We all have (and make) an impact; positive or negative, good or bad, helpful or hurtful, etc. The ripple effect is a spreading, pervasive, and often unintentional result of an event, or action, or even our words. When we make one little change (or comment), it can start to “trickle” into, or affect other parts of our life, or other's lives.
Very early this spring, all Fairfield Glade employees had to go to a staff event called WAVE. It was kind of a team building experience but also an encouragement for us to keep going the extra mile to help our members and guests have a good experience. And just as waves have a crest and trough, we all will experience some highs and lows. But we need to ride the wave and wait for the next high. Ripples are little waves on the surface of water.
Thankfully, Joe's exposing Courtney and I to Covid, did not have a huge ripple effect, because neither of us got it. But it did temperamentally have an adverse effect on both of us. Quarantining is not easy and it's no fun.
Mama Styx stole my chair when I got up to get my second cup of tea. I did housekeeping things and didn't make it to the gym until early afternoon. I spent two hours there, taking my time, and stretching well afterwards. It was a good workout.
I had planned to ride, but the day heated up quite a bit, and Joe was available to help me with some projects a little later. When I got to the ranch I started in on a few things. I think we each feed Wanda when she greets us, but I had also put some ant poison behind her water bowl because they keep invading her food dish.
I dumped, refilled, and hung in a different spot this fly trap. It had been stinking up the barn hanging high above where I tie Amiga. It was NASTY, with maggots in the bottom of it. I had dug a hole in the manure pile and buried the contents, so hope that's the end of them and the stench.
When Joe arrived, he moved some gravel for me. I had removed the pavers from on top of the drainage pipe at the new gate by the wash rack. They just didn't seem too secure, kind of moved when Amiga steped on them, and I decided it might be better to just have gravel on top.
Joe also helped me remove the big stepping rocks that had been in front of these wood steps. They were a little wobbly, uneven, and actually not really necessary because - it is almost the same height from the ground to the wood step, as it is from the wood step up into the tack room. We'll try this and see how it works for everybody.
I had gotten the corral ready for the over-nighter and did chores for Mary and Jack, who were still out of town. Joe helped me with mucking both paddocks and then I fed our horses. The over-nighter was running late, so Joe went and picked up a pizza.
Neighborhood fireworks and rain on it's way had the dog scared, so we let her sit on the table while we ate. She took no interest in food and was just shaking.
I snapped this last photo as I was leaving. Rain hit during my drive home. I was tired, but still had feeding and cleaning chores to do at home.
Sunday 7/9 - I met Shirley at church, always so lovely outside in the pavilion. I got word from Courtney that the home Covid test she took when she got up, was negative. Yippee! 
I spent the afternoon at the ranch. It was a peaceful, lazy feeling, overcast day. 
I got to work doing different things, just little tasks here and there. I added two wheelbarrow loads of rich dirt from behind the chicken coop, to the big hole made when the dogwood blew over. The tree is still alive and the chickens love perching in it, so I wanted to help it out a little by covering some of the exposed roots. The chickens were quick to investigate.
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Amiga and Zorro came in on their own, late in the afternoon. When Cowboy realized he was alone in the pasture, he came running in to find his friends. This photo is from a (video) I took of him.
It was cooler for riding so I went for a little jaunt on Amiga (video). We had a good ride, keeping it fairly slow and not very long. Amiga favored her front right leg only very slightly, and I hoped it is just arthritis stiffness. She did well for me, except at the 'water hazard' when I'm sure she knew I did not have both hands on the reins. A correction was necessary (video).
Joe was playing poker, so Patty took care of checking in an over-nighter that was turning onto our road just as I was leaving.
Monday 7/10 - I had morning chores, discovering right off the bat that one of Jack and Mary's horses had broken the gate to the new shed. It was off one hinge and the board it was chained to was pulled off the wall. I put it at the top of Joe's to-do list.
After letting M&J's horses and the chickens out, I went down to the barn.
I threw a little hay to our horses and started mucking.
Once the over-nighters left (seen going up the drive in this photo) I put Amiga in the round pen and let the boys out on the front pasture. 
Boy was Amiga pissed off. I caught some of her bad behavior on (video). She and Zorro were also hollering to each other. Separation is good for both of them. 
I took Amiga on a longer ride this time. She was a bit wound up at first, still mad about not being out eating grass with the boys. When I got to Lake Kirkstone, I let her graze for awhile, and then she was a happy camper. She did well most the ride, but got tired towards the end and then started favoring her sore leg. 
It remained under 81° all day but was not that cloudy, like you might think from this photo of Maggie and Wanda, (I had tried a special effects). Wanda sure loves Maggie (video).
The boys (Zorro and Cowboy) had come into the shed when I got back with Amiga. I did some hoof and fly care and then returned her to them. I took these two photos as I left. Silly Amiga with her tongue out. Who knows what goes on in the minds of these horses.
I stopped in to do a little watering up at the yard, and saw Mesa getting a drink from the pond. We are so glad the water level has come back up with all the rain, and seems to be maintaining it's usual level.
I was going to go to the gym, but decided to wait till Tuesday, and go instead to the indoor pool. On my way, I set my chair and blanket out for Mirror Lake Blast. I mostly sat out in the sun at the pool, reading, but I also swam a few laps. 
Swimming (both freestyle and breast stroke) put some pain and pressure on my right elbow, but my left was still doing well.
The Hey Hay guy cut our back pasture and Jim's field. So now we had to hope that Wednesday's predicted rain would hold off, and that we could get help with bringing in the square bales.
I had a blast at the Blast. Top Tier was the band and they played one good dance song after another. Their lead singer was great.
Tuesday 7/11 - I got up feeling very sore from a night of dancing. I think I threw my hip out. LOL I was also tired because I had stressed about getting the hay in before rain, all night, each time I woke up.
Ripples on the pond, often catch my eye, drawing my attention down to the water. Sometimes I don't see what it was; possibly a turtle sliding in from the marsh. Or maybe a frog took the plunge, jumping in from the shoreline.
Often times it is just a golf ball that had gone astray. Many other times however, I see the wild life, like the Great Blue Heron (seen above if you look closely, or circled in red in my second photo).
I usually see the deer before they make ripples. After eating the cracked corn, licking the mineral block or munching on vegetation, they will get a drink or playfully splash in the water. My photos are nothing like this local's photos taken at one of our lakes.
I had a moderately busy morning shift at the pool. But had the unfortunate task of having to fill out an accident report because one of our customers slipped and fell. Fortunately, she was not hurt too badly.
← Here comes trouble - Monita. 
Once home, I cooled off, changed into ranch clothes and had a mid afternoon nutritious meal while watching my silly house cats.
Mama Styx hissed at Monita, so the trouble maker moved on over to Stevie. → ↓
Karen had suggested we go for a ride, so I took her up on that instead of going to the gym. So much for getting my upper body back into shape and maintaining my abs and legs.
When I arrived at the ranch, the hay guy had already finished tedding/ 'fluffing' the hay in both fields. 
A tedder is the machine used after cutting. It has moving forks to aerate or "wuffle" the hay and thus speed drying and prevent mildew.
This is the corner where all three of our pastures and Jim's field meet. Our back pasture is on the right and Jim's is on the left. Behind me are our front pasture and side pasture.
A Great Blue Heron was fishing down at the pond when I got there to fetch Amiga. He was not making any ripples, because his feet were not in the water.
I took this photo when he took off in flight. He can barely be seen just above the trees between the corn crib and barn if you enlarge the photo. But look how pretty the sky was.
Patty arrived, with the plan to go out with us in the gator, while we rode. Well, Joe had unloaded all the old hay from the trailer, stacking most of it on pallets in the shop, but putting five in the back of the gator. So Patty and Karen drove it down to the barn to unload it there. Notice our project supervisor in the yard running towards me.
We got the gator unloaded, saddled up Amiga and Zorro, and hit the trail. Patty did some tree trimming to clear the trail in spots, while Karen and I had a nice little ride. Both horses did well, but Cowboy was not too happy about being left behind. He was hollering for a few minutes. 
We had lost Patty early on, but she arrived back at the ranch shortly after us. I finished up chores while Joe and the girls got the bonfire going. Jan and Shirley arrived as I was coming up to join them all. Courtney had called and I sent her this selfie to show her what I was up to. Karen had done my chores with Mary and Jack's herd so I was able to sit and join the group and enjoy a cold beer. It was another beautiful evening.
I had slept better. I did lots of blogging, trying to catch up, so skipped the gym and worked through the morning.
I was distracted by wildlife. Mama doe came through the back with her two fawn, and enjoyed the cracked corn. A little later they got a drink and romped and played in and around the creek, making ripples.
My attention was also diverted by cute kitties. This is Babe sleeping on Maggie's bed. I was feeling some relief though, because the weather forecast had been changed and rain wasn't expected until Thursday.
We were expecting the hay guy at 4ish, but he ended up coming three hours sooner. Yippee. But Kevin, our main hired help was not expected until 4pm. We had Patty and Karen lined up and I gave Micki a quick call.
Joe arrived at the ranch before me (I had been sitting here blogging, still in my PJs). He had shut the horses in the front pasture. When I opened the corral gate to give them additional shade, they went right in. That is Zorro rolling in the first photo. 
The hay guys had finished raking and baling the perimeter of the field with the round baler and had started on raking and making square bales (video).
Joe and I had gone out to start grabbing some square bales with the gator (not the original game plan, but all we could do right then).
Looking back towards the barn, you can seen our project supervisor hunting for rodents (now exposed) and the hay rake sweeping loose hay up into large piles called windrows, for baling.
Joe and I decided not to start stacking square bales in the shop, but to first put in the round bales (which we had decided to also get at the last minute, since the hay guy was doing them anyway).
Patty arrived to drive the truck pulling the wagon for gathering square bales, but first helped with getting the round bales stored in the back of our shop.
Once we got nine round bales in and stacked, we started gathering square bales. Patty drove, and because our project supervisor was getting too hot, she rode with Patty in the air conditioning.
Notice through the window of the truck in this second photo, the horses were down near the paddock gate. They had water in the front pasture, but being creatures of habit, came here a few times, looking to get in. We had been making so many trips through the two open gates in the paddock, that we needed to keep the horses out.
Once we got the trailer piled three bales high, Patty would drive it back to the shop to be unloaded...
...through the open gate and past the pond.
Joe re-hydrating while Patty drove. 
And out the open gate down by the barn they went, and up the drive to the shop.
Micki arrived just as the guy with the rake was leaving. 
We had just started unloading the second wagon load in the shop and Micki jumped right in. 
I was so thankful to have more help with the bales. 
Notice I am wearing a back brace and a wrist brace (which is actually to help protect my elbow) on my right hand. 
Younger age helps get the job done quicker, but don't knock girl power and determination.
This is how the shop looked after the second trailer load was unloaded. 
The hay on the far left is the older bales Joe had removed from the trailer. You can see three of the round bales in the middle, and on the right is two rows of three round bales each, and then the new square bales in front of it. 
The hay man came back with their wagon to load round bales they would be taking. 
Our project supervisor laid in the shade at the shop side door, keeping an eye on us and our operation as we unloaded hay. 
Patty had to leave and Karen came on duty to replace her as the driver of our truck. Micki and I hopped into the gator and followed Karen, Joe and Maggie out to the back pasture.
Joe, Micki, and I continued picking up square bales. At one point I gave my elbows a break because they were starting to fatigue, so I took several photos.
The hay man had loaded twelve round bales on his trailer, but could not fit the 13th one on, so gave it to us, so we ended up with ten round bales.
When we came back in to unload, I decided to let the horses in because Zorro was at the gate again. The other two horses quickly came also (video), and got a drink from the pond. We all took a water break and then Kevin arrived.
Oh, early on this is what the field looked like. The truck pulling the wagon, was driven between two rows of square bales, and we loaded the bales onto the trailer from both sides. We ended up with a total of 190 square bales.
Kevin helped us unload the second to the last trailer load of bales and then we headed back out. We had confined our three horses so left gates open again.
Karen and Maggie resumed their jobs in the truck. Maggie loves Karen, who always lavishes her love on the dog.
Susan had come for feeding time, so we shut paddock gates and let Zorro out of the back of the shed where he had been confined with Cowboy. Micki and I tended the gates, and by the time we got back out into the field, Kevin and Joe had over half of the last bales loaded. 
Kevin was often handling two bales at a time. Wow, (young) man power. My elbows were shot, so I photographed and filmed while they finished up.
Once we had all the rest of the square bales loaded, Micki and I hoped in the gator, Joe jumped in the truck with Maggie and Karen, and Kevin rode back on the wagon of hay. Many hands make light work (video). 
I tended the gate at the pasture and Susan got the gate down by the shed. The hay guys had left with both the round and square balers, and came back to get their wagon load of round bales. We didn't need to off load our wagon of square bales, so just parked it in the shop. It was tricky backing the trailer in each time, but by now Joe was quite skilled at it, especially with Kevin to direct him.
Joe had to collect the last round bale left out in the back pasture, and then we were done! Yippee. We got a wonderful crop of really dry, beautiful, green hay!
Oh, here is a photo Joe sent me later, of the two hay guys just getting started about 1pm, making adjustments to the square baler.
I had brought some beers for the end of our day, so Karen, Micki and I each enjoyed the taste of our cold, refreshing beverage.
Micki took this photo of me with Phantom, one of the neighbors three black horses whom Jean named.
I took a pain sleep aid at bedtime because, even though my mind was at peace, my body was 'talking' to me.
Thursday 7/13 - I got way too hot during my morning shift at the pool. The humidity was just so high even though the temperature wasn't horrible. For some reason I just couldn’t handle the heat.
I went straight to the ranch after work to take care of a few items concerning Amiga, and cleaning up a little more hay out in the back pasture. Even Maggie and Wanda acted lethargic.
I was home by 4 o’clock, did household chores, got cleaned up and then Joe and I went to Bunkers for dinner with Brian, Joann, Andy, and Margie. Joann's mind continues to get more and more 'clouded and confused' but she recognized Terry immediately and smiled so big, it warmed my heart. The ripple effect.
I could not get to sleep after over two hours of tossing and turning, so I took a sleep aid.
Friday 7/14 - We had a pool staff meeting from 8 to 9am at The Center, and then I spent the next two hours at the gym just doing legs and abs after 45 minutes on the elliptical. My arms were still recovering from the baling work.
After lunch and a nap, I had chores to do at the ranch.
I got there a little early because Mary and Jack's horses were on the back pasture and I wasn't sure how long it would take to get them into their paddock. But later, when time, they came right in.
Zorro came running into the shed when I pulled up, but I had to go get Cowboy and Amiga. I swing a rope behind them and they head in, so not a problem, but just have to walk out to where they are.
Poker Joe was gone and I was in bed early.
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