This month I have been building, yes, seriously, me, out there, driving a tilling gasoline engine machine, raking the dirt flat, rolling the dirt to compact it, covering the track and dressage arena with heavy duty weed cloth put down with 1000 staples minimum.  Trust me that cloth is going no where.  I had help tilling.  Michael brought his big Ford pick up to get the two machines and we did this all in 4 hours, returning the machines in the minimum rental time.  Los Angeles had had 5 days of rain – straight, no breaks, down pouring for days.  I waited two days and attacked this pasture.

I ordered 8  times 90 cubic feet of red crushed granite to cover the track.  I hired help to wheel barrel all this rock out.  

Good thing, because when I rented a $20  a day truck, rather than pay $300 for curbside delivery of the astro turf, I was grateful for assistance to manage the astro turf out to the back pasture.

And the Gazebo, that was special work.  Two days of scraping gunk off the wood frame left inside of the metal gazebo for weight against the winds that go through the Valley.  Great idea this was, by the by because another metal gazebo in the backyard closer to the house was lifted and bent by the wind during this last month.  I spent two days taking nails and screws out of our Gazebo before it could be sanded.  

I hired help to put in a fence to keep Fred, our resident Land Tortoise dinosaur, in the back pasture, and allowing carts to be brought in easily through a six foot gate.

It has all come together, and I must say I am very happy with the space.

If you look in the left corner when I walk up to the gate, you will see Ollie, my dog, who loves hanging out in this pasture.

Used to be my friends came over frequently.  My house got picked up, brushed, cleaned, shined regularly because I wanted to welcome guests with that clean fresh smell floating out of my home.  And then that changed for all of us.

How I keep myself active and moving each day is by going on walks with my dog.  We walk 6 am, 9:30 am. 1:30 PM, 3 PM, 4 PM, 10 PM.  We log in over 5 miles a day.  We walk at a good solid pace.

Cleaning is not my favorite thing.  I have developed two habits this past two years.  I close and open my home for myself, just as if I was living in a restaurant, but not quite as scouring bleachy.  The sink is clean, the dishes are done, the britta water is refilled so I have filtered water for coffee in the morning and water to drink if I am parched during the night, all the lights are off, all the electric things are off, the livingroon is picked up, the doors are locked, the soap holders have soap, the toilet paper is in place – all those little things, so that when I wake up, my home is pleasantly nice to be in.  In the morning I have coffee and wipe all the floors with a micro pick up mop.  I have apartment building neighbors and an electric vacuum is to noisy.  And this way I start each day with Ollie’s and my hair on the floor at minimum.

Just how I do it, thought I’d share.  Cheers.

Anyone else miss game night?

• and I don’t want coffee.  Gosh, no, don’t offer decaf.  Just No.  I don’t want Tea.

Boiled water is good.

How about:

Hot Ginger Lemon and Honey

in a small pot boil transfer 

filtered water

thinly sliced ginger root (no more than 1 thumb)

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 lemon juiced

honey to taste

yum!

All of these ingredients contain powerful anti-inflammatory properties. Lemon juice provides powerful digestive enzymes while ginger stimulates digestion. Honey has a natural scraping effect on the intestines (clearing away toxic build-up).  This drink promotes gut health. 

Eric Dolphy  “Out to Lunch“

Other Reviews:

Miles Davis  “Kind of Blue“  

John Coltrane  “A Love Supreme“

Herbie Hancock  “Head Hunters“

Dave Brubeck Quartet  “Time Out“

Charles Mingus  “The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady“

Duke Ellington and His Orchestra:  Ellington at Newport

Stan Getz / João Gilberto Featuring Antonio Carlos Jobim – Getz / Gilberto

Cannonball Adderley  “Somethin’ Else”

Bill Evans Trio* Featuring Scott La Faro* ‎– Sunday at the Village Vanguard

Charles Mingus  “Mingus Ah- Um“

I just returned from an excellent Custom Appointment in South Carolina.  It was a couple days with a combination of Photo/Video Shoots and Play Time.  These are packages put together just for you.

If my travel time one way is 1.5 hours or less, you guarantee 3 hours work minimum.  If my travel time one way is up to 3 hours, you guarantee 5 hours work.  If my travel time one way is 6 hours, you need to guarantee 8 hours work.

All of my travel expenses must be paid upfront and half of my time paid for.

Looking forward to sexy times with you.

Photo by Perry Gallagher

I am simply having the BEST time in Manhattan.  

I figured out where the Duane store is to get soy milk for my coffee.  There is a French Croissant bakery on the corner to tempt me.  There is a little Spanish food catery across the street I like.

I have loved all my time with all my friends.  It is so good to see them again.  Relationships are built over time and we make the most of the time we have.  

I am grateful.

I am blessed.

I love my life.

“The Roman Republic fell, not because of the ambition of Caesar or Augustus, but because it had already long ceased to be in any real sense a republic at all. When the sturdy Roman plebeian, who lived by his own labor, who voted without reward according to his own convictions, and who with his fellows formed in war the terrible Roman legion, had been changed into an idle creature who craved nothing in life save the gratification of a thirst for vapid excitement, who was fed by the state, and directly or indirectly sold his vote to the highest bidder, then the end of the republic was at hand, and nothing could save it. The laws were the same as they had been, but the people behind the laws had changed, and so the laws counted for nothing.”

– President Theodore Roosevelt