Baby Steps (first written 6/09)

I think I am learning that the first year that one owns a new property should not be the year to decide where everything goes or exactly what the logistics should be for the property's layout. The more I think about where I would like to put things, or how I would like to change things, the more I realize that there are so many options and possibilities. Just as when I first surveyed the place and thought that I would never be able to get my trailers in the drive, let alone have room to maneuver them (I have plenty of room!), I am having a hard time envisioning my barn fitting in the back. When I realize that 36 feet is the same length as three of my portable horse panels, there is plenty of room. I thought that the front which used to be a lawn would be a good place for a round pen and more sage. Now I think a spot of grass under the tree might not be all bad. Or, I could leave all of it grass except where the round pen goes so the horses can have a few minutes of graze time now and then. Surely someone out there knows how to get my sprinkler system up and running again and it would serve dual purpose keeping the dust down and keeping the grazing grass green.

Found it!

After dropping my Blackberry in the steamed milk for my morning coffee and killing the camera function, I have been without viewfinder and searching for my old digital camera. I finally found it where I had neatly packed it. It was put carefully back into it's original packaging and thrown in a bigger box containing my clock radio and the old Play Station. Since the Blackberry I no longer used any of those three items. Until my ATT contract is up for renewal it's back to the old school Fuji Fine Pix. Now, if I just had a new battery....

What the ???

Early this morning I watched a dust bunny roll across my floor. It presented itself about 5 feet in front of my chair. Curious, I got up to look at it. Upon further inspection, I realized it was a juvenile? scorpion, amber in color, almost opaque which helped it blend very well into my hardwood floors. I know this isn't Arizona, but it looked a lot like one of these....

http://phoenix.about.com/od/arizonapicturesandphotos/ig/Arizona-Bark-Scorpions/Scorpion-11.htm

I don't know where it came from but it sure gathered some dust and lint amd a few cat hairs along the way. It didn't appear to be feeling very well. Maybe it ate some of those termite carcasses the one-armed bug man chemically "treated" when I bought the place.

My street, from the end of it looking north. Looks like my house is the end of the road.

Maybe this is my mid-life crisis but I have decided to start training for a some 5k and maybe some day, 10k "fun" runs. There is one on August 1st that I don't think I'll be ready for (at least not to run) but in October the Susan G. Komen race for the cure comes to Reno. I will at least be ready to walk that one! It's hard to train consistently with my schedule especially recently where I have been working until very late at night or very early in the morning and then having to start all over again at 0730. It's taken me two days to recover from working through the weekend. Today I am off and feel pretty good but it's going to be very windy which makes my hike unpleasant and more difficult navigating the hills.This is the view looking east from atop a nearby street about two miles from the house. The near rooftops are in the Fieldcreek development. Sound familiar?

Thistles along the fence of the golf course. This is what they look like right before they shoot their alien pod people spores into your face.

First Bloom

I noticed the first rose bloom of the season yesterday on my way out the front door. While I think roses are very pretty and fragrant, I would never purchase rose bushes. I despise bees and wasps and yellow jackets a whole lot more than I like flowers so personally, I would never plant sweet things that attract them. Besides, roses are a pain in the a** to prune. I realize that these haven't had any attention for a year or so, but if I get impaled much more by those razor sharp thorns, I'm gonna rip 'em all out! In fact I'm gonna offer them to people at the hospital along with my three other major commodities of the property, rocks, weeds, and horse manure. You come dig it up, you can have it!

Right Under my Nose

Last night I fought off my desire to flop down on the new sofa and vegetate and instead managed to drag the hose around the yard and get some plants watered. I have given up on figuring out the fancy drip irrigation system that the previous owners installed. Guess I'm gonna have to call somebody in to look at it. With temps reaching the 90's this weekend I thought I'd better give whatever plants survived the long vacant summer last, a chance at survival this year.

As I was watering along the patio, I noticed a familiar fragrance that I love. As I looked/sniffed closer for the source of the perfume, I realized that what I had first thought as some sort of sage gone to weed in a valiant effort to survive, was in fact the plant that I was planning to go purchase and plant, already there in sextuplicate awaiting a long needed drink. Lavender. Even in it's gone-to-seed state the water rehydrated their fragrance, subtle yet unmistakable, lavender. Ahhhhh.

Oh boy, look what I bought.........an acre of weeds.

I am finally starting to settle in to the new house. While I am not just thrilled with the house itself or the set up of the property, I am thrilled with the location and as they say in real estate, "Location, location, location." I drove back to Lemmon Valley last night to clean out my thrift store donations which I had left in the old garage. I remembered my original intent to move to Golden Valley and after going back, I am happy that I never quite found the right place there. It's always amazing to me how the universe takes care of me if I just let it.

My biggest project is still my one acre of weeds. I made the horses corral larger and they helped clear a good portion, but it's pretty hard work moving 12 foot, six rail horse panels around by myself so the push mower, my back, and if I get really desperate, the neighbor's belching weed-eater, will have to take care of the rest.

So, now I concentrate on cleaning up this place and making it as cozy as I can. Today I have some furniture being delivered, this is the first new furniture I have ever bought, (R C Willey has some occasional good bargains in their clearance section) a leather sofa, an entertainment center and a hutch for upstairs linen storage. My old round screen T.V. is going to look p-r-e-t-t-y small dwarfed inside the middle of an entertainment center built for today's monster flat screens.