Sprouting, Storming, Snow

 

 

Spring in Nevada is a guessing game.

One minute it can be nice, warm and calm,

the next, storming and unsettled.

Spring brings green and muted color to an otherwise brown landscape.

 



Changes

I used to blog all the time.

I used to love jotting down my thoughts and sharing my photos.

It was never really for anybody but me.

Time has become regimented in many ways.

It is mostly work that takes up my days.

Changes in my life have left little time for fun.

 I am often too exhausted to put two thoughts together.

I will, when I can, document the changes taking place in my life.

A puppy has gown into a dog and turned a year old.

My dad has had set-back after set-back after his stroke.

Babies are growing up quickly and turning six months old.

Life moves at a pace I often don't enjoy, but it moves on none the less.

Sometimes, when we least expect, we are stopped in our tracks and reminded to take it all in, even for just a snap-shot in time.

 

 

 



Three Dogs

A quiet moment where all three dogs decided to kick back together.

The black dog in the back of the photo is Jake.

Jake is the father to JJ.

I was dog sitting Jake this past weekend for my daughter.

JJ was so happy to have his papa around!

 

 Jake on the other hand was not overly impressed with the antics of his son, but he tolerated all of his puppy exuberance.

 

JJ really liked taking his papa for a walk!

Mammatus Clouds

We've had thunderstorms!

A lot of them during this month of July, which is unusual.

 

These clouds hung low over the valley a few weeks ago.

It dumped rain on us shortly after I took these shots!

 

The storms have delayed haying and just about everyone has had their hay rained on!

 

New Addition

This is J.J.

He is a border collie/ Aussie Cross.

His momma is a purebred show/therapy dog.

His daddy belongs to my daughters' boyfriend.

 

 

JJ joined the family three weeks ago.

He is my dog and will become my therapy dog if all goes well!

 He's precious

and spoiled

and busy, busy, busy!



Purple Mountains Majesty

Looking east from our home in the valley after a brief storm passed through.

 

It's Official

Spring has sprung!

 

The flowers at the office are blooming

 and the trees have popped their colorful blossoms!

There is a bee working the tree in this photo, but he is rather hard to see.

What Do You see

 

Sometimes you see interesting things in the clouds!

 

What do you see

An eagle or trout

or perhaps

just a cloud

 

 



Shadow or Not

Nevada does not have groundhogs, but we do have marmots.

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow today which supposedly means six more weeks of winter!

I'm pretty sure his Nevada counterpart DIDN'T see his shadow today, which means...

Wait, we really haven't had much of a winter here!

Cold...Yes!

Rain/Snow...Not so much!

Either way, shadow or not, spring is only 46 days away!

 

Happy Groundhog Day!

(I took this photo way back in 2008 during a photography outing) 

Ever Get the Feeling

Your being watched...

 

They know who the "sucker" is in this house!

If we look cute or sad

We will get a tasty treat!

Un-Becoming Everything

Winters Moon

A winter moon rises over the farm.

All is quiet except for the howling of they coyotes in the distance.

 The equipment awaits warmer days!

Cockadoodledoo...

Going South...Going North

Hubby and I headed south to Arizona before Thanksgiving.

We had planned to go anyway, but got a call that hubby's father was in the hospital.

We spent nine days in AZ before heading home.

It wasn't the visit we had planned, but everything is okay for now.

 

The trip is long and we usually stop a few times a long the way.

One of my favorite stops is in Tonopah, NV at the Mizpah Hotel.

The hotel is old and has a lot of history behind it.

For years it was closed and in a sad state of disrepair!

 

Several years back it was purchased by the Cline Family and lovingly restored to its former glory!

It's beautiful!

You can find a bit more information here on the hotel.

 

We stopped twice on this trip, once going down and then again coming back.

On the trip down the hotel was decorated for Thanksgiving.

On the trip back it was decked out for Christmas!

 

I took a few minutes to snap a few pictures of some of the Christmas décor.

It was pretty and provided a bit of relaxation before the rest of the trip home.

 

  See that window...

It is an original from the 1800's! It was brought over from Italy!

When the restoration was done, a few of the original windows had to be replaced and they too came from the same town in Italy that the originals came from!

The photo does not do them justice.

They are absolutely beautiful!

 

The sun was setting at one point on the way home and the landscape was pretty.

I snapped this photo through the window as we were zipping along the isolated, empty road home!

It was good to get back home!



Cold and Snow

It's cold!

It's snowing! Nothing major, but still snowing!

Our high today will only be 38 degrees!

Burrrrr!!!!

 

Took this photo from my kitchen window.

I was too cold and lazy to walk outside!

I think it will be a good day to do some baking.



Veterans Day

Fall Storm

The first fall storm rolled through our valley yesterday.

The temperature really dropped and it rained all day!

When the clouds lifted off the range in the late afternoon, I could see snow!

 

Woke up this morning to bright blue sky, snow on the range and it was down right cold!

I will miss the 70 degree days we had been having!



Guess What

Chickens butt...that's what!

 

This was a favorite saying of my husbands grandmother.

I couldn't resist taking this photo of a very fluffy butt as those words popped into my head the other day!

 

 Also, fluffy butts produce lovely eggs!

These flowers are the last of the summer flowers that are sitting on the porch steps.

They have made it through one hard frost, but still have a pop of color left in them!

The Last of Hay Season

 

As I walked the other evening, I realized as I looked out over this field of hay that another hay season has come to an end.

These are the last bales of 4th crop waiting to go in the stack.

 

 The contrast of the sky and field caught my eye.

We have had some pretty evening skies lately.

The farm was quiet as I walked along the road.

 The only sound was the panting of the dog as we stopped to watch the sun set beyond the Slumbering Hills.

 

These three photos were taken within 10 minutes of each other, looking south and then west in our valley. Our Nevada sky can truly put on a show at times!



Phil Figures It Out

Phil is my Australorp rooster.

He has been separated from the "girls" for several months now.

Over the weekend, he figured out how to get in with them.

I managed to wrangle him out of the coop once, but within a day, he was right back with them!

 

 

 

He wins for now!

He seems rather pleased with himself!