A pair of Ringed-Neck Doves
Having a wee gossip about the cold (and a quick preening of the feathers)
Shhh. Don’t let the cat or the dog see them. Or they will fly far away.
Shhhhh.
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
April left us, that wet and chill month, with the massive winds that searched into every crevice and ripped off shingles…the chill of the spring dusk causing the furnace to turn on now and again.
Still the plants woke, putting on a few green leaves, then more, until they studded the flower beds and shimmered the pastures in newness only Spring can bring.
The little humming birds have arrived…I think there are six breeding pairs here so far. The air around their little wings humming so much it it’s like a harp making music.
May has arrived and the winds have changed…growing warm and gentle instead of those massive things we had in March and April.
A calm time. The skies full of sunlight. A time of growing and acceptance.
AND MY LILACS ARE BLOOMING!
The first time in years!
MAY! What a joyous time!
Your friend on a western Colorado Farm,
Linda
STOP!
Right THERE!
And lift up your eyes
Rejoice in the everyday
Sing songs to the sun
And sing to the everyday commonness of [your] daily lives.
“Still, what I want in my life
is to be willing
to be dazzled—
to cast aside the weight of facts
and maybe even
to float a little
above this difficult world.”
― Mary Oliver
From my world to your heart,
Linda
We finally have a calm day. Well, actually we had a calm day starting mid-morning yesterday.
It was lovely. Cold, then warming up — to warm enough a coat could be shed, then cold again.
But that is okay. It’s all about Spring, right now.
In the frenzy of the wind we also fought trash. Lots and lots of trash. Trash so thick and massive it would cause the water to flow over the top of the banks flooding into the next field where the water really should NOT be.
But things are being dealt with…the water for the fields. (Terry wet plants, which means he waters all the field first, allows it to dry out enough he can get a tractor and planter in, then plants the seeds. Once planted in four-five days the little plants pop out of the ground ready to begin their lives of growing. Most other farmers dry plant. Dry plant means you plant the seed into dry soil, then put water into the furrows wetting the soil and the seed at the same time. The seed take a wee bit longer to emerge, but in the end it accomplishes the same thing…growing plants 🙂 )
April is the hurry and prepare month, the emerging of new green of leaves, small brilliant flowers–perfect for food for the honey and bumble bees,—the days longer, twilight gathering later and later in the day, soft flutter-bys flitting here and there, the awakening of those other flying bugs: midges, and flies!
And always, always, setting tubes amid the simple beauty of life on western Colorado farm,
Unfailingly, Your friend,
Linda
We got rain! Lots and lots of lovely rain.
Even the birds were singing the trees, as the rain whispered through the small buds on the branches.
And I…I was that good wife, who let Terry go out at nine o’clock of the evening, in the roar of the storm to change the water ONE last time. He graciously told me to stay inside, that it wouldn’t take him long.
He came in a drowned rat…but ever so excited about the depth of moisture in the soil.
The wind blew the clouds away around five o’clock this morning…leaving us with that perfect mix of fresh air, fresh sky, blessed plants and earth from RAIN!
From my world to your heart,
Linda
Winter blew in over-night last night. It’s cold here today.
Our fine spring days washed out in a tide of a swift moving cold front
The wind is sharp enough I have started the wood stove again…
Still no water. We are getting far behind (but no water in this wind is actually a blessing–just saying 🙂 ) Some of the farmers are finishing up their second round of irrigation and starting on their third…we are still waiting. Maybe Thursday, now. Who knows.
Whatever it is we will just have to wait until it comes. There is no other way around it.
Anyway…
Today I will get some more things ready in the yard…AND… I have help! Terry is bored so he said he would help me!
Now THAT is a good thing!
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
We got the ditches all cleaned and then
Turned in the water!
We started small…20 tubes, so we could manage the setting and the digging out of the ends
Gradually we added more water, more rows, and more tubes
Nothing like the smell of the dry earth, as the water soaks into it.
Terry dug out the ends and I started the tubes. In a wee break I stopped and looked at Terry, who had a huge grin on his face.
“You are sure happy” I commented.
“Yes!” he replied. “Being out here, doing this, makes me happy!”
“Me thinks”, I smiled at him….”You love being a farmer.”
“I think so too.” he stated.
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
We started work on the cement ditches. Picking up the stacked tubes and placing them in every furrow, cleaning the ditches of trash and mud, and building the dams. Later on this morning we will start water. It will be a jumble of rushed minutes to stay ahead of the rushing, gurgling, bubbling, water—-crazy minutes to get the syphon tubes started and to make sure the water doesn’t run over the sides to ruin the farm ground.
In first light there was a peaceful little star, shining forth so bright I had to take a photo
While at the very same time that gorgeous April Moon was swiftly descending in the deep azure sky.
The trees were just coming to life with the sound of birds…
The sky in the east burning was off, as the setting silvered moon light splashed peacefully on our on the farm, striping the ground with a drifting dust of white glitter.
From my world to your heart,
Linda
Way back when, when I was born, I was lucky enough to come to a family full of FAMILY and friends so close to my parents and grandparents they also were considered FAMILY!
On my father’s side, his mother had a best friend…one she made after she moved to Eckert, Colorado after the death of her first husband (the father of my Dad). Iva and Grandma shared many things together, including their sons.
Although, Iva’s son was a little bit older than my Dad they became excellent friends.
Both of these friendships–my grandmother’s and my dad’s lasted their lifetimes.
But the gift I received was the joy of the two daughters of Dad’s best friend–Judy and Dixie. Judy was a year older than Dixie and I, but Dixie and I were just two weeks apart. From the time of our birth we were best friends forever…she was the sister of my heart. I still miss her. Judy and I, Dixie’s children and the rest of the world lost Dixie from cancer when she was still a young woman.
I still feel her heart across the void — that huge gulf— called the Other Side.
My oldest granddaughter has had that same kind of wondrous friendship, although theirs started in the First Grade.
They have grown so much! We are lucky because the girls like to stay with us!
There is something to be said for taking your heart, giving it a huge toss and hoping the person you are tossing it to will catch it and keep it forever more!
When they do…you are more than blessed!
Sending love to each of you, my friends!
Linda
This Spring the Red-Winged Blackbirds came!
I don’t know why they have left the Upper End with it’s lush pond and a swampy area, but they have. When they came (and they are still here) the Western Meadow Larks and all the other birds left for the Upper End, although yesterday I saw Robins on the Western side of the house and yard.
I’m not complaining I love their cheerful little songs and watching them flit and fly from branches to my feeding stations.
They are most joyful birds, don’t you agree?
Your friend,
Linda
Life on a Colorado Farm 