March 11th

Monday, March 11th, 2019

And just like that, it’s spring! Or at least it feels like it.

With the amount of critters out and about today, it’s safe to say that they all think so too.

We haven’t seen deer (or their tracks) in months. I think the snow got too deep, and to preserve energy they were only moving around as they needed to near where they’ve been bedded down.

So as Paul and I sat out in our lawn chairs (I got sun burned today, and it was lovely!), and we saw this little parade come up the paved part of our driveway, it was the cherry on top of this perfect spring day. They came up from Tucker, took a break in our cul-de-sac, and continued up my parent’s driveway all the way up to their house.

There’s no way to know for sure, but with the size difference between the three, I believe this is our resident doe and her set of twins from last summer.

She really is a rockstar. Year after year, season after season, she prevails.

March 10th

Sunday, March 10th, 2019

Photographically, there have been some pretty cool situations I’ve found myself in.

Anytime I see our Barred Owl time seems to stand still, coming upon our resident doe standing just off our driveway munching on the thistle, unconcerned of our presence, the time I went over to the neighbors to photograph their blooming apple trees and a skunk was happily rooting around too (skunks are pretty cool, they get a bad rap), the time the turkey was standing on our front porch, and looked in the window at me.

Despite all of those times I felt lucky, like I was in the right place, right time, today blows those out of the water.

Paul and I had watched an otter slide on his belly to the lake earlier this morning, which is a rare sight out here, so we knew he was around, but we expected that to be the last time we would see him.

So, with that expectation, there may have been a lot of excited yelling in our house as I ran for my camera after I looked out our kitchen window to this:

“HE IS COMING UP OUR DRIVEWAY!”

I ran out onto our porch for a better look, and sure enough, here he came.

This otter came up our driveway and all the way up onto our cement pad in front of our garage.

And if that isn’t magical enough, he stopped and looked at me long enough for me to get a good picture of him (main image).

Then just as quickly as he came, he turned to his left (away from me), hopped the snowbank on the side of our house, and slid through our backyard and down through the field onto the lake.

I was dumbstruck.

He was mere feet away from me, at my house. On a snowy Sunday morning.

March 9th

Saturday, March 9th, 2019

I could lie and tell you that this image was taken today, but I won’t. I didn’t get an image today, so you get another one from yesterday instead.

The girls haven’t really been coming out of their coop much this February because of all of the snow. The temperatures haven’t been all that great up until a couple days ago either, so they had no reason to leave their cozy home.

This intense, warm March sunshine has changed their minds, though! I go out in the morning and there’s a pileup coming out of the door, they’re all so excited to come out. They don’t have much territory to wander, as most of it is snow covered, so they just walk around in front of the garage on the dry cement (so if you come to my house, I’m sorry in advance about all the chicken poop).

I forgot how much I love looking out my window and seeing them meandering around. I can hear them from inside the house, too, so that’s a sound to brighten anyone’s day.

March 3rd

Sunday, March 3rd, 2019

It’s really cold again.

So cold that the only critters out and about today were these two crows, digging through the inches of snow to the pile of corn Paul threw out into the field a couple weeks ago.

Speaking of Paul, it’s his birthday today!

I know you’ll read this (because you always read my blog you overachiever), so Happy birthday, sweet heart. I love you!

March 2nd

Saturday, March 2nd, 2019

How many of you took a few extra minutes admiring the frozen beauty out your window this morning? If you know me, you know that Hoar Frost is one of my favorite wintertime weather phenomenons, so I know I sure did!

But you know what I like even better? Green grass. 😉

March 1st

Friday, March 1st, 2019

I haven’t posted much about the girls in awhile, so here we are!

They aren’t fond of the snow, so they haven’t come out of their coop in a few weeks. I open their doors, but they gather on their front porch, look around, and turn back around. They choose to roost inside. Which I can’t really blame them, I try to keep everything shoveled, but it doesn’t take long until they’re breast-deep in snow.

However, this morning they did choose to come out for a bit. For just enough time to gather a light dusting of snow on their backs.

In February, we averaged 3 eggs a day so they’re still happy to lay, just not so enthusiastic about the snow.

February 28th

Thursday, February 28th, 2019

Absolutely not an artful photo today, simply a documentary one.

This is the window in our guest bedroom downstairs. Nearly the entire window is covered by snow.

This is getting slightly out of hand.

February 26th

Tuesday, February 26th, 2019

Back to the snowy tundra.

 

February 21st

Thursday, February 21st, 2019

If you ask me to critter-sit for you, expect photographs.

This is sweet Peppy, our neighbor’s gelding. They’re out of town for the World Show with their other furry babe, Peanut. Last I heard she made it to finals, so that’s exciting!

This guy has been around for forever. A trusty, competitive show horse for years, he’s now over 20 and enjoying retirement. Did I already mention that he’s sweet sweet sweet to his core? He also is my ideal coloring for a horse – he is one of the most beautiful horses I’ve met. Mocha brown with pretty, rich light brown highlights, and a sweet, swirly snip on his top lip.

Earlier this week when Paul and I stopped over he greeted us with a nicker, but wasn’t into snuggles. He was intrigued, but wasn’t sure who we were, so he stayed reserved.

Each time I’ve stopped out this week, he’s been more and more excited to see me. Each time I get a nicker, and today he even met me at the gate. After I checked his hay and water, I ran back to my car to grab my camera.

Evidently, having the camera over my eyes triggered his play button, because he “chased” me around the paddock, head bobbing, while rotating between curiously nuzzling, firmly nudging, and lightly nipping at my hat and jacket. I’d tease him, and he’d tease me. I actually didn’t get many photos of him because he was quick to stick his nose all the way up to my lens.

I’ve said this before, but if you’ve never played with a horse, you’re missing out. Smart, social, and curious, these gentle giants have so much love and joy in their hearts; it’s humbling when they share it with you.

 

 

February 20th

Wednesday, February 20th, 2019

Seven and one half inches later, the system has officially moved through.

I love a good snowstorm, especially when I can plan for it and not have to leave my house. Today’s storm was nearly perfect; little wind, large fluffy flakes, and even amounts throughout the day. I was able to go out and shovel out the chicken’s run periodically throughout the day and keep up on it which is always helpful.

Even still, having a driveway a third of a mile long is close to impossible to shovel.

Luckily, I have a super neat dad that brings his tractor over to plow us out. With the amount of snow over the past few weeks, dad loaded the blower on the back of the tractor to try and throw the snow out into the fields surrounding our house (and theirs) to help keep our snow piles at a manageable size.

Thanks, dad!

February 18th

Monday, February 18th, 2019

Paul and I took a walk out to the woods tonight, and there is no where more peaceful.

With as much snow as we have, tracking critters is fairly easy. However, we didn’t find many. We saw rabbit tracks, squirrel tracks, one or two deer trails, and either fox or coyote.

Not nearly as many as we see when we have lesser amounts of snow, though.

We did see our Barred Owl lady friend, and that is always exhilarating. However, today was a great example that although we spotted her, that doesn’t always mean I get good photographs. Sometimes you strike out, and today was that day.

The first image is when we first spotted her, the second was after we moved in and shifted our position a bit. She wasn’t interested in sticking around for us.

Although our sighting was brief, we always love to see her.

February 15th

Friday, February 15th, 2019

If you clicked into this post instead of just viewing the image from my main page, you’re in for a treat.

I saved some of my best images for those who fully committed to this post 😉

When Paul’s February schedule came out, we were first disappointed when we saw that Paul worked Valentine’s Day. That feeling quickly changed to excitement when we realized that although Paul was working, he would fly into Helena, Montana that night and not fly back out until Saturday – a thirty hour layover!

Loads were perfect, so I joined him on his flight here last night, where we picked up our rental truck and went to the hotel for the night.

We got up early this morning ready for our mini road trip! It was snowing, and in Montana it’s common for roads to stay snow packed all winter, so we threw the truck into four high and hit the road.

We had picked up a Montana road map last night, so looked it over and picked a direction that would bring us to a ghost town and started there.

Inches of snow still covered the mountain roads, and admittedly I was slightly terrified, but it was breathtaking.

We finally made it to Marysville, and pulled onto “Main Street” – which was covered in at least a foot of snow. In the picture of Paul above, he’s standing in out truck’s track.

Although very snowy, it was beautiful! It provided a lot of perspective on how tough those who originally lived here were.

After that little adventure, we came back down off the mountain and kept moving toward the town of Lincoln.

It was still snowing, and visibility wasn’t great, but when we saw large, dark shapes on the road ahead I was PUMPED.

AN ELK HERD!!!

As we approached, half the herd hustled across the road (and jumped over fences effortlessly!), while the other half moved back to the originating side of the road.

It was probably the highlight of the day for me. I had seen elk in Yellowstone when we went for our Honeymoon, but this herd wasn’t habituated to people. Truly amazing.

We pushed on and eventually stopped snowing. After passing through Lincoln, we found other friends along the way.

There was wildlife everywhere – I was in heaven! Many of them weren’t close enough to photograph, but there was so much life everywhere!

After moving out of mountain country, we found ourselves in ranchign country and while very different, it was just as beautiful.

This area was called Avon Valley, and they’re known for being “old school” out there. It proved to be true when driving around we say hay stacks.

Not stacks of hay bales – legit piles of loose hay. Hay stacks.

Traditonal and admirable.