Old Habits Die Hard

I am attempting to break free of the long hours I spend blogging.  I have been trying, and make some progress, then fall back into my old ways = rattling on-and-on.  It is very difficult to break or change behaviors that have been repeated over a long period of time.  This common English idiom suggests that old, long-standing, well established ways of doing things have a strong persistence, making them resistant to change and difficult to let go of.  It is said it takes people a long time to change, if they can change at all.  I obviously need to be much more intentional about keeping my blogs short, so I can spend less time writing them.

Friday 9/19 - Britney had arrived late Thursday for a short two day visit.  But it was an action packed time.  We did have a slow, leisurely morning, sipping coffee/tea, working at our computers, chatting and napping.

Right after an early lunch we went to the pool for some sun and a dip.  I enjoyed chatting with my pool peeps and also got the latest info about the morning's board meeting, which was all the talk.  




The one board member (who had been on the Stable Committee and 'did them wrong') and was running for re-election, was voted out.  He will be replaced by Issac Zuercher.  And also the Covenants and Restrictions Amendment did not pass.  Both of these were unbelievable victories for sure.  



More news disclosed at the meeting, is that the Fairfield Glade Wyndham resort (which has been for sale all summer) is now declaring bankruptcy.  So many of us can't help but wonder, what in the world is going on?

We cleaned up after the pool, had a short nap, and then headed into town where we hiked the Meditation Trail at St. Raphael Church.  

It was a short and easy one mile hike (stroll through the woods).  




  

Britney posing for this photo, to point out to Juan Carlos that this bench was painted by a girl scout troop.  






The top of an old silo still sat (as I'd remembered it) like a space ship in the middle of the woods.  






Joe dropped Britney and I off at Romo's and he went on to his poker game.  We joined Judy, Patty and Shirley for dinner.  

Now Britney was pointing out to Juan Carlos that she was wearing the new boots he bought her.  

From dinner, Britney and I  rode with Patty to the playhouse where we would be watching the production of The Cottage.

There had been a mix up when reserving a seat (for Britney) when we ordered a second seat several weeks ago.  We were told we already had two.  Well, Friday morning when I got confirmation of our reservation, there was only one seat.  (They had probably thought Patty's seat was our second one, but we told her it wasn't.  Ugh  Well, Joe quick called to see if there was another seat close to these four.  




I ended up sitting one level up to the side of the four.  It was perfect.  I could watch and hear them laugh, and feel like I was part of the group.
  






This was my view of the stage from where I sat.  Notice it was not a full house audience.  The play was hilarious, had us laughing most of the production.  

Patty dropped Britney and I off at home at close to 10pm and we went straight to bed.

Saturday 9/20 - The cats entertaining us while we sat looking out at the golf course and deer in the back yard, sipping our morning beverages and chatting.  








By 9:15 we had our swim gear, water and lunches packed, and were driving the 40 minute trip to Justin P. Wilson Cumberland Trail State Park.  






Today's 1½ mile hike, for the marathon, included the Selby loop at the head of the Sequatchie River.  






My companion hikers were only slightly cooperative when I wanted to take some photos.





Britney posing by the Joe Pye weed to show how plentiful and tall they were.  They were full of pollinators.  



A pretty Black Snake we saw along the way. 




Britney bought a sticker for Juan Carlos at the gift shop and then we were on our way to the ranch.

When we got Amiga and Zorro down to the barn, Joanne and Betty were just getting back from a ride.  Seen here, Joanne on Rico.

I love when our barn is full of horses and people.  








Patty was helping Britney, showing her how to tack up Zorro after Britney had him groomed.  





Patty also helped with the mounting instructions and gave Britney a quick refresher on riding Zorro.



I was next up with Amiga at the mounting block.  

Several group photos...

Patty and Joanne were taking them from both angles.

And then we were off, with Amiga leading the way to set the pace and kind of help keep Zorro in check.  



We took our usual route on the paths through the woods, doing an out and back.  

I tried to get a (video), but it did not work well at all.  So I got a few more photos while stopped on the trail.  

Amiga got very revved up after I had trotted (gaited) her up the little hill and she stayed 'hot' the rest of the ride.  She was doing a very collected gait much of the time while I held her at a slow pace.  So much for a 'lame' horse.  The exercise really does help her I think.  



It was a good ride and Zorro and Britney both did a great job.  The only mishap was Zorro taking a turn too sharp around a tree and scrapping Britney's leg.  

Patty and Joe finished mowing/chores and we all headed to the pool for lunch, sun, nap, and swim. 

After showering back at home, naps occurred.  
Patty joined us for dinner in the evening.  I made a salad and cooked a pan of frozen lasagna.  

Sunday 9/21 - It was a short morning visiting with Britney, but still some fun was had.  Silly Mama Styx on the back of Britney's neck.  The cat loves this as one spot to cuddle.  

Britney and Joe left and I was right after them, heading to church.  I took this (video) while we were jammin' to one of the songs we enjoyed during praise and worship. 

I attended the employee picnic at St. George from 2 to 4:30.  There was a lot of good food and we have fun playing games and dancing while Donna and DJ kept the party going.

I went to the ranch to muck for Joe, reorganize feed bins now that Banner is gone, and give Amiga a Previcox.  Thankfully she wasn't too sore.

Britney and Joe both made it to their destinations, she a work conference in VA and he a casino.  

Monday 9/22 - The official last day of summer and autumnal equinox was today.  
Betty and I trailered to Celtic Rose to ride with Jan.  Rico was a little sweaty coming off the trailer (nerves) and then he freaked out at a big log laying by the road.   


It took a few minutes to settle him down and get him listening to me before I could tie him to the trailer to tack up.  

Jan rode Cash out of the barn to greet us.
 

Once saddled, we rode around in the arena for a bit.  There were a few obstacles in there that Rico and Dorado both did very well.  

Then we hit the trail  (video).  

Look at this cool mushroom we saw.  It is a Chicken of the woods, (a bright orange, bracket-shaped polypore mushroom that grows on trees, noted for its chicken-like texture and savory flavor).  

We rode 3½ miles, including trail obstacle work we did once we got back to the barnyard area.  As you can see from the map, the trail winds around in the woods.  

Rico was a great follower as always, was fairly willing leading for some of the ride, and he again did well on different obstacles back in the barnyard.  

He was also very interested in the other horses.  










We un-tacked and put our two boys in the round pen.  Rico got to meet the two minis through the fence.  





After Jan, Betty and I enjoyed a little picnic lunch together, Betty and I got the boys loaded easily, and headed home.  We were back at the ranch and unloaded by 1:40.  I put away tack, neatened things up in the barn, watered plants and got home at almost 4pm.  The predicted thunderstorm didn't come until nightfall.

Tuesday 9/23 - Same chicken, different morning.  Joanne took this Sunday morning.  Patty and I had trimmed her wings yesterday afternoon, but when I got to the ranch mid morning, she was outside of the chicken yard again.  How did she manage to do that?  

The highlight of my day was my ride on Amiga.  Other less noteworthy activities included finalizing the new chore schedule with instructions and getting those emailed to everybody, getting a mammogram, going to the gym, and doing some other mundane house tasks.  









I had a nice little ride on Amiga.  She was very calm and quiet as we walked down the trail.  I mostly stuck to the roads since the path through the woods was a tad muddy.  After bumping Amiga up into a gait, and as we were heading back to the ranch, it was then difficult to keep her going slow and relaxed.  

Zorro had been kind of running the fence line in the upper paddock, looking for Amiga as he called out for her.  Rico was also calling out as we came back on a short section of the trail through the woods along the back paddock.  And she isn't even in his herd.  

It was a usual evening with Joe gone, playing poker, when I noticed I'd gotten a phone message from him at 6:40 while I'd been out walking the dog.  He was in the ER, but I was not to worry, he was fine.  ???
I made contact with him, but he was going for a CAT scan and would call me when finished.  By 7:40 I heard back from him.  I knew he'd had gone to a pulmonologist in the afternoon for his chronic cough/phlegm.  Well, a blood test was taken and it revealed an elevated d-dimer, which indicated possible clotting.  So Joe was instructed to go to the ER, to 'rule out' any blood clots.  
 

There was no news by 8pm, and I was just too sleepy to stay awake.  Joe was in good hands in the ER and assured me he was just fine.  I told him to call if it was anything important.  


Patty sent this (video) a few days ago.

I was woken from a dead sleep at 9:45.  Joe was being admitted to the hospital with four blood clots (2 on each side, in his lower lungs).  Holy crap, this was, or could have been quite serious.  I had to get up to walk the dog and turn off the outside light since Joe would not be coming home, so was then wide awake.  We proceeded to text each other until 10:50, me with lots of questions (for Joe and his doctor) and of course I gave advice.
 

Wednesday 9/24 - I was up rather early considering I hadn't gone back to sleep until almost midnight.  I got all packed up to work at the pool, but first headed to the hospital to take Joe some stuff since he’d be there two days on a heparin drip.  While there, I got to meet his doctor, nurse, and case manager.  We got some questions answered and established a game plan.  He was still waiting on early morning test results, ultrasound of his legs and ECG.  Joe felt fine and was not really symptomatic.  They just happened to catch these clots, thank God.  It could have been so much worse.  

The girls in the coop last evening when Patty was doing chores.  It is getting dark so much earlier, they had already 'gone to bed.'

Before leaving for work, I double checked with Abby, and it was decided to keep the pool closed for the day since it was so rainy and gloomy, and the forecast was for more off and on all day.  So I stayed with Joe a little longer.  

After a good mid-afternoon workout at the gym, I went straight to the ranch for chores.  I was appalled to see Amiga in her stall.  Betty had made a big mistake, forgetting to let Amiga out after her breakfast.  Amiga had plenty of hay, but no water.  I was NOT happy.  As soon as I let her out, she got a big, long drink of water.  Notice how full the water trough was, from all the rain.

Wanda goes up a ladder to get to her feeding station.  The two 'wild' Tom cats that come around haven't seemed to find or get to her food up here.

Joe's morning test results revealed that his legs had no clots and his heart was in good shape.  The clots were most likely from his legs, caused by sitting in the car too long, but we'll never know for sure.  
Personally I think he does too much sitting in the car, in front of the TV, and at the poker table.

Thursday 9/25 - Today would have been Mom's 97th birthday.  She is seen here with her six children when she celebrated her 90th birthday.  

And here she is with ten of her twelve grandchildren, plus their two spouses.   
We all miss her very much and remain thankful for all she did for us and her legacy of getting us all together semiannually every year, after Christmas and in the summer.

My morning dental cleaning revealed two cavities, between two adjoining molars, one that is already capped and the other that is going to need to be capped now.  Crap!  I do get food and dental floss caught between them all the time. 

I did my big shopping and Joe was doing fine and didn't need me to stop in at the hospital, so I came home.




Rico in his stall at evening feeding time.  

Joe arrived home from the hospital at 1:30.  He is on a double dose of the blood thinner Apixaban (Eliquis) for one week, and will continue with a single does for six months, and do a follow up with a hematologist.  His cough is going to be treated by an inhaler with medication. 

I went to the ranch early for chores, doing some extra stuff.  Betty and I fed Dorado and Rico half their feed, and then saddled-up and went for a four mile ride (video).  




It was the perfect weather for a ride.  Rico was kind of sluggish and hesitant to move out or be in front.  I worked on getting him to pass Dorado and he did improve somewhat.  It leads me to question if his feed needs 'upping' to give him more energy.  











Rico and Dorado got the rest of their feed and then I finished up more chores.  It was 7pm, dark, when I left the ranch.  It was nice to have Joe back home.

Friday 9/26 - Patty and I had a nice little ride in the morning.  Rico was still very sluggish.  This photo was taken from the trail through the woods along our back pasture.  
Riding back to the ranch, Patty and I split up.  I took Rico on an extra loop, going another ¾ mile by himself.  He really tuned into me, listened a lot better, and was much more peppy, and not too nervous.  

Joe arrived shortly after Patty and I got back.  We trimmed a few branches on the downed tree in the chicken yard, hoping that would keep our one renegade hen from escaping any more.

Then Joe and Patty set to work changing out the faucet in the tack room.  I proceeded to the pool for it's last day of being open.  


Patty sent these photos of Joe at work and the completed sink faucet.  This new faucet will make it much easier to wash out feed tubs etc.

I enjoyed lunch, a few beers, and chatting with friends at the pool for over three hours.  








This photo, also taken by Patty from her car at the end of our ranch drive, shows the start of fall colors.  

Joe and I started season 49 of Survivor.
I'll continue to try and keep my blogging more condensed, but some days there's just more things to write about.