Me with Don Peake left and James Burton

Albert Lee left and James Burton in cap jamming

our little tree

This morning Christmas Eve started out with Kole being sprayed in face the by a skunk.  I made a skunk mix, which is mostly hydrogen peroxide and that took the edge off the smell. It rained a lot in the night, and I went to put on my rubber boots and they had about 3 inches of water in them. I did not know and tipped one up because I thought it was heavy from dirt inside. The water went all over the carpet.
We were invited to Albert Lee's 69th birthday party. He played with James Burton lead guitarist for Elvis Presley. I had my photo taken with him and Don Peake who was lead guitarist for Ray Charles, and wrote the music for Knight Rider and Ghostbusters. The party was in Bell Canyon about a half hours drive from here.
We were on facetime with  Jody and Amara and a sleeping baby Milo. Tommorow I will be on Skype with England and Mum will be on.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all who read this.

Jody and Amara had their baby at a hospital in Walnut Creek at 4:27 12/12/12.  He is a Saggitarius, with moon in the same sign, Scorpio rising with Venus in the same sign, Mars in Capricorn. Amara ended up having a Ceasarian because the baby was sideways. He weighed 6lbs 12oz and is 21inches long. This morning we have a name Milo,  James, Merle, Lisy, Brenner.  the Merle is after his great grandfather Doug's dad. This is grandchild # 5 for Doug and the second boy. Mother and baby doing well !! and should be going home today.

Karrot got his halter ring stuck on a protruding bolt, and pulled the round pen from the mounting block seen at right. He is fine, it happened when he was turned out in there with Sierra, and I did not know until we went to bring them in. No more halters on turned out horses!!  This morning our landlord Steve got his tractor, and I saw him taking a section up to his shop. he came down wehn he saw me and said that he would help. The welds by the gate are almost sheared off. So when Doug gets done with the stock market at 1pm he will go and see what needs to be done.
We are waiting now for word from the bank involved with the short sale on the house. It hopefully will not take too long.
We have had a lot of rain and green shoots are sprouting everywhere all around the house and out on the property. I  will not need to water my plants for a while.

I am so exited ... we are in escrow !! The house is in a horse community about 3 miles from here in Simi Valley. It is a 5 bed 3 bath with about 1/2 an acre with stables for 6 horses and a big turn out.
In front of the house is a sand horse trail instead of a side walk !! There is a 1700 acre park for residents to ride in plus 7 arenas. It is a short sale, but hopefully will close fairly fast as there is only one bank involved.

Me with a Tumbleweed. It has been very windy around here, and the tumbleweeds are rolling around. The horses do not realize what they are and they cause quite a lot of spookyness.
The tumbleweeds start out round and bright green and then go brown, the wind rips them from the ground, and they roll around reseeding themselves where ever they go.

Animal Kingdom at left and one ofthe horses that came from Ireland right

We went to the Breeders Cup at Santa Anita and had a great time looking at all the horses and people. Some of the horses had come from Europe to vie for the chance at the several million dollars in prize money. I had to sit down and rest for some of the time, because I started to feel faint. It was hot in the sun, about 90 degrees. The highlight for me was to see in person Animal Kingdom who won the Kentucky Derby in 2011. He finished 2nd and a new record was set for the time of that race.

A Coyote came by and took one of our young hens. That is him/her below, I took a picture when he or she returned the next morning. By then we had put together an extension of the chicken run and all the hens are now safely confined in it. 

Heather and Ryan met up with us in Santa Barbara and we went to the Mission and the harbor. We had a great time and the weather was sunny and nice, but with a strong wind closer to the oceon.

It's Monday, we both went to City Hall. We know that a road is going to be built.  But there is not a set time that it will be built, and there have been no surveys or environmental reports on the area that is next to the house that we want to buy. So there are no set answers. The piece of land that goes with the house is fairly big so even if some of it is taken there is still room to live there. We will see what happens next with the offer that we have in with the bank.

Arrgh the house we have an offer on needs to be investigated. The realtor selling it told our realtor that a road was going to be be built through the property. So I contacted City Hall and at first thought that it was all a mistake as I was told that the road was to the south west of the property. I searched online and up came a map showing a road meant to relieve congestion, cutting through the bottom part of the property. North Hills Parkway is the name of the road. On Monday I will get back with the planning department and city hall and find out what excatly is going on.

Yesterday was my birthday and Doug and I went to dinner the evening before to the Secret Garden, a restaurant that was on Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares a few years ago. I thought that it was OK Doug thought that it was bad.

Then also on my birthday we put in an offer on a house. It is a short sale so we will have to be patient for a response, details will remain a secret because we don't  want anyone else to know about it. It has everything that we want and more.

We went for an extended hike in Wildwood Park above is a picture of the waterfall , me and the dogs.

My sister Marion's book is now available on Kindle for only $3.00
http://www.amazon.com/Think-Like-Plant-Vegetables-Broadfield/dp/0952253259/ref=pd_rhf_cr_p_t_1#_

We finally went up to look at the grounds of the Reagan Library and below is the view from there with our little house at the right. Doug has been going to help his friend Bruce work on a car that he is restoring in Pasadena almost every day. Two foreclosed houses came up for sale at good prices. But the flooring and other things have been torn out, which makes them ineligible for financing with the reverse mortgage that we need to have. The weather is starting to cool off a bit, especially at night, but is still nice and sunny every day. I asked ( via face book) next door neighbor to Doug's moms if anyone was taking care of the garden up there and she said yes, that is a relief as when the time comes to sell it will be one less thing to have to take care of. Plus it is good to know that the garden that I made there is not completely ruined. Although I do not know if the apple trees and buddlieas that I planted are still alive sigh! I had a bit of a fright while riding Karrot the other day, I got off him because a woman was approaching on a horse. I had the dogs loose and did not want her horse to get upset by them. The woman offered to give me a leg up, as I sat up in the saddle Karrot went crazy, jumping around so much that I had to get off. The only thing that I can think of is that Roy and or Kole nipped K and he was reacting to that . I have ridden him since and he was back to his usual bomb proof self. Soon I am hoping the D will come out on the Pesk with me, K will enjoy that.

I have been busy making collages, below are two that I just finished and are on ebay. It was very interesting putting them together. The main thing being how to fit each picture on to the paper and include all the horses. When I make a pedigree I have a lot more leeway as I can choose how many pictures to put on it. I am thinking of what other collages to make.  Doug says that they are not stricly speaking collages, so picture group may be a better description. 

Eddy and wife Stephanie were here for a few days. We had a great time with them, including a visit to the Getty Museum. Pictures are of us on the lawn at the Getty.

Doug got his wisdom teeth taken out a few days ago and is recovering. He is still in quite a bit of pain, but feels good to have got them out, as they had been bothering him for a few years. His back is in wondeful condition and soon he will be recovered and back to normal.
I rode Karrot around the property here this morning early. We are having a heat wave so I did not ride for very long. I look forward to having Doug ride with me soon, and I may have a go at ponying Sierra.
Eddy and Stephanie are due to come and stay with us for 4 days from Tuesday. They are over on the West coast for a wedding.
House hunting continues to be elusive, alsthough our favorite house on Darlene Lane came down by $10,000. http://www.redfin.com/CA/Moorpark/6145-Darlene-Ln-93021/home/4563959

Here I am on the beach at Malibu. Jody came to stay and he went surfing. Doug and I and the dogs sat and watched. We must have walked at least two miles from the steps that led down to the beach. I have sore legs today. We have driven by quite a few houses for sale and one piece of land.  None were either suitable or available. It is frustrating and I can only hope that just the right place is around here somewhere.
I had great fun sewing myself a saddle seat outfit for a photo shoot. Doug the photgrapher. I have always liked the look of the out fit  and was inspired by the Morgan Show that we went to in Santa Barbara.  Karrot had been lame in a hind leg, so I waited until he was better. I turned him out today in the round pen today and he acted like a two year old and even did a flying lead change. I will ride him now every other day while I can.

Doug took a great photo of the blue moon and now I am inspired to go and get a canvas and paint it. I can see that the moon would look better if it was painted bigger.

More Park explorations this time in the hills above Simi Valley. My plants keep on blooming and now I have some Morning Gloriies along with the mix.    Doug's back is phenominal and we have baby chicks getting bigger.
No house possibilities yet . It seems that there is a hold on forcelosers

Yesterday we went to look at one of the open space parks around here. This one is called Wildwood and looks lovely, except it must have been 100 F outside so we did not walk very far. It has an Indian Cave and a waterfall, plus horse trails.  We will go back when it is cooler. http://150mph.planetrambler.com/080615_wildwoodpk/index.html

The mother hen emerged from under the storage container where she had been hatching eggs for 21 days. She has five chicks, and all have been put it the chicken cage where they will be safe.

Doug's back continues to improve, he is going to physical therapy twice a week and has had the stitches out. 

We have given up on house hunting for the moment and have put the money in an investment account. We are having a lot of fun trying to decide which stock to invest in.

I have been riding Karrot every other day early before it gets too hot.
Last time out he showed a lot of curiosity and took me down to the end of the property to look at a horse being ridden next door. Then he wanted to go out in the field that is for lease. He also cantered from resting under a Pepper tree back towards the round pen..... he has never offered to canter before.

The main news item is Doug's back which has been operated on and the result is nothing less than a miracle. As each day goes by he is getting better and was walking the same day after a 90 minute key hole surgery to release a compressed nerve. We see the doctor again on Teusday for a follow up check.
Our house hunting has been active but the one house that we really liked seems to be fixed at a price that is too high. Hopefully the seller will see sense as time goes by. We are hoping to have more money to spend one day after Ginger passes on, and we are fine living where we are at the moment.

Two things have happened of note. Our real estate agent asked our landlord if he was interested in selling and he said he wanted 2 million . Doug has an appointment for back surgery next Friday.
  I have had some interesting rides on Karrot around here. My main issue with him is just getting him to relax. He is the worst in the round pen.
All my plants are doing well and the flower bed along the front is growing and some flowers are appearing.
 Today we are going to drive the route to the hospital where the back surgery will  take place. It will be minimal out patient surgery.
I spoke with our friends from here about going in together on some horse property together and they are keen.  They have 6 horses that they board and own  two properties.
So things are coming along, it will be such a relief the have the back surgery over and done with.

Today  it is very humid here and about 95 degrees. It is like living in the central valley, but I know that it is temporary and we will get back to dry and hot soon. The horses are down in  our new round pen with water and shade  for a change of scene. Pesk saw Karrot and Sierra go down and stood at his gate and called to me so I took him down also.
A few days ago I found out that we did not need to take the reverse mortgage class before we looked at property.  So I emailed our real estate agent and asked her to ask our landlord if he would be interested in selling .We are waiting to know as this would be our first choice.
I have had some great times at Hollywood park race track going there to  meet Kentucky Derby and Perakness winner I'll Have Another and the great gelding Lava Man who is his pony horse. I  got to be involved with the running of a race horse and was made honorary groom.  I also got to give a picture pedigree that I made of Lava Man to his trainer Doug O'Neill who also trained I'll Have Another.  D's back has been very bad and he is going to see a doctor next week.

I'll Have Another with me, my freind Cheryl and his handler at Hollywood Park stable area

The chickens have a great time every day pecking and scratching around we could do with more. Soon we should know if we are staying here or what ? I would really like to put down some roots.

We now have two hens and two roosters. The big rooster starts crowing at 3:30 in the morning and woke me up again this morning. But it is worth it, I love hearing him during the rest of the day. Then I let the two hens and the big rooster out of the  pen after egg laying time. Rocky the other rooster is let out first thing , because the big rooster attacks him when he gets down off his roosting pole. Some of the horses here have never seen chickens. It is lovely to see them down in the pens pecking and scratching around.
Our pipe corral panels came a few days ago. Yesterday we started to put them up as a round pen, with the help of Jessie and husband Onofre and Steve our landlord with a tractor. There are also two shaders which were put up at the one end. More work today, and then we can get Additur/ Pesk in it and exercised.
Doug and I went out to Long Beach to see the Queen Mary the ship that my Dad had sailed on as a prisoner of war. It is very big and art deco. We also saw the Princess Diana dress exhibition. If I could find my books with pictures of her in them I would be interested to see the dresses again.



Me with Doug's ex wife Nancy and her boy friend at Aiden's party

 



Doug with grand daughter Quinn and her dad Onofre behind her. At left D son Jon and  his son Aiden. Daughter Jessie mother of Quinn at right, with daughter Lilly.

  We also went to Nancy's ( D ex wife) house to be part of a second Birthday party for D grandson Aiden . It is always interesting to be around the fam.

Doug is up in Fort Bragg to get the rest of our stuff. He took son Jon with him and picked up the other son Jody in Berkeley. Lorraine the new owner said that she did not want so many roosters, so D took some to the feed store to find new homes. He will also be bringing 3 roosters here when he comes back, plus a few hens. We set up a large chain link dog run for them with shader on the top. Hopefully they will be able to run free in the day. I am very much looking forward to hearing roosters crowing again and hens clucking and laying some nice eggs.  In the meantime I have been riding Karrot every other day around the 10 acres here. I have unearthed some rocks with a crow bar and they look very nice out in the outer edges of the garden. I have out witted the rabbits with a bloodmeal hot pepper mix. I have got some wild flower and mexican poppy seeds planted and I am trying to keep them watered so that they will sprout.  Along the front of the house a lot of nasturtiums, cal poppies, and morning glories have germinated and are growing well. I also transplanted a few native plants with tap roots. Several may actually live. One I have identified as Jimsonweed a very magnificent plant with hugh bell shaped white flowers.

There is talk that the property here can be split in to two  5 acre parcels hmmmm.

I got a horrible sore throat and still have the residue of a cough, and D's back went  bad
 again, all presumably from the stress and strain from all the NYC experience. D seems much better since yesterday, but is still in bed this morning. When things settle down he will be seeking some serious help such as back surgery. On Saturday I was thrilled to be invited with D to the see the backside at Hollywood Park. Our friends who have horses here know a trainer at Hollywood Park, so we had an in. We also watched the Belmont there on TV and my bet on Union Rags was successful,  he won !
Our new friends also let me ride their horse an ex racer now trained as a hunter jumper. They have him at a stable a few minutes away that has an arena. I also rode Karrot around here yesterday before it got too hot.


Me at Hollywood Park shedrow stables

Me riding Chief a friends ex racer

 So our next essential is to get the rest of our things from Fort Bragg. Then we can seriously get going as far as where are we going to live around here. and put energy into that.

New York,  New York  wow ! We got on a Jet Blue plane at Burbank after a 40 minute drive to the airport. I noticed a passenger standing at the front of the plane chatting with a flight attendant. I thought he looked familular. It was Ron Livinston who was the star of one of our all time favorites, Office Space. Doug thanked him later as he was standing in line with us to get a taxi. No one else acknowledged him, was this deliberate or was the movie too old. Onward to our hotel in Brooklyn. A crazy ride in a yellow taxi. The trash and graffitti and tenements were everything I expected Brooklyn to look like. Our hotel was great, very new and clean. We met up with Heather and Ryan who were staying in the same place, but they had a view from their room. The next morning was the wedding, rain had been forecast. Heather helped me curl my hair, I had never used a curling iron before and now want one. We waited for a taxi in the hotel lobby feeling conspicuous in our wedding finery. We arrived at Prospect Park Brooklyn. We had to walk to the Boat House where the wedding was to take place. There was a flurry of activity. I recognised several of Eddy's friends who were setting out plants and a white runner in the aisle that was blowing around in the breeze. Suddenly I spotted Stephanie's parents who had come from Seoul Korea. We had met them when we went to Korea last October. Both can speak some english. It was so nice to see them again. S mom Young Oke looked ravishing in a cream colored ensemble with a dark hat, and her dad Bumpal very handsome in his suit. So the wedding commenced, I had to walk Eddy down the aisle as per Korean custom. S looked absolutely gorgeous in a Vera Wang strapless. Eddy very suave in a navy pin stripe suit with bow tie.  The official photographer began taking pictures, which was an interesting experience having a camera in your face a lot. He stayed until the reception was over, we went on the subway to get there. He was very charismatic and entertaining to see. On the subway he got off several times to take pictures from the platform. Lots of comments on the subway and interest, who ses New Yorkers are rude and cold. Everywhere we went this was disproved. But the subway rides were the roughest, joltiest rides that I have ever had, you had to hang on tight. The reception was at the Modern in Manhatten . The service and food were exceptonal., which inspired Doug to give the maitre d a very big tip. We went on then to a bar called Lillie's, named after Lillie Langtry with  decorating that looked like the cistine chapel. Very fun chatting to all  E friends. Very tired later.
The next day we went to where Eddy works so that I could see his office. He never said that he worked in the Trump building across from Tiffany's and the stock exchange on Wall St. I should add that he works as a Civil Engineer for LERA who built the Twin Towers and he is currently engineering  a very tall building in Seoul Korea.
Then we went on to see Ground Zero, very nicely done with water  disapearing in to the earth. Then Central Park. We finally had some rain and thunder as we were strolling through.  We ended the day with a Korean dinner in Eddy and Steph's cozy little apartment in Astoria. S mom had been busy cooking it all  and it was delicious. Back to the Hotel and ready to leave via taxi the following morning to JFK and home.

On returning home we found that the dogs had somehow jumped out of a window and were loose outside. They were very happy to see us.

Helicopter spraying the avocado trees across the way

I am starting a flower bed along the wall

my pots, the tree rose I brought from Fort Bragg

Today we went to Macy's to buy a dress shirt and socks for Doug to go with his suit for Eddy's wedding which is this coming weekend. We are flying out on Friday. Everything is all arranged  and I am looking forward to seeing NYC for the first time.
 I got a little bit overcome by heat stroke today and yesterday. I need to make sure that I drink more. I would say that it was close to 90 F at midday. We are lucky to have air conditioning. Some days are cooler than others, and mornings and nights much cooler  The horses and cats seem to love the heat. The dogs pant and drink a lot. Kole likes to be on the floor in the bathroom next to the tub. All my plants ar thriving and the tomato we planted is very happy. I will be interested to see how soon it will produce.
Kole is in here now whining to tell me it is time for walkies.....

What the dogs did

The first ride. The dogs were shut in the house and managed to knock over a plant and create quite a mess trying to look out of the kitchen window. I think that they even jumped on the table because there are some serious scratch marks on it. The ride went very well. Pesk played up quite a bit as we got farthest away from the " barn" area. D did not fall off and managed to keep him moving forward through some fairly serious bucking, half rearing and running sideways towards the barbed wire fence. I think that Pesk was waiting to "jump off " in to a gallop up the hill.  Karrot was exceptional, I could feel that he was on his toes but he was the perfect lead horse.  So now there can only be improvement and I am very impressed with D riding skills. We went out to dinner last night with realtor Madeline and met her husband.  He and D talked  about racing and we had a great time.
Meanwhile I am on the hunt for some mexican primroses. The nursery next door does not have any, saying that they are not popular.
We have a pet sitter all lined up for when we go to E and S  wedding and she will do everything that  I need such as water my plants and feed the horses.

I have lost track of time. I can not remember how long we have been here. But I do know that this is an amazing place. Somehow I want to stay, or find somewhere that is simular.
There are some things approaching, such as Eddy's wedding in New York ( the same day as the Preakness Stakes) Doug needs to go back to Fort Bragg to get our horse trailer and Jon's race car.  Plus he needs to get all the remaining odds and ends that we left there and don't really have room for here. Then Doug is going to Buttonwillow race track to get his race car trailer. We also need to take a mandatory course for a reverse mortgage. Then we can seriously look at property.
In the meantime, we have been getting clothes ready for the wedding. We have been donating a lot of things to Goodwill. We have been taking the horses out and aroud the property here every morning.  I have been wearing shorts and a tee shirt everyday. I have also been learning the names and pedigrees of some of the horses here. One mare is called One Bride at a Time.

Me and our horses in the turnout area.

The horses arrived. So much planning and decisions and energy went into their transportation. I am so relieved and almost cannot believe that everything went so well. I need to leave a glowing testimonial for the horse haulers. It will be one of those " they stepped off the trailer as if they had not traveled at all " They came over the Grapevine and down I five into very busy freeways.  In the trailer for at least 6 hours. Then before from Fort Bragg they went over hwy 20 . I should add the Sierra had been in a trailer once before and galloped around in it for the 10 minute trip.  Pesk's foot abcess seems to be gone, although he still has the foot wrapped. Today we are going to look at houses for sale, with agent Madeline. She came here yesterday and we talked for quite some time. I am impressed with her manner, and also she has lived here all her life and is a horse person. My garden is flourishing. I bought some orange marigolds and purple verbena to go with the pinks in the planters. The weather is outstanding. I bought a very expensive but very suitable dress for Eddy's wedding. Now I need to go and find some shoes and a clutch purse. It looks as if I am going to the wedding  alone. Although Ryan and Heather will be there and at the airport at the same time as me.

So much has happened in the past week. We moved. I did sob as we drove away and D was teary. Our neighbors gave us a going away party. The drive down was good in that I napped a lot. The cats were great lying down together in their cat tent. Intestate 5 freeway was very rough and jolted D very big flat screen TV and my washing machine, Both were irrepairable and we had to buy new ones. The house here is perfect. The location is even more perfect. But there is no soil to dig in around the house, as it is on the top of a hill with bedrock. So we have purchased many planters and I have been busy planting the plants that I brought with me and some that I bought. There is a tomato and pepper plant, and I sowed seeds of lettuce, cilantro, basil and around on the ground wild native flower seeds. The horses arrive next week. We have bought a hay bag for one of them to see how that will work. We need to get hay and set up the pens for them. There are still many things in the trailer in boxes. We are using the same two dishes over and over. But I am amazed at how I feel being here. the Fort bragg house is just a hazy memory.

This will probably be the last blog until I get my computer re set up in the new house.
The horses have settled in at the Barn after a succesful transportation for them.
I however completely lost it at one point and did a lot of yelling and sobbing.... not around the horses though.
Sierra amazed me with her calmness once she was in the trailer and D shut the door. All three were visited yesterday and taken out individually to the front of the Barn. I could tell that they were on edge with wide eyes and flaring nostrils, but no spooking or silliness. It was strange here this morning to go out and not have any horses to feed and muck out.
More packing today and tommorow and then Monday morning we will drive away and I am not sure if I will be calm or sobbing like a baby, maybe D will sob as well.




A lot is happening now. The main task for today is for us to get the horses to Bald Hill Stables. Sierra may have to be walked there and then spend the rest of her life at the Barn if she won't load. The two boys will load no problem.  Then D is sending his mother's lawyer all the paper work and receipts to do with her expenses from since he became trustee. He has fired his lawyer for incredible rudeness. He said things like if we lose all our money in a lawsuit " so what" Also he said that Ginger was moving into assisted living at the Woods which is near here. This is what we had suggested to her in the first place !!!  but it is going to cost thousands a month  more than her social security.
At least it is a nice sunny day for transporting horses and loading the cargo trailers with the rest of our stuff. Moving day is Monday. We have been invited to our neighbors for a farewell dinner Sunday and the McCues want to take us to dinner on Saturday.
Our new phone # will be 805 523 2626 and a 1 may have to be used before the number.



Emptiness

 We finished loading the trailer yesterday with most of our furniture and this morning, D set out on the long 10 hour drive south. I have no car which feels strange. We need to arrange for the neighbors to take care of the poultry and Grey the barn cat until the new owners can be here on the 19th.  In the meantime I will be packing more boxes, digging up more plants to take and cleaning.  I think that I will feel better when the horses are safely ovet to the Barn, and then with us down south at our new home. Yesterday we went to the Barn to get three stalls ready for them. The house is full of echoes and the cats are runnng about in a all the empty space. I bought a big portable tent for cats for them to travel in.  Both cats have been in it several times by themselves. There is a big bunch of fresh catnip in there.

The cat house

This morning is dominated by the need to prepare for the two men that are coming  to help us load the trailer. I have already vacuumed the spiders from the bottom of two pieces of furniture. A few days ago I saw what looked like a black widow on one of my paintings that I was wrapping. Then I put in a load of laundry, as the washer and dryer will be loaded today. Almost everything will be out of the house today, except for the computer and a table and the bed. We may be leaving on Thursday or Friday.

The official wedding pictures were sent via email from E and S in Korea. Here are two that I especially liked with them wearing the traditional Korean costume.

I wrote a farewell poem to my house last night. There is nothing quite like it to get at feelings and I got rather emotional and shed a tear or two while writing it. Ok I sobbed and then had to have two margueritas. I am now thinking about how my Dad must have felt after leaving the house that he designed and built with his own hands, and my Mom helped him, but that is a whole other story.
In the meantime I see E has put a few photos of his wedding on Face Book.
D is on his way home this morning from Berkeley, his friend who lives here is giving him a ride home.
Yesterday I got Sierra out, bathed her and trimmed her feet, and then Karrot, but I was too tired to do his back feet. I will need help with the Pesk.

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Eddy and Stephanie with Steph's Mom sitting at right

  






Amtrac train at Burbank

 D is on his way home he called me from the train and he is heading to Burbank airport. He will stay in Berkeley over night and then be home tommorow. After that there will be some organizing and more packing of boxes. I did not know that he had arranged for some help to come on Sunday to get the heavy furniture into the trailer. So that changes the time frame that I had in mind to get the horses to Bald Hill and us moving,  it is sooner than I had thought.  I think that we may have to take Rocky one of the roosters who has trouble walking and flying up to his perch, and Nelly the duck with the broken leg. They will have to live in the laundry room of the new house until other arrangements can be made. In the meantime I an going to sytematically go through each room in the house and pack boxes. I am also waiting eagerly for photos from E and S wedding.

The place that we are going to breeds thoroughbreds for the race track !! There are two stallions. This is is good and bad as I have mixed feelings about "backyard breeders" But I will be very interested to see what bloodlines are being used.
D had an exciting day yesterday visiting with his old friend guitarist Don Peake and meeting violinist Scarlet Rivera who played with Bob Dylan.
Also I had a surprise phone call from E heading to his wedding and I also spoke with S and briefly with her Mom.
D took pictures of the inside of our new place to live.

In the meantime I am idly packing boxes and wrapping paintings.

the kitchen



front door and living room



Today D gets to see the place that we are renting inside and out. Yesterday he drove by and took some pictures. It looks hilly and interesting. On the aerial it looked dry and flat. I talked with the horse hauler yesterday and they are going to stop in Santa Rosa and let the horses spend the night at their place. I spoke with H at Bald Hill and we will take the horses over there a few days before May 14th when the hauler with collect them.
Yesterday both the social worker and the care giver were over at Gingers. It will be interesting to see if anyone suggests that she should get her grass mowed.  D had told both a while ago that he did not want to hear from them, because both did not communicate many major issues with us to see if it was OK.

The new house at Lapeyre Court

The new house from the road

It is supposed to rain here soon. It was very warm last night 55 F and it is humid. I just sprayed some diluted skin so soft on Karrot to help him, as the mosquitos and no see ums love this kind of weather. I am hoping with the dryer climate down south that there will be none.

A slight hitch in proceedings with the news that the horse haulers are booked until May 12th.  I suppose the main issue is getting to NYC for E wedding on June 2nd.  We have to try to not book tickets etc at the last minute, so that means deciding if I am going alone.
In the meantime yesterday I pressure washed our horse trailer and painted over the rust spots. I noticed that Gingers blinds in the kitchen, living room and bedroom were open. By open I mean about a 1/4 of an inch. This is very unusual. They were closed when I looked this morning. Her care giver is due to come today. No one checks on her day to day as she cancelled meals on wheels.

Kole and the boxes in the trailer

 D left Jody's this morning and will arrive in Moorpark this evening to stay at Jon's. Then on Wednesday he meets with the realtor and owner of the rental where will live for hopefully a short time. 

Gingers house blinds shut