One key to staying young, is to maintain enthusiasm. I saw this Clint Eastwood quote and it really resonated with me.
"No Letting the Old Man In!" by Clint Eastwood: "Every
day when I wake up, I don't let the old man in. My secret has been the
same since 1959: staying busy. I never let the old man into the house.
I've had to drag him out because he was already comfortably settled,
bothering me all the time, leaving no space for anything other than
nostalgia.
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Toby Keith wrote the (song) - "Don’t Let the Old Man In", in 2018 following a conversation with Eastwood about living life to the fullest – regardless of age. The song originally appeared in Eastwood's movie, "The Mule," which I recommend, but I love anything with Clint Eastwood.
According to Clint in Toby's song: Get up and go outside, stay close to your friends, toast each sundown with wine, and in so many words - don't let your age slow you down - don't let the old fart in. Have enthusiasm for life, for all the little things that are part of life. Stay active and busy, and do so with positive energy.
Saturday 1/27 - It was a rainy, gloomy day, all day long. The temperature had also dropped and the high was only in the mid 40's. On days like this, it is especially difficult to be enthusiastic about much of anything. Although, I enjoyed Facebook chats, e-mailing and doing puzzles and games on my computer. 
Maggie enjoying the space heater. My sun room feels a bit chilly on these cold, damp days.
Monita trying to get my attention while I sat here. 
She even smacks me in the face with her paws, or bites me when I am ignoring her.
I made more progress on the jigsaw puzzle, but it has been slow going because there are not bold color differences and every piece is shaped the same so every piece appears to fit into every spot.
The pieces are all this 'regular' shape.
It was a good day for napping, but I have usually been getting eight to ten hours of sleep each night these past few months, so I never feel a need to nap. The cats and dog however, are always napping.
I made it to the gym, but didn't have time to stretch or shower because they close at 4pm on Saturdays. So I did all that once I got home.
Joe and I watched two episodes of Suits with the fire going. When finished and I turned the fire (gas) off, I noticed Mama Styx sleeping in the basket on the warm hearth. She lifted her head up when I bent down to take her photo.
Sunday 1/28 - The rain had stopped and the sun was trying to break through the clouds, with
occasional success. Babe slept in this spot for approximately eight hours straight.
To get this puzzle finished, I decided I needed to sort the pieces... the print has little lines that helped me determine the orientation of the piece in the puzzle. It was slow going, but more progress was made so it was satisfying.
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According to the forecast, it wasn't supposed to rain, but by noon, it clouded back up and started misting.
The chickens came running when I pulled in to do chores. They always do this because Karen and Patty stop their cars here and feed them scraps from home.
Wanda had not showed up when Patty did chores Saturday, so I was glad to see her. She is not a fan of wet weather and seemed grouchy and lonely.
The wind and mist had picked up so chores seemed more like a chore because of the unpleasant weather.
When I put Amiga out in the paddock, the three boys were up at the shop because it provided a good wind break. She went up to join them (video).
Joe was at his football/poker gig, so I had a quiet evening at home. Finishing all my Sunday chores by 5pm, including feeding us all, gave me extra time, so I spent it reading.
Monday 1/29 - We were getting snow flurries during my 6am dog walk. It was pretty and more pleasant than rain, but didn't last long.
I planned to take down my snowmen and winter (remaining Christmas) lights in the next few days, so went up to finish organizing stuff I had put in the guest bedroom. It was too cold (thermostat set at 50 up stairs) and too daunting a task, so I decided to wait until another day. 
These three yahoos had followed me up to the balcony and were waiting (and still sitting there) when I came out of the door from the guest quarters. They are a lot like a horse, noticing any change in their environment. They are curious and want to investigate and explore. They love going into the back bedrooms and especially the bunk room, but all are off limits to them.
Since I had chickened out on the daunting task of 'Christmas' clean up, I decided to continue 'work' on the jigsaw puzzle. Well, I have lost my enthusiasm for difficult jigsaw puzzles. It is too much like work and not enough like play, but I will finish this one.
While up in the balcony, I took this photo of Babe, the 4th cat who did not follow me upstairs. This is her new favorite napping spot. You can see Maggie waiting for my return downstairs.
I did get to the gym, rather late, and did more talking and joking with several of the regulars than usual. So my workout was more fun than work, but we all need days like that.
It was nearly 6pm when I got home. So even though I have decided to 'clean up' my act and eat healthier, I had beer and popcorn for dinner while watching two episodes of Suits with Joe. We all need nights like that.
Tuesday 1/30 - I liked this meme on Facebook and also this quote on the Equestrian Seniors page: 65 year old Physician Dr. Patrias who plans to ride until she dies said "I have watched people age from a medical perspective for many years. Those that stay mentally and physically active and continue to have purpose and passion in their lives do best"
I finished the puzzle, boxed it back up, and then took it straight up to the bunk room and put it in the thrift store pile.
I had a good workout at the gym, but also more fun with people I know who are regulars there.
Joe and I watched three episodes of Suits to finish off season three.
Wednesday 1/31 - The only photos I took all day were during chore time from 3:00-4:30. This is Amiga in her stall at feeding time. DIRTY GIRL!
Banner, dirty boy. I called it a tie with Amiga today, but he may be more impressive because he has a light coat.
Returning Amiga to the paddock, I didn't even bother brushing the dirt off. What's the point in it?
I had an 8am dentist appointment so left home at 7:30. Everything looked good with my teeth. Yippee!
The sun peeked out near the end of chores, and it was actually quite pleasant, so I watched horses a bit.
After the dentist, I shopped for a few hours. I bought many needed things and a few not so necessary.
Look at my pretty, dirty girl. I just love her.
One item I bought, was an easy 300 piece Christmas cookie puzzle. So I started it after lunch. Then tore myself away to go do chores.
At one point while watching the horses mill around at the shed, Amiga became very alert and walked out towards the pond, and then stopped to access the danger (apparently something in the woods).
Amiga is the boss mare and brave protector of the herd. Banner chose to stand guard from a safer spot. LOL
Below photo - I knew something was in the woods as they slowly crept towards the pond in high alert. Cowboy had taken the lead and they slowly inched themselves closer to the 'threat.' Even Banner got braver, that or he didn't want to get left behind.
I had been mucking so quietly walked to behind the dam with the wheelbarrow, and ended up flushing a deer. When the deer ran, so did the four horses. This time Banner instigated the process, bucking and starting the race to escape. The other three were ahead of him, but took the signal to 'run for your life' from Banner and they all galloped up to the highest and furthest point of the back pasture.
Because the round bale was almost gone, I put five piles of hay around the pond. Once the excitement about the deer was over, the horses returned to the paddock, and started munching on three of the piles.
Poker Joe was gone, so after dinner, I got the fire going (turned on the igniter) and sat and read my book for a few hours. I was cold and had decided to give the computerizing a rest.
Thursday 2/1 - I am so excited I have turned the page of my monthly calendar and we are now into the month of February. The sun was finally out, all day, warming the soul and making spring seem even closer.
After a few hours at the gym, I rushed home, changed and took a sandwich with me while driving to the ranch. When I arrived, Dave was working on the front gate.
Early fall he installed a new gate opener. It worked great for awhile and then stopped working. He installed a new battery before Christmas and we were in business again. This time it stopped working because of the solar collector. So today he has installed a new solar panel. This better be the end of the gate not working.
Patty and Karen already had the horses in and Amiga brushed off for me. We were soon out on the trail on this beautiful February afternoon.
Patty did a better job taking my photo than I did getting theirs.
It was a nice easy ride with all horse being so calm and relaxed, doing great on the trail with us.
At one point we came across this stump in the middle of the road (on Castle Circle) and then saw these three large trees cut down in the woods and lots of fresh tire tracks in the woods and on the road.
I later reported it to Fairfield Glade because it seemed like suspicious activity. We get frustrated with the amount of trash, building debris, and landscape waste that gets dumped in and along all of the back roads here in Fairfield Glade. We have also seen poaching and now, is this someone logging?
The day ended with a lovely meal at the Brass Lantern, compliments of a gift card from Susan and Bonnie.
Oh, and Joe and I watched one episode of Suits.
Friday 2/2 - I am going to choose to believe Punxsutawney Phil's prediction of an early spring.
Babe and Mama Styx were enjoying the sun.
Monita enters the scene to cause trouble.
I intervene so Monita doesn't bother the other two and then Stevie makes an appearance.
And Monita can't resist, so goes after Stevie.
Today was basically a repeat of yesterday, warm and sunny. And after the gym I went to the ranch.
While I had Amiga in the barn getting her ready to ride, she became very alert to something in the woods. It was Polly, who I invited to come on in so I could say hi.
When I rode down Castle Circle today, there were more trees down, in another spot.
In fact, it was difficult to get through on horseback because the top of the tree was in the road.
Also, at the spot we saw yesterday, there has been more activity. The photo on the left I took yesterday. And the photo on the right, of the same spot, I took today. The stump is now in the ditch by the road, the sheet of particle board is gone, and one of the large logs in the woods is gone.
After getting past the cut down trees, we then came across this little pine tree in the road, right before getting to Marmaduke (video). What in the world?
It just didn't make sense that this tree would fall over because there had been no rain or wind and the ground was drying out. I wondered, was it possible the 'lumberjacks' did this to keep others from driving down the road and noticing what they were up to?
It was a nice little ride on a pretty afternoon. Yesterday we had moved the horses to the front pasture along with a new round bale. By the time I was getting ready to go, the sun was setting and the sky to the east was pretty.
The horses have been fairly busy munching on the grass left from mid November when we took them off this field, so they're not eating nearly as much hay.
This is the west sky with the sun setting and all the horses happily munching grass when I left.
Poker Joe was gone during my late dinner time, but home before I went to bed because the game had broken up due to too few players.
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