rainy day

Water from the sky
bouncing on the ground
Drips echo and
form puddles
many different paths
through the clay it delves
changing landscape
changing footing
horses wak and sink
creating little lakes
pee and poop is swimming
pools of horse apples spiced with urine
yellow puppy racing
through the muddy depths
brown puppy wants inside
wait till your dad can clean you
you dirty little mess
so happy and so wet
a chocolate lab at last
i hear her splash and run
and jump and slip and slide and roll
my husband soaked with water
mud and slime and grass
what has he been doing
in the yard this long
in the rain
in the mud
in the wonder of the weather
smiling
till they get inside
brown puppy shakes
yellow puppy emerges
from the once clean towel
like mama's tongue clean
little puppy smiles
water from the sky
still bounces on the ground

Mojitos from my Friend

I am enjoying my first mojito.  It is blueberry flavored and kick ass strong.  The mint is from our yard.  The sugar rimmed glass is yummy.  The blueberry plus vodka (?) is very yummy 80 proof.  I feel myself relaxing.  

First my shoulders feel tense and then they slowly give way to a lower silhouette...and the rest of the body follows suit.  Wow.  This is lovely.

I had a wonderful conversation with my daughter today - via e-mail - and I made plane reservations to visit her in Seattle over Valentine Weekend.  I am happy.  Boyd and I will babysit while Laura and Ian enjoy a Valentine date night.  I hope they make reservations for something fun and wonderful.

I am losing my language skills as I hit the halfway mark on the glass.  Lisa said to bang on the ceiling when I want another drink.  I think the broom is next to the washing machine.  It will make a good banger.

Boyd and Andrew bought the parts to complete the automatic gate today.  It was a very reasonable Craig's List find.  Having an automatic gate will be great!  Everyone will appreciate it - rather than having to get in and out of the car to open and close the large gate.

When I return from Seattle I will get in contact with the Carlsbad Antique Mall and see if I can rent a booth.  I want to sell all my old "stuff".  The stuff that I have accumulated over 35 or more years.  I've enjoyed some of it - and some of it has always been in the garage or shed.  I'd like to get down to basics soon.  Minimal stuff.  I can make some money and enjoy the atmosphere of antiques - and if I want to, I can peruse estate sales and keep the booth going for a while.  I think my step mother and father have things they want to be rid of also.  And I bet their stuff is older than mine!  

We will go whale hunting and chasing tomorrow.  Perhaps I will have good photos to post.  It is fun to chase them.  We cannot keep up with the extremely fast critters - but it seems they have a feeding routine that we can anticipate.  They are so beautiful and it is much fun.  Memo to self - wear sunscreen!

Lucy is getting better at minding.  I played with her today and she came every time I called...even though it took some time - she Did come.  Good girl Lucy.

Okay, time to bang on the ceiling.  Have a lovely evening.  

Poop Makes the World Go Round

We have quite a bit of poop in our yard.  And most of it is re-usable.  Yay!

Later I will be collecting different varieties and re-homing it in the various sections of my garden, where it will cook in bacteria until it is planting time.  Then the nutrients from the poop will help all the veggies grow and produce wonderful foods.



Is everyone fascinated by feces?  After we use the toilet, do we look at the little logs swirl down the waterways; evaluating our health based on its color and texture and aroma?  Well, color me weird, but I do.  I think I always have.

 Animals examine their own poo.  I've watched the horses, llama, dogs and cats do it.  It is a sort of communication sometimes.  I've seen them eat it too.  The dogs and coyotes and chickens love to eat the horse poop.  Actually, I think the chickens are eating the bugs in and around it.  Dogs used to get more greens in their diets, but with commercial dog foods, they sometimes feel they need more, so they chow down on it.  I've seen the llama eat his own stuff.  Yeah.  

chicken poo

horse poo aka "road apples"

ooh...gross!!

Birds use their poop to help build their nests...and we can use horse poop, clay and straw...shape it into a brick and build our own human nests.




There are many very well built building made with this adobe.

You can use cow poop to help start a fire.

break it into smaller pieces and light your kindling

are you serious?

i will eat your wooden house, furniture, boat...

termite poop

You can tell if your house has termites if you see their poop under your window sills.  It is so tiny that it looks like dust.

Worms leave poop that we call "castings".  People grow worms just to get the castings and sell it as fertilizer.  Great stuff!  And, of course, we've all heard about bat guano - and its wondrous properties via Jim Carrey and Ace Ventura.

We recycle a lot here at the ranch.  I feed my food scraps to chickens. They eat them and it turns into chicken poop.  I pick it up and put in the garden area where I let it "cook" until it doesn't look like poop anymore.  It looks like dirt.  I use the horse and llama poop in the garden also.  I plant tomatoes and bell peppers and strawberries and other things that we eat...and the animals eat the leftovers - and the whole thing starts over again.  It is a pretty cool deal!

Some people use the gas from cows (and probably other animals as well) to make energy to run motors.  I don't think I'd want my car to smell like cow farts though.

Anyway - poop is a great thing!  It makes the world go round.

Thanks for listening/reading

 

Hand Foot and Mouth Disease

Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease.  I thought it was a made up disease - but it is real.  I've had it for the last 2 weeks and it is highly contagious - so I've quarantined myself.  It is a painful child's virus that causes spots and later blisters that itch and burn on your hands, feet and inside your mouth.  Usually you get it if you are under 5 years old.  My father says that this proves that I am young at heart.  When an adult gets it - it is harsher - kinda like chicken pox is.  A child can have it and keep right on playing.

Staying home - on the couch or in bed for a week is monstrous!  The itching!  The burning!  Death by one thousand cuts - and pour vinegar on the cuts! Then another week moving out to the yard for little bits of time..   Can I complain louder?

The thing I am having a problem with now is whether or not I am still contagious.  The different Internet sites say I am contagious until Jan 30th.  My doctor says I am no longer contagious.  Most of the "spots" have callused over and peeled.  There is still some itching, but the fever is and pain is gone.  My husband and son have not gotten it - and they were both exposed when I was.  The virus travels in human fluids - spit, really.  I got it because I shared cereal with my grandson - who showed no signs of the virus, but had been exposed.  He was a carrier.  

I will not share spit with the people at the grocery store.  But, will they handle the shopping cart without cleaning it?  Wipe their eyes or mouth - unsuspecting that a treacherous virus lurk between the plastic and the metal of the handle?  But - then I think - well, everyone who has the flu has a virus - and most of them go out in public and spread it around willy nilly.  They don't care if they spread their disease.  Why should I care?  But, I do.  Care, I mean - I care.

I imagine if people out in public saw me wearing plastic gloves and a face mask - they may become alarmed.  "What does she have"? they will whisper.  "The plague?  Ebola"?  Talk about drawing attention to yourself.  

So, I will stay mostly at home for yet another week.  When the peeling skin becomes less noticeable, and there are no more red spots.  It is lonely staying home.  And the rejection one feels when people know you are ill - and they do not want to catch it, is quite depressing.  It feels like a total lack of love.  Of course it is not.  I do not want them to suffer what I have.  

Of course, if an enemy of mine where to ramble over to my door - I might be tempted to spit.  If I have any enemies, that is.  I don't think I do.  

Animals here

Wow!  What a long time since I've written here.  Life here has changed.  There are now a dozen horses on the property.  All of the llamas passed on - as did both dogs (Emma and Abbey) and my cat Smokey finished her life at 20 years old.  Long loving lives for them all.  And a great hole in my heart for almost a year  

We rented out some of our property to a lady who gives riding lessons.  It is interesting and fun to watch and participate!  But, it is not the same as having your own animal..  We still have 10 chickens, but they are getting old and are laying less and less.  

I've been the one who has chosen all the animals Boyd and I have ever had - and there's been plenty!  This time it was Boyd's turn.  I only had once request - that the animal had to be able to come into the house.  It hurts me to not let the dogs come in the house.  I have always had dogs - and they always came into the house .  They were part of the family.  I married a man whose family considered dogs as outdoor things.  So strange to me.  And, I tried to live with that.  It was almost unbearable.  It was heart breaking.  So.  My only request - requirement really - is that they come in the house.

Boyd announced 2 weeks ago that he was looking for a new dog!  Hooray!!  We looked at a small female Pomeranian crossed with yorkshire terrier and decided against her.  Too many allergens - and she was very dominant.  Then we met Lucy - a 7 month old golden lab crossed with some kind of terrier.  She is 40 pounds and the friendliest little girl.  She loves us.  She loves Boyd.  She is very trainable and quite a lovely dog.  We are very happy with her.

Searching for ... what ,exactly?

I am having an MRI of my pancreas done this morning.  I am nervous.

I went to the Doc a few weeks ago because my poop was white.  It was after I attended a BBQ (most excellent flavors) that included very high fat meats.  I figured (and the Internet confirmed) that I should tell the Doc about it.  White is not a normal color for poop.  Blood tests, urine tests, ultra sound tests - all reveal that there is nothing wrong with me.  No stones, no blockages.  So, today is the MRI.  To look for cancer basically.  I think that this is all that is left to look at.

I do not like the idea of being in a certain position for an hour...and not moving.  I do not like the idea that - if there is any metal in your body, you could get hurt by the magnetic pull of it.  I don't know if I have metal in my body.  Nobody put any there - but, who knows what may have happened?  Something in my eye?  Maybe aliens put something inside me, I am always playing in the dirt and doing dirty things.  My Doc said I should take 2 tranquilizers.  That is good.  I don't want to feel freaked out.  Like I already do - and my anxiety grows as the minutes pass.

Well, I leave in 3 minutes.  Going to take my pills.  Wish me luck.

As much as I do not like the idea of this test - it is an excellent thing, isn't it?  To be able to see the insides so clearly.  Amazing really.

On Communication:

You never know when or if, a person is damaged, and how so, – please keep this in mind:

When you tell someone what you think about them, it is vital (if you love them) to phrase everything positively.  For example - the glass is half full, rather than half empty.  By using the uplifting and hopeful type of sentencing, you are telling the person that you care about their welfare. You are sharing love.  By using the more negative phrasing you are telling them that you are condemning them. 

¹neg·a·tive

 adjective \ˈne-gə-tiv\

: harmful or bad : not wanted

: thinking about the bad qualities of someone or something : thinking that a bad result will happen : not hopeful or optimistic

: expressing dislike or disapproval

The negative connotations, (words, tone of voice and posturing), may lock the person receiving the comments into shackles of self-loathing and negative beliefs about themselves.  If the Receiver has been in those shackles long, then you may be reaffirming and justifying their presence.  The positive style of communication works just the opposite, giving the person hope and increasing their awareness of you and what you want from them.  Once they can become truly aware in their soul, in their spirit  - and if they love you – they will try to give love back to you, by listening and perhaps opening a dialogue about changes and needs.

Often, people think that they need to tell another person about the other’s negative “qualities”, to teach the receiver about what and how they are…and how they should be.  As though, the person does not realize that they have faults.  The Teller might love the Receiver and think he is helping them.  Most people know they have faults.  If they have not changed them after many years, they have either accepted them as normal and okay, or they have a problem with them, and they are having difficulty changing.  It is possible that they do not care, but most people I’ve known have mental and/or emotional blocks to changing their bad habits because of these invisible shackles that have them bound into a loathsome identity created and strengthened by the so called well-meaning people who continue to tell them how bad their problem is.

Remember that everyone looks at life through a different lens.  Like theater lights – they can shine white and bright, or you can put a colored film across the light can and get a different colored light on your life’s stage.  You can put a stencil across the can and get shadows of things that are not really there…they are just suggested images…shadows of things that seem larger than life itself.  We do not know what lens a person sees with.  The person telling the “facts” to the receiving person might see things that the receiving person is not capable of seeing, and visa-versa.  Both of their lens’ present life in totally different colors and/or shapes.  This is not to say that either person is ‘wrong’.  They are different.  And communication is difficult, and sometimes impossible.

If one person has a certain pile of trash that has made their filter green – and they are trying to communicate with a person who has rose colored with flower stenciling on his lens…they can say the same words and feel very different things.  They might never truly see ‘eye to eye’.

Don’t beat each other down in the name of love.  Know that each word that comes out of your mouth will be tested and you will be accountable for them; both the letter of the word and the spirit of the word.  Take into consideration the person you are speaking to.  Try to speak to your audience; Try to know their lens; their filters.  Try to share the half full glass and thereby share love with that person.  Do not hate people in the name of love.