About Dayphoto

My name is Linda Brown. I live on a farm on the western slope of Colorado, in the high mountain desert. I’ve lived here all my life, hailing back four generations on my father’s side. Today I blog about our farm, the everyday activities that keep the farm going. I also write about my thoughts and dreams and goals. On Friday’s I always write about TLC Cai-Cai. Our sweet kitty who helps keep the farm safe. And Boo Berry Betty, a breeder dog learning to be a Farm Dog! The lovely thing about blogging it opens the world up for all of us to reach out and meet people from many different cultures and different ways of life. You can find me every day (but Saturday) at https://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/ Your Friend on a Western Colorado Farm, Linda Brown

A Rainbow Sky—Sunday, October 5, 2014

Posted on October 5, 2014 by Dayphoto

When the storms started to leave our area the sun was underway to waking up the world on the opposite side of us. The clouds had become ragged and sparse in the West allowing the sun to break free and shine wonderfully upon the land. The East still held the massively dark storm clouds, although they were moving on toward the mountains and the people who lived and worked and played among them.

I was upstairs putting my daily paperwork into a pile and getting ready to turn off the computer when I saw a very faint rainbow filling the east and southern part of our sky! (Close to Olathe)

What a joy I thought to myself! Gazing out the window I watched it fade to nothing. Turning off the computer I headed downstairs.

Wait!!! What do I see around the Eckert, Cedaredge area?

WOW! I grabbed my camera and headed out the front door to stand on the top step

What an amazing splash of color!

It was filling the whole basin with brilliant light! You can even see some little puffs of clouds captured within the prism ray of sunlight!

I stayed an watched until it faded. What a pleasure to be able to experience the wonder of sunlight on droplets of water!

Today is Sunday. Today we stop and rest, only doing those things that are necessary. Tomorrow we will be back to working on the other house and picking back-up the dropped tasks of the week. The fields are starting to dry enough the dogs and I will be able to go out and start gathering in the siphon tubes, the plastic dams, and the metal tin dams. The corn is still green, but if the storms stay away it will continue to dry down taking all the moisture out of the stalks, leaves, and the little seeds. Once it is dry enough we will begin the last harvest (for us) of the season.

Your friend on a Western Colorado Farm,

Linda

The Adventures of Fuzzy and Boomer—Banished

Posted on October 3, 2014 by Dayphoto

I just don’t get it! I really don’t!

Sometimes Mom is just sooooooooooo mean!!

Pout, pout!!

Why? What’s the deal, Boomer? You look just fine to me.

It’s MOM, Fuzzy! She is a real Meany! She doesn’t play fair…Mom is…just plain WEIRD!!!!!!

Hummm, I’ve never thought that, what happened to make you so upset Boom?

Well, yesterday, you know when we went down to the other house —Dad was under the floor crawling around working on that furnace duct work and Mom was painting…and you were sleeping on the step close to Mom.

Yeah…sleeping in the sunshine. That was real nice.

Well…I decided to go sniff around and see what sort of new was down there. First I went up to the apricot tree…

*grey ground squirrels….lots of storing of nuts and stuff going on

*the bunnies are starting to get on their winter fur…they are REALLY fluffy

* the baby quail look like teenagers….I had a great time laughing and giggling with them

Then I trotted on over to the old orchard…not much news there. Then the wind came up….

SSNIFF!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I headed over the hill by the old orchard and squiggled myself down through the Sage and Chico brush and FOUND IT!!!

OH! YIPPEE!!! A TRUE DELIGHT!

It was wonderfully ripe and squishy and goopy and well…JUST PERFECT!!!

I rolled all over in it—first my neck, then I scrapped my throat through it, that felt so good—I laid down and gave myself a really nice back rub ALL OVER MY BACK—from the top of my head to the base of my spine…it was a great massage in the most perfect of massage oils.

After that I got up and decided to walk in the remains, of what I’m not sure, I squished the squeaky goo up into my toes; wiggling each toe so I could feel the whole nasty wonderful slop way up into the pads of my feet.

It was marvelous! Then I thought I would check the wonder smell out a little more so nosed around in it seeing if I missed any more slime. Nope, just a drop or two that was all. I was lucky to get the stuff all over my snout and even around my eyes on the top of my forehead!

Shoot! I was done. But, OH WELL!!! It was Heaven while it lasted.

I headed back to the house…there you were just dozing away in the sun all stretched out taking in every warm ray of light…Dad must be under the house for the lawn was littered with pipe and whatever it was he was doing…where is Mom?

OH!!! THERE YOU ARE MOM!!! YIPPEE!!! See what I have and what I brought back for you!! IT’S MORE THAN WONDERFUL, MOM! IT’S PERFUME OF THE GODS!! I trotted right up to her — she had her back to me painting on the window trim of the house; I figured she would smell me and turn around.

She didn’t right at first…shish. Mom just turn around! Instead she started talking to herself… “Whew! Something really stinks around here. UGH! I wonder if something died in the hedge.”

“Oh, Hi! Boomer-bee”, she said as she reached down to pet me!

“Gag, swallow erup! BOOMER YOU STINK!!!!”

“Oh nooooo, Boomer! What did you find! Gag, gag…urp!”

Oh, Mom, it’s really cool isn’t it? It’s just wonder—-

“GAG! Boomer! You can NOT come down here again! You always seem to find something nasty to roll in! As soon as we get you home you are getting a bath! GET! Get over there until I get done and DO NOT Move!”

Then, Fuzzy, she marched herself right in to the house and told Dad that I HAD TO WALK HOME. She was going to clean up her painting stuff and walk me home so she could clean ME up!

Sigh.

Oh well…I get to have my perfume until we get home! HAHAHAHA

I wondered why you didn’t ride back with Dad and me. I looked for you and Mom but you didn’t get into the truck with us so I just enjoyed myself without you.

Mom and I walked home, Fuzz! She wasn’t very happy about it because she had to walk carefully in the mud on the field roads, but we made it! She walked on the weeds and I walked wherever I wanted too.

There was a brisk little breeze blowing! We had to walk up for a spell, then we had to walk left for a spell, then we had to walk down for a spell, then we had to walk left again for another spell, then we had to walk down into the farmyard. You know how the roads go, Fuzzy.

On the way I decided that Maybe, just MAYBE if I gave Mom a chance to REALLY smell me, by the time we got home she would love the perfume as much as I do and let me keep it. So if the wind was blowing into us I made sure to walk in front of Mom, if it was blowing a different direction I walked so the wind caused the odor to waft right into Mom’s nose!

I thought it was a very good plan!

Although, it didn’t work! As soon as we got home Mom got out her Dog washing supplies and started scrubbing me down with soap, and peroxide and lots and lots of warm water. It TOOK FOREVER!!

Yep, about an hour, Boom. I watched.

Then she took me into the house and put me IN THE BATHTUB!!! MY GOODNESS!! I am the cleanest dog in the whole wide world.

Yeah, you are, Boomer! But you got to sleep inside last night. Dad said if you had just one little faint smell you had to sleep out in the dog house.

Yes, and Mom said I can’t ever go down to the other house with her now, because this is the second time in three weeks I’ve found something nasty to roll in.

I guess you will just have to get used to not going down there, Boomer.

I guess, Fuzzy. I just don’t get people sometimes. They really don’t understand aroma and the adjoining slush that goes with a really good find.

Nope they don’t, Boomer. No, they don’t.

Sigh!

Boomer

Today we have SUNSHINE!!! and a Mossy Fence— Thursday October 2, 2014

Posted on October 2, 2014 by Dayphoto

Today we have beautiful, wonderful, delightful SUNSHINE!!!

If the sun will stay the moss on the fences, anything made of cement (or wood), and the trees will dry up and go away!

Not to mention the drying up of the yard and the road and the fields!

YAY! SUNSHINE!!!

For more fences and gates (or to add your own) head over to Teresa’s Place… you won’t be disappointed!

Your friend,

Linda

Drenched, Wet, Beyond Wet, Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Dayphoto

We are wet!

Very wet! And it’s still raining!

The sunrise yesterday promised more wet later in the day. (Red sunrise in the morning, sailor take warning)

Although it did hold off most the day. That evening we could see more storm clouds blowing our way.(Red sunset at night, sailors delight. ?)

Yep! Right about 6 in the morning we had rolling thunder and large cracks of lightening, then …

Rain! In fact it’s raining as I write this.

BUT there is a wind with this very wet storm. The weather people are saying this storm will move out of here tonight with wind gusts up to 25 m.p.h.

Then temperatures will dip to 25-35 degrees. I do believe Summer will be officially over after these very wet storms get out of here.

The weather people are also saying we have several days of sunshine in the near future…I’ll take it. I’m a sunshine kind of person!

Terry dug little ditches so the water can run into the canal–which reminds me that the canal is clear to the brim…

It’s going to take a spell to get us dry again. That is for sure!

Your friend on a lake that used to be a farm 🙂 🙂

Linda

Small Break and a Post Full of Rainbows–Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Posted on September 30, 2014 by Dayphoto

For a small amount of time the clouds parted and blue sky appeared. It was lovely! The dogs and cats and I danced a jig on the very wet lawn. It was delightful!

Then the rains came back. Heavy wet rains complete with thunder.

We are soaked…drowned…extremely wet.

But John North sent me a youtube song about Rainbows and perfect song to go with this wet spell we are having–

A perfectly wonderful wish for a cold wet day.

Then Linda from Alexandria, Louisiana sent this wonderful rainbow

Rene`, who lives in Paonia, Colorado (just about an hour’s drive from here) sent me these two stunning rainbows—spanning the mountains where she lives.

Sara from Punkin’s Patch sent a twitter photo–Brian Miner of BDMphoto https://twitter.com/BDMphoto

Rainbows from around the world and close to home…who could ask for more?

Not I!

Thank you, my friends!

Remember if you have a fun/interesting or outstanding photo you would like to share I will be very glad to post them on my blog—always you will have the credit!

Your friend on a very wet and soggy farm,

Linda

I’m Sorry–Monday, September 29, 2014

Posted on September 29, 2014 by Dayphoto

I’m sorry that I miss lead you somehow…I didn’t grow up in Craig, Colorado. I grew up in Eckert, Colorado.

My Dad’s people arrived here in around 1900, settling in the Read/Austin area. My Momma’s people came when she was a freshman in high school–around 1943.

There were just the two of us—myself and my brother. My brother lives in the Denver, Colorado, area now, but I live here.

Although, I grew up in the Eckert, Cedaredge (my Dad and Grandparents on my Mother’s side had huge orchards which were part of our income)

I’ve lived on this farm all of my adult life accept for the first two years of our marriage.

My parents are the ones who moved to Craig, Colorado. After selling the gas station they operated the orchards only. After several years of bad prices and huge expenses Daddy got a job with Colorado Ute (now Tri-State). He was 37 years old when they moved to Hayden, Colorado. By that time we had Shannon and were waiting the birth of Evan (we have four children–Shannon, Evan, Kimberly, and Misty. Misty is the one who just moved to Craig.)

And that is the irony…my parents and now our youngest living in the Craig area. Hayden is just a 30 minute drive from Craig, Colorado.

It’s still raining here…we had 2″ of water when I checked this morning. Still for a short while there is sunshine, then another downpour is expected starting around noon. Wet we are, that is for sure.

Anyway, I apologize if I made it sound like I grew -up in Craig.

Your friend,

Linda

Socked in- Sunday, September 28, 2014

Posted on September 28, 2014 by Dayphoto

A HUGE rain storm rolled in last night complete with rolling thunder and stunning flashes of lightening. By 9:00 in the evening we were wet. The rain hasn’t let up since the storm rolled in. On one hand the lovely drenching of all the parched and dried spots in the lawns and fields is a very good thing—on the other hand not so lovely. It’s harvest here. Not for us. We have finished our harvest of the two first crops and are waiting for the corn to dry down before we start the third and last crop –corn.

There are others, neighbors and friends, who are in the middle of onion harvest, or their pinto bean harvest, or getting in the last cutting of alfalfa turned hay.

Moisture like this is not good for harvest. 😦

This weekend found us in Craig, Colorado, to watch our grandson play Middle School football and take

Ellie up to play with Linky for a spell. Of course, we also got to enjoy the little Cowgirl and her REAL Cowgirl girl friends.

Craig is home to Tri-State Generation plant. My Dad worked at the station right after it was built- until he retired. Daddy started work for Colorado Ute—now Tri-State–at the Hayden plant, then was promoted to this plant right after it was built.

My parents moved to Hayden, Colorado, the year I was pregnant with Evan. They stayed they for over twenty years, Daddy retiring from Colorado Ute (Tri-State) and Momma retiring form Peabody Coal.

It’s sort of ironic that our youngest daughter and her family are now back in the Moffat/Routt County area don’t you agree?

Anyway we are back to a decidedly very wet fall day. It has the feel of a huge weather switch coming…I wonder if a killing frost will follow all this moisture; I would not be surprised.

It’s all most October…a killing frost is just around the corner, if not imminent.

Your friend on a farm,

Linda

The Adventures of Fuzzy and Boomer—The Waiting Begins

Posted on September 26, 2014 by Dayphoto

Yep, THE waiting begins!

Waiting, not for Fuzzy and I but for MOM and DAD. They have to wait you see, not Fuzzy and I. We do lots of waiting as it is:

We wait on the four-wheelers LOTS!

What Dad and Mom are waiting for is the corn to dry down and the moisture content to get JUST RIGHT so the Corn Harvest can begin!!!

The last set of the water happened.

The head-gate is now turned off. Unless everything gets really bone dry before the canal is turned off there won’t be another set of water on the farm until next spring.

Fall is in the air…the Rabbit Brush is rich and full and lush— the bees are working the flowers heavily!

The Upper End and the Back Forty just screams AUTUMN!

Fuzzy and I like this time of year. It’s not so hot it’s hard to breathe and there is lots of stuff to sniff and smell. The animals are moving around now getting ready for winter. We like to smell what they are up too.

Just last night a Momma deer ran across the ditch bank road right in front of Dad and Mom and Fuzzy and I! It was so COOL I had to bay at the deer.

Mom jumped… “Boomer…not in my ear! You scared me!” She said and then she laughed and so did I.

Fuzzy thought it was a funny also!

Back home we saw Sammy Sam absorbing the heat from the big shed doors.

“Oh, you are back”, he said then turned his head away and closed his eyes.

Oh well, Boomer. Sammy is just not interested in riding four-wheelers.

Works for me Fuzz!

Hey Fuzz?

Yeah?

What’s with cats? They sure seem to sleep a lot.

I don’t know, Boomer. That’s just a cat for you!

Well…THANKFULLY we are NOT CATS, Fuzzy! The world is waiting and you and I are ready to see it!

Chuckle, smile! It’s good to be a dog, isn’t it Boomer?

It sure is, Fuzzy! It sure is!

Boomer

Interesting Fences and Gates —Thursday, September 25, 2014

Posted on September 25, 2014 by Dayphoto

Here is something a little different in the gate department….a Cattle Guard!

You can find them anyplace around here….even on the highway going up the side of Grand Mesa, Colorado.

As you can see the spacing is large enough animals don’t want to walk over it.

This rancher even warns you when you cross the cattle guard that cows are grazing on his hills.

Head on over now and see what cool fences and gates have been posted on Teresa’s site: The Run *A* Round Ranch—and while you are there enter one of your own neighborhoods cool fences or gates!

Remember now…if you are out here sometime…watch for cows!

Storms–Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Posted on September 24, 2014 by Dayphoto

We have had a series of storms moving though our area. Sunday was nicely wet, and so was Sunday night and early Monday morning.

The sun peaked through the clouds Sunday night and graced our lives with dramatic color, then the rains came.

Having the rain has been nice! It sure has helped me keep the lawn green down at the other house and has given my yard a nice soaking. The Upper End is looking rich and lush with really nice grass.

Mr. Davis’ cows are going to have a real feast come this winter.

Your friend,

Linda