We ride out daily now…
Checking the cows
Keeping count,
Making sure the cows are comfortable with us
Checking fences (and gates)
Overhead the Canada Geese keep us company
We have a NEW little one—very early. But, for some reason or other, there always seems to be one cow who springs a surprise.
Last night I saw a Sundog…colder weather on its way.
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
Chapter Two
“Stewart! STEWART!!!” Stanley yelled as he scampered all over the large logs.
“STEWART!!!”
“WHAT?!? Geez, what could be so important to take me away from a yummy pile of peanuts?”
Stewart looked up to see Stanley barreling toward him.
“Stewart, O! Stewart, something so sad and terrible has happened, I’m finding it hard to know what to do.” Stanley wailed.
“WHAT is IT, Stanley! I can’t help you if you don’t calm down enough to tell me what is going on.”
“Oh, Stewart! Boomer has left all of us and gone over the Rainbow Bridge. He is GONE! Never to take us for rides around the farm again. O!, Stewart, I am so sad. He was a good friend to us.” With that Stanley let two great big tears roll down his little squirrel cheeks.
Stewart was just in mid-chew, of a delicious peanut Mom had put out as a fun snack for him and Stanley.
“NO! NO! I didn’t even know Boomer was sick! He didn’t tell us. He didn’t let us know!” Stewart responded in shock.
“Mindy Cat told me just a few minutes ago. Boomer is gone, traveling around with Fuzzy now doing all sorts of stuff without us. OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHH BOOMER!” Stanley wailed.
“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BOOMER!” Stewart chimed in.
The two little squirrel brothers sat there; heads hung low; hearts heavy.
“Well, what do we do now,” Stanley asked after a very long moment of silence.
“I think we had better go find Chip and let him know. Chip enjoyed Boomer. And Mrs. Bunny.”
“Oh, YES! Mrs. Bunny.”
“Okay, let’s move on down the equipment line and see if we can find Chip or Mrs. Bunny.” Stewart headed toward the end of the log gathering himself to jump onto the hay hauling trailer.
“MINDY!” Stewart stopped. “Hey, Mindy, have you seen Chip or Mrs. Bunny?” Stewart inquired.
“Chip? Mrs. Bunny?” I stopped my pursuit on the trailer; following the scent of several mice, you see, yummm—
a Momma mouse and her bazillion little ones.
“Actually, No. I haven’t really been looking for them.” I replied. “Maybe you can go check on the grain head or down by the roller, or under one of the combines. I’ve seen each of them there at different times of the day. Or you might go over to the stacked wood by the chicken house, sometimes they are over there.” I gave them all a small wave and headed on about my business.
“Okay,” Stewart and Stanley replied in unison…off we go—first let’s do the equipment area, there is always yummy corn kernels by the combines and other types of goodies.”
“CHIP! CHIPPPP!” We yelled as loud as our squirrel voice could yell—“CHIP WHERE ARE YOU!”
“Boys! Why are you screaming so loud?” Mrs. Bunny came hopping from the, now harvested cornfield. If you don’t keep your voices down you could call in the
crows
or that Hawk pair who have decided they live on our farm.” Mrs. Bunny admonished Stewart and Stanley.
“We are looking for Chip”, Stewart explained to Mrs. Bunny.
“And YOU!” Stanley chattered in.
Suddenly a brown ball of fur zipped right into our midst, running right into Stanley and bowling him over.
“I AM HERE! IAMHERE!” Chip chattered. “I’m HERE!”
‘Oh, good,” Stewart replied, helping Stanley up and dusting Stanley off. “We have some very sad news to tell you.”
“SAD!” Mrs. Bunny and Chip exclaimed at the very same time.
“Yes”, Stanley replied. “Mindy cat just told us that Boomer, our Buddy, has left the farm to live over-the Rainbow-Bridge. Boomer is no longer here to protect and take care of us.” Stanley burst out in tears, all over again.
There was stunned silence from Chip and Mrs. Bunny.
“Oh, Boomer,” Mrs. Bunny sadly said. “Oh, Boomer. Thank you for being our friend. Run free.” Mrs. Bunny pronounced to the Sky. “Run free.”
“BAWLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO” Chip wailed. “I didn’t get to say Goodbye.”
“Well, no, none of us did”, chattered Stewart. But Mindy told him good-bye and said she would let all his friends know.”
“Mindy. Oh. Good.’ Mrs. Bunny calmy uttered.
“Then we don’t have to let Freddy, his Mom (shudder)
or those very large and noisy raccoons know.
Mindy can do it.”
“Hummm, Chip squeaked… “I wonder where Mindy is now, and what she is doing.”
“I would imagine she is looking for Boomer’s friends to let them know…she has a big job now. Telling the farm our most wonderful dog friend is over the rainbow bridge.” Mrs. Rabbit turned and bounced back into the cornfield.
Chip looked at us, gave a little hand-wave, and said: “Let’s go eat peanuts.”
So, we all ran back to the logs and the nice treats Mom had put there for us.
After my mouse snack, I decided it was time to move on.
The storms have finally left us…
heading someplace else
The little Gambel’s Quail families seem to be thriving.
In spite of these things, who freely roam across all the farms in our area
Although, I am not sure if this IS a Gambel’s Quail. His song sounds like one.
Isn’t he beautiful!!!
I also got a lovely gift in my email this morning:
We had gusty winds on Monday
Winds rough enough the weeds were jerked loose and flung here and there
The dust was rather eye-filling, to say the least.
Still, the murmuration of the birds was delightful (see the wee sundog in the sky? Colder air on its way to us)
And the joy of the Red-Winged Black Birds fills our sky each and every day.
Their dance is delightful to see so I go out often trying to capture them rippling in the air.
No matter what the wind does. (Scattering weed seed here and there for next year’s crop) 🙂
Bringing in storms
The buffeting wind can, also, scatter clouds giving us sunshine.
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
There is snow all around us… but only rain here.
A wee spell ago
I spied
Some delightful pheasants
Busily searching for food
And always running as fast as they can
away from me! 🙂
It seems to me that nature, and those creatures who live in it, are no different than us.
They hunger, they feel pain, they love.
I so enjoy being part of their lives and sharing them with you in photos.
From my world to your heart!
May you find and experience joy today!
Linda
I love photographing the hawk pair who live here
Marianne told me these are Nothern Harrier Hawks
This is the male— (isn’t he stunning!?)
His name is Harry 🙂
I think this is the female—Harriett–She is gorgeous!
We have become friends, of a sort.
They let me photograph them while I’m out and about.
Works for me!
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
The cows arrived! The joy of cattle feet back on the land!
The storm clouds rolled in over-night, moving along by a wind unseen
Over in the South West part of our farm, a very faint Sundog started to appear.
Growing brighter and brighter in the cool cloudy sky.
In three days’ time, our temperature will drop too much cooler norms.
The thick clouds started filling in again…leaving not a single space of blue.
But the exciting thing of wonder (I almost missed it) came with a phone call from Cliff and Kimberly—
“Quick! Look to the West…there is a Care Bear Rainbow (as our daughter, Kimberly called the rainbow) dancing in the sky”.
Sure enough…There is was. Perfectly Perfect as a sign of Hope.
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
Chapter One
Mom and I had a sit together yesterday. We sat and sat and sat. Mom petted on me and I purred. Then I got up and had Mom scratch me all over my back and at the base of my tail.
I purred as LOUD as I could.
A HUGE BIG PURR.
Then I looked Mom in the eye and said as clearly as I possibly could: “We have to move on. Boomer would want that. Besides he comes to see us even now. You just have to look for him.”
I stared and stared in Mom’s eyes trying to get her to understand.
I think she did. But I’m not sure. Anyway, I tried to get her to understand.
After I had all the purring and scratching, I wanted, I jumped down and went to the back door—Mom followed me.
OUTSIDE!
Outside where I love to be.
Hum, I wonder where Dad is?
Oh! There he is.
Time to give Dad lots of love and purrs.
That’s my job (besides catching and eating mice) giving Mom and Dad purrs.
Okay. That’s enough.
I have things I need to do.
Let’s see…the combine is parked in its regular spot. That means Dad is done with the corn harvest. That also means there might be MICE inside the header looking for left-behind corn.
YUMMY
MICE!
I peered up into the combine.
Nothing. Not a movement, or a flick of a tail, nothing.
Well, off to the woodpile.
I can usually find mice scurrying up and over the logs there.
STOP!
WAIT!
Mom would NOT like it if I caught (and ate) a bird…but…THERE ONE IS!!!
I crept down real low
Moving slow, ever so slow, slower…s.l.o.w.e.r
NOW!
WHAT JUST HAPPENED!
Something brown furry and fluffy just ran out of a log and right toward me!
(Of course, scaring off the BIRD!)
“MINDY!! MINDY!!” Screeched the brown furry
SQUIRREL!
“OH! Stanley! You gave me a huge fright! And you scared off a bird.”
“Scared off a bird! Oh, good! Glad to help Ya. I’ll try to do so again.” Stanley ran quickly down the log and sat right in front of me with his chitter-chatter going a-mile-minute.
“Stop, Stanley! You are talking so fast I can’t understand you. Besides my heart is still trying to calm down.”
“That’s okay, Cat. I’m not looking for you anyway. I’ve been hanging out here waiting for my buddy, Boomer to come along so we can have an adventure!”
“Boomer?” I questioned Stanley in a sad little voice.
“Yes, Yes, Boomer. Stewart and I want to go on an adventure over to the equipment area and we want to ride on Boomer’s back.”
“Boomer,” I said, quietly. “Boomer left us, Stanley. He now lives over the rainbow bridge.”
“The Rainbow Bridge! NO! NO! I Don’t want Boomer to go live over the Rainbow Bridge! NO!” Stanley wailed.
“I didn’t want him to go either,” I replied miserably.
“Gosh, Mindy, I could swear I saw him just a few hours ago,
trotting passed the Grain Truck. I called to him. He stopped gave me one of his sweet beagle smiles, wagged his tail, then put his nose to the ground and trotted on passed the grain truck over toward one of Mom’s gardens. I swear I saw him.”
“I think you did, Stanley. I think he is coming back and visiting ever now and again. I saw him yesterday, while Mom and Dad were busy with the corn. He was right by the cornfield watching Mom and Dad. Sometimes dozing, sometimes sitting up and staring at them.”
I walked over to the woodpile, climbed up on one of the logs; started stretching out my claws grabbing the wood with each one of my nails, then raking them toward me.
SCRATCH SCRATCH RAKE
“I talked to Boomer at that point. He said he was happy. And that he would be back and forth to check on us. Right after that he sorta, kinda, faded. Then I didn’t see him anymore.”
“Geeze, I didn’t know. I have to go now. Gotta Go. I gotta let Stewart know.”
Zoom, Stanley was gone.
I stopped sharping my nails and sat down on the log. The log is nice and warm, the sunshine perfect, no wind…the log nice and warm.
Gosh, this log is perfect for a wee little cat nap…………….
(This photo was taken just before the First Snowfall of the Year)
I decided yesterday,
I needed to go into the heart of the farm,
into the heart of the Earth;
where places of wonder exist,
places where I could forget politics
and angst
and worries.
I went off and on throughout the whole day
Looking at the crisped bushes, trees, and the fallen leaves
Gathering the heart of the Earth into my heart
Enjoying the peace
(Looking for these creatures)
The shadows
Before the predicted
High winds of Fall
(I only saw a few of these)
Are due in here of Friday
Bringing with it several days of the second snowfall of the season.
The light last night was lovely.
My favorite light—looking at the world through the color Rose.
From my world to your heart,
Linda
I thought I might tell you a wee little bit about the Black Canyon Animal Sanctuary. (If anyone is curious)
Debbie and David Faulkner have been involved in dog and cat rescue for over 30 years. A quick web search will tell you that Deb had to close the rescue due to her husband developing Alzheimer’s.
The Fence Post Magazine did a wonderful article on her here
Although she is not taking in more strays—she is still helping find homes for furry friends (and still takes a dog or two—now and then. 🙂 )
She has a delightful program, she started to help senior dog/ and senior people
She calls it the Silver Whiskers Progam.
She told me it was a very expensive program to run, here I will quote her: “It’s a very expensive program because we do a complete medical workup on each senior dog.”
“It really is an amazing program for our clients. One client walked with a walker. After 6 months she was walking the dog without one. Makes a big difference in their health and well-being to have a companion pet.”
Please take a few minutes out of your time to read about the patients, both dog, and human. It will make your heart sing.
For those of you who love wonderful warm fuzzy stories. This is a perfect example of wonderful warm stories in action.
For those who would like to follow her on her FaceBook page go here: The latest true adventure is about a vet, Johnathan, and a dog named Joker. It’s beautiful and wonderful and delightful and just perfect.
For those who donated in Boomer’s memory. Thank you.
And Thank YOU, Deb!
From my heart to your heart,
Linda
Life on a Colorado Farm 