Peace In The Valley

The cattle are enjoying their return to winter pasture in the valley. They enjoy the fresh running spring and creek, too.  Hay is stored...in much better shape than we were this time last year with the drought. California is not the only place that has happy cows.

Going to retrieve my rocks so Hubby offered me a ride through the creek in his tractor bucket.  It was a little cool to be playing in water.  I gripped with my feet and hands as Hub tilted me forward and backward as you can tell by my white stubby toes.   Butt!  He was laughing.  The splashing ahead  is Ki-Anne.

This photo is quite deceptive.  Beneath those leaves runs a creek. They are falling faster than the current can carry them away.  When the next rain comes they will wash away and we'll see the water again. The leaves will stop in places along the way to build new soil.

We wait for winter.

Seventy Degrees and Fixing Roof...

I've been planning.  You know that is the most important part of any job.  You gotta have a plan. Since my tractor tire water garden and this water garden need some repairs and cleaning.  I've been planning how to combine them and add a pump.

Both water gardens have been pet friendly and have developed a couple of leaks.  Through foster dogs, my dogs and horses I need to reshape and redo.  I started picking up the crystals from Mount Ida because you have to pick up every thing to change it when I decided...now stay with me...to repair the roof...of the house!

Don't ask me how my brain works.  I have lived with it all my life and still can't fathom how it sometimes goes from A to Z in a split second.

Hey, I'm flexible so I flagged down Hubby to use his tractor bucket to get me on the roof.  I had noticed a small leak on our screened porch during the last rain. This time I wore my Timberland lace-ups instead of my Fat Baby boots These were much better for roofing, I'm raised in the bucket with roofing repair supplies.

I climb out carefully from bucket to the roof because I'm afraid of heights...then why am I up here?!

I spot the problem right away.  A roofing screw had loosened near the spot of the leak.  It's seventy degrees, I have two shirts on and the tin is hot to the touch.  Doesn't take me long to lather up like a work horse and that in turn almost blinds me.  I am scooting across the roof with caulk gun in one hand and the thing that smooths the caulk out...I forget what it called...putty knife, that's it, in the other hand.  I'm caulking, I'm smoothing, I'm eye to eye with a very unhappy red paper wasp!  I'm allergic!  I scoot backwards 'cause I'm not standing up. The wasp decides I'm not the enemy, thank goodness.

I run out of caulk and poor hubby has to bring me more.  He brings me a tube of acrylic caulk, paint able for indoor use.  I said look at the old tube, bring me one just like that please.  I have them obsessively lined up in the tool closet like kinds together.

While he's looking I'm looking.  I discover the chimney needed the flashing caulked.  The place where one roof line meets another needed caulking and I found a stash of leaves where two roof lines angle into each other. Got all those leaves out, finished another caulking tube that Hubby tossed up to me and decided not to caulk the chimney today.  There was another wasp looking at me and I would have to go up another level so that is postponed for a cooler day.

After tossing me another caulk tube I empty that and call it quits.

On the bright side of all this work the tractor did not tip over with my weight in the bucket nor did I fall through or off the roof.  Hubby did get me up and down safely in his handy dandy tractor bucket.  No one yelled at each other. Two empty caulking tubes, one pile of trash.

I opened the windows because Friday was summertime.  I had an ice drink and Hubby told me how his back was hurting because he had to "lift" me so high!

And some say women don't do hard labor!!!  I was through for the day.

How was your Friday?