Shoveling Poo.

With most of the day free I went out to the ranch to offer help with chores -especially as Paul is soldiering on while nursing a bit of a cold. I was privileged to help him muck out the cow barn, using a combination of the tractor's scoop and hand shovels. Poo, and plenty of it. The smell stopped being much of an issue after a little while at work, but I discovered that cycling has done little to prepare my middle-aged upper body for the task of lifting heavy, wet cow dung with a shovel. I got a turn driving the tractor (for the easier part), and Paul was kind enough to say that I actually helped, which made it all worthwhile.
Nancy brought us lunch after a while, chicken soft tacos from the really good place in Newport (La Roca). -Jim

Visitors from Home.

We returned from our scouting trip to California, and for a few days we were busy with work; late Wednesday we welcomed Chris and Nancy, our friends/neighbors from Bungalow Heaven who were on a "spring break" to drive the coastline. We had a very pleasant day with them giving a quick tour of the ranch and a sampling of the local sights. We've had the appropriate mix of Oregon weather: some rain, mostly cloudy, a few "sun breaks." Everyone here is more than ready for Spring to commence.

More rain, more work.

We got back Monday morning after an exhausting weekend down south looking for a place to live. It's amazing to us that California is so far behind Oregon in providing high speed internet beyond the borders of larger cities. Both of have been working since we got home but hope to get out tomorrow. They say the whales migrate up the coast this time of year right in front of the house. Haven't seen any yet.

California

This morning finds us in Grass Valley, California. We came down here yesterday to take another pass at the area where we think it most likely that we'll move to later this year. It was sunny all afternoon and it's sunny today! It will be interesting to see how small town Oregon compares to small town northern California.

Nice weekend, rainy week.

We had a beautiful weekend. Saturday we helped move cows at the ranch (see photos below). A couple of baby cows have lost their mothers and need to be bottle fed. Baby horses are doing fine; the oldest one now nuzzles our hand when we visit. Is this because we've bribed the mom the carrots? Sunday we took a spectacular ride through the dunes along the coast at Forence - on horseback! Monday and Tuesday it's been raining and we've been working.

A Nice Saturday.

Do Horses Like Carrots?

Apparently, yes they do. Very much so. Unless, possibly, they are young horses who have not tried carrots, in which case they may just prefer to stick with hay or alfalfa.
Also a donkey will enjoy a carrot, when it can get one.

Rain and Work.

It's been raining and we've been working for the past two days. You can tell things are getting kinda dull when the highlight of your day is grocery shopping. Tomorrow we promise ourselves we'll get over to the ranch to check on those baby horses. For those of you who are asking about them, they are the only baby horses expected this year. There will be more baby cows though.

Accuprecisoweather.

After griping for the past several days about having to fit to everyone else's schedule - I find myself with a free day but no plan on how to use it. I ended up giving myself over to BBC America: home fix-up shows, auction shows, Benny Hill shows and Bush-bashing newscasts. At midday I made a valiant effort at a bike ride, determined to brave the cold and the wind chill; 15 minutes into the ride an un-predicted rain shower began, that was just too much, and I packed it in.
The system software on our Macintosh computer links by default to "AccuWeather.com," and we check it several times a day, most days. It is quite intensive, offers quite a bit of detail, is very localized, and offers forecasts 15 days ahead, and predictions at 2-hour intervals three days ahead. Quite impressive.
But why 2-hour intervals? Why not 15-minute intervals? Why not make predictions minute-to-minute, as it implies more precision, and since they're all going to be wrong anyway?
The day was not a total loss. While I was out, I determined to go to the pharmacy and get some of that Gold Bold Medicated Body Powder I've been hearing about.
Always trying new things.

Sun, Otters, Beer.

We were taken up by the rare sunny day and we went to Newport to visit of the prime tourist destinations on this part of the coast, the Oregon Coast Aquarium. And a very nice one it was - although it is worth noting that one of the more popular exhibits is the California sea otter tank (sea otters no longer exist in the wild in Oregon, the last one having been killed just northo of town, circa 1905). Afterwards we stumbled into the factory/bar/restaurant of the Rogue Brewery, just down the road. Here we had a wonderful lunch, and were enticed by friendly folks to buy more beer than we are likely to comsume anytime soon.
We stopped by the ranch late in the day to say goodbye to Joe, who tomorrow is going south to attend graduate school in California.

Snow and a new horse.

It's been a wild time. Yesterday there was a good deal of hail at the beach house and snow nearby. Six miles inland at the Ranch there was a significant snowfall Thursday night, much of which stayed on the ground, and more snow was falling late in the day Friday when we went by for visit. All the cows came to the barn for feed, the grass in the pastures being largely covered over with snow.
Another horse delivered a baby late last night, a very big tawny-colored colt. Both were doing well when we went for a visit late today.
Here's a little movie of the new colt: click here

Hail - 4 times!

Rain and hail on and off all day. It was a work day for us but Jim finished early just as there was a break in the weather so he headed over to the ranch to see what was going on. Paul took him along to help treat a sick cow who had fallen into the creek and is having trouble walking. There's another horse getting ready to deliver a foal. Looks like we'll be on baby watch again tomorrow night!

Baby Horse, Driving Rain, etc.

Nancy and I both had the day "off" and on our way into Newport we stopped by the ranch to see how things were going. Apparently they had a pretty awful time of it yesterday: several cows got into the creek (which runs in a very steep-sided channel through the property) and got stuck in the mud. Joe and Paul and some of their neighbors were out with tractors and straps all day trying get the cows loose.
When we stopped by at midday they were still doing the dirty work of cleaning mud off equipment, and this in a driving rainstorm. It's a level of resolve that we have to admire, one that's rarely called for in the suburbs of Los Angeles (well, there was that one year we had the puddles in the side yard).
Of course we stopped by the horse barn to check on Jeep and her baby. Mom didn't seem to mind our being there so much today. Nancy took a couple of video shots. See them at Baby Horse II.

A Long Weekend.

We effectively had a three-day weekend, because we were not working Monday. After a fairly pleasant Sunday, a storm came in Monday and we had rain and some hail on and off throughout the day. Feeling a bit of cabin fever, we got out last (Monday) night and went into Newport for some minor shopping, picking up some bargains at Walmart and at the Feed Store - I got a barn coat marked down from $80 to $40 (how is that even possible?) so I was happy.

Hanging with the Horses.

Well, it looked like the sun might make a showing, however briefly, so we got out to the ranch to take some pictures this morning. The new horse baby is putting on weight fast; she is curious about visitors -- her mom is quite a bit more wary of having strange humans nearby. We spent some time out in the near pasture with some of the other horses, and I ran off almost a hundred shots before the sun went away.
I've posted a small quicktime movie (about 2 megs) for those of you who can't get enough (and have a broadband connection). Go to: Baby Horse
This is a snippet Nancy took within hours of the birth.

What, another Thursday?

Just another day of desk-based work, 'though Nancy got out a bit to go shopping. I attempted a bike day at midday, but only managed to complete my mission to take mail to the post office (about 3 miles away) before I aborted due to rain. I do admire myself for the effort, however.

Animals and work.

After breakfast we headed over to the ranch to check on the new arrival. Jim got to help administer medication to the foal. He then took off on the 4-wheelers with Quip and Paul to help them move the cows from one pasture to another - apparantly great fun. We then had to return home for an afternoon of work. By this evening it was raining again.