Ranch Life – Page 8 – The Hermits' Rest

Finally Triumphed over FedEx

Of the services that deliver packages to our house, one used to be my favorite, FedEx. They always brought my stuff up the driveway and once the driver helped us when a member of the family fell and got overheated. The USPS woman is just fine, while UPS had a woman who wouldn’t bring anything to the house, so I had to go tote them (like horse feed—heavy).

Suddenly, starting a few months ago, FedEx decided that our driveway didn’t exist and started dumping packages at the next driveway that leads to the cow operation barn and my son’s cabin. It’s usually in long grass. I’ve been annoyed.

Oh look. I have moody brown nails, matching how I felt about my deliveries.

I thought I’d fixed it by getting online help from their Facebook page. I was wrong. I was probably talking to a bot. My packages continued to go to the wrong place. I despaired of ever getting the problem fixed since calling and website checking did not help.

Nope, none of this happened. I could not track the case. Grr.

But yay! On Thursday I had gotten the mail then was out working on the round pen when I saw it! The dang truck was dropping something off next door. I dropped the stuff in my hands and sprinted (translation: jogged briskly) to the road to catch the driver before the truck passed. My quads still hurt.

But I did it! I got the guy to stop. He started to “diffuse” me immediately. I wonder if he realized that pissed me off more. I was just trying to say my driveway is not where he dropped off packages. I felt justified in telling him how hard it was to tell FedEx their GPS software was wrong.

Indeed, it was. Whoever took over for the previous drivers (nice woman and man) had moved the pin on their Maps software to the wrong driveway, because like Apple Maps, it doesn’t acknowledge our driveway for some reason. Apple Maps is annoying that way, thinking there’s a driveway from the other driveway. That’s been gone for years.

The red line is our driveway, where the mailbox is. The yellow path is not a road.

The upshot of it all is that the guy moved the pin and added a note. I’m patiently awaiting the next delivery. But I think I finally triumphed. I hope.

I have as much hope as this out-of-season pink evening primrose.

I Like Naps

It’s a good thing I like naps, since I’m very good at falling asleep at this point in my life. I had a very nice nap on the porch this afternoon with the sun keeping me warm and a breeze to keep me from being too warm. Other than waking myself up snoring from being in an awkward position, it was great.

And the good news is that I still had time for horse activities before sunset.

I did have a pretty busy morning after a leisurely birding hour and a little walk. Lots of bluebirds were out competing for grasshoppers, which is always a joy to watch.

I can’t say my morning project tired me out, because after Chris did the hard work of pounding the hanger into the ground, putting up this cool solar birdbath was very easy. And the best part is the bubbler is quiet and doesn’t interfere with bird listening. I hope birds use it. This evening the sparrows were eyeing it.

It turns off at night and when the water runs low.

I spent the rest of the morning doing volunteer work at the Wildscape and bird sanctuary projects. The Master Naturalist volunteers I have done a great job clearing out the space so new plants can go in.

I enjoyed the sights, including a shy kitty and a chicken who laid an egg right in front of me.

I had a great time at the bird sanctuary, where there were at least 20 species out and about. Just the chickadees and titmice were at the feeder, but I saw and heard many more.

After chatting with others at the benches, I went to lunch with the group and had a very good time. I’m glad a was brave enough to do a group thing.

Jackie pretending to investigate a feeder while Debi looks on.

All the mice were out of the chicken feed box, so I can clean it out tomorrow. I guess I’ll need another nap then! Less rodent worry meant tonight’s sunset walk was calmer and I could enjoy listening to the Great Horned Owl and friends for a while. All is well.

I Found Heaven

Oh, you’d suspect I found metaphorical heaven here on the ranch in the beautiful sunset light.

That is a nice thought! It was a beautiful day, and my sunset walk was pretty darned heavenly.

However, the Heaven I found was not for me. It was for Lucky here.

You see, I went to feed the chickens and noticed the feed bag was rather well chewed. So, I picked up the bag. I was not surprised to see that there were little creatures in my sealed food bin. At least four tiny mice running around on a layer of chicken feed. That could be Heaven for tiny rodents!

I had trouble getting mouse photos. I was kind of grossed out.

That’s when I saw that the mice weren’t alone. Lucky was in there with them. Now, being in a safe warm box full of tasty morsels is any rat snake’s idea of heaven! Lucky is young, but climbed well enough to get in!

Well. Yuck. So, I took out all the food the mice hadn’t gotten to yet. One big bag I took out and emptied onto the ground. That’s where Lucky was hiding. That’s when I picked her up and took her over by the hay bales and let her go (former caregiver for a rat snake, so I have the skills).

I was able to go back to my violated storage container and create an exit for the mice. If they are still there tomorrow I’ll eject them when I clean and disinfect my storage box. I sure hope it hasn’t developed a hole in it. I’m pretty sure all these creatures got in when I had the lid up.

I’m outa here. Thanks for the hay and food!

Anyway, this was all kinda icky. Heck, I was a suburban band mom not all that long ago. I’m not always the tough rancher gal I’d like to be. That’s why I went on that sunset walk. I needed to breathe fresh air.

Ah, a beautiful clasping coneflower that thinks it’s spring.

I did discover multiple spring flowers starting to grow. I assume the next freeze will slow them down, but right now it’s spring-like.

Ah, before I forget, I got my “furniture” set up in the birding station. Two low stools are a table and footrest. They were a pain to put together because the legs are slanted, so I had to smoosh them together to get the bottoms to fit into the tops. I just about didn’t have the arm strength. But I prevailed.

I also got another weatherproof storage box that was easier to put together because it was cheap plastic. I will not store mouse food in it, just my binoculars and cushion in case of rain. It also can serve as visitor seating. So far, the only visitor has been Harvey.

I need to figure out what to do with the leftover wood. I’m not sure if there’s a plan to use it.

Notice that the inside walls are also finished. This is one classy outdoor folly. My friend Tandy says it looks like the stand where Lucy in Charlie Brown comics used to dispense her mental health advice.

I need a sign that says, “The birder is in” perhaps.

Thinking of all of you, especially those dealing with health challenges.

Sixty-four Bird Species!

Today was a fun one in the bird department! It was a beautiful day, and I guess the birds thought so, too.

Look at that bright sky and brilliant foliage.

I guess the birds are on the move or something. Of the incredible 64 species that either I saw or Merlin heard, there were even two hummingbirds! I know a few hang around during the winter, but I was surprised to see Merlin heard a Rufous Hummingbird! But, hey, it turns out that they do come through here in the winter! I wish I’d actually seen it.

Other birds that have shown up in the past few days are more expected, though I don’t know if we get Towhees and Juncos very often here (common elsewhere in Texas). It’s as if we had a sudden influx of the birds from further south and west.

My notebook. Three full columns is 60 birds. I do abbreviate many names, just like Amy Tan.

Ones with an x in front are new this month, though I think the Brown Thrasher was here not too long ago. I love writing down the birds every day. It only matters to me, but it brings me joy to track their comings and goings on this one little spot where three habitats meet and there are many natural food choices. It’s not going to get written up for science, but it interests me (and a couple of you).

I’m almost done with my first pretty bird notebook. I’ll have to choose one with a winter bird on the cover next.

Other than birding and working, I enjoyed spotting a few intrepid flowers still blooming. I meant to capture some dandelions but forgot. All these cheer me up, though.

As always, it’s good to have nature to distract me from…I guess, nature. Something has given me a stuffy head this week (Lee, too) and today my ears were clogged. We assume it’s an allergen, though maybe we got a virus while camping with all those germy people (just kidding).

I was around more people this evening, as I learned about bears at the Master Naturalist meeting. No one breathed too hard on me.

So why am I blogging with this sinus headache? I’ll be back soon!

Sky Light, Stars Bright

I’m glad that last time the aurora borealis came to Texas I got to see it and get good photos. It was here last night, but I was so engrossed in what I was doing that I missed it.

Photo from yesterday by Shelley Paulson Photography. Wow.

I went out tonight more than once and was quite charmed by the glow to the north, but I think it’s the village of Ben Arnold.

It was a beautiful evening, though, and much warmer than earlier this week. I love that it’s dark enough out here to see the Milky Way in photos.

Thank goodness we have these chances to remind ourselves what an amazing setting we’re privileged to live in.

Yes, even crow poison is amazing, blossoming all winter.

Yeah, the weather here can go from 35° to over 80°F in one day, which is also impressive. our plants and animals must adapt!

Connie has neck feathers again after her awkward molting period

I wasn’t going to mention this, but it’s another impressive nature thing, to me. The past few days, hawks have been all over our property. Nearly every time I come outside, I disturb a Red-shouldered Hawk or a Northern Harrier. There’s no secret as to why: the rodent population is really high. I see all kinds of mice and rats everywhere I go lately. They hang around the chicken coop just waiting for the birds to go to bed so they can eat their food. Grr.

Ha! No mouse or rat photos, so here’s something I colored.

So, please, hawks, eat up. And thanks, dogs, for doing your part on rat patrol. I’m disappointed at how few the horses get, though. They should get busy going after mice instead of finding cockleburs.

One more mandala. Thanks to Lee for scanning them.

The stars tonight were prettier, though.

Fancy Birding

When I got home from Blanco, my “birding station” was just about finished, other than some painting.

The good news is that the siding is close to the right color before painting.

It has a cute little metal roof and gets lovely morning sun this time of year, which is good because it’s been close to freezing the last couple of nights. The siding keeps the cold wind off my legs while the sun warms my top half.

My chair is in there. I ordered a little stool and side table for my coffee, notebook, and binoculars.

Next I need to measure the openings so I can order bamboo blinds to block the sun in summer and when sunset is trying to blast my eyes.

So far it hasn’t disturbed the wildlife. This beautiful moth visited yesterday.

I also enjoyed visits from a Viceroy and Bewick’s Wren.

Today’s visitor was larger. She was very curious about what the heck I was doing.

I’m looking forward to enjoying the winter sparrows and wrens from my station, especially once it’s a little warmer. Harris’s Sparrows arrived today, so the gang’s all here!

I Don’t Want to Be an Influencer

Honestly, I don’t understand why anyone is interested in that “career path.” I’m familiar with a few interesting people who have or would like to become internet celebrities. More than one of them has mentioned feeling weary of trying to stay “on brand” and repeating their talking points (or whatever influencers call them—remember I’m not one). Oh, and artificially big lips and eyelashes, which I assume look good to the influencer subculture.

Early on in my time writing blogs (I’m not sure I’m really a blogger, either), it became clear to me that there was a formula the successfully monetized blogs all followed. There’s a lot of mentioning products so they can get paid in goods, and there’s lots and lots of teasing and bloviating before taking you to the “interesting” content so you have to plow through ads. That doesn’t sound like writing or sharing. It’s marketing. Yuck.

It’s like you have to make a new fake you. This is definitely a fake me.

I like to write things that interest me. I don’t have a brand, unless it’s quirky older woman goes on and on about nature and personal growth. I do have cute animals, but they don’t often do anything totally precious enough to have their own fan base.

Carlton’s most crazed look and he doesn’t even need Snapchat.

Like cats, my animals generally only have one expression, so every photo of a chicken, turkey, horse, or dog in my blog looks the same. It would be hard to influence anyone with this material to work with.

I look like this every day, unless I’ve been fighting, says Carlton

Of course that’s fine. I don’t want my social media presence to be a job. Whenever it veers that way, I veer back to just sharing stories about a rural-life newbie and her unswerving desire to become a good person who enjoys life however she can. That will not garner 200K of fans.

But it’s the real Suna. Rumpled but content.

I think I may want to influence you to share my quest for peace, love, and kindness. In these challenging times, we all can use some inspiration, so if I cheer anyone up, give someone a new idea, or make a reader chuckle, that’s enough for me.

This is intended to make you chuckle. It worked for me.

Thanks for your contributions to cheering ME up! I needed it after my day of breaking browsers and enterprise software products. It really WAS a Monday today.

Outdoor Projects Moving Forward

I didn’t write last night because I was chatting with my family. This makes me think blogging is what I do when there’s no one to talk to. Perhaps two occasions of that happening in one week aren’t enough data for such a sad interpretation. It is not the case that I have so few people to talk to in real life that I chat with an unknown audience. I have both friends and readers, many of whom ARE friends or step-sisters.

The weather is probably making me weird(er) today. It kept acting like it wanted to rain, then just displaying attractive clouds to distract me from the projects I was planning to talk about.

Before the projects, I’ll share a story of mama cows who are brave. There was a new tan calf this morning and I saw the vultures heading over to the pond to bother the mom and baby. Vultures look beautiful in morning light with dark clouds behind them (last tree photo above was the setting). The mother cow was looking unhappy and let out a weird short moo.

In response I hear hooves. The new white calf is running toward the new family. That calf is quite the zippy little thing. Her mother was right behind, mooing loudly. Mama walked right up to the vultures, lowered her big bovine head, and shooed the birds away. So much flapping! After that, everyone settled down for peaceful nursing and grazing.

Okay, so I did leave the ranch in time to do some volunteering over at the Wildscape project with some of the Master Naturalist chapter. There was a large pile of dirt to spread over a weed barrier, and there was also some cleanup to do as the team gets ready to plant new pollinator-attracting plants for the H-E-B pollinator grant we got.

I was not very helpful, but I did take some unofficial photos of everyone working.

Then I ran off to the bird sanctuary, which is hanging in there without our help. I wandered off to the area where prairie is being restored and found myself all alone and unable to see signs of humanity other than fences. That was good energy for the new year (Samhain and Día de Los Muertes).

I did go back and interact with people, plus get to connect with my friends Ann and Donna, who have been dealing with health issues that annoy them.

I’m glad I got to go help a little, even though it meant I missed a funeral. Lee was able to attend and convey my condolences, though. I always feel a lot of sympathy for spouses who are left alone after many years. I’m glad our friend who lost his wife has a large supportive family.

When I got home from my errands, I got to watch more work being done on my birding station. They had to go back for more wood again—I think the design has been refined. I was told the project just eats wood. Anyway, it now has siding along the bottom, so there’s just top and roof left, I think.

Exciting stuff, huh.

Pleasant Dreams!

I worked long hours today and had a great time talking to the people I was helping one on one. It feels so good to be useful and make things easier on folks learning complex software solutions.

Now my introvert self has kicked in and I’m worn out. Gotta rest up to do it again tomorrow.

Besides, I spent most of my blogging time chatting with a friend. Personal conversations are healthy!

Dainty Sulphur. You know it’s small—these are tiny asters

Also uplifting: there were 58 bird species here today! That’s a tie for the record at Hermits’ Rest. It helped that I was listening so early that I caught the owls hooting.

Good night/morning.

Bonus photo of New Mexico, where Lee went for a visit this week.

PS: legit cold this morning. Finally.

Yes! I Can Have Fun!

Yes, there was fun to be had on this chilly, blustery day. Did I say chilly? Well, the high didn’t get above 70°F, which is welcome. However, the wind made it feel colder, prompting a friend to ask if it was too soon to ask for summer back. Um, yes, I’m afraid it is. Tomorrow will be fairly cold, so I’m hoping the wind will die down.

As for fun today, discovering the horses in the driveway again wasn’t part of it. I had to brave the gales to go shut the main gate, all the while wondering how in the HECK the gate got open, since I strongly remember fastening it. No photos. They looked just like last time.

Verifiable fun occurred during my birding time, when I plopped my chair on my unfinished birding station and watched a parade of geese, ducks, and cranes fly over, followed by a cat creeping to the pond and making the Kingfisher and Great Blue Heron upset. (Kingfisher seems to have moved in for a while).

Plus, I finally saw some migrating Monarchs. None of my better flowers are blooming, so I’m not seeing as many as Austin friends are. I hope the wind didn’t mess them up.

I also had fun at work, because I like both projects I’m working on, one writing and one helping folks. I enjoy the conversation.

The real fun, though, came when I opened the huge collection of acrylic markers I just bought. A whole new world of things I can doodle on has opened up, along with the possibility of ruining many things. So far I put flowers on a pair of glasses that needed some rejuvenation. They look better than I feared, thought not “fine art.”

This tones down the silver in the frames.

I sat there wondering if I could decorate my ugly plastic headband. Yes, I could. It ended up looking nice with my blue hair.

I also put identification in a subtle silver on my new binoculars and their bag, hoping not to have these wander away.

The decorations were fun to do. I just have to resist the urge not to decorate every object in my home. I’ll try to just decorate rocks or something. Many people paint rocks.

My final fun was crocheting away while watching Elspeth so far this season. I will next watch Matlock. I like shows with quirky older protagonists. I feel okay not boycotting CBS, since Colbert was on Elspeth. So there.

Speaking of crochet, I finally have my temperature blanket through September. I look forward to months with more green and yellow…maybe even blue?

More thoughts on why I’m encouraged will be shared tomorrow. Ooh, passive voice! Reminds me to go finish reading The Language Puzzle, my current book.