Diving Not Permitted

Seems a bit early to me, but I do believe summer has arrived.  Watering is once again on the chore schedule, and yesterday Bessie Anne went wading twice in her pool.  I'm the assigned lifeguard on duty.  If I get the chance, I'll give her a puppy-cut hairdo to help her make it through the heat, also to keep her from bringing half the pool into the house to drip dry from her long hair.

I need to get an additional water dish/bottle for the pullets.  Last evening I found they'd drunk the full gallon dry during the day.  I filled it for them and the poor little parched buggers clustered around to drink before trooping in for the night.

Spent most of yesterday crossing off chores to get ready for next week, alternating with sitting long enough for sweat to dry.  That seems to be the summertime pattern.  I'm getting down to the girls earlier and earlier, for which we're all grateful, not that it's cool then, but definitely not as hot.  (Annual summertime whine.)

Happy Face

This is Honey's happy face.  She and Camille came over the other evening for a visit.  After the obligatory cookie (milk bone), drinking all the water in the dish, and hunting up her friend Ralph to play hide-and-seek, Honey joined Cam, Bess and I in the living room.  Becoming bored with conversation, Honey did her best to get our attention by squirming on her back and grinning.  It worked.

I wore my own happy face yesterday.  I went down to the barn with Beau, but only to observe.  He was essentially on his own and remembered the routine well, including putting down grain for the mice (I know, what can I say?).  I was also happy that the girls behaved well, and that Beau was able to get Inga milked out.  That's a success story right there.

Trying to get a head start on some meals for when I might not feel like cooking next week, I made a big pot of sausage, peppers and onions later in the day.  It's an easy recipe, but involves a lot of prep work.  It was finished just as Linda dropped by (another reason for a happy face).  She gave it a try and a thumbs up.

Linda and I had had a good laugh recently when I told her I'd bought some sports bras as recommended by my doctor for after the surgery.  Sports bras have never been part of my wardrobe.  Just the struggle to get one on was, as Linda said, like a snake eating a mouse.  I don't know how female athletes do it.  I was favorably impressed when my surgeon called to see if I had any concerns (I didn't know doctors did that anymore) and again suggested the support provided by these bras.  "Tell me, Doctor, have you ever tried to get into one of those things?"  Pause.  "Well, no."  "You might want to try one before recommending that brand of torture!"  Fortunately, he has a good sense of humor and laughed.

It was a good day.

Busting Out

June is, as the song goes, busting out all over.  The jasmine is in full bloom and filling the air with heavenly perfume.

Overnight, the Asian lilies opened up.

Beau took the day off.

A grey tree squirrel has developed a relationship with Ralph.  The squirrel runs along the deck railing and Ralph dashes from one room to another to watch him.

Ralph must have been busy somewhere else, so Squirrel just waited.

Who needs TV?

Too hot to get much done, so one takes amusement where one can.

Hands On

I threw Beau into the deep end yesterday and he came up swimming.  Inga, my problem child with tiny teats, proved too much for a first-time milker, perfectly understandable.  After that rocky start, Beau picked up the routine and did almost everything by himself.  Fortunately, Sheila is an easy milker and that gave Beau the confidence he needed.  Until hands on, it's difficult for a newbie to gauge how hard to grip and to get the downward rolling squeeze motion going.  It was also difficult for me not to hover like a mother hen.  I was there to offer suggestions and guide him through the process, not make Beau nervous.  By the time Tessie (on the stand) came in, he was working like a pro.  Today he will essentially do it all, including figuring out how to get Inga emptied.  I need to know he and the girls will be okay alone.  That ice-cold after-barn beer sure tasted good!

In the afternoon, Beau called to let me know there was a brush fire over on E16, moving fast but headed away from us.  The country version of neighborhood watch works well up here.  It certainly helps to get a heads-up.  Cam came up and we sat out on the deck to see the column of smoke and watch the spotter and dump planes circling.  She'd tried to go to the post office, but law enforcement had closed the road.  They seemed to get the fire under control pretty fast.

As we left the barn, Beau said he's definitely going to get a milking machine.

Early Bird

We'll be starting milking lessons earlier today.  The days are getting hotter and hotter and I'm hoping Beau doesn't rethink his temporary job in a sweat shop.  We were both dripping wet when we were done.  Yesterday he watched while I talked him through the entire procedure and introduced him to the girls.  The girls have, in the past, freaked out when a stranger, especially a man, is in the barn.  I did have to go out and catch Tessie, but for the most part they all behaved well.  Today will be more of  hands on for him, and tomorrow I will only supervise.  I think it surprised him to find that milking by hand is actually hard work.  I'd tried to warn him, but it's different than one imagines  It's good experience, though, since he plans on breeding his two doelings later.  It's certainly more training than I got.  We also discussed the building of his future barn and hopefully it will be more efficient than mine.  I did tell him to build much bigger than he thinks he'll need.  Goats are like potato chips, you can't have just one (or two).  A cold beer back at the house was hopefully an incentive to come back.  I'm not above bribery.

And yet another trip to town.  It was time for Bessie's annual checkup with Dr. Ric.  She knows when I put her leash on where she's going and starts shutting down.  At the office, Bess goes under a chair and shuts her eyes.  "If I can't see you, you can't see me."  The floor gets dry-mopped as my dog gets pulled and pushed and slid across to the scale, back to the chair, and again into the examination room where she immediately takes refuge under that chair.  Enough of her stuck out so the tech could take her temperature.  Dr. Ric has been her vet since the git-go and she is one of his favorites, so much so that he got down on the floor with Bess to check her out and give her shots.  Other than normal signs of aging (she's now considered a senior), my girl is in good health.  (Yes, she's a little plump, but we won't talk about that.)

I have no plans to go anywhere today.  Yay.

New Member

A new member joined the Breakfast Club yesterday, interested only in self-serve.  I first noticed him perusing the menu over by the grain pile and was very glad I did because I could see from the shape of his head that it wasn't a rattlesnake (whew).  Not that I was particularly happy because, although I fully understand the food chain, I didn't want to think of one of my little morning companions being the main course.  One evidently nearsighted mouse came over for a bite of cereal and Snake made a strike but missed, probably because I was banging on the stand (whew).  Snake moved off and I thought he'd left the barn.  No, there he was sulking behind the rake, rethinking his plan.  That's all one snake curled up.

I almost stepped on him twice while changing out the girls.  I'm talking big snake here.  He stretched nearly wall to wall as he moved over to easier pickings in the burrow on the other side of the room and it took three shots to get a full picture.  Head.

Middle.

Tail.

And that was the last I saw before he ducked below ground.  I could only hope for the best for my little buddies.  Believe me, I did watch where my feet were all morning long.  This "come one, come all" is going a bit too far.

I have been to town more in the past month or so than probably in the whole year before.  Yesterday's trip was, however, pure luxury.  I took advantage of the Kids' birthday gift and had a massage.  Ahhh!

Beau, the new member of the Milking Team, will be here this morning for orientation.  He's in for, well, let's just say he's in for it.  I just hope he's up for it, too.

It was quite a day.

The Treasures Of El Dorado

El Dorado (the golden) is a tiny little hamlet down the hill a piece between Diamond Springs and Shingle Springs.  A surprising number of interesting small businesses line the short span of road through town, but the big draw for me is and has always been Poor Red's bar and restaurant.  I was fortunate enough to be Linda's guest for lunch (an extended birthday gift) there yesterday.  The main drag through El Dorado is only two narrow lanes and crews were doing road work, holding up a lot of traffic.  As the only pedestrian in sight, I waited and waited (and waited) for the flagman to give me a nod.  It had, as my Southern neighbor used to say, "hotted up," and those poor guys under their hardhats were standing out in direct sunlight.  As I passed by when given the go-ahead, I couldn't help but say, "I hope you're getting paid well for your job today," and got some big smiles.

It was Linda's first experience with Poor Red's and it was such a pleasure to introduce her to Red's famous Gold Cadillac.  I'd been asked to give one of the manager/owners a greeting from the Freed Spirits Motorcycle Club, so Steve stopped by our table.  The FSMC are also big fans of Red's, and they are obviously well-respected and enjoyed by Steve.  Lunch was, as always, fabulous.  Linda and I took our drinks out to the patio after our meal to continue our conversation.

She had brought home to me just how small our community here is.  We had both frequented a small shop (now closed, unfortunately) and the proprietress mentioned to Linda that I'd been in and was "all dressed up," which means jeans instead of bibbies, and had a doctor's appointment.  Linda, knowing I never go to a doctor, intuited that I was "in trouble," but had kindly avoided the elephant in the room until we were face to face.  Word does get around in the strangest ways.

Lunch with my friend at one of my favorite places on a clear, hot day...it doesn't get much better.  It was a day to treasure.