family – The Hermits' Rest

Where Are You Going?

There’s an old sappy song going through my head right now.

Where are you going, my little one, little one?
Where are you going, my baby, my own?
Turn around and you’re two – turn around and you’re four
Turn around and you’re a young child going out of the door.

It came up when I was watching my friend Ellie, who’s going to have her second baby next month. I met her when she just started college, and now she’s got a career and beautiful family. I’m so happy to have watched her grow and mature over the years.

And to see Ellie and her husband, Jimmy, with their older daughter just warms my heart. They’ve done a great job raising a polite, intelligent, and charming little girl. I enjoyed spending time with her, drawing, problem solving her strange pen, and trying out the child’s binoculars I got her. The binoculars came with a whistle. She really liked the whistle.

Lord of the Rings themed decor. Baby Charles Christopher has a LOTR mural in his room.

Ruby can even read already! My heart burst from pent-up love, I guess. I don’t know how I’d cope if I had grandchildren and could see them all the time. To get to watch the child of your own children grow up is a real privilege. (I respect my children’s decision not to reproduce, so I’m glad to have bonus grandchildren.)

I want those hair things. I didn’t want to share Ruby’s face, but you can see her hair! That’s what mine looked like—same color and curls.

I also made a new friend and got two new friends on my Finch app. All in all, I had a good day, and didn’t mind one bit driving to Round Rock in the rain. Yes! We got 1.8”! The ponds filled. Joy!

Sure, I’ve Changed since Covid

How have you adapted to the changes brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic?

Since I’m avoiding telling other people’s stories and not much is going on with me, I welcomed this question. It gave me a chance to evaluate what’s changed, my struggles to adapt, and the positive and negative results.

I found one sad, small wine cup today. Usually we have quite a few. Hope the prediction of rain soon is correct.

Positive: the people we were staying with and became our “pod” are still with us much of the time. We have gone through significant ups and downs, misunderstandings, illnesses, and job changes, but we now support each other and have learned to deal with each other’s idiosyncrasies. There are a lot of idiosyncrasies to go around, but the fact that we’ve made it through a series of pretty impressive challenges and remain supportive says a lot about me, Lee, Kathleen, and Chris. We’ve done a lot of growing and changing for the better.

Another positive that didn’t feel that way at the time is that I finally figured out how to lose my conception of what was happening in my life and keep living in the moment rather than dwelling on the losses. There was a period when I realized friendships and family relationships weren’t what I thought they were. That hurt. And thanks to Covid I lost my beautiful workspace I’d put so much effort into and didn’t get to fully enjoy living in Austin in my beautiful house. I had to leave by the time we were no longer masked and distant.

But I got through it all. It may not have been pretty, and my heart broke and rebroke, but I came out so much stronger and more resilient. I have a much more accurate perspective on the people around me, friends, colleagues, and society.

Covid truly taught me that attaining personal growth, gaining wisdom, and developing inner strength is a journey that does not end. I’m better prepared now, though.

A negative is that I’m still not comfortable being in large groups where people might cough all over me. It doesn’t help that the only time I actually got the disease was after flying to a vacation. I have to fly again week after next. I have come to terms with the fact that there are germs out there. I do still have to live my life (and symptoms of the virus I got when I went to that event recently are finally almost gone).

Covid has kept me and Lee even more hermit-like, though I do a few things, still! And Lee goes grocery shopping where there are many people, something I avoid these days.

My favorite positive to come out of COVID is that I don’t have to commute to work and can stay here at the Hermits’ Rest or even work from campsites. At first I really missed being with coworkers, but now I’m so happy that I can be home where it’s less distracting (other than dogs) and work with so many people around the world. Thank goodness for online meetings! And when I quit, I can go hug a turkey, pet a horse, or go for a hike.

I think my life changed for the better, even considering the downsides. I’m sure a lot less anxious (as long as I do deep breathing during the news).

Happy April! Here’s 1/3 of the year’s temperature blanket, featuring the hottest March ever.

What’s Good?

It’s not totally rosy here at the land of hermits. But it’s never all bad. Today we focused on being a kind and supportive family. That’s good!

Other good stuff? I found more new wildflowers and many blossoms popping up. Such brave and hardy things they are.

And I got to wish my ever-youthful step-sister a happy birthday, only wishing I’d been there to share an old fashioned with her and her family.

Hmm…I must say this blanket project is pretty! That’s my final good thing.

Go hug your loved ones.

Hanging Out

My throat is still annoying and my nose is runny but I didn’t feel too awful today. I was able to go for a pretty good walk this morning and found some new wildflowers have popped up.

I also enjoyed lots of butterflies, even though our fields that are usually covered with a variety of flowers are heavy on the false dandelions.

I enjoyed spotting interesting things on the roadside other than trash that I picked up. There were some bursts of color and hidden beauty.

The horses are searching for green grass, bless their hearts. It’s way early for the soil to start cracking, but it is.

But HA! The skeet shooters didn’t stop the bluebonnets from blooming when they mowed the field. Yay!

Most of the day I relaxed and crocheted (a whole row of the wool blanket!) while chatting with Kathleen. We told stories, watched weird television shows, and spent time talking to the horses. Both our husbands were off working (Lee is in a writing groove upstairs and hasn’t been coming down much), so we filled the afternoon with conversation. It was a pleasant and stress-free interval of hanging out and recuperating! The big thrill was getting into her car and visiting the latest KCC Construction project and enjoying a Dairy Queen treat. That’s the best we could do for excitement, but it was good enough and kept our spirits up.

I’m sure these ladies were jealous of our fun.

My hope is that I’ve built enough strength to get my paid and volunteer work done next week and Kathleen has enough strength for all her doctor visits. It may be a challenging week.

Truly Enjoyable Day

Every so often you get to enjoy a whole day where there’s peace, beauty, fun, humor, and a little accomplishment thrown in. Today was such a day. Why was it so good?

Walking! I didn’t walk all that far today, but I enjoyed it. On my first walk I noticed all the grass and such is already crunchy and brown thanks to scant rain and that freeze a week ago. But there were white evening primroses, which are even more delicate than their normal pink friends.

These are just pale versions of pink evening primroses, not a different species.

Later in the afternoon I went out again with Kathleen, since walking is helping her recuperation. I showed her how big the puffball mushroom in the front field has gotten, and we found a thick patch of verbena next to the rye crop across the road. Apache would sure love that field.

Calves! There are many cow-calf pairs in the field behind us right now. The babies are getting more adventurous and frisky, which is always entertaining. I love the brave and curious ones who try to get the dogs to play. This one with the white spot had a lot of fun with Penney and let me talk to her a while.

Crafts! We watched some television this afternoon and evening, which gave me time to work on my patchwork blanket. I got through all but one square on the fourth row. It looks pretty cute. I have some ideas for it once I join all the squares.

Funny things! I have two funny things to share. First happened yesterday. I went to the birding hut to re-start Merlin after it had been running a while. I wanted to write down the new species in my notebook but I couldn’t open it. That was odd. I finally peeled the pages apart, and I really perturbed a bold jumping spider who had managed to build a web nest in the book in just over an hour! I encouraged her to relocate.

Second story was from today. When we went to feed the poultry, I once again found no eggs in the boxes. You could see someone had been sitting in them. But none were chosen for egg laying.

You may remember that last week Kathleen cleaned the henhouse. New pine shavings were put in the boxes and on the floor.

Before we went to the horses, I got a notion and had Kathleen wait while I checked something. Sure enough, there were four eggs in the old nest boxes we still have up for when we get new hens. I guess Cindy and Cathy don’t like the pine shavings. I’ll have to get them some straw. No photo because (gasp!) I left my phone in the house!

We prefer the little nest boxes, with no nesting material.

Well, okay, Cochins. Lay wherever you want to.

Blowing Away

The weather was pretty weird today. Low in the 50s, high in the 90s, and so much wind! If I ever complained about the wind before, I was being wimpy. This wind is not a gale but is pretty close. All our poor new porch plants are getting buffeted.

Of course we got all these new plants, only to realize that it is getting cold again tomorrow, maybe a freeze. I guess it all gets to come back in tomorrow. Sigh.

While the wind has been annoying, it’s otherwise been a beautiful weekend full of getting things done at home. Yesterday the chicken house got all cleaned out. That was about time! Kathleen had a fancy mask so she didn’t get sick like I did the time I did it by myself.

The turkeys were not happy with all that stuff going on. Darryl Junior was all puffed up and glowing in turkey colors.

Today I’d hoped to spend lots of time with the horses. They were so lovely out in the field this morning that I wanted to make them prettier.

It wasn’t so windy but still too windy to do the flower photography I’d hoped to do.

Kathleen and I did the best we could, but she wasn’t feeling well and I got overheated. So, Mabel got nothing and Apache just got a little currying. Spice really needed grooming and was so grateful for the attention that she kept nuzzling me. I even gave her a little workout that she seemed to enjoy. She’s a very good horse and so well trained. I’ve enjoyed having her with us.

I also managed to get Drew all shiny and pretty. He still has stains from rolling in poop, but he’s already starting to get shiny. He’s much whiter now, and even his mane is lighter. Now that we are working with him more, he’s behaving very well. I’m glad he’s still here.

Kathleen got Dusty looking most excellent, too. She’s giving him some new supplements that even have his hair shiny. And we think he’s putting weight back on. What a lucky old man he is.

You can see the wind blowing everyone’s tails in the photos.

Okay, back to the wind. We went to eat with friends tonight and noticed the sky was so weird. There was so much dust in the air that you couldn’t see the clouds or sun. It was eerie.

Photo out the car window doesn’t do it justice.

The wind gave me time to get some reading done as well as some nice family time. I hope there isn’t too much damage. Stuff is really blowing around and we saw pieces of metal lying around and downed tree limbs on our drive to and from the restaurant.

It was a good weekend, even if I didn’t do all I’d hoped to.

Enjoying Potential Dangers

Not much went on today, since it’s my busy work day and we had a reasonable amount of rain. Wish it were a bit more.

The colors are so vivid after the browns of winter.

There’s been a bit of danger this week. Harvey got bitten by a snake and swelled up. Then when he was all numb and swollen he managed to bite through his lip. As if having a bad liver, going deaf, and dealing with stroke after effects wasn’t enough! He is healing though.

And today when we were walking my horses (we alternate between Kathleen’s and mine, apparently), I was trying to convince Apache that cantering in mud isn’t smart, when Drew erupted and started jumping and acting afraid. Apparently it was his first snake encounter, because he was really scared. Kathleen did a great job holding on and settling him back down, but that was enough danger for us. You’d think Drew would have seen snakes in the pasture or pens before. I certainly have.

It was a beautiful day to make a hasty retreat (Kathleen IS in the photo, but the bulky gelding is blocking her).

Still, it is always good to see that we can help the horses out, and as a bonus Kathleen didn’t get bitten. Maybe the tide has turned and she’s not a magnet for venomous creatures anymore!

It was raining all around us, and thundering. More danger!

Need proof that we had enough rain to make mud? Look no further than Muddy Mabel. She was gleaming and clean yesterday.

I hope she rolls in some dewy grass tomorrow and cleans some of her mane.

Other excitement of the non dangerous type? Today was Lee’s birthday. We are the same age again, whew. I hate those 6 days when we’re a year apart. He got mini Bundt cakes and a banana pudding cake, which we all enjoyed. I still like lemon the best.

Well, off to see what happens tomorrow.

Funny? Weird? Fun? Today Was All That

Where to start? First, I laughed SO hard yesterday at my dear cousin, who was kind enough to call and wish me happy birthday. The problem was that she wished me a happy 67th birthday. No, I correct, I’m 68. You can’t be, she exclaimed, because I’m older than you and will be 68 in November. No, you turned 68 last November. Now, we have known each other since infancy and can’t figure out how old we are. Finally I brought up an age calculator and asked it how old I was. It said 68. My cousin wailed that she had lost a year. That was so dang funny.

Also funny. The hopeful looks on these two faces as Dusty’s morning food was being prepared. They can’t believe he eats and they don’t (we have a new fattening up Dusty campaign and he eats feed twice a day)

Now for the weird. Kathleen spent all day today cleaning the tack room as only a Kathleen who’s feeling better can clean. When she has energy, she really has it. There’s a distinct lack of mouse and rat poop in the room now.

But, she discovered weird/icky things in her deep cleaning. First, Tipper has created a litter box area under a chair, sans litter box. So, suckers that we are, we’re getting the cat a litter box. And food. And water.

The tack area also sparkles. I wanted to take the ribbons down because they remind me of Tarrin, but Kathleen said I worked hard for them and should keep them out. Okay.

But what was weird was what she found under the desk. It was someone else’s poop! Our best guess is a raccoon, which it kind of resembles. But we aren’t sure. Guesses?

Maybe Vlassic? But why? He has many acres to poop in.

Another weird thing happened at work. My colleague and I were trying out all the possible voices to use in a web-based training I’m making (so they won’t have to rely on my voice after I’m gone). We found one that sounds quite real. It’s so real that I think it’s Captain Ake from Star Fleet Academy (Holly Hunter). Of course we chose her so I can chuckle as I hear Ake talking about project management software.

Now for the fun part. My friend, Melanie invited me to share wine and a cheese board with her after work. We had fun picking out cheese from Wisconsin, “the cheese capital of the US.” Then we got a lesson in the use of cheese utensils from the shop owner, who plans to give classes. It all made us laugh.

The “interesting” wrapper of one cheese.

It was lots of fun sipping prosecco and munching on snacks. I learned a lot about the history of this county (in sum, everyone really IS related) and got to chat with a few other women who were there. It was a great way to end my extended birthday, and everyone else got barbecue for dinner, so they didn’t miss me at all!

I will now snuggle into my side of the bed just like my sleeping partner (Lee has Penney in his sleeping chair)

Sixty-eight Feels Great

I think I’ve gained five pounds tonight, but it was sure fun! In fact, I woke up with a good mood and it lasted all day, which is an atypical way for me to spend a birthday.

Usually I set expectations low for these yearly events. I’m awful at doing things for other people on their birthday, and don’t expect anything for mine. But today I knew I was getting this great meal and Lee had brought me all those plants yesterday, so I was happy as I could be.

Forgot to show the fancy ginger plant yesterday.

I had to do a webinar this morning, but I was prepared and it all went fine. I even edited the recording, uploaded it, and shared it before lunchtime. What a worker, huh? That efficiency enabled me to take a nice walk at lunchtime, where I had a great time photographing all the new wildflowers. They were another gift!

The rest of the work day featured writing and writing, then problem-solving with my peers. A good challenge makes the day go faster! See, I really was in an uncharacteristically good mood.

Cheerful double dianthus blossom. Cultivar.

It was indeed a pleasure to get to run out and play with the animals after work. After feeding and exercising horses, Kathleen and I walked Dusty and Apache around the horse trails (newly mowed). Both behaved very well and seemed to have as much fun as we did. It’s ice to see Dusty getting out.

Yep, fun day. It was made more fun by all the nice people who texted, called, posted on Facebook, and otherwise sent kind birthday greetings. It’s always a highlight to hear from people I’ve know from all my wild and crazy (and boring and bitchy) stages of my life. I just kept smiling and having great memories.

I feel like I’ve crawled out of a deep hole and glimpsed the sun. Sure, I may have to duck back down, but having fewer concerns weighing on my mind is a welcome respite.

Yellow flowers always bring a smile, even simple wood sorrel.

Whatever you were doing today, I hope it had moments that made you smile.

It’s Called Hump Day for a Reason

Wednesday doesn’t get a lot of love. Wednesday’s child is full of woe, you know (I was born on a Wednesday). And it’s hump day. Supposedly that’s because it’s halfway through the work week, but for me today, it was more like today was a giant hump I had to pull myself over.

I’m tired now, but I feel accomplished. I started my new job role and I think I know what I’m supposed to do, kind of. After that, it was meeting after meeting, which made it hard to get writing done. But much learning and teaching was done as I slogged up that giant hump.

Sliding down the Wednesday hump was more fun than expected. I had fun with the horses and even got Fiona sort of clean. It was obvious that we had a few rain sprinkles, because both Apache and Mabel had droplet marks on their coats. I wish I had a picture!

Nope, the only picture you get is an owl pellet or something. No, my consultants say it’s a mummified rat. Fun things found in the garage.

Lee had to go to Austin today and stopped by a nursery and got me some plants! That’s when I was certain I was over the Wednesday hump. Our porch and patio will look great with the new greenery.

I’m looking forward to tomorrow. I get a cake! And lasagna! Simple things make me happy.

Here’s February in the temperature blanket for 2026. Got through the month with no orange! (Today was orange—over 85°)

PS: I awoke this morning to good election news. That hadn’t happened in a long time! Good primary here.