September is already gone!

This was a fast month.

The pool construction has hit a snag. There was a bad batch of concrete used for the deck. Since the deck was to be the finished surface with color and texture added at the time of the pour, all the work was lost. We'll see what can be done to repair. The pool company is 1st class and I'm very glad we are using them. The pool project has taken up most of the ranch time. The are looks like a construction site for sure.

The county has finished the rest of our County Road project. It looks very good.

Weather is usual, still hot, but cooling off at night. We had hoped to be able to swim this year, but that does not seem possible for this year.

Relief from the Heat!

It's been an interesting week at the ranch. The pool construction is on going and they have finished the weeping wall and coping and are now in the patio deck stage. It is progressing well.

The good news is that we have a low pressure weather system that has settled over the area and we have been getting clouds, showers, & rain for three full days now. It has been a very good steady slow rain so it is soaking well. There are gullies to be repaired, but not bad considering the amount of rain. So far we have had nine inches accumulation. That's great. The tank is full. The pastures are turning green and all is well. We are expecting several more days of perhaps the same.

Cumulative rain total now at 10.4" as on Monday morning.

September is already here!

I've had a bit of a holiday away from the ranch (if you read my Cruise Blog you know this) and it has been very busy since my return. We began a BIG project here as we are installing a custom swimming pool. The day I left is the day the big equipment arrived for the big dig. I just got off the mountain when they brought it up. Of course they hit rock so it was good they had a big excavator. DW supervised the project while I was away and when I returned two weeks later the project was well underway with the pool basically being formed. It's been very interesting watching the workers install tile, build walls, set forms, build patios, and the like.

Of course all the chores are related somewhat to the pool project. We have cleared cedar along the bluff in order to get a better view from the pool location. We have also gone on a fossil hunts so that they can install the fossils into the pool's weeping wall. One thing I arranged before I left was for the excavator to dig a hole for me in the back of the house. They did. I bought a 3x8x24" metal stock tank that I then set in the hole and back filled to create a 'water hole' for the wildlife. Hopefully this will keep the deer and varmints out of the pool and add to the wildlife viewing from the house. I was very pleased with how it turned out. (photo above ) I think we will place natural rocks around the perimeter of the new 'water hole'.

DW did a great job with the goats & wildlife while I was away. Thanks. The deer are still very active and the big bucks are huge. The birds have slowed down, just the usual natives.

It still remains hot and dry.

Summer routine

We seen to have settled into a weather routine. Hot and hotter. It's still getting to 100° most days and continued dry. We really kick up a lot of dust on the trails, it's good that the County Road is now paved as it saves the clouds of dust that happen when cars pass.

The deer are still very active. We have one very nice trophy deer. He is certainly the leader as well as he eats where and when he wants when they come out for the deer corn. The fawns are also fun to watch.

We had some visitors on the ranch road last night. Probably joy riders who thought our gate was a pasture gate (not fancy at all) and when they saw the house turned around. Unfortunately for them they hit a culvert. Probably damaged their vehicle and it did bend my culvert. I had just swept the road with some cedars I had cut so their trail was easy to spot.

There is still grass in the goat pasture, but I did let them over on the 'house' side over the weekend. There are a lot of nice spots with good grass for them. I had to put down Zulu this morning. She was not improving and could not stand. I nursed her in a pen for a week, but really no improvement. Not sure who will be the new leader of the herd, but it looks like the big billy for now.

Zulu

We have eleven deer in the big group for sure. Got another count yesterday. In addition to the 11 feeding close to the house there were several does 150 yards away on the bluff waiting their turn. I saw four different fawns for sure. One fawn is very big and will probably be a big buck. (Fawns in photo)

It has been raining around us for a few days but we have not received anything as yet. It is our turn. We had .10 overnight which does help the trees, but isn't enough for the grass.

I was watching a Painted Bunting this morning on the feeder next to the window and sure enough a sparrow came and chased it away. I may have to get that trap out or invest in a good BB gun.

Poor Zulu. She was our first Boer Goat and she isn't doing well. She really has never recovered from the dog attacks that got her last kids. Both nannies who lost their goats were very stressed at the time and in fact I was afraid I would lose one. She recovered with some meds and TLC. I though Zulu would 'shake it off' too but she is older and although it's been several months she just acts like an old granny goat now. I gave her penicillan yesterday, but she is thin and looking frail. I will watch her closely. I can't sell her and she deserves respect as the 'mother doe' of all the goats we have ever had on the ranch.

July Heat Continues

The heat has continued. Most days over 100° for a high although there were two days of clouds and almost rain. Only .20 over the two days, but at least it was something. I was able to get some outside work done in addition to usual chores.

I checked the water meter yesterday (we read our own meters in the country) and we used 22,000 gallons of water this month. Normal is 4,000 gallons. Really the grass is not as bad as it could be for this heat. We are fortunate for that. We are allowing the grass around the house to go dormant now.

Set two records for number of deer behind the house at one time. It was ten for several days, but its actually eleven. They have come pretty consistently. Two big bucks, two average bucks, two yearlings, a doe with twin fawns, and a doe with one fawn. This seem to be the regulars. We get an occasional stray doe or big buck as well especially during the day now that I'm putting out corn in the mornings.

Continued Heat!

Well another week of 100+ degree heat. It's starting to take a toll. Fortunately the rain last week has kept everything from burning up, but if we don't get some relief soon though we'll lose the grass. It was cloudy this morning for the first time in a while, but that was all. We have a 20% chance of rain in the next few days so we'll hope for something.

I've given up on the sparrow trap. I had it out and there was no action at all until all the feeders where empty. The squirrels and raccoons empty the seed from the trap and I'm afraid the raccoons will damage it. No luck in getting a sparrow. They will eat from the ledge, but won't commit to enter the trap. I'm not sure I will get any. There are enough feeders that the Painted Buntings will find a place even with the sparrows and there are not really that many sparrows. I did catch one female Cardinal and two male Cardinals in the trap so the trap does work. Just too hard to get the 'bad' birds interested. Today I refilled all the bird feeders and I'm putting up the bird trap for a while.

The deer are getting active and the bucks are really getting their antlers now although still in felt. They go through 2 buckets (#10) of corn a day and empty the water trough in only a few days in this heat. I have got into the habit of putting the corn out in the mornings and not in the evenings. They have learned this and we get several deer in the middle of the day. Usually the does with fawns.

The goats are doing fine. Just feeding every few days as they still have grass. I did get a new salt block for them. The billy has been chasing the does for a week or so, so it's time for that routine again. Hopefully the kids won't come until mid to late December.

One day of Rain

We got some more relief from the heat. We had 2.3 inches of rain overnight and it is cloudy today. That's wonderful. This should keep grass in the goat pasture through the rest of July.

I took the photo of these two fawns in the back this afternoon. They are no longer hiding and they are obviously being weaned since they are interested in the grass. Note how fast the grass 'greened' up from the rain.

I saw a sparrow chasing a Painted Bunting off the feeder on the 4th so I have ordered a 'Sparrow Trap'. I got notice that it shipped today so I'll see if I can trap the sparrows. Hopefully it will work on cowbirds too.

We did have a great neighborhood gathering on July 4th. Wonderful friends and food.

July heat!

The heat has returned. It was over 100 degrees yesterday and that's the forecast for the next week as well. The county commissioners put into effect the 'burn ban' on Monday, but that's to be expected this time of year in the heat.

I got up VERY early this morning in order to work on the tractor. Where it's parked it will be in the sun by 7:30 am. so I wanted an early start to replace the battery. I normally don't adjust my outdoor work for the deer, but this morning I did delay as there were nine deer in the back of the house. Two big bucks, two average bucks, a doe with two fawns, and two other does. It was interesting watching them. The fawns are so curious and the big bucks walked right up to the window. They soon started to scatter so I got to work. It's amazing what can get done when you know it will soon be hot. I replaced the tractor battery, aired the tractor tires, pushed some cedar into piles that I hadn't been able to do, spread a bucket load of gravel on the road, scraped and leveled the road going up the mountain, and filled the deer feeders, all before 8:00 a.m. I have some other tractor chores to do now that it's running again. I was lucky that the local feed store had the correct battery for my John Deere tractor yesterday.

Relief

We got some relief from the heat with a late afternoon shower and overnight rain. I'm not sure how much as I had taken up the rain gauge, but it was a nice rain of about two inches cumulative. A nice break from almost two weeks of 100 degree heat. It was overcast all day on the last day of June and that was wonderful for a change. I had just completed my watering around the house when the rain came so the grass has 'greened' up well. Some had already gone dormant though. Still lots of grass in the goat pasture and in the cedar.

The birds were not as active in the heat, but some out some today. I did see a painted bunting on the fountain in the courtyard. It was hard to find water before this rain.

There have been a lot of deer at the feeders. The fawns are getting active as well. They are discovering their legs and like to run.