Feelin' GOOD!

Yesterday I went back to the horse ranch because my trainer comes on Mondays and it has been a LONG time since I've been able to be there when she is training the horses.  I even left home before hubby.  I was out the door before 8 a.m.!  Up the mountain road I went.  It's very dry up there and really, there's nothing to photograph this time of year.  The bighorn sheep are staying close to water (if they can find it).

The ranch owners had gone to Hemet on errands, so I had the ranch to myself.  That's kinda nice every now and then and yesterday morning was one of those times.  I could hear the call of a golden eagle and I spotted it lazily flying not to far away, but I couldn't get my camera to focus!  I only got a couple of shots before it had a hissy fit.  Oh, well...I just watched it instead.

Then, there's a family of ravens whose nest is in one of the big oak trees on the ranch.  Their nest is a shambles.  There are 3 juvenile ravens now who are learning to fly.  The family is hilarious!  It is like they have 3 hoodlum children!  They spent about an hour flying around the ranch, but finally moved down to the end of the road.  Then, they came back and I observed one of the parents divebombing some kind of hawk.  The hawk settled onto a branch of one of the pine trees on the ranch and the raven parent wanted it GONE!  NOW!  I noticed the juvvies out flying again later, so all survived.

My trainer was late, so I did some chores (cleaning out water troughs).  Quad "helped" me clean out his, which is bolted to two aluminum poles because he destroyed one trough.  I had to take a feed scooper and scoop ALL the water out of it and then I scrubbed it with vinegar.  He helped me by nuzzling my hair and basically getting in the way!  He's not at all afraid of water, so I put some on his knees and hooves, which are all nicely trimmed from Sunday's farrier visit.  He's just a very laid back horse...too laid back for the track!  Even though he's a descendant of both Man O'War and Storm Cat, he is a very mellow horse.  I'd love to get the grandson up on him and lead him around the arena.

He was BEGGING to be let out, so I took him down to the arena and lunged him and took him through the cones that they have set up.  The cones are a good way to loosen up a horse's back end.  I didn't just want to let him go because then horses think they can just RUN in the arena.  Um...no.  They have to work first.  He did a pretty good job on his lunging, so I let him go.  He just stood there...DUH...and finally realized he was FREE!  So, off he went, running, kicking, and bucking.  Oh, and FARTING!  My goodness!

Of course, my trainer showed up and she has a certain order that she does the horses.  Scout, my mustang, is ALWAYS first.  If Scout isn't first, YOU pay for it.  Oops.  So, Quad got groomed and put back in his corral and out came...HER HIGHNESS.  You have to remember that Scout is an alpha mare and out in the wild, she would probably be the herd leader.  I actually think she is smarter than me.  Her little wheels are ALWAYS sizing up people.  If she detects the slightest sign of weakness, she exploits it, which explains why I don't take Scout out when I'm at the ranch ALONE.  EVER!  I have conflicting thoughts about Scout.  First, I'm NEVER going to be able to ride her.  I just don't have the experience.  Second, she knows that between the two of us, she's the ALPHA.  That's never good.  Third, she runs so dang fast!  I swear, she could outrun every single one of my other horses, and two of them are thoroughbreds.  Sometimes I feel badly that she just sits in a corral, but on the other hand, she is well cared for, and loved, and she DOES get all the care she needs.  She really is pampered.  In somebody else's hands, well...who knows?  So, Scout will stay with me.  She WOULD make an awesome trail horse/pack pony, which is what her sister does up in Yosemite.  Cali's brother is also up there.  Two park rangers adopted Scout's sister and Cali's brother when we adopted Scout and Cali and they trailered them down to Southern California from Wyoming for us and we paid them.  They trained their two to be pack horses.  I have photos of our visit to them once up near Mariposa.  She's not afraid of anything except...water!  Go figure!  A mustang afraid of water!  Absurd!

Anyway, all of the horses got groomed and got some R&R time and some training down in the arena.  It was a good day with a nice breeze, but when I got home to the desert, it was 114 degrees, our hottest day yet.  Ugh.  It was so hot that birds even came to my water fountain for a drink yesterday afternoon.  A mockingbird was first, then two starlings.

pics below:

 Quad self-exercising in the arena.

 Quad having a good roll in the arena.

 That's Scout, kicking up her heels.  She's my mustang.

 This horse can RUN!

 Scout, being a good girl, with my trainer, Maia.

 Sunni got to stretch his legs and run, too, after his exercises with Maia.

He is a good listener!

The horses get their feet trimmed

So, yesterday the farrier came up to the horse ranch.  I arrived at 9:30 a.m., thinking it was early.  Nope, he and his assistant had been there since 7:30 a.m.!!!  Lucille was getting new shoes and several of the owner's horses had already been done.  He finished with my other 4 because none of them were shoes and they don't take that long.  Sunni has gone from being TERRIFIED of farriers to standing still and not moving a muscle for Mr. A..  Sunni's first few experiences with a farrier were NOT pleasant!  My cousin, at one point, recommended her guy and the man was ABUSIVE with Sunni.  All he did was scream at him to "HO!"  After about 45 minutes, he gave up and told me to train him better.  Mr. A., on his first visit, spoke softly to Sunni, walked slowly and gently, and stroked him.  What a difference!  I loved him from that first visit!  And, apparently, so did Sunni! Scout, being a mustang, gave me an ears-back glance, but she also settled right down. He has been trimming them all now for about 3 or 4 years and they all know, respect, and love him!   Here are a few photos.  I didn't wish to intrude, so I kept my distance.

 They had already started on Lucille, who wears shoes, when I arrived.  The little girl next door is watching through the fence.

 I always love to see the back of his truck!

 Lucille got some nice turn-out time after her feet were done!

 Quad is an old pro at this!  Ho, hum!

Even Scout stood still, but she WAS hard to catch!

Beach windows & doors~Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors~070714

Just a variety of windows and doors from our days down by the ocean.  These are from San Juan Capistrano and Dana Point.  Oops!  Apparently I cut off the beautiful barn doors on the last pic!  WWDD for July 7, 2014.   To visit WWDD, please go to:   http://iwishiwereaphotographer.blogspot.com/

We had ourselves an earthquake and a dust storm alert!

I awoke yesterday morning about 5 a.m.  The minute the sky starts to lighten up, BOING!  My eyes are open.  I fed the cats, fed the dogs, fed the birds, took a short walk with my camera to photograph the beautiful pink and orange clouds at sunrise, and started to blog.

Anyway, after doing some chores, about 10 a.m. hubby and I were sitting in our chairs in our living room and RUMBLE, RUMBLE...I heard it first.  Then we both felt a fairly large jolt.  Now, I'm a native Californian.  I've lived with earthquakes for 62 years.  This was quite noticeable.  The house shook.  Our chairs moved.

We both got online and the USGS showed it was a 4.8 (later downgraded to a 4.6) in Big Bear, in our nearby San Bernardino mountains. Actually, for those of you who are familiar with the area, it was centered in Running Springs.  It was 8 miles deep and I looked at the USGS website where they said to the core of the earth is 3,959 miles.  As earthquakes go, it wasn't that deep.  But, BOY!  We sure heard and felt it.  And, a 4.6 is usually not that noticeable.  Had I been outside working, I probably wouldn't have even noticed it.  But, we were both SITTING in our chairs INSIDE the house, so we both heard and felt it.  I also felt several aftershocks (all about 2.6 or 2.4) throughout the day, when I was inside.

Here's the link to our local news story about it:   http://www.kesq.com/news/46-earthquake-in-big-bear-shakes-valley/26811800

I, of course, immediately drove out after this and bought 6 gallons of water to keep in the house!

Then, that afternoon, both of our phones went off with an alert for a dust storm down in Imperial.  Well, that's a couple of hours away and we live in a sheltered cove, so I wasn't worried about that!

Chance of a thunderstorm today!!!

After arriving home yesterday from San Diego, we drove down to our daughter and son-in-law's home for dinner.  They invited us over for chicken, tri-tip roast, a green salad, and delightful conversation.  Our son and grandson stopped by later, too, so we got to see both grandkids.  A good time was had by all.  Believe me, we know how to enjoy our food!

By 9:00 p.m., fireworks were going off at the local casino so we adjourned outdoors.  There was a breeze from the southeast, which meant humidity from the Gulf of Mexico.

This morning when I opened our front door at 5:00 to feed the birds, WHAM!  I was hit by a wave of humidity.  And, that telltale southeast wind.  One weather forecast site says we have a 20% chance of a thunderstorm.  Um...more like 75%, I believe.  The air is very thick outside and yesterday afternoon I did see a couple of thunderheads develop over our local mountains.

Here is the view this morning toward Deep Canyon.

There is also a fire near Julian, the apple pie center, which still isn't contained.  We saw the smoke from it yesterday when we stopped in Anza at the Dairy Queen.  Two homes have burned so far...sigh...Here's a link to the story:   http://www.10news.com/news/brush-fire-burns-near-julian

So, I wish everybody a HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!  Be safe.

Kite shop down in San Diego at Seaport Village.

Lighthouse fence~Good Fences~070414

I found this beautifully maintained fence at the Point Loma lighthouse when we were in San Diego this week.  I took some photos with it, looking different directions.  I especially liked the kitchen garden fence (and garden) out back behind the lighthouse.  It made me wonder what life would have been like here in the early days (before all the houses and cars)!  It was first lit in 1855, but closed down for good in 1891, when the lighthouse moved to a lower location. I read that its light could be seen for 25 miles, but that was on a day with no fog or clouds.  Oops!  Guess that was a design flaw, then, to put it there. Good Fences for Friday, July 4, 2014.  To visit other fences, please go to:   http://run-a-roundranch.blogspot.com/

Yes, it was this dark and cloudy on the day we stopped to see it!

How people keep busy at Dana Point harbor

We were lazy today.  We didn't get going until after noon.  I don't know why...that's just how it was today.  Maybe yesterday wore us out?

Anyway, we had lunch in San Juan Capistrano at our favorite place, next to the Amtrak tracks.  A train stopped, opened its doors, and I swear...two minutes later, it was GONE!  I ran over to the side of the restaurant to try to get a couple of photos before it pulled out and I had to HURRY!

Then we drove up to Dana Point harbor, which is always an interesting drive.  There are a lot of sailboats there, and also a lot of pelicans.

LOTS of activity today!