11/16 Anderson

This weather is totally unbelievable - mornings are a little cool around 44 and the highs are around 65 or so.  We have the beautiful Fall colors and lawn is still green but growing very slow.   The down side of this is the lack a moisture - we are sitting at 42% of rainfall for this time of the year.  Shasta lake and river are pretty empty.  In Tracy, the normal rainfall is 2.5 inches for this time of the year not sure if that is seasonal or annual and we have a grant total of .55 inches.  Seems like there are weather systems that move through but they all come in from the North and scoot on by and all we get is a few clouds and lots of wind.  Mother nature is not being very nice to us this year.

Colors in Tracy (this is the sideyard in front)

Sunset in Anderson (Lassen Peak in the background)

We have finished our irrigation water of the pasture for the year - that should start up in early May of next year.  We do not get good water coverage across the pasture - water seems to stay in the front portion of the pasture.  I have tried hard to get better coverage in the front and the back is a total loss - no water from that canal it is much too deep.  We have applied for a grant with the National Resource Conservation Service to have the irrigation canal piped with gates.  That will allow us to control the water and it will give us plenty of water for all the pasture.  The application deadline for that grant was Friday and we have our application in now and they have done a site visit.  The next step is the evaluation of grant participants.  Not sure what the selection criteria is totally but we should be able to qualify.  If we get selected they will start the project next Spring.  The installation should be pretty straight forward - they bury the pipe then add T gates to access control.  It is still flood irrigation but with better control to selected areas. 

Yesterday, I did mow the rest of the front pasture - got rid of the dead weeds.  We still have lots of grass but the cows don't seem to like the cut  grass.  I mowed at the highest level on the mower and just took a small portion of grass.  If the cows don't like it they can just go to the adjoining pasture which is also used for their grazing.  It has lots of tall grass - for some reason before I mowed they stayed in our pasture most of the time - that has changed it a appears?   I like the mowed clean pasture look and now we are ready for some nice green grass for the Spring!!

Front Pasture after mow

Our pasture and the adjacent pasture for comparative purposes.

Kathy is busy as ever with her artwork - she has moved on from painting ladies to more abstract things.  She has some very large ( 12" x 32") works in progress and she sure makes a mess of herself when she works with these large pieces - paint goes everywhere.  She has taken on a new look much more bold than the works she has done in the past.  I suspect this is typical - just part of the evolution of art and the creative mind??

On the golf front - still playing lots of golf.  The course is getting very dry and almost seems like cement in some places.  They have been watering it more lately which helps a little.  Recently, I built a new driver - I bought a 46" graphite shaft, look a Olamar head from a old club and added a new drip.  I put them all together and have played with it for about 2 weeks.  I wanted to see if I could get some more distance with the extra length and yes it did work great.  The shaft is very whippy - lots of flex and that was the only thing different that I had to work with.  I should have purchased a steel rigid shaft that might a have worked even better?   At any rate I like the new club and after I get warmed up the shaft works great.  I might be getting 40 more yards at max.  I did some research and found out that the average driver length for the golf pros is 44.5 " and normal peeps like myself  the length is even lower than that.  It was fun working with this new driver.

We are looking forward to the holiday - taking off Thanksgiving week and Christmas as well then head into a new year.  We had talked about taking a vacation trip for the holiday.  For some reason we never got that done so we are here for another year - that is fine with us and we will enjoy the time away from Tracy.

Enough babble - hope you all have a great week end and work week. 

More later

Ron, Kathy, Tessie and Sammie ( the cat)

10-19 Anderson

This Fall weather is perfect - - cool nights (44) and high for the days (85) perfect temperature swing.  In addition to the great weather we have a seasonal change with the trees and other plants.  The colors are spectacular and visible from all directions from our little corner of the world.

Below is a picture of Ron participating in Lockheed's FunRun.  They have the event every year and he participates.  This year he placed 5th in his age group.  Not bad for his first run of the year!

Ron is number 212, red shirt, white cap, black shorts.

Along with the seasonal change we have lots of birds preparing for the winter months ahead.  We have one mated pair that gives us a great show each day, they are white falcons - all white with black wing tips.  Yesterday they were playing - hovering then attack each other and then fall  - spinning  to the ground in a grasp.  One usually takes flight and the other lands on the ground.   We have another mated pair of hawks but they are not very energetic.

White Falcons

We also have a pair of eagles nesting along the Sacramento River, they return each each year at this time.  Last year the male ( Patriot) was killed in a fight with another eagle.  The female (Liberty) has taken another mate ( name TBD) and will likely have eggs laid on our around the second week of February then hatch and fledge in April and June respectively.  The local folks enjoy a cam that has been set up to watch their activities.  Watching the young eaglets mature is pretty cool stuff.  If you are interested in watching these critters this is the URL http://www.turtlebay.org/eaglecam - save the bookmark and enjoy!!

Lastly, during this time period we are also blessed with some great sun rises and sun sets.  Especially good when we have some clouds - that makes for some great colors.  This week we have also had the rising full moon which is yet another treat. 

Thursday's Moonrise (Oct 17)

Friday's Moonrise (Oct 18)

They shut the lab down for most of the week so Kathy decided to take time off.  We have been here in Anderson for a week.  Sure nice when we can walk away from our urban life then slip into our rural life with all of comforts.  Guess we are little spoiled but that's OK by us.  Kathy is very busy with her artwork and she was able to attend the Roses and Rust show last week end.  She did not participate but did partake and did her part to support her local artists.  She ended up bringing home a large bird cage.  She is going to insert a chandelier - not sure what that is about about  - guess it is a artsy thing?  She has been working on  large journal which has been competed  - now she is moving on to other pieces. 

My week has been devoted to working in the yard.  I did manage to get most of the blackberry vines off the pasture fences.  Last year I removed the vines from the fence and burnt them -  this year I removed the roots and vines that returned and have some pretty nice burn piles ready to go.  The fire danger is still pretty high so I will have to wait for more moisture so they can open up the burn days. 

Tessie ran in the pasture when she saw Ron out there helping the neighbor reign in her horses.  Next thing all the cows are chasing Tessie and she's yelping, running for Ron.  This is her after the bath that ensued...

Tessie after her bath (taken with my iPhone!)

This afternoon we are headed to Red Bluff for a art show then diner afterwords.  Some local artists are putting on a show and Kathy wanted to see their work.  We don't get to Red Bluff very often so it will be nice to get out for the evening.  Not sure who has more red necks Red Bluff or Redding.  We went to Costco on Monday and we had a challenge to see who could count the most red necks at Costco.  I quit counting after the first 5 minutes as everyone fit the image that we created.  All these folks are pretty good people and we enjoy all of them.  In retrospect - we both looked and acted like a red neck so I think we fit right into our community very nicely!!??

Enough babble - - hope you all have a great week end and wonderful week.

More later

Ron, Kathy, Tessie and Sammie (the cat)

October 5 - - Anderson

What a great fall week end - low of 58 and high of 80 all week end.  We did get a little breeze yesterday but today it is very calm.  The Fall and Spring for that matter are great for the moderate climate.  The trees are starting to turn color  and we are definitely headed into the Fall with the Winter to arrive much earlier this year ( my prediction). 

I have been very lazy with my blogs - I think I missed most of the month of September?  We have been busy as usual and the weeks seem to just fly much too quickly.  We will be back in Anderson for the next two week ends - Kathy wants to attend the Roses and Rust show next week end in Redding.  She did that show last year - this year she gets to be a spectator and/or buyer?   She is looking forward to seeing some of Redding Handmade friends again. 

Last week end we did have some clouds and a weather system that moved through which made for  some great sunrises and sunsets.  The yard is looking great for this time of the year and the trees here in Anderson have sure grown allot in the last 2 years.  We did have lots of wind in Tracy last week and I sure did not miss the mess from those pesky big trees.  I get the leaves and branches from the neighbors but not from those big trees anymore!!  We do have lots of trees in the yard - I think the total was 34 -  that is now 30 with the loss of the 4 big ones earlier this year.  Most of the others are fruit trees, ornamental and 8 pines. 



Cow in the pasture - Black Angus!

Today, we went to a horse show in Cottonwood.  Our neighbors had their daughters participating in the show and we wanted to see them with the horses.  The event was sponsored by the Rescue A Horse program - our neighbors have 10 horses or so and  3 of them are rescue horses.   It was nice to get out and see the folks with their animals.   Most of our neighbors have animals - lots of cows, horses, goats, dogs, etc.  We get some pretty strange noises during the day and night. 

Kathy continues to work in artwork - lots of drawing and journal stuff.   This is a very busy time of the year for her at work so she is not able to much in Tracy.  She has the ability to unwind here in Anderson with her artwork.

2 weeks ago from last Thursday I went over to LM to participate in the Annual 3K Fun Run.  I had not run sense the event last year and my performance was impacted by my lack of training.  Last year I finished 3 in my age group and this year I was 5th.  My time last years was around 26 and this year it was at 28 minutes.  It was a good race and I knew my time was much slower this year.  My first mile or so was pretty good but then lost ground with a much slower pace for the last half.  It was nice to participate and much nicer to see some of my coworkers again.  I have lunch with them in the cafeteria after the race.  I certainly did not enjoy the trip - took me 2.5 hours to get there in the morning rush hour and a hour to get home - usual.   That traffic to the bay area is very hard - hard to believe that I did it for so many years?

I will close with a just statement that I for one feel that our government has once again let us down.  If I performed in my professional job like they do - I would have been fired in a heartbeat.  I for one am embarrassed with their inability or unwillingness to do the job they were elected to do!!

Hope you all have a nice week and great week.

More later

Ron, Kathy, Tessie and Sammie (the cat)

9/7 Anderson

Last week I commented that we were at the end of the Summer and Fall was just around the corner.  I was sure wrong - it was Fallish during the week but this week end and into next week we are headed for some high temps at 106 or more.  I can't remember it being that hot here in September before!!??  Last week end it did seem like Fall - we had some great sunrise and sunsets with all the clouds to the East and West.  This week not clouds - not breeze and no rain - - we got all that last week end.  I am looking forward to Fall  - can you tell?

Last Monday we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary - had a very nice day and ready to push on for 25 more of the same.  We both feel very blessed and life sure is good when you have the right mate!!  I won't belabor that point - just to say " it is nice"!! 

We arrived Thursday after dark and created quite a stir in the neighborhood.  We had not mentioned to our neighbors that we would be back up so soon.  Turns out as soon as we arrived the neighbors started calling each other to check out the situation.  We did get a call from one to see if we were here.  Two or three of them got all stirred up and were headed over here (packing) to see what was going on.  In the interim Kathy had sent a note to our closest neighbor to tell them that we were here.  They did see that note finally so called off the militia - - of course we were clueless to all  that was going on.  It was Friday when we heard about all the commotion .  We really do have some great neighbors - a little distance between us but they do keep an eye out for us.  We are very thankful for that and appreciate their support and assistance.

A couple of follow-up comments from last week -  I wrote about the new cows on the pasture, the raccoons and our task of cleaning and polishing the wood floors.   The cows are doing great and they sure like the willow tree, lots of shade for these hot days - - caught one of them with a bird sitting on it's nose and head, it was picking off flies and the cow did not mind a bit.  The raccoons were back during the two nights Tessie went crazy several times.  I did block off  2 culverts in the back pasture which was their home - they were pretty confused when they got home last night - they were running from one to the others.  Not sure where they ended up but Tessie did settle down finally.  As lastly - - we moved the cleaning and polishing the floors to the wooden doors throughout the house.  Sure made a difference with both the floors and the doors.

We are a little bummed - this will be our last week end for awhile - won't be back until the last part of the month.  Kathy is working on the end of year financial close so she has to work on her AWS (Alternate Work Schedule) day off.  When that happens our trip up here is set back to 30 days.  She did ask for a vacation day in 3 weeks so that will put us here a little sooner - that is a good thing.  It will also mean that we get to be here two weeks in a row - actually it could be 3 as Kathy wants to come back during the middle of October to attend the Roses and Rust Show.  This is a shows with lots of artists come to sell their wares.  She has participated in the show in the past but not this year.

Not much else  for news - - hope you all have a great week end and good week.

More later

Ron, Kathy, Tessie and Sammie (the cat)

8/31 Anderson

We are on the tail end of summer for sure - temps are hanging around 95 for a high and 65 for a low.  A little warmer than last week and I suspect we will be seeing lots of mid 80s in the coming weeks - I am ready for that!!  We are not getting much of breeze so that is why the temps are climbing.  The sky's are clear - the haze of smoke we had last week is gone and I think the fires South and East of us have been contained. 

Had lots of yardwork this week end and also had to do some mechanical work on the tractor.  One of the spindles for the blade on the left side went bad - bearing went out.  It was making some pretty strange noise yesterday so today I dropped the deck and replaced the spindle.  I had purchased this spindle a year or so ago as a space, good thing to have a extra around and we have another one on order.  This is the first time I dropped the deck - pretty straight forward.  In the past I have worked under the desk with it jacked up - kind of tight and hard to see.  The learning curve was pretty low and glad I did it - next time it will be a snap.

We now have cows on the pasture again - - good thing.  We have 4  - 2 black Angus heifers and their calves.   They are well behaved and should do fine?  I am glad the pasture is back in use - we have had several inquiries about its use and we did have a commitment for this season but did not know the status of the new cows.  They have been here a week or so and they have already cleaned up the irrigation canal and fence line.  I have been cutting those areas to help the water flow - now the cows are doing it for me. 

Last night we had dinner out with a old colleague from Lockheed Martin (LM).  He has a plum tree farm in Red Bluff and is finishing up this years harvest.  We had a very nice dinner and he came over for desert (blackberry pie and ice cream),  His has less than a hundred acres and his brother has about the same.  His nephew takes care of the trees throughout the year.  Kirk still works at LM and lives in Sunnyvale.  He is 73 years old and doing great - not sure when he might retire?  He seems very happy working and being close to his family. 

Around 3:30 this morning Tessie woke us up with loud barking.  We got up to check what she was barking at - a large raccoon was walking across the back patio.  She was really having a fit - I scared the raccoon off then took Tessie outside to settle her down.  She was sniffing all over the place - then I heard some noise coming from behind two chests that are stored against the wall.   The patio door open - put her inside then immediately shut it  to check what the noise was?  There tucked behind the chest were 3 babies raccoons - looked like the three stooges peaking over the top.  After some coaxing they departed then I had to bring Tessie out again so she could see that the area was clear??!!  Just another restless night out here in the wild  - wild  - west.

On Monday we get to celebrate our 25the Silver wedding anniversary.  That will be fun - - we have a nice 4 day week end then 3 days of work for Kathy then we are back up here next Thursday.  That will be out third week end up here in a row - we don't get that many but enjoy the ones we do get.  We both stay busy and the time seems to fly very fast!! 

Not much else for news - hope you all have a great holiday week end and good work week.

More later

Ron, Kathy, Tessie and Sammie ( the  cat)

8/24 Anderson

We are definitely heading into the fall season!!   The temperatures are dropping at night and during the day.  The temp now is 74 with a slight breeze from the South - perfect!!  We have the back doors open and the breeze is really keeping us cool for the day.  It did get up to 91 yesterday but don't think it will make that today.  The hills and mountains have lots of clouds and lots of smoke.  We have two or three fires burning in the area - just 3 for the 50 or so that are burning in the Western states.  This high fire period was certainly predicted - no rain, lots of fuel from years without any fires and now mother nature is taking charge once again.  Seems like we hear about 2-5 fires in the area each day and I suspect that will continue for some time to come - at least until the rains start in October.

Fire near Yosemite - Picture taken in downtown Groveland on Aug 22nd.
 

Lassen Peak hidden in a shroud of smoke

 

Kathy had a very hard week last week and sure is enjoying the week end to unwind a little.  They are in the middle of budgets - close out 13 and bring in 14.   Being a government lab - they are dealing with the pesk
y sequestration issue once again.  They did have some luck with the voluntary terminations but they will probably offer up another one next year again to take the strain off the budget cuts that are forthcoming.  They continue to have problems with their overall staffing - when one of their researchers runs out of money or is finished with their project they are put into a pool and carried until funding or projects becomes available.  That system has worked in the past but now with all the project and budget cuts they can't afford to carry those folks.  Hard management decisions needed to tackle the issue head on!!?? 

Worked on the yard yesterday and a little today.  Everything is looking pretty good - we still don't have any cows or horses on the pasture.  The grass is getting pretty high and we have lots of folks poking around to see if the pasture is available.  I did sign a contract with a neighbor who has had cows on the pasture (moved them because they wanted to roam into the adjacent pasture) and does help with our irrigation.  I am committed to him for this year - just now sure what his plans are for the rest of the year?   I already mowed half of it which has grown back and will mow the rest of it in a month or so.  This is the 1st year we have not had animals on the pasture and I am amazed with the difference, that grass and some weeds sure get tall and thick.  The mowing will definitely be a challenge for me and my little mower?

Kathy and I are looking forward to the next couple of weeks.  She is taking some extra days off and we will have at least 3 weeks in which we will be here in Anderson for long week ends.  Next week end we have a special celebration - party time for our 25th wedding anniversary.  It is also 25 years for us to be in California.  That will be fun - hard to believe it has been 25 years, how time does pass so quickly.

Yesterday, Kathy and I took on a big project - we cleaned and polished the wooden floors.  The last time we did that was 2.5 years ago when we moved in.  This time we used some home remedy ( vinegar, lemon, olive oil and water)  and the floors look very good.  It as a lot of work but definitely worth the effort.  It looks so nice - makes everything seem new and fresh, suspect we will change to frequency to at least quarterly.  We used several different tools - steaming mop and lots of rags and elbow grease.  We both ended up with blisters on our knees - talked about using knee pads but nixed that idea, should be essential next time.  At any rate the job is done and we are very pleased with the results.

Not much else for news from these parts - - hope you all have a enjoyable week end and great week,

More later

Ron, Kathy, Tessie and Sammie ( the cat)

8/10 Anderson

The last 2 weeks have been very nice - temps are topping out in the mid 80s - about 10 degrees below the average for this time of the year.  The mornings are cool, days are pleasant and the nights are perfect for sleeping.  These are the temps that we usually get in the Spring and Fall, guess mother nature is changing things around a little.  The long range forecast call for 100 on Tuesday here in Anderson and mid 90s for the Tracy area.  Today it is 80 and a nice breeze out of the Northwest - very nice - about the same yesterday maybe a little cooler.  I am ready for Fall  - bring in on.

Last week we were notified that there is a mountain lion in our neighborhood.  The lion has killed several cats and even attacked the neighbors horses.  I think the critter is hanging out in our pasture and the adjoining pasture.  Over the last month while picking blackberries I have noticed several areas the grass has been flattened out.  We don't have any cows or horses on the pasture at this time so it has to be another big animal. 2 weeks ago I picked up a big scat pile next to our driveway.  I thought at the time it might be a coyote but it was too big for that animal - never really equated it with a mountain lion.  Kathy was escorting Tessie by leash late at night on our last visit and noticed a pair of glowing eyes peering at her from the pasture about 2 feet off the ground.  She ran for the door!  Tessie has had several barking episodes at night - hard to know what she is barking at, could be  cow, cat, rabbit, coyote or lion or a 2 legged animal for that matter?  Kathy borrowed a big spotlight - glows at 500 - 1000 watts or more.  We have only seen a rabbit thus far no sign of a lion this week end thus far?!!   I suspect one of these spotlights will be in our future?



Pasture full of Queen Anne's Lace

Speaking of berry picking - yes I was at it again.  This is the end of berry picking season - got 2.5 gallons this week end.  I used the new method of harvesting - pick the cluster then bring them back and sort at my own leisure.  The berries were not that good this week end - many of  them have dried out in the sun and those that are ready fall off when I pull the cluster out of the vines.  I am happy with this years harvest - I see blackberry pies in out future.  We still have 1 pie in the freezer from last year's batch - we will eat that one during out labor day week end. 

Kathy is very busy at work - the old year is closing down and the new year in quickly approaching.  She is still working with her new people so her workload is essentially doubled.  The training will continue through the new budget year then things should slow down a little for her.  She is having a hard time with her schedule - lots of hours of work, lots of time walking and not much time for her artwork.  She is making up for that this week end - she is in her studio and working diligently.  her artwork certainly keeps her occupied with not real thoughts of work - that is a good thing.  She is very lucky to be able to get away from the office stuff - the nice 3 day week ends work well for her.  This is the perfect work/life balance that works for her!!

The last two weeks have been filled with lots of trips to the dentist.  I finally got the implant completed.  Last Monday, I started to get a striking pain in my lower left jaw - thought is was a abscess?  I have had them before and this one was triggered by cold - a nice cold drink of iced tea gave me a jolt of pain which cleared as soon as the cold was removed.   I went to my dentist on Wednesday to check it out - she could not pinpoint the problem so she sent me to the periodontist on Thursday and yes a root canal was completed which corrected the condition.  I have accumulated considerable investment over the years and looks like my mouth will continue to invest more in the future.  I probably should have gone the way of dentures (Kathy says, "NO,NO!!!")  many years ago but have been fighting to keep original choppers - am paying he price.  I think the decision was a good one? (Kathy says, "yes!")

Happy Anniversary, John and Pat -- 57 years!!!  Congratulations!!!

Not much else for new from these parts.  Hope you all have a great week end and wonderful week.

More later

Ron, Kathy, Tessie and Sammie ( the cat)