These birds are HUGE—They stand 5 feet tall and are one of the oldest bird species in the world.
And very shy—I have to be more than careful to get a photo of them. If they see me (or the dog) even flicker in their eyesight they all lift up as one and fly away!
I just love having them here. I used to call them as they passed us by in years past: “You are WELCOME here! Just land! Please! Please come!”
Thankfully they are here now!
YAY!
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
Here is a wee walk-about
Showing to you, that old, old story,
Of the silence, which is really not silent
of the beauty of our each and every day.
That sense of timelessness
Of marvelous and easy grace
Casting a tiny spell of contentment
A sense of wonder
Of daily life on our farm.
🙂
From my world to your heart,
Linda
Our oldest granddaughter and her boyfriend came for a day of hunting coyotes
I think they had lots of fun together, they looked for tracks, rode the four-wheeler all over, had a BIG breakfast, then rode horses. After which off we went for fast food and then bowling.
In between all that, Linkin found a heart rock…and brought it in to give to me.
A gift from Earth to Linkin, who gifted it to me.
🙂 🙂 🙂
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
Chapter Seven
This is SO much fun!
First, I climbed to the top of the haystack poles, then I ran across the top, got stuck for a little bit, but figured out that I could get back down if I went backward.
After all that climbing I decided to go into the combine and see if there were mice in there. My tummy was growling at this point, you see.
In I went, first under the cab, then in the place where all the teeth are, nope.
Back into the BIG part where all the trash comes out and WHAM! Mice everywhere.
Yum!
Slurp!
Gulp!
That was good. Burp.
Okay, enough of that.
Back out onto the farm road. Where I rolled around in the dirt for a spell.
Then JUMPED UP! And RAN to the ditch where the water can go one way, if Dad wants it too, or go another way. Whatever Dad decides. It’s really fun to crawl into the pipes and see how far I can go before I get scared and come back out.
Oh! You didn’t read that. I don’t get scared, I just get tired of not seeing daylight.
You understand I’m sure.
Shoot! All the pipes are covered up and locked down.
Darn!
Okay….off I go down the dirt ditch then…I scrabble down the ditch as fast as I could go.
You never know…there may be mice in the ditch, or the grass OR Dad forgot to close off the cross-over pipe. At WHICH point if he forgot…..I CAN GO TO THE OTHER SIDE!
Meanwhile—-
I have been hanging out at the bird feeders lately
Trying to get some good photos of birds in flight…
I love how their wings leave a soft sigh in the air, or swoosh as they takeoff
I have to be careful as this little fur ball loves to come with me…and that is never a good thing. The birds leave the area in a wind churning frenzy.
This little bird was way up high, listening to the silence of the sky
Last evening, as the sky started to purple and fade a female Great Horned Owl and her mate stopped by
They were delightful to listen too and then to watch leave…silently lifting up from the branches; floating away like a breath of wind
During the day the air is alive with the shimmering sounds of the Sand Hill Cranes
Their thrilling call is beautiful.
They spend the night on the farm also, but are so silent one doesn’t know they are here.
The Canada Geese do not seem to like to be where the cranes are. Rather sad, I tell them all the time they are welcome.
Still, they fly on their calls adding to the trills of the cranes on the ground.
What lovely creatures add to our long winter days!
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
“Sometimes,” said Pooh, “the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.”–A.A. Milne
Because of terrible weather and bad driving conditions, we have not been able to attend many of our grandson’s basketball games.
But yesterday (bad weather and all) we looked at each other and said: “Let’s Go!” So off we went to Carbondale, Colorado, where the Parachute Cardinals (we are the Cardinals) took on the Rams for a very exciting over-time, buzzer ending basketball game.
As Pooh says: “the smallest things do take up the most room in our hearts!”
From our world to your heart!
Linda
Boomer and I still go for walks in the moonlight. We both love it!
Back in the house, I put a couple of logs on the fire, then head back to bed. Sammy, our old cat, is trying to sleep in his spot on the bed, but the full moon lights up the whole room so much he has to cover his eyes. 🙂 It makes me smile to see him.
I leave the curtains open—I love the moon light. The west side of the house has a soft radiance filling the rooms caused from the silver beams coming through the curtainless windows. Suffusing everything in silver light.
January is the time of the Full Wolf Moon. The full moon names date back to Native Americans. January is the time of deep snows and very cold temperatures. It is also a time of starvation, thus the howling of the wolves in search of food.
This moon is also the second full moon after the solstice.
The Full Wolf Moon came into its full and dramatic beauty last night. It is most stunning!
As always your friend,
Linda
Life on a Colorado Farm 