A merry little Christmas

I gave the horses a Christmas Eve treat – a brief graze:

There is no video of Lance running around because he never lifted his head until I haltered him and dragged him away from that jewel tone grass; ha! (His grass must be limited because of his metabolic condition.)

It was clouding up again, but I saddled Stella to hopefully squeeze in a ride. We got in about ten minutes before the rain drove us back to the barn. But hey, any time in the saddle is a gift for me.

I waited for another break in the rain to go into the garden and grab some kale and parsley. The kale might survive the coming cold spell, but the parsley is likely doomed. I froze most of the kale, and oven-dried most of the parsley. I should have harvested a whole bushel of the parsley, but only had so much  time; there were holiday meals to prep.

I asked Brian to clean the hen house, so they got clean shavings for Christmas:

Poppy in the aftermath of our cozy family Christmas Eve (she's extra-cozy in her new puffy coat):

And Christmas morning? Well, it tried. 😉 We had a brief dusting.

After a lovely church service that included our annual Giving Tree that benefits a selected charity, the pastor and his wife joined us for Sabbath/Christmas dinner (their children and grands live overseas):

Since they left it's been a quiet day. After hanging out in his room, Brian took off to be with a friend. Rick had to go treat a patient, and came back with some gifted Christmas goodies. I talked to my parents on the phone. Snow has fallen off and on but hasn't stuck – yet.

And to all, a good night, from . . .

My spirit animals

Why yes, I have a thing for black critters! But I like all my other-colored critters, too. 😉

October was awful but ended OK, with two dry, mostly sunny days and no additional crises. But I'm not going to turn around; there's probably another one lurking behind me. 😳

I had to come to town to post this and catch up on some internetty things, because Rick changed our set-up at home to make it better and now it doesn't work at all. I can use my iPhone with data, but not my laptop. Sigh. But hey; I get to be by myself for awhile.

Today I went to the garden to pick basil; someone gave us some spaghetti squash so I was going to serve it with fresh pesto. Alas, the basil is done, but I came in with a shirt-front full of tomatillos, peppers, tomatoes, and a small cucumber. There is a boatload of parsley out there for the picking, too; I need to make another batch of tabbouleh. I used the last of my Bob's Red Mill Freekah for the last batch, and oh my, it was the best I've ever made. Must Get More Freekah!

The wind and rain we've gotten this week have brought a lot of leaves down, but my island and house-front Japanese maples are LIT. Here are some photos of them and other spots of beauty around here and in town, from older (and before the wind and rain) at top to newest at the bottom:

After Lottie's demise, the pullet bullets stopped. Then yesterday, I found a rich brown egg of regular size (far right):

I got another one today that is a bit smaller. None of my older hens lay an egg of this color. Now I'm wondering if they are all from Kate, and the chaos in the coop Tuesday put her off laying for a few days. I'll probably never know, and Kate's not sayin'.

The last two photos are from earlier this month but I just had to save them for tonight. I give you creepy fungi and pyscho pup:

Happy Howloween from . . .

Right on cue

Yesterday was warm – in the 80s. Last night felt balmy, like the summer evening it was – the last summer evening of the year. Yay! 😁

This morning fall kicked uff with a lovely sunrise. I took a couple shots off the deck, then took Poppy out for a potty walk. As I rounded the north side of the house, there was Mt. Hood surrounded by glorious color. Score!

The rest of the day was mostly cloudy and cooler. I had a haircut scheduled for noon in nearby Amity, so Poppy and I left early so she could have a playdate with her sister Penny. Yes, this is how Deckers do fun  (this, and running FAST). 🤣

We're not quite through with summer weather, which is good because I need to pick bush beans, tomatoes, and basil. But next week looks like sweater weather!

Welcoming the change of seasons at . . .

And rain it did!

We got 2.2 inches over the weekend, the most in a 24-hour period since January 16! Sunday was dry except for a few sprinkles and the rest of the week is supposed to be in the 70s and 80s. I expect the garden to get a boost, weeds to germinate like crazy (it would be great if the beets do, too!), and the grass to start greening up faster than it would seem possible. (I took a panoramic shot of the upper and middle pastures last week; I'll take a companion shot in a week to show the difference.)

Thanks to the coming rain kicking our rears into high gear, Rick and I made fresh-pressed muskat grape juice and steamed concord (mixed white and purple) grape juice with the grapes he picked, and I put much of what I picked on Friday in the dehydrator – one tray of cherry tomatoes, two trays of tomatillos, and two trays of eggplant. I'm looking forward to putting these into hearty stews this winter; yum. Next on the seasonal agenda is picking apples and making applesauce (me), mowing the pastures and spreading manure (Rick, once he gets the radiator replaced on the Kubota).

In the breeding shed, things quieted down quickly. First Blaise, then Bridget hung out with Spot; I haven't observed who is his 'favorite' at the moment. Spot is taking his flocksire role in stride this year instead of the frantic excitement of last year. He's slimmed down some, too, which is fine; he was looking rather portly. He still loves his chin rubs, as did Blaise on Sunday.

Bridget and Spot

Bernadette and Bette

Blaise

Last Sabbath Rick had to go on a call near the coast, so Poppy and I rode along. After the vet call we drove to the beach, and managed to hit a dry spell for a walk. As always, Poppy zeroed in on the seagulls; she desperately wants to catch one and hauls on the lead like a sled dog. In fact, she hit the end of the retractible leash so hard it broke, and off she raced, into the surf! I shrieked and Rick took off after her. Fortunately she didn't get swept away, and after a few moments actually saw and heard Rick and returned to him. Whew; I really thought we might never be able to catch her again when there are seagulls to chase all along the beach. I had brought along a regular leash for just such an emergency, so we continued our walk with that.

Just before that retractible leash snapped!

That line in the sand is Poppy digging in  and pulling

All's well that ends well at . . .