Where are all the turkeys?

As the turkeys have become more familiar with the ranch, they have wandered further and further away and, recently, have not returned to the "nest" at night. We have been feeding them in a large round pen and putting them in at night. Last Thursday and Friday, our group shrank from 12 to eight. Three males and one female failed to show up for dinner. That left 8, one of them a female (my favorite, with curly toes). This morning the group of 8 were seen on La Posta Truck Trail, the road outside the ranch. They were marching along in a line, one after the other. Later, only one turkey showed up at the house. It was pitiful to hear him gobbling away, calling to his friends. By evening, three turkeys had shown up, with one joining up later. My curly toes was not among them. So sad. I miss her.

New Coat for Wildfire

Gary bought a car cover for Wildfire while he was in town this morning. Dennis and I put it on the car and cut a hole for the antenna. We used the provided antenna patch to reinforce the hole, but we didn't trust it would do the job so we applied our trusty duct tape.

Tonight we are having the family over for dinner. I found a recipe for Lemon Artichoke Pesto which we'll have over tiny ravioli filled with squash. I'll make the sauce and Dennis will cook a vegetable (broccoli or asparagus). That should be a good and healthy dinner.

Saturday, March 19

Dennis and I met some friends at the Descanso Junction restaurant for breakfast. Wildfire took us the 21 miles to the restaurant and 21 miles back, with Dennis driving. They did a great job. When we got back home, we sat for a few minutes in the car while we programmed the remote (located on the rearview mirror) for the front gate and Mom's house. Then we paired my iPhone to the car and entered some numbers in the Contact list so we can make handsfree calls. We started to watch the video that came with the car, but we both fell asleep. We'll try again later.

Wildfire

That's the name of my new Barcelona Red Prius. We bought it on the day of Japan's earthquake and tsunami. Talk about timing. It was hard enough to find a red one. I understand production has stopped and the prices are going up.

I used CarsDirect (a wonderful service), who found one for me in San Jose. It was delivered on Friday and Mom, Angie and I took it for a little spin around the ranch and up to the Casino and back. When I pulled it into the carport, the car was filthy--the ranch is a very dry, dusty place. I cleaned it up and we put Mom's car cover (too small) and a blanket on it so the turkeys wouldn't be attracted to it. Those turkeys would peck at the "turkeys" reflected by the shiny car and then they would jump on it for sure.

There were only 8 turkeys today, down from 12. I wonder what happened to those four turkeys? Among the missing is one of the two females, so I guess we are down to one female and 7 males.

Tonight we had dinner at Live Oak Springs, about 5 miles east of us. We saw a sign advertising Mexican food and that sounded good. The menu also included barbeque and Italian food. Hmmm, not a good sign. However, it wasn't bad for a restaurant in the backcountry. We can't afford to be too critical and the price was right.

Riding in Laguna

Today's Trail Ride on Thursday took place in Laguna. We thought it would be ok because it has been two weeks since the big snow storm. Still, there was a little snow left in the shady spots. Moreover, the water was running along some of the trails. I learned something today: Doc does not like to walk in water. He never put up a fuss before when crossing water, but he does not like to walk down a trail with water running under his feet. Everything was going so well until the end when we came across a dip in the trail with running water. Doc took a drink as he normally does, but then he took a huge jump over the water to the other side. Flying is fun.

Riding on Wednesday

Wednesday is usually my day to have a riding lesson, but today Betsy, my trainer, was in Hawaii, so no lesson. Instead, I exercised Doc in the new round pen, then rode him in the new arena. It was fun, and, of course, Doc was perfect.

Movie Tuesday

Slim pickings at the movies....we saw I Am Number 4, a movie we knew nothing about. We had seen the previews, but it sounded like a mystery...3 people had been killed, and the "hero" was No. 4. Turned out it was aliens vs. aliens in the United States. Strange, but it wasn't half bad...and there's always the popcorn.