My First Orchard

I planted a little back yard orchard during the winter. My sister and nephew came to visit during winter break and saw my spindly little baby trees. She asked about my fruit trees yesterday. So since she asked....

I'll show..... The peaches were pretty, but the leaves were all holey from ants. The trees wore lovely blooms this spring. We had colorful cherry blossoms, abundant peach blossoms, a few nectarine blossoms but the apple trees only flowered a bit. I had high hopes for a taste of fresh fruit this summer.

I suppose I should post a picture allowing you to actually appreciate the size of our first peaches. Hhmmm, not so big I'll be the first to admit. But it was a proud moment when we determined that it was time to harvest.




Well, I guess I should also include a photo so that you can appreciate the size of tree that produced those four little mini peaches. Even the grand kids had no trouble reaching the branches to pick the fruit. And yes I said four, four fresh peaches and five here for dinner. What could we do?

DESSERT!

Fresh peach slices over vanilla ice cream for all! The best dessert we had all summer long.

I am pleased that it was such a tasty dish because it was the most expensive dessert that I have ever enjoyed.....

The COST of planting a small orchard:

Planting orchard......................................................1 fun day digging in dirt

Fruit trees (3 cherry, 2 peach, 1 nectarine, 4 apple).........$308.63

Gopher wire..............................................................$12.86

Dirt & Fertilizer.........................................................$43.58

Insecticide.............................................................$12.00

Antifungal fruit tree medication.......................$15.00

Hand watering...................................................2 x weekly chore until August

Drip system (installed to eliminate above chore)....1/2 day hard labor in August

Digging out danged Star Thistle by hand....weekly allowance to Grandson $$$

The pleasure of sharing and enjoying the fruit of your labors - PRICELESS-

BUT WAIT!

THERE'S MORE!!!!!

We have AN APPLE growing also!

The End of July

The last pictures I shared, (two whole months ago) were proof that we do have green grass here in golden California, but not during the summer. The following pictures illustrate our golden time of the year. Go ahead and laugh, just remember to check back in with me in December when you are thigh high in Midwest snow and I am mowing green grass.

We are continuing to enjoy the company of four grand kids. For two days now, we have been able to get out and enjoy the horses early in the mornings while it is still relatively cool.

For quite some time now, we have suffered over 100 degree temperatures. When not down in the river, the kids stay in during the day and go out to burn off energy in the evening. I now have some time off work, so have been playing with these three rascals, trying to give Amy a break. The fourth granddaughter is in her late teens and not much into riding horses. Playing is hard work, they wear me out.

This granddaughter's wish for her visit was to be able to ride a mule. She thinks they are so cute! She was thrilled to get her wish and ride Pistol. But I tell you, he is like driving a big heavy tank, he can't help it, it's just the way he is. She was excited to get to experience Pistol, but confided to me, after about half an hour, that she would maybe stick to riding horses.

Warming up in the round pen. This was the little one's first ride on my mare. The older granddaughter has been riding old Remington since the end of June and they are good buds. Tristan rides them all but he is on his favorite, Cheyenne. The kids were having a blast and kicking up quite the dust storm.

I am not really sure why that 11 year old boy is pulling the mare's ear... maybe he is giving her an ear massage? He does pet the mule's ears quite a bit.

More of Tristan and Cheyenne.

The other eleven year old, a granddaughter, doesn't pull horse ears.

This tiny little gal loves to ride and is quite the horsewoman. She doesn't like to be called little though, she told me today that she is medium, not little.

Noon saw us hot, dusty and hungry. After unsaddling horses and tossing them some hay, we went in for lunch. I thought a trip to the theater to watch a movie would be a fun treat. We saw G-Force, cute and the kids liked it. I haven't been to a movie for so long I didn't realize the matinee now costs what regular price was just a short time ago. Well, maybe a few years ago.

This evening, after dinner, we were invaded by aircraft. Small planes and helicopters passed repeatedly overhead for a few hours. Jerry turned on his scanner and heard that a wild fire was being battled a few miles down the canyon from us, along the American River. Lovely. I had our escape plans all thought out and ready to be put in action. The kids were given their evacuation orders, just in case, but they were more interested in the few but large particles of ash and burnt grasses drifting down on us. The aircraft have gone, the fire must be out. Ah, golden California.

The children are asleep where all good grandchildren should be, outside in tents.

Wink

I'll have to title a post 'How I Spent My Summer Vacation'.

Soon.

Jerry rigged up an outdoor antenna device that seems to encourage my computer to stay connected to the internet for more than two minutes at a time.

It has been a 'wink and it goes by' summer.

This is a 'wink and it goes by' post.

Western Weekend

Hey, do you remember these fellas?.......... oops, wrong picture,


Do you remember these cowboys? Probably not, I never got around to blogging about our trip to Durango, Colorado last fall. It was an amazing trip, six men and one crazy woman.

It was a trip of awesome views and inspiring nature.

The men thrived on outdoor manly activities.

Not all was hard work, we took time for some exciting trail rides on those mountain horses.

The men did all of the camp cooking in rustic settings. Feel free to enlarge this photo to marvel over the kitchen set-up. This was real man country, I felt as a woman, I was being allowed to enter sacred grounds.

In the mountains, living in a log cabin and tents, riding horses, packing mules.........

The week went by much too quickly and before I knew it we were leaving the back country, headed for home, jobs, hot showers, modern kitchens, flush toilets and doors on bathrooms.....

The yearly trip to Durango, has been a tradition for about 14 years. Jerry has been gathering together groups of what I call his "city slickers" to leave the city behind and be real cowboys in the mountains of Colorado for a week in the autumn.

This year, the trip will not take place. We decided to invite last year's "city slickers" out to our place for a Western Gathering over Memorial Weekend.

Wives were invited also and it was a great bunch gathered at our cabin in the woods. Some stayed in the log cabin, some slept in tents, and a travel trailer made the trip.

I had a great weekend, but then, I slept in my house, in my own bedroom, in my own bed, and took a hot shower nightly.

I fondly remembered Colorado as I watched the men do manly men things.

Please don't ask..... yes, he IS shooting a gun out of the country kitchen, no that is NOT Jerry.

Those cowboys did ALL of the cooking for three days out in this kitchen next to our garage.

Jerry loaded up horses and mules and the boys hit the trails.

Two of the "City Slickers" got to enjoy the experience of riding mules, there were not quite enough horses to go around. For some reason it made me giggle. They were really good sports about having to ride mules. Not everyone wants to ride a mule. Just looking at this picture makes me giggle again.

A couple of our local friends joined the ride. I hiked ahead to snap a few pictures.

Then the ladies and I drove around in my truck and did a little sight seeing.

Their ride took them up along the American River, the hills are still green, a breeze was gently blowing, and it is not summer-time hot yet.

Everyone seemed to have a good time.

But by-golly, we are all going to really really miss Colorado this year.

Camping in the Woods

This camping area is a short distance from our house, less than a half hour drive. We trailer here for day rides but this weekend we met with several of our riding buddies to camp and enjoy the trails together.

I love this area. Temperatures soared near 100 degrees in the central Valley, were in the 80s at our house but it felt much cooler and more comfortable here in the tall trees. We set up our tents, settled the horses in, set up the camp kitchen and went for a couple of very pleasant trail rides.

The 'boys' saddling up for our ride. At this campground we 'high-line' the horses and mules to keep them from wandering away. Ropes are stretched from tree to tree, the animals are tied with a lead rope just long enough for them to reach the ground to munch their hay, they can move around a bit, and are quite content. It was Millie's first camp outing, her first time being high-lined and she was a perfect lady the entire time.

Jerry made dutch-oven biscuits, gravy, sausage and hot, strong camp-fire coffee for breakfast.

We washed dishes, saddled up, and were on the trail by 10 am.

Hey there Amy, hurry and get that lunch out of those saddle bags so we can eat! Amy rides Remington with a cool Australian saddle, more comfy than a western or huntseat saddle on the long trail rides.

Our trusty mounts are tied while we break for lunch. Pistol, in the foreground, was my ride for the weekend. The second mule is our little Millie, Jerry's trail partner this trip. In the background is Rock, my mare, who was ridden by Tristan all weekend. Tristan usually rides Cheyenne who stayed home with a sore hoof and the colt Wrangler stayed home to keet him company. I drove home from the campground to feed and check on them, the dogs and the cats.

On this ride I neglected to take any pictures of our actual trail riding. I was too busy steering the mule.....

A few years ago, I thought mules were fine as pack animals but swore I'd never ride one . Now I have to admit that I am quite fond of them and enjoy the ride. The difference between riding a horse and a mule can be compared to riding in a luxury automobile versus a 4-wheel drive diesel truck.

I enjoyed our first campout of the season but was glad to get home, take a cool refreshing shower, and relax.

Now we have lots of projects to complete around home to prepare for our big Cowboy Memorial Weekend Party here.......

more about that later, I am off to bed.

My May Post

I fully intended to start blogging more regularly...... I didn't until today.

I've been busy working at clinics and here at home. We have constant projects needing our attention: Planting, building, repairing, maintainence, animal care, house work, laundry, yard work, horse & mule training, meetings, and so on and so on...
Today I am home -alone -. That is not a complaint.

I am taking a computer break. This morning I paid bills, went to the post office, sprayed our little baby orchard and rose bushes with fungicide (yes we have fungus, two types), finished three loads of laundry, went to our hospitalized neighbor's to take care of her cat and 2 dogs (one is fecal and urinary incontinent, so is no easy chore), looked at my garden's weeds and sighed and came in for lunch.

Our flowers and yard and pastures are lovely this time of year. I'll post pictures soon. *wink*

I need to run now; I have stalls to clean, a building to clear, a garden to de-weed, camping gear to pack up for tomorrow, halter the horses for the farrier at 4pm, camp grocery shopping to do, and who knows what else, maybe wash a vehicle or two, maybe paint the wood shed (not likely).

I fully intend to start blogging again more regularly.

I miss you all.
May your trails be peaceful.

Spring Weather and Assorted Stuff

My cowboy washes my truck for me.
In the snow. While I stayed in the warm, dry house.


Spring... and we had snow. At our house. On the blossoms. So much for living below the snow line.
I considered requesting a refund from our realtor, I desired property that did not get snowed on.

UFOs hovering above that outbuilding? Nah, just my trick photography.

Horse teeth. You can tell a horse's age by it's incisors. Really. And by this picture you can even make a very accurate statement about this horse's gender without looking at the nether regions. Guess how?

This is my horse on drugs. She wouldn't normally submit to having her mouth cranked wide open with a large metal device designed to allow access to her molars, which extend as far back as her cheek shows in this picture. Horses require regular dental work. Really.

OK, sometimes I do enjoy the snow. Especially when it is not at my house and I get to enjoy it on the ski slopes, with my daughter and my grandson.

When it wasn't snowing it rained. and rained. and rained. Carson enjoyed the snow more than the rain. Our new trees and the pastures and the flowers love the rain. Me too, until our roof started leaking, in the middle of the night, in the bedroom, right beside my side of the bed. drip, drip, drip....

Wet.

It didn't rain or snow all of the time. The weather cleared enough during Di's visit in Feb. for an enjoyable trail ride. My nephew rides horses and snow boards, I miss you Kev!

It stopped raining enough for another trail ride. Tristan in the lead on the tall horse, Jerry and his good buddy follow on the mules.

It really doesn't rain and snow all of the time. I enjoyed a very lovely ride with a small group of lady friends recently. I need to get over my fear of heights, then I could take pictures while we ride along the cliffs, instead of being gripped in a panic, imagining plunging to a terrifying and painful death....

The snow in February was pretty I suppose and didn't hang around for long.

My nephew rides horses and snowboards and is missed.

The grandson who (whom?) is learning to snowboard.

I have sorely neglected my blog, life is just busy, and I feel 'behind' most of the time. There is always so much to do. Yes we are able to get out and enjoy life and I enjoy sharing that. We also are busy working and busy with all of the 'projects' around our log cabin in the woods.

Snow skiing and horseback riding are two of my favorite activities. I am so thankful that we have been able to enjoy both with good friends and family.

I am calling a hotel room 'home' this week. Excellent Internet connection here. I watched a little TV this evening. Very little, I don't understand the popularity of 'Dancing With the Stars'. The news continues to depress. I am so ignorant that as hard as I try, I cannot comprehend, not by any stretch of my mind, how going into unimaginable debt will save our economy. So I turn off the news, turn on my computer and blog. I get form letter emails from one of my government representatives. I disagree with all of her views, I reply to her emails personally, but she never addresses my concerns personally. All I ask is for some common sense explanations. Listen to me go on and on. See, it's better that I don't regularly watch the television.

It's time to go lay down and do a bit of reading, compliments of the Gideons.

Oh and some grandma (nana) brag, visit greenslobber.blogspot.com and scroll down a few entries to see my youngest granddaughter in her very first horseshow. Yeehaw.

Happy Trails, whether they be dusty, wet or rainy!