Thursday, August 25, 2005, 19:20
Too Much and Too Little
It's starting to look like fall around here. The driveway is covered with yellow leaves that have fallen off the trees. The leaves on my rugosa roses are starting to turn yellow, too. And the peony bushes have already turned the yellowish-bronze color that I typically see later in the fall.
It's too early for the leaves to turn yellow and fall off the trees and for my rugosa roses to turn yellow and for the peonies to turn yellowish-bronze. And it's all because it's much too dry.
Every week the weather forecasters keep saying that we have a good chance for rain on such-and-such a day. But we don't get any rain. Only a few drops at a time. And then we wait for another week for the next opportunity to see if there's a "chance" for rain.
I might have known. Earlier in the spring when it was cloudy for two months straight, I should have suspected that later on, the weather would turn the other way and it would be hot and sunny and dry.
My mother always used to say, "too much and too little spoils it all."
We had too much cloudy misty weather at the beginning of the growing season and too much hot, dry, sunny weather for the rest of the summer.
The pumpkin vines are starting to dry up and some of the pumpkins are starting to turn orange, as well. And that's also because it's too dry.
The air is filled with ragweed pollen and dust kicked up by the wind. A good rain would wash all that out of the air for a while. Then maybe I wouldn't have to take so many antihistamines. Every time I go outside, my eyes begin to water and itch and burn, and my skin itches where it's exposed, and my throat itches and so do my ears, and when I come back inside, I have to take another antihistamine. And then, twenty minutes later, I'm so sleepy I can barely hold my eyes open. A couple of times I have actually nodded off while waiting for an e-mail to open or a web page to load.
In fact, maybe I'll just close my eyes for a bit while I'm waiting for. . .
LeAnn R. Ralph
Wednesday, August 24, 2005, 19:19
Days 1 and 2. . .and counting
Isabelle's first day at the Ralph-Simpson homestead on Tuesday went quite well. I had kind of a conundrum getting Isabelle out of the barn in the morning, switching the gates around and then turning her out in the pasture and letting the gelding out in his little pasture. But I made it.
Isabelle was very nervous being in the barn overnight Monday. I suppose she's never been in a barn before. When I got out to the barn Tuesday morning, she was pacing around and whirling around, and I thought, "oh, great, how am I going to lead her out of here?"
After I had been in the barn for a few minutes, picking up horse manure and putting it in the wheelbarrow, she calmed down. Apparently, just having a person with her was enough to help her feel better.
I managed to get Isabelle out of the barn, get the gelding shut in the barn, then I led Isabelle through the gates and turned her out in the "big pasture." The gelding was having a fit in the barn, trying to open the gate and generally making a nuisance of himself, so I closed the other gates on the lane and then let him outside.
He trotted down the fence on his side of the lane, and Isabelle trotted down the fence on her side of the lane. Then Isabelle realized there was grass in the pasture, and she started grazing.
For the rest of the day, Kajun (the old fool; he's 24), stood by the gate in the lane so he could be "close" to Isabelle. The closest he can get is about 20 feet away. Usually during the heat of the day, he goes in the barn. But on Tuesday, he spent all day standing out in the hot sun. I would imagine he's been very lonely without another horse around for the last six and a half years, so I suppose he didn't want to miss a single moment. We did get him to go into the barn Tuesday night and eat at least some of his grain.
Tuesday evening, Randy modified the fence some more so that I don't have to open four gates, not to mention put Kajun in the barn, to get Isabelle out of the pasture. He made a spot for a gate in the lane between the two pastures. There's no gate up yet, but that's okay. Plenty of time for that. It's having the ability to open only one get to bring Isabelle out of the pasture (or two, when the lane gate is up) that's the most important.
Today (Wednesday), is Isabelle's second full day here. She has been picking grass in her pasture and resting in the shade of the small shelter we built for her. Kajun is still sticking close to the gate in the lane, but maybe not quite as close as yesterday.
I'm going to give Isabelle a few more days to settle in before we start trying to do any work, although I would like to take her out of the pasture either this afternoon or this evening to lead her around and get her used to the sights and sounds around the buildings.
As Randy said on Monday, "so far, so good."
SOPHIE UPDATE -- Sophie has figured out how to climb up on the bed to take a nap with the big kitties. My adult cats ignore her for the most part, unless she persists in trying to play with them. Then they might hiss at her a little bit. They're being fairly tolerant, though. Sophie has also figured out how to get a drink from the big kitties' water dish (it's also Pixie's water dish). The dish is a fairly large mixing bowl, and it's a hoot to see her drink from the dish. She puts her paws on the edge of the dish, which she can just barely manage because the dish is as high as she is tall when she stretches out, and then she drinks from around the rim.
ROCKY UPDATE -- My cat Rocky seems to be recovering from his bout with pneumonia. Each day, he appears more like himself and is more playful and energetic. I am hoping that this antibiotic has completely done the trick for him. He's not finished with the medicine yet and won't be for another five days or so.
LeAnn R. Ralph