If You Build a House on Sand…

Unfortunately this bird chose the wrong location to erect her nest. There is a spot where one gutter opens out onto a metal roof and then another gutter continues beneath it. This bird thought the open mouth of the gutter tube looked like a great place to build a nest. It was sheltered from the …

Life Rolls On

I didn’t have a full weekend off from work, only Sunday, because I had to go in Saturday to make up for Thursday when i had to stay home with a critically ill chicken. I nursed her back from the brink of death only for her to give up, refusing to eat or drink further. …

Salad in a Bag

Recently due to what turned out to be under functioning kidneys, the list of foods i could tolerate without making what presented as gout or creating nausea and migraines was shortening. For whatever reason i became addicted to lettuce with little bits of purple cabbage and carrot in the mix. I would buy the mix …

The “Name that Snake” Game

I found this little garter snake in the orchard around dusk. He was very skinny with no bulge to digest so hadnt eaten yet and was no doubt cruising for a nice field mouse. i enjoy the presence of the various types of garter snakes i have here because they eat the mice without posing …

Two Dogs, a Sick Chicken, and a Tornado Watch

We are in the middle of a tornado watch tracking a thunderstorm due to arrive within the hour. I have moved the car underneath the big cedar tree that holds the laundry line in anticipation of predicted hail. The thunder is creeping closer over the hills and the dogs are getting restless as the distant …

Cactus Flowers

As Spring drew to a close and Summer approached the cactus opened their banana, peach, and salmon tinted blossoms to the bees and beetles once again. As soon as Summer was underway, i knew the flowers would disappear and plump maroon fruits would sit in their place on the prickly pears that thrived in the …

A Garden Update

The trees are growing, especially the pomegranate tree. The plants in the green house need more sun so i contacted an electrician about running electricity to the greenhouse and making several outlets to plug grow lights into above the windows. Right now those plants grow pretty slowly but i stand by my decision to not …

Napping Interrupted

I was taking a nap and i left the mosquito net tent unzipped slightly out of laziness as i was only going to sleep 10 more minutes. In my groggy haze i saw a big old wolf spider crawling on the outside of the tent right near the zipper opening. I tried my darnedest to …

What Does it Mean to be Human?

What does it mean to be human? Does it mean that we are beings who have dominion over all that is touched by the sun’s rays? Have we conquered outer space, the ocean, ai, the world wide web? Do we influence everything that we touch and if so for good, for evil, or indifference? Are …

Time Wasted

Yesterday was time wasted away from the homestead not mowing the grass, felling trees, filtering water, or cleaning out the shed. Yesterday was hours wasted speaking to attorneys, consumer affairs, the bank, and the sheriff’s office answering machine for the weekend non-emergency line…. Yesterday was me scanning and emailing documents to prove all the things …