Friday Potpourri

Miss Bridie has rediscovered the joy of playing with a ball and keeping her peeps on their toes, literally. 

There was a time when fierce competition caused too many little spats among the three dogs.  

Now that there are just two dogs and because Little Foster is blind, Bridie does not need to compete. 

So, we're figuring the re-emergence of the ball has helped her through the adjustment of a world without Liam. 

We also figure that she's going to keep us busy moving that ball to the next place for her to retrieve it. 

Yesterday she even revived a Kiwi trick:  put the ball directly in the next lawnmower swath so Mom has to get off the mower and move it out of the way. 

Score one for Bridie. 

Meanwhile, hats off to Chris for "shoes on" for me. Yesterday she handed over a "memento" she'd mentioned in an earlier conversation.

"I gave some to my sisters too," she noted as she pulled the yellow item from her bag. 

It's a foot-long-plus shoe horn. 

I don't know where Chris got the idea that I could use such an item----maybe my ability to maneuver into the right position to put on my boots and shoes was mentioned in our ongoing conversations about general body breakdown. 

That seems to be a common---well, maybe that's not the proper word----constant theme in many of the conversations I'm having these days with my contemporaries. 

And, since Chris is a close friend, it's likely that I may have described the challenge of putting on footwear. 

Let me tell you that the longer shoe horn is the best thing since sliced bread.  Actually, I've never given a lot of thought to how wonderful sliced bread happens to be, but the general populations seems to think it's a good thing. 

Well, I can tell you, after trying it out a few times, that this gift from Chris will definitely keep on giving, several times a day no less---especially during the winter when the boots go on and the boots come off every time I go out or come inside. 

Thank you, Chris.  This morning's trips outside with the barn boots made my body smile.  

My friend and editor Helen sent me the following yesterday.  Stress not only comes with resistant body movements; it also comes with total mind disorder. 

It's bad enough that we not remember names or what day it is or what we did five minutes ago.  

BUT the seemingly constant challenge of trying to remember the username and password we use to find out about the general odds and ends of our daily business and general affairs can drive a person over the brink. 

I know that I go through almost the exact process illustrated below several times a week. It's happened so often of late that every time I enter a password secure site, I write in my little notebook which of the half dozen usernames and passwords actually worked. 

In fact, I have one option on my computer for backing up photos that someone named Marianne Love used a long time ago and that this Marianne Love is not allowed to enter the zone.  

Every few months I try entering the site again, and every time, Google responds with an emphatic NO.  

A significant amount of my horse gear is now in the back of the Subaru. 

I'll probably be hauling it away today. 

It won't go far. 

The items are moving to a beautiful stable facility here in the neighborhood, owned by Roxane Conrad. 

In the next few days, life is taking a couple of dramatic new turns for me. 

On the same day next week that I have my consultation with Dr. Torres for cataract removal surgery, we'll be loading up Lily, Lefty and CB and taking them to Roxane's stable where they'll stay for the next five months.

Having a horseless Lovestead and no cataracts are both pretty major events to face in a few weeks' time. 

I guess it all goes with today's aforementioned theme illustrating that we aren't getting any younger. 

Last winter, midway through the daily aches and pains of cleaning stalls and maneuvering around uneven ground while feeding and hauling off a sled filled with manure and shavings, a light flashed on in my brain: why not try boarding the horses for a winter. 

So, that's what I'm going to do.  The horses will not be here, but they'll be just a mile away, in the neighborhood, and in much better facilities than they now have. 

Also, first thing in the morning after a snow dump, Bill won't have to get the snow blower out to forge a way to the barn, and we won't have to fight the barn door which often refuses to open when the ground heaves. 

Having the horses at another facility will also clear the way for my cataract surgeries scheduled for next month. 

The change also offers another fun new chapter in my life where instead of the usual daily hard work, I can even play.  Other ladies of my age group also board their horses at Roxane's, and they ride in her indoor arena.  

So, I'm looking forward to meeting them and also maybe even riding more often where other people are around.  That situation offers a definite plus in the old lady safety department. 

So, new chapter begins and soon literally a whole new perspective on life when the cataracts are removed. 

Looking forward to the fun of being proactive about "getting old."  

They say old age ain't for sissies, but if we embrace it with some different options and a healthy sense of humor, the life stage can actually be kinda fun. 

Finally, today, I'll get off the subject of old age and leave you with the space age. Daily Bee editor Caroline Lobsinger wrote an interesting piece about a local program focusing on space-age possibilities with a significant event launching tomorrow on North Boyer. 

I'm also including a link to the program. Fun stuff for the future and happening right here in Sandpoint. It also reminds me of the good ol' days of homemade rocket launches just down North Boyer from tomorrow's event. 

Back in the 1970s, my brother Jim and a bunch of 4-H'ers used the far pasture on our North Boyer farm for their rocketry projects. Fun memories.

Enjoy the story and check out the website. 

Happy Friday. 

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"That, he said, is part of the reason he launched Spacepoint, a new observatory that is located at the University of Idaho's Sandpoint Organic Agriculture Center. 

Launched in March, Spacepoint — a deliberate play on the new non-profit's home base — aims to create both interest in, and a pipeline to, all aspects of the space industry."

https://bonnercountydailybee.com/news/2023/oct/27/spacepoint-set-to-launch-new-observatory/

 https://www.spacepoint.org/