Home Again

So I have been home for a few days now but unable to catch up on all the work that needs to be done, plus all the sleep I didn't seem to realize I was missing until I got back. Maybe it was just a bit of jet lag, and the different elevation levels between New Mexico and Oregon. To update -----After going to the beach the first day, (and whales have been seen there since, not fair that we didn't get to see them) we went as close as we could get to Mt. St. Helen's. That is the volcano/mountain that blew in May of 1980 and has spewed ash a few times since. But the roads up close were still blocked by all the winter snow so we had to be content with a distant view. The day after my sister Jan had her surgery on her foot. She was home the same day or physically she was, but the pain killers she was on had her floating way far away. Thankfully Jim had bought her a funny little scooter that she is able to use to get around on until she is able to walk again. It really helped and is still helping as that way she doesn't have to use crutches which are difficult to use and make our bad backs hurt even worse. I helped her as long as I we had planned on and wanted to stay longer but things seemed to be going to heck here at my home as my pony Star kept getting a touch of the colic off and on. It was onto the plane and back. (Thankfully we had known better than to have reservation on American but had Southwest.) Now that I am home Star seems over the colic. It may have been some bad hay which I took back and now have all horses on bermudia grass hay and alfalpha cubes as well as their grain. All horses are shaggy and ragged looking and I have been brushing and brushing. They look like they are loosing weight (which they needed to do) due to shedding winter coats. You don't reallize just how thick there winter fur is until it comes out. We have also been digging out our tree wells as the wind had filled them in to were we couldn't get any water to the trees again. And I even took the time to plant a few flower seeds and I'm trying to start some tomatoes, watermellon, pumkins, and catalope in the house. I think it is almost time that I can put the houseplants out side for the summer.

Gone from Home

At this time I am gone from home to visit my sister in Clatskanie Oregon. I hope everthing is going OK back home with the horses, dogs, and cats, as well as hubby who is taking care of all the critters.

I flew into Portland Sunday evening where I was met by Jan and Jim who kept trying to tell me how cold it was. It was cool, and there had been snow and rain over the weekend but it didn't seem that cold.

On Monday morning early we headed for Ecola State Park, near Astoria, Or. where we watched the waves come in. It was fun to see the ocean again. At the Park there were huge rocks out in the water with lots of sea gulls on them. The sign said there were seals but we didn't see any. It was a nice walk across green grass along a tiny path to a look out built over the cliff. Lots of tall evergreen trees. We had expected clouds and rain but there were only a few white fluffy clouds, and blue sky. Photos to follow when I get home and can download to my computer.
We went o Seaside where we saw the Lewis & Clark statue and bought a teeshirt with a pirite skull on it and a sweatshirt that says Oregon.
Next we went to another beach where there was a shipwreak. Peter Ireedal when down in about 1906, and Paddy, Jan and Jim's Lab/Black&Tan Hound mix played on the sand and we chased tiny baby crabs that burrowed under the sand really fast.

Answers

Glad to be getting comments from all my readers.

Thanks for the offer of Daisy. But I already have two cats that are good mousers, but these rats are a lot bigger than the average mouse.

In answer to what is a standerd for a mini horse. They need to be 38 inchs and under, (thats measuring to the withers). My Stormy is 40 inches at his withers, which makes him to big to be a real mini, but he is still real small.

Big and Little

Our smallest horse, Stormy, who is a bit to big to be a true Miniture Horse, and our biggest horse, Sunny, is isn't really all that big compared to BIG horses. And our Border Collie, Tuffee

Perfect Spring Day

I thought it would be a perfect spring day, this first day of spring in 2008. Boy was I wrong. Oh it started out OK, or so I thought. Although I did have to get up an hour earlier than usual as the propane truck was to deliver our 6 months load of propane. But I didn't think to much of it. I heard him pull in but didn't even go out as it usually isn't necessary and they are done in about 10 minutes. I heard him leave and went out to feed the horses to discover he had not been much of a driver as there were truck tracks all over the drive way. Many of them with in inches of the fence posts that support our front gate. All right, he didn't knock down a post so I let it go. Fed the horses, dogs, and cats, had my own morning feed, and spent a few minutes on the computer., and did a little housework. Then it was out to move the two ponies into the big turn out pen for a good run, as the farrier was coming that evening to trim hooves on all the horses. I let the boys play while I cleaned pens. Then I grabbed my camera to take photos of them while I encouraged them to run around and let off excess energy so they would behave better while having their hooves done. They were good and ran and played and I got some half way decent photos. Finally they were getting tired and so was I. I put them back in their smaller pen and attempted to clean their hooves as a way of preparing them for the evening event. They had only had their hooves trimmed once before. We have really been working with them to pick up hooves, and have them cleaned but for the past week they had forgot all they had learned. Travey was real good but Stormy wasn't about to let me pick up his hooves. Well that was all right. I knew that between myself, Lee and Stuart we could do one little mini pony's hooves.
I then let BlackJack, Nita and Star into the big pen for their run. With in minutes a good day went bad. Not as bad as it could have been, but certainly not fun. First the wind started blowing. Not as bad as over the weekend but it's never good. Then the two mares, Nita and Star got into a slight kicking match. BlackJack was just watching but then the mares were right beside him. Nita kicked again and landed a good hard kick on poor Jack. One hind hoof on his right side in his ribs and the other back hoof on his shoulder where in slide down his leg. Or I think that is how it went. I saw it happen but it was real quick. Jack lit into Nita and she ran off, then Jack realize he didn't feel good and started limping worse than I had ever seen him limp. I yelled at the horses, ran out of the pen, into the barn, put the camera in a sort of safe place, and grabbed a halter.
By then Lee had come out, and we caught Jack who had quit limping by then, and ran cold water over his ribs, and leg. I found a small scrape on his shoulder and he didn't want me to mess with his leg all the way down. Thankfully it is just bruised, and I haven't seen him limp since. I had really been concerned for his knee as he had ripped it open fairly deep a few years before.
But that wasn't to be the end of it.
With the fight and Jack's injury I decided to keep all the 4 big horses in separate pens for the rest of the day. Jack off on one side of the yard. Sunny down in the east pen and I put Nita in her small feed and shelter pen and Star was left in the big turn out pen. I didn't think about Nita's feed pen being right next to the turn out pen.
Lee and I went into the house for lunch, and when we came back saw that those two idiot mares had had another kicking contest through the fence. We have wire fences because we can't afford the heavy metal welded pipe fencing that would be better for us and the horses. So they had put big hoof print size holes in the wire fencing and loosened a half dozen fence posts, two of which were 6 x 6 railroad ties set in cement. Thankfully neither of them got caught in the fence. Idiot mares. Part of it was me not thinking about how easy the two of them could get right up next to each other again. I should have put Sunny in the big pen and Star in the east pen. Or even put Star over with Jack where she stays most of the time anyway. She and Jack are best of friends. Nita wants to be Jack's best friend, and he does like her but he likes Star better. Sometimes it seems like a horse soap opera.
Stuart came and trimmed hooves on all 6 horses and none of the bunch were as good as they normally are. It did take Lee and I both to hold Stormy while Stuart trimmed. And the little guy can't weigh more than 250 pounds. (an average horse weights about 1000 pounds.)
As we all agreed - it might be the wind, or the full moon, or spring fever, or the fact the mares are coming in season, (they stop coming in season in usually about September or October, and start again in about March, depending on the weather and length of the days). Or maybe it was just one of those days.
Today we just fed, checked water, and decided it and pen cleaning could wait another day. And made sure we did the two by two turn out. Nita and Sunny in one pen, Jack and Star in another, and the little guys in another. No horses showed signs of limping or hurting. So Lee and I just goofed off and watched a movie, and ate pizza.

The wind finally let up late Sunday night of the 16th. Was so glad. It was the worst I have ever seen around here. What little bit of breeze we have had since we arn't even noticing. Now to take care of all the chores we have due to all that wind and what we didn't get to do while it was blowing. So I have been cleaning pens, and water buckets, and the barn, and repairing fence. Thankfully it was the one for the back yard where the dogs stay when I don't want them out front so no horses got loose. I am having to dig out the tree wells again, (we had just done them a week or so before) so we can water them. And they are all young trees (none have been in the ground more than 4 years) and still need frequent watering considering we live in the desert.
I was pulling the drag (made in a V with 2 railroad ties, and some 2 x 4's) around the largest pen to clean it while Lee went to do something else when he descovered Traveler laying down in his pen and not responding when he called to the little pony. Not until he went in and walked up to him did Travey wake up.
Why oh why do horses play the game of Looking Dead? I think they really do realize just how much it scares their owners when they lay down and sleep and don't even look up when you walk into the pen. I think they do it on purpose. And they are all so good at doing it.
All horse owners make a joke out of this and then there is the time when some does actually find their beloved pony has died. Then it is not fun. And that is what makes us really worry when we see one that doens't look right just lying there.
Thankfully Travey was just sound asleep and was fine. Right now he is out playing with his brother Stormy.

Wind

After five days of almost no let up in the wind I think everyone in New Mexico is about to go crazy. Makes you wonder how many crimes are caused by the wind. Our wind has really been nasty. About 30 to 40 miles per hour with gusts up to 70 miles per hour. You can't go outside without geting sand in eyes, nose, ears, mouth, hair clothes, ect. Can't do anything outside unless it is have to like feeding and watering horses. When I change the horse water it is full of sand again in minutes. And the dumb things stand out in the wind and blowing sand instead of going into their shelters.
The weather man says it will let up this week but I won't beleive it until it happens. Just saw the neighbors tarp he had on hay go flying to land on another neighbors car. So far the roofs are staying on but I hear there are seveal trees down and tall signs over buildings have come down.
Even worse there is no moisture at all which is making a high fire danger. There was a fire at Hobbs New Mexico past few days that burned 8 homes that I heard of. Please be careful doing anything outside. No more fires and no one getting hurt.

Leaning to Tie

Stormy and Travey are discussing this strange thing that humans want them to do of being tied to a post

Nap Time

Murphy and Codee seem to have the right idea about how to get over another time change.

Neighbors Music

Music is great when it is what you want to listen to, and not what your neighbor wants to listen to. Why is it that everyone seems to think that they need to turn their music or TV so loud that the whole neighbor hood can hear it? Do they ever think about how irritating it is to hear someone else's music from inside your own house? I am talking about the guy that is not just next door to me but down the street by three acres. All of the properties out here are at least an acres in size. Most city properties are a quarter acres or less. That means the music is really really loud when I can hear in inside my house with the windows and doors shut. And this morning it started at the new time of 7 am.
Yeah I know I am really gripping today. Maybe it is due to the time change and someone else's loud music and not even music I like.

Time Change

All right. We have done this stupid time change thing again. It is so dumb. No one I know likes it. And do the people who do like it know just how many people and animals it upsets? Do they know how many feeding times for babies, horses, dogs, cats, the elderly, the sick, for hospitals, nursing homes, animal rescue groups, human athletes, and animal athlete's, schools, ect. that this stupid practice of changing the time can affect those that must eat or take medicine at a certain time.
Just think about all the crime that may be caused when someone is cranky and upset due to the time change. Just think about all the employees that are late to work, which makes their bosses and customers mad. Just think about how many people may be injured or killed in car wrecks due to some one trying to get somewhere real fast because he/she is late due to the time change.
Just because Ben Franklin suggested it hundreds of years ago doesn't mean that it works. Think about what kind of man you are listening to - a man that tried to get himself struck by lighting.

War of the Rats

We, and our neighbors, have been invaded by a huge gang of woodrats. Or that is what I think they are from what I could determine by googling rats on the internet. We have caught one in a trap so that I sort of had an idea what I was looking for. They dig these huge, long, tunnels, with several holes. The holes are big enough for me or the dogs to step in, fall down, and break a leg or worse. They seem to stay out of the horse pens, probably due to horses running around. But they are all over the back yard where horses can't go. That is where I have most of my trees and plants. The darn things are eating everything they can reach. They even are eating my iris and red hot pokers. I didn't think anything would eat them. And they are smart. With all our efferts to trap them we have caught only one woodrat and one kangeroo rat. I think it is mainly woodrats. We didn't have them when we first moved here 4 years ago, but in past year they have really moved in. And with all the coyotes, badgers, owls, and hawks we have they are still multipling like ----well ----- like rats.
One neighbor was saying that another neighbor told her to use hot soapy water down the holes, and then put cotton balls of pepperment oil down them. Said they don't like that and it might make them go away. That is all I ask. Just that they get out of my yard.

Mirror, Mirror

Frequently I get these surprise visits from my mom and grandmothers when I look in the mirror. Only when I look closer I realize I'm not seeing a ghost or something super natural; it's only me. My late 50's age is making me look more and more like my female relatives. I am not sure if I like looking at myself and seeing how much I look like my mom, or my grandma Barnett, or my Gram, or even my aunts. Yet in someways it is nice to know that these wonderful people have influenced me. The women in my family seem to be able to pass on their genes really well. And they played a big part in my mental attitude toward life, too. Not sure if that is good or not, either. I just hope I am leaving out a lot of the bad parts.
I don't see as much of my dad, or grandfathers in my physical self but I do think I have a lot of them in me mentally. My son and my nephews seem to be taking after their male relatives a bit more than then my sisters and I are.
Getting on in life is not always the fun that it is made out to be. All of the twinges, cramps, aches and pains are - well a big pain in my life. And yet my mind seems to want to pretend that I am still a lot younger and wants me to do things that younger people do. It can be quite a surprise to try to lift something that I would have done with ease 10 years ago and find that I can't lift it at all now. I find I can't do the gardening I used to do. And even cleaning house takes a lot longer as well as taking a lot out of me. Using a vacuum cleaner is one of the worse things I can do. It makes my back really hurt. I would thing that some company would come up with a vacuum cleaner that easier for older people to use. And cleaning the baked on gunk of the top of the stove. Any time I do that I know that my hands will swell, and be useless, as well as painful for days.
I have found that I do not appreciate my relatives for passing on bad feet, big bunions, scoliosis or curvature of the spine causing a really bad back. But when we are in our 20's and having children we usually don't realize that these things will be that bad for us when we get older and usually don't realize that we may be passing these things on to our children.
I am hoping that that my son, nephews, and niece will have enough of their fathers genes that they won't have these problems.

Prices

If I had a job outside my home I couldn't afford to go because of the gas prices.

I can't afford new clothes, not even the ones on the sale racks.

I can't afford my medicine, because I can't afford medicial insurance.

I may have to decrease the number of pets I have, which means taking them to the pound to be destroyed, because I can't afford to feed them. (Not yet, but I am sure lots of people are having to do this. But I can't take in anymore. Ever at this rate.)

I will quit watching TV when the new law takes effect for the new TV's as I can't afford a new one.

I'm on a diet, cause I can't afford to eat the kind of things I like, which are the things that you are supposed to eat to stay healthy. So I have learned how to cook pots of dried beans again, and make ketchup sandwiches, and ketchup soup as we did back in our 20's.

I can't raise a garden to have things to eat, as it coast to much for the seeds and bedding plants. (And the mice and rats, and birds would get them first.)

Tagged

Ok. Here is a dumb, silly game that is circulating through the bloggers. I guess it is sort of like some of the emails I get asking for all kinds of silly information so you can know more about the person you are talking too. Cindy from Cindy's Snaps has tagged me and J.D.'s Soapbox. So I will give this a try.

Here Are The Rules1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person that tagged you.2. Post THE RULES on your blog.3. Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.4. Tag 7 people and link to them.5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

7 Weird or Random Facts About Me

1. I collect mystry books.
2. I don't like to wear dresses or makeup.
3. I like silly glow-in-the-dark toys.
4. I was afraid of earthworms when I was a kid, but I like them now.
5. I love old west history and stories.
6. I like animal crackers for breakfast.
7. I love to watch trees grow.

Crime Pays

I have learned that crime does pay.

This week I saw on TV and in the paper were a man when to court because he killed another man that was threatening his family and trying to steal his car. I think this used to be what was called 'self defence'.
Ok, our justice system says that if you kill a person you go to trial. And the man was found guilty and sentenced to two years in jail. With a long stretch of my imagination I can maybe, and that is a big maybe, agree with that. Maybe he should have just called the police.
BUT what I can't understand is why that man must pay the family of the car thief so much money for several years.

How many other crimes are going to be committed do to the ruling in this case?

TV Ads

I seem to have a log of thoughts and opinions running through my head lately. I think about different things that I see on TV, or read and then I seem to forget to talk about it on this blog. So here are a few things that have caught my attention lately.

Commercials on TV. I find I am watching less and less TV simply because of the commercials. Several other people I have talked to have the same opinions about the obnoxious ads that dominate one of our main sources of entertainment. I like to watch TV. I like to loose myself in a well thought out and filmed fiction story. Instead I find that big business is trying to brainwash me into buying their products. That is all that TV is any more. It is marketing ploy to brainwash people into using a certain product or vote for a certain politician. Not only which I am seeing more and more ads that are so absolutely ridiculous, and stupid, and overly loud. If loud I simply mute them. Isn't that what the mute button is for? So if the ad is muted what good does the ad do? They are not geared for a person that is even half way intelligent. They are aimed at the totally ignorant person. Is that how big business thinks that the average person is? Ignorant and dumb? If so that means that the average person doesn't have the ability to get a decent paying job so that they can buy the items advertised. So if the ads are for dumb, uneducated people who is going to support the business that is advertising? The TV stations charge more and more for placing an ad at a certain spot in a show, and the items cost more and more to buy or use. Recently I timed the ads in the show I was watching on a big name channel in my local area. It was a show that had never aired before. There were 25 minutes of commercials during the hour that the show was on. And many of the same ad aired multiple times. One ad was on a total of 9 times in that hour. If this isn't brainwashing I don't know what is. So you say why complain, just don't watch it. Your correct I don't have to watch it and I find I am watching less and less. Frequently I get so disgusted at the ads and the fact that so many shows themselves are so poorly written, directed, thought out, filmed I don't finish watching the show, or I find I have dozed off, or decided to play with the dog or cat, or find a good book to read. So if I am doing this how many other people are not watching as much TV? When are business going to learn that the more ads they have on TV the fewer people are going to watch the TV.

Attention lovers

I keep hearing about how stand-offish cats are and wonder where people get that idea. Mine always want attention. They want to be petted, loved, and fed. They want to sit in my lap and reward me by purring and helping to keep me warm. Each and everyone of our cats has had a very different personallity. Some want a bit more attention than others. Some try to get into more trouble than others. Some are more adventurous than others. Some want one kind of food, others won't touch that kind and want a different food. Murphy is a great mouser, so is K.C. but Jade would rather be in the house in my lap. But if Murphy sees me when he is outside then he is under my feet begging to be petted as in this photo.

Cats have always been known for helping people type. First on old fashioned manuel typewriters and now on computer keyboards and laptops. Sometimes it make you wonder if a cat didn't find a way to encourage people to make typewriters and keyboards simply for their amusement.

Cat also have a love of laying on papers on desks, especially if you are reading or trying to sort them. Any time I am reading a book or newspaper one of my cats will be trying to read with me. Hummm---- I wonder if cats are able to read. The next thing I know a cat will be writing a bog.

cat owners?

Jo left a comment "I have found it to be true that you can never own a cat...they own you." And this is so very, very true. Here is a photo of Murphy, on the left and Jade, on the right. It is a rare sight to see them together but they do it once in a while. Right now Jade is in my lap helping me type.

Black Cats

Our other two cats are solid black. Jade is about 10 years old and Murphy is about 6. For some reason we seen to have black or black and white cats more than any other color. Out of the 18 cats we have had since 1970 when we got married we have had 5 all black cats, 5 black with white feet, 4 Siamese, 2 dark tabbies, 1 gray and white (K.C mentioned in last posting) and 1 white cat. Plus as a child I really remember 1 black and white, and 1 solid gray. But as I am always the first to say to anyone that questions why I get a certain color or what is the best color animal "color doesn't matter - it's the personality, attitude, and trainablity that are the big considerations" . When we get a new pet color seems to be simply the 'luck of the draw'.
So back to Jade and Murphy. Both being black they look a lot a like. Sometimes I have to look twice or even 3 times to see which cat is which. Jade is a female and is slightly shorter than Murphy, and has a shorter tail by about an inch. Murphy has more of a Siamese shape to his head and Jade has more of a round head. Both have yellow eyes.
With her age Jade had become an indoor cat. She is the boss cat, telling the others what to do, and she sleeps with me at night. She can always hear when I get a bowl of cereal and will wait nearby while I eat it and then she expects to have the last little bit of milk.
Murphy seems to want to go out first thing each morning, and loves to bring me a mouse when he can catch one. As much as Murphy seems like a big, strong, outgoing tom cat, when it is cool or at night when he is confined to the house, as all the cats are. (We have coyotes that live around here.) you will find him under the covers on one of the beds. Or if we have the woodstove going he will be laying in front of it. Or if I am sitting in my chair watching TV or reading he will sit on the arm of the chair, look at me, meow, and tap at my arm with a foot. He wants me to get one of the throw blankets to put over him while he lays in my lap. Talk about a spoiled cat! At this time I can't seem to get the photo part of blogspot to work so photos of Jade and Murphy will have to wait for another time.

Cats

I was posting a photo and a little info on each of my 6 horses, 3 dogs, and -opppps - I didn't do the 3 cats. (I think I got sidetracked by the eclipse and the shipwrecks.) We do have 3 cats. Only 3 at this time. The number of cats has varried over the years. We went as high as 7 at one time, but that is way to many for one house. Now we are back to 3 which is a much more managable number to have. I think the first pet I ever had was a dog. A rough coat Collie named Sport. I know there are photos of me with him when I less than a year old. He had been my granddad's dog but when he died just before I was born my parents took him. He wasn't a young dog even then.

After that there were a string of cats. I don't remember them but there were a few photos. I don't know why, but I really love cats. I have done without cats, dogs, and horses, for years on end in my life (and managed to live over it) but I don't think I could ever do without a cat again. I love my horses and dogs dearly but cats are really special. I don't think I have been without a cat since I was about 14 years old. That was a long time and a total of 20 different cats. Some didn't make it very long for one reason or another. But most have lived a long life to go on to a well deserved place in Cat Heaven. Right now we have Jade, K.C., and Murphy. This photo is of K.C. . Eight years ago she came to the door as a tiny kitten, screamed and screamed that she needed to live with us and finally had her way. We don't know where she came from and couldn't find anyone to claim her, so she became one of the family. Her name is short for Kitty Cat. Named by my then teenage son. Now isn't that orginal. K.C is the kind of cat that regardless where she decides to lay down she can look totally and completely comfortable. With all the cats I have had, and cats are known for looking comfortable, K.C. takes it to extreames. I just wish I could do as well at relaxing as she does. K.C. is also, an excelent mouser, and gets along better with the dogs than the other two cats do. In fact she is not sociable with the other cats at all. Even after knowing Jade, (who is 10) all her life and Murphy ( who is 5) all of his, she still hisses, and spits at them if they come close to her. She diffently perfers the company of my husband and myself over other cats, but will run and hide if we have visitors.

Ship Wrecks!

2 cannons and 2 or 3 ship wrecks have been discovered along the coast of Oregon in the past month or so. Most are in the Astoria area. It is so interesting. And weird that it as happened just at the time a full moon was appearing. Not only a full moon but an eclipse as well. Could they have something to do with each other? Well it is interesting to speculate on such, but the sever storms of the Oregon coast had more to do with the uncovering of long wrecked ships buried in the sand than the moon or the eclipse. Or one would think so. But did the cycling of an eclipse cause the storms? Or was it global warming as some think? Hummmm - there has got to be a supper natural, science-fiction, the world-is-coming-to-an-end, romantic, twilight zone story in this somewhere.
For more on the shipwrecks go to these links -
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.cms.support.viewStory.cls?cid=64302&sid=39&fid=2

http://hotfreshnow.blogspot.com/2008/02/oregon-shipwreck-solved-more-appear.html

http://nwlimited.wordpress.com/2008/02/21/oregon-shipwreck-mysteries-multiply/

Urge for Spring

In going through some of my photos I found this shot of some cherry blossoms I took last year. My urge for spring is getting stronger every day.

Eclipse of the Moon

How many people got to see the eclipse of the moon last night? I had seen them before but they ae so interesting to watch. We didn't get to see the first part where moon gets dark as we had to much cloud cover. The eclipse is caused when the sun, moon, and earth line up in such a special way that the full moon passes into earths shadow blocking the rays of the sun. For us the clouds driffed apart for a few seconds and minutes so that we could see the moon as it came back to where we could seeit. This web site has great photos of it from around the world. http://channels.isp.netscape.com/whatsnew/gallery.jsp?floc=g-wnew_lunar_eclipse212&gname=wnew_lunar_eclipse2&pi=5&grurl=http%3A%2F%2Fchannels.isp.netscape.com%2Fwhatsnew%2Fdefault.jsp%3Fstory%3D20080221-0917&photo=12&xad=true In some parts of the world the moon took on an orangie or copperish color. My sister in Oregon said it did there, but we just had normal moon color. A full moon is always interesting but with an esclipe it is even better.

Color

Talking of the depressingly drap desert colors we have now makes me want to try and hurry spring along. We had a couple of days of 55 and 60 degree weather that always makes me want to get out and start the gardening. In my back yard, away from the horses where they can't eat them, I always grow lots of easy to care for flowers and a few tomatoes each summer. This photo is of our wild four-o-clock. I have put so many mundane photos on with no bright colors lately, I though it was time to do so. These are native here and, although hard to transplant, if you can get one going it will take the place. They are usually only about a foot tall but will spread out and cover as much as 12 square feet in a summer. Then they die back in the fall and you can't even be sure where the plant was after you get rid of the dead vine and leaves. All summer, from late June until the first hard freeze, each evening, as the sun desends toward the west at about four-o-clock, (that is why it is named that) the plant opens its hundreds of purple flowers and purfumes the air with a wonderful sent.

Pony Play

Here are Stormy and Travey playing. You can see Travey's teeth as he nips at Stormy. The two little guys play the same as two young stallions would that where full size. They nip and bite, and kick, and kneel down to bite each others legs and try to throw the other one down.

Their pen is at the edge of our property and you can see the drive way just the other side of the fence. This shot lets you know just how much desert we actually have here. The browns and grays and a few very dark greens are about the only colors you can see at this time of the year. It can be a bit depressing if you are not used to it, and even if you are. There is sage, tumbleweeds, a few native yuccas, and some short cactus between where the road is and the homes beyond. These homes are of some of the more distant neighbors, most of them I have never met. It seems that unless you live right next to someone no one trys to meet anyone else. I think most people have moved out here for the privicy of not having their neighbors be so close that everyone can see what everyone else is doing. When I look at the fancy new homes in the residentual areas of the towns near us, I wonder how people can live where they can almost reach out their windows and shake hands. Out here if someones dog barks no one is going to call the cops. Or if someone has a broke down truck in their yard no one else is going to complain. It may not be pretty but we do have our priviacy, yet if something was going wrong I think all the others would come together to help. Like when a horse does escape. I am lucky that mine have never done that, but I have helped others round up loose horses and even held them on my land until they could fix their fence. Once a whirlwind came through and picked up the roof on one of our horse shelters. We actually saw it happen and watched in dismay as the roof when up in the air and came down in the road. Two of our neighbors had seen it happen, also, and where right there to help pick it up and get it out of the road so it didn't block anyone from driving through.

Nikki

I have 3 dogs. Nikki is our oldest at 14. Her4 she is with Codee. She is a Lab/Collie cross, and has been a good adoptive mama to both Codee and Tuffee as well as our cats. Tuffee has ears that flop, Codee has ears that stand up, Nikki's ears may either flop or stand up depending on the mood she is in.I don't know how much longer she will be with us. I see her going down hill every day. She is deaf, and almost blind, and can't seem to stand up for very long any more, but she still insists on going outside every time I go out, crying when I try to leave her in. At times she still trys to get out and run and play with the other dogs. We will let her do the best she can for as long as she can. When I got Nikki I had a

nother German Shepherd named DeeDee. When DeeDee got old she couldn't seem to remember where the door was to come in and I got tired of going around the house to the side to get her. Nikki seemed to understand DeeDee's problem and leaned that when I said to "Go get DeeDee." she was to go to the other dog and lead her back to the door, and DeeDee would follow her. Now I tell Codee to go get Nikki when she is either out and can't hear me or is asleep and I am going out and think she needs to come with us. Tuffee is good at grabbing Nikki's collar and leading her to the house when we are outside, also. It is amazing how animals seem to know the help that their friends need.

Hay Dogs

This is a photo of Tuffee and her best friend Codee, and me. Codee is our almost 8 year old German Shepherd. Tuffee is the only Border Collie I have ever had, but Codee is my 3rd German Shepherd. I love German Shepherds. They are one of the best breeds of dogs in my opinion. They love their owners with a devotion this is incredible. They really want to be your best friend.They are good guard dogs, and with proper training can be great for working all kinds of fields, like police work, rescure work, dogs that help the blind, and disabled. They are excelent at doing obedence and agility work the same as Border Collies are. Although they love to get out and run and need lots of excersise they can make do with living in small homes and apartments as I found out with my first ones. Codee and Tuffee think it is so much fun to help us unload the hay for the horses when we bring in a truck load. It is great fun to jump up on the truck and sit on the bales. Sometimes they can be a bit of a pain getting them to move so we can unload. Tuffee and Codee do a lot of playing together, but Codee is alot better at obeying me than Tuffee is, especially if Tuffee thinks she needs to do something with the horses. Although German Shepherds are classed as herding dogs, like Border Collies, Codee isn't interested in herding the horses. She will run along the outside of the fence and bark at them but that is all. I don't let her in the pens with the horses as she doens't seem to be as good at avoiding their heels as Tuffee is. And the weird thing is that the horses will tolarate Tuffee a lot more than they do Codee. But if I take a horse out of the pen on a lead to groom, ride, or what ever Codee is better than Tuffee at leaving the horse alone.

Tuffee

Tuffee is the youngest of our 3 dogs. And she is 4 years old today. I chose Valentines Day as her birthday after the vet and I decided she was born around the middle of Feburary. So Happy Birthday to Tuffee. Tuffee, also, was a foundling, but she looks to be pure bred Border Collie and she certainly has all the personallity and looks of a Border Collie. Her goal in life is to make sure that the horses are OK and behaving themselves. If not she will bark and nip at them and come tell be that such in such horse is running, or rolling or what ever. Since to day is her birthday we decided she needed a bath. Last night was the night so she could be in all night in front of the woodstore and get dry. Tuffee sort of likes her bath and outside she is a confirmed water dog. She chased the water coming out of the end of the water hose, and will even bring the end to me so she can play in it. If she runs until she get hot she will jump into one of the half barrels that we use to water the horses in. And she will hold down the short little dishes I use to hold water for dogs, cats, and birds with her feet when getting a drink. This is the exact opposite of my other dogs who hate water. After Tuffee's bath we descovered again that the brown tip on her tail is actually white. I don't know if it is a trait of all Border Collies or if it is just Tuffee but if there is a way to get dirty Tuffee will find it. When she runs her little feet pick up the dirt and throw it back onto her hind legs and belly. My other dogs don't seem to do this. And she loves a mud puddle. Of course when chasing ponies the additional horse manure only adds to the situation.

and a 5 and a 6

What would life be with out more critters to take care of. As if we didn't have enough horses we let ourselves be suckered in to taking 2 more horses last July. Acutually they are ponies. Well sort of. Number 5 is Stormy who is half Minuture Horse and half Shetland, number 6 is Traveler who is half Tennessee Walking Horse and half Shetland. They are half brothers on their Shetland mama side. You wouldn't know it to look at them. Stormy is the short solid black one and Travey is the larger pinto. At this time they are still stallions and I am not sure when or if we will geld them. Right now they don't seem to know they are stallions but I am sure that will change when the mares start coming in season soon. Right now all they want to do is play. And play they do. They are constantly running, bucking, kicking, and biting on each other. They need the excersise and it runs them down as it would little kids on the playground. I have hopes someday of a cart and harrness but that might be another dream. Travey is terrified of any kind of rope around his rear end. Stormy does ok and both are good at leading, grooming, and tying now. You can see the difference in their size in the photo and I hope Travey doesn't get so big I have to seperate them. He does seem to be getting taller, remember he is half Tennessee Walker, and is not quite 2 years old yet. Stormy is almost 3.

4th Horse

It was never planned that we would have more than two horses and here we were at three. So another horse came to live with us, making it four. Sundance is about 20 years old. He was another of the millions of unwanted equines that are hunting homes everywhere. Sunny, as he is better known as, is an ex-roping horse or that is what we assume, with what was a bad hoof when he came to us. Lots of vet work and even more good farrier work has fixed the bad hoof up enough that we can now ride him for short lenghts of time. At some point the hoof and heel of his right front foot had been injured, almost as if it had been sliced off. There wasn't a lot that could be done to repair it except let time see if it could. It has as much as it can, I think. And for us Sunny is a decent riding horse, considering neither of us is up to riding for long periods of time. Sunny is abit stand-offish, but will do anything I ask him to but would rather do it for my husband. Sunny will follow Lee like a puppy dog. Sunny is a big horse, like our bay mare, Nita. Both are close to 16 hands, and weight about 1200 pounds. Sunny is a brown and white paint Quarter Horse. As soon as Sunny came in I was able to put him out with Nita. But it has taken about 2 years to be able to put them out with Jack and Star. There has been quite a bit of fussing, kicking, and nipping to determine what the pecking order is to be in this little herd. But when all was said and done, Sunny came out on top. He is the boss. Jack is next, followed by Nita, and poor little Star came in at the bottom. In this photo he is looking out across the desert toward the Sandia Mountains. Actually Albuquerque is hiding down in the valley just under the moutains, and over the desert ridge.

Nita

After BlackJack came my bay Quarter Horse mare, Nita. Nita was needing a home so she didn't go to auction, which around here usually means the horse will go to slaughter. (Yes, people slaughter horses for meat and it isn't pretty. If you want more on that try googling it. I don't feel like getting into that discussion right now. It is very controversial.) But Nita came to us. Nita is a sweatheart most of the time. But then she can get - well - I call it antsy or frisky, and she will take off and run round and round and round, kicking and bucking, and then she will stop, throw her head and tail in the air, and snort real loud. I call it playing 'wild horse'. All of the horses do this and it is incredible to watch, but Nita is the best at it. Of course Jack and Star are just as fantastic to see as they imitate there wild horse ancestors. It makes you really appreciate the thought that horses are the most magnificent creatures that Mother Nature invented. I always think of the sayings like - The Thunder of Mustangs - The Sport of Kings - and something about 'I would give my kingdom for a horse.' I never tire of watching them play like this.

I was able to get some decent film of them on my camcorder the other day, but do to an old computer and dial up I can't put it on my blog.

Comments

Concerning the post on Dogs, Cats, & Friends. Sundancer says, "Ha! Very true! May I add another one? The FRIDGE is for people food. Please keep your stinky nose OUT of it!" Boy do I agree with this.
And Strawberry Lane said that Star was a beauty with a perfect star. Well beauty is in the eye of the beholder when you look at a sorrel pony who hasn't had a bath in several months do to winter and who has rolled in a fresh pile of manure. But thanks.
All comments are appreacated.

Another Pony

When Star was 3 I came to the conclusion that she wasn't going to get very big. She is big enough, and strong enough for me to ride, but not the most trust worthy horse. And at the same time the horse next to her at the stable where I was boarding her came up for sale. After trying him a few times I knew I had to have him, just as I had been determined to have Star when I first saw her. My new horse, and I say horse lightly as he isn't much bigger than Star, is a black Morgan gelding. At that time he was 9 and is about 14 now. BlackJack is a great riding horse. He was well trained when I got him. He is just big enough to be a horse, 14 1/2 hands, but is short enough that I can get on him. He is smart. He always knows what you want and he is ready to go. Unlike Star who is lazy. Jack isn't a solid black horse, he has brown around his muzzle and on his flanks, as well as a white star on his face too. Being a Morgan he is very strong. He is usually very well mannered with people but can be a bully with the other horses. He wants to be the boss with his own kind. He and Star are totally attached to each other now, especially Star who will holler and through a fit when separated from Jack. Jack is my trail horse. He doesn't care much for riding around in circles in the pens but loves to get out and explore our desert trails. I am so glad I finally have a home where I can ride my horse, that I had wanted so long, right out my gate and down the road.

Dogs, Cats, & Friends

Again a cute email from a friend about dogs and cats.

To be posted VERY LOW on the refrigerator door - pet nose height.
Dear Dogs and Cats:
The dishes with the paw prints are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Please note, placing a paw print in the middle of my plate and food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.
The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Beating me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run.
I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort. Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm.
For the last time, there is no secret exit from the bathroom. If by some miracle I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, meow, try to turn the knob or get your paw under the edge and try to pull the door open. I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years --canine or feline attendance is not required.
The proper order is kiss me, then go smell the other dog or cat's butt. I cannot stress this enough!

To pacify you, my dear pets, I have posted the following message on our front door:
To All Non-Pet Owners Who Visit & Like to Complain About Our Pets:
1. They live here. You don't.
2. If you don't want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture. That's why they call it "fur"niture.
3. I like my pets a lot better than I like most people.
4. To you, they are an animal. To me, he/she is an adopted son/daughter who is short, hairy, walks on all fours and doesn't speak clearly.
Remember: Dogs and cats are better than kids because they:
1 Eat less
2. Don't ask for money all the time
3 Are easier to train
4. Normally come when called
5. Never ask to drive the car
6. Don't hang out with drug-using friends
7. Don't smoke or drink
8. Don't have to buy the latest fashions
9. Don't want to wear your clothes
10. Don't need a gazillion dollars for college, and...
11. If they get pregnant, you can sell their children.

Star Pony

This is my Star pony. Not the greatest photo but you can see her star, and some of the spots that she gets in the summer. In the summer she is an appaloosa. In the winter all the spots go away except the star and she looks like an ordinary sorrel. Star was only a yearling when I got her so I expected her to grow up to be a horse instead of a pony. She is now 8 years old and only reached about 13 and a half hands. Horses are measured in 'hands', 1 hand being equal to 4 inches. They are measured from the ground up to their withers, or the boney area where the neck connects to their back. A horse should be over 14 hands, and ponies are under 14 hands. Measurements in hands were started when there were no tape measures so men would use their hand to stair step up the height of the horse to figure out how tall it was. Mustangs and appy's are known for being stubborn and a bit difficult to train. Not that they are really any worse than other breeds of horses but Star does seem to be related to a mule or donkey as for as being stubborn sometimes. She is smart but if she can get out of doing work by pretending she doesn't know what I want her do to, she will. But she loves to be groomed. I guess she would stand all day and let you brush her, clean her hooves, braid her mane and tail or just be usefull if you need a big, red shoulder to cry on.

Our Thoughts

Every time I think that living out here on this cold, windy desert must be one of the worst places there is, I hear about the disasters that are happening elsewhere in the United States and the world. Our thoughts and good wishes for a speedy recovery go to all those who lost so much in the tornadoes that ripped through so many states. Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, and anyone else I didn't hear about. Also to those in Chama, New Mexico who are buried under so much snow that your homes are caving in, and you can't get out for food and medicine, and I am sure you don't have heat in most places. I understand this has also been happening in the Durango, Co. area and in Detroit, Oregon, as well as other snow covered areas.
I guess it isn't so bad here in the desert where we just get cold wind.

Get a Horse

No one has made a comment on it yet but I can hear all those questions anyway. Why would I want to get a horse? Why not. Because I have always had a very deep, burning desire to have my own horse. I don't know why I have always had the yen to have such an obnoxious, expensive creature, but I have. I believe I was born with it. I can remember my parents telling me that they would take me to parades when I was little and some how I connected the horses with the marching bands and called the music 'horsey music'. To this day if I hear a marching band I can see horses marching along with it (of course in my mind, not in actuallaty). My parents grew up on farms and to them horses were a tool. As a child my dad was in the Air Force and of the opinion that having a pet of any kind was not good while doing so much moving. It seemed we moved every year to two years. Anotherwords very frequently. A few dogs and cats were aquired but didn't last long either do to the fact that vacanations for distemper weren't very good in those days or because we had to give them away when we moved. Mostly we had parakeets, fish in tanks, and the occisional turtle (the kind you can't buy any more in pet shops do to desises, although we never got sick from any of our pets, but the turtles never lived very long). In all that time I longed despertly for a horse. I don't think my parents realized at that time how much I wanted to be able to be around horses, to ride, even if I couldn't own one. I was a shy kid, not given to really letting my wants be known. My mom had somehow taught me and my sisters that we should be thankful for what we had (which we were) and learn to not want or even talk about what we couldn't have. Her life was so much better with my dad rather than what she had when she was growing up that I don't think she thought to much about wanting more. Both my parents had been very poor as children and their live in the Air Force made them feel rich. But my desires for a horse couldn't go away. I did keep them bottled up in my mind, only allowing them to be seen in the books I read and the TV shows I watched. I became quite a fan of all the TV westerns that were so common when I was growing up mainly because they had horses on them. But because that love of horses caused me to watch Westerns and read western books both fiction and nonfiction I developed a love of history. Especially Western history and the Cowboy. I always told myself that when I was grown I would be able to have the horse I wanted. But it wasn't to be. After I left home I married a man in the Navy and we did some more traveling. That was followed by years of not much money or at least not enough to afford a horse. Thankfully Lee has been very good at giving in to me when I would bring home lost kittens and puppies. We have had a long list of dogs, cats, birds, fish, and even lizards, and gerbils, as well as one human baby. During all that time I tried NOT to push my feelings about horses onto my son. Being an only child he got his way with about anything he wanted, within reason. He had pets, computers, games, and even a 1968 Mustang car before he graduated from high school. That is when I found out that he, too, had been hiding a love for equines. He had two jobs by the time he was 18. He worked at a Wendys and another helping take care of some horses. When he told me about the job with the horses I was certainly surprised. Next he was telling me that he was buying a horse and was going to keep it at a stable. He had a horse before I did. He got a skinny little palamino colt, that turned into his stallion Goldie or Golddust. (remember you can see Goldie at www.goldstud.net ) But that was fine with me, although his dad was a bit upset at the sudden turn of events. Of course this only fueled the fire that had been smoldering in me for 48 years. I begain the hunt for my horse. If my son could keep a horse at a stable, I could. At that time I also had the best paying job I have ever had in my life so I had the money for one. One day I saw an add for a horse in the paper and decided to go look. The horse advertized wasn't what I was looking for but I took the time to look at others that the man had. Off in a pen all by herself was a very small sorrel yearling. She looked at me with her great big brown eyes, with a white star between them. I was lost. I had to have her, even though the man explained that she was wild. He had got her and some others at an aution in Grants, NM. They had never been handled, and he hadn't got around to working with this one yet. He said she might not even be a yearling. She was just a baby. I did the stupid thing that so many first time horse owners do, (as my son did). I bought Star.

Snowy Tumbleweed

That inch of snow we had yesterday made for some almost pretty tumbleweeds today. This one was peaking through one of our fences with its covering of snow. You can almost see the Sandia Mountains in the distance.

Breeding Season

Speaking of horses, it is February which is considered the start of the breeding season in the horse business. If you are looking for a stallion to breed your mare (registered or not) to you might want to look at my son's web site, www.goldstud.net . There you can see photos of the stallions he is standing this year. There is Darkan's Mystic Art. Arte is an Arabian/Saddlebred cross. He is a beautiful black and white pinto. Next is Golddust, a dark palomino Quarter Horse. And there is Beau, a grey appaloosa. And then there are the brothers Cloud, and Lucky who are Mini/Shetland crosses. Cloud is solid black and Lucky is a black and white pinto. I find it very unusual that Lucky and Arte are marked so much alike. It is one of the reasons that my son got Lucky. One big pinto horse and one little pinto horse with the same marking.

Horses

It's time to get back to the subject of horses on my blog. Horses are the reason I started writing The Tumbleweed Crossing. I love horses. And dogs, and cats, and all animals. But horses are one of my favorites. So it is time to write about what I love. We have six horses or rather three horses and three ponies. Sundance, our paint Quarter Horse gelding, Nita, our bay Quarter Horse mare, BlackJack, my Morgan gelding, Stardust, my sorrel mustang that never got to horse size so is a pony. Stormy our Mini/Shetland cross, and Traveler, our Walker/Shetland cross. You will see there photos from time to time, and you can see other photos if you want to go back through my postings and find them.
It was a cold, windy day today after the inch of snow we got yesterday. The wind coming off the mountains that surround New Mexico made the wind chill really cold. So we didn't do much today other than make sure everyone was fed, had water, and able to get into their shelters out of the wind. Thank goodness horses can survive it this horrible cold that chills me to the bone. According to the TV weather man it is supposed to be warmer tomarrow. I can hope that it is so I can get out and do some grooming on the six mud balls that consider themselves horses.

Country Wisdom

This was in an email I received from a friend today. Not only is it cute, it is so very true. So I thought I would share it with everyone.

Keep skunks and bankers and lawyers at a distance.
Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.
Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.
You cannot unsay a cruel or unkind word.
Every path has a few puddles.
When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.
The best sermons are lived, not preached.
Don't judge folks by their relatives.
Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.
Always drink upstream from the herd.
If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin'somebody else's dog around. Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.

Small World

Blogging seems to be proving that the world is a small place after all. Our blogging comunitity seems to be growing by leaps and bounds. Not just here in the United States, but all over the world. I encourage anyone that hasn't tried it to give it a try. It is fun and you never know where new friends are going to pop up. I have been doing it for about two years now and enjoy it more all the time. You will find someone who has the same interests as you do. Or you may find you have developed a new interest by reading someone elses blog. But do be careful. Someone with your interest may not always be the exact person you want to corospond with. Some sites do have things on them that shouldn't be on family oriented sites. Even though I don't have childeren in the house any more I don't want to read a site that is not family oriented. And if someone puts a bad comment on my site I delete it as soon as I see it. Since I don't always get on the computer every day, if you see a bad comment, my apoligies.
None the less, give blogging a try and may new friends.

More blogs

After reading JD's Soapbox I tried his wifes blog at http://www.jonjdsbitsandpieces.blogspot.com/
It is just as good. They both have a long list of bloggers that are great to try. It will take me a long time to try and read them all. Something to do for these long, cold winter nights.

Another Blog

My English friend Cindy from Cindy's Snaps recommended another great blog to me, and it is. I really like the way J.D. thinks. His story about dirt roads is wonderful. You can find him at http://jdssoapbox.blogspot.com

What is it?

Speaking of foals. An email friend sent me a photo recently of a foal that is a cross between a zebra and a donkey. Now that critter is really cute. I WANT ONE.

Update on Foal

Remember the cute little paint filly that was born during the extreme cold a few weeks ago? She is doing fine. The owners fixed up a shelter for her and her mom, with a heatlamp to help keep her warm, and ordered a real foal blanket that will expand as she grows.

Thanks

Thanks to all who have read my blog about my trip to Oregon and Washington. I have had fun going through my photos and remembering the trip. By doing this I figure it will make the memeories even better. This way I have a record of my trip, as do Jan and Cyndi who make the trip so enjoyable for me, even thought they feel bad a lot of the time because of the car accident they had been in right before I got there. If anyone wants to know more about the places mentioned on the trip to Olympic National Park, you can google it, or use any search engine and find tons of information. It is well worth seeing, if only for a day or so. I would love to be able to go back and send a month or so in that area seeing all the sights I saw before and the ones I missed.

The Road Home

All to soon my visit to Oregon and Washington has come to an end. My plane ticket says that it is the day to fly back to New Mexico, so I guess I will have to go. If I will let myself admit it I am getting a bit homesick for Lee, the horses, dogs and cats so I left so far behind. And although I don't want to admit it to my sister, and tour guide, sometimes the sight of so much green can be scary. I noticed when I walked out this morning to sit on her back porch and see if there were any deer watching that the ring of trees that surrounded her home looked as if they were invading my - well shall we call it 'my space'. I love trees, but here they make it so that you can't 'see'. At my home on the desert you can 'see' for miles on end. And I miss that.

Grassy Yard

Jim complained he hadn't had a chance to mow the several acreas of lawn they have, but I thought it looked so great with the tall grass and dandelions in bloom. After looking at nutural brown desert dirt for as long as I have any green looks good.

The Deer's View

Later, after the deer had gone - where ever they go - I wondered up to where they had been and took a photo of their view. You can see it was a long way from the house which is alm ost hid behind trees and a grape view. To the right is an old barn that has been converted to a garage, and to the left is Jim's workshop.

In the Distance

Jan and Jim's yard would be a great nature watchers place. There is lots of wildlife there. Birds of all kinds, rodents, squirrels, coyotes, and of course deer. They knew that there were a couple of does that were perment residents of their property, and they had fawns. I had stepped out one evening and was rewarded by the sight of one of the does and her twin fawns. I attempted to get pictures and I did, sort of. It was one of those times you really wish your small digital camera, which seems to take really good pictures, isn't as good as it could be, and that it had a better telephoto lens on it. I could see the deer but couldn't seem to get a photo where they showed up any better than this picture shows them. My next camera will probably have a better lens for distance shots.

More Blackberries

After breakfast we decided to take a walk around the large yard that Paddy calls home. It was so pretty and green and there was one of northwestern Oregon's light, misty rains sprinkling on us. But that didn't stop us from exploring the huge blackberry patch to find the fruit that Jim had missed earlier. For once I had my fill of fresh blackberries.

Of course you have to fight the birds and deer for them. But that is part of the fun.

Blackberries

My brother-in-law Jim was unable to go on our trip to the Park because he had to work, and he seemed glad to have us back, too. The next morning he fixed us a wonderful breakfast of biscuits and bacon, with lots of blackberry jelly that he and Jan had made the previous summer. Not only was there the delicious homemade blackberry jelly there was fresh picked blackberries. Jim, with the help of his dog, Paddy, had risen very early and ventured into the blackberry patch to pick fresh blackberries. It had been years since I had eaten fresh berries, just picked from a thicket. I remembered doing it as a teenager when we lived in Sandpoint, Idaho but had not had a chance to do so after we left there. I love any kind of berry - blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, elderberries, and especially huckleberries - and I will include cherries in that list, too. You might just say that I love fruit, but berries are best. I recently received a care package full of blackberry jelly from my wonderful brother and sister. In the photo are blackberry blossoms.

Back to Clatskanie

On arriving back in Clatskanie, Oregon we found Jan's dog, Paddy, more than happy to go home from the Happy Hound Dog Kennel. I think we were a bit glad to get back, also. It had been a long 3 day trip even if it had been thrilling, exciting, interesting, and exceptionally beautiful. I would recomment a trip to the Olympic National Park to any one. All the places where wonderful to visit with lots of great places to visit. We had gone over a weekend during the summer and it did not seem as crowded as I had expected. And everybody we met, either Park personal or visitors were very friendly.

Looking out to Sea

Balancing Act

The logs were laying every which away. They were huge logs and some would be balanced on top of others. This big one was proped up on a smaller one. Makes you wonder why it doesn't fall, and when will it happen. I just hope on one is under it when it happens.

Rolling Log

Here is one of the logs coming into shore. It was rolling in the water as the tide came in. It couldn't go out due to the rock behind it, and seemed to be taking it's time coming on in. We didn't get to near as you could tell it was very heavy and would be deadly if a big wave were to pick it up and throw it on to the beech. We took it's photo and wondered on.

Troll Stack

Here is a small sea stack that my guide said looked like a troll but I really couldn't see it, but it was fun to watch the water coming in through the holes. I took lots of photos but never actually got the water coming in the hole. Still it looked good with the sun behind it.

Through the Window

Here is a shot I took looking through some old roots still attached to a log. As you can see the sky was very cloudy and there was almost a mist of rain.

Ruby Beach

What I didn't know when my guide insisted we leave Hurricane Ridge was that we had one more major stop to make. It was at Ruby Beach. It was a couple of hours before we got there and it was late afternoon, and again it was high tide when we arrived at the beech. And this beech was even more fasinating than Kalaloch had been. There were sea stacks here. Sea stacks are the big rocks that stick up out of the ocean. A lot of them even have a small eco system right on top, with plants, and trees growing on them and birds nesting on them. It was cool at Ruby Beech and looked like a storm was brewing far out to sea. No blue skys now. This little inlet was just made for taking photos of, but it looked like it would be far underwater as the tide came in.

Overlook

On the way down the mountain we stopped at an overlook were you could see across the Strait of Jaun de Fuca and into Canada. I didn't get to go there but I did get to see it, even if it was from a long distance. It isn't even very clear but according to the sign there that is what is in the far, far distance.

Leaving

It was at this time that my guide decided we had to leave so we could head back down the mountain, and go south toward Oregon. I didn't want to leave this heaven.

Altitude

One thing that really fascinated me about Hurricane Ridge was the Altitude. The Ridge is said to be 5,242 above sea level. There are all those magnificent mountains around it that may be a bit higher and it makes you feel, as I have said, on top of the world. There are glaciers on those mountains. You are in an area that measures rain and snow in feet instead of inches. There are animals and flowers and trees that would never grow in my home state of New Mexico. But here in New Mexico, in the high desert country, I live at about 6500 feet above sea level. Makes you wonder why some areas have one kind of Eco system at a certain altitude and another type of Eco system at another altitude. Of course there is the difference in latitude and longitude, also.

Glacier

Here is more of an close up of the mountains. You can see the snow and a glacier almost right in the middle. It is the closest I could get to the glacier at this time. According to a sign at the viewing center there are more than 60 active glaciers on the mountains that are in Olympic National Park.

A view

Another nice view from the seating area behind the gift shop

Mountains

These are the mountains you can see from the visitors center on top of the Ridge. Where the trees are is where the deer disapeared after they crossed the meadow.

Deer Again

Here they are just ready to go over the wall.

More Deer

Here you can see three deer in the grass. At the corner of the wall just beyond the deer on the walkway, by the tall tree is where they jumped over the wall to go meandering down through the meadow.

Deer

Did I say we saw deer? When we first got there, Jan and Cyndi had to go find the restroom. I was so enchanted by everything I just stood in the parking lot and found myself turning in circles trying to see it all. And 'all' suddenly included 5 deer that decided to walk through the parking lot, down the sidewalk, jump over a short wall, out into the meadow, where they disappeared from view down a small ravine. The deer at Olympic National Park are black tailed deer, which is ken to the white tailed deer found in the east. These were so used to people that they hardly paid them any attention at all. I don't think we could have petted them but they did come very close. It was really nice to see them so close but I have never thought it was good for wildlife to get that used to people. Of course that didn't stop me from taking their pictures.

Visitors Center

There was a visitors center at the end of the road to the top of the mountain. It has tons of information about Hurricane Ridge. We spent time in the gift shop buying souvenirs, and gifts for others, as well as myself. They were having a sale and it was a big hit with the customers. We had lunch at the snack bar. Then spent a goodly amount of time just enjoying the view from all angles. The parking lot was packed and there were a lot of people there, especially sense it was a Sunday, but it didn't seem that crowded as so many parks can get on weekends. And everyone there was enjoying themselves as much as we were. You would find yourself uuing and awing, and exclaiming over the view, the flowers, the grass, the mountains, the glaciers, the sky, or a passing deer with a total stranger standing next to you. I found myself watching a small child about 2 years old and his parents as they enjoyed the park. I, also, found myself sitting quietly by an elderly lady and neither of us had to say a word about how we felt at what we were seeing. I heard several languages besides my native American - Spanish, German, English, Canadian, Japanese, and others I couldn't put a country to.

On Top of the World

My sister, Jan, who was my guide on this trip could not have prepared me for what I was going to see at Hurricane Ridge. I guess that is why she didn't try. We came around a turn in the road and there it was. There was this huge open meadow surrounded by high mountains that still had snow on them. (Again remember it is August.) The grass and trees were so green, emerald green. The mountains were the light to dark majestic blues you think of only when you have seen distant mountains. The white snows, and glaciers on the blues were pure whites.

Although Hurricane Ridge is know for bad weather days full of rain, fog, snow and especially wind, we were there on one of those perfect weather days. It was a bit cool and we did need our light jackets, but the sky was a brilliant shade of blue with just a few small white fluffy clouds. There was now wind, rain, fog, or snow. It made me feel as if I was standing on top of the world.

Doe and Fawn

Here is another photo of the doe and her baby. I always love to see wildlife anythere that I can. The mountains might be my favorite, but I love all wildlife -deserts, oceans, coast, plains, - in all of our 50 states, and all of the world. I think it is one of our most important products in the world, and we are losing more of it every minute. We did see some wildflowers - Indian paintbrush, wild grasses, lillies, lupines and more that I couldn't name. One of my favorite sayings is one by Henry David Thoreau "In wilderness is the preservation of the world."