Mindful vs Mind Full

People (myself included) are so busy these days, multitasking to get everything done, that we don't really pay attention to the life (the people, animals, and world) around us.  Our minds are rarely focused on where we are, and we’re not fully present to the experience we’re having.  We need to learn to be present and enjoy the moment.

Research suggests that there are tremendous
health benefits to mindfulness. 







When our mind is full... as in we have too much on our mind, we can't fully experience what we are doing.  To be mindful means to bring your attention fully into whatever you are doing or experiencing at the moment.  You pay attention to one thing on purpose.  It is active brain training to increase awareness, focus, calmness and positive mood.  Mindfulness is actually a natural activity that we can all do to help us add quality experience to our life. 

Saturday 10/28 - The boarding dilemma and misunderstanding that occurred the week before continued to plague me and keep me from a good night of sound sleep.  My mind was full.  I was very behind on last week's blog and that was also a thorn in my side, as I wanted to get it finished.  I was already a week behind. 

I knew I wasn’t gonna be on time, so I just plugged away at it for awhile Saturday morning.

Rose and the deer were both waiting for breakfast when I went out to feed them.

I did make it to the gym, but I had a shortened workout because I had planned to meet Brooke and Karen at the ranch to go for a ride at 1:00. 




It was an absolutely beautiful fall day, one of the warmest in history for this area, this time of year. 

I often wonder what my dog, cats, and horse think about.  We often like to personify their thoughts, but I think mostly, they are just living life minute by minute.

 

I have no doubt though, that they do think about food, and the acquisition and consumption of it.  But they also enjoy being groomed, like ear and belly rubs; and seem to enjoy being loved on and snuggled with. 




Wanda being silly, playing in the cinder block.  She actually crawled all the way through this small hole. 

We got our horses saddled, and I did the bridling for Zorro, and it went very well.  It might be the fact that he had his teeth floated Wednesday, or that I kind of used Courtney‘s method of prepping him before actually putting the bit in his mouth. 



When we hit the trail, we went in search of Polly and three other riders whom we knew were out on the trails.  In this photo, they are coming up Marmaduke where we met up with them. 

We chatted about the stables a little bit and because they were just finishing their ride, we followed them back to their trailers. 





Polly on Rio and Brooke on Banner. 












This is the corner of Marmaduke and Beachwood where they had parked the trailers.

We could see that their horses were very hot and sweaty.  As we continued on our way, it wasn’t long before our horses were in the same condition.  It’s just not a good idea to wear a winter coat in 75° weather, but if you’re a horse and have started growing your winter coat, you don't have much choice. 

Our three horses did a nice job today.  Zorro threw a little buck with Karen at one point, but otherwise was good.  Banner was great, but Amiga continues to get all wound up when we’re approaching the bottom of this one hill I often canter her up. 

With the group, cantering wasn't going to happen. Besides, I wanted Amiga to go the speed I ask her to go.  With her anticipating the possibility of cantering, she gets revved up.  And when I hold her back, she circles and sidesteps a lot.  Also, much of the problem is that she doesn’t tune into me when we are with others.  Zorro was much farther ahead (because I kept holding her back) and she wanted to catch up with him.  More work with her needs to occur. 



We hosed off our sweaty horses once un-tacked and then they all stopped, dropped and rolled (even Cowboy who hadn't been with us) when we put A,B&Z back in the paddock with C. 


Amiga even got up and moved closer to the fence to roll on her other side.  I did some ranch chores and then decided to feed a bit early because Joe and I had planned to go out to dinner, to Stonehenge for my employee discount and to eat out on the patio by the fire pit before the weather got too cold.
 

Banner getting a big drink from the stock tank.
I made another stupid mistake and forgot to give Cowboy his titrated bag of feed so before locking up to go for the night, I went back out and fed him that.  I must have been rushing too much, but I also worry about my brain.  It has been too full lately and I just forget stuff.  I think some physical, spiritual and  mental rejuvenation is greatly needed for this body.
I found this buckeye on the ground between the barn and shop.  There are no buckeye trees anywhere near this area.  A bird must have dropped it here. 

Once I was home, I hustled to clean up and Joe and I got to Stonehenge about 6:20.  With a 45 minute wait we decided to run to Reds instead.  Upon entering the restaurant I realized that we had no money.  I had taken my employee and member charge card to Stonehenge.  So while I started on a beer, my wonderful husband ran back home to get some money. 

Once home from the filling dinner, we watched one episode of Suits together, and after a short little Bible study, it was lights out for me.

Sunday 10/29 - After blogging for a while, and once Joe was up and caffeinated, we had a 'ranch' meeting, discussing different things that needed attention.  We always check in with each other to make sure we are on the same page when decisions involving the ranch need to be made. 



As you can see, three of my feline gals decided this was a great chance to get some loving.  My lap was open.

Next I did some work with our co-op's new schedule and chore procedure.  Having watched our three with Banner, and checking all four horses over carefully each day, we have decided that this can safely be a herd of four horses because none of them have incurred a single scratch from kicks or bites. 

While I sat here at my desk, Kevin was busy painting the deck.

Finally I was able to get out to the ranch and go for a much needed ride, one on one, with Amiga.  I decided my main focus was going to be getting her to calmly walk up the hill we often canter up. 

  

Amiga was so much better in-tuned to me that when she started to get revved up to canter and I asked her to slow back down, she did without spinning and side stepping.  I had her take the hill, up and down, in both directions, twice.  I was pleased with her calm, cooperative behavior.  She was lavished with praise.
Kevin was gone, but had gotten this much done on the deck by the time I got home. 

I had planned to rake leaves till dark.  But I had to quit early because both elbows started hurting me a little bit.  I decided to stop so as not to aggravate them anymore than I had.  I did make a small dent in the mess. 

Brooke covered my evening chores and we decided to keep Banner in the paddock overnight for the first time to see how they'd all do, contained in a smaller area.  Mostly we were worried about Banner being able to get into the shed with the cold and rain that was predicted. 

Monday 10/30 - The pumpkin Ava painted yesterday!  During morning chores, all four horses went calmly out on the front pasture.  The temperature had dropped and it was rainy, gloomy, and cold.  I kept moving to stay warm, and quickly mucked the paddock. 

Home for my second cup of tea, I parked myself here at the computer to get last week's blog finished.  Susan had checked discs from the trail cameras that she and her husband Jon had mounted in the loafing shed.  She reported that the only action all night was that Banner had walked through about 2:30am.
 




I had a great mid-afternoon workout at the gym, needing the escape from my computer and phone. 

I did pm chores for Patty, since she would be covering for me Tuesday.  It wasn't quite as damp and cold, but it still was not warm enough for my liking. 

Tuesday 10/30 - Happy Halloween. 
Ava ready for trick-or-treating.
The only photos I took all day were from Elaine and Richard's Halloween Party, which was a blast as always.

It was a day full of meetings.  In the morning, Joe and I had about a 90 minute meeting with Mary and Jack out at the ranch.  Unfortunately they have decided to move their horses back to Minnesota where they’re sure they’ll get good care for the three months they are in Mexico over the winter.  Mary and Jack have also decided that they need to move back to MN as well.  Such a difficult and tough decision for them to have to make, and I felt bad about it. 


Richard and Elaine who have hosted this party for the sixth year in a row now.


Next, I had a meeting with Scotty down at the barn to discuss placement of a spot light in the back of the barn so we can see the small gate, wash rack area, and round pen area during chores after dark. 


Sherri and I.

About half these photos are from Elaine's Facebook page.

In the afternoon, I had a meeting at Cancun’s with Susan, Bonnie, Karen, Patty, and Brooke, to figure out our new co-op schedule. 



Some of the girls. 








The first half hour of the party (which started at 6pm) was a meet and greet, libations, and photo opts. 


Micki, Sherri and I.

I scurried home from Cancun's, cleaned the litter boxes, fed the cats and dog, made my chili cheese dip, put on my Halloween costume and Joe dropped me off at the library building. 
 

Everybody brought food to share, so we all enjoyed some good eating.  





I had a blast at the party, dancing till 10pm.  I must admit I hit the witches brew a little too hard.  It is made up of about five different alcohols but goes down very smoothly and is quite tasty. 


Micki had a great costume, and was workin' it, out on the dance floor.  








There were 100 people invited and close to that many in attendance.  I have only included photos of the people (mostly the ladies) that I know.





So many pairs did a great job with their couple's costumes.










This is Jennifer, who rides Mesa with Mary sometimes.



These two were the couple's costume winners.








Moose with Elaine.

Several of us helped with tear-down and clean up when the party ended. 

I took the next photo during the monster mash, when everybody does the parade of costumes.













I got this photo off this (video) when many of us were doing 'The Locomotion' ...always brings back memories of our wedding reception.

Frank gave Micki and I a ride home so that we didn’t need to worry about our amount of alcohol consumption.  It was after 11:00 before my head hit the pillow, not feeling too bad. 

Wednesday 11/1 - And just like that, we have started the month of November.  Micki posted this selfie of her 'Day of the dead' costume and I commented that the way she looked was how I felt.  I woke at 6am with a bad headache and feeling a little dizzy.  Oops.  Caffeine and ibuprofen helped take the edge off. 



I had an 8:00 Reclast infusion.  I was nervous going in for it, but it was easy peezy and only took 30 minutes to pump this drug into my body.  I was reassured by the nurse that I shouldn’t have the side effects I had last year.  She said the first dose tends to do that, but the following infusions aren’t typically as much of a problem. 




When I got home, I went straight to my computer and worked on last week's blog.  It was cold out, and I was quite content to stay inside all day. 
The concrete slab across the street at the Lutheran Church had been poured.  It was good to see this project getting closer to completion. 

I still didn't get the blog finished before needing a nap. 
Susan picked me up to go out to the ranch to do chores together.  She had been concerned that I wouldn't be feeling up for it, but actually, I was fine.  It was nice to have help and company though. 





Last night the temperature had gotten down into the upper 20s and it was to get this cold again tonight.  Susan had hung the heated water buckets in the shed in preparation for this cold snap and the winter weather that will be coming.

The horses have gotten fuzzy overnight with their winter coats.  I wish my body would do better at acclimating to these colder days.

Thursday 11/2 - I had heard Joe come in just before 11:00 last night.  Actually it was Maggie I heard.  When she gets up, she shakes and her collar rattles the tags and makes a noise.  She always gets up to go for a walk when Joe comes home.  Anyway, I couldn’t get back to sleep and I couldn’t figure out why because there was really nothing big on my mind. 





I finally got up at 12:30am and worked on my blog from last week and got it posted.  I even started this week's blog.  Finally, I got a little sleepy at 4am and went back to bed, but still struggled to get to sleep.  Waking at 7:30 I figured I'd gotten at least three good hours.  Making a total of 5+ hours for the night. 

I had a headache, was moving kind of slow, but think it was due to lack of sleep; not because of the Reclast infusion from the day before.  By 11:30 I decided to read some documents that were ranch business related, rather than go to the gym.  Finally at 1:30, I was dressed and heading to the ranch. 




Seen above, I had taken the wooden platform off of the glob of cement in the paddock and put some sod around it so it just kind of stuck up like the other near by rocks. 


What is this bug?  →



I have to make myself get out and ride on these cold days.  So I grabbed Amiga and rode out without a saddle, enjoying her warm back as a seat heater. 



It was 55+°, which actually wasn't too bad because the sun was shining.


Amiga and I just mosied along, me letting her stop to eat while I did some texting.  There I go, not being mindful.

Joe and I had leftovers for diner and watched Survivor and got a call from Courtney, who decided to come a day early to visit and ride Zorro. 

Friday 11/3 - It was a crisp, but pretty fall day.  After computer time, I did some quick cleaning chores and Courtney arrived about 11am. 










We had an early lunch, which Courtney brought from Subway, and soon we made our way out to the ranch for a ride. 






I had planned to ride with Mary, so basically, Courtney joined us on the ride.  This time, Mary was saddled and ready to go before Courtney and I were.  

 

Mary led the way out on Mesa. 









About five minutes into the ride, Zorro started favoring his back right leg.  Courtney said it felt like riding on a flat tire.  He looked to have a catch in his hip.  I got off and checked him over, detecting nothing, so we decided to continue with the ride.  And he seemed to walk it off and get better with movement. 





Mary and Courtney took turns leading and Amiga was either in the middle or at the end.  Listen to the crunch of the leaves in this (video) Courtney took. 




Amiga got revved up again on the hill, but was at the end and really lagging behind.  So she wanted to canter to catch up, and got agitated when I wouldn't let her. 

 



Mary and Mesa. 




Amiga says hello and then there was a little squeal out of both of them, after these two girls touched noses.

Courtney on Zorro.
He really wanted to zip along and seemed okay for much of the ride.  


My Amiga and I.





It was difficult to admit that we needed to stop our ride short, until after Zorro pulled up even more lame after a short little canter.  






Suddenly, Zorro did not want to put all his weight down on his back left hoof.  Courtney got off and checked his hoof but it was okay.  Then when she walked him, Mary and I could see he was really favoring his back left leg. 




We were a ½ mile from the ranch so Courtney decided to walk him the rest of the way back.  He really struggled going uphill and downhill.  He kept wanting to stop and go no farther.  Ugh.  Poor guy.
 
Courtney's selfie while walking Zorro back to the ranch.

Actually at this point, Amiga and I did take the lead.  I was hoping Zorro would be encouraged to move forward to catch up to his sister because he kept wanting to stop. 

Once back and we were all untacked, we put Zorro in the round pen and checked him all over.  He had a muscle spasm in the right hip and a muscle knot in the left stifle. 

Amiga's floppy lip (video).  LOL

Wanda the wonder cat.

She is wonderful, makes ya wonder what she is thinking, and we often wonder where she's at.

Courtney, Joe, and I met Patty and Karen at the new restaurant, Three Italians, and enjoyed tasty dinners.  Courtney headed home to Nashville once we were finished, and Joe back to his poker game.