7-29-03: Twilight, Stars & Cicadas

Tuesday, July 29 2003

10:47pm

10:58pm   Guess I spaced out there for a while….
Well, another day in the life of country bumpkins… 

7am I got up to let the dogs out. It was a pretty morning so I went out to the chickens and found that Creamsicle had popped out an egg – glad she’s producing again. I went back to bed to snuggle.

‘Keith’ from USI called & said he’d be by @ 10am. (Kontor business) so we were just poking around the house when David noticed that Sam was grazing in the front yard. David went out to the barn, and Sam went in the small door all by himself – turns out the latch on his stall had “come undone”. It was closed when I went out to the chickens, but I hadn’t noticed the lock. I managed to get ‘Beanie’ back in the yard as she was trotting on the road looking for a way back into the field. All’s well that ends well.

After the meeting with Keith (who, by the way, has cast a spell on David that makes him chatty and willing to do guided tours) we headed to the office and continued painting. Worked there until 5:00pm, then headed home.

Had chips & salsa & beer, then outside to continue yesterday’s projects (greenhouse posts…..).  Made egg salad sandwiches for dinner.

Candles in the potting shed. Horses/twilight/stars/cicadas.


End of Entry

7-28-03: All THAT After Dinner?

Monday, July 28 2003

11:20am    In the Volvo, on our way to “the office” to paint and do misc cleanup. Had a four-egg home chicken omelet this morning.

*Have to stop now & help a guy get a tree top out of the road! (windstorm damage). On 49 before turn to 19.

Well, that was interesting. Mostly rotted, scattered branches. Anyhoo, back on the road.

Spent most of the weekend outside. Saturday, David mowed for hours and got everything done. I did my garden tending and weeding.

Sunflowers in the driveway garden

Potting shed work bench and window to the east

Potting bench shelves

Did some 'social work' on Saturday by calling Karen W. to plan a Michigan visit and/or camping – decided on late August. We’ll probably see each other in Cleveland @ the 10th since she & Wells will be here on business.

I hope to see Leslie in her triathalon on the morning of the 10th. I talked to her Sat. also, and heard about the latest developments in their remodeling. She wants us to offer advice and some planning, both of which we dispense freely.

Almost to the office now, so I’ll tell the horse story later.

3:15    Taking a break, now at the Taco Bell drive through window. We’ve been cleaning & painting and doing a damn good job!

6:40pm    We’re home now, and I’m making spaghetti. The dogs got their dinner first, of course.

10:11pm    Finally down for the night. *After dinner we both went outside. I communed with the chickens, scooped horse manure, turned the compost pike, and packed up 3 boxes of the daffodil bulbs I dug up yesterday. David did some work on the floating fountain, and then started putting in the posts for the greenhouse.

Other happenings these past couple of days: I gave the plant bed next to the corral a major weeding, and dug up @ a thousand daffodil bulbs. Worked with Tessa on some remedial obedience. Baked oatmeal raisin cookies.

Oh, the horse story – on Saturday David was fixing a board on the corral that “Beanie” keeps knocking loose. He had accidentally not latched the gate into the chute that goes to the North field, and Sam was feeling frisky so he trotted right on through. He didn’t get far because the dogs barked through the fence and startled him into turning around. I was able to walk up to him and lead him back through the gate.

The whole thing was pretty funny. One reason Sam was worked up is that David and I had been tromping through “his” field, surveying it for the possible future purchase. It needs some fence work.

*After dinner:  Okay, here in 2014, this paragraph blows my mind. Where, where, WHERE did we get the energy? We must have looked like crazy people working all the time.

End of Entry

7-25-03: Tangential Daydreams

Friday, July 25 2003

8:01 am   Very sleepy. Just woke up. Decided to start getting up earlier and making the days long enough to get all our projects done. The birds are doing their thing outside my window but at a lower decibel than spring. Nothing too eventful the last couple days.

Wednesday the weather was still gray. Went to town (Galion) for a few business setup things, bank, insurance. I hung out in “the office” and measured this & that while David was in the bank. Later we stood inside our biz-to-be and envisioned placement of counters, shelving and copiers. Lots of cleaning and painting to be done.

Also, went to JC Penneys for a big sale – bought bathroom rug, towels, shower curtain for the downstairs bathroom, and some sheets & stuff for the bedroom. Spent a lot, saved a lot.

Ribs & garden potatoes & salad for dinner.

Yesterday morning David went out again on business while I putzed in the garden. When he came back, we took off on the Gold Wing to Mt Gilead to get it licensed. Nice weather for a change, and the scenery was great as usual. Later that day I stayed outside doing yard maintenance and David worked downstairs texturing the walls.

After a Yakisoba dinner, he removed the paneling from the wall behind the air hockey table. Speaking of renovations, I talked to Leslie yesterday and their house addition is going full steam. Roof is on, windows coming today, and on Monday her exterior kitchen wall will be removed. She said she may need our advice on a few things… 

We want to see the project, and we’re full of advice on this kind of thing. Actually, not so much advice as knowing what questions to ask to find out what a person wants and needs in a design or décor. Especially important for any permanent fixture placement.

kaz / pixabay.com

Well, It’s 8:47am now (I’ve been going off on tangential daydreams between paragraphs) and time to get these goofy dogs off the bed so I can get up. I love looking at them even (especially?) when they’re sleeping. It fills me with a warmth and makes me pause to reflect on how their life forces fill the room, the house, and how dull my sense of joy could become without them around.

Kind of a long winded way of saying: I love the doggies!

David is long gone on errands; buying stuff for our variety of projects. He had quite a list, including 15 gal. of paint!. I’ll go outside and weed before it gets too hot, then I must tackle some indoor chores. Oh, yesterday evening I rode my bike around and invited some neighbors to a spaghetti dinner at our house next Friday, Aug. 1st.

So far confirmed: D&K, P (A works late shift), R&H, J (rents trailer on H’s property). Today I”ll get to L&S and M&W. Probably should invite the family of the girl we may use to pet sit. Just need to alter plans for a large group…. Counting us that would be @ 15 people.

Just heard the first cidcada! 90 days to frost!


End of Entry

7-22-03: Nuthin

Tuesday, July 22 2003

10:06 pm

Whole bunch o’ nuthin today. Gray. Dug some potatoes.

End of Entry

7-21-03: Shake & Dive

Monday, July 21 2003

pixabay.com

9:43 pm     Severe lightning & thunder this morning. A couple of very loud strikes made Vince shake & dive for cover. David was up & around but I was still in bed. After the first zap I knew I was wise not to look outside because I’d just get more scared.

Turns out we may have had a power surge, but no damage except a blown fuse in the electronic air filter. Computer & misc are on surge protectors. Lots of rain with the storm – good thing we got all our outside stuff done yesterday.


Stayed rainy on & off all day with warm temp @ 70. I used the weather as an excuse to stay inside and bake a cake and made frosting (both chocolate). Did laundry, general house stuff, finished catching up on my soaps then watched today’s episodes 2-4pm. Gen’l Hosp. is so drama packed lately!

We both hot tubbed today (separately)  to ease the aches from yesterday’s bout with manual labor. Haven’t had a double egg day yet from the chickens. I think Creamsicle is on vacation. Dinner was spaghetti, fresh bread, and a salad made from all garden produce: lettuce, carrots, gr. onion, and cucumber.

David went shopping at Sam’s Club and Kroger.



End of Entry

7-20-03: Carry On

Sunday, July 20 2003

10:07pm  After getting home yesterday, we didn’t even change clothes before we started checking things out in the yard. Picked up the mail from [K&D] and chatted a bit. Then a bit later, [H] stopped by (on his mower, not ATV) and filled us in on the general goings-on. Had a salad for “dinner” @ 9:00, and soon after to bed since we’ve missed it so much.

This morning I let the dogs out @ 7am, with the intent to go back to bed, but it was so nice out that instead I took some pictures outside, then had a bowl of cereal in the sunroom.

Flower Garden

Beautiful morning reflections

Actually I was half way through the bowl when I saw Tessa hovering over something – turned out to be her first rabbit kill. A juvenile rabbit, but dead nonetheless. It was cute, small and still warm, so I carried it out to the north field so the food cycle could carry on. Then, since the cereal was soggy, I gathered up the pertinents and started weeding in the veg. garden.

Basically, the whole day was spent outside. I weeded and weed-whacked the veg. garden, back yard and west field garden. David mowed the front yard, back yard, north field paths, and bush hogged the west field. For lunch I made an omelet consisting of our chicken eggs, ham & cheese, and a side of stir-fried garden red potatoes, garden carrot, and garden dill, with a pinch of rosemary from our former home in WA. It was a lovely meal.

At 5:00pm my tired back told me to leave the field garden & go inside, so I did. Took my first real shower in days, then prepared dinner of BBQ chicken breasts, carrot & raisin salad, and noodles w/olive oil & herbs. Pretty good, if I must say. After dinner I made up a dinner menu for the next few weeks & with David’s help prepared a grocery list for tomorrow.

Now I’m in bed, catching up on my soaps via video tape of Gen. Hosp, and Soap Net for OLTL. I scraped all my fingernail polish off with my pocket knife and made a mess on the comforter. Oh well.

I’m so happy about the way the gardens are growing. The wildflower garden in the back yard is very pretty now, with poppies going nuts and so many colors and sizes of plants. The front yard perennial garden is doing okay, but we really need to mulch so the crappy dirt doesn’t keep packing together. Tired now, time for lights out.

Poppies!

End of Entry

7-19-03: Day 10 of Summer Trip_Churchill Downs!

Saturday, July 19 2003

Day 10 of Summer Trip (Louisville, KY)

2:00pm (102349)
Departing James & Tammy J’s house after a BIG day (ok, half a day).

Last night after meeting & greeting & getting the dogs settled, went out to dinner in Louisville to a place the (other) J’s like. Had a good meal in the outdoor patio, with the locals commenting on the pleasant weather due to the low humidity.

I guess we finally brought someone good weather.



After dinner, home to chat & ignore the TV; lively conversation about dogs and dog training. Around 11-ish, to bed, with us downstairs in the finished basement on a pull-out couch supplemented by an air mattress which led to a few comedic moments…

6:am – We got up, dressed, and pre-packed the truck for later departure. Dog duty was easy here because of the fenced yard. At 7:15am, Jamie took David & I (in his Wave 3 TV Truck) to Churchill Downs to watch the early morning exercise----

SHIT! 2:20pm & just realized I left purse & camera behind at the Joslyn’s. David is NOT a happy camper, and I'm pretty mad at me, too. We’re both very quietly mad…

3:06pm – Been back on the road a while, and I think the steam is subsiding, so I’ll just be quiet and finish my recap. So…

-----exercise riders, and walk around the “backside” as the horse people went about their daily tasks. Jamie knew a few people from his video work for a local TV station, and he knew all the ins and outs of the backside and general workout schedule.

The 'backside' of Churchill Downs

David & Jamie in front of Churchill Downs

The famous Twin Spires, 2003

Another view of the Twin Spires

Tina and David at Churchill Downs

Morning workouts at Churchill Downs, 2003
(Thanks Jamie, for setting me up with this shot!)

Churchill Downs was undergoing major renovations  in 2003.

@ 9:30am we went to breakfast at Wagoner’s Pharmacy which according to Jamie is quite popular with the horse people. Some of the big name trainers life Baffert & Lukas can be spotted there, especially around Derby time.

After 10-ish we headed to the Kentucky Derby Museum and were joined by Betty and Sam. Had a wonderful time browsing the gift shop (some pricey Slew posters) and viewing all the exhibits. Saw one of the horse “stand-ins” for Seabiscuit in the soon to be released movie.

After a few hours we were saturated with horse racing info and ready to go. So, back to the house after a brief driving tour of Louisville, rounded up the dogs and everything except my purse & camera, and departed with talk of seeing each other again since we’re only @ 5 hrs. apart.

4:20pm – near Cincinnati, OH – (102468) Fuel & potty stop. $25.68, 19.8gal, 297.8 miles. 

@6:20pm – Near Columbus, took exit and walked & fed dogs by roadside.

7:38pm – (102654) Arrived Home!

End of Entry