Back at the old homestead

An old and dear friend named Kitty passed away yesterday. She was 90 years old. She had been born and raised on some mean streets and (unlike the that 70's show character by the same name and with many commonalities) she avoided the bottle. She had seen its wild effects on her mother and rather than walk in the same feral footfalls, she nipped at life through other indulgences like music and literature. This doesn't mean that she didn't sport a little tamelessness. She was feisty and silver tongued. With her love of seafood coupled with her regular use of profanity one could truly say she had the mouth of a sailor. And from an early age she could be found on the back of a motorcycle. She was amazing and radiated warmth. There wasn't a soul who knew her that didn't love her and I personally treasure having had the opportunity to experience her presence in my life.  May she dwell forever with the ancestors. Long Live Kitty!

Well in other news.. a run away horse.. I don't intend to have THAT happen again. Up until now I have related to the horse as gentle and maybe even docile. That's not to say that I have not seen the horses galloping in the distance and not recognized their power and speed but I have gotten caught up in the sheer grace and beauty to not let the other reality weigh in as much as it should. Well fool me once but never again. I caught on pretty quick when one escaped. So it goes like this.. The tool shed needed a little repair on the wall which is located in the horse pasture. A board had come loose and needed a screw or two to reinforce it. The job went smooth and then I went to clean up. I dropped the ladder. about 5 feet from the gate to open it. In the meantime, the horses (there are five of them in the pasture) had slowly and quite quietly made their way near and were grazing contentedly. I thought nothing of it. So I opened the gate, picked up the ladder, walked back through the gate, put the ladder down just on the other side of the gate and when I turned to close it  one of the horses sauntered through.

 In a matter of mere seconds. Had the cattle guard been closed the situation would have been remedied much easier. As it was she went down the street. A neighbor whose business is horse helped us out and we quickly got her reigned in. The neighbor heavily reinforced (aka gently scolded me)  about the "Law of the West" which is about always closing your gates. Turns out a gate can be more about keeping things in than out and a closed gate isn't a sign of inhospitality and an open door.

I know I have been keeping posted on vacations and travel but much has been going on in and around the ranch. Our little Chicks are growing up and we finished up their pen (still needs a little work) just in time for the little roos to begin their first feeble attempts at crowing. The sound of those weak hesitant and croaky voices tell me we have reached bird adolescents.


After

Before

  Did I say roos? We don't want a lot of those... which means.. my research has begun on how to properly choke the chicken. Not as fun as it sounds however it is a fact of ranch life and we have to learn to cull. But not quite yet. I am just mentally preparing in advance. Anyway their new coup is up and fenced and they are thankful to have more leg room. Did you know that clipping a birds wings is not painful. That was another thing we have had to learn to do. It is quite easy by the idea was intimidating. Both Greg and I had originally thought it had to do with severing a tendon. Turns out you cut some feathers which do not have nerves.

We moved the Geese to the goat pen! Doing so has been a tremendous relief. Notice the exclamation point? The seven geese had been sharing the backyard with Lord Stanley and the Ladies since we moved in. Well as anyone who has ever been to a goose pond knows, geese are territorial and a little bit mean. I however get along with them quite well and have been allowed to waddle at the end of the line with them a time or two.  (One of Us) And if you watch and get a feel for their personalities.. they actually have a funny sense of humor. But still.. they tormented Splash and terrorized the chickens. We discovered that they were even guilty of eating the chickens eggs. (One of the hens is broody which means she wants to hatch and this was particularly traumatic to her.). Additionally, do you have any idea how much a goose poops? Its a lot. Tons. And it was all over the porch which resulted in a huge daily chore. Now no more! Additionally,  any movement in the house would set them to barking as they are very good watchdogs. The move has also been a pleasant and happy accepted one by the geese as they now have more direct contact with the horses. They get along and visit with each other daily. They seem quite content for now.

Ivan says What?!

The Oregon Mini's (one is part Sebastopol)

Check out this sunset!

We have gophers.. Lots of gophers.. Millions of them. I picked up some of these stakes which emit a vibration to chase them away from the apple tree and some other plants. They appear to be working but just because they are not right there doesn't mean they are gone. I will have to do some serious pest control soon, or find ways to gopher proof my garden such as raised beds with wire mesh bottoms. Its something that needs looking into.

Another recent adventure involved our plumbing. We had a partial clog which I was able to clear before the maintenance man arrived.  However, we checked out the system to be sure which included a trip under the house to locate the cleanouts. I feel like Im prepared to handle a larger problem now and enjoyed the adventure. It was a lot like spelunking.

Plumbs! The plumb tree has given us some delicious fruit and Wil had a good time harvesting them with me the other day.

Connor had his first cut at a real "Barber Shop" The place even had a pool table. Nice. Im thinking it might be time to get mine styled and am debating going short. hmmm..

If a tree falls in the woods.. while at Disneyland, I put aside all work and concern about what course to plot and which path to cut. But coming home, my thoughts once again turned towards what I want to take on. So many possibilities, raced through my mind as we walked the property that first night back. Then there was a loud crack and our attention was turned toward the Oak Grove. A giant branch fell. What timing that it would fall at that moment.  That we would be there to witness it. Hmmmmm..

Car talk.. You may recall that back in August of last year Greg traded his Hyabusa (sport motorcycle) for a sporty little Mitsubishi GT3000 (sports car) which promptly threw a rod through the engine and out the oil pan. It destroyed the engine. At the time we explored our options and chose to seek out another vehicle and bought a truck. Only it failed smog. Fortunately we were able to return it to the previous owner without much trouble. At that point we decided to just take care of the sport car and get her running again. It has been a drawn out and expensive process and Greg and I have been sharing the Subaru between us. But that is all over now. One big challenge off the list and just in time for the start of the school commute to begin. Very timely.

I can't believe that school is right around the corner. It starts next week. Preparations are well underway. Uniforms are in the mail, supplies are purchased. The school require parent volunteer hours. I intend to offer up my mornings after dropping the kids off which will get me to the library in time to see it open. I plan to use my days to read, write and research Speaking of writing.. I may have an actual project on the horizon. I look forward to seeing how that unfolds and will keep you posted.

Now it is time to be off and on our way to Celebrate our Grandparents 65th Anniversary. Quite an accomplishment. More on that later. First I have to go beat up my brother.... With Hugs!! ;)

Oh and one last thing.. I came across this article and video and found them to be worth mentioning..
http://www.knowledgeformen.com/10-reasons-why-no-one-knows-what-theyre-doing-in-their-20s/

On the Road Again...