Musings on a(nother) rainy day

I'm sure that most of you here in Northern California probably got about as much sleep as I did last night due to our extremely windy and rainy storm!  We clocked 50+ mph winds here at the ranch, and there were several times I thought for sure the roof was going to blow off the house!  Luckily, I awoke to find that there was no damage anywhere on the premises - the shingles were still on the roof, the horses hadn't blown away, the garbage cans were all still where they were supposed to be, and the trees had most of their branches intact.  Amazing!  It was still windy and rainy this morning, but not  as bad as the previous night's tempest.  Like clockwork, Jake was waiting for me to come out the door this morning so we could go to work together.

I need my bone, then we can go down to the barn!

No one was going to be tying their horses in these cross ties today!

I worked a few horses, gave a lesson to the one soul who braved the weather conditions (Pat), then decided to grab my camera and roam around (under cover, of course) to see what was going on.  I walked down the aisle to go out the side of the barn, and there was Tristan - having his lunch in bed - a daily ritual for him.  There's nothing wrong with him, he just likes his lie-down times!

He ate awhile, then he started to get sleepy.

He let me come in and snap away....I love "shooting" parts of horses.

"Dude" came to pay a visit in the stall - he wanted some of the attention that Tristan was getting.  He looks pretty good for an 18 yr old cat, doesn't he?

Pretty soon, Tristan got even more tired, and used the hay as a pillow - oblivious to me being right in his face.

Sam couldn't wait to come in and cuddle with Tristan, so I said, "Sure!  He won't mind."  He loved getting pets and scratches while still lying down!

You're getting very, very sleepy.

More "intimate" shots.......

I love whiskers and guard hairs.

If you click on this image, you'll see his stall door in his eye.

I love the freckles on his lips.

Don't you just want to pet the soft part of his muzzle?

After about 20 minutes, he decided it was time to get back up - nap time was over!

Meanwhile, the dogs and cat were trying to figure out what to do with their boring day......

Feed me!

Jackson is forever trying to get Dude to run so he can chase him, but Dude is too smart to fall for that game.

"If I can't get the cat to play, I'll amuse myself with this toy."

Jake says he'll just sit there and look regal.

And then there's Draco!  He tried begging for peppermints, but didn't get a reaction from me on that, so he decided to amuse himself by playing with his fly mask.

"Not me!  I didn't do anything wrong!"

As I looked up the aisle, I saw that "Leo" was taking his nap standing up.

It's tough being an "indoor" horse, nice and dry in a stall on a rainy day.  

I thought about going out in the rain to get shots of the horses in the pastures with the wind whipping their manes, but......well, that never happened.  From the extended forecast of the week's weather, there will be plenty of days that I can do that if I choose to do so!    

This shot started out as a mistake, but I like it anyway!

 

Bye Bye Joellama

Yes, our friend Joellama has gone to a new home.  Joe L. has been here for about 2 years, and has, in the words of his vet been, "An exceptional llama!"  Joe has gone to his new home to keep another llama, who  lost his friends to old age, company.  He will be getting lots of loving attention, so we are happy for that, but he will be missed.  

Joellama (like "yo mama") is a very sweet llama, who, no matter how worried or stressed, has never offered to spit or kick. He is, none-the-less, basically unbroke, so we were worried about what a circus it might be to get him into his transport.  However, he was more co-operative than expected, even though we had a big turn-out ready to help.   Here are some photos from Joe's day............

The ladies know right away that something is up!

Yikes!  Help me!

Lil Bea (The goat) wants to help coax Joellama into the shelter

Safely in the shelter without incident - and the goats are still helping

He lets Wendy put the halter on like a good boy

And away they go - what a good llama!

He's a cute llama

Everyone's helping him up the Saddle Pals ramp on his way to the pick up truck

He's not too sure about this mode of transport

But, he's on his way to new adventures - Bye Bye Joellama!!

   

Only at Blue Fountain Farm.........

would you expect something crazy to happen like what happened here last night and today.  Yes - you see a photo of a water buffalo at the top of this post...... that's because we had two of them visiting us last night until this morning!  They were renegade run-aways from a new neighbor about a mile away.

It all started at dusk last night - I was sitting here in my office getting ready to answer emails, etc., when the dogs charged off the deck in full cry.  They were barking up a storm - but within two seconds they were both running back up onto the deck with their tails between their legs, and there were two big, black water buffalo in hot pursuit!  In Grass Valley??  On my ranch???  Yikes!  What to do, what to do??  I'm pretty comfortable with most any animal, but I've heard stories about how mean water buffalo can be, and didn't these two just put our two big dogs in their place?   I had heard that these creatures had recently moved into our neighborhood, but I didn't know how to get in contact with the owner to let her know that they were in my yard.   As another neighbor went to inform the owner of the whereabouts of her charges, I talked with Animal Control - lot of good that did me.  They said they don't come out after water buffalo because they can kill people!  And that helps me, how??  I said that I was concerned that, besides any damage they might cause to the landscaping, fences and freaked out horses here, they might get out onto the road and cause a car accident.  The answer to that was that it would be the buffalo owner's fault if something happened.  Again - that helps me, how?

In short order we had a posse of people, flashlights and my trusty Bobcat utility vehicle trying to find two black creatures in the black of night.  Well, no luck. Even Jackson - the bigger and younger of the two dogs, couldn't find them.  So, we decided that maybe they went back the way they got here, and I decided not to worry about it anymore.  Wrong!  This is what was in the pasture aisle this morning......... happily munching on the spilled hay...........

Jackson decides to rescue me

Oh, maybe not.  Note the hackles up on his back!

OK, so - they were still here!  I was told by the owner last night that they are very friendly, and bucket trained.  I don't know - does this look like a friendly face to you............

Well, I tried the bucket routine, and, as it turned out, they were afraid of me.......

They went around the back side of the pastures, and I tried again...........

Mom was helping from the golf cart.

We're thinking about it, but we don't know you.

I got the young male to eat a little out of the bucket, but that didn't last too long - they both took off.........

I decided I needed to get to work doing what I do to pay the bills, and not spend time trying to catch someone else's stray animals.  Soon, the owner arrived, and we were able to get the "wild ones"  back up the pasture aisle, and into a pen.  They were very happy to see their "Mom" again.

On their way to the pen.

I missed you, mom.



And she missed him right back



This one likes to have his lips played with.



This is where I belong

Obviously, these two are not killers - they were just out for an excellent adventure.  They were loaded up into a stock trailer, and away they went.

So, everytime I think that maybe I've seen everything, something like this happens.  Bet you can't say you've had stray water buffalo in your back yard!

Thanks to Becca, Sue, Linda, Eric and Nancy for being there to help with these big critters! 

    

Snow! Well, a little.........

It rained heavily and steadily all night long, until about 3 AM or so, then things got quite.  That either means it just stopped, or it snowed.  I couldn't tell which until I got up this morning at 6:15, and looked out my window to see snow on the surrounding hills, and yes, a little dusting here at the ranch.  Our elevation is 1200', so it's a rarity to get snow here.  That being said, though, we had a wolloping snow in Dec of '09, but that was the last time the pretty white stuff has fallen here at BFF.  So, being the intrepid photographer that I am, I put on all my woolies and was outside by 6:30 AM!  The dogs love it when I get out and about early, so they helped me with my expedition.  I'm glad I did get out and about when I did, because things warmed up quickly, and the snow disappeared.  These are nothing fancy, but it's fun to see snow here again...........



Snow, instead of tomatoes in the garden



The landscape mound behind the house

More of the garden and the hills beyond

Some flower seeds from last year are already trying to grow.

This old shoe isn't doing a horse much good anymore!

I had to throw this in - our friend Herbert was hunkering down next to the pond in the pouring rain a couple of days ago................

Until the dogs found him and chased him away - this is all I could get of him making a hasty retreat!

And this next shot is also from a couple of days ago in the howling wind - I thought the windmill was going to blow over!

And, finally - spring is in the air - the first blossoms of the Flowering Quince below my office window.

Coyotes in the Morning

OK, so I guess the coyotes around here didn't get the memo that they aren't supposed to go wandering around the ranch at 10:30 in the morning!!  These photos are courtesy of "Bob Robert", who happened to see them wandering down the back lane. 

They think no one has seen them

Then, Bob calls, "Hey!  Coyotes!"

They decide maybe it's time to exit through the fence

Well, maybe I'll stay a little longer..........

Jackson to the rescue!  Look at the top of the photo to see Mr or Mrs Coyote jumping through the fence.

"And don't come back!"

"Huh!  I showed them!"

 Thanks, Bob, for sharing these photos!