What goes up must come down
spinning wheel got to go round
Talking about your troubles
spinning wheel got to go round
Talking about your troubles
it's a crying sin
Ride a painted pony
Let the spinning wheel spin
Ride a painted pony
Let the spinning wheel spin
( Lyrics by Blood Sweat & Tears)
We (I more so than Joe) have been spinning our wheels thinking about retirement living options and our future move. We keep going through the good and bad points of our two top choices, trying to decide which would be best. And I get even further wound up when I contemplate all that needs to get done to buy a place; sell our farm, equipment, and livestock, including one horse; and move (including the other horse) and finally settle in to a new home in Tennessee.
When we feel we are running in place and not getting anywhere, it can
be pretty frustrating and tiring. If, though,
we "spin the wheel" while on an exercise bike, it can be a good thing, even though we are still
not getting anywhere. Exercise is such a great stress reducer, not to
mention calorie burner, that its benefits can't be spoken about enough. Having gained a few pounds from all the meals we ate out while traveling, I needed to hit the exercise wheel hard.
I really like the idea of riding a painted carousel pony, although a real live Paso Fino is even better. Once home Sunday afternoon, I set to unloading, unpacking,
watering house plants, and re-filling water buckets and bowls because
it was in the upper 70's. Then I took Roni for a ride.
In the photo to the right, Roni was a little worried about Missy who was rolling around and scratching near his feet.
I did ground work in the round pen and then rode Roni around to see how he was doing before taking him over to Becks. Notice that the rock garden has started to take off in new growth. You can also see that the grass is really starting to green up. Roni was "spinning his wheels" much of our ride. He spooked several times and was
rushing anytime we were headed towards home. A few times when I was trying to get him to stand still, he would gait in place. He did relax and walk some of the time, but was very animated and usually wanted to move out.
I went out to the barn at 9:30pm, after watching our recording of Survivor, and Amiga and Zorro did not come in. I ended up having to go out across the water way and lead Amiga across. It was not wet, just very gooey mud. Zorro made it across with us and gaited back to the barn. I took off Amiga's halter and she followed Zorro to the barn.
Monday morning I could not get physically or mentally ready for Water
Lilies. I chose a second cup of tea and watching the birds ...over putting
on a swimsuit and driving to town. It was so nice to open the door to the front porch and look out at the horses and fields. As often happens, Roni is the lone horse while Amiga and Zorro relax together.
Thunderstorms were inevitable according to the
forecast, but we never got a drop all day. I spent over 3 hours outside
working on cleaning up some of my flower beds. I removed two bales of straw and all the dead growth, and put up chicken wire in front of the kitchen window.
Kaysha enjoyed being outside and Brother loved over-seeing both of us.
Next we all moved to the rock garden and a larger task of dead growth to tackle.
The yard work was physically taxing to my back and knees, but the sun and fresh air were revitalizing. And I felt good about what I had accomplished, although weeds still needed pulling.. before and after photos:
I didn't attempt going for a ride, thinking I might get rained on... but I should have gone for it. Laundry, dishes, and neatening up around the house were the trade off. I also messed around here at my
computer. Abbey likes to lie by it where the computer fan blows warm air out and she can also watch birds at the feeder beyond the window when she isn't sleeping.
Joe got home from work later than usual. He has been moved up into a new role at work and is now a Release (instead of Project) Implementation Coordinator. Nothing has changed really, except he will have more work to do, more meetings to go to and will not be able to work from home. He'll still be spinning his wheels and getting paid the same.
I made it to Water Lilies Tuesday morning but only walked a mile
after class, so I could get home. With more promises (threats) of
rain and storms, I again went to work outside right away. One of the hens taking a dust bath. => Without the fence there, she would have been right in on the Day Lillies.
It was extremely windy, but never did rain. My cat helper appeared as usual and hung out with Kaysha and I.
Today's work involved cleaning dead growth out of the bed on the west side of the garage and weeding all the grass and dandelions from it.
I took a
break and laid in the grass with Kaysha and Brother. In this first
photo you can see Brother is causing trouble as usual, biting my ankles.
Self photos,
taken from a
prone position
are hard to get.
Next I transplanted all the Mums from the rock garden. They have gotten so big, they block the view of the rocks and Vinca. I have put them between the Surprise Lilies that die out midsummer and leave a big gap between the wall and Hosta. The Mums will fill this in and then when the Surprise Lilies shoot up their stock with an Easter Lily looking flower in late summer it will look nice. To finish off
outside, I put fencing around the bed. Hopefully the short, more decorative barrier will keep the chickens out.
Joe and I worked out at the Replex over the dinner hour. I did a mile each of walking, bicycle and Elliptical and then I made a trip to Courtney's for water, Farm and Fleet for feed including milk re-placer for a calf we planned to get, and finally Wal-Mart for groceries and flowers to plant. Once home, it was almost bedtime by the time I got everything unloaded and put away.
Wednesday morning there was a storm brewing. Twenty minutes into our exercise routine, we, Water Lilies, got kicked out of the pool because of lightening in the area. It seemed a bit overcautious, but when we heard the story of the pool manager being in a building that got hit by lightening...
(He was in a life guard training session on the deck of the indoor pool, and a bolt of light went across the water, followed by crackling and sparkles on the water)... we all got out without complaint. I went up to the track and walked, biked, did the elliptical, lifted weights and stretched. Once home I gave Kaysha a tranquilizer. I stayed in much of the day as several storm systems passed through the area. I did four loads of laundry, washing winter coats and all the flannel sheets before storing them for the summer. I put cotton sheets on all four beds. During the day the temperature dropped 30 degrees and I was wondering if I was premature with the change in bedding.
This spot by our bedroom door has become one of Abbey's favorite sleeping places. It is out of the way and over a heat duct, so she is less likely to be disturbed or get stepped on, and it's warm.
I did venture outside to check on the horses. They would come into the paddock area during the down pours. I also got the calf pen ready, but as it turned out, we didn't get the calf because it was way too stormy. We planned to pick him up Thursday though, so I wasn't just spinning my wheels with all the preparations.
Another big storm was moving in while dinner was baking, so I went out and brought the horses in at 6:30, closed most of the barn doors, fed the cows, and shut the chickens in the coop. With "everyone tucked in for the night," I could relax after dinner and watch Survivor before bed.
We ended up getting two inches of rain over night. The storms (and dog) woke me several times. More tea or back to bed appealed Thursday morning, but I pushed myself to go to Water Lilies since it had been cut short the day before. The easy water exercise and one mile walk felt good to my sore muscles.
The pastures were wet, but I put the horses out on them because they were chasing around and slipping and sliding in the paddock.
It was going to be a good day to stay inside so I worked on this Blog.
It was also good napping weather so I took advantage of that too.
To visit with Brother, I let him in on the front porch because it was too cold and wet outside. He was more interested in looking around than in seeing and playing with me.
I spent part of the day re-educating myself on calf care and also doing further research on the two choices of retirement places we are still considering.
With all three horses on the other side of the water way late in the day, I wondered if getting them back across and into the barn at night was going to be a problem... but it wasn't.
At 5:00 Joe and I headed six miles north, to a local dairy farm. They are always having calves to keep the cows producing milk.
They sort the babies according to age. Above are the new born to one month old. These on the left are over two months of age.
I don't know the ages of these other groups. They are all girls. The "Mama" cows were in a different barn being milked.
The bull calves are sold within a month of age. We picked out this little guy to be our next grass raised beef. He is a one week old Holstein (born on Dan's birthday) and we named him Kabob. Bob for short.
The horses were fascinated, but at first frightened by this new arrival. Amiga tries to get a good look.
Zorro squeezed his way in so he could see and smell the new comer. Kabob was curious but cautious.
Amiga returned to get a closer look. After curiosity was satisfied, the horses returned to grazing and I shut the outer barn door because it was getting colder and windier.
We (I more so than Joe) have been spinning our wheels thinking about retirement living options and our future move. We keep going through the good and bad points of our two top choices, trying to decide which would be best. And I get even further wound up when I contemplate all that needs to get done to buy a place; sell our farm, equipment, and livestock, including one horse; and move (including the other horse) and finally settle in to a new home in Tennessee.
When we feel we are running in place and not getting anywhere, it can
be pretty frustrating and tiring. If, though,
we "spin the wheel" while on an exercise bike, it can be a good thing, even though we are still
not getting anywhere. Exercise is such a great stress reducer, not to
mention calorie burner, that its benefits can't be spoken about enough. Having gained a few pounds from all the meals we ate out while traveling, I needed to hit the exercise wheel hard.
I really like the idea of riding a painted carousel pony, although a real live Paso Fino is even better. Once home Sunday afternoon, I set to unloading, unpacking,
watering house plants, and re-filling water buckets and bowls because
it was in the upper 70's. Then I took Roni for a ride.
In the photo to the right, Roni was a little worried about Missy who was rolling around and scratching near his feet.
I did ground work in the round pen and then rode Roni around to see how he was doing before taking him over to Becks. Notice that the rock garden has started to take off in new growth. You can also see that the grass is really starting to green up. Roni was "spinning his wheels" much of our ride. He spooked several times and was
rushing anytime we were headed towards home. A few times when I was trying to get him to stand still, he would gait in place. He did relax and walk some of the time, but was very animated and usually wanted to move out. I went out to the barn at 9:30pm, after watching our recording of Survivor, and Amiga and Zorro did not come in. I ended up having to go out across the water way and lead Amiga across. It was not wet, just very gooey mud. Zorro made it across with us and gaited back to the barn. I took off Amiga's halter and she followed Zorro to the barn.
Monday morning I could not get physically or mentally ready for Water
Lilies. I chose a second cup of tea and watching the birds ...over putting
on a swimsuit and driving to town. It was so nice to open the door to the front porch and look out at the horses and fields. As often happens, Roni is the lone horse while Amiga and Zorro relax together.
Thunderstorms were inevitable according to the
forecast, but we never got a drop all day. I spent over 3 hours outside
working on cleaning up some of my flower beds. I removed two bales of straw and all the dead growth, and put up chicken wire in front of the kitchen window.
Kaysha enjoyed being outside and Brother loved over-seeing both of us.
Next we all moved to the rock garden and a larger task of dead growth to tackle.
The yard work was physically taxing to my back and knees, but the sun and fresh air were revitalizing. And I felt good about what I had accomplished, although weeds still needed pulling.. before and after photos:
I didn't attempt going for a ride, thinking I might get rained on... but I should have gone for it. Laundry, dishes, and neatening up around the house were the trade off. I also messed around here at my
Joe got home from work later than usual. He has been moved up into a new role at work and is now a Release (instead of Project) Implementation Coordinator. Nothing has changed really, except he will have more work to do, more meetings to go to and will not be able to work from home. He'll still be spinning his wheels and getting paid the same.
I made it to Water Lilies Tuesday morning but only walked a mile
after class, so I could get home. With more promises (threats) of
rain and storms, I again went to work outside right away. One of the hens taking a dust bath. => Without the fence there, she would have been right in on the Day Lillies. 
It was extremely windy, but never did rain. My cat helper appeared as usual and hung out with Kaysha and I.
Today's work involved cleaning dead growth out of the bed on the west side of the garage and weeding all the grass and dandelions from it.
I took a
break and laid in the grass with Kaysha and Brother. In this first
photo you can see Brother is causing trouble as usual, biting my ankles.
Self photos,
taken from a
prone position
are hard to get.
Next I transplanted all the Mums from the rock garden. They have gotten so big, they block the view of the rocks and Vinca. I have put them between the Surprise Lilies that die out midsummer and leave a big gap between the wall and Hosta. The Mums will fill this in and then when the Surprise Lilies shoot up their stock with an Easter Lily looking flower in late summer it will look nice. To finish off
outside, I put fencing around the bed. Hopefully the short, more decorative barrier will keep the chickens out.
Joe and I worked out at the Replex over the dinner hour. I did a mile each of walking, bicycle and Elliptical and then I made a trip to Courtney's for water, Farm and Fleet for feed including milk re-placer for a calf we planned to get, and finally Wal-Mart for groceries and flowers to plant. Once home, it was almost bedtime by the time I got everything unloaded and put away.
Wednesday morning there was a storm brewing. Twenty minutes into our exercise routine, we, Water Lilies, got kicked out of the pool because of lightening in the area. It seemed a bit overcautious, but when we heard the story of the pool manager being in a building that got hit by lightening... (He was in a life guard training session on the deck of the indoor pool, and a bolt of light went across the water, followed by crackling and sparkles on the water)... we all got out without complaint. I went up to the track and walked, biked, did the elliptical, lifted weights and stretched. Once home I gave Kaysha a tranquilizer. I stayed in much of the day as several storm systems passed through the area. I did four loads of laundry, washing winter coats and all the flannel sheets before storing them for the summer. I put cotton sheets on all four beds. During the day the temperature dropped 30 degrees and I was wondering if I was premature with the change in bedding.
This spot by our bedroom door has become one of Abbey's favorite sleeping places. It is out of the way and over a heat duct, so she is less likely to be disturbed or get stepped on, and it's warm.
I did venture outside to check on the horses. They would come into the paddock area during the down pours. I also got the calf pen ready, but as it turned out, we didn't get the calf because it was way too stormy. We planned to pick him up Thursday though, so I wasn't just spinning my wheels with all the preparations.
Another big storm was moving in while dinner was baking, so I went out and brought the horses in at 6:30, closed most of the barn doors, fed the cows, and shut the chickens in the coop. With "everyone tucked in for the night," I could relax after dinner and watch Survivor before bed.
We ended up getting two inches of rain over night. The storms (and dog) woke me several times. More tea or back to bed appealed Thursday morning, but I pushed myself to go to Water Lilies since it had been cut short the day before. The easy water exercise and one mile walk felt good to my sore muscles. 
The pastures were wet, but I put the horses out on them because they were chasing around and slipping and sliding in the paddock.
It was going to be a good day to stay inside so I worked on this Blog.
It was also good napping weather so I took advantage of that too.
To visit with Brother, I let him in on the front porch because it was too cold and wet outside. He was more interested in looking around than in seeing and playing with me.
I spent part of the day re-educating myself on calf care and also doing further research on the two choices of retirement places we are still considering.
With all three horses on the other side of the water way late in the day, I wondered if getting them back across and into the barn at night was going to be a problem... but it wasn't.
At 5:00 Joe and I headed six miles north, to a local dairy farm. They are always having calves to keep the cows producing milk.
They sort the babies according to age. Above are the new born to one month old. These on the left are over two months of age.
I don't know the ages of these other groups. They are all girls. The "Mama" cows were in a different barn being milked.
The bull calves are sold within a month of age. We picked out this little guy to be our next grass raised beef. He is a one week old Holstein (born on Dan's birthday) and we named him Kabob. Bob for short. The horses were fascinated, but at first frightened by this new arrival. Amiga tries to get a good look.
Zorro squeezed his way in so he could see and smell the new comer. Kabob was curious but cautious.
Amiga returned to get a closer look. After curiosity was satisfied, the horses returned to grazing and I shut the outer barn door because it was getting colder and windier.
I was stiff and my muscles felt weighted down during Water Lilies Friday, but it was good to get moving. I stretched after walking and that helped too. The day was cold, windy and cloudy. This large bird of prey, maybe a vulture... too big for a hawk, soared around for awhile and then went into the cupola of our corn crib, where the pigeons are nesting. When I went out to get a photo, it flew off.
Kabob was shaking when I went out to give him his 11am bottle, so I moved three straw bales to make a wall to block the wind that was blowing through the slats in the door. I also open another bale and made a "nest" for him. He soon made himself cozy in it, under the heat lamp.
I went on a house hunting adventure with Marj in the afternoon. We had a beautiful drive through the country. As soon as I got home, Dan called to say that his delayed flight had finally landed. So I went to the airport to pick him up. Being in the Army involves a lot of downtime and patience and Dan has master the art of not "spinning his wheels."
Joe was off playing cards so I had a quiet evening at home. When I went out to give Kabob his last bottle at 9:30pm, he hopped up and came right over to eat. He always wants more when he reaches the end of his bottle, and will jump around the pen, kicking and spinning his wheels. At least the activity warms him up.
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