2 inches

Yesterday evening a rain storm sneaked up on us. In an about an hour it dumped an inch and a half or so of rain on us and most of Albuquerque and continued south to flood out several of the small towns along the Rio Grande River. We needed the rain, but slower would have been better. I didn't have time to get the horses out of the field and into their smaller pens with the shelter, not that they got hurt by standing in the rain. In fact they all needed a bath but of course they decided to roll in the mud instead. Finally, when it didn't look like the rain was going to let up Lee and I went for it, put on rain coats, and moved horses into shelters. Good thing we did as we found that there was a lake in our driveway with water coming into the garage because the ditch that was around the side of the garage to divert water had, in the past 2 years since we had got this kind of a down pour, filled in with sand. Lee grabbed a shovel and dug it out but we already had an inch of water in the garage. Nothing was really hurt, and all will dry. And what we had was minor compared to what some people experenced. Several hundred people in the small comunities south of us were evacuated when a couple of dranage ditches, and an irigation ditch broke their banks, as well as several dirt roads were washed out for the second or third time since our monsoon rains have hit.
You ask - is the drought over yet? No, of course not. A drought is never over in the desert. However much we get it is always to much at once, and most of it just runs off, causing flash floods in the arroyos, and dirt roads, and even some of the paved streets in the cities.
Has it helped? Yes, but we need more to get out of the drought that has made the water table so low in so many places in New Mexico, Arizona, Neveda, California, and other southwestern deserts.
But the high heat that the whole US is having doesn't help anyone.

NG site

Go to www.nationalgeographic.com for a great site with lots, and lots of great photos, most of which can be set as wall paper on your computer.

Kasie Cat

Kasie resting after her ordeal.

comments

I got an email requesting that I not post to my blog anymore, as it almost gave his mother heart failure. Sorry, Who Ever You Are, I will continue to post any thing I want that is not not offensive to blogspot.com .
To those who are concerned - Kasie Cat is doing much better. Up and moving all over the house getting herself in everyones way, which is fine, as it means she is better. She is still on medicine, when we can get it down her. And I am keeping a eye out for any stray coyotes. Although I can't do much about them other than turn the dogs out to bark at them, and add some of my loud yells to their barks. Which at least seems to send the little wild dogs off in the other direction.

Any way at least the person left a comment on my email which is more than most of my readers have been doing lately.

Meds

Of course the hardenst part is gettin her medicine down. She is amazing in that she can spit a pill out faster than you can get it in her mouth. And as for liquid medicine - well, lets just say that most of it goes on me. Hopefully I am getting enough down her to do some good.

Kasie

Kasie the cat is doing better after her fight with the coyote. Still not eating as much as I would like but otherwise looking better. She is getting up and wondering around the house some. And more than willing to sit in my lap and be petted.

storm

We were lucky and had some rain this evening. Along with a lightning storm again. Had one of those on Monday evening, too. We need the rain but not the lighning.
Several people have said something about being afraid of the thunder. I told them that if they could hear the thunder there was nothing to be afraid of, as the lighning came first. If they were hit by lighning, it was unlighly they would hear the thunder.

Nature

OK I know that nature is the best thing in the world. Be it wildlife, trees, native plants or even a fancy garden full of highbred flowers. I love nature, plants, and animals as much as any one else. But these coyotes are getting way to brave. The day after my cat was attacked, I looked out my kitchen window at about 5 pm, and there was a coyote, checking out the same area where the cat had been attacked. In all likely hood it was the same coyote. I ran out yelling, with the dogs barking and calmly trotted off. It didn't even act scared.
I don't know what to do about the situation any more than any one else that has had a pet attacked by a coyote. I have seen several coyotes close to my property recently, even in the daytime. Lee has seen several right outside the front gate when he would come in after dark.
We need to do something to teach them that they need to be afraid of man, and our pets, but I am at a loss as to what to do. We can't shoot at them as there are to many houses, people, and other animals. We can't put out poison for the same reasons. Live trapping doesn't seem to be an option. And calling animal control for help is useless. They say there is noting they can do.

Injuries

Yesterday evening when I fed the horses I noticed that my bay mare, Nita, had a big lump on her chest right between her front legs. She didn't mind me feeling it, and didn't act like it hurt but it seemed swollen, like a hematoma. That was all I needed. It has been a hell of a week. Not only did I have surgery the week before, my cat, Kasie, was attacked by a coyote and got to spend two nights at the vets/
I know, and I don't want to hear it, about how I should keep the cats in the house as housecats instead of letting them outside. But did you ever try to keep 4 cats in when it seems there is always someone going in or out? And did you ever try to keep 4 cat litter boxes clean when you refuse to let them out?
So for years I have been very careful about letting the cats out. They are used to the fact that they can only go out when the dogs are with them, or myself, and only in the daytime. Kasie and Murphy had go into the habbit of going with me and the dogs when we would "put the horses to bed" check on the horses - each evening sometime between 10 and 11 pm, when ever I decided it was bedtime. The dogs and the two cats got there last chance to "go potty" at that time. The cats were almost as good as the dogs about coming back in with me. And if they didn't come in I would make sure to check on them every few minutes or even stay out until they would consent to come to me. But on Sunday night I was very tired, so to a few minutes to go in a sit down before going back to look for Kasie. With in 10 minutes I thought I hear a noise I didn't like.
I rushed out with the dogs and my husband. He got to the cat before I did, just in time to see a coyote disappear. Kasie had done the one thing she shouldn't have - she had gone throught the wire fence to the neighbors yard.
Let me say here that coyotes - as smart as they are - don't seem to understand how to go through or over a wire fence - or at least the ones around here don't. I have never had one actually come in the yard as far as I know. We have horse fence wire or field fence wire surounding our commplete properyty. But of course the cats can go through the field fencing with ease.
The cat had come back into our yard and crawled up under the old Duster we have. We couldn't get her out. Finally Lee jacked up the car enough he could scoot under it, pull the cat out and hand her to me. Kasie had bite markes on her head and was having difficullty breathing, so it was off to the vets.
My I say thank you to all vet clinics that have emergancy hours, as there is a dire need for them and more. It was 10:30 on a Sunday evening. There are only 2 such clinics in Albuquerque and we made off for the closest one. The were supper good about getting to work on Kasie, getting her on an IV and morphine. They did an Xray that showed no broken bones but she did have server head trama - as if the coyote had grabbed her by the head and maybe shook her. We left her there for 2 days and brought her home yesterday afternoon.
She still isn't eating very much as there is marks in her mouth from the coyotes teeth but she sure did seem to be glad to get home. For now she will get lots of TLC and may always have to be a house cat.
Back to the mare, Nita, I hosed her down with cold water and I am keeping her seperated from the other horses for a while as it looks like she has been in a nother kicking match with one of the others, probably my other mare, Star.
To say that we have had enough bad luck for now is an understantment.

lots of photos and even some old theme songs on those sites listed below

To Much Time

Recovering from surgery means that you have to much time on your hands, which means that you spend a lot of time watching TV and playing on the internet. My husband bought me several of those $1 DVD's that you find at dollor stores. Of course they are all the old, old, old grade B westerns that we watched when we were kids. Not to give away our age to much, we watched them as first time reruns when there were only 3 TV channels. We weren't quite old enough to be in the group that actually got to watch the first time showings at the Saturaday afternoon theaters. He got me a Lone Ranger (my favorite), a Zorro, a Tex Ritter, some Bonanaza shows and one with Lee Van Cleff and Jack Palance. Watching those old time westerns got me to wondering what happened to all those old time movie heros. Which led to the playing on the internet to find out when those movies where actually made - 1937 though about 1970 for the Bonanaza's, and finding out where the actors where today. Saddly most of them - should I say all the ones I checked on are gone on to the great western studio in the sky.
Naturally I had to look up what had happened to all the heros horses - Silver, Scout, the Bonanaza horses, Trigger, Buttermilk, White Flash, and Champian. I found lots of sites that indicated that there really is a large following for all the old westers - be they movies or TV shows. Here are a few of the links I liked, and they had lots of links listed on them. I couldn't follow up on all of them so some might not be avalible any more, or might not be good ones.
www.iowalink.com/users/kbar/silver.html
www.iowalink.com/users/kbar/index.html
www.b-westerns.com
www.ultimatehorsesite.com
and of course my favorite site where writers still write stories about the same characters
www.womenwritersblock.com

Long Week

It's been a long week. I had to have surgery on Monday for some yucky, gross, sounding stuff that most women seem to have and not worth talking about on the internet. I am home now, and feeling a bit better, but I am sure recovery is going to be a long, slow process. Dogs and cats were sure I had run away and wasn't ever coming back home. Cats were a bit indifferent at first and then decided it really was me after all. Horses were only concerned about if I was going to feed them or not.
Weather is just as yucky as I feel. HOT, some humidity, at least for here it is humid, with no let up in sight.

Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.

Thunderhead Cloud

A thunderhead cloud building up over the Sandia Mountains for a rain shower in Albuquerque, New Mexico as seen from my house west of there.

Sayings

Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take but by the number of moments that take your breath away.


"Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a mystery, Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present. Enjoy this day, for tomorrow is not promised."

Welcome Rain

Well, the summer monsoons are finely here. And they have brought much needed rain to our state. A little bit to much rain in parts of New Mexico. The towns of Almagordo, Tucomcari, parts of Albuquerque, and a few others have had flooding. Tucomari got almost 5 inches last night. We only had about a inch according to our rain gage. But it is a welcome inch. Most of our rain has already disappeared into the parched ground. The ants, and flies are already trying to carry us off, and weeds popping up already, humidity is high - but we're not complaining.

Real Rain

It rained last evening. Real Rain! But of course not enough as ground is already dry again today. Hope for more today as it is clouding up. Big, beautiful, white thunderheads that float across the Sandia Mountains toward us, plus more of those thunderheads coming from the west. If east meets west we should have a thunderstorm. And more rain.

Rain

Albuquerque finally got some rain. Way to much in to short a time, as has been happening over many other areas. You may have seen a few of the problems on the Weather Channel as well as some of the large fires we have been having in New Mexico. Thankfully the rain helped with the fires and I haven't heard of any new ones from the lightning last night, as happens so much. As with other flooded areas, there where a couple of store buildings that couldn't withstand the downpour of so much water in a short period of time on their roofs and colasped. There where large rocks washed down on to city streets that, unseen under the water, damaged cars driving through. But no one was hurt and everyone just glad for rain.
Of course here at the Tumbleweed Crossing we didn't get anything but our usual high winds and sand. The rain seemed to be all around us over much of the state. But we where left high and dry. It is supposed to rain some more today and we can hope a bit of it falls here.

Cate

I did find you, Cate. What a great site. I will be back there frequently.
htt://equestrianadventurer.com/eqablog/

Equestrian Adventurer

To Cate the Equestrian Adventurer. Thanks for your comment. Please ad my link if you want. I am having a bit of trouble finding your site. I did find an Equestrian Adventurer site for trail rides in West Virginia. Is that you? Sure did look like a fun ride.
I seem to be unable to add links to my site. Wish I could figure it out.

Hairy experience

Well this morning I did it. I backed my ears, took the bit in my teeth, and went to a hair saloon and got my hair cut. YUCK! Getting my hair cut is one of the most unenjoyable experiences there is. Someone you don't really know is behind you, with a pair of sizzors, playing with your hair while they cut it. Again YUCK! Is there anyone else that feels as uncomfortable as I do getting a haircut besides my husband. For me it comes on a par with getting yearly woman's exam from the doctor.
After word I worked off my fustrations by stopping at the dollar store to my candy and cookies and eating half a package of my favorites. Then I gave my horse BlackJack a bath. Now it's time to relax a bit before going off to work.

Hot, Hot, and more Hot

It has really been hot here. I am so tired of 100 degree weather already. Would much rather it was cold. Although I do prefer to have the leaves on the trees and the flowers blooming, but now is to hot for flowers to bloom and I water frequently to keep trees from dying. I gave the horses Nita and Sundance a bath yesterday. They just stood there enjoying it. Need to do Star and Jack when I get a chance. Also need a barn full of hay as getting very low. And all the growers I know arn't getting much this year and it is sold as soon as they get it baled.
We have had way to many brush fires and forest fires in the past couple of weeks. I really need to get an evacuation plan together - just in case. With 4 horses, 3 dogs, and 4 cats, I am really not sure what I would do if there was suddenly a brush fire coming at us. Especially since I don't have tires that will stay aired up on the horse trailer.

Me & Dogs

Here is a photo of me, Tuffee, and Codee taking a break while stacking hay for horses. And another shot of Tuffee, and Codee as they think they are herding my bay mare, Nita, and the paint, Sundance.

Photos

I am trying to put more of my photos on my blog. There will be more of animals than anything else. So if you don't like animals - well you don't belong here.

Poem

I found this poem in an email from a friend. It was so good I had to put it in my blog. A reminder to all that phones, email and blogs are a great way to keep up with friends is we can't actually see them on a daily basic or they live to far away. But if you can actually talk to them in person it is a lot better.

Around the corner I have a friend,
In this great city that has no end,
Yet the days go by and weeks rush on,
And before I know it, a year is gone.
And I never see my old friends face,
For life is a swift and terrible race,
He knows I like him just as well,
As in the days when I rang his bell.
And he rang mine but we were younger then,
And now we are busy, tired men.
Tired of playing a foolish game,
Tired of trying to make a name.
"Tomorrow" I say! "I will call on Jim
Just to show that I'm thinking of him."
But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes,
And distance between us grows and grows.
Around the corner, yet miles away,
"Here's a telegram sir," "Jim died today."
And that's what we get and deserve in the end.
Around the corner, a vanished friend.
Remember to always say what you mean.
If you love someone, tell them.
Don't be afraid to express yourself.
Reach out and tell someone what they mean to you.
Because when you decide that it is the right time it might
be too late. Seize the day. Never have regrets.

Dogs

Below are two photos of my dogs. One of dogs playing - Tuffee is the black and white Border Collie - Nikki is the yellow lab cross - Coddee is the German Shepherd that is almost hiden.

Getting a Drink

This is Tuffee trying to catch the water from the water hose while I water the plants, trees, and flowers. Tuffee can't go to the seaside like our blogger friend Max so she makes do by playing in the stream from the hose.

Max

We were visited by another Border Collie, Max, who has a blog at this site. http://mynameismaxt.blogspot.com
Please visit him there. He has just started blogging, and needs to hear from readers. We bloggers always like to hear from our readers.

Tuffee, my Border Collie.

search words

Was reading something on the net that said the worst words to put into your search engines were 'free screensavers' and 'screensavers' and 'ringtones'
YUCK and DOUBLE YUCK
I used to use those a lot. The site I was reading said that those search words could lead you to unscrupulous sites that would give your computer spyware and virus'
So be careful.

Problems

I keep having all kinds of problems being able to post my blog at blogspot.com
If it continues I may have to change to a different address. Hopefully they will get it straightened out.

Sprinkles

We finally had a few sprinkles of rain yesterday and early this morning. It was so wonderful to smell rain. I don't believe there is a more enjoyable smell than the first big drops of life-giving water dropping out of a gray, cloud-covered sky, to hit the dirt, causing little geysers of dust to spring into the heavy, damp air near the ground. To me it is a smell that signals the revival of life.
But here in New Mexico usually it is just a handful of those big, drops of rain followed by disappointment that there aren't more. Last evening we got a few more. It was actually enough that you could get wet in it if you continued to stay out in it. And I did. It isn't that often that I get to stand in the rain and I wanted to enjoy it while I could. A few minutes later it was over and the clouds were passing on to the east to drop more rain than we had on the city of Albuquerque.
This morning I got woke up at about 5:30 am by an unusual sound. It was rain hitting my windows. I jumped up to close the ones that were open and to listen to the pleasant sound. Later when I went out to feed the horses I actually got mud on my shoes, and had to scrap them on the boot scraper I have by the door that hadn't been used for some time.
The weathermen are predicting more scattered showers for this evening. I hope they are right.

Tumbleweed Crossing

On Tuesday Mother Nature reminded me why I named our place the Tumbleweed Crossing. In about a half hour of time I watched tumbleweeds blowing in gale force winds. First there was a huge old, dryed out tumbleweed that blew from east to west. Then I saw a couple of that ones relitives tumbling along going from north to south. Just a few minutes later I saw what looked like the same two tumbleweeds hopping along back from the south and now headed north. And then I saw what looked like the same big one I had first seen going west now coming back and retreating into the east.
That gives you a good answer as to why Russian thistles were renamed tumbleweeds, and I call this place the Tumblweed Crossing.

Codee

Cool Morning

The mornings are cool here at the Tumbleweed Crossing. The sun takes its time slowly coming up and peaking over the Sandia Mountains to the east of us. As it does it looks in my east windows and wakes me up. Of course the dogs help wake me up. I let them out the back to laze a bit in the early warmth of the sun and sometimes I join them, bringing my first cup of coffee with me. I have an older 2-seater glider that sits in the middle of the back yard. It was meant to be shaded by the trees by now, but the trees haven't grown big enough yet. Since it is summer I turn on the water and water the trees, roses, tomatoes, and other plants. They never seem to get enough water in the summer, especially since we haven't had much rain.
Now I hear the hungry whinny of a horse. The dogs hear it, too, and try to remind me that we are supposed to feed the horses. I turn off the water and go through the house, out the front door, and find myself greeted by the whinnies of four anxious equine critters. The dogs do their morning thing of playing and running and barking at the horses, hoping to find a rabbit dumb enough to say out where they can chase it.
I open and enter the hay barn, the smell of rich hay helping to wake me a bit more. I ready four buckets of hay and four smaller buckets of sweet feed and physliam. The physliam is a grain product that is expensive but helps their guts pass the sand that they consume when they throw their hay out of their buckets and eat it off our sandy ground. The expensive stuff is worth it after finding out what it is like to call a vet out on an after-hours-call for a horse with colic.
The horses get more impationt as I start feeding. One bucket to Sundance, one to Star, one to BlackJack, and one to Nita. They all push their heads into the buckets, tossing the grass hay out, looking for alfala hay. But it is summer and they only get fescue and timothy grass hay. Alfala is to rich and puts to much weight on horses that don't get enough exercise. As it is all four are a bit overweight. But hunger has it's way and they all start munching the hay. It is a pleasant sound to hear in the early morning, this sound of the grinding of big equine teeth on stems of dryed grass. Now I pass out the smaller buckets of grain. This is a pleasant treat for each horse. They love the stuff like you or I would candy. Sometimes I add a couple of chunks of carrots or apples. They look up at me with an expression that I believe to be a 'thank you' and then keep eating. I watch them for several minutes. Several small birds come in close to them searching for a stay piece of grain. A cottontail rabbit ventures out from under the hay barn to creep under the belly of a horse and snatch a mouthful of hay. The horses don't seem to mind sharing a bit with the rabbits and birds.
Now my stomach is saying that it would like some food. I make my way to the house with three hungry dogs following. They want feed, too.
So far the morning has been just right.

HOT!!!

It is so hot today. Just how hot? you ask. Well the thermometer is reading 100 degrees. Lee says it can't be that hot. But it sure does feel like it. The horses just stand there with their heads hanging. Don't know why they don't go into the shade of their shelters.

cactus

My cactus bloomed.

Photo Contests

Ever want to show off all those digital photos you think are so great? Well there are several sites where you can do just that and enter them into photo contests.
www.betterphoto.com
www.soaphoto.com

Veterans

For all the veterans out there, and yes I am one of you. So is my husband and my brothers-in-law, and a lot of my cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends. If you are really concerned about your information that my have been compromised with the thief of the disk or DVD or what ever -
here is a good site to go to. It is not much cost and may relieve your mind a bit. I did it for myself and my husband.
www.fraudprotect.com

nothing to write about

It seems that nothing is going on around here. The only thing there is is wind and more wind and now heat. It never seems to very and is so boring. And I know it is boring for all my readers out there.

Memorial Day

Hope everyone had a decent weekend and either a day off or more pay if they had to work.
I got tired of the wind and the car races. So took off yesterday afternoon and visited our local veterans Memorial Park in Rio Rancho. It was nice and cool under the shade of the trees in the water-wise garden maintained by the city. Several nice desert willows, daylillies and other easy to grow plants, but lots of grass in the Memorial Area. Way to much grass for a desert garden. But still it is nice to know that there is such a pretty little park near me where I can see trees and grass.
Yes, I have planted trees in my chunk of desert land, but they are struggling do to no rain and way to much hot wind. I spent a good portion of my weekend watering my trees, and the containers I have planted with a few roses, tomatoes, petuninas, marigolds, and zennias. and my houseplants that I have put outside for the summer. Sometimes I wonder why I even try to grow plants here. Everytime they start looking a bit decent and like they might survive for a while and heck of a wind and sand storm comes up and rips them to shreds.
But I guess I will keep trying. It seems to be one of those things I can't help. It seems like I am addicted to growing things from seeds, or buying small plants at the nursery and trying to nurture them into the big magnificent plants I see in photos of places that get more rain than we do.

Red Rock area near Jemez Pueblo. Popular picnic area where you can usually find Indians selling fry bread that they make on the spot and have oven bread that they make in their outdoor ovens.

Trip to the Mountains

We went to the Jemez Mountians last Thursday. It was the first time we had been since last fall. It was a very leaserly, idealic, day. We wern't in any hurry and stopped here and there to take photos. We were upset at how dry the country looked and hope, hope, hope that there will soon be rain to soak into the very thristy soil, giving the plants, trees, and everything else a much needed drink. We didn't see any elk, or deer, but did see tracks. We only spotted a couple of chipmonks that disappeared in record time. And there were an couple of bluejays, ravens, flickers (a type of woodpecker) and nuthatches.
I don't expect to go to the mountains again for a while which is very disappointing. Memoral weekend is always way to crowded. We were pleased that we were able to get out and see no one or hear any other cars or trucks. It was wonderful to breath fresh air that didn't smell of city polution.
If it doesn't rain, and I mean a lot of rain, that I don't expect, I figure the Forest Service will close of the National Forests here in New Mexico as it is just to dry and dangerious to have them open. Most people do not seem to understand the idea of being careful with campfires, cigerates, and dirt bikes and ATVs that can cause sparkes that start fires. I hate the idea of not going to visit my favorite mountains when I want do but neither do I want to see them burn down do to someones carelessness.

Proud

I am so proud of myself. I tore my bedroom/office apart this past weekend. And through out and cleaned and through out and cleaned. I hadn't done this for 3 years - the cleaning part in all those nooks and crannys that are impossible to reach unless you actually move that big heavy dresser, chest of drawers, computer desk, bookcase, bed, or what ever. I had not gone through a considerable number of paper work for - well for a very, very long time. I filled a large trash bag with copies of stories that I have added to my computer files, and others that will never be finished. I used to do everything I wrote in a notebook first and then onto the computer, and I would keep the trashy notebook that no one could read, including me, with the thought that some day my computer would crash and the floppy disk would flop. Thank goodness for CDs and the little flash things that can be clipped to a key ring. And for internet sites where you can store photos and stories.

Looks like I'm having trouble putting photos on this blog, as well as my spelling. Anyway that is a (or rather two photos of Bonita, my Quarter Horse mare)

http://www.goldstud.net

spelling

Yes, I know my spelling is terrible. I will try to do better. (But don't count on it)

Other Animals

Now before someone asks, we have 4 cats. Corky a 14 year old Siamese male, Jade, a solid black 10 year old female, K.C., a gray and white 7 year old female, and Murphy, who is 4 and also solid black but a male.
All my cats and dogs are spayed or neutered. It is a requirement.
We have 3 dogs. Nikki, yellow 11 year old Lab/Collie cross female, Codee, 6 year old female, black and tan German Shepherd, and Tuffee, a 2 year old female Border Collie.
In addition there is a horde of cottontail rabbits that live under the barn, 5 sparrow nests with a large number of resident sparrows in the top of the barn. A flock of quail that come through for their daily drink of water. A half dozen jackrabbits that live on our section of land that is unfenced, (seemingly they can't go through the wire fence like the cottontails do). Plus the occasional passing of a coyote.
I don't have any but can hear my neighbors cows and goats, and another neighbors chickens. That rooster crows 24 hours a day. I can't figure out when the thing ever sleeps.

How Many Horses?

There was a comment left asking how many horses do I have. It depends on how you look at it. Officially I have 2 - Stardust, my mustang, appolossa pony, and BlackJack, my Morgan gelding.
Then my husband and I both own our bay Quarter Horse mare, Bonita. Also, I have my friends paint Quarter Horse gelding, Sundance. Said owner is in another state and only comes to see him once in every few months.
Now my son has 5 horses and I fell that they are mine, too. He has a dark palomino Quarter Horse stallion, Gold-dust, and a small, sorrel, mini-sheltland mare cross named Blossom, and a beautiful black and white pinto mare named Emme that is half Arabian and half Saddlebred, and we have her son Arte whose sire was a purebred Arabian. If you want to see Arte, Goldie and Emme you can go to Dustin's web site www.goldstud.net

Hay? Anyone?

I went to the store and gagged at the prices on people food, dog food, and cat food. Then I want to the feed store and had a heart attach at the prices of horse hay, and oats. Then a thought hit me. Why don't us people, who should eat a lot of veggies, greens, and fiber, - well why don't we eat hay. Yeah I know that horses go through those bales of green stuff like there was no tomorrow. But if people ate hay it should last quite a while.
So I got on the computer and tried to find some recipes so I could cook some hay. (I didn't care for it to much when I tried it raw). But, alas, no such luck. It seems that even the granola people don't go in for cooked hay.
So maybe I should give it a try. It can't be that hard. I'll take a handful of Alfala, a handful of Timothy, and maybe a handful of K-31 fescue. Then I cook it in a pot of boiling water. Maybe I should add a pinch of salt, a pinch of pepper, and some chopped onions for seasonings. Then just before it looks done, I can add a handful of oats, and another of corn.
Yum Yum Yum Doesn't that sound good?

Poor Flowers

I think one of the things that bothered me the most about all that wind was that it destroyed all the flowers I have spent so much time persuading to grow in this country of sand. I was able to salvage the plants themselves but all the pretty flowers on my pansies, germanium, petunias, and dianthis were done for. I lost the two nice tomatoes that I had recently bought completely, I think. The trees that had such nice, pretty, green leaves now had dried, brittle black leaves on their northwest side. But the cactus in large clay pots that are just starting to bloom seem to be all right.

Wind and more Wind

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know - all I do is complain about the wind. Why do you think they call me Windy? Well, this time we really had wind. It was on this past Tuesday the 9th of May. The recorded high wind at the Albuquerque Air Port (which is 50 miles away from me) was 62 miles per hour. I am sure that it had to be more than that here. We lost a bunch of roofing tiles off of our roof, and a sheet of tin off of one of the horse shelters. Of course the horses were terrified, but thankfully none were hurt. We found all kinds of tumbleweeds and other peoples trash in our yard the next day. ( Why can't people put there trash in the trash cans supplied by the trash company that they HAVE to pay for?) On of the scareyest things I found was that my wheelbarrow for hauling horse poop was a good fify feet from where I had left it that morning, upside down. I sure am glad no one was hit by it.
Of course I was at work while most of this was going on, but Lee said that the walls of the house seemed to be pulsing, (moving, shaking,) and he was sure he had seen a small tornato off to the northwest at one point.
Yes - I know this is trivial compared to the people in Texas that were actually hit by tornatos that same night - but it was certainly more that I wanted to experence.

me and my pony Star

You can see Pat and Linda Parelli on there show on Wednesdays on RFD channel 379 on Direct TV. I, also, watch the horse shows done by Clinton Anderson, Chris Cox, Creg Cammeron, Richard Winters, Dennis Reis, as well as all the horse shows on RFD. They can be very informative for all horseman but especially the beginners.

Good Pony

I can not beleive the difference it has made in my horses by using the Seven Games Horsemanship method taught by Pat Parelli. My stubborn little mustang mare Star that always wanted to run me over if I attempted to teach her anything is now backing, and lunging on a lead line. To find out more about this way of teaching horses go to
www.Parelli.com

Thank, Bunny, for your comment here at the Tumbleweed Crossing. I agree with you completely. As I have thought more about it - maybe - they chose the really citified people so they can make a point of how how we have evolved over the years and forgot all our common since, and only know how to be lazy and dependent on other people and modern inventions for everything. It's to show us how bad off we would be if we suddenly had to live that way again.

Texas Ranch Show

I watched the Texas Ranch Show on our local PBS channel. And I was very disappointed. It was supposed to be a reenactment of how a family would act during the 1800's if they had just bought and moved into a small ranch in Texas. Well it just goes to show you how unprepared the people of this century would be if they suddenly found their selves trying to exist in a land of no electricity, cars, running water, or all the other modern conviences of today.
On top of that I don't think any of them (especially the women) had done any research into what they would be doing, and what it would be like. The training they got must have been just the bare minimum.
It was unbelievable to me that the women would seem so lazy as to leave their dishes unwashed with that many flies around. They should have been washing them as soon as they were used and if it had been me I would have been out there making sure that there was no animal poop near the house. I would have found something to kill flies with. I could have made some kind of a fly swatter. A rolled up piece of paper, a piece of cheesecloth streached over a wooden frame.
Even worse was the fact that, although they grew a decent garden they didn't harvest and use any of the vegies. They let food rot when they had that many people to feed. And if they weren't going to use it part of it could have gone to the pigs, goats, even horses.
And the men back in the 1800's would have never treated women like those cowboys were doing. It would have been unthinkable, and if they had they would have been run off.
I can't believe that Rancher Cook was unwilling to ransom his cowhand from the Indians. That was unheard of - unless he was your worst enemy.
I'm sure I will make enemies by writing this but maybe it was all that disappointing. Just depressing that these people, who didn't seem as if they really cared about making a go of the experience were the ones chosen for it.

Seeds

After getting over being so mad at the store, I went out and planted some flower seeds. I already have volenter marigolds up, and a few tomatos and sunflower that I planted about a week ago. I planted zinna, colome, rose moss, allisism, cantalopes, cucumbers, and dill for the swallowtail butterflys. The swallowtails lay their eggs on dill and parsley, then the yellow and green stripped catapillers eat it. They don't bother anything else. And the yellow and black swallowtails are so pretty when they hatch and fly around. They are about the largest butterfly we have around here. I always look forward to them.

New Store

I hate stores. Especially those big conglamerates that compete for all our money. But where else is there to buy food, and household staples? We had a new one open up in our neighborhood about two weeks ago. They were all friendly, and nice on the first few days. Now it is back to the typical don't know, don't care, just pay for what ya got and get out the door, there's another customer behind you. Couldn't find certain things and no employee wanted to help me find them. The bathroom was a desaster - no tolet paper, or paper towels, crud everywhere and the smell ------
And of course there were no men avalible to do a carry out. I love to have to pick up and haul around 50 pound dog food sacks as well as cat litter, cat food, and they put all my heavy stuff in one bag that then broke - 5 pounds of sugar, and a dozen cans of food. Then they put that on top of the eggs. Surprisingly only one egg broke.
Hope that the rest of the US has better customer service at their stores than we have here in New Mexico

New Baby

My neighbor came by today and said his mare finally had her baby. He is a beautiful baby. Same color as his mama. There is nothing cuter than a new born foal. (Unless it is a kitten) (or a puppy). Well, lets say I just love baby animals.

A Bad Day

When I look at the kind of day I had on Wednesday, I wonder if life ever gets any easier. Ever. The old saying of Murphy's Law comes to mind. "If anything can go worng, it will go wrong. In triplicate." Lee went to the doctor, on the way home his Ford truck caught on fire, he pulled into a bank parking lot and had to run into the bank to ask for a fire extengusier, then I had to go get him. We left the FORD there, came home, and he took off in the Scout to go to xray place to get dye shot up his veins to get special xrays to find out what is wrong with him. The doctor doesn't think its another hernia like Lee had thought. (Will get results on Monday) then while I went to work, he took another carberator to Ford and got it running, which he did. Then when I got home we whent down about midnight and he was able to drive the Ford home with me following in the Dakota.
To top all this off, last night I turned the Swamp Cooler off as it was starting to cool down and we both laid down to take a nap before Lee had to go to work. I got up at 10:00 pm as dogs wanted out. Sat down in my recliner and my back and but got all wet. Yuck! Must of been some cat threw up in chair. I went and changed then went to clean up chair. Only it looked and smelled like water. Then a drop hit me on the head. The ceiling was leaking. Right around where the fan and ceiling light is. I woke up Lee and he went up on the roof (mind you it is dark) and drained the cooler. He said it had to be leaking down into the ceiling. It was still dripping a slow drip this morning. So can't use cooler today, and he was to tired this morning to do anything to it. Said it might be best to see if it will dry out completely this weekend and when he can he will look it over and check in the atic crawl space.
Doesn't this *(&^^^$# stuff ever quite???????????????????????

Don't know who wrote the GREAT TRUTHS but boy are they the TRUTH

Great Truths About Growing Old
1) Growing up is mandatory; growing old is optional. - I like this.2) Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.3) When you fall down, you wonder what else you can do while you're down there.4) You're getting old when you get the same sensation from a rocking chair that you once got from a roller coaster. Yes! I am not old yet!
5) It's frustrating when you know all the answers but nobody bothers to ask you the questions.6) Time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician.7) Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone. THE FOUR STAGES OF LIFE: 1) You believe in Santa Claus.2) You don't believe in Santa Claus.3) You are Santa Claus.4) You look like Santa Claus. SUCCESS: At age 4 success is . . . not peeing in your pants.At age 12 success is . . . having friends.At age 16 success is . . . having a driver's license.At age 35 success is . . . having money.At age 50 success is . . . having money.At age 70 success is . having a driver's license.At age 75 success is . . . having friends.At age 80 success is . . . not peeing in your pants. Pass this on to someone who could use a laugh.Always remember to forget the troubles that pass your way; BUT NEVER forget the blessings that come each day. Have a wonderful day with many *smiles!* Take the time to live!!!Life is too short.

Great Truths Adults Have learned
Raising teenagers is like nailing Jell-O to a tree.2) Wrinkles don't hurt.3) Families are like fudge...mostly sweet, with a few nuts.4) Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.5) Laughing is good exercise. It's like jogging on the inside.6) Middle age is when you choose your cereal for the fiber, not the toy.

Subject: Great Truths
Philosophy GREAT TRUTHS THAT LITTLE CHILDREN HAVE LEARNED: 1) No matter how hard you try, you can't baptize cats.2) When your Mom is mad at your Dad, don't let her brush your hair.3) If your sister hits you, don't hit her back. They always catch the second person.4) Never ask your 3-year old brother to hold a tomato.5) You can't trust dogs to watch your food.6) Don't sneeze when someone is cutting your hair.7) Never hold a Dust-Buster and a cat at the same time.8) You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.9) Don't wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.10) The best place to be when you're sad is Grandpa's lap.

plastic bags

I have been working with BlackJack, my black Morgan gelding with plastic bags and plastic tarps. Jack was about 10 years old when I got him, and sometime during those 10 years something happened that made him terrified of plastic bags. I have to admit that most horses are afraid of blowing, rattling, bags and anything that is similar to them. But Jack has had a really bad case of the plastic bag terrors.
I have never had this problem with my two mares, Nita and Star. They are convinced that carrots grow in plastic bags. They have no problem walking across a piece of plastic or a tarp. But Jack sure does. And when you live in a country as windy as this one where plastic bags are let loose by everyone that is to lazy to put them in a good trash can, - well - you can see my problem. There is always someone's trash blowing through my yard and anytime I try to ride in the area there is trash that suddenly jumps out at a horse and rider.
So I have spent hours working with Jack to try and teach him that plastic bags are really his friends. A few days ago he finally relented and let me lead him across an old sheet of plastic that was streahed out on the ground.
Yesterday I was finally able to rub him with a scrunched up plastic bag held in my hand. It was a real milestone. At least to my way of thinking. I'm sure Jack didn't think so. He didn't relax while I was doing it as Star and Nita do. But at least he didn't try to get away from me. He did let me rub him with the bag. I was so proud of him.

One of my neighbors has aquired a rooster that crows every day, all day, every night, all night.
I thought roosters were only supposed to crows at sunrise.
Don't they ever sleep.

It was Winter, then it was Spring for a few days, then it jumped into Summer.
Then we fell back into Fall, went to Summer again, and today fells like a nother day of Spring.
Guess Mother Nature can't make up her mind what season it is.

Two Mare, One Pen

I thought that after almost two years the mare were starting to get along a lot better with each other. But, alas, they got into a kicking match with each other agan. And, of course, poor Nita lost. It doesn't matter that she managed to make Star back off from her. Star had already got in a couple of good licks and that is all it took. Star didn't have a mark on her, but Nita had cuts over the back of both hocks. At first I figured that was all the damage there was. I washed the off with the water hose, one on the right being just a scrape while the one on the left hock was more of a cut. Then I put on some tinure of 10% Iodine, and a good dollop of Ferazone on each cut. Ok - nothing to worry about. By evening Nita's right fetlock had swollen to twice it's normal size. YUCK What now. Was it just a bruse or could it be a lot more serious. I hated to think it might even be a cracked bone. I stood her and ran the water hose on it for a bout a half hour. Did that several time over the next day. And refused to let her out of her small pen. She really hated that. I consulted on the phone with me vet, who was very busy, and suggested Bute for the inflamation. I consulted with my son who workes at a big breeding - he said the same thing.
Any way the swelling did go down - thank goodness, and she is doing much better. She wants to run and play now but I keep telling her she need to keep it low-keyed for a day or so longer.

Flies

Well the flies are finally hatching. Much as I wish they wouldn't, as well as the knats, no-see-ems, and all the other nasty little flying insects. I am back to wearing my favorite purfume -
Ode de Equine Fly Spray. It never fails but which ever direction you spray that stuff the winds shifts and more goes on me than the horse.

Easter!!

May you have Egg-zatly the kind of easter day you want. Make sure it is a good one.
Happy Easter one and all.

Spring!

Its spring - or at least it is for today. Here in the desert we only have a bout a week of spring and then it jumps right into summer. Trees are blooming, horses are shedding. So we have flower blossom petals and horse hair blowing in the wind. What a combination. He is a pic of some of the redbud tree blossoms. I adore flowers, and leaves on trees. I admire and marvel over each and every leaf, petal, stamen, and the unique colors that are so brilliant against the desert tan, and dirt colors. Each one is special.

I am going to go stark raving mad if the wind doesn't quite blowing and we don't get some rain. We have had another week of blowing sand. Not good for my eyes or horses. It's already in the 70's. And no rain. no rain no rain.

So I take it I am the only bullriding fan that writes or reads blogs. That is shameful. Ladies you don't know what your missing. Cowboys in Stetsons, western shirts, tight jeans, as well as chaps and boots. There ain't nothing looks any better. And there are so many of them. 45 to be exact. Or at least 45 riders in the Professional Bull Riding events. There are hundreds, maybe even thousands in the Pro Rodeo events, the small time local rodeos, the high school and college events. There's a group of cowboys to fit every age. I even found a rodeo for seniors the other day on TV channel RFD (that's where I watch the highschool rodeos) That was really something to see good looking older guys (50 and up) out there ropin' calves and steers, ridin' broncs, and ridin' bulls. There was a couple of ropers that were in their 70's. Way to go.
But back to the PBR. Those guys have to be at least 18 and have made their way up through the smaller rodeos and events. The oldest rider is 36. So none of them are what you call old, but their all good lookin'. You can't say these guys aren't fit. As far as fitness goes, I think that (my opinion) cowboys are probably a lot more fit and althletic than guys in any other sport.

Another PBR event will be shown on TV channel OLN this weekend.

Bull Riding

I wanted to go to the Ty Murry Invatational Bull Riding Event that was in Albuquerque this weekend, but couldn't find anyone to go with me. And I do hate to go to things by myself. Why am I the only one that likes to do the things I like. Anyway, I was able to watch it on TV as I do every weekend. It wasn't as good as some I've seen, but then all bull riding events and rodios are better than all those boring ball games. If you don't know about the bull riding (or even if you do and want to know more) go to www.pbrnow.com to find out all about professional bull riding. Go to an event in your area, or better yet start watching it every Saturday and Sunday evening on OLN TV (outdoor life network). Channel 379 on Direct TV. You won't be disappointed. As they say "It's the roughest sport on dirt."

I found a new horse blog that I like. Take a look at Linda's blog
http:blogs.chron.com/hoofbeats/

Oh to figure out how to keep the weight off of 4 horses when you don't have time to work with them. Star, my mustang pony, is the worst, like most women she can put on weight just looking at food, and of course she is the hardest to work with. Both the mares are just green broke. Which means with my newest health problems I am leary of doing much riding with them. The boys are better, but Sundance has developed a limp that is most likly arthritus. He is about 18 and was hard used before he came here. Now he just eats and keeps my 3 company. He isn't really mine as he belongs to a freind who moved to Phonix, Ariz. She keeps calling me, saying she is going to come get him but so far she hasn't. I tell her no need to worry, I'll take care of him.

Another Sign of Spring

The horses are shedding. That is a major sign of spring. I spend a lot of time brushing and grooming now. These arn't show horses but still I want them to look fairly nice. Of course as soon as I finish and turn them loose in the field the first thing they do is drop down and take a nice dust bath in the sand that is so all prevailing here. It isn't warm enough to bath them yet but when I do I have to keep them tied until they are dry so they don't have mud on them. The few drops of rain and snow last weekend caused them to roll vigeriously to coat themselves with dirt that then dryed giving them what looked and felt almost like a coat of armour. Took me hours to get it off and out of their manes and tail. Still haven't finished with Star as she doesn't seem to want me to brush her which is weird because she usually loves it. Nita loves it even more and will stand there and go to sleep while I am grooming her. On the other hand BlackJack barely tollerates it. And of course being Black he looks the most like he has a drying mud coat on all the time. It really lets me know just how hard the adobe bricks are that are so popular in New Mexico for building homes. The pueblo Indians were doing it before the white man, or should I say the Europeans got here.

Well we might have the Dodge running at long last. So proud of the Scout for being there and running when we needed it. Just hope it continues to run. For a little bit longer, anyway.

Old Trucks

Both of our old trucks broke down this week. Not sure what is wrong with them. My mechanic, (my husband, Lee) is trying to fix them. He is so mad at them I don't dare stick my head into the garage. We dug the old 1979 International Harverst Scout out of the back corner of our lot and it actually fired up the first time we tried it. You have to slam the door to shut it, and pry it open with a crow bar. There is a crack in the windsheld right in front of the drivers eyes and you have to stand on the brake to get it to stop. But it runs.
Thats more than I can say for the Ford and the Dodge.

Well it seems as if Spring has finally Sprung. Don't know if it will stay here, or not.
Still getting down to freezing at night so don't dare put the houseplants out yet. Some of the trees are starting to open a few of the first blossoms, and have 2 daffidils blooming

Broke Down

We have 3 trucks, and 2 cars sitting in our yard. They are all broke down. I limped the old Ford truck home today. I can't get it figured out. It don't matter if their new or old all our vehicles seem to be broke down. It doens't seem to matter that we change the oil regularly, give them tune ups, replace old hoses, tires, and other almost wore out parts. What ever we don't think about is the part that gives up and says it isn't going to let the car or truck continue to get us from point A to point B. Thats all we ask. Just to go from home to job and back. We don't have anything fancy and don't want it as it will just brake down.
Does everyone have this problem with their vehicles? It seems so. Which leads me to beleive that it might be a manufactoring problem. Another words poor quality control.

This!!!!!!!!!!!!can't be the first day of Spring! My daffidills and tulips are blowing away in this wind. As are the almost open blossoms on my trees.

March Wind

We had a nasty weekend. Wind. Snow. Hail. Sleet. Rain. But not enough of any of it to amount oanything. Even a bit of thunder. Don't know where the lightning was - I didn't see any. Not my kind of weather. But I guess every little drop of mositure helps when you are in a drought.
It came in like waves. First a bit of huge snowflakes that were really pretty. Then smaller ones. Then it slacked of and sun came out. An hour later it was dark again and had sleet and small bits of hail, with lots of wind. Then it was gone. Later we had rain, which changed to frozen rain. Not any fun at all.
I understand there may have been several inches of the white stuff in the mountains and higher elevations. That is good. As the snow there has been less than 50 percent of average. We can use all we can get. Even if it does make for cold, wet, and nasty weather.

cams

Web cams are the greatest. You can watch wildlife or visit an area you have never been to or even heard of. I am trying to find more of them.

Eagle Web Cam

I found a really cool web cam that show a pair of eagles on their nest.
www.nwf.org/wildlife/baldeagle/webcam.cfm
Give it a try. You can watch a pair of eagles as they await the birth - or is that hatching of their eaglets. I can't wait for the first chick.

Snow is all gone. Wind and dirt are back. Our yard has been rearranged. Have bare places that used to be sandy, and have small sand dunes where it used to be flat. Horse pens 1 and 2 are down to hard pan dirt that is like walking on cement. Pens 3 and 4 have triple the amount of sand in them they used to have, making it very hard to walk in or push the wheelbarrow through to clean the pen. Not fun. The turnout field is down to the roots of sage and cactus that were in the field when we first moved here, and ground is hard as a rock. Not good for ponie hooves. But at least I was able to get the horses out of their pens today. All weekend I left them in as blowing sand was so bad.

MOISTURE!!!!!

We had moisture as of early this morning! Anyway we did have about an inch of snow on the ground when I got up. Of course within a few hours it was gone. And the wind is still blowing, although it isn't blowing the sand with it today that has been the normal all week. Sometimes I feel like we have gone back in time to the dust bowl days of the 1920's and 1930's. (At least that is when I think the dust bowls were so bad in the west and mid west United States.) It is caused by all the construction to build houses on top of having an extream drough in our state of New Mexico and surrounding areas.
That bit of snow promted the dogs and horses to get out in it and romp and play, causing every one to have a coat full of muddy dirt. But they had fun. Me, on the other hand, did not have fun. I was out in the snow, and wind, and cold, feeding horses, and refilling water buckets after dumping out the awfull mix of water and dirt that was in them. Hopefully there will be a day or so before the sand gets to blowing again. Better yet the wind will go away. Or if it has to blow - it could bring in some more rain and snow.

Fishy, Fishy, Fishy

I gave away my fish! I have had a 10 gallon fish tank with a series of little fresh water fish in it for the past 22 years. I gave up on it this past weekend and gave the last 4 little fishys to my friend. She is setting up a new fish tank. Thank Goodness. For years there was the old question of -
Did you feed the fish today? It seemed to be so hard for either Lee or I to remember to feed the fish. Can remember to feed the horses, dogs, cats and ourselves but not the fish.
When my son was 5 he kept asking for a fish tank. He was so hyper I thought that maybe watching the fish might calm him down. As soon as the tank was up, filled, and had fish in it he could have cared less. So of course it feel to mom to take care of the fish. Of course they wouldn't all die at the same time. Of course when it would get down to 2 or 3 little fishy I would feel sorry for them and buy some more. Some of them did well and lived for many years, while others bit the dust in just a few months. We had one algae eater, (sucker) that lived for almost 20 years, and grew to be about 8 inches long.
For the past 3 years I kept trying to give the last 4 fishys away and no one wanted them. Or already had the kind of fish that would have eaten them. Finally a friend said she was getting another tank. I said "Take my Fish!" and she said "OK"

We can only hope that all men will be women in their next life. That they will remember that they were men, and learn to have more sympathy for us women when they have periods, cramps, babies, PMS, menopause, hot flashes, night sweats, and the hundred and one other complications that come with being a woman.

With the warm weather comes the flowers. I couldn't reist buying some pansys, to put in a pot by the front door. I desperatly needed a spot of green with bright colors. I have daffidills, and tuplips breaking the ground. The fruit trees are ready to bloom, and of course there will be a cold snap that will kill the fruit.
The birds are really at it. Doves, sparrows, quail, roadrunners, flycatchers, and others singing to find themselves a mate. The past two nights the coyotes have been singing as well. They are howling, and crying and doing their mating songs at about any time of the day or night. I saw one the other morning while I was feeding the horses. It walked by my yard, looked at me, ignorned me and went on its way.

May I appoligize to all my readers. There is just to much going on in my life right now. I will try to catch up on blog. I have had some medical problems. It's hell when the body starts going but the mind still thinks you are only about - well a lot younger than this wore out body.
Anyway it is way way to warm here at the Tumbleweed Crossing. Supposed to get up to 70 degrees here today, and it feels like it. And it's only the 27th of Feburary. What is it going to be like this summer? I don't mind the warmth, and the wind did seem to stop blowing for a bit. But the fact of no rain or snow this winter is scarey. Very Scarey. There have already been several small bruch fires around the state.
May I ask that everyone pray, or do a rain dance for the areas of the US that need moisture and for those that don't I will wish that the rain comes our way, and you get a chance to dry out.

Wild Horse Roundup (Sort of)

I was so proud of my self and my husband,Lee, on Saturday. We rescued two wild horses by rounding them up. Well - Sort Of. At about noon I got a call from our neighbor who said her stepson had called her saying two of their horses had escaped the confines of their way to small pen and were running loose though the Tumbleweed Crossing neighborhood. Could We Help? Now the stepson is a big, strapping, young man about 25 or so, but he seems to be a bit intimidated by the equines he was chasing. Of course said equines are 2 year old colts that haven't had the most adequate training. And since they found their selves with way to much freedom, that minimal training had been left behind in their pen.
Of course we agreed to help. What kind of neighbors would we have been if we had said no? And besides - next time it might be my knot-headed ponies that were terrorizing the countryside.
After several minutes of not seeing either the young man or the wayward horses, Lee and I each grabbed a halter, jumped into different trucks and headed out to see what we could find, each of us going different directions.
I found a horse first. I hadn't gone more that a few hundred yards when a black horse, with three white stocking ran down the road near me. It then continued back in the direction of both our place and the neighbors where he had run away from. Good! I drove slowly until I could park near my place, got out, and tried to get near the terrified animal. NO WAY! An idiot in a pickup truck raced by him as if he didn't even see the black horse standing in the road. Could the driver have been that blind? If so why was he driving? And especially at that speed; way over the limit?
But then the wild horse spotted my horses and went right to the fence to see them. The gate to my driveway was open. By moving behind the horse I slowly working him down the road until he was right by the gate, and, thankfully went right in so that he could visit with all those nice horses that he could see. He was still really spooked and wasn't going to let me near him. No problem. I really didn't want to have to halter a frightened horse. So I opened the gate to our small field and let him find his way into it.
One horse caught. Where was the other one and Lee?
Lee pulled back into our place, as did the Sheriff, who was trying to help find the horses, too. Seeing that I had one, they went on over to another neighbors, about a quarter of a mile away, where the Sheriff said the other one had been spotted. I waited around for a few minutes to make sure the black horse was going to be all right. It wasn't long before I saw Lee coming back leading the other wild horse, a roan, while the neighbors stepson followed. We put the roan in with his black friend to await the return of the owners.
Later Lee told me that the roan had jumped a short fence then was cornered by the stepson and a couple of other people that lived in the area, but they were all afraid to try to put a halter on him and lead him out. Lee said that by that time the horse was so tired that he was able to walk right up and slip the halter on. The horse didn't want to lead back but was to exhausted to put up to much of a fight.
Hopefully the two run-away, teenage horses have had their only and last fling at trying to become true wild horses.

Spring?

Today it is about 60 degrees outside at the Tumbleweed Crossing. That is a bit warm for this time of year. Although it is just about what I like tempature wise. Not to cold and not to hot. Apareratly all the critters agree with me. Both of my mares, Star and Nita, are in heat. Both have PMS.
And all the birds are starting to nest. I keep telling the sparrows that they can not nest in the barn or in their favorite spot over my front door. It just doesn't work. At least not for me.
The newest resident of the Tumbleweed Crossing is a pair of roadrunners. They have been making strange noises. (At least to me they are strange. I asume to a roadrunner they arn't.) Plus they act as if they are trying to find the perfect nesting site. As they nest on the ground I hope they find a place that will be protected from all the stray dogs and coyotes we have here.

Comedy or Reality

All right. I have to admit after it was all over with and I had time to think about it, the idea of killing the smoke alarm with the mop while on top of the step ladder did seem like an act out of Three's Company or one of the other popular sit-coms that have been on TV. But in reality it was a very serious situation. The noise was driving me crazy as it was driving my dogs and cats crazy. I was 'home alone', and it was between 4 and 5 AM. Not a time you want to wake up nearby friends or relatives.
I was able to take care of the problem. But what if I hadn't been able to? Would I and my pets have been subjected to that horrific sound until a decent time to call for help? I considered going outside. It's January, and cold outside. What about leaving for a while? Yes, I considered that, and I could have taken the dogs. But not the cats. They are indoor cats so it wouldn't have done to just throw them out. To my way of thinking if my pets couldn't get away from the noise, neither could I. So I stayed and solved the problem. I now have a new smoke alarm at a 7 foot height that I can reach easily from a short step stool.
Then I got to considering the situation from different directions. What if I had been handicapped? Maybe in a wheelchair, or on cruches, or blind? The only thing a handicapped or elderly person could do was disturb someone so early in the morning.
Which makes me wonder why the state housing code makes it mandatory that builders put the smoke alarm so high up in a room with high ceiling's I can reach the ones in my bedrooms that only have a 7 foot ceiling. And don't tell me it is high to catch the smoke when there is actually a fire. If there is a real fire the smoke should pass by the alarm at 7 feet before it reaches the one at 12 feet.
I am sure it can be just as dangerous for someone to be fighting with an alarm that is just 'chirping' (as it is called) the battery warning, as it could be in a fire. I could have fallen from the ladder. As it was I sprained my knee slightly.
So, please, consider moving the smoke alarm or any thing that might be similar to a more realistic place in yours or a loved ones home. I would hate to hear about some dying because the smoke alarm low battery warning was being obnoxious.

How to Kill a Smoke Alarm with a Mop

There is nothing like getting woke up at 4 o'clock in the morning by the obnoxious cry of a smoke alarm that is telling you it's battery is low and needs to be changed. And your ALL ALONE exept for the dogs and cats. That is what happened to me yesterday morning. Or rather I was woke up with 3 dogs bouncing on the bed saying there was something wrong and then I hear the horrible, deafeningly loud squeal of the low battery notification. I heard it and heard it and heard it. I heard it about every thirty seconds. While I was wondering what to do about it the dogs were jumping all over me and howling, and the cats were running around the house and meowing. I understood that they were asking me to stop that horrendous noise. And I wanted to. Desperately. But how? That alarm was about 12 feet up on the wall in the living room. I have what are called catherderal ceilings the builder and his workers had followed state rules putting the smoke alarm about 10 inches from the top of the ceiling. That meant it was way, way out of my reach.
OK - we have two ladders. But I am terrified of heights. I never climb ladders. In desperation I drug and manhandled (woman handled) the extention ladder into the living room, but was unable to raise it to lean against the wall. Dropping it on the floor I went back out to drag in the step ladder, not knowing if it would be tall enough. I set it up as close to the place under the smoke alarm as I could but couldn't come closer than about 5 feet from the dang thing standing on the top step, a step I couldn't even believe I was on. So back down the latter and out to the garage to find something that I could use to knock the thing off the wall with. The mop! - the sponge mop - as it had the metal bar that kept the sponge in place which I figured would help pry it off. Back up the latter. Stand on the top step and beat the smoke alarm. Finally - finally it came off but to my dismay I then saw, and remembered, that the *&&()+@# thing was wired into the house electical system. The battery is only a back up in case the electic fails. And I still can't reach it! I use the mop some more to pull it down and finally it snaps off the wires, and falls to the floor. Back down the latter I go, snatch it up and jerk the battery out of it. Peace At Last.
Now, completely exhausted, sweet dripping off me, mad as hell, and pissed, I suddenly find my self shaking with the cold that is coming in the open front door, and crying my eyes out. It is now 5 o'clock am. There is only one thing to do. Crawl back in bed. Hug the dogs and cats to me to get warm and wait for sunrise.

Did the groundhog see his shadow?

Insulting Letter

I received an insulting, disgusting, and infurating letter today from a land developer in Arizona. They were offering to buy my property. But they were only wanting to pay $4000.00. Now mind you we paid almost $200,000 for our land, and house and that was three years ago. Since then we have fenced it, and added a hay barn, horse shelters and pens and a small shed for wood and tools.
On top of this insult when I tryed to call them they refused to talk to me.
I am still upset and mad about their letter and offer.