It was a bad day to be a tent caterpillar on Gentle Giant Meadows Ranch. For several days now, walking back and forth from the horse pastures, turning out the sheep or leading the cows down cow lane… the intricate and expansive sticky…. spidery web… type nests that are nursery homes for billions of nasty hairy wriggling caterpillars have been catching my attention. Poor Greg, the writing was on the wall, if I mention it once and forget it, he can breathe a sigh of relief….if it is mentioned the moment he opens his eyes in the morning, as he closes his eyes at night and every time he crosses my path in the course of the day….he knows he has yet another priority to prioritise on his “must do” list. Tent caterpillar nests have appeared on trees all around the ranch, way up in the waving branches of he tallest maples and scattered through the draping boughs of the willow trees the offensive little creatures are munching their way through everything green….. and there is not enough room on this ranch for them and me !!! A slightly apprehensive Lynne, not overly familiar with the local flora and fauna residents here in the Pacific North West followed at a cautious distance as Greg and I set off to do battle with a bunch of squirming nests and as branch after branch fell to the ground our nervous city slicker got even more nervous. Sadly, many of the “tents” are beyond our reach, Greg currently has a seriously gimpy foot….I think I have a broken toe and I’m pretty sure that there is NO way Lynne was going to climb that tree !!
Carlie took yesterday to discover Gig Harbor and took to the water for a three hour kayak paddle around the peninsula and then rode her bicycle home. She returned to the ranch before dark a little (lot) pinker than she had left , I’m sure a little weary after her epic paddle and pedal. With a glowing red nose and armed with a bottle of Aloe Vera our adventurous young WWOOFER ended her day off from the ranch. We missed your smile Carlie !!!
Lynne, more familiar with a computer than a head collar and more used to office politics than barn yard antics is becoming quite the expert around the ranch and after her first hesitant attempts to apply the conundrum that is a head collar to Misty Moo’s pretty golden head she now confidently buckles up head collars on horses and cows without a second thought. Her managerial skills were utilized in the garden as I feverishly pulled weeds, sitting high on the tractor seat directing operations. Lynne’s very presence here on the ranch reminds me of another life…..in another world a very long way from here. Thank you for coming to America Lynne, I miss you.
The sun is going to shine again today, Lynne and Carlie are ready and waiting for Greg, Bran has an ear cocked waiting for the order to move and I guess it’s time I posted this entry.
Take care, keep safe, M
Carlie took yesterday to discover Gig Harbor and took to the water for a three hour kayak paddle around the peninsula and then rode her bicycle home. She returned to the ranch before dark a little (lot) pinker than she had left , I’m sure a little weary after her epic paddle and pedal. With a glowing red nose and armed with a bottle of Aloe Vera our adventurous young WWOOFER ended her day off from the ranch. We missed your smile Carlie !!!
Lynne, more familiar with a computer than a head collar and more used to office politics than barn yard antics is becoming quite the expert around the ranch and after her first hesitant attempts to apply the conundrum that is a head collar to Misty Moo’s pretty golden head she now confidently buckles up head collars on horses and cows without a second thought. Her managerial skills were utilized in the garden as I feverishly pulled weeds, sitting high on the tractor seat directing operations. Lynne’s very presence here on the ranch reminds me of another life…..in another world a very long way from here. Thank you for coming to America Lynne, I miss you.
The sun is going to shine again today, Lynne and Carlie are ready and waiting for Greg, Bran has an ear cocked waiting for the order to move and I guess it’s time I posted this entry.
Take care, keep safe, M
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