Cali on the move!

What can I say? She's goofy!

Pretty Cali

I was too sick to even drive up to the ranch on Saturday. Instead, I went to urgent care and got some antibiotics. I'm still coughing and I sound like a frog, but at least I don't have the headache and bodyache. But, Sunday I did drive up to the ranch and I let Cali out in the arena for some work and exercise. She's so easy to work with! I just point and she goes in that direction on the lunge line! So, I worked her both directions. She now comes to me if I say, "Cali, COME!"....what a good girl! This is one of the best photos I've ever taken of her, I think. She's usually in motion, or rolling, or eating weeds, but here she had her head up and I think she was looking at the other horses! Cali seems to be enjoying her time away from Scout, in her own corral. I had to put her there when she had her eye fly problem. Her eyes are now completely clean and clear, but only because of the antibiotics and keeping a fly mask on her 24/7. Once the weather cools down FOR SURE (we're in the middle of a heat wave right now), I'll take her fly mask off. She and Scout will probably have to be moved back together in the big corral for the winter.

Cali and friends

The weeds are always better on the other side of the fence! At least, that's what Cali thought on Sunday.

Guess who?

Peek a boo, I see you! Goofy Quad!

Feeling better today!

Well, I took my first two pills of my Z-pack yesterday afternoon and 6 hours later, after watching two of the Mad Max movies last night, I started to feel better. I was able to sleep ALL NIGHT without waking up with a coughing fit! YEAH! And, this morning, my headache is GONE! So, I'm going to head out with my camera EARLY this morning and make up for my slacker behavior this past week (well, I WAS sick!!!). I missed my Saturday visit with the horses, and I'll drive up the hill to at least greet and groom them today. We are expecting a new daily high temperature here of 110 degrees and another record-setting day for tomorrow. I though autumn was here? Hmmm...but, here in the desert, we're getting our last blast of summer!!! Oh, how I wish fall would come! I took this photo up at the ranch, in the mountains, last weekend. Now, for fall to come to the desert...wouldn't that be wonderful? I'm so sick and tired of all this darn HEAT!!!!!!

Update!

I went to urgent care today. I couldn't talk AT ALL and I sounded like a croaking frog! My husband threatened to drive me there himself after he got off work if I didn't go, so off I went. The current treatment is rest, lots of fluids, and cough syrup. But, once I told the attending doctor that I'd had pneumonia 3 times and I have chronic bronchitis, he gave me a z-pack. I've already taken my first two. I didn't get up to my horses today and I am feeling very sad about that, but I just didn't have the energy to drive the mountain road! Maybe tomorrow!!!

Bronchitis!!!

Well, my cold last weekend has now turned into bronchitis! I didn't have bronchitis for the two years right after I had my cortisone shots (2 of them) for my back. I didn't have hay fever in the spring those two years, either! But, now that the shots have worn off, it's back to me getting every cold and flu and tropical disease that the kiddos bring with them to school! I missed two days of school this week and have been too tired and exhausted to do ANYTHING extra, including even getting out and taking photos! BUMMER!!!!!!!!! Robitusin is now my best friend! I'm waking up every night now about 2:30 a.m. with a coughing fit and I stumble out into the kitchen to grab my bottle and swig some down. OF COURSE, I haven't had time to call my doctor! But, sometime today I'll grab my camera and head up to visit the horses. I'm too weak to do anything with them, but it will just be nice to hang out with them and smell them! Do you smell your horses? Of all my horses, Sunni has the BEST smell! I wish I could bottle it! I'm also taking teaspoonfuls of my Manuka honey (FINALLY!)...I actually forgot (in my "mental haze") that I had it and I didn't take it until yesterday. I'm hoping that it will help clear out whatever is left of the bronchitis since I didn't make a doctor's appointment and now probably won't be able to get one until the end of next week and I'll probably be over this by then!!!

Little visitors~Nature Notes 092310

Saturday, when I walked around the ranch with my camera, I noticed a LOT of hummingbirds at the various feeders at the ranch. The owner faithfully feeds them and there were probably around 20 or so. They are so territorial! I noticed that some visited the feeder by the front door, while these were at two other feeders on their side porch. I was so amazed to watch them. I would have taken more photos, but the battery in my camera died and I wasn't able to take more. Maybe this weekend I'll have another opportunity! Aren't they interesting?

Bighorn Sheep

I posted these photos on one of my other blogs, but wanted to share them here, too, because they are so unusual. These are WILD desert bighorn sheep. I spotted them last Saturday morning, while driving up to the ranch to work with the horses. They were grazing right off the mountain road! I slammed on the brakes (nobody was behind me and the road was pretty much deserted), parked the car, and walked back to take these photos of them. They didn't seem to be afraid of me at all, although the big ram moved a little bit away and kept a watchful eye on me. I'm so glad that I saw them. It isn't every day that people see them out in the mountains, so it was a fortunate sighting, indeed. There is a fence up a ways further, to keep them away from homes and humans, but these apparently got around the fence and were happily munching away. I'm curious as to why they were so far down on the mountain when there is plenty of vegetation for them further up. They are an endangered species and, in 1999, were down to about 280 left in our local mountains. During the winter months they occassionally trespass onto golf courses and eat their vegetation. I saw another one last spring, off Vista Point. She was on a ridge further up the mountain and several cars had stopped to view her, too. I'm hoping to see more of them over the next year.

See him go!

Out of my 5 horses, Sunni is the one who actually will self-exercise himself in the arena. Yes, Gigondas will RUN, but that's because she loves to run. Sunni, however, will canter, trot, and walk by himself. I don't give him any cues. I suppose I should, eh? Honestly, I just give him some R&R. I came down with a head cold this weekend ALREADY! Can you believe it? I felt the sore throat coming on Friday (and a massive headache), and I'm home sick Sunday, yesterday, and today. GOSH DARN! It's just too early in the school year to get sick! I'm going to rest today and try to make it to school tomorrow.

MOM! Where are you going? Mellow Yellow Monday 092010

Sunni is such a goofball! I let him out in the arena Saturday for some self-exercise and since all he did was roll, exercise, and eat weeds, I wandered off with my camera in hand. Sunni noticed that I was no longer around and came to investigate. He had to keep an eye on me! I saw a few leftover flowers from summer, like these little yellow ones. He finally wandered off and continued his weed-eating. Mellow Yellow Monday for September 20, 2010. It was 109 degrees in the desert yesterday (HOT, HOT, HOT), but today it should only be 101. And, by tomorrow, we will have double digit temps. Phew! Everybody down here is tired and cranky and wants summer to end!!!

Dirty Sunni!

My gelding Sunni, the one on my header photo, is usually so shiny, but yesterday I led him down to the arena and he, of course, immediately rolled in the dirt! He now rolls completely over, which is something he didn't do for a long time. It was almost as if he was afraid to do so. Do horses learn to roll completely over, from side to side? Is it a maturity thing? I do notice that Scout rolls completely over, too, but she always has...Gigondas only does one side at a time, and so do Quad and Cali.

"Interested"~~ABC Wednesday 091510

Monday afternoon both Quad and Sunni were INTERESTED in what Cali was doing down in the arena. And, what was she doing? See for yourself! She's such a goofball! ABC Wednesday for September 15, 2010.

Monday afternoon

I had to drive up to the ranch yesterday afternoon, after school, and I'm glad I did. It was a beautiful Indian summer day up there, the breeze kicked in, and the air was cool. It was 107 degrees down in the desert, but up in the mountains it was completely different. It was...refreshing! I stopped at home to change my clothes and immediately headed up the mountain to the horse ranch where I board my five. Quad immediately nickered (I think he now associates me with...FOOD!) and Cali stood patiently by her gate, begging for a run in the arena. So, I took her down there and she calmly ate weeds until she got a hair up her BUTT, and off she went!!! Sunni and Quad had to come over to see what Cali was up to, hanging their heads over their corral pipes. I took some time and just hung out with them, brushed them, and gave them all some feed. Gigondas seemed to especially need some lovin' and I spent quite a while with her, grooming her, getting the knots out of her mane, and giving her scratches. It was a good way to end the day.

This weekend

I didn't get much quality horse time this weekend. I just had too many other things to do! Do you ever have a weekend like this past one? I had to tidy up the house as hubby was driving home from his trip to northern California with our son. I had to do all my laundry because I knew hubby would be coming home with his! And, nobody was up at the ranch, so I decided not to take out any horses while up there alone...I'm hoping that next weekend I'll get some quality time with the horses. I DID visit both Lowe's and Home Depot to check and see what fall flowers they had and this is what I saw there. I wouldn't say the cacti are fall flowers, but HDepot sure had a lot of them!

"Glow"~See It Sunday 091210

I'm reposting this photo that hubby took last year on September 11. We had gone up to the ranch one afternoon to visit the horses. I let Gigondas out into the arena and she ran and ran and ran and stirred up so much dust! As the sun was beginning to set, hubby took this photo of her. It wasn't until we saw this photo that we realized how moving it was for this date, September 11. I decided to include it for "See It Sunday" today since their theme for the week is "glow". She seems to be glowing in the dust and it looks surreal. See It Sunday for September 12, 2010. For other participants, please visit: http://www.seeitsunday.net/

Ready for some horse time!

Hubby and our son took this past week off work and drove up to Yosemite, Mono Lake, Merced, and up to Napa Valley. They had a family dinner last night with Art's sister, who has her own vineyard up in Napa. They are driving home today. I'm SO READY for some horse time! You know, it just makes my job easier when I can look forward to the weekends and know I'll have some time with the horses! It almost makes the week bearable!!! And, look at what I'm heading toward~Here's Quad, normally "Mr. Mellow", last weekend! Oh, boy! It must feel so good to get out and run and stretch and get all those farts out!!!

Jury duty and sunrise

I've had jury duty for the last two days and it was an interesting experience. First of all, I'd never been called into jury duty when there were SO MANY others called in! The jury room was packed! Turns out, there were 3 major trials selecting juries at the same time and over 300 people were there! Yesterday morning there was NO parking in the county lot, and we aren't allowed to park in the "county employee" parking, or if jurors did, they got a $44 parking citation! So, most of us had to park out on the street. I had to park 3 blocks away and walk! But, the good thing was that I had time to grab my camera in the morning and head out to take some early morning pics, which I'll also do today! I stopped at the Marriott Desert Springs yesterday morning to take these photos. Those are cattle egrets and there were over 20 of them! I tried to snap a couple of shots so that you could see their wings unfolded. The large one was chasing off every other egret that came close to him! He really was quite entertaining! The Marriott is an official bird sanctuary, and since they have several ponds and waterfalls, migratory birds frequently stop there to rest. A flock of Canadian geese flew overhead while I was there, honking away, and landing on another pond.