A Cool Place To Land

Monday is always irrigation day in the big orchard.

I go out early turn on the water and let it run for a couple of hours.

That way,  when I go back out to walk the rows, I can tell right a way

 the trees that are getting water and the ones I need to work on.

Usually I jump on the quad, ride out, turn on the valve and head bead

 to the house to do morning chores.  Yesterday I walk, taking the camera

 along to get shots of the turkey babies.

After the turkeys got fed up with me stalking them and flew off,

I started back to the house and came upon this young hawk.

It was surprising that he didn't fly away and actually set there for quite awhile.

At first I thought he had caught breakfast, as he 

kept looking down at the ground.   Then realized, there was a pin hole 

in the water pipe and he was standing in the mist of water spraying out of it.

With all the extreme heat, he managed to fined a cool place to land.

Pretty Picture Monday

Pink Ladies or Naked Ladies........   ;D

Wordless Wednesday

July on the Fly

Fourth of July weekend came and went so fast.  It was fun having all the kids in the mountains, just enjoying each other company.  I must say their a fun bunch to be around and The Biscuit had no shortage or attention.

Lots of food and laughs  ( no photos ?)   Can't believe I didn't take a single shot of Baby in her cute little Red, White and Blue out fits...... Shame on Nanna !!!  We had the crew working at the new cabin and it was all I could do to keep up.   The kids even did the cooking a cleanup all weekend, thank you, that was a treat

New cabin is all framed, holes drilled for the utility pipes (power, gas, septic, water) Holes are dug for the septic thanks and the propane tank to be buried.   The roof is being cut and stacked this week and concrete for the frond porch poured.  A lot done in three weeks time.  Besides weekends, JS has only run up the mountain two (three) time in the middle of the week?  Not looking forward to the fuel bill.................

A mile stone this month, Daughter Dawn has gone back to work, leaving 

The Biscuit in the hands of grandmas and daycare. Last week was pretty rough....

."On mama, baby, grandmas and daycare lady"but The Biscuit is now bottle broke !!!

( some what )

  I don't know if it "Takes a Village" but a few bottles of wine sure helped......... ;D

The heat wave is over, the orchard got a little stressed by the endless heat, 

been double irrigating and the trees are looking good. 

 What else can I say ....... It's summer !

 Days are to long, nights are to short, it's hot, the year is half over and on it go's.

Pretty Picture Monday

Pfriday Photo Play

Cabin Update, One Floor At A Time

Work started on the cabin again this last week.  The downstairs,

basement has been framed for awhile and then we had to pull the 

crew off to do the paying jobs... got to pay bills and eat.

We're fortunate that our company has a good amount or work 

for the summer, so much so, that JS and I even talked to some framing

 contractors to do our cabin, but decided against it....

"quite frankly we have the best framing crew!!!!"

Being it was a Holiday week, the crew didn't want to 

lose hours and after the heat wave the week before they were

 plenty glad to work in the mountains.

They started Monday and JS and I came up Wednesday Night after

 work.  They had the second story ( the main floor) all framed.  

 The next step was to put up the floor trusses for the third story. 

"Third Story ....... JS doesn't do small".

They'll be working on the cabin all this week to get as much done as they can,

like I said, got to take care of the paying jobs.

They'll be back, we have a truck full of windows setting in Sacramento

and this things got to be closed in by winter.

"Please No Early Snows This Year"

Pretty Picture Monday

Good Morning!

These beautiful Foxglove grow wild along the road to our cabin

 in the Sierra Nevada's and I love taking pictures of them.

I hope you enjoy then also.

Wordless Wednesday

Click on Photos to enlarge.

Pretty Picture Monday

Thursdays Thoughts, The June Drop

Much like April when the orchard is in full bloom,

a natural occurrence happens in June as well.  The June Drop.

I don't know if all citrus varieties do the same, but 

Navel Oranges naturally thin themselves from the tree and fall to the ground. 

Hence the name, June Drop.

Leaving the remaining fruit on the trees to become bigger and better.

All part of Mother Natures plan.

JS has finally gotten use to the annual event (after 20 years)

The first few years, he would go into the orchard, pick up a hand full

 of the little dropped oranges off the ground 

and with a slightly "In Mourning" look

 (much like the look he would give the coffee can full of mountain oysters

setting on the ground at my families calf branding)  

then look up at me and proclaim

"There's got to be someway to stop this!"

My thoughts were always "Oh John, you'll never make a farmer"

knowing that lots of orchards have to be thinned by hand,

this was a blessing and I for one was grateful. 

Now days JS doesn't even notice the drop and the routine

 of the orchard has become old hat.

The four seasons are marked by 

Spring Flowers, Summer Watering, Fall Coloring and Winter Harvest.

A routine that runs it's curse in the same order year after year.

Still the wonder of it all, is new each time I see it.

Wordless Wednesday

June Blessing

The orchard soaking up a much needed

 and surprising June rain.

A Blessing from above.

Pretty Picture Monday

Pfriday Photo Play

Thursdays Thoughts, "Projects"

Never a shortage of things to do on the 18.

There is always a project, in some varied stage of unfinished.

I have decided that every flower bed needs a good cleaning.

"One Down"

The project to finish fencing in the back yard is coming along.

All It needs is .........

Block man to put the caps on the wall,

Fence guy to finish the ....."fence"

Post to hand the lower gate,

Back fill the wall and level

I hope it will be done soon,

because,  "I need the gate to finish another project."

Cross fencing the olive orchard.

Thank You Ranch Dog for showing were the new fence is going.

JS decided he wants to take the top off the Land Cruiser for the summer,

so that meant pulling out the snowmobiles and cleaning the garage !!!

Oh..... your funny, you think JS is doing that.

Today, I'm cleaning the snowmobiles and covers,

so I can put them back in the garage.

This was not what I had planned this week,

but it never is.................   ;D

Wordless Wednesday

Biscuit Go's Shopping

Dawn and I took The Biscuit on her first big shopping trip to Chico today.

We're getting her trained right.

Cathy's Sew and Vac, Lowe's Home Improvement

and Costco for lunch.....   No Neiman Marcus in Butte County.

Her mother looks the same way when I take her shopping, 

All Smiles and Drools........  ;D

Pretty Picture Monday

Thursdays Thoughts, Cussed By A Cow

I got a "butt chewing" this morning and I hate to admit it, but I had it coming.

Cows were throwing a fit and I though it was because

I hadn't gotten them fed.  We have a lot of dry feed

(the reason for having cows) so weekdays their on dry feed, with hay

(JS got a little existed about having cows and bought a "little " hay)

On weekends I turn them out, onto the green irrigated feed.

Of course, I always get a big ear full, when the gate is shut to that field.

Hays fed ? ................  and they're still walking the fence ?

"Here comes the part where I feel like a jerk!"

I shut their water off yesterday.

Yes ... I feel bad.......   and a little dumb.

It was leaking and making a big mud hole.  I needed to level it,

fix the float and clean it out, from the dogs getting in it.

Turned the water off so the cows would drink it down, 

that would make it easier to empty and fix.

Just glad the temperatures been cooler.

"Water tank full, Cows quiet, still leaks"

Pretty Picture Monday

It's a Biscuit Kind of Day

A couple times a week Daughter Dawn

emails me photos from her phone of

 "The Biscuit"

This is her latest portrait.

Thursdays Thoughts, It's a Fine Morning

"It's a fine morning,

when you can chase

 a rabbit through the orchard,

tree a squirrel,

give the cows ... what for

and take a dip in the pool

 all before lunch."

Ranch Dog

"Wrath of The Biscuit"

Nana babysat me for the first time today.

The first 30 minutes was all fun, I got changed,

held, kissed, we played, my Nana's the best.

Then I got hungry!

!!! And my Nana tried to feed me with a fake teat !!!

I showed her the "Wrath of the Biscuit"

I wasn't born yesterday.

Pretty Picture Monday

Click On Image to Enlarge

Thursdays Thoughts, My Girl

My girl, with her girl.

Think this picture says it all.