Since I have apparently run out of ways to begin these posts after a long hiatus…

…h.e.l.l.o.?…Hello!

Hey hi how is it going?

Life has been a bit hectic since APRIL and time has been utterly FLYING by. I have felt more than a bit like a chicken with my head cut off, but that is life for you! I was starting to feel like things were beginning to feel a bit more comfortable, which they really are, but I do not see anything slowing down until October…which really means it is not going to because that is basically already Thanksgiving and then Christmas! I said it! You were thinking it!

Texas had one of the most lovely springs, which is where I left you in April. Now we are solidly seated in August! To which I am sure you can guess, if you have been around here for a bit, also means we are in the literal thick of summer (and the ramp of hurricane season) here in Texas. This summer has really been nice weather wise and we have been blessed with quite a bit of rain…the pastures are NUTS. I am not saying anything, but we could use more grazing animals at the moment. Anyway, back to summer…when I say the thick of summer, I mean it. It does not matter that temperatures have been mild…the air is so thickly bedded with humidity you can cut it with a knife. Like mattress thick. It is wildly oppressive. Everyone is miserable outside of basically 2 hours in the morning and right before sunset. The horses have been in a full body sweat daily and their skin is not happy. This all really seemed to develop in the last couple of weeks. There has been a lot of cold hosing and treating of skin and hooves.

So. Now that I have set the scene for present day mid-August…where have the last three months gone? To the dogs or something as they say! Which all totals up to a pretty…impressive year so far! Buckle up, buttercups!

Lito‘s neck wound from the world’s largest splinter healed up beautifully and you can not even tell there was anything there. I sold a saddle, but not the saddle I was advertising. Funny that, but the original saddle is indeed still for sale if anyone is interested. Please, someone buy it. Lito’s new saddle, fingers crossed, will be completed soon!

Somewhere in the later half of April, I learned that I was in need of new living arrangements for myself and the Merle and I had two months to figure it out. You could say this is where everything kind of fell off the rails.

You see, I had been in talks with my parents about how it was about time I start looking for a place of my own and to no longer be a renter, Set myself up for the future. We had been talking about it and casually looking, but nothing too serious, thinking the right thing would pop up at the right time and that would be that. Well, that was not that. The right thing had not popped up and I needed to find somewhere to live! It felt like the rug had been ripped out from under me.

I will admit I was completely paralyzed for about 24 hours. By Monday morning I could barely get dressed for work. I was just sitting on the couch staring at the wall. Very not normal for me. But I got myself to work and by the time I got in the truck to go home, I got myself in gear. I stopped at the store to get some wine (a needed ingredient for progress), I ordered a pizza, put some music on, and got to work. By Tuesday morning I was loading up my first Good Will donation that I dropped off on my way to work.

I was determined to not lose any horse time, best friend D was coming into town to visit, and I had already planned for a long Memorial Day weekend away to go fishing. I pretty quickly decided to be fully moved out and done (stick a fork in me!) before we left to go fishing. I did not want any of this hanging over my head. This meant I had less than a month to pack and move, even if only temporarily. If that sounds a little, um, mad to you, that is because it is. I have lived in the same place for, well, a long time.

I drank way too much wine and went through a lot of audio books (I also spent many hours on the phone talking to friend S, another needed ingredient for progress), but I got it all done. I made like four or five big trips to the Good Will. I sold some things. I found a charity to donate my old text books to (yup, I still had all those). I got rid of a lot of stuff. I packed boxes and more boxes (thanks to R for the exact number of boxes I needed!). I moved to our temporary home with our necessities. I booked the movers and reserved a storage unit. I did not miss out on any horse time. D and I had a great, if not way too short of a time.

So, the day before the movers were to come, I was wrapping up the last of what I needed to do when we had the craziest of storms whip through (literally) and just destroy the city with crazy flooding, trees down everywhere, most without power, no internet, and cell phones not working (the clean up after that storm is still going on!). This made for an exciting moving day, let me tell you. I had no idea if the movers were going to be able to show up. I had no idea if we were going to even be able to get into the storage facility or if they sustained any damage. It was not the most fun day, let me tell you. It all worked out for this first part, but I did have to last minute find a different storage facility to move my stuff into. I sure am glad I spent all the time I did doing research and cost comparisons. NOT.

Anyway! With the move complete, Mamma and I did a final deep clean and I handed over the keys after I locked the door for the last time.

Merle and I had a great weekend away fishing. We caught enough fish for some lovely meals in addition to enjoying the bay. It was very windy though!

All this time we were also scouring the internet and looking at properties trying to find the right thing. D went with us to look at one while she was here.

Luckily for me I also had weekend that popped up in the first part of June to go ride with friends in the hill country at Parrie Haynes. Lito was a rock star and I really needed that weekend away. Somewhere in there I kind of lost the ability to sleep with my anxiety over the whole moving situation. Not to worry, I am sleeping soundly now, but the situation was getting dire there for a little bit. I have not lost so much sleep since I graduated from college.

The farm garden produced many tomatoes, basil, peppers and peaches, so I had some fun in the kitchen cooking and eating.

Like I said, many butterflies this year. It is wonderful to see and feel. Especially this one. I was just focusing on getting Lito’s ears and cows. It was not until after that I noticed the butterfly. I do not believe in coincidences if you did not know that about me. Everything happens for a reason.

I will not lie, the butterflies feel like a God wink to me. A message. A message from H. It has been a long three years without my best friend. A very technical three years come tomorrow. I saw and felt butterflies flying free in my mind on that day, well really it was the day before, but who is counting. August 13, 2021 was the technical day. I can not remember if I told you about those butterflies. But, how has all this time gone by? I think about her all the time, but especially now, in this time with all this change in my life and I can not just call her.

August is a hard month. In Texas of course, that is no surprise. It can be just plain miserable. Sometimes I try to take the month ‘off,’ so to speak. Or as much as one can, anyway. I can’t really do that, but in my mind I pretend I am sometimes. Something about it, that hardness, that heat. It all stacks on. Makes you think. You just have to get through the days until they are over. Find the shade, drink the water, stay cool. Do the bare minimum. Sometimes that can give your mind just a little too much time to think. Think sometimes entirely too big of thoughts. At least I am predictable. Regardless, this happens just about every August, just a little more so these days. I am grateful that I have been so busy that it only just hit me.

The butterflies remind me of the beauty that comes. How quickly our thoughts become shadowed if you are not focused on the light. An important reminder!

That all seemed to get a bit dark and I did not intend for that to happen!

I kind of jumped ahead there…by like a whole month…back to beginning of July…

Somewhere in there hurricane Beryl came on through and, well, left its mark, shall we say. Back to more flooding, down trees, no power. Many had it worse. We have been blessed in years past to not lose trees. It is our turn.

All the pecan trees are special, but they seem to become more so once they are gone.

Then, remember most of my things are in storage? Well. That stuff got wet thanks to Beryl. Woohoo. That was exciting. Going through it. Taking pictures and making lists. Doing what remediation I could. Filing an insurance claim. While a big ‘ol not fun hassle, it was not all too terribly bad. I am still waiting to hear back from insurance though.

OK, back to August.

Somebody tried to break into my truck and left me with a shattered window. That was really not nice, but I will take that over the alternative. That is probably the last time I sleep at my parents house. I am so glad my alarm went off and they were not able to get in. There is a lot more to this story that I just can not bring myself to say again, but it ends with me running and yelling in my pajamas. I just hope the perpetrator was running scared. I still have my truck though and nothing is gone. That gentleman there is installing a new window, just in case you thought something else.

Then we suffered the loss of another pecan tree and a half on Friday evening when a storm popped up. This crazy storm came out of nowhere. There was so much rain and wind you could not see. Then when you could…

At least only this half of a tree is requiring fence work as well.

So. I am Colorado dreaming right now! I am getting away for a week in the mountains to escape!

Come Sunday I will be there enjoying the cool temperatures and mountain views. I will try not to leave y’all hanging this time!

Walk in love, dear readers!

And, well, August is just about half way over, so never fear! It is like hump day, you’re almost there to the ‘ber months! And you know what that means!