Beautiful November Weather

Continuing beautiful fall weather through November. Many of the trees are turning colors and look very nice. We had a very light rain, but I didn't have the gauge out, probably .25 inches. The tank is completely dry, but we still have grass.

We did some clearing below the house along the clearing towards the twisted oak tree. Really cut cedars away from an existing stand of live oaks and a very large Spanish Oak (see photo). You can now see the twisted oak through the cedars if you know where to look. It's a very pretty little area, we need to continue clearing there. We had a good fire in the 'gravel pit' from the cedar cuttings, but shared some with the goats. I swept the ranch roads with a good pile of cedar I was hauling with the tractor. Also filled in some wash out on the cutoff trail with material from the gravel pit on the returns to get more cedar debris. Looks good.

I have mentioned fewer rabbits and small animals in recent posts and last night under the full moon I discovered one reason why. I took the 'girls' out as usual before retiring for the evening and it was after midnight. Since the mountain lion scare I always accompany them if it's that late and glad I did. A huge Barn Owl came swooping down and made a pass over one of the dogs. I guess the owl was expecting/hoping for something a bit smaller but did come back and made a second pass. Kenzie hates Turkey Buzzards and always barks at them even if the are far overhead, but she never saw the owl. I was standing only 25 feet away and either that or the size of the dogs kept the owl from latching onto them. This was a big owl and wouldn't have a problem with an average rabbit, but a 18 lb dog would probably be a reach. I've seen the owl before, but not that close. I'm sure it hangs around waiting for critters to check the seed that has fallen from the bird feeders. Easy pickin's for the owl.