How We Spent the Snowy Weekend

 We spent a few days winterizing in anticipation of the winter storm that has been blanketing so much of the country. We were kind of on the western edge of it according to the weather maps.

DH built a couple of frames to cover our HVAC units. When it snows, the snow and ice piles up on top and can freeze up the system and we don't want to burn out the motors.

We got those put in place

Heat lamps in the well house, shop, and tack room (because there's a bathroom and sink in there)

Freeze misers on the faucets

The chickens have feed and water in their insulated coop. Spoiled chooks.

Our high was 12 on Saturday and they may have ventured out, but I didn't see them.

The horses came up looking for breakfast

They get frisky when it snows and will be playing in it after their feed buckets are empty

Our injured horse is still being confined

Normal people would follow suit of the chickens in such weather, but we never claimed to be normal. This man doesn't have an idle bone in his body...retired or not. After a warm bowl of Posole and corn bread muffins at 11, we spent 4 hours burning slash piles 

I don't even know how many there are...maybe 15 or so, I lost count but we just burned 4 on Saturday. 

We have to let them burn down and then walk around and toss outlying stumps, logs, and debris into the center so we get a complete burn.

We'll see what the weather does overnight, but if there's no wind, we'll tackle more tomorrow with our trusty supervisor in tow.

Snowy trails

When we came home, I made a big pot of stew since we'll be away from the house and will want something warm when we come in. While that was simmering, I wrote this post, watched a little UFC, and tried not to fall asleep.

Showers and our heads hit our pillows pretty early. That's about as wild as it gets around here on a Saturday night. We ought to sleep really well tonight! 

Sunday update: We ended up getting 5" overnight and it's snowing again this morning, but we didn't have a ton of ice with this storm and we never lost electricity. We're at the end of the line so restoration takes a while when we do.

And we're on slash pile duty and behind the shovel again today

DH started them first thing in the morning and then came back to pick me up at 8. We came back in at 4 to eat and tend to chores at the barn. It's a ton of work for 2 old people.

So many areas were hit harder. We're just grateful for the moisture and honestly, it's just beautiful here when it snows.

We've got a good fireplace and access to more wood than we could ever burn and a gas stove and grill so we got along just fine. You can see the house way off in the distance.

Skeet's prayers for more snow were answered.

I'm just praying I can lift my arms tomorrow. 😂

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!

A Peek into Last Week

 Lots of odds and ends taking place around here. Nothing exciting, just snippets of  our days. We're definitely ready for cooler weather. 106° is brutal for livestock, the rancher, and his old wife. The older we get, the less heat tolerant we become so that means I'm behind the mower by 6 a.m. 

We have a nice, big yard, and I water it religiously in order to keep it that way and to keep the big shade trees healthy, but I also keep up the bunkhouse yard and mow out by the barn and everything outside the yards around the firepit and behind the house out to the chicken coop. When it rains, I spend a good 10 hours a week pushing the mower and no, we don't have a riding mower. Alas, it hasn't been raining and we are in the midst of a drought. 

We had our first rain since last fall come through last Sunday though and it was a doozy. We only got a tenth here at headquarters, but the south-east part of the ranch got a gully washer with 2.3". It completely washed out the road, but filled dirt tanks that had been completely dry. Huge blessing! Hang on babies, green grass is on the way!

Just north-east of the house, in Red Tip, the storm blew over the well house and the windmill tower ended up in the storage tank

So another project gets added to the list. LOL. 

We burned the old dump last week and DH is working on digging a new dump as time allows

And I'm rounding up things to break in the new dump. Yay! This is 38 years worth of DH's bookkeeping. He walked in when I pulled this bin out to clean under the bed and said, "We can toss those". Happy, happy, joy, joy. I promise we are not hoarders and I don't know why we felt the need to keep these, but it's time to let them go.

I'm continuing my clean out the deep freeze and pantry mission too so Oompa Loompa Bread was baked at 4:00 one morning in order to use up a can of pumpkin and beat the heat

The kids are coming soon so more cranberry bread will be made to use up more of the cranberries in the deep freeze. And I did sneak into my sewing room to start a new project...it takes a while to press 42 fat quarters

But when DH trailers out at 3:30 in the morning to help another ranch brand, I'm making good use of my time. Plus it's the only time of the day I'm willing to hang around a hot iron during this heat.😉

Lazy HOT Days of Summer

 Who coined the phrase 'lazy days of summer'? We don't get many of those around here. Something's always needing to be mowed

Or cleaned out

Or fixed

Or moved

Or hauled

Our shovels don't get a whole lotta downtime. 😉

But I'm really not complaining because I'm grateful that we are able to do whatever needs doing. Even if that means we're dog tired at the end of the day. Which these days, we definitely are. The only explanation I have is that we're not 30...or 40...or 50 anymore. And it's SO cotton-pickin HOT!

And honestly, I think our lifestyle is pretty laid back. We're always busy, but I don't feel like we're in the rat race. It's been a record setting summer for heat and we're hoping the monsoon isn't going to completely bypass us this year. I think we're up to 2.5" for the year so far here at headquarters. That's pretty rough when you're in agriculture, but I always say we're one day closer to the next big rain.

The baby guineas are growing - 6 hatched and they are growing fast. They can often be found wherever the sprinkler is running, but they are always on the go, making them hard to photograph.

Our old broken down backhoe and old broken down little red tractor were hauled off last week. DH spent more time fixing them than using them.

And he's been spending a lot of time with his new toy

I told him he's spoiled now - this one has a radio and an air-conditioner! He's walking in high cotton now! Makes things a little more bearable while we eagerly await the next big rain.

Until then, we'll just soak up the abundant blessings that have been bestowed upon us...