It's snowing. Again.
Wait! This is Southern California, land of sunny beaches, surfers, mansions, wildfires, orange groves and Valley Girls!
Not if you live at 4,200 feet above sea level.
I don't mind. As long as the animals are comfortable and sheltered, I don't worry. We have a nice fire going and it is very pleasant inside.
The horses are sporting their water-resistant blankies and are dry underneath. They both hate the blankets, but it really is best for them in inclement...

Most Americans enjoy garbage pick-up. They load the cans and put them on the curb as they go off to work. Not us.
You see, we live in a rural community. There is no garbage pick-up by a refuse service. We have what is called a "transfer station". And we load up our rubbish and take it there. There are bins for metal, large items, brush & branches and dumpsters for household trash. And of course the recyclables bin.
Going to our dump usually ends up being a social event....

My afternoon was exciting, both in a good way and in a tragic way.
"Time to feed!" My guy reminded me of the obvious. It was sunset and time to care for our managerie.
"OK, be right there." I had to wrap up an eBay listing.
I walked outside and tended our dumb chickens, changing their water and feeding them their scratch. I also threw them a few apples from the huge supply our neighbors so graciously donated.
The meat and dairy goats were next. They screamed...

When we move to Oregon, I will miss our friends.
My friend with whom I chat about children, men, black and white.
The wonderful neighbors to the north, the ones who bought one horse from us and we included another one free! It was a screaming deal, and I am on call 24/7 for horsey advice.
Then there's the people across the street. They are lovely, talented and social and have a beautiful daughter. They moved here from the suburbs and don't care for guns. Their next door neighbor...

We are opportunists. This is how we make a living. There are several things my guy and I do for work and it's all good and all legal.
When the recycling market is up, we scrap. Last summer we were getting $420 a "long ton" (2,200 lbs) for scrap steel, almost $3.00/lb for copper, $2.80/lb for brass and so on. We have a commercial account and get the best prices. We would order two 20-foot containers and fill them up with about 8 to 10 tons of steel. Great payback!
The scrap...