Meet the Curlews

Meet the Curlew family! 

They paid us a visit in late May.

(Yes, this post has been sitting in my drafts since then, forgotten, until today)

My daughter and I heard a strange sound coming from outside, so we got up and opened the door to see what is was.

At first I saw nothing and walked to the edge of the patio to further investigate.

That's when I saw these two little birds.

They were making a racket and putting up quite the fuss.

The reason for all the noise...they had three little babies!

They were moving them from the hay field by our house to another location.

The move and noise went on for over an hour!

And then...they were gone.

They were fascinating and fun to watch.

None of the shots of the babies turned out as they blended in with their surroundings.

They have very good camouflage. 

For more information on Curlews you can go here.

Summer Evening Sky

My job keeps me very busy during the summer!

I have been on the "run" for what feels like weeks now!

Life on the farm is busy as well with second cutting under way!

 

Even though things are busy, busy, busy, I still manage to find quiet moments to unwind.

I took this shot last week while out walking our daughter's dog.

The entire sky looked like someone had taken a paint brush to it!

I didn't have my camera, so took the shot with my, "old, out of date, not a smart phone" phone.

I was surprised that the photo I took actually captured what the evening sky looked like!

 

 

"Painted Evening Nevada Sky"

Sing, Sing a Song

Last week, crickets decided to invade visit my office.

I kept finding them crawling across my floor. 

Good thing I'm not afraid of crickets. 

At one point, one started to "chirp" and when I turned around, I spotted him sitting on top of a poster board that I have in my office.

As if on cue, he really started to sing...loudly!

I'm pretty sure he was serenading me!

And his song was good enough to attract another cricket too!

After I took the video, the words to an old Carpenters song popped into my head.

And I proceeded to hum it for the rest of the afternoon.

Sing, sing a song 
Sing out loud 
Sing out strong 
Sing of good things not bad 
Sing of happy not sad 

(*) Sing, sing a song 
Make it simple to last 
Your whole life long 
Don't worry that it's not 
Good enough for anyone 
Else to hear 
Just sing, sing a song 

La la la la la 
La la la la la la... 

So...Sing, sing a song and don't worry if it's not good enough for anyone else to hear,

Just sing, sing a song! 

4th of July and Pie

The 4th of July dawned bright, clear and hot!

We headed to town early to beat the heat.

We weren't the only ones getting an early start on the day.

It was cattle moving day in the valley.

 My daughter and I spent the day doing some fun things.

We went to the local "4th of July in the Park" event.

She and I both got henna tattoos.

I am now sporting a seahorse and jelly fish on my leg.

Some friends joined us as well.

We walked around the park, checked out the various vendors and enjoyed snow cones.

Then it was back to my parents place for the rest of the day.

Both kids joined us for the afternoon of bbq'ing and visiting.

About mid-afternoon we were informed that a strong thunderstorm system was moving into the area.

It hit about the time we started the grill.

The wind was wicked!

It hailed and rained! 

 It rained sideways!

It rained mud! 

 After dinner, which was very good even if it did take a tad longer to cook than usual, it was time to celebrate a few birthdays.

My husband turns 46 on Sunday.

Mom made him a lemon pie, which is his favorite.

Our son turns 27 on the 14th. He will get his favorite dessert when we get together for his day.

 And yesterday was my Birthday.

I turned...

 I'm a 4th of July baby.

A firecracker girl.

When I was little, I thought all of those fireworks were just for me.

I'm not a cake person per say, so mom made me and apple pie and homemade vanilla ice cream which are my favs! 

 It was an enjoyable day with good friends, family and food!

The day ended with a beautiful sunset.

There was a break between thunderstorms and the sky put on quite a show.

The sunset was full of color!

 Blazing color filled the evening sky!

As the evening progressed, we enjoyed a light show put on by mother nature!

We didn't stay in town to watch the fireworks display, instead, we headed back to the farm

and enjoyed a quiet evening and an awesome lighting display that went on for hours!

I hope everyone had a Happy 4th of July!

When Lightning Strikes

Fire follows!

We had a dry thunder and lightning storm move through our valley late yesterday evening.

This fire started as a result of a lighting strike to the range on the west side of our valley.

I took this photo about an hour after the fire started.

For more night shots of the fire, please visit my neighbor's blog, here.

She took some night shots of the fire and also has an update on what it's doing today.

 

 Things were still very smoky when I left for work this morning!

 Do you see that small group of trees in the upper left there...

That is where we use to live when we first moved to this valley.

(We live across the valley now, on the east side.)

The fire is only about five miles away from that home!

In 1997 (we moved to the valley in 2000), a fire burned the entire range you see pictured, known as the Slumbering Hills range, and it burned right up to that house/trees in the photo!

The family that lived there at the time were trapped there with several firefighters!

Everyone was okay, but the backs of the trees on the west side of the house were scorched and when we moved there in 2000, I couldn't figure out what had happened, until someone told me the story!

Needless to say, the entire time we lived there, I was always on "fire" watch during the summer season!

The weather forecast is calling for continued triple digits and dry thunderstorms for the rest of this week and into the weekend!

We are going to have to be ever watchful for strikes and smoke!

Because where there is smoke...fire follows!

The land is dry and a tender-box waiting to go up! 

Hot Summer Sky

We have been hit with triple digit temperatures that started last Friday!

Todays forecast is calling for 107!

It's DAMN HOT!

It's a stifling, take your breath away kind of heat!

 I know it's hot pretty much everyplace in the western states at the moment.

Usually we get triple digit temps closer to the end of July and into August.

Just seems kind of early in the season to be this hot.

 

The heat takes its toll on everything!

The critters, the land, the people!

Even the sky changes with such high temperatures!

 

Earlier last week, the sky looked like a welcoming, cloud filled summer sky.

This shot was taken during the early evening last Wednesday and it was 86 degrees.

 This morning, the sky looked down right HOT!

This shot was taken at 8 a.m., and it was already 85 degrees!

 The cows were heading to water early this morning!

Guess it's time to "shade up" and ride this heat wave out!

Lemon-Lime Basil Chicken

This recipe is so simple and full of flavor.

 

I made it up on Sunday when I had some chicken breasts that needed to be cooked, lemons/limes that had to be used and fresh basil from a new plant that I had just purchased.

I often "make up" meals and find the creativity of doing so to be one of the joys of cooking!

 

I served the chicken with stuffing (homemade) and sautéed maple, peppered carrots.

 

 

 

Lemon-Lime Basil Chicken

 

4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 large lemons

2 limes if they are large or 3 smaller ones

4 to 6 garlic cloves

A handful of fresh basil

salt and pepper

olive oil

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 13 x 9 pan with a bit of cooking spray. (I use canola oil spray)

Wash lemons and limes and slice into rounds.

Lay the rounds across the bottom of the pan, alternating as you go. (slice of lemon, slice of lime, etc.)

Salt and pepper both sides of the chicken breasts.

Lay the chicken breasts on top of the lemon and lime slices.

Peel the garlic, crush a bit with the flat blade of a knife and toss in with the chicken.

Wash basil leaves, pat dry and place in the pan with the chicken.

Drizzle all with a good amount of olive oil. (use good quality olive oil!)

Place pan in the oven and bake for 45 to 60 minutes, depending on the size/thickness of the chicken breasts.

About half way through the cooking time, open oven, pull out pan and baste the chicken with the juices in the pan.

The chicken will be golden in color and the juices will run clear when done.

This chicken dish is full of summer flavor and is so easy to prepare!

Enjoy!

 



A Super Moon to See

I was on the computer yesterday evening when I suddenly remembered about the Super Moon. I grabbed my old camera and headed outside. Sure enough, the moon was just starting to rise above the mountain range directly in front of our house. I was using my old Kodak camera, as my little point and shoot will not capture moon shots at all. My older Kodak (I've had it since 2004) is on its last legs. I was surprised at how well it did last night when I took these shots. Moon shots are hard to capture. I don't have a tripod, so I have to try and control the camera shake to avoid getting blurry photos. These shots are SOC (straight out of the camera shots). It really wasn't that dark yet when I took these shots, but using the flash darkened the background and seemed to make the moon pop! These shots were all taken within a few seconds of each other. Last nights moon was a big, bright, pretty sight to see! 

Did you see the Super Moon?