Saturday, October 19, 2013

 I love Idaho.  Every morning and afternoon when we take my niece to or from school we pass by this beautiful herd of bison grazing on the left-over grasses from this summer.  They are raised by a large ranch at the bottom of this hill, just on the other side of where they're grazing.

They are so beautiful and majestic looking. Sometimes they are much closer to the unseen fence and we get a closer look at them.  Since this is on Hwy 41 its hard to stop and take a picture, but this is a pretty good one.

We not only see bison (or buffalo) but deer just walking along in the woods next to the hwy, and twice already this fall we've seen bull moose.  The last time he was a large moose, he ran out of the woods to my right and slowly walked to the middle of the hwy.  There he stood for several minutes, looking majestic and very uninterested in moving.  I stopped (of course!) a ways back as did the car coming the other way.  These are so large you can actually see underneath them up the hill.  After a few minutes, he slowly walked to the other side and disappeared into the woods.  Wow.  Beautiful!


Idaho has the most beautiful sunsets and sunrises.  This was taken last week in the late afternoon but through our car window unfortunately.  By the time we are in the midst of winter, we will be dark by 3:45 pm, and it doesn't get daylight until after 7 am.

With all that darkness, our chickens usually stop laying, nothing grows that needs to be tended and our temps stay between 0° and 30°.  But we love it.  A nice warm wood stove fire, homemade soup and bread ... what could be more comfy and homey.

Like I always say, C'mon up for a visit.  Any season is beautiful and unique.  Spring can be a little cold, wet and long, but fresh with rain and smells sooooo good, green from melting snow and in general a very pleasurable experience.

The picture at the top of the blog shows my kitty River in her full grown coat.  She was so miserable no matter how much I brushed her.  Last week we took her to our wonderful vet in Newport WA and had her coat shaved.  They always leave her lower legs, face and tip of her tail in the long fur.  So far she hasn't complained about being cold, but this picture shows her laying on my bed in the sun where she remains for hours and hours.

Usually I feel sorry for her and will cover her with the purple 'woobie' as we call the furry throws we all love.

She does go outside if the afternoon temps are fairly decent.  She stays very close to home, sometimes not even leaving the front porch or the back field if I'm out there working.

The last couple weeks we have been letting our goats out to roam the house property.  They are the most dedicated weed eaters.  They do eat some of my plants but so far haven't done any damage except to our newly stacked wood in the carport.  They love jumping on top and running back and forth on it.

If that's all they do I will be very happy.  About 2pm they decide its time to go home and will stand at the back door and cry.  Then I go out, get their feed bowls and they follow me back up to their little pen.  They eat, get ginger snap or unfrosted animal cookies and are ready for bed.

What a life!

3 comments:

Sue W. said...

I love the saying "Bloom Where You Are Planted" and you are certainly blooming! :)
It all sounds lovely.
We are busy here with a new puppy. It's really Pete's, he is doing 99% of the work and getting the bonding time, in return. It's hard, as I want to be involved, but physically, I just can't. A cat would be perfect for me, but I am deathly allergic.
Oh well. If Pete survives this, he will have the best dog ever. :)
(Named Brutus, of course...Pete is a huge die-hard Ohio Buckeyes fan and their mascot is Brutus Buckeye. I wanted "Remy", but it was obvious that this was to be Pete's dog. :) )

Sheryl at WovenDreamsFarm said...

Yours and Pete's dog will love you both. And call him what you want. Remy will learn both names and come to you. Our kitties know their names, also sweetie, kitty, little girl / boy ... whatever. They are all smart.

And Sue, my sister has horrific allergies from cats. But ... she also has two of her own that she has bathed since they were little babies. It removed all the dander and kitty saliva which is the reason for most allergies. And she does just fine believe it or not. Try it! Bloom a little ;-)

Sue W. said...

12If it were just head congestion, etc., I sure would try to have a cat. But it is asthma. I, literally, can't breathe. It's scary. For some reason, I was able to live with Sheena. But ask Val about the short haired kitty she brought home once - I had a full on asthma attack. So, dunno. Not taking the chance. Breathing is fun. :)
Yeah, what's in a name? I'm fine calling him The Brute. Or Puppy. Or Brutus. Or, "HEY" :) I'll save the name Remy for another time. I don't mind.
Hoping to get back on track with exercising and stretching and sleeping. Well, the sleeping will have to wait until Brutus is housebroken!
Take care!