Archive for June 2023
Great Ride
It was everything I wanted and more. Last Tuesday, Cyndie and I had dinner with our friends Paul and Beth, and the idea of going for a bike ride with Paul came up. I wanted to get more hours on the saddle in preparation for the Tour of Minnesota coming up in a week but I’m not a big fan of riding by myself. I offered to drive to Paul’s house so we could start from there.
Paul tossed out the loose idea of riding toward Wayzata from his place in Minneapolis which would provide me both hours and miles. Sounded perfect to me. It turned out to be even better than I expected.
The greatest gift Paul provided was his making almost all of the turn-by-turn decisions so that I was able to simply follow him and enjoy the ride. At one point we came upon an option of trails and I picked the more northern route that I was less familiar with. That choice ended up providing a series of unexpected perks that enhanced my day significantly.
The first one happened after I recognized a unique water tower in Plymouth that told me we weren’t far from the location of my old day-job I retired from. I stopped commuting the 65 miles one-way in December of 2021 and haven’t seen the folks I worked with since. After I left, the company was sold and although I have exchanged emails with the new owner, I had yet to meet him. Yesterday became my surprise chance.
It took some bike gymnastics and one fence scaling to get there due to construction but it was worth it to all-too-briefly be able to say hi to my old coworkers and shake the hand of the new owner. (I am chuffed to discover our Asher shares a name with Brian’s dog. I probably thought of changing “Ash” to Asher from stories Brian had told over the years. Could be, the way my mind works.)
Soon after we left the old workplace, Paul mentioned his mom lived nearby. I suggested we stop and say hi. It had been many years since I had seen her. You never know what might result from an unannounced appearance at somebody’s place, but she was home and invited us in for a wonderful visit.
Two great surprises in one ride! But there’s more.
Paul directed us to the place his brother, David is living and we pulled in so I could witness the gorgeous property where he resides. The curving driveway includes a small bridge across Minnehaha Creek before arriving at the house and garage. David wasn’t around so Paul snapped an “usie” to let him know we were there. I suggested the message could be, “Having a wonderful time. Wish you were here.”
As we cruised along the rest of the way, after baling out on going all the way to Wayzata, Paul pointed out houses, or streets that led to houses of other friends we know. I felt like I was on a celebrity tour.
The mileage for the loop clocked in at a respectable 34 miles which met my goals perfectly for distance and time. The hour of completion conveniently allowed me to pick up Cyndie’s grocery order on my way home.
Paul, you were a wonderful tour guide. Thank you, again, my life-long friend.
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Today’s Post
Today’s post is brought to you by:
- Last night’s Stanley Cup Playoff game three which went into overtime. Who has a mind to think about blogging after staying up late watching hockey?
and also by:
- The bike ride I’m taking today with my friend, Paul. Who has time to write when they are leaving to go biking?
plus:
- The fact that Asher ran away from me into the neighbor’s woods for almost an hour yesterday. Who can write when still distracted by dog frustration?
also:
- Thursdays are exhausting anyway after the drive to and from St. Paul that sandwich an hour-long intense obedience training class. I’m still tired. Apparently, it didn’t tire Asher nearly as much.
and:
- The weeding of Cyndie’s garden of perennials basically involved cutting unwanted trees that were sprouting in almost equal density to her desired plantings, but it doesn’t really deserve paragraphs being written about it.
- The bees, butterflies, and other insects are loving that garden, and [hoping I don’t jinx them] none of the hostas have been munched yet.
not to mention:
- Whatever critter is digging up the turf of the north loop pathway is making it almost impossible to mow.
Today’s post is also sponsored by the letter S.
- As in, Silly. Not to be confused with Cute or Creative because those words start with the letter C, which sounds like, sea or see, which just so happen to start with the letter S.
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Warping Time
Yesterday disappeared in a flash of endless conversations, wonderful food, and quality time with our animals. Minutes whisked away like seconds which made hours swoosh past so fast we didn’t see them coming or going. Our friends, Pam and John, graced us with tales and photos from their two-month travels in India, loved up our new pup Asher, and spent some quality time getting to know our horses.
It was a great day to be outdoors since the dew point temperature was low and a breeze made the air quality a smidge better than it had been for the previous few days.
After trimming the tall grass and weeds along the rocks of the labyrinth on Tuesday, I ran the mower around the pathway yesterday before company arrived and was so dang pleased with how it looked, I stopped to take a picture.
Both of the Greenworks mowers we have do such a fabulous job of cutting grass it feels like a privilege to be able to use them. I can give the company a shout out for their customer service, too. The 5amp/hour battery that came with the blower we purchased mysteriously wouldn’t charge all of a sudden. After exhausting all troubleshooting options, I called to see about sending it back for repair.
They chose to replace it and didn’t need the bad one returned. In a matter of days, the new battery showed up and we were back in business, hassle-free. Thank you, Greenworks! Job well done.
I do not miss my old gas engine riding mower one bit, even though it did a great job for me before I switched to electric. The battery charge on my new mowers happens to be pretty good at warping time, too. So far, they are lasting much longer than I have needed to complete the areas I set out to cut. I was skeptical about how long the charge would last for the amount of cutting we need to do. They repeatedly exceed my expectations in that regard.
Recharge times are also quicker than I expected. Warping time at warp speed.
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Why Bother
Feel like making a guess? What the heck do you think is happening here?
If it wasn’t already obvious, here’s a clue:
Yes, we are trying to dissuade Asher from drinking out of the landscape pond. Unfortunately, he will move right past a clean bowl of water to the pond and ignore the blockade by stepping through the reeds to lap up anyway.
I don’t know if my perception is accurate or simply a figment of my imagination, but the fact that Asher tends to drink from any puddle he comes upon no matter how gross it looks might be echoes from the life he led as a stray before being rescued. One morning we came upon tall grass that bent over our path due to the weight of water droplets from dew. Asher began licking the water droplets off the blades.
He lived in a foster home for six months and I’m confident they provided as much water from a bowl as he would ever want. It strikes me as odd that he shows this tendency to act like he must drink any water he comes upon.
Our pond is probably attractive because there’s just SO MUCH water but Cyndie puts chemicals in it to control algae and enhance pond health so we’d prefer he not automatically resort to this option whenever we are romping around in the backyard and he is off leash.
The way he moved past the patio furniture as if it wasn’t even there has me thinking I may not bother trying that again. We’d really rather not put up a fence but it may come to that for a while during the retraining period. Right up until the time we give up trying and put our energy toward more achievable dog obedience goals.
I was trimming tall growth around the rocks in the labyrinth yesterday and discovered the deer had chomped all but a few leaves of the hosta down there. I don’t know why we bother expecting it won’t happen this year. It happens all the time.
I asked Cyndie if they’ve eaten the ones up behind the house yet. Nope. One year, she tried putting some nasty smelling repellent on the hostas. It was bear or coyote pee or something like that. She doesn’t remember. We don’t know if it worked because it smelled so bad we quit walking around back there and never saw whether the plants got chomped or not.
We are now more inclined to use Irish Spring bars of soap or any other variety of scents we can tolerate.
Too late for the hosta in the labyrinth again this year.
Maybe I should have stacked some patio furniture around them.
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Successful Foal
We learned yesterday that three of Mia’s nine foals are still racing and the last-born filly just won a race at Churchill Downs on Friday.
“Shes a Secret” is a three-year-old who ran to victory, making us all proud for Mia and her last baby. Mia’s former owners stopped by to see her and express their appreciation for This Old Horse taking care of their retired broodmare. They told us that Mia was a very good mamma.
It was hot and muggy with miserable air quality due to smoke from Canadian wildfires and the horses were standing by our fans, stomping their legs to knock off biting flies. Not ideal conditions for hanging with the horses under the overhang. Cyndie noticed that Mia was really sweaty and wanted her to be looking her best when company arrived so she choreographed an opportunity for Mia to have better access to one of the fans.
Worked like a charm.
Mia posed for a few pictures and the visitors served up cool baby carrots for all the horses to celebrate the occasion.
I ducked out to check on Asher up at the house where Cyndie had left him with a bone to occupy him. He was doing fine but wouldn’t let that bone out of his mouth for nothin’. I put his vest on over the bone and we went out for a little walk. When he found a spot he liked, he dug a hole and dropped the bone in it. Then came the classic exercise of nosing dirt and leaves over the precious snack to save it for who knows when in the future.
He appears to have that natural instinct down perfectly well.
I am impressed with his ability to cope with the heat outside lately. He is such a hot bod and his dark color must really grab those sun rays fast, yet he soldiers on without complaint. Asher is quick to drink from our landscape pond, passing up perfectly good bowls of water to get there. He shows no hesitation about going back into the house where the floors are cool to lie on for naps.
There was no napping for me yesterday afternoon. I mowed grass around the barn to spruce up the place before our visitors arrived and failed miserably at avoiding the heat and bad air. I cooled off later by watching Game 2 of the Stanley Cup finals on television.
With no prior favorite between the two non-hockey geographic location teams, I find myself leaning toward Vegas over Florida.
I won’t be placing any bets on it, though.
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Party Food
Brunch was a treat at Hope Breakfast Bar yesterday. The restaurant had a wonderfully eclectic menu from which Cyndie selected the pina colada french toast that came with very festive-looking cotton candy on the side. Yeah. Made my teeth hurt just looking at it. The egg sandwich on an everything bagel was more to my liking.
After having just watched the final episode of Ted Lasso season 3, the giant “BELIEVE” on the wall behind our table was a welcome sight.
It was a little loud for conversation at the table but the overall experience was perfect for our family party. It had a very celebratory vibe. I don’t think the birthday girl felt old at all while consuming that sugar party on her plate.
I bailed on my plans to do any weed control in the simmering heat by the time we got home. The visible haze of poor air quality helped convince me less work would be more advisable. I played with Asher, instead. The birthday girl wanted a break from going out at all so I took the pup out for some off-leash time. After he bounded into the woods close to the house, we made our way down the backyard hill where he sprinted away again.
I busied myself pulling vines growing across the trail when I heard him bouncing through the brush and looked up to see a deer leaping through the trees. That wasn’t the dog I thought I had heard. A short while later, it was Asher making the noise, following the same path the deer had just run. It was pretty obvious what the deer was running from.
When we went down to feed the horses dinner, all four were still standing in front of the fans under the overhang. Later, as the sun was setting and Asher and I went out for one last walk, we found the horses finally making a party of the freshly cut back pasture.
I knew it wouldn’t take them long to get after the shortened blades for grazing. Everything in its time.
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June Fourth
What makes June Fourth so special? It’s Cyndie’s birthday!! We are not old or anything, compared to everyone older than us, but when you qualify for Medicare in the U.S., it suddenly feels like you are older than ever. Well, older than you’ve ever been before.
It feels wrong to be doing anything other than celebrating my lovely wife today but there are weeds to be cut, you know. We are meeting Cyndie’s mom and our kids for brunch, but after that, it’s back to the battle against allowing weeds to go to seed.
I don’t know how many versions of this photo I have posted over the last ten years, but it’s a view that truly captures my experience for hours on end.
I worked the string trimmer along the fence line, around the round pen, and along the deep washouts of the drainage swale. I used the Greenworks riding mower to knock down weeds in the round pen and along the inside of the fence line. Finally, I pulled the brush cutter behind the diesel tractor to cut the back pasture. Among the multiple weeds battling for dominance against grasses in the field, thistle is the one we are keeping at bay by mowing.
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In the background of the photo with the cleanly trimmed fence line, you can spot the little maple tree that is in the center of the labyrinth.
This morning we opened the gate to the back pasture, giving the horses access to all that cut grass. They took little notice after finishing the feed in their pans and lolled around near the fans under the overhang. It’s not uncomfortably hot yet this early in the day, but the humidity is noticeable and those big-body mares know the heat will build faster by the minute.
I expect we’ll find them out there soon enough. They have a good sense about the opening of gates around their confines.
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Unsettling Sight
I am not a fan of the startling movement of grass blades when a snake suddenly slithers nearby. When it occurs as I am walking, my body responds with an adrenaline surge that triggers a recoil reflex. Even if I’m on the mower when the wiggly legless reptiles make an appearance, I experience an involuntary shudder. I would not be surprised to learn I was bitten by a snake in a past life.
It brings me no joy to find the discarded skin of a snake even though I am happy to know there are rodent predators patrolling our grounds. Snakes can live here and eat as many pesky moles and mice as possible, I just don’t want to see them.
The sight of a 3-foot-long snake skin on the mowed path around the back pasture brings me no joy. If skin that long didn’t fit anymore, I don’t want to know how big it is now.
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Moody Mares
Our retired Thoroughbred mares have not presented regular behavioral signs of estrous but there have been occasions when it has happened. This week, I noticed Mix was showing evidence she was feeling it. Yesterday, it became obvious that Light is synchronizing with Mix. The horses can become less predictable and behave aggressively so we need to pay extra attention around them when their hormones are raging.
I was observing from the barn when the two of them demonstrated some of the angst they were feeling.
They were calm one second and then squealing and kicking the next.
Mix kicking up her heels…
Light responding in kind.
Mia was nearby but wasn’t the least bit perturbed by the shenanigans Mix and Light were up to. After two more episodes of flailing hooves, the herd quietly and methodically made their way out into the hay field as if nothing had happened and settled into some grazing.
Me thinks I will remain on elevated levels of awareness for the next few days or more. As long as they continue to direct their aggression toward each other and not at me, I’ll be happy to continue tending to the daily housekeeping under the overhang.
I must admit, it’s kind of fun to see domesticated animals demonstrate a little of their wild side every once in a while.
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Readjustment Required
Four days away was enough to cause a bit of anxiety for Asher upon our return. He seemed happy to see us but he also showed signs of being less confident in himself upon readjusting to the differences in our routine as compared to the sitter’s. I’m guessing Mom and Dad are a little more strict about how things should go and Asher wasn’t quite ready for a return to that.
Tuesday night he spent more time whining in his crate than he did sleeping. Unfortunately, that meant Cyndie and I didn’t get the sleep we wanted, either. Asher rallied yesterday and showed his best self during a visit to the veterinarian for a checkup and some shots. The after-effects lasted a few hours during which he laid low and napped but then all of a sudden he was back to his old self and playing with his usual vigor.
I wish I recovered that quickly when I got my last shots.
The pup officially weighed in at 70 pounds. I’ll take that. It’s ten lbs. less than the unofficial weight we’d been given by the foster mom.
I’m curious to see how he does today in session three of our obedience training class. We are expecting the barriers between dogs to be pulled back which will mean many more distractions during the lessons.
When we got home from the lake on Tuesday, the labyrinth was first on the list for mowing.
The prolonged dry spell hasn’t slowed growth everywhere, particularly in our poison ivy patches. Some areas of lawn grass are turning brown but most others are just growing with less robust energy. Yesterday, I focused on mowing just the areas that grew the most.
I need to readjust to this sudden onset of hot summer weather. It’s the first day of June and we are getting mid-July heat and humidity. It has me wondering what it will be like when we get to July.
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Relative Something 