2013 In Review...

In the beginning of the year the Music Man changed jobs.
Our J Bug moved out, went back to school. Then left school and got a really good job.

We had a few road trip photo adventures this year.  The shot above is me at the Double Arch in The Arches NP Moab, UT. We took the whole family and visited in the Spring. What an amazing place!

We said good bye to our sweet Hobo. We miss him everyday but are thankful for the years we had spoiling him and happy knowing that he had a good life.

We lost our Lucy to a raccoon. Hard lesson of chicken stewarding... The circle of life thing is never easy...

In the spring we also added to our flock and now have eight hens.
This summer the company I worked for was sold and my position of many years was eliminated.

We opened our hearts and home to Duke

and moved to the ranch.

We love it out here so much. Having the horses home, these views and the quiet peace that comes after a hard days work is amazing. God is SO good!

This year we also rescued Luna. She is such a sweetie who is kind and gentle. She is learning so much about manners and respect. She is such a smart girl with so much potential.

For us 2013 was a year of BIG changes, loss, new beginnings, lessons learned and beautiful additions. I am thankful for where we've been, what we've learned and the progress we've made towards our goal of becoming self sustaining.

"So be sure when you step, step with care and great tact. And remember that life's a great balancing act. And will you succeed? Yes, you will, indeed! (98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed) Kid, you'll 

move mountains."  Dr. Seuss

We are excited and looking forward to 2014 and all the adventures it has in store for us.

Sending you all wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. 

Jen

Friday Ramblings...

We had a great Christmas here at the ranch. Both kids were home and the house was full... just like I like it. It was also Dukes first Christmas with us and he had a great day.

He loves his new toys. He is so darn cute, he went and gathered them with his old toys from the basket and then laid in the middle of them all. 

My son and I went on a long trail ride Christmas Morning and yesterday both the Music Man and Monkey had to work so J bug and I drove out to Joshua Tree NP for a photo adventure. Traffic was SO very bad that it took us several hours to get there so we missed the sunset but our goal was night shots so it still worked out.

The shot above is at the "Wall of Horrors" area in the park.

This photo of "Skull Rock" was shot by my J Bug.  Do you see the skull face? Cool isn't it? I love that he likes photography like his mama. 

Linking to Sky Watch Friday

Hoping you all had a happy holiday. 
Jen

Sending wishes and some cuteness your way...

Coffee and Luke 2 a great way to start the day today. There is much to do but before I go all of us here at the ranch wanted to wish you a very Merry Christmas.

Some of these I've shared already but they are so darn cute I thought I would put them all in one post. As you can see we're all in the spirit and sending you wishes for a wonderful holiday.

Merry Christmas!
Jen

Sunset At The Ranch

Shot while doing dinner chores the other night as our most recent storm was blowing in. Each photo was shot a few minutes apart. This view is such a gift and never gets old... I get to feed and do my evening chores while soaking all this in, I love my hood!

We have a busy weekend, a couple Christmas parties and the Music Man has a show. Linking to Sky Watch Friday.

Happy Weekending Peeps!
Jen

In The Clouds

I just finished morning chores.  It's cold, wet and awesome outside. I'm drying out with a my second cup of coffee thinking it's a great day to stay inside and finish some more knitting. We're in the clouds again.... So cool. I just love days like these... Yay!

Linking to 

Hump Day Ramblings

Our flash of warm weather is gone and another cold storm is expected later tonight. Perfect timing I think as I'm looking forward to some down time on the couch with knitting needles in hand to finish up gifts.

I shot this photo just outside the Navajo Nation in Utah earlier this year and combined it with a quote that's visiting my kitchens board this week. I love the message.

Happy Hump Day from my hood to yours,
Jen

Our Weekend

Another Monday, another new week beginning and now we are just a little over a week away from Christmas. Are you ready? I'm not, but I feel good. I'm finishing up a couple things and will get into town sometime this week to hopefully bust out some big moves and finish my shopping.

This weekend...
We drove up north for a quick visit to my sisters place and had a blast as always.
The Music man turned another year older. We celebrated and ate his favorite cupcakes.
The bobcat has not been seen but I'm sure he is around somewhere not to far.

The music man played with a neighbors tractor and got the horses shelter up and it's perfect! Thanks babe.

Duke supervised.

The next couple days our weather is to be warm,  like a nice spring day so I plan on being outside for most of it before it leaves and the cold settles back in later in the week.

How was your weekend?

This Week Around The Ranch

We have a bobcat living somewhere on the property who found the chicken coop this week. The girls are good but I've had to change up their free ranging time and stay with them. No more afternoons out with the dogs... I'm pretty sure it has been stalking us for a while now but the confirmation was seeing the bob cat next to the coop at the time I usually have them out...scary!

Luna wanted in on the Christmas fun too. 

She and I went on a three hour trail ride with friends today and she did great.  We stopped for a break at this plateau that over looks my hood. 

Chancie and I got out a bit this week as well. I sure love the views over these ears...

This week I also spent some time in the garden. Pookie and I checking over the damaged plants we have from the hard freeze earlier in the week. We'll be singing songs and planting more seeds this weekend, we lost few. 

This week we've been enjoying more gorgeous sunsets as the passing storms continue to make them dramatic with their clouds weaved so beautifully into the colors.

Linking this last shot to Sky Watch Friday

Happy weekending peeps,
Jen

These cold days...

This last storm that rolled through here was really cold. Seriously cold for California where it was to cold to play outside. Being stuck in the house Jackson Brown and I had no choice but to relax on the couch while I cranked out a new beanie. Insert a ((big)) smile here :).  Life's rough... not.  I love a good excuse to be quiet and still.

The last couple of mornings I've awaken to a hard frost and everything is frozen til around 10 am, including the horses and chickens waters.  This morning I had to break up the water with a shovel as the ice was thick.  Thinking I may have to invest in a heater for their waters.

I love my new beanie and am thankful for how it covers my ears on these cold mornings. I've worn it every day since finishing it. The pattern is super simply and can be found here. If you knit I bet you could crank one out for yourself in a few hours and your ears will be thankful too.

Happy Hump Peeps!
Jen

Our Weekend

Before the rain came I shot this

I'm working on my night shots for an upcoming adventure with my Bug.  

Our families annual baking day was this weekend.  Our baking tradition was started years ago by my grandma and passed down through the generations. 

Saturday my parents, sister and her girls came over to our place and we had a blast while cranking out dozens and dozens of cookies.

I love this time of year and with the cold rainy weather it couldn't have been a more perfect day. 

Even Jack was in the spirit.

Hoping you had a nice weekend and are staying plenty warm in this cold front.

Chancie Claus

If Chancie could talk I think our conversation today would have gone something like this...

Hey Jen. Did you hear its candy cane season again?

Ohhh you know how much I love candy canes! I can taste them already.  Got any?

Seriously do you have any, I neeeeeed me some candy cane...

Thanks Jen I sure love them but not as much as I love you..

Yep, that's what I think.

Linking to 

Hello December...

Thanksgiving morning when heading out to feed I opened the front door to this... This is the view from our front porch. What a gorgeous gift!

This one was taken 5 minutes later. Aren't the colors amazing?! I sure love my hood...

All the Fall decor is cleaned up and packed away til next year. The music man pulled out our Christmas goodies and I've begun to decorate. The last few years I have greatly reduced how much I put out, in keeping with " keeping it simple" so will this year be even less...maybe?

I've put up what we have out but the house feels like it needs a little more so I'll be going back to visit the holiday boxes, hopefully later today.

I picked up a belly bug yesterday afternoon and whoa...Not good.  It's been a long time since I've been sick, thankfully. I am feeling better today but taking it easy... So i'll leave you with some more pics from the last couple days here at the ranch.

Linking to Our World Tuesday