Happy Birthday

My wish for you on your Birthday: May you enjoy all of your trails with good health, good humor, and good friends.

You are a treasured Sister, a loving Mom, and a beloved Daughter.

I miss you and missed talking with you today. Happy Birthday.

SKI #2

We've been busy getting things together and in place. The internet connection up here 'in the hills' is poor, we will have to do something about that. It took almost an hour to load the following two pictures. I have more but don't want to risk losing my entire post, which has happened several times.

I took a day this week and went skiing. It was a lovely drive, the snow is melting away now. But there was plenty of snow at the ski resort. It was too warm out to wear a coat, a sweatshirt was just right. By noon, the snow was getting slushy so I headed home. After five months, my leg that got squished by the horse, has finally healed. I had no problem with 2 1/2 hours of downhill. I love to ski. I missed by buddies Kevin and Tristan though! Maybe next year they can join me. Last year, my nephew Kevin and I braved massive blizzards to drive up to the resort. It was quite the adventure.



The day was warm, the skies dotted with just a touch of cloud, a bit of wind, and plenty of snow.

Doesn't this look fun? I was thinking about skiing around the edge over there and doing a bit of back country down hill skiing....

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!!! Well I did think it, but not seriously consider it.

Soon I hope to post pictures of some of our works in progress here at the log house.

Udder Failure

'Down at the Ranch' the other day.

Mama cow has malfunctioning milkers. She tries to be a good mama but needs assistance. She is big and protective, he is tiny, cute and friendly.







She is warning me to keep away while Junior wanders right over to say hi. I respect protective female bovine types and keep my distance.

Looks at those eye lashes... that tiny tip of tongue...

I have his calf bottle full of yummy warm milk replacer, but he refuses to take it for me. I'm sure not going to chase him around in there with questionable mama cow and deep cow manure. I give up.

Cute hungry calf goes right up to and starts nuzzling with 'Dawg'.

We kind of miss that dawg, but there's something to be said about not having a Barbadoes sheep sleeping outside the door every night.

Veterinary Rodeo

......Or maybe I should call this 'Bird Wrestling'.

It pays off to carry my camera around, even at work.

This is one of the lighter moments in Veterinary Medicine. The participants shall remain anonymous, for my protection!




"Yes sir, I have examined your bird and have found that his wings function perfectly."

Sunday, Day of Rest

This is "Cort", my (our) new dog. Step-son could no longer keep him, so he has been confined in a kennel for a few months. He is a bit over a year old. He wears one ear up and one ear down. He seems to be smart and willing to please....

....he just needs to learn the house rules. Such as ,'no jumping up into the kitchen sink to watch us outdoors'. He has bonded to me already, but then I have spent the past few days hauling him everywhere with me. He does like Jerry too, but Jerry has been busy with his new toy.

His new tractor; it digs, it lifts, it pushes, it pulls, it is cool.

It was new in the 70s. It belong to Jerry's Uncle, then his Dad bought it, his Dad retired from farming and then passed away, the tractor sold to a friend, when J.J. heard it was being sold again, he called Jerry and asked if he wanted to buy his Dad's old tractor. When you live in a 'small town' you know the whereabouts of your Grandpa's old tractor.

The tractor has been well taken care of and works hard.

I thought I had convinced Jerry that Sunday is a day of rest. I am in here doing laundry, dishes and just a general clean-up after having guests.

Jerry and Cort are outside..... not on the old wooden swing, I assure you. So much for resting.

I hope that your Sunday has been peaceful.

We've been busy, from dawn to dark for days. Jerry's son and his girlfriend, arrived from Idaho on Wednesday. They drove, hauling a trailer carrying Jerry's new toy. And something new for me too.
The time passed too quickly and they left just two hours ago. They'll spend the night in Tahoe and head for Idaho in the morning.
My new step-son likes to relax just like his Dad (see previous post). It is amazing what they accomplished here in just a few days. He is very sweet, hard working, and real cute too. His girlfriend is cute and sweet. We are sad to see them go, the visit was too short!
I got much done that I have been putting aside for months now. Finally got that married name change official with the government, changed my Driver's License, made some banking changes, even started on the long list of address changes.
While the guys were out doing their 'manly' jobs around here, I cleaned more and unpacked more. There's still lots to sort and put away. It is most challenging to blend the 'stuff' two separate people have collected in a half century of life. I have rediscovered some of my 'treasures' and have been introduced to some neat items the Cowboy regards as treasures.
It is late (9 pm!) I am tired, smell like smoke from tending burn piles, dirty from stacking wood, and I am chilly. Time for a hot bath and then bed.
Sweet dreams.

DIFFERENCES: Part Two

When his employed work day is finished, Jerry likes to relax also. No wooden swing for him; the following pictures capture Jerry's 'after-hours' relaxation.


Climb up on the roof and sweep leaves, of course.

Dark outside? No problem, the fire will provide enough light to rake up even more brush and leaves.

What better way to relax, than with a Chain Saw?

Never idle hands.

And weekends are for helping friends with their private projects. Never, never turn down an opportunity to operate the BIG machines.

Now, this wife needs to go swing a bit...... perhaps a tiny little nap.

DIFFERENCES: Part One

This is how I enjoy my time off. When work is done for the day and I am ready to relax. It's a winter (well almost Spring) afternoon and the trees are full of blossoms.

This old wooden swing is hung from an Oak branch in the side yard. It has character, it creaks, and it offers a pleasing view of our yard. I plan to spend some time just swinging and listening to the quiet of the afternoon.

The horses are loose, enjoying the afternoon exploring the yard. We are fully fenced and I let them out of their pasture to wander and graze. I find it peaceful and entertaining to watch horses. It doesn't take 'Rock' long to find me. She's headed over to visit and where she goes, 'Remington' follows.

Here she comes, she enjoys human contact. 'Rem', the old boy thinks the green grass is much more enjoyable.

'Rock' is very curious and likes to sniff my shoes, my hands, my hair. Sometimes after sniffing, she'll lick my feet, odd mare. I like to smell horses too, but never lick their feet (hooves).

Is she thinking, "Cool swing, I think I'll sniff it for a while."? Probably not.

OK, when I relax, I'm lazy, I didn't even brush the old leaf litter from the swing. 'Rock' sniffs the leaves for a moment. I can tell she's thinking, "These dry, crunchy leaves sure sound and smell Yummy!" I know she is going to lick them.

"Yuck, Bleck, Icky, Spit-Spit Spit it all out!"

And that's how I relax and laugh a bit.

Spring Forward

Time is odd. We've skipped ahead an hour, I am surprised to be through the first third of March already, and then I realize over half a century has zoomed by in a blink of my eye. Odd.

Thanks to everyone checking my blog and leaving messages. I am sorry not to have replied sooner. A week was spent working a vigorous schedule out of town, while hosting a very ugly upper respiratory virus. Then last week at home with the flu 'bug'. This week starts out with both of us in good health and Jerry working out of town for a few days.

I have tried to post a few times but have found the Internet connection up here in the 'wilderness' to be very temperamental, unpredictable, unreliable, challenging...... a good sense of humor is a must.

We love it up here. Our list of dreams for the place exceeds our 'best case scenario' expected life spans.

The resident wild-life situation is another challenge.

The deer are not pleased with the horses in their pasture and the new fences in place. They abandoned us for a while but are slowly adapting to the changes and venturing closer.

The creature chewing, pounding about, and leaving piles of 'droppings' in the attic has been banished and is angry. He is currently, at this very moment, sitting out in an Oak tree screaming (obscenities, I am certain). A large grey squirrel. I saw him scurry away last week and found two openings in the wall that he was using to gain access to his home, which is now ours and we aren't sharing with the squirrels. Jerry patched the holes. We listened in the attic for a few days to make sure we didn't hear any baby squirrels up there (none) and we have been cussed out by the Mad-One daily.

When we initially moved in, I had to remove the remains of several unfortunate birds from the wood burning stove before we lit our first fire. Well, it is spring time here. The birds are abundant and the love-sick birds are seeking nesting areas. A favorite spot explored is our chimney. They slide down the stove pipe, and hurray, arrive safely in the stove. Currently, at this very moment, there is another bird banging about in the stove. The drill is, I open the door with fish net in hand hoping to catch the little devils immediately. I fail. The feathered devils then fly back and forth across the high peaked ceiling. They fail to figure out the escape routes on their own. It takes two of us armed with brooms, hours to get the foul fowl out. Now there is another one trapped and I have to be the bird police on my own. I am tempted to leave it there for a while, let it weaken with hunger and thirst and then grab it. *sigh* I really won't do that.

This morning before leaving, Jerry was out studying the chimney, which extends from the very steep side of the roof. He was figuring a way to get up there to put a bird screen over the opening. He scares me, I have a vision... Jerry dangling from the roof, a rope tied around his waist, me hanging on to the other end on the other side of the house.... honestly though, the man would never allow a rope to be tied to him. *sigh*

Since he rarely reads this, just looks at my pictures sometimes, I'll tell you what he did the morning after he blocked the squirrel's doors. We woke early to the squirrel screaching at us, Jerry went out our bedroom door to the back deck, climbed up the edge of the house where the logs meet at the corner, climbed to the roof line to make sure the squirrel had not gotten past his metal patch job, and did all of that climbing in his under-shorts, his white briefs. *sigh*

I really do love it here.

To my 'blog buddies', I keep reading but am having trouble posting comments. Know I think about you!

To my family, yes I know I should call more often. On our good days we seem to be in bed by 8 pm. When we aren't ill, we are exhausted. But I think of you all daily.

To everyone, enjoy your adventures today!