Best Laid Plans

I had lots of plans for today.

They started with feeding the animals.

However I was going to work at the

town hall, so I tried to get started

a little earlier than usual.

Which meant I didn't start the day

with my usual workout.

Which also meant I didn't start the

day with my usual 16 oz bottle of water.

Headed out to feed the animals.

Brought the horses in,

took feed out to the cows,

and then walked to the front of the 

property to open the gate to the

front yard. It's Thursday and I like

to put the horses up front on Thursdays.

That's the day our neighbor has all

his city customers come to his farm

to pick up their produce shares.

I don't love having my horses back

there where people are trying to

feed them hand fulls of grass.

(Not that it would hurt them, but

Andy has a split in his bottom lip

and it you aren't careful when you

hand feed him, its easy for your 

fingers to get caught up in his lip

and then you THINK he is biting you.

Yeah... don't need that drama.)

Anyhow.

While up there, I grabbed the hose to

dump, scrub and refill their water bucket.

But the hose was all kinked from the

last time it was used.

So I wrestled with that and got it mostly

straightened out and stretched over to

the bucket.

Then I remembered that Thursday is the

day they pick up "yard trash" and last

week Kyle trimmed the bougainvillea

in front of his window and left a big pile

in the yard. So I went back to the barn

and got the big yellow wheelbarrow and a

pitch fork and went back to gather that up.

(Stopped at the house for my deer skin gloves

cuz SPIKES!) Got that all loaded up and

taken out to the street and dumped.

By then the horses were mostly finished

eating their breakfast, so I went back to the

barn to return the wheelbarrow and bring 

the guys up front. They know where to go,

so I just follow along behind and remind them

not to stop and then close the gate behind them.

And then I needed to let the dogs out so they

could go to the bathroom and run around

for a little bit.

While they were out I headed into the 

house to make me some oatmeal for

breakfast.

And that's when it hit me.

I was WAAAAAY over heated and pretty

well dehydrated. I got to a chair and sat down

just before it all went black around the edges.

I drank a bottle of water (with a pinch of

himalayan  pink salt in it), and sat under

the ceiling fan for a bit.

Then it was time to get the dogs and

bring them inside the garage.

We have a deal with our neighbor that

our girls will be inside the house from

10 to 11 every morning so she can let

her neurotic show dog out without worrying

that he will freak out.

By the time I got them in their crates

and fed, I was feeling woozy again.

So it was back to sit under the fan with

another bottle of water.

It took about an hour and a half to finally

feel like I was back to normal!

Lesson learned!

DRINK BEFORE YOU GO OUTSIDE!

Anyhow.

I FINALLY felt well enough to make 

my oatmeal and a drink with some collagen.

But by then it was "lunch" at the town hall

and no point in heading over there to just

sit around and chat.

And then I remembered that I needed to

finish up some paperwork for my church calling

(Self Reliance Specialist - we saw a member yesterday

and I needed to type up a report for the Bishop.)

Got that all done and by then it was too late to

bother going to town hall, so I decided to

take the truck and head into town to Tractor Supply

and get some feed and then by our local feed

store for a bale of hay for the cows.

And that's when the heavens opened up and

it POURED! So... no feed run.

Instead, I decided to clean the kitchen.

I got out my beautiful Grove.co glass bottle

full of natural cleaner and wiped down the

counters, the inside of the microwave,

the stove, etc and realized my bottle was

nearly empty. So I pulled out my concentrate

and made a new batch.

And then I knocked the entire bottle off the

counter - smashing it into a million pieces.

Naturally I was barefoot and Beau (aka My Shadow)

was right there next to me.

And here we were standing in an ocean of

cleaner with ice burgs of broken glass.

I managed to get Beau out of the room

and grabbed some clean bath towels from

on top of the dryer to mop up and contain

the mess. Then it was sweep, swiffer, damp mop

to make sure I got every single little micro

chip of glass off the tile floor.

And then Rod walked in the door.

He has High Council tonight, so he is

resting a bit before he gets cleaned up

and then we are going to go to Chick Fil A

for a sandwich before he heads south

to his meeting and I head into town for feed.

I would just wait and go tomorrow,

but I have to drive over to Orlando to 

substitute teach for one of my instructors

who had a death in the family this week.

It's a Friday evening, Saturday afternoon,

all day Sunday class. (And it's the final

weekend so all day Sunday means

ALL. DAY. SUNDAY.

7:30 am til 9:30 pm.

And then an hour plus drive home.

So yeah.

Anyhow.

If you read all this...

thanks!

A peak in the life, as it were.

My Cowboy

Our horses are getting old.

Ok, so are we... haha.

But we don't ride often anymore.

Partly because we are always busy.

Partly because it is HOT in Florida.

And partly because ... we just don't.

But we DID go for a ride on July 4.

We went "early" in the morning

to try to avoid the HOT here in Florida thing.

No idea what I was looking at...

Rod still loves his "new" saddle.

Although, CJ doesn't love standing still on the trail.

He was in a hurry to get back to walking

through this lush and beautiful trail.

We had a wonderful time.

We might have to do it again!

Ears

The other morning I was laying in bed.

I was resting on my right side,

as I often do, and noticed I could

hear my wall clock ticking LOUDLY

from in the bathroom.

As I often do, when it is quiet, I 

began talking to myself.

And then I started counting along

with the ticking.

Which was driving me a little nuts.

So I rolled over.

And noticed I could no longer hear 

the ticking of the clock!

So I rolled over again.

Left ear - ticking.

Right ear - no ticking.

Left ear - ceiling fan squeaking.

Right ear - no squeaking.

But I was still able to "hear" out of

my right ear, so I decided it was a

sign I was getting old and got up.

Fast forward to yesterday.

I had a regular thyroid check-up at my

new ARPN's office.

I noticed my right ear felt "plugged".

So I mentioned it to her and when 

she checked my ears, my left was

bright and clean and my right ear

was "plugged to the max". 

Hahaha.

She also mentioned I have a TINY

ear canal. 

And then the "specialist" came in to

irrigate my right ear.

She also mentioned my TINY ear canal.

In fact, she had to switch out to the

"child size" thing-a-ma-bobby.

Which explains THIS!

You know those earbuds that come

with your new cell phone?

I've had several pairs of 

these "new" shaped ear buds

over the years.

And they NEVER fit.

I've switched out the little rubber

thingie to the bigger one and the smaller

one and I've watched YouTubes on how

to correctly fit them in your ears...

but no luck.

Kyle has the same problem.

Which explains why I bought 

SIX pairs of these hideous green

ear buds when I found them

on Amazon.

They have a nice, classic, flat style.

And it fits in my ear.

And I live in constant fear that 

they will quit making them.

Oh yeah,

and I can hear again.

I really need to get a quieter clock.

SQUIRREL!

Usually when the dogs are outside

Shadow voluntarily goes into the

dog yard and climbs under their deck

and lays in the cool, shady sand.

Not today.

She has been sitting under the oak trees

for literally HOURS this afternoon.

We had some rain earlier and

it is still overcast

so it is cooler than it has been recently.

But she has been sitting there,

looking up into the tree.

I'm willing to bet there is a

SQUIRREL

up there.

She is kind of keeping an eye on

her kingdom (queendom?)

but she hasn't moved.

And I'm pretty sure she won't.

Until I call her in for dinner.

*The squirrel is TOTALLY safe.

While she is vigilant, she is the world's

WORST hunter. The squirrel could 

literally run across her toes and she would

still miss grabbing it.

E.R.

Kyle hasn't ever been to the E.R. before.

Well, except for when he was 18 months

old and held his breath and "turned his face blue".

But that was just a tantrum.

Of course it resulted in 24 hours hospitalization

for observation and a $2500 bill.

But we won't go there.

Anyhow.

He drove home from the ranch on Wed.

His left wrist started to ache

(as it often does) as he was driving.

And then his shoulder got sore.

And then it radiated down to his elbow.

And then down to his hand.

And then up to his face.

His face felt swollen and kind of "numb".

Or Tingly.

Or Numbgly.

And he started to worry.

And then his chest started to feel tight.

And he started to worry more.

And then he stood up (he was sitting on the couch)

and upon standing said "Ok, I feel TERRIBLE."

So we loaded up in my car and the 3 of us

headed to the Urgent Care.

Which was closed.

So next door to the Emergency Room it was.

Evidence that he felt AWFUL.

He let me take his picture!

They did an EKG because of the chest stuff,

but decided it was a pinched nerve in his shoulder

due to repetitive motion (driving the tractor).

Exacerbated by a panic attack. 

(which he has on occasion.) 

(Work comp!)

Gave him a scrip for 800 mg Ibuprofen and a Steroid.

Dr. said not to fill them yet though.

Likely regular Ibuprofen and rest 

(and Mom added Turmeric for anti-inflammatory)

would be all he needed.

Since he is home for 4 or 5 days anyway...

He got "hooked up" and they even got a needle

in his arm to take blood and in case of needing

an IV. Luckily he didn't inherit Grandma's veins!

(Or mine for that matter, they dive, roll, shrink...)

But the nurse was lucky he was bigger than Kyle

because Kyle REALLY wanted to punch him.

(He does NOT do needles - which explains his

lack of a medical history - walk it off or rub some

dirt in it and it will be fine... lol)

Rod and I are trying to talk him into seeing 

Rod's chiropractor. We both know it will help...

but so far no luck on that front.

Anyhow.

He said, better take a picture, cuz this is NEVER

happening again.

He's feeling better (and embarrassed he wore that disgustingly

dirty hat into their nice clean hospital room)

and kind of enjoying the "sorry, can't, I'm on disability"

response to... everything I suggest.

Hahahahaha.

But he is a little bummed.

He wanted to go kayaking, or snorkling, or 

SOMETHING fun.

Instead we are heading to H&M to get him

some new shirts.

Random Tuesday Stuff

Lots to tell.

And nothing to say.

LOL.

Here, in completely random order is 

all the news that is fit to print.

LOL

1.  Rod got laid off from his 2nd job yesterday.

Talk about burying the lead!

But, although we were both kind of annoyed

about how it happened and the reason behind

it (it really was stupid) we are both actually

really pleased. And feeling extremely blessed.

Remember last week when I said we never see

each other? And poor Rod is always exhausted.

Well, this means he will be able to come home

every afternoon!!!

And his full time job has opened up overtime again

so he will work a couple hours on Saturday.

But YEA!

We get to eat dinner together!

And go for walks in the cooler evenings together!

And maybe even make a run over to the Orlando

Temple (when it opens again)!

And he won't be so tired all the time.

I'm excited.

2. I was really worried about Andy.

He has a terrible nervous thing he has ALWAYS done.

He stomps and paws his left foot, mostly when its

time to eat - like there is a possibility he might 

starve to DEATH while waiting for me to pour

his grain into his manger.

And he now has this HUGE split in his hoof.

It was actually bleeding slightly when I first saw it.

So I sent a text and a photo to my farrier.

(He was supposed to be here 4 weeks ago, but his wife

who is his assistant, hurt her shoulder and they had

to postpone... Andy's feet were quite overdue!

But since we are ALL retired, I don't worry as much

as I used to - he just wanders around in the pasture.

I almost never ride anymore.)

Anyhow.

Dennis came and did his feet.

We were all worried it would require some sort

of epoxy and soaking and... who knows.

But when he really got into it, it's actually

just a surface crack. And while it LOOKS terrible

it's actually just cosmetic.

It's all trimmed up now and he'll be fine.

Whew!

(He spills lots of his feed while eating.

He always has, but it's worse now that he is

31 years old and most of his molars are gone...

thank goodness for chickens!)

3.  I got some hay last year from a ranch near Kyle's.

It must have had some seeds in it.

Because this year I have a surprise growing

out by the cow's hay feeder!

These are purple passion flowers!

Kyle found some up at the ranch last year.

Hasn't seen any up there yet this year...

Years ago my neighbor Chris and I talked

about ordering some from a seed catalog and

planting them along our fence line, but we

never got around to it.

But now... here they are!

However, this week the horses ate them.

Good thing I got a picture!

I'm going to dig up the roots and move them

into a space the animals can't get to.

I love them!

4.  That's it.

Best Friends

Our little steers are best friends.

Wherever one is, the other is

generally pretty close by.

Except at feeding time.

Charlie is always first at the bucket.

Brown sometimes waits a bit.

But generally this is where you will find them.

Basking in the sun together.

Or hiding in the shade.

But pretty well joined at the hip.

They are both putting on weight.

Good job guys!

Keep it up!!!