June 18, 2013 Sweet

Today's word: sweet

As in, this is a very sweet face.

Gnarly hardly ever shows any other side but sweet.  He sticks his sweet face in yours and drools.  He shakes his head and the drool flies all over.  But he never digs in the rocks, he doesn't sneak dirty socks outside, he doesn't raid the dirty clothes and take them outside.  He doesn't chew up toilet paper, he doesn't empty the trash and shred it  And most of all, when he wants out in the morning, he just paws the bed to let you know it's time to get up.

This face, no matter how sweet you think it is, hides a lot of mischief.

Missing something, look in the yard.  It might not be chewed to bits yet.  Want to sleep in in the morning, forget about it.  The nose is cold, and she thinks the way to wake you up is to poke it right into your face, preferably after pouncing on you in her exuberance.   She tears through the house playing with her toys, or with Gnarly if she can get him to play.  She torments the cats, she demands attention.  She digs holes, she rips up landscaping, she chops plants off at ground level.  She chews everything.  She catches and eats moths.  She keeps the place hopping!

June 17, 2013 Welcome home

Welcome home.

The sherrifs, as they checked, and double checked, and triple checked, left yellow crime scene tape on the mailboxes, or fence posts, or whatever was available to designate the homes that were safe to return to.  They didn't release an area to pre-evacuation status until every house in that area was accounted for.

We are still on pre-evacuation status, we went from no status to mandatory evacuation in one day.  Now we're on pre-evac, which just means that you can be at your house, but be ready to leave on a moment's notice if need be.  That's scary.

What was really scary was how fast the mandatory evacuation went from Hodgen to County Line Road.  It's a good thing that I went thru this with the Hayman fire.  (We never even got to pre-evac in that one, but since I was here alone, I started removing stuff early, just in case).

It makes you think of how insignificant you are.  How easily Mother Nature can totally disrupt your life.  How fast things can change.

It makes you think about what is really important, what can be replaced.  I am so thankful that I don't have to start over, that my stuff is still here.  My animals are all safe.  My pictures (and I have a LOT of them that aren't digital) are all in Bekka's garage, along with my important papers.  So are a couple of quilts and an afghan that my mother made-things I can't replace.

Today it rained again, that's good news.  But last night there were three lightning started fires in the burn area.  By early next week we'll be back to HIGH fire danger as the weather dries out and heats up.  I just pray that we don't see another one like this in a long time.

June 9, 2013 start of the day

Today's topic: the start of the day.

The start of the day.  At this house that is "by dawn's early light". 

Rosie, as soon as there is even a hint of light in the morning, is ready to go.  I'm not, but it is really hard to ignore the cold wet nose in the face, and the panting, squiggling puppy on the bed.  So that's when my day starts.  At 5:15 in the morning.   (Now you know why I go to bed at 8pm, even before it gets dark here.)

Gabriel doesn't get up that early.  He likes to sleep in until about 7:30.

But he does have to get up to go horseback riding.  Here he's steering Squirt thru an obstacle course made of  fence poles.  He is doing quite well at this.

Clyde is planting more flowers, and Rina is out there squealing for Betty and the brat to come back into view.

The strawberry rhubarb pie that Clyde is baking is almost done, and it sure smells good.  Made with fresh rhubarb from the plants in the back yard.

June 5, 2013 Cold (not the project365 word, but it fits the day)

Today, I'm choosing my own word: cold

As in, it was in the 30's when we went over for the riding and to give the horses their spring shots.  It was also foggy, overcast and humid.  Not a really great day for anything.

But, Gabe rode the horse for almost an hour in the cold.  He wondered what we would do if it started raining really hard.  I told him that the rain comes from the bottom of the clouds, and since the bottom was on the ground it wouldn't rain.  I think he believed me!

This is how he spent the rest of the day! 

The house was cold all day, and Clyde finally turned the heat on.  Imagine that, June 5th and we had to turn the heat on to stay warm.

Which is why the rootbeer slushies were so good!

May 29, 2013 Reflections

Today's word: reflection

I suppose I could reflect on something for today, but we got rain and hail this morning.  And I like the reflection of the deck railing in the water and hail on the deck.

This put a damper on the plans for today.  Instead of finishing the second stall, and making a couple of trips over to the 80 (really 40) to fill the dumpster, I only made one trip.  And Gabe's riding lesson was iffy, since we were working in between rain showers.  But we got it done.

I posted a picture of Gabe on Squirt, one of our horses, on facebook.  I got over there, thinking I would use my point and shoot camers, but lo, the batteries were dead.  That left the photographer with only the iPhone.  Talk about unprepared.  I'll do better tomorrow.  Maybe I can get his huge smile when the horse starts loping.

He's more than ready to go back.  Horses, and more horses to ride.  And maybe working cows by the end of the summer.

May 28, 2013 Pink

Today's word: Pink

As in pink pajamas.

Oh, I wear my pink pajamas in the summer when it's hot.
I wear my outing flannels in the winter when it's not.
But sometimes in the spring, and sometimes in the fall,
I jump between the sheets with nothing on at all!

I may not remember what I did yesterday, or what I was looking for in another room, but for some reason I remember that little ditty that I think my brothers brought home from Boy Scout camp over 50 years ago!

I think the tune is the same as the battle hymn of the republic--I can hear it in my head!

May 27, 2013 Ordinary beauty

Today's topic: ordinary beauty

A couple of years ago, Clyde went on the back deck and looked down.  He saw many, many butterflies eating from the dandelion flowers.  Now Clyde likes dandelions.

As the keeper of the grass (what we have of it), I'm not partial to dandelions.  They crowd out the grass, so I am constantly digging them up.  Unfortunately, it appears to be a losing battle.

These are some of our more robust dandelion plants.  And yes, they are pretty yellow flowers.

However, the seeds, while pretty amazing, spread over everything, and just make more plants.  I don't let the kids pick these because they like to blow them, and I'm not into seeding the entire yard with dandelions!

So, they can be beautiful.  They are ordinary, after all everyone has some.  And they do attract butterflies sometimes.