A Bit of Rain on a Tuesday

Egads! I think it actually rained some last night!   I see little puddles of water on the porch.  This is special, for sure, because it is so dry here.  Humidity is less than 5% most of this spring.  The little grasses that did come up were withering away and our volunteer fire department has asked residents to attend their wildfire preparedness training on a weekly basis.   And - it rained some last night!   Old Virgil's mother (a pioneer in this area) used to say, "Well, it'll rain someday...."  There is hope, but it's rather sad to miss the spring wildflowers.

We've kept the sheep, donkey and horse in the corrals to save what little pasture there is.  Had to move Angel, the donkey, out of the sheep pens when she started to drag the sheep around on the ground out of sheer boredom. 

I need to get ready for work.  Egads!  Just found myself sitting and thinking. 

Red Flag Warnings and Love

Pike's Peak seen through the scrub oak

I woke early this morning to the wind howling yet another day.  The humidity is low, too, which means another "red flag warning" day.  There is a bit of green here in the Wets but on the plains it's looking brown and dry.  I got up at just before 6 am - because there are few things I like better than to make coffee at the break of dawn and NOT go to work.   The habit is to pour a cup and then wander from window to window to savor the four directions.

My youngest daughter, Madeline, has returned home for awhile.  She has brought Rooster, the blue heeler, back with her and her huge yellow cat, Moses.  Last night my middle duaghter, Emily, came home for the weekend and she brought her dog, Bear, with her.  We now have four dogs and two cats who are used to being allowed in the house.  My first task this morning was to feed them all (the animals, not the daughters) and send them outside to play.  They've been in and out all day.

My daughters each are moving on their journeys through this time and I am honored that they allow me to be, in some small way, part of them still.  They are truly my pride and joy.  My daughters, not the animals. 

So, I'm wrapping the day up now and stopping to reflect again.  Despite the wind which has only just now calmed it was a lovely day.   The daughters have gone together to a girlfriend's 30th birthday party and Jerry is downstairs making some music.   He's wooing me, I think........ 

Spring Fever and Farm Update

Ohhhh, it was a long day today. The afternoon stretched on and on. And when I looked at the clock it wasn't cooperating at all. Others at work seemed tired and worn a bit at the edges. It's gotta be Spring. Farm update - I planted my pea patch this weekend. It snowed the next day so that was perfect for snow peas, wasn't it? I've put lettuces and radish and spinach in the cold frame (although I could have done that even earlier - we'll see if it helps at all - still a month of freeze possible). We woke Saturday morning to find a surprize lamb! A little April Fool. Our ewes are real young and we didn't think we'd have lambs this year. He's adorable. People ask what we do with our lambs and of course we eat them at some point. A good friend's mother once said that she would prefer to know and name the meat she eats - and I agree with her. Good karma. New chicks are due to arrive next week. We're all set up for them. So are the coyotes, I'm sure. Damn coyotes. Eat the rabbits! Eat the rabbits!

Oven Cleaning the Green Way

I cleaned my oven yesterday. It is a totally Big Deal as it is not a "self cleaning" oven. Oh, if it only were! This is the same stove that was in the double wide trailer house that we lived in on our property while we built our current home. It's an old LP propane Kenmore that works just fine - but, you have to clean the oven the old fashioned way. It hasn't been really cleaned for 11 years. Now before you go all weird on me and accuse me of being a slob I have to tell you the the damn oven sort of self cleans itself whenever you bake in it. You know, stuff turns to ashes so it's really not seething with maggots or anything like that. Yesterday I cleaned it with some sort of spray that is pure lye based. It's nasty stuff. I tried using the vinegar in a boiling pan of water left in the oven overnight "green clean" idea but 11 years of gunk does not render itself to "green clean". It's spanking new looking now. But, I'll bet you anything I won't clean it again for another 11 years.

Modern Medicine

It snowed a little last night. A surprise in the night kind of snow. There is that comforted feeling that comes about from the realization of how buffeted from the elements one can be, all snuggled in a warm bed. Entwined with that one person who is as familiar with your life as you are.

There hasn't been a lot of that entwining business going on here for the last week until last night because of the Illness. I thought I'd go to work yesterday because I was feeling like the Illness might be leaving me. I was wrong. Started the "Zpack" antibiotic and some kick ass steroids yesterday and I just about feel human again. Does anyone else ever think about how many times they might died in their lifetimes without the miracle of modern medicine?

It looks like it will stay cloudy today. I will hang out some sheets later if it doesn't snow/rain and knit on my sweater and be grateful for kick ass modern medicine.

Scrub Oaks and Restoration

Sick. I've been sick since Sunday with a cold. Bleh. Cough, cough, cough. Makes me regret the day I threw away that old bottle of codeine cough syrup that had been hiding out in the back of the medicine chest. I think it would have helped even as old as it was. I've tried to knit a couple of times but just don't have the concentration for it and ended up unraveling as much as I knitted.

This morning instead of futile knitting the dogs and I took a little early March hike about. The bare scrub oaks are kind of lacey against the blue sky.

I'll go to work tomorrow. And feel restored. How fortunate I am!

Saturdays and Possibilities

It's so sweet to wake up on a Saturday morning after a week of workdays. Saturday just bursts with possibilities, don't you think? Even washing the bed sheets and hanging them out has promise. There are always those sewing projects, the garden, ideas for dinner, throwing a little hike in somewhere - these are stuff of Saturdays.

This morning the clouds are roiling about and it is windy and cold. My brother Tom and his new bride are coming tonight and will stay until Sunday. Tom - at 51 - was a total bachelor until he married Deborah last Fall. I am very happy for them - they just seem so right for each other. Tom has always been kind of a loner. He loves his family but really never went out of his way to visit us for heaven's sake. What would be the point? So, here comes Deborah who hales from a huge Hispanic family and is related to everyone in Pueblo. Family is important and she is quite responsible for orchestrating several family gatherings in the six months she and Tom have been married. She is exuberant - and I just get a kick out of her for that.

Have a wonderful full of possibilities weekend, all.