Just Thought I'd Post
As summer winds down here in New Jersey the temperatures are starting to moderate. They've been up and down most of August with cloudy days and rain. I have no real excuse for not riding the Boys, except that the flies--the big B52's--have been pretty annoying. The Boys go out to the pasture and gallop back in, even with their fly sheets on.
But, I still could have ridden. Motivation seems to be lacking again at the moment.
Silly. All I ever wanted was to have a horse in the back yard and now that I do, I don't ride. Of course, I am no longer competing, so I don't "have" to ride unless I want to.
But, fall is coming with cooler weather and I will soon need a replacement for my 6-7 day a week swimming routine. I've been working out in the pool nearly every day for up to an hour at a time. I am slowly losing weight, according to plan and feeling rather fit.
Once the pool closes for the summer, my swimming option is 15 miles away at the college pool. If I follow my plan, I'll drive over twice a week unless I am substitute teaching, in which case I will swim after school anyhow. That will leave me five days a week in need of alternate exercise.
Walking is ever an option and I was really good at that prior to swimming season. So I will continue my walking and add riding to the agenda. No plans as to what to do specifically with the Boys, however.
Tucker and I will just pretend to be serious dressage masters. A lot will depend on how he feels physically as he gets more fit. I would like to teach him flying changes, but that's going to take a bit of work and I don't want his hocks to get sore on the process, so we'll just have to see how it all goes.
Chance and I will most like spend most of our time on the trails since we both enjoy it so much. But I do want to get him to a solid first level as that serves as a good foundation for just about everything else I might decide to do with him. I could ride in a show or two with him if I ever feel the urge, so I want him to be able to put in a good test.
Toby will be master of his own schedule. If he wants to go for a ride now and then, so be it. If not, that's just fine too. Either way, he's up for some coddling and cuddling, regardless.
At least I have a plan. It may not be the best, but now that I've written it down, I have to follow it!
Motivation? Here it is, in print.
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Thursday, August 08, 2013
I Have Been to a "Happening!"
Somebody's Lucky!
We have a multi State lottery here in the US called "Powerball." Last night was the drawing for a $480 million prize.
Please note: I did not buy a ticket.
There were two winners from my State of New Jersey. One of them bought the ticket at the local Stop and Shop Supermarket where I shop all the time. It's only about 3 miles from my house.
On the way home from picking up my CSA share I stopped at the market to get some eggs. I was a bit puzzled to see all kinds of TV trucks in the parking lot. Then, on the way in, I met our local newspaper reporter who told me there was going to be a press conference with the lottery people there at the store in about a half hour.
Well, how could I pass up an opportunity to be part of a "happening" like that?
I shopped slowly and then made my way to the cluster of cameras and reporters to witness the event.
The lottery winner has not yet stepped forward, so there was no name on the big check yet. $86 million dollars, cash. After taxes, the winner would end up with about $62 million dollars unless they decided to take the winnings in an annuity over 26 years. The lottery rep who spoke to the press said they advised all winners to talk to financial advisors and making plans before collecting the winnings, so whoever won may not claim the prize for a few days yet.
I'm not sure what I would do after I picked myself up off the floor if I'd won.
The store itself got a check for $30,000 for selling the winning ticket. They are going to donate the money to a local charity.
It was kind of cool watching the whole press conference. I'll have to watch the evening news to see the reports.
The store bakery had made a huge sheet cake to celebrate the win and afterwards, we all got a piece.
I took a nice slice of chocolate cake as my share of the winnings.
I broke my diet, but it was worth it. My "happening" cake was delicious.
We have a multi State lottery here in the US called "Powerball." Last night was the drawing for a $480 million prize.
Please note: I did not buy a ticket.
There were two winners from my State of New Jersey. One of them bought the ticket at the local Stop and Shop Supermarket where I shop all the time. It's only about 3 miles from my house.
On the way home from picking up my CSA share I stopped at the market to get some eggs. I was a bit puzzled to see all kinds of TV trucks in the parking lot. Then, on the way in, I met our local newspaper reporter who told me there was going to be a press conference with the lottery people there at the store in about a half hour.
Well, how could I pass up an opportunity to be part of a "happening" like that?
I shopped slowly and then made my way to the cluster of cameras and reporters to witness the event.
The lottery winner has not yet stepped forward, so there was no name on the big check yet. $86 million dollars, cash. After taxes, the winner would end up with about $62 million dollars unless they decided to take the winnings in an annuity over 26 years. The lottery rep who spoke to the press said they advised all winners to talk to financial advisors and making plans before collecting the winnings, so whoever won may not claim the prize for a few days yet.
I'm not sure what I would do after I picked myself up off the floor if I'd won.
The store itself got a check for $30,000 for selling the winning ticket. They are going to donate the money to a local charity.
It was kind of cool watching the whole press conference. I'll have to watch the evening news to see the reports.
The store bakery had made a huge sheet cake to celebrate the win and afterwards, we all got a piece.
I took a nice slice of chocolate cake as my share of the winnings.
I broke my diet, but it was worth it. My "happening" cake was delicious.
Thursday, August 01, 2013
Not Much New Here
Weather's Been A Mixed Blessing
It's been off and on hot here, making the riding a question for me. We did have two nice days. I was tied up for one. But on Tuesday, I went for my swim and decided to ride when I got back home.
No sooner had I pulled into the driveway when I heard a truck outside. Sure enough, it was Scott coming to shoe the Boys. Tucker, as you may recall, had lost his shoe and stepped on the clinch. I had him inside with his hoof wrapped with an iodine pack because he'd suddenly pulled up really lame on Sunday after I turned him out for a bit with a protective boot on.
Scott checked him out before trimming and shoeing and found no soreness, so I'm not at all sure what happened. At any rate, he was able to put a shoe on Tuck's foot anyhow since the spot where he'd stepped on the clinch would still be open if I needed to soak or treat him. So far, though, he's really sound and if it hadn't decided to rain today, I would have ridden him for a bit.
Toby's eye is still healing, I hope. I've been treating it every day and my vet is scheduled to come again tomorrow to examine him. He is so good and patient for the medications and the exams. What a good boy he is.
Chance is just being Chance which means I have to keep an eye on him to make sure there's no place he can get into mischief. I was going to take him out on a trail the day Scott showed up, but that never happened. Scott's cell phone crashed and he was not able to call me ahead of time, but since he can easily do my Boys without my being here, he decided he'd just drop by regardless. Apparently the dead phone messed up the bulk of his day anyhow, so I lucked out.
Yesterday, after a very long swim--I apparently swam a mile (35 laps of 50 meters each)--I came home and mowed the lawn. With the rain we've had this year, it just keeps growing. Normally, by now it waould be dried up and not need much tending. I bless my garden tractor every time I need to mow as it makes the job a lot easier.
But a lot of areas needed trimming where the big mower could not go. So this morning, at around 7 AM, I got up and took out the DR Trimmer to do the tricky spots. The trimmer does not have drive wheels so I have to push the darn thing. Some of the places that need mowing have little hills and bumps, making some of the job extra hard. (Buying a self propelled model is really extra expensive.) As a result, in the end, I got a really good workout of about 90 minutes or so.
That proved to be a good thing. As I finished and went out to feed the Boys it started to rain, and it's been raining all day. The swimming pool was closed for the day, so the mowing job had to replace my water exercise. Any exercise is good for burning calories, and I think the mowing was just fine.
I just picked up my CSA (community supported agriculture) share from the farm market today. I share meant for one person, I got: an eggplant, four ears of corn, two large tomatoes and a bunch of grape tomatoes, a green pepper, a cucumber, a green squash, and several potatoes. It is honestly way more than enough to feed me for the week. As a matter of fact, I may make eggplant parmesan again--did that last week--but this time make a bigger one to share with some friends. I still have last week's cucumber, so
I could also make a nice dish of pickled cucumbers for a salad and we'd have a meal.
The CSA was a fabulous idea and I am certainly going to sign up again next year.
It's been off and on hot here, making the riding a question for me. We did have two nice days. I was tied up for one. But on Tuesday, I went for my swim and decided to ride when I got back home.
No sooner had I pulled into the driveway when I heard a truck outside. Sure enough, it was Scott coming to shoe the Boys. Tucker, as you may recall, had lost his shoe and stepped on the clinch. I had him inside with his hoof wrapped with an iodine pack because he'd suddenly pulled up really lame on Sunday after I turned him out for a bit with a protective boot on.
Scott checked him out before trimming and shoeing and found no soreness, so I'm not at all sure what happened. At any rate, he was able to put a shoe on Tuck's foot anyhow since the spot where he'd stepped on the clinch would still be open if I needed to soak or treat him. So far, though, he's really sound and if it hadn't decided to rain today, I would have ridden him for a bit.
Toby's eye is still healing, I hope. I've been treating it every day and my vet is scheduled to come again tomorrow to examine him. He is so good and patient for the medications and the exams. What a good boy he is.
Chance is just being Chance which means I have to keep an eye on him to make sure there's no place he can get into mischief. I was going to take him out on a trail the day Scott showed up, but that never happened. Scott's cell phone crashed and he was not able to call me ahead of time, but since he can easily do my Boys without my being here, he decided he'd just drop by regardless. Apparently the dead phone messed up the bulk of his day anyhow, so I lucked out.
Yesterday, after a very long swim--I apparently swam a mile (35 laps of 50 meters each)--I came home and mowed the lawn. With the rain we've had this year, it just keeps growing. Normally, by now it waould be dried up and not need much tending. I bless my garden tractor every time I need to mow as it makes the job a lot easier.
But a lot of areas needed trimming where the big mower could not go. So this morning, at around 7 AM, I got up and took out the DR Trimmer to do the tricky spots. The trimmer does not have drive wheels so I have to push the darn thing. Some of the places that need mowing have little hills and bumps, making some of the job extra hard. (Buying a self propelled model is really extra expensive.) As a result, in the end, I got a really good workout of about 90 minutes or so.
That proved to be a good thing. As I finished and went out to feed the Boys it started to rain, and it's been raining all day. The swimming pool was closed for the day, so the mowing job had to replace my water exercise. Any exercise is good for burning calories, and I think the mowing was just fine.
I just picked up my CSA (community supported agriculture) share from the farm market today. I share meant for one person, I got: an eggplant, four ears of corn, two large tomatoes and a bunch of grape tomatoes, a green pepper, a cucumber, a green squash, and several potatoes. It is honestly way more than enough to feed me for the week. As a matter of fact, I may make eggplant parmesan again--did that last week--but this time make a bigger one to share with some friends. I still have last week's cucumber, so
I could also make a nice dish of pickled cucumbers for a salad and we'd have a meal.
The CSA was a fabulous idea and I am certainly going to sign up again next year.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
