Uncle!

I give! Uncle! Tired of winter...tired of cold...tired of snow.

Just when I'm thinking about crocus, daffodils and hyacinths, we get another snow. Enough already. I've always been a winter wimp, which is why we moved back to Texas. I really feel for our friends up North and out East.



Please let it be Spring soon!

Happy Valentine's Day!

To my Valentine:



I love you!

Let It Snow!

And...it did. Somewhere between 12.5 and 14 inches. In Dallas, TX. If this global warming keeps up, we're moving even further south.

The walkway to our house is virtually impassable. The tree branches lining the walk are doubled over from snow and touch the ground.



We call this tree our Charlie Brown tree. But...it looks kind of pretty covered in snow. It must have grown out of the Charlie Brown phase when we weren't looking.



Nope, not a mountain. It's a big, old oak tree in our neighbor's back yard. Also pretty.



The casa:



Poor, poor crepe myrtle...



Mags and I found this snowman on our walk last night. There was a tiny, little dog huddled near it. When I approached the snowman to take a picture, the miserable little pup ran up to me. I coaxed him into following me to the front door of the snowman's home and rang the bell. Small child answers the door. I ask "is this your dog?" He says, "ohmygosh, yes....MOOOOOOOOOOM!" I guess they didn't realize their poor pooch was outside.



Lovely, solitary figure walking the dog in the quietitude of a snowy evening...



Closeup of said lovely, solitary figure and her faithful companion.



I must admit, after all, that the snow is gorgeous, but enough already...bring back that warm TX sun!

Ice, Ice, Baby!

Mags and I went to Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge yesterday for an excellent program on prairie restoration then to attend the Friends of Hagerman's new nature club photography meeting. I thought the program was scheduled to start at 9, but it didn't start until 10 so Mags and I drove around Hagerman looking for photographic opportunities. It was only 10 degrees F when we drove up so we were surprised and amazed to see the amount of ice on Lake Texoma.

We were looking for the snow geese, and we found a group way out on the water. Maggie saw them take off and land in a new spot, and she was amazed at the swarm.

We decided to drive by the cabin to check on her chickens and make sure the pipes in the cabin hadn't frozen. On the way, we found where the snow geese were hiding. They were in a pasture along Hagerman road. We stopped so Maggie could watch (and photograph) them flying in, landing and resting. She was amazed at how many were visiting.

As we proceeded along Cemetary Road to the cabin, we found a pond where Canadian geese (and a Blue Heron) were resting. Maggie didn't realize the geese were sleeping on ice until one of them stood up. Imagine her surprise! We imagined that the Blue Heron was wondering why he was surrounded by geese and why were they sleeping on cold ice when they could be on the (relatively) warm bank in the sun.

When we arrived at the cabin, the crazy chickens were all out of the coop waiting for someone to knock the ice out of their water. After we unloaded and Maggie de-iced, it was time to go back to Hagerman for the program.

Happy New Year!

Mags and I celebrated the new year with Dakota and Ranger riding the scenic pastures at Bar K R Ranch this afternoon. Yesterday, it was cold and rainy, and Dakota and Ranger were not happy boys. We ran out to blanket them, and they were cold, wet and grouchy.

Thanks to the sunshine today, they were in a much better mood so Mags and I decided to do a little trail riding out in the pastures.



Look at Dakota swishing his tail, arching his neck, and prancing in the field:



Whoah! He must have seen me pull out the camera and stopped for a pose:



We heard the cross-eyed mini-mule braying so we went over to see what was wrong with her. She was missing her pasture-mates, Rootbeer and Red, who were on a trail ride over in the mare's pasture.



Check out the smile on my girl! When Dakota's happy, she's happy.



Or...maybe when she's happy, Dakota's happy.



This one is missing a rider. We'll have to remedy that immediately...or as soon as that cinch gets tightened a little bit.



Hey! Wait for me!



Squirrel! I mean...geese! When I have a camera in my hands, I'm easily distracted just like that dog in "Up".



You're not waiting! Oh, please don't make me trot to catch up. You're gonna make me trot, aren't you?



Maybe I'll just wait here...and take some more pictures of the geese.



Yeah...that sounds like a much better plan.



We wish everyone a happy and healthy 2010!