Sunshine On My Shoulders

I really wanted pictures of the clouds yesterday and was shooting this blind as I aimed south.  I didn't expect the sun to be the "star" of the photo, but it sure is.

When the Kids were little, we lived in an area of adobe clay.  Dry, it is as hard as cement and it's no surprise it was (and still is) used for bricks, fences, and homes.  With proper conditioners (I suggest rabbit poop) to aerate, it will grow anything.  Wet, it is a gluey mess that sticks to everything, including itself.  I once weighed the Kids' shoes when they came in from playing and each shoe was encased in ten pounds of mud!  The Kids thought it was a hoot to walk around like Frankenstein's monster, but those shoes had to be rinsed and scraped before the mud hardened forever.

Up here, the soil is decomposed granite (DCG).  It also requires a conditioner to hold water in the garden (of course, I suggest goat poop, known as garden gold).  Dry, it is as fine as powder and dust clouds roll when it is disturbed.  Wet, it is as slippery as Teflon, even without the chickens' contributions.  Because it will not hold water, give it a couple of hours without rain and the soil is dry again.  In the pen, wallows scraped out by the goats had become wading pools during the rain.  By the time I'd finished milking the last goat yesterday those wallows were empty again.  The slide marks I'd made on the path on my way down were still there but dry on my walk back up.  Conditions were perfect and I was as happy as a clam when Tree Guy showed up to finish planting the two remaining mulberry trees for the goat pen shade project.  Goats being what they are, the trees have to be caged with strong wire fencing if they are to have even the slightest chance of survival.  Planting, therefore, was not a simple job of digging a hole and plunking in the tree.  TG has promised to finish the water line before summer comes.

The porch woodpile is replenished.  The sun is rising.  All is right in my world.