Look at that. I called people doofuses. Shame on me. That’s about the worst thing I like to fling around, though.
This is me, talking to my friend.
In our current troubled times, I see (and read) a lot of nasty name-calling going on. I know it’s not new, because I’ve read some doozies in old letters to the editor, which were at least more creative than some of the 2020 ones. I read something on Facebook today, written by J., a minister friend of mine, too, that got me going:
People don’t have to agree with me politically to remain my Facebook friends. People may also criticize people whom I like and won’t get deleted. However, calling me or anyone else a snowflake or a libtard seems to make me press delete every time. Lack of kindness, not content, is what I gauge.
I just don’t like name calling. One thing I’m proud of in my child-rearing is that my kids didn’t call each other names or engage in derogatory name calling toward other kids. I admire them both for their adult selves staying that way, too (as far as I know).
Hooray hooray. Today we finally were able to get the work done on the chicken coop to get it ready to hold actual chickens. Yesterday, while enduring the longest lines ever at multiple stores, Chris was able to get all the materials we needed to finish the coop, plus a feeder and waterer.
Roofing in progress.
This morning we got going as soon as we were coffeed up, and with assistance from my brother-in-law Jim and less assistance from me, Chris got a really cool arched roof on the chicken run that will thwart even the most clever hawk or owl. HA! Raptors go eat something else!
One good-looking chicken run!
It really ended up looking pretty spiffy. Once we got the roof on, Chris and I fired up Hilda the 4-wheeler and rode around the property looking for ideal branches to turn into perches for the chickens, so they can have fun while cooped up in the run.
Feed and water holders are hanging. And the big stick for roosting is installed.
Vlassic came with us, and thoroughly enjoyed exploring the far ends of the ranch. I showed Chris every inch of the place, and we even visited the horses and Fiona.
Nest boxes are ready for hens!
I was very happy that Vlassic behaved well with the horses. He started to chase Fiona a couple of times, but she gave him the annoyed donkey look and he backed off. In the end, everyone got along just fine. That’s one dog down, and only four to go…
This sweet great Pyrenees will be adopted soon, we hope.
After we finished putting a wind barrier up on the north side of the chicken coop, we took a break, then went over to the Cameron Touch of Love to finish the last touches on the dog run we’re donating.
Sandra checks out the shade area of the dog run.
Chris and his dad put together the shade roofs for the entry and another area on the run, and also installed wind blocks in one area that will also provide a bit of shade in the summer. We got help from the Fords, our cat rescue folks, so it went pretty quickly.
That’s me in the hat. I’m not supervising. I’m helping attach the wind barrier/shade cloth.
I took a lot of pictures of the dogs at the pound with the camera I got loaned for Christmas. I wanted to practice taking close-ups.
A sweet puppy who’s heading to a new home in Colorado soon.
And I also took some bird pictures. I’ll still work on the photography thing.
Yes, I can identify these birds! I was far away from these black vultures.
Luckily, there was a sad dog named Bud at the pound who I felt sorry for, so I got him brought out to the dog run and played with him. He’s so well behaved that he hates to pee or poop in his pen. He peed for a full minute when he got in the pen, then we played and played. He loves kids and is sweet, but energetic. I hope he gets a family soon.
We came home, and Kathleen and her daughter kindly cooked a New Year’s meal. MMM. Black eyed peas! I hope to make some tomorrow, if I can get any when I get back to Austin.
Vaguely successful telephoto shot.
What a fun day we had! It was a perfect ending to the year. The last month has seen things start to improve, at least in our little world. I’m going to keep focusing on our family, our friends, and what we can personally make an effect on.
My favorite picture so far with the “real” camera.
That’s why I’m so glad we can help with Milam Touch of Love and the dogs at the pound. We CAN make a difference there.
Whew. I was not a hermit today, as I spent a fun bit exhausting day surrounded by people. But I did fine, laughed a lot, and made it through dinner for nine people at the ranch table this evening.
I think Apache missed me.
The highlight of the day came toward the end of the delayed present opening. For some reason, Harvey really likes presents. He tried to take Lee’s wrapping paper, then was just SURE some hand cream I got was a treat for him. Glad he didn’t chomp down on it.
Kathleen admires Harvey’s dignity.
Here’s the cutest. My sister gave Lee some pint glasses that were carefully wrapped in bubble wrap. Lee threw it on the floor. Harvey, usually a slow mover, pounced on that precious wrap like the happiest toddler in America.
I’m so happy.
He then proceeded to vigorously shred it, tossing each piece gleefully in the air. Triumph!
Action shot!
He spent five minutes on this, before getting distracted by some tissue paper.
Visitors Easton and Nicole crack up as Chris watches.
Only then did Carlton and Penney take a turn.
Yay! Our turn.
That wasn’t the end of Harvey’s holiday fun. Chris and I had built the first fire in our outdoor fireplace this evening. We all took turns sitting by it in the chilly air. At one point I looked over, and there was Harvey, sharing a loveseat with our friend, Mike. He genuinely looked like he was part of the gathering as a fellow friend.
Yep. I was sitting on the porch a long time yesterday, since it was my designated day to not do anything in particular. The gang of feral cats kept wandering by. One of them kept sitting there, staring at me. No, feral ginger cat, I am not going to feed you or give you water, because my spouse would be Most Displeased. Besides, I happen to know you have plenty of food and water.
You’re the one in a cage Suna, and I’m watching YOU, says Ginger.
I was feeling all smug, because I’d already made my Move and Exercise goals on the Watch. It’s easy around here! That made my December goal, which was even more smugifying. I’m doing what the doctor said and increasing my exercise; I even raised my Move goal last week.
I did just fine yesterday. Christmas was even better.
In addition, a Facebook friend graciously told me how to make the Exercise app on the phone show up on my watch, which means that if I stop for a second to take a picture, the app will pause. That will make my walks “count” more than they have in the past. Nothing’s more frustrating than walking for a half hour and getting one minute of “credit” for it. (Yes, I know my body counts it as exercise, but I want to make my watch happy, too. And yes, I know one of my goals for 2020 is to stop trying to make other people happy. But, this is a watch. It’s different.)
I wrote this blog entry originally for Milam Touch of Love, our animal welfare organization, but hey, who doesn’t love a story about beautiful kitties (other than Lee)?
This week I’m in Bandera County, Texas, which is west of San Antonio in the Hill Country. I’m staying in a cozy log cabin in a pleasant, older “resort” that’s perfect for hermits. It’s mostly scenery and quiet.
View from the picnic pavilion where all the cats are.
However, there are cats. Lots of cats. They’re feral, but obviously very well fed. I thought my husband was going to explode when he saw all the cats (as much as he loves dogs, Lee is not fond of cats and has a convenient “cat allergy” to prevent us from having any).
Excuse us. You’re interrupting our meal.
This morning, I put my MTOL Board hat on (it’s really an ear warmer) and set out to investigate. As I walked around the complex, I noted a number of plastic bowls full of cat food. I also noticed three lovely shelters built out of boxes covered with blankets and with a tarp over them. Hmm. Someone is taking care of those kitties!
Can you count the kitties?
I wandered over to the picnic pavilion, where I found a LOT of very happy cats smacking away at bowls of milk, drinking fresh water, and eating cat food. They were not happy to see me, however.
So, I decided to find out more about the situation and headed into the office for the complex. There is a really sweet woman who works there (it’s a small resort) who I’ve already talked to a couple of times.
Lee and I are spending Christmas week holed up in a log-cabin condo outside of Bandera, Texas. Why? It was the only place I could use my travel points on that was within driving distance of Austin. Also, it’s the Cowboy Capital of the World, you know. And it’s in the Texas Hill Country, a thing Lee and I agree on the niceness of (miracle!).
I’ll get all angsty and tell you why we aren’t doing holidays at home again this year tomorrow, maybe.
While I have yet to see any actual cowpersons in Bandera so far (we haven’t checked out the stores yet), we did see quite a few on the trip down from Cameron. We also saw plenty of livestock up close while waiting for traffic to clear up.
Bull just outside of Cameron, waiting for a funeral to go by. Not his.
Goats getting ready to go to a new home.
Today we drove through the scenic route to Kerrville through Medina, and then came back to Bandera another way. On this drive we saw many hills and large, fancy ranches. On these large and fancy ranches I saw exactly one native American animal, a bison.
I’m amazed to be on the river!
The European imports (goats, horses, and cattle) were far outnumbered by animals brought in from African stock. I saw a healthy-looking zebra, many blackbuck, some gnu, and all sorts of antelope and things that end in -bok. Oh and wildebeast.
In fact, we were driving past one particularly dense population of cute li’l antelope, when I realized a whole bunch of them were OUTSIDE the fence, just grazing away and watching cars go by. I guess I’ve now seen first hand what the book on invasive animals in Texas was talking about. I’m sure those creatures will do just fine in Texas, but I wonder what native animal’s niche they will encroach on?
Today Sara and I had time to go play with the horses today. The weather was ideal, though a bit breezy. The horses were waiting for us, which felt good.
Our warm-ups were fine. I see a lot of progress in Apache and me.
Kissing equines.
But once we went off riding, everyone went goofy. Fiona was hilarious, actually. She scooted around, kicked up her little heels, bucked an generally made mayhem. She tried to get the horses to chase her.
Spice was also jumpy as heck, requiring a lot of work by Sara. She threw her head and wanted to canter and run nervously. So, Sara kept her going until she cantered calmly. By then she was all sweated up.
Meanwhile, Mr. Perfect, Apache, was also hepped up for some reason. He wanted to run hither and yon, screech to a halt and eat grass, and go in whatever direction I didn’t want to go. That was annoying, but I knew I needed to not mirror his emotions and get upset.
Our ass shows us her ass.
Suddenly we were back to normal! We had a really nice walk around the fence line, then visited with the neighbors at the cabin. Everyone was well behaved. Fiona was especially good.
I started breathing more slowly and talking to him. I got him going in figure 8s and he settled. When we went into the other pasture I concentrated on aiming at objects and relaxing. It worked.
The Internet ate what I was writing earlier today, and it has been a long couple of days, so you luck out and get to read about the CHICKENS again. I’ll also share some cute dogs before getting all thoughtful again tomorrow.
This evening, Kathleen and I went over to feed the animals, as usual, just before sunset. We heard a LOT of mooing, and when we got there we saw the Vrazels’ cattle in the race. Other cattle were in the pens. As you can see, these were mamas and babies (hooray, I got to see the spotted ones up close).
We are very dubious about this confinement.
They said they were going to AI all the mamas, which meant there was no way for us to get to the horses. I said I’d do it in the morning. No problem. It was fun watching them move the little ones away from their moms. They were displeased.
So, we went back to the chicken area, where Big Red and Little Red were eating some popcorn that Yanelly must have given them. I gave them some feed and scratch, then looked around for Buffy. She was nowhere to be seen, so I figured she must have finally bit the dust. Also, there were no eggs in their new nest (they have totally deserted the old coop).
Today started out bathed in fog, and as the sun sets it’s still drizzling. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful day. You can find beauty anywhere if you just look around! Just look at all these beautiful water droplets!
Anita stayed over last night, sleeping on my gradually softening air bed. Shoot, that was a GOOD air bed. We had the nicest discussion, just Anita, Lee, and me, as we drank our hot beverages and finished cleaning up after last night’s delicious Thanksgiving dinner. I felt so relaxed, with Carlton curled up in my lap, and the fog draped over the trees outside.
Web of glistening sparkles.
I got Anita to walk the dogs with me and pose like she is out on the misty moors. It was fun to walk through all the tiny air droplets. It wasn’t too cold, so it was good walking weather.
I feel so good right now. Sara and I just went on a long ride on Apache and Spice. Due to our schedules, we hadn’t been out for a while.
Look what we did! We put the bowl in the trough! Hee haw!
I was a little worried that Apache would be hard to ride after so long, but he seemed as glad to go explore as I was. We had a blast.
It’s so pretty.
The light and foliage were spectacular, and because we went way to the edge of the property, we got to see some longhorns next door.
Shining ranch. We love it here. Scenic longhorns.
Spice started getting antsy when we saw some deer in the distance, and had trouble settling down. Fiona was too busy eating to notice the deer at first, so when they ran across the field, she ran all over.
There is a deer in the picture.
Going home was a challenge for Sara, but she handled Spice really well. She went round and round in circles a lot.
I was here!
I enjoyed myself so much. I wished the ride would never end. I feel so calm and serene, like I have no problems. I feel healed. And I think the horse is as happy as me.
The Hermits' Rest 