Good-bye November

November means... my birthday,  SEP conferences, Thanksgiving, and the beginnings of Christmas shopping worries.   That is all over for another year.    Here is what November 30th looked like this morning on the farm.  And, yes, I was late for school.  And, no, I didn't care.

This is a bird nest that landed upright on the bed of the 2-ton. 

The Answer

Thanks for guessing, Chuck and Sue.

The answer is...  the day I started the Dismal Land and Livestock Report.   And to think, back then,  I was afraid to show my husband because I knew he would have an opinion.  Sure enough, he did.  He has come to love the blog, however, even to the point of taking pictures and making suggestions. 

A Simple Question

What significant event happened one year ago today?

No prize for the right answer, but I can bring you some snow.  We seem to have plenty.

Checking the Corn

I went with Boyd to check the corn and found

 an almost green field

 right across the road from

 a completely white field.

 I also found a bird of prey

 deer tracks, but didn't get to see the big buck others have sighted

 an interesting shadow pattern made by the siphon cuts Boyd dug into the ditch

 a hen pheasant, we also saw a rooster, but he was long gone by the time my camera was ready,

 And when we got home, the goats wanted to help Boyd test the corn.  Isn't he lucky?

New and Improved

It was time to redo the dog shelter and my good husband spent most of Monday planning and improving the cover over the dogs' house.  He put up a new rope system and took care of a few design flaws from the last go round.  

 It is much nicer even if it couldn't keep the horizontally blowing snow out.

 But, then again, neither could the old house.

Thanksgiving Morning

It seems we both thought it was a photo worthy morning. 

Photos by Boyd

 Photos by Becca

By Special Request

I drove home last night in a white out storm with huge tumbleweeds blowing across the road.  We woke this morning to the power out, but only for a few minutes.  Just long enough to get up, call Rocky Mountain Power and get the cords gathered up to start up the generator and we had power again.  It's cold and it snowed, but it could have been worse.
And now, brought to you by special request from Eileen (you're famous now!), pictures of the storm's aftermath.

 A lot of drift action happening!

 Boyd's hand so cold it had to hide in his sleeve.

 The glass window of our screen, completely frosted over.

The Birds!

I opened the door Sunday morning only to have at least five hundred birds take off at once. They were all right at the base of the hill below the carport.  Scared me to death.  Jasmin loved it and took off chasing them in all directions.  The weird thing was that it was a combination of starlings, magpies, and doves.  I even heard a pheasant crowing in the field.  The starlings have been traveling in huge groups, they look like a black cloud.  These photos don't do justice to the numbers or the freaky sensation of hearing them fly by right above your head.  They swoop and swerve and are just amazing.  One day I will get video of it.

 Saturday we bought a fake Christmas tree.  We are actually going to decorate for Christmas around here this year.  We have such gorgeous pine trees around here and we had to pay for an artificial version. 

 Snow has hit and brought the wind with it.  Saturday night when I went to put the dogs up for the night I discovered the fence panel between the goats and the dogs was laying down.  I guess the goats were smart enough to stay on their own side.  The heavy, wet snow had weighed the fence down and the wires snapped. Of course, Boyd had to come save the day.  He even spent most of today revamping the shelter and the dogs are now covered again.  Poor things were huddled in their house for most of the day.   The next time I am home in the daylight, I will take a picture. 
Saturday morning Boyd asked me to step off the distance between some tall poles because he wants to hang yard lights.  I was so engrossed in counting that I didn't see the dog in the chicken coop until it jumped up at me.  Turned out to be a friendly German Shepherd, but I screamed loud when it rose out of the weeds.  I ended up walking it down to the area with a bunch of houses and let it go.  It ran straight to the house at the end of the cul-de-sac, so I hope it belongs there.

Poof!

I said I wouldn't post so many sunset pictures, but it is all I've got.  These are from tonight, interesting how the colors can change so quickly. 

 

 The goats haven't "poofed" yet.  When it gets cold enough, their coat stands up, almost on end and fills in very thick.  It hasn't happened yet this year, in fact, it has been rather warm.  Two years ago, they had poofed by mid-October.  That winter we had a LOT of snow.