Looking out my window this morning, my level of doubt rises. Snow falling and on the ground. In APRIL!!! Doesn’t seem much warmer around here this spring, that’s for sure.
On the other hand, I can’t complain. I love the look and feel of snow. Since we don’t get it very often (maybe 5-6 times a year, max), I have to enjoy it when I can.
Sadly, as I write this post at 10:30 am, the snow is already gone.
I was my birthday yesterday. Yes, I’m 29. Again.
The rule in our house is that on your birthday you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. It’s a great rule. I’ve used it over the years to spend all day in bed or all day watching television, to work on my scrapbooks, to quilt and to go shopping.
This year I took advantage of my special gift to sleep in and skip my chores. Then I felt the pull of my desk…. and decided to go sit there for a while and do something.
Funny thing, I did what would - on any other day - be considered “work”. But since I didn’t HAVE to do it, it didn’t seem like work. In fact, it seemed fun. I took extra time to organize a little bit and rearrange my filing system , something I generally “don’t have time to do”. Amazingly, by dinnertime (which I didn’t have to cook) and evening chores (which I didn’t have to do), my desk was clean, my slips of paper handled, filing done and my accounting up to date!
I came away from my birthday feeling refreshed, un-pressured and pleased by my day - and today, as I sit down to write this, I’m continuing to enjoy my birthday because my desk is clean and a bunch of things I’d been “meaning to get to” are done!
We have new baby ducks!
Momma duck laid her eggs in the barn so we put them in a safe place (a very large, low cage) until they hatched.
They arrived, happy and healthy on July 10th. Momma took them down to the pond immediately and they’ve been cruising around the yard already.
They’re mallards, basically wild but living here, so we’re hoping they stay when winter comes.
We just got a new puppy! I’d been talking about getting a little dog as a friend for Max, but never got around to actually looking for one. Yesterday a cute little girl puppy fell into our laps and is now a member of the family.
As you can see from the picture, she’s pretty little. (That’s Jere’s size 11 shoe beside her.) I’m told her daddy was a purebread doxie and her mama was a mix of chihuahua, pomeranian and terrier. I suspect mama was at least half terrier, based on the way the likes to be in and under things (like in a den).
So far everything is going well. She’s eating, trying to get outside to do her business, although when she wakes up from a nap sometimes it’s too far to the door so we have had a couple of piddle puddles. Slept by herself last night without too much whining (she did wake me up to go outside though, so that’s a good sign).
Max isn’t quite sure what to think of her yet. Truth be told, I think he’s a little bit scared of her!
We went riding yesterday, the second time this week. Good for the horses and good for us. We ride bareback, both for riding practice and because it’s really good exercise. Jere rides Heavy, our Belgian-mix mare, which is sort of like riding a sofa. I ride Mellow, our thouroughbred, which is more like riding a jack-in-the-box (he’s just a tad skittish at times).
Yesterday was one of those skittish times. At the entrance of what we call Charlie Rock Road (that’s another story), there was a dead animal, probably a raccoon. It looked like a cougar’s recent breakfast or dinner. Horses don’t like cats (big cats, anyway) - and that’s what brought on Mellow’s skittish demeanor. He really, really didn’t like the smell of that cat, but we rode anyway. The whole time I felt watched, and Mellow was on edge … I wished I’d brought my gun with me. And that brings me to the 2nd Amendment.
Out here, firearms are pretty much a way of life. We have several of different kinds of guns and feel strongly about our right to have them. Actually, around here it can sometimes be a necessity. With cougar and bear living in the woods we nearly always have a gun nearby when going very far from the house. And recently, with budget cuts in our county, the Sherrif’s office has said they are reducing the calls they make to only the most severe. Of course, in our case, it takes at least 30 mintues for a sherrif to come … so we’re pretty much on our own.
I did a lot of soul searching before I got my first gun. I had to come to terms with myself on when I might use it and then I had to make sure that I was able to handle it well. I did many hours of gun training and now occasionally do target practice. We don’t hunt for sport or food, so our guns are primarily for protection - from predators of all kinds (four-legged and two-legged). Thank my lucky stars, only once have I had a gun in hand when greeting someone who drove up (at 11:00 pm and I knew there were some major parties down the road). But I’ve never been faced with the necessity to actually use a gun for protection, and I hope I’ll never have to. But if I ever DO have to, I want to know I am able.
Jere and I are going to do some intensive firearms training at Front Site sometime this year. I’m really jazzed about it. (See some info about FrontSite here.)
To quote L. Ron Hubbard (from a policy letter of 30 January 1983 entitled “Your Post and Life”):
If one knows the tech of how to do something and can do it, and uses it, he cannot be the adverse effect of it.
Along with the right to bear arms, comes the responsibility to know how to use them safely. I intend to be fully versed in the tech of handguns and other firearms so I will never be the adverse effect of them.
The farrier came this morning to take care of our horses. Heavy (Heavenly Tears) and Mellow both got shoes to help protect their feet as we ride them over the rock roads this summer. Stormy got her feet trimmed. I love it when Frank comes to do the horses - he always dispenses words of cowboy wisdom and is a pleasure to do business with.
This time we got to talking about tea. Jere and I are pretty much off coffee lately, so tea is the order of the day around here and today it was Rooibos tea. Frank said it tasted like “mountain tea” that grows wild around here. Next thing we’re traipsing through the yard looking for it. No luck.
So Frank left and as he was driving out the driveway I saw his truck stopped and the next thing he’s pulling up a plant from the bank and walking back to the house. Mountain Tea!
I looked it up on-line but couldn’t find a picture that helps me identify it. It has a strong, slightly pungent, minty scent. I think it’s related to the mint or melissa.