It's certainly not getting any cooler these days and we had our first big thunder storm late last night. Lightening was slashing all over the bay, the waves were beating the shore and bouncing the surf miles high, and the wind had the palm trees bent over asking for forgiveness.

Seems like the perfect time for a long overdue mare to foal, huh? The Mexican owner said the mare was due at the end of May and we believed him since she was obviously carrying a load of watermelons or a nice foal. The baby didn't come at the full moon. The baby didn't come at the new moon. The mare acted like everything was fine just leave her alone and she would make the calendar choices. Finally last night with the heavenly fireworks and the people safely tucked in and not paying any more attention she said, ok, now is the time. I guess the owner forgot what month he bred her.



Can you imagine this baby is less than 12 hours old?!



Mama is a good 15.2 or 15.3 hands.



She's not mine to name, but I think June Monsoon is fitting.



And Bella thinks she's still a baby and should have all this attention too.
"Hello!"

What I did yesterday with all that extra daylight in the day. I remembered to take a picture of my bright tree. I love that front yard tree at this time of year. It just blooms it's heart out and looks so lovely from far or near. Most of the year it drops those little leaves all over the patio but nevertheless it provides shady cover. I don't know what it is called because I've had several different names offered. Someone said it is a Red Jacaranda, and it probably is.



Then, Olivia (my friend's grand-daughter) and I took the girls out into the desert for a brief excursion. The sun was unrelenting and the whole group was ready to go back home within the hour. Olivia is a new horsewoman convert. Everyone welcome her into the club now. I put her on old Mochie because he would be the safest of our multi-safe horse family. Olivia is 10 and is about to sleep, eat, dream of horses. I have given her some of my most elementary and important lessons when working around horses, but haven't scared her off yet. Stuff like don't get down on your knees when cleaning hooves. (How many of you started sweating just then?) There does seem to be a very fine line in teaching respect for what the horse is capable of and the pure joy of being around them.

Happy Solstice

My daughter and I look forward to this summer solstice for 6 months. It's like Christmas to us. But when it's over, it's over. Since we are so far south now our day/night length of times doesn't change nearly as much as it did when we lived in Washington. My sun rose down here this morning around 5:30 and will be set by 7:30 tonight. Now don't you northerners laugh at me. I know you have 43 hours of daylight per day.

So let's get the most out of our daylight today.

Little Sonora at her first birthday. That cute little white nose makes it hard to get a pretty picture of her. She is the sweetest little girl ever and has no bad manners. Diane halters her, ties her, picks up all of her feet. I predict she'll be very easy to train the rest of the way because she just doesn't have a mean bone in her body.

There. That's a little better view of her beauty. And you can see that white marking around her neck that I call her pearls.

And here's handsome Billie, waiting his turn for a tidbit of attention.

Since the weather has heated up considerably many of the northerners have fled back up across the border and left us to enjoy the town with vacationing Mexicans. A few of my horse owner friends left explicit instructions to spoil their babies like I do my little Paris-Hilton-Bella, Princess of the barn. I love them all (except one big red gelding who must have been abused because of his attitude) and it's easy to want to spend extra time on each one. Yesterday I got Pony out to brush and curry and then applied the bright pink Swat to her belly sore. I also took her around to the hose area and sprayed off all the unwanted pee splatter from her back legs. Next I got out Billie to brush off and have a little chat with. Poor guy. He has really missed his man and yet is too proud to show it very much. I did catch him standing in the corner looking at the wall. He is a handsome paint who thinks he is in charge of the mares...which I guess most of those geldings think. After that the barn owner came out and said we should just put all the horses out into the desert for an hour so they could roll the flies off and chew on a few bushes. They were all thrilled for the freedom and the babies kicked up, caused havoc, and acted like it was a jail break.

About a week ago, little Miss Bella was out with her mother and sisters in the desert. Mom and the girls all came home in a few hours without Bella. Luckily Joe had seen her hanging around McCoy, a big black quarter horse gelding who roams the desert most of the time within a mile radius of his owners' home. Diane knew where McCoy hangs out on hot days and so went out looking for Bella. There she was standing over him as he lay under a tree (smoking a cigerette no doubt.) Diane had taken a rope along and easily put it over her head and started dragging her back home. Bella called back to McCoy the whole way home. When I showed up that evening Bella was staring longingly out the gate at McCoy who was waiting for her. She had that I-love-Shaun-Cassidy look on her face that my daughter used to get when looking at her poster-filled room. Poor little girl. Next heat cycle she's grounded.

Today is Sonora's first birthday. I'm going to go and try hard to get a good picture of her. She just doesn't photograph as cute as she is. I'll share if I get any good ones.

Dressage artistique/Artistic dressage

I guess Bella and I have quite a ways to go to achieve this.

Estados Unidos

We drove up and loaded up this weekend. The car was embarrassingly overfull on the trip back. A friend had requested 12 (twelve!) new bed pillows. Well that would have filled the whole back end so we only piled 6 in. It was a nice trip and, oh, we bought my husband the Sirius radio for his car. It's pretty wonderful to have live radio in English when we drive through the desert.
What did we buy besides pillows and a radio? Let's see. Tons of groceries. A new clock. Some blank DVD's. A new cheap phone. More groceries. A few bags full of Trader Joe's goodies. Some Asian food things. Soup. Celery salt. Of course, cheese, wine, mustard. BREAD.
I can buy some odd things down here that I prefer buying in the states. Maybe it's just because I'm used to my certain products. And, little by little we are finding more and more common products down here.
We lived in North Carolina way back in the mid 70's. At that time there weren't any Mexican food products there. So, I would haul refried beans and tortilla shells back from California so we could indulge. I guess my whole married life I've drug food from one location to another, so this isn't so completely different.
Oh AND I've got some new horse feed to introduce to Bella. I'm anxious to see how she responds to it. The old baby food I was supplimenting was so delicious that I'm sure she will be disappointed. We'll see.

Blue Moon

Tomorrow, when we get our full moon, we get to sing along:

"Blue Moon, you saw me standing alone..."

I sing it with a really smoky voice that sounds like I've had too many drinks.

When a season contains four full Moons, the third is called a Blue Moon.

Why is the third full Moon identified as the extra one in a season with four? Because only then will the names of the other full Moons, such as the Moon Before Yule and the Moon After Yule, fall at the proper times relative to the solstices and equinoxes.

Ok. Whatever. I just know it's the second full moon this month and I expect all mares to foal tonight or tomorrow night. Heads up MiKael!

Sunday Ride



We went out in the desert for a short ride yesterday. I got to ride my filly's mother, Pony. She's normally a sweet little paint mare and yesterday, while she was sweet, she was also in heat. She was constantly trying to get as close to Billy as she could take me so she could flirt and enjoy his masculine presence. I was constantly legging her away. Anyway the little ride was fun because we took the yearlings and my filly.



They just come along with us and get to kick up their heels and frolic about.



And eat all these neat desert plants that look like dried grass or weeds, and all kinds of shrubs.
These girls aren't even sweaty but the temp is around 95 and they've just been running along with each other. That's my little grulla, Bella, back there that looks like a donkey. Sonora is the paint and Cita is the sorrel. They both will be a year old next month.



The desert surprises us with so much color, even when we haven't seen a drop of rain since last September.

Somewhere in May
What day is today? Friday? Already? And the mini-splits are almost, allll most, done. Brother. And then there was the tanaka that is our own little water tank on our roof. It got messed up and one thing has led to another and now we're getting the shut-off valve replaced. At one point I had 3 men up on my roof, hanging their butts over the edge and making my knees weak.
I know we all hate waiting, but I'm pretty good at it. Because of all this waiting-for-workers business I was able to start a new book that I'm enjoying very much. The Soloist by Mark Salzman. I think it's about a 10 year old book. My husband, who eats books like potato chips, couldn't get into it but I'm taking it slow so it doesn't end too soon.
Today dawns bright and cool and I feel more energetic due to the low humidity. The women in town are holding a fishing tournament on this Memorial Day Weekend. They will be looking for Marlin and Dorado which I hear have migrated up the Sea of Cortez along with the warmer water. I don't participate in these sports since I get so darn sea sick. It's just not worth it for everyone and for me. I have taken pills and gone out on very smooth seas and thoroughly enjoyed myself but I prefer kayaking in the bay...when it's smooth. Or just flopping down and snorkeling along the shoreline. Although, I can get seasick doing that too.
I put my all purpose English saddle on Bella the other day. Since the girth was too long I didn't leave the saddle on for a walk, for fear it could slip and ruin the whole good experience. Oh, and the day before that we had a good lesson with being tied to a poll in a good rope halter and getting her tail washed. She is not in the least afraid of the hose but decided this tail washing business wasn't a good idea and so did some good pulling. She didn't go so far as to slip or scramble but the pulling was one of those sacking-out kind that can only be done with a good halter and pole. I just stayed quiet and let her settle down. It didn't last long and she got over it after two tries. She's pretty smart and figures stuff out pretty quickly. I'm going to put her western saddle on again for a little longer this weekend.
One more thing, a guy opened a little at-home car wash business down the street and around the corner. I was his first customer yesterday so I'll feel responsible for his success forever. He did a lovely job on my filthy, dusty car for only $8. I'll be visiting him often since Bella lives out a long dirt road that I travel daily.
Happy Friday.

Sunday
Nothing went as planned yesterday. The material was backordered for my sofa. The mini-split guy couldn't come afterall and will be here tomorrow, or Manana, whichever comes first. And that lovely Street Sense was beat by a slight nostral.
Life goes on.

Lots of little and big appointments today. We are finally getting our couch recovered. Yes it's a sectional sofa and I realize it is very '80's in look and style but it fits our living room so well that it is the final decision on what to do, what to do. So I get to inspect the material this morning and decide if it is exactly what I chose. I'll try to take before and after pictures.
Also, we are going to have mini-splits installed in the remaining 2 bedrooms. When we bought this house it had a 10 ton unit that cooled and heated beautifully but was so inefficient that it was embarrassing. So, we had it dismantled and taken away and started replacing it with mini-splits in each room. I've seen these little units in Europe and Mexico but never in the US. They are wonderfully efficient and not so loud and ugly as the window air conditioners. We decided not to add heat to these last two units, just the AC. Our winters are so mild here that we almost never use heat except in the early morning in January occasionally. But AC is another story, and last summer when Barbie and Sybil came to visit they had to share a room since it was the only extra one with AC.
I am looking forward to the Preakness today even though I saw the fatal step last year. Street Sense is so gorgeous and so thoroughbred. I hope he has a good race.

And, LA LA LA, I'm trying to get used to this new computer I lusted after. We're coming along as a team.

Happy Mother's Day

It is nice to get to thank all of those nurturers who we admire as care-givers and hand-holders. I always get cards from both my daughter and daughter-in-law, but feel like I'm cheating since they have the "mother" jobs now and mine is long over. I always say that they deserve the special treatment.
My daughter has never had children but she teaches school and tends to her husband and pets. That's pretty busy mother things. My daughter-in-law has our two grandsons, who are 15 and 12. You know she gets the hugs and kisses and gold stars for her time-in-service. She's doing a great job in the motherhood department. I applaud both of these hard working women.
Mother's Day down here in Mexico was last Thursday. I think they have it on May 10th every year whatever day that happens to be. It seemed to be a holiday for the school kids so they could stay home and spend time with their mothers. Isn't that sweet? And everywhere we went we saw kids with their Moms.
Have a lovely Sunday.

Bella Under Saddle

Before I bought Bella last summer she had tried on a baby saddle a few times, but that was the last time, maybe a year ago. Here we are just past 2 years old making it look like a walk in the park. No hesitation other than a little side step to get a better smell. After the saddle was cinched up I walked her out the gate to my car and simply unsaddled her. She was a perfect lady the whole time.

I had my TV on all day yesterday, tuned into the Discovery Channel. Planet Earth was on from morning to night and it was a nice way to honor the diverse jewel we live on and share.

Dixie Peach over in Germany had a thought provoking interview and offered to ask 5 interview questions to those bloggers that were interested in this meme. These are her questions and my answers.

1. I know you love horses. Is there one horse you owned or have ridden that stands out above the rest in your memory?
I've only owned a handful of horses but the one that still gives me a lump in my throat is my old Handsome Buck. He was Not the best looking horse in the stable. Matter of fact, when I met him as my daughter-in-law was looking for a horse for me to buy, she pointed out this pathetic bag of bones with not nearly enough tail and a couple of stray hairs in his mane and a tiny fuzzy forelock. He had been out in the middle of cow country and didn't have enough forage. There was no way I would consider buying him, but, oh ok, let's feed him some suppliments. As he was eating his bucket the second day he looked me square in the eye as if saying, "You're my lady now." I was sunk but still didn't consider buying him until several months later when he had started putting on weight due to my daily bucket. Once I saddled and bridled him all he wanted to do was please me. If I asked for a trot he just went right to it. If I asked for a canter, he went rocking-horse forward on the correct lead and would try to make a flying change if I could try to ask for it properly. We cut cattle one day and worked on our dressage another day. He was the ultimate pleasure horse and someone I had looked for and needed in my life without knowing it. He passed away a few years ago. A rare diamond in the rough.


2. How do you like to entertain - throw large parties or have intimate dinner parties with just a few people or something in between?
My very favorite thing is to have friends come for lunch. Bologna and/or grilled cheese sandwiches and peanut butter crackers, potato chips, root beer, Oreos. Evenings are best with a few friends, not the crowd. But if I have overnight guests then it’s a total par-tay like a rock star. Large parties are like endurance races.

3. "I really tried to fight it, but what the hell I like it..." is a favorite line of mine from a song. Do you have a bad habit that you probably should fight but you don't because you like it?
My bad habit is thinking about dieting, eating more sensibly, and not getting it done. I love ice cream too much. Oh! and cheese too.

4. You're out to dinner and seated at the table next to your is your favorite actor/actress/singer/sports figure/whatever. Would you approach that person and if you would, how would you do it?
I have seen, been close to, seated nearby some pretty famous people but I would never speak to them. The one exception was when I stood close to Doris Day and she spoke to me first. I babbled something incoherant and grinned at the floor.

5. What's your favorite cocktail?
Probably a Cosmopolitan but only maybe one per year and it has to have really smooth vodka. Or a nicely chilled California Chardonnay.

Plucked right from Dixie’s blog:
Now it's your turn to play if you wish:

Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.” I will respond by asking you five questions in the comments here on this post so check back here. I get to pick the questions. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

(Thanks alot Dixie. This is a nice get-together)

59

You know how 60 is the new 40? So I turned 39 today.
Hip hip hurray!

Changes

Ok, I'm not going to talk about this Imus business. Everyone else seems to be and they are much more eloquent writers than me. Somebody somewhere is saying what I feel. I can give you a hint though by telling you that way back in 1993 I got so angry about censorship that it was unhealthy. I'm talking about a narrow-minded, local TV station that refused to show NYPD Blue due to the nudity. Outraged is not even close to how angry I was at the "deciders" who thought it was much too nasty for my gentle eyes.
No, I'd rather talk about my sister, Susan, and her ability to change. She is the sister that can eat the same thing everyday for 9 months. She is the sister that almost passed out in the L'Occitane store when she learned that the lovely, light green Linden soap was not going to be produced anymore. She is the sister that influenced me more than our mother since she is the one born just ahead of me. I probably have many of her same rigid traits.
Her laptop, which I influenced her to buy, left her high and dry last week when the hard drive decided to blow up. She came back to me anyway for advice on what she should look at now. I have been listening to geeks and genius' about what units are providing good service at reasonable prices. So I gave her a few choices with the small Mac Book at the top of the list. When her old laptop mechanic called to say the hard drive was kaput she drove straight to the Mac store and simply bought the very one I suggested. The poor Genius helping her tried to explain why it was a good machine and have you ever used a Mac before? She responded that she had used a Mac before he was born, which turned out to be true. She had taught at Reed College in Portland in the early '80s and they had Macs...way back then. But that was the last time so this was a very big step.

So, Susan has made the jump. It's all good. And I'm sitting in the corner, jealous as hell, sucking my thumb, wanting a new black Mac like hers.

Easter Storm
Most days I wake up to a beautiful glow in the eastern sky that encourages me to get out of bed and go watch. Today started out with breezy wind, gray skies, and waves that look like we are on Monterey Bay. I don't think this is a named storm but it sure does remind me of last summer with all the hurricanes. Anyway, Happy Easter.
The thousands and thousands of Mexican campers came and played anyway, storm or no storm. They partied almost through the night until the cops came and shut them down. The music didn't wake me up but the sirens and the bip bipping of their sirens certainly did. 3am is a bad time to wake up thinking I'm in New York City.
Since the weather is so crumby I suppose the boaters and jet skiers will be heading back to their cities, leaving us to sweep the streets and get back to our seriously quiet little village. Tents will be folded and taco carts will be loaded on pick ups. I wonder if all that beer got drunk.
Since we 'Mericans are in general a religious bunch we understand and expect lots of church goers to make it to their chosen House of God on these holidays. Generally, Mexicans also consider this a family day with their barbecues and beer replacing our ham and Easter Eggs. And as far as I can tell the whole Easter Bunny and candy deal we have is only being adopted by a few Mexicans.
So, on this gray Easter morning I'm wishing you much beer, candy, eggs, baked ham, and barbecued steak.

Visitors Are Bye Bye
There went March. All gone and all used up and all appreciated. All of my visits and all of our visitors were so much fun.
I learned that our island in the bay has tons of sea shells, but a few less now that Barbie has had her dirty way with it. She tried to sink our kayak with her bounty.
I learned that I don't like to jet ski in windy, wavy water. I think a lake would be a gentler ride for me. I tried to take Barbie over to where the dolphins hang out which might be about a 5 mile ride one way, but I chickened out and turned around before we got there. We were soaked by the time we got back home since the jet ski bounced over the waves and the water sprayed us the whole way back. Good machine, bad driver.
The cooking frenzy was more fun than I ever remember with such a good sized group. One night we made chicken enchiladas which were wonderful. We started that whole day by roasting a chicken. Perfectly delicious. Another night was different kinds of shrimp on the barbeque.
This is the week that brings all of the Mexican college students into town for their Spring Break. I believe there were over a hundred thousand kids last year that camped on the beaches and partied all night. We old folks just tuck ourselves in and let them have their fun. But, I bet my husband will insist on us checking out the action on Friday night like we did last year. I felt so completely out of place that I begged him to just turn the quad around and get me home.
I'm turning 59 in the middle of this month. Ho Hum. I suppose that's why I don't feel excited about driving a quad through a mass of drunk college kids. I'm probably older than their grandparents! Maybe I should be wearing a hairnet (winking at Dixie).