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