A Spot of History—Monday, January 9, 2015

Posted on February 9, 2015 by Dayphoto

Before I move forward

The dome building behind the cows is someone’s house. Our farm is the edge of California Mesa, then it drops down into what the old-timers call ‘No-Man’s Land’. No-man’s-land is the flat land just before the next drop into Roubidoux Canyon. No-man’s-land is very poor ground, not fit for good farming back in 1882 when Delta was incorporated. Farming was hard enough in our area, although not so bad in the town of Delta and North Delta…they had water. Water the lifeblood of man.

Here you see the edge of the mesa better. You also see more of the flat land.

Today the flatlands have been subdivided allowing people to live ‘out in the country’. Also, water is available, which always helps any ground improve. I could go on and on about the history of our place, but I think I will stop here.

On a sidebar note—those gigantic transmission power lines are on the OTHER Side of Roubidoux Canyon…The blue/grey is the foot hills of the Uncompahgre Plateau, and the blue is The Uncompahgre Plateau.

I’m sure I’ve bored you long enough. I thank you for stopping by and asking questions. I love to go on and on about the history of this area, but…enough, really is enough!

Your friend on a Western Colorado Farm,

Linda

Friday and Saturday’s Update—Sunday, February 8, 2015

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Dayphoto

Friday was so nice Terry and I decided to get the roof on the Tile House…this is a little house that was once used to bottle milk and then became Grandma Brown’s wash house for laundry. Over the years I’ve used it for many things, now it stores all my canning, food dryers, and the freezer plus just plain “stuff” that I really need to go through and sell or give away.

We are so warm here that Terry and I worked in our shirtsleeves, in fact it was down right hot for a little while. Very unusual for this time of year, but I’ll take it. I guess, I have to take it there is nothing else to do. 🙂

By Friday night we were done! DONE! Finished on the tile house roof…do a happy dance! And very tired!

Also, on Friday half of the cows arrived; I counted 60 soon to be Momma Cows!

They have made the rounds of the whole place checking everything out—here, there and everywhere. Not stopping, but for a mouth full of this or that. Today they have sorta settled down, picking one field, over by the barns, or by the other house and staying for several hours, then moving on to another interesting spot.

Boomer and I have taken a few walks out to see how they are doing…I just love being around cows.

Today promises to be just as warm as Friday and Saturday, the sunsets are still stunning in their summer-like colors (you are looking North toward Grand Mesa) , this is the day we take off, which is always nice.

I hope your Sunday is a good one, where ever you are! Thank you so much for stopping by for a visit.

Your Friend on a Western Colorado Farm

Linda

We Finally Finished—Thursday, February 5, 2015

Posted on February 5, 2015 by Dayphoto

Finally Terry and I are done with the trees and the fences. What a huge intense mess we had for a spell. But now we are done! YAY!

Now the cows can come and I can enjoy them. It’s always fun to see the girls arrive–these are first year heifers and second year cows, which means this is the first year for the young cows to have a calf and the second year for last years heifers to calve out. The reality is these cows are 2 and 3 years old. They have spent their youth here on our place and/or calved out the first time here with us.

I delight when they come, they run here and there, grabbing bits of food, heading to old favorite spots AND coming over to visit us (in particularly the fenced off hay yard; one never knows if the hay yard just MIGHT not be fenced off.) It takes them a good 10 days to settle into a routine.

Uncle Spike posted a double Rainbow, he said I could link to him so you can see it also!

Even if there wasn’t rainbow right here on the farm, a beautiful sign of hope appeared in my inbox.

All is well!

Before I forget here is the skyline in full daylight. The only blight is the dead tree stump—which is 30 feet or so in air. We still might cut it clear to the ground, but this is the stump Misty wants to have Kelly make into a platform for the kids to play on. Our grandchildren are NOT afraid of height, their grandmother is.

Today I’m going to CLEAN my house! As you might know it is in dire need after the last several days of trees and fences. I also need to go buy a birthday present for a certain little granddaughter who will be 7 on the 15th of February.

Thanks to each and everyone of your for stopping by and reading about our Life on a Colorado Farm. I also appreciate all your comments and your support for the Sherlock Boomer story. I’m rather jazzed to see if I can actually create a full book.

The sun is shining here and we are heading up to 62* by this afternoon!

Life is Good!

Your friend on a Colorado Farm

Linda

The Skyline—Tuesday, January 3, 2015

Posted on February 3, 2015 by Dayphoto

We finished with all the huge, gigantic stuff yesterday. It took all three of us…the men on the tractors and me doing the ground work, but we made it!

There is such joy in those three words–WE MADE IT!!!

Here is a photo of the skyline—I almost forgot, which is why you are getting it in the evening.

You can still see the lightening struck tree (stump) in the back, but the front only looks a little thinner. I think I worried for nothing. Remember Misty wants that stumps to create another play area for the kids.

I will try to get a better photo today! I don’t think it will show a huge gaping hole–like I was afraid it would. (This is the one before the trees were cut)

Today we are building fences, so I must hurry and get myself down there–Terry is already there setting up the electric fencer. We begin in earnest, on the fences the second I arrive.

Your friend

Linda

Back to Work we go—-Monday, February 2, 2015

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Dayphoto

It’s cloudy here! Even foggy. And cold! So in this part of the world it looks like we are heading toward a early Spring!

YAY!!!! Doing the happy dance here! Spring is always a welcome arrival.

The heavy clouds made their way in last night, flowing toward us from the Durango area. Although, the Uncompahgre (Un-come-pah-gray) Plateau looked clear, the setting sun flung this amazing red and hot pink color upon the gathering storm clouds.

This stunning HOT color is very unusual this time of year!

Normally the clouds are a pale wash of color; albeit still beautiful!

I have no idea WHY we are seeing this dark hue this time of year—it doesn’t matter because not matter what…I always love the sky!

Off now to haul more logs and to rake bark and twigs and chips…the cows come Wednesday or Thursday so we must get a move on!

Your Friend,

Linda

Good Morning Everyone! Sunday, February 1, 2015

Posted on February 1, 2015 by Dayphoto

Good morning everyone! Moving After two days of heavy gray clouds blocking the sun and sending life-giving moisture into our rather dry soil, we woke-up this morning to a very beautiful day.

Another blessing in the storm is it stopped our work on the removal of the wood from the two trees we had cut down. I think that was a good thing. It’s better to have a break in the work than to break something on your body (all three of us, Terry, Scott (our neighbor) and myself are over 65–just saying.) If the weather stayed nice we would not have stopped…we needed to stop. A three day rest is a good thing (we always rest on Sunday, only the things that MUST be done is ever accomplished on Sunday.)

Tree-work Our neighbor is taking the wood for his outside furnace so we don’t have to haul anything far. The wood from the front tree is way too wet to burn this year, but the wood from the lightening struck tree is dead. This is a win-win for Scott as he has dry wood to finish out the heating season and wood to start the next heating season. It’s a win-win for Terry and I because we have help cleaning up the mess AND we know that the wood is being put to good use instead of just dumped at the Upper End. The GIANT logs we are taking to the Upper End to make hollows for fox (or whomever) have a place to hide.

Scott and Terry both have tractors, Scott has forks on his and Terry uses the bucket.

This leaves me to do all the brush work, rake up all the chips, and to chain up the logs. We are making huge headway. As soon as the ground dries enough we should be able to finish up next week.

We better finish up next week, since Hank stopped and said he was going to be bringing in his first year heifers and his second year cows probably around Thursday.

I just about have the chips and bark and branches out of the corn field gate, which is a good thing…I wouldn’t want any of the cows to get something stuck in their hooves.

If we can get the big stuff and the field stuff done before the cows we can finish up the back yard after the fence is built. Lots of pressure right now to get stuff done.

THEN I told Terry it will be time to put the new roof on the tile house, after which we will be close, if not already started, on Spring farm work.

I think the time of February is going to fly by!

Many of you have emailed asking me to post a photo of the skyline with the trees gone. I shall…I want to have all the trash cleaned up before I do. Surprisingly (so far) it doesn’t look bad down there. Misty wants us to keep the lightening struck stump in the back for Kelly to build something for the kids to play in, so we will. Kelly built a tree house for the kids in one of the other trees; having something cool in this one will add to the fun of the back yard.

The front tree will be gone…I’m thinking I might put a planter where it was and fill it with something colorful. Maybe. It all depends on how it looks. I might just fill in the spot with grass. Grass is always nice on the eyes.

Look at this sunset last night as the storm broke up and left us! The colors are amazing for this time of year!

Thanks for stopping by!

Your friend on a western Colorado farm,

Linda

A Big Thank YOU, Thursday, January 29, 2015

Posted on January 29, 2015 by Dayphoto

I want to give all of you a BIG THANK YOU for all the encouragement with my new endeavor with Sherlock Boomer! The Chapter One is now posted with good reviews. I shall continue until the very end, at which time there Should be a book.

The Adventures of Boomer will still continue on Friday, after all Boomer does tell about Farm life from his perspective. Life on a Colorado Farm seen through the eyes of a beagle, so to speak.

Maybe I’ll figure out how to make Fuzzy and Boomer’s adventures into a true story yet, many of you suggested I give it a good try. I’m open to suggestions if you want to leave me a comment or to email me. As Sallie from The Traveling Grainvilles, and others of you pointed out Fuzzy was a vital part of the farm for a very long time.

Another thing you might notice is my blog got a mini-make-over thanks to Uncle Spike. (Uncle Spike is a farmer in Turkey. You might head on over– his blog is very diverse and full of photos and cool adventures he has had over his life.)

Uncle Spike very graciously helped me get the comment section set-up so I can answer everyone’s comments right on the blog! I like the idea of answering the comments right on the blog as it gives depth to the post it would otherwise not have.

Uncle Spike then set up the header with categories —under Fuzzy and Boomer you will find the Adventures of Boomer and the Adventures of Fuzzy and Boomer. Life on a Colorado Farm is all other posts except Sherlock Boomer. Sherlock Boomer will be the serial posts, which I hope will result in a book.

An Invitation is still there…I’m still thinking on it. I like the idea of inviting people to sign-up but maybe it isn’t necessary. I’m open to suggestions if you want to give them to me.

Terry and I and our neighbor have been working steady cleaning up the mess left from the logging of the trees. We must hurry as there is a storm due in here tonight (it might miss us) and we want to have as much done as possible —if it is a very wet storm. Also, the cows are coming the middle of next week, which means me MUST get done down there and get the fence put back up.

Once more THANK YOU!

Your friend,

Linda

I’m Thinking of Something a Little Bit Different—Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Posted on January 27, 2015 by Dayphoto

Look at the huge flocks of birds down where our eldest daughter lives!

Masses of Sandhill Cranes, and Canada Geese. There are ducks in the field with them, but I couldn’t get a shot to turn out very well.

The sounds are LOUD! Everyone talking all at once, doing their dances and singing love songs to each other…Valentines Day IS coming, you know.

They are so loud you can’t hear yourself talk! 🙂 Makes me smile. I hollered over to them they could all fly down to our farm and hang out for a few days I would love to have them! 🙂

Now my bit of news. All last year I tried to figure out HOW to make the Fuzzy and Boomer stories into a publishable book…I tried. But all along I couldn’t get the proper feel of a actual story—they just kept feeling like blog posts.

This year I am still interested in the book idea, but I’m going to go about it a different way. You will notice at the top of my blog I have several categories one of which says: Sherlock Boomer. Every Wednesday I am going to write a Chapter a week about Boomer and a small mystery on the farm….no dead human bodies in these mysteries or evil drug lords—just simple little mysteries which Boomer and his friends will solve in a few chapters. At the end I should have a book.

The Cast of Characters

Boomer has taken up a new hobby…solving mysteries on the farm. His lovable canine super beagle nose leads him and his farm friends on delightful warm-hearted adventures.

Boomer is a Beagle….although, he doesn’t know he is a beagle. He doesn’t hunt rabbits or mice or chase birds. But he DOES love gathering the news. It was after the loss of his very best friend Fuzzy and falling into a long funk that he decided it was time to start living again. Since Boomer loves to gather the news, solving mysteries was the next step. (See the Fuzzy link)

Monkey Cat—lived in the house for years and years and years. If Mom or Dad made her go outside she would climb on the screen door and hang there until they let her back in. Then suddenly- the year she turned nine –she decided that she was old enough and brave enough to explore the big outdoors. Boomer started taking the little fluffy fraidy-cat with him to see the farm…Monkey Cat has decided that visiting outside is, well, FUN!

Sam-Sam Cat — the wise and oldest animal on the farm. Sammy is fifteen and the undisputed cat all around. Sammy is devoted to Mom and adores Dad. He tolerates Monkey and only goes with Boomer to keep Boomer out of trouble. Often times its Sammy who figures out what REALLY is going on.

Foxy and Red—warm-hearted Fox who live at the Upper End of the farm in a pile of old dead Cottonwood Trees. Mom doesn’t mind the fox family on the farm because there are NOT and chickens on the farm anymore. But IF Mom were to get chickens again (she thinks about it a lot) then Foxy and Red would not be welcomed anywhere near the farm yard. Boomer isn’t much of a watch dog or a guard dog. Boomer has a warm heart for everyone, except the Coyotes. So IF Mom gets chickens, Mom will need to get a guard dog for the hens. Until that time…Foxy and Red pretty much have the run of the whole farm!

Starting tomorrow morning (Wednesday) I will begin my very first attempt at a book, in a serial format — a new chapter every Wednesday until the book is complete. Fridays with Boomer will still continue, because that is about our every day life on the farm seen through a dog’s eyes. A much different format than a serial posting resulting in a book.

I am very excited about this new idea and hope to see all of you tomorrow!

Your friend,

Linda

Bookend Trees—Monday, January 26, 2015

Posted on January 26, 2015 by Dayphoto

There they stand, the two doomed trees…the one in the back was hit by lightening two summers ago and needs to come down. The other one is the closest to us next to the other houses.

Terry had been afraid to cut down the lightening struck tree because he was concerned the wind currents would shift in the yard and cause branches to fall on the house.

Then the other tree became a problem (according to the County Road people) because of over-hanging branches next to the road—the county road people came along and smacked several branches and left the branches they hit with their bucket just flung everywhere….on the fence, on the mailbox, next to the side of the road.

I was raised if you do something do it right- I guess this was right…smack the tree and just leave everything as is and don’t tell anyone. 😦

Terry and I went down and cleaned everything up, after we figured out what happened. Rudely they didn’t even tell us they were going to smack the branches off. Nor did we get a letter or any type of a warning…the neighbors saw them do it. (Sigh)

The blessing in the county road people’s damage is cutting down that tree could make a different wind pattern and keep any large branches that may fall off the house. The tree crew says it will…only time will tell.

Today the work has begun. Later on this afternoon Terry will fire up the tractor with the loader, Boomer and I will gather up the rakes and wheelbarrows and start the clean up.

Here is one last look at the skyline with the bookend trees still in place.

Change is always a constant on this earth, isn’t it?

Your friend on a Western Colorado Farm,

Linda

Looking at a Rose Colored World—Sunday, January 25, 2015

Posted on January 25, 2015 by Dayphoto

Terry and I were outside splitting firewood yesterday as the day started to end…colder air was descending and the sun was sitting.

We still wanted to do a few more logs and I still needed to haul the nightly load to the house and fill the wood box.

As we worked the sky started filling up with the most amazing, scrumptious, delightful rosey glow. It started out as a very pale pink.

Getting brighter and brighter as we finished up.

I hurriedly filled the wheelbarrow and pushed my heavy load to the house, then leaving the wheelbarrow right next to the back door I grabbed my camera and ran back outside!