On the road again.

I will be gone for almost a week. I'm going down to see my family. The Beans (my two grandsons) start school on Wednesday and Noni (that would be me) wants to be there. This also gives me a chance to visit with my son's, and my sister, and my extended family.
See you in a week...

While I'm gone Carl and Cutter will guard the farm... and the Prospector... and the rug...

Something was different.

She noticed the difference the night before when , in the dark hours before dawn, she got up and turned off the overhead fan. The coolness from the open windows brought a new sensation... a chill. Could it be that summer was loosing its hold on her mountain top. She could only hope.
In the morning she worked in the garden and didn't need to water. The ground and containers were still moist from the day before.
Later she took a walk up to the well and beyond to the Manzanita grove.
She felt something happening...The air was cooler and a breeze followed her like an old friend.

An oak tree leaned over and let some of its small leaves fall around her.

The Pine tree laughed with excitement...

as it shimmered in the morning sun.
Seeing this, she smiled, thinking, "Nothing stays the same. The heat is leaving. Life moves on.". She felt the first real moment of relief she'd felt in months... and also a small tear, that stayed inside, for the passing of time.
"Oh, look." she said, to anyone who was listening, " Someone has been sleeping in the grass. A deer or a mountain lion...or the coyote?" She heard the coyote last night through her open window... "or was that in a dream? "
 Maybe the dry grass is just tired of the heat and wants to become a part of the earth again, she thought.

She stepped bravely into the high grass and then, thinking it was not time to walk there yet, she backed down onto the dirt path.
The breeze came again and, with it, the voices of trees.
The wind brings clarity, she thought, It cleanses the mind that thinks too many thoughts...
and finds the world a confusing place.
She stood quietly in its beauty.
A bird flew overhead.

Walking back to the house she watched for signs on the path. Soon the shapes that bring fear, from a distance, would not hold such significance and she would be able to walk without watching every movement around her.

Broken branches will become... simply... branches. The slithery fears will return to the ground and lighten her cautionary steps.

 There was a difference in the air. It was falling from the trees.

There was a fragrance of dry leaves and thankfulness.
She heard herself laughing. This is where I will find some answers, she thought . This is where the magic  becomes a part of me... the mystery is revealed.
She held the laughter inside of her, holding her breath to keep it there, and walked back down the path.
"I will find this thing that I need.... this wanting... this understanding of something. It's here. Maybe it's hiding in the dry grass. Maybe I already see it and I only need to look at it differently."
Another leaf fell.... and then... another.

Chickens in Transition

Napoleon remembers when he had things under control.

 When Squeaky was his best ally..

And life was good.

He, pretty much, had his hens in a row... albeit, in my garden.

But then the mafia arrived. 

The Roady, the Rock, and three Americanas...  

The new kids in town.

The coop has not been the same since. 

Visitors

It's still dry and hot here.The wild animals are all desperate for food and water. We have a big river nearby, but for some reason, we had become the oasis in the foothills for a small group of "regulars". I think that the word is out. We do fill a stock bucket with water and we do have a pile of garden clippings etc that must look pretty good to these critters right now.
So, the animals arrived everyday looking for water and whatever Farmlady has thrown on the pile beside the road... from tasty rose clippings to grape and tomato vines. I try to throw something out there every day.
The deer come morning and evening. One young buck, that has been coming here for quite a while, had a good rack started. He's the one in the back.
 They are lovely animals.

The turkey were gone for a while and now they are back. Here are "mom" and her babies... no... they are more like teenagers. I can tell because of the harried look on mom's face.

And yesterday we had two surprise visits. One was a Pigeon.

The pigeon, somehow, got stuck inside the garage and the Prospector had to do a catch and release maneuver with it. He said it had a band on its leg but didn't remember the numbers... only the letters CAL.
I look up pigeons on the computer and there are whole organizations that do nothing but deal with pigeons. They keep them, give information about them, look for lost Pigeons and even race them. It's a big deal. They even have pigeon rescues. We'll see if the pigeon sticks around or moves on in the next few days. Right now it seems happy to be here.
When Annie, our cat, walked back to see what I was doing... the Pigeon flew to the roof of the house from the potting shed.

It's a very pretty bird. We thought it might be lost or hurt, but it flies well and doesn't seem to be in distress. It does keep its distance from the cat though. Birds instinctively  know about cats. Anniecat catches doves in mid air. She's a force to be reckoned with.
I walked back behind the house and Annie stayed near the potting shed watching the pigeon. As I went through the gate something caught my eye, under the electric box, against the house.
It was our first Rattlesnake of the year. It appeared to be sleeping. I had walked by two times and never noticed it, but there it was not four feet from the gate. I went to the backdoor and called the Prospector to leave the dogs in and bring the handgun with him. He came out and killed the snake.

A young one... but no less dangerous. I don't like killing them but when they come into our yard they make a fatal mistake. I think that we are accumulating some bad karma with each one that we kill, but it has to be. They are dangerous reptiles and we can't have them near the house.
Their markings are beautiful.

These venomous pitvipers are amazing creatures that eat boat loads of mice, gophers and other rodents... and probably a frog or two. They are part of the delicate balance of nature.
 This one only had three small rattles but it was almost two feet long. We killed one a few years ago with 13 rattles on it. That was a BIG snake.
So we are on high alert from now until the first really cold stretch of weather, when they move their slithery little bodies back into the earth for the winter. Where there is one, there will be others. And you wonder why I don't like summer?

I have created a computer generated photo of this beautiful predator to honor its death.

Wordless Wednesday: The Other Woman

Wordless Wednesday: It's a BIG one. Rattler trail in the dirt.

Farmer's Market Goodies

To market, to market, to buy some ...

Okra (Yes, my husband LOVES Okra.) and a few more veggies.... and some garlic.

Saturdays and Sundays we have a Farmer's Market in Jackson. It's in the parking lot behind Mel & Fay's Diner.

They sell lots of local produce, but they also sell other things. I made the mistake of walking in without a list. I knew that I needed some Okra and garlic... and the little squash that we love so much.
What I didn't know was that I also needed some lemon curd,,,

...from this sweet lady, with a scotch accent, who lived in Mokelumne Hill.

And I also didn't know that I needed this beautiful night light. But, there it was... waiting for me.

Don't you think that I just had to have this wonderful piece of artwork for my green bathroom? Of course I did.
This lady had some beautiful jewelry. Her name is Helanna Andres.

 She was so nice and she makes beautiful jewelry. Her business is called Classic Art Glass and she has an email address: helanna@comcast.net.. If you are interested in glass art, I'm sure that she would be happy to tell you all about it.
That night The Prospector fixed some fried Okra to go with our dinner and, later...
 I went into the bathroom just to look at my new nightlight... in the dark.

It's so pretty.
I can't eat it... but that's OK. It will keep me from falling, in the middle of the night, and breaking my neck. It's my new beacon in the dark. A perfect blend of form and function. I just love it.

Waiting for Pelican

She went down to the old bridge on the river.

She was looking for the Pelican, who comes to fish with the bridge people.
But no one was there.

"Where are you Pelican? I've come to see you."
She looked far up the river and her eyes flew over the still water.
She looked down into the deep mirror below, as the river flowed underneath her and continued west.

She hoped that the Pelican would come, first in the sky and then, maybe, in the other place called reflection.
The river gave no answers. The bridge waited silently....
And the water continued downstream.
She sighed and returned to her mountain.
"I will come, again, tomorrow. Pelican will be here and we will fish this river together."

What's in the Canon?

I have a Canon Power Shot sx130 camera that I use for backup with my Nikon D40. I use it when I want to carry something light and easy or when I forget to charge my Nikon's batteries and the big camera just dies on me, unexpectedly. The Canon is one of the best point and shoot cameras I have ever had. I don't use it all the time. It's usually in a little felted bag tucked into my purse. It's my "discreet" camera... my "not so obvious" camera.
Every once in a while I remember that I took a picture, but I can't find it. That's when I say to myself, "Oh, maybe it's in the Canon." and, low and behold, there is the picture I've been looking for... trapped in a memory card inside the Canon.
So, this time, I was looking for the "Vulture" shots that I took recently and decided to check the little Canon. They were there, but so were a few others that I had completely forgotten about.  Like the day Cutter walked into the living room sporting a new look.

I don't have any idea how he did this, but both of his huge, corgi ears were tucked back in nice, neat folds. He must have been rolling on the rug and the ears just got stuck. Too funny. I grabbed the Canon and got one fairly clear photo of this phenomena.
And then there was the day that I decided to brush Annie because she was starting to look like a motley farm cat. I brushed her and used an animal comb on the fur balls that were matted on her back. She looked so good when I was done but her hair was everywhere.

It looked like some animal had lost its life.
I brushed a ton of hair out of Miss Annabel. She loves to be brushed. She gets kind of wild and crazy about it. Then she wanted to thank me and rubbed against me to show her affection.

But. "Annie! What did you do? I had you all brushed and you looked beautiful."

She rolled over again and laid down in all the leaves and dirt. She didn't stay beautiful for long. She may not care about how she looks, but she will thank me on these afternoons when it's so blessed hot and she has half that hair on her little cat body.
I also found buzzard photos. There were two of them flying overhead the other day.

And when I walked back toward the house, there was one that had landed on the power line.

He just sat there and watched me take pictures of him. He even moved around as if he was posing for me.

I took some quick pictures  and he kept watching me. Both Annie and I kept moving. You want them to know that you're ALIVE.
 I find these huge birds fascinating. These Turkey Vultures are the scavengers of the bird world. They find and eat dead things. This one never flew away. He just sat there being majestic.

I also had photos  of the last SCAT meeting in the camera. That's a new art group that we created for local artists... any art. Not just gourd art. We share our talents and what we are working on. This is going to be one of our projects.

It's a Jack in the gourd... or, in this case, a 'bird in the gourd' pop up toy for kids and adults. This one is made with an upside down gourd that has been cleaned out and a dowel has been used inside to move the gourd chick up and down. The fabric is sewn to both gourds to cover up all the inside. This could be a puppet, or anything that you want to emerge from the bigger gourd. "J" did a great job on this Easter gourd pop up. The chick is a small gourd with twigs for legs. This photo above, is in the "up" position.
This photo, below, is the toy in the "down" position.

Up, down, up, down.... It's such a great idea. I think I will make a scary, black one for Halloween, for my sister. She loves Halloween art. We can call it Spooky, in the Box.
And last... one final photo of Lake Tahoe. One of the prettiest that I took. Not sure why there was only one picture (on the Canon) of the Lake on the small camera, but there it was.

I could be IN that water right now. It would be so nice to swim around in it. But, I heard, this morning, that they are having thunder and lightening storms this week so...
 Dear Cuz.... "Stay out of the water until the storms pass."

The Canon is empty and back in my purse. I found the photos I was looking for. It's always like a little surprise to see what pictures I took with this camera.
Please don't forget about that memory card. You may have someone trapped in there.
What's in YOUR camera?

Wordless Wednesday: Historic Watson Cabin, Tahoe City, Lake Tahoe