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.

 



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.

Longer, Lighter, Greener

February came and went.

Not much rain and very little snow.

March has arrived and brings with it warmer days, longer days and green.

 

The fields on the farm are waking up, greening up!

Field work is underway.

Let's hope March brings some spring showers as we really need the rain!

 

We sprung forward last weekend.

Longer days mean more walks!

Extra evening light means more time outdoors!

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) 

Pastel Sky

 

I was able to enjoy this pastel evening sky on my drive home from work the other evening.

The colors were soft, yet vibrant and the evening light was perfect!

 

 

You never know what beauty awaits you on a "gravel road" drive!



Blooms Abound

Spring is blooming all around us.

These lovelies were blooming last week on the trees at the office.

The tree is a "flowering something or other," but I can't seem to remember its name at the moment.

 

“She turned to the sunlight
    And shook her yellow head,
And whispered to her neighbor:
    "Winter is dead.”

~ A.A. Milne ~
       

Crazy Cloud Formation

Mother Nature seems to be a bit unstable or unsettled, however you want to look at it.

We have had some crazy weather this week!

Snow, Wind, Rain, Snow, Sleet, Ice, Brief Sun, Freezing temps!

 

I just happened to see this crazy cloud formation on my way out to do chores the other evening!

You can just see a touch of green starting to appear in the hay field as well.

 

Spring is trying to make an appearance!

 

Happy Happy Spring

Spring has officially sprung!

This little beauty is blooming in the planter at work.

It is the only one open at this point and it opened just in time to welcome spring.

I don't have any bulbs that bloom at home, so I enjoy the ones at work.

 

Bloom'in Flowers

The iris are blooming!

They seem late this year!

 

 And so are the wild roses!

 A fitting way to end the month of May...

with bloom'in flowers!

The Hills are Alive

With bright yellow desert flowers!

**Update: The pretty yellow desert flowers are called Arrowleaf Balsam Root.

The top of the hill that leads into our valley is absolutely covered with these yellow desert flowers right now.

They tend to bloom yearly, but some years there are none at all.

This year is the largest bloom I have ever seen in my twelve years of living here!

 

I played around and did some photo editing on the photo above.

I'm kinda liking the results!

The wave of yellow color seems to go on forever.

All of that bright yellow adds depth to our normally boring, brown landscape.



Rain Rain

Stormy skies brought some much needed rain to our area on Thursday.

It rained off and on most of the day.

We will take anything we can get at this point.

The snow pack was low this winter.

The spring melt and run off was brief.

The river, creeks and streams are already low.

So Thursdays rain was a nice event!

The photos below were all taken on Thursday evening on my way home.

Looking west from the top of the hill that leads to our valley.

Looking north as you come around the first sharp turn in the valley.

Looking south over the first set of alfalfa fields in the valley.

Looking west again. The light and the clouds were beautiful!

Looking east over a neighbors field.

Every direction I looked provided a beautiful shot!

The only problem with the rain...it makes the weeds grow!

I won't complain though.

I'll just pull them and carry on! 

Up Up and Away

Last weekend was a busy one around these parts!

I worked a fundraiser event all weekend with one of my 4-H leaders and her group.

It was a concession stand fundraiser for the local high school rodeo and we ran a full service kitchen for two days!

The leader fell and broke her leg on Saturday morning, so I became the lead person for the event!

Let's just say that I could now run a small Bistro or restaurant and do just fine!

I had wonderful volunteers that stepped up to help with all of the extra stuff and the 4-H kids were super troopers all weekend long!

I put in 27 hours of overtime in two days!

I felt like the "energizer bunny" for days!

Now I feel like a sloth!

 

Being the lead person in charge for the weekend also made me the lead runner for supplies!

Our business was so brisk that we kept selling out of items like they were going out of style!

Six trips to Walmart in one day will make you a crazy person!

 

The early morning shopping trips were the nicest.

Our town hosted a hot air balloon festival last weekend and they launched the balloons early in the morning.

I was able to take photos, both mornings, on those trips to Wally World!

(that's what we call it around these parts!)

 

The mornings were beautiful with wispy cloud filled, blue skies.

 

I added some boarder effects to make the photos pop a bit.

The balloons looked stunning against the blue sky!

It was so calm and quiet that you could hear the burners as the balloon pilots navigated the skies!

 

These shots make me think of the song, "Up Up and Away."

 

"Would you like to ride in my beautiful balloon
Would you like to ride in my beautiful balloon
We could float among the stars together, you and I
For we can fly we can fly
Up, up and away
My beautiful, my beautiful balloon"

 

Have a wonderful weekend!

 

Whipped Topping Clouds

 

I like it when I forget that I have taken photos and then go to upload something else, only to find a nice surprise waiting for me.

I'm weird like that.

 

The evening I took these shots, I was doing some dishes at the sink and looked out the kitchen window and thought the cloud formation looked pretty.

These are the mountains that are directly to the east of us and our home faces them.

I stepped out to the front porch and took a few shots.

The evening light was fading, which made it hard to tell what I had on the screen.

 

I like the contrast in colors from the green field to the blue of the evening sky.

 

This shot is SOOC

(straight out of the camera shot)

 

I played around with this one a bit to give it some "umphf."

 

The clouds looked like fluffy whipped topping!

I See Fields of Green

As I dropped into the valley yesterday evening, I noticed that the fields are finally turning a pretty shade of green. I have been able to see the green in the fields the last few weeks, but it finally just popped with a vibrant shade in the last few days!

 

Even though there were tragic events unfolding across the county, I chose to focus on the beauty in front of me. I can't let my mind go to those dark places.

It is much to heartbreaking at times!

 

It really was a beautiful evening!

 

Speckled with White

Our weather was beautiful last week!

We got a tad spoiled!

 

A storm blew in on Sunday!

Horrid wind!

Pelting rain!

Power outage!

 

Monday morning dawned windy and cold!

And it snowed over night!

 

The mountains around us were speckled with white!

It only reached 42 degrees for a high on Monday!

 

 

 

Today, Wednesday, it is supposed to reach 69 degrees!

What a difference a few days makes! 

Spring Stroll

Stroll sounds so much better than walk, don't you think?

A stroll is leisurely and relaxed.

A stroll allows one to just be with no destination in mind.

That's just what I did yesterday when I needed a little break from work.

I took a stroll around the office complex.

Spring was showing her colors nicely.

The trees are budding and blooming.

Pink spring blossoms are popping out everywhere!

The birds were busy as well, but they wouldn't hold still long enough for me to get a photo.

"But the beauty is in the walking - - we are betrayed by destinations." ~ Gwyn Thomas

Sprinter

"Sprinter"

Is simply a mix of spring and winter.

It is the "norm" around here now and usually right up through May.

 

Here's hoping that April will bring many spring showers our way!

 

Through the Willow

This photo was taken from the deck of my parents home on Sunday evening.

Looking west through the willow tree in the their yard.

We celebrated St. Patty's Day with my folks and our son, who just happened to be between shifts at work, so he was able to join us.

Mom cooked a 7 pound corned beef brisket and 5 pounds of cabbage.

I think cooking that much food was her way of getting us to come over for dinner.

It worked!

 

 

With the recent time change the sun sets later now, so I have to be on my toes to catch a good one.

Spring feels like it is "just around the corner."

Green is springing up in the fields and desert.

Spring calves are being born. On my daily drive to and from work, I notice more and more calves popping up on the range or in the fields where they are pastured.

I have a friend who has goats that are kidding right now.

Baby goats are adorable!

The weather is bouncing from chilly to warm during the day.

The nights are still freezing!

Tomorrow, March 20th is the first day of Spring.

Yes, spring is creeping ever closer each day! 

Blowing Sideways

Yesterday, March 5, was a beautiful day.

The temp was in the 60's and breezy.

Last night the wind really picked up!

During the night I could hear it howling and banging things around outside!

This morning we woke up to this!

Snow!

Blowing snow!

Blowing sideways snow!

40 to 50 mph gusts!

So I'm home as I refuse to drive in to work in weather like this!

Call me what you will...chicken, wimp, pansy!

I call it cautious, prudent, safe!

If I can't see the road, then I sure as heck know others can't see me on it!

There is a house in this photo...but you can't see it!

 Looking out my kitchen window. Blowing snow is sticking to the screen.

 Looking toward the chicken coop.

You really can't tell from the photo, but the wind is whipping the snow all around!

The weather report is calling for it to be like this most of the day!

Unless something changes, I think a book and blanket are calling my name!

I Think, I Think

Spring has sprung...

Even though the temps still hover in the chilly 50's for daytime highs and the night time temps are still dipping way into the low 20's at times! None the less, Spring is trying to make an appearance.

Buds on the trees outside my office.

The alfalfa fields are beginning to show signs of life...a faint green tint in the fields means the plants are starting to wake up.

The mountains in the distance are still snow capped, a subtle reminder that snow in these parts can fall clear into June!

A new main-line to deliver water to the fields is going in on the farm.

I'm not on the farm during the day, so nobody has been there to document the process.

Let's just say that it has involved a lot of trenching (they even cut the phone/internet line to our house on Monday), digging, welding, laying of pipe and more dirt work!

On a side note...our laptop was not fixable. It was the only computer in the house that I was able to upload photos with. For now, I will upload any photos from my work computer during lunch and also begin the search for a new laptop.

Happy Friday!

Have a Wonderful Weekend!