Nana-isms

In the James Patterson, Alex Cross series I have been reading, Nana is the matriarch of the Cross family.  She is Cross's 90 year old grandmother that took him in when he was nine.  Alex describes her as an old woman, stubborn, and known for always having the last word.  She generally rules the roost, is lovable but feisty.  Alex fondly refers to her wise thoughts as Nana-isms:









In ending last week's blog post, I was reflecting on how I want to proceed with the rest of my life.  I definitely want to pursue my passion and desire to trail ride much of TN, but I also need to be a lot more engaged with our granddaughter Ava.  I would like her to perceive me as an adventuresome, horseback riding, dancing, fun loving, crazy cat woman, Nana. 



A Facebook post had these 'nana-isms' -
Tips from Grandma:
Don't go where you're not invited.
Don't talk about what you don't know.
Don't open the fridge in other people's house.
Don't call someone after nine o'clock at night.
Don't enter other people's bedroom without permission.
Always, always ~ speak the truth.
Please & Thank You are good words ~ use them often.
Love the soul of people, not their physical ~
     it is what is inside that matters.
Be kind to your fellow humans & all living things.
Give from the little you have, expect nothing in return.
Be conscious of your words ~ they matter!
Wake up, be grateful, and pray daily.

Saturday 8/24 - I was not up as early as usual, since it was so late when I went to bed after the horse show.  As soon as I rolled out of the hay, I started my tea and then headed to the ranch to let the horses out.  The Over-nighters got in late also, so weren't going to leave until later in the morning. 






I put our four on the back pasture so they wouldn't be able to come into contact with the two visiting horses.  Then I hurried back home to have tea and toast while computerizing, and be ready for the 'car detailers.'  The three of them ended up working from 9:00-noon.  But man did they do a good job.  My car looks great!

A fawn sighting while walking the dog.  She makes them very nervous.  I needed to be available to check on the car guys' work when they finished the inside, and again when they were done with the outside.  I wasn't going far anyway, cause I didn't have use of my car.  I had planned to help Karen who was helping me with mucking chores, but we'd had a miscommunication so she ended up doing it on her own. 






After lunch, I was feeling lazy and got sleepy, so went out on the deck to read and nap.  But it didn't last long because I needed to do some things at the ranch.

Just as I was backing out of the drive, Mickey called to see what I was up to.  I invited her to join me, which she did.  She helped with watering flowers while I took care of watering the chickens and letting Blackie out of her confinement.  Then we went down to the barn to mess with the horses.  We ended up taking Amiga on a short little walk down Hathaway and back on my trail through the woods.

Shortly after I got home, Karen invited me over for dinner.  I never say no to a good meal.  The spaghetti and baked chicken were awesome, I brought a salad, which doesn’t really count as cooking, but it was a good compliment to the meal. 

Karen’s kitty (Peanut) was wanting to see what we were having for dinner.  He is so big, he can reach the table standing on the ground.  

I was home by 6pm to feed pets, and then took Maggie on a long walk.





I spent some time on the porch with Stevie, who was so happy for the company and lovin'.  I finished my Alex Cross book while sitting out there on the swing. 

The cats were doing more scratching, and I found some fleas on Monita, but was just too tired to deal with complete combing of everybody and went to bed feeling a tad bit frustrated.

Sunday 8/25 - I was up too early and then soon my frustrations continued, because the internet was down in our neighborhood and I couldn't work on this blog.  Also the cats were scratching away and I knew I needed to do flea control, but I just wanted to sit here, sip my tea, and relax at my computer. 






I decided to flea comb the cats because they were all scratching so much and I couldn't computerize.  I only got two fleas off Styx and Monita, and was wondering if just one flea crawling around on them makes them go nuts like that.  Hopefully if the flea bites, it will die and not reproduce.

Babe has been sleeping and lounging up on the balcony railing lately.  I wonder if it is to get away from the fleas in the carpet and on cloth furniture.

I rode with Karen (in her car) and we spent the bulk of the day at Celtic Rose for the ETS (Equine Trail Sports) obstacle competition.  I wanted to watch and cheer for Betty (who may board at our ranch) as she competed with her horse Dorado, seen in this photo.

I was kind of 'horse shopping' so spoke with this lady about her Rocky Mountain (seen on the left) and got the breeders name from up in Michigan. 

The pony on the right did a nice job in the in hand competition. 





This horse caught my eye.  He is a three year old smoky-black dun Morgan.  So pretty. 

This plank is only 18" wide. 

 



Betty riding Dorado around the scary, evil looking girls with a horse doing the tire obstacle in the background.  


Betty's friend Joann took this photo of me trying to look scary.




Betty displaying the ribbon she won.  Way to go.  This was her (and Dorado's) first time to compete in an ETS event. 



Karen and I hit a subway type place on our way home, for an early dinner.  This was my third afternoon/evening in a row to 'eat out'.  I like this Nana-ism about eating healthy:  'There is a fine line between eating smart to live longer, and boring oneself to death.'  I agree, we need to splurge a little every now and then. 

Because I was going to be late, Patty had picked up Maggie (who had been home alone since 10:00) and took her to the ranch with her.  In this photo, she was dropping her off after having done chores out there.  I was watering plants out front at the time. 
In addition to the usual Sunday chores, I flea combed all the cats and vacuumed the main house.

Monday 8/26 - I ran out to the ranch to turn out our horses and muck.  If I only filled the wheelbarrow ⅓ full it was under 20 pounds and safe for me to push to the manure pile. 

Once home, back here at my computer horse shopping, I happened to see this 9yr old Rocky Mt gelding.  He wasn't for sale yet, but was going to be put on the auction ad in September.  I texted the owner to express my interest and was hoping to go try him out. 

I did more watering of plants, this time the ones in the backyard.  It was still cool enough to lay in the sun on the back deck and read.  It was taking me longer to 'get into' my next Alex Cross book than usual. 

I went to the ranch with Karen to check on Black Betty (video), water some more, and then Karen helped me with hoof care on Zorro and Amiga.
We had skipped Mirror Lake Blast because it was a band we don't really care for.  I did take Maggie for a long walk, going down Peavine past the Grove and heard a few songs.  Yep, they weren't great. 

Tuesday 8/27 - Today was the four week mark since surgery.  I feel fantastic and am ready to start lifting weights, ride my horse, and do heavy duty chores; but need to wait two more weeks.  It is also why I have taken the rest of the summer off from working at the pool, which I kind of feel bad about.

Monita and Styx lounging in the sun after a flea combing and before the day got hot.

Joe arrived home from Iowa mid morning and turned on the air because the day was heating up fast.
 

I ended up not doing much of anything other than some more watering outside.  It's kind of a loosing battle. 

I did spend over three hours at Dorchester pool, exercising (swimming and walking) in the water for almost an hour.  My legs were shaky when I got out. Scheesh.  I also read and sunned for awhile, making a little more headway into my book, but was still not into the 'thick' of it.
 

Wednesday 8/28 - Betty sent this photo of us (including Jan), taken August 2015.  We had a lot of happy trails together, and hope we can have many more. 

I spent the morning horse shopping, which involved lots of internet searches, some texting, and some phone calls.

The wash rack water spigot has been leaking underground so a plumber came to fix it this morning.  He ended up having to replace the whole pipe and spigot because it was rusted out under ground.  (cost - $500.00 = all part of ranch up-keep)  Who knows how old it was.  Hopefully this new one will last for many, many years. 

I made it out to the ranch by 1:30 to check out the plumber's work and take the above photo. 

Patty had sent an early morning photo of Wanda with a medium size bunny she had killed.  She was back at it, finishing it off (eating a 'drum stick') when I got there. 

All that remained of this bunny was two feet and a tail. 😦



I watered all the young trees up in and around the ranch house yard well.  I had a nice (long) conversation on the phone with sister Carol while walking around, pulling the hose with me.

Joe's poker game was cancelled because of a broken air conditioner, so we watched a movie (The Age of Adeline) which was captivating. 
 

Thursday 8/29 - I got caught up on blogging but put horse shopping on hold.  Rose showed up after a week of absence, disappearing after I had sprayed her with flea spray.  She was a bit dirty, but I think rolling in dust helps them with flea removal.

I went to the ranch at 10am.  Joe came out to help me with horse feed bags (that are over my weight limit).  Then I went straight to Dorchester pool to enjoy this 90+ degree day there.





I exercised my arms and then took a break when Micki came.  We had a late lunch (chicken, bacon, ranch flat bread that I've been craving) and then did a leg workout walking in the pool.  We stayed until 4pm.

Babe and Styx playing while I sat at the dinner table enjoying a salad.  Poker Joe was gone and I had the lights out shortly after 8pm.

Friday 8/30 - It seems like I post a lot of the very same photos (cats, deer, and horses), which pretty much they are.  It’s just that the date on them changes because I take them on different days. But for the most part, the things I see and experience repeat themselves daily.  Like this morning's mom and two fawn at the crushed corn. 

I realized that today was the one year anniversary of when Banner arrived on our ranch.  It was exactly a year ago (8/30/2023) that I took this photo of Banner stepping off the trailer.  And we had a meet and greet (for Brooke and Nick) bonfire party two days later, on September 1st, which we actually did tonight with a prospective new boarder (Betty) and her friend Joann. 

Last evening I vacuumed the upstairs bedroom where I had  slept after surgery, and where I first noticed a bunch of fleas on the bed when Mama Styx was sleeping with me, and scratching quite a bit.  This is the first I’ve been up there since I bombed it.  I wore white socks, which is what they tell you to do if you’re looking for fleas in the carpet.  There were about seven on my socks right away.  I gave the beds and carpet and even under the bed a good vacuuming. 
I went back up to check for fleas in the guest bedroom this morning and got one on my white socks.  I guess that's an improvement.  However, just when I think I’m making progress and feeling pretty good about the situation, I’ll find some more on one of the cats. I don’t know where they’re picking them up at, but it’s driving me crazy.

Everyday (and sometimes 2 or 3 times) I combed the cats to remove fleas from them.  The teeth spaced closely together remove fleas, eggs, and flea dirt from the cat.  This is my 'combing' station.  The tub is a 'bath' of a 50% solution of Isopropyl alcohol.  I drop the comb in it and it kills the fleas in under a minute.  I remove cat hair with dead fleas and put it in the zip-lock plastic bag.  I dry the comb on the towel, which also helps me spot 'run away' fleas before they get down in the carpet.  And continue the process until I see no more fleas.  Mama Styx is the only cat that enjoys this, I have to wrestle Monita and Babe. 

Stevie does not mind the combing at all, unless I get the teeth caught in dried fecal matter, stuck to the back of her legs or tail.  I have found very few fleas on her all the times I’ve combed her, so I’m not too worried about it.  Rose will not even let me near her once she sees the comb. LOL.

Stevie actually gets quite playful when I am using the comb on her.  She has been doing/feeling so much better. 




I think the treatment of revolution (which kills round-worms in addition to fleas) that I gave on the eighth of this month, is what really took Stevie down.  For a few days when she had stopped eating and was throwing up and had explosive diarrhea, I thought I was gonna lose her.  Now she’s putting on weight and making it to the litter box with much firmer poop.  However, she still is not dependable because she has little fecal drips and cling-ons.  She will remain on the screen porch until it gets too cold.  I have a vet appointment Tuesday and hope we can take care of her even better.

I went out to water plants because it has been so dry and hot, that they need frequent watering.  My project supervisor was busy, on chipmunk patrol.








Then she got too hot and tired and couldn't stick with the job.  Nana-ism:  "No day is so bad, it can't be fixed with a nap."

Just to show you how bad our drought is, take a look at our once flourishing pond.  I think it's about six feet lower than usual.  It doesn't help that it is also filling in with debris that runs down from several road ditches, into the creek, and into the pond. 

I picked up sticks as I let the hose run on some of the larger trees.  Before finishing, I had to put the dog inside because it was thundering and she was scared.  No rain was in the forecast, but then we got hit with a shower.  The rain lasted an hour, and gave us almost a ½ inch. 

The way I see it, if you want rain, plan an outdoor party and water all your outside plants.










Since the rain ended my watering early and drove me inside, I started packing up to go to the ranch for our party.  We were having our meet and greet for Betty (seen being her silly self in this photo).  Her friend Joann also came since she will be helping Betty with chores.  We had 17 people total and ended up inside the ranch house the whole time because it was too hot and humid outside.