Sunday Stills (3-26-11 Blue) and (my camera 4-3-11)

All during last weekend's road trip to my mother's house, I took photos for the "Blue" Sunday Stills contest. Although I missed posting them because of computer troubles, I have decided to go ahead and post them anyway. I hope you enjoy.

For a short while, we followed half of a blue house, which took up over half of the road towards the very dark blue mountains under a very blue sky.

 This is part of my blanket that was laying in the back of the truck.

 I got kind of artsy and took photos of the cracks in the windshield. Yes, it does need replacing.

I have been wanting to go into this shop every time I drive past it. One day, I will.

This is Storey Lake, It should be blue but because of the drought conditions this winter, it is drying up. There is only water for about three months, they say.

 I think this is a neat little church with a blue roof.

 But, check out the cross in the cemetary!

 I didn't think the blue cross could be beat but I was wrong. Here's a pair of bluebirds in the field at my mom's house.

Oh yeah, this week's challenge is to show your camera. Except for having to read backwards, here it is, a Kodak EasyShare ZD8612 IS with 8.1 megapixels and 12X optical zoom. It's kind of large to hold but I used to use an Olympus OM10 so it feels similar.

So, there ya go, two Sunday Stills challenges in one posting.

For more Sunday Stills, please visit here.

Monkey on your Back

Along with my recent electricity woes, my poor little Buddha has been suffering terribly with a twisted back.  Last Friday night, he was pacing all night long, couldn't lay down, and usually stood in an "s", so last Saturday, I took him in to the vet's office.

The vet cleaned out his anal glands in case that was the problem. Ugh! They were pretty impacted, and it smelled! About three or four years ago he needed to have them cleaned out then too. It's a common small dog problem. He has been dragging his tail a lot recently. Maybe that's why. He also cut Buddha's toenails and boy, did he shriek! All the other dogs and cats must have thought he was being murdered. It's a common thing for the Japanese Chins to cry out when they get their nails done but Buddha has never been that vocal before. It must have really hurt being moved around.

Sometimes, he appears fine and sometimes his back gets all twisted like he's having muscle spasms. The vet gave him a short term steroid shot and said to come back in a week for a longer term shot if he's not feeling better. Right after the doctor appointment, we had to go up to my mom's for some car and yard maintenance. Buddha slept restlessly on the seat but, isn't he cute?

He seemed to rest a little better from the shot, but then a jolt would send him into yelps of pain and trembling. This went on all weekend. Often, we'd think he's getting better and then he'd go worse again. Laying on the couch next to me, if someone sat down and the cushion moved, he'd yelp and pace around all twisted up for a while.

When we were at the vet's office last weekend, he gave us Simba's body so that we could bury him in the back yard. So, before we drove up to my mom's house, my boys dug a grave in the back yard.

Along with Simba's body (black sack) we decided to bury Daisy's ashes (white box) which I had gotten back from the vet in February, when I took Simba in. All the cinder blocks are covering Gunnar's grave which is right next to the new grave.

 We had a moment of silence to remember all the dear pets we've buried and Yalla! joined us from afar.

Along the way to my mom's house, we pass this cool rock formation. It's known as the Devil's Backbone and sure reminds me of my little Buddha and his current back problem.

At my mom's house, Ross worked on her van. It has a hole in the oil pan, which he tried to weld, but as soon as he'd repair the hole, another one would appear from the heat of the welder.

 

We decided to get a new one which means a return trip this weekend-tomorrow, to put it in.

That evening, we were lucky to see a dozen or so turkeys in the distance. By the time I got my camera, however, I only managed to capture three.

 

The sunset was beautiful with fast moving clouds of pink and purple which brought snow in the morning.

 Here's Buddha surveying his snowy surroundings in the morning. 

While we were at my mom's house, we cut down some trees that were hanging over her back yard. It was tough work on the rocky hillside. The ground was slippery too, from the fresh snow we got early in the morning. Here, my son is lassoing a tree. I held the rope, with the help of other trees, of course, while he cut it down so that it wouldn't take out her fence or house when it fell. We made a good team and cut several down with no damages to person or property.

He even managed to save a little pine tree growing right next to one he chopped down.

Seeing this photo of Buddha with my mom's dog, Tobey, he almost looks normal, but he has been having recurring bouts of twisted "S" back and neck all week.

Today, I took Buddha back to the doctor for a long-term steroid shot and he will be going back on Monday for Xrays. We found a large swelling on the side of his neck. He's been keeping his neck kinked at an angle all this week, and we're hoping it's a pulled muscle and not a tumor. Please send prayers that my little guy gets better soon. He's only five pounds, four ounces, with his harness on. Often, he yipes and jumps away when he thinks he's going to be stepped on, and he has hurt his back himself, this way. This is what I think happened to him last week. I sure hope it's not cancer!

Monkey on your Back - song: How Lucky You Are, artist: David Bowie

Friday Foto

Somewhat slightly dazed

I've been off line for almost a week now. Has anyone missed me?

Well, I'm back!

I've been having electrical problems in my house for the last couple of years. Lights flickered and the power would dim. We used to joke that it was the spirit of my deceased husband still living in the house. Anyway, it would get better and then worse and then better again. Both my bathroom fans went out recently so my son changed them out. Then, last week, my smoke alarm went off in the early morning hours. My daughter and I were freaked out. We could smell electrical but had no idea what had happened. Looking in my daughter's room, I noticed that her fan was barely turning and her lights were really dim. She turned them off. We checked the garage and then turned off the heater which was running. Or tried to. The only way we could get it to go off was to unplug the power outlet. I thought that maybe the heater was the problem because my power seems to be worse in the winter over the summer and my bathroom outlets suddenly wouldn't work which are on the opposite wall to the thermostat. Anyway, the outdoor light popped when we turned it on to look outside. It was still dark, mind you, and the smoke alarms had finally turned themselves off.

We sensed that things would be okay now, temporarily, so I went to work and had my daughter call an electrician who a friend  referred to me. She said he would come by in the evening. I went out to the horses and chased them around, chatted with my neighbor, and still I waited. I figured that he must be squeezing me in on his way home (he lived nearby) and I figured that he'd show any minute. Finally, I checked my phone and noticed that it was on silent and that he had called. Duh, you can't get calls that way! It was late by now so we rescheduled for him to come out tomorrow earlier in the day.

I wanted to stay home but I had to go out of town on a business day trip so my son and daughter were ther for him. I guess having grown children has some advantages. Anyway, he solved the problem. It wasn't my furnace (YAY!) but instead, happened when the house was built, something about the wire coming to the house and the wire going to the electric company "box". He showed my daughter how all the wires were fried because a screw/bolt? had been put in wrong, stripped and left there. Oh dear! Don't inspectors check these things during the house construction?? He said we'd need to call the electric company. Then he had a thought, left for a while, came back, and "fixed" it. I don't know what he did but he said it would work okay now. Hallelujah!!! Now I don't need to call the electric company and pay them $800-1000, his estimate of their job cost, and my electric is working fine again, finally.

However, there have been some casualties. My computer modem died and needed to be replaced so that I could have internet again. My garage door opener is blown and so is my daughter's electronic keyboard. I'm sure other things need to be replaced too but I guess it's a lot better than having the whole house burn down, right?

So anyway, I'm back, better than ever!


Somewhat slightly dazed - song: Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed, artist: David Bowie, album: Space Oddity

Friday Foto

Sunday Stills (03-20-11 Canine Companions)

These two photos came from my archives. They were taken on the day that Sandy came to stay with us. Isn't that true love?

For more Sunday Stills, please visit here.

Garden of the Gods

The other day we drove down this road on our way to Santa Fe. Instead of ending at the foot of the mountain, it curves around the mountain and there's a very scenic, very curvy, downward slope to drive down, on the other side.

 Along the Turquoise Trail, a specially named section of highway, so named for the many turquoise mines in the area, there is a place with "holey" rocks, the Garden of the Gods.

  Notice the tree growing out of the rocks at the top? This large formation, known as the Dakota Wall, is part of a continuous sandstone wall, part of the Rockies, running north to south, from Canada to Mexico. This area is known as the Garden of the Gods, so named because of its similarity to the well known region in the Colorado Springs area. About a mile north, are ruins of the ancient San Marcos Pueblo, one of the most populous pueblos at the time of the Spanish explorers in 1540.

Ancient peoples revered this area. Here is a beautifully carved pole, possibly religious in nature or at least spiritual. Also known as Ambush Rock, this area was often used by masked bandits to waylay travelers on foot or horseback and to rob stagecoaches and wagons carrying silver and gold from the local mines.

There is a delightful little outdoor art garden in this area but it is behind locked gates. Later this year, it is anticipated that there will be a residence, studio, and gardens open to the public.

I love this sculpture of the Rock-Paper-Scissors.

Peeking out from the trees is this life sized black horse.

Here is a distant shot of the origami horses to give you perspective of the area.

Friday Foto

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Today is St. Patrick's Day, one of my favorite holidays. It is the day to wear green, eat wonderful food and have fun! I always make boiled corned beef and cabbage with carrots and potatoes and baking soda bread. Yummy!

From Wikipedia:
Little is known of Patrick's early life, though it is known that he was born in Roman Britain in the fifth century, into a wealthy Romano-British family. His father and grandfather were deacons in the Church. At the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken captive to Ireland as a slave.[1] It is believed he was held somewhere on the west coast of Ireland, possibly Mayo, but the exact location is unknown. According to his Confession, he was told by God in a dream to flee from captivity to the coast, where he would board a ship and return to Britain. Upon returning, he quickly joined the Church in Auxerre in Gaul and studied to be a priest.

In 432, he again says that he was called back to Ireland, though as a bishop, to save the Irish, and indeed he was successful at this, focusing on converting royalty and aristocracy as well as the poor. Irish folklore tells that one of his teaching methods included using the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) to the Irish people. After nearly thirty years of teaching and spreading God's Word he died on 17 March, 461 AD, and was buried at Downpatrick, so tradition says. Although there were other more successful missions to Ireland from Rome, Patrick endured as the principal champion of Irish Christianity and is held in esteem in the Irish Church.

Wearing of green
According to legend, Saint Patrick used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish people.Originally the colour associated with Saint Patrick was blue. However, over the years the colour green and its association with Saint Patrick's day grew. Green ribbons and shamrocks were worn in celebration of St Patrick's Day as early as the 17th century. He is said to have used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish, and the wearing and display of shamrocks and shamrock-inspired designs have become a ubiquitous feature of the day. Then in the 1798 rebellion in hopes of making a political statement Irish soldiers wore full green uniforms on 17 March in hopes of catching attention with their unusual fashion gimmick. The phrase "the wearing of the green", meaning to wear a shamrock on one's clothing, derives from the song of the same name.


History in Ireland
It is believed that Saint Patrick's Day has been celebrated in Ireland since before the 1600s. It was also believed to have served as a one-day break during Lent, the forty day period of fasting. This would involve drinking alcohol; something which became a tradition. Saint Patrick's feast day was finally placed on the universal liturgical calendar in the Catholic Church due to the influence of theWaterford-born Franciscan scholar Luke Wadding in the early 1600s. Saint Patrick's Day thus became a holy day of obligation for Roman Catholics in Ireland.

St. Patrick is also believed to have chased all the snakes out of Ireland too. However, there never werr snakes on the isle. It's probably meant as symbolism for chasing the Pagans away when he brought Christianity to the Irish.

Erin go Bragh!

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
May God be with you and bless you:
May you see your children's children.
May you be poor in misfortune,
Rich in blessings.
May you know nothing but happiness
From this day forward.
May the road rise up to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home
And may the hand of a friend always be near.
May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you.

Murders on the Heels of Love

The ravens are having a gathering. Is this like a spring celebration party? A mating up mixer, perhaps?

I still have a pair living in my barn. I would love to see a nest of little ravens this spring.

Murders on the Heels of Love- song: '87 and Cry, artist: David Bowie, album: Never let Me Down

Sunday Stills (3-13-11 letter "P")

This week's Sunday Stills challenge was a real puzzler. 

I thought and thought about it but I couldn't come up with anything. I had to get my mind set on things that started with the letter "P". Finally, something clicked and I came up with dozens of ideas for photographs beginning with the letter P. Hope you enjoy the picture show.

Here's a playful Sandy.

My son is posing for pictures here.

Isn't this picture of pine trees and pink sky pretty?

I love the interesting architecture and, oh yeah, palm trees.

.

Here's some poles in my barn.

There are petroglyphs on the rocks around here.

And of course, my pudgy, pinto pony boy Scout.

For more Sunday Stills, please visit here.

Friday Foto

Murders on the Heels

This is not what I'd expect to find in my horses water barrels but it's happened several times since the farrier came a few weeks ago. Sorry about the poor quality. The water was iced over and I broke it to see what it was. I had to fish it out with bare arms and the water level was past my elbows. Brrrr!

I blame the ravens. It's like seeing golf balls in my pasture, miles and miles from any golf course. They think they're eggs so they take them and then drop them in nowhere land, miles later. I'll bet they think this is a snake. What do you think?

Murders on the Heels - song: '87 and Cry, artist: David Bowie, album: Never Let Me Down