Chit Chat in VOLTVILLE Thread #2 :)

[Renolizzie]

The Devil's Postpile is lava that cooled underground so it would cool slowly and have time to form these "crystals" of lava.

http://[URL=http://s1364.photobucket.com/user/renolizzie/media/2014%20Mammoth/027_zps6e8eae76.jpg.html][/URL]

This is an incredibly smooth patch on to. A glacier came through the valley, ground off the layers above the lava and then created this incredibly smooth surface in the top of the lava formation..

 

[Renolizzie]

http://[URL=http://s1364.photobucket.com/user/renolizzie/media/2014%20Mammoth/021_zps30e9000c.jpg.html][/URL]

This is a really smooth section.

Of course, not all of it is perfectly smooth.

http://[URL=http://s1364.photobucket.com/user/renolizzie/media/2014%20Mammoth/018_zps8a1d7652.jpg.html][/URL]

http://[URL=http://s1364.photobucket.com/user/renolizzie/media/2014%20Mammoth/019_zps4185b5e5.jpg.html][/URL]

 

[Renolizzie]

Raven - We had some thunder on our trip, as well.

Saturday we doofed around, got the stove working well enough to cook, went back to the Owen river for a bit. Generally had a relaxing time.

Saturday evening, we hiked to the top of the hill to see if we were going to get some rain. We hadn't brought a tent. Rain seemed like it could happen so we packed up everything and put it in the truck. We had to do that anyway due to the fact that bears could be in the area.

We rolled into our sleeping bags and watched the lightening in the far distance. No thunder could be heard, the storms were so far distant. Fabulous. The stars were twinkling brightly through the pine branches, the branches framing our beautiful view of the sky with a lacy effect. We both saw a shooting star flash right through the middle of our picture window of tree branches. We finally fell asleep out there in the wilds of California on our little hill top.

Our camp.

http://[URL=http://s1364.photobucket.com/user/renolizzie/media/2014%20Mammoth/040_zps4afd1c54.jpg.html][/URL]

We were sleeping soundly. Suddenly, there was a huge flash/boom. There was a thunderstorm advancing straight towards us. I looked at my sleeping bag as I thought I heard rain drops. Sure enough, there were freckles of rain on the bag. I woke up Hubby and told him, "It's raining. We need to get under the tarp,"

Hubby said we were going to get drenched from the storm, maybe we should just drive home. Under the tarp, drive home. I said, "Pick one or the other since we are about to get wet and I don't want to be laying here in a wet sleeping bag!"

He picked driving home so we threw the last of our gear, two sleeping bags and a tarp into the truck and got out of there.

The time was 10:30pm. We arrived home at 12:50am after a nice drive back by Mono Lake, over the Sweetwater mountains, through Smith Valley and the town of Mason, over the hump to the Carson river. Over the bridge, up the long hill and then a right turn to home

We had a kit fox dash out in front of us in the Sweetwater mountains. I was so afraid we were going to hit the poor bushy tailed little fox. He ran out in front of us, decided he was scared and turned around in the middle of the road and ran back to the same side he started from. Fortunately, he timed it right and is still alive today.

 

[Renolizzie]

No-- the tutoring job fell through. The Mom assured me that there was no adversarial relationship with the school district, but refused to give me permission to get information form them. The kid wouldn't work for me, and I now know why. As poorly qualified as the mother is, it may become bad scene. Run, don't walk to the nearest exit.

I think you are right, Zero. Run, don't walk, away from that situation.

 

[Renolizzie]

Nice photos of Devils Postpile. Very interesting how the rocks broke apart in such relatively uniform rectangular shapes. What kind of rock is that?

Thanks for asking about Bo. He's recovering from yet another bout of an upset tummy. We've decided to switch from canned dog food to supplement his dry food to boiled chicken breast. He seems to have gotten this last bout from a can that upset his tummy. He has recovered, completely, from the surgery on his paw and knee so our walks are getting back to their normal length. Good for him and good for me.

We've had a taste of early fall the last few days. Temps have struggled to get into the mid 70's and it's been down in the low 40's at night. The garden is done so I have to get out there and pull the tomato cages and watering system then rototill everything. It's almost time to start mowing with the bagger on the mower because of the leaves coming down. I've got a stump to pull, and I'm not looking forward to that, but the cooler weather will make it less of a sweaty job at least.

I'm glad Bo is doing good after his surgery.

We are still getting some edible Haogens and I had a French cantaloupe last night that was pretty tasty. I have three regular cantaloupes on the counter that look edible.

We had some delicious, baby summer squash, carrots, onions and garlic from our garden in a stir fry last night. I threw in some frozen corn from the garden. We had chicken as the meat. We bought some peanut oil to use for the wok. Definitely added to the authenticity of the meal. Hubby made a delicious sauce. Of course, we had it over rice.

We have lots of tomatoes.

I am picking the last of the squashes yesterday and today. We will have to decide where to store all of them. Maybe in the garage for awhile until we can give some away and eat some of them.

I still need to dig potatoes and onions. I turned off the water since I need these veggies to be curing for storage.

We got down to 48 degrees last night although it was 90 degrees yesterday. It is supposed to cool down into the 70's in a dfew days and that will mean lows into the forties. We could even get a frost.

I am feeding squash and melon vines to the goats as fast as they can eat them. We probably should do a rototill in a couple of weeks, once the garden is totally done and cleaned out.

 

[Renolizzie]

Well, SandySu, with horses, if it isn't one thing, it's another

 

[SandySu]

Lizzie, you have 2 horses. Any suggestions on how to get the one left behind to accept it when you take the other one out to work him? What do you do?

 

[SandySu]

http://[URL=http://s1364.photobucket.com/user/renolizzie/media/2014%20Mammoth/021_zps30e9000c.jpg.html][/URL]

This is a really smooth section.

Of course, not all of it is perfectly smooth.

http://[URL=http://s1364.photobucket.com/user/renolizzie/media/2014%20Mammoth/018_zps8a1d7652.jpg.html][/URL]

http://[URL=http://s1364.photobucket.com/user/renolizzie/media/2014%20Mammoth/019_zps4185b5e5.jpg.html][/URL]

I think this is so very neat! I hope someday I can get to go there. That smooth section looks like it was a flagstone-paved patio, doesn't it?

 

[Renolizzie]

Lizzie, you have 2 horses. Any suggestions on how to get the one left behind to accept it when you take the other one out to work him? What do you do?

I just let them fuss.

I try to keep the one I am leading on their toes with starts, stops, lefts and rights. The one in the pen will just have to throw a fit if he wants to. They are getting better at being apart.

Clint Anderson makes them work hard when they are near the other horses and lets them rest when they are away from other horses. Sort of "You can be near your friends and work your .... off or....you can stand over here and rest." Of course, you could make it gradually further away from the other horse.

 

[SandySu]

Thanks, Lizzie. I had that idea in mind, but we need to have Jasmine secure, not able to get out of her stall, when we do that. And that means her owner will have to fix the stall door. He leads an incredibly busy life. What is it with kids these days? They have all these activities, lessons, after-school sports. When I was a kid, I had lots of time to figure out what to do on my own, but now it seems every minute of a kid's life is programmed.

 

[Renolizzie]

Thanks, Lizzie. I had that idea in mind, but we need to have Jasmine secure, not able to get out of her stall, when we do that. And that means her owner will have to fix the stall door. He leads an incredibly busy life. What is it with kids these days? They have all these activities, lessons, after-school sports. When I was a kid, I had lots of time to figure out what to do on my own, but now it seems every minute of a kid's life is programmed.

I agree. Then we label the little goobers as having ADHD

When I was young, I had time on my hands. If I said I was bored, Grandma sent me outside to play!

The other thing I did with Nevada being so upset by Wiseguy leaving: I put Wiseguy in the round pen or tied him up and then I went back to talk to Nevada and give him some treats. That way he got a reward for having Wiseguy leave him.

The trick is to try not to feed him while he is anxious so maybe have him back up or do a turn and then get his treat.

 

[SandySu]

I agree. Then we label the little goobers as having ADHD

When I was young, I had time on my hands. If I said I was bored, Grandma sent me outside to play!

The other thing I did with Nevada being so upset by Wiseguy leaving: I put Wiseguy in the round pen or tied him up and then I went back to talk to Nevada and give him some treats. That way he got a reward for having Wiseguy leave him.

The trick is to try not to feed him while he is anxious so maybe have him back up or do a turn and then get his treat.

The problem is, Jasmine isn't my horse, so I don't know how much working with her is appropriate or even if I want to invest my time in it. I think her owner should, and he'd certainly be willing to on days when we get together to work with the horses. Now, where could I tie Penny out of Jasmine's sight? No place I can think of. Maybe put her in the pasture? Penny would get anxious, too, left alone like that. If I'm with her, working her, she's fine, but if I leave and she doesn't have Jasmine, then Penny gets upset, too. I think she'd be OK in the pasture by herself while we worked with Jasmine, though I bet she'd be over there calling to Jasmine, which might make calming her down more difficult.

The boy and I have been working on getting Jasmine to cross the creek. Last time, Jasmine went across first, which was a big step forward. I take Penny up to the creek, too, since she crosses it with no problem, and if I take Penny across it, then Jasmine will want to follow to be with Penny. Also, she can watch Penny calmly cross the creek, which gives her confidence.

I'd really like to solve crossing the creek, since that'll give us more room to ride when we can go on both sides of the creek.

But I guess a more pressing issue is separation anxiety, so maybe we should deal with that first. I want to deal with both, but the boy only has so much free time to devote to it.

 

[tmcase]

Nice pics lizzie, Thanks for sharing.

I'm leaning towards lizzie's solution and "let them fuss" but that really depends on the 2 horses and how well they cope. I had a gelding that all the mares loved, one in particular. Every time I took my horse out for a ride the mare would go ballistic being left behind. My horse could hear her and want to turn back but I kept him going forward....for awhile. After awhile the problem got worse. It got to be a struggle keeping him from turning around and heading back to the barn. So bad that he would rear and buck to shack me off his back. I finally had to move him to another barn. I'm sure there must be a better solution but I couldn't afford a horse whisper. I'm sure you'll work it out somehow.

 

[SandySu]

Nice pics lizzie, Thanks for sharing.

I'm leaning towards lizzie's solution and "let them fuss" but that really depends on the 2 horses and how well they cope. I had a gelding that all the mares loved, one in particular. Every time I took my horse out for a ride the mare would go ballistic being left behind. My horse could hear her and want to turn back but I kept him going forward....for awhile. After awhile the problem got worse. It got to be a struggle keeping him from turning around and heading back to the barn. So bad that he would rear and buck to shack me off his back. I finally had to move him to another barn. I'm sure there must be a better solution but I couldn't afford a horse whisper. I'm sure you'll work it out somehow.

That's worse than Penny or Jasmine, though I'm not sure how well Jasmine might deal with being ridden away from Penny. But I've ridden Penny away from the barn and the other horses for years. I often was at a barn where I was the only one regularly riding, so if I didn't ride alone, I wouldn't have been able to ride much. So Penny & I went out on the trail by ourselves for many years. She got used to it. Penny is fine being away from the other horses if I'm with her, but not if she's totally alone. Of course, if you asked Penny, she'd tell you she wants to be with Jasmine, and I can come along, too, if I want to.

 

[tmcase]

That's worse than Penny or Jasmine, though I'm not sure how well Jasmine might deal with being ridden away from Penny. But I've ridden Penny away from the barn and the other horses for years. I often was at a barn where I was the only one regularly riding, so if I didn't ride alone, I wouldn't have been able to ride much. So Penny & I went out on the trail by ourselves for many years. She got used to it. Penny is fine being away from the other horses if I'm with her, but not if she's totally alone. Of course, if you asked Penny, she'd tell you she wants to be with Jasmine, and I can come along, too, if I want to.

I use to trail ride by myself a lot. I enjoyed being one with my horse and nature. After I left the barn with the love sick mare my horse was back to his good 'ol self. I moved to Montana and road alone in the mountains and had no problems at all with him. He was also fine being pastured alone although I know he preferred having company. I think my horse and Penny were quite alike. I know that doesn't help much.....

 

[rave]

The Nanny State does get a bum rap. Most people see it when coming in through EWR and get the full panorama of refineries, power plants, docks and dumps, not to mention slums. Down here it's flat with lots of open space, woods and farmland. Up north, north of the Meadowlands, its hilly and still has some really nice forests. The overwhelming view is the refinery view, unfortunately.

The part of NJ that I was most accustomed to when traveling with the northern hilly part. It was beautiful! My show was held in Somerset County in the Basking Ridge area. Absolutely gorgeous there! Didn't see any refineries at all. Glad to hear that the pup is recovering well. Bummer about having to change his food, but I imagine that the boerboels have a sensitive digestive system like most mastiffs.

Back again to share this funny video.

Oops! I just realized it's on Facebook, not YouTube, so maybe some of you can't see it. Do you need to have a Facebook page to see it?

OMGosh that was hilarious!

JUST AN FYI:

Well not that I was asked or it is as exciting as what everyone else has been up to, but I'm in New Hope getting ready to go to the airport in Philadelphia so I can be back to Florida by tonight after being up here for one of "My" usual trips North for the past week . . .

Aww - I miss the artsy character of New Hope and the show that I used to do there. Ever stop at The Raven? Never had an opportunity personally. We were always busy and then beat working that show. I bet you'll be happy to be back home in Florida.

Lizzie, it's really interesting how the rocks formed in that shape. I should Google it and see what the geological explanation is.

It's basalt - super-heated into lava and forming crystals when it cooled.

Penny is fine. Last week I tried to get Jasmine used to Penny being out in the front yard, and she managed to escape from her stall. Her stall has 3 doors, and one leading out to a small, enclosed area in back, doesn't fasten really securely. Unfortunately, the gate to that area was open, so I hurried Penny around, got her through the gate, and was trying to close it when Jasmine roared up to lure Penny away. I had to let Penny go to get the gate latched, and then I had to catch her (not hard) and put her in her stall. Jasmine tried to interfere, and Penny wasn't too cooperative, either, getting all wound up because Jasmine was. I finally got Penny in her stall, and just then the boy who owns Jasmine arrived home and saw her running around the back area. He caught her and put her in her stall. I told him what happened, and he said he'd have to fix the stall door, but he hasn't yet.

Meanwhile, did I mention I'm giving a girl riding lessons on Penny? So the boy's dad had to take Jasmine out on a lead line while I gave the lesson in the front yard because we didn't want Jasmine escaping again.

This seems to be a problem everywhere, doesn't it? Penny is so lovable that some horse gets madly in love and can't be separated from her! At least Jasmine has an excuse, since Penny is her only company.

I worried that Penny would act this way with Jasmine, but she's actually more independent than Jasmine, though the other day, the boy took Jasmine out and we left Penny in her stall, and when Jasmine disappeared from sight, Penny got worried, too.

We really need to figure out a way to get the horses feeling more independent. I don't know how. I think some horses just have a more independent nature, and neither Penny nor Jasmine do.

Penny's just a charmer, I guess. One of those personalities that everyone seems to like. You are so lucky to have a horse with such a good nature.

The Devil's Postpile is lava that cooled underground so it would cool slowly and have time to form these "crystals" of lava.

http://[URL=http://s1364.photobucket.com/user/renolizzie/media/2014%20Mammoth/027_zps6e8eae76.jpg.html][/URL]

This is an incredibly smooth patch on to. A glacier came through the valley, ground off the layers above the lava and then created this incredibly smooth surface in the top of the lava formation..

So cool!!

Raven - We had some thunder on our trip, as well.

Saturday we doofed around, got the stove working well enough to cook, went back to the Owen river for a bit. Generally had a relaxing time.

Saturday evening, we hiked to the top of the hill to see if we were going to get some rain. We hadn't brought a tent. Rain seemed like it could happen so we packed up everything and put it in the truck. We had to do that anyway due to the fact that bears could be in the area.

We rolled into our sleeping bags and watched the lightening in the far distance. No thunder could be heard, the storms were so far distant. Fabulous. The stars were twinkling brightly through the pine branches, the branches framing our beautiful view of the sky with a lacy effect. We both saw a shooting star flash right through the middle of our picture window of tree branches. We finally fell asleep out there in the wilds of California on our little hill top.

Our camp.

http://[URL=http://s1364.photobucket.com/user/renolizzie/media/2014%20Mammoth/040_zps4afd1c54.jpg.html][/URL]

We were sleeping soundly. Suddenly, there was a huge flash/boom. There was a thunderstorm advancing straight towards us. I looked at my sleeping bag as I thought I heard rain drops. Sure enough, there were freckles of rain on the bag. I woke up Hubby and told him, "It's raining. We need to get under the tarp,"

Hubby said we were going to get drenched from the storm, maybe we should just drive home. Under the tarp, drive home. I said, "Pick one or the other since we are about to get wet and I don't want to be laying here in a wet sleeping bag!"

He picked driving home so we threw the last of our gear, two sleeping bags and a tarp into the truck and got out of there.

The time was 10:30pm. We arrived home at 12:50am after a nice drive back by Mono Lake, over the Sweetwater mountains, through Smith Valley and the town of Mason, over the hump to the Carson river. Over the bridge, up the long hill and then a right turn to home

We had a kit fox dash out in front of us in the Sweetwater mountains. I was so afraid we were going to hit the poor bushy tailed little fox. He ran out in front of us, decided he was scared and turned around in the middle of the road and ran back to the same side he started from. Fortunately, he timed it right and is still alive today.

I love the way you described watching the lightning through the picture window of your campsite. Awfully sorry that you had to eventually bug out because of the storm though.

I use to trail ride by myself a lot. I enjoyed being one with my horse and nature. After I left the barn with the love sick mare my horse was back to his good 'ol self. I moved to Montana and road alone in the mountains and had no problems at all with him. He was also fine being pastured alone although I know he preferred having company. I think my horse and Penny were quite alike. I know that doesn't help much.....

And once again, even though I'm a little bit jealous, I'm glad that I don't have to face the problems that are par for the course when you have a horse. And then there's the expenses!

 

[rave]

My poor, tortured BF. He finally had all of the lights off of the dashboard of Jeepers AGAIN, and brought him home last evening. Just a few miles from here, he stopped to fill up the gas tank. A couple of miles later, the Check Engine light came on. He was sooooo There were expletives involved. So today he purchased a ridiculously expensive code reader/checker. He had to be in my neck of the woods for a meeting, so he stopped by afterwards with the thing. The code reader said that it was just an O2 sensor. Further reading showed that it could be caused by sediment in gasoline or gasoline that has been sitting for awhile. That certainly applies. My Jeepers has been taking an unauthorized vacation for just about forever it seems. So, he cleared the code. We'll see if it pops back on before investing in O2 sensors. Chances are, it's just fine now. <whew!>

​

 

[rave]

Lizzie - I forgot to ask: Didja ever get your code problem figured out? CRS!

 

[Tritium]

Hey guys, just watching the nice pics

Rave why expensive? You can do it with a cheap (5-7$) bluetooth ELM327 adapter connected to your phone or computer. The torque app is good to use it while driving to monitor all sensors. There is Eodb facile app too for pc and phone.

 

[awsum140]

Where were you with that info when I bought my code reader? The again I don't and won't own a smartphone, LOL. Although I could put it on the tablet.