Would Ya Look At That!!

 

Wowee! It's like moving into a whole new hacienda! Bob's balustrade is all done; painted, installed, in place and ready for service. It's so beautiful and makes climbing the stairs an exciting adventure.

Bob worked so hard on this... masterpiece (there is no other word for it!) It changes the whole dynamic of the upstairs landing. Why I actually vacuumed this area this morning in tribute! Here's the balustrade on Bob's work table, prior to us carrying it up and erecting it:

This allows you to see the pattern straight on which is harder in real life as the hall is narrow and the angle gets distorted. (It looks like stained glass with the colors of Bob's studio in the background!)

Bob and I posted images of the balustrade on Facebook and it was greeted with raves. It's the only way anyone can enjoy it as the house is (obviously) off limits to visitors due to COVID. Just wait until next year. When vaccine is widespread, we'll have a Balustrade/Railing Festival and invite all of you to a champagne toast and stairway climb!

Pop Quiz: Solstice Edition

Okay kids: What are the two things that Rita enjoys about the Holiday Season? If you said, "Xmas tree!" and "Cookies!" than you have a splendid memory. Above is the partially decorated pine tree that Bob harvested from our vast acreage. It's actually a bit taller than some recent models and boy is there plenty of open space to hang ornaments! Looks great!

                                     

And here's the beginnings of several bouts of cookie creation. We didn't have the ingredients I needed for a few of the other cookies I intended to make, so I resorted to that pseudo-healthy standby of oatmeal raisin cookies. They're half gone already.

Here's our tree illuminated at night. I think this was from our Solstice Celebration. We like to hold celebrations; what else can you do in times of COVID 19 and continued Trumpism?! Let's break out the booze and have a ball... (*1)

It is strange to be decorating and thinking that we'd ordinarily have family (Hi Cathy! Hi Beatrice! Hi John!) over for pork roast, which Bob is just now starting to cook in the CrockPot. (Or, The CrackPot as it IS at our house!). We're cooking the pork roast a day early, thinking we'll enjoy it for Xmas eve as well as Xmas day because Holy Hell! The weather people are predicting heavy rain! High winds! Flooding! Armafuckinggeddon!! Power outages! Darkness! Despair! Our energy company (don't get me started on Eversource (*2)) left a weird robo-message excusing themselves in advance of any responsibility for power outages. They advised to remove or tie down any outdoor decorations... yeah, right. (*3)

So we're having a small feast: mashed potatoes, roast pork, gravy, Brussels sprouts and our own carrots. And we have a warm spinach artichoke dip as an appetizer and a punkin pie to finish up. Slosh it all down with a nice red Bordeaux and boy are we livin' the good life!

In the meantime, I'm doing everything with one hand tied behind my back as I had a freak accident (*4) and my left hand looks like I decked someone in a bar fight. I'm swollen and can't bend two fingers. Thank goodness I'm a Rightie! 

So... Happy Holidays from us and ours to you and yours!

(*1) To quote Miss Peggy Lee.

(*2) And there were a couple of degenerates (one, whaling away at a rose vine with a machete!!) sent by Eversource to prune the trees that line the driveway so as to prevent outages. But walking out to the mailbox and surveying every bloody inch of the driveway, I was unable to discern that they had done anything!!

(*3)  But I will bring Burned Santa inside for the night. Remember him? Rescued from the wilds of Shamokin Pennsylvania where he had been badly burned in some heathen Xmas sacrifice. He gets tied to the fence every year as our one concession to outdoor holiday decorations.

(*4) Don't ask how I managed to hook my sleeve on a gate, pull on it and cause my poor, innocent left hand to come careening across and POW! impact on the side of the horse food bucket. I am swollen and can't bend two fingers.

Now What's He Doing?

 

Good gravy! Bob's so full of projects that it'd make your (or my!) head spin! (*1) Now what's he doing?

Yes, it involves our stairway. We've lived here for just about ten years (a decade!on January 3rd...) and Bob has always said he'd make us a lovely railing in an effort to help us ascend to the dizzying heights of our second storey. 

And now he's sprung into action, making good on his word. 

See that lattice work at the top? That's all that's been between us and precipitously plunging to an untimely death for lo! these ten years. This lattice was erected in the midst of a snowstorm, shortly after we moved in here. There was nothing- NOTHING!- on the edge of the landing. It's bad enough that I suffer from extreme fear of heights but one day our then-dog Jules started backing out of the room at the end of the landing and all I could think was, "My god! Our beloved dog is going to die!" So we dug out these two pieces of lattice that were stuck in what was then the carport and hastily installed them. And there they stayed for ten years! At least it worked...

The first thing Bob had to do was level off all those white vertical slats that the house's previous owner had sawed off at oddly irregular heights. That accomplished, Bob then added a top member and wide upright boards to offer a place to screw the plates that will hold the railing into.

Looks better already! Bob has a really great idea for this whole project. The railing is going to be a simple metal bar but the screening at the top that will replace the lattice... Just you wait! I'm really excited!! It will be magic! (*2)

(*1) I mean, I can vacuum and clean up assorted animal poop with the best of them , but Bob DOES things like re-roof part of the barn and make driveway gates and chop up thirty cords of fire wood. Big stuff. Things I can't do! But I've been entrusted with spackling in nail and screw holes and probably painting. I can't hurt myself on those things...

(*2) Remember how wonderful the gate was that Bob made me for my birthday? Well this will be amazing in a whole different way. Stay tuned.

We're Talkin' COVID Time!

 

First there was one in Utah. Then there was one in Romania... and California a day later. Now look what appeared in our horse field! We have no idea how it got there but our bananas are ripening, our knives are sharper and Robin the Good is now fluent in 7 languages! Hahahahahaha! (*1)

Anybody else wondering what day it is? Sometimes, even the time of day is up for grabs. It doesn't help that Bob keeps insisting, "It's always Saturday" so that Thursday is now officially the 6th Saturday of the week. Or something! Maybe the monolith can help us keep track of time.

I suppose on some level it really doesn't make any difference when this is. Not having to report of work, I can float through the week and do what I need to do when I need to do it. So there.

I am also assuming that this is time more the way our animal friends experience it. They wake up, feel hungry, get us to feed them and then feel the need to eliminate and then sleep again. It really doesn't matter to Robin the Good if it's Thursday or Friday; she wants to eat and poop and sleep. Nothing is going to change that!

Although I stand corrected on that last point: tomorrow is Robin the Good's birthday! Hooray to the best doggo ever! She is such a treat. Don't tell her, but I got her a very realistic squirrel toy. It will either freak her out or she'll think she suddenly succeeded in actually catching one of those little devils. So I know that tomorrow is Saturday, December 5th.(*2)

(*1) Okay, so we're getting just a tad crazy here. But you've got to love these monoliths that are popping up like turkey-timers all over kingdom come. I especially like the original comments that the monolith was either made by aliens or artists!

(*2) And a big shout-out to John, my sorta-brother-in-law who's birthday is Sunday, December 6th. I hope he has a great day. Perhaps I'll get him a realistic squirrel toy, too. Or maybe a portable, personal-sized monolith.

Thankful Rita (*1)

 

So I have successfully located Mommy's famous turkey head centerpiece again this year! Of course, I forgot to procure a pineapple, so this year it's installed on a log. The mini squashes are from our garden, and the brand new blue tablecloth is on its virgin voyage; thank you to Beatrice and John for Bob's birthday gift! It will be gravy and cranberry stained by day's end.

What am I thankful for this year?!??! Fuck 2020! It's almost (thankfully!!) over... hooray!

Let's see: I know I'm thankful for Bob; a heckuva guy. He fixed the barn roof recently, finishing up while recovering from an eye procedure- service above and beyond the call of duty. He (as we all know) is a great sculptor and a fun guy to have around. (He also doesn't lose it when I do things like buy a new horse. Gotta be grateful for that!)

I'm thankful every minute of every day for Robin the Good. A splendid friend and a wonderful dog. (She asks, "What's a "dog"?!?") My partner in gardening and studio time and pretty much everything else. My little shadow...

I think I'm grateful for having two horses. Sometimes they can be a pain in the ass like when they want to kill each other when food is involved... like all the time (so much for peaceful herd animals!) But in general, Maggie and Neko are entertaining and I can ride one of them. (Maggie is amused by my requiring Neko to do weird stuff; she watches us in the round pen and laughs.)

I'm thankful that I have a nice family, even if I didn't get to see them this Thanksgiving. Hello Cathy! Hello Beatrice! Hello John! Maybe next year? I promise to get a pineapple for the turkey head. (And John: I especially miss that cranberry sauce you make!! A tragedy to be without it!)

I'm grateful for all our wonderful friends. We may not be able to visit in person now that the weather is colder, but at least making contact on the phone is a good thing. It's good to know they're out there.

I'm so existentially glad that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the election that I cannot say anything else without stumbling all over myself and becoming redundant. Thank you to all 70+ million Americans who voted for them. Democracy lives!

I guess I'd also have to admit to being thankful that we haven't contracted COVID 19. So many people have died and I go back to my previous statement that 2020 pretty much sucked. 

Onward and upwards as we hurtle towards a new year!

(*1) I am making a sideways reference to the "Thankful Arnold House" in Haddam, Connecticut. Bob and I have never been but pass the sign occasionally and say to one another, "Wonder what that's all about? We'll have to go sometime." I used think that that was some guy's name- "Thankful Arnold" but after visiting their website, I found out Thankful was a woman's first name and Arnold was her last name. Here's the link; they have an exhaustive section about outhouses from those times. Exciting!

Thnakful Arnold House

 

Wild Kingdom

 

Because I never think to carry a camera with me at all times, I mostly succeed in missing all the really dramatic visitations that occur in our yard. Hence, Robin the Good's stuffed animal collection will offer stand-ins for the actual critters. (Above is "Snake", one of Robin's favorite toys. There are three (3!!) squeakers in this play thing which lends an almost stereophonic soundscape to her rough-housing.)

Coyotes have become a regular feature of life in the wilds of suburban Connecticut. Alarmingly, last week I opened the back door at 10:00 in the morning to hear what I thought was a siren. On closer listen, I realized- as did Robin who wanted back into the house- that it was a pack of coyotes. Out and hunting in broad daylight seemingly just one backyard away. Yikes! Probably hunting turkeys...

So we have turkeys; boy do we have turkeys! There's a flock, or a slew, or... what's the group name for turkeys? A throng? Dunno but we have what must be an extended family of them. Every day or two, they make a slow-motion appearance in the horse field. The horses don't seem perturbed, but Robin goes ballistic. They show up and dine on horse poop. They also are no doubt eating endless bugs and ticks so they are indeed welcome.

(Okay, that's "Bison". I thought it was a squirrel when I purchased it, but it does have horns and on closer examination, yes, it's definitely a buffalo). Anyway, the other day when I was playing with Neko in the round pen, She kept flexing her nostrils and holding her head really high, like she was smelling something. I trying peering across our stream to the area that was holding her interest. I saw motion in the bushes and thought maybe it was our resident fox but NO! It was a large and muscular bobcat. I was brandishing my (long) lunging whip anyway, so I ran to the lower end of the round pen and swung my whip around and ululated loudly. The bobcat- correctly- assumed it was being hunted by a human lunatic and took off towards the nature preserve which our property abuts. Good riddance!

(That's "Alien". Robin doesn't care one whit for Alien but I like him/her.) I saw something that not please me at all the other night. When taking Robin out for her late-night pee, I thought I detected a large dark form near our side fence, between the birch clump and the wood pile. Holy fucking crap! It was a deer! We have been blessedly free of these cloven hoofed vermin; all they do is chew things to pieces. It scrambled to safety as I bolted out of  the house, (again) ululating wildly. (I think there is a pattern developing here. If it keeps the wildlife in abeyance, I'll gladly keep exercising the weirder aspects of my sound-making capabilities!)

("Frog" who makes a peculiar crunching/clunking noise because you put an empty plastic container inside of it. Robin's had this toy forever and he's stood the test of time and constant dog chew.) We also have a neighbor's stanky Siamese cat that insists on putting in guest appearances. I just don't like this pest, particularly because it emerged from the hay section of our barn once and the area smelled like nasty cat piss for days. It's a grudge match since then, with me hollering like a banshee and giving chase (sometimes in the car... don't ask) when I see it. (Our next door neighbors on the other side of the driveway witnessed one of my finer performances involving this cat several years back. I believe I recounted that particularly embarrassing event in a previous blog.) 

(Your guess is as good as mine, here. Chipmunk? Squirrel? Corduroy hybrid? I had to replace the eyes as Robin pulled them off early in this toys debut at our house; that only added to it's elusive identity.) So what else? We do have a fox that stops by. And Bob has a special gaggle of crows that await his mouse offerings. I think they've missed him these past few days as he recuperates. The crows were massed by the driveway and vegetable garden- unusual location for them!- and seemed to be looking for Bob. Don't tell them, but we did catch a mouse and I'll be delivering it to them soon.

Our friends (Hi Sheldon! Hi Louise!) in Hamden have had a bear ramble up the driveway recently. No thank you! You can keep the bears! We have plenty enough wild life without bears!
 

 

Exhaustion... And Relief!

 

I'm so relieved! So relieved, in fact, that I am starting a new piece that has NOTHING TO DO with The Orange Menace or all the lies and trouble he has caused. How's THAT for radical??!?! Although when I was shopping for fabric, I had three people exclaim, "Oh! that's such pretty material! What are you going to make?" (I think they expected me to say, "A winsome frock!" or some such nicety.) I replied, "I make profanity-laced political banners." One woman retorted, "Oh, that's nice." Another older (even than me) woman asked and I once more offered that I make political banners. She suggested that the election is over... implying that there's no room for politics anymore. I replied that although I was very happy with the outcome of the election, as an artist, there is always something political to address. Such is my mission!

But yes, relief and exhaustion. I know that many of us are experiencing this combination. I wanted to call friends and sing praises of democracy in action, but I've been so tired that crawling into bed and reading and then... YES!! SLEEPING!! Deep, restful sleep. Or, more to the point, safe and restful, sleep, sleep, sleep.(*1) I am certain we face many up-hill and stupid battles between here and inauguration day (biggest one EVER!!) thanks to intransigent rethuglicans and a little poor-loser dictator that just won't quit. But we won!

And how's this for a hopeful sign? I was walking past the compost pile and I spied something orange. It was a gazania, alive and still in bloom despite last week's below freezing temperatures and being chucked out of a pot. A bit of sunshine to help us along!

(*1) Although I did have a truly weird dream that Rudy Giuliani helped me steal a very large (blue) dump truck to help try and rescue someone. He was actually a good person in the dream; how warped is that?!?

 

 

And A Little More Anxiety Please!!

 

Don't be fooled: the photograph of our jack o' lantern is a distraction. I didn't think to document the following story as it was unfurling as it was too real-time awful and all-demanding of our attentions.

Never a dull minute around here! I trotted out "bright and early" (read actually pitch dark and fucking freezing) to feed the ponies. (*1) (You knew it had to involve them, right?) There's Neko, never one to be late for a meal, already waiting at the gate issuing, "I'm hungry!" and "Where have you been with my morning slops?!?!" whinnies. I'm wondering where Maggie is but figure she knows by now I feed her on the other side of the fence, away from our friend Neko (who bolts her food so as to scarf Maggie's down as well). I'm looking and looking and still no Maggie so I open the gate and start walking down the field when I spy a dark lump on the hillside. My first thought is, "Oh hell; Maggie has gone and died!" but when I called her name, her head came up and she nickered to me. 

Sure enough, just like last year (look it up on my blog) Maggie had once again cast herself on the hill. Her feet were uphill and she couldn't right herself. Additionally, poor Maggie is as old as that hill and probably not the strongest equine around. I went down to her and petted her head and made sure her blanket wasn't caught on her legs and preventing her from standing. Tough old thing that she is, she kept trying to stand. I even went and got her grain, thinking food being a super inducement, she might succeed in standing. It didn't work so I retreated to the house to inform Bob that, "Houston, we have a problem." I'm positive that Bob's love of horses is growing astronomically every day!

Did I mention that there was snow on the ground, it was 22 degrees and still only 7:00, pre-time change? And then I remembered that my riding instructor had always said to call the horse farm if anything like this happened. And I did just that, despite not having left on especially hospitable terms. (Don't ask: an unfortunate string of events this springtime). Anyway, I called and Jess answered and agreed to rouse her husband and come right over. Troopers these horse people!!

A darker, nighttime picture for a visual interlude.

Neko kept eating, Jess and Scott arrived, Bob located ropes, I thrust a thermometer into Maggie's posterior (such fun!) and when it was documented that she was still warm and alive, ropes were looped around her feet and hey presto! Maggie was flipped over and stood up in a single bound and trotted off up the hill just like that.

Horses! Gotta love them (or not). They do some pretty stupid things and it is documented that they can get hurt on almost anything- including a slight hill in their pasture. I thanked Scott and Jess profusely and later bought them a really nice bottle of champagne (which I know they appreciated. How else to reward their heroic call to duty?!) (Although Sabina my riding instructor informed me, drily, that they didn't come to help me; they came to help the horse! Hahahahaha! Who cares?!) 

Bob was mad at Neko who seemed blissfully oblivious to her pasture pals distress but I guess someone among us had to maintain calm. 

So I'm still a nervous wreck about Tuesday's election, somewhat sanguine about the outcome but expecting havoc. And everything inducing stress in the last blog posting still applies. Bob thinks I need an exorcism!

(*1) I also have to insert that I really hadn't slept the night before at all (full blue moon etc) and had said to Bob, "After I feed the horses, I'm going back to bed". Really!??!?!?!!?!?

 

A Little Anxiety Anyone?!?!?

 

Oh look! I made a "puppy" for Robin out of a bit of her shedding fur. It's what an artist does when she's so overcome by generalized anxiety... Couldn't fall back to sleep last night. I wonder why?!??!?

F'rinstance (and in no particular order, although I could clear my throat and sing this litany to the tune of "My Favorite Things"):

*The upcoming ELECTION (only 5 days a way)... Aaaauuugh!!!!!

*A full moon.

*Mercury (continuing to be) retrograde (until Nov 4th. It figures; day after the election)

*COVID 19. Have we forgotten about the pandemic?!?!?

*Lousy stinkin' weather. Will it ever stop raining?!? (After a droughty summer!)

*Will they extend my unemployment benefits?

*Will I  ever be able to show my (art) work again?

*What's for dinner???!!?

*Did mention the upcoming election?!?

So you get the idea: just your typical, run-of-the-mill anxiety. Nothing to see here!

Mercury (Always) Retrograde

 

What could be a better antidote to the current incarnation of Mercury Retrograde than two charming equine friends sharing lunch at BobnRita's All You Can Eat Buffet? Look at that near perfect imagining of the Peaceful Kingdom. And as Mercury has gone so spastically retrograde, I sought solace in the company of Horse Number1 and Horse Number 2.

I was truly having a lousy day, having received two (2!!) notifications that my unemployment claim had been hacked, my cell phone plan is almost up (and they're playing inconsistent pricing and the fucking cell phone won't let me pick up when the phone rings!!), and I missed several call from a doctor's office (I walked into the clothes line late at night and clocked myself in the eye...) and neither pair of pants I ordered fit. (Same size but one pair waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to big and the other waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too small!) I decided to play with Neko instead.

Here's Horse Number 1: Hello Maggie!

So I drag all my gear out to the pasture (saddle, helmet, bridle, grooming box etc etc) and approach Neko saying all manner of sweet nothings and pleasantries (such as, "What a good horsey!! Come here my pretty girl!") and she takes one look at me, throws the stink eye and ducks behind Maggie. I think, "Haha! Silly pony! You can't escape me! I'll just catch Maggie and you'll follow her!"

Hahaha! Silly Rita! Maggie caught the "I don't want to get caught either" bug and trotted up the hill with Neko trailing her. Then the fun really broke out as every time I approached the pack of two horses- now fully enjoying their game of catch-me-if-you-can, they took off at a brisk canter (Neko) and a wonky, wobbly lope (Maggie). And around and around we all went.

Needless to say, by this point I was sweating and furious, but still trying to hide it. I even carried a horse food pan around, hoping to trick one of them into being lured by the (empty) promise of grain.  But by the time they had sailed by me 90 times at 90 miles an hour, I was done. I responded by encouraging them in their game of Rawhide with much yelling and whooping and driving them forward. (*1)  I cracked my whip and hooted and hollered, terrifying poor Bob who later confessed he had heard the commotion and prudently stayed away. Robin joined in at the fence line, woofing and running and generally enjoying this display of pandemonium. I finally had had it. I left the field, feeling utterly defeated by Mercury and a pair of very naughty horses.

Here's Horse #2: Neko. The main culprit who got it all started: (And boy does she like to eat!!)

I went out to the field later to see how my criminal pair was doing- and if they'd ever let me near them again. Well, two very contrite ponies met me at the fence and came right up and allowed themselves to be caught and brushed and have their toes picked out, all the while staring at me with adoring, dewy eyes.(*2) I had to laugh.

And yesterday when I went to work with Neko she didn't give me trouble at all when I went to catch her. Stood like a charm and followed me around like a puppy. I trust that this is the sort of behavior I can expect in the future!! (*3)

(*1) Yes, I KNOW this was probably entirely the wrong thing to do, but I was playing off the old "keep their feet moving" theory of horse work. The lead or alpha horse pushes the other horse(s) around by driving them away from food etc and keeping them moving.

(*2) So I know I'm projecting; I don't really believe that horses feel remorse for naughty behavior, but it made me feel better.

(*3) Not likely!

'Tis the Season

 As you may have noticed, I am seriously interested in politics and especially this upcoming presidential election as democracy itself is on the line. And with COVID 19 on the rise (again), the issue of voting is increasingly fraught as so many obstacles present: who wants to risk voting in person (and perhaps standing in line for hours and hours as seen in some states with early voting?!*(1) and get sick, the rethuglicans are threatening to intimidate those that show up to vote in person, the US Postal Service is under attack and being messed up by... you guessed it! rethuglicans and (once more) rethuglicans are removing ballot boxes and polling stations in some states and putting out phony ballot boxes in others (like California: and they're putting them at churches and gun shops(!?!?)

So it stands to reason that Bob and I- taking no chances and trusting nothing to fate- sent out our requests for absentee ballots in a timely fashion. Most of our friends also requested their ballots and have voted, too. So Bob's ballot appeared about and a half  week ago; he signed it and drove it to the town hall and deposited it in the secure ballot drop box. I checked the mail box the next day, and the next day, thinking maybe they mailed the ballots out alphabetically and me being a "V", I was later in line. But a week went by and I'm starting to think, "Hello! Me of all people! I'm constantly haranguing friends to vote early and I'm not getting my ballot. Maybe they put me on a "Do Not Let her Vote" List." Yesterday, I finally called the town hall and they agreed I should have received one as it had been sent out like two weeks ago!

This morning, I went to the town hall in person and had to sign a request for a replacement ballot. The irony, of course, is that I had to put in an appearance and I've been seriously trying to minimize the time I spend in public. I filed the form and then asked that they give me the ballot so I could fill it out RIGHT NOW, which I did as I had no need to reconsider for whom I was voting. 

I asked for am "I Voted" sticker but they didn't have any so I'll have to make my own.

So... I VOTED!! But I did have to work at it...

*(1) And leave it to me to wonder where do you go take a pee if you're standing in line for hours at a time?!? That's a major concern!

Pleasant Pictures Amidst Turmoil and Despair

 

I'm not even being facetious about my blog title this time around. This blog posting is going to be a visual interlude; a swan song to summer and an appreciation of flowers on this chilly, rainy October day. Above, brilliant sky blue plumbago, blooming it's proverbial pants off on our kitchen table. Such an amazing color! It's almost enough to make us forget that the consequential presidential election is a mere 22 days. Yikes!!!!!! Wait, wasn't this post supposed to be soothing pictures of flowers?

And look at the fiery vibrancy of our good friend Roberts's "Caliente" dahlias? Coupled with lime green coleus (I believe that's "Wasabi") and the equally lemon/lime leaves and red seed pods of "Jewels of Opar (Talinum) it's a pop of much needed color in the house as summer fades. And alas! Most of our dahlias have already died in an early frost; Roberta's garden is only 15 minutes south but much warmer. The heat of these beautiful blooms almost eliminates the chill I'm feeling when contemplating the possibility of four more years of The Orange Menace, steering us towards death, destruction, mayhem and NO!!!!!

Here's a small and innocent group of the last marigolds from the cut flower garden. I like to offer up a small arrangement to the residents of my dragon shrine. Maybe they bring us good luck? I sure hope so because we sure as fuck need good luck! Over 212,000 people dead of COVID 19 and no end in sight of isolation and social distancing and mask wearing and STOP!!!!

Okay, okay: I promise to end on a note of simple, glorious eruption of color. Asters! One of my absolute favorite type of flower. They're so late and yet sport pinks and purples and powdery lavender blue that I might more readily associate with spring. They're tall and wild and smell like hay fields and they billow in explosions of end of season exuberance. Just as I give up on the garden and  dread the approach of winter and try to think of next year's garden... Ta Da!! the asters explode and prolong what remains of this season. See? I kept my word and ended in a better frame of mind... Just keep thinking "flowers".

Nu Horz

 

OMG! Suddenly- after much anticipation and delay- Candy/Candy/Nico/Neko*(1) is here! I feel like I'm hallucinating... She's so laid back, so zen, so chill; she got off loaded from the trailer and we put her in her pasture and she fell right to eating. Good girl!!

Meanwhile, "Horse Number One" aka Maggie is carefully sequestered on the other side of the fence*(2) and her eyes are bulging out of her head:

She's like, "Who's that and where did she come from?!??!!?!" Hopefully, they become fast friends and live happily ever after. I will be keeping them separated for about a week. If they seem accepting of each other that's great. If they don't... well tough! Life may be a bit more complicated for the near future but isn't that what makes life fun? Just wait until grain feeding time... then the excitement will really begin.

Anyway, I'm sort of surprised that Robin hasn't seemed to notice that we have a new horse or has decided that all horses look alike or something because (atypically) she is not barking. Glad some one else is low key; my head is still reeling that we*(3) now own two horses.

That's Maggie thinking things over. I trust she will like having pasture company in the form of another equine pal. She hasn't seen one of her own kind in a while. I have been letting her smell my hands and clothes when I come back from riding but this is an escalation. 

At least the arrival of Horse Number Two (they're now like those multiple wives of sultans) has kept me from obsessing over the endless parade of crazy news. NOT!! See *(4) below.

*(1) Although officially, her name is Neko... by popular demand.

*(2) I'm thinking of the old adage, "Good fences make good neighbors". Hahahhaha: Get it? "Good NEIGH-bors"?!

*(3) Thoughtfully including Bob in my insanity.

*(4) And speaking of insanity, how about the entire rethuglican party deciding to go all positive for the virus? Does that surprise anyone? No masks, no social distancing... what a bunch of losers!

OK (Boomer) Corral

 

So here is the original structure to the round pen, with only side "bars" to be added. Don't tell the horse that the "rails" that will run along the side are only electric fence tape (2" wide) that are (obviously!) NOT electrified. The appearance of fence will work because she's not a young, crazy horse and isn't going to be throwing herself at the fence like a mustang fresh off the range. Nico/Neko is a level-headed 9/10 year old who just needs tweaking and bonding (with me!) through ground work.

Here I am on Nico/Neko who is listening to me and saying, "Whaa?!??!" She didn't get that I wanted her to just stand there so I could take this photo; this is yesterday where she's still at the horse farm. Just wait until she gets home! She has no idea how nuts we are!!! Hahahhahahhaha!!

And here's the (almost) completed round pen:

Looks pretty good, right? All I need to do is make a gate that fills this OK Corral-type opening:

Maggie (remember her?) seems to get that this is a somehow horse-related intrusion into her grazing area. She's been flirting with walking around the edge, grazing and giving the fence the side-eye. Just wait until SHE sees me and Nico/Neko playing in it!

Visible From Outer Space: Part 1

 

OMG! So we have finally decided to erect a full scale replica of Stonehenge and invite our Druid friends to a festival celebrating the return of the autumnal equinox! NOT!!

We are actually constructing a round pen. This is in anticipation of the arrival of Nico/Neko (still don't have that spelling established...). My riding instructor/trainer Sabina has suggested- and been backed up by many, many equestrian experts- that a round pen is an excellent training tool that promotes bonding with your horse and emphasizes proper groundwork and improves their ability to physically improve and carry themselves correctly.

Of course, I turned to Bob and solemnly intoned, "Round pen..." to which he (correctly) responded, "Huh?" So we found a way to approximate a round pen for a fraction of the typical cost. Home Depot is an absolute boon to artists and artist/horse owners who want training facilities at reasonable price. A real metal gate constructed round pen averages about $1200-1600. It consists of 12 foot panels of pipe in a circle to create a pen of about 60 feet across and about 188 feet around (circumference). Ours cost way, way, WAY less!!

So  I found a site on the Internet that had instructions for casting concrete no-dig footings. And then Bob (smart man that he is) suggested that maybe pre-cast footings were available... which they were! So then I said I had pre-priced plastic PVC pipes that could be used as uprights and cross pieces around the top. The above picture is the 2" PVC pipes affixed to the cast concrete bases. They worked great; we did have to get 20 of them to go around the perimeter. And we did have to return 10 of them that turned out to be an inferior, crumbly cast. Hey! Loads of fun; they each weigh 50 pounds!!

So with new, better castings, we proceeded to erect the 10 foot cross members. And quickly found that 10 foot PVC does not like to flex to accommodate the bend of the ring. So we attempted to weight them, hoping to provoke a curve.

We carefully piled logs on boards and weighted them down in the sun, thinking that maybe the heat of the sun would help cajole them into a bend. Nope! Next morning, when we rolled all that weight off, they promptly shrugged off our attempts at bending them so back off to Hope Depot to return 9 of the 2" pipes and to get nine 1 1/4" pipes instead. (We alternated 2" pipes with 1 1/4" pipe... which worked! There was enough "give" in the smaller pipe to compensate for the bend.)

So here's Bob and the uprights for scale. Look at the middle left and there's Bob picking up rocks, because of course, wherever we put an upright, there were rocks!

Rocks: need I say more?

Anyway, once that had been accomplished, we sort of sailed along; measuring from the center point out 30 feet and establishing the outer edge. Today we finished erecting the top cross members. Essentially, that's the top picture. I have thanked the inestimable Bob and his dedication to a cause he will never share in: Bob will never "round pen" Nico/Neko the horse, or even ride her in it. But he's so game!! Willing to assist me in the above crazy project. I will post the pictures of the completed round pen in my next blog posting. It's been an interesting side line to all the other wacky things we do...

To Catch a Thief

 

Yes, Robin is casting her eyes heavenward as if to proclaim her innocence. This dog is responsible for most unseemly heist!

Yesterday, we socially-distance visited with our friends Roberta and Hanneke. In preparation for their visit, I made chocolate eclairs... a three part endeavor that does require time, patience and quite a few bowls. Robin- who does enjoy helping me in the kitchen- was very interested in the whole process. 

They did smell good and I had to set them up high to cool in order to avoid unnecessary temptations to a certain overly active canine nose. Robin didn't want to leave the kitchen.

I then made the filling and stored it in the refrigerator as I don't like to make the shells soggy. (I like to fill the pastry as close to consumption time as possible.) But after the pastry had cooled, I carefully slit along one side and removed some of the extra filaments of dough that remain soft. I offered those to Robin who was confirmed in her expectations of how good they tasted. She scarfed that down!

Our friends came and we had a lovely time, touring the garden and admiring Bob's sculptures and then sitting down to iced coffee and those splendid eclairs, now filled and iced with chocolate. We happily wolfed them down. As I had made a bumper crop of eclairs, we had plenty left and I suggested that Roberta take three of them home for her and her partner (hello Phillip!) to have later. We secured two in paper plates together by clips to protect them on their way to Roberta's house. Roberta set them on the picnic table.

 

In the ensuing excitement of Hanneke deciding to purchase (yay!!) one of Bob's scholar rock sculptures (a wise choice) and us all gathering around to beam at the sculpture, I unthinkingly turned my back on Robin (typically called "the Good") and the eclairs resting on the table.

The next thing I see is Robin hunkered down on the lawn, devouring what I thought was probably one of her bones... until a light bulb erupted over my head and I realized that Robin has succeeded in sneaking the eclairs off the table, spilling two onto the ground while she assaulted the third. She was rushing back to snatch the other two off the grass, but I intercepted her.

It was pretty funny but also worrisome as chocolate is poisonous to dogs, not to mention she had inhaled a large dollop of cream filling and puff pastry- very rich stuff for a dog's belly! I was concerned that she'd awaken us at 3:30 am with a stomach ache and the need to go outside and evacuate, but fortunately, she was fine.

We all had a good laugh over Robin's criminality, but I had to go into the house and restuff and frost three more eclairs for Roberta, leaving us only two. We kept an eagle eye on these!

Hanneke had thoughtfully brought us a "host/hostess" gift of some cookies and a bar of dog shampoo (apparently useful on horses, too). I briefly considered washing Robin's mouth out with the soap- only kidding! Here's another shot of the thief. Doesn't she look non-plussed?!!??

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Birthday Present

Fairy Land! Little did I dream when I asked Bob to make me a gate for the "new" shade garden that he'd out-do himself and make this marvelous creation! What a great birthday gift! The gate leads from the path (that used to end abruptly at a section of non-descript fencing) to the greater wild woods beyond. Enchanting.
The new gate transformed the entire area. Bob maneuvered the elephant ears (Colocasia) closer to the base of the large pine tree (to the right) and he even installed a new drive-through gate farther to the right. That opened up the entire backside of my lilac area and gave us even more room to play in. I now feel inspired to "finish"* the Shade Garden, complete with a path up to a higher private area that affords a lovely little view down into the rest of the garden... Magic!!
Here's another, closer shot:

It's ethereal and sturdy at the same time. The quartz rocks float in such an enchanting way in front of the gate; Bob is so eager for the mesh fence to rust up so that you'll no longer see the grid lines. I kind of like them, but it will look even more delicate...
And here's a detail of the center top of the gate: Loads of tiny quartz rocks spiraling upwards...

The other morning, I walked down with Robin to check on the Shade Garden. I was delighted to see that a spider- no doubt inspired by Bob's gate- had constructed a web to the left of the gate. It was sparkling with dew and made a wonderful visual accompaniment!

Alas! I tried to take a picture that captured the beautiful rivalry of web and gate but didn't succeed! Could it get any better than this?!?
 *Is any garden ever really "finished"?!?!?