Getting Through It

I'm at the point where I am just trying to get through this summer.  I have taken on too many responsibilities and am far busier than I would like to be.  Plus I have slowed down and am less energetic these days.  It does not help that we have had so much rain and it is a lot hotter and more humid than our summers normally are.
You would think that summer time and retirement would be a period of rest and relaxation.  But I have been feeling overwhelmed by too much stress due to too many tasks.  I don't want to just get through it (summer, life, busy times); I want to be able to enjoy the experience, have fun during the busyness, and make and have fond, wonderful, happy memories.

Saturday 8/8 - There was a brief period of quiet blogging time while I sipped on my tea.  Except I had been struggling with Blogger.  It wouldn't let me post any photos, unless I took a screenshot of them.  I suspected it was a formatting issue.  Then I discovered that if I edited a photo, which I have to save as a copy, that Blogger would let me use the edited version.  Just let me get through this and post last week's blog I thought.

Once both girls were up, it was non-stop action the rest of the day.  Maggie was able to find a moment to catch a nap, where the hub of the activity had been, but many of us got busy elsewhere or moved out onto the screened porch.



Ava helped walk the dogs and soon we loaded up Cookie and went to the ranch.  Ava wanted to see the chickens and go for a 'pony' ride.  But first we went next door to see the goats (video). 

Ava collected some chicken eggs and then fed the girls.   




Our hens love the meal worms and oatmeal we feed as a treat.  

A storm blew in rather quickly and we retreated to the ranch house to 'wait it out.'  
In the meantime, we got the closet door fixed, thanks to Daniel's help.


Patty and I also made the queen bed, ready for next guests or over-nighters.


The rain just kept coming in waves all day long.  We gave up on a 'pony' ride and went home to our Flossmoor house for lunch.  We would get through the day, in spite of the rain.  

However, it was a day of inside activity with occasional outings to walk the dogs between showers.    

Throughout the course of the weekend, I think Ava worked this puzzle four different times, getting better and better at it.  

 








There was lots of play time with Cookie, because she and the girls have boundless energy of youth.

This chess game actually happened the night before while I was out at the Playhouse with some Saddle Sisters.  Other games also were played.  










Plenty of time was spent out on the porch.  







Both girls and even Cookie enjoyed the swing.  












During one walk, just after a downpour, Ava threw a stick in the pond and Maggie and Cookie went in after it.

 







One thing led to another and before long...







...Ava was gathering branches from the 'out-of-bounds' area and taking them over to the pond to throw in.  


I was my usual lame/lazy self when it came to cooking dinner.  


We ordered carryout from Stonehenge and Patty came to join us.  


Ava had come in wet and dirty from her walk with Joe, so got an early bath and was in her PJ's before dinner.  

She helped me feed the deer and Shadow.  




Dinner was a little chaotic.
Once the girls were put to bed (around 8pm) the rest of us kind of un-wound and relaxed individually, in our own space.
 

Sunday 8/9 - Joe was up and out the door before 6am, off to Cherokee to play in a poker tournament.  I'm not sure when Vale took these two photos of Layla.  But both mornings it was nice to wake to this ray of sunshine and total cuteness.  



I was surprised that our kitty Babe was brave enough to interact with Layla.




Britney had sent this book for me to read to the girls, which I finally had a chance to do.  

This story - 'Where Will The Animals Go?' was one of Britney's favorites.  It's about wild and farmyard animals seeking shelter during a storm.  






There was a kind of 'storm' up in the balcony.  Joe and Ava had gotten out the doll house and all the dolls and furnishings Friday night.  Then Saturday I had gotten out the barn, and the horses, and all the stuff that goes with them.  



Patty picked Ava and I up about 9am and we went to the ranch to do a 'pony' ride on Zorro.  After getting him brushed and tacked Ava was in the saddle for a ride.  

I led Zorro around in the round pen while Patty took photos and a (video).  




Then we went out the back gate and into the woods.  

Zorro did really well and we had a nice walk through the woods (going almost a mile total).  I took this selfie (video) on our return walk back. 

Look at the cow skeleton.   









I didn't want to go into too much detail as to what happened to the cow when Ava started asking a bunch of questions.  I tried to keep it simple and matter of fact.  The cow died, most of him rotted, and all that is left are his bones.

We had a snack once home and then struck out on another adventure, a walk in the forest, as Ava called it.


She sure does strike a cute pose when asked to stop for me to take a photo.






I reminded her to be careful on the wet rocks because they were a little slippery.  
 

We stopped to rest at this bench and Ava did a bunch of 'posing' for photos with Cookie.  I had to include most of them here.

Too much cuteness!

We had a snack/lunch and while Dan and Vale packed their SUV I played with the girls on the porch.








Dan and Vale had decided to get home sooner than planned so they could neaten up the house for a 4:30 real estate showing.  






After seeing our guests off, I started a load of laundry and began putting things back where they had been before the little people (our granddaughters) came.  I walked the dogs one more time and headed to work at the pool.

During my pool shift I got a text that the 'kids' had made it home and were hard at work getting ready for a house showing (Vale washing little finger prints off windows and Dan mowing).

It was during this pool shift that the saga of Splash, the Dorchester Pool cat, really started unfolding.  But let me back track a minute.  Splash had first appeared at the pool on July 12th and Mike took this photo.  We started feeding her the next day.  







By July 26th, when I took this photo, she had gotten brave enough to come into the office where we had started putting her food dish.  

Another day (July 29th) I had seen Splash go into the pool office while I was out on the pool deck.  A while later, after she left, I went in to discover that she had chewed a big hole in the ziplock bag and helped herself to the cat kibble.  



July 31st while Splash was eating, I gently touched her and she didn't flee.  


She still was nervous however, but really seemed to want some affection.  


On Monday August 3rd, a quiet day at the pool due to rain, Slash was friendlier, laying on the cool linoleum floor near me in the office.  She even let me scratch her chin and head.  I texted Toni who is in charge of the spay and neuter division of Wild About Cats.  She’s the one I fostered Mama Sticks for, and helped me tremendously with those babies.  We devised a plan to get Splash used to a crate to catch her for spaying and hopefully adoption.  

The crate was in the office when I got to work on Friday, August 7th.  I could get Splash to go part way in to eat.  I was also able to pet her, and I noticed she had a few mildly raised mammary glands.  Well, if she was nursing babies, we would have to hold off on catching her and try to determine where Splash had babies hidden.
  

So today, August 9th, when Splash was in to eat (I'd brought chicken fingers for her) I got her to go farther into the crate.


I had stepped out of the office to let her go in the crate and eat in peace.  Well while I was looking in the door, she finished and hopped right up on the counter where I'd left the bag of chicken fingers (video).  But she was still very cautious and leery of me.



Not even an hour into my shift, we got hit with a nasty storm system.  We had lots of thunder and lightening which meant I had to clear the pool area.  Everybody ended up leaving, even Splash.

The rain came and Splash had soon returned.  I noticed several mammary glands were quite swollen when I pet Splash.  I knew something wasn’t right.  I texted Toni again, actually several times during the rest of my shift, sending photos.  
 

  
We decided either Splash had 'lost' her babies and was no longer nursing, or she had mastitis.  We planned to trap her in the cat carrier tomorrow during my morning pool shift.

She ended up spending the remaining two hours, of the end of my shift, in the office.  After getting trash out, restrooms cleaned and everything picked up, I sat and read and we kept each other company. 

Splash actually fell asleep for awhile and as I watched her, her breathing seemed fast.  She had also been panting  (a sign of pain) since it wasn't that hot out.  And it seemed like her mammary glands were getting more swollen. 

Once home from the pool at 5:30, not only did I do my Sunday evening extra chores, but I spent more time with laundry and cleaning up the house.
At bed time, I prayed for Splash, because it didn’t seem likely that she had babies anymore and I was worried she'd developed mastitis.  During my prayers, my mind kind of wandered and I was thinking, 'Wouldn’t it be cool if Wild About Cats had some baby kittens that needed a mom.'

Monday 8/10 - I arrived for my morning pool shift at 9:10 and there was no sign of the cat.  I immediately started thinking the worst.  I stayed very busy preparing to open, even got in the water and scrubbed all the tile.  It was gonna be a hot day.

Splash finally showed up about 10:00, and I immediately contacted Toni to let her know.  She was in the process of trying to get another cat from a trap into a cat carrier.   I fed Splash more of the chicken fingers and noticed her mammary glands were now quite hard.  She hung around for a while but then disappeared.  I let Tony know she was gone again, but it was not long at all and she came back.  I texted Tony and she said she was on her way.  

I had Splash reliably going into the crate to eat the chicken.  By the time Tony arrived, Splash was wandering around and enjoying the petting and loving we were giving her.  I put another bowl of some chicken in her crate and in no time at all, she was in and captured.  Tony headed out with her, to first get her vetted.

I can't say enough about Wild About Cats and Toni's dedication to this organization and the cats.
 

Shortly after Tony left a man (named Bill) who worked golf maintenance at Dorchester came by looking for the cat.  He said he was worried about her because he hadn’t seen her for two days.  Well she’d actually been hanging out at the pool most of that time I guess.  Anyway, I explain to him what was going on and he was relieved that she was OK but sad he might not see her again.  I told him he would probably be able to adopt her when she was well enough, got her shots and was neutered.

This is the adoption room at Wild About Cats.

I finally heard from Tony, that Splash did not have mastitis, but had been nursing, but evidently had lost the kittens and was engorged.  The vet said it would take about three weeks for her to absorb all of the milk that was in her mammary glands.  Tony was waiting on some meds for her and then planned to bring her back and turn her loose, but we were afraid she would runoff and never come back.  So Patty, Gail and I immediately started trying to devise a plan to take Splash until Bill, who was golfing, would be done and able to take her home.

Once we had a game plan, I got another call from Tony saying that while she was in the waiting room waiting for Splash to come out from her exam, somebody dropped off ten motherless kittens.  Long story short, once Tony had Splash, she put one kitten with her and Splash immediately started licking her, and pretty soon the baby was nursing.  Next thing you know, Splash had adopted five of the orphaned kittens.

 

Tony took Splash to the foster home with the lady who specializes in kitten care.  The other five, smaller kittens were put in an incubator and will be hand fed because Splash can’t care for all of them.  

Splash's new babies are about three weeks old so she will be a mom to them for another two to three weeks. It’s a win-win, the babies have a better chance of survival and Splash will get to slowly wean the babies and not have to wait three weeks for her mammary glands to dry up.  I was so filled with gratitude and appreciation for God and the miraculous way He works.

I had over two hours to shower, nap, feed the masses, and then get to Mirror Lake Blast at the Grove.  I'm out on the dance floor with Amina, Penny, Jean and her boyfriend, and Patty.  

Nancy, Penny's grand nephew, and Micki were also out there boogieing.  The band 'Spoonful' was alright, but didn't play as many fast songs as we'd have liked.  But it was very hot and humid, so multiple breaks from dancing was okay.
 

Tuesday 8/11 - I was out at the ranch by eight.  I did my morning chores and then Joe came (with Cookie) and we worked on removing a broken shed runner across the front entrance in the lower shed.

The three boys (Cash, Cowboy, and Rosco) were hanging out in the shade of the shed, and watching us work.  

Then I helped Joe finish cementing in the base for the new flag pole he'd bought.  

I had moved the potted geranium out front two weeks ago, fertilized it, and like that it is blooming again.




I did some mucking and then went in the house to rest, cool down, re-hydrate and get a snack.  




I finished this puzzle, which was near completion.  

Back out in the yard, I worked on trimming the shrubs in the chicken run and weeding around all of them.  Although, by the time I quit (2:00) I had still not finished the project, but I was hot and exhausted and my wagon was full with the debris.  





I did also get this stump out, but turned it up-side-down in the hole because it was full of bugs that the chickens feasted on.  Plus the empty hole would be a hazard so the stump kept us from tripping in it.  

 





After a shower, big lunch, short nap, and household chores Joe and I went to Lake Tanzi for the Wanna Beatles.  


Donna and her husband.



The first set was all Beatle's songs which they did well, but it's just not very danceable music.

The second set was all great dancing music from our era and I was on the dance floor (cement pad) for at least 30 minutes straight.  It was still warm out and we were all a hot sweaty mess.

Wednesday 8/12 - I was back out at the ranch doing morning chores by 8am.  We'd had a big wind storm overnight so there were sticks, leaves, and some larger branches everywhere at home in our backyard, and in the ranch yard, barnyard area, and corral.  
The Pasos waiting to be let out on pasture.  

I picked up some storm debris, but this was going to take several work sessions.  





I was going to ride Amiga, but wanted to give her some pasture time first.  So I decided to walk the back woods trail to clean up any storm damage.  I fed both cats, but Wanda left her bowl and went to see what George was so eagerly snarfing down.

The trail did not need much cleaning up and soon I was out riding Amiga.  We started off down Hathaway, did the Green Mile and then came back on the trails through the woods going a little over 1½ miles, and finding more downed branches on another trail. 

Amiga was on alert coming into the barnyard because Joe was coming down the drive on the riding mower, pulling the wagon.  



Wanda was unbothered by me, my horse, or the mower.







When I bent down and got close to take her photo, she woke up, briefly, then shut her eyes again.  





Joe had come out to the ranch to check on the flag pole base and help pick up sticks in the yard and then corral.  We were preparing it for an overnighter, who ended up not making it.






I helped Joe with some sticks in the corral and in dumping the wagon load.

I hand to quit work at the ranch so I'd have time for the gym.  My workout went well.  I was surprised I didn't have any troubles getting through it.

Thursday 8/13 - Good advice on my piece of dark chocolate this morning.  Especially with these very hot, humid days.  The energy just doesn't hold up.  

 

Bonnie, Patty and I met at 8am to go for an early ride, before it got too hot.  

This was the first time Zorro has been out on a trail ride with Rosco and the second time Rico has been out with him.  The Pasos don't share the same pasture with Rosco, so they will need to get to know each other while on trail rides.

We had an enjoyable ride, although it was already getting a bit hot and humid.





I mucked the upper paddock and picked up some more sticks in the ranch yard before heading home.  

Dan sent us two photos of Ava at her first day of school, kindergarten.  



Here she is with her teacher.

  






Joe assembled the flag pole and hung the American flag and then this Mountain View flag on it.  



After R&R at home, I went with Joe back out to the ranch.  He was dropping off the mower and I had evening feeding chores.  Joe also wanted to cut one of the 2x4's,(a 12 footer) for the runner across the front entrance in the lower shed.  I didn't have a good grip and dropped the end of it on my foot, which later swelled and turned black and blue. 

This is a view of our new flags and pole, seen as you come up the drive to the front gate.  There is a solar powered light attached to the top of the pole.  

The heat and humidity got to me and I became rather cranky.  It doesn't help that I have a ton of chigger bites that itch like crazy, especially when I am hot and sweaty.  I've just got to get through the rest of this summer I thought.  The weather forecast was saying we were going to be under a heat advisory for the next three days.  Ughhh!

Friday 8/14 - My morning pool shift was not as busy as expected, probably because it was fairly overcast much of the time.  I was missing Splash.  I took a photo of these flags at the Dorchester Clubhouse, trying to determine what the bottom one was.  It's a Semiquincentennial - 250th anniversary of America flag.  













Patty had morning chores at the ranch and reported that the three Pasos had been in the little shed (lots of manure) but not the big shed (no manure) during the night.  She discovered this huge wasp nest in the rafters of the big shed, which explained why the horses didn't go in there.  Joe later did the extermination of them and their nest.

When I got home from the pool, I showered and then napped.  I did a little work here and saw Shadow drinking from the bird bath, which need cleaning.  Just one of the many little tasks I haven't had time to do.  

At 6pm I was off to Red's Ale House for ladies Night out.  There were 12 of us at our table.  




I think our craziness and energy was infectious because many around us joined in on the fun we were having.  


In this next photo, starting with Amina (the only one looking at the camera and the youngest in our group) going clockwise is...  Nancy, Vicky, Nancy, Sherri, Linda, Paula, Micki, Jennifer's forehead, Elaine, and Jake.  

It was Karaoke night but Penny let us put our names and dance song requests in the line up, so we got to do a fair amount of dancing.  Because it was so hot and humid, it was nice to sit several songs out.  Plus that gave us a chance to talk, joke around, and get liquid refreshment.  

Some singers did danceable songs and in this photo we are shining out lights during a ballad. 

What a great group of ladies, an enjoyable night, and a fun crowd.  Times like this definitely help us get through the tough times in life.