The Runaway

Dallie’s trying to run away. But this time she couldn’t escape Kache.

More Random

Ryder riding. 

Ryder and Sarley moving steers.  I hope this horse can last a few more years.  He used to be quite the cutting horse back in his day, but now he has a hard time keeping up with the herd.

 

Ryder’s popping a wheelie.  He really wanted me to get this picture of him, but was disappointed when he saw his tire wasn’t even off the ground. 

 

 

Star Ranch.

Caking cows with a nice view of the Star Ranch yard.  I think almost everyone we’ve met in the Sandhills either owned or worked on the Star Ranch in the past.  It’s been great learning a little more history about the place.  Just today I found out a previous owner used to run 300 head of horses and there’s buried treasure out here (maybe only Mom and I would think it’s treasure.  Perhaps it would be better termed as historical items.)  Now to find the hill in which it’s buried…

 

 

Mistaken identity.

There’s a lady a few miles south of us who runs horses.  Lots of horses.  Too many horses for the grass she feeds them on.  Anyway, this isn’t about her horses.  This is about these two goats who think they’re horses.  They crack me up.

 

Cumulonimbus.

I never tire of watching thunderstorms go by (I apologize if you do).

 

 

Dallie. 

She loves dresses and her Dora shirt.  She usually wears layers of clothes because she finds lots of different things she wants to wear (which, of course, makes for lots of laundry). 

 

 

Pink sky at night, sailors delight; pink sky in the morning, sailors warning.

I was just reading some old wives’ tales/clichés to go along with this weather one and I got a chuckle when I read this one:

The early bird gets the worm; but the second mouse gets the cheese!

Random

I have a lot of pictures on my computer that don’t seem to fit anywhere, but I still want to document. And since I’m not a good writer this is going to be mostly pictures.

This was back in June when we were setting up a branding pen. Dallie, Kache and Ryder were having fun doing what kids do best.

I love the time of year when the seeds from the cottonwoods are blown.

I love the texture of storm clouds.

Sunsets and thunderstorms work well together.

Jason’s attempt at farming this year. He got the single circle on our unit running in hopes of growing rye to draw the deer in for hunting season.

Trees don’t grow very well in the Sandhills. Even if you can get it to grow to maturity, it still doesn’t stand much of a chance against the wind, hail, lightning, and cattle. I think that’s why I like this tree so much. I imagine some homesteader planted this long ago and it had the will to survive when the homesteader didn’t.

I love the Lakeside Cemetery sign. After 4 years of driving by and wanting to check the cemetery out, we finally did this summer.

Kache and one of the hundreds of toads caught this summer.

The view from up top. I love climbing the hills out here (usually in a 4-wheeler or pickup). The view often takes my breath away (and helps me get my bearings).

Creepy Crawly

Be prepared to be creeped out. We have these spiders here that we usually leave alone because they’re huge, we don’t know what they are, they don’t come in the house, and they eat grasshoppers. They really gross me out though.


This was the biggest one I had seen and I wanted to kill it because it was hiding in the 4-wheeler and I really didn’t want it crawling on me.



They make huge, strong webs that kill small tree branches.



And they have very interesting markings.



This is the underside. Any ideas on what kind of spider it is?

Snapping Turtle

Kache found this tiny snapping turtle the other day in the yard. I’ve never seen one this small; it must be the time of year when they hatch.

Fall Weather

Our weather has turned fall-ish. We’ve had a huge swing in temperatures. A high of 48 one day and two days later highs in the 90s. No wonder why our calves have pneumonia. Jason hasn’t doctored any calves this past week, but I’m sure he went out armed this morning prepared for a relapse. We’ve been waking up to fog most mornings. It’s misting this morning, but I still have jeans and towels on the line hoping they will dry before our severe weather this evening.

It’s A Party!

On Friday our school had a swimming party at a hotel in town.  Even the dads came to our activity.  The water wasn’t very warm but the kids still had a lot of fun.  We had cupcakes for Julia’s birthday and no one wanted to leave when it was time to go.