Bad Day at the Ranch

I've been watching the Canadian goose that has been sitting on eggs in our front patio for a long time now. Yesterday, in the rain, the goose continued to sit on her eggs, but this morning both she and her eggs were missing. I found empty egg shells in the front yard. I have no idea what happened. Did something attack the goose and eat her eggs? Or did the eggs hatch? It is so cold and rainy, I can't imagine where the goose and her young may be. It could be they are lost.

We may also have lost another turkey. This morning there were five, but tonight only four showed up.

Finally, it was so windy we lost a beautiful black locust tree near the barn. It was full of purple blooms, but the tree broke off about four feet up the trunk.

What a day.

Snake!

So I'm walking from the garage to the back yard gate and lying between me and the gate is a 4-ft. (at least) snake. Yikes! Backtrack to the car and zoom down the road to fetch Eugenio (who also hates snakes) to remove it from the vicinity. We decide it's a gopher snake, not the look-alike rattler, so not off with it's head. Instead, Eugenio throws pebbles at it until it moves off. But wait, it turns around and comes back. Eeek. Eugenio, more afraid of my panic than he is of the snake, grabs a long length of pvc pipe and scoops up the snake, moving it rapidly out of the area. I hate snakes.

That was yesterday. Today it's raining and cold; no self-respecting snake would be out and about on such a day.

Want to get creeped out? Check this websie: http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/p.c.catenifer.html

Priax Cowboys

Our new company hard hats.

"Wild" Turkeys

Who wouldn't love these faces?

Flora of Sandy Creek Ranch

It's Spring! The weather is great and flowers are popping up all over the ranch. Look at these gorgeous irises (photos 1 & 2), our lilac bush or tree (photo3), California poppies (photo 4) (they're everywhere), and the hanging wistertia (photo 5). Our wisteria have bloomed only about 3, maybe 4, times since we moved here. This was the best year so far. All of these flowers are growing on our front patio.

The Minute Commute

Here's Dennis coming home from work.

Momma Goose

One of our Canadian geese is sitting on eggs in the planter box in the front patio just to the right of the breezeway. We can spy on her from our bedroom window.