The Mysterious Crop Circle

At the northwest corner of my place, back behind the barn, is a mysterious crop circle. The crop is weeds and it really is a mystery to me why this bare patch of ground exists. The ground is hard here, much closer to plain granite then decomposed granite so the weeds are more sparse here then other locations. But why do the weeds get thicker on the boundary of the circle and then nearly no vegetation at all inside the circle? I have been here for 26 years and so I know that nothing has ever been on this spot--no old buildings, no parked vehicles, no junk. It is about 12 feet long and about 7 feet wide in the middle.
I have yet to see the UFO land here.

Happy 26th Birthday to Dreamer--My First Morgan Baby!

And just how can my first Morgan baby be 26! Where has the time gone to.
This photo was taken back in the early 1990's or thereabouts.

We had gotten seriously interested in Morgans in 1979 and in 1980 we bought our first two Morgans, both mares. In 1982, we bred both of them. In April, 1983, Dave's mare, Serene, was giving signs of impending birth so I called Dave at work and told him to hustle home. He got there in time to see the last half of the birth of the dark brown filly whose name I knew very quickly--Dream Fire.
She was a lovely foal and grew up to be a lovely mare.

Dave has moved on and is now my ex, although we remain friends. Dreamer still lives here with me. Her back has dropped some but she still has no white hairs on her face and requires little in the way of special feeding. Her last vet check, Fall 2008, showed her to be in good health with good teeth. I am happy to see her each day and hope for many more years of happy days.

Sunrise

Two photos from a sunrise back in 1993. This is looking Northeast. The lower photo shows Little Cauhilla Mtn. in the background.

Got Milk?

Well, his momma sure didn't.
It was late May 1996 and I was admiring my two colts born that spring when I realized that one of them was not looking too good. He seemed thinner then he should be for about 12 days old. I watched him nurse, or rather, try to nurse. He kept bumping mom's udder but very little milk was forthcoming and she was getting very crabby. I put in a call to my vet to ask "Can a mare who had good milk be drying up at short of two weeks?" The answer was "Yes". So I was off to the feed store to get Foal Lac, a milk replacer. The vet had told me how to mix it not quite to instructions so as to avoid giving the foal scours. He had me using slightly less water and replacing some water with Gatorade. Gatorade comes in many flavors and color but I just could not bring myself to give pink or green or blue milk. There was one flavor that was clear, so that is what I used.

Every two hours, around the clock, I was mixing Foal Lac and water and Gatorade in a bowl and taking it out to the colt. For night feedings, since I did not want to blow my night vision, I would pre-measure all ingredients so I could mix in the dark. Then out by starlight and moonlight to feed.

After the initial shock wore off, it all worked out grandly. The colt gave up on nursing mom, which improved her attitude greatly so that I was able to leave him with her. When I would show up with his bowl of milk, he would nicker and come running. I made him a creep area with hay and Foal Lac pellets. As time passed, I was able to increase the length between feedings and cut out most of the night feedings.

There was something special about taking him his milk and his greeting when he saw me coming. This relationship continued after the milk was done and he became a very special horse to me. He no longer lives with me, having moved on to be special friend for a disabled lady in Arizona, but SSM Fire Singer, better known as Big Red, still holds a special place in my heart.

Borrego Spring Wildflowers

These were taken a few weeks back when I was visiting there.

I Really Like My Pergo Floor--

Because it cleans up so easily when my hunting cat vomits back up his latest rodent conquest. Summer Clouds, the overweight Maine Coon who is on a permanent diet, is very laid-back and mostly inactive--except when there is a rodent to be caught and then he turns into Master Hunting Cat. His former owner had him declawed but that does not impede his prowess at all. Any rodent who dares to actually enter the house becomes first a victim of Hunting Cat, then a cat toy and finally cat food. However, Summer has yet to keep down what he eats. It may come back up within minutes or it may take all night, but back up it does come. When it happens on the carpet, cleaning is work. When it happens on the Pergo, it is easy.
This morning I got to clean up off the Pergo last night's rodent. He has discovered that mice sometimes take a shortcut across the cat patio, so now he waits for them out there then brings them in the house to play with and eat. I'm happy that there is one less rodent living under the house; the cat is happy; only the rodents fail to enjoy this activity.

Waterworks, Pt. 2--The Joke is on Me, Again

I knew I should have gone back down the hill yesterday morning to check and see if the valve really was turning completely off. But I had an appointment with my tax accountant and was already running late. (And, how come, when I am already late I get later because I end up behind a county truck putting those reflective dots down the center line and he was not going to move over for the long line of cars stacked up behind him. Being first in line I did get a close view of the two men sitting practically on the road, one with the glue and one putting down the dots.) When I got home, sure enough, the hole was full of water. I let it run and later after washing dishes and arranging house water, I shut down the electric to the well again. This morning, the hole had no standing water.
Joe swears he will be able to get to this today for sure.