For one thing, I need a break from blogging, so this will be brief. I need a break from one other thing, and it’s the endless rehashing of unimportant “news” items.
I’d love to read or hear a daily summation of facts about local, state, national, and international news. Separately, I’d enjoy choosing some analysis by people I trust. Once. Not the same news with one extra nugget each time à la CNN.
And if I want to read about which singer is dating which athlete or which member of the British royal family had surgery, I could go read People. Separately.
The end
Daily Bird
Today I saw one of my favorite raptors doing its job. The Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius) is a resident during its nonbreeding months. I love watching them flying low over the fallow cropland and pastures, looking for field mice. I’ve seen them catch their prey more than once.
I was feeling jealous of my friend Pamela, who lives not too far from here, because she’d been seeing one and I hadn’t. But now I’m happy to see this striking bird with the interesting habits over here in Walkers Creek!
I was going to say something silly about this question, then I thought about how many friendships and connections I’ve made since I got online back in the olden days of the 1980s. So, thanks, Al Gore, for inventing the internet. (I was at the University of Illinois at the right time, so I do sorta know how it all really went down.) Yes, the internet was important to me, the good and bad aspects!
Still, the parts of my life that are in person are much of what’s made my life good. I’m feeling a little better about my living, breathing horse buddies today. Apache and Drew must be exhausted from all their adventures the last few days. And to top it off, I wormed them! (Well, Tarrin wormed Droodles, because I was worried he’d chomp on me.)
Don’t get near my head!
So, today was supposed to be a one-horse lesson with Lee driving, since Sara is unavailable. Instead I loaded both my dysfunctional steeds in the trailer to see what could be done with them.
Drew started the day not letting me groom him, so that saved some time. When Tarrin looked at him, his neck was better, but his poll (top of head) was a mess. She spent a long time working on it, then his legs. His whole spine must hurt, which is why I couldn’t brush his tail. Tarrin’s convinced he hurt himself and pulled a lot of muscles, plus may have been kicked on his side. I think that’s likely, from observation.
Once she did all that, he did all kinds of yawning and releasing, like his did after his trim yesterday. And when she was leading him to the lesson area, he kept rubbing his nose along the ground.
He did okay doing some ground work, so maybe he’s feeling better. My job is to exercise him first, then try to groom him. I have ways to stop him from biting, too, so we’re hoping he will heal.
Apache is a happier story. The fancy boots seem to have done the trick, and he was able to do ground work just fine. We may get to ride in Friday. I’m so relieved. It’s hard with both horses being broken.
I’m too sexy for my shoes.
Apache is also taking his medication well now, and was easy to worm. And the best news? He’s starting to shed! Maybe he’ll be more comfortable soon!
That’s enough blah blah about horses. I really should start writing in my horse journal again so I don’t fill the blog with all horses all the time. Here’s a bird. It was trying to escape.
No daily prompt today. You don’t want to hear my ideal boring day. So let’s talk about today, which, though long, was quite fine, thanks to tiny surprises everywhere.
An actual tiny bluet (Houstonia pusilla)
Indeed, I was delighted to find some of my tiny wildflower friends starting to bloom, but my day was brightened by a series of less colorful tiny creatures, the sparrows. This morning, dozens of Vesper sparrows and Savannah sparrows covered the fields and fences.
It looks like they are in a maze.
Whatever they’re finding has them distracted enough that I can recognize them (those two are similar).
This guy is very graphic with my poor camera resolution.
After enjoying the morning birds, which included my first roadrunner heard in Merlin, I tried to work until the dogs went off. Men were driving a backhoe on our property. Huh? Turns out there was a water line leak they had to fix. The horses were not amused, but it was fun to watch them be curious then agitated in turn.
What the heck?Must run!Thank goodness he’s leaving. Goodbye scary beast
I think the horses were curious because in their minds, tractors bring hay. They like hay.
Another tiny flower, dwarf verbena (Glandularia pumila)
We were only without water for an hour or so, which was barely an inconvenience. I was able to get my stuff done in time to go back out and bother the horses some more, because it was farrier time. Terry brought a helper today, so they both got to marvel at Apache’s fancy shoes and the Artimud stuff we put in to protect his hooves. It’s quite interesting clay with honey and other things.
I put his shoes back on when he was done!
Drew was his new self, but they got him trimmed. Everyone else was fine, even Fiona, who also finally got groomed and de-burred. She was, by the way, hilarious when I was trying to take off Apache’s shoes. She kept gluing herself to me to where I’d lose my balance. At one point I realized my face was an inch from a donkey butt. She’s really friendly, but this tiny surprise wasn’t so delightful.
Such a cutie.
Dusty also finally had a much needed bur-ectomy. I finally had time to do it while the others were getting trimmed. His nearly nonexistent forelock was all bur, as was his tail. He looks good now!
So nice to see his tail looking good.
I fed them after the trimming, and that’s when the next tiny sparrow flock appeared. I could hardly count these busy guys.
Looks like a pike of metal, but look closer.
The horses had a lot to say about their busy day. Mabel is proud to still have her mane burs and bits of mud. I tried.
You can’t tame me, though I appreciate the hoof work. My bad hoof needed it.
Meanwhile, Apache and Drew each didn’t finish their food and instead tried to get to the other’s pen by testing the gate. Apache tried hard.
Lemme in.
Drew thought that was funny.
Har har har
I think Drew was processing something. Maybe his hoof trim helped his issue.
He had a lot to say.
To calm myself after all the day’s activities, I went back to the woods to see who was there. The wind had calmed down, so I hoped to hear some good songs. Instead, as I stood quietly, I heard sounds like someone or something was approaching. Was it a deer? A bunny? A raccoon?
It was us.
Yep. It was sparrows, this time the white-throated clan. Dozens of them were under the young cedar elms, scratching around for some delicious item. It was amazing how much noise those tiny fellows made!
Watch them go!
I had fun turning my Live Photos into tiny videos of tiny sparrows. But it does help you actually see the birds!
So many!
Yes, I was quite entranced by the little black-and-white heads bobbing up and down. They completely ignored me until I finally had to move my aching back. What a nice ending to my outdoor hours today.
How many? I’m not sure. Five?
I did finally go inside and finish cooking. Yes, I’m not 100% birds and horses and yarn.
If you’ve known me a long time, you’ll remember when I blogged a lot about our home renovation business. While we have changed some things, we still buy houses and hire great folks to fix them up. Now some of those folks are our family, which makes it extra special.
The current team worked on some projects of their own recently, but Lee and I finally got to be the client in this one, a very nice single-story house in Cameron that used to be owned by people who made candy in what’s now the master bedroom. What a cool story!
The house is so wide I don’t have a picture of the whole thing. Back
When we got it, the layout was quite awkward, with a giant living/dining area, a huge pink kitchen, an even huger main bath, and a bedroom way at the end of the house that you had to go through another bedroom to access. Luckily, a lot of cleanup and prep had been done by the prior owner, so the team didn’t have to start from scratch.
The giant room. It’s now 3 bedrooms. The closed-off kitchen. It had a very cute stove but it didn’t work. New stove will be where the cooktop is now. All this storage is gone, but a new island and pantry will add back storage. Keeping the tile. It will look retro cool. My son got the nice range. Theirs had died. Much of the big bathroom stays. White-ish carpet goes. It gets a new shower, too. Future living roomI think this photo shows open space at top. Cool shiplap. Saved. Long dark hallway.
After much brainstorming among me, Lee, and our contractor, we redid the layout. There are now three nice bedrooms in the former living area, the middle bedroom is expanded to be a nice living area, and the kitchen is still pink, but open to the living area. It’s much less choppy.
Kitchen is now open. Light is temporary. It will have a dishwasher. New hallway to bedrooms. Front bedroomMiddle bedroomBack bedroom. Closet will be on back wall. New pantry is behind the table. At right will be a banquet for an eat-in kitchen.
They will add windows in the long, dark hallway to the master bedroom, and a utility room with laundry and new HVAC is being added in the former carport, which will now be a nice covered porch.
BeforeUtility area framed Window going away. Another one will be added to the left.
Of course, as with any remodel, structural issues were found, so now the ceiling joists are all new and sturdy, and insulation will be added throughout the house. It’s going to be so much nicer to live in. The electrical work is all new, too. Plus the scary roof has been replaced.
People don’t see the new wood around the windows or the stove vent that now actually goes outside, but we and the crew know it’s there, and future occupants will be safe, dry, and cozy. The house will keep its mid-century style, with a few exterior upgrades.
I hope to share more photos later! Stay tuned.
Daily Birds
Today I enjoyed wrens. Two of our usual residents, the Bewick’s and Carolina wrens, were giving a concert this morning. It sure was beautiful, loud, and lengthy. They have very different songs. The winter wren sometimes shows up, but it mostly makes scolding sounds, as does the house wren, who is very round. I sure enjoy their hopping, climbing, and tail wagging.
Write about a few of your favorite family traditions.
Ah, I’m sitting in a clean, quiet hotel room, with mindless television and knitting. It’s a perfect time to reminisce about family traditions.
Yep, it’s a hotel room.
My current family is a bit too chaotic to have a lot of traditions. It’s always something different every day. But my family of origin had a couple I enjoyed at the time and remember fondly.
I’m not home so I can’t scan photos. Here’s our foggy morning.
One I loved was when we lived in south Florida in a family-oriented neighborhood of little cement-block houses. We had a dachshund mix dog named Pumpkin during my college and grad school years. I thought of her as my sister, because she was great to talk to and hang out with. I’m not kidding, I often forgot she was a dog.
Ha! I found a photo of Pumpkin, Dad, and two neighbors.
Anyway, it was my parents’ tradition to take a walk with Pumpkin every evening after dinner. Whenever I was home, I went along with them and my brother. The walk only went to the end of the block, because Mom couldn’t go very far (she was sick a long time, and died when I was 26).
The front of the house, on my 16th birthday. Stylish for 1974.
However, the walks were always fun. We’d talk and joke and comment on the quality of Pumpkin’s poop, which always happened at the corner. (Dad had to go clean it up once a week or so, because they we’d never heard of poop bags in the 80s.) In the winter we’d check to see if she’d produced a “steamer.” Dad loved those.
Re-enactment?
The walks were often long in time, compared to their length. That’s because we often stopped to talk to the neighbors. My dad and brother were very social. I enjoyed listening to them. It felt so comfortable and convivial. They could talk about all topics, drink beer, tell stories, and get along. They were just nice, hard-working folks. I miss those times.
I realize that hanging out with my family and watching the dog poop is probably a weird tradition, but we all enjoyed it. It was something Mom could do with us, which was so nice. And my Dad and brother were so funny. I’ll treasure our quirky family togetherness time.
Before I left for my 6.5-hour drive to Arkansas, I did get in a little bird watching during the foggy morning. (I haven’t seen the sun since last Saturday.) I’m going to declare our resident loggerhead shrike the Daily Bird, because it matches the sky and trees. Plus, I love watching them grab bugs.
Gray bird in fog.
I’m sure the shrike is wishful for the grasshopper season to start! They go into overdrive then.
What do you enjoy doing most in your leisure time?
This answer will be pretty boring if I give the same answers I’ve given to three or four other blog prompts. Yes, indeed, I enjoy knitting and looking at birds and horses. Most of you know that if you’ve visited this blog before.
Look, a bird. It’s a loggerhead shrike.
But, is there another leisure activity I enjoy? In warm weather I hang out by the pool. That counts. And I read about horses, architecture, and home decorating. The latter helps me deal with what a jumbled mess my own house is right now.
What I’ll read when I’m finished writing this
I think my favorite leisure activity is socializing these days. After staying away from people for so long, I am enjoying seeing friends again. I want to do more of it, but I forgot a couple things this week. Lunches, coffees, meetings, etc., are so nice for breaking up the work day!
Today my friend came over and I did her nails for a party. They look good!
Keeping in touch with friends online is another favorite. Yes, I admit I visit Facebook and valiantly scroll and scroll until I find posts from friends. It’s so great to stay in touch, get advice, and learn that way. Most importantly, I can provide support to others by being available online to listen. I do a lot of that lately.
Yeah, not too exciting, is it? But damn, this is what I’ve looked forward to my whole life: a time to enjoy the little things and the people I care about. I hope it lasts a while.
Now for stories. I went out to feed the horses and saw Drew standing by the fence, staring intently. What? I went on up to get the feed dishes, and something caught my eye behind me. It looked like this:
Hello!
The horses weren’t at all happy to see Fiona wandering around eating fresh clover. I just wondered how she got there.
How come SHE doesn’t have to stand in the mud?
When I took their food to them I saw that the lower wire on the temporary electric fence had come loose. The big horses were still held in the pasture, but Fiona could walk right under the live wire. Clever donkey.
Easy exit for a short animal.
The wire is fixed now.
Speaking of wires, little Carlton got the staples out where he had a lump removed. Lee found out the biopsy results, too. The lump was a completely encapsulated stick, probably a cactus thorn. It had gotten infected, so he has antibiotics, but should be fine.
However, Goldie managed to nearly rip out a toenail today. It must have hurt a little!
And I do have daily birds today. The rain finally let up, which pleased the birds a lot. We even had two birds returning from their winter hangouts! I heard and saw a purple Martin, and I heard a whistling duck. Cameron residents better get ready for lots of trees full of chattering ducks. Love those guys.
Name an attraction or town close to home that you still haven’t got around to visiting.
The next big town north of here is Waco, Texas. You know, Baylor Bears, Birthplace of Dr Pepper, Cameron Park Zoo, and the Magnolia Empire. I’ve been to a nursery there, a really cool wetland, a classroom at Baylor (dang that’s a fancy campus), an equestrian facility, an antique store in an old house, and a place with mammoth remains.
NurseryWetlandBaylorHighlander RanchAntique store Bridge by campusDowntown Magnolia Bakery line, as seen from a carThings I’ve seen in Waco, Texas
However, I’ve never been to any of the Chip and Joanna Gaines collection of enterprises. No Silos, no bakery, no castle, no restaurant, no hotel. (I admit I watch their television shows because I think Chip is funny.) I guess my dislike of crowds has a little to do with it but I also feel like it’s a bit overly manicured and perfect, like Disney World. So I’m probably not going any time soon.
Silos, also from a car
I’ve also never been to the Dr Pepper Museum or the Texas Ranger place. It’s funny how you often don’t go places that are tourist attractions where you live. (I did go to a few places in Austin, though I tended to hit nature spots like the Wildflower Center more than buildings.)
And Austin has succulent nurseries. Trendy.
I think I’ve been to all the “attractions” in Cameron. But new things keep cropping up!
What cropped up here today was more rain. Judging from the intense interest in the wet ground that I observed in the sparrows and cardinals, I’d say lots of waterlogged larvae and bugs are coming up and providing excellent snacks.
CardinalCardinalCardinals Different cardinals, honestMr Harris Mr White
I also think the blue herons are just standing beside the rushing output from our pond, ready to snatch up food that floats by. The rain has made them happy.
Meanwhile, I keep knitting.
Where I live, in the middle-ish part of Texas, it’s considered poor form to complain about rain. However, I’m stepping out on a limb to say I wouldn’t mind a day or two to dry out. At least it’s warmer.
Sure, I can list five things I do for fun. But let’s make it more interesting and find five fun things to do on a very wet and soggy day.
1. I can listen to birds. Ha, I do that fun thing most days. Today my phone survived listening for birds in light rain, for which I’m grateful. There was a heck of a lot of singing and calling, along with flitting and swooping. Even the owl and kingfisher joined in the chorus in the late afternoon.
Everything glistened.
2. I can inspect the creek to see if it’s flooding, really flooding, or the floodiest. It was really flooding. The water didn’t go over the bridge, but it sure spread out. All sorts of islands had formed.
I can’t even see the other side. These trees washed up. Islands in the stream. Looking north
I also had fun seeing how the water flowed. I discovered that the big cedar elm I enjoy is so big because it’s in a springy spot.
Also check out the cool pink lichen.
3. I can hang out with wet horses. Oh my, I have a lot of grooming ahead of me when it dries. But everyone was friendly and didn’t mind that they all got the same food and supplements this one time.
Apache had been refusing his medicine, but I tried burying it in a new cranberry apple pill pocket treat today and it went in. I wish I could talk to him and explain how much he needs the meds. I should have mentioned that yesterday.
We still don’t trust you after that umbrella incident.
4. I can cook warm and nutritious foods. Yes, I am trying to cook more. Today I made a thick bean soup with beef and veggies. The beans were some dried kind that started with an “a” (I discarded the bag too soon). They had a creamy texture I liked. But wait, I found them. They’re Peruvian beans or canary beans. Peruano Mayacoba in Spanish. They do not start with “a” after all.
I used some of that new-ish “Better Than Bouillon” stuff for the base. It’s quite tasty and doesn’t appear to be full of harmful ingredients. I’m figuring out recipes that don’t use sugar and carbs that my household will eat. It’s a fun challenge, especially since I’m a big fan of carbs. But I also eat anything, so I can adapt.
5. I can knit. Knitting is always fun, especially the temperature blankets. The soggy day had so little temperature change that I almost ended up with a solid colored square today. But I got two greens! 50-56°.
Soggy, very soggy.
This isn’t a very imaginative list of fun things. It’s stuff I do most days, if you categorize looking at floods as analyzing the weather. But that tells me something: I have fun every day, rain or shine, summer or winter. Simple pleasures for the win!
If you could make your pet understand one thing, what would it be?
Actually, I think I communicate pretty well with my animals. But, if I could fix one thing it would be to convince Harvey, who doesn’t move unless he truly must, that he can bark all he wants to…outside. Dang, that dog watches all the other ones to dash out and bark their heads of at cattle, coyotes, or deer that dare to get too close to the fence, and he just sits on the couch and bellows his lungs out.
Who, me?
Lee then yells, “Outside, Harvey!” over and over, adding to the cacophony. It gets oh so tiresome.
Ha ha, I’m never bad. (Not true, Carlton)
Today I wished I could communicate with my horses and let them know it was me walking up to them under a giant umbrella. They shot out of their shelter like little four-legged rockets when they saw me.
WTF!
It was really wet. I needed the rain gear. Poor horses. Then I had the nerve to scare them again when I walked down the road to inspect the drainage. They all stood there with their ears pricked, ready to flee the demon who sounded like me, but looked very scary.
No longer a grassy playground.
Since the ground is pretty saturated, 2.5” made for a lot of standing water, as well as a lot of flowing water. The creek was extra wide and came close to going over the road.
I should’ve gotten closer, but I was wet.
There were 6 calves and a cow separated from the rest of the herd by the property line fence, and they were NOT happy. My Merlin recording today could also be a tutorial on the variety of sounds a cow can make. Eventually the cow led most of the calves through the water to their friends, but two didn’t follow. They yelled and yelled and ran around randomly, disturbing the sparrows.
The mama and the calves, mostly staring at me like I can fix things.
One finally realized the barbed wire is loose and escaped. The other one came up to me and said MOO twice. So I telepathically communicated with her that the could go through water or the fence. After more running around in circles, she made it. Whew. My ears were sore.
At last the app “heard” the mallard and wren the cattle had drowned out. Yeah, that was my excitement for the day!
Today’s rain chains are exciting!
Oh, and I made chickpea “pasta” Mac and cheese and it was fine. Healthy eating, here we come.
Pork loin in that covered stoneware baker thing is sooo good.
All right, your turn. What would you say to an animal if you could?
Write about your first name: its meaning, significance, etymology, etc.
Well, I’m glad I don’t hide who I am on this blog, or this would be more of a challenge. No doubt I e answered this before over the years, but here I go, in case anyone is at all interested.
Sue Ann means “graceful lily,” according to name books’ etymological declarations. I am pretty damned sure my parents didn’t look at my round and wobbly baby self and name me based on that.
The graceful lily herself.
No, after a couple of days of indecision, they named me after two of Dad’s sisters. Of course, as the Kendalls tended to do, they gave me their middle names. I’m glad. Bettye Doris is a mouthful. Bettye went by “Pug” all her life and Doris Ann went by both names, or either, randomly.
Suna came from an existentialist Japanese movie (and book by Kōbō Abe) that affected me deeply. It was called Woman in the Dunesor Suna no Onna (砂の女). Suna means something like grains of sand, which I metaphorically interpret to be like all the different facets of oneself. The idea of being fluid yet solid, like sand, stuck with me, and so when the time came to choose my own name, that stuck. Like sand on the beach.
I used to be quite the little gloomy existentialist intellectual in the olden days.
By the way, Suna is a given name in other cultures. The source I saw says it’s a female Turkish name meaning “duck.” The cute kind, I’m sure. Ah, upon further reading, it means beautiful and tall, like a drake. I guess since male ducks are prettier?
I saw a lot of ducks today, along with white pelicans, along the Cooper Lake dam.
Or it could be gold, from a Sanskrit word. In any case, a hint of my love for the name comes from the fact that it’s much less beautiful backward. Ha!
Humor.
I’ve driven that topic into the dirt (another sand reference?) so let’s move on. Today dawned cloudy and gusty. Hiking in that weather is not fun. I did try, and got a couple more plant photographs and bird sounds, but checking the forecast led us to head home sooner than planned.
Pretty gloomy. Note waves.
Rain is forecasted for tomorrow, and Lee didn’t want to take Seneca the motorhome on back roads in bad rain. So we visited the park office, where buying a magnet was quite difficult, then headed out.
This pretty stand of yuccas was one photo I was glad to get. The only ones I saw.
It’s an interesting drive from Cooper to Cameron if you avoid the interstate. There are lots of horse farms (yay) and lots of this kind of thing (ugh).
Proudly declaring to the world he’s Suna backwards.
It was good to be home and get caught up with things back home. It can rain all it wants to now!
The Hermits' Rest 