Walkabout

The snow turned to rain a couple of days ago- not a lot of rain, thank goodness. But it made the snow really heavy. I went for a walk down to the river to check on it. Tess and Thea came with.... at least, until we got even with the horse pen and then Tess hightailed it back to the house... sigh. But miss Thea was really happy to get out for a walk with me.

C'mon, lets go!

I saw a lot of deer tracks and then a set of single deer tracks that looked like it would be a big buck. There were coyote tracks right on top of the deer tracks, but they were fresher than the deer so I'm thinking it was tracking the deer but didn't catch up with it.

Those coyote tracks are twice the size of Thea's tracks.

I really enjoyed this walk, it was a beautiful day, sun poking out, and nice and mild. It felt good to get out and get some exercise after being cooped up and sick since January 6th; I'm finally almost better.

The river was gurgling and burbling through this hole in the ice. It looks pretty good, I think all the flood danger is past for now. The government sent in heavy equipment to open up a channel along the banks, and it worked pretty good, the level dropped at least a couple of feet in one day.

Looking upstream from where I was on the dyke.

I sure hope the worst of the winter is past us now. I'm sure we'll still get lots of snow storms, but I hope that it stays fairly mild. 

I love walking in the woods, this is something I really missed at the last place we lived. (7 years!!!)

Here are some of the things that captured my attention.

Not too sure what these red berries are but they looked outstanding against the cedar tree....

and on their own. I'll have to check it in the spring and see what the bush looks like- it was at least 10 ft. tall. Tara, any ideas? It's not mountain ash.

I love the pop of colour on this tree, and I saw lots of Oregon Grape too- it's green leaves are always delightful against the snow.

Thea and I made our way back, sometimes I would have her wait up for me if she got too far ahead.

We walked back along the bottom of the horse pen so we could collect Reba at the barn on our way back to the house. Rosalee had to investigate why we were coming from that direction.

Had to have a horse photo of course! Well, maybe two, because Beamer was being silly...

Two good dogs.....

and one traitor.
Thea and Reba always accompany me down to the barn to do chores, twice a day. They will even mosey down their on their own if I'm not watching them.

Tess, on the other hand, is a traitor. She absolutely refuses to come do chores and will hide in her "house" when I ask her to come.

I'm pretty sure the reason is that she is super sensitive and when I have to get after Thea (not so much, anymore) for working the horses, she takes it personal as if I am scolding her. Poor thing, can't abide being scolded.
Oh well, it's a good thing that she is just perfect other than that! Love my Tess.

Snow Day

Heavy equipment has been called in to try to get the river flowing where it belongs. I sure hope it works because we now have a heavy snowfall and rain in the forecast.
The dyke can be seen in the background in these next two photos, it's that level snow line in the middle of the photo.

From the mare pen- although it looks like they are lower they are actually above the level of the dyke.

Looking downhill from the barn with Beamer's pen on the right.
Meanwhile, the snow has moved back in.... for the next week or so....
That meant photo op at feeding time this morning!

I think I needed a faster shutter speed!

Coulee

The horses look wet but they don't seem to be cold. The temperatures are right around the freezing mark, we might get some rain mixed with the snow.

I'm pretty sure the snow is deep enough thank-you-very-much!

I think Loretta is quite photogenic! 

Mama Belle- I sure do love this mare!

Ok allright, I'll put your hay out now!

And so it begins.....

So- here is what is happening locally. We live in an area called Goat River Bottom, an old channel cut through the banks over the centuries, which has become farm land. Through it runs the Goat River, which is dyked on both sides to prevent flooding in heavy snow load/heavy rain years.
This winter had a weather pattern of rain and then hard freeze, topped with snow that was a recipe for river problems. As of now, the river has ice jams that are moving, and mild weather has returned which is causing the water to flow over the ice.
One place was in immediate danger as the water flowed over the banks and into her property. I had heard about it on Facebook and drove down to see if I could help. I got there in time to help evacuate 6 cows, who were quite certain that they didn't want to wade through almost belly deep (on them) icy water.

We used corral panels and a stock trailer and funnelled them along the fence line which was just barely out of the water and got them loaded.

This unfortunate lady has been evacuated. This is what her driveway looks like today:

The water, which had been flowing rapidly through her gate has slowed and frozen. There was a sandbag crew come in to divert the water once we got the cows out.  The local fire department has a crew of volunteers working filling sandbags, as this isn't over yet.

The Goat River has an overflow channel that rarely has water in it, even in spring run off. Here is what she looks like today:

I have been monitoring the dyke to the south of our place.

Saturday morning- The water is a good way away from the banks of the dyke.

This morning- the channel close to the dyke now has water flowing, although that dyke where I am standing is a good 10 ft. above the water level.
 So far, so good. However, now that the water is piling up here- downstream is going to be in trouble. With warm weather and possible rain/snow in the forecast, there are evacuation alerts in effect for those who live close to the river banks. We are fortunate to be on higher ground, although the bottom end of the horse pasture could get wet the girls do have high ground in their pen, as does Beamer.

Here is what it looks like downstream from us. Remember I mentioned the 10 ft. dyke? Well that this is how close to the top it is down there:

This is looking back upstream towards our place. If all that water and ice lets go, those last few feet of dyke won't hold the tremendous force of water on the move. Just downstream from this is the bridge on hiway 21 which goes down to Idaho. 

The department of fisheries and oceans is monitoring the situation, as it is a waterways issue. If everything lets go, and ice builds up it could take out that bridge so they have heavy equipment on standby. The next few days could be interesting here.

2017

I've got a feeling about this year.

I think it's going to be brutal.

It already has a bad start: unexpected deaths, sickness, and a nasty winter.

I think there will a lot of natural disasters, and a lot of hardship this year.

I really am not trying to be all doom and gloom, it's just that I can't shake this feeling. 

Let's hope it isn't so.

I plan on doing my best to stay positive, no matter what life deals me this year.

Loretta's rebuttal

Loretta wants everyone to know that she doesn't always have her bitch face on.

See? I can look all sweet and pretty too!

As long as I get first taste of the hay!!!!

Oh that precious evening light

Chore time this evening was just before sunset- and how quickly it happens!
Within minutes it went from this.....

to having the evening shadows roll across and back light the horses.

My golden girl.....

Mr. Handsome..... soaking up the setting rays on this cold full moon night....

Yup, my sentiments exactly! Too cold! Bleah!

Mama Belle, with golden breath.....

Beautiful Coulee......

And Loretta. Let's not forget Loretta.....

Never mind taking the darn photos! Get me my hay!!!! NOW!!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Chore time

My little pocket camera, the Nikon AW100 finally kicked the bucket. Now I have to pack my big camera and the only lens I have for it is the telephoto. Time to invest in some more equipment!

Here are scenes from this morning's chore routine.

Coulee waits patiently in the background while the other mares hog my attention. She is so black right now, and the only brown is that little bit on her muzzle. I'm really hoping for a black foal from her.

Can you tell whose muzzle this is?

Thea lays at the fenceline in a staredown with Rosalee (she is the only one that pays attention to Thea).

Foose thinks in winter he should be a house cat. It warmed up so both cats got kicked back to the barn; Foose especially because he decided that the bathroom floor or the bathtub were preferable to sharing a litterbox with Pearl. Bad kitty!

Thumper did well, he was still asleep in the barn when I checked on him. He got up lazily and made his way out, to be greeted by his buddy Thea.

Thumpy is such a tolerant cat. He is one heck of a mouser too, so he better earn his keep, I have hay stored in the barn- alfalfa mix bales for foaling time and I'd prefer that they don't become mouse condominiums!

Thea's birthday

Thea is 1 year old today.
From this....

to this 😄

She has a very strong working instinct, is quite playful and protective and listens quite well.... although sometimes I have to growl at her to break her concentration when she is stalking.
I have been trying to get a photo of her "snickers" but she us usually way too close to me when she "smiles".
She doesn't leave the yard, even though we have no fenced yard.
She loves most people unless they are trespassing in our yard. (In her opinion).
She can't hold her licker.... very handy with her wet kisses! She can find exposed skin if you have a tear in your jeans, drives Ted up the wall! (heeheehee)
Apparently deer aren't allowed in our yard. She puts the run on them, but comes back when I holler.
If you play ball with her, don't expect to get the ball back unless you can get Tess to steal it from her.
She shares a birthday with Elvis Presley. Also shares a birthday with Reba's first litter, who are 13 years old now.
And I love her to bits!

Beamer's view

Too cold to ride, so my horse activity is confined to doing the chorse- and of course I always pack my handy little Nikon AW100 with me. It has served me well and is now held together with scotch tape, as the cover falls off now- but it still works!

Here is Beamer's world.

He has a great view of the sunset on the Skimmerhorns. He is snug as a bug in his house out of the wind- but the mares have to tough it out.

They have a roof but no shelter from the wind; fortunately they are in a bit of a  bowl so the wind doesn't hit as hard there as it does up where our house is. Next year will be different, we were in a hurry to get a million projects done here just to get set up before winter, so this year I will get the horses set up better.

The above photo also shows my racist horses (haha) the blacks are together and the blondes are together, they do this every day. Loretta has taken a shine to Rosalee, and Belle tolerates Coulee.

Speaking of Coulee, her baby bump is quite noticeable now (big grin!) Only 4 months to go!

I check her daily for baby kicks, partly because it's fun and also to get her used to having her belly handled. I haven't forgotten how crabby she was when I first got her and rubbed her belly and she tried to kick me. She is much better now; I also touch her on her udder to get her used to when baby tries to nurse. She is due any time around the beginning of May- first foal so no history but her last day bred was May 31. There will be a foaling contest in April!