Prickly Things
I might be the worst neighbor. Probably not…but maybe. Regardless, the people who live on either side of us must think I’m crazy.
First off, GPS sends everybody to our westerly neighbor’s property instead of ours (even though we’ve sent in corrections to Google Maps etc. - ugh!). I know this, so I always give written directions to people headed our way - but sometimes they just don’t read. Or they trust their phones regardless of my warnings. And when they start heading up his drive instead of ours? Well, he ALWAYS comes out to give them a talking to. Every. Single. Time. He says there are signs up to dissuade people from turning by his house, but I have to say - they don’t seem to be working.
Anyhow, the latest people to feel his wrath were our farriers, come to trim the horses’ feet for the first time since our move. Apparently, as per usual, he came running out to their truck, all sorts of flustered, and shooed them away.
Being me, I dug out the hand-written phone number he’d hastily handed to me a few weeks back and gave him a ring after the farriers were finished. I left a message in which I reiterated that I DID give them written directions before apologizing again (like I do) and leaving my number just in case he should need to call me directly about the next person to unintentionally invade his space.
A couple hours passed and then the dogs heard something out front - a peek out the window confirmed it. The neighbor. I opened the door, using my arms, legs, EVERYTHING to keep Ponderosa and Bisbee from mauling him with excitement, and he says to me “your horses are out.”
I was expecting to hear about the horses - or the farriers at least. But I stood there like an idiot so he said it again. “Your horses are out - and one is on my property.”
And I’m thinking, oh dear God - so today is going to be like THIS then. As I’m standing there, mouth open, he also says he tried to call, but couldn’t understand my message and must have gotten one of the numbers wrong.
So I apologized AGAIN, gave him the correct number while I threw on shoes and grabbed halters, and THEN I ran to catch the wild children. Paloma was having a great time - but Cirrus was like a kid who couldn’t enjoy himself because he knew he was breaking the rules (I very much relate, Cirrus - I very much relate). It was just one of those times where madness ensued and there was no place at all for pride. They ate some of his grass, but nobody died so…I chalked it up to leaving a gate unlatched while the farriers were working and vowed it would never happen again.
Which, of course, meant that it did.
This time, it was Eric who forgot the latch. I went outside with the dogs for a midmorning break and saw…only Cirrus on the track and a gate swinging wide. He hadn’t even realized Paloma was missing, so I’m guessing she can’t have been loose for more than a couple of minutes, but even still. I just grabbed her halter (again) and started running. And there she was! Making a haste towards the neighbors to the East.
By the time I’d rounded the house, she was somehow, miraculously, in their front pasture. Who knew that girl could jump a fence? Quickly she was caught again (this time, very happy to see me) and we walk-of-shamed it off of their property and back up our ridiculously long driveway home.
I don’t think these neighbors were home at the time (or they just missed this latest round of insanity), but I managed to flag them down that evening while they were out feeding their animals. They didn’t seem bothered at all about the fact that Paloma had leapt her way into their field - nope, they just seemed a little weirded out by the fact that I came to apologize.
Big sigh. There are now EXTRA hefty carabiners on all the gates and I’m hoping we’ve all learned our lesson and can give the neighbors (and ourselves!) a break.
Elsewhere, operation WOW is in full effect. What is WOW you ask? Well, that would be our
War
On
Weeds.
The locoweed you know about already - but each passing week seems to bring a new plague of unwanted leafy things to the property. Remember, awhile back, when spring was greening everything up and I said I couldn’t wait to see what else was growing on this land? I take it all BACK.
Every morning now, instead of doing a perimeter walking loop with the dogs, Eric and I don gloves and set to pulling weeds. Ponder and Bisbee wander among the grasses while we stoop to pick every noxious, invasive, or just plain annoying weed we can get our hands on. Is this the easiest way to rid a place of weeds? Probably not…but if I can avoid using chemicals, I’m going to try. All this picking is phase one of WOW - I’m hoping that phases two and three (mowing and overseeding in the fall) make a big difference in how the whole situation looks next year.
The plants that are currently highest on our pick list include thistles of all varieties, a plant with tiny flowers which produces handfuls of tiny burs that look (at first glance) like ticks, and toadflax. Some days, the work feels good and methodical, some days I just feel like a real idiot for buying in the winter and ending up with such a weed pit. Driving around, I can see that a lot of people are dealing with weeds this year after our incredibly wet spring - but even still. I will always feel like I SHOULD have known better!
The bright side is, along with all of the unwanted plants there are a plethora of prickly, blooming things that we’re thoroughly enjoying. Every time I come across one of these beauties, I am reminded of how happy I am to be here, weeds and all.
