The Hermits' Rest

Harmony, Before the Storm

What could you let go of, for the sake of harmony?

I’m pretty tired from moving things to minimize potential tropical storm damage and a bit warm because I’m sleeping in the upstairs bedroom with no air conditioning. I have a fan and an open window, at least until rain starts. So, I’ll answer this blog prompt quickly.

For the sake of harmony I’ve let go of any drive I have to clarify my perspective on things that happen to me. I don’t need to prove I’m right or justified to anyone else. That’s led to a lot of harmony.

I’ve also let go of the desire to have a say in current or future plans that involve anyone other than myself. It’s not worth trying to provide input or ask questions that will come across as nosy. I make my own plans for things that are just my “stuff” and do my best to let people who are affected know. I try, anyway. That’s just how I do things. I don’t need to know what other folks are up to (in general, not making a barbed comment). I just used to be way too curious/interested.

There’s probably more, but it boils down to learning to stay in my own lane, accept changes and new situations as gracefully as I can muster, and let go of expectations. This makes work, community life, and family life much less stressful for me and reduces at least some potential conflict.

And gives me more time to enjoy the weather.

For every situation there’s more than one right solution and it’s not my job to find it every time! And I don’t HAVE to share my opinion so much. That has been hard to learn and I’m not quite as far along as I’d like to be. But since I started out as the annoying student who raised her hand to answer the teachers’ questions every single time, I had a long way to go.

Curious as to what these are? I’ll tell you! They are seed pods of the beautiful pitcher’s leather flower vine *Clematis pitcheri*

Now to keep my phone charged in case we lose power. Beryl should not be too bad this far north. Think about our family on the Texas coast and my Houston friends!

Americana Listening

What is your favorite genre of music?

I guess my experience with being in a vocal trio with a Kerrville Folk Festival devotee, volunteering at a monthly folk coffeehouse for years, and living with a rock/country guitarist for three years or so doomed me. I became pretty fond of Americana music. What’s that?

I’m lucky to have lived in Austin, Texas (or thereabouts) for 30 years or more. There is a lot of Americana music to watch. I watched and listened to a lot of it with my music friends. I loved this part of my life.

Oddly, I don’t listen much anymore. I think it has to do with the loss of my older son, who is a wonderful mandolin player (he’s not dead, just refuses to speak). And some unpleasantness happened to my other son in the music scene. Plus, my vocal cords are now damaged and I can’t sing certain notes now. It has taken away the pleasure of music.

That took a dark turn. Of course there were wonderful musical moments in my life. And music moves me when I do listen. And not just Americana! I love classic rock, classical, and Celtic especially. and the music of nature, naturally. Heh heh.

Eh. I’ll stop before I go on and on about favorite artists. Enjoy looking at Fiona and Drew.

I’m fine. Just musing. Long weekend.

Memories Do Help

Describe your most memorable vacation.

Oh blog prompt people, get creative! But, descriptions of my most memorable vacation can be found from June 5-23 in this here blog. I think the one to Arizona wins because it was both fun and mostly stress free. I’ve had great vacations in the past but they either featured wrangling small children, arguing with family members, etc.

We kept our cool 98% of the time, and I got to see this slot canyon. Win!

I’m glad to have memories of all the sights and sounds of our recent trip, because it’s pretty uninteresting here at the ranch right now (no more dead animals).

We are by ourselves again due to the latest family issue, and I’m not working hard enough to drum up people to do things with. The only person I asked was Anita, and she’s working all day every day again. At least we have dogs, horses, and the swimming pool (now at bath water temperature).

It did cool off this evening after some big winds heralded a cool front. That’s rare in July! And we’re waiting to see if Hurricane Beryl will bring any rain. I hope so.

Other than that, we’re planning for the future of this place, which is always a little scary, but must be done. I’m not going anywhere, though, as far as I know! We just have to get things organized with our partners and such.

Must plan for the four-legged and two-legged children’s sake.

Independence Night

I’m glad we decided to watch the fireworks from Washington DC tonight. It made me feel like there may be a chance to remember what the USA can be, the good parts. There are many, and we need to remember that. Often.

Also I got to hear the 1812 Overture with big cannons.

Not too many fireworks are being set off here in rural nowhere. The dogs are glad for that.

Not a Good Deja Vu

Once upon a time I was in charge of a large flock of chickens that the owners were no longer interested in taking care of. Their coop had a door, but an animal had broken the screening. Let’s just say soon I had a small flock of chickens. Then I had one. Big Red hung on for a few more years.

I got a much sturdier coop and kept a few more chickens. I was down to six most of this year, then something got Bertie Lee. Then Blondie.

When I had seven. We lost the gray one last year.

Last night something got almost everyone else by coming in through their door and getting them while roosting. My fault. The hens liked to free range so I didn’t lock the door to their run. If the dang bobcat wanted them so bad, why didn’t he take them? Or maybe it was a raccoon. Or any other of the many predators we have.

I’ll really miss Buttercup. She and Bertie Lee were the friendliest ones I ever had.

I’m glad we didn’t have an attack like this for four years! But today was bad and made me cry. I’d had these hens a long time. But one is here still, poor Bianca, who can’t take the heat. It’s hard to be a lone chicken like Big Red was. She bonded with Sara’s horses. Either Bianca will do that or the predator will come back.

Circle of life. Blah blah.

If I get more chickens it will be in the fall, when it is cooler. In the meantime I’ll clean the henhouse out really well. Sigh. This past week has been rough.

At least the horses are okay. Apache seemed off yesterday but today he ate his food and took his meds like a champ. And Drew did all his exercises right, paying attention to me, his leader.

Thanks for being a good guy, Droodles. You were even good for your shot.

As icing on the cake, we are sleeping in the RV because our upstairs air conditioner has broken and won’t get fixed until Monday. Oh course, now is the time the bedroom slide decides to not extend so I can’t make the bed. Sigh again.

I’m doing a lot of deep breathing and trying to be kind to myself. I’d hoped to have lunch with friends today to cheer me up, but just one friend made it. I enjoyed a Negra Modelo in honor of Buttercup, Henley, and Billie Idyll and was consoled by Phyllis. I’m grateful to her and all my sympathetic Facebook buddies.

We can get through this stuff together (this means YOU, too, members of my household).

Much Gratitude, Must Express

How do you express your gratitude?

Honestly, I think I’m pretty bad at expressing gratitude, at least to people. And there is SO much to be grateful for, even with the challenges my family and community keep coming up against. The support each of our communities give us can give the strength to make it one more day.

I didn’t take any photos today, but I’ll find some. I saw this beauty yesterday.

I do say I’m grateful, especially to those who help around the ranch, help with animal care, and fix the endless broken things. But no doubt I could say it more and come up with better ways to show my gratitude.

Example: I’m really lucky I can just ask my son to go look at a broken door or ask Anita to help with my screw-ups on the Red House bookings. I’m taking him to dinner and got her a shirt, but they both need to know how much their flexibility means to me.

And just knowing our niece and nephew who live on the ranch with us are there when we need them takes away so much stress. I just hope we reciprocate in ways we can help!

I think I do let Tarrin know how much her work with me and the horses means to me. Her journey has contributed greatly to mine. Mentors who share their growth are to be treasured. I try to share my own growth here, to pass it on!

She’s patient, firm, and kind. It’s a good way to be.

I guess I try to tell people in person how grateful I am for them. And for those I know via social media, I try to express it often. In this world where it’s sometimes hard to find like-minded people in person, having folks who understand your fears and worries to turn to online is invaluable. Thank you, blog readers, too!

This rabid wolf spider has black front legs that almost disappear.

Yes, nature. I also try to express gratitude to the earth and her inhabitants by treading lightly and harming as little as I can. I want to fit in, though as a human being in Western civilization, it’s hard to not take up too many resources.

I let this fellow out. There are more things to eat outside. It’s some kind of wolf spider.

I’m trying to learn to do better, mainly by reading my neighbor Sara’s blog on regenerative agriculture. In fact, you can head on over there and read her post on things you can do now to meet the goals I have been talking about. Hmm. Sara is someone I need to express gratitude toward!

Family, friends, community, mentors, our planetary home…I’m grateful for them all and will strive to make that clear!

Birds, Horses…That Is All

I had to skip the blog prompt again, because it would have caused me to go on and on about my fears for the future. I’m living day by day right now, so hooray for birds and horses! Their only agendas are to eat more delicious food, and in the birds’ case, reproduce. No babies for the horses (Mabel is secretly glad, I’m sure).

That’s why she isn’t in this picture. She’s galloping around, thrilled to be foal free.

My highlight of the day came in my morning walk, when something white flashed in the sky. It was a shimmering white flock of birds heading dead south. It’s weird to see migrating birds in summer, but there they were.

I figured it was the local group of cattle egrets moving from one pasture to another, but they were pretty high. But even from far away I could see heads sticking out, which is not how cattle egrets fly.

When I looked at the pictures I took, I saw black on the wings. So, not egrets. Snow geese? Their black is only on the tips and you’d hear them honking. These birds had lots of black on their underwings.

In fact, I heard no sounds from these birds. I thought back to the white pelicans I saw at Tarrin’s not too long ago. They do have black on their wings. But they made noise and you could really see their heads. Not these. So I concluded these are wood storks, which are occasionally seen here (by me, in the back pond, twice). They must be late migrants.

Or I’m wrong. However, Merlin did suggest the stork as possible here this time of year and not the pelicans. A good mystery.

We will be talking about it for weeks, say the swallows.

Today was another horse lesson—due to vacations and other travel, they sort of clump together. It was extra hot again, but we figured out how to cope. I was very proud of Apache today. He was a real trooper, even though he wasn’t enjoying the heat either. He is getting SO easy to ride, and is willing to keep working on his weak areas.

We’ve found a short bamboo stick is just what helps him move off his left side. And I can use it now that I ride well enough I can use one hand on the reins. It’s what I used to do a long time ago but needed more skills. He and I are really progressing, doing things that require more finesse than effort (perfect in summer).

What’s going on here? He had to pee. He very rarely does that with a rider on. When they pee, you lean forward to relieve pressure.

And at least I got to ride Drew today. He has been doing better on the ground at honey, so I wasn’t too worried about it. First we practiced me being the boss a little bit. He’s getting the idea. Then we did some leg yields and figure 8s. In the SHADE. That part was nice.

It’s a bit challenging, but interesting to see how Drew and Apache need different techniques. No long reins for Drew! But after some pawing, backing up, and “complaining,” I was able to get him to do as requested. He worked hard. I think he sweated more than Apache.

I think we are back on track, though. Tarrin got him even hotter by reminding him how to behave when I got off, so when we were done I rinsed him off while Tarrin messed with Apache’s hooves (farrier is delayed). Drew really enjoyed the hose and I enjoyed watching him play with the sprayer. He just sucked the water right down. He can be so cute!

And that ended my day on a happy note. Hooray.

And there’s a good chance the upstairs air conditioning will be fixed soon! It’s bearable, though.

Sunday Plarn and Pool

I’m still pretty out of it, so let’s talk about good parts of today. As always, plants, animals, and insects are good, even the differential grasshoppers, who lurk everywhere to surprise me.

Hi. Am I bothering you? No? Let me go crawl in the chain on a gate so you’ll have to move me and my buddies.

Even the birds are feeling the summer heat. I enjoyed watching these Brown-headed Cowbirds today. They were making their weird gurgling noise.

Say what you will about them, but they sing prettily

The chickens and horses are feeling the heat, too. Poor guys.

Bianca won’t come out of her puddle to join us.

I spent much of the day doing chores, cooking, and knitting. I made a couple of plarn discoveries. I need a crochet hook to help me pick up stitches along the edges when I start a new segment. Also, “throwing,” or English knitting is easier than Continental knitting when your yarn is plastic.

I haven’t finished the first ball of plarn yet, but it’s getting bigger. The plarn maker just randomly put in different colored bags, so it’s coming out quite random.

I still don’t know what this is. I may make it sorta big and use it as a camping mat.

My hands are holding up okay (weaving is tempting me nonetheless) but I’m still going to alternate with my Temperature Blanket, which is easier on my fingers. Speaking of which, we made it through June without any 100° days! But they’re coming.

And the air conditioning upstairs needs fixing!

Anyway, the day ended with a nice meal “cooked” by me (frozen lasagna and salad) and lots of time in the swimming pool with our camping buddies Mike and Martha. I’m glad the pool is still working. Long story behind that. and I’m glad for friends you can talk to about pretty much everything. We’re lucky!

Messing with Plarn

Honestly, I’m not up to much writing or deep thinking right now. I’m not interested in discussing what’s going on with myself or in the world. So…let’s talk plarn.

I mentioned last week that my friend Steve’s cousin had made many balls of plarn, which is strips of plastic from those ubiquitous plastic shopping bags. The cousin had been very busy, and made them much more even and consistent than my early attempts. I brought them home and promised to make something to give to a charity. But first I had to experiment.

Actually, first I had to do my Independence Day nails.

I got caught up to today in the Temperature Blanket, so I played with the plarn this afternoon. I looked for patterns but mainly saw bags, baskets, and mats for unhoused people or however you say it.

My first test was crochet with a giant hook

Most patterns I saw were for crocheted projects. I tried to start the circular thing above but it didn’t look so great. I needed a slightly smaller huge hook, but who knows where that might be. So I gave up on crochet for today.

That seemed to be a religious fabric, because it was certainly holey. Ha ha, I mentioned religion. I am afraid my giant purple knitting needles were too big. I always have to go down a couple of sizes.

This sample was with 10.5 US needles. It looks at least somewhat solid. So I keeps going with this one, enjoying the slight color changes as she changed bags. every so often she threw in a colored bag. I’m glad I made a sample, because I can tell I got more smooth at knitting with the plarn as I went along.

I’m sure future projects will have smoother edges.

I found that edge pretty ugly, but I came up with a plan to pick up along the edges. That was fun. I think this project is a MAT. It will be built up log cabin style from here on.

Note how the ugly edge is gone. Heh heh.

Maybe it will be an item for dogs at the pound or something. It would be easy to clean…

It’s hard to come up with fun things to make, because you can’t make classics like hit pads, place mats, etc. it would melt. I’ll be honest. I don’t know how practical plarn items will actually be.

Comments?

Too Much Adulting

I thought way too much about adult topics like real estate, bills, car maintenance, and such. Then I started watching two old men call each other liars with no way to verify who’s telling the truth (US Presidential Debate).

I’m done. Just done. Back to concentrating very hard on the beauty of the world around me and the goodness that’s everywhere.

Like this! Whoever thought they’d see a Great Blue Heron at the top of an electric pole!

For example, we got help with a broken air conditioning unit so fast it made my head spin. I’m ever so grateful to have caring people in my life. That’s a good part of adulting.

Halfway through the year. It’s getting hot, but still no 100° days yet.

I leave you with bunnies. I saw at least three today, but I think these photos are the same one, morning and afternoon.