It has been a few days since I last posted...thanks to not understanding computers a whole lot. Computers are such an important part of our lives these days, yet it takes forever to "fix" whatever a problem might be. All our technology out here on the ranch is through satelitte. There are no land lines! Alas...everything is working again.

A few days ago we heard Mandy, my big 95 lb. Berneise Mountain dog barking, so we proceded to look out the kitchen window to see the local coyote that does seem to hang around. He is a big one for sure. We always know something is lurking out there when Mandy barks. She is such a great watchdog. Her favorite thing to do is to run along the inside of the fence & chase the local cows away. Of course Tim, our son loves to do that just as much!

We also had an overnight rain which really settled the dust & watered my plants very nicely. I tend to get up most mornings around 6:30 just to water everything which I don't mind doing it really. It is always so peaceful & quite that early in the morning. Of course nobody else in the house is even near waking up!

What the rain did do was bring out the roly polie bugs. It is so gross seeing HUNDREDS of those tiny little black bugs crawling EVERYWHERE on the sides of the house. For a moment you think there is a pestilence of some sort happening!

The rain didn't last long though...it warmed up a lot & has been about 95 - 105 for the last couple of days. I am so ready for fall to set in & have some cool nights.

Hope all is well with family & friends. I will be back soon!

Ok.....I REALLY have not been to my own blog in months!! So why did I even create it? I was going to report all the exciting adventures out here on the ranch & keep in touch with family, friends or anyone who might be somewhat interested.

I did have great expectations of myself....thinking...oh sure...I can write at least twice a week. HAHA...well life got in the way & before you know, it IS MONTHS later. Talk about putting things off.

So to the one & only comment that has every been made on this blog...a very special friend to our entire family...Miss Jen! Yes, I am finally going to do what I set out to do. WRITE about the few adventures we seem to have here.

You see, Jen would know about adventure. We had the joy of seeing her have a very close encounter with a rattlesnake! She thought Adam was taking her for a nice walk just to see a simple bunny rabbit, but what lay ahead for her was much more than she could have ever imagined. There it was, all coiled up under the trailer, only about 5 feet from her, hissing. Nope, NOT a bunny rabbit after all.

She went a running to the house & just about knocked Mauri through the laundry room door screaming for her life to safety towards the kitchen, where I was. Needless to say the look on her face was sheer terror & a tad bit white.

I really did feel bad for her. It is a scary thing to see something like a 3 1/2 ft. rattlesnake that you know is very dangerous. So what do you do? Well the mountain man that Mauri is gets his 357 filled with snakeshot & proceeds to, yes, kill it & of course save its rattlers. Safe at last.

Will Jen return to the ranch? OF COURSE!! She would rather observe the wildlife from our living room window or riding on the back of our new quads, which is another story waiting to be told.

Remember the "Adventures of Rin Tin Tin"? I will be back soon with more adventures from your local "Heath Haven Ranch".!!!!

Ok.....so I haven't posted since.....I first created this blog. I am still learning how to add to what a blog is even supposed to look like or even navigate around all the "stuff" to make it creative! So yes....I am a newbie for sure. So hopefully as time goes by.....I will make it more appealing to those who may visit as well as to myself. I have much to learn. God bless!!

Today is a beautiful day out here on the ranch. We have had a few showers.....but not enough to add to much water flowing down the Cuyama River, thank goodness. Of course that could all change by the end of the week depending on the run off build up on the surrounding hills. But as always.....we are always prepared to stay home for more than a couple of days when the river is uncrossable. We do enjoy being at home....but are always ready to leave again & get back to our daily schedule of off the ranch activities.

So......have a great day everyone!

Diane