Spring Fever

March 20, 2022

Hello again,

Well, I've been hobbling around all week, trying my best to rest...or shall I say, trying my best to obey my wife's commands to sit still for a few days. I took the first two days of the week off, but by mid-morning Monday was so bored sitting on the couch and putting my leg up that it wasn't long before I was out on the stoop sorting recycling and crushing aluminum cans. I felt immeasurably better already by Monday morning and didn't need to use the cane anymore. I did too much(recycling, multiple dog walks, feeding the horses, etc.), though, and had to do a better job of resting on Tuesday. By Wednesday I was back to work doing my regular mix of cleaning, prepping areas for subcontractors and doing landscaping and earth-moving outside. In the meantime, Erin took it upon herself to completely tear apart the garden so that she can start over from scratch. On Sunday, after looking at it for an hour or two over her morning pot of tea, she suddenly felt compelled to remove all of the irrigation lines, all the rocks and boards that made up the irregularly-shaped add-on beds, and all of the archways, so that all that would be left were the seven large raised beds. These she's going to better orient to the path of the sun, so as to best maximize the shady and sunny spots. On top of that, she wants to build at least another five so that there are a dozen in total. She's also going to incorporate a permanent spot for the little greenhouse that we have, as well as a cold frame that she's going to make out of a huge piece of curved plexiglass that we salvaged from the construction site. The boss thinks that she's crazy and that she's never going to get it done this year, but was then surprised to see that she cleaned it all out in just one day. Erin gave herself the whole year to accomplish all of this, but has already started talking like she's still going to plant everything on time, if not earlier than last year! Knowing the stubbornness of her mind and the tenacity of her spirit, I wouldn't be surprised if she has it all done in a week or two!

In other news, the temperature continues to go all over the place. Just in the last two weeks we've been as high as 70 with brilliant sunshine and as low as 10 with a stiff, snowy wind. We still haven't seen any of the little lizards come out yet that are everywhere out here. We have seen insects, though, and I've spied some tiny little sprigs of green coming up out of the moist dirt here and there. The horses had a standoff with an old car door the other day. Some time in between when I went out to feed them at 7am and then returned about twelve hours later, the old car door(1940s old!) that is propped up onto a gate that is always wired open fell and landed smack dab in the middle of the gate's opening. When I went out to feed the second time, I saw all the horses standing by the corral(which is close to the water trough, much closer to the houses on the property) and said, "Hi," and kept going another quarter mile or so to the feeders. I like situations like this because it gives me time to fill the trays of the feeders without them mobbing me and the back of the buggy. Usually, I can get the bigger feeder done and the main group of six horses just arriving to dig in before I move to the smaller feeder, where the other four are patiently waiting. This time, however, I got both feeders done and was wondering why no one had showed up yet. They don't always run alongside me, or after me(although sometimes they do indeed), but they are always at least walking to the feeders for chow time. So, I hopped back in the buggy to investigate and, sure enough, they were held up at the gate looking very suspiciously at the fallen car door. About half of them had even climbed the hillside to give it some extra space. Two of them were so agitated by it that they were chasing each other, bucking wildly with their hind legs high into the air! I tried to very smoothly remove it, without making a big deal of it, but was just stared at by the horses that were closest. Finally, brave, little Xena(the short, fat one!) walked right through to see if there was any hay left in the back of the buggy, and then proceeded to the feeders once she found the buggy empty. This prompted another three or four of them to cautiously move through the gate staring a hole through me and the car door that I was standing in front of. In the end, it took the two bucking broncos to rile up the remaining holdouts enough that they all charged through in one line like they were a locomotive and took off for the feeders at a full sprint. Even Freedom, who we recently gave a hard hoof trimming to, was running full tilt without showing any signs of the limping that she's been doing!

And, once again, here is a new batch of pictures for your enjoyment. First up, two shots of me and the dogs all trying to fit onto our favorite chaise from our old yard in PA, just soaking up the late winter, Southwestern sun. Next up, Rui & Willow helping Erin minesweep and clear the garden of any unnecessary piles of poop. Then, four shots of Erin and the crew out in the garden all Sunday afternoon: first up, her working on dismantling all of the irrigation lines; then, her mugging for the camera, smiling at being in her favorite spot; next, Rui helping out with the irrigation lines; and, finally, a shot from front to back showing all of the material that Erin removed by herself...you go, girl! Next, we had a big hay delivery on Saturday and Erin took these four shots, showing the entire process: first, the trailer with a big iron cage on the one side to hold the hay in place; then, the big forklift with a special rack to haul the hay into the barn; next, a closeup of the rack that carried 21 bales at a time; and, finally, a shot of me watching and showing the driver how far in he could go. Then, since the rows of hay were so wide and we could only put them across the very front of the barn, I had to put it away: first, a shot midway through as I was filling the back corner; then, the final outcome after I moved the 100 bales in the middle and right into the back corner and left the remaining 50 where they were placed. I'll use those up first, making more and more room for the buggy and our ever overflowing stack of pallets! And, finally, three shots of one of the projects that I was working on at work this week: first up, a finished shot showing a stone-filled water well with channel to lead the runoff away; then, a closeup of all the stones that were used for one of the bigger wells; and, finally, a shot of me working on the final one, with Rui walking through to give you a sense of how big I had to make them...I actually cleared the area behind the barns of rocks! Yet there are more than enough left on the ranch to fill about a million of these!

Take care.