Well, after the dreams from the other night, I was a tad concerned I might dream of creepy crawly things again.
But, thankfully, as my breathing and heart slowed to that spot, which takes us into the abyss of sleep
My dreams were not of unimagined possibilities to be frightened over
But patches of sun and interesting things I wanted to do.
Although, I don’t remember them this morning. I do feel refreshed and eager to tackle the day.
From my world to your heart,
Linda
Last night I dreamed of spiders….lots of spiders.
Crazy big spiders, tiny tiny spiders, spiders of all shapes and sizes; spinning webs here and there and everywhere.
Spiders creep me out. I know! I know! They are an important part of the ecosystem.
But once when I was a young child my mother was bitten by a Black Widow Spider and almost died. It was a long, slow time of recovery for her—and I never forgot it.
Then several years back I was bitten by a cousin of the Brown Recluse spider, which resulted in a hole on my forearm.
I dream that I had to walk through their webs, while the spiders were spinning, climbing, hunting and even snacking on their victims.
I remember going to a drive-in movie show with my parents where the two features were THE SPIDER and the second one The Fly
I spent the whole time crouched on the floor in the back of the car.
It was a long night.
I’m so glad it’s morning and I left behind those thousands of eyes, round as marbles, in their sticky paths of silk hanging in the air….watching.
Whew!
I guess I was just way too tired when I went to sleep.
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
It’s been terribly dry. So dry there is huge talk among farmers of what the growing season might bring.
The talk is also all about what to grow. Corn prices are extremely low–due to many factors, but mostly because there is just too much corn stored —not only here– but in the whole world.
The cost of raising corn is outrageously high …the two don’t really go well together.
Still the urge to farm is there. Alive and well in the hearts of those who love the land and love to see the crops growing.
February is typically a very wet month. Typically. So, with that in mind, and the fact the earth is very dry Terry (and others) have gone out to ‘stir’ up the corn stalks. Breaking them down in the hopes we have lots of moisture very soon. The moisture will soften the chopped up bits and pieces help them dissolve; enriching the soil as they diminish.
This light disking (not a vigorous deep aggressive disking) will also stir up the fodder left over from the cows allowing those wonderful Canada Geese and Sandhill Cranes to find more nourishment when they land on the fields.
So we prepare and get ready for moisture, if not right here, hopefully in those huge,
magnificent mountains which surround us
and for which the irrigation water
comes from.
As you can see we are surrounded by mountains all rich is natural resources–which pass on down to town dwellers, people who live in subdivisions, gardeners, farmers, and ranchers. The life blood of everyone and everything —-water.
All the product of melted snow.
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
The woodpile is growing somewhat thinner…leaving me with huge base chunks of tree stumps, so Terry dug out the wood splitter
Giving us lots of more pieces of wood to heat the house with. I enjoyed this satisfying bit of physical work in a thin heat of afternoon.
Later that evening, as the sun started to set…the sky became a kaleidoscope of rotating lovely colors
Coming back toward the house I noticed the sunset reflected in the Tilehouse’s windows
Pure and
Simple magic.
Your friend on a western Colorado Farm,
Linda
Thankfully the Canadian Geese have found our corn fields, although methinks the picking might be slim after the 196 cows in December.
Terry says he is going to disk up the cornfields soon, this will stir up the feed and knock down the stalks, which, hopefully will bring in more birds.
The day was a tad chilled, but still Boomer, Mindy and went for wee walk-about seeing what we could see, stretching our legs and filling our minds with something besides toasting by the wood stove
The Sand Hill cranes have found a lovely spot at the Upper End to rest and search among the cattails for tidbits to eat
(I didn’t let Mindy go that far with Boomer and I. We left her at the the shed with Terry.)
This is way too far for a kitty cat to go, but not to far for a beagle and a human 🙂
We made the round trip, following the farm roads by the now dormant fields, then came back home to walk down the long lane to go get the mail. While doing so I saw a hawk coming in for dinner.
The little bird lived another day, alerted by the camera snapping human, not even realizing the Black Horseman of the Apocalypse was about to descend into it’s little bird world.
Then home again, camera on one side, best beagle pal on the other.
(Yes I wear short and flip-flops most of the time. It has to be REALLY cold and/or snowy for other shoes and long pants.)
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
I opened my email yesterday to find a message from a long-time blog reader KageDog, who lives in Cedaredge, Colorado.
She lives high on a hill — here is what she wrote: “Linda, I thought you might like this even though it’s not a rainbow. 🙂 Devil’s Thumb from our deck at dusk last night. Hope you are having a great day!”
Devil’s Thumb is that distinctive point way over there in the Badlands.
WOW! Really neat! Thank you, Kagedog!
Love,
Linda
After a long-icy day of snow, sleet, sideways wind, and air so chilled nothing tried to move
The storm left us with a distinct feeling of relief—the driving needles of the sideways sleet, augmented now and then with huge bursts of sleetless wind; nothing sticking to the ground
a huge chill came to today’s vast blue sky.
The wild birds are back pecking at full tilt on the feeders, making up for the fat lost by a day of hovering wherever they hovered.
This morning’s sunrise lite up the few remaining clouds and the lack of strong wind sang peace to me. Inspite of the cold.
From my world to your heart,
Linda
A big storm blew in last night. The air buoyant with sleet and cold.
Late last evening we took a wee walk-about, buttoning down all the hatches and feeding the equines some carrots, and giving them lots of pets and love
This morning the sky was gray the air energetic with wind so rough it was almost hard to stand up in it.
It’s sleeting now…coming in sideways from the west…tiny little flakes that beat into your skin and feel more like hail than snow.
If you look outside the things in the distance are all shrouded and filled with mystery–the pearl-gray light making known objects look unreal
The many and varied bird feeders swing wildly in the rush of the wind…no birds clinging to the little wires…hunkered down someplace safe I’m sure.
Terry went with me on my late night walk during the night…this time we only went as far as the equipment area; the wind was too sharp and the visible whirling sleet a tad too much to enjoy the steps and strides.
So for the rest of the day we will hunker down, I will make soup, we will watch football, and take a nap…the world is full of winter today. (Which is a good thing)
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
After doing ‘not much’ all day yesterday I decided I had better get to moving and bring the firewood in for the night.
But on my way to the wood pile I felt the tiredness starting to lift from my body, mind and soul
The air was still, the sky blue, and the sun just starting to set. I had waited a tad long to ‘get busy’ you see.
I’m glad I did.
The golden light brightened the frigid air; highlighting the brown and dormant plant life in my yard.
Putting the empty wheelbarrow down Boomer and took off for a wee walk…letting the cold brighten my skin, the fresh air stripped away the warmth of the house, the tiredness which enveloped me from the start of the day until…
I went out for the nights wood supply.
Boomer and I walked a quarter of a mile, not very far, but enough — breathing in the last of the bright blue day, breathing in the gold and rose quarts glow of the coming night. The farm was beautiful in the lavender glow of the twilight sky.
Walking back toward the house the Paonia Mountains picked up that amazing color, the one which makes me feel like I’m looking at the world through rose-colored glasses.
As the day lost it’s hold upon the land, the air picked up into a faint little breeze
And the last dramatic rays of light filled everything and everyone with flush of prefect color called perfection!
From my world to your heart,
Linda
.
Yesterday was a odd sort of day for me —
Although, I had a very busy day.
Now today I am tired.
Tired enough I can’t seem to get myself moving.
So please forgive me the lateness of this post. And my slowly dragging along.
The day has warmed up from a very chilly start and I must get busy.
The sun is shining, there isn’t a cloud in the sky, and the air is still.
It short it is beautiful
I really can’t ask for more.
Tomorrow I promise to be back to myself,
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
