So....I've got to say it's been a beautiful sunny week here in Southern Oregon. I've had a chance to get out into the garden for several days in a row, and have been pruning away. There are two long rows of Grapes and Berries, and I've been cutting them way back and getting ready to really clean them all up good and cover the rows in between with STRAW!!! Each year I think I'll do a good job on the garden, and I get busy doing something else...a perfect example of that was today...I went over to the barn to get a long handled spade...(small shovel)...and Butterscotch was 'talking to me over the fence'...so I grabbed the grooming bucket and walked into the pasture with her, ZuZu and Kahlua (The Arab)...Kahlua wanted to be groomed at the same time, so I took Butterscotch into the round pen and curried and brushed her really well....she of course tried to groom me too...luckily she didn't nip at me like she tries to do sometimes....she hasn't totally figured out that I don't need to be groomed at the same time. So after about 20 minutes of that, I went back over to the Garden to work...there are just too many fun things to do here to keep me busy!!! Hah!

i·ci·cle /[ahy-si-kuhl] –noun
a pendent, tapering mass of ice formed by the freezing of dripping water.
(dictionary.com)
So....here is a close up of one of the icicles...isn't that so beautiful???!!!!

Icicles hanging off of the front of the cabin...I haven't seen icicles like that since I was a kid!

A birds nest I found while snowshoeing...in the spring and summer it would have been camoflaged with leaves, but in the dead of winter you could see it perfectly.

So I went snowshoeing down the river from the cabin....there is an island out in the middle of the river...it's on the left here in this picture...It was a beautiful sunny day and everything looked clean and white!!!!

This is the back deck at the cabin....totally covered with drift like snow....awesome huh? I did shovel a small part of it off, so I could sit in my chair and watch the duck and geese down on the pond....it was t-shirt weather on the deck!!!!

So....Here are some cute pix I took of Mrs. Coon and her two coonlets. I saw her walking back and forth across the driveway...trying to take one little coon baby to a new location...but when she'd go back for the other, the first one would be right behind her!!! I walked down to see them and they were all the way up at the top of an Oak Tree...just watching me real close...I took a few pix and got the heck outta there...didn't want to disturb them too much. It was a real fall day here in Southern Oregon. A little rain, and a little sun...they opened up burning again, so the burn pile got lit on fire!!! Wow!!!! thank goodness...the summer found us cleaning lots of things up...like tearing the inside of the barn apart, and also tearing a few pens apart off of the back side of the barn. Old sheep breeding pens, that needed to be turned into larger stalls for the horses. I'm not done yet, but it's getting closer to being done. The inside of the barn needs to be sided with smooth sheets of plywood, so the horses don't get their feet caught in the log framed posts. I also need to get into that garden and get all the water lines pulled out and get it tilled with the tractor before it gets too soggy!!!! We had a beautiful crop of berries and grapes this year, however the tomatoes have been better in previous years. The peppers did wonderful and we enjoyed fresh Salsa during the summer...it's been a beautiful summer, but I'm really looking forward to Winter again. I love being able to experience all 4 seasons in Oregon. It is really a wonderful place to live!

...just a close up of the lavender I harvested. Isn't it beautiful? It sure smells good...I have it in the house in big baskets now!

I harvested Lavender today...isn't it pretty? I will let it dry, then make Lavender sachets with the buds. This has been an awesome year for growing it. I already harvested several plants earlier last month!

It's cloudy and a bit cooler today in Southwestern Oregon. What a great day for working outside!!! We are expecting more of the same for the next few days. I will have a chance to harvest the rest of the garden and probably make the last batch of Summer Salsa!!

CRAZY HORSE

This is Buddy...I call him the Crazy Horse. He is a biter...see those teeth? He was doing that especially for me. He's actually a very beautiful horse, he's just very spoiled and naughty.

another close up of this little creature...he was soooo tiny!

This is a small frog that I saw outside the front door on the Japanese Maple Tree...He was very well camouflaged!!

More finery on another beautiful paint horse. I love American Paint Horses...there were at least 4 of them there at the Ranch Roping Clinic for me to oogle at...the Cowboy (Scott Grosskopf) teaching the clinic had such a beautiful paint horse! This is his horse in the picture.

Another close up...chinks, rope on a paint horse. The mare looks white, but she was a sorrel paint horse with blue eyes.

Here's a close up of a saddle and a rope from the roping clinic. I love seeing all the different tack each cowboy has. The detail and style of saddles, headstalls, bits and even stirrups is amazing!

This is a picture of a group of Cowboys taking a Ranch Roping Clinic up at Yamsi Ranch in Central Oregon. The sky goes on forever up there. It's one of the most beautiful places in the world! I've taken some wonderful fly fishing clinics there...heck I even caught a fish or two! http://www.yamsiflyfishing.com/index.html

A kitten that I saw playing next door...cute huh?!!!!

Robin is 6 months old now. She loves her cows, but hasn't been turned out to work them yet. She knows how to sit, lie down, come and mostly stays when you ask her to. She's a real beauty!!!

Sunflowers growing in the garden this year....the colors are sooooo vivid!!! I like the way their faces follow the sun during the day!

This is Butterscotch at 3 months old...boy! has she grown!!! She is awesome and runs like the wind. She is now registered with the American Paint Horse Association. Her real name is Truly Sweet Reward! I think for our first filly, she is perfect!

Here is a close up of the little filly "Butterscotch" She is just a doll, and lets us pet her all over her body!

Here is a picture taken a few hours after the birth of our first foal on the farm. This is ZuZu the mare with Butterscotch her filly. Butterscotch was born May 17, 2007. They are American Paint Horses. ZuZu is a bay colored tobiano and Butterscotch is a dun colored tobiano. Butterscotch was sired by "Wanted Reward"

Here is a close up of one of the cowboys in the big loop contest at the Klamath Bull Sale this year. Look at how interesting his chinks, boots and spurs are. Notice the horsehair rope, braided riata and the woven wool horse blanket. I was intrigued by all the finery of the Cowboys. Some came as far away as Canada, and you could see the differences in dress and tack from the different regions that they represented.

Early morning at the cabin, with the sun coming up over the ridge...so peaceful there...

Was over at the cabin last weekend and hung prayer flags...they are very inspirational and beautiful waving in the wind. There was sun and rain a perfect spring weekend!

This is 'Robin'...She is a Border Collie...She was born on February 5 of this year...she's much bigger than this now and she's soooo cute...has brown paws...so she is tri colored...she's a real loving little dog and came from a working cattle ranch in central Oregon.

Our Chickens are really laying now that it's spring time...lots and lots of eggs...here are a few...Farm Fresh Eggs...YUM!!!!