Matilda and the Quackers
We are not sure what to make of the ducks that brazenly stalk us at the screen door every morning. What isn’t shown here is the size of her tail. It is puffed up twice as big as it’s normal size and I can’t help but smile as she so earnestly protects her lady that feeds her.
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.
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.
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.
Crackerjack
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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.
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!
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!
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”.
Bring Me a Whiskey, Would Ya?
Howdy! During the last month or so I’ve learned that life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass…it’s learning to dance in the rain. Or snow in our case. We have survived incredible blizzards and stormy conditions over the last few weeks.
I don’t believe I’ve seen this much snow in the 3 years that I’ve lived here. And certainly not in the month of APRIL. It was such a whiteout that I couldn’t see where I was going and could barely keep the wheels turning on the four wheeler.
Let me introduce you to Polaris tracks aka, life-saver. Our gracious neighbors let us use this so that we could get things done around here.
What does one have to do in such ferocious conditions you may ask? Well, feed cows for one thing, but I’d like to update you on the changes to the Uprooted Magnolia and the Cowboy. First, you must endure these images like we have endured living through this. Keep in mind, in most places it was knee-deep and in some spots, it was up to my waist. I’m average height.
We were snowed in. But the determined and very responsible cowboy HAD to leave the ranch in order to get his cows and calves fed on the meadows at the bluffs.
As we busted through drifts, snow piled up on the hood and we could barely see our exit.
Then we just couldn’t see anything at all.
So we (Patrick) stopped to clean the snow build-up off the hood and convince ourselves (me) to go further. But what did I do? While Patrick observed the road conditions, I took pictures of the snowed in ranch.
Once we got 6 miles out of the ranch the roads were good and we made it to the bluffs to feed the hungry cows. They were glad to see us. As you can see, they weren’t getting any grub underneath all that snow.
Sunsets over a snow blanketed pasture are always a calming sight.
One of the snowy evenings I saw the turkeys roosting in the trees behind our house.
So now the snow has melted, the skies are clear and the sun has set on our days at Dakota Ranch.
The ranch has been sold to a new owner and Patrick and I are moving on. But moving our home in this springtime blizzard was extremely challenging. Challenging in so many ways.
For the next couple of months we will stay in the hills of Southeast Wyoming and are excited about where life will take us. Some wonderful friends have opened their home to us while they live 80 miles away for the summer. My days are filled with caring for chickens, ducks, goats, a fuzzy pooch, and of course Matilda. My calendar is once again filling up with photo shoots and we are getting settled in to our routine for this spring and summer. We will continue working hard for our new home. This has been a huge year for change, and it’s only April. What else will we conquer? Stay tuned. I’m sure there will be a lot of new adventures.
*Hugs* ~ Leah
Orange in a Blanket of White
Did I mention the whiteout blizzard we had last week? Unbelievable for April, in my humble opinion, but we are so grateful for the moisture. Matilda enjoyed the sunshine from inside her warm house while I waded through knee-deep snow to get chores done.
Springtime Whiteout
I couldn’t see the road this morning when I headed out to do chores. I made my own in a few spots.
This lovely lady was scrounging for breakfast.
It isn’t very cold. The water in the irrigation ditch isn’t frozen but the buildup of snow is almost up to my knees and it’s still coming down as I type this to you this morning.
White caps on the river rocks.
So is this what the month of April is going to bring from now on?
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.
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. 
Beds of Hay
We drove off the ranch yesterday to head to the bluffs to check on Patrick’s cows. We branded them this weekend and took them to new pasture and then bam, a blizzard hits when we least expect it. And that’s just tough on the sweet baby calves.
Snow was still falling by evening and blowing across the road.
When we got there, they seemed very spry and excited to see us.
We got out and looked everybody over. They were a little frosty but everyone looked good and healthy.
But looking over the pasture, there wasn’t much grass peeking through and nowhere for them to lay down to be protected from the cold ground. That’s where we come in. Patrick attached 2 chains to the pickup and the hooks on the other end locked into the hay bale so I could pull it off the stack.
We dragged it over to the cows and Patrick got out to cut the strings.
The girls were a little impatient! I backed the truck up unrolling the bale while Patrick helped to pitch off the hay to them. When the bale got smaller, I stopped the pickup and jumped out to help. We pushed the bale and rolled it into the trees so they had something warm to lay on and be protected from the wind.
By the time we were leaving, the calves made their bed on the fresh hay while their mothers were chowing down.
Warm and toasty. Well, not really. But at least they are covered in leather!
We checked on them at about 5 this morning and they still had a lot of hay left and the entire herd was bedded down on the hay. They looked good, just a little cold. We’ll roll out another bale this evening for them to help them get through this crazy weather. At least the sun has finally come out. That should warm them up a bit.
Just another day in paradise y’all!
Snowblind
Well, the weatherman was right and we are buried in it. It hasn’t let up ALL day. Snow still coming down and blowing all around. I’m used to snowfall in April, but not a blizzard. We’ve been waiting for this all winter!
Every Kind of Weather
Tis the season where Wyoming cannot decide what she wants to do. Yesterday she rained with a little snow mixed in. She blew, she stood still, she grew warm and then she howled for most of the night.
Now the weatherman says she will dump about 10 inches of snow on us tonight through tomorrow. But I’ll believe it when I see it. All winter we’ve been teased by the weatherman that we would get some great moisture from storms and all she does is sprinkle on us… and sometimes not even that. At least my camera and I get to capture the confusion in her skies and bring them right to you.
a Friday Chuckle
Sometimes getting a proper portrait of a colt is simply out of the question. You’ve just got to go with what they give you and have a nice chuckle. Happy Friday everyone!
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.
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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