The Hermits' Rest

Three Necessary Things

What are three objects you couldn’t live without?

This question intrigued me. And answering it is way more fun than talking about my anxiety attack from today. Ugh. I let something get to me today. So, hmm.

1. My glasses. I rely on my eyes so much! How could I read, write, look at birds, and knit easily without them? I’m so glad eyeglasses were invented.

I want to see things like this amazing swamp privet in the back pond area near the spring (*Forestiera acuminata*). I had no idea it was there.

2. My car. Not only is it pretty (red leather!) and zippy, but it’s my only way to get to food, friends, and non-ranch fun. I don’t want to hitch Fiona to a wagon to get supplies!

3. Knitting Needles. Weird but true. I need to knit to stay even semi-sane. I’d say I need a pair of circular size 4 US needles and I’ll be set for life. I can knit with any yarn-like stuff. String, strips of cloth, wire…whatever.

This is the progress on 2023 for my friend. The dark are isn’t very pretty from a distance.

There you have it. I am sure my answers aren’t typical!

Today, other than dealing with mental challenges, Lee and I went to Temple to look for containers to put in my “new” nonfunctional freezer that will store horse food and foil those darn mice for good. Thanks to our neighbor for painting it red just before it died. It looks good. Now we just have to work out the storage method.

Latches were added to prevent creatures from breaking in.

Lee even treated me to an early birthday lunch, which was fantastic. Seared tuna with a great salad. And I got free dessert!

Other than that, I mostly hung out with the birds and plants. That brings peace.

There is good news! Apache isn’t mad at me today. He even picked up his feet so I could take his boots off. I think he should only wear them a couple days at a time. It’s rubbing off his hair.

One Step Back

Yeah, they say it goes two steps forward and one step back. Today felt like a big step back for me and Apache. But we have it our best and that’s all we could do.

We think we’ve grown, but maybe we haven’t. Regression time.

Sara and another of our horse friends had set up the obstacles for the Working Horse Central spring virtual show, so I said I’d go over and try it out. So far, that’s never worked out well for us, but I figured we’d get some together time and riding in, anyway.

What can I say? It went better than last time. We got there calmly and did a walk-through of the course with Aragorn, but Apache was not at all interested in riding, just like last time. I got lots of practice being calm and trying not to tense up as he jumped and wheeled around.

There are certain spots he just loses his mind at. I have no idea why. But I did manage to get him back to his normal mind a couple of times. It was exhausting. Sara and I kept trying to figure out what I might be doing differently that caused all our improvements to go out the window. I’m sure I tense up when he starts jumping, though I try my best to not react and breathe calmly. He seems to want me to help him though.

In the end I got the idea that he does better over there with a friend, so Sara led Aragorn and we followed them through a bunch of the obstacles. That actually worked, so we were able to end on a positive note.

I tied my horse up to rest afterwards, and he and Aragorn got all manly at each other. We surmised that Sully must be in heat, like Mabel.

Neither of these guys is known for acting studly.

Apache looked so miserable that I took his saddle off and hosed him down. By that time, the other person who was going to try to film her virtual show. Look at her horse, Cheerio!

Apache just looks like the same horse, a size larger. They are exactly the same color, but A is wet here.

They must have a common Paint pattern. They even share the black forelock and white mane!

I took him home before they did their work. As we arrived at the gate to our property, there was Fiona. She had escaped the fence and came to greet her buddy. I wonder if he’d do better if she came with us? It’s not possible, of course, since Fiona isn’t very popular over there, but maybe in other circumstances she could be his emotional support animal.

But look! Fencing is up for a third pasture! Just need a water trough. I’ll put Mabel and Dusty there, to enjoy the good grass. Apache and Fiona will go to the other pasture a couple hours a day but mostly stay in the small overgrazed paddock, so the pasture they are in now can rest.

Well, at least I got some sun. Apache is pissed off at me, but I hope this episode hasn’t messed up all our hard work becoming a team. I shouldn’t have taken him over there, in retrospect. I just keep hoping we will be able to keep things together better in unfamiliar places. Or familiar places that spook him. I guess no equestrian camping for us any time soon!

Buh.

Fated to Another Good Day

Do you believe in fate/destiny?

Nope. Not at all. Quite the opposite. I’m a big fan of the “sh** happens” school of thought, as a lifelong existentialist. I guess this sort of goes along with my agnosticism. I do feel a connection to the earth and I grant that there may be something we can’t perceive that ties things together, but chaos makes more sense to me. This allows me to enjoy each day to its fullest and not expect either good or bad times to last forever.

One day this dog showed up. Fate? Luck? Coincidence? Who cares. He’s a great dog.

If you believe everything happens for a reason or there’s a magical being watching you and causing things to happen to you, that’s fine with me. You may be right. Or I may be. But we both get to enjoy the beauty around us if we look.

It was a fine, fine day to be alive. I spent much of the afternoon grooming horses and riding. In shedding season they need the help. Tomorrow I’ll try to get Mabel to let me groom her. That should be fine, but I also want to de-bur her. Not so fine.

This boy sure lived his grooming and head rubbing.

Rainy Day Achievements

Well! The nerve! They are recycling blog prompts and I’d already answered today’s! And it was a cold, rainy day, so there’s not a lot of other exciting to report, so a topic would have been helpful.

I wish you could have seen this in person. It nearly glowed in the soft light. *Castilleja indivisa*

My lack of drama made me feel like I could be a member of the Dull Women’s Club in Facebook! Look it up, both it and the men’s version can be quite funny until people get snippy.

How dull WAS I?

My proudest accomplishment was tallying how many bird species I saw here at the ranch last month. 78. Down from 82 last month.
My second proudest accomplishment was hanging my clean clothing. I won’t tell you how long it had been, but I came across many pumpkin t-shirts.
I put away coffee mugs (I have to take them upstairs, because that’s where we make coffee).
Work happened. I wrote three bulleted lists, much like this one. I also helped a bunch of people and participated in meetings with grace and humor. I hope.
Animals were cared for. I got a lot of horse supplements that were too heavy to lift, so I got help with moving them out of the rain.
I listened to another Master Naturalist webinar to help me reach my continuing education requirement. They are always good, but they conflict with a work meeting, so I must watch recordings.
I texted with my friend Mandy. She does speech to text so she says way more than me.
I knitted a lot while Lee enjoyed the Dune movie that came before the current one. Spicy. I didn’t realize that Timothée guy was just a kid.

Now, wasn’t that fascinating? Must I blog all this? Well, why not? Sometimes I like reading that other people out there have their share of boring days. So, now you know I do, too. I prefer that to drama!

Excitement. Wind blew this chair into the pool.

I’m quite content.

Life Phases and Going Forward

Describe a phase in life that was difficult to say goodbye to.

The time in life that I wish could have lasted longer was when my sons were teenagers. I really enjoyed being a band mom, watching them make lifelong friends, and seeing them grow into independence. We sure laughed a lot. No doubt they remember it differently.

But, life goes on and there’s much to both enjoy and endure now. A joy was working with Anita, my mid-century modern expert, on finalizing colors and fixtures for the current remodeling project. Here’s what we picked for the exterior, after much debate. You can see the colors look different in different light.

At left are the interior colors that we already chose, Santa’s Beard and Dance of the Goddesses. Top left, Copper Canyon, is the inside of the porch, to keep it lighter. Ripe Peach in the middle is for the doors. It blends with the brick rather than contrasting. Greenwich Green is the trim color.

Note that we are removing the shutters, since they aren’t the right vibe. We checked to be sure fading hadn’t occurred on the brick, and it just needs power washing. One reason we don’t need the shutters is that we will have a new exterior element, the Hardie board where the new windows are. Here’s how it turned out.

The guy who did this is justifiably proud of how it came out. It will break up the long horizontal line of the house very well.

So, what am I enduring? The continuing saga of my boy Droodles. He seems to have made advances at Mabel and was rebuffed severely. He has bite marks on his side, along with this lovely gash. Only one horse could literally kick his butt, and the theory is that she’s in heat, but only has eyes for Apache.

Horse drama. Apparently I shouldn’t mix the sexes. I’ve spent too much effort getting Mabel into good enough shape that she can kick ass, though, so when we get the new pasture set up, she may get to stay with Apache and Fiona in the old one.

Of course, Drew also bugs Dusty, but that’s calmed down a lot. We will figure something out! In the meantime, I don’t look forward to grooming Apache tomorrow. He rolled after all that sweating yesterday.

It may rain, though, so bit might wash him or mess up my riding schedule. Today wasn’t a good day to ride anyway, since winter came back to say hi, and brought its buddy, the wind.

Spring Beauty or Fairy Spud

What the heck?

I was delighted to discover that the woodland floor next to our house was covered in charming little flowers. I’d never seen them before, even though I walk in these woods each spring.

I had to look them up as soon as I went inside after my birding break. Their name was as lovely as their appearance: Virginia Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica). I happily read the excerpt of a longer article that appears in iNaturalist as had to giggle when I saw that one of their other common names is Fairy Spud. I had to learn more.

It turns out that the plants grow from tubers that were eaten by many indigenous people in the eastern US, you know, like potatoes! They were thought to cure convulsions and/or prevent conception. I assume the latter didn’t work well, since people ate it a lot. The whole plant is edible, but the Wikipedia article noted that the leaves are “not choice eating.”

Well, I learned something today! As a bonus I managed to see and hear a black-crowned night heron this morning. That’s a rare guest at our pond! So, it’s the Daily Bird.

Apache survived a hard workout at his lesson today, but in a great triumph, he trotted more than once correctly. He was NOT hollow, that dreaded word. I’m so proud of him. He also got his feet trimmed by Reagan, the new intern at Tarrin’s. He is growing hoof like crazy.

Apache was sweating away, since he hasn’t shed much yet. He will be very happy tomorrow, when it cools off a bit. So will I! Maybe I’ll cook up a batch of fairy spuds for dinner. Or not.

Spring Rushing In

Signs of spring start off slowly. A purple martin arrives, chicory blooms, the few bees that are around delight in the early dandelions and bur clover blossoms.

Then, one day, you realize that the spring rush is ON. Around here, that happens in the last week of February. Wow! In town there are redbuds, and plum trees blooming. Those really pretty orange-red bushes are blooming, and the highly scented narcissus are everywhere.

Since I didn’t get photos in town, here’s my noble Vlassic, who’s showing his age.

No trees bloom spectacularly here, but today is the day there’s a green sheen in the woods. Even the willows are leafing out. In a week or two they and the cedar elms will be blooming subtly and stuffing my sinuses. It’s ok. They’re cute.

I’ve been sharing the early flowers lately, but today I found the second wave is showing up. Very soon we will have Texas paintbrush all over the front field, and the little stick-like stems of cat’s-ear will wave around (sometimes I’ll catch them with their flowers open). I even found my first plantain blooming. The yard will be covered with them eventually.

Well, there will be fewer wildflowers this year, because Lee and his brother are itching to mow. I’ve conveyed my instructions as to the no-mow areas. They’ll have smooth expanses of green and I’ll have SOME of my “weed” buddies.

One more sign that spring is in full swing is that every day there are fewer and fewer sparrows. That bums me out, but I know the summer residents will be here soon to entertain me. And of course the house sparrows will never leave. Sigh.

It’s getting warmer, too, so I’m hoping Apache hurries up and sheds out. In the meantime, all the horses are getting curried (except Drew, who’s being good but not getting worked with).

I just wanted to share these happy thoughts of life around the Hermits’ Rest. We need to focus on that sometimes. The little good things.

Favorite Flower, Least Favorite Word

If you could permanently ban a word from general usage, which one would it be? Why?

I’m gonna make random readers learn about my encounter with a new favorite flower and some historical land before telling you what word I’d ban. I want to share happy things.

Anyone who’s known me a long time probably knows my favorite flower in the pansy. I love their colors and their happy faces. I had no clue that there are wild pansies in the US, since I only knew them from flats in the garden store. But there are!

Hello! I’m the American field pansy – *Viola rafinesquei*

There’s no info on it in iNaturalist, which surprised me. But it apparently grows all through the eastern US. Have you ever seen it?

I was quite entranced by these tiny mini-pansies, which I encountered in Southeastern Milam County today on a hike with friends and their sons along the old El Camino Real de Los Tejas trail, leading to the panoramic views at the top of a hill, where Native American settlements at the Ranchería Grande were located. It’s gorgeous, with 360° views of the area. (Fellow Master Naturalists own the property and with the help of volunteers will make it accessible to the public.)

I found another new plant, called smallflower fumewort (Corydalis micrantha). They were all over the field, too. It has a charming, yellow flower shaped like tubes. I never saw anything like it before!

We had three young boys with us who were very new to the concept of observing and preserving nature. One young man was very proud to have cut apart the snail shell I gave him. Another one really enjoyed hitting things with sticks to see the sounds they made. They took great glee at destroying any animal tracks they found, but we convinced them to leave the cool leaf cutter ants to their business. I think ant lions sounded scary so their holes were safe, too.

Spider wort didn’t scare anyone. I was pleased my friend found one blooming!

I hope the younger hikers learned some things, though, and it was fun listening to them and hearing how they think. I’ll have a lot more boys next week, as we take Cub Scouts along the trail. Here are some things the boys found interesting.

We adults had fun, probably more than the kids. I was happy to have a chance to hang out with my friend, her spouse, and my fellow Master Naturalist. Next week I’m on my own with no backup naturalist.

This photo shows a huge leaf cutter ant colony. Dozens of connected nests.

So, what word would I like to make go away? I find the word “libtard” especially offensive and disrespectful. It insults people with more progressive ideas by using “-tard” which is something people try not to use to refer to those who have mental disabilities. I guess the word helps me remember to do my best to avoid name calling and pejorative labels when talking about the new far, far right factions in the US.

Hurling insults is a time-honored tradition in politics, I know. That doesn’t make it any less distasteful.

My Next Challenge

What is the biggest challenge you will face in the next six months?

The next six months bring a lot of challenges. There’s no way to avoid changes at the macro and micro level. My main one will be to decide whether to retire or keep working. If I retire, my income goes way down, so I’ll have to change a lot. If I keep working, I’ll still be dealing with changes made by the company where I work.

I guess the good thing about being a “senior citizen” is that whatever happens, the consequences won’t last too long, because neither will you. Ha ha. Elder humor. And yes, I do realize I could drag on another 30 or more years. I plan to be ancient.

My fingernails will keep me alive by being so loud.

Today was fine, other than human beings disappointing me (vandalism at the nearby cemetery and getting a weird email from the city saying the Red House on Fannin had been reported for…something).

I saw the first bluebonnets on our road, had a nice ride on Apache, and enjoyed the moon for the second evening in a row. Lee and I watched it rise while we sat by the pool discussing our challenges.

Tomorrow should be fun, so I’ll just leave it there.

Renovation in Progress

I’d intended to update y’all on the progress my amazing family and team are making on the current renovation project in Cameron. At this point, I’m ready to move in! (But I won’t.) sorry for two posts today, but I couldn’t fit the two topics together.

I finally got a picture of the whole house. It’s wide.

I dropped by earlier in the week and saw all the insulation that got put in. Wow. It’s so much quieter in there now! Even the attic is insulated. I imagine the utility bills will be better, too, especially since the new heat pump is very efficient.

It’s cool to see how much is changing.

New rear entrance through laundry/utility room

Today Anita, Lee, and I all visited. I told my son to dig up violets and grape hyacinth to plant at his cabin. Then I looked around. Most of the insulation is now covered with sheet rock. They’ve made good progress. I got a demo of taping and floating, which was educational to me. It looks fun, and my drywall application pro child agreed.

The house is so light now. But the most light comes from the two new windows that have transformed the formerly dark and tunnel-like hall leading to the main bedroom. It’s awesome from the inside and out.

There will be really nice siding here, which will break up the width a bit.

More painting happens next week, and cabinets are getting worked on. The team will keep the mid-century charm while making the house comfortable and modern at the same time. I’m glad I get to help a little! But major kudos to our team and the excellent subcontractors!