Bugs and Rattles

Summer is upon us. The bugs are out.
And so are the buzztails.

I shot and killed my first rattlesnake yesterday at the chicken food bowls. This was a first for me. Patrick usually kills them but I was by myself this time. I am very thankful for my neighbor who came over to chop off his head and pinch the rattle off for me as a souvenir.  Never ever thought I would say this but now that I’ve gone from city girl to country girl, I will forever carry a gun when I go out to do chores. Gotta keep the chickens, ducks, goats, and myself safe out here in the wild west!

But with the ugly comes the beauty that is Wyoming.
I’m so glad the critters and I are are safe and sound and can go back to enjoying the wild flowers and green grass. That is until the next slithering reptile comes and interrupts a perfectly fine morning.

Be safe and well my friends!

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Fluffy Clouds and a Yellow Finch

TGIF.

Have a great weekend my friends! Go out and make great memories. xoxo

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a Trail of Indian Paintbrush

After the branding, the drive through the hills was a lovely one. The sun was out and the wind had settled down.

Indian Paintbrush, the Wyoming state flower, lined our path.

We saw so many patches of the wild state flower among the mustard weed, wild iris, and sagebrush. It was a lovely sight and a pleasant aroma.

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A Fragrant Reminder

Two storms came through yesterday afternoon and dumped a bunch of the wet stuff on the thirsty ground. The sagebrush is very fragrant after showers like this, it’s so soothing.  Reminds me of just one of the reasons I fell in love with Wyoming.

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Green and Tall

We are warming up and the grass is green and tall. After scouting out shooting locations at our future residence, I took a walk through the cows. Some were relaxing under the shade of a young cottonwood, others were grazing the tasty new blades, and the calves were out cold for their afternoon naps.

Amid the tall grass stood beautiful purple irises.
I love springtime. It means it’s the start of good things to come. I can feel it.

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Now this is more like it.

Ahhhh.
The hills are alive with the color green. As it should be for this time of year. It has cooled off with a little rain here and there and leaves are finally appearing. Such a happy sight. The chickens are happy too, especially because bugs are starting to crawl and hop.

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from Record Lows to Record Highs

We’ve gone from record low to record high temps in the past two weeks of our springtime. It is so hot today, I went out to mist the ducks and chickens (and myself) with the water hose. Feels like my days in Georgia.

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Mother Love

Just thought I’d share some of my favorite loving mother images from the past.

Hope you lovely mothers all have a wonderful day. Wishing you all the best. xoxo

Every Mother’s Day I like to reflect back on this post from a couple of years ago, Remembering Mom.
 

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Raindrops

So thankful for the Saturday rain storms breezing through the hills today and over the last few days. 

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Crackerjack

i
This is Crackerjack. We enjoyed a Wyoming sunset together yesterday. He has four friends who may or may not appear on this blog. Goats are busy-bodies which makes for a difficult portrait session. But for this brief moment, we admired the mountains and sunshine before tucking in for the night.

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Red-winged Blackbirds

While it pours down rain today (yay!), I am getting settled into our summer home and decided I should clean off my camera cards. I thought I’d share one final wintery image with you of red-winged blackbirds perched on the fence outside my office window. This was shot during our last heavy snow (just 6 days ago). At least there is a splash of color there. That red wing was the only color we saw for a couple days.
I’m hoping for the color green to pop up soon. We’re getting some incredible moisture here lately and I’m ready for some new life to our earth out here!

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After a Snowy Drink

So thankful to see some color on my drive to town. The golden willows and green grass are quite happy with the snowy drinks they have received over the past couple of months. The big blue sky is a sight for sore eyes. Now for blossoms and blooms…how I hope to see them soon!

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Hello May!

How confused I am to see you in such a state.
I guess we could say “what a lovely winter we are having this spring”.

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Snow Gobblers

I was lied to. I was told that turkeys aren’t very aggressive in the cold, much less in snow. Well, when a gobbler wants what he wants, no spring blizzard is going to keep him down.
Click on the picture or go HERE to see more pictures of turkey’s courting their hens who, by the way, seem less than interested in them.
Hope you have a great start to your week. We are off to feed the cows again in the falling snow.

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Where’s your leg, turkey?

You know it’s cold when you spot a one-legged gobbler perched high on a cottonwood limb.

It snowed all day yesterday and the 6 or so inches already on the ground soaked in. We needed that. It doesn’t bring us out of the brutal drought we are in, but anything helps at this point. We still have some snow on the ground and apparently more wet weather is on the way. It’s a little inconvenient but we aren’t complaining.

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Hindered by Spring

I am so excited that the winter ground is transitioning from this…

…to this.

Winter has been interrupted by the green grass springing up everywhere. This makes me giddy and I’m looking forward to change. Change is good.

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Sometimes We Fly

I enjoy waking up to the gobble gobble of turkey mating season. In fact, the gobblers have been my alarm clock lately. They are pretty reliable believe it or not.

They didn’t want to walk across the bridge. Flying seemed like a better idea.
I guess there are times in life when walking just isn’t good enough. You’ve got to spread your wings, fluff your feathers and fly on over to that greener pasture. I can relate.

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T-R-O-U-B-L-E

This little trio has been running wild around the pasture. They are the oldest of all the calves so while the younger ones stick close to momma, these three are gaining some independence. Pretty fun watching them grow up.

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Frosty and Stormy Blue

The title may sound like names of pets but really I’m describing the month of March in Wyoming.
This might be the most unpredictable month for weather in Wyoming.

Wednesday was the first official day of spring and we started out with a sparkly layer of frost on the deck.

The sky dramatically changed midday and stayed deep blue until sunset.

We never got any moisture from all of those storm clouds. So very disappointing.

But the river is always a beautiful view any time of the year. Drought or no drought.

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Dropped on his Head

This is the first of our cows to calve. The calf I showed you last month was born to a heifer (a first time mother cow).
Yesterday I got back from doing chores and could tell that this experienced cow-momma had a belly ache. She had separated herself from the herd and nested by the fence. She was up and down, ringing her tail, arching her back and pushing hard. This lasted for two solid hours. Poor lady. The whole time I kept my eye on her I was cheering her on quietly but thanking the heavens this wasn’t me. It was a struggle but she finally dropped him on his head, stimulated him with licks and when I left her, she was helping him get to his feet to suckle.
I love this time of year.

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