Henry Gets His Shots

Here's one of the reasons I love living in a rural area. We might be an hour from the nearest grocery store, two hours from the nearest Wal-mart, and three hours from the nearest shopping mall, but there are some amenities that just harken back to an older time.

For example, Henry is getting big fast, and it was time for him to get his second round of shots in July. So late one morning, my sweet husband called the vet that lives in the next town over. His wife answered and said that the vet was coming over that afternoon to give Henry's sister her shots and it would be no trouble to give Henry his shots too.

So a few hours later the vet and his wife pull up in our driveway. We said hello, caught up on some local news, and the vet gave Henry his shots. Henry didn't yelp or make any noise, and got up immediately afterward and went back to annoying Desert Boy. We talked a little more with the vet and his wife and then they left. I bet there aren't too many places left in the U.S. where you can get a house call for routine dog shots just a few hours after calling!

How Much Does a Wet Diaper Weigh?

This post really has nothing to do with the desert except that it's been hot and we've been playing in water a lot, but give me some slack, my mind is droopy. No, I meant to say the diaper is droopy. You see, I didn't bother putting a swim diaper on Desert Boy  and before I knew it he was sitting in the little kiddie pool and his regular diaper was bulging. And not a little bulging, but major bulging, so much so that my jaw dropped and I muttered something like "Holy Canoli." Then the sight got even better. Desert Boy lifted himself and his new bulging appendage and heaved all that extra weight out of the pool and proceeded to play with more water. Such dedication! Such strength! In fact, Desert Boy could become the new face, no I mean cheeks, of diaper companies.  

p.s. Check back later today for a (slightly) more relevant post.

A Walk in the Desert

Last weekend my husband wanted to go wandering around the desert looking for mines. There are certainly lots of old mines around, and I can just imagine those prospectors in the early days on their mules searching up and down every canyon trying to find the right piece of rock that would make them rich. Some got rich, but most only got rich for a couple days and then they were back to searching for more mineral-laden rock. 

I wasn't too interested in the mines, but because my husband had been so nice accompanying me to the cave and watching Desert Boy the previous weekend, I agreed to go. I had my camera and wandered around the desert looking for interesting things. As you can see in the photo above, wandering is fairly easy, with large gaps between the shadscale and four-winged saltbush. Once in awhile I would find a flower or some scat.

This little hole caught my eye, with the rim of little gravel around it. I think it's an ant hole, but as I didn't see any ants it's possible that some other insect made it.

I saw exactly two cacti in my hour of wandering. Here's one, with particularly long spines.

Desert Boy and Henry also enjoyed wandering around and seeing what they could find. It was rough terrain for Desert Boy to navigate, but I figure his balance should be improving a lot. 

The Hawaiian outfit doesn't quite go with the desert landscape, but obviously he doesn't care. The cloud cover made for cool temperatures and a perfect day to enjoy the subtle beauties of the desert.

Did my husband find a gold mine? I've been sworn to secrecy!

Greeting from a Great Horned Owl

After a couple evening walks, we've returned to the house to hear a cacophony of birds. The Western Kingbirds are flying around squawking, American Kestrels are diving in the treetops, European Starlings are flapping away. Why so much noise? Because a Great Horned Owl likes to hang out in our yard. So whenever I hear the birds, I start looking around until I spot the owl. The owl knows us fairly well, so it lets me get close to get a photo. We've actually had a family of Great Horned Owls around, but they seem to have dispersed and now I only see one owl at a time.
We sleep with the windows open and quite often at night we can hear the owl hooting away. I'm always thankful that the owl is helping to keep our yard free of gophers and mice. Our puppy Henry was quite scared of the owls when he was smaller, but now he's gotten so big that he just ignores them.  I try to hoot to the owls to encourage a conversation, but they just ignore me. I wonder why.

Crossing the Cattle Guard

Cattle guards are very common in the west, and we have to cross two to leave the ranch. In case you're not familiar with cattle guards, they are not people who stand around and guard the cattle (despite what one Washington DC official thought when he said that to help improve the budget they should just get rid of  a bunch of those cattle guards). Rather, they are metal slats that are supposed to intimidate the cattle and sheep from crossing because their feet could slip through the slats. Vehicles can cross easily though. Cattle guards are found where important roads cross fence lines and they are in lieu of a gate that would need to be opened and closed.

One of the cattle guards is at the end of the driveway. It's a bit smaller than standard and has filled in quite a bit, as you can see from the small apricot tree growing between the bars. As a result, it's not much a deterrent to cattle getting into our yard, and I've watched many a cow jump across it. It's kind of a funny sight to watch a cow jump, which is good because I'm usually chasing it out of the yard after it's eaten my tulips and am in need of a laugh. In this photo I can get a laugh from those sexy white legs in the background (don't tell my husband!).

Desert Boy has been getting braver and more agile, so he decided to see if he could get across the cattle guard. He had to balance carefully so that his little feet wouldn't slip through the slats.

Oops, one spill. He doesn't seem fazed though and doesn't even make a peep.

He gets back up and heads towards the water on the other side. Water is always something that attracts him.

Henry decides to get in on the action. Henry may think he's helping, but usually he gets right in Desert Boy's way.

He made it across and now can sit in the water and play!

Or start eating dirt and grin when Mom and Dad tell him to stop. He's still getting his daily dose of dirt despite our best efforts.