Why not? I was all tired after helping a lot of folks at work, but when I went out to see the horses, I felt so much better that I did my scheduled ride and enjoyed the nice afternoon.
I had to replace the chairs, but these match better anyway. And one works as a mounting block!
The bulldozer is still plowing away. I think that project will be done tomorrow. He’s made it wider and is building an excellent berm that will be fun for the horses and provide a bit of sound insulation for us (you know, ALL that traffic we get!). Lee says he keeps finding springs, which doesn’t surprise me. But even in this drought to see moist areas surprises me!
Sun sets on the dirt and silt pile.
And after yesterday’s rant, I’m embracing my quirky decorating style. It helps that Kathleen has made some really pretty fall and Halloween wreaths and gave me one. Doesn’t it look great?
Seasonal cheer!
To top it all off, my additional cream yarn showed up, so I can keep going on my afghan project. in the meantime I made part of a narrow border to put on at the end. This is gonna be a project, all right.
Second border in progress.
Glad to have some calm time in life every so often.
Hooray! I have a ranch project I can talk about! We’re getting the front pond dug out more, so it will be bigger, deeper, and hold more water. The pond was originally made from an arroyo (ditch) that made it hard to build a driveway into our homestead area. The dam is our driveway.
Removing willows that are in the way.
While it’s all dry, the tenants have had the ponds (cattle tanks) in the area between our house and the creek dug out. They silt up and need it every so often. since the guy already had the dozer here, Lee seized the chance to dig ours out, too.
It looked familiar, but don’t they all look alike?
It turns out the bulldozer is the same one that built the pond in the first place! The current operator got it from the previous guy when he gave up the dozing. It’s pretty cool! Plus the dozer guy (see, I’m not naming names) grew up right down the road, so he knows how the drainage works from first-hand experience.
Dozing with scenic ragweed.
I’m looking forward to seeing how much our budget will buy in pond digging. He’s first digging deeper into what’s already there, then enlarging it. I’m confident all the water plants will return. After all, they showed up quickly once the pond was dug in the first place!
I took a walk and enjoyed the cool October morning air today, too. What a refreshing work break! I got to pat all the equines and see what was blooming and growing. The horses were mostly ignoring me and staring intently to the north, though.
Alert!
It turns out one of Sara’s horses was walking down its pasture. They sure keep an eye out for each other! I know they miss Drew, who is making new friends, I hear.
All right then, these are some more pictures from my day. One good thing about starting work at 6:30am is having time to take pictures after work!
Heading down Heading up. This is a ribbon snake that was eating a frog. Sniff. The horses’ favorite snack. Johnson grass. Dove weed. I like. Others don’t. Lady beetle sans spotsWhat is this smooth spot? Fiona’s rolling area. Beautiful milkweed seed ready to fly away. Western ragweed leaves smell good. I probably shouldn’t have sniffed. A-Choo. My second least favorite plant. Buffalo bur. Intrepid Mexican hats. Balloon vine seed pod. They float. Balloon vine seeds look like yin and yang. Sorry the false foxglove is blurry.
As they say, getting out in nature is good for you, even if it’s just a horse pasture.
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The Hermits' Rest 