SkyWatch Friday: Hello Snow, Goodbye Flowers!

We were under our first Winter Storm Watch of the season last Friday night, and although it just rained here in town (thank goodness), Saturday's sunrise revealed a dramatically altered landscape in the higher elevations...

We'd covered our herb garden since the temps fell below freezing, so though we lost most of our Italian basil, everything else, including our flowers, was spared. We had several beautiful days this past week, enjoying more long walks with the dogs and even some basking in shorts and bare feet on the patio. But Autumn in these parts is a fickle lass, and so along came Winter Storm Atlas yesterday. Not a mere Watch this time, but a more dire... 

Winter Storm Warning

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
405 AM MDT FRI OCT 4 2013

A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW REMAINS IN
EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT MDT TONIGHT.

* TIMING...HEAVY SNOW WITH SOME BLOWING SNOW WILL CONTINUE FOR
  MUCH OF THE DAY. SNOW WILL TAPER OFF BY THIS EVENING.

* SNOW ACCUMULATION...TOTALS OF 8 TO 15 INCHES...WITH THE GREATEST
  AMOUNTS ALONG THE NORTHEAST SLOPES OF THE BIG HORN AND PRYOR
  MOUNTAINS.

* WINDS...NORTHWEST 15 TO 30 MPH. HIGHER GUSTS ARE EXPECTED FROM
  ABERDEEN HILL TO SHERIDAN.

* IMPACTS...SNOW WILL STICK TO SOME TREES AND POWER LINES. THIS
  COULD LEAD TO POWER OUTAGES.

* TRAVEL...THE COMBINATION OF HEAVY SNOWFALL...POOR VISIBILITY
  AND GUSTY WINDS WILL CAUSE VERY DIFFICULT TRAVEL CONDITIONS ON
  INTERSTATE 90 THROUGH SHERIDAN COUNTY. 

Did Mother Nature somehow forget that we're only two weeks into Autumn? She's as bad as Walmart, who started putting Christmas stuff out in September!

The storm started as rain Wednesday night and it rained most of yesterday, then turned gusty and started snowing around dusk. The mountains aren't visible this morning and I got a face full of blowing snow and sleet when I opened the front door, so here's what it looked like from our back door at about 7 this morning...

The trees and shrubs are covered in thick clumps of ice and frozen snow, and I fear we've probably lost our Linden tree (pictured above) and the Amur maple in our front yard. :-( Our two Russian sages are flattened, our Barberry is bar-buried (haha) under a drift, and it goes without saying that our flowers and herbs are history. I think Josie's expression this morning sums up all our feelings about this cruel turn of weather...

But we feel really badly for the folks in Boulder and Laramie Counties, CO, who although they're not getting the worst of this storm, are still getting snow, wind and freezing temps just three weeks after suffering from devastating flooding. And just south of us and to the east in South Dakota, they're under blizzard warnings calling for gusts of 70mph and up to 18" of snow! So it could definitely be worse. 

Aware of what was headed our way, I harvested some herbs for drying, cut some flowers, and took some photos of how things looked when Fall was Fall and not Winter! The trees were only just starting to change color (and some weren't even doing that yet), so we won't be enjoying anything like the gorgeous Autumn we had last year. Anyway, here are some "before" photos to end this post on a prettier, more season-appropriate note!

Our Russian Hawthorne's pretty red berries 

One of our two Burning Bushes in its crimson glory

(A Russian Sage with its lavender flowers is visible in the background)

Portulaca (Moss Rose)

Our portulaca went absolutely crazy this summer, looking more like a shrub than a flower! 

BW's daisies 

BW couldn't wait to plant daisies in our front flowerbed and chose these fancy ones at the greenhouse; next year we plan to add at least one more variety.

Memories of Summer

The lavender, Gazania, Viola, daisies, marigolds and mums 

that I snatched from the jaws of death to enjoy for a few more days.

Enjoy skies from all over the world (as well as all over the calendar!) at...

My friend Joanne is coming from Michigan next Thursday to visit for a few days, and though there won't be any pretty fall foliage or flowers for her to enjoy, we've still got lots planned to keep us busy - including Sheridan's annual quilt show! So I'll be back in a couple of weeks (she said with the best of intentions!) :-) Have a great weekend, everyone!

Nature hike and Mocha howdy

Last Sunday was a perfect June day as well as the last day of BW's week of vacation, so we loaded up the girls and drove to the ranch where Mocha lives to go on a nature hike and then visit Mocha. I took along my easy-to-tote Kodak, so here are some photos from our expedition!

I took this photo of this antelope buck and his posse from the Jeep on our way to the gravel pit road where we hike. I was glad my Kodak has a good telephoto lens, because they had bounded quite a distance away before feeling safe enough to pose for a group photo!...

I don't know if we frightened this little Killdeer from her nesting area or what, but as we walked past a sandy area beside the road, she sort of jumped-flew out in front of us and did a funny little dance several times, then insisted on running ahead of us for the rest of our uphill walk! If we lagged behind too much she'd wait for us, looking back over her shoulder rather impatiently (as she was doing in this photo) till we caught up enough to satisfy her. She wouldn't let me get much closer than 10 yards or so, so I took this with my telephoto and cropped it so she'd be in the bottom left corner of the picture and easier to spot - she's really camouflaged against those beige stones and grasses!...

BW spied this pretty little cactus-looking flower, but I haven't had time to identify it yet. Do any of you know what it is? (Anyone? Anyone?) :-)...

Now this blooming flower I DO know. It's the infamous Crazy-Dog Plant! :-) Josie seems quite pleased with herself for posing so perfectly between these two budding Yucca flowers...

I love this photo so decided to have a little editing fun with it...

Mocha has been back in out in the pasture and reunited with his old buddies from last summer, Prairie and Flame, for for a couple of weeks and is looking great! He's put on weight and is sleek and shiny, and galloped and pranced like a colt when he saw us...

L-R Prairie, Flame and Mocha

He seemed eager to show off his hair accessories, of which he was quite proud, so I told him I'd put a photo of his new fashion statement on the blog for everyone to admire. When Josie overheard this, she insinuated herself into the photo - so please don't fail to admire her, too, 'cause that's how feelings can get hurt. ;-)

Speaking of Josie, for those of you keeping track, her heart function blood work came back inconclusive, scoring fairly near the low (good) end of the "gray area" range between definitely no heart disease and definite heart disease. Since she did well on this hike and on our walks since and has no other symptoms in her heart sounds or on her xrays, rather than running further tests our vet has me keeping a log of our walks - the temperature, distance walked, how far she gets before (and how many times) she demands a break. I call it the "Josie Crap-out Log" and between thee and me, I think Josie's quite pleased to have taken her high-maintenance reputation to a new level! :-)

Soil & Toil & Flora & Fauna :-)

Wonder of wonder and miracle of miracles - BW was offered Friday off, a huge surprise - and accepted it, which wasn't! :-) We've been wanting to get our backyard herb garden planted, and knew we had a very narrow window of opportunity before several days of significant rain moved in. So Friday morning BW spent two hours prepping the bed with a pickax and some amended soil, and then we spent most of the rest of the day visiting three different greenhouses to buy some drip irrigation supplies, fencing, and plants.

Bright and early yesterday morning, we started designing and planting it (sometimes in the rain that came earlier than forecast), and by lunchtime we had this little herb and flower garden under our kitchen nook windows...

Willow wants you to know that she and her sisters "helped." :-)

We bought a really pretty solar-lit, painted glass birdbath on sale last fall, and it was supposed to go beneath the middle awning window and be the centerpiece of our herb garden. Alas, its metal stand has a defect that makes it too wobbly to trust, so BW plans to take it to an automotive repair shop to see if they can repair the flaw. *sigh* Meanwhile... we planted red and purple columbine, lavender, marigolds, thyme, rosemary, spearmint, cilantro, three varieties of basil, and two varieties of peppers. The "Yorkshire Scroll" fencing came from Home Depot and the recycled rubber stepping "stones" from Gardener's Supply (sorry they got so muddy during our planting frenzy, you'll see on the web site how pretty they are when they're clean!)... 

Unhappy Update, 5/24: After 24 hours of 40mph sustained winds and gusts of 60 since the middle of Wednesday night, our new herb and flower garden, not even a week old, is a near total loss. Even some of the sturdy little marigolds were broken and wind-blasted, and the columbine, herbs and pepper plants never stood a chance. It's very frustrating because it's in the one area that should have been protected from our usual N/NW winds, and therefore the one place we can enjoy flowers! But this time the wind came from the E/SE instead. Our potted flowers didn't fare much better, since those winds - which had not been predicted - came up suddenly in the middle of the night. I know I shouldn't complain - at least it wasn't a tornado! - but to see all that time and effort and money and prettiness go down the drain after only four days of enjoyment is a bit hard to take without feeling pissed off. In somewhat happier news, BW was able to fix the birdbath (I'd brought the glass bowl indoors the evening before the wind blew so badly, so at least it wasn't smashed to smithereens!), and though they were violently blown around, I think most of our other plantings made it through (can't say the same about our mulch, though!) And at least we haven't planted the front flowerbed yet - but I think we'd better go with boulders and tree stumps, the only things that can stand up to Wyoming's #@$% winds!

We've also been planting flowers in our flower pots during the past couple of weeks, so while I was in the back yard with my camera I decided to photograph some on the patio to share with you. But Tess thought the photo would be much more interesting if she walked through it as I took it (one of her methods of "helping," the others being to sniff and lick everything you're working with, and/or to sit on it and demand lovin's. Also to lick your face suddenly while you're working at dog-tongue level)...

There's no rest for the wicked, especially when racing the weather. The rains had stopped for a few hours, but were clearly intending to start in again just as soon as they felt like it, so after a quick lunch break we took turns mowing and trimming the back yard. I'd just mowed it on Wednesday, but it's clear that it's going to need it twice a week, especially this time of year when it grows so fast, because that yard is too beastly hard to mow with the reel mower when the fescue gets so long and thick. This time it was much easier, especially with BW at home to share in the fun! :-)

We were delighted when our Greenspire Linden finally leafed out last week, after stubbornly (but perhaps wisely) clenching his little bud fists since late March!

We had another brief break in the weather last evening, when we even got to see the sun for the first time all day. So we took the dogs for a walk around the neighborhood and I took my camera along, because on a walk the day before I'd spied this beautiful Purple Leaf Sand Cherry in bloom down the street. There are several in our neighborhood, but this one is huge and by far the most beautiful. I reduced my many photos of it down to three (based largely on their lovely backgrounds of "blossom bokeh!"), but then could cull no further. But maybe you can narrow these down to a single favorite...

Willow, who'd promised her fan club a photo (to make up for her "bad hair day" refusal to be photographed for this SkyWatch post), found that a day filled with "helping" in the garden, watching Mom and Dad mow, and then going for a walk and having to wait while Mom took 14,593 photos of some smelly branches, just too exhausting for words...

:-)

Today is rainy and windy and cozy, and we'll be spending much of it in the garage, sorting through and pricing more stuff for our huge upcoming yard sale in three weeks. But after that, it's BW's famous homemade vegan pizza and a movie! :-) Here's hoping your weekend is being a perfect mix of productive and relaxing! 

To the moms....

I dedicate this post to the moms of human children, whose supplies of unconditional love, strength, wisdom, creativity, and patience (and, if my own mother is any indication, wine!) are so frequently required in astonishing quantities that I can only guess at...

:-)

and to my fellow adoptive mothers of precious companion animals, our beloved children in fur, fins and feathers...

and to the non-human moms whose love for their children is as real and as powerful as our own. 

So today and every day, let's...

with respect, compassion, and empathy, because...

Below are some touching photos (most found uncredited around the internet) of a variety of non-human mothers with their children, along with information about the dangers their species face and far too often the suffering they endure, and several ways that you can help. I had a hard time stopping at a dozen, there are so many more examples to share ~ but while there should be no limits to our compassion, there are limits to blog space and time!

The plight of giraffe mothers and their babies

(Contains graphic images)

The plight of orangutan mothers and their babies 

The plight of goat mothers and their babies

(topic begins at the 2:46 mark)

The plight of polar bear mothers and their babies

(Mom and cubs huddle near Hudson Bay in Wapusk National Park, Manitoba

Photo credit: Canadian Press/Jonathan Hayward)

The plight of ostrich mothers and their babies

 

The plight of pig mothers and their babies

The plight of swan mothers and their babies

(This photo of a Mute Swan and her cygnets was taken by Richard Meston 
at Bicton Park Botanical Gardens in Devon, England)

The plight of Japanese Macaque (Snow Monkey) mothers and their babies

The plight of dairy cow mothers and their babies

The plight of tiger mothers and their babies

The plight of chicken mothers and their babies

The plight of elephant mothers and their babies

SkyWatch Friday: By the Dogs' Early Light :-)

The dawn's early light yesterday...

bathed Josie and Tessa in its beautiful golden hues...

(Psst - click here for another - and quite amusing - photo of Josie bathed in sunrise light!) 

Tessa and I beg your pardon about the unsightly garden hose, but I feared losing both her enigmatic expression and the pretty light if I took the time to move it out of the frame! 

Our third dog Willow followed me out onto the patio, but slithered back inside through the ajar door when she saw that I was photographing her sisters. I think I heard her mutter something about having "bed head" and that no decent human would be taking furbaby photos at such an undogly hour.:-) She promises to make it up to her fan base in a future post!

Meanwhile, the girls and I wish you a wonderful weekend, and hope that all your sunrises are beautiful and that all your days are good hair days! :-)

Enjoy more of our planet's beautiful skies at...

Rest in peace, little Val

I'm very sad to write that little Val the mouse died in the night in his sleep, exactly one month after Tino. He passed away peacefully in his favorite sleeping spot, and since BW had just cleaned "Mouseville" yesterday afternoon, Val was nestled snugly in clean new bedding with a tummy full of his favorite foods, all freshly served. 

I've added this update to Tino's memorial page, which is now dedicated to the memory of both of them, where you can see their photos and read their story...

Despite doing well for the first three weeks after Tino's death, Val became frail and wobbly in the past week. This morning when I got up and checked on him, I found that he had died in his sleep during the night - one month to the day after Tino. They were probably the same age, and very elderly for mice, but given Val's rapid decline so soon after Tino's death it's impossible not to imagine that Val didn't die of a broken heart, missing his constant companion. Sweet and good to the very end, Val died just ahead of a major spring snowstorm that's due to arrive at noon today, bringing 5-10" of snow to our area over the next two days, giving us time this morning to bury him beside Tino in the still-warm soil of the front flowerbed. Rest in peace, little one, we love and will miss you so very much.

"Sleeping Mouse" by Charles Van Sandwyk

Boston's pain and the comfort of furry faces

My original plan for today's post was to share some recent photos of our furry-faced family members. But in light of yesterday's tragic events, I first want to say...

My favorite city for as long as I can remember, Boston holds many fond memories for me, and like so many I am broken-hearted at yesterday's awful news. Such brutal acts of violence defy understanding. When I composed my profile on Care2 many years ago, one of the things I listed under their What Scares Me heading was, "Humanity's capacity for brutality," while under the adjacent heading Inspirations, I listed "Humanity's capacity for kindness." That we're so capable of the latter, but too often choose the former, is both frustrating and tragic to me and to anyone who longs and strives to live in a nonviolent world. But although both traits were on full display in Boston yesterday, the vast majority of people were clearly acting on, demonstrating, and inspiring us with their courage and compassion. So while we grieve and try - yet again - to make some sense of the senseless, I think it's important to remember and focus on that. Because Mr. Rogers' mom was right...

(image via Vegans of Instagram)

Very true. (Now if only our species would stop creating so much need for so many helpers!)

☮♥☮♥☮

I find few things as reassuring and full of love as a furry face, so here's my original post, composed at first to entertain but now also offered as a source of comfort to anyone who feels the same...

I've been remiss in posting photos of our canine kids lately, but not because I haven't been taking any. With faces like these, how could I not? :-) I've actually had this post ready to go for a while, except for Josie holding up the show. She's very photogenic, but as soon as the camera appears, Josie does the opposite. But if you're going to be a "wildlife" photographer, you have to be persistent (e.g. more stubborn even than Josie), and finally - for a few brief moments Saturday morning - it paid off. Here's Josie's "I want to be alone" Greta Garbo pose...

Tessa has a face that's made for closeups. Which is a good thing, because the instant the camera is pointed at her, she comes up and sticks her big schnozzle right in it...

After a week of lovely weather, long walks and basking on the patio, I'd just told her that a winter storm was coming the next day. This is her "That totally sucks, dude" expression. 

And here are the two goobers together at the back door, with Josie contemplating making a break for it (which she did right after I snapped this), and Tessa wondering what's going on in the kitchen behind me and what might be in it for her...

This is how our much-easier-to-photograph Willow usually looks: completely sacked out on her bed in the kitchen nook...

.....Zzzzzz.....

Until one of us begins a food-related activity in the kitchen. Then BOOM! She's on instant Full Alert and ready for snarfing action...

This time it was BW cutting up sweet potatoes. Willow luuuuuvs sweet potatoes!

This was the first practice photo I took with my new Rebel...

I put this pretty frame around it using Photobucket's fun editing tools, 

most of which are no longer available since their web site "improvements." Gah.