HAIR!!!

Do wish the critters would quite shedding. Dogs, cats, and horses. I seem to have dog and cat hair all over the house which means all over me. Two horses, Nita and Jack, seem to be about done with shedding as they are slicking out nice. The others are still woolly and matted. I want to give them a bath but has been to much wind. So today I am cleaning house. Can't believe the amount of hair I am finding in critter beds, and in corners that only get cleaned every 6 months. Got the kitchen and living room sort of done, and working on bedrooms now. Doing some furniture rearranging as well as washing those hairy critter beds. Officially there is one bed per critter but then there is all those makeshift beds that they seem to appropriate. Like - the spot under the coffee table where Jade likes to lay as well as the captains chair I have in my room where I have added towels to help with the hair situation. Then there is the rocking chair in my room and the large chair in the living room that Murphy prefers. K.C. usually lays on the love-seat, and the dogs, Codee and Tuffee are usually on the couch. Nikki is to old to get on the furniture anymore so has a bed in my room and in the living room for her comfort do to her age.
Hummmmm - seems like these animals make out on the bed arrangements better than I do.

Still Windy

It is still windy here, but I understand the fires arn't as bad as they were. That is if you consider that only 9 homes were lost to the fire in the Manzano Mountains. But none of them should have been lost. The last I heard the firefighers are saying it was a man made fire but they arn't giving out any more details at this time. There is no excuse for a man made fire. Everyone should be extra careful any time they are doing anything that has the ability to become a threat to life or home.
We have had lots of people valentering to send some of their excess rain to us, especially from Ohio, and Oregon, but so far none has made it. I, as well as lots of others, sure wish it would. I don't think we have had more that about a trace amount, maybe three drops, in about the last 8 or 9 months. I do hope we don't become the next dust bowl.

Wind & Fire

I am diffently back home to the land of wind and fire ----- Oh, I'm sorry that was supposed to be the "Land of Enchanment" as New Mexico is supposed to be know as, but it should be changed to the land of Wind and Fire. We have had wind for weeks now with very little let up. There have already been numerous grass fires, and brush fires. I haven't heard of any forest fires but there may have been some. I was able to see the smoke from the brush and grass fire that is burning in the Manzano Mountains to the southeast of me yesterday and thankfully I can't see any smoke today. Hopefully they have a handle on it and are getting it under control. I heard on TV that there were several little village in that area that were ready to be evacuated at any time. It is not a happy tought that there have allready been so many fires so early in the year. And the wind doesn't help. We have had wind so bad all of the little sand dunes in our yard have moved from one spot to another, and a lot of them have decided to set up residence in my house. Oh to have some nice quiet days with a little bit of moisture.

Ocean from shipwreck

http://www.iredale.de/maritime/peter1.htm This the web site where there are photos of the Peter Iredale before it went down and right after in 1906 as well as one from 1999.

Shipwreck

This is what is left of the Peter Iredale that ran aground October 25, 1906. I had seen it before in 2001 but there was more of it showing this time. About all that is left is the metal parts of the ship and just a few of the pieces of wood under the top part where they are a little bit more protected. It is one of the few shipwrecks that people are alowed to right up to and explore around it and as you can see in the photo even on it. There were some young men who climbed up on top and sat there while we took photos. They were having a great time and I envied them their ability to get up there.

Tree Burl

A burl is a large knot that has formed on a tree on the trunk or on a branch. It is formed when the tree is slightly injured or damaged in some way usually by the wind, or a break or cut in the bark, or by insect damage; and it is nature's way of putting a bandage on the wound. But the burl keeps growing with the tree and some of those in the northwest are huge. Here is a large one that had been cut off of the tree and was displayed near the beach at Seaside, Oregon

HayStack Rock

Tree

The windswept tree from a different angle.

Windswept Tree

Ecola Park

Looking out across the little bay toward the mountains that hide the town of Seaside which was hit by hard storms this winter. It is kind of a neat sight to see all the rocks sticking up out of the water. No wonder there were so many shipwrecks along the Oregon Coast.

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.