Sunday Stills: The Color Green

Sunday Stills: The Letter "F"

Fog

(we were in fog almost all day)

  Fences

Friends

(Sedona and Kersey)

 Fur

 

 Flash

 Finessa

 More of the letter "F" on the Sunday Stills site.

Back At It

Today is the Martin Luther King holiday so I did not have to work.  Poor Brett, did.  The electrician was scheduled to arrive at 8:00.  He wad going to put in the correct wiring to the barn circuit breaker so this water heater won't blow like the last two.  Apparently, the original electrician didn't have the correct amp load or some such thing.  I went out to do chores early, hoping to finish up before their arrival.

The goats were first up.  As usual, Cowboy and Thistle were more interested in playing than in eating.  Thistle seems to believe I want to play dancing-on-your-hind-legs games, maybe because I am already standing on two legs.  While I tried to convince him otherwise, Cowboy lost interest in playing and headed off to the hay feeder.

I missed the Sunday Stills challenge for yesterday which was to take a picture of a "big sky" with the sky taking up 2/3 of the shot.  The sun was peeking over the eastern ridge and ricocheting light off the western ridge.  I so love the light at this time of the morning.  I tried for a Sunday Stills shot of the western ridge.

Tuffy was in fine form.  Come to think of it, he's been in fine form two days in a row.  Yesterday morning, he was carrying the red, halfway inflated, jolly ball in his mouth.  Finessa wouldn't play with him so he was thwacking her on the face with it.  She gave him a disdainful look and walked off.  He followed, jolly ball still in his mouth, thwacking her body as they went.  This morning, I watched Mufasa chase him around the pasture.  They stopped and Tuffy circled Mufasa.  He tried to head butt Mufasa which was difficult given the difference in size.  Mufasa stood there, laughing at Tuffy's pathetic macho antics, and then chased him around the pasture again.

When I brought the hay cart into the pasture, Tuffy and Finessa were on my heels.  The second I stopped the cart, they dug in; not waiting for me to toss the flakes of hay into the bins.

Meanwhile, Flash was squealing in his turnout and biting Winston on the butt over the pipe corral divider.  All the horses trotted down to their morning hay lickity split.  Finessa dug in, sharing with the ever benevolent Mufasa.

The electricians arrived, met the dogs who danced around them in ecstatic welcome, and got to work.  They arrived early, around 7:30, and then muttered about how cold it was in the barn.  Silly boys, the mornings are always cold up here in the mountains.  They got the job done and were on their way by 8:30; headed down the mountain to the warmth of the desert floor. 

Later in the morning, I rode Winston.  I groomed him and then practiced my braiding some more.  He was very good while I stood on a stool next to him and tried to braid his mane.  The braid I did the other day was pathetic.  Today, I nailed it.  Winston seemed to enjoy it as well.  I know I loved it when my kids were young and would brush my hair -- and style it into something ...unique.  That brushing part sure felt good.  I think Winston agreed and was willing to tolerate braids for the bliss of brushing. 

We worked on his canter fitness and my canter seat, some leg yield, and keeping a regular tempo at both trot and canter.  One of the things the judge noted on my test sheet at the show was that our tempo was not even.  Winston seemed too much in charge, slowing down and speeding up.  Winston worked hard for me today and he worked honestly, trying to get it right.  When we finished, I hosed him off with warm (yippy!) water since he was sweaty.  As soon as I turned him back out in the pasture he rolled.  And rolled. And rolled.  It was warm, in the low 60s, and he was itchy. 

I tried one last Sunday Stills shot as I headed up to the house for lunch.

 One last housekeeping item.  I have a handful of new followers which is wonderful.  Welcome!  I like to visit my followers, if they blog, and get to know them better.  The past month or so I haven't been able to find blogs to visit.  So, if you are a new-ish follower and you blog, please leave me a link to your blog in the comments so I can come visit.  Thanks!

Sunday Stills: One Tree

This is our storm tree.

It is in almost every post I write; showing our daily weather.

We planted this sycamore tree in 2002, the year that we built our home.

Sycamores are my favorite tree.

They are native to our mountains.

We planted a lot of them.

Sycamores have jigsaw puzzle grey bark,

large maple shaped leaves,

green in the summer,

covered with fuzz in the spring,

brown and gold in the fall.

Last winter this tree lost half of its central trunk

during a storm

with sideways sleet, hail, thunder and lightning.

The limb snapped in two

and we found it with its tip

touching the ground

in the morning.

Now it is bushy at the bottom 

and sparse at the top.

It's a wounded warrior,

still standing strong.

Our storm tree.

Sunday Stills: Holiday Lights

The tree is decorated, the presents are under the tree, and holiday fudge and cookies are in bowls strewn around the great room.

The tree is decorated with multi-colored lights and an eclectic mix of ornaments.  The tree does not have a theme, other than memories of places, friends and family.

An ornament made by my son (who will be 21 on New Years Day).

A fuzzy stork; a gift from my mother when the kids were young.  It makes us laugh.

A snowman from my friend, Sylvie, who lives in France.

Another gift from my parents: from a trip they took to Russia

The stockings are hung by the chimney, waiting for Santa.  On Christmas Eve, Brett and I battle over who goes to bed first so we can fill the other's stocking without being watched.  I put all the gifts under the tree but stockings are never filled until Christmas Eve.

This afternoon my son, Kyle, arrived.  I'm making turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing and homemade rolls for dinner.  Kyle and Camille spent Thanksgiving with their father this year so I picked up a turkey to make for them.  Camille is working tonight so she won't be here until tomorrow.  The turkey is huge so there will be plenty for her to nibble on in the coming days.  Turkey sandwiches, turkey soup, turkey enchiladas... the list is endless.

We had rain this morning, a break this afternoon, and more rain tonight.  I hope Santa's reindeer don't get stuck in the mud.

Sunday Stills: Pets

Sedona is our rescue princess.  She is ten years old, a blend of Kuvasz and German Sheperd.  She has the face,  the tallness, and the love of cold weather of the Kuvasc but the build and tail of a Sheperd.  Ten years ago, before Brett retired from full time police work, the city animal control brought a stray dog to the station and tied her up out back.  The dog was yellow, timid but friendly.  We were without a dog as our beloved weimaraner had just died, and I wanted another dog badly.  Brett wasn't sure he was done grieving for Syrah, but the day the yellow puppy arrived at the station also happened to be my birthday.  He called me and on my lunch hour I drove over from my office to see the dog.  She was timid but as soon as I called to her, she came right to me and sat on my feet.  She wrapped a paw around my leg and leaned into me.  She started squeaking like a tea kettle ready to boil whenever she sensed I might be ready to leave.  I couldn't resist.  Thinking she was a lab and would stay the same size, we adopted her.  She grew and grew. 

She was fun to take on walks, even in the dead of winter, because she would slosh through freezing streams and snow without missing a beat.  We did have to keep her on a leash at all times.  If the gate was open, she was gone.  Sedona always came back home, hours later, wet, dirty, tired and happy.  We put chain link on the three rail fencing surrounding our property so she could run around without running away. 

She is very protective in a non-threatening way.  When the kids are home, she still sleeps on the patio between their bedrooms, keeping guard.  In the mornings, she patrols the perimeter of the property, checks on the goats and chases off cats, squirrels and rabbits.  When she isn't on duty, she rests with her princess paws crossed. 

Three years ago, she pulled a muscle in her hind leg and started struggling to get up and down.  We put her on anti-inflammatory medication which helped but she seemed sad to us.  I thought she needed a companion, a dog to hang out with since she is happiest outside.  She is not an "in the house" dog by any stretch of the imagination.  She is too big and too furry.  After ten minutes, she is panting and wants back outside -- and we keep our house relatively cool.  In the winter, we do bring her in to sleep in our room but otherwise she is an outdoor dog. 

In September of 2010 we got Kersey, a yellow lab.  The two have become inseparable.  The sleep together, groom each other and play together.  Sedona is healthier, happier and moving better than she did in the year before Kersey's arrival. 

Kersey is all about love and food.  She is lab through and through.  In the summer she swims in the pool with her tail steering her like a rudder.  She will eat anything, anywhere, anytime.  We play fetch with apples... and then she eats them. 

Sedona has been having trouble during the past week making it through the night.  At 2:00am she wakes us up, whining and panting, wanting out.  Last night, we decided to leave the dogs outside but with the weather being wet and cold I wanted them to have a bed.  Sedona happily slept on her blanket outside the doghouse, under the patio cover.  Kersey took over the dog house.  They both seemed happy.

We have had rain every day for the past week.  Today continues the trend.  We are alternating between blowing fog and misty rain, the heavy rain having moved east across the desert and away from here. 

Sunday Stills: Animals in Black and White

Sunday Stills: On The Road

This morning we saddled up the horses and went for a leisurely ride around the ranch community.  My favorite "road" this time of year is our back driveway.  The Italian Poplars turn gold and drop their leaves.  We shuffle through gold, the donkeys and horses eat the gold, and the dogs lay down and disappear; their gold coats blending with the leaves.

When we went on our ride, Flash was even better than yesterday.  He walked out, loose and happy.  He has finished his three day loading dose of anti-inflammatory paste (not his favorite thing) and started his daily pill hidden in a mini fig newton (definitely one of his favorite things).

Winston was well behaved and brave, except when we rode by the community center play ground.  There were two small, squealing and laughing boys on the swings and another, larger, boy pushing them.  The swing chains were creaking, the boys were soaring high, and they were vocally happy.  It was very alarming.  Brett walked Flash across the road and parked himself right in front of the swings.  Flash went to sleep (nothing rattles that horse).  Winston couldn't decide which was worse: being abandoned by Flash or the swings.  So he pooped.  And then he walked across the street to be with Flash.  Good boy.

The rest of the ride was uneventful until we were almost back home.  A small herd of dogs rushed their fence and Winston spooked and cantered off.  It was a lovely canter, really.  I let him go a few strides, asked for trot, then halt.  We watched the dogs for a few minutes and then went back up our driveway.

Brett suggested letting Flash and Winston out to munch on the leaves this afternoon before we did chores.
Flash, could hardly believe his luck.

Winston followed close behind.

Tuffy was asked me why he and Finessa didn't get to go out and eat leaves.  I told him it was because he is a pain in the neck to catch.  He can eat the leaves that blow into Jackson's paddock. 

We were busy today getting ready for Alisal next week.  Brett put a rear cinch on his saddle and tried out a new breast collar he picked up this week.  His old one wasn't "the look" that he wanted for the two of them, serious soldiers that they are.  The new one is very nice, larger, with beautiful tooling.

I loaded my Western saddle and bridle into the horse trailer along with Winston's trail boots.  We've been going to Alisal for ten years -- and I still can't sleep at night from the anticipation as we approach the start of our vacation (Friday). 

Sunday Stills: Rays of Sunshine

Morning sun on the oaks

On a Buttercup chicken

...and on the cottonwoods

Sunday Stills: Cats

We have just one cat, Passage.  (Pronounced like the French word: "Puh-sahj").  Mouser, squirreler, gopher grabber extraordinaire.  And she's a lovebug to boot.

Sunday Stills: Summertime

The Sunday Stills challenge this week is to share photos that represent what we most love about summer.  I'm not a huge fan of summer; they are very hot here in the desert mountains of Southern California.  The early mornings and the evenings are nice, but the rest of the day is useless unless you are a teenage sun worshiper (which I was in my younger days).   The beach, in summer, is comfortable and I have many memories of turning on my towel, to get an even tan, listening to the radio, and body surfing the waves.  Now, I slather on sunscreen and stick to the shade.

I do love summer fruits and vegetables.  There is nothing like a tomato ripened in the sunshine of the garden, plums and peaches from the trees and berries.  Basil and dill, tarragon, oregano and rhubarb.  Summer is a food fest to me.

Sunday Stills: In the Sky

We have had unrelenting heat and, for the most part, clear blue skies.  A few days this week and last, clouds arrived from the desert.

New Mexico and Arizona are experiencing their summer monsoons and some of the residual moisture, swept up from the Gulf of Mexico, made it all the way to California.  We even had a slight chance of thunderstorms show up in the forecast.  I was excited -- there isn't anything better than sitting outside on the porch, watching the lightening flash, listening to the crash of thunder and the sudden downpour, and smelling the damp earth.  But, it was not too be.  We had days of high humidity but no rain, no light show, no cleansing showers. 

I continue to wait out the healing of my foot.  I tell myself that this is miserable riding weather and its just as well that I am in the cool house, but that doesn't help with boredom.  Towards the end of next week we will be driving (and driving and driving) up to Northern California for the annual vacation with my extended family.  Last year we went to the coast, but we all missed the mountains so we are trying that again.  It was a trick finding a place that felt like mountains with a lake close by for the kids, but at an elevation low enough for my mother to tolerate.  Fingers crossed that this place works out for everyone.  If it does, it will be worth the ten hour drive.  I plan to sit by the creek with a book, write some poetry, and jibber-jabber with my mother and sister.

In the meantime, we are all trying to stay cool while we wait for autumn.  The only happy campers at the ranch are the peaches and the tomatoes.