Beautiful January Day?

Down in that canyon is the road to our house, this is up on top....

Casey's Bronco, mid-restoration, fun rig

Pippi found a rock to use as a stool to get a little drink.

tiny breeze pumping water...

We are going to miss this beautiful ranch!

Its almost all melted.....

Thank goodness!  We had a lot of moisture from the end on Nov-the end of Dec.  When it snows a lot, a rancher works, a lot.  Cows need food, so we feed hay, and feed hay and feed hay.  And sometimes we get stuck.  BTW Chevy trucks have a very low clearance.  Thanks to Ivy, I have some pictures of the events!

This is one time when Casey stuck it and we had to bring the tractor and pull him out.  (This happened twice in one week.)  Trust me, driving a tractor with four kids bouncing along is not that fun.

During a blizzard, the cows stay up in the trees if they have any.  Cows are smarter than you think  (once in a while.)

Snow falling on cedars...I love to say that, its so poetic.

Thank God Your a Country Boy

I do thank God you are a country boy,

 and that you can go with dad

and work together.

.  

Ivy's photo shoot of November:

Ivy took these pictures; what it looks like around here in November.

Front yard flower bed, this was its 2nd year, its even pretty after it freezes.  Lots of winter interest.

Coming down the run... I think these are Buff Orpingtons.

This is the side of the mesa behind our house.

Cute pic of Mercy, or oldest dog, she is Border Collie/Great Pyrenees.   She is so tired, so so tired.

The view from the  front of our house. This is our little lake, I have to say, because I am from Texas, it is bigger than it looks!

Nice composition.

Ivy's self portrait...

Giddy-up little ponies and carry me home!

A morning walk....

 Buster has a big smile for us, or something, what is that look?  The little girls are so happy getting to ride.  They sing up a storm.  This morning it was giddy-up little ponies from a Strawberry Shortcake show.  On and on...and on...  Hattie wants the lead rope.  She thinks she is really big.  They are both tough cowgirls.  Buster is a little kid spoiled brat, he only does what Buster wants to do.  But Hattie coaxes him along, with some hard kicks and whatever else he needs.

Clay on his beloved Riata, I don't think he likes his pic taken.  Riata is about 17 or 18 now.    Ivy on her Cowboy, we love him so much, isn't he just a doll?  These horses are priceless.

Twister, hello gorgeous.

 Hattie, being happy.

 A highly cropped picture of mommy.

Home from the the range, the punchers return.  Happy November!!!

new chickens at the ranch

About couple months ago a bear got into the chicken coop and slaughtered 2/3 of my chickens and the duck.  Today we are pleased to announce 15 new chickens who just started laying eggs, thanks my good friend Julie for locating them.  So here are the gals.  My kids do all the chores for these birds, so they are no trouble :).  All I have to do is fertilize the fruit trees once in a while with the manure and figure out a million different ways to make eggs.

Clay, he takes care of the chickens everyday, after being told to do it.  Thanks Clay. (Yes, he is very ornery.)  He does a really good job with his flock.  He is even a cut throat eggs salesman, nothing gets by him.  His older sis is always looking on to make sure he does a good job.  Hope he doesn't grow up henpecked!

Flashflood!

This was from August when the monsoons hit and we had about 13 inches of rain in one month.  There is a mesa behind our house the water poored off like a huge waterfall, just the sound of it was unbelievable.

Pippy, almost a tragedy

It was almost a tragedy, I ran our precious Pippy over with the ranch truck, all the kids were with me and knew the second it happened and she was squealing.  They all started to cry hysterically.  It happened so fast and words can't express how I felt; being the careless one who ran her over.  Fortunately, she seems to be doing OK.  She was up sniffing around this morning.  What an amazing little dog.