Back at the Ranch

Stand beside your horse and your man, in that order.

~Sandra Odin 1886~

The least that I can say is that we had a fantastic trip into the Ochoco's...and nobody wanted to go back home! All good things have to come to an end, so they say...and it really is good to be back home. I'm waiting on some photos that accidentally got transferred off of my memory card...so I'll post about the wild horse inventory later this week.

It was perfect timing to be back home...the hay was dry and ready to bale...so that means we needed to get to work!

Hay Man Rudy is making his way across the field.

All the pretty bales in a row!

As Rudy is baling away, he gathered an audience...

The view from the rimrock...what do you think those cows are thinking!?!

I would say those cows are eye balling that fresh alfalfa! YUMMM!

At the same time, I had let Colt and Gus out in the area behind the barn, and they were kickin' up their heels in the fresh morning air! They had a blast racing each other around in circles.

Look...I can put my tail up almost like an Arab!

Am I pretty mom?

Gus is definitely putting on some weight...and he's lost all that shaggy hair. His coat is really a very pretty dun...and has a sort of smokey tint.

I spent the day cleaning up, doing laundry etc...then I had to get the bales stacked into two's so we could get them off the field and stacked when My Man got home from work...but mother nature wasn't cooperating.

As I was almost done with the East field, a few drops hit the windshield of the backhoe...and within 2 minutes it was pouring buckets and the thunder and lightening was incredible. Poor Cowboy was trying to get underneath the backhoe as I was driving it back to the house...and Abby...well, I never did figure out where she was hiding throughout the whole storm!

A huge bolt of lightening hit the hill just up behind our neighbor's house (1/4 mile)...and I was gettin' out of that backhoe!

After the thunder storm.

Then the sun came out and it was gorgeous!

The wind was still blowing like crazy though, but that helped dry off the bales some. It's supposed to be 90 degrees today, so we should be able to get it stacked this evening.

As the sun was setting, the storm clouds made for some fun photography...we don't get a lot of brilliant sunsets.

This photo was taken in "landscape" mode.

The above photo is pretty close to what the sunset actually looked like...but with another setting on the camera...

This photo was taken in "sunset" mode.

Well, it's good to be back...and I've still got a lot of catching up to do. Have a great week!

Snow to Ice to Rain

The first week of 2010 has left a lot to be desired weather wise in my book. New Year's day, My Man started to let the horses out of the barn in the morning and came back in the house saying it was an ice rink behind the barn and in their pasture, and that we'd better leave them in the barn!

We'd been having sub freezing weather for days on end and the ground was frozen solid. Then we got just a few inches of snow. Then came the rain. So, of course the rain melts the snow, but the ground is too frozen to let the water soak into it and it has no where to go...but downhill...

Even with my new camera, I can't seem to get "dark and dreary" to look pretty!

The high spots are obviously snow, and the rest of

the grey is packed snow with water standing on top of it.

The ditch we annually dig behind the barn

is doing its job...the water is flowing east!

With all the acreage up the hill behind the house and barn,

the water has to go somewhere. The berm that was

built at the top of the rock rim is working. It funnels

the water into a stream and it comes down

the rock wall behind the barn.

The stream flows right into the horses pastures where

again all the packed snow has a "slick as snot" sheet

of water laying on top which makes it

extremely treacherous.

Until the permafrost thaws out and drys out, it's

going to be an icy and/or muddy mess.

We lost our old girl Carina two years ago because of ice just like this, and we're not chancing it again! The horses stayed in the barn for 2 1/2 days as which time it finally thawed out enough on the top for the ice to break up and walking was safe again.

More rain Tuesday night and all day yesterday

made it a really muddy mess for the horses

and dogs. But the owls don't seem to mind one bit.

This empty bird's nest in the apple tree is

looking forward to spring...just as much as I am

right now...and we just got into winter!

I guess I'll just sit back and have another cup of coffee in my new favorite cup...

After a couple of cups, I'll feel much better...

Hope everyone else is warm and dry...and those in the southern hemisphere, can I come and visit for vacation?!?

Flash Flooding...Where's Summer?!?

This past two weeks has been absolutely crazy. And, I'm talking about the weather. This has been the wettest spring in many years! We haven't irrigated for 2 weeks and the alfalfa is ready to cut, but Mother Nature just keeps on dumping more rain on us.

Now, we actually only get 9 inches of rain a year on average, and the past few years, we were lucky to get 7 inches. It's just making up for the past. So really, we're not complaining too much.

We are really thankful that the alfalfa wasn't cut and laying in the field when the rains started...otherwise by now it would have been a total loss and we would have had to pay to just get it off the field. Amen for a lil' bit of good luck there!

Yesterday afternoon the thunderstorms rolled in and dumped 3/4 inches of rain in about 30 minutes. This was our first flash flood.

This is the rim behind the barn. It started as just a lil'
trickle and grew into this in about 10 minutes.

Years back, there was a really huge mud flow caused by a flash flood that reached the house. After that, a berm was dug on the top side of the rim and it directs all the water down this one spot. It works well, as I'd rather have the flood come down here than at the house!

Three years ago, we had a lot of snow on the ground and then a bunch of rain. We had the water fall for about 2 days that time. This time, it quit after a couple of hours.

Once it hit the bottom it spread out, but the majority
of the flow went downhill (left) to the rim pasture.

An instant river flowing under the gate.

Then it kept flowing on out to the alfalfa field.

All the rain from the barn roof and surrounding area
made a stream between the back barn door and the round pen.

Water coming inside the barn
through the front door in this photo.

Water actually came into the barn through all three stall doors and both front and back doors...it's a mess.

Here is a good reason to put in raised garden beds!!
If I hadn't, I may not have had a garden anymore!
I'm hoping the stupid Sage Rat that's been eatin'
my plants got drowned out too!!

We're working on a barn makeover this year. Part of the makeover includes raising the ground level inside the barn (which the builder didn't do...that's why it floods).

The forecast for this week is for decreased showers and warmer temps...praying for good weather!!

A Drizzly Day

I guess it's official after the hail and snow 2 nights ago and today's cold drizzle...winter is coming...soon. Hard to believe that it was in the 70's last week, but that's what happens here. We're at 4150 feet...most anything can happen weather wise.

The clouds are socked in over Hat Butte

This old metal tub is the dog's summer water dish.
Now it's just collecting rain water from the roof and leaves.

While feeding this morning, I spooked out 8 does and yearlings along with a nice 4-5 point buck and they climbed up the hill just west out behind the house. Once they hit the rim rock they had to go either left or right. They chose left. Three horses and the 2 burros were just at that time coming down the two-track off of the hill for breakfast. The horses came on down...but those silly burros took off like there was no tomorrow!!! For the life of me, I can't figure out why they would be scared of deer that they see on a daily basis...go figure. They never came back down until about 1:00 this afternoon.

Wish I had pictures of the whole thing...I tried, but it was too dark...I've got to work on learning more about my camera.

But, I do have a couple of pics of my project for the day. My little Rat Terrier, Cindy Sue, needed a new winter coat. Her old one is torn to shreds from her running through and under the barbed wire fences. I'm sure this one will meet the same fate, but the material is stronger and, hopefully it will hold up a little better.

How do ya like the scarf? It matches the liner in her coat...Black 'n white pups with red fire hydrants! She's really stylin' for a ranch dog!! (wait til you see her covered in mud with it...LOL)

Between coat fittings, Cindy Sue enjoyed the wood stove.

The husband is a fan of the cookie...home-made preferably. So, I felt an urge to fill the cookie jar!

All in all, it was a pretty good day...despite the drizzle.