We had another high wind come through again. Wind without rain.
Just wind.
Our cottonwood tree must have decided it was time to shed a couple of limbs so as the wind blew, down came some limbs.
Thankfully the branch that holds the rope swing was not the one shed. And the climbing branches are still there, just waiting for one or three little grandchildren to climb on.
These two branches came from somewhere up top, lightening the load just a little bit for this wonderful old tree.
Linda
The HUGE black and yellow garden spider (Argiope Aurantia), who lived in the corner of my upstairs eve, passed on. She was a wonderful spider (although very scary to look upon). She at moths, aphids, flies and grasshoppers, mosquitoes, sometimes bees and I saw several wasps. (Do NOT try to touch this spider….they will bite!)
As a little side note: male and female black and yellow garden spiders spin their own webs and hunt on their own during the day for most of their lives. Once mature, the males leave his web to hunt for a mate –I never met him, but I’m sure he must have been just wonderful. My spider was a beauty and she had very selective tastes.
Anyway, of course the poor fellow passed on, the job was just way too much for him.
I never named my spider, but she created a huge, large, GIANT web with heavy zigzagging, called ‘stabiliments’ down the center.
Our winter was just too cold for her (I am told in the milder areas of the United States my spider’s relatives can live for years.) and she passed. I saw her poor crumbled body on the roof shingle below her tattered web one day.
I left her eggs to spend the winter in their very dormant state inside their multilayered egg sac. They emerged Sunday…within thirty minutes what once was an spider incubator…was just a blank wall.
Close to where they had incubated an couple of darling barn swallows have taken up residents. More on that later.
Linda
Linda
Coming back from irrigating last night the moon was just delightful!!
We had some rain storms in the mountains that have helped (sort of) the irrigating situation. Enough that Terry thinks he can go ahead and plant his new alfalfa field.
Don’t get me wrong, water is still short, and we are still having trouble getting the ground wet because it has been so dry. But water in the hills brings a little more water down the canals. Enough to put out two more tubes, or open two more gates for a short time. If we get more rain in the hills or steady rain, that would be great.
Every little bit helps!
Sara did a cool post on Moon Music I would like to share….just perfect, just perfect.
We don’t have frogs or fireflies, but we still have the moon and last night was just beautiful.
Moon Music is right!
Linda
Sunday we were a bit tired, actually exhausted! Terry took off the day (accept for irrigating) and I took off time to work in my yard (I planted the garden and set out plants for half of the yard — all together the whole thing comes to 1.5 acres and can get too much if I don’t stay with it, real fast.) I also got my dusting and vacuuming done. Terry did all the irrigating except I helped him just before nightfall.
Saturday Terry and I went into town and helped our son work on his ‘new to him’ house. He had an old fireplace he wanted the bricks removed from and to set up his air conditioner, that took the morning. After changing the water we went back in and helped him hang his drapes and curtains.
He is really getting this old place, built in 1918, up to speed. I find it fun to see what changes he has accomplished from one visit to the next. There are a couple of more projects we will help with, but after that he won’t need the extra hands.
While we were there a little boy from two blocks came over looking for the little boy that lives next door. We were shocked to see he had a bird riding on his shoulder.
The bird does not fly away. The little boy said that the bird had been hurt about two years ago, by flying into a ceiling fan. After the bird recovered he was never able to fly again. So now the bird goes everywhere with the little boy. He said he would take him to school but the teachers won’t let him.
Linda
Yesterday we had a few clouds blow in, gradually over the day parts of Delta County got some much needed rain.
Although it didn’t rain here (we are in desperate need of rain) we did see a lovely storm play across the ‘dobies at the base of Grand Mesa.
Maybe the next storm that blows through will bring the moisture.
I sure hope so.
Linda
Saturday, Evan came out to help Terry and I clean up
some of the charred and burned trees, shrubs and fences around and on the alfalfa hill, it took us all day, but it sure was worth it.
We have three more knolls to go and 6 little hollows, plus the two miles of property fence line on the West side of the place.
Of course we still haven’t heard any more from the insurance guy and the Ditch Company must be way too busy to come through on the North and East side of the place.
We are lucky that we don’t have any cows this year as this fence issue would be a huge problem. We can work on everything as we have time, which really does help.
If any of the grandchildren showed up, I put them to work 🙂 Two of them came for about an hour at a time. First one showed up then the other. Having them help pick up wire and broken stubs and charred fence posts with me was rather nice.
They would stay for a time, but this kind of work is hot, dirty and tiring
I think it does their little souls good….helping out the old folks! 🙂
The sunset last night was outstanding, a cloud cover was drifting in for today so as the sun sank everything turned rose and pink!
Linda
We opened the last ditch on the place yesterday…what a mess.
The cement ditch had tons of trash in it, but that was to be expected.
The new dirt ditch (which we made after deciding not to buy more extremely expensive gated pipe) is holding water and sealing up nicely.
Where we had the problem was under the old apricot tree that escaped the fire.
We didn’t even THINK about there being a problem with that ditch….it’s the last ditch on the place, taking the water to the alfalfa hill and then on down to the next farm.
So here we were working away on getting the trash out of the cement ditch, starting the tubes, digging out the ends…..everything going along as expected.
We rode down to check the new ditch out.
Good. The water was going on down to the alfalfa hill, the ditch was sealing and imprinting. We got the trash out …
Looking good
Evening was starting to come on in a hurry so we headed on down to check the alfalfa ditch and start the furrows (earth dams here and digging out ends)
When we saw a LAKE in the road! And the water starting to sub over into the potential pinto bean field!
Who would have thought….a ground squirrel had made a wonderful, delightful, very nice home in the side of the alfalfa ditch!!!
It took some doing but we finally got all 8 holes filled in and covered up. The squirrel was seen chattering at us a couple of times. Floods are bad news for anyone to have to live through.
The squirrel is alive and well, it moved on over to a thicket and started a new house in a much drier area.
We have been rather cool to cold here for the last three days. Temperatures have dropped into the low 20s, it was 24* this morning when I went out to let the chickens out for the day. I think its supposed to start a gradual warm up tomorrow.
April sure was an up and down sort of month for temperatures….reaching 92* one day.
May for us is usually warmer, and a little steadier weather wise…I try to plant my garden the week of Mother’s Day. (Although, it can still freeze here, even as late as in June.)
Thanks for stopping by!
Linda
The Sunday Stills assignment this week is — Take something bad and find a way to make it look good/find some beauty in it – at least photographically. Like an invasive weed, dusty cupboard, scummy pond, flies…
This really isn’t bad or ugly…but I thought I would show a before and an after photo of Fuzzy with his haircut!
When I went in to pick him up I really didn’t recognize him right away, it took me a minute or three. Of course he knew Me so that settled That!
Go here for more Sunday Stills!
Linda
My monthly tree post will be today…. I’m afraid I will forget it if I don’t do the post today.
First the Willow tree
Green is showing up nicely. Every day there is more and more tiny little willow leaves
(I’m still working on the messy pile of wood, every day I cut a little more and move it too the area where we stack wood.)
The Cottonwood tree’s leaves are also tiny and shiny….still the leaves are making very welcome shade.
We were 88* yesterday. Horribly hot for this time of year. The Uncompahgre Valley Water Users have already locked the head gates. Usually that doesn’t occur until the middle of May. (The Uncompahgre Valley Water Users/ ditch riders, managers, board members, manages the water from which everyone in the Uncompahgre Valley uses to irrigate with—-the Uncompahgre Valley is made up of a water area. This water comes from Gunnison and Ridgeway, Colorado, to the Gunnison River, which flows through Delta, Colorado, on its way to the Colorado River through a hugely fascinating series of canals) This means we did NOT have enough snow in the high country this year so water is going to be short.
Our water moves through all of the farms then dumps into the Gunnison (as I said before) on it’s way to Nevada, Arizona, and California. We are required by law (water rights–first filing on the water etc.) to send so many feet of water into the Gunnison so the other states can have water.
Terry is out harrowing off the corn field. We will start water back on this field this afternoon.
Once he gets done harrowing then he needs to re-mark the second corn field, and mark out the new bean ground so we have places to move the water. And to keep from drying out.
Once the head gate is locked we have to make do with an allotment of water, which means we have to irrigate more, move the water more, even if we have to move the water every four hours instead of every 8—and yes even in the middle of the night, if necessary.
So far the alfalfa is looking good. First cutting should be the last of May or the first of June.
You can see the heat haze in the background.
Well, off now lots to do today.
Linda
Life on a Colorado Farm 