Yea! Snow! And, Lost Dogs

Yea! We got about 2-3 inches of snow today.

I took this around 7:30 to 8:00 AM, but it snowed most of the day.


Dog trot which encircles the house. lol



Never having seen snow, both dogs would not leave the porch until I walked off into the snow.

Maggie decided to eat it to see if she could figure out what was that white stuff. It was interesting watching them be leery of the snow and investigate.


Once both dogs decided that the white stuff was not going to eat them, the rough housing was on.

Maggie usually starts it.

They had a big time.

Maggie holds her own against Luc.

We looked out the window to see two lost dogs making a run at our cows. By the time I slipped into my yellow, rubber boots and was out the door, both dogs were standing in front of the yard gate, no doubt hoping it would magically open. They were very happy to see a human. This rescue mission turned out much better than the one in December because I did not get a broken bone and make a trip to the doctor. Fortunately, the Great Pyrenees had tags. The other one did not. I reached the owner who was scouring the area for her dogs. She was only 3-4 minutes away from my house.

She was amazed that her dogs had traveled so far from her house which is about 25 minutes from mine. We don't necessarily deal in miles around here but in minutes from one place to another. lol She mentioned that her dogs almost never leave their property, but probably in all the excitement of the snow they got off and could not smell their way back home because of the snow. Anyway, she and her son picked up the dogs and away they went.

We've had quite a few lost dogs appear over the years, and I am always glad that we can help get them back home.

Until next time, God bless.

The Springs Are Running

Alleluia! The springs are filled with water.

We took a walk to the back of our property today and it is thrilling to see water in the creek, at last. Our creek has been dry for about two years, maybe longer.


Even though it is still February with snow being forecast for Wednesday, this wildflower is letting us know that Spring is just around the corner.


On the way down to the back, we looked over to see that our neighbor's pond is overflowing. The overflow runs towards our property, goes underground, then reappears to feed our creek. I first saw ripples in the pond, but before I could get the cap off the camera, two wet dogs came running up to me for a treat. The dogs know of a ravine where the fence does not go to the bottom, ducked under to our neighbor's property, found the water, took a swim, and returned to us just as we could see the pond.

High banks are on both sides of the creek. You cannot see the creek as you walk towards it, but we heard the water gurgling!


Looking down the creek.

I'm standing in line with the first photo but had walked up the hillside. We do not have the natural beauty that so many areas of the country has so it is a matter of acquiring a taste, or appreciation if you will, for our scenery. But, you know, it is Texas and it is ours. I am so grateful that we've had the opportunity to live outside a city. I thank God everyday for my good fortune.

When you see those clumps of grass, you know water is nearby, either above ground somewhere close or water is running underground.



Found a good deer track impression. Pay attention to the little pebbles because those sit atop solid sheets of rock or caliche which makes for paying close attention to where one steps when walking down or up the hillside.

Our house sits on top of a hill. Hubby is making his way up the first ledge, the steepest, and I am standing on the second one.


These are the next three ledges with a total of ten ledges from the bottom of the property to where our house stands.

It was a great walk. Hubby has been sick for a little over a week so walking back up from the creek is our test as to how he is recovering. lol We really should do this walk at least three or four times a week. It gets you into shape. The main reason we do not is we have to be extra careful in the walk down because it is so slippery. More than once our shoes have skidded on the pebbles only to land on our bottoms. Overall, though, the sun is out and the air very cool. I feel so rejuvenated.

Until next time, God bless.

Wolf Moon

According to Spaceweather as reported on AOL, last night's full moon was 14 percent wider and 30 percent brighter than any full moon to come in the next 11 months, or the rest of the year. It is romantically named Wolf moon by native Americans. Each month's full moon has a different name.

Look closely to the left, you'll see a small spot which is Mars. Austin lights are visible near the bottom of the photo.



I hope to get better photos when my new camera arrives in about ten days.

Until next time, God bless.

A January Dawn

Since I'm trying to break staying awake until the wee hours of the morning by going to bed at a reasonable time, I get up early.


I cannot promise this early-to-bed-early-to-rise will last, but I may as well take advantage by recording the sunrise. :D

Until next time, God bless.

Happy Days Are Here Again

Dawn is breaking over Texas with the new moon refusing to give way.



Isn't this sky glorious?! There is a snap in the air.


Happy days are here again because I have water!! I am soooo excited. Three days without water is a real bummer. The dishwasher is running and the sink is filled with the overflow. Why we are even discussing whether or not to take a trip to Israel in April -- not that a vacation has anything to do with running water, but it is upbeat we are. Now, the question remains as to whether or not I will commit to getting on a plane. I'm upbeat, but not that upbeat and certainly am not crazy.

The plumber told me that he had 4 trucks running all day Saturday and into the night. He did not mention how many were on the road Friday, but they, too, worked until about 9 or 10 PM. Broken water lines were everywhere -- outside, inside, well houses, in walls and ceilings. Ok, you people in the North, laugh all you want. We don't know what to do when a real cold spell hits us. You should see us drive when there is ice or snow on the ground. lol

God is good and today is marvelous! Just think of all the things water does for you -- coffee, hot tea, wiping down counter tops, washing face, brushing teeth, baths -- you get the drift. It is good to do without a modern convenience every once in a while; you get an attitude adjustment.

Until next time, God bless.

Brrr - Baby, It's Cold Outside

The cold front came through our part of the country Thursday night. I saw the temperature dip to 17 degrees, but add the wind to that and I do not know just how cold it really was. Come Friday morning I had no water. In all my 28 years of living in this part of Texas, I did not drip the faucets nor did I put lights on the water pipes. I have paid dearly for that oversight in that no water from either the well or the rainwater collection entered the house.


I broke the ice in this tank three times Friday so the cattle could get water. A lone goldfish lives here -- maybe, it is lived here. It is good to keep some fish around in standing water to eat mosquito larva. :D


This is an after-Katy-close-the-barn-door-effort to unfreeze the pipes. Ultimately, I had two lights, two heaters, and a black heater tape. Unfortunately, the electric breaker kept cutting off. There were at least 35 trips to the rainwater collection area Friday and about 10 trips to the well house. Yesterday with the aid of the sun, a heater on the other side of this wall, the use of a hair dryer at the well house, 100+ feet of heavy extension cords, and about 25 trips to and fro, water could be heard moving through the pipes, but no water into the house. Why? The one pipe (maybe it's two pipes) transporting water from either the well or the rainwater broke just before going underground. It is complicated with a two source system so one can switch between the sources. In fact, we'll discover just how complicated when the plumber arrives today. :D

The good news is that I had on hand 5 1-gallon milk cartons filled with potable water. The well water broke free early yesterday, and I was able to refill from a direct well faucet connection the milk cartons and the water tank for the cattle. :D I discovered I had a carton of 12 1-liter bottles of water in the hobby room in the barn. Aha, that meant we could have coffee, hot tea, wash face, and brush teeth! More good news: the front was dry - no standing ice or snow on the ground. I got more walking exercise than usual going back and forth from the house, rainwater room (actually the feed room in the barn), and the well. I worked up an appetite -- the bad news.


This is Little Bit. She is about 2 weeks old and quickly learns a harsh lesson of cold, cold weather. She looks to be handling it well, don't ya think?

Lessons to be learned: sometimes you just do stupid things; always, always, always drip faucets; keep at least 5 1-gallon milk cartons filled with water; and at least two cartons of 1-liter bottled water on hand.

Until next time, God bless.


PS: Pray that we have water into the house by noon today. :D

Fall At The Ranch

Fall at our place isn't spectacular, but here it is.


Bur Oak - the last to leaf out and the first to drop its leaves.

I cannot remember the exact name, but it is a daisy and deer resistant. That particular butterfly loves this bush. You don't see them when walking towards the daisies, but when you walk up, hundreds will fly off


A scissortail nest.

A lone sweet william holding on.


Hummingbirds love this one. You'll see many a fight after one of them has staked out his territory over this vine.
A few gourds are not yet ready to be cut. Normally, we do not have grass by this time of year, but we've had an extra wet fall.


Cabbage in the garden which has been attacked by a green worm. I did not check the cabbage for about a week since we've had so much rain. It was a mistake because the little worm turned the leaves into lace. lol

Look at this: broccoli growing. I've never seen broccoli except in the produce department. I'm all excited.

Until next time, God bless.

Fall. . . Fall. . . Cool Weather

Mind over matter is my motto for the day. Even though it was 106 yesterday I'm thinking. . . dreaming. . . of cool, crisp mornings announcing the arrival of Fall.

Let's all put our energies together and we'll soon have cool weather. I promise! And to insure our weather will be cooler, I've changed the background. lol

Until next time, God bless.

Texas Sky

It is hard to compete with Montana's big skies, but the skies in Texas the last couple of days have been spectacular.

These are teaser clouds to make us think that maybe, just maybe a little rain might be on its way.



The one thing about puttering around in your garden as the heat of the day wanes, you notice the sunsets. This was last night's.

Until next time, God bless.

24 Hours in the Texas Hill Country

Early in the year we had a small break in the drought, but the drought is not over. At one point today our thermometer showed 109 degrees. We have not seen a drop of rain since June 11 and we only had a little over an inch in May. There is no grass and we had to get out a big roll of hay for the cows on Tuesday.

The cows were happy.

The cows are still happy.

Let me introduce the newest member of the herd: New Guy. He was born Tuesday night or sometime Wednesday. Cows usually hide the calves for a few days before bringing into the herd. He looks healthy and strong.


Isn't this a face that only a mother would love? This is the second batch of barn swallows that nest just a few feet from our bedroom door.

I tried to capture a photo of a couple of young bucks yesterday evening, but I'm not up on what to expect from my telephoto lens. All were out of focus as I am still in the learning stage. I spotted the deer when I was throwing the ball to Luc; looked to be four pointers. They could have been ten pointers and they would have been safe from us. We are not into hunting, field dressing, and all that. But, when it comes to the creepy crawly thing below, well, let's just say I have no second thoughts! I grab my weapon and go to work.

Ugh. Horrible isn't it? I walk around barefooted all the time. However, this morning I saw this dreadful centipede in the hallway. He doesn't look too good for I had smashed him with the weapon below.

The weapon is a fireplace shovel. We've lived out here since 1982 and this is the first centipede found in our house and the second centipede that I have ever seen. Last year we saw one heading for the house one night when we took the dogs out for their nightly sentry check. :D It was bigger and longer. We learned something that night. You whacked 'em full force, full body for if you bring the weapon down cutting it in half, it runs off and you can't find it. I've gotten use to scorpions; but if I had stepped on this thing with bare feet this morning, hubby would still be trying to get me to come down from the ceiling. BTW, I'm wearing shoes, no more bare feet for me until I forget about it, but I may have nightmares for a week.

To end on a happy note, here is hubby communing with Pico, the bull.

Until next time, God bless.

Skywatch

I've been away from blogging due to several interruptions in the regular schedule, specifically my oldest son is visiting, Luc had two allergy reactions this week, and a few other instances.

In trying to figure out what is causing the allergy reactions, we noticed that both dogs were eating leaves from a small tree that had grown up just inside the yard fence. Maggie never gets anything whereas Luc is another story. We decided to cut down the tree as well as some smaller starters and the grapevine. We allowed the grapevine to grow along the fence line because it looks pretty. Suffice it to say that it is hard, sweaty work in very humid temperatures.

The humidity finally came to an end yesterday evening with this sky:
I grabbed this photo from my camera's video. It is a bit grainy, I know, but loved capturing the lightening.

The night sky was a magnificent lightening show that went on for 3 or 4 hours. Finally, we got about an half-inch of rain. You would have thought we would have gotten at least 12 inches by the looks of the sky and subsequent show, but then we've learned to be grateful for every drop.

Until next time, God bless.

Skywatch

Tuesday, June 2, 2009




For those of you living in lush green areas of the country, Central Texas is an acquired taste. :D

Until next time, God bless.