Life on Harmony Hill is sweet, my favorite time of year. Hills are green. Wild edibles are poking their heads out of the ground such as delicious and pungent wild mustard greens, stinging nettle and miner's lettuce. The garden is yielding Spanish onions and chard and bit of spinach. We should get a good crop of Artichokes. Planting parsley and cilantro, arugula, kohlrabi, beets, two kinds of onion, cabbage, brussel sprouts, garlic and strawberries.
The horses are loving the cool weather and green grass and fly-less breezes so when they are not being ridden they explore the hillside eating grass and other favorite greens and kick their heels up.
Cabbie is doing great for her age and still fun to ride. Uly's size is still a challenge for my short legs but I am getting some help from a friend who trains the horses at Whitney Ranch. I am enjoying working on the basics with him and myself. It has been good having handsome Frenchmen groom and saddle my horses.
We have 13 hens and two roosters, a mix of breeds giving the most delicious bright orange yolked eggs and providing a steady stream of comic entertainment. Never cease to enjoy watching the chicks hatch and the Mom's teach, protect and care for them to adulthood. We lost most of our purebreds to marauding dogs. One was our own beloved LB who turned from protecting them to attacking them so he now lives in town with good friends whose kids adore him and sleep with him.
The goats, Harmony, Hillary and Nora are pregnant and expecting in May. Hillary gave us lots milk for six months and we experimented with different cheeses. Mozzarella remains the favorite and most fun to make. We made some pretty decent goat milk ice cream. Gabriella Pink Floyd, the African Grey Goose joined the family and thinks she is a goat. Turkey, the Scarlett Macaw came to us in December. He loves to ride with me on the steering wheel of the Mule making engines sounds. I hope to get to point where I can ride Uly with him on my shoulder.
We still have Claude and Poolito the grey Tabbies and also Domino Valentine a striking and clever white cat with black heart shaped spots. Pegaroo de Cerro is approaching 13 but still doing great on her three legs but not running in the hills anymore. She sleeps and plays with Domino, they both accompany us on walks. Allen is training me for a Half Marathon so I try to walk between 3 and 5 miles a day.
Jeff left yesterday after four months. It was a perfect bright sunny day. He dug new beds which I helped double dig after riding Uly. Planted onions, garlic chives, brussel sprouts, cabbage and strawberries. We had a lovely lunch al fresco with Turkey at the picnic table with us eating the seeds out of the salad and an orange slice. We made some cheese with the last of the goats milk till they freshen. We went on the front lawn and looked to the mountains then cast the Seven sacred directions with a meditations sent by our dear Beth.
We have had some truly amazing visitors grace and become part of our lives and an incredible line up set to come.
