March 2023 – Gen BLT

The sun wasn’t actually hot today. It was around 50 degrees F out this afternoon. And the rocks were actually chunks of concrete. Remember those front stairs I posted about early last year? If anyone thought that story was done, they were wrong.

The stairs are still fabulous. The contractor did a great job. But we foolishly paid him before he finished hauling away all the rubble from the old stairs. He promised he’d be back in about a week to take it all away. That was the last we ever saw of him.

I am using PTO from my day job this week for a staycation / catch up at home week. Yesterday, I cleaned out my clothes closet and dresser. I also finally took down our outdoor Christmas lights, which explains why I felt the need for a catch up week. I wanted to pat myself on the back, but I guess putting away your Christmas decor three months late isn’t really that admirable.

Today, I spent the morning on a creative writing project. Then I went to the hardware store to buy several necessary items, including vanity lights for our upstairs bathroom. Of the four bulbs in there, two have been burned out for…I forget. I kept not replacing them because we didn’t have the correct ones on hand. Well, that’s checked off the list now.

Later in the day a roll-off construction dumpster we arranged to rent was delivered. Unfortunately, we hadn’t realized my husband would still be recovering from a case of COVID (no longer contagious, just still weak and tired.) So it’s up to my son and me to move all this:

Big pile of concrete chunks, with a foot in a black tennis shoe.

The strapping young man can’t help until tomorrow. But I got to work today loading the pieces I could lift on my own. We have four days to finish.

Large yellow roll-off construction dumpster with a flat cart holding chunks of concrete.

Chunks of concrete piled inside a dumpster.

Phew! I’m tired. I will be extremely happy to have this rubble gone from beside our house, though. I assume the next-door neighbors will be, too.

Wish us good weather!

***

Two large red barn-like structures in background. Horse corral with two clydesdale horses in foreground. Large puffy clouds in sky. — Warm Springs Ranch, Boonville, MO. Home of the Budweiser Clydesdales

Today is my birthday. Thanks in advance for the well wishes. It feels like a good day to get back into the swing of posting to my blog.

So in my quest for new experiences, I planned an outing I’ve wanted to do for a while. I live only about a 20-minute drive away from Warm Springs Ranch, home of the Budweiser Clydesdales. I’m not much into beer, but I was intensely into the idea of seeing the magnificent horses up close and learning more about them. Unfortunately, my hubs was under the weather. But my son-in-residence went with me to take a tour.

Other than being a bit chilly, it was an excellent morning for it. I’d never seen a Clydesdale except from a distance. These are BIG animals — 1,800 to 2,200 pounds fully grown. They weigh around 150 pounds at birth!

Here’s the most surprising thing I learned. New drivers start training by working with bicyclists harnessed something like the horses are. Sorry for the blurriness in the photo.

A set of six bicycles, paired two-by-two and harnessed together. Red pickup truck and red building behind. — I never would have guessed this is how they train Clydesdale drivers.

And here’s the best birthday surprise:

Shoulder and head of grown clydesdale horse on left. Infant foal lying down in lower center. Inside a stall. — Mama horse and new foal, 36 hours old.

Sign on outside of horse stall with text: Mare: Gemma, Foal: ?, DOB 3-24-2023 — Too new for a name. Welcome to the world!

This brand new baby came into the world only 36 hours before our tour. How often do you get a chance to see such a recent arrival? It’s too new for a name, even. Welcome, baby!

The whole time we were there, I couldn’t help thinking of the Jethro Tull song “Heavy Horses.” So I’ll end this post with a link to it.