Mitey Oaks and More – August 20, 2021

I’m just going to step back to last week for a moment. I went to the dermatologist for my annual visit. As luck would have it, I was beset by itches from almost microscopic bugs. Perfect timing to find out what these were. The doctor barely paid any attention, and told me they were “seed tick nymphs”. I was pretty sure he was wrong about that, but he is a doctor…

Luckily, an alert blog reader suggested that I could have oak mites. I had never heard of them – I googled them, and that was DEFINITELY what I had. Time for a letter to the dermatologist to enlighten him!

Of course, I am not a fan of using bug sprays, but this plague has inspired me to use Deep Woods Off whenever I am in the woods. My enthusiasm for trail clearing was somewhat diminished by the itching, I must say, but now that it is in the past, I am forgetting the misery pretty quickly.

And then we had yet another storm, and Harry heard a huge crash in the Between Woods to the north. The next day, Marilyn rode through and when she tried to take the woods trail home, she returned with news that there was a huge tree down. It turned out to be a massive dead oak that had actually fallen last year, but was hung up on another tree. That tree had given way and the huge log fell over the trail. Jane and I rallied to the scene, and spent the afternoon cutting a bypass trail, so travel through is returned, and we managed to get away with only a few oak mites, not a huge infestation.

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And speaking of clearing fallen trees, risking mites and ticks and chiggers, Nathaniel and Allison worked hard for several days on the tree that fell over the fence in the north pasture and it is now done. Incredibly, when Nathaniel started cutting the tree crown back, the trunk slowly rose, and the root ball resettled into the creek, leaving a stump about ten feet tall! The fence is repaired and horses are back on the grass, which has caused great pools of clover slobbers. Alas, diets are not going well. The Pearl Brothers don’t really need good grazing!

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I will have to catch up slowly, but for now I will move on to report on today. Well, Pinto the cat had a big breakfast, and I opened the window so that he could make an exit. He actually went out the door, and proceeded off into the woods. So far, he has not returned. As Susan pointed out, he has lived for seven years, so he knows how to take care of himself. I hope he returns, but it will be his choice.

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Jane and I loaded Bart and Derry up at 7 AM and went up to the National Equestrian Center to school. We took separate trailers because of all the stuff we had to take with us to set up for the weekend. Susan C met us there and was a big help. The horses were very good, and we are moving on to compete tomorrow, but the show is HUGE, and it looks like we will ride late in the day, when it is very hot. Unfortunately, we are stabled in Barn 3, which has a low roof and poor ventilation, compared to Barn 7 where we used to request stabling. Taking a year off for the pandemic has reduced us to being exiled far from the action. We will make the best of it, and there has already been much laughter at this First World Problem (chapter three in Anne’s Big Book of First World Problems). However, we will probably let the horses rest at home until mid afternoon tomorrow. The good news is that we are stabled with Melissa and Susan H (Bart’s breeder) and Riley.

Off to bed myself now. Here are a few bird pictures from last week.

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And here is Harry this evening…

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Stay safe, stay well. Peace.