Friday, October 10, 2025

Let Your Love Flow

I posted last week’s blog just before heading off to church with the thought on my mind, what should this week’s blog title be?  Well, the second song in our contemporary service was Let Your Love Flow (song and lyrics) by the Bellamy Brothers.  I love the message of the natural, free-flowing essence of love and its ability to bring joy, connection, and happiness to life.


Some of the words had been altered slightly, for Church, so it was geared more towards love in general, and implying God's love.
I liked so many points in the lyrics that I thought it would make a good blog title and be good inspiration for me to live by in the next week.  Actually, it's a good way to live out the rest of my life. 


Friday 10/3 - Joe had forgotten his commitment to help babysit our granddaughters, and went to Florida.  Because I am so uncomfortable driving in Nashville traffic, Patty agreed to join me in the endeavor and do the driving.  We pulled out of her driveway at 3:30.  It was a quick, easy drive, especially since we gabbed the whole way.  The biggest topic was the possibility of our Saddle Sister joining us and boarding at the ranch.  This meme says it all... because of Amiga, and now Rico, I have met so many wonderful people and made so many delightful, loving friends.  

   

We ate dinner in Lebanon and then finished our drive to Daniel‘s in 
Murfreesboro.  Many of the houses in his neighborhood were decorate for Halloween, and some people went all out.  





Once at Dan's, we jumped right in to helping him with the girls and Tango.  Vale was in Chicago for an extended weekend.  


We did 'pass the baby' while also playing with Ava and taking Tango and Ava for a walk.


Layla's dad is definitely better equipped to handle and entertain his daughter.  



In fact, by the time I was home and getting up on Sunday morning, I had sore elbows and wrists from wrangling Layla Saturday.  









During Ava's bath time, silly little Fluffy Kitty got in the sink.  Guess he wanted to be part of the action.  He was long gone by the time we three girls were brushing our teeth at bedtime.
 


Oh, I had gotten word, and photos, that Betty and Joanne had a successful, safe, and fun trailer trip and ride at East Fork.  They had ridden with three other friends.  









Joanne does so well with Rico and really loves him.
  
 

Joanne and Rico.





Joanne reported that Rico was having bit issues again, and he had not been a fan of stepping in the mud, but otherwise did very well.  
It was so good to hear that she had a great time and that they had gotten safely back to the ranch.  It is always a little nerve racking to let someone ride my horse(s) because I don't want them or the horse to get hurt.  But it is such a great experience for both, it is worth the risk.      


Saturday 10/4 - I was up at 5:00 and Dan and Tango were up at 6am.  Dan got his rucksack ready to go for his two hour fund raising march (race).  It had to weigh 40lbs.  It was an 'as far as you can go' in two hours race.  Layla was up by 6:30 and Dan fed and changed her and 'showed me the ropes' and gave me some helpful hints.  He was out the door shortly after 7am.












Breakfast time.  



Patty mostly tended to Ava's needs while I had more of the Layla responsibilities.  Courtney had planned to come later in the morning to help us, but was sick, so Patty and I managed on our own.  I was disappointed to not get to see and visit with Courtney. 

  
The great thing about babysitting Layla, was I really had a chance to bond with her in just that short period of time.  Daniel had given me several pointers and we got along marvelously.  She is just such a sweet little baby and easy to care fun.  







Patty was great playing with Ava.  They had all sorts of fun.  




Pretty quick Ava realized Patty's vacuum was sucking up more stuff than her model.  



So they traded.







What child labor laws?  And who knew house chores could be so much fun?  





Layla took two naps and two bottles and had three diaper changes in the time Dan was gone.  While up, we went for two walks, also taking care of Tango's needs and giving Ava some exercise.  
Both girls were very good and the whole experience went very well.  

 

Meanwhile, down in Florida, it wasn't all work.  

Patty made a food run for a late lunch and Dan got home shortly after the food arrived.  The ruck march was held at 
the Nissan Stadium.  Even though Dan was not on the softer, flat, field surface (as he had thought and trained for), but on the outside concourse on concrete, going up and down the ramps, he estimated going ~7½ miles in the two hours.  Not easy while carrying a 40lb rucksack.


Patty and I headed home about 3:00.  I was very thankful she was along to do the driving and help with the baby babysitting.  Caring for babies and young children is not for the faint of heart.
 

Sunday 10/5 - I was up much earlier than I needed or wanted to be.  The house was cold (low 60s outside and our heat pump wasn't on yet) so I turned on the space heater.  I wasn't the only one who was a little bit cold.

Okay, word is out.  Jan is the Saddle Sister I met with last week and has decided to move her horse (Cash) to our ranch because she had just learned that Celtic Rose (where she now boards) was putting their place on the market.  I am so excited about her coming 'on board.'







After church, I spent most of the afternoon working here at my desk.  Joe sent word and picture of his walk with Jim and Debbie, in the rain.  I just love these people.  







By 3:40 I was headed to our last concert of 
the season, at The Grove.  Legacy was the band.  







Donna and DJ having fun.  The band was great and the crowd energized, with lots of people hitting the dance floor.  



Karen, Micki and I had a good time dancing.







'Strike a pose' we were told.  



Karen... you're looking the wrong way.

Unfortunately the concert only lasted just over two hours, ending at 6:15.  Joe got home from FL shortly after I got back from the concert, to start on evening house chores (including feeding pets).



Monday 10/6 - I had discovered soft, grape sized balls in the paddock when mucking Thursday.  They were coming from a tree in the woods at the corner.  Patty took a photo and looked it up... persimmon.

Well, Joanne and Betty reported that Rico and Dorado had a little diarrhea Saturday when trailering.  We put 2+2 together, especially after watching these two search for and eat something off the ground in that corner of the paddock.  So during chores today I raked leaves and picked up what had fallen recently, before the horses ate more.  



I was 'killing time' before a planned ride at 1:00.  So then I worked in the lower shed and paddock cleaning up very old hay and picking up rocks.  
I also did a little organizing in the tack room, in preparation for Jan.   



A friendly little stick bug on the fence post.  Well actually it was a bit skittish.


I had my picnic lunch out in the sun with Wanda because it was still a little cool in the shade.  





When Betty and Karen arrived, we tacked up and headed out on a ride.  







Rico was being pokey, preferring not to lead, until we had turned and were headed in the direction of home.  Karen turned Zorro onto the woodland trail going to the ranch but Betty and I continued on down the road.  

We noticed that the mower guys, who had knocked this mailbox (that is out in the middle of nowhere) off the post last year, had now left it spun 180° so the front was facing into the woods.  
I got off Rico to get a photo of the sign on the back of the box.  😆  What a hoot.  Like where is the security camera and who is going to check it. 


Looks like Rico is reading the sign in this photo Betty took.



At one point in our ride, Rico was on 'high alert' and then I noticed a poacher (dressed in camo with a weapon of some sort) on the back side of a little cul-de-sac.  Not a comforting thing to see.  We just said hi and continued on our way.  




Betty and I had a nice 5½ mile ride.  The horses did well and were willing to move out faster at the end.  

I took Maggie for a long walk and saw this 'crap' (large appliance boxes) dumped in the woods along a gravel rode we were on.  It is so frustrating that contractors do this!  I would love to be a mounted patrol to catch illegal dumping and poaching.


Tuesday 10/7 - The rain finally came overnight, not hard, more of a drizzle.  The sprinkles continued off-and-on throughout the day.  It was nice to not feel pressure to go anywhere or accomplish anything.  
Joe and I did work on ranch business, I spent 2½ hours at the gym, took two naps, and finished a book.

  






Rose had been gone for a week, but reappeared over the weekend.  Because Shadow won't let her on the front porch, I set up a 'feeding station' in the garage so she could get in out of the rain.  

My head tells me to stop feeding all the strays and discourage them from coming around.  But my heart says let your love flow and care for these creatures however possible.   


Wednesday 10/8 - Today was 'vet' day at the ranch.  Patty and I led Amiga and Zorro down to the barn about 10:40, with Wanda escorting us the last 40 yards.  












Wanda checking to be sure Patty was still coming, maybe thinking Patty would feed her again.  



Our new vet, Tyler Green, and his assistant Joe, arrived just after 11:00.  They got set to start work on our five horses.  








Amiga was first up.  After sedation she got her coggins and fall shots.  Then into the shoot for her teeth.  She has never been put in this before and the sedation had her fairly 'out of it' by now, so it was a bit of a challenge getting her to step over into the tight space. 







Blahhhh!

Amiga getting her teeth floated (video).

Teeth floating is a routine dental procedure in horses where sharp points, hooks, and uneven edges are filed from their teeth to prevent pain and improve chewing and digestion.  Because a horse's teeth continuously grow and are used in a circular grinding motion, sharp edges can form on the cheek teeth, causing cuts to the tongue and cheeks.



Zorro was up next.  Patty handled him because I was busy walking Amiga around to help the sedation wear off a little faster.


Joanne arrived and walked Amiga while I helped with Zorro.  Getting him to sidestep into the shoot was as difficult as it had been getting Amiga to do so.  






Zorro's teeth were also in need of filing and Tyler got right to work.  Once Zorro was finished I put Amiga in her stall and then started walking Zorro.  The horses were not to eat for two hours after sedation.  


Dorado went next.
Then when it was Rico's turn, Zorro was put in his stall where he proceeded to take a nap, like Amiga was doing.  

Rico did a little better sidestepping in than the other two Pasos, but Dorado had done the best so far. 


Tyler and Joe got Rico secured in the shoot, and I gave him a little encouragement and lovin'.  











Tyler checked Rico's teeth and did see some sharp points on the sides up front, which could be causing the bit problems.  If Rico's cheek gets caught between bit and tooth, the sharp points would cause pain.  


Joanne got a good photo of what all the molars look like.  Rico's wolf teeth had been pulled and Tyler said it appeared Rico's teeth had been floated before, but were in need of it again.  








The towel over the eyes were to help calm Rico because he did get a little reactive.  He also had to have his neck tied down.  





Like the others, Rico staggered out of the shoot as if drunk, and I started walking him around.  

Cowboy was up next and last to go.  Tyler said from the looks of his teeth, he was at least 20yrs old and probably in his mid 20's.  And he actually had a loose tooth that needed to be pulled.  It came right out.  


Only one root was actually still attached.  











Joanne had relieved me of walking Rico and she joined Betty who was still walking Dorado.  We five ladies actually had a nice time chatting while hanging around or wrangling horses.




Wanda had stuck around the whole time all this was going on.  She was even napping on the bench by the tack room door for awhile.  She really loves people.  

I picked up sticks in the corral during breaks and then it was chore time once Tyler left.  Betty and Bonnie took care of the lower paddock and I did up at the house.
 


Thursday 10/9 - I met Joanne at the ranch at 10:30 and before long we were headed out on the trail on Zorro and Amiga.  We did our usual three mile loop.  









Getting Zorro 'set up' for a photo.  Sometimes you just can't get them to put their feet, head, and ears where you want them.  


Both Pasos did very well.  They weren't too sluggish from yesterday's vaccine on dental work, and Zorro didn't seem too tender footed or Amiga very lame.  She actually got quite revved up several times.

When we got back to the barn the cable guy was in the barn yard working.  As we led the horse back to the upper paddock, we let them graze for a bit while Joanne was getting information from the cable guy.   


At 1:00 we had a video chat/house tour with 
Barbara, a prospective renter while her brother and sister in law (Bill and Chris) came in person to look at the property.  
At 3:00 I was meeting with Jan to go over boarding papers and talk through more of the operational procedures.  We considered the ins and outs with getting Cash settled in, once he comes
 to the ranch. 
While finishing up chores, along with loading the trailer for camping with Rico, the overnighters pulled in.  Joe got them settled in and I also chatted with them.     
I'm feeling so high
It's the season
Let Your Love grow
Let your love show
This song encourages listeners to embrace the feelings of love and let their love express itself unhindered, allowing love to flow naturally, creating a deep connection with others and the world. 

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