errands – The Hermits' Rest

Yes, I can. Today a lot got done around the house, and some of it was by me! I can dig that. I managed to go to the #1 Cameron meeting place, the bakery, and not be late. That’s because I mis-remembered the meeting time. So I got to talk to all the employees and other friends while I waited for Mike and Martha. We discussed our upcoming trip to Ruidoso (for longer this time).

My view as I waited. There’s a kid quietly playing in the kid area. A nice change of pace.

I steeled myself to be cheerful and positive as I did all the errands I was too slothful to do last week. I paid more for gas today than I ever have in my life. For some reason that inspired me to give the random sad-looking person sitting outside the station the change from buying my soda. Maybe it balanced out my irritation at the gas prices.

The first cheerful sight today was three Great Egrets all at once. That’s unusual here.

On my way to Tractor Supply to get animal feed in Rockdale, I passed all my favorite political candidates and waved. I also noted yard signs and a billboard. Wow! That cheered me up enough to enjoy the folks at Tractor Supply even when I had to wait to get loading help (I have tweaked my back). I got a shirt that says “Positive Vibes” to commemorate my improved mood. ) I could dig that, too!

Next I headed to the pharmacy, because I couldn’t drag myself over there to pick up a prescription before it expired. The bonus was my expensive prescription my insurance won’t pay was also ready. AND they had time to vaccinate me for flu and COVID, which we elders need. The new pharmacist is a very sweet young man who’s fun to talk to. He has a button earring. It’s so cute. I’m glad one of the new pharmacists is nice, since my favorite one finally escaped (I’m going into all this detail to show I made an effort to be a good influence in the world today.)

There was actual digging at the ranch today! The next phase of our water retention setup got into motion. It was great to see our ancient backhoe finally fixed and back at work! It’s more than a lawn ornament!

The dirt has to be dug away to build the foundation for the water tank next to the house, as well as pumps and filters. It was interesting to be reminded just how much dirt we brought in to create our foundation and get the drainage right. The black at the bottom of the reddish fill is the black land clay.

The white pipe is the sewer line that must move.

All went well with the digging except the sewer line out of our bathrooms got nicked. It was going to have to be moved anyway, it turns out. I’m relieved to report it’s fixed enough to work until the line gets moved into its new position.

There’s a lot of precise measurement required to do all the digging correctly, and I’m really impressed that the huge machine can be made to do such fine work. We’re lucky to have a resident tractor ballet expert at our house!He can dig it, very well!

What did Lee and I do during all the digging? We’ve been watching Lee’s favorite YouTube channel, which is a guy in Canada who does bookbinding. (Find the videos under Four Keys Book Arts.) What a complex process that is! The guy has a very pleasant demeanor, so calm and relaxed that you almost miss his puns.

Three books the guy bound for the author Andy Weir. The video series was called Project Hail Andy.

My favorite parts are when he does paper marbling and leather tooling, but it’s all more interesting than you might expect. I do think it’s funny that we’ve turned into people who spend their weekends watching stuff like this, but it’s certainly less stressful than the news.

And I can dig that!

I know I’m getting pretty dull, you’ve noticed, judging from my sad stats and lack of comments. But hey, that’s not stopping me from my relentless blogging. I’m pretty pleased by the lack of drama in my little world (as opposed to outside of my hermitage).

But look! A frog! *Lithobates sphenocephalus*

Yesterday’s drama with Big Mabel seems to be resolving. Once Tarrin looked at the video I sent her, she put together what the symptoms meant: Mabel wasn’t eating and was pawing at food because an adverse reaction to a vaccine made her unable to lower her head! Poor horse!

The Gang of Three were not amused. Mabel is the big one.

This morning I fed everyone early so I could test out the theory that she’d eat if the food was higher. See for yourself.

Thank goodness! After a day on hay only, my ribs were starting to show!

She ate her food, the food Fiona rejected, and Apache’s leftovers, which I held up for her. I did notice she could put her head almost to the ground, so she improved. Fiona was grazing on the edges of the pen, so I felt good about her, too. They all had good times the rest of the day, helping Mabel find stuff to eat other than the three hay bags I put out.

Greenbrier shoots. Taste like asparagus.

A busy weekend is afoot. Tomorrow is horse stuff, as Drew gets to meet a new human and the herd gets a new member. You’ll have to check back tomorrow for details!

Meanwhile, you can ponder what the back of this tanker truck means.

After that I set out Sunday for another visit to Hilton Head, though without any fun sisters. Boo hoo. I’m glad Kathleen is back and able to help with horse stuff. I dread flying. I don’t want COVID again.

We did do exciting errands this afternoon. I returned my underperforming Viasat satellite receiver and got more horse food. The reward was going through the fancy new Buc-ees car wash. It has that dang beaver all over it.