Not Your Typical Dog Behavior

My big, black pound puppy Rex, now an elderly 10 years old, has some rather strange behavior.

How many dogs do you know that behaves like a cow?  He has been doing this for years whenever we have visiting cows.  You would think the cows are afraid of him, but they are not.

In case you believe I am making this up, I finally have pictures to prove it.  Picture #1 is of Rex grazing with a black teenage bull:

This is pretty typical.  I’ve even seen him in a whole herd where he grazed among them.

Next picture, he decides to revert back to doggy behavior and sniff the bull’s -ehem- behind:

He also does this frequently.  He has had a few cows that didn’t appreciate it and tried to kick him, but thankfully, they have missed.

So now YOUR turn… what weird behavior does your pet do?

Hugs, Carla

Anniversary Dirt

It is not every day that 20 yards of lovely anniversary dirt get delivered.  20 yards of topsoil = a huge truck and trailer:

Load #1:

and Load #2:

The truck is HUGE, so it makes the pile of dirt seem small.   Actually, they are almost as tall as I!  Now my DH can have fun on the tractor and spread it around in the back of the house.  We are getting ready to put in a sprinkler system, some grass sod and flower beds to pretty things up. Of course, this is a DIY project.

It is a lovely fall sunny day here in the Northern California foothills.  Simply beautiful!

Rancher Ed’s cow herd is multiplying!  The little calves are so blasted cute!  Living on the ranch, it is fun to watch bovine behavior.  They do interesting things that I never knew.  For instance,  did you know that mom cows give birth away from the herd?  They like to be solitary.  Then they hide their new calf in the tall weeds and go eat some grass.  They keep one eye on where they have hidden their baby, too.  It is not a good idea to get between the Mama cow and her baby.

Another interesting things that Mom cows do… they have their own babysitting co-op!  All the moms park their baby with the babysitter, then they go off to eat grass.  Ive seen as many as 5 babies with a babysitter.

The herd also have a daily pattern.  In the morning, they hang out at the barn.  As a group, they then visit different parts of the ranch at the same time each day.  At night, they like to come up to my house for a visit.

Enough of cows…  enjoy your day wherever you are at!

Freeform Beaded Necklace- WIP

This necklace is a work-in-progress (WIP):

and a close-up image:

This is a project that is evolving. The base piece, in case you are curious, is a herringbone bead weaving pattern.

I like this so far. Beading like this is very therapeutic, very relaxing. Hmmm… perhaps I’ll start a second one using different colors.

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This is a reminder that I have a blog contest going on right now (until August 17, 2008). The winner has their choice between two freeform crochet scarves, which are shown at the link above. See details there.

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The neighbor’s herd was visiting again when I woke up this morning. Here is what I saw out my bedroom french door:

Yes, it was the main big bull, along with some of his women and children. My weird dog, Rex, was excited to have his friends visit, so he decided to graze with them. In case you are curious, they come in through a gate so they may eat down our summer grasses and provide more of a fire break. It’s a win-win!

Enjoy your day!! Hugs, Carla

Visitors to the Ranch

Good Day, I had some recent visitors to the ranch lately… the first one, Molly, picked me up a special treat during her recent trip to Ireland:

Molly remembered how much I love TimTams (which are made in Australia), so she brought the above for me. I put them in the freezer, since I am in my first week of the South Beach Diet. Thank you, Molly, I appreciate your thoughtfulness!

My next visitors weigh quite a bit and happen to love grass. Yes, Rancher Ed’s cows spied the green grass on the other side of the fence, so they decided to come for a visit:

and more in the back:

Forgive the window glare on the photo above, I was sitting on my sofa drinking my morning coffee when I took it. Notice that Rex is playing with them? Actually, he just ignores them until he sees us watching them. Then he gets up and plays the part of watchdog. After this he lays down, ignoring the cows once again.

Anyhow, it is nice to see the cows once again. I always enjoy it when they come for a visit.

Moo!

Let’s Catch up!

Time to catch up with all the goings on here on the ranch.  First up is the ever present, “Woody-Gate.”  In case you are curious about the history of this gate, see here .  My favorite Redneck Contractor, Woody, is taking his sweet time in finishing this gate.  That’s OK when Life is on “Woody-Time.”  LOL!

We saw him and the stone mason crew for a few days, then they have disappeared once again.  Here is the progress made:

Not sure when we will see him again, he called yesterday to say that the rock facing and stone cap were now on order, also that we need to cut a check.  I already have my lights for the gate pillars, they will go on top of that stone square shape above.

My own Power Plant!!   The solar is finally in, connected to the grid and turned on!!  Here is a picture of the solar panels on my roof:

Next up is the animal life here on the ranch.  These guys come by my back door about 3 or 4 times per day.

It wouldn’t be life on the ranch without the cows.  Being springtime, there have been lots of new baby cows including this pair:

And, while the “aaaaahhhh” factor is high, here is another visitor to the ranch this last Sunday:

For frequent blog readers,  that is baby Jack above, now 11 weeks old.  He continues to be cute as always!

Enjoy your day!!  Hugs, Carla

Busy Week!

Been real busy this week! Classes to teach, baby to see, art to create, plus my solar installation has started. Here’s the highlights:

I made this brooch today while Lynn and I were freeform beading.  We have been so busy running around shopping and holding classes, that today was the first day to sit down and create something.

I had some visitors to my house each morning- Rancher Ed’s cows.  They look like this:

I surprised Lynn by chasing off a young bull.  Guess I had the bigger cajones!!  LOL!

Visited baby Jack the other day, too.  Here is a pic of Lynn holding him:

He was fussing when I took this, perhaps Lynn was secretly pinching him…LOL!!  (just kidding, Lynn)  Turned out he cheered up considerably after a diaper change:

Last, but not least, I just have to show off my new shoes.  These are very very comfortable, I really like wearing them: