Slow Go, But Soon

Now, The Weather

I hope to get on a horse before the end of the week but two things have to come together.

First is the weather. Rain is predicted on Wednesday, which was the first choice day on my list.

Second is that I need a fellow horseperson here to help out. I'm pretty confident all will go well, but one more person here to hold my horse and just be there "in case," is important.

Chris who has been helping me with Chance's hoof will be going on an endurance ride at the end of the week, so she will not be here. Stacie, is, thankfully, pretty busy with her saddle fittings and sales, so I am not sure she can help out.  I have another option left, but I'll wait to see how the weather changes play out.

My right knee is still moderately swollen and does get more stiff after I exercise, so I am not quite ready to leap into the saddle, but at the same time I am eager to see how it all feels after so long.

Chance is still a bit lame but so much better. We've had no clear evidence that an abscess has popped, but as I recall from the last time he had a sore hoof--front one--it was never quite clear where it finally resolved itself.  I was hoping to ride him first, but Toby may get the questionable "honor."  Tucker would actually be the easiest to get on as the new mounting block suits his height--kind of just a "step into the saddle on a 17 h horse."  But he is not the most reliable mount for "beginners" like me. *lol*

Chris's wonderful husband, Larry, put new fence rails at the end of my riding arena where Tucker smashed everything.  Now, I have to go out and poo pick, cut the grass that's grown up in there since I haven't ridden in so long, and then drag the sand.  I discovered that the Kubota tractor is not quite as high a step up as I thought and with just a little extra effort, I'm pretty sure I can get on and off it enough to do some quality work with it.  To tell the truth, that tractor has turned out to be one the best investments I ever made for my little farm.

My car? Two bad ignition coils and many hundreds of dollars later cleared one of the "check engine codes."  The other one, a bad thermostat, needs to wait. The bank account could not handle the full repair estimate.

Then, in a fit of genius, I headed over to the school where I taught to see the auto mechanics teacher about the whole situation. Good news, bad news. His students can and will change the thermostat and flush my cooling system. It will only cost the price of parts. The bad? They could have changed the coils as well, saving me at least half of what I paid--no labor charge, just parts. *sigh*

The only reason I went to the professional garage first is that last time I had a "check engine" light the school shop tried to fix it, but their diagnostics found an issue too complex for them to deal with at that point. Now, I'm kind of kicking myself for not going there first.

Then again, there is the plus that the coil work has a warranty on it and it's kind of a big ignition deal, so that might be worth it.  I will drive the truck for now for most of my errands, just to be safe since the car might overheat, and take the car to school next week.

Strange how after being retired for just over two years now, I had already forgotten the huge benefits of working in a vocational school where I could get so many jobs done for so little money. I have to reconnect my brain to the whole situation.

I did have a nice visit at the school with a few old friends, but already, most of the rooms I passed had new teachers and I only saw one student who knew who I was.  That ties the school with the shopping mall across the ball field where I ran into another graduation student who is getting married and was helping her mother select a "mother of the bride" dress.

One for one. Fun day, even if it was more expensive than it could have been.