my weekend

I didn't go visit the horses Saturday.  After our school had its Halloween costume day and parties, I came home Friday night and slept for 12 hours!!! No, really!!!!  I was exhausted.  So, Saturday I stayed home, did laundry, did the dishes, cleaned up the front yard, and basically vegged.  Thinking back, I haven't had a Saturday off just to catch up on chores at home for ... 10 weeks.  I go and go and go and then just crash.  Does that happen to you?  Well, Saturday was my day to crash!  Then, hubby came home and announced we were going to our daughter's house for dinner, so off we went for chicken and quesidillas and guacamole.  YUM!  Sunday, however, I woke up at 5:00 a.m. and was ready to head up the hill to the horse ranch.  I ran around town, down to the park and the Santa Rosa mountain visitor center, and took photos for the Sunday Stills Challenge and then headed up the hill.  There was a Santa Ana (a breeze from the high desert), which is NEVER welcome in Southern California as it is extremely dying.  That's never a good thing for our already-dry mountains.  As I headed up the mountain, I followed a large horse trailer which was apparently used for eventing.  I believe she went on to Temecula, which is up and over the mountains.  She must have been empty because she was really moving!  There are many horse events down in Indio, at the polo grounds, so maybe she dropped her horses off there and was returning home.  Once I got to the ranch, I had to run out to the feed store twice...once to get stuff for the mustangs and then again for Quad, Sunni, and Gigo, as I didn't realize how low they were on pellets.  Hubby and I are heading to the Sierra Wednesday afternoon for the weekend, so I wanted to be sure everybody had enough pellets to last for a while.  Phew!

Oh, what fun!!!

I drove up to the ranch Sunday morning, but the owners weren't there.  I usually don't take a horse out when nobody is there, but I led Sunni down to the arena for some lessons and some R&R.  He sure enjoyed his romp!   And, of course, there is always time for a good roll!  He is much more calm now, even when things spook him.

Guess who's standing in the water!!!???

Scout HATES water.  I never thought a mustang would hate water, but she does.  She runs away when she sees me with the hose and she avoids getting wet.  But, this past weekend, GUESS WHO was standing in the water that I dumped out of the water trough?  Yup, Scout!  I'm glad she did this as she'll need to cross water out on the trails. 

Barn charm~red barn~102511

I found this red barn, which I now think is a house, as I was driving around my cousin Valerie's neighborhood last weekend.  Now I notice that it was curtains.  I think I'll have to return and take a closer look!  Anyway, isn't it cute?  I love that ranch style...the red paint and the white doors.  I would LOVE to have a ranch house like this with wooden floors...that's my dream house!  Barn Charm for October 24, 2011. Here's the link to Barn Charm:  http://bluffareadaily.blogspot.com/

Horse time finally!

I finally got some decent horse time this weekend. FINALLY!!! I did chores on Saturday, including dumping and scrubbing the mustangs' water trough.  I bought salt bricks for all of them and a big block for the mustangs, since they are in a large corral.  I checked Cali's eyes and the flies aren't bothering her any more.  Her eyes are clear.  Yesterday I took Sunni out for some grooming and then some work in the arena, then I let him run.  He now picks up all 4 feet easily.  He spooked when I threw he lead rope over his back, but didn't run off, like he used to do, so I am thankful for all the desensitizing that he gets with my trainer.  I didn't realize the ranch owners were gone, so I only took him out.  By then, it was nearly 1:00 p.m. and I was getting hungry!  Sunni behaved very well with lots of praise and hugs.  He has come a long way in the last 6 months, but I also think he has matured a lot.  He now THINKS before he reacts.  He used to REACT and not think.  That's a big step.  The trainer has also been working Gigondas a lot and I could tell she really wanted out yesterday, but, with the owners gone and the wind blowing, I just didn't want to chance it.  I'm going to TRY to get up there one afternoon this week after school as it is so pretty in the late afternoons now.  BUT, after fighting these kids all day in class, I'm exhausted. It was a beautiful weekend and temps should drop another 5 to 8 degrees this week.  It will be in the 80's here in the desert and there may be thunderstorms up in the mountains.  See what good helpers the girls are?  And, Cali LOVES water and mud!  She'll make an awesome trail horse!

Whitewater Rock Company~Sunday stills Challenge~102311

About 30 minutes from our home in Palm Desert is the Whitewater Rock Company.  It's right next to Interstate 10 at the Whitewater exit.  It is a huge rock company with boxes and boxes full of colorful and interesting rocks.  Hubby and I stopped there in February of 2009, right after a snowstorm in our local mountains.  We spent the day at the Whitewater Preserve, which is quite a drive up toward the end of the canyon.  The preserve has a trout farm and picnic tables and is a beautiful place.  We stopped at the rock company on our way back out of the canyon and I picked up a few samples to share with my students at school. There were so many boxes to see and we only went through a few of them, so that's another trip on our "to do" list!  Here are some examples of the rocks at the Whitewater Rock Company, including the cut blue glass and white pebbles.  There's some petrified wood, too, and some beautiful turquoise slate.  This company has been in existence ever since I was a little girl and THAT's a LONG TIME!  HA!  I remember driving by it as a kid.  The people there are very friendly and helpful and one Saturday I'll return for another look!  Enjoy all the rock samples!  Aren't they beautiful?  Sunday Stills Challenge for October 23, 2011...rocks and rock formations. To visit Sunday Stills, please go to:  http://sundaystills.wordpress.com/

Hey, Carson! This is for you!!! yellow chamisa

I knew I had a photo of this stuff.  I found it up by Mono Lake and stopped to take a photo of it.  We were there in September and it was blooming.  I wish I had seen a bee on it!  But, here it is!

Pumpkins and fence~Friday Fences~October 21, 2011

I LOVE driving around Garner Valley.  We used to own 5 acres there before the kids were born.  It has blossomed and developed over the last 30 years, but this ranch was there 30 years ago, when hubby and I used to take our Volkswagen van up to our 5 acres and camp there over the weekends.  I was pregnant with our daughter at the time and I used to see bobcats, woodpeckers, and red tailed hawks.  I still drive by our old property, which now has a house on it.  Someday I'm going to park and hike back into one of the canyons there, with my camera.  These pumpkins were outside one of the fences there last weekend.  Friday Fences for October 21, 2011.  To visit Friday Fences, please go to:  http://lifeaccordingtojanandjer.blogspot.com/

I nearly came home with a chicken!

Isn't she adorable?  This is one of my friend Barb's chickens.  She followed me around her ranch the day I stopped there a couple of weeks ago.  Actually, all of her animals are friendly.  She has four dogs and they are all rescues from the streets.  Years ago, when our kids were just toddlers, I actually had 3 hens.  I got them from my cousin's wife's parents' (got all that?) ranch down in Thermal, CA.  They had 40 acres and raised alfalfa.  Unfortunately, our collies pulled out their feathers and I returned them to the ranch to live in peace and quiet.. (I should have known Carson then and had her make one of her chicken lofts!)  I got 3 geese instead.  HA!  They chased me around the yard and made a horrible racket.  Back they went...sigh...I also had some ducks and I even built them a duck pond.  They flew off.  Such was the end of my adventures with farm animals while living in the city!  Now, I just go up and visit Barb's ranch and her animals!

At the park

I decided to stop by my local city park on Saturday.  I hadn't been there for months (actually all summer).  It had just been too hot.  But Saturday was a beautiful, sunny, clear day, and off I went.  Then, the next evening, our son called and said he and his family was there and did we want to come and see our grandson Ben feed the ducks.  Well, "DUH"!  Of course, so off we went.  What a difference.  When I was there in the morning, the park was very quiet.  By Sunday afternoon, it was crowded, noisy, and hot.  I like my quiet morning better!

Er, uh...excuse me?

As I was driving around the town where I board my horses, I saw something next to the street and did a double-take.  Goats!  I saw that one was tied to a post and the other ones didn't wander off.  Apparently they were eating weeds in this lot.  There's an alpaca farm up there, too, and I stopped there once and talked to the owner, who took me on a tour.  I'll have to dig out those photos this week.

Ranch rose~Mellow Yellow Monday~101711

I stopped to look at the roses which are along the fence up at the ranch.  I especially liked the yellow ones.  Isn't this one beautiful?  Mellow Yellow Monday for October 17, 2011.  To visit Mellow Yellow Monday, please go to:  http://mellowyellowmonday.blogspot.com/

A murder of crows~SOOC Sunday~101611

When I drove through Garner Valley last weekend, I could hear a lot of crows.  I saw quite a few of them in one spot and I got out of the car to take a photograph of them, but they flew off.  Then, I looked up and saw this!  There were over two dozen of them circling high overhead!  I snapped away with my camera.  I returned yesterday to check out the fall colors and saw quite a few of them.  I think they are actually ravens.  They seem to like the valley up there and they sit on the white fences.  They are quite shy, however, and every time I got out of my car to take a photograph, off they went! I'm glad I caught these photos when I did as I may never have another chance!  SOOC Sunday for October 16, 2011. To visit SOOC Sunday, please go to:  http://www.murrieta365.com/

Curious horses~Here they come~

More photos of my cousin's horses last weekend.  I'm SO glad today is Saturday.  It was a LONG week at school and I need some "horse" time!  I walked every morning except Wednesday last week and now I can walk the distance I used to do in 30 minutes in 15 minutes!  Wow!  I also ordered a new pedometer and I have to set my step distance this morning with it.  We had a couple of days with triple digits here in the desert, but now temps are back in the 90's.  Phew!