A Day In The Life At Shoebox Ranch

I'm really trying to follow my bliss, and for some crazy reason that included buying a kazoo on Ebay. Go me. It's been really fun and funny trying to play it. I hope to get a holder for it, so I can  play it along with the washboard that I'm still making.

I also saved the bones from some beef ribs. They are sitting under a basket on an ant hill waiting for the ants to clean them for me. If you've ever heard anyone 'play the bones' this is what they originally came from. I also got a red oak board to make some wooden 'bones'.

I'm currently waging war on the tomato hornworms. Twice a day I study the tomato plants trying to find the menaces. I usually pick off about 4 a day and feed them to the chickens. I wonder if I'm raising tomatoes or worms for the chickens.

Tomato Horn Worm. They strip all the leaves off the stems.

The girls are all grown up now.

The three black chickens are the most dominant. They are always the first ones to the fence when the worms get poked into the cage. Then they all run in circles trying to steal the worms from each other.

Tonight's sunset was like melted butter. And now the moonrise is gorgeous.

Sunset in Lucerne Valley, CA

My cat thinks he is a parrot.

Chain of Events

My front yard drama has had an interesting chain of events. On Sunday we picked up some cracked corn, which the quail love. I hadn't put any out yet, but I did refill the tin can bird feeder with wild bird seed. So this morning I spotted two scrub jays eating out of the can. I know they love corn as well, so I put some out there.

Now I'm sitting by the window and spot some chipmunks stuffing their cheeks with corn. And then I saw something I've never seen before. A roadrunner outside the fence stalking a chipmunk inside the fence. Now I know roadrunners are carnivorous, but I've never seen them hunt. So the roadrunner and the chipmunk were madly dashing back and forth along the fence when the chipmunk did the dumbest thing ever. He went through the fence onto the same side as the roadrunner! And off they ran under the bushes. I have a feeling the roadrunner is now dining on corn stuffed chipmunk. Poor Alvin!

I need a new camera but I tried to get a shot of the scrub jays for you. It's the first time I've seen them this year.

Last night's sunset from my front yard in Lucerne Valley, CA

Scrub Jay

This was the best photo I could get. I need to order a new camera.

I Got A Washboard

One of my self-improvement goals is to learn something new every day.

When I was on vacation in Atascadero we went to Atascadero Lake Park and bumped into a vintage car show. They had an old timey band and one lady was playing a washboard with gloves on with thimbles attached to the fingertips. That reignited an old desire in me to someday learn to play a washboard.

I'm trying to remember when I first wanted to do that. It may have been when I saw a street performer named Miss Tilly performing at a juggling convention in the '80's.

Then a few days later we were cruising along Higuera St. in San Luis Obispo, CA when I see out of the corner of my eye a couple of transients; one playing a washboard.  Later that day he walked right by me toting his washboard.  So I figure the universe is trying to tell me something.

So when I got home I went to the Lucerne Market and bought the smaller of their 2 washboards. When I got to the register, an employee behind me with silver hair and a friendly smile asked me if I was going to do laundry by hand. I laughed and said I hadn't even gotten used to using a clothesline yet, so I definitely wasn't going to do laundry. I was going to make a musical instrument.

The cashier smiles and says, "Oh a jug band." And then the first lady bursts into song, singing a couple of old tunes I've never heard before! Priceless.

I already checked at the feed store for a cowbell. They have one but I think I want a smaller one.

I wish I thought to pick up some hardware there. I need to put a strap on the thing and figure out what else I want on there. Since it is a lingerie washboard, I'm tempted to hang a bra on there. I think being a juggler and all, I'm definitely going for the comedy element.

Yes, I'm becoming a corny old bat. Ha. Luckily there are a lot of Youtube videos about making and playing a washboard. I'll keep you posted.

Fairy mushrooms and thyme.

Houseleeks in my new rock garden.

No one around but this froggy to hear me practicing my washboard.

I have the whole Mojave desert to practice in.

My Mexican bird of paradise has new leaves. I just planted it in my Zen Garden.

Must Be My Week For Snakes

It's been another crazy day at the Shoebox Ranch. I was bringing laundry in from the clothesline and the cat was fixated on something by the sink. I had my hands full so I'm unable to look at the floor. I figured he'd cornered a mouse or something. Nope, not a mouse. A snake. So I set everything down as fast as I could and tried to grab the cat. Unfortunately just then the snake headed under the dining room table, which is shoved against the wall in our long and narrow kitchen/dining room. Then the cat is out of reach. The snake hugs the baseboard and disappears behind piles of boxes. I finally get the cat away from the boxes by squirting him with a spray bottle filled with water. I go around behind the boxes and see the snake's tail. Not a rattlesnake thank goodness. Not a gopher snake either. Its creamy yellowish tan.  I grab the tail but it feels like it is breaking in my hand so I let go. I don't know how else to describe it but it went 'crunch' in my hand.  Then I got the cat out from under the table again and threw him in the bathroom and shut the door.  Then I got a hold of the whole snake in the middle somewhere. Bad idea because it's whipping its head around and I don't want to get bitten. I'm trying to steer it into a bucket. No luck there and when I let go it dives back to the baseboards.  It is still back there somewhere. Haven't seen it since and there was no way I could move that huge pile of boxes and no where to stack them if I did. I waited hours for my boyfriend to get off work, but he had other deadlines and things to do.  So at this point the snake is still back there somewhere, unless it escaped while I wasn't looking. Darn, I didn't really want to go to bed knowing there's a snake in the house.

Poor Snakey Snake

We were watching a roadrunner in the front yard when my boyfriend spotted a snake along the fence line. I couldn’t even see it. Between my poor long distance vision and the snake’s natural camouflage, I just couldn’t figure out where it was. So he took his camera out and took photos. It’s a gopher snake about 5’ long. And it was badly tangled in chicken wire. We gave it fifteen minutes to see if it would untangle itself, but then we went in with gloves and wire cutters. After we freed it, it made its way to the nearest creosote bush. 

Gopher Snake

Camo

They eat vermin.

Our Six New Laying Hens

I'm happy to report that all the new chickens were alive and well after their first night in the coop. Today Guy continued digging a ditch around the coop so he can bury some wire fencing to keep the former chicken massacre from happening again.

The barred rock and the ameraucana chickens are slightly smaller, and I've noticed the yellow colored ameraucana keeps trying to hide behind the bigger chickens and seems the shyest one of the bunch so far. The barred rock is the bravest. She was the first one to jump out of the coop onto the run.

Keep in mind I'm not an expert and the names were the best guess of the woman working at the feed store. 

Four of the six new pullets.

The light colored Ameraucana tries to hide behind the bigger chickens.

Two black sex links in front. Ameraucana in the back.

Rhode Island Red Pullet

Barred rock pullets don't have their black and white coloring yet.

Black sex links in the front.

Bock Bock Here

Today I visited the Diamond B Feed Store in Lucerne Valley, Ca with a special goal in mind. It was time to pick out six new hens for our backyard coop. I wanted to replace the 4 we lost. Since these were a bit smaller, we decided to get 6 pullets in case some of them didn't make it. The oldest ones are about 5 weeks.

I got 2 Rhode Island Reds, 2 Black Sex Link, 1 Ameracuena and 1 Barred Rock. I brought them home just in time to tuck them into the safety of the coop for the night, so I don't have any photos yet. Our last chickens only lasted 4 days so surely the odds are in our favor this time.