Carol and her two dogs got here shortly after noon on Friday, and I took a break from house "cleaning" to make tuna salad and eat a late lunch with her. Kaysha and I met her new dog Meg. After the short intermission, it was back to work. 
Carol helped me out with some decorating changes and then in the yard with our flower gardens. They looked so much better after she dead-headed all the Geraniums, Day Lilies and Hosta. She also gave everything a good drink.
Ike tried to work it with the ball, knowing I was more likely to take the bait than Carol was. We were ready for the 6:00 show (of our house) and took a few minutes to just hang out while we waited. Meg is a super friendly, sweet dog. She had jumped right up on the hammock with Joe. (I missed getting that photo.)
Once the house shoppers arrived, Carol took the dogs for a walk and I showed them around inside. Then when Joe took them outside, I could get dinner cooking. We had lamb stew and fresh green beans and corn on the cob. Yum, yum, yum. We took a walk to Brian's and back, and then were in bed fairly early.
We were on the road by 5:15 Saturday morning, bound for Chillicothe with two Border Collies in tow. Carol and Ike competed fairly early in the morning, seen to the right waiting to start their run. 
Carol and Ike did great, even getting the three sheep in the pen at the end of their run. I enjoyed watching the different dogs and humans working together at the different levels of competition throughout much of the day. It was nice sitting on the "side lines" talking with folks, soaking up some sun, and not having a care in the world to be concerned about. What a nice intermission.
Carol placed first in her class, being awarded a ribbon and some money. Whoot whoot!
Mid afternoon we left the trial and checked in at the hotel before
going to the nearby park to hike in the woods. Our first trail started
out going straight up hill, and we both discovered how out of shape we
are.
This coral mushroom caught our eye so I took a photo of it. It was so white and delicate looking.
We ate a picnic dinner back at the hotel and I was soon sound asleep.
Carol's class was first to run Sunday morning and she was first in the group to go, so we were back at the park before 6:30. Here they are setting up the course as the sun is rising to the east.
The fog was burning off the field during the handler's meeting.
Then Carol and Ike's run began. To the left he is bringing the sheep to Carol where they will be circled around the blue tub she is standing at. Even though they were unable to get the sheep penned at the end of the run, they won first place again.
We sat and watched more trials. To the right, Meg is watching the sheep and dog work as if she were watching an exciting TV show. She rarely took her eyes off the action and was happy to do this the whole time she sat with us. We had an early lunch and packed up shortly after the awards had been handed out for the morning runs. 
Shortly after the house shoppers left, Courtney picked me up and I went with her to look at a stable. While there, Joe called to say that Amiga and Zorro had gotten out and were at Becks by the tracks eating grass, but would not let him get close enough to catch them. So we cut our barn visit short while Joe waited out by the horses, keeping an eye on them. (Maybe
he will be more careful about gates in
the future.) Courtney
parked her car blocking the lane, in case the escapees ran back to our yard and then tried to
head out down the drive. When she went out back with a lead rope, Zorro
walked right up to her and she put the rope around his head and lead him
back. Amiga let me walk up to her, but Joe was distracting her with
some grain.
Finally having the scoundrels caught, we decided to work and ride them. Zorro has lost so much weight that his girth could not be tighten enough to keep the saddle from slipping, so Courtney switched to her western saddle.
I got Amiga tacked and ready to go and we joined Courtney in the round pen. We also ventured out into the pasture a little bit. I love how calm and willing Amiga is.
Once done riding, I sat on the back paddock steps and watched the horses who came over to see what I was up to.
Missy kept a watchful eye on me.
Monday morning the pool was cold and I was tireder than usual at Water Lilies, so when I got home, I had a hot cup of tea, laid out in the sun on a lounge chair, and promptly fell asleep, taking a 40 minute nap.
I did, eventually, spend much of the day outside working around the yard. Everything needed a good watering. The temperature was rising, (of course it was the first day of school with students) getting near 90's... more like August. Zorro likes to watch me work in the barn and Brother keeps tabs on both of us.
When trimming some trees, I discovered this stash of eggs by the river birch in the paddock. I wondered why the egg supply was so short lately. 
I weeded and picked produce from the garden before watering it. All of the tomatoes went to Growth Group with me.
Tuesday started out leisurely, but I made a point to get outside early, to work before it got too hot. I trimmed and thinned all the lilacs and sand cherry, getting this rather full wheel
barrow load. The day was heating up
quickly and the cows had already come in off the back pasture seeking water and shade.During the heat of the day I came in and read, finally finishing the novel I had started while on vacation in July. I also got Kaysha brushed well and her ears cleaned.
Joe did some weed whacking when he first got home and then together we moved the fence that divides the paddock. The horses have been scratching up their neck and faces (on the wood shed I believe) so I wanted to move fence so they can't get hurt.
Once done, they have a little more pasture, that will soon become dry lot, but only with this river birch fencing as an obstacle. There is much less trouble for them to get into.
However, the cows then needed to be kept on the back pasture while the horses are in the paddock. Deciding to keep the horses out all night, I set up the water tub for the cows. Stew knocked it over, spilling all its contents three times, before I could get it to stay put even as he tried to push it over. I was very mad at him during the process and told Joe it was time to take Stew to market.
Taking a break from hauling buckets of water to the black tub, I watched Roni graze as the sun set behind him. Noticing some thistle going to seed I made a mental note to work on that later. Always plenty to do around here.
The sun set to the west... as the moon rose to the east. It was a blue moon, not the second this month, but the 4th this season (summer).
Before bed, Joe told me about the architect house being dropped in price. It is one of the properties I really like, in spite of it's drawbacks. So I fell asleep with it on my mind and woke several times thinking about it. Finally at 4am Wednesday I got up, worked here for a few hours and then took a one hour nap before Water Lilies.
When I got home from the pool, I went straight outside to work more on trimming. I took care of the three pine and the prairie willow in the paddock. I also weeded out lots of thistle.The horses did fine outside all night, and when I brought them into the barn before noon, no one had new scratches. They were ready for their late "breakfast" and the shade of the barn. The cows were antsy and wanted shade and water so I herded them to the corn crib, moving one temporary fence post to keep them on the west side of the paddock where they could get to grass, the 100 gallon trough and the corn crib.
My late lunch break was spent in the cool of the house (I turned on the air conditioning) watching a Love It or List It and folding laundry. When Joe arrived home I worked on draining and cleaning the stock tank. It is a two-man job to move it. Once filled, it looked nice enough to jump in... but I resisted. 
We ate an early, light super and then went to the LeRoy Fall Festival to have ice cream, walk around and listen to the band. There was no desire to ride any of the torture devices for thrills.
The sun set as the gospel singers entertained us. I had bumped into several Water Lilies, and realized how nice it is to have these friends.
Thursday morning there was no need to get out to the barn early because no horses were in it. It was misting or the heavy fog was dripping and I was hoping it would rain. We really need precipitation. I worked most of the morning compiling a list of houses to look at over Labor Day weekend and questions to ask about each. Our Fairfield Glade realtor retired so we have a new guy. I e-mailed him to make sure we are all on the same page.
Just before noon, I went out to work with and ride Amiga. Zorro and Roni watched us in the round pen from their stalls. Amiga's stop and back still need a lot of practice, but her gaiting is very nice.
I took her over to Beck's and we rode through some corn alleys and around on the grass paths. She was calm and confident the whole time, but twice her back leg slipped or buckled or something... makes me a little concerned.
The wind picked up, temperature dropped and clouds rolled in. Looked like a storm was coming, and it was time to head home anyway.
After I had Amiga un-tacked, I tried to work on trailering. She was not very willing. I think with the wind and trailer rattling, it made her a little nervous. After working to get her to walk up and look into the trailer, I rewarded her for putting her two front feet on and then took her to the barn. It sprinkled for a minute, but never did rain.
Joe and I went back to the festival in LeRoy to eat dinner, a yummy pork chop sandwich, and listen to a show choir. I took Kaysha for a long walk at Beck's before bed. And I prayed for patience as I wait on God's timing for the buying and selling of our home and the sale of Roni.
Friday started out quite foggy. Stew had not completely knocked over the water tub, but it was almost empty. Maybe he knocked it around looking for more water. And it looks like my camera lens has even more stuff on it now. I am not sure what I want to do about either of these problems.
The sun was quick to burn off the fog and it was already warming up as I headed to my 8:00 pool time. I spent the bulk of my morning, after water exercising, doing more
research on perspective homes. I continued to battle with Stew over the
issue of keeping the water tub upright. And the rest of the day just zipped by. 
Speaking of zipping by, this crop duster was really getting close, and appeared to be going quite fast at ground level. With each passing day this week, it has been getting hotter and drier. So I gave everything a good watering. I let the sprinkler run gently by the chicken coop peach tree so that the peaches will get bigger and juicier as they ripen. The robins where singing with delight... moist ground.
Late in the day, Brother came to sit by me on a bench in the yard. When Abbey came over too... he got down and went to chill out by her.
Hercules was quick to come over and intimidate Brother... and then when Brother came back over to me for protection, Hercules was in hot pursuit.
We have had a long dry spell (five days off) on showing the house. It has been a nice intermission but it will be back to work Saturday morning in preparation for an afternoon house showing.
In the meantime, Joe is off at his monthly poker tournament and I am going to take Kaysha to LeRoy to walk and then sit at the festival to listen to another band. And I may just buy me some more ice cream. :-)
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