Meanwhile, Waiting for the Water Trough to Fill...

Smile!

What else would you do...but have a photo shoot!

Let's chase bunnies!

The "Get Up" command in action!

"Hey Mom...I feel stupid up here!"

Awww...but you're so handsome Rastus!

And...other stuff...

Boulder & Sage

Tumbleweed Corner...yes, in my arena...gotta get to cleanin' that mess up!

Have a wonderful Fall weekend!

Mother Nature's Fence

 ~ Mother Nature's Fence ~ 

This rim rock is what attracted us most to this piece of property. It gives shelter from wind, rain, snow and sun...and it makes a great fence that you don't have to repair!

Friday Fences

Silvies River Flood Plain

As the winter snow pack melts with the warming spring days, much of the lowlands situated around Burns Oregon become swollen with much needed water. This shot was taken on the Bell-A Ranch where I was attending a cutting horse clinic.

Silvies River Flood Plain

The flood irrigation will allow the wild meadow grasses to grow tall and lush. They will be cut and baled into some mighty fine cattle and horse hay for next winter.

Participating in Friday Fences and SkyWatch Friday!!

Friday Fences ~ Tat the Cat

I don't think Tat's been on the blog for over two years...since his "Photo Shoot" post in March of 2010!

Let's see...I got Tat in October of 1996 as a kitten...so that makes him 16 years old?!? He's pretty spry for an ol' man...he still likes to rule the two feral cats in the barn!

Tat the barn cat

Last year's weeds are hiding the field fencing...I've got a lot of spring cleaning still to do!

Happy Friday!

Friday Fence's with Life According to Jan and Jer!

Friday Fences ~ The Round Pen

With branding season upon us, My Man and I are honing up our roping skills. To be honest, we're both rookies at roping, so we need all the practice we can get!

This was a pleasant Friday evening with the sun starting to set making the shadows long. My Man is practicing his rope management skills by dragging a log in the round pen with his horse Whiskey. I'm watching from up above on the circus pole area (giving him my 2 cents worth as usual!). The shadow at Colt's front feet is Red Dog.

Evening shadows

This fence isn't ornamental, but very functional...and a place where I spend a lot of time training young horses.

Come along on Life According to Jan and Jer's Friday Fences blog hop!!

Happy Friday!!

Sagebrush vs Fence ~ A Struggle?

Who's winning...the fence or the sagebrush?

Actually, I think they're working together in harmony...to keep the fence standing!

Linking up today with Friday Fences #28 

at Life According to Jan and Jer.

Happy Friday!!!

Deceiving Photos

A very peaceful view...but it could make you think different...

 Barbed Wire Halo 

...by reading the road sign next to the fence...

 Yes, there are rattlesnakes up that road!
My girlfriend used to live up there in the tree line...
LOTS of rattlesnakes!

...and as I try to take some shots of the tumble weeds blowing down the road, the wind is blowing so hard I can't keep the camera straight...and it rips my ball cap off my head...I had to run 30 yards down the road to catch it...twice!! I gave up! Ah, it was still fun!

Wind-Blown Weeds

But, photos can sometimes be deceiving   ;~)


Linking up today with Life According to Jan and Jer's Friday Fences and SkyWatch Friday~

Happy Easter weekend everyone!

The Collection Fence

Over the years here, we've found numerous metal objects while working the ground or just walking through the fields and paddocks. Mostly horseshoes...some quite old, and some more recent, but we've found  lots of pieces of farm equipment and of course things that we've no idea what it was used for! One of my favs is a beat up ol' water dipper.

The Collection Fence

The metal hair pin lookin' thing close up on the right is an old gate hinge. Back in the day, it was hard to get hinges like we use now. The two straight edges were bolted to the fence post (there would be one at the bottom of the gate and one at the top), and the gate was built so the gate edge closest to the fence had a post that sat on a rock and the post swiveled in the round part of the metal. We see them quite often still in use today; they stand the test of time.

I'm linking up with Skywatch Friday and  Jan and Jer's Friday Fences blog hop...come on along!

Friday Fences ~ Western Dream Catcher

Ah the wind...don't ya just love the wind?  Me? Not really...

The prevailing wind in this case has been coming from the west pushing weeds from last fall along with it...until something blocks their progress...like a fence.

It reminds me of one of my favorite Louis L'Amour books (and DVD) Conagher.  Notes tied to tumbleweeds are found by Conagher and all the other lonely cowboys on the prairie...written by a woman expressing herself in the only way she knew how in a now lonely world after her husband is presumed dead when he didn't return from a cattle buying trip...he was never seen again.

Conagher is quite intrigued by the notes and seems to fall in love with the writer without ever meeting her...but of course he does.

As the pile of weeds grows higher, escapees make it over the top rail...and on they go along their journey...to wherever they may be stopped again...

I checked, but I didn't find any notes tied to these rambling wanderers. No, I'm not disappointed...I already have the best man I could ever hope for ;~)


Linking up with Friday Fences blog hop at Life with Jan and Jer.

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Friday Fences ~ The 'Ol Homestead

Yes, this photo is almost a repeat from a post earlier this week of my Journey Through Time. But, the composition here is a bit different...one I shot specifically with Friday Fences in mind!

 ~ Stepping Back in Time ~

Linking up today with Life According to Jan and Jer's Friday Fences. 

Come along on a fun blog hop around the world!!

and

Skywatch Friday

Happy Friday everyone!

A Matter of Time

I've been watching this lil' shed for over 6 years now, and it's leaning a bit more and more as the months go by. I'm surprised with the strong wind storms we've had lately it hasn't bit the dust...it seems to be taking it's own sweet time.

It's just a matter of time~

Join us on the Friday Fences blog hop over at Jan & Jer's!

I'm off on an overnight work trip...with no internet...eeeeeKKK! But where I'm going, I hope to get a lot of cool shots like this one. I'll be back to check out your Friday Fences on Sunday.

Friday Fences ~ Needin' Mendin'

No matter how much work gets done, there's always more to do! My Man and I have talked about rebuilding this short line of fence ever since we moved here...over six years now...and it's still standin'!

Needin' Mendin'

Sometimes, it's hard to tear down an ol' fence when it's been there for so many years. I think it gives character to the place. But when it becomes a health hazard for the livestock, serious consideration beyond aesthetics takes place.

Seen Better Days

We've contemplated moving the angle of the fence which would relocate the gate going up onto the hill...something we can't seem to decide on...probably the main reason we haven't done anything. The other reason is because it's on a really steep, rocky hillside..which is not going to make it an easy task.

So, for now, I'll just enjoy looking at it for the next while...it could be another six years!


Participating in Jan & Jer's Friday Fences blog hop...come on along!

The Pete French Round Barn

This is another photo taken during last weekend's cattle drive to Diamond that I posted about yesterday. We are lucky to have an awesome, historic building in our county. The Pete French Round Barn.

Built in the late 1800's, the barn was used to train horses to pull freight wagons during the winter months. If you like history, there is a very interesting book titled "Untamed Land: The Death of Pete French & The End of the Old West" that tells an accurate history of Pete French and how Harney County came to be one of the first cattle rich areas of the West.

Spring Storms in Winter
Pete French Round Barn

I'm participating in Jan & Jer's Friday Fences blog hop...come on along!

Also posting for SkyWatch Friday.

Friday Fences~Bygone Days

Come along on today's Friday Fences blog hop!

Back in the Day

This ol' fence is the last section that is still standing from the corrals that were behind our house. I've always wondered what it looked like back when it was a working ranch with hundreds of cows and calves...I can hear those cows from yesteryear bawlin' through the wood planks.

Note the rock crib on the right; rock cribs are still built today. It's easier to build a crib than try to sink a hole in this rocky ground! The left side butts up against the rim rock which goes straight up 20 feet or so at that spot.

Happy Friday everyone...and have a wonderful weekend!

Friday Fences~Mornin' Fence Sittin'

Yes, I've surfaced out of the deep, dark hole...it's been a few weeks since I've posted. I think it's the annual frump I seem to get into about this time of year when riding time is at it's lowest.

The camera hasn't even called my name...but this mornin' came cool and crisp with hardly a cloud in the sky...the sun shining brightly...and it's Friday Fences day!

So, out to feed the herd with camera in hand to see what I might find...

Mornin' Fence Sittin'

We've got hundreds of these lil' guys, and they love the chicken coop...well, they actually love the chicken lay pellets! Fat lil' buggers aren't they?

OK...I'm back up on my bloggin' horse so to speak!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend~

Friday Fences ~ It's a Job

Participating in this week's Friday Fences...check it out!!

My fence this week isn't pretty or photogenic...but it's where all fences begin~

A fence can be many things...from decorative to useful...wood, plastic, rock or metal (and anything and everything in between)...they all have one thing in common...it had to be built.

Putting in a good H brace is key for a strong fence.
Having friends (in this case the brother-in-law) help is BONUS!!

This particular fence boarders our side yard toward the hill and needed to be rebuilt. The posts had rotted off at the base, but the wire was still good to reuse. We've been propping up the fence with boards to keep it from falling over for the past two years. It's a 6 foot fence that keeps the deer out and the dogs in.

Fence building takes lots of contemplation...and
tools...and equipment...and a maybe a good dog too.
Starring at it doesn't get it done, but you hope it prevents
you from making a mistake and having to do it over!

Tenacity, perseverance, grit, muscle...and maybe a few bad words muttered
under your breath helps get the job done.
My Man loves to build fence (Lord knows why), but when he
builds one, it stays up for a LONG time. He learned that from his dad.

Straight.
The fence, according to My Man, must be straight or it's not a good fence!

And, it's still a work in progress...

The first four photos were from Thanksgiving weekend and the above photo is from this morning. The fence still needs the rail across the top (like the two posts in the foreground) and the bottom, between each post, will have a 4 x 6 retaining wall to keep the erosion dirt out of the yard...which also keeps the dogs from digging under the fence.

For now it's keeping the dogs in...just another project that isn't finished. Hmmmmm...what was that New Year's resolution on yesterday's post?...finish projects!!! Ha! Just one of many projects that need finishing.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Friday Fences ~ The Filly

This lil' weanling filly is here at my place for weaning from her mother and basic halter training. She's got a very pretty smokey buttermilk dun color and her leg markings are not really bars, they're more like honeycombs.

The mornin' shadows created an interesting photo. I'm naming it
Fenced In, Fenced On.

Because of the zoom, she looks all boxed in, but the panel on the right is actually parallel to the round rail fence...and the row of sagebrush is an eighth of a mile behind her! In actuality, there are three fences, one gate and a panel in this photo!

She's an active lil' girl...hard to get her to stand still for a decent photo!

Yes, that's a small scratch below her left eye...of course I can't figure out how she did it, but it was just the hair that got scraped off, it didn't puncture her skin.

This is the pattern on her legs. I think she's going to be a very
flashy girl when she grows up!

We just call her The Filly because I don't know if Ty gave her a name yet or not! She's been here since about December 14. Ty unloaded both the mare and filly into the run, and then we haltered the mare and loaded her back into the trailer and he left.

I had my Ol' Man Toby in the run next to her, but of course she cried for about a week. But, she's all over that now and is really coming along quickly. She learned how to lead the first day I worked with her (Dec 26...I had my hands full at the Post Office), but she had the "I don't want to" work ethic. She's getting over that very quickly since I am just staying soft and consistent with her.

When I'm finished with her training for the day, she follows me around like a puppy wanting more. She's fun to have around. I haven't halter trained a youngster for quite a few years. I enjoy shaping their minds so they can live a good life with respect for the human not fear and learn how to be a partner.

Check out the other participants on this week's Friday Fences over at Life According to Jan and Jer!