Our Weekend In Photos

Our weekend started off with a spa day here at the ranch. Debra with Equine Massage came out and showed me some great moves to add to massages that I give him . Oh my gosh he was so happy and enjoyed his time with her very much. Thank you for working with us. Connecting and serving these amazing animals is a gift for all of us...Seeing them melt like hot butter in your hands was incredible! Thanks again.

Everyone spent time with our farrier J and Ms. Punkin Pie had her first trim since coming to live with us. She did wonderful and has happy feet.

I nursed a sick hen who spent three days in my bathroom with an impacted crop. I was able to get it almost all emptied but am afraid she has quite a few small pebbles in there and it may be one of those that is causing the blockage. She is eating, drinking and back in the coop today. I'm continuing to keep an eye on her and she's also getting massages several times a day.

 Saturday I spent some time at a National Cross Country event that was

hosted locally. These animals are incredible athletes and I am always in aw when I get to see them race. The power, beauty and disciple to jump these obstacles really is amazing.

I spent a lot of this weekend weeding like a mad woman. The rain that came a few weeks ago has weeds and wild flowers growing like crazy here. I have to keep the area's clear where the animals are as well as around the house and pathways.... I want to be able to see any snake before it sees me. Not to mention the weed abatement for fire safety... I do need to hurry up and get some goats!

And finally we spent time with friends while sipping on a some red wine.

They say we have a really good chance at more rain this week which will be great. We are still severely behind and dry here in the state. Our weather has been so weird that bud break in the vineyards came strangely early and I'm not sure what it means to this years crops. Time will tell us.

How was your weekend?

Not All Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend...

Happy Hump Day peeps! How is your week so far? Mine... Busy but good.

Yesterday I danced with the vacuum cleaner, worked in the garden and harvested some sweet peas in addition to regular ranch chores. Monday I rocked the laundry basket and cleaned up after the weekend.... And killed a gigantic Diamondback Rattle snake!

Oh my gosh it was so scary and the music man was gone. I had no choice but to kill it. It was really close to the house and I actually heard the rattling from inside the kitchen! It was getting ready to strike Honey our mini schnauzer I think?  Not totally sure though because it had something in it's belly already, maybe a gopher? It was coiled up and rattling really loudly. Honey was only a couple feet from it and the girls were walking around close by.

Once I grabbed Honey bun and put her in the house the snake quieted down but the girls were eating grass almost on top of it. What the heck??? Didn't they care it was there? I called them, shook their scratch box and thankfully they came running and I was able to put them away. Do you think it got quiet because it was going to strike out at them? Nature is amazing.

Annie grab your gun! This thing was so big there was no way I was going after it with a shovel. It was three plus feet long, fat and had nine thick rattles. The photo above is without it's head, yuck. This was by far the biggest snake I've seen and had to deal with... Yikes!

I thought the 12 gauge was to big so I grabbed a pressurized pellet riffle. It took several shots and wasn't good. I had to get uncomfortably close to have the power I needed and it was to close for safety so we'll be loading up on 22 shells... I think it will be better and allow a nice cushion between me and their striking distance.

I am always amazed at how environments can change behavior. A few years ago when we left the city and moved out to the country I was petrified of bugs and seriously would have had a heart attack if I had to deal with a snake. These days I can handle the bugs, spiders and good snakes no problem. If you have a rattle or a red hour glass on your belly you have to go. Period. You're deadly and completely freak me out.

Snake season is now underway here and about a month early. Sadly they say it's going to be a really bad year for them due to our weather.   Living remotely is all about being prepared isn't it. I am learning so much even since moving to the ranch last summer.  I have already been weeding and trimming bushes that are in areas the animals and we are in. I have flat head shovels in all the work areas and porches.  Keeping the area clear is vital and I want to be able to see whats there before it seems me.

Not all diamonds are good are they? The title of this post makes me think of the dvd Blood Diamond. I loved that movie... Well those and Diamondback rattle snakes are a couple kinds of diamonds I can definitely live without.

Do you have snakes in your hood? If so I would love to hear any tips you can share with me?

(Pictures taken by monkey

Linking up with Madge today over at 

Feeling Joyful...

I love my life.  Sometimes I can't believe how blessed I am. I think this way often and give thanks daily but this weekend I found myself amazed and beyond grateful at how full of joy my life is.

Friday night the music man had a show where his band Hemispheres opened up for Led Zepagain, (one of largest and oldest tribute bands on the planet). I sure love seeing him do his thing on stage.  Look at all those instruments he plays. Wowzers right!  His band mates are awesome and crazy talents too and it's always super fun to see them rock the stage.

I would pass the heck out if I had to stand up in front of all those people and talk let alone sing but that's the difference between us.  He is so talented and the joy is palpable when he is up there, he has so much fun and I love seeing that.

This is Swan the singer of Led Zepagain. This was the first time I've got to see and shoot this band and WOW is all I can say. Holy Cow the way this man emotes and channels Robert Plant is mind blowing.  An incredible talent who is also humble and kind. It was such a pleasure to meet and photograph him.

The rest of the weekend we worked around the ranch.  We also got to spend some time with Justin and our best buddies.

I love living in the country, it's where I thrive. Serving our animals is where my Joy is but I also love that I'm able to spend time in another world now and again. All I have to do is grab my camera, throw on my concert photography hat and get lost in the music. It is always such a fun ride!

It trips me out how different our days can be.  Being married to a music man who can rock a big stage yet the next day haul hay and fix fences makes me smile like crazy. He works so hard for our family and I am so thankful.

Linking to Our World Tuesday

Spring Has Sprung Here At The Ranch Today...

Spring is natures way of saying let's party. ~Robin Williams

Ms Punkin Pie agrees. She welcomed the Spring season here at the ranch today by sporting her beautiful flower hat around the pasture. Luna and Chance may or may not have been jealous.

This Brown Dog Of Mine...

The path leading to the pot of gold was longer than he thought so when he spied a big bag of cookie treats sitting high up on the clothes dryer he instantly gathered his friends and came up with a plan. Though he doesn't like green beer he sure does like those lucky charms aka darn old cookie treats. Been there, did that when it comes to stealing food so I can't say I'm surprised that their plan worked.  They got them down and he and his cohorts ate the entire bag!

I think he's happy the St. Patrick's celebration is over as you can see he's clearly partied out or maybe just cookied out.

linking up with OWT

Fun With Some Green...

Chance my sweet photobomber

May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow. 

And may trouble avoid you wherever you go. 

                                                           ~Irish Blessing

Happy St. Patrick's day from all of us here at the ranch.

Love Does Make A Difference...

Yesterday morning I had the honor of hanging out with Lisa over at Toby's Legacy Equine Rescue. What an incredible woman she is! Lisa runs a horse rescue and sanctuary for the most vulnerable. Those who came without voices, who carry sad stories of neglect and starvation in their souls and bellies. She rescues those who are abused forgotten and thrown away.

Thanks to her they now have a safe and loving place to rehab, nourish their bellies and mend their souls. A wonderful place to call home while looking for their forever one.

The mama of this three day old little girl was rescued from auction and was outbid by a "kill buyer" a month ago. When I uploaded this image of them my heart skipped a beat... This mama is so sweet and so very wonderful. You see this baby girl was born blind and her mama is doing such a great job protecting and teaching her.

Blindness, no problem Lisa said "she was born at the right place. You see we take life's lemons and make lemonade here"

It's baby week at Toby's as Lisa also rescued a mama and her two month old baby girl earlier in the week and has another mare who will give birth next month.

Thank you Lisa for all you do, you fill my heart with Joy.

I've linked the rescue above and you can click over and like her FB page. She has foaling camera's set up so when a mama is close you can follow along on her journey as well. Pretty cool.

24

Three days of labor, 10 pounds later and twenty four years ago today my first amazing love was born. Oh I love this kid! I know at twenty four he isn't really a kid anymore but in my heart he'll always be young.  He is becoming such a good man and I'm so proud to be his mama. He lives a couple hours away so we don't get to see him very much. You know he's busy blazing his own trail but does calls often.  I enjoy his calls greatly and catching up with him is always good. 

Happy Birthday Justin, love you babe!

22

Happy Birthday to my Chancie who turns twenty two today! I made him a birthday crown and though I thought it was cute he wasn't to sure. 

Thanks to the music man for taking these photos of us. As you can see this sweet horse clearly puts up with me and all my shenanigans and I sure love him lots!

Trust. Love. Respect. Patience. Lots of fun.

Happy Birthday Chancie!

Linking up with OWT

And The Winner is...

Pick  numbers between  and . 

Sequence=1  Draw stat: sum=4, avg=4.00 Draw date: 2014-03-07 15:52:02

4 Cody, congrats Cody! 

Please message me your address

Thank you guys so much for all the support and kind words about my photography, my four years as well as the juicing thing for this week. Today marks day five on the green stuff and so far so good... Except for the second day where I was so hungry I swear I could have eaten my own arm.  Just kidding,  maybe.

Perhaps in the last post I didn't mention that the bean binge was two plus weeks long...Moderation is key and though I don't typically have a sweet tooth I do enjoy a treat now and then and love to bake and cook. It's just that this was just on another level and as one of my blog buddies mentioned "candy is bad for the jeans"  Oh my gosh hilarious and so true. Trust me no one would want to see me running around the ranch, not even the animals without my jeans on! (Thanks Kar)

This week has been a busy here lots of clean up from last weeks storm. With the warm weather moving back in I've been spending a lot of time in the garden getting ready and planting spring seeds.

The music man and I have been talking about goats again. They and sheep are on the list and have been for a while. It's been all about the timing as to when to add them to the homestead.  With all the rain we received last week it seems now is the time to prepare for them as in a couple months we will have a ton of wild grass and flowers growing everywhere. Perfect for natures lawnmower and weed abatement as we will in such a high fire area.

We're still working out if we should get babies or perhaps goats I can breed.   I'm looking for duel purpose but not for meat instead for fiber and dairy and they are just not common to my area. So in the meantime we'll start building and preparing.

Happy weekending peeps!
Jen

The Good, The Bad And A Jelly Belly Binge...

I don't have a sweet tooth and I don't crave chocolate or sugar, usually. I don't know what the deal is but lately I have been enjoying my fair share as well as a few dozen other peoples fair share of those darn delicious Jelly get in my Belly Beans.

A handful of these babies (about 35 pieces) is only 100 calories.  I know it's all sugar but it's only 100 calories at least that's what I told myself. I have been picking up a small bag whenever I went into town and a couple weeks ago I was at our local big warehouse store and they had a huge container of beans. This was fantastic and my heart skipped a beat. I couldn't wait to dive into them! My favorite is the cherry and watermelon or maybe its the black licorice...Who am I kidding I enjoyed them all...Okay here's where it went from BAD to down right ugly. I ate almost all of them by myself, yikes!

Shockingly, this week my clothes don't fit and I feel sluggish. I think I have officially burned myself out on the whole refined sugar thing and that's a GOOD thing.

I'm thankful for the fresh clean greens that my garden is full of right now so as of yesterday I'm back to juicing.

Here's to giving myself some time this week to cleanse, get balanced and hoping I don't starve in the process lol... Cheers

Have you entered to win this image yet? I'll be drawing a winner this Friday

Happy Hump Day Peeps!
Jen

Four Years And Counting...

We finally got rain and a lot of it! The storms that visited us this last weekend were doozies. Although it didn't wipe out the dry conditions of our state it's a really good first step. Looks like we got close to four inches here at the ranch and the wind was intense. It howled for an entire day and night as well as blew the torrential rain sideways. I understand the storm has moved east and is now creating havoc across the US. Hoping things are okay in your hood...

Yesterday after chores and between rain drops I went and walked our property. Sadly we lost an old oak in the storm. I'm guessing it was around 40 or 50 years old but all in all we fared well.  Here are a couple shots from my walk.

This is my neighbors pasture that sits caddy corner to ours and can you believe it... I found another heart in the sky...!!! What are the odds of capturing two gigantic heart shaped clouds in a matter days? Amazing. Do you see it? It's in the center of the photo.

I was so excited for the rain and prepping for it last week that I forgot to mention that Friday marked the fourth year of this lil blog of mine.

I wanted to celebrate and thank you by giving away a signed 8 x 12 metal infused print of the shot above.

Okay so all you have to do to enter to win this baby is one of the following...

If you are not a follower already, become one.
Or you can bounce over to Facebook by clicking here and like my photography page.
If you already like my FB page and follow me here then you could share this giveaway on your blog or FB page.

I'll be drawing a winner Friday March 7th, good luck and thank you guys for your friendship in blogland and your help in celebrating four years with me!

Jen

Linking up with OWT