Paradise ponders... As I write this post, it's raining outside – a nice, steady, moderate rain. The forecast says we're to expect about 0.15 inches, but I'd guess we've already got that much, and the storm is only about half over. The storm is coming from due south of us, and on the radar snapshot at right you can see that we're about to get slammed with some harder rain.
The farmers around us have started to cut and bale hay. My neighbor to the north, Tim D., just had his baled on Wednesday. Yesterday I picked up 21 bales of around a half ton each from the 3.5 acres he's raising alfalfa on. That's up substantially from the yield last year, much to his satisfaction. He'll get three cutting this year, and probably between 25 and 30 tons of hay total. On our own field to the south of our house, we have 11 acres in alfalfa (it's leased out to Scott N., a local hay farmer who mostly uses leased land). Scott hasn't cut that field yet, but he likely will within a day or two. All this cutting, hay drying, and baling means that the air around here is full of the delicious aroma of alfalfa and grass hay. The farmers who are caught with hay cut and drying right now are not going to be happy about this rain...
The puppies continue to be a joy for Debbie and I. The video at right shows Cabo enjoying a delicious stick, until Mako comes along and tries to steal it. Yesterday I took the two of them in to see our vet for their second round of puppy inoculations. In the waiting area they were a big hit with the staff, the dogs waiting, and their owners. Lots of people asked what breed the dogs were, and several of them were writing it down. The vet (Dr. Watkins) gave them a good exam, then pronounced them beautiful and perfect. After he gave them their vaccines, he just sat back and watched them for a few minutes, a happy smile upon his face. He told me that I had made his day by bringing these two in – and that I should be charging him, rather than the other way around :) There are now a couple hundred puppy videos uploaded to YouTube, most of them around one minute long. Any of them will make you smile (and if you don't smile, please schedule an appointment with a psychologist posthaste!). The photos below capture a few kinetic puppy moments, and the joy of Debbie at last able to hold a puppy.
Meanwhile, our five foster kittens are thriving. They've had their first round of inoculations, and they're old enough now to be rambunctious and naughty. Very naughty! The photo at right shows their room after they apparently held a party in it on a recent night. Some of those objects are heavier than you'd imagine a kitten could move, and yet there the mess was. Shortly the kittens will all be neutered and get a second round of inoculations, then we'll be returning them to the Four Paws organization for adoption. One of them will likely be staying with us, though: the little calico kitten has captured not only Debbie's heart, but also our friend Michelle's. I think I'd suffer terribly if I didn't cave in to their desire to keep her. Not that I'll get any credit for caving, of course :)
A few days ago I somehow found an hour to talk my beloved morning walk. It was overcast and cool, and the dogs and I had a lovely time exploring all the life around us. The lowest field we walked by was planted in alfalfa, and it was in bloom. There was a leaker riser that provided great entertainment for Race, who loves to bite streams of water. He went sort of bonkers for about five minutes, apparently thinking he was defeating the water. He wasn't, of course :) Our neighbor now has four horses and two mules pastured, so we stopped for a while to chat with them. Then there were large patches of a beautiful yellow weed. I'm sure the farmers would do their best to eradicate these, but when the show up in great masses (as they are right now), these tiny yellow flowers can be quite beautiful...
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