At least so far that’s been true. And it’s true today. It rained starting last night and kept going until right about when I stopped working. We got at least two inches, which means we now are in a series of shallow ponds and the creek is extra full.
You can see the creek from the back yard. Usually the creek is in its banks. That hill has a why I couldn’t get Zochnet internet. Other side of the roadCreek in trees
Once the clouds parted and there was a little sun, everything perked up fast. Suddenly the pollinators were in action!
Orange sulphurCheckered whitePearl crescentFiery skipperFly and perhaps a wasp pollinating Front view of checkered whiteA black-chinned hummingbird is also a pollinator! It’s a male!
I really enjoyed how green it is this year and how many flowers there are. I’m treasuring every day this spring.
Flowers around the ranch.
Of course, other residents came out after the rain. I saw one of our large rabbits, then found this guy enjoying the poor drainage at the horse pens. I bet the water felt good. It’s just a rat snake/chicken snake, so there was no reason to panic.
I AM pretty. The water feels goodToo much poop here. Time to go.
Not only the natural world came out. There are lots of new airplanes here, thanks to an air museum moving in and a flight school, too. I enjoyed these two planes going over. I don’t enjoy helicopters shooting at hogs, though (or whoever is shooting at them with a semi-automatic rifle and not letting us know).
Zoom.
Today was just fine. I’m glad for the peace here, because it lets me send good thoughts to friends who need them. Love to all.
Get ready to say “aww” and squeal a lot. You may recall (if you’ve been reading a while) that Sara has been working with a beautiful Andalusian mare named Sully, who was carrying a foal fathered by some famous deceased stallion. Sully belongs to our friend Trixie, and Sara agreed to take her to lessons during the gestation period.
I learned stuff and looked pretty.
We’ve all enjoyed having her around and have been eagerly awaiting the birth. She went back to Trixie’s recently to give birth, since Trixie is a lot more experienced with foaling.
Recent foals. Awww.
We got word yesterday that Sully did a great job and produced a little filly (girl horse). While she got photos, of course Sara wanted to see her. And because she’s a good friend and knew I’d pout if she didn’t, she asked me to come along for the meet and greet. That way I could take pictures while she basked in the new life.
Hello, it’s me, Jhayati!
Do you have questions? I bet you do!
So far, life has been good.
What does the name mean? It’s from Pali, and means to burn, or to Buddhists, to meditate. It’s a significant word for Sara, and lo and behold little Jhaya has a flame on her forehead (if you use your imagination, anyway).
Flaming hot.
Why is there light hair around her eyes? That’s a sign that this very dark girl will grow up gray like her mom. Drew probably looked similar as a baby. Horse hair colors are fascinating.
I’m extra dark. That’s genetic, too.
What the heck is going on with that gray beard? We don’t know! But isn’t it cute? She also has a light spot on one nostril. You can’t lose her in a crowd! From the side it looks like a Billy goat beard.
Baaa
Enough questions. It was fun watching Sara marveling at the little girl that she’ll spend the next many years with. And it was great to see Trixie working with the new baby. She’s so good at it. Here are some photos of when we first met Jhaya in their stall.
Meeting our new friend
Eventually Trixie and Sara got the mother and baby to go out in the little paddock outside their stall. Fresh air and soft grass were just what the mom and one-day-old baby needed. After a bit of nursing and exploring, the filly just had to move!
This is fun!
Before we knew it she was breaking into canters and going in circles. We may have missed her first steps, but we got to see her first run! Wow! It’s just amazing how horses can move so soon after birth, but it comes in handy for prey animals. We all just beamed at her like no horse had ever done that before.
Pure joy
If you’ve never run before, you will get worn out. Jhaya just plopped on the grass, got comfy, and had a little snooze. All the humans around her didn’t bother her at all, since Sully is a good mom already and would take care of her. Sleeping babies always make you say, “aww.”
I feel woozyVery woozyI’ll just lean back a bitThis is niceZzzzZzzzZzzz
While we were charmed by the new life and proud of the new mom, we did have to go home. But she’ll come here next week! Horses grow so fast. I’m glad I got to see Jhaya when she was brand new.
Bye, friends!
This visit, along with this morning’s installation of satellite internet, helped me deal with how out of sorts I’ve been feeling. I’m sure glad there are distractions like baby horses!
Sometimes my days seem schizophrenic. There are so many highs and lows that it makes my head spin. More accurately, I end up with a full-blown anxiety attack, complete with shaking limbs (that make me trip over a dog then drop and break a pretty bowl) and chest pains. Nota bene: I know it’s not my heart, no need to tell me to go to the ER.
See, I’m also prickly and can get annoyed for no good reason, like imaginary unsolicited advice. Let’s back up.
I went to work at the Red House, since I had a training to do and didn’t want to drop the meeting suddenly. That was fine, though I left my mouse at home. Does anyone actually LIKE trackpads? I’m all ready for the training. Suddenly I hear chainsaws.
There’s my kid and his coworker. They inform me they’re going to cut down the dead and dying trees in the yard. These are HUGE trees. I was dubious. But they did get a lot done, plus got limbs away from the roof.
Before pix of dying and dead tree
All was well, though, since no one could hear the cutting and thudding but me. I made the mistake of looking outside and seeing the two young men on top of the house. I was scared for them and got sorta nervous. It looked pretty dangerous. I mean, they aren’t arborists, just guys willing to do what they’re asked to do. They also admitted to being scared. That’s a healthy admission, I think. As far as I know, they survived. They have good sense!
Progress When I got scaredTree mostly down! Keeping from hitting the porch
I also unpacked a box of glassware from the Austin house. I do dislike doing that, but it was nice to see my Starbucks mugs and favorite green glasses. Lucky renters will get to use them.
Day lily bloomed today!
Things continued to go downhill as I raced home to get ready for my horse lessons. It was extra hot and humid, which didn’t help. The horses were hiding, because they don’t like welding, which was going on in their pens. (Too bad, I’m very happy the pens are getting worked on and think they look great.)
I was too busy to take pictures, so enjoy dogs playing with cattle.
I sorta got Drew cleaned up, then trudged back for Apache, who was sweaty as me. I was deeply involved in trying to de-sweat and de-mud him when our welding friend called out to me. I nearly jumped out of my skin, which is weird, because I knew he was there! It turns out Mabel had braved the welding area and walked out. I had exactly zero minutes for chasing after her, so I probably looked like a nasty old woman running around cursing.
Mabel responded to food, of course, but Apache never did get groomed. All this prelude leads to this: I had a great lesson on each horse, learned a few things, and really felt calm and together, like I’m getting a clue. Well, when Drew started to toss me around because mares were running up, I yelled at Tarrin that I was going to die. But I didn’t. She got me and Drew back on track. He actually settled down after being frisky because the weather changed.
Sunset over chicken house.
Im so grateful for Tarrin’s help, and I think the horses are, too. Apache hates to leave her training area! And we get to laugh at cantering cows and thank the weather for cooling down the moment my lesson started. It’s good stuff, the horse training.
By the time we got home, Drew had managed to kick everything around in the trailer and break his trailer tie. That allowed him to mostly exit ungracefully without me unlatching him. That got me all worried he was hurt. That guy! But he’s no longer the ranch baby, because Sully had her baby today, a little filly! I can’t wait to see her.
Sara shared this cuteness. Sully gave birth at her owner’s place.
By the time I finally got the horses fed, I was starving, which probably led to some of the shaking. I just feel like I was not my best self much of the day, but at work and with the horses I was great. Eh, that’s probably normal.
Now to settle that chest pain down. I’ll pet Carlton. That will help.
I didn’t write a blog yesterday, because as hard as I tried to distract myself, I just pondered and pondered the highs and lows of life. It started because the morning was spent at the funeral service for a friend’s husband, who died at 86. It was a surprise to all, since he’d planned to do stuff that day and was also planning to live to be 100.
Not a native plant here, but I still love the red yucca.
I’m glad so many members of our extended community were there to support my friend, because it’s always hard when your life’s story takes a hard turn into a new direction. And that’s what got me thinking of how many others I know who’ve recently lost their partners and how long it takes to get back into a groove again while dealing with a big hole in their lives.
Life is short, but new life is all around. Look, a skipper caterpillar is emerging!
It seems to me that sometimes it’s hard for folks to go out and have fun again. I know many are helped by sharing memories and talking about how much the departed loved one would love to see them doing well. As the minister hinted at the funeral, you’ve not really lost your partner, just physically separated. I could see how the Christian beliefs of my friend and her family were comforting in that respect.
Vlassic comforts me.
I’m comforted by my experiences that thanks to memories, I feel the presence of my loved ones, like my dad, especially. I always find myself “telling” him things.
Dad also liked moss roses and disliked annoying nutsedge.
Anyway, to take my mind our of thinking about how lives change suddenly, I convinced Lee to take me to lunch at a fun place we’d never eaten at before, the Oscar Store, which is the only thing in Oscar, a settlement just outside of Temple, Texas. We drive by it often, because it’s on our favorite shortcut to Tractor Supply and Lowe’s.
Rustic exterior.
It’s really cute inside and outside of the restaurant, and the food is great. I had liver and onions with fantastic lima beans and fried okra. Yes, lima beans. They were in a yummy sauce. I was full well past dinner time from that! Lee had a beautiful cheeseburger.
Petrified wood decor
After the fine lunch we went to look at outdoor furniture at Lowe’s, because we need stuff that’s heavier and won’t blow into the pool repeatedly. The stuff we replace can go on the back porch at the Red House, since we don’t have stairs there yet.
They look so pretty.
So, that helped. But, I still sorta dwelt on things the whole day. What else helped was that I spent much of my pondering time listening to birds, of which I keep identifying more and more. Plus, I got to plant the flowers I showed you above. I finally found portulaca or moss roses so I could plant them by the pool.
These will grow and grow, blooming until there’s a hard frost.
That overheated me like crazy, so I had to jump in the pool, even though it has a lot of grass in it from the mower going the wrong way by it, and there were also flying ants. Yuck. But the water was refreshing!
Last night’s sunset
Time with the horses also helped, of course, They are doing darned well, and yesterday I even figured out that Apache had to pee and moved off his kidneys for ease of pee. He was full of opinions and also informed me when it was time to stop riding. He makes me laugh. Drew is way more cooperative, though he was really muddy this morning!
Check out my mud.
The rest of the weekend is for relaxing. I bought a whole bunch of stuff to make sandwiches for Sunday Dinner. The things I’ll do so I don’t have to cook…the sandwich ingredients probably cost more than making something to cook.
I’m not serving this.
Nothing’s wrong with pondering your and your loved ones’ mortality occasionally. It helps you remember to treasure every single day.
Birds and more birds. That’s the past few days. First, the turkey we saw recently has continued to be spotted by neighbors up and down our road. First, Mandi’s dad sent a photo of his sighting.
I look good at this angle.
Then, this evening, the woman across the road sent in her own photo.
This angle brings out my eyelashes.
All the photos so far have one thing in common. They’re in the side of the road. I guess that’s where the best turkey food is? Now that everyone from the creek to the end of the road has seen it, we’re hoping to see more!
What about ducks, you ask?
Well, while there aren’t many here at the ranch, Cameron town has continued to host lots and lots of them. The black-bellied whistling ducks are lurking in trees (yes, they roost in trees), flapping across roads, and vocalizing from rooftops.
Can yo hear me?
I was amazed yesterday when I tried to see what kinds of birds were in town. The whistling ducks were able to drown out even boat tailed grackles. They were acting like they were competing in an annoying bird sound competition. (Other birds included white wing doves, a robin, cedar waxwings, and the omnipresent cardinals.)
Just for fun, enjoy the wonders of the Red House yard.
Bird’s eye speedwellMilk snail bent on destructionFalse dayflower White mouth dayflower AltheaCut leaf evening primrose CandolleomycesIt’s coolPleated ink cap The huge oak that’s not dead
Hmm, the title of this post was about turducken. Where are the hens?
The hen was evicted.
I thought it was really funny that when I went into the henhouse this morning Snacky Jacky (yeah, I broke down and named it) was comfortable and cozy in its own nesting box, like one of the hens. Buttercup was in another box, completely ignoring Jacky. The snake looked well fed, but I think it ate a big rodent, not an egg. I got ten eggs from seven hens in the past two days, so the detente continues.
Tiger swallowtail break!
Hey, it was a good day today, though, because I scheduled better Internet provider. That hotspot ain’t cutting it. I’m very proud of my patience, since I went through three providers before finding something that would work here. The one all my friends love can’t be used because there is a hill between us and the tower. The really, really close tower. Ugh. So, I will have non-ideal satellite until we can get StarLink. But I persevered!!
If I could only attach a dish to this guy, I could get to the tower.
Ooh, and a got a horchata frappe to celebrate cinco de mayo. Yep. An Americanized beverage for an Americanized holiday. We’re becoming quite accustomed to our weekly coffee breaks.
No big disasters struck today, other than realizing that new hotspot just won’t cut it for work, because it’s actually a not-so-hot hotspot. It gives up after about 40 minutes of a 60-minute Zoom call. Not helpful if you’re in the middle of helping someone out. So, I’ll be working from the Red House on Fannin for a while until we have another option.
Luckily butterflies distract me, like this crescent.
So, I’ll share some things that help one forget technology annoyances, like birds and plants. First, I got to see something rare for me as I was out trying to find something to give my chickens, now that their garden got mowed. I heard an unfamiliar bird call, and looked up to see two dark birds coming to the pond behind the house.
Where I saw them.
They circled a couple of times, which was quite lovely, then ended up at the shore of the pond. They were dark, but vaguely egret-like, so I got the binoculars to get a better view. While they refused to make a sound while I had the Merlin’s Bird ID app listening, the app did hint to me that it could be a green heron pair. I’ve seen them before, but not this time of year.
Look for the orange legs. That’s the bird.
Sure enough, the binoculars confirmed the identity. They are beautiful birds, even hiding in a very dark corner of a pond on a cloudy day. That started my day off right!
It looks more like a bird here.
I had lunch outside with Lee, and heard a few songs I didn’t recognize, in addition to the incessant dickcissels and cardinals. So, I fired up Merlin Bird ID again and had it listen for a few minutes. Now I know exactly what a painted bunting sounds like! I’d probably see them if I had a bird feeder, but if I put one in the back yard, dogs would bother the birds, and if I put one on the other side of the fence, cattle would knock it down in no time. But I can hear the beautiful song of the most beautiful bird in North America!
Painted buntings are in there somewhere!
I also got a glimpse of the turkey as Goldie yelled at it (thanks, Goldie). And I spent a lot of time listening to anxious killdeer protecting their nest, which I think is over by the front pond and not at all accessible by me. I wish they would chill out. The dickcissels drowned them out, though. Over half the photos I’ve taken of those little darlings are in mid chirp. They say their name, loudly, like phoebes do. I know they’ll move on shortly, so I’m trying to enjoy them.
Dickcissels with open mouths
There are sill some pretty patches of flowers around the ranch, where the lawn mowers can’t reach. So I can enjoy being less likely to step on a snake yet enjoy floral beauty. Enjoy my series, wildflowers with iron poles. It’s romantic.
I can’t help but try to capture some of the beauty I see. It’s the same old property but decorated differently from week to week!
Silver leaf nightshade Bun bun (one of three)Meadow pinkBlack eyed SusansEngelmann daisies and prairie parsley Lotebush and fruit. Sigh, it got cut down. What variety!
Admittedly, I spent a long time today listening. I think I’m in love with the birdsong identification feature in the Merlin app. I indulged myself this evening by figuring out how many different birds were behind our house (by the pond, in the back yard, and in the woods) in twenty minutes. Whoa, there sure are bunches of birds hiding around here (I did hear a mourning dove and a barred owl the app didn’t pick up – guess I have good hearing still). But check out this list!
House sparrow (duh)
Dickcissel
Cardinal
Mockingbird
Barn swallow
Cedar waxwing
Carolina chickadee
Red bellied woodpecker
European starling
Nighthawk (!)
Eastern bluebird
Purple martin
Crow
Red-winged blackbird
That’s a lot of birds, even without hearing another painted bunting or egret in the mix. What a chorus! By the way, the app doesn’t appear to acknowledge chickens. Aren’t they birds? I guess they are too domestic.
Oh well
I hope my bird and flower enthusiasm were contagious. If so, download that app on your phone and try to listen where you live!
So, this rat snake has been hanging out in the chicken house. The thing is, we’ve been getting plenty of eggs.
My buddy
Kathleen and I agree that this snake can hang out with the chickens and take care of the mouse issue in the chicken coop. I have a feeling the fact that it scares away mice is a real bonus.
I’ll do my job and let you have the eggs. Most of them.
I just go in and pick up eggs, and the snake just watches. It’s fine with me. I took care of my son’s pet rat snake for years. It was always fine with me around. Snakes do their jobs!
I’m guarding the fort.
So, I guess we have a partner in the chicken house. And that’s great.
In sad news, poor Betty got egg bound again. She managed to pass the egg, but it did her in. I really didn’t want her to live the rest of her life in pain, anyway. I sure appreciate her, though.
What a lovely day it’s been! We’ve enjoyed a visit from our friend, Jeff, who helped me with my kids and house during some challenging years. we had just enough time to do laundry after our Red House guests for the weekend so he can spend the night there in dog-free peace.
Porch chatting. Lee smiled AFTER I stopped trying to get a picture.
We had lunch at our favorite local Mexican restaurant, then showed Jeff all the town improvements, followed by a good time catching up and chatting.
Jeff got to tour my son’s studio, which was fun for them both.
We also visited my son and enjoyed their deck, where the trees were covered by dozens of beautiful butterflies who were busy getting ready to make more butterflies.
Question markTwo of themFolded wings on question markFolded wings on red admiral Red admiral Beautiful butterfly tree
We ended the day with pizza. We had six guests and I’d planned for ten. Oops. Lots of pizza I don’t like is left. Everyone ate the spinach one! But it was really pleasant to hear the lively conversation and laughter in the house. It did me a lot of good.
We had lots of entertainment, like Goldie.
My day started all Zen in a weird way. When I went downstairs, there was Drew, noshing away between the dog fence and the driveway. That was not his assigned grazing area. I put on shoes and went out.
Mmm. Grass.
He was all happy to see me and rubbed his muddy self on me. I decided since we were out already, we might as well do his exercises and ground work. He was happy to do that, though it’s still a bit slippery.
Well, hi! Fancy meeting you on your own driveway, Suna!
After we were done, I thought to myself that I could either go clean the house or hang out with a sweet horse. Easy decision! I got out the grooming supplies and took my time taking the mud off my boy. There was a lot. He was happy because I fly sprayed him, too.
You can see my coat now!
I spent a very long time on his mane, which usually annoys him. But I chatted with him and told him random compliments, which got him quite relaxed. I enjoyed the mud removal, actually. I felt like one of those apes picking bugs off their friends.
No more mud balls
Then, when I was finished, I just rubbed on him. I have his poll (top of head) some nice rubs. Out of the blue, Drew gently placed his dear head on my shoulder. I thought it was nice. I realized his breathing was more and more regular. He took a nap on me! Such a gentle, trusting interlude.
You can see his eyes are closed.
When he woke back up, we just stood together, rubbing our faces softly on each other. It was like a dream. What a good boy.
Love
We have not figured out how he got out. All gates were locked. He may have jumped the fence.
As if one napping animal wasn’t enough, while we were chatting with everyone after dinner, Lee was sitting next to Goldie. She’s known for resting her head on people’s arms. Tonight, though, she put her head in Lee’s hand. He said, “I’m seeing her inner eyelid,” then someone else gasped, “She’s dreaming!” Yes, Goldie napped in Lee’s hands, with all sorts of conversations going on around her.
Sleepy girl.
We were all charmed by our big, sweet dog.
Ah, this weekend has made up for the weekday stressors! We hope Jeff can visit more often now that we have a nice place to stay. Maybe we will get other guests, too!
Last week when Sandy the Squirrel accidentally set off the transformer across the road, my fancy wired router bit the dust. Since then, I’ve been trying to get it fixed, replaced with a new one, or replaced by some other thing. It’s been gruesome.
My old antenna receiver has nothing to talk to now.
I have spent over 8 hours on the phone or online chat with various AT&T entities. Today was “only” two hours trying to figure out why I couldn’t get the new hotspot they sent to replace my fancy router to connect to the internet. I got passed from chat to chat. Finally they said they’d call me in 10-20 minutes. Um. They still haven’t called.
No one wanted to help my new hotspot.
I thought to myself, “Suna, you went online and on the phone to avoid driving to Temple. You could have driven back and forth many times by now.”
I thought of bringing my mouse catcher with me to wave around. I didn’t.
I stuffed all my equipment in grocery bags and hauled the Angry Snow Kitty to the AT&T Store. I took my knitting, expecting to wait a while.
By now I felt like this guy. Close to deceased.
Thankfully, they weren’t too crowded and I got a competent young man named Quincey to help me. After much trial and error, with consultation from the head tech guy, they figured out the hotspot was not configured correctly. They had to completely reset it. I was assured I couldn’t have fixed it myself.
My feelings about Quincey.
Triumph! Then, young Quincey showed me I hadn’t cracked my phone screen recently, it was just the screen protector. AND rather than trying to sell me a new one, he looked up which one I’d bought and walked me through getting it replaced under warranty! I just paid shipping. He’d done the same thing recently. How helpful!
My faith in customer service is restored. Both the guys who helped me said to just drive over there next time. I said I sure would. I have always had good experiences with this store. I’ll remember that. Online support? Nope.
Long day. Got a lot done and even received my new internet thingie. Can’t make it go, so more tech support tomorrow. Think of me.
I’m as stubborn as these persistent tie vines, though. I’ll get there.
By the time I got to an event I’d been looking forward to, a party for our recent Master Naturalist class graduates, I had a raging headache. Turns out the weather was changing. But the food was good and I enjoyed talking to friends.
Good job, Barbara D. It was delicious.
After all the serious photos I took, we got goofy with the paper flower decorations.
Yes, there’s an invisible hand behind my head. Mostly invisible. Elegant!Ok, I was goofy. Pamela looks nice.
When I got home, Lee proved he was just as goofy as us. We all needed a good laugh!
Well, we dodged the worst hail from tonight’s storm and haven’t lost power. That’s probably because Martha isn’t across the street. Lightning DID hit the transformer across the road from her, though. Is Martha and lightning equal to Kathleen and snakes? let’s hope it’s coincidence.
The Hermits' Rest 