Ya know, these days not much fazes me around here. As long as there’s no gushing blood on humans or livestock, it’s all fine.
I’ve got Penney and her pals watching out for me.
Today was typical. I enjoyed my morning birding—I really missed it last week, and I took Penney out for a tromp through the front field while I took pictures for yet another BioBlitz, for the Native Plant Society. So idyllic!
Queen of the Hill
I settled in at my desk to do meetings and a big task, with my coffee in my hand and headphones over my ears. However, near the end of the second meeting I heard Lee exclaim that the horses were out. Oops! Someone (me) didn’t shut the big gate well and the wind blew it open.
We found green grass, Suna.
They sure looked happy in the driveway circle, where Lee had accidentally left the water on the little tree for too long. I’m just glad it is not fresh and juicy enough to mess with Apache.
Yum yum yum
Lee and I decided to let them hang out in the open area for the day, and bungee-corded the front gate shut. I think they had a good day finding pockets of grass that’s not all dried up. I also noticed a lot of rubbing itchy areas on pieces of equipment.
Playing with dogs also happened.
They went right back to their pens for feeding time with just a little encouragement, so it’s all just fine. The afternoon ended with more birding and pleasant sitting by the pool as a family.
I gazed at the birding station from the pool patio. They’ll get back to it soon!
Heck, the only negative stuff for today was an outage of our phone service (worse for others than for me, because it didn’t stop me from working) and frustration with getting logged in to the correct streaming service for football. I’m sure it’s easier for the young folks. Just too many passwords on annoying interfaces!
So I just breathe and look at grass. Aah.
When you don’t let surprises bug you, it’s way easier to deal with the little things, and that’s today’s takeaway.
I couldn’t identify this by sight, but iNaturalist says it’s very dry prairie tea (Croton monanthogynus)
The last couple of days have been surprising in both good and weird ways. I’m feeling pretty darned good at the end of it all. So, what’s been going on?
The gods and goddesses must be smiling at me.
The only sad weird thing didn’t happen to me, but I saw the evidence after my horse lesson. I feel bad for the woman it happened to, though. Apparently, one of Tarrin’s other students arrived for her lesson and went to her trailer to let her horse out. There she was very surprised to find a bird impaled on the door. What a shock? How does a bird fly that hard into the back of a trailer that’s moving forward? That was a weird surprise! Everyone thought the bird was a mockingbird, but detective Suna figured out it was a cuckoo.
Brown wing feathers and a striped tail. Very unfortunate cuckoo.
Better surprise was that I had so much trouble getting Apache to go into his pen after we got home last night that Mabel snuck out. I tried to entice her with sweet feed, but she wouldn’t go in, so then Dusty went out. I was so tired and being attacked by mosquitoes that I just let them all out to enjoy the much nicer grass in the exercise area. Lee and I managed to get our gate to shut, so in the end, it was surprisingly fun.
Whee, this is fun.
This morning when I went out to check on them, every single one of them, even Apache, came up to say hi and hang out with me. Drew even tried to go on my walk with me, but I did shut the gate. They all seem to like me.
Good morning. Thanks for the grass. Ok, you don’t have a halter, so I don’t have to play catch me. I wish Jim hadn’t started mowing. But we found long grass anyway. Ha!I’ll trim the driveway. No one mows the center strip. Freedom fun.
Next happy surprises came midday, when I had lunch with my friends and we had so much fun that I had a hard time leaving. My segment of American society suddenly feels a little hope. It’s been so long that we are a bit giddy. I did have to leave to pick up my asthma inhaler (I only need it at times like this, when there are fires and Saharan dust in the air). There was a friendly pharmacy tech there, and she asked if I wanted my shingles vaccine first dose. I sure did! And there was no wait for the pharmacist to administer it, for free because I’m old! Surprise!
The pharmacist did it better than I do with Drew.
But wait, there’s more! I went back to work after the vaccination and got onto my regular monthly call with my contact at my actual employer, through which I’m contracted to Dell. I was surprised to see a second person was there, and they were all on camera. So I said hi and noticed they were really chipper. Finally they said they had good news. That surprised me. Apparently, they nominated me for some great contractor award and I won. That was very nice of them! You don’t get much recognition as a contractor, so that pleasant surprise was a great way to end my work day. I guess I’ll find out eventually what award I got.
It’s only been 31 years since my last award for technical writing (as evidenced by the dust on it—it was hiding in a box but Lee put it up).
Plus! At feeding time each horse and Fiona went right into their pens. I didn’t have to chase anyone. Whew.
So, see? Sometimes circumstances are really good! That’s life (and my arm feels fine, because I took ibuprofen.).
Milestone: it hit 100° here for the first time this year today. By this time last year we’d gone over 105° F.
No daily prompt today. You don’t want to hear my ideal boring day. So let’s talk about today, which, though long, was quite fine, thanks to tiny surprises everywhere.
An actual tiny bluet (Houstonia pusilla)
Indeed, I was delighted to find some of my tiny wildflower friends starting to bloom, but my day was brightened by a series of less colorful tiny creatures, the sparrows. This morning, dozens of Vesper sparrows and Savannah sparrows covered the fields and fences.
It looks like they are in a maze.
Whatever they’re finding has them distracted enough that I can recognize them (those two are similar).
This guy is very graphic with my poor camera resolution.
After enjoying the morning birds, which included my first roadrunner heard in Merlin, I tried to work until the dogs went off. Men were driving a backhoe on our property. Huh? Turns out there was a water line leak they had to fix. The horses were not amused, but it was fun to watch them be curious then agitated in turn.
What the heck?Must run!Thank goodness he’s leaving. Goodbye scary beast
I think the horses were curious because in their minds, tractors bring hay. They like hay.
Another tiny flower, dwarf verbena (Glandularia pumila)
We were only without water for an hour or so, which was barely an inconvenience. I was able to get my stuff done in time to go back out and bother the horses some more, because it was farrier time. Terry brought a helper today, so they both got to marvel at Apache’s fancy shoes and the Artimud stuff we put in to protect his hooves. It’s quite interesting clay with honey and other things.
I put his shoes back on when he was done!
Drew was his new self, but they got him trimmed. Everyone else was fine, even Fiona, who also finally got groomed and de-burred. She was, by the way, hilarious when I was trying to take off Apache’s shoes. She kept gluing herself to me to where I’d lose my balance. At one point I realized my face was an inch from a donkey butt. She’s really friendly, but this tiny surprise wasn’t so delightful.
Such a cutie.
Dusty also finally had a much needed bur-ectomy. I finally had time to do it while the others were getting trimmed. His nearly nonexistent forelock was all bur, as was his tail. He looks good now!
So nice to see his tail looking good.
I fed them after the trimming, and that’s when the next tiny sparrow flock appeared. I could hardly count these busy guys.
Looks like a pike of metal, but look closer.
The horses had a lot to say about their busy day. Mabel is proud to still have her mane burs and bits of mud. I tried.
You can’t tame me, though I appreciate the hoof work. My bad hoof needed it.
Meanwhile, Apache and Drew each didn’t finish their food and instead tried to get to the other’s pen by testing the gate. Apache tried hard.
Lemme in.
Drew thought that was funny.
Har har har
I think Drew was processing something. Maybe his hoof trim helped his issue.
He had a lot to say.
To calm myself after all the day’s activities, I went back to the woods to see who was there. The wind had calmed down, so I hoped to hear some good songs. Instead, as I stood quietly, I heard sounds like someone or something was approaching. Was it a deer? A bunny? A raccoon?
It was us.
Yep. It was sparrows, this time the white-throated clan. Dozens of them were under the young cedar elms, scratching around for some delicious item. It was amazing how much noise those tiny fellows made!
Watch them go!
I had fun turning my Live Photos into tiny videos of tiny sparrows. But it does help you actually see the birds!
So many!
Yes, I was quite entranced by the little black-and-white heads bobbing up and down. They completely ignored me until I finally had to move my aching back. What a nice ending to my outdoor hours today.
How many? I’m not sure. Five?
I did finally go inside and finish cooking. Yes, I’m not 100% birds and horses and yarn.
Yesterday I shared the big surprise I received when I got home and found a new hen house created from my former new tack room. I didn’t share what happened to all my tack and food.
It’s like the tack room grew!
Yep. I stepped out of the Hen House and did a double take when I saw there was still a barn red storage building where the tack room was. What the heck!
Very coordinated.
Well, you may recall that we had a lovely Victorian house on Ross Avenue in Cameron. It came with many empty lots and a couple of storage buildings. We are in the process of selling that house to an expert renovator, but are keeping most of the land and the buildings.
A window is going in, plus an air conditioner. And that roof is getting a tarp before it rains tomorrow!
My spousal unit, Lee, was the one who wanted to improve the chicken coop. The nephew said, why build another one? Let’s use the tack room, which is a bit cramped, and haul the big blue building here to be a new tack room? This decision was made before we left for our trip, so I can imagine everyone had a hard time keeping it to themselves!
That looks pretty fancy to me.
So, they had the plan of moving that building here, painting it, and turning it into the tack room plus, all before I got back. Unfortunately the house hauling person had a problem, so the blue building didn’t make it until last Thursday, by which time they’d cleaned it out and painted it red. I’m still in shock.
Wow!
My son, Lee, and the nephew worked overtime to get the flooring down, start insulating, and get some walls up so they could empty my trailer (where the tack all was), so I could take the horses to their lessons. That stuff has all moved a lot. I bet my son and our helper really hope they don’t have to move it again!
After today’s work.
Today my son finished insulating and putting up the lower walls. Now the gambrel roof and ceiling need doing.
The gap is where the window goes.
Notice there isn’t any horse stuff on the side of the room in the photos. There’s a good reason, other than needing it clear to add the walls. The nephew took it into his head to make half the building into a she shed. He even has it wired to put my precious former office chandelier in there. Holy crap.
Cool storage unit came with the building Someone had to move all this stuff twice. Bless them. Insulation ready to go in. My boy is wearing a mask to do this!Where chandelier will be. As my son points out, we will actually be able to find stuff with two lofts. Insulation, before walls were upView across the two loftsProgress on new and improved Tack Room/She Shed
They are going to bring my rugs and furniture from my old office. And my art! This will be so cool, and Kathleen, Anita, Sara and I can hang out in our girls’ club. Maybe we need a no boys allowed sign.
Wow. Stuff like this makes you just want to hug the world. I’m so grateful.
I hinted that things were different at the ranch when I came home. I didn’t notice it at first, because it was hiding behind cars and tractors, but the men in the family had conspired to upgrade the chickens’ living quarters. A lot. They even moved!
That hen house looks an awful lot like my tack room.
Wow! The chicken run is now attached to the tack room barn, which is no longer full of saddles and horse feed. It has a full-fledged roosting and nesting room in it.
Note the new flooring, screen door and such.
My nephew, husband, and son (along with their helper Marcus) conspired to move the tack room over and convert it to the Hen House. It also has space for all the food, my workbench, and the brown chair, for chicken watching. That’s fancy.
Just wait until I add chicken art.
Even fancier is the coop. Holy cow these are some lucky chickens. There are lovely roosts that they will probably use in the winter. They still like their branch outside. And there are a bunch of nest boxes. Sixteen! I need more chickens.
The colors!! And bless their hearts, they painted the ceiling blue.
Can you stand the cuteness? The chickens have a little door to come in that we will be able to shut if needed. Plans are to put in a heat lamp for winter. Yes! Electricity! No air conditioner, though.
See the door? And there is hay for them.
It’s all very charming. I think the chickens are wondering what they did to deserve a palace. I’m wondering what I did, too!
We fancy.
We have all the stuff needed to do babies, deal with a sick chicken, or introduce new flock members, too. I’ve got to start giving away or selling more eggs.
The old nest box is available for if we get new chickens and need separation. So cute. And functional. Baby and infirmary areaWe have grass!!
So, you may ask a question. If the Hen House is the old tack room, where’s your horse stuff? See next blog! I’m a truly grateful gal.
Do you remember reading about how much fun I had just wandering around Breckenridge, Colorado day before yesterday? And do you remember that I got very excited when I walked through a residential area and saw that a house had a big bird feeder and I hung around there trying to get photos of the pretty birds?
The Steller’s Jay I saw
I remember thinking what a really nice bird feeder those people had, and how much I liked all the stuff they had on their deck. It looked like such a nice, comfortable home, and I wished I could watch birds on that deck. As I walked back to town, I was so grateful to those folks for letting me see a new bird.
Well, today, I was reading Facebook comments about my earlier blog post. You could have knocked me over with an intensely blue feather when I read this!
What??? (I scratched her name out because I, too, care about internet privacy)
At first, I thought she meant that was the same kind of bird feeder she had. But no, out of all the houses in this little town, I had managed to take a bird picture at the home of the ONLY person I know who actually lives here! I knew she’d moved away from Texas, but I forgot where she had gone!
This made me SO happy.
So, I may get my wish and get to look at birds from that lovely deck. Maybe I can get better photos. I’m just tickled to death! This whole “keeping up with folks on the internet” thing is really working out for me!
Speaking of Friends
My friend Kathy and I knitted and talked all morning until the shops opened, at which time we went shopping a bit more and had a wonderful brunch at a place called the Columbine Cafe. I had an omelet with a side of the first Colorado green chili that I’d ever had. If you get a chance, try it. The tequila sunrise was also delicious.
This woman can really knit by the way. That sweater has incredible subtle detailing and fits perfectly. I wove my scarf.
Our shopping was a great success, as I have holiday gifts all under control now. One shop we went into had some of the funniest dang cards, fridge magnets, and t-shirts that we couldn’t stop laughing. What we really liked about this place, and the other one we spent a lot of time in, was that much of the merchandise was unique and not the same old stuff you see everywhere. There must be a lot of creative and funny people in this state.
I think we are trying to blind ourselves. But we wanted a picture with mountains in the background. Note that I got earrings with crows on them that completely match my winter coat. I think they may be my winter go-to earrings. They are enamel on copper.
We both tried very hard to not go into the store with all the rocks, crystals, and jewelry under the one with the funny merchandise. But we went in. There, I discovered a treasure trove of turquoise jewelry, including some Sand Creek stones I had never seen before. It’s beautiful, light blue stuff. They also had a genuinely nice collection of old Navajo jewelry. I totally fell in love with a coral and turquoise piece from the 1960s, unsigned, as many old pieces are. I’m going to end up wearing this one a lot.
After we finished at the jewelry store, where I had heart palpitations from the beauty, we went for a little ride looking for a mine. We didn’t find the mine but did fine some beautiful scenery from the road that runs up into the mountains east of Breck. That was plenty great for me.
The ski slopes
I just liked how optimistic this tree looked, reaching up
Views from the car and a stop to enjoy scenery (and look for Kathy’s sunglasses)
Then, Kathy was nice enough to take me to the grocery store to stock up after I ate a lot of my food last week. I’m probably good with food until I leave town.
Meanwhile, Back in Texas
I’m sure you’re craving photos of my animals back at the ranch. Lee has been really nice about sending me dog and chicken pictures. However, this took my breath away. I think Drew is the prettiest horse in the world, at least for me. Thanks to Sara for grabbing me a photo while she was at the trainer’s for her lesson. He is filling out so nicely. Ahh.
Back to knitting, relaxing, and wishing the time didn’t change tonight. I’ve got plenty to do and so much fun to look forward to in the next two weeks. I’m so grateful for kind friends who are willing to spend time with me when I just randomly show up near where they live!
The Hermits' Rest 