Late Summer Scene

September 24, 2023

Hello again,

Well, it's that time of year again, time for us to get a hay delivery.  We get them roughly twice a year, at least since we've been here, and I've totally been able to make that much more precise over time.  Now, I know to the day, when we will run out and how long each type will last us.  In this instance, we still had about 60 bales of grass hay and about the same of alfalfa.  We also use a wrapped, fermented alfalfa forage and we had about the same amount of those.  So, I went big and ordered 400 bales.  Actually, it was 420 bales and our local supplier in Las Vegas brings them in 21-bale bundles, so it's always easier to make it some variable of 21.  I had to get all of the old hay out the barn and clean it out so that we could stick all the new stuff inside.  This time, I used the backhoe and found that I could put about 15 bales on the loader each trip and it make it somewhat easier on me.  I still had to stack whatever I dumped outside the barn into an orderly stack(and then again once the new stuff came and I had to squeeze all the old stuff back inside with it).  In the past, we've had leftover 21-bale bundles and I would just spear them with the tractor forks and move the whole big chunk.  This time, I had had to cut everything apart to fit them into the Rubik's Cube that is the inside of the barn and so I had to handle each bale individually.  It wasn't the biggest job in the world, but it did take a little bit of doing.  It was enough to leave me pretty tired by the end of the day.  Tired enough to walk down the hill to our new place and promptly fall asleep on the couch while Erin was making dinner.  She woke me up in enough time to go out and feed the horses before darkness fell and dinner was served.  Then, I promptly fell asleep again, this time in our much-missed and long-forgotten bed that has been hiding out about three miles away from here in storage for the last three years.  That's been a great addition to the move across the way to the new house.  It's a queen, instead of a double, and it makes all the difference in the world with two dogs and umpteen cats trying to squeeze themselves onto the same spot.  But, unlike our former home in the casita, this place is much bigger and chillier.  Yes, there are tons of big, open windows to let all of the abundant sunshine in, but there are also a lot of big, open areas that are harder to keep warm, so we might just need our blanket of pets to keep warm.  There is a fireplace in the bedroom, a wood stove at the base of the steps, and even an older fireplace out in the courtyard, a remnant from the rest of the house that used to stand there.  I've been busy gathering wood!

On the cat front, our old mill cat, Smokey, passed away this weekend.  He had increasingly been staying outside, especially as it's still been hitting the 90s as recently as a week ago, and he enjoyed lying outside on the cool concrete and stone.  He randomly showed up at our feed mill back in Pennsylvania about ten years ago and was so skittish, at first, that all you could catch of him was a flash of fur, darting amongst the stacks of feed, as I would be turning off lights and shutting doors for the night.  Little by little, I coaxed him out and, once he was comfortable, he literally took over the place.  We'd also hear about his escapades with the neighbors as he'd weasel his way into their houses and onto their porches when we weren't there in the evenings or over the weekends.  He was quite the character.  And, apparently, he was doomed to an early grave...at least, that's what the vet told me when we finally got him in there for his first checkup.  He said that he had some horrible, terminal disease and that we basically should just do everyone a favor and put him down.  You know, he confided in me, the area where your mill is at is absolutely swarming with feral cats...i.e., no one will miss him.  I took his meaning quite clearly, but otherwise did nothing else to 'treat' him and for the next five years he was always our best employee.  Then, he calmly let himself be kidnapped in our big cargo van with the final load of our personal stuff that we took home before turning over the keys to the new owners.  He just chilled in the front seat, with no need of a carrier, and seemed to be rather curious and, perhaps, a little excited about his future.  So, he hung out with us for six more months in PA, after we sold our mill and were trying to sell our house, and then, just as calmly, submitted himself to an even bigger 2000 mile trip west!  Then, after a very relaxing three-year retirement, he passed away, contentedly, next to the front door and is now up on the hill with Rui and the others.

Now, for everyone's favorite part, another new batch of pictures from the ranch.  First up, three artistic renditions that I've done of late: a sea of Blue Grama Grass; a dead snake from a bale of hay, tacked to the barn wall; and one of the million or more mantises out here.  Then, our final shot of Smokey from four days before he died.  Next, three shots of some of the critters out here: another mantis; the barn snake, together with feather, rendering it into Quetzalcoatl; then, a finch using my branch in the little water trough that I leave there for the animals(it's reduced tank drownings of squirrels and birds by a massive amount over the last couple of years!).  Then, speaking of Rui, who we lost back in June, this was our last shot of him before he got sick, out clowning around on the porch of what is now our house.   Next, three more shots from around the ranch: statue and flowers by the boss's house; a sweep around where the dumpster used to be before running the backhoe over it...!!!!; another shot of all the native grasses here.  And, finally, five shots from the couple of days around the hay delivery, moving  all the old to just outside the barn, bringing the new in and then putting it all back together again.

See you soon.