Tuesday, May 02, 2023

It’s a rainy and chilly day, and perhaps Central Oregon’s “last freeze” before the real spring arrives. Those accustomed to this area know not to plant anything before mid-May. Nonetheless, I might set a bit of Rosemary into my gardening area and, so to speak, “test the waters.” Hoping it’ll survive and thrive.

My Rhubarb plants were coming up nicely before one appeared ravaged. I first thought because of deer, but its damaged leaves didn’t quite look dear-damaged. Then, I remembered seeing young bunnies running on my property this year because my cat, Maxwell, hasn’t been outside. He’s inside because the baby-bunny season is beginning, and Max is an expert hunter.

It appears that new babies are finding my little garden. And like roaming deer, wild bunnies will enjoy Rhubard leaves. I intend to set a little fence around the Rhubard, which will regenerate. The beautiful ornamental plant regrows rapidly. A fence might take care of the bunnies but can’t hold back roaming deer. I’ll address that problem (not sure how) after finding signs of deer chews on my garden plants.

Now, I’ll be off to address today’s needs. Besides taking care of things on the property, I will haul my horse rig over for a tune-up. That’ll ready it for taking my horses across town, next week, to an equine dentist.

Dear Friends: I doubt wild critters will dine on spiky Rosemary, but of course, that’s not guaranteed. Diana

Monday, May 01, 2023

This May Day begins a new month. This day also represents a bill-pay time for most of us. Although we are coping with a less-than-robust economy, our money obligations don’t change. Ah, May Day, it’s also a signal of calling for help.

Appropriately, too, the Feds are currently attempting differently to manage the larger economy. Nonetheless, a final shape resembles guesswork. The Feds are attempting to avoid repeating this nation’s 2008 economic crash, a painful time that hit everybody hard. It took years to recover from that giant economic failure. Besides being lengthy, recovering was complex and costly.

That period introduced indelible learning. Now, the economy introduces a new “May Day” for big banks failing in the heart of money-land, Silicon Valley. Americans feeling the pinches may give thanks to housing shortages, preventing home equity values from dropping suddenly and significantly. It’s cautious to add, at least, not yet.

Most of us aren’t economists. We roll with the punches and hope for the best.

Deart Friends: Let’s hope younger generations get a handle on managing larger economics. Diana

Sunday, April 30, 2023

Today begins another string of days off from work. However, Home Depot’s Garden Department is booming, and my scheduled hours will increase soon, but not until after this week. This weather is great for being home and working to improve the property and establish a garden.

This spring especially is welcome after the very long and cold winter. Last winter began in early October with a faux draft horse kick, an early surprise of deep freeze and snow. Similar weather continued with little easing until the middle of this month, mere days ago.

Yesterday, a retiree new to Bend entered the Garden Department. I was watering plants when she asked for help locating a product. As we chatted, she described her pony (about the size of my Sunni, pictured above) and that she’s mobile, has a horse trailer. She asked me about this area’s horse community and trails.

Of course, one has no need for wandering imagination to gather the upshot. We have plans to meet with our ponies and ride horseback together.

My equine dental appointment has been reset to the end of next week. That’s a relief on this gorgeous day which offers opportunities more inviting.

Dear Friends: May your day be beautiful, and filled with spring wonders. Diana

Saturday, April 29., 2023

Yesterday, and another trial of leaving for work with the puppy, Chase, contained in a fenced area with my other dogs. Later, he still was enclosed there when I came home. My efforts to prevent him from escaping appear to be paying off, but regardless, it’s still a worry whether his containment will be lasting, but I am hopeful.

Today, I will turn my attention to tomorrow’s equine dental appointment. I must haul my horses and donkey across town for routine care by a mobile equine dentist. For a stretch of time, Chase kept me preoccupied in trying to prevent his fence-climbing. Those activities interfered with my readying the horse rig for tomorrow’s haul.

It’s been unused during the freezing months. So, I’ll start the truck’s motor, check its tires, fill it with gasoline, and load tomorrow’s necessary equipment. The dentist will sedate the animals for their dental work. While re-awakening, each might need to be blanketed, even in this warm weather. In particular, Pimmy, slower-arousing than a horse, and might need blanketing.

Once they’re all awake enough to step into the trailer and stand, we’ll come home. Tomorrow should take care of the horses’ dental needs until next year, and for Pimmy, another two years.

Dear Friends: Next, I will resume clearing the grounds and preparing spaces for gardening. Diana

Friday, April 28, 2023

Today’s high will be in the eighties! Maybe spring has arrived, but I’m cautious after living for years in Central Oregon. Experience teaches us to anticipate at least one more freeze. So a casual rule is to avoid in-ground planting before mid-May.

I am bringing home plants, setting them outside in the daylight, and moving them inside in the evening. Besides my caution regarding more freezing weather, I’ve been too busy to garden. Recently, all my energies have been dedicated to keeping corralled my puppy, Chase, a talented escape artist.

I added fence fabric in the dogs’ common area to heighten several hundred feet of fencing. The added material sets low and covers the top rail. That’s to hinder Chase from grasping the rail and hauling himself over it to freedom.

Yesterday, I saw him examine closely the fence’s changes and not attempt to escape. So, I decided to leave him in the big yard while I was away at work. It helped to see Chase remain relaxed when my Jeep’s noisy motor started. I’d be away less than four hours and concerned about his safety.

Later, on arriving home, I saw Chase, still fenced and among the other dogs, running to greet me.

Dear Friends: I hope his behavior is the same today, and he’s still fenced on my arrival home. Diana

Thursday, April 27, 2023

I’m scheduled today to work for three-and-one-half hours. What? Who designed this?

After next week, my hours will increase to the typical twenty-per-week for Home Depot’s part-timers. Spring’s finally arriving with customers starting to flow into the Garden Department, where I work.

Interestingly, I gather that starting now, and throughout the summer months, Garden will be the store’s highest grossing department. Tools usually is highest grossing. That shift lets my brain create fun mental images with “flowers overcoming tools.”

Considering that shift takes me to related larger social issues. For example, Washington State’s Governor has just signed a law forbidding future sales of AK-15 automatic weapons. Today, new reporting reveals that in the last month Washington State’s gun sellers processed a typical year’s worth of sales. So, the upcoming change-law has people gunning-up ahead of its starting date.

Okay, now my thoughts are shifting to children’s lives. Normally, we equate children to flowers, but these days’ children are becoming easy victims to older children wielding automatic weapons. In the old days of social teaching, weapons violence was associated to world wars and large plans for things like, “butter vs. guns.” Now, we need workable plans for something like, “flowers vs. guns.” What will be the solutions?

Dear Friends: As often, I’m stuck with images that ought to mesh, but don’t, and somehow won’t. Diana

Wednesday, April 26, 2023

Meet Jake, a six-year-old Belgian Malinois (a Tervuren [long-coated] type). He was perfectly groomed and a great match for photographing at Home Depot among beautiful flowers.

About HD and flowers: Yesterday, the Garden Department received its first huge shipment of flowering plants. Throughout my shift, I removed plastic wrappings from new arrivals, and the fun of that equaled unwrapping Christmas delights. Plus, that day was beautiful, shirtsleeve-warm, drawing many customers. They were delighted to see plants and colors and shared observations with random others.

I couldn’t resist playing around, and as you might guess, later brought home these bright-red Begonias

Next Saturday, my HD manager, Enrique, and his wife, Chrysal, are to remarry, and this time in The Church. Their four-year-old daughter will be their Flower Girl. He’s sending me an invitation, and I’ll be there cheering them.

Dear Friends: Flowers and customers, and finally, our Garden Department coming alive. Diana

Tuesday, April 25, 2023

I was working to modify my yard fencing to contain my escape-artist puppy when my neighbor, Frank, texted, sending a photo of a downed section of my horse fencing. Frank kindly reconnected the top rails and reset the section but said my side of the fence needed staples. I hurried to try containing my puppy (oy vey!) before going to pound staples. My examination of the fenceline revealed several loose posts.

In today’s hasty-home-building economy, one challenge is finding repair experts who are reasonably available and trustworthy. Plus, skilled tradespersons are coming and going. One who has worked here once or twice suddenly disappears. Now my part-time work at Home Depot has acquainted me with a contractor who works there part-time.

He explained that this freezing, long winter severely limiting his business had brought him to HD. I contacted him yesterday, and we will meet to review my property concerns. He’s an electrician and could make such repairs. He says his HD co-worker is a capable plumber and is also available. Maybe he knows someone who can repair fencing.

In accepting my part-time job at HD, I was hoping to meet coworkers or customers who could address various property needs. Maybe this co-worker will be that skilled tradesperson.

Dear Friends: Today’s beautiful weather will have the Garden Department very busy. Diana

Monday, April 24, 2023

Chase is being contained! New obstructive material, stretching over the six-foot fencing, interrupts his climbs and escapes. In another doggie area, a nearly half-acre fenced for them, he escapes from a section with top-rail fencing by climbing up and over until now. An added foot-and-a-half fencing fabric above the top rail can’t support his weight.

After today, my mind can focus on other matters. For one thing, I must prepare to haul my equines over to the west side for routine dentistry after readying my truck and horse trailer. Unfortunately, my escaping dog has captured my attention, delaying the spring start-up activities with the rig and horses.

Also, I’m reading another excellent novel: Lab Girl, published in 2016 by Hope Jahren, an American geochemist, geobiologist, and professor specializing in plant life. Her memoir is well-written and humorous, a first-person description of coming-of-age experiences that moved her toward a deep understanding of plants.

Dear Friends: It’s spring, and now Home Depot will increase my working hours. Diana

 

Sunday, April 23, 2023

Yesterday, I worked all day to get ahead of my puppy, Chase, to keep him confined.

He foiled several of my attempts to block his exits from the dogs’ larger area. He astonishes me with his strength and climbing skills. That puppy found ways to get up and squeeze over the most complicated barriers I could devise. He set me wandering this whole property, opening long neglected sheds, and eying objects creatively to spot potential blocker-aids. Finally, the process is slowing him, but today, he’s clearly aware there’s a weak area and has begun challenging it.

He’s an athlete, and it’s his game. I can’t let him win, and he wears me out.

In the past, I’ve visited shelters and been upset to learn individuals may turn in dogs, claiming they can’t keep the animals confined and/or control their behaviors. However, none of my dogs have been so challenging that I’d consider sending one to a shelter. That’s not saying none have been difficult, as some were, for every living creature has a unique personality.

Chase has challenged me to a new level, but I won’t give up. Offsetting his energy is a personality that couldn’t be sweeter.

He’s a mixed breed, predominately Rottweiller and German Shepard, with the strength, determination, and intelligence of those two breeds (at least, for it’s unknown whatever else might be in him). He could be a great candidate for policing, rescuing, or carrying messages during wartime. His strength and drive seem endless.

His constant escaping needs occasionally have made me consider re-homing or giving him up, but only in my worst moments of struggling to ensure his safety. I will keep trying to control his escaping needs and hanging on while he outgrows his young brain. If, finally, his behaviors don’t change, I’ll do whatever’s needed to counter them.

Dear Friends: This once-itty-pup landed serendipitously in his permanent home. Diana