Sunday, October 7, 2007

Time Passages

Growing up in the Vancouver BC suburbs, I was used to having four distinct seasons. The first five years in Northern California were difficult, I felt like I was living in perpetual spring and summer and my body clock felt out of whack. Now that I've been here for almost 20 years (which seems impossibly long), I've become more attuned to the more subtle changes in temperature and moisture. We live at 2600 feet above sea level but only about 10 miles from the ocean, so the weather up at the house is often very different than it is "down the hill" at sea level, and almost always different than it is "over the hill" in Silicon Valley and the rest of the Bay Area. We get snow a couple of times a year but it doesn't last, which is just fine by me.

Our 2 acre property is all trees, mostly oak trees, which means one thing this time of year: acorns. Some of these trees are 200 feet tall and 8 feet across, so when it gets windy the acorns are falling from a great height, hitting the house in loud barrages that scare the dogs and sometimes even make me duck. They look positively mammillary, don't they?




This lovely birch tree is along the dog-walking route around our neighborhood and is a good arbiter of the seasons.
















We took a friend down to the farm yesterday who hadn't been there for a while and he was astonished to see how much the babies (of all species) had grown.


This picture of Piggy Sue was taken October 12, 2006.








This picture was taken yesterday. She's a very friendly and vocal pig, and she loves smoothies, if you ever come to visit. Seeing this pig with her snout all pink from the fruity goodness in the cup is one of the cutest things you'll ever see.





This picture of Ruby (with mama Roxie) was taken the last week of May when she was about a week old.








This was taken yesterday. Now that Ruby is bigger the unusual blaze she shares with her mama is even more amazing. She's grown out of that ugly duckling phase and her winter coat is coming in, making her soft and fuzzy again.












This is Que Sera Sera (Katie) at 1 day old, taken on June 17, she's Missy's niece as her mama Sera is Miss's full sister.








This was also taken yesterday, so she's about 3 1/2 months old. She's a big friendly girl with a lot of personality. What a joy it has been watching these fillies grow, another childhood wish fulfilled.

Damn, now I want a smoothie.






20 comments:

  1. you always share such awesome pictures! I could just eat that baby horsie up!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Piggy Sue has become quite a...a...pig!
    The foals are delightful.
    Fall in N. Cal. is all it is cracked up to be. Perfectly delightful. Farmer's Markets overflowing everywhere.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow, the pig has grown an amazing amount in one year. I had no idea.

    The fillies are both darling. Babies are so much fun.

    I expected you to say you wanted a foal and instead you went for the smoothie. That's probably a better choice. lol

    ReplyDelete
  4. Now that's Some Pig! (sorry, could not help myself) Can hardly keep my fingers from wanting to scratch that belly!

    And those fillies are so beautiful. Amazing how quickly they have grown into their bodies.

    ReplyDelete
  5. positively mammillary... LOL!

    Piggy Sue is impressively large. Damn. And Que Sera Sera is making me smile. Oh, how I love The Animals. So much more reliable than The Humans.

    Thanks for making me smile, I needed it...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for sharing these wonderful photos!

    ReplyDelete
  7. How did you get the horses to pose?

    Some days I feel like the current Piggy Sue. Very inspiring....

    It's not fair at all. We're still having summer in S.C. It was in the 90s today.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wayne, thanks for visiting!

    Tiff, come on down and see the fillies before they get too much bigger.

    Molly, I also love the farmers' markets, they have them every couple of days around here.

    MiKael, I wouldn't have the first idea what to do with a foal! Having them around is great fun but I'm glad I don't have the responsibility.

    Tonya, it's pretty tough to get to Piggy Sue's belly these days, but she is such a character! She comes when she is called, especially if there is a smoothie involved.

    Opera Diva, thanks for laughing about my mammary joke, I had to look up the correct form of the adjective. The Animals are almost always more reliable than the Humans, but they can be unpredictable at times as well.

    Tara, I've been loving your last few posts about Longchamps, such wonderful sights all around.

    Anne, all the horses are used to me coming around them so once they get their treats and their scratches they generally go back to doing whatever they were doing. Getting Katie to stay back while I took her picture was a bit more of a challenge, as you can see from her tail, she wanted to move! I'm right there with you on feeling like Miss Piggy some days...it's supposed to rain this weekend so then it will really feel like fall.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love Piggy Sue. I think I gasped when I scrolled down to her current picture:-) Wow! I didn't know you lived on two acres...when are you going to build your own barn and arena:-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am jealous of your 200-foot oak trees. How lovely.

    Love that pig. They have a pot-bellied pig at my children's school. Pigasus.

    Those foals are ... well ... making me want one too.

    Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh Donna, I just love your pictures of the babies, now grown into 'teens!'
    I think Piggy Sue is awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Absolutely loved the photos! Made my day!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Yes, the acorns are positively mammilary, LOL, And it is absolutely amazing how these babies grow! Nice pics!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Great photos! As a 12-year-old Bay area transplant from the Midwest, I have to admit I've always relished losing the worst of the four seasons. I'm definitely tuned to the Mediterranean climate, which explains why I like it so much here.

    Thanks, too, for your comment the other day. I totally understand where you're coming from...

    ReplyDelete
  15. Love the pictures the horse are gorgeous and the pigs are cute.

    ReplyDelete
  16. great pics...love the current picture of Katie, but pot belly pigs are NOT cute by any stretch of the imagination my dears.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I didn't want to it earlier, but Piggy Sue is , well, I feel sorry for the poor creature. I have to agree with Sally.

    ReplyDelete
  18. You're right, Donna, foals are definitely a lot of responsibility.

    I'm in about the pot bellies being not so cute creatures. Maybe so ugly they're cute but even that is a stretch.

    And I just dropped by again looking for a new post and... well, here's good excuse to do one.....You've been tagged with the Eight things you don't know about me tag.

    ReplyDelete