Hot, humid days....and a bit of a scare!

Tex and I had a ride today that was mostly walking and lasted all of about 30 minutes, give or take. I think if he'd had his way, he wouldn't have left his place in front of that fan. The look on his face is saying "Do we have to?" (...just a short one, my man)

I gave Griffin the option of coming with me into the barn for a groom and possibly a light bath, but he wasn't interested when I went out with his halter and called for him. He wasn't overly sweaty and seemed content to eat in the sun with his buddy, Mort(*gasp* he DOES have access to shade). He knows on hot days, he only gets groomed (or a bath) so if he didn't want to come with me, I wasn't going to make him.

The temperature outside today was about 88 degrees with the heat index in the mid to upper 90's. I don't recall the exact percentage of humidity, but it was high enough to make me constantly feel like I'd just stepped out of the shower (while completely lacking the refreshing feel of a shower).

....and today was the coolest of the last 3 days.

Ugh...

Dangerous heat warnings kept me from doing much these last few days which is probably just as well since my Dad gave everyone a good scare on Friday.

Without getting into too much personal detail, my father has been struggling with some electrolyte/dietary/mineral imbalances for quite some time.

Last November he had a seizure that put him in the hospital for over a week. It took that long to get things regulated again.

Since then, he has been eating better AND doing better....but obviously it wasn't good enough, because on Friday he had another seizure that caused a pretty serious fall and knocked him unconscious. 

Thankfully (and somewhat surprisingly), the end result of that fall was only a significant goose egg to the back of his head. We've all been joking that we need to check the floor for cracks!

This seizure resulted in another 3-day stay at the hospital including bloodwork, a cat scan, and an MRI. All were normal except for the dietary deficiencies I noted above.

As I write this, he is back home,  and with some additional dietary changes and mineral supplements (and a few other changes that are too private to mention)we are hoping not to see another seizure.

Both my mom and I are skeptical that the real root of the problem has yet to rear it's ugly head. We are "trying" to trust in his doctors..

....and to complicate matters, my dad -- shall we say -- isn't always the best patient when it comes to listening to his doctors. In his working life, he'd always been a manager-- the one in charge. Listening to others does not come easy to him and he has a stubborn streak a mile wide (of which he  has dutifully passed to his oldest daughter--me. *Grins sheepishly*).

Still, with all that said-- we all love him dearly, even when he thinks we aren't taking his side (as if there are sides to be taken when it comes to the health and well being of a loved one). ♡♡

We are all praying that the recommended changes will prevent any (near)future hospital stays and that we can help dad stick to the necessary changes that need to be made.

******

On a lighter note, I did get myself out for a hike earlier in the week. 

Last Wednesday brought warm temperatures and humidity, but not quite severe enough to be dangerous (OR to discourage me from getting outside for some after work enjoyment).

So after my house chores were done, I stuffed myself into my coolest tank and capris and headed over to Devil's Lake for a hike.

There was a very mild threat of rain, so I chose an easy hike I have done many times before. I plodded along the Tumbled Rocks trail over to the south shore beach and back again (because plodding is all I do when it's sticky humid outside). 

The photos below are from my hike...

This is the North Shore beach. It's the more popular of the 2 beaches and is one of 2 ways one can take to the start of the Tumbled Rocks Trail.

This is the start of the trail. It is 2 miles from here to the South Shore beach. Going out and back, I did an uncomplicated,  4 mile hike.

While parts of the trail are sunny, there are some nice, shady sections as well. This was a wonderful reprieve in the humidity.

The Tumbled Rocks trail runs alongside the lake, so the views are pretty and listening to the waters lap the rocks is soothing to the ears.

Recent storm damage (we've had a lot of storms lately) created an unexpected obstacle. It's a good thing no one was sitting on that bench at the wrong time!

A view of the downed tree from the other side.

I snapped a photo of a person using a paddleboard out on the lake. This is on my "bucket list" to try one day!

Despite the slimy temperatures, there was actually quite a few folks out hiking.  I passed a few couples simply enjoying a hike as I was. 

In addition, another 3-4 folks passed me doing some trail running.

One gentleman was watching wildlife at one of the benches with his binoculars. 

Another gentleman approached me from behind on the trail and inquired if I lived here and if I had ever swam in the lake.

..."Yes and yes, I have..."

He then wanted to know if it was clear water and therefore suitable for scuba diving. 

I told him I have never Scuba dived, but I thought the lake fairly clear and it might be worth a try if he had the equipment and expertise to do so.....

On the South side of the lake I talked to a few other people who were fishing, but unfortunately-- the fish were not too interested in biting...

Sometimes on these more commonly used trails, it's nice to chat with people and see how they are enjoying their day.

As for now-- I am silently praying to Mother Nature to give us a break from the heat and humidity so I can try to have an enjoyable week this week. 

We shall see.....  

A Little Catch Up...

My family and I just returned from our July camp outing. Saying that makes it sound like we went hours away.....

In reality, it was only another short trip to a nearby state park. This time we stayed at Mirror Lake State Park.

Mirror Lake isn't as popular as Devil's Lake, but it's still a nice state park with decent campsites, easy hike trails, and a small, shallow beach.

We stayed for 3 nights this time, and...unlike last time, it didn't rain the majority of the time. We only had one night in which the storms found us. Unfortunately,  the humidity on this trip was about the same as last time, and just like on that stay, my hiking was only minimal.  *sigh* 

I am hoping my weekend outing at the end of August will be better in terms of weather and will afford me some good hiking.

My sister,  Gayle, bought herself a larger tent and this was her first time using it.  Her sleeping quarters were some of the largest I have seen yet. Her tent is Colossal (with a capital "C"). It has dividers to make 3 rooms and is plenty big enough for herself,  Brendan, Fiona,  and Winston (their Husky Lab X).
.....and I think they'd still have room in there for another 2-3 people and all their STUFF. My sister seems very happy with her tent.

We spent the outing mostly visiting, doing some very small hikes (mostly to the bathroom *giggles*), and goofing off with Fiona. There was silly string, water guns, and giant purple Frisbees involved. Fiona and I also had a rather engaging game of glow-in-the-dark horse shoes.
.....mostly that involved her handing me the horse shoes and telling me how to throw them. Sometimes Fiona is just too smart for her own good! 

On the horse front, I haven't been getting a whole lot of rides in with either horse. We seem to get a handful of nice, comfortable days and then a couple of real hot, humid, and sticky numbers that make me feel like I am a rainforest dweller.

I don't do a lot of riding on days like that, because frankly-- I just don't enjoy it.  With that said, however, I DO love just hanging out with my equine boys and so we spend the scorcher afternoons hand grazing, doing pampered grooming,  getting cool baths, and a lazy walk here and there.

The spring and fall months are my favorite times to ride and that's when I get the most rides in.

My phone is being a bit of a pain at the moment in letting me get all my photos attached, so I just have a few to share today with no real captions added....

Yesterday was my Holiday....

I made a promise to myself yesterday that it was going to be a minimal "chore" day and I was going to spend the day on myself. 

This was going to be my 4th of July Holiday so-to-speak (even though it was only the 3rd).

I usually get a nice paycheck if I opt to work on a holiday, so Monday would be a workday for me anyway. 

Unfortunately,  on Saturday night,  I had one of those sleepless nights that occasionally occurs when I am thinking about too many random things and just cannot. Fall. Asleep.

Nights like that suck.

So while I had hoped to get up and get my day going early in the morning, it didn't really happen that way.  I ended up playing lazy,  bed potato with my cats until about 10:30am.

All in all, that's not a bad thing--but I still didn't sleep (Ugh)....

It was going to be a caffenated, prop my eyelids open with toothpicks sort of day.

Since Griffin had my attention on Saturday,  Sunday was to be Tex's day.

We had our usual long grooming and bond session and then did some arena work with just a short ride out to the road after. 

Because my boarding barn is surrounded by DNR lands, woods and marsh, we get HORRIBLE amounts of bugs during the hottest parts of the summer. Unless you are willing to dunk your horse (and yourself) into a vat of pyrethrin, you can pretty much rule out an enjoyable ride in the woods & fields. From now until about early September,  riding in the arena and areas close to the barn are usually the best bet.

You know things are bad when the deer flies keep pace with your car (just outside the windows) while driving up to the barn.

Some years are worse than others,  and while I wouldn't say things are as bad as I have seen them,  they are annoying enough right now.

So with all that in mind,  Tex and I worked on lateral movements as well as our usual riding patterns in the arena.

Tex knows hindquarter yields fairly well, but his front end gets sticky and he is still figuring out that he can move is front half sideways while keeping the back half still.

I was even able to get him started on a few side pass steps in one direction over a ground pole (Good Boy, Tex)!!

It was a warm day, but there was a breeze and we had a nice ride.

Retrieving Tex from the pasture. He is the black horse half buried in the buffet table (round bale).

Wondering if my hands are hiding a few Nicker Snacks while I attempt to remove the fly mask (My halter doesn't fit well over his mask, so I usually remove it when I put it on).

Groom session in the cool barn with only a minimum of biting insects....Ahhhhh...

The resident ducks came to visit & briefly hung out in Daphne ' s  stall while Kris was out riding.. (Daphne stays inside during the day & goes outside at night).

When the ducks got bored, they headed to the indoor to waddle around before going back outside.

Tex all set for his ride....

Taking a break in the shade between exercises...

After going to barn, I went home for a wee nap before heading over to Christmas Mountain Resort in the Dells to watch fireworks with the family.

My fireworks photos seldom turn out well, so I didn't take any.

Fiona kept me occupied playing with her giant, soft purple frisbee. This was her second year seeing fireworks.

Last year did not go well because the noise scared her.

My sister, Gayle, has since purchased a small pair of child- size ear muffs for her, so she can enjoy loud experiences like this without being afraid of the noise (which she will grow out of with time).

At first she wasn't sure about the huge, sparkly plumes in the sky-- but with reassurance from everyone (Grandma,  Grandpa, mom,  dad and myself were all in attendance), she was enjoying them by the end....even laughing.

She didn't want them to be over!

I wish I had some cute, Fiona pics to add...but as I said I was too busy catching a frisbee beforehand to take any.

Tomorrow its back to full days at work-- but a little camp outing in a week should sweeten that deal!!

I improvise on a hike and have a difficult week

To say that my week hasn't been a happy one would be a bit of an understatement.

I've had a lot of life's little inconveniences (but necessities) get in my way of enjoying things over the last week.  While none of them were big,  life altering events,  I've had enough of the small things annoy me that I just wanted to feel sorry for myself,  throw my hands up, and give up.

....and yes, these things too, shall pass...

As much as I'd love to share my frustrations from a "therapy" standpoint,  some of it is just too personal to share here so I will just leave it at that.

Early in the week I did do a hike at Devil's Lake. My plan was to hike the 2.8 mile Johnson Moraine Trail, but at some point I misjudged where I was on trail (Note: ALWAYS take your map- even if you think you know a trail well) and I ended up hiking portions of 2 other trails as well as a service road on my way back ( in order to avoid a hill without much of a view).

In retrospect,  I should have chosen an easy, super short trail for the day because I was already dealing with some soreness issues in my body.

....but like the stubborn, Dutch lady I am, I chose to ignore what my body was telling me and do the hike I wanted anyway.

The trail had a lot of long hills as well as one or two steeper climbs. The photo above shows the start of the first long hill.

Now, I will have you know-- I took several beautiful photos of this hike (some of the prettiest I've had yet), but stupid me-- I uploaded the photos onto my blog and then went back to erase them out of gallery.

This is something I normally do after I write a blog post to keep from using up the space on my phone. Unfortunately,  as I have learned the hard way, you must actually post the writing to your blog so they will save permanently before deleting them out of your gallery or you will loose them.

I did not do this.

**sigh**

so I was left with only the reject photos I was not actually going to post.

Lesson learned.

....so I apologize for not having "prettier" pictures to post.

I'm still getting the hang of this blogging thing on my phone .....and.....at least for me, there IS a learning curve.   

This is the first trail intersection after that long hill. As you can see, the trail is marked and there is a map at (some of) the trail intersections, but you can't rely on that because some of the maps are faded and not all have your position marked well (leaving it open to guesswork).

This trail crosses over HWY DL and this section was on the other side. I took this photo right before I encountered one of the steepest hills that made my arthritic ankle cry in pain.

Hills can be challenging when you are feeling good-- but when you are already sore, they can pretty much ruin a hike.

The views were pretty though...

If only I could have shared those pictures... (sad face).

Meet Little bunny Foo-foo!!

I saw this little guy and about 20 of his cousins during my hike.

There are a LOT of rabbits out right now.

....and that is about all I have to share of this hike. I did this hike last Tuesday and haven't hiked since.

I spent the Wednesday evening after a bit sore & sick and went to bed early..

On Thursday,  it stormed in the evening, but I managed a groom session with Griffin. I would have liked to have done a walk with him, but the weather and my still being a little sore didn't allow that to happen.

I'm starting to come out of the ache-y-ness finally, so perhaps I can get a hike in sometime between seeing the horses and fireworks yet this weekend.

I hope everyone has a nice 4th of July holiday!