In The Game

In spite of being crazy busy and not having the energy level I used to (I tend to want to rest more often), I'm still trying to stay in the game rather than sit on the sideline.  My life, or game of life has been very fulfilling and blessed.  For me it does not concern winning; but is about being a good sport, learning and growing from experiences, and having fun while in the game.  

These two are ready to play, and  who wouldn't want to be in the game with them?

Saturday 6/21 - Getting up at 3am, I finished and posted last week's blog, but later endured a dull headache associated with lack of sleep.  But I had to stay in the game... go to work at the pool.  I did take a very short nap, but was then running late so had to really hustle to get opening chores done by 10am.






The regulars came before opening time and very soon many others showed up.  By 11:30, almost all the chairs and lounges were taken and it became a 'juggling act' to find spots for new arrivals to sit.
 

My pool shift flew by because I was so busy.  I hit Food City on the way home and then, rather than sit down (and loose all ambition) I changed and got right to work in the back yard.  

Joe had dumped several more loads of wood chips for me, so I continued with weeding and spreading the piles out.  These two photos show my continued progress.  



It was 6pm by the time I got to a good stopping point, while also running out of steam.  Household/pet chores and a quick dinner and shower and then I was ready to 'face time' with Britney and Juan Carlos.  Joe and I had lots of travel/wedding plans to discuss and share with them, as did they with us.

I got a kick out of these photos Britney sent.  Juan Carlos has never had a cat, but is doing a great job figuring out how to live with one.  Cats are always in the game.

Britney's cat (Lupe), like most cats, is always 'in the game,' especially when it comes to food.  Look at her sitting across the table from Juanca.




She was definitely workin' it, and her efforts paid off.  Juan Carlos has become a great cat dad!  

Joanne, who was doing chores for Betty, sent these photos.  

Rico was enjoying the broom head Patty put up for them, as a scratching post.  
 

Sunday 6/15 - Holy Moly!  June is already half over.  
I was sitting here at my desk getting this blog started, and watched two very young squirrels; exploring, playing, and practicing evasive moves, jumping, twisting, turning and running up and down trees. Very cute and captivating.  

While Shirley and I sat at church, we had numerous insect sightings.  I was fascinated by them, but Shirley was not so thrilled with their presence.   

I always come out of church like a player from the locker room after half time; refreshed, stoked, fired up, excited and ready to successfully resume the game.










After church I went to Patty's to get several wedding photos scanned.  We will be using a few at Britney's wedding receptions.  This sample shows my family and Joe's family along with the bride's maids and groomsmen.  I wore Mom's wedding dress and Britney will be wearing it too (77 year old dress).

I went to the pool an hour early for my shift, to help set up for the pool party.  We had live music, which everyone enjoyed and the regulars had a big pot-luck.  It was very hot so lots of people stood or floated around in the water.  We actually weren't as crowded as we had been Saturday (video).  

I didn't get things cleaned up and put away at the pool until 6:45.  Maggie got a quick walk once I was home and she and the cats had a late dinner.  

Monday 6/23 - It was going to be a scorcher today and was already heating up before 6am.  I took this (video) of the deer splashing in the creek, a good way to beat the heat.


I left for the ranch at 7:30 and had just finished feeding and mucking out sheds for the three Pasos, when Patty and Joanne arrived to go for a ride.  


Joanne pointed out that at the ranch, I am POO Staff.  Bah, ha, ha. 




When I arrived at the pool at 9:00, I discovered that the trash I had set by the office wall had been gotten into.  There is no trash pick-up on the weekends, so with the party and three busy days (Fri-Sun) our huge can on the curb was full.  I had decided to keep these two bags inside the pool area, but not in the building because they were leaky and smelly.  Well, I won't do that again.

Today's temperature got into the mid 90s with a heat index over 105°, so it was another busy shift at the pool.  I was in the water before opening, scrubbing tile, and later got in one other time, just to cool off.  
Once home, I saw this posted on Facebook.  The 9th green of Dorchester is literally right behind our pool.  

After a shower, short nap, and a little reading time, I went to Mirror Lake Blast, finding a spot - center stage and in the shade.  Joe soon joined me.





The band 'Double Shots' was a little slow at first.








Micki and Linda came a little late and we joined the few dancers out trying to make the best of it.  In the second set the band really picked up the pace and were fun to dance to.   Vicki, Cleet, and Karen joined us on the dance floor, and are three other fun ladies to boogie with.

Tuesday 6/24 - It was a Rosie day.  Here Rose is napping on the lounge chair first thing this morning, about 5:30.  

Around 6:30 the sun was coming up over the house and heating things up outside and on the deck, so Rose already sought out the shade.
 

By the time I got done at my computer and went out to work in the backyard, Rose had moved to the cold concrete where there wasn't heat radiating off the deck.

Maggie, my project supervisor joined me part of the time, but also went into the air-conditioned house to nap with Joe.  It was the dog days of summer. 

Joe brought me several loads of wood chips, some seen here piled on the big rock because I needed to first weed the area where I was going to put them.  






Next are several views of the finished product.  It was again a mid 90s day with heat index near 110° so I worked at a slower pace, sat and drank plenty of  water (refilling my 16oz glass quite often), and luckily was in the shade most of the time.  



I wish I could get the grass to grow thicker in back, around my beds.  And why is it that it grows where I don't want it but I can't get it to grow where I do want it?






The wood chips really help hold down the weeds, but the beds need re-mulching every two or three years.  I tell Joe (who does all the mowing) that it is easier to maintain grass areas than all the beds we have.  He thinks (and has a good point) that it would be easiest to just let most of the back be wild woodland rather than yard.  

Joe left for poker and once I got all of the largest bed 'completed' (weeded and mulched) I called it quits.  

A cool shower was really enjoyed and I had to do a little more poison ivy control.  I've gotten it around my wrists, I think from my gloves when I take them off and on.

Rose's little black friend, whom I've decided to name Shadow, because he/she follows Rose around.

Wednesday 6/25 - Monita not ready to face the day or get in the game.  Exactly a year ago today my doctor told me I had colon cancer.  If I knew then what I know now, it would have been much less stressful, reducing my anxiety and worrying.  I continue to thank God for His grace and healing and for all the prayers, as my battle was so much easier than what most people go through.  

 

 

 

Joanne rode with Betty early this morning and offered to do chores for me, so I took her up on it.  Unfortunately she had to deal with a dead chicken.  This is Arnie who I've had to clean the back end of a few times this summer, but not recently.  The unshelled egg indicates she was probably egg bound, but Patty said she was running around eating watermelon last night.

Patty and I had an early appointment for a pedicure, something I have never done before.  It took a long time, but it all (foot and leg massage, exfoliation, trim and nail polish) was well worth it.  And the chair massaged my back while sitting there.  All so nice.







Letting the polish get good and dry took awhile too.  But the salon lady, Patty, and I did a lot of talking, so the time went quickly.  During Patty's manicure, I read.  

We hit Taco Bell on the way home because it was 12:25 when we left the nail place.  




My book had gotten really good and it was just too blasted hot to work outside, so I laid on the couch with Mama Styx.  Notice Babe high up on the cat tower.

About 3:00 a big storm blew in, with thunder and lightening, but very little rain.  Apparently it hailed in Crossville.  I had actually fallen asleep for a bit, and then finished my book.  








At 4:30 Joe and I went out to the ranch to muck the upper sheds, put fresh shavings in them, and bury Arnie, the dead chicken.  We didn't work that long (just over an hour) or hard but were both drenched in sweat.  Home for a late dinner for all, and I played games on my computer since I'd finished my book. 

Thursday 6/26 - Monita bird watching with me this morning, or spotting other critters like squirrels and chipmunks, or Rose and Shadow, or deer.  I often have one large buck that eats all the corn in the morning, but today these four deer were first to come. 

  




I haven't seen any fawns this year, but still get plenty of adults.  I wonder if these four are young bucks.  With the heat, they come to drink and lick the salt block, even if the corn is gone.

I wanted to be quick to get outside, to try and beat the heat, but got a late start and worked until 3:30 anyways.

I finished up at the large lower bed; weeding, moving some sparse patches of moss, and then mulching with wood chips.  Before photo first.

I watered all the moss, which is the dark green and brown dirt areas you see.

Next I moved to the bed along the east side of our yard, that runs along Brian's yard.  







This section of bed, seen with leaves and weeds, is what I didn't get to.  





To the right of that area I had weeded, raked up leaves, and mulched with wood chips.  Joe brought me several loads from the pile in the driveway.  






This is farther down towards the pond, near the end of the bed.  The lighter green shrub is a cedar tree, planted right on top of Stevie (her grave).  





I was hoping we could finish off this pile of wood chips, but we still had this much left by the time I quit.  It used to be as large as Joe's SUV, when we first got it.  






I was beat by 3:30, ready to come in and shower and finish laundry.  But then I remembered I had chores at the ranch.  So off I went, with more water in hand.  





We now have two old hens (Black Betty - aka Babe, and Gloria) seen on the ground at the bottom of the photos.  Seven of the eight young hens can be seen perched in the fallen dogwood, that is still alive.

Once home, I still wasn't done.  I remained in the game even though I was ready to sit on the  bench.  I fed the masses, finished laundry, gathered more items to be packed, and added things to my to do list as fast as I was crossing others off.