Wacky Wednesday Photo

"Fortune cookie never wrong..."

101 in the shade, it could happen.

The fleet of  yellow buses that signal the beginning of school more often than not bring with them a heat wave in our area of the country. School, and the heat, stared Wednesday.

I remember when my oldest daughter was in kindergarten, the kids were sent home at noon, due to the heat. The school at that time was not air conditioned. 

Other years there was no P.E. out side or recesses, too hot.

This is the thermometer on the back patio on the west side of the house this morning at 8:30...73.2 degrees F, 58% humidity. 

It is going to be a warm one. Hank has the right idea, he is all stretched out on the shower floor. 

I think when Lycra man gets back from his ride ( yes he went )

and Kathy gets back from the barn ( yes she went )

and I have the laundry half way done ( I have too, it's up to the roof )

we'll all meet here...

in the cement pond!

Pondering art in the park.

Five days a week I walk in the local city park. Half of the park is trees and grass and squirrels and coyotes, you have seen them here.

Half of the park is taken up by three buildings, The Teen Center, The Senior Center and the City Library. Located in  these areas are three statues and or works of art.

This one I get, it is in the pond in the park, it looks like the fountain

This one startled me one day when the guy on the bench to the right reading the paper turned the page...I know, there is no guy there ...but he was ...fooled me. 

This statue between the senior center and the teen center. It is a dad , a son and a grandpa...makes sense.

The next one is outside the children's entrance to the library and it puzzles me ...

OK . Could be ~ reading opens a window into other worlds~ but think like a sixth grader from here on out...children's entrance and all...

toilet?

thumb's up for reading?

uhhhh...

Ok my momma raised me right . I can not leave you with this image the last thing you see on this post.

Last flowers of summer... natures work of art.

Logo?

I have been reading on line about logos for your blog.

I have noticed some really cool headers on some of the blogs I follow.

So...I thought....maybe I can make one.

I got out the pencil and paper and drew. The youngest daughter helped me  add color on the computer.
( insert needing a teenager to help gray haired moms with technology here)

and voila a ~ logo?



At the very least a new header for my blog...



http://www.problogger.net/archives/2011/02/17/the-ultimate-guide-to-creating-your-blog-logo/

My Wacky Wednesday photo!

Hoe down...  :)

it's just laying there...in the park...

Shopping with the college bound daughter.

Kathy is a practical kid. She see's all the adds of the "must haves" for your dorm room. She says she wants to take her quilt that is on her bed. It is good enough, and besides it will make her feel more at home.

Yesterday we went shopping for some things she oked....

• hangers
• area rug
• butterfly chair
• jewelry organizer

Like I said, practical.

Well, most of the time.

Walking and thinking...I can do both at the same time!

I love my morning walks, it gives me time to think, and reflect.

Today I was thinking about topics a couple of blogs I follow were discussing. One was about following your dreams,city girl moves to Oz land ,one was about being true to your self...San Diego Momma

Words are so limiting sometimes, I think these are one and the same, being true to yourself and following your dream.

Must be the change of season, you all know I am in the philosophical mode.

 Sometimes the things we have to do in life as well as the things we think we have to do can distract us from or our true self, our dreams. 

A dream with out direction.

a dream with out adaptation

someone else's dream for us.

We only get so many days on the face of the planet. What I have been asking myself is how do I want to spend them. What is worth my time, and effort?

I think that is what my blogging friends are doing, looking with new eyes, seeing who they really are.

and then lifting off.

Spending time with the rabbits

Sunday is our cage cleaning day in the rabbitry.

We compost the rabbit droppings and add them to our garden spot and our flower beds. Rabbit pooh is high in nitrogen, so it really helps pour soil, you know, we have the kind of dirt they make bricks out of, well ok , adobe out of.

We also take the time to bring bunnies over to the grooming table here. We check their nails and trim them if they are too long. If they are molting we brush their coats to remove the loose fur.

Rabbits groom like cats, but  ,unlike cats, they can not throw up fur balls. Fur balls in the rabbits stomach can lead to life threatening problems. Brushing their coats and making sure they have plenty of hay and water helps avoid that problem.

Which leads to happy bunny's!

Klink is in a heavy molt. I got this hand full of fur this evening AFTER we brushed him this morning.

Tangelo, with his hay and a pine cone to toss around for fun.

Saturday morning .

Ah, a lazy, overcast, cool, morning here at Casa Bass...

• Lycra man off on a 100 mile bike ride ~ Check

• Kathy at the horse barn ~ Check

• Hank fed ~  Check  ( are you kidding, my ankles would be hamburger if this was not checked, Hank has claws and he knows how to use them)

•  Blue Heron shooed off the roof ~ Check  ( he always looks surprised that I know he is up there, it only sounds like a tree fell on the house when he lands, herons are big birds)

• Koi fed ~ Check

• Rabbits fed ~ Check

• Laundry started  ~  _________

You my notice the last item is not checked off... I really needed to take my moring walk first so...

• Morning walk ~ Check

Balloons in the park!

• Water the garden and ~  Check

look what I found!

 

 

 

going to go make a chocolate zucchini cake...then I'll do the laundry... maybe,

 

 

Have a good day ~ Check!

Intervention.

Hi, it's me, Hank.

I had to get up on my high scratching post, give old gloom and doom a talking to.

"So you want the kid to ALWAYS live here at home?"

I had to wrestle the key board out of her hands.

Said to her, "What about that guy that lives here?" 

"What about Me, am I chopped liver?"

Now she is following me around the house with that infernal flashing thing.

...maybe I should have kept my mouth shut.

Analyze this.

 

 

I am on a bridge...pretty straight forward.

I am a shadow person?

My job as mother is fading?

I can not be defined?

I am as strong as the stone my shadow falls on?

Like the creek, life is passing me by?

 

Like the creek, life goes on?

Are the rails holding me back?

Keeping me safe?

Trying to point me in the right direction?

What do you see?

Damn leaves!

High Anxiety.

You all ready know I am anxious about the youngest child going off to University.

We had breakfast together this morning after her blood test. She wants to try out for the women's crew team at Oregon State, they require a physical .  

On my scale of  things to be anxious about on this day ...this one is low...

Higher on the scale today is finding homes for my baby bunnies.

I am pretty picky about who gets my bunnies. I do not like selling a bunny and then seeing it listed on Craig's list a month or two later. If I don't think you will take care of it, it isn't going to you.

I am not the hard hearted rabbit person some animals rights folks talk about. On the other hand...I am not quite as gushy as some folks in the house rabbit society either.

My guys are in cages, large cages, but cages none the less. Some Folks have a problem with that. I hear over and over again. I just let them run in the back yard, can't stand the thought of them in a cage...ok, your choice.

I have Wile E Coyote parading through my back yard as well as, raccoons, possums, owls and hawks. Oh, and the neighbors dog who periodically jumps the fence to come visit.

I can not tell you how many calls I get form folks who have 30 rabbits living loose in their yards and have to move and don't want them to go to the shelter and please can 4-H help.



So that is medium level anxiety..my little guys going to new homes.


The big one today however, was, the dentist.

 

I HATE THE DENTIST.

Not the dentist personally...I hate going to the dentist. I have insurance, I am lucky, I just hate to go. It's been 3 years....

Everything was OK, no cavities. I am really going to try to go every six months ...

 

really...

 

I am.

Fall Is usually my favorite season.

Every year I am surprised,

it is August, still summer.

I can't deny the leaves on the ground are increasing in number .

I can't deny the change in the angle of the sun .

I can't deny a change in the cadence in the crickets song,

I can't deny pumpkins in the garden turning orange. 

The Finch nest under the patio cover is empty .

Soon, mine will be too.

Learning the ropes.

Sunday was the last day of our county fair. I had some free time so I wondered down to the horse arena to see what was going on.

The under 9 ropers were warming up. Some of these little guys were so small their hats were bigger than they were, but they could swing a rope!

The announcer was having a heck of a time trying to get them to line up. Anyone who has worked with young children will know kids tend to like to bunch up, not line up. I wonder if it some kind of herding instinct, safer in a bunch than in a line, you know?


Anyway, they got sorted out so they could practice. Please excuse the audio on the following two videos, we were having some wind off the ocean .


Video number one...... The wind up!

I don't know what he was waiting for, he wasn't going to get any closer, but he had that rope going!

Video number two....Girl Power!

Taking life by the horns.

This Little Piggy Went to Market.

 

I went to the Junior Livestock auction at the fair today. I watched the pig auction. Most pigs went for $8.00 a pound, this young mans pig went for 17 dollars a pound.

I don't know how much his pig actually weighed, but to go to auction pigs must be 210-280 lbs. So lets pick 240...


240 X 17 = $4,080.00.

Now that's what I call bringing home the bacon!

Pig Wrangling

I spent the day at our local county fair yesterday at the pig show. 

 You may not know, but pigs can be very vicious with people and with each other. The 4-H kids move them form their pens to the show ring through a chute, 

with the help of fellow 4-Hers and adults working the boards, pig boards. 

This volunteer is about to drop down and stop a pig that is coming along the shoot from entering the ring quite yet.

When the kids get them into the ring they keep the pigs moving by taping them on the side with a cane, other wise the pigs would just lay down. They also use the hook of the canes to scratch the pigs tummy when it is standing so it will hold still for the judge.

Here is this years judge, sorting out the pigs. Just imagine Mater's voice  from the movie "Cars" saying "This pig stands higher in the front and is rounder than the other pigs in the class." and you know how it sounded in the show ring, along with ear splitting squeals and calls for boards. If some one yells "Board" the folks with the boards run over and separate the pigs who are not getting along at the moment.

a malcontent pig...had to steer it away from the others

keeping the pigs out of the corners of the show ring

See, they are usually pretty good when they are on their own with their 4-H person, but in the ring....things can get ugly.

Walkin' with Wile E.

Here he is...I haven't seen him for a while.

We had a heavy marine layer this morning, so I think he lingered out on the town longer than usual. We  walked along together, he looked my direction once, then went along as if I did not exists. Wish I could do that, look at something and decide if I need to worry about it or not...

at the creek he went his way, in that steady coyote trot, and I went mine.