Hellloooooo. One would think there's not much to do and not much to update everyone on with all the cold weather but I find myself being kept fairly busy just maintaining the homestead and there seems to always be at least one, in retrospect, funny story to tell. I admit that I don't fill up my days with "busy shit" as I did in my past so once the chores are done, I read, solve some sudoku, listen to an audiobook, hike, play games on the iPad, play some VR, and tend to Blip and Dragon.
The snow we had the first week of January finally melted and we had some awesome days of sunshine and temps in the 40s. With the melting of the snow came a new and exciting version of a Tough Mudder challenge. Even a walk to the shed was an adventure. The yard became an obstacle course of straw, strategically placed rocks and pallets over the deepest parts of the mud and one trip from Thelma with a bag of groceries was a true mudder challenge as the pallet I stepped on broke sending me tumbling right into the mud. Thank doG I'm still fairly coordinated and was able to spin through the fall so that I landed on my much-cushioned ass instead of my head. Even though I didn't see it, I think it was a fairly graceful fall and nothing but the paper bag broke. There was a string of expletives, highlighted by the sucking sound of the quicksand-like mud as I slowly pulled myself out, got up, and began to collect the mud-covered groceries with my mud-covered hands to make a stack of mud-covered items that needed to be washed... including my clothes. Which brought on several more strings of expletives as it wasn't THAT warm out yet. It's funny in retrospect but there was a serious lack of humor at the time. Sorry there are no photos to share of that sporty moment but I hope I was able to paint a picture worthy of a chuckle or two.
At the end of January, I took a spur-of-the-moment trip to Florida to spend some time with my friends, Wendy and Lisa, and to soak up some sun and salt water. The goal was to be in the water every day until I was waterlogged and wrinkled. It had been way too long since we had seen each other and it was sooooo good to see and spend time with them. The ocean was still too cold to go in the water but we did get to spend some time on the beach (long enough to get a sunburn!) and they have recently installed a salt water pool with a hot tub and I was only too happy to make use of those. It was both strange and wonderful to have access to so much water. (I think I achieved my goal however) And spending time with them is always full of laughter and love and it was good to get away for a week and enjoy some downtime with wonderful friends. Thank you, ladies!
Blip and Dragon spent that week with my friend Sue. Blip had a marvelous time with Sue's two dogs, and we were both happy to see that even though it was a house full of bitches (not you Sue haha), they learned to play and have fun together after all the posturing was out of the way. Dragon, on the other hand, created stress and angst due to his not being willing to eat the entire time. Even though I expected this, and communicated that he may not eat, he created a level of stress that is he is known for. Dragon's hunger strike caused her to have dreams that Dragon died and she then had to break the news to me that he had passed while under her watch. He is now banned from her house forever and has earned himself a few flowery but not flattering names (who knows, maybe for Dragon those names ARE flattering) and there are now at least two women who curse his cold, reptilian way of saying "fuck you" without words on a regular basis and one who curses him seasonally only. He did eat the day after bringing him home which, of course, I video recorded and sent to Sue to which she replied with more of his flowery names, I'm sure, out of sheer joy at seeing him eat.....
The weather warmed up for a couple of weeks and he's back to his normal reptilian self and has even had a couple of days where he could go outside for a "walk-a-bout" which has certainly helped his appetite... he's back to eating his salad every day. The days are getting longer so we have a little more solar power during the day which helps all of us but cold days and more snow are here for this week so we'll see how his appetite does for that. The good news is that even though it's back to cold, it's not as cold as January and it's only for a week and then we will be warming back up to the 50s.
Update on the cows.... well, you all know that Blip has done an amazing job of keeping the cows at a respectable distance from the homestead. It seemed that this continued even without her presence the week we were gone. However, there seemed to be a "new" group (they seemed new to me and were completely unaware of the perimeter set by Blip) of cows who would wander into the "yard" and leave calling cards of cow shit all over. And even though Blip did her part to communicate that boundaries were put in place prior to their arrival and the expectation was that they would honor those boundaries.... they were not impressed. We returned from a supply run one day to find about a dozen cows hanging out eating the straw from the straw bales we use for insulation. Some were laying near by having, it would seem, eaten their fill while the others were still tossing straw all around. They had also tossed my portable solar panels and stomped on them breaking them and pissing on, it seemed, every inch of ground around the RV. Blip and I both jumped out of Thelma yelling and barking at them. They promptly scattered and I hoped it was the end...... but alas, it was not. The next night, around 2 am, the RV started rocking and shaking, and when I looked outside, the f'ing cows were back. This time they were using the RV for a scratching post while they ripped and threw more straw around. Blip was barking an alert meant to warn the good for nothing walking ribeyes that we both like our meat rare and I grabbed my coat and hat, put on my boots and we both went running outside... well, it's good I don't have neighbors because we must have been a sight. A 9lb self-proclaimed cattle dog yipping and running after the cows across moonlit desert field, closely followed by an old woman in boxers and unlaced boots, winter hat and work coat, the corners flapping in the wind, screaming like a banshee. We have not seen the cows since. I can only imagine that if cows could find religion they would have thought that satan herself had materialized from the magnificent scratching post to claim it as her own and send their souls to hell.
So I'm down two solar panels and 4 straw bales but up one hysterical story of the madwoman at the Mason Martini Estate and her crazy little cattle dog.
For those who don't follow along on Facebook, we lost one of the horses a while back. All 7 had hung out near the homestead for a few of weeks and I noticed that one of the draft horses was missing from the herd one morning. When he hadn't shown up by the next morning we took a hike to see if we could locate him. I had a bad feeling but we didn't have any luck locating him on any of the hikes we took. A couple of days later I saw a large flock of ravens flying around just down the hill and had an "oh shit" moment. I locked up Blip and drove down to where the ravens were and I found him. I don't know what happened but he was dead and was fulfilling the circle of life by feeding the ravens. Over the next couple of weeks I also saw Golden Eagles and at least one Bald Eagle also partaking of the feast. As sad as the loss was, it was amazing to see the eagles and I'm sure there were animals I didn't see that were also grateful for the meal as I'm sure that food sources were scant due to the cold and snow. The remaining 6 horses hung out for another week or so and then moved further down the road.
I take a drive to check on them almost every day and they come running when they see Thelma. They have been staying about a mile down the road since but all of a sudden showed up back at homestead again. They stayed for a few hours and then left but were back the next day. They have lost weight over this winter and I'm sure they are looking for food. The cows have eaten much of the grass down where they were hanging out and there is more grass here since Blip keeps the cows further away, it would be awesome if they stayed for a while even though it drives Blip crazy and she has to be out on a leash when they are close. From her perspective, not much difference between cows and horses...
A week after I got back from Florida my friend Sebastian arrived! He's staying until around the first part of March and Blip absolutely adores him. She watches out the window and if she sees him step outside she whines and runs to the door to be let out so she can go say hi hang out with him. If he's not out and we are, she will hang out by his door or lay down in the sun in front of his trailer in the hopes he will come outside. It's too cute.
The horses have also taken a shine to him and make their greetings.
We will all be sad to see him go. He's a wealth of information and I take all of his suggestions seriously and try to find a way to incorporate them into the Estate. He's been doing this a helluva lot longer than me and his wisdom and humor have been much appreciated. I had hoped for warmer weather than we've had and we will both be glad when it warms up again. He's helping me with the greenhouse and it's nice to have an extra set of hands for that project but it's a project best done on warmer days I think.
Good news on the internet front. My Starlink arrived finally! For those who don't know what Starlink is, it's the program Elon Musk is doing... launching satellites into the sky that bring internet access to rural communities. Well, to cities as well but, the rural communities need it the most. Living out here with minimal connection makes you realize how many people go without a decent internet connection and how little the cable companies have done to try and address the issue. I have great internet now although it does require power so I tend to turn it off if I'm not using it for now. In the summer I think we'll have plenty to keep it on all day. So I can now download movies and books and surf the internet without having to drive to town. Woohoo! It's quite the contrast to The Mason Martini Estate Laundromat!
Well, I think that brings you up to date on the state of affairs here. Hope you all are surviving any winter woes you've had. Stay healthy and, until next time, keep Movin' On.
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