Friends and neighbors

For reasons beyond my ken, I was able to email photos from my iPhone to my gmail account – for a day. Now all methods of transferring photos have locked up again. Ah, the vagaries of technology. Maybe Mu$k sneezed – or fathered yet another child (ick).

Moving on to the title. Friends. A long-time horse buddy and I met up for our once-every-year-or-two catch-up lunch date recently, and boy, was there a lot to catch up on. She had just purchased a second horse after her partner for the last 12 years was diagnosed with cancer. Said partner is still doing well, but the handwriting is on the wall. I told her she inspires both jealousy and hope – not only is she a member of the Century Club (the one thing on my bucket list), she welcomed an exciting new dressage horse the month before she turns 80!!!

trying out her new Lusitano partner in AZ

new guy on the left, "Century Ride" partner on the right

My own two horses are still happily grazing the neighbors' property. For awhile Stella was ducking under the single-strand electric fence gate to go where she wished on the upper half of their property (until they put up a more substantial gate). Then the neighbors set up an unused utility sink as a watering trough during a hot spell (I bring them back to the barn midday to get a good drink). Stella showed her appreciation for their thoughtfulness by pawing in it, splashing most of the water out and then grabbing the stopper and pulling the plug (they removed the sink).

Stella on the lam – and in the landscaping

before the shenanigans

only 14 years until we can do our Century Ride!

If you count sheep in the photo below (don't fall asleep 😉), you might realize there is one ewe missing. Bette wasn't up to snuff for two or three weeks. We tried antibiotics but they didn't help, so Rick drew blood. The results indicated liver failure, and she died during the night shortly thereafter. We have no idea what caused the problem; no one else shows any symptoms. One of those sad sheepy mysteries....

and then there were seven

In dogs news, Poppy and I tried a new agility venue. There is a training and trial facility just ten minutes from home that recently hosted a trial put on by an Aussie club but open to all breeds. There were so many lovely Aussies and they really made me miss dear Jackson; maybe someday I'll have another. But for now Poppy is my pet and partner, appreciated for her size and slick coat and loved for her personality and intelligence.

one of the few other non-Aussie competitors

We ended on a good note!

spotty dog!

In homefront news, Chuckie's still relaxing, the young swallows (I think only two survived fledging) are still hanging out, the garden is still growing, and the sun is still setting every night, sometimes spectacularly.

That's it for now from . . .

Can you hear me wail from there???

Well well well. Since my last post I've been slowly and steadily moving photos from my iPhone to my laptop for my next update, and adding notes here to remind me of what I wanted to share. Then tonight my laptop froze up and I had to force it to shut down, then restart it. When it came back to life, my "blog photos" folder was empty. Zip. Zilch. That folder didn't just contain photos for my blog. It had all my saved Poppy photos from infancy on; all my photos of Leo from adoption on; shearing and fleece photos; spinning and knitting photos; and probably hundreds more that I can't think of right now in my dismay. The recent ones are still on my phone so I can search through my files and transfer them again, but the older ones are apparently gone forever. Some of them may be on my external back-up drive, although I can't remember the last time I used it....

Anyway, until I find the heart and make the time for all that, this is all you get from . . .

One day at a time

I just finished producing our monthly church newsletter, with photos. I've learned that I can move them from iPhone to laptop by emailing them One. At. A. Time. This tedious process makes me more selective, which is probably a good thing. Not that you might be able to tell by the number of photos below; playing catch-up after visits to two different commercial flower growers with display gardens would challenge the most selective photographer!

In chronological order, here are a few of the photos I felt worth sharing. First, four of my eight hens:

Next, photos from our visit with friends to Adelman Peony Gardens, mostly taken in the fields, rather than the display gardens:

Two days later, we went with family to Schreiner's Iris Gardens, where all my photos were made in the display gardens:

Chuckie, our resident hay inspector:

Poppy, my mighty hunter:

I've had to take Poppy on leashed walks for awhile now (during which she caught that young California ground squirrel in tall grass) because she thinks she can take a deer. I'm sure this doe has offspring stashed on our property because she goes after Poppy in the pasture, and although Poppy thinks it a grand game to dodge her, one strategic blow with a sharp hoof could disable or even kill her.

The ewes escaped their paddock on the neighbor's property recently and wandered around in the nasty grass that I've been calling foxtail or cheat grass but which my neighbor has identified as Ripgut Brome. Scary stuff. I spent hours in the fold monkey-picking the sharp awns from their wool, hands-on time with each ewe which they all came to love.

It's raining today, which is always appreciated this time of year. Too often in recent years the rain has stopped abruptly in spring, followed by a long, hot, dry summer that feels decidedly un-Oregon. But so far, June has been cooler and often damp, if not always wet. But after typing that I looked at the forecast, UGH; temps at 90 and above are in the ten-day forecast.

No other big news right now. We're coming up on our 42nd wedding anniversary, and haven't made any plans yet. I like plans; my husband is more spontaneous. Yep; opposites attract. 😉

That's it for now from . . .