Feast or Famine... no middle ground.

We asked for it. We wanted RAIN. We did dances and said prayers... and feared the summer. Well, someone was listening and someone, possibly Mother Nature, decided that we needed a reprieve from all the worry for a while. But, good grief!! I'm not sure how long this rain will last and it's wonderful, but by about 3:30 p.m. this afternoon, I was going out of my ever lovin' mind. The rain has been non stop since Friday and we needed a break. After all... this is California.
So, this afternoon, I put on my raincoat and my boots, took my camera and told the Prospector that I was goin' crazy, so I was goin' for a walk. I asked the dogs to come too. They were reluctant. They don't like getting wet, pedigree Corgis that they are, but they finally came out with me... only out into the garden to relieve themselves... and then... back up onto the porch again.
The minute I stepped outside I heard the creek at the bottom of the canyon. I stood at the edge of our garden and listened. The creek was roaring.

The rain stopped for a few minutes. I walked out to the driveway and picked three daffodils that had chosen to bloom during the last few days and were suffering from the drenching rain.

Poor lovely flowers. Reminders of Spring. I needed to save them.
The old '38 Chevy was right behind me watching me hold the daffodils and take pictures at the same time.

She has been very neglected since the Prospector bought the RV. Even though we keep her under a tent like plastic cover, she is a mess. I think she has a cold. Her eyelashes don't look good and it looks like she threw up recently.  I know this isn't anyway to treat an old lady. We have talked about selling her this summer. It's very expensive to restore these ladies to their former beauty and the Prospector has lost interest. After all of my jealousy and inappropriate comments about her when she first came here, I feel kind of bad.
I will give her a bath when the sun shines again. She's still a beautiful car, even with all the dirt and rain. She deserves better. She deserves to be restored.
See this post about the day we bought her... here.
And the day we brought her home... here.



It started to rain again, so I decided to not take my camera up to the well and back. Too much moisture. I could walk again, later, without it... or tomorrow. So I headed back to the house.
The dogs were waiting, on the porch, and ran out to great me. I let Cutter smell the flowers.

He can be so adorable. I thought he was going to eat them... but he just nosed them and backed away. When he determined that it wasn't a biscuit... he lost interest.
The rain started getting serious and both dogs went into the house to be dried off by the Prospector. It's a game Carl likes to play. "You dry me off and I try to grab the towel." He loves the tug of war.
I walked around the garden for a few minutes. One of the garden ladies was looking quite Zen in the planter.

I cut the chrysanthemums and the holly hocks back to the ground before Christmas and look at them coming back up. The rest are (I think.) some paper whites and maybe, in the front, some blue hyacinth or Crocus. To be honest, I don't remember what I planted there. Bulbs are always a surprise for me because sometimes I write down what I plant and where... but, not often enough. If they are in there for more than a season or two... then I forget and it's a happy surprise in the Spring.
OK, I probably wrote down what I planted the first year or two that we lived here. That was sixteen years ago. After that... Who knows.
The hummingbird wind chimes are calling the hummers...

 ... but they must be weathering the storm in a sheltered place. Haven't seen any for a week. Yes, a few stay all winter here. It's mild enough and we feed them.
The donkey, like the Tin Man, needs an oil can.

He hasn't moved from this spot for two years. I think he likes the garden. I will make a hat of daffodils for him when there are more of them blooming.
It started raining heavily... so I went inside the house and found something to put the flowers in.

Daffodils brightened up the whole kitchen. They don't have a strong fragrance but they are so beautiful.
Maybe tomorrow I will walk down the road and take some pictures of the roaring creek for you. Should be a wonderful walk and maybe I will run into some other interesting sights as well... like a salamander or something.

These Daffodils are for all of my friends who are neck deep in snow and are tired of being cold.
I know that this has been a long winter for you. Think Spring... it will come.

Brownie and the Black Feather

On my walk the other night I went through the back gate. Annie was up on the fence, as I went by. She has  a badly scratched up nose. She has had this sore nose for a week now.

  It's healing but it still looks kind of sore. She won't let me touch it. I think it's getting better on its own.

"Wanna come with me Annie?" She looked mighty comfortable and didn't move, so I left her and continued up the road.

As I walked past the "other woman" I sensed a feeling of unrest.

And I thought I heard a small grumble coming from her hood vent.

I'm really sorry that she has to stay outside now (Really, I am.) but until we build another garage, this is the best we can do. I don't think she's happy about it.

I walked on up the hill to the well and choose the low road to the orchard...

 The road, on the left, goes to the top of the hill where I love to walk. (This was our escape route during the fire last summer.) The road on the right goes down  to the old orchard, (what's left of it) and to our septic leach system... and to the other knoll where all the Manzanitas grow. It's a much shorter walk.
 I always take the lower road in the summer because there is less dry grass. Even though the weather is nice and cool this week, I never walk in the tall grass until late fall when I know that there's less chance of a Rattler lurking in the weeds.
The sky was so beautiful.

The hills to the east, toward the Sierras, were laughing in the overcast, coolness of the day.

I said hello to Maggie who is buried up on the hill near the road. She was our last big dog, a beautiful shepherd mix, before we got the two little Corgis. Actually, Carl, our first corgi, came to live with us while Maggie was still alive.  
When she died, The Prospector buried her up here and asked me to make a sign for the site.

  That was almost four years ago. She was a wild little puppy when we first got her and I always feel like her spirit is bounding around with me up there. I don't walk up to the grave this time of the year (the grass is too long) but I always say something to her. She was a good dog.
I turned around and started back.. When I got about two thirds of the way back to the house, I saw something long and black on the side of the trail. My heart started beating a little faster, but I was quite a distance from it and well... rattlers aren't usually that dark. I just couldn't see it clearly.
I walked down, slowly, and  realized it was a feather, a huge black feather...

 underneath the utility pole. It was a turkey vulture wing feather sitting there moving a little in the wind. It wasn't in the deep grass, so I picked it up. It was huge.  The vultures like to sit up on the top of the pole a lot so I guess one of them dropped this feather. We have found them here before.

I walked down toward the house and the blond hussy (the 38' Chevy). This time she didn't say anything. I think she should be happy that we, at least, cover her. After all, she is going to get a complete overhaul one of these days (money, money, money...) and I can't even get the Prospector to pay for my orthopedic inserts.
Oh, I'm sorry. Now, I'm the one that's venting.

When I got down to the back gate, Annie was still up on her perch. I took the feather and teased her with it.

She humored me for a few minutes and then...

Lost interest.

I went by the goat yard and Brownie gave me a  muted "Hello.", so I walked over to the fence, reached over with the feather and tickled his nose.

That's when he made this face. Hilarious! 

 I pulled the feather away and started to leave... 

So he gave me his cute goat look.

 "Why did you stop?"

 "Farmlady. Please keep doing that."

 And he made that silly toothy smile again...

 What a ham!

So I played "feather" with him for a while

And he got downright silly about it. He tried to eat the feather. We had a great time. He loved all the attention.
This morning I took an old brush out there and gave Brownie a back rub. (Yes, I'm spoiling him.) His hair is growing back and he's looking pretty darn good. He's still too skinny, but he is gaining weight and his body looks so much better. He seems to be thriving in his "last goat standing" status. I was always told that Nubians didn't like to be alone. That they need other goats. Well, this guy is just fine. He's a character. That's for sure.
 I dearly miss Murphy, but Brownie is our survivor... par excellence. He is playing this solitary life for all its worth. He's still our outspoken, show pony. I'm sure there will be more stories to tell.

The Other Woman Comes Home

We brought her home yesterday. She had her brakes fixed and some other things that make her road ready. I think she has found out that she better be nice to us  because she is becoming an expensive pleasure. The auto shop owner had a big smile on his face as we drove off. He knows we will be back.
We stopped and filled her up with gas and someone shouted as he drove by  "Nice car". We went for a little drive, together, down Main St. and around town. People notice this car. Folks wave at you and smile. We saw people giving us the thumbs up. It was kind of fun.

The Prospector drove his new love down the road  looking blatantly happy about this beautiful new woman in his life. I wondered, as I drove silently behind him taking pictures, if I need to worry about this charming addition to our family?

I knew, as I watch him drive her up the road to our house that she was probably going to be a contender...

But, I will have to admit that she looked pretty darn good in the driveway. Kind of spiffs up the place out here in the woods. I think I can hear the Andrews Sisters singing on the car radio....

Carl and Cutter were not at all convinced that this wasn't the UPS guy in disguise and looked a bit concerned. They did a lot of barking....every time they went out front.

The Bone of Contention. Do you see my Toyota Rav 4 in our garage? Does this look like a Toyota? I think not.
This morning SHE was in the garage and MY Toyota was outside parked near the fence. The Prospector did a switch when I wasn't looking. He said that he didn't want her to get sunburned.  OK! I can play this game too.  Just watch me....

"The Other Woman"

I think my husband is in love with another woman. Even though she is older than me I'm beginning to worry.
He took me to meet her yesterday. I've known about her for weeks, but I finally got to see her in person and I have to say....I think I'm in trouble.
SHE is a 1938 Chevrolet Master Deluxe and I think she is in better shape than I am. Other than some rusty places (I have several myself) and a few minor age related injuries she's in very good condition.
I was so against this whole relationship. I was not being very accepting of this usurper, this lovely blond vision of long ago . But... she's beautiful and I was kind of taken by her myself.

We went across the highway and had breakfast for lunch at Frank's Cafe. I could feel the thoughts of her floating across the road. The Prospector talked about her with a lilt in his voice... how beautiful she would look after he spent some money on her. But I'm seeing thousands and thousands of dollars floating through the sky like the big vultures that look for road kill along our roads and I start thinking of all the things we need to do around the farm. More gravel for the road, the house painting before Fall, new rug for the living room..., the potting shed I've always wanted.... GULP!

All is lost if someone else doesn't come along and take this woman before my husband does. The blatant disregard for our relationship is evident when he lies down and checks her brakes and shocks. Oh lord! What I'm I going to do?
I may have to get down and dirty. I may have to pull her spark plugs.