Surprise Visitors at our Gate

Yesterday afternoon about 15 riders surprised Joe and I at our gate. There was a parade in San Jacinto the next town down from us and our dear friend Patricia and another long time friend Pablo, decided to bring their crew to our home for a visit.  After a short welcome, we brought out the beer for our dusty travelers and shared a laugh or two.

The most amazing thing besides the beautiful horses and some pretty fancy silver harness sets were the wooden saddles.  In my life, I have never seen a wood saddle and it was amazing how many were form fitted for what looked to be a very comfortable ride.  Our friend Pablo was riding bareback, he is such a wonderful horseman I guess he can do that. I am sad that the photo of him was just too blurry for me to post, I am sure they will be by to visit the next time they are coming by our home. The great thighs are Patricia’s by the way.

Enjoy, just another glimpse of the beauty of Ecuador and our own Manabita people.

Little Joe, The Latest Addition to Cindy’s Little Farm

Our niece Cindy lives in Texas. She has a little spread – really don’t know what to call it because she is really not farming it, raising cattle or anything so grand.  She has a beautiful horse named Spanx, two mature burros or maybe they are donkeys honestly I am not sure and one foal. And her constant companion Samson, a German Shepard.

For the past several months she has watched Uma as she grew into this huge bellied beauty. Uma was really waddling around for the past weeks and Cindy was waiting on the birth.

Today at 6:30am a new foal was added to her family, Little Joe.

I asked Cindy for clarification on what exactly Uma is and this is what she had to say:

Uma is A donkey n Little Joe has markings of Jerusalem donkey!!!  
Interesting. I believe Uma is called an Andalusian donkey! Joe has
the markings of cross along his back n down shoulders n legend 
is Jesus rode the Christian or Jesus or Jerusalem??  
Donkey in Passover !!!!

I had never heard this story so I found it on-line and added it below:

Have you heard the legend of the Christian donkeys? This is the story that has been told about the little donkey who was Jesus’ mount on Palm Sunday.

It is said that a donkey carried Mary to Bethlehem and is also referred to as a Nativity Donkey.   The Nubian burro has a cross on its back because it is believed that these donkeys carried Jesus to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

To ride on a donkey signified coming in peace, this symbolic event served to reinforce what Jesus had told the people of Israel: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he [is] just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon a donkey, and upon a colt the foal of a donkey.”(Zachariah 9:9 KJV)

Looks like Samson is going to take on the roll of daddy over this little one.

Nice to see Cindy’s dreams coming true.

Vendors Part 3: Milk Man

This is Jose he brings fresh milk to our neighborhood several times each week. $.70 per quart and it is fresh from the cow.  I have been to Jose’s farm, know the conditions his cattle are living in and have seen his cattle.  Things look good on his farm and I am happy to buy his milk.

Sunday Chillin’

Just a few pictures for a quiet Sunday.

Could This Be The Old West

Something I would never think to see on my morning walk.

I guess it was a cow, and guess some dog dragged the head to its final resting place near the side of the road.  Never know what you’re going to see. Yeehaw!

Lady and the Tramp – Ecuadorian Style

I know you all remember the movie where Lady is sharing a plate of spaghetti with Tramp.

These photos are not with spaghetti but were so cute I just had to share with you. We were having our breakfast and coffee / tea at the beach when these two showed up to play.

The cream colored dog is a female that stays part-time on our street and I was told her name was Blanche. The darker dog is a male and he lives one street over and his name is Yo. They are both young pups and really had fun chasing each other around that morning.

Parrot Visiting San Clemente

This bird must have been visiting because this is the one and only time I have heard or seen him.  Someone in the house was whistling to him and he was whistling back.

 

No Garbage – Yeah Right!

There is not garbage pick up to each house in every neighborhood here in San Clemente. We are pretty lucky as our street is on the pick up schedule and most weeks they do come by three times to collect trash.

But some streets are not as lucky and folks bring their trash to the corner and the dogs, cats and even some pigs can make a real mess of the bags before the collectors come by. These property owners decided to put up signs to discourage this but as you can see it does not always work.  Some places have a wire basket up on stilts at the end of their road and most folks are thoughtful and do put the trash into the container. Other are no so thoughtful and after most weekends you can see all sorts of disgusting items from used diapers to well let’s not go there!!!

A Visitor Comes a Calling

 

We had the gate open while we were doing something and a little chicken happened to stop by for a visit. Not afraid of us and very interested in checking out every nook and cranny, under the beds and even looked like he was going to jump up on the table. After a while the novelty wore off and he found his way out to the porch and back to the neighbor’s yard.

Cows Getting Some Beach Time

It is normally very peaceful in the mornings when Joe and I take our coffee down to the beach. We are waiting for our first dolphin sighting but they have eluded us so far. But we have seen cows taking a stroll on the beach up near the cliffs.