Wednesday, April 30, 2008, 16:35
Isabelle's Big Sleep
Tuesday afternoon, the temperature was in the low 50s. The sun was shining. And there was a breeze out of the south. Although the wind felt cold, it was nice in the sunshine.
Since it was such a lovely afternoon, I decided to go out with the stall picker and a bucket and pick up some more horse manure out of Isabelle's pasture. After I crawled through the fence, I could see Isabelle stretched out in the sunshine farther down in her pasture. She raised her head to look at me and then flopped back down on the short grass that's starting to turn green.
"Feels nice in the sun, doesn't is Isabelle," I said.
The horse never even raised her head to look at me when I talked to her. I started picking up piles of horse manure, putting them in the bucket and then dumping them over the fence.
Later on, I will take the wheelbarrow and haul the manure out to the garden. I figured it was important to get the piles picked up now before the grass grows through them and makes them too hard to pick up.
The spot where I was working really was not too far from where Isabelle was stretched out in the sunshine. It always gives me a bit of a jolt to see a horse stretched out like that. Horses usually do not spend a lot of time lying down because it puts a strain on their lungs and it is harder for them to breathe. Isabelle, however, seems to be one of those horses who enjoys a nap from time to time.
After I had been working out in the pasture for about 15 minutes, Isabelle raised her head to look at me. Once again, she flopped down on the grass.
After I had worked for another 15 minutes, Isabelle was still stretched out in the sunshine.
And I was beginning to get worried.
Sure, Isabelle likes to stretch out in the sunshine for naps. But she also is a curious horse, and if anyone is working around in her pasture, nine times out of ten, feels compelled to come and see what you are doing and to "help" if it is at all possible to help.
Isabelle's most common way of helping is to get ahead of me, stop, and then slowly back toward me until she is standing right in front of me. This means that she wants her tail scratched, and Isabelle hardly ever misses an opportunity to get her tail scratched.
And yet Tuesday afternoon, Isabelle only raised her head a couple of times to look at me.
After I had been out there working for 45 minutes, and Isabelle was still lying in the same spot and had not moved, I really was worried.
"Are you okay Isabelle?" I said. "Isabelle? Can you hear me? Isabelle!"
The horse raised her head to look at me. Then she flopped back down on the grass. And then I heard it.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" Isabelle groaned and heaved a deep contented sigh. The kind of sigh that means someone or something is extremely comfortable and is as contented as can be.
I laughed.
"Okay, Isabelle. You've made your point. You're just comfortable."
Isabelle never did get up while I was out working around her pasture. I looked out the bedroom window a while later after I had returned to the house, and Isabelle had gotten up and was lounging in the sunshine by the gate, one hind foot cocked.
Later on, when Randy went outside to feed the horses and I was getting ready to go to a meeting, Isabelle was once again stretched out flat in the same spot in her pasture.
As Randy approached the fence with the grain bucket, Isabelle picked up her head, saw the feed bucket. . .and struggled to her feet. She paused for a moment to stretch, then she trotted over to her feed tub and munching her grain.
Oh, yes, Isabelle was all right. It's just that after a long winter of subzero temperatures and many days of cold weather this spring, she wanted to take advantage of the spring sunshine and get in a good, long nap.
Actually, that sounds like a fine idea, doesn't it?
LeAnn R. Ralph
Tuesday, April 29, 2008, 13:37
Hard Freeze
Well, the lilacs were starting to bud.
After several days of temperatures in the 70s last week, I was able to see purple buds on the lilacs! The tiny little lilac in the east side yard, about three feet high, had three or four purple buds on it. The little lilac that I planted near the graves of my dog, Lady, and my kitties Tiger Paw Thompson, Nightshade and Guinevere had quite a few buds on it, too. And so did the big lilacs in the backyard near the pine trees.
It was 18 degrees Fahrenheit first thing Tuesday morning -- 18 degrees. Not 28 degrees -- 18 degrees.
I don't know if the lilac buds can survive 18 degrees. There is a big difference, I think, between 18 degrees and a light frost at, say, 30 degrees. I know lilacs are tough, but I don't know if they are quite that tough.
I noticed, too, that the daylilies, now grown to 8 to 10 inches high along the foundation of the house and in front of the house, were looking kind of frozen, too. The leaves had turned a darker green, which means they weren't just touched with frost, but frozen through. The daylilies will come back, I think. At least I hope so.
In other years, the daylilies have started to come up in February along the house and have gotten frozen off but came back just fine. That was earlier, though. I don't think they have been frozen this hard when they are this big. Not in the last 13 years we've lived here.
Barn Swallows
I saw the first "front-guard" barn swallow last week, too. Usually after I see the first one or two barn swallows who come on ahead of the flock, the rest of the flock arrives in a few days.
I haven't seen any other barn swallows than the one, lone swallow flying around last week.
And I still have not seen any meadowlarks. If we don't get any meadowlarks this year, it will be the first time that I can remember that we have not had meadowlarks flying around the fields. When I was a kid, the songs of meadowlarks filled our summer days with their sweet songs -- tweedle-eee, tweedle-eeedle ummm, tweedle-eee, tweedle-eeedle ummm.
According to one book I read about global warming, the song birds will be among the first of the animal species to go extinct. Of course, there's also West Nile Virus that is affecting bird populations. But then again, I suppose more mosquitoes that carry the virus are surviving because of the warmer temperatures.
The bluebirds are here, though. During the warm days last week, they were singing, singing, singing, sounding ever-so-happy in the balmy afternoon sunshine. They are not quite so happy, however, when the temperature is colder. I only hear the occasional bluebird song on colder days.
Snow
Monday morning, the trees and the grass were covered with white from the snowfall the night before. By noon, most of the snow had fallen off the trees and had melted off the ground. Almost 30 years ago now, I remember a snowstorm on April 30 that dumped eight inches here. It wasn't this cold that year, though. When it snowed, the temperature was right around freezing, and it warmed up again quickly afterwards.
I remember a late-April snowstorm when we lived in the southern part of the state, too. I woke up one morning to a winter wonderland and went outside to take pictures. By 9 a.m., most of the snow was gone. And again, the weather warmed up quickly after that.
The weather forecast this week says that is supposed to remain cold all week with highs only in the 40s and in the 50s.
We will be holding a chicken dinner at church on Sunday, too. Unfortunately, when we set the date, we didn't realize that several other churches in the area are having Confirmation that weekend. We're not expecting a huge crowd because of Confirmation. On the other hand, if it is rather cold on Sunday, people just might rather come to dinner because it is too cold to work in the garden or in the yard.
Mold
The mold is doing quite well with the warmer, colder, warmer, colder and wetter weather we've been having lately as well. Just ask my ears and throat. I have taken to putting a small dab of Benadryl cream on a Q-tip and swabbing it around in my ears to help for the intense itching. I would like to scratch the inside of my throat with a toothbrush, too, but I haven't gone that far. Yet.
LeAnn R. Ralph