Homebody

There are times when being a homebody is the perfect thing to do.  When I prefer to stay at home, it doesn't necessarily indicate that I am unadventurous or anti-social.  I just enjoy the warmth and simple pleasures of being at home.  It gives me a chance to relax and rejuvenate.  At times I feel a bit guilty for not going to the gym, doing yard work, walking the dog for a long while, or taking advantage of riding my horse.

Saturday 1/12 - I had tossed and turned all night and woke aching all over.  And again my abdomen hurt.  I was not sure if I had just overdone it with nearly three hours of clearing trail the day before, or if whatever was ailing me had finally gotten the best of me.  So I was a homebody all day - never got out of my PJs or left the house other than two short dog walks.



It was a dark, rainy day, and rather cold, but the ducks at the corn seemed happy.  The gloomy weather didn't help my energy level any.

I did accomplish one thing, I stowed the Christmas bins and bags in the bunkroom, which was a little like working a puzzle.  Oh, and I did start the 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle.

Monita was wanting to help, but kept running off with the pieces and chewing on them so I had to keep getting up to retrieve pieces and shoo her away.  

 




Stevie, on the other hand, just sat and watched me flip pieces or gazed out the window.  You can see the deck is wet from rain.

I finally finished flipping all the pieces at 4:30, when this photo was taken.  Notice how dark it looked outside. 

I had also taken a two hour nap, spent plenty of time here at my desk, and watched out windows while on my computer or at the puzzle table.  

In the evening, I sat by the fire and read, and then watched TV with Joe.  We finished the last two episodes of season one of Jack Ryan.  

Sunday 1/13 - was basically a repeat of Saturday.  Although the PM cold and Flu medicine I had taken enabled me to sleep better and wake felling improved, but still not great.

Monita, my nemesis above my desk, always watching, waiting, and planning an attack.


It was good napping weather, and while Monita slept, I could work on the puzzle in peace.

I did some chores - watered plants, cleaned litter box, took out the trash, and washed a load of laundry; so felt somewhat productive.

I spent several hours at the puzzle table.  In these two photos, Monita was trying to get on the table.  The only way she can get on it is from a chair.  So she would get on the chair behind me and try to climb over my shoulder.









I would put her back on the floor.  In the second photo, she was getting so frustrated, she actually nipped me in the neck - the little devil.

When I dumped Monita back on the floor and was verbally reprimanding her, Maggie got worried, and came over to see if everything was ok.

Joe left for his card game mid-day.  I did take Maggie on a longer afternoon walk.  My body was still feeling achy even though I had taken DayQuil.  Going up hill especially bothered my right leg, and I thought my calf and quads were going to go into a muscle spasm.





This is the progress I had made on the puzzle for the day.  I had sorted side pieces by shape because they were all the same color, which helped me find the correct piece.

Reading and TV time by the fire ended my day.

Monday 1/14 - The rain and gloom persisted, accompanied by fog.  Not only are the seeds in this feeder protected from precipitation, but so are the squirrels and birds while they dine.

I could literally touch my bird visitors from my desk if the window wasn't between us.


I stayed for the stretch part at the end of Ballroom Aerobics, but then left the gym without doing weights.  I still was not up for it.  I did shop at Food City on the way home.






The gloomy weather continued and I was actually thinking the snow that four of my siblings were getting, would have been nice.  I diverted from blogging, Facebook and e-mails - to the Lawson Advent Calendar games.







Monita, who sits on this bean bag in the corner at my feet, is often watching the birds come and go.

The majority of this day continued with the homebody theme.  I worked at the puzzle for a few hours getting two more corners completed.





The daylight hours ended with a 30 minute walk and a trip back to the gym for the one hour stretch class.

Joe and I later watched the three hour movie Meet Joe Black.  It was cute and kind of funny.

Tuesday 1/15 - The overnight snow flurries left the roof tops white, like in a Christmas card, however most of the ground was too warm to allow the snow to cover it.  The mulch in my beds and leaves in the woods had a dusting.

This was the second day that Monita had a very messy. watery throw-up, but this time, there was a three inch long round worm in it. Ugh.  How does she get these things?  She never goes out.  Stevie has been licking a lot and Mointa scratching, so maybe I have a little flea outbreak.  (Fleas carry round worms.)


I was going to go to the barn with Jan after Bible Study, but as we were leaving the church, I decided it was still too cold.  So Home I came.  Back in my PJs and a cup of hot chocolate from Joe's new Keurig, and I was feeling comfy.  Then I went back to puzzle working.  This shows my progress for the day.  I had spent too much time on it but did accomplish a lot.

Joe and I watched the first four (30 min) episodes of the new Amazon series 'Homecoming,' with Julia Roberts.  Its plot was somewhat creepy, but mesmerizing.


Wednesday 1/16 - I woke thinking I needed to get a life so that each day of these posts didn't sound exactly the same.  However, the weather and my body just haven't been cooperative.

I went to Ballroom aerobics and then made myself do weights.  I went slow and easy, and as I progressed I began to feel more energetic.  I had protein for lunch and then Joe helped me apply Revolution, Flea and worm prevention, on both cats.


I had time to work at the puzzle for an hour, finding the more I get done, the faster it goes because there are less pieces to chose from.  Then I met Jan at the barn.  We were disappointed that the sun never did come out as predicted, but were committed to riding.  It was in the low 40s and there was little wind, so it wasn't too cold.  We rode in the big bean field and then took part of the Holly trail, just down half of the first hill to the landing by the 14th tee box.  The hill was quite slippery.

Once returned to the barn, we rode out around the gardens.  The wind had kicked up and soon we were both kind of cold.  Amiga had a couple of moments of misbehavior, but otherwise did well.

Joe was at poker, so once I took a long hot shower and had dinner, I worked at the puzzle the rest of the evening.  I made a ton of progress.  This homebody is definitely a puzzle addict.



Thursday 1/17 - The cats and dog looking for a mouse toy during the pre-dawn hours while I did a Bible study at the dinner table.  I had an 8:00 dentist appointment which completely wrecked the tranquility of my morning.  Not only did I have to be dressed and out the door by 7:30, I was feeling very anxious.

The dentist had not been near as treacherous and torturous as expected and I was on the road for home at 10:30, with my temporary crown but no feeling on that side of my mouth.  The old crown was cracked and when the dentist was loosening the glue, it broke in half, so was definitely in need of replacing.



The rain had returned on my way into town, so once back, I went into homebody mode.  Finishing up the puzzle went fast because the spot for almost every piece could be found fairly easily.

Even though my throat, jaw and sinuses were feeling wonky from the dental work, I was feeling more energetic, so went to the gym for three hours.  I did a strength building class, with some walking and rowing before and after and then the hour stretch class.

Here is a look out the rain streaked window with the gray skies all around.  I had corn beef and veggies ready in the crock pot, cooked some cabbage and made gravy, and then Joe and I enjoyed the 'Irish' meal.  In the process of doing dishes and cleaning the kitchen, I discovered a leak under the sink.  There is never a time when our homes don't need some kind of attention.  Ugh.  It was just the faucet, but will need a plumber to fix it.  

Eventually, Joe and I were able to relax and watch the next three episodes of  'Homecoming.'

Friday 1/18 - This is the new nightlight that Shirley gave me, I was trying out before sunrise.  It changes colors (8 of them) each time it is turned off and on, or can be put in the mode to continually change between all eight colors.  It is very interesting, especially seen reflected in the window and glass desk top.


I really like it, but the main two drawbacks are that it has to sit on a flat surface and be plugged into my computer or cell phone charger.



The thick fog was dense enough, it was like walking through misty clouds, and it persisted well into the morning.  I wasn't going anywhere very fast and just enjoyed sitting at my computer, doing various activities.
At one point a herd of nine deer were in the back.  They did a lot of moving about and I could not get them all in one photo.
In the last photo there are eight of them.

After having enough computerizing, and since my puzzle was done, I decided to finish with the decorating.  All the shelves in the living room had been sitting empty since I put all the Christmas stuff away.

The shelves got dusted as did everything that went back on them.  I was still trying to decided where to put Shirley's gift, which I had tried on the mantel and shelves.  

I also had this three piece serving set from Therese (Patty's antique collector friend from Iowa) that I couldn't find a good spot for.
It was a mild 40 degrees, but remained gloomy and damp all day and going outside really wasn't appealing.

I noticed another (or the same) herd of deer, eleven of them this time, come down from the 17th green into the woods.  They never crossed the creek, but got drinks and played in the water for awhile.

I did go to the gym for an aerobic workout, followed by the stretch class.  Directly after, I was showered, dressed, and ready for dinner out.

Joe and I went to the Grinderhouse, a homey feeling, artsy restaurant in Crossville.  They have chalkboards with drawings that they change quarterly along with lots of other artwork on display and for sale.  They host musicians out of Nashville on Friday nights.  We really enjoyed the original music of singer songwriter Gerald Smith.

I love my house and the pets that reside here.  The new Sunroom has become a created space I never want to leave.  Being a homebody can feel so good.

Sometimes it is hard to get motivated to go anywhere, but once I have my barn boots, gym shoes, hiking boots, dancing shoes, or even work boots on, I am usually glad I made the effort.

Home At Last

Anytime we travel, I am always so glad to get to our destination, whether it took an hour or a day to get there.  And arriving back home is even a sweeter feeling, especially after a longer absence.  I know our pets are always glad to have us home too, because of their welcome.

The longer we've been away, the happier they are to see us.

I am so thankful I have a wonderful house, neighborhood, and place to come home to.  I wish everyone had a safe, comfortable, fun home.

Saturday 1/5 - Having arrived home at 8:15 (am!), the cats were on me like flies on... well, lets just say they were glad I was home and did not want to let me out of their sight.










Joe and I got the SUV unloaded, and then he went to get groceries and the dog while I finished up and posted the vacation blog.

After kicking Stevie off my lap (above), Monita moved in and was trying to sleep on my arm, making it tough to move my mouse.  When she switched to the other arm, it hindered my typing.





She would even bat at me, wanting my attention.




Eventually I shut my computer down and got to 'house' work.  It was so nice to have gotten home so early in the day.  This gave me lots of time to un-pack, do laundry, and start taking down and packing up Christmas.  All the stuff we had drug to Florida, and even more we had drug back, also needed to be sorted through and put away. 

Echo and Whiskey

I jumped at the opportunity to stop with the 'house' cleaning when Brian invited us to join him for a beer at Ken and Linnea's.  I was so tired, I was ready to go to bed, but Linnea was only going to be in town a few days. 








We had a nice visit and I especially enjoyed meeting their two rescue kitties.  Whiskey is the girl with the white star on her forehead and her brother is Echo.

We got home at 8pm and I went straight to bed.  I couldn't even get a page of my book read.

Sunday 1/6 - Eight hours of sleep and I was up at 4:30, but had a headache.  And actually, the cold sore I got in FL was worse, I had a swollen lymph node on my jaw near it, and my sinuses hurt behind my eyes.  

After Joe woke up, we opened Christmas gifts to each other.  I am not complaining because I have gotten my sunroom...




... which far exceeds the costs of all the Christmas and birthday gifts I will get the remainder of my life.  However, I just want to point out, I got Joe a 96 variety pack of single brew coffees and some socks.  He got himself a new Keurig and a new blender.  For me, he bought a new vacuum, except vacuuming is his job.  I guess though, because it is cordless, I may grab it to do the kitchen/dinning area and sunroom which I sweep regularly.  

I tried a sinus rinse followed by a steroid nasal spray as prescribed a year ago.  It seemed to helped relive the pressure, so I felt well enough to tackle Christmas decorations.  It was a beautiful sunny day, so after I got the Christmas tree down and all the tree lights and ornaments put away (seen right), I went to the barn.









Patty and Jan were going to meet me at the barn.  Apparently, we had had a lot of rain and many of the horses were fairly dirty.  Zorro was a filthy mess. 


While getting Amiga, and before Jan arrived, I sent her this photo of Cash rolling in the mud, telling her he was getting ready for her. LOL

There were a bunch of others at the barn, at different stages of getting their horses and horsing around.




Patty and Emily and I rode out while waiting for Jan to join us.  The trails were a muddy mess so we took it slowly.







On the way out, we met Steve who was just coming back from a ride.  He said the Holly Trail was very slippery.




Amiga and Zorro were kind of hyper, it had been a while since both had been ridden.  It was too wet to ride in any of the fields, but the sun was nice, the day warm (upper 50s), and it was pleasant being out on our horses.  My headache even went away.

We only rode to the bean field and back.  By now, Jan was ready to ride, as were Cheryl and a new boarder Yvonne.  She is on Sadie, the bay.










While I rode with these three ladies, in the big pasture by the road, Patty worked with Zorro in the round pen.


I had my hands full with Amiga, and was just trying to keep her at a walk, especially since the ground was still kind of spongy.


The little boy puppy has been adopted but the little girl returned a second time because she is just too hyper.  Somehow she got up on the top of the large crate and was napping while I put my tack away.

Monday 1/7 - I had gone to bed early, so was up early.
There was a morning visitor quite close to the house, looking for spilled bird seed.

After Ballroom aerobics and weights, I went to Food City to get salad fixin's.  The wind was so strong, it had their giant flag whipping straight out horizontally.
  













After lunch I cleaned out bird feeders and hung a new one I had gotten from sister Cathy for my birthday.








Then without delay, I was off to the barn to enjoy yet another warm winter day.

Karen was there, unable to get Levi from the winter pasture across the road, so I suggested she ride Zorro.  Yvonne joined us riding her other horse Monte.

In this photo, you can see Chester rushing past Amiga and Zorro.  He loves being out on the trail with us.

We rode past the bean field and on down the trail a little ways.  We were pretty well protected from the wind.

Once Jan was saddled and ready to ride, we took to the big pasture.  Again I had to really work to keep Amiga from getting all revved up.




Jan and I found relief from the strong wind when we went into the woods for a trail ride, going to the top of the hill on Holly Trail.

Once home at 5pm, I couldn't figure out where Joe was. He had gone to the gym to workout.  He is taking his New Year's resolution to lose weight quite seriously this time.  We'll see how long it lasts.

I was in bed and turned the lights out at an all time early record of 7:30.  I just couldn't keep my eyes open.

Tuesday 1/8 - I was wide awake just after midnight, so got up and onto my computer until 2:30am.  I guess I shouldn't have gone to bed so early.  I saw this poster and thought how true.  Ever since I came off Amiga (because of broken cinch, not necessarily poor riding) I get kind of worried when she starts crow hopping and spinning.  My confidence has definately been rattled.


I woke for my real morning at 6:30, getting a total of eight hours of sleep.  A few more hours of 'playing' on my computer and I was done with that for the day.  I needed to continue taking Christmas decorations down from the kitchen, dinning, entry, and mantel.



The day started cloudy with light rain off and on.  These photos were taken the day before when there was sunshine.  My three 'helpers' think Christmas clean-up is play time with fun and games and were underfoot again.

I vacuumed up artificial tree litter and pet hair.  Then Joe helped me move the table back in front of the large picture window.  My next plan is to start a 1,000 piece Christmas puzzle I bought at an estate sale.  Do you see what I see?  Not the golfer on #17 green, but Stevie hiding (or sunning) among more decorations that still need to be boxed up.






I went to Bible study and then proceeded to the barn.  My sinus headache was really hurting again, but Jan had convinced me to join her because cold weather was coming.





We rode out from the barn together but then I continued down Holly trail to the creek crossing (video).  It was slick going down so I decided not to go up the larger hill on the other side.

Coming home, I dismounted several times to remove branches and large sticks from the trail.  Amiga did very well with all this commotion.








Joe had made a concoction with his new blender to drink for dinner.  I had eaten a large salad for lunch so opted for beer and popcorn.  We watched two Jack Ryan episodes.

Wednesday 1/9 - Waiting for the sun to come up, our pets always hang out in the sunroom as I work and play here at my computer.  Maggie lies watch and the cats often try to get my attention.








It was a sunny day, but considerably colder (mid 30s instead of low 60s).  I lifted weights before Ballroom aerobics (instead of after) so then stayed for the stretch part of class.  After a quick shower at the gym, I went straight into Crossville to shop.


2:30pm, I was home at last.  By the time I got everything unloaded and stowed away, walked the dog, and ate a very early supper (I only had mixed nuts for lunch), I was too tired to work on Christmas decorations.  So I messed here at my computer, with the three critters nearby, and then sat in the recliner and read.

Thursday 1/10 - I woke with bad abdominal pain which radiated down my right leg while walking Maggie.  But as soon as my digestive system started moving, I felt much better.  It was going to be another cold day and I was bound and determined to finish up Christmas clean-up, which I did make huge progress on.  It involved lots of dusting, some sweeping, and I also did three loads of laundry.
Mid-day the sun was really pouring in through our windows.  It warms up our house so much.

I did 45 minutes of aerobic work at the gym, and then the one hour stretch class that Joe also came to.  I am always thankful for the physical things I can do, and continue to work at improving (or at least maintaining) my strength, balance, endurance, and flexibility.  Joe and I both made salads for dinner and later watched two more episodes of the Jack Ryan series.

Friday 1/11 -  Since I've been retired for five years now, I never get excited about it being Friday anymore.  But I can appreciate the working folks' enthusiasm for Fridays.

Early in the day, we had two different groups of deer come visit.  The first group did not leave much, if any, corn for the second group.  Below you can see the shadow of our house on the hill across the creek.

I was not happy that this squirrel was eating a bunch of buds off the dogwood right outside my window.  I have thought about putting an anti-critter device around the trunk.  The chipmunks have done a lot of damage in years past.  But, what fun to watch this furry creature up close.  And the cats were going nuts.





It ended up being a very productive day, although I would later pay for overdoing it.


I finally got every last bit of all my Christmas decorations down.  The cats were not helping with the boxing process, but were good, fun company.




I got all the bins and bags up to the balcony, but was out of time to stow them away in the bunk room.

At noon, Joe and I both drove to the barn.  We took Maggie with us, who met the little girl puppy and enjoyed racing around with her for a few minutes.  We got a second garden rake and piled into the SUV and drove to Stradford Dr.

Joe worked for about 90 minutes on the steep hill going down to the creek.  I had crossed the creek and went 2/3rds the way up the hill on the other side and worked my way towards the creek.  We were both raking leaves off the trail, picking up sticks, and removing lose rocks.  Maggie found a golf ball that entertained her for awhile.  

Once we both got to the creek, (right photo of trail Joe had cleared), Joe headed back to the SUV with Maggie and I continued clearing the trail up the hill towards the barn.  The rake was only used on the hill, but as I walked back to the barn, I continued picking up sticks and rocks.

It was already 3:30 when I got back to the barn, sore and exhausted.  But with more rain coming, I really wanted to ride at least part of the trail.  Haley was bringing in horses, so while Amiga ate her grain, I helped out Haley.  With time ticking, I quickly tacked up Amiga and rode out, taking the Holly trail down to the creek and back.  This (video) gives you an idea of the trail.  The hill doesn't look as steep as it actually is.  In this photo, you can see it was getting dark as Amiga and I emerged from the woods.

Home after 5:30 for a quick shower and bite to eat and then Joe and I headed to Reds.  We meet Ana, Patty, Yvonne, and her husband Jim.

Yvonne and Patty actually sang three or four songs and Ana and I were the backup dancers.  There was plenty of good singing and dancing to satisfy my dancing bug.  However, when I laid me down to sleep, I was completely exhausted.