March First

I just spent an hour composing my Best Blog Post ever. I pressed publish post and lost it forever. It was lost even though blogger was supposedly saving it. Oh well. *sigh*
February was a fast and busy month. This will be a fast and busy post.
Last month we planted our mini orchard, built more rock flower beds, I spent a week out of town working, I spent a couple days in Las Vegas at a conference, my sister and nephew came to visit for a week, we snow skied once, have been trail riding a few times, have had lots of rain, enjoyed some warm sunny days also, the green grass is thick and growing, the flowers are blooming, Carson is blooming also, we are all well and healthy.
Life is good.
Today has been grey, windy and rainy. A lovely day, relaxing and restful. A warm house, a pot of bean soup and pan of warm cornbread. Perfect indeed.

Road Trip

We enjoyed a quick road trip last week. Jerry had business in Eureka and I was able to ride along. The truth of the matter is, that I was along as driver so Jerry could work on his phone and computer as we traveled. He is quite the multi-task er, several deals going on at once.

We drove west to the Redwoods and then north to Eureka. The redwood forests are majestic.
I pulled over here to get a picture of the sunset through the trees.

We didn't have time this trip to get out and hike. This narrow winding stretch of road was so peaceful and beautiful with very little traffic.

Our room in Eureka was lovely. We had a nice jacuzzi in the room, comfortable beds and just a short walk to the waterfront.

After settling in our room, we went exploring. We found a restaurant/lumber museum that we thoroughly enjoyed. Here Jerry shows me old lumberjack boots or "corks". He's never worked as a lumberjack but his brother is one.

A nice display of antique cooking stove, supplies, pans and an antique cook.

We ate in this old Roadhouse, dinner was good and served family style. There were only about 9 diners and we were the last to leave. It was very active in the late 1800s and served three meals daily to the lumberjacks. I enjoyed reading several pages of fascinating history and stories.

I seem to find strange signs in the places I visit.

I walked to the water and this was the view. I was told that the smoke was steam from the paper plant or mill.

Jerry spent the day in meetings at the power plant. I spent the day walking around town in perfect weather.

Heading home we drove several miles north of Eureka and then headed east towards Redding.

Leaving early, the air was chill and patches of fog hovered above the forests. Jerry drove through the mountains allowing me to enjoy the scenery.

Small quaint, mountain villages nestle between the highway and mountains along the route. Patches of blue sky peak through pillowing clouds of fog. The forests were very dense and dark.

Perfect residential area for...........

BIG FOOT!

Yes! We stopped at the Bigfoot Museum. But to my tremendous disappointment, it was CLOSED!






It was disturbing driving through this large area devastated by a previous wildfire. Looking carefully, white tubes can be seen protecting the tiny replacement saplings.

Almost back to the valley; the foothills and Whiskeytown Lake. That line of buoys seen above, is holding a 100 foot deep rubber curtain in place. The curtain separates the shallow warmed water from the deeper cold water. After building the reservoir, it was found that the water temperatures were too warm for the successful spawning of trout/salmon. The curtain has helped the fish survive.

One parting shot, and then my turn to drive the rest of the way home. Cell service back, Jerry once again busy on his phone and computer.

I'll be back one day to visit that Bigfoot Museum and to hike in the Redwood Forest. Who knows, I may even be the next one to film Bigfoot.....

Wish you were here.....

I copied these pictures from yesterday's email. My brother in Michigan misses us and wishes we were there. I packed up and headed West almost 10 years ago. I am not a grey sky, slushy snow kind of person.

More Michigan pictures, compliments of bro. I miss you too; our family get-togethers, the pranks and jokes, road trips, but....

These pictures were also taken on Jan. 31st.

See the blue skies and green grass?

The cowboy and ranchkid spent the day planting redwood trees.

See the green grass and blue skies?

January 31st, dafodils in full bloom.

Sorry David, I just couldn't resist.

I miss you too and wish you were here!

Your big sis.

Beauty and the Beast

Peace.
Living in harmony regardless of differences.

Wrangler, Under Saddle

It's almost time to ride this youngster. Small when he came to live with us last summer, Wrangler is filling out nicely but still a shorty. He has a calm, sweet personality and learns quickly.
I've trained to ride a few horses over the years.
Jerry has 'broke' quite a few more. As a young man in the west, he would break feral range horses, use them as pack horses, ride them on the mountain trails and then after a season, return them to whoever it was he got them from, to be sold as trained saddle horses. I believe that it was a government contract, I'm away from home for a few days as I write this, it's late and I'm not going to call home to ask him, so we'll just say it was a government contract.
He is an excellent horseman, is no nonsense about training, does things a bit differently than I. His way works great. I will however, occasionally offer my personal suggestions, he will listen careful, say, "yes, dear", then proceed as he was.

The colt has been exposed to noise, tractors, animals, and a leaping-climbing-loud human male child. He leads well, stands tied for long periods of time, and in general tolerates all that we humans decide to challenge him with. The goal is to end up with a calm, eager, well broke riding horse that can be trusted. As much as you can trust an animal whose instinct is to flee from danger (scary situations).


This is called 'sacking out' by the cowboys. The saddle blanket is tossed about, flapped at, and rubbed on all parts of the horse until he accepts it and stands quietly. It doesn't take long for the horse to figure out that it doesn't hurt and calmly accepts it. This is repeated many times, any time the horse is worked with, until he accepts it as just a ho-hum part of life.

Jerry picked up this little beat up saddle for about $5 at a tack sale. He sawed off the saddle horn to make it safer for the horse if during his training he decides to lay down and roll or rear up and fall over backwards. Wrangler doesn't really mind the saddle on his back. Tightening up the cinch around his belly made for a few tense moments.

Leather creaks and slaps and is quite noisy. Here Jerry is slapping the stirrups and the saddle, creating as much leather noise as he can. Wrangler's body language expresses his desire to leave Dodge at this point. He doesn't; and soon accepts the saddle, the cinch and the cowboy messing with him.

First time in the round pen saddled. He ran fast and bucked just a little. Not much of a bucker, this little buckaroo. A few times around and he was ready to settle down.

Relaxing. Jerry scratches his rear leg and Wrangler takes care of that itchy front leg himself.

Second time in the round pen under saddle. Notice Jerry has used his regular riding saddle instead of the smaller, lightweight training saddle. Quiet and calm, not bad at all.

Backing up using voice command.

Heading back down to the barn.

Next step - mounting.

The above picture was taken the day Jerry and I got married. Way back in July 2007. In fact, when I took the picture I didn't know that by evening we'd be Mr & Mrs. We were engaged but I was kind of leaning towards a five year engagement. He suggested we go check out some of the Tahoe Chapels, for future reference of course. By nightfall we gathered with our camping buddies and tied the knot.

But that's not the subject of this post, I got slightly side-tracked looking at old pictures. I was looking for pictures of mules. I have become fond of mules over the past few years. They are as different from horses as dogs are from cats. Jerry rode that "Pistol" mule quite a bit in 2007. We were buddies,that mule and I. But I didn't ride him much, I prefer riding horses and using mules as pack animals. Jerry enjoys mules, he is Mister Mule Whisperer, he rides 'em, packs 'em, trains 'em, ropes off of 'em, and heaven only knows what else the ol' boy has up his sleeve. I am sure I'll find out, because........



This is one of a set of mules that came to live with us this past weekend. He already has a name so we don't have to go through all of that naming ordeal again. I re-introduce you to "Pistol".


This is the other half of the pair. Her name is "Milly", she is more of a pistol, or firecracker, than "Pistol" is. That little chain over her nose keeps her honest, without it, she tends to spin and take off at a run, dragging her victim behind.

And I was concerned that I was bringing home too many animals. Jerry is responsible for this increase in herd size. But I sure like them and am looking forward to even more adventures here at the zoo.

Every cloud has a silver lining.......

Our mornings have been damp with either dew or frost depending on the temperature. I peek out the windows first thing upon rising, in order to decide how many layers to dress in.
This morning I gazed out and saw white tufts scattered about. Oh no, I am afraid some critter has been torn up and fur left to tell the sad tale. Immediate I seek out Billy, our only pet with a large amount of white fur, I find him still alive, sleeping on a chair.

I slip on my boots and head out to investigate. Looks like fur balls from a distant and there are lots of them.

Closer examination reveals balls of white, fluffy, soft, cottony substance.

Are new flowers blooming? Every now and then a fresh blooming surprises us.

OK, wait just a minute. Things just may not be, what they appear to be.

The centers of those flowers look disgustingly familiar.

What first looked like animal fur, then like delicate white flowers, is apparently a fungus.

A fungus covering feces. Big piles of fungus-growing dog dung all over the place.

Ew. Bizarre. I have NEVER seen such fungus covered feces!

Someone needs to 'Pooper scoop' the yard.