This week at the ranch, uselessly

It has been stooped-crazy-busy here at Useless Ranch this week.  So busy I found out about the Boston Marathon bombing Tuesday morning.  I learned they had pictures of the suspects after the first one was already dead.  & I still say Lucky Me.

Other things that occupied my time this week:

The donkey did some damage to one of his hooves last weekend.  Our farrier was sweating, dizzy, barfing sick for what might be the second time EVER in 10+ years & could not get out here until Friday.  This means that every day, several times a day I was walking water to him where ever he was; I did not want him getting dehydrated because he did not have what it takes to shove in at the water trough.

We have had a small cold front which coincided with a lot of rain, so four baby birds were back in my bathtub.  Maybe I was over reacting, but one in particular was looking a bit glazed, pecking lethargically & why wait until she is too weak to stand?

I have also spent a rather extraordinary amount of time on the phone due to a family event elsewhere.  During those conversations I also learned my parents are wallpapering their bedroom, which I guess is their prerogative, but I actually liked the old wallpaper & I NEVER like wallpaper.  On the other hand, the mish-mosh of linoleum-thru-the-ages that comprises their kitchen floor remains untouched, especially since I told my mother I am 99.9% sure one of their linoleums is the same as the one in the kitchen of the Marjorie Kinnan Rawling's house. 

I finished several books:

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn.  This is the second Flynn book I have read, but I think it was the first she wrote...?  All I can say is YIKES.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, translated by Alison Anderson.  This is my bookclub's May 2013 selection & I have really wanted to read it for awhile (but never had the time, OY).  The movie was at the local theatre-that-shows-not-so-much-mainstream-movies over a year ago, so I knew what happened.  Still a great book, even though I knew the ending.

Garment of Shadows by Laurie R. King.  Not the best of the Russell/Holmes series but I still enjoyed it.  What will those crazy kids get up to next?

If this seems like a lot of book for one week, keep in mind the first two were audio, so I listened while I did stuff in the house I listened while I ran errands, I listened while I sat & had a cup of coffee when the rest of the country was watching CNN/Fox/MSNBC et al. 

& now I have some work to do, as the cool temps & rainy weather has meant:

The return of the nettle, a noxious unpleasant stinging plant that I have become somewhat immune to much in the way a clownfish does a sea anemone.  For much the same reason, I am sorry to say as for all intents & purposes I make my home in a bank of stinging nettle.

Early roses!  One of the bushes I planted less than a year ago is covered in blooms & most of the others are pushing buds.  It looked like we were going straight from a muddy Fladidah winter to the steamy broil of summer, but we have doubled back for a weekend of spring.