Wordless Wednesday

The New Peeps are Here!

Finally after months of waiting, my lil' peeps have arrived!! My feed store has had a really hard time to get chicks this year...something about a shortage of chick laying hens???

Whatever...just glad they're here...the sooner they get growing, the sooner I can have my fresh eggs again!!

We got six Barred Rock peeps.

They slept like rocks last night...it must have
been a pretty stressful trip to the feed store.
They receive them by US Mail.

How cute huh? Names?
Ha...never been able to name my chickens.
They all look alike!! We usually just call them "the girls."

Oh, I can taste those fresh eggs...come on...hurry up and grow!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Summer Schedule is Upon Us

It's been a week since my last post when I had to take the trip to Portland...ya probably thought I got swallowed up the Big City!! The training school was good and it's nice to talk to everyone that I only see twice a year. I work part time for the Oregon Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service. My job is to go out and visit with farmers and ranchers in my area and collect data for USDA use (to put it simply). I've got plenty of work to keep me busy for the next 3 weeks!

So, I made it back safe and sound...but our summer schedule is in full swing...it's leaving little time to blog...grrrrr.


But, twice a day I'm hangin' up my cowgirl hat to don my fashionable farmer attire...

High rubber boots and a baseball cap...

We're up and out changing lines by 5 a.m. and I'm back out there at 5 p.m. to start it all over again. Thank goodness we've got it down so we only change 2 lines in the morn' and then we change all 4 lines in the afternoon.

The irrigated pasture got prepped for the summer last weekend...which involved picking up all the hand lines, mowing, raking to spread the manure, and reset the hand lines. But, it's sure nice to have a pasture close to the barn for the horses we ride all the time.

FYI, this pasture is only 4 acres or so.
The neighbor's alfalfa/grass mix is in the
background up the valley.

Colt really loves to help, but of course
all he was was in the way!

Last Saturday, one of the lines had a blowout in the flexi hose and it ran for about 20 minutes before I found it. The force of the water rutted out a big hole in the ground and the amount of water totally flooded a huge area... sage rats were swarming like crazy. Cindy Sue was in her element!

That's my good lil' rattie girl!!!

My Man and I took time for a ride to check the fence lines on Sunday. We started early because it was going to be a hot day...90 degrees. Accompanied by all three dogs, we started climbing...

Cindy Sue, Whiskey, and My Man...
what are they all looking at???

Cowboy and the spring flowers sure
made a nice shot...but he looks good all the time!

One of my favorite flowers are out...
Indian Paint Brush.

Making our way toward the top.
The fence is directly to our left.

Luckily the fences are in fine shape, and there's plenty of grass too. We'll lease out the pasture for some cow/calf pairs in a month or so.

At the top...my fat lil' mustang, Rohan and me.
Just enjoying the view.

Whiskey spied our other horses and burros
down below us. He's such a handsome guy.

We took bottled water with us and the pups enjoyed a good drink.

Cindy Sue was huntin' some shade...it was
starting to warm up.

Hope all is well with everyone and enjoy your week!!

Wordless Wednesday

Big Weekend & Off to the Big City...again

It was a huge weekend...so much to do...too few hours. And as I type, I'm loading the lil' commuter car for another Ag Survey training in the Big City (Portland). So, I'm slightly rushed!!

But we got a good start on this project...

The beginning of my new raised garden bed.

Add a lil' dirt...

And a lil' elbow grease...

And we have this!! It's only half done, the other half
will get done as soon as the electric company
gets out here and tops off one of the elm trees.
They'll be working right where the rest of the
raised bed will be located.

In irritation news...oops, I mean irrigation...we've got 2 of the 4 wheel lines up. Technical difficulties as usual when you start the season...My Man will whip out the handy dandy checkbook in town today and get the needed parts...then we'll be set...I hope.

Still more sage rat mounds to level...now we have

to do it by hand...or by foot actually.

But, our crop is lookin' mighty purdy so far!!!

See y'all back here on Friday! Happy Trails~~

Sunday Stills

Sunday Stills - Black & White

This week's Sunday Stills challenge is Black & White with a Twist. We could choose any two challenges we've done before and shoot them in B & W or in color and convert them to B & W. No photo that had been used before could be used for this challenge.

Yesterday was a big day outside for us with lots of photos taken...it was hard to just choose two!!

But, my first choice is Plants & Flowers...or Macro...which seem to go hand in hand a lot of the time.

I found these wild blue bells in the sagebrush. The neat looking seed plant to the left is cheat grass from last year...not such a neat plant...a nasty weed that is no friend to dogs, horses or cows, so looks are deceiving.





My second choice is In Motion. Stetson was showing off his stuff as he came down the hill for water. He always runs with his ears pinned back like he's gonna kick some a**...I guess you can do that when you're a donkey ;~)



You can see more Black and White photo challenges by checking out the links in the comments here.


And, as it is Mother's Day today, I want to share a darling photo of my late Mother and her brother. It was taken in the late 1920's.


Happy Mother's Day to all~~

Work and Play~Springtime!

Spring is showing it's true colors...green...lots of green...weeds. The saying 'round these parts is that if nothin' else grows, rocks and weeds will. And that is a fact!!

It's been raining almost every day for the past week and a half...which we desperately needed. All that rain made our alfalfa grow a bunch as well as other things...

This is my lovely half finished arena...becoming
overgrown with weeds.

Meet my antique disk...it's a might small for
the job, but it's all I've got at the moment.
We've been searching for a used 8' wide disk with
2 gangs for not a lot of money. There's not many
of them around.

So to get the job done, the arena has to be gone over 4 times with the disk. I made it over twice, but the wind was blowing pretty good and I was getting cold. My Man came home from work and finished the job for me while I fed the herd and started dinner.

It's lookin' like an arena again!

But, I couldn't resist trying to get some photos of the buds coming out on the trees. Even though we've only had one day that actually made it up to 80 degrees, things are starting to happen.

These are the lil' green buds coming out on the elm trees.

My apple tree could have a nice crop
of apples...if it doesn't freeze.

And my lilac tree (yes, I call it a tree...it's huge)
is going to be mighty pretty in a lil' while.

And, I think I saw a baby owl out of the nest on the rock ledge yesterday...I'm watching them closely and hope to get some pics.

Colt's Home!!

The last thing I saw of Colt was his cute lil' butt walking away...and the first thing I get to see when I picked him up yesterday was his cute lil' butt waiting for me...very fitting!!

Colt heard my voice and tried so hard to turn
and look at me!!! Made my heart jump!

Colt looks confused...but I'm not!

Leigh (the buyer) and I talked for quite a while before parting ways, and we are both happy for the experience...her for really coming to terms with what type of horse she needs for herself and myself for realizing that I should have listened to my heart in the first place. The other wonderful thing about it all is that we each have a new friend and are going to see each other for the next 5 years at least! Leigh is a really great person.

But I found out some stuff about Colt that I didn't know before. I believe that he's a fairly insecure horse and because he's bonded so much with me, I've been his support when he gets uncomfortable (and I didn't even notice it). Without me in the new environment at Leigh's place, and Leigh not taking a strong leadership role in his life, he was coming undone. I need to work on getting his confidence up without me being the crutch...if that's even possible. I've never had to deal with something like that before.

Colt sniffed noses with his buds and when
right to grazing...just like he'd never been gone.

And he trotted up and down
the fence line a couple of times.

Leigh did take Colt to the vet on Tuesday, and he still shows signs of lameness in the left hock. What he's doing is not tracking straight with his left hind. He tracks straight with his right, and as the left comes forward, he places it slightly inside...so, he really is only showing signs of a possible lameness, and after discussion with Leigh, the vet mentioned to her that it is possible that it's just the way he moves! But, I decided (after a phone consultation with the vet) to give him 2 doses of Adaquan 1 week apart and have him tested again in two weeks. He can be turned out, just not too much hard running around and I can light ride him...long trot and such. We'll see how he is at that point. Healing thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated.


After a bite of lunch, I went out to check on everyone and brought Colt into the barn for a lil' therapy...therapy for me that is...

He smells the same...his nose smells better than
all the other horses we have...it's my
aftershave of choice!

I looked deep into his soft, loving eyes and
told him not to worry...we had lots of things
to accomplish in the future...together.

I gave him one last hug and put him to bed.

And this morning...

Colt hasn't a care in the world...

Thank you all for your comments...it really did help me think about what it is that I want and what is best for Colt...blogger friends are the Greatest!!!

Wordless Wednesday