Happenings At The Ranch

Here's a quick catch-up of what's been going on at the ranch while I've been working to download those pictures.  My tree which appears to now have roots in Texas instead of Africa, is blooming like crazy.  That may be why I'm sneezing for ten minutes every morning.

The weather has been so fabulous I even went out and mowed the postage stamp I call my back yard. This little guy came out to say hello.  He must have had a close encounter of the roadrunner kind because half his tail was missing.

I'm happy to report Mr. and Mrs. Dove have again set up housekeeping in my smaller palm tree that is blooming like never before.  I'm sorry to say she is a terrible nest builder.  Sometimes even her eggs fall out through the bottom.  Hopefully this year she will hold it together.

With all the blooming going on, the orchid has held it's own.  Every single little bud blossomed into gorgeousness.  

Here's another one I've never seen before.  Every one of my cactus are going crazy with blooms.  It's certainly not because "I" have done anything.  I'm VERY curious to see what these turn in to.

Now THIS part of the day is all Doug Laning's fault.  He keeps showing pictures of those hot dogs he's barbecuing.  I truly don't eat hot dogs, but they looked so GOOD!!  Although there wasn't a great supply at the store, I saw Ball Park dogs.  If I'm going to eat one, these are the brand.  

Well, not exactly.  When I went to throw one on the fire, I noticed I didn't see the words ALL BEEF.  Oh good grief ... these are CHICKEN AND PORK!!!  NOOOOOOOOO!!

It's all in the details I guess, and that little detail completely escaped me.  I barbecued it until it split open.  Maybe if it's brown enough, it will taste okay.  The bun was another story altogether.  I got the last package of Kings Hawaiian hot dog buns, which I threw in the freezer.  

After wrestling with it for five minutes, I finally got ONE bun out and into the microwave to thaw.  Wait .... they aren't even cut!  That's weird, I've never seen that before!!  I grabbed a knife and slit the side allowing half the top to fall off in my hand.  What the heck?  

I guess I'm old fashioned, assuming the cut would be on the SIDE.  Instead, it was on TOP, right down the middle.  Who does that?  It made it rather hard to hang on to all the pieces, but it did taste pretty good, followed up with a big handful of potato chips.  Who knew a hot dog could be so much trouble!

Here's the good part.  If I get tired of them, being they are chicken and pork, Cooper can have the rest.  He said YAHOO!!

The rest of the afternoon I spent slaughtering my tall palm tree.  No one has ever cleaned off any of the leftovers from the dead branches.  I didn't have a clue, I just knew it looked terrible.  You can find anything on the internet.  I looked it up, watched a video and proceeded to work on it for over an hour.  

What an amazing plant, the way the leaves wrap around and around before becoming a palm frond.  Come to think of it, it was the perfect task for Palm Sunday.

Although you are supposed to use a box cutter, all I had was a hand saw.  It worked pretty well.  Only ten more feet to go!!  I'll go get a box cutter first ... it will make it much easier.  

By the end of the day, I was roasting with not a pair of shorts to be found.  I went outside to the rig, opened the bedroom slides and looked in very drawer, desperate for something cooler to wear.  

Well here it is folks ... a skirt.  I took the picture because you'll probably never see me in one again.  Bad picture too, but there is only one long mirror in my house and it's over the tub.  Who in the world puts mirrors over the bathtub!!  No one wants to see that!!

There's more exciting news in the wings, but tomorrow we'll take a tour of Fairbank.  Only 1500 miles to get there according to my phone GPS.  I better pack a lunch.