You can fool the fans - but not the players.... John Cage

Is it Friday yet?

Who would have ever thought that my life would be so busy? I simply pass through my art room these days, looking longingly at my work bench and collage table wondering when I am going to have a chance to get down there and get into a project? Part of my big life plan is to start up an etsy shop and start selling this stuff, but in order to sell you have to have some inventory and in order to have that inventory I've got to make things. It is a vicious circle!

Maybe that is why I was attracted to this painting at the thrift store. I walked by it several times and then turned back to buy it. It was in an awful frame, which I ripped off immediately, but the simplicity and the peacefulness really appealed to me. I just love it. I have to find a new frame and find a good place in our house to hang it but even right now, leaning against the wall on the floor, I just love it.

 

And maybe that is why I had to buy a big bunch of flowers last time I was at Trader Joes. They always have a good deal on fresh flowers and sometimes potted ones too. These were so cheery and bright and even though daffodils don't last very long in the vase they are good for a week and such a pop of color.

 

The rannaculus were a beautiful color too and kinda spiced up the daffodils. We've had some gray days and wind this past week so these were a good shot of spring for the dining room.

 

I've got a huge list of to-dos.... my closet needs to be purged and I can't seem to find the time to get in there and do it. Cause you can't just purge a closet in 10 minutes. No, you have to be able to try a few things on and stand in front of the mirror and deliberate - maybe mix up a couple of ensembles - check the fit on a few things. It isn't a thing that can be done quickly.

 

But things are spilling out of the closet and into the bedroom since it hasn't been purged in awhile. New things are coming in, like these beautiful Dansko clogs, and nothing has been going out. I don't have a closet like Sara Jessica Parker had in that fantasy apartment in 'Sex and the City' - no I share a closet with a man and if my stuff starts to infringe on his stuff he lets me know.

 

Yep, got some rearranging to do in life - but it isn't ever as easy as thinking that it has to happen. In my youth I was much more rash, now in my maturity I think about things like health insurance and savings accounts.

I took this photo of the stamp we got last week heading into the Dive Bar in Sacramento to remind me to DIVE in. To find a few minutes to put the patina on the last batch of charms I made and finish them up for photographing. To steal time to cut out the brass for the next batch. To just keep pecking away at what I want to have happen. And it will. As a yoga teacher I once has always used to say:

"All things are coming".

Gorked out filly

She might be a mare now - sometime between 4 and 5 years they switch from being fillies to being mares. She might be a mare - she's developed a lot more attitude over the past couple of months. Yesterday was clinic day and she got her shots, her teeth floated and her wolf teeth removed. And she was gorked out for the first time.

 

This is a sign of a totally relaxed horse. I took her back to her temporary, weight-gain stall and stayed with her for a while after the vet finished up, mostly because she was a little unsteady on her feet and I wanted to make sure she was coming out of the sedation before I left.

 

Her lower lip was hanging and her eyes were droopy.... it's kinda funny, really. Most of the time horses are so alert and watchful and she is no exception. She was a bit of a jerk when the vet went to inject her.... tried to bite us. I was taken by surprise, she hadn't done that in the past. Like I said, she's becoming a mare. Biting, though, won't be tolerated.

 

While I twiddle my thumbs and wait for her to come back to me after this *hopefully* last bit of training (from here on out I'd like for us to train together.... if someone has to get on her and teach her something specific, fine, but I should be able to ride her most of the time), I'm reading about mares because I've never had one. Fillies, but never mares. And they are different from geldings. They have hormones.

 

The vet handed me her tiny little wolf teeth - amazing that something so small could cause problems. I have some other teeth that were shed a year or so ago, some flat molars, and I don't know why I keep them. Like your kid's teeth or something (although my mom never kept my teeth). The flat ones are kind of interesting looking but the wolf teeth, I'll probably end up discarding. They are pointed and a little scary looking.

 

I just love horses. My life is out of whack right now with way too much computer time and way too little riding. I'm struggling to pull it back into balance. There are some things simmering along that could help that but there is fear of leaping too. I've had some hard times in the past and this - having Rhea where she is and with the trainers she's got - would not have been possible. So I'm not going to act rashly but I'm going to plan a transition. And be patient.

And enjoy.

 

Cows - they make me smile

I like cows. I don't know cows personally but I like how unflappable they are. And how content they seem with their lot in life. We see cows quite often on our walks and our dogs have learned not to interact with them even though sometimes it is the calves that want to investigate.

We usually find them when they are in a group, just hanging out and napping, or chewing their cud- contemplating a cow's life. When the dogs are running around, it gets the attention of the herd pretty quickly.

 

They watch and truthfully? They are kinda slow to process. They watch and watch and watch and because they don't start moving away until it is in full panic mode I'm never quite sure if they will simply move away or get protective and move towards me. And I'm never one to encourage a very large animal to move towards me in a threatening manner.

 

We give them a wide berth and most of the time they just watch. It makes the herd nervous if I stop moving and start snapping photos, though. I can see it makes them nervous.

 

That little one is taking his or her cue from mom - "should I be worried here, ma?"

 

That little one stayed sacked out the entire time I shot these photos - I don't even think he or she lifted an ear. That sun just felt soooo good and there must've been a full belly there.

 

Don't you just love the color on this girl? These are by far my favorite - this creamy latte foam color.

 

This has got to be her baby. This is one of the times I wish these little guys and gals were just a little more bold and friendly. Of course, the minute one starts to venture over mom starts bawling and then the whole herd gets going.

 

That little brown one refused to look directly at us...."if I don't look over there they won't see me..."

 

Another baby avoiding eye contact.... and looks like there might be a protective auntie in this trio.

 

This one had attitude. Look at that raised chin. I would have taken her home with me to raise in our back yard had she been the least bit friendly. So cute.

 

I'm guessing she'll get that darker cream color as she matures. I'd put a cowhide like that in my living room in a heartbeat. (Sorry, vegetarians)

 

This reminds me of a sad story - we are out of the ground beef we bought locally - and so we had to go to the market for storebought yesterday. Our local Vons had nothing but ground beef labeled from numerous countries - Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Canada..... where the heck is all this beef going? Doesn't that seem ridiculous? I HATED buying that beef and I'm not going to do it again. We'll buy local or we won't eat beef.

 

A local rancher told me these will end up in Nebraska at 93 cents a pound for the rancher.... off to one of the 4 large packing houses. A couple of our ranches here have started to sell shares in steers so that we can have a choice - but it is hard for both the rancher and the consumer. No slaughterhouse here - everything has to be trucked to Nevada (the closest) and then packaged and trucked back. That makes it more expensive on both ends.

 

I like beef, I want ranches here. I'll pay more and I'll eat less. And I'll continue to snap photos of these cute calves.

 

Waking up to snow in April

Just a little, really - but enough to get me out of bed and outside at 7 am! Camera in hand. This doesn't happen all that often here and it is worth snapping photos of.

 

It is 30 degrees this morning and it snowed a bit last night. What a surprise!

 

It is truly beautiful to look out over the valley and see the light dusting of white over the bright green of spring. I had to get up and get out as I knew the minute the sun came out it would be melting off.

 

This little bit of snow isn't enough to cause traffic problems or keep cattle and horses from grazing - it is just enough to shake up our world a tiny bit.

This is such a transition time anyway - you just never know what you'll wake up to each day. What's blooming, what is turning green, what has happened over night?

 

The only plant I'm the least bit concerned over is our little japanese maple - but it sits right next to the house and I'm sure is protected from the brunt of the cold, wind and snow. It didn't even get any snow on it. I could drag it back into the garage but I think I'll just let nature do its thing this weekend and see how it goes. I'd make a terrible farmer.

 

No fragile plants for me... I'll take hardy, thank you.

Going viral

Just kidding - but I am working on upping my presence in the blogosphere.... and have just joined Technorati. As part of that process I am posting this code: PEBWEZG8SDP3 and closing out with this photo...

 

Oh, and posting this validation because I really do not know what I am doing.

http://feed2.w3.org/check.cgi?url=http%3A//coyoteandmagpie.typepad.com/you_can_fool_the_fans_but/atom.xml

Irrigating in the spring.... and snow in April

Wild weather! I don't think we will see any fruit from our trees and right now I'll be happy if they all survive this crazy weather. Snow in April in the Owens Valley? And multiple days of freezing temperatures? It has made for interesting driving, interesting dressing, interesting photos.

The alfalfa and grass hay growers have been irrigating but what happens when you irrigate in 36 degree weather? Beauty - that is what happens. Stop in your tracks and take photos kind of beauty.

 

It was cold and gray yesterday when I went out to check on horses and feed supplements. A bitter wind was blowing from the northwest and I kept a fire going in the office stove all day. Brrrrr.

 

It is hard to believe that last weekend we were running around in sandals and tank tops - with it close to 80 degrees. I am not complaining although I do mourn the loss of our pears and peaches. It'll be hot soon enough.

 

I'm sure it makes the farmers a little nervous and I wonder about the orchards up at Apple Hill - do they have to run out and cover everything? Or run those smokers like the citrus growers? Or do they just take their chances with the weather?

 

This is perfect weather for working on VVR's geotourism nomination, a coupon for early season, grading, sewing, finishing up a batch of charms. There'll be no lack of things to do. I'm recovering from a little surgery too, so keeping quiet for a couple of days is not a bad thing.

I put up a hummingbird feeder last week and it is busy this morning - we'll feed all the bird feeders today to help with energy needs. This weather has to take a toll on all the spring birthing that is going on so we'll do what we can to help.

 

The horses are no doubt stamping their feet for some hay - I see some blue sky outside so this will be melting off soon. What a lovely start to the weekend; what an unexpected surprise.

Last week it was spring flowers - this week it is 29 degrees again

What an erratic March and April. Even for the eastern Sierra and the Owens Valley this spring seems particularly volatile. Last week we were waking up to almost 50 degree mornings and certainly 70 and 80 degree days... this morning it is below 30.

I'm back at my window station, home from Sacramento and a minor surgery - giving me a fat lip and keeping me on yogurt and green juice for a couple of days. I drove through a snowstorm (again) yesterday but the roads were good and I didn't get stuck anywhere, it just took longer to get here. Driving east on Hwy 50 was beautiful.... fresh snow all all the trees, the river roaring, and all the waterfalls along the route full and spectacular.

 

I'm going to focus on some spring flowers this morning cause I know that this is only temporary and that warmer days are right around the corner. These are shots of one of the most unassuming shrubs in the high desert - the desert apricot.

Unassuming until they bloom. Then they are fabulously covered with pale pink blooms that will perfume an entire region. I used to step outside in the evenings up in Walker and breathe it in deeply; it was so wonderful.

 

The rest of the year these are just nondescript little shrubs with thorns - they don't even really produce any fruit to speak of. You'll find these all along the 3000 - 4000 foot level here on the east side of the Sierra.

 

Our wisteria is having one of its best years ever... full bloom and incredibly fragrant. We are loving it. The birds are loving it.

 

The cat..... well, the cat could just give a damn about flowers.

 

Our little bird couple is still working away on their nest up in the corner of the porch. They are pretty wary and difficult to photograph - they seem to catch sight of me where ever I try to stage myself.

 

Our cat seems to have no interest in the birds either - he is far more focused on watching for the scary orange feral cat from across the street. Priorities... he's well fed and doesn't need to hunt - he feels he needs to protect his turf instead.

 

On a much smaller scale are these little blooms we see popping up on our walks. There seem to be more each day and they require getting down and really LOOKING - they aren't 'in-your-face' flowers. So intensely colored, though, and so sweet.

 

 

Have a wonderful weekend. I'm going to plan a bunch of indoor projects and nurse my sutures and get ready for the next round of warm weather whenever it should arrive.

 

 

A visit to our state capital....

Sac town, Sacto, Sacramento. The seat of our golden state government. The little city on the river. I'm here for a couple of nights and it is beautiful in the spring - trees and shrubs blooming, the perfume of the flowers in the night air, balmy without being sticky... nice, actually.

 

We are staying at the Citizen Hotel, a restored historic building that has been turned into a "boutique" hotel.... love it. Striped wallpaper, political cartoons and quotes as art in the room and elevators, high ceilings, molding, stairways and bannisters. A library. A video library of all kinds of political movies. The Grange restaurant and bar. If you come to Sacramento - stay here. You can walk to the Capital. You can walk to the Leland Stanford Mansion State Historic Park....

 

Temple Coffee house is right around the corner and did I mention the Grange restaurant? They don't make food like this in Bishop, people. You have to come to the city for food like this. And it is best to come with an expense account.

 

The Capital Building - where it all goes down. Where term limits for legislators have resulted in the institutional knowledge existing in the staff and the lobbyists - not the folks who are voting. Guess who's writing the bills.....

 

Where the Firefighter's union gives out free ice-cream and a stirring performance on the steps of the Capital... stopping people in their tracks because a bagpipe is so amazingly mournful.

 

Where there is history and architecture and some sense of formality which seems to be all but lost in our daily lives....

 

Where the Governor meets behind closed doors guarded by a Black Bear and a State Trooper....

 

Where deals are cut and much of our future decided.

A foal ... just hours old.

Today's blog was going to be about flowers or cows or thrift store finds until I caught something unusual out of the corner of my eye while driving south. I was looking for another foal I knew had been born a few days before - thinking it might be up and running around. I'd changed lenses on the camera in anticipation, had it at the ready, and just happened to glance right into another pasture.

 

It was the mare that tipped me off to how new this baby was - she hadn't expelled the placenta yet and it was bright red in the morning sun. But this little guy was up and taking his first few wobbly steps around.

 

 

Momma was remarkably close to the fence and the road - I think she'd used this big tree as her birthing area and the other mares were grazing nearby - her midwives keeping a watchful eye out.

 

 

 

He was in exploration mode (and milk mode) and kept circling mom - she kept a very close eye on him (and me) and herded him around.

 

 

He was comical to watch since he barely knew what to do with all that leg. Each one seemed to have its own agenda.

 

 

I don't think mom approved of him heading into this tangle of branches...

 

 

 

 

But he made it out okay. I could have watched for hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But he went back to the milk bar and I went on with my day. Magical.

Birds creating a ruckus, spring style

The chair where I sit to enjoy my morning coffee and laptop is against a window in the living room. On the other side of that window is our front porch. Climbing the posts and trellis of that porch is a big, old wisteria that provides wonderful leafy shade all summer and fragrant flowers that hang in big, lavender bunches.

Yesterday morning I heard quite a commotion out there and looked out to see a flurry of birds - with one determined little guy staking his claim. They do this every year and then I'm not sure they end up nesting here - it isn't completely safe from the cats in the neighborhood.

The wisteria is blooming now and it always catches me by surprise - it seems so early. And the wind will come up and blow the blossoms off - but it is a repeat bloomer throughout the summer. It is also something we have to work at keeping control of as it will engulf the house if we let it. The trunk is about 2 feet in diameter - it has been here a good long while. And I love it. I've wanted to have a wisteria for years.

 

As I was snapping these photos there was a disturbed little bird anxiously hopping around wishing I would go away.

 

He's there, by the post. Watching.

 

A different vantage point but still keeping a close eye on things. This morning I caught him and his wife *ahem* in a compromised position - quite by suprise. Coffee cup in one hand, heading for the chair and there they were - jeez! Not even trying to be discrete for pete's sake. Well, it is spring after all. Maybe there will be babies in this nest before long.

 

I'm going to put on the longer lens and keep an eye out. I love spring, don't you? Just saw two more foals.... hopefully photos to follow. Oh, and I planted the onions yesterday. Yee haw, the seasons are cranking around!