Enough is Enough already ...............

If it wasn't for bad luck I would have no luck at all ......................... this morning while feeding, checking every critters waterer, waiting for the pump guy to come, yay, he was on his way, I noticed a large cloud of dust.  Saw a big Ford Pickup turn around out on the road and come down my road but did not see him pass driveway, so I went and looked around the trees and saw him walking in my gate. .......... He was the reason for the cloud of dust.  He was towing a Toyota pickup bed converted into a trailer full of dirt, it came loose and tore out 50+ feet of my fence along the road as it rolled over.

This little flip hitch with no pin did not hold  ...........................

Safety chain didn't hold it either if it was even attached to the truck.

It's gone now but not until we had another emergency ... the guy came back with his helper and was winching the trailer back to his truck when his helper starter yelling for help ... seems the guys Pace Maker was shocking him, so we then had fire and ambulance out, he turned out to be fine and  had extra help from 3 burly fireman to push the trailer up the bank and across the road to load onto flatbed.

Wish my life was dull and boring, oh and by the way while all this was going on the pump guys got my water back up and running .......... Fence guy will be out on Monday to look at the fence and will fix it next week, fortunately I did not have any livestock in this pasture, just need to be sure the dogs don't wander out there, but with no livestock they should not have a reason to be out there.

Once again Grandma was right, "Nothing's so bad it could not be worse" ... No one was hurt, no animals got loose.

Did I mention it's going to be about 107 or higher today?

Pump went for a ride in a truck

Ok, I will try to not whine ............. Week ago Sunday I was watering everything was fine and I came in the house to wash my hands and ............. NO WATER.   Called my friendly neighborhood pump guy and he came out Sunday evening and managed to get the pump switch to work.  Worked fine for a week and a day until Monday night, I did manage to get it to work long enough to get everyone watered and then came in and called and left a message that I wanted the switch box replaced rather than keep dealing with a temperamental switch.  Well Monday afternoon new switch box was installed and this morning as I was trying to water the flow slowed to a trickle ... so back comes the pump guy ........ pump was shorting out the switch, so back to the yard get the boom truck and come back and pull the pump, something else happened when they pulled the pump out ... so it went for a ride in the truck to be tested tonight and either brought back tomorrow or pick up a new pump.

So for tonight I will take the Kubota to the other well and fill picnic coolers and all the Arizona Ice Tea jugs I have put off taking to the recyclers to get some cold water for the critters.  At least I have an alternate well.  Thinking of all the others out there right now that have things so bad I am thankful for a minor inconvenience.  After all I did downsize 2 weeks ago and sold 35 more sheep that I don't need to haul water to.  So really like grandma taught me "Nothing is so bad it could not be worse"  Just waiting for it to cool down before I go back out ........... did I mention it is only a 107 today.  Holding off running the A/C til just before bedtime.

Did someone say HOT, did someone say DRY?

Well in California we call that dry heat ............ Here is picture of what is left of the pasture.  Only thing green around here are the trees.

         















Can you tell which tree is planted near the leaky water faucet?  Both those trees were planted the same day. And the same time as the row of trees in the picture above.

This last week I planted 3 more Poplar trees.

Plus I have 3 Fruitless Mulberry Trees to put in sheep pens, just need to get together fence material to put around the trees before planting them within sheep's reach.   

Barn Charm, Friday Fences, here is one for Bridges

I took the back way home .............. across this old one lane bridge across an irrigation canal.

Looking back across the bridge, the fence on the right side of the bridge must be to prevent people from throwing trash into the water above the weir under the bridge.

Rushing water coming under the bridge

and such a peaceful steam above the bridge, on the right there are several houses that back up to the waterway.   

All the canals are full to the top here now to provide water to all the orchards and farms in the area, in a couple more months and this will be down to just a slow trickle of water.

Collections

Cast Iron Sheep Bank on the left, Terra Cotta Sheep Bank on the right.

a whole herd of cast iron sheep, all but 2 on left are banks

cast iron goat, horse and pig, goat and pig are banks

3 pull toys

couple sheep and border collie doorstops

and another border collie, sheep doorstops.  I also have a napkin
holder that matches the sheep doorstop.

and a mailbox that I decided not to put out on the road to get beat up.


This is just a small portion of my collection of sheep, goats and border collies.

BUTT ........................

Hmmmmm, Pork Butt, Pork Chops, Pork Shoulder, Sausage,  Bacon, and more Bacon ............  Went to the sale on Saturday and came home with these two, the one on the right will go back as soon as I find some more at the right price, wanted two so the one would not get lonely but the one on the right is an intact male.  I will be going back to find some new buddies for the girl and let him grow here a bit in the next few weeks.  May need 5 or 6 to fill family and friends freezers so will probably look for couple little bigger ones next time.  Need to build a bigger pens since last time I raised pigs the pen is gone.  Projects, Projects, did down size some of the Dorper Sheep so I can keep more Shetland Sheep.

Then and Now

I took this picture last year on June 20th, several months ago I drove by after a heavy wind storm and noticed that it proved to be too much for this old barn.   I am so glad I got pictures before damage was done.

Since I had the camera with me today, I drove the long way home to take another picture before this old barn is gone forever.

Up early yesterday and noticed the clouds, so had to go outside and take a picture or two

There is a fire still buring in the Sierra's in Sequoia National Park ... notice the line of smoke
hanging on the horizon.

Just a reminder or two of the forces of Mother Nature .......................