Sunday, August 21

Today I am grateful for;

I was able to change the tires on the garden cart. The original tires had air-filled tires that no longer held air. Quite a while ago, we bought solid tires, and somehow they never got put on, so I managed to do that today.

Then I used the cart to haul some big rocks that had been stacked around the tree, where I cleared out that space the other day. I took them to the rock pile I have for the goats in their pen.

I tried pulling more weeds but I didn't get very far with that.

I talked with Trainwreck sister, and she was in a rare decent mood.

An update about Sister S is that she is still in the hospital, groggy, but doing okay. She is likely on a lot of pain medication.

I went to see River, and another horse had torn off his fly mask and damaged it. The fly mask that I just bought. I guess I will try to fix it.

River was tired, of course. I think you can safely assume that if I am posting in the summer, he will be tired.

He did well on our Liberty/groundwork, and I rode with just the neck rope. He was making good circles, but again only at the walk. At the trot, he kept thinking that my leg signal to turn was a signal to canter, and I kept checking to make sure my leg wasn't too far back, but it was fine. Sigh.

In general, I am tired of there being so many weeds. It's partly my fault because I don't want to use chemicals.

There are huge Canada thistles all around the house, because of the bare dirt from construction. I am supposed to clear those weeds, and mulch everywhere. It is an enormous area, and it really weighs on me that I can't seem to do enough to actually accomplish anything. Every day, I need to be pulling weeds.

I am TIRED of pulling weeds.

Today I learned that researchers in Botswana ran an experiment to reduce lion attacks in cows. They painted large eyes on the cow backsides. After several years, they showed fewer (zero) attacks on the eye-butt cows vs unpainted cows (15).

npr.org/2020/0...

Monday, August 22

Today I am grateful for:

Another hot summer day. Not too humid.

The contractor and his wife worked today in the basement. It interrupted my sleep, but not too badly.

What I don't appreciate, is that the contractor feels the need to comment on my sleep pattern. I have already given him a chance a few days ago to satisfy his curiosity about it, and I made it clear that it is just the way I am, not an illness or a horrible burden, just how I am.

Today though, he had to remark upon it again, as if he really didn't believe me the first time. Like, wow, you really DO get up in the afternoon! This gets old pretty fast.

I spent a big chunk of the day trying to make more decisions about exterior doors, and connecting with my husband about the options.

It is a surprisingly fraught thing, to make decisions about things like doors and windows, because you will be stuck with those choices for quite some time.

Then I decided to just go kayaking with Roxy. I feel like I barely get to do pleasant things anymore, and there is always the pressure to PULL MORE WEEDS or SAND MORE DRYWALL, and I feel like my whole life is trying to get things done.

It was a beautiful evening, not a lot of wind, no bugs out on the water, and I am very glad we went. Roxy loves being in the kayak, she usually falls asleep at some point. I love how quiet it was out there, just us and the birds, some distant sounds but not much.

There is almost never anyone else out on the water, and I never understood that. Does no one else kayak or canoe on smaller lakes? It is very enjoyable, because there are no motor craft allowed here.

When I came home, my Sweetie and I were finally able to sit down and look at the same sites and look at door options together. We settled on an idea, and we just need some estimates.

I want to open up a giant can of worms, if anyone is up for a civil conversation. What do you think about legalizing the sex trade?

Today I learned about Pheasant Island, a tiny, uninhabited island that is jointly owned by France and Spain, and for six months it is run by France, and for six months it is run by Spain.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pheasant_Island?q=Pheasant+Island&_ext=EiQp4Kt8JOCrRUAxgD9cNLc%2F%2FL854Kt8JOCrRUBBgD9cNLc%2F%2FL8%3D