened the pile of stuff back up in the shed.  He had come to the realization that when backing the big trailer of hay into the shop, the back end probably caught the corner of this stuff and pushed it over.  Hum.

I had gotten Robbie from the back pasture, did a little 'spring cleaning' removing the dirt and shedding hair from her, along with hoof care.  Joe and I loaded her in the trailer, which she is so good at, and off we went. 

In this photo, I had just backed her off the trailer at Celtic Rose.

I handed Robbie off to Callahan, who used to help care for her, and gave him an up-date.  Next we loaded Robbie's things into the gator and I filled Michelle in on current horse care for Robbie.  I was so thankful she was willing to take Robbie back, and really hope she can find Robbie a good forever home. 

Once back to the ranch, I chipped more ice off the water troughs and mucked our paddock area.  I went down to the barn to check on Wanda, and she was sleeping up in the hayloft in a ray of sun light hitting the top of the dog crates. 

 




She had hopped down from her 'bed' before I took this photo, but came over for some lovin. 

I think her tail might be getting some black 'peach fuzz' hair growing in, because it doesn't look quite as light tan as it did a week ago. 

I got home at 1:00, ate lunch, and then laid in the sun to read and try to warm up.  Stevie and Monita were right there to get my attention and affections. 

I woke from a nap, had some time to kill, so puttered around the house, doing this and that.

I rode with Karen, out to the ranch to help her with chores since it was going to be different without Robbie.  Here is Cowboy looking into the feed room, as we were filling feed buckets.  Silly (and naughty) boy.  We ended up putting him in the new shed, and fed him there, while Zorro ate from his bucket placed back on the outside of Amiga's gate where he used to eat. 

My eating schedule was all off, so I opted to have beer and popcorn while watching a movie (Glass Onion) with Joe from 6:30 till bedtime. 
 

Wednesday 3/15 - I went out to the ranch to meet Rick (the plumber) who was going to put in a water line to the corral and a hydrant there.  I had some questions and concerns, so wanted to speak with him before he started.  These two photos Joe took later in the day when he went out to check on the progress.  Rick had to make this hole in the side of the barn to get the line into the tack room where the water pump is located. 

Anyway, while I waited for Rick to come, I set back up the heated water tub for our horses because we were to have cold (freezing each night) temperatures for another week.  Ugh!  There was some frozen water in the hose so I stretched it out in the sun to thaw, which it did fairly quickly. 



I felt much better about what was going to be done with installing a water line after talking to Rick, and he had warned me about needing to remove part of the barn wall to get into the back side of the tack room wall.  In this second photo you see the trench running from the corral towards the barn. 

I was so cold (and tired for some reason) when I got home, I decided to wait on the gym, and had a cup of hot chocolate.  I was wrapped in a blanket and reading, which then lead to a nap. 

 

I woke up hungry, had a late lunch, and would need to digest some more before going to the gym.  I was still cold, so laid in the sun on the living room floor, with all my fur babies.  I read for a bit and took another nap.  Scheesh... what was my problem? 

Well, I never made it to the gym, cause I just felt too short on time and energy.  Tomorrow is another day, right?  And I guess my body needed rest.  But I was feeling guilty about not getting any exercise, so took Maggie for a long walk, which is still a lot easier than a gym workout.  We did most of Druid golf course, which was still closed for aeration work.  And these are the only three photos I took all day. 


Another case of Crape-murder (as Debbie calls it) when they severely trim back Crape Myrtle, as seen here.

Poker Joe was gone so I decided to watch a movie, having many horse ones to pick from, that I had rummaged from Jean's thrift store CD pile.  I chose "Touching Wild Horses" which was a heart warming story, with lots of great horse video viewing. 

Thursday 3/16 - I was at the gym by 8am and did my usual 90 minute workout.  I showered there and went straight to the visitation for Joanne Pugliese.  She and her husband Joe were much loved regulars at the pool and she had had a lung transplant last July.  She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in January and passed away March 10th.  A Celebration of Life memorial service followed and then we all went to the reception luncheon at their house.  I have experienced that I always seem to better get to know a person at their memorial service.  I don't know if this is a bad thing or not.  Anyway, Joanne's interests, passions, talents and the unique impact she had on so many lives became very evident.  She will be dearly missed by so many.

I had overeaten and stayed much longer than planned (till 2:45) with Joanne's family and friends.  It was so nice to see so many from the pool. 

Intending to get to the ranch in time for a little ride, I hustled there and fetched Amiga.  Here she is inspecting the new water hydrant while I was also taking a look at it. 


This second photo shows Amiga's dirty side.  And in the next photo, you can see where the water line was buried. 







I walked Amiga to the barn, with me stepping on top of the fresh dirt to help pack it down.  I was glad to see that the plumber had done a nice job patching the hole he had to make in the side of the barn. 

Maggie was with me, and Wanda was so glad to see her. 

Wanda just kept rubbing up on Maggie, and coming back for more and more lovin'.  And I think Maggie was happy to get the love from Wanda as well. 











While brushing Amiga, every time I looked out at the dog and cat, they were hanging out together. 
 

It was nearing feeding time, so I knew a ride was out of the question.  But I did hop on Amiga bareback and ride her back up the drive once Bonnie and Susan arrived. 


Oh, in the tack room, this blue pipe going down through the floor, coming off the blue pump, is the new water line the plumber put in.  

Poker Joe was gone and I was still full from the luncheon, and also tired from the emotional day, so skipped dinner and watched another one of Jean's movies, Cowgirls 'N Angels.  I cried several times, mostly because I was still in an emotionally vulnerable state. 

Friday 3/17 - St. Patrick's Day.  The only photo I took today was with my new phone, of the mailing label for my old phone.  I did some 'spring cleaning' of my old phone, deleting all the photos and videos I didn't need or want to have saved on it.  They have all been downloaded on my computer.  After much procrastination, I finally went to town at 1pm, with my new phone that had arrived in the mail a week ago.  I went to the AT&T store to have Jim (the nice salesman we had talked to last week) put all the 'stuff' from my old phone, onto my new phone.  As I feared and why I was dragging my feet about getting a new phone, is the switch is not going well.  After nearly three hours (waiting in line, shopping while Jim worked with my phone, and more waiting while he struggled to get everything transferred) my new phone still did not have any of my old contacts, photos, notes, etc.  Apparently my old phone is so old, it is not even recognized by the new one.  So, as I understand it, Jim used my cloud to get the info moved. 

Jim finally sent me off with both phones (the old one I have to mail in) telling me to give my new phone a few more hours to get all the information. 

Poker Joe was gone, so again, I watched a girly/horse movie "Thicker Than Water" to pass the time.  Well, by bed time, my new phone did not have any of my personal stuff on it, and my old phone no longer 'worked', so I had no way to communicate with anyone by text or phone.  The only accomplishment I had today, was a successful go at Wordle.  I went to bed feeling very frustrated, and somewhat lost, not having any way of quick communication with anyone.