Updates

Its been a while. I almost decided to let this blog go to where ever it is that blogs go when they die. But I thought - what the heck - I'll give it one more chance. Just incase there is anyone out there that might read it. And because it is a kind of a journal.
So - the last time I wrote in my blog/journal was on November 21. And now it is December 29th. It seemed like December was a bad luck month.
First the well decided that the motor and pump should quite. Had a couple of days with out water and then it cost an arm and a leg to have it repaired.
Next it was the hotwater heater. Then the vacum cleaner.
Finally by Christmas we had everthing repaired.
Oh, and did I mention that we had to have a new clutch put in my truck. And it was a good thing we did as it is four-wheel-drive. The 4-wheel-drive was needed when the storms hit. One right before Christmas (the one that closed down Denver, and most of Colorado and New Mexcio.) and now we have another snow storm. We only got about a half inch last night, but have had 4 inches since 8 am this morning. And it is now 11:32 am.
Don't know if I am going to be able to go to work this evening.

Down Time

At the same time, not feeling well from the vile sents did cause me to not even turn on my computer or cell phone for 3 days. And thankfully the house phone never rang once. And I didn't even miss them. Hummmmm.

Vile Sents

I haven't been feeling to well lately. Some idiot wore way to much perfume to the place where I work on last Friday and Saturday. It caused me to get a migrane headache, as well as an upset stomach, and a mild asthma attach. Thankgoodness it was mild. But I thought my shift would never be over so I could get away from the stinch of perfume.
Why o why can't some people learn that they don't need to cover up what ever vile odor they think they might have by using an even viler smelling odor. There are many many people in this world that are alergic to perfumes, cologns, and other expensive sents that some people think make them smell better. And then there are those that over do it by holding their perfume bottles up into the air and trying to make the whole world smell that that awful sent. Please think before you spray. You might be causing someone else to suffer, you might even be causing someone elses death by over doing what you think is a great odor.
One question - how would you like it if I didn't take a shower before going to work and came with the odor of horse manure all over my shoes and clothes. I don't mind that odor as long as it isn't excessive.

November Storm

I understand from the TV weatherman we are having a November Storm. Storms in NM in November arn't that commom. Or at least I don't remember that many. Last week the northwest states were hit by a lot of rain and wind. Now that storm is making its way south and east and today it is hitting NM. It is cool but not cold, but we are having horriable winds. Weatherman said might be gusts up to 60 miles per hour. We had hoped they didn't know what they were talking about, but this time they were right.
When I got up this morning and fed the horses at about 8 am it was very very still, with not a breath of air moving. And it was warm. But taking the warnings seriously we tighened down everything that could conseviblely blow away. The horses got a bit upset with us when we didn't let they out into the field but kept them in their smaller pens where I had put them last night when I heard about this storm.
Now I think they understand why we made them stay in. The are actually staying in their shelters out of the wind. The wind has to be at about 20 to 25 miles per hour steadyly blowing but don't think we have had the hard gusts yet, and hope we don't. The power line wires are singing, shed roofs are banging, and I suppose I should get of the net, and turn the computer off incase there is a power outage. I am sure there will be eveantily so I am shuting it down.
Until later, unless we blow away.
From the Tumbleweed Crossing.

Dogster

Love your dog, and want to brag about him/her. Go to www.dogster.com where you can post photos and story of your pet. Or for the cat lover go to www.catster.com
You can find my dogs at http://www.dogster.com/pet_page.php?j=t&i=421140 for Codee and Tuffee is at http://www.dogster.com/pet_page.php?i=421088

From a Friend

Received this email from a friend going through a breakup with her boyfriend. She really says it all. And hope she doesn't mind I put it on my blog. As she says PETS REALLY ARE A WOMAN'S BEST FRIENDS
Goddess forbid but if anything ever happens to your husbands just be a
widow for the rest of your life and enjoy living alone -and doing what
you want to when you want to -and never having to clean up after
someone
else-and not having to fix food unless you are hungry-or not know when
someone will come home to eat the food you fixed- and not having
someone
mess up your house- or nag you if you messed it up-or wash their smelly
clothe-or watch stupid stuff on TV -to loud- or tell lies and make
stuff
up- or intemadate your friends or scare your dogs-or stress you out- or
trash your yard- or throw tan-trams at parties-etc.-etc.etc........and
if you get lonely go visit your kids and their families and that should
take care of it(you will be thankful for peace and quiet)--and if not
get your dogs or cats and put them in bed with you, cause they love you
unconditionally and will keep you company- and you don't have to put up
with any of the above.

Pets

With colder weather coming, it is time to remember our pets need our help to get through the winter. You might want to check out the area where your pet lives. If they live inside with you not much needs to be done, but for those that spent even part of their time outside, especially in bad weather you need to make sure of these things to alow your pet to have a good time while out.
Shelter and a good, warm bed.
Water
A long enough leash, or chain so they can excerse a little bit.
Short enough leash, or chain so that they can't tangle up around other things like trees, or trash.
Companionship that is supplied by you, and another pet.
Clean up after your pet daily so area is keep clean and neet for the pets comfort, yours, and your neighbors

Finals

Adriano Moraes won the PBR World Championship Bull Riding Finals last weekend. It was quite a surprise to all the PBR fans, and I think to Adriano, too. It was the third time he had won, and the first time anyone has won it three times. If you want to know more go to
www.pbrnow.com

Fall

So it is that time of year. We have to fall back an hour. Wish they - who ever they might be- would stop telling us what time it is.
We spent this weekend as last weekend. Burning tumbleweeds and collection of pine branches that have been on our place way to long. It sure does look better. Maybe we can get some more trash hauled soon.
Fall seems to be a season of cleaning. I would like to clean the house this week so can start thinking about the holiday season. I said thinking about it. It sure does urke me to see Christmas stuff in the stores earlier and earlier each year. I swear I some stuff out in one store in July. Now all the store have it up. We don't even get a change to enjoy Halloween and Thanksgiving.

Freeze

We finally got a really good freeze here at the Tumbleweed crossing, but it doens't seem to be helping our allergies yet. We have pulled most of the tumbleweeds and made a big pile of them. Waiting for a good day - that means no wind so we can burn them. At least we can burn them this year. Last year it was to dry and we had to just let them blow. But there wasn't near as many last year, either.
The horses are finally growing some winter coats. I keep telling them them they need more hair and it's finally growing out to the point I can tell it. I have a feeling it will be a lot colder and more moisture than the past few years have been. And we can use it.
We got in about a hundred bale of hay. A mixture of alfalfa and grass hay. Would like to have a bit more to make it through the winter.

Helens Blows Her Stack

Mount St. Helens, the volcano in Washington state blew her stack (or rather the dome that had been building since the last time it blew) over the weekend. My sister had gone there on Saturday and hours after she got back it blew. To see photos go to
http://www.kgw.com/slideshows/102106StHelensDomeCollapse/1.html

Baxter Black

Baxter Black is a cowboy poet, and a very good one. A lot of what he writes is very good humor about cowboys, and the great outdoors. But the other day I was watching RFD TV and heard a new one that I really liked. I found it on Baxter Blacks web site and I suggest everyone go there and read it. It is entitled So Lucky To BE an American.

http://www.americanwesternmagazine.com/cowboy/weeklies/baxterblack/baxter2005-0704.shtml

Eggs in a Jar

Never put plastic easter eggs in a flower vase. Or at least not in one shaped like my vase. Small on the bottom flares out in the middle with a small top. The plastic eggs went in it easy enough, but wouldn't come out. I kept thinking it might be like one of those silly puzzles, where if you got it turned just right the eggs would pour out. But no such luck. After trying to get them out for weeks I decided to see if I could get one apart. Plastic eggs to come apart. So using a pair of long tweezers I was finally able to get one apart and out. Figured the rest would come out but no way. It was a fight from the first one to the sixth one. Yes there were six plastic eggs in that vase and each one had to be pried apart with the tweezers held just so to get the egg out.
Moral of this story - always consider the consquents of putting something odd shaped into something else odd shaped - it may be hell to get it back out.

email subjects

So I got tired of saying Hi as the subject when I don't kow what to title it and don't want the email program to say "You dont have a subject! Are you sure you don't want to have a subject. You need a subject! Every email should have a subject!""" So I thought I would try just Hello. I wonder what email programs have against emails without subjects anyway.

I got the above paragraph from an email friend and I have to agree whole-hartedly. Why were subjects ever entered into emails. Yes I understand it helps with the spam problems, but there should be some way to elemintate them from friendly emails sent to friends and family if we don't think they are needed. Some programs will not send the email without a subject. And just how many times can you send one that says "HI". In fact my programs will sometimes put a message on that I am spamming when I have used "HI" to many times in a short length of time. I would like to know who sets up the programs for computers and just what do they put in the subject of emails to their friends. Do they even have friends? Or are computers their only friends.

Fiesta

want to know more about the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta - go to
www.balloonfiesta.com

Invasion

A sample of how it looks from my house when the balloons take off and fly over Albuquerque. It was a bit hazy for taking a good shot this morning.

Another Balloon

Balloons

I know I sometimes complain about balloons, and they do upset the dogs and horses. But they are a great subject for photographers. Here are some I took recently during the Albuquerque International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta that is held every year in October.

Today

Today was the first day of the balloon fiesta. I thought it was going to get rained out but no such luck.

With all the stressful thoughts I have had today, I decided to put this photo of a yellow rose in.

Bad People

I simply can not understand people who don't want to care for there animals. And then it completly beyond the realm of my understanding that anyone could hurt, molest, or kill small children as I have been hearing so much of lately. I keep asking myself why there is so much more of this evil in people any more. But no one seems to have an answer.
And when will it stop?

Post a Post

Ok so I am supposed to post something on this thing ever so often so it stays active. Can't think of a thing to write today. Same old same old stuff. Work stinks, and home isn't much better. The only good things in life seem to be the horses, dogs, and cats. Got to keep working as much as possible so I can feed them. I see way to much of the kind of people that get an animal and then never give it any attention and lot of them don't even feed or water the poor things. There is a horse in our neighbor hood that gets very little care, and a dog at another house. Several of us have reported these to animal control repeatedly but they don't seem to care as they don't even come out an investagate. You can watch animal planet and see people being arrested for animal abuse, but not here in New Mexico. I wish our animal control people were as caring as those on TV. If the animals didn't look so bad I would think that maybe it was all made up stories.

Little Flower

Ok, according to one report the little yellow wild flower is a horrible weed, (name still unknown) that will take over if allowed. The leaves are horrible as they stick to everything and will not come off of clothes and gloves even in the washing machine.
But - one man's flower is another man's weed. I only have one of the little yellow flowers. I have millions of tumbleweeds, and way to many devils claws, and other un-named weeds. As well as a surplus of marigolds. So for now I will keep the little yellow wild flower - weed.

Riding

Due to surery and weather I hadn't been riding in what felt like ages. So yesterday I decided it had to be now. I saddled up BlackJack and away we went. Considering how long it had been we both did fairly well.

?Winter?

Winter seems to have arrived in New Mexico, Colorado, and a few other states on the day that Fall officially begins. Colorado has had lots of snow, and New Mexico has had some in the higher elevations. I really don't look forward to a hard, cold winter but it looks like we might be in for one. I have informed the horses they should grow long, thick winter coats as it look like it will be a lot worse than the mild winter we had last year. So far it doesn't seem as if they are growing much hair. I have upped their ration of grain adding some corn oil and other vitumins hoping it will help. The fact that the hay, and alfhala crops this summer have been very poor isn't helping either. The best alfhala hay I can find has very little leaf and way to much stem in it. And so far I can't get any decent grass hay. I really don't look forward to buying blankets for the horses, but may have to. We haven't been cold enough for years to need them.
Maybe this is just a weird system of weather going through for a day or so. We can hope so.
Guess I should go out and try to get some of the house plants in before they freeze.

Wilf Flower

Thanks for the comments and suggestions about the wild flowers. No, it is not a columbine, although it looks simular. The leaf is completly different. A long narrow leaf with scalloped edges, in a gray-green color. It is almost sticky on the back side, and wants to cling to your hand and especially your clothes. I have checked all my books, and the internet. It has been such a wet summer it could be anything. Maybe not even a wild flower, as we have such violent winds here, the seed could have come from who knows where. May be some type of hybred garden flower but I don't find it in any of my gardening books. I'll keep looking and let you know if I find out what it is.

Found these cute little flowers in the yard. Any one know what they are?

cool & windy

We went to bed last night to a bit of wind. Don't like that but it does help keep the flies off the horses. Was cooler last night than it has been being. And a lot cooler today. Feels much better. I was able to clean the horse pens with out thinking I was going to have a heat stroke. And the horses were feeling frisky. Running and playing, instead of standing like the heat was to much for them, too.
Had a small covvy of quail in the yard. Hadn't seen any for several weeks. It was a pair and 4 youngster. Good to see them and know that a few babies might survive the heat, coyotes, hawks, roadrunners and cars. They were eating a lot of seeds on some native grass that had sprouted and matured with all the rain.
Got out the ATV and used the blade on the front of it to scrap a path around the horse fields to get rid of about a 4 foot path of tumbleweeds. The horses think they are better than candy, and will lean on the fence trying to get to them. The fence will only last so long with 4 1000 pound critters pushing on it. If we have a path so tumbleweeds arn't right against the fence they don't push on it so much. Of course we had to throw the ones we pulled out to the horses. I couldn't stand there begging. Worse than a dog under the table.

My son, trimming the hooves of my horse, BlackJack.

Horses

I decided I had to get out and work with the horses this afternoon. I put all 3 through there paces on a lunge line. Working the 7 games as taught by Pat Parelli. I was very pleased with them. It had been so long since I had time, and felt like it, and it wasn't raining or the wind blowing. They all did very well, and showed me that they do remember this stuff once we teach it to them. I really like the Parelli method of training. It really works.
www.parelli.com

I took this photo of a nasturusm after a rain and there is a relfextion of a leaf in one of the rain drops at the bottom of the center petal.

Talking to Strangers

And another thing about talking to strangers. It seems that when I try to ignore strangers that want to talk to me, or tell them I am in a hurry, or what ever excuise I use to try to get away from them because I a leary of them. No telling what kind of weird nut-case, criminal, or worse that I suspect they might be. Then they seem to get so mad at me for not wanting to talk to them. Don't they ever think that I might be one of those crazy, moon-mad fools that they don't want to have anything to do with?
??????You just never know, do you????????

Who Am I?

Do I look like someones long lost friend? mom? sister? or what is it that makes people want to stop me in the store or a parking lot and talk to me? Do I look like the answerperson to all your troubles?
I am really getting tired of having peopl come up to me in the store, as if I work there, and ask me were some product might be. Or they might ask me what the time is, or once someone asked me to watch their kid while they went to the restroom. Would you leave your child with a complete stranger?
Really what are people thinking of? Or are they just that dumb?
Have I tried this or that? and what did I think of it? do I go to such and such a church? or school? or do I work someplace I never heard of? did I hear the sermon last Sunday? am I going to vote?
These are questions I have received from total strangers. Don't you know that I don't want to talk to a total stranger about mundane things, or things that are not the business of someone I don't know. Usually I am to busy, and in to much of a hurry to want to get to know you, or hear about your thoughts or troubles since I don't know you. And know I don't want to make friends with every stranger I see/
Don't you know that talking to stranger can be dangerous to your health, or pocket book? Didn't you mom and dad tell you " Never talk to strangers!"
So why do you think I want to talk to you, when you walk up to me and try to start a conversation with me as if we were old friends?
Don't you realize I could get mad and start yelling that you are trying to hurt me, steal my purse, or car, or call the cops on you?
Don't you realize that I might think that you are going to mug me, or even stab, or shoot me, even if all you want is to talk to someone for a minute?
Think again, next time you try to talk with a stranger, especially in a parking lot. The Crimes that occur so frequently make us all have to be more aware of what we are doing.
Remember - Saftey First

Grimlins in my Computer

I had a feeling I would get that on twice, and the next one didn't get on. Sometimes I am sure there are little grimlins, or bad elves, faries, or demons that live in my computer and make it do things that I don't want it to do. There are certain pieces of machainery that have minds of their own. Cars are the first, but they aren't usually as bad as computers. Of course anyone that has acomputer knows that their printer has more grimlins in it than the computer does.
And even worse are sewing machines. Everyone in our family knows that sewing machines are made to quite when ever they want to. I can also list several other items that come with their own family of grimlins. - Toasters, blenders, mixers, drills, cameras, and of course telephones.

I have had several comments about my photos that are nice. Here is one I took recently that I really like. It is in the Jemez Mountains, and on a cloudy day which is unusual here until recently when we have had so much of that much needed rain. Hope you like this one, too.

The Blaaaa's

I seem to have the blaaa's lately. It seems that I am always busy cleaning house, working in the yard, cleaning horse pens, barn, and hay shed, but nothing ever gets finished. And then there is work. Or that is my job that I have to go to - work. It seems I never have time for working with the horse - or rather playing with them as I don't consider it work. And with the dogs.
We did get to the mountains again last Sunday and got another load of firewood for winter. One more and we should have enough.
There were still people camping but they seemed to be the kind that go because they enjoy it, not like over Labor Day when it seemed as if they went because it was required of them.

Holiday Campers

How I spent Labor Day Weekend. I didn't go camping like the rest of the world. I did go to the mountains, tho. I went with my husband and we got a load of firewood. We do this every year starting on Labor Day weekend because we both have it off, and the Forest Service says we can do it now, and it is cool enough. I hate to do it when it is to hot. Anyway we got the permit and got our first load of wood. We will probably do it at least twice more to have enough wood for winter. We perfer to heat with wood rather than expensive propane.
But what really amazed us were the number of people up there camping. It wasn't just people up for a picnic for the day. Most of them (oh, a hundred or so) had brought in these huge, and I mean really huge campers. First I would never have wanted to send that kind of money on one that big and drag it into the forest on our little two track, (one way roads where someone had to find a wide spot to wait for the other vehicle every time you meet someone going the other way on the road). A lot of the campers looked as if they had been banged into a lot of trees and rocks to get them parked where the people wanted them. Not good for trees and rocks. Then there were millions of tents, with trillions of people using the campers and tents and fire pits.
Now mind you this was on a road only about 15 miles long.
What really got to me was that most of these people who had gone to all this trouble to bring home, food, clothes, and the family dog out camping - didn't look happy at all. Most of them were frowning, repacking to get out, yelling at kids or dogs, or each other, kicking at the tires of trucks and campers, and worst of all - dumping all their trash right there in the forest where they had gone - because it is outdoors and oh so much prettier than at home.
A little reminder.
Pack it in, please, pack it out.

Labor Day

It's Labor Day Weekend. A big holiday here in the USA.
Have fun but be safe.

1906

I find this very interesting and very amazing. It was sent to me by a friend.

The Year 1906
The average life expectancy in the U.S. was 47 years.
Only 14 percent of the homes in the U.S. had a bathtub.
Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.
A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost eleven dollars.
There were only 8,000 cars in the U.S., and only 144 miles of paved roads.
The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.
Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than California. With a mere 1.4 million people, California was only the 21st most populous state in the Union. The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower!
The average wage in the U.S. was 22 cents per hour.
The average U.S. worker made between $200 and $400 per year .
A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.
More than 95 percent of all births in the U.S. took place at HOME.
Ninety percent of all U.S. doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION! Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press AND the government as "substandard."
Sugar cost four cents a pound. Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen. Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.
Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used borax or egg yolks for shampoo. Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason.
Five leading causes of death in the U.S. were: 1. Pneumonia and influenza 2. Tuberculosis 3. Diarrhea 4. Heart disease 5. Stroke
The American flag had 45 stars. Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Alaska hadn't been admitted to the Union yet.
The population of Las Vegas, Nevada, was only 30!!!!
Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea hadn't been invented yet.
There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.
Two out of every 10 U.S. adults couldn't read or write. Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.
Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacists said, "Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health." ( Shocking?)
Eighteen percent of households in the U.S. had at least one full-time servant or domestic help. There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE ! U.S.A. !
Now I forwarded this from someone else without typing it myself, sent it to you and others all over the United States, possibly the world, in a matter of seconds!
Try to imagine what it may be like in another 100 years. IT STAGGERS THE MIND, EH...?

Funny Signs

Go to this web site if you want to see some funny, crazy, and just wild road signs.

http://channels.isp.netscape.com/news/gallery.jsp?floc=g-wnew_road_signs1&id=wnew_road_signs&pi=10&grurl=http%3A%2F%2Fchannels.isp.netscape.com%2Fnews%2Fpackage.jsp%3Fname%3Dfte%2F10roadsigns%2F10roadsigns%26floc%3DNI-ntk3&photo=1&xad=true

Shorter Days

I have noticed that the days are getting shorter. I hate to see that but I sure do look forward to some cooler days. It is still hot - way to hot to do much during the day. It is still raining enough to have the tumbleweeds and other weeds growing like - well - growing like weeds. We have pulled and pulled them, and let horses eat and eat them, but it doesn't seem like we are even making a dent in them. The horses think they are kin to peperment candy, one of their favorite treats, and when we start pulling them they line up waiting for us to threw the weeds over the fence so they can eat them.
Of course the weeds are blooming which is playing havic with our allergies. Each time we do the weed pulling thing, which we can only handle for an hour or so, we head right into the house stripe and into the shower. The cloths go right into the washing machine. We have tried things like weed eaters, and lawn mower but the dang things are to tough for them. I don't have the money to invest into one of those fancy mowers that will take down sapplings.
And of course as much as I try to get rid of mine none of my neighbors seem to care.

Back to Work Again

I am trying to go back to work again after being off for another three days due to having to have a bad tooth pulled. The hole in my jaw is doing better but still sore, can't chew on that side of my mouth, and still taking what seems like way to many Advil. I am not sure they really beleived me at work, but I had a note from the dentist to verify that I had the tooth out. So what can they say. I would hate to fired for having a tooth out.

Tooth Problems

Well, I guess it's not back to work for me.
As every one who reads my blog may know I have a cat named Murphy after the Murphy's Law saying about if anything can go wrong it will, in triplicate.
And it is so very true. After being off for a month to have surgery, and last week having another minor in-office procudure I though I would be able to get back to work. Finally. Only no. I had to find another way to stay off for a little longer. And believe me I would rather have been working. Much rather have been working.
Over the weekend I had a tooth that had been giving me a few problems decide it would become a big problem. So it was off to the dentist this morning. Doesn anyone have any idea what it costs to have a root canel done? I couldn't believe the price when it was quoited to me. Then to top it off I was told I would need a cap on the tooth to keep it from chipping any more after the root canel. Apromoxitly $3,000 for my cost after the insurance paid most of it. All for one tooth. What about to have it pulled? I asked. $30 bucks is a big difference. So the tooth came out. Now I am sitting here writing my blog since I can't do much of anything else, other than take painkillers.
( Surely there has to be more to life than this. )

Back to Work

I haven't posted to my blog in a while and I'm not sure what to write. I went back to work last week after being off for a month for surgery. The computer system at work decided that since I had been gone so long it was going to delete all my password - a total of about 6 or so that are needed to get into some of the basic files in they system. Of course there was no one there that seemed to know how to get things reset so that I could get in and reset my passwords. Another words it was a mess. Finally a different supervise than mine managed to get me into the most basic program that would allow me to take calls - remember this is a call center - and let me pull up the caller's account. As far as doing anything more - I can just hope that someone will be there this afternoon that knows more than the supervisers that were on last week.

Wonderin' Words

A word to the wise. I am posting a lot of the fan fiction I have written over the years on my other blog http://wonderinwords.blogspot.com . Fan fiction is stories written by the fans of TV shows. Warning! It can become additive once you try it. But you might want to try reading one of my stories. The first one is a Bordertown story, and most of them are Westerns.

Do Nothing

Ever had days when there was no way you could get it together and do anything, either right or wrong. Well, today is one of those days for me. So I find myself writing absolute drivial nothings on my blog. If it offends you - go elsewhere.

Guest Collection

In the past three years that I have lived at the Tumbleweed Crossing I have had quite a few visitors, and guest. Many have spent several days here. And many of them have left me something - well - maybe it was ment as a thank you, or a little joke, or maybe it was just an accident. The other day I had two more guests for a week, and when they left I added their offerings to my Guest Collection Box.
As I think back and look at the objects in the box I decide it is quite a collection after all. Guest #1 left ragged tee shirt. Guest #2 left a box that became the collection box. Guest # 3 left a sock, #4 left a baby bottle, #5 left a large collection of plastic Easter eggs that had were well hid in verious places around my bedroom. Guest #6 left a book, #6 left underwear, #7 left a ball, #8 left toothpaste, #9 left anti-ich ointment, and #10 left a sock.
That is the ones that I remember and that will fit in the Guest Collection Box. I, also, remember a tube of sunscreen that I used. Some fencing to keep my horses in that I still use. And of course there were the dirty diapers that I through out, along with a large amount of used water bottles, and empty snack containers that were scattered through out the house instead of being left in the trash can.
Sometimes what is left makes me laugh and other times it is just disgusting.
And what do I plan to do with the Guest Collection? At this time I'm not sure. Ask me again later on.

Alternative Power

Thank you for the comments!

And yes we have considered a windmill, and solar. But the cost is to much for us right now. A windmill was about twice that much, and so was the solar. We have even considered investing in a small generator for these kinds of meltdowns. A few years ago when we lived in a different house (where we didn't have as much land and couldn't have horses) we did have solar panels for heating in the winter, and they were a life saver. I really miss them here. Here we use mostly a wood stove for winter heating.

And I do recomend and push as much alternative power as possible. Windmills and solar are wonderful things. I would think that solar panels for heating, and water heaters should be mandatory with all new home construction. Also gray water usage for watering lawns and landscape. It wouldn't be that difficult to add those on as a house is built. Maybe the goverment should consider giving rebates out, again, for those adding on solar usage, gray water usage, and windmills. Then maybe more of use could afford to do it.

Electric

Did you ever stop to think about how our everyday life rotates around electricity.

Our electricity was off today for about four hours. Never figured out why. Probably to many people using air conditioning on a Sunday afternoon. And it was hot. I know it wasn't that long but I thought it would never come back on. And of course electric company wouldn't even answer the phone, and the automated system to tell you where and why power outages were said there wasn't one here. But we knew there was as all the neighbors were talking to everyone about it.

It seems we now use electricity for eveything. Computer, air conditioner, TV, and radio, sterio, to wash dished, and cloths, and even our telephone. (even cell phones have to charge on electricity). And even worse for us it envoles our use of water. Most of the time if you are on city water when the electricity goes out you still have water. But here at the Tumbleweed Crossing there is a small well for every three homes. When the electricity is of there goes the water as each well is run by an electric pump. And if you have a neighbor like I do - well they haven't the since to concerve water even when the electricity is on let alone when it goes out.

So for about four hours today I did nothing but sit and try to keep as relaxed and comfortable as I could in sweltering 100 degree weather with out any modern convenences and no running water. Not fun.

Rain in my yard.

Sorry

I am sorry if I offended anyone with the posts about people not understanding what flashfloods can do. I have watched the news and see that many small towns, as well as El Paso, Texas have had flooding in areas that have never flooded before. This is especailly true of Lagana Pueblo, Acoma Pueblo, Belen, and several small housing develepments that really don't have names. (or none that I know of). I do feel for you.

Think before you Do

I have a neighbor who is out watering trees that are standing in water after all of our rain. Some people need to learn to think before they do.

Flashfloods?

We have been getting rain for a couple of weeks now. It is so wonderful. After years and years of being in a drought our New Mexico land, as well as several other states, are getting the rain it so desperately has needed. So why do I hear so many complaints about it? I have heard of so many home owners who have bought homes way out from the city, on dirt roads and then they are surprised when the sudden downpours and flash floods rip out the dirt roads, tear out their yards and flood their homes that are in an area that doesn't require flood insurance. I agree that I would be upset, too. But it really seems to be a problem of the construction companies that do not look at the history and geography of a land before slapping a house down and selling it to unsuspecting owners. Don't they know that every few years these sudden flash floods have always happened out here on the desert. And after the 10 years, or so, of drought that New Mexico has had it is only worse when the rains do come. Not only which, the home owner may not even get rain, but they sure do get the water from the area where the rain did occur and all that water had to go somewhere, and your new home just happened to be in the way.
I, too, bought a new home on a dirt road a few years ago. But I took a look at the surrounding landscape to make sure that it wouldn't be quite so much of a surprise to me when the rains did come. Yes, we had a flooded field that the horses had to stand in for a few days, and no we han't realized that our driveway would direct water into the garage. But we didn't go complaining to our insurace company, the county, or the construction company that built our home. We just cleaned up the mess. And we have plans to fix the driveway.
Granted we didn't have as big a mess as so many had in our area, and I do feel for them, but I bet that now a lot of people know what can happen when the rains come.

Please Remember

Please, Please Remember that in all this heat you should not leave children, elderly, pets or anyone or anything in a closed up car. I heard on the news this morning that there have already been 14 children that have died because they were left alone in a hot, closed vehicle. That is 14 to many.

Never, Never leave children, elderly, or pets in an unattended vehicle. It is just asking for the child, person, or pet to be stolen, or kidnapped by those that want to harm them. With the number of sex offenders on our streets how can any parent think of leaving a child all alone. It is just encouraging someone to take them.

I do not think I ever left my son, or a child alone in a car for even just a few minutes to run an errand. It is just to dangerous.

So please, don't forgot this warning.

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.