Cows, Rooster, Dog, Cat - House Sitting in the Country and other Photo Ramblings by Rose

Last week:

I was stuck way out in the country until late yesterday afternoon, house-sitting and taking care of the critters, a cool but weird, old cat 

Callie - her fur coat shaved in places,

because bless her heart,

at 18 years old, she can no longer keep herself groomed, she's become deaf and her thyroid no longer function down to skin and bones.

I still think she's a pretty little thing.

I remember when she was a little hellcat, hissing and clawing, but she's mellowed with age.

I've always loved her beautiful markings - Callie enjoying her time in the sun. 

The most lovable old dog,

Sandy, always smiling - melting your heart.

My lens fogged up - Florida is an outdoor sauna, like every summer.

She was another stray - an absolute sweetheart of a dog. 

Sweet and clever, that's Sandy.

House sitting gave me some time for myself and I ended up reading four books while I was there.

Sheer luxury to start a book at nine and finish it at 2:30 in the morning.

Of course, that darn cat moued loud enough to wake the dead at 6:30 in the morning.

So there I was, stumbling out of bed, ricocheting off the wall the walls, trying to find the kitchen light.

Bummer:

I brought some picture CDs for gather photo essays, but it proved very hard on my eyes to work on her computer. I could hardly tell if the shots were crisp or not. Hence only one post in a week.

Sunday a storm blew through and completely knocked out the Internet for good so no more gathering at all after that.

Bennies:

There was a nice library to choose from, if you don't mind being limited to Stephen King and rows upon rows of murder, mystery and conspiracy books, as well as a great selection of beautiful and interesting nature and travel books.

It afforded me the opportunity to read up on some of the Florida water birds that I had been photographing.

To entice me to come the freezer was stocked with my favorite ice creams - yes, plural:) - coffee, strawberry, vanilla.

My SIL and family returned from their beach vacation before I left the house and come to find out, she's clearing our her stash of books. I am now the proud owner of about ten John Grisham novels. 

Bummer or Benny?

I'm definitely technologically challenged - I couldn't figure out their TV remote control, it was recording something and wouldn't let me change the channel. Shucks! So instead, I ended up doing some serious reading, but missed out on my two favorite shows on Thursday and Friday.

Weekend Plans:

The BF drove out there for an overnight stay. 

We love nature hikes and visited a nearby nature park.

Hillsborough River - picture perfect.

I'd canoe, but I'm too scared of all the alligators.

Lucky for us, the weather cooperated and the rain held off.

We saw gators and turtles, too far away for a good shot. No birds, bummer. My SIL assures me there are usually a lot of birds and I noticed the bird informational signs, including a wood stork, a protected bird. 

However, there were two big terrifying Banana spiders, one of which I almost ran into as it spun it's web across the boardwalk. 

We took the boardwalk through the swamp - reminiscent of old Florida.

The scenery along the Hillsborough River was

beautiful and peaceful.

Saturday night, we had supper at a picturesque local Mexican restaurant.

MI CASA

The food was excellent

even the flan was home made by the chef.

Muchachas

On the way back home we stopped roadside, so I could photograph the coolest ranch I've ever seen in Florida.

Stay tuned for a short post on this ranch later on.

Even the fencing and the signage was impressive.

Old Florida used to have a lot of cattle ranches.

These cows were grazing in a field across the street.

Aren't these the cutest - and most curious - little heifers you ever laid eyes on?

Did I mention that

the Red Barn Ranch

has been the back drop for several movies?

The BF left early Sunday Morning and a storm hit shortly thereafter, completely knocking out the power and I had no Internet for the rest of my stay.

It was raining and lightning all day into the evening, so I couldn't even take the sunset pictures out in the pasture that I had hoped for.

But yesterday Morning Sandy, the dog and I, took a walk ........ 

An oldie, but a goodie - still in occasional use.

The neighbor's steer.

On the way home

I stopped by a local feed store and randomly photographed some pretty scenes along the way.  More in another post ...

A windmill for your pond - seen at the local feed store.

(Another place used for Pepsi commercials and in the movies - post to follow.)

A gorgeous rooster in someone's driveway ...........

I briefly pondered who lives beyond these gates ......

Gathering:

Anyway, I'm back now and I'll be catching up with my gather friends and hope to post at least once, maybe twice a day for the coming week.

I've decided to try posting more often, but with less pictures, instead of one post with 21 photos - I will do three posts with seven pictures each. 

Happy Monday and Happy Gathering to all my gather friends!