Category Archives: Forever Home

Random Old Photos – May 22nd

Looking at houses in the Apple Valley, Hesperia, Victorville area (“high desert” or “Victor Valley”) there are quite a few houses that are advertised as “horse properties.” At least, they’re zoned to allow horses. Most don’t have any equipment, stalls, barns, or other necessities, but if you want to invest a few tens or hundreds of thousand dollars in building it, you too can have horses!

Of course, there’s also the place that had all of that, along with at least two mules. We thought about it, especially if the mules could be included in the sale price. (Didn’t happen – probably dodged a bullet there!)

I am not completely ignorant of the ways of the equine critters – just 99.9999% ignorant. When I was a kid growing up in Kansas City we lived on the edge of the housing tract, with a farm over the back fence. Shetland ponies were always there to feed and pet and play with.

And I have been on a horse more recently than 1967. 2005, twenty years ago, to be exact.

Thank goodness we found a slow, old, swayback nag that was safe for me to get on.

God knows what happens if our fantasy forever home has two acres, a barn, a watering trough, and more horse stuff. Of course, I’ll have to learn the real words for all of that horse stuff.

Adventures await!

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Filed under Critters, Forever Home, Photography

Tiny Oasis

We had a drought a couple years ago which resulted in there being significant restrictions imposed on water useage, especially things like yard irrigation. We managed to keep some/most of the front yard green-ish, but the back yard got abandoned. Even though we’ve gotten some rain again in the last year or two and the restrictions are gone, the back yard has never come back and is pretty much just hard-packed dirt and bird seed.

The sprinkler system is still there, and even though it doesn’t get used it’s still pressurized, and the sprinkler heads still drip or leak the tiniest little bit. This has led to tiny little oases surrounding the sprinkler heads, where hearty little weeds have managed to eke out an existence. Now they’re blooming.

This makes me think that the back yard could be re-planted with some work – breaking up the hard-packed topsoil, fertilizing, getting some grass seed (or sod if we wanted to be fancy fancy), watering it, and so on. But all of those steps come with dollar signs attached and I would rather save my dollars to spend on The Forever Home and getting out of here and into it. If the landlord doesn’t care, then I’m going to pass as well.

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Filed under Castle Willett, Forever Home, Photography

New Neighbor

No, we didn’t get a dog. (I wish!)

The house next to ours got sold and the new owners are doing some work before moving in. Almost every weekend day, Blanc is out in the yard, and I took the liberty of introducing myself.

As soon as she (I think it’s a “she”…) sees me out in my yard, she runs over to a spot in the fence where she can get through the bushes to the fince, and she hops up to get petted and chin scrinches. She’s a sweetheart and very friendly.

The new human neighbors freaked out at first, thinking that she was jumping the fence, but we’ve all gotten to know each other a bit more so it’s not an issue now.

Even though she’s not the breed that would be our first choice when we can get a dog again (the Long-Suffering Wife looooooves Great Danes and I like black labs and golden retrievers), it’s great to have a big, loveable dog that we can borrow for 30 seconds every now and then.

Makes me want to get The Forever Home even more so that we can get our own pack started.

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Filed under Dogs, Forever Home, Photography

Night View

A lot of the houses we’ve looked at in the high desert (Hesperia, Apple Valley area) are a bit elevated or up in the foothills, so I’m hoping to find one with a great view. Not an absolute requirement, but if House A is on the valley floor and has a view of the neighborhood roofs and power lines while House B has a view of the valley spread out and mountains nearby and all other factors are equal, we’re almost certainly going to go with House B.

I’m going to miss this view at night out of our back yard.

I won’t miss the money that gets paid to the landlord every month. No equity, no tax breaks, just take a stack of bills, get some lighter fluid, and burn it. Every. Single. Month.

Nor will I miss the house being too small, dealing with issues like plumbing and gophers and sticky doors that NEVER get resolved. I understand that they’ll be my problem to fix when we own our own house again, but at least things WILL get fixed.

With luck, I won’t be losing these views. I’ll be gaining better ones, with many additional benefits.

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Filed under Forever Home, Photography

Very Good Dogs

I just finished reading Chuck Wendig’s “Wayward,” the sequel to “Wanderers.” They’re both extremely excellent and I give them both my highest recommendation. (I’ve started handing out copies as gifts.)

In “Wayward” one of the most beloved characters is a golden retriever named Gumball, who is A Most Excellent Very Good Dog.

That got me to thinking about our dogs, now long gone. One of the reasons we really want to buy our Forever Home is so we can have dogs again – where we’ve been renting for seven years now, no pets are allowed.

Lucky Puppy was our first dog, and she was A Most Excellent Very Good Dog. She usually looked guilty because she usually was. But A Most Excellent Very Good Dog nonetheless.

We got Jessie when The Long Suffering Wife moved in, and while she was a trouble making scamp and a jumper who wouldn’t stay in the yard and scared the shit out of us every time she went on walkabout, she also was A Most Excellent Very Good Dog. Squirrels were her sworn, mortal enemy.

Once we find The Forever Home, get moved in, get halfway settled, it will be time to visit a shelter or rescue group.

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Filed under Dogs, Forever Home, Photography

Last Light 2025

I think after the Chiefs’ game tomorrow, it will be time to start taking down the Christmas lights. Everyone else on the block did it at least a week ago, most two weeks ago.

At least we had an almost full Moon out there tonight to dress up the sky. As well as a trio of rabbits on the ground over on the righthand side.

Surprisingly, the rabbits didn’t chew through any wires this year. They’ve done that for at least the previous three years, but something kept them honest this year.

It’s probably one last look at this particular view. I think I probably said this last year as well, but this year I mean it more – next year I hope we’re at the Forever Home.

And hey, the pulldown on the WordPress page for the Classic Editor was back today! Yeah!! One less thing to be pissed off about!

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Filed under Astronomy, Christmas Lights, Critters, Forever Home, Photography

Not A Great View

If you’ve been here a while, you’ve seen a LOT of the front yard views from both our current rental home…

…and from the previous house we owned until early 2017…

It’s a fact that we’re looking for a “forever home” to move to, so one of these days (cross your fingers!) there will be a new view of trees, horizon, and skies. What that view looks like isn’t a key factor in picking a house, not even in the top 100, but at the same time I’m not unaware of it.

The house we looked at today has a lot going for it (and a few things to think about) but the view to the north is filled with large trees, a ton of poles and wires, and a busy main street. As I said, not a key factor, not even in the top 100.

Still…

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Filed under Critters, Forever Home, Photography

Found Them!

Once I knew what the seed pods from the Italian Cypress trees were, I found a bunch of them on the ground and I’ll be trying to see if I can get them to dry out & open up so I can try to germinate the seeds.

I also looked in the trees, and found plenty more, but there all 20-30 feet up and trying to retrieve any sounds like a really good way to break every bone in my body, so I’ll pass.

My bouncing baby days are well behind me, thanks!

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Filed under Flowers, Forever Home, Photography

Front Yard Mystery & Solution

Yesterday while taking down the Halloween decorations, I found an odd little lump or pod in the front yard.

Hand for scale.

It stood out and I’ve never seen one like it before, so I was curious. Was it some sort of larva or bug? Some piece of scat or critter poop? No clue! It seemed to be dry and light, but that’s about all I could tell.

Then today when I was bringing in the weekly groceries, I found another.

Now that I was alert to their existence, I found a third one.

And a fourth on the driveway.

This one has some sort of a stem on the left side, and it’s in a huge pile of debris from the Italian cypress trees along the side of the garage, needles and small branches blown down by that tremendous wind storm here earlier in the week. And there’s the clue that solved the mystery!

I did a Google search for “Italian Cypress seed pods” and got this:

I don’t see any on the eight or ten trees we have growing there, but it’s obvious that’s what they are and where they come from. Mystery solved!

Next question – can I grow new trees from these seeds? One thing about many of the houses we’re looking at in the High Desert is that they’re a bit on the barren side from a landscaping perspective. Almost all have fencing, mostly chain link, but it would be really nice to line those long fences with Italian Cypresses eventually, both for privacy reasons and for esthetic reasons. If these four seed pods or pine cones are full of viable seeds, can I get a stack of small pots and potting soil and start my own personal forest now, then have them ready to go (albeit small) for transplant when the Willett Forever Home is secured?

Why, yes, I can!

My own little minion/Ent legion! It might not be as straightforward as winning the lottery and paying a gardener or landscape designer to buy them from a nursery and plant them for me, but it will probably be more interesting.

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Filed under Deep Thoughts, Forever Home, Paul, Photography

Happy Place Panorama

It would be nice to get back again this year, but that’s unlikely. One trip a year is about all I can get away with.

Enjoy the full-sized file – click on it and blow it up. My son’s truck with the flags is over to the left.

For this weekend, there’s more work, more deadlines (I can sort of see the light at the end of the tunnel? Ish?) and taking down the Halloween decorations.

It’s also getting close to decision time and I know where it’s going, I’m just not happy about it. (Just add it to the list…) I had really hoped to be putting up a ton of Christmas lights at the Forever Home this year and setting the place up to make it easy to put up a ton of lights every year in the future. That’s also very unlikely to happen, so in two weeks it will be time to start decorating here, at the rental house again. I’m also coming up on the end of my current set of weight training lessons, which I was also hoping would be the last one because I would be living elsewhere, but again…

So frustrated. So tired. It’s that whole middle-of-the-marathon feeling and the only way out is through.

One foot in front of the other. You too?

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Filed under Christmas Lights, Forever Home, KC Chiefs, Panorama, Photography