DezertGirl

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...