Corgi Cam

Cleaned the house today and helped The Prospector give Brownie his shot. I will tell you about Brownie when I have day that I can do a long post. He's getting better. He had another accident and the traveling vet came to visit. That was two weeks ago. He's receiving special treatment and has his own digs for a while. I will write more later.
Today after I vacuumed and mopped and dusted the house I took a break and went outside with the dogs.
It was another beautiful day. It's almost scary how beautiful it is here.

The Corgi boys greeted me.

"You boys want to play a game?" They looked at me like Corgis do and Carl started to walk away.
I know he was saying, under his breath, "Here comes Farmlady with the camera again."
"Hey, wait. This will be fun, guys. Let's play Corgi Cam. You know I follow you around and pretend I'm one of you and we take picures from a dog point of view. What'a you say. Come on. Give Farmlady a break. She's been in the house all morning. Humor her."

Cutter looked at me and said, "I never played this game before."

"But, OK. Do I get to hold the camera? Do I get to take pictures of you and Carl?"

Carl came on the run. "Oh no you don't. I will do it. I want to be in control of the camera taking."
"Well, Carl," I said, " I think I'm going to let Cutter do this because he hasn't done it before."
Carl got that look on his face that says, "Oh yeah!" So, I told him that Cutter would be the director of this show and he (Carl) would have to live with it.  That's when he disappeared into the bushes.
Cutter followed and we caught this on Corgi Cam.

 And this...

Taking photos from the height of a small dog is as strenuous as vacuuming and mopping. Following Cutter around with the camera and taking photos from his point of view is kind of a feat in itself. ( You didn't really think that I would strap my precious Nikon to Cutter's back did you?)
Well, so far the results were less that wonderful so I called Cutter over to the fence and he saw the cat. That's when things got more interesting.

Carl followed us and both the dogs were preoccupied with Annie, our cat, for quite some time while I sat under the Heavenly Bamboo and wondered what the heck I was doing out here with these silly dogs when I could have taken a nap instead.
Then I called them up on the porch so I could sit down for a little bit. This is when Cutter got a whiff of "You know hoooooo.." up in the corner of the porch. Our little visitor, the Screech Owl, is still resting up there during the day.

 From a Corgi point of view, the little owl is very safe up there. The dogs sniffed and look up there but they didn't bark. The owl quietly watched them until they walked away.
Then it was time to stop the game. My back was hurting and I needed to sit down for a while.

The last "dog cam" shot is a familiar one to the Corgi boys. They are always on the wrong side of this door. They either want out when they are inside, or... they want in when they are outside. It's  a very well know stop for them.

You can tell I reached high and low for something to post about today. It finally came to me at about 9:30  tonight and now I'm done. I'm going to bid you all a fond goodnight because I can't think of anything else to add to this already stimulating post.

Touching the Autumn Air

"As each day comes to us refreshed

and anew,

so does my gratitude renew itself daily.

The breaking of the sun over the horizon

is my grateful heart

dawning upon a blessed world."  ~Terri Guillemets

This morning we felt the changes that come this time of the year. A window closed, a  door shut against the coolness of the early break of day. A sweater not worn since April grabbed before going outside with the dogs.
I went to water the garden. A pastime of everyday importance in our dry, hot summers here in the California Foothills. I found all the plants and containers still damp from yesterday morning's watering. Nothing needed watering. I grabbed the camera and took some photos here and there. 
When I sat down on the chaise lounge I could feel the  dampness of the night on the quilt that covered the pad. I decided that it wasn't enough to cause any permanent sogginess to my clothing. 
I laid there, feeling the coolness against my body, and thought about the changes that were coming. 
I wait for these changes with each hot breath of summer and with the smell of smokey earth that doesn't let us forget the fire that almost made this journey of ours wither into a summer memory. I love the coming of Fall and the cold heart of Winter. I have always had glacial drift within my California dreamin' soul.
Then Carl jumped up on the chaise with me. Cutter wanted to come up too. He watched Carl waiting for some wordless dog sanction... permission to jump up. He always defers to Carl unless food is involved.

 Then, as if given permission, Cutter hopped up to rest by my feet.

 He was still watching Carl but he finally put his head down and relaxed.

This was the way the morning started. 
The three of us...
sitting there together feeling Fall coming...
Feeling gratitude for this life.
It was a good way  to begin the day.

Sneeking away without telling

"Farmlady is gone again, for a while. She says that she will be back next Thursday. I don't like this one bit. She needs to be here.... for us.
 Carl is behind me. He's not talking. He's got an attitude right now.
This means that until Farmlady comes home we have to let the Prospector do everything for us. Right now he is working on a shed in the backyard. We can't go out there with him because it's a big area and there might be rattlesnakes. So we get to go out in the front yard or stay inside with NOBODY to play with and no laps to sit on.
This is not a good situation for us Corgis.  Farmlady better come home soon.
This is my serious puppy face. It's suppose to get sympathy from all of Farmlady's followers.
 Please write us and make us feel better.  Love, Cutter. Woo, woo! "

Getting Rid of the Lawn and a lot of Corgi Attitude

The old lawn area redo is coming along. The Prospector is working so hard on this. He is a perfectionist and always does everything with great effort and precision. This job has been more of a supervisory position for me, this time. I'm giving credit where credit is due and that would be to the man that I live with.
He's amazing. At 66 yrs of age the only thing that slows him down is his left knee. He has had one replacement on the right knee and will need another one soon... but so far he is doing well with one of those miracle injections that keep the old knee joint moving with less pain.
He took the day off today because he has a meeting tonight. The top soil is in the planters and waiting for some planting mix and compost. After that the old lawn will be scraped off and then, after laying some weed cloth, we will cover the area with pea gravel. Then I get to do the gardening in the flower beds and do some wine barrel planting.

Everything that goes into these planting beds will be drought tolerant and on a drip system so the water use should be lessened considerably.  Any ideas??

I'm not sure what the Corgi pups are going to think about not having a lawn any more. They have loved the lawn. They play on it, sit on it and .... shoot, I'm going to miss the lawn. Who am I kidding. But, I won't miss worrying about the water and the gophers and the roots from the trees that have plagued the lawn from the first year that we planted it.

Carl seems to have decided that this new dirt area is his new domain and he's already playing KING OF THE HILL with Cutter.
"Just try to get in here, Cutter. I dare you.", he says.
Then there is a stand off with lots of eye contact and then.... Cutter starts circling the planter, faster and faster, until he takes a flying leap into the dirt on top of Carl.

This went on all day yesterday. I may need a fence here. I can see the paw prints on the wall.

Look at Carl. He thinks he owns the place already. I've got news for him.

You are going to move your little Corgi butt, Carl. This is not your garden, you sly dog. It's Farmlady's  and the larger person will win out.
 ********************

I'm leaving for a long weekend with my sister and cousin. We are going to Susanville tomorrow for my uncle's 90th Birthday party this weekend.
See you on Tuesday. Have a nice weekend.

Being Productive in the Garden

I HURT THIS MORNING!!
My legs, my feet, my arms, my hips.... Everything hurts. Why is it that working in the garden all day brings me such great satisfaction..... and so much discomfort? I got out of bed like an old lady this morning. Oh, wait a minute. I am an old lady.
Yesterday was one of those wonderful Spring days here in California. I think I could live inside of a day like this 365 days a year. The breeze was cool, the sun was warm and the soil was soft. My love affair with my garden begins again.
This is where it started. I went to WalMart the day before and got a bit carried away.

The Pansies were so beautiful. They just shouted "Springtime!!" from the shelf outside the store. So I came home with a flat of them. Actually, it was a half flat for $5. That would give me the color I wanted for my dreary containers. And, of course, I had to get some soil amendments to liven up the old dirt in the pots and add some compost from the veggie garden composter.
I got a little carried away with the flower seeds.

COSMOS~PORTULACA~CLEOME~ZINNIAS..... The American Seed Co. has these beautiful packets of seeds for .20 cents a piece. I don't know how they can sell a package of seeds for .20 cents. I'm guessing that there aren't as many seeds inside (I will count them and see) compared to the Burpee packet that costs $1.50. and the Burpee brand says that they are a "select variety" from Holland. At .20 cents a packet I can buy a lot of seeds, different varieties and it feels like I'm getting a real deal.
I do buy the Burpee brand for seeds that I can't find elsewhere, like the Zinnia called Envy. It's a beautiful CHARTREUSE color and huge. It's a $1.50 also. Sometimes you just have to splurge.
I also bought a few packets of American Seed's "Cottage Garden" seeds. I love them. I throw them into my planters and it's like a surprise later on to see what comes up. This wildflower mix gives the garden a lot of color with very little effort. I'm into the "Cottage" look in my garden.
So, yesterday morning, I put all the new garden supplies into my wheelbarrow and spent the day in the garden.

I planted those Violas everywhere.

And now I have color all over the front garden. It looks wonderful!

At some point, and this is becoming a ritual behavior, I take my gloves off because I can't feel the soil. I don't know why. I just love the feel of the soil and packing it down with my bare hands.

I haphazardly throw them down somewhere because I'm "in the moment" with my garden.
But I have Carl. He is Little Mr. Opportunity incarnate. He always finds them.

And I always think that he will leave the gloves alone, especially when they are in plain sight on the porch.
But NO.....

 He always grabs one glove. ALWAYS!! and runs away with it.. It's our game. If I didn't like this game I would put the gloves up on a table  where he couldn't grab them. But I don't. Because this is a game, you see, and Carl would be so disappointed.
I run after him, calling his name and telling him to give me the glove. Like I said.... it's a ritual. A bit of comic relief. It's what we do around here to entertain ourselves.

So, back to the garden. I love that feeling of dirt under the nails.

I never regret taking my gloves off. I will always have hang nails and cuts in the Springtime. It's OK. It's tradition.

It was not the planting of violas that  made me feel like I was a hundred years old this morning.

It was this corner of the garden.

This is the cause of all my pain. It wasn't enough to plant some flowers in pots. I also spent the rest of the day redoing the area near the entrance. Now that I look at the photo I realize that it doesn't look that much different for all the lifting of rocks, raking of debris, moving of garden art and transplanting of a few perennials. But I wanted to clear everything away from the flowering Pear tree because I read that having too much mulch or plants that get watered a lot right up against a tree can weaken the tree and make it vulnerable to diseases. When I removed everything, I saw that there was mold all the way around the bottom of the tree. So I felt really good that I did this.
It looks nice and I feel better about the tree. Cutter, my sweet puppy, proceeded to dig a hole in the new spacious plot of dirt, which he thought I made just for him. Then, I realized that I may have to put a little fence around the area to discourage the pups from this favorite activity. Digging is not a "ritual" I wish to encourage .
All in all it was a very productive day.
*************** 
Brownie is recovering slowly except that the other goats are ostracizing him. They won't let him into the goat house. Last night I went out there because I heard him making goat complaints and there he was, standing in the rain, crying and complaining. Bart was guarding the doorway and blocking Brown from going in.
IT WAS RAINING! and DARK.  I tried to push him in and every time he tried, one of the goats would push him back out.
BAD GOATS..... even Murph' was part of this betrayal. I'm so upset with them. I know this is normal animal behavior but it stinks.
Finally, with encouragement, Brownie pushed his way into the goat house and I went back into my warm house.

*************
So, this morning I woke up feeling like I fell down a mineshaft and survived. It's not raining. I should be out there finishing the planting of seeds.... but I'm not. I'm rubbing Aspercreme into my feet and hands. I'm laying low for the day. I'm writing this post and  not much else. I feel really old and sore today. I can identify with Brownie. Maybe I'll sit and read a book. Yea! I said read a book... or maybe I'll knit something.... or felt.... or bake some cookies.... or....

The Fun never ends.

I have some new decorating ideas . What do you think?

In the spirit of Simple Living and doing with less, I have condensed the living room and the kitchen into one room. This way we can watch television and eat without getting up or walking . It's a little tight but I think after the initial "getting use to it" period, we will find that we can all live with less sq. footage and our efforts to do this will give us a sense of helping the environment.
Yea! I know. You don't believe this.....but....
I ask you to Google "Tiny Houses" and see what others are doing to live smaller. At least I'm trying.
*********************************

The truth is that we are having the rugs cleaned today at 1:00 p.m. and everything had to be off this rug so a guy can come out and beat the old rug to death with soap and water, in hopes that he can restore it for another year.

Poor rug is getting old. Each time it gets cleaned I think that this will be the cleaning that will finally destroy the last standing fibers and the whole rug will say "I give." and fall into long shreds of defeat. We never move the piano or the glass front bookcase so the rug under those two pieces is really good but the rest, after 13 years of dogs that "live in", is pretty well depleted.
I keep saying that this will be the last effort. That I won't clean it one more time. I WANT NEW CARPET. Then I think about the incident that precipitated this cleaning event.
Cutter ate something he thought was wonderful outside and promptly came in and decided it wasn't so great. He left it all over the middle of the carpet. Then when it rained last week, he decided that he just couldn't go outside to do his duty. It was just too scary for him out there. And then Carl, my wonder dog, ate the same irresistible "whatever" that Cutter ate and lost it on the rug too.
I have been through this before. Cutter is our 5th dog here. So I shouldn't get so upset. Cleaning up throw-up and other body functions is our middle name around here. Puppies and old dogs don't seem to appreciate my efforts to maintain a lovely house while living on a farm in the middle of nowhere. Thank goodness Brownie hasn't won the "Why can't I sleep in the house?" argument or I'd be cleaning up little round balls of Goat scat to. That's were I draw the line.
I'm thinking that maybe new carpet is not the answer. Maybe I should look into these new laminate  or engineered wood floors. They would be easier to clean and the living room wouldn't look like a map of our odd, obsessive-compulsive desire to live with dogs.
Anyway, the house will be a mess for a few days. I'm not going to have the carpet in the guestroom cleaned. ...

It's the dog's domain this week and where would we put all this stuff. Please don't call and say your in town and need a place to stay. I might be a bit lacking in hospitality....
Somehow, I don't think I'm ever going to achieve a state of "simple living" in this lifetime.

Dogs on the Bed and Baby Birds on the Porch

My sister went home on Wednesday. We had such a good visit. She understands the situation around here. If you come up for a little rest and relaxation you must accept the fact that, whatever you do, it will be with two small dogs who seem to think that they are here to entertain you and keep guard over you. Sis understands this and says that the dogs are part of the reason that she comes up here. She better say that. The prospector and I would get hurt feelings if she only came for the pups. Well no, not really. I do understand what curling up with a small, soft, warm puppy can do for your soul. It's the best feeling in the world.
Carl and Cutter were her constant companions. They followed her everywhere..... except for lunch in Sutter Creek and WalMart. Yep! I took her to WalMart. That's how exciting it gets around here. How many folks can say that they went to WalMart on their vacation? We tried on clothes, bought makeup, and I almost bought a really cute BIKE. It looked like the one I had when I was a kid, only it was pale yellow and had a basket, a water bottle holder and a flat rack on the back for .... a picnic basket. It was very solid and looked like something I could ride without breaking my neck. It was $150. I even looked at helmets. This might be serious.
The reason I mention this is because I'm notorious for my vicious antagonism of "bicyclist" on the back roads of our county. I have been known to cast aspersions on these small groups of roving, obnoxious people who think they can go anywhere, take up the whole road, throw their water bottles on the ground and not move over for cars. (My blood pressure is building as I write.) Anyway, I saw this bike and all of this irritation went right out the window. I still think I would love to ride this lovely bike down our only paved road to the river. The exercise would be good for me and I would stand a better chance distancing myself from a hungry mountain lion if I needed too. Well, maybe not, but I could definitely outrun an attacking Rattlesnake.
So Sis and I had a wonderful visit. They're never long enough but she will be back. It's only a 2 1/2 hour drive up here. Our cars know the way, like a horse to the barn, and I have the pups as an incentive.
We experienced a very hot (over 100 degree) day on Sunday and now we are back to mild weather. This is amazing. I shouldn't even say anything or I should knock on wood when I do. I hope this summer weather stays like this until Fall. It's so pleasant. We don't have to water the garden so frequently and the fire hazard is so much less. It's really lovely.

Now for an update on the baby birds....
as you can see they are a bit crowded. I'm worried that they will be falling out of the nest before they are ready to fly. I have put a chair with a pillow on it, underneath the nest, just in case.


One little fellow seems to be complaining about the living conditions (below). Or, it could be that he is fed up with this women who is constantly taking pictures of him.

He's annoyed about something....

My friend "C' is coming up tomorrow for the 4th of July weekend. Can't wait. Then I have to kick it into gear and prepare for the Amador Wine and Art Festival next Friday night in Amador City.

Mokelumne River and the Puppies

This is the Mokelumne River. We live very close to it, so sometimes we take the dogs and go for a walk along the edge of it. It has not been designated as "Wild and Scenic" yet, but hopefully it will be some day. This river needs to be protected. It's so beautiful that it takes your breath away. We need to preserve this beauty for the generations to come. Read about it here.

This was Cutter's first trip to the river and he was not too enthusiastic about it. He did not want to walk down from the road to the small beach... not even with Carl. So we carried him down and once he got down there he was OK... kind of. I could just hear him saying "Oh, this is different. Big water, lots of water. Oh, but lots of new smells and Oh, what's this." He was so cute. Carl didn't tell Cutter that last year, when he was a puppy, he didn't want to get in the water either. Oh no...


Carl sacheted down to the water and walked right into it. Not far, but he was showing Carl that he was a big dog and this was how you "get in the river". Cutter followed Carl all over the beach but he never went into the water.
It was a beautiful day. We will have plenty of time to get Cutter use to the "big water" and, if nothing else, it's the most wonderful place just to take a walk or have a picnic.
We came away with some great photos and a bag full of trash left on the beach. Some folks just can't seem to find a garbage can if their lives depended on it and the irony of it is that there were two cans up on the road where we parked. Littering is a way of life for some people.

My sister is here for a few days. We are going to get a pedicure and have lunch in Sutter Creek today. See ya later....

(Click on photos for close-ups)

Cutter Report and Goat Milk Ice Cream

Cutter baby is doing just fine. He took his first big walk with us down the hill and back (well, half way down...). His area of operation is healing well and he has an older and wiser look about him. We are still keeping him in the pen a lot because he and Carl want to play roughhouse too much and get really carried away with the wrestling and tackling. So "Cutterbutt"( I love making nicknames for him) is on light duty for a few more days. Just wanted all of you to know that the baby dude is OK.

Guess what I made this weekend? GOAT MILK ICE CREAM. It's so easy it's mind boggling. I haven't gone to the goat farm for fresh goat milk yet. I don't want to until I get the cheese making supplies I sent away for. So, I went to the store and bought a quart of pasteurized goat milk and proceeded to make honey vanilla ice cream that, I believe, rivals Haagen Dazs Honey-Vanilla Bee ice cream. I think that's the name of it. This Haagen Dazs ice cream is and will be my friend C's very favorite "store bought".... until she tries my version. Yes, C., it's every bit as good as Haagen Dazs and is , if I figured the finances of it right, half the cost.
All you do is mix a quart of goats milk( I used regular, not low fat.) and a cup of honey and 2 tablespoons of vanilla extract together.
I don't have an ice cream maker, but you could use one. I poured the mixture into a 9x12 cake pan and covered it with some press and seal wrap and popped it into the freezer.
Every hour or so I would pulled it out and break it up with a fork and a potato masher until it was mixed well and then I would return it to the freezer. .., and by dinnertime we had the best ice cream ever. I think you could use less honey and vanilla. The combination of this amount was very strong... but delicious. I think I would try smaller amounts next time. Try these amounts first and decide for yourselves.
The next day I added some fresh strawberries mashed up and mixed into the ice cream. OMG! It's so good.

This is a small helping of the Goat Milk ice cream for you. Help yourself. Enjoy! Bon Appetit!!

P.S. Goat milk has an aftertaste that I really notice when I drink the milk by itself. I don't really care for this thick, residual taste.. but this ice cream doesn't.