April Snow

Friday morning the mountain was white and on Saturday morning the snow had moved down to us

I love the snow, but then again, I don't live where it hangs around for 4 or 5 months.

We've always had to get out in it because you can't manage a ranch from inside. There was always ice to break (this was 2015 - on DH's birthday)

And livestock to feed

Ranching in the desert, you're always thankful for any moisture and  since we no longer have 128,000 acres to traverse and tend to, we were able to soak in the magic of snow in the mountains...even if the mountains are hidden at the moment.

I put on a pot of Hambuger Vegetable Soup   

                                 

And Skeet and I ventured out to chore

Checked in on the baby chicks...they are growing so fast. DH had installed a little roost for them.

While he worked in the shop on the hay fork he's building

And I puttered in my sewing room 

And then I took some time to read the Quiltfolk issue on New Mexico. I bought it for myself in January and hadn't even peeked at it until now

It was a good day to do that. We ended up with 8"

And then we ventured back out to tend to evening chores...someone was very eager to do so...he adores the snow

It was a very good day!

What's Keeping Us Busy

 A few weeks ago the skid steer had a little tussle with the wind

When DH stepped out, the wind caught the door, and slammed it into some pipe. Thankfully, our boy or DH were not hurt, but as you can see from that photo, the glass just shattered into a million pieces.

A new windshield was ordered and we drove 2 1/2 hours south to pick it up when it arrived. Skeet is always on hand to inspect any new packages.

I was surprised at how many parts there were and all those pieces of glass had to be cleaned out of everything.

I helped DH put everything back together the next afternoon

And we were soon back in business.

And on to the next project

When we moved here 7 months ago, we put up a temporary electric fence around headquarters and now we're beginning to build a permanent fence.

Building all the H braces takes time

And it'll be a while before we'll be ready to string the wire

But we're in no hurry

It's very rewarding to work together and the view's pretty hard to beat too

 

Don't Make Me Go to Town

 Yesterday was a town day. DH and I both had so much to do that we took separate rigs and met up for lunch. Divide and conquer was the theme of the day.

It was horribly windy, but we both crossed everything off of our lists. We're gearing up for a weather week. Mother nature is going to give us quite the variety this week.

Around here, they close roads when the wind gets ferocious due to lack of visibility with all the dirt in the air so then you worry about being able to get home.

I do not enjoy running errands. It's a fact of life and everyone has to do it, but we are pretty remote so running to town for a gallon of milk isn't really feasible. 

 So, when I DO go, the list is long and it takes the entire day. I try to do a grocery store pick up for most things and that helps, but its hard to gauge the time slot and I still go in to pick out my produce and meat.

Yesterday's stops included 2 grocery stores, Sam's, the post office, the health insurance company, the bank, the CPA, Walgreens, Hobby Lobby (to return some elastic), Home Depot, a furniture store (to order a new bed for the guest room), a 2nd furniture store (to look for a lamp),

and the quilt shop. Oh, and lunch with DH... 🥰 the best part of the day along with coming home.

I hadn't been in the quilt shop in over a year, but I had a gift certificate that a friend had given me when I shared some fabric with her. Such a thoughtful and generous gift from a thoughtful and generous friend. I didn't need anything, but it was about to expire. 

When you factor in the 2 hour driving time (to town and back), all those stops, unloading the pickup,  and putting everything away, town days just wear me out. 

"Don't make me go to town" is a very popular tagline in our home. Years ago, my mom found a book with that title and sent it to me.  I didn't write it, but that would be the title of my autobiography, if I wrote one. 😂