Cold Friday!

The ranch still had snow on the ground Friday when we arrived. Brrrrrr!!! And, yes, there was a breeze also! Double brrrrr!!!! That's Gigondas next to her friend, Chip, in their corrals.

Then there's Beauty in her corral. She wasn't very happy to see me until I brought down some sweet feed!

Snow!!!

Snow isn't something we get a lot here in Southern California, and even up in our local mountains, a snow storm is a big deal. So, yesterday hubby and I bundled up and got in the car to go visit the herd. The weather man on our local news station said another storm front was moving in by afternoon. I checked with the CHP and the mountain roads were clear, so we headed up the hill to see the herd and buy some sweet feed to get them through the next week, since more storms are schedule to descend upon us. WOW! What a lot of snow! Even longtime mountain residents said it was a big storm that hit a few days ago! There was still plenty of snow around, but the roads were clear. That is, until we pulled off to take some pictures. Then, we ran into M-U-D!!! Now, my car isn't four-wheel drive, although I have a Honda CRV, which is fairly high off the ground. We pulled off into a campground along the way to stop and take photos of the snow, but the mud was horrible and I turned around instead of sloshing through it. So, we bought two bags of feed and proceeded to the ranch. One of our glue traps caught two more mice (YEAH!) It was a beautiful morning at the ranch and as the clouds moved in, the sun would appear and then disappear behind more clouds. I walked around the ranch and I'll post some pics the next couple of days. They were all happy to see us...or rather the extra food that we brought them!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! It's my birthday and I have NO IDEA what we're doing today!

Skywatch Friday~~ Navajo ponies, February 13, 2009

We saw these Navajo ponies near Canyon de Chelly on one of our visits there. It was nearing sunset and they were up on a plateau heading somewhere. You can barely see their silhouettes against the orange sunset. Somebody asked me if they are wild or not. This herd was. The stallion was very wary of us and moved his herd away. We have seen others loose that were branded, so I really don't know. One time we came upon a mother and foal and the foal was very friendly! We left some water out for them that summer as it was very hot and dry! The mare drank it all! The foal nearly climbed into our rented van!!! So, I really can't answer that question!

SkyWatch Friday for February 13, 2009. For other SkyWatch photos, please visit: http://skyley.blogspot.com/

Thursday Challenge: Clothes February 11, 2009

I always check the weekly meme to see what the challenge is and this week's Thursday challenge was clothes. Clothes? Huh? I don't wear anything special. I wear my jeans on weekends and sometimes even to school! (sorry!)... We all dress casually and seasonally here in the desert. Spring (gasp!) even brings out...SHORTS! Hey, when it gets to be over 100 degrees, believe me, you DON'T want to be wearing long pants! Anyway, I uploaded nearly 3 months of photos from hubby's pocket Kodak camera this evening and he actually had a couple of pics of me wearing my "horse garb"!!! Now, it is always at LEAST 20 degrees cooler up in the mountains where the horses are, and I always carry at least an extra sweater/jacket or jacket in the car when I drive up there! This is my typical "horse garb". Jeans, hat, and a long-sleeved denim shirt to protect my arms. Remember, I'm a MELANOMA SURVIVOR! Yes. I had melanoma. I had the "deep cut" on my left arm to remove whatever was left after my own doctor cut out three black bumps which bubbled up on my arm virtually overnight. Thank goodness, in my gut, I KNEW what they were and I got in to her within a week and she cut them out. Yup. Melanoma. I was sent to a dermatologist to go in for the "deep cut" since melanoma has a nasty habit of spreading under your skin and getting "roots". Fortunately, when they biopsied what he had cut out, there was no melanoma, so my own doctor got it all! Phew! So, ever since then, I wear my hat and denim shirt OR a SPF-30 lightweight Columbia or Colibar one. I do slather on sunscreen on my face, but the dirt sticks to it and I look like a glue trap for mice! All kinds of stuff like alfalfa, dirt, weeds stick to my face! YUCK! Anyway, that's my Thursday challenge post and pics! That's me, on a windy day (see the shirt billowing?) working with my gelding, Sunni. For other Thursday pics, please visit Thursday Challenge. http://www.spunwithtears.com/thursday.html

Flowers and award

I received another beautiful award from Linda at Beautiful Mustang (http://beautifulmustang.blogspot.com/), the Friends Award. This really means a lot to me, because, like others, I feel I have made some wonderful friends here in Internetland! Here's what the award says:

"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbon of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight more and include the cleverly written text into the body of your awards"

I thought about it for a couple of days and I would like to pass it on to these friends and fellow bloggers:

http://journeysofcactusjack.blogspot.com/ I can always count on an early morning comment from either Jack or his DOR! They are both early risers, like me! Thank you for sharing your world and Jack's!

http://laughingorcaranch.blogspot.com/ Lisa is also always sending me comments or a laugh! Thank you, Lisa! Get well soon!

http://eyesmindheart.blogspot.com/ T has been my inspiration for months! She never fails to visit my blogs and give me an honest appraisal! Thank you, T!

http://coronadetucson.blogspot.com/ Kathie always has a beautiful view of the desert and something interesting to say! Thank you, Kathie!

http://amandasveranda.blogspot.com/ Amanda is another beautiful blog to visit and I LOVE her photographs! I try to be like Amanda, but it's pretty hopeless!

http://sabinocanyonblog.blogspot.com/ Diane has a beautiful desert blog and I enjoy seeing her view of the desert near Tucson.

http://mrscravitz.blogspot.com/ I recently discovered the Mrs.' blog and now I read it every day!

http://livinglife-allison.blogspot.com/ I also recently found this blog from a fellow Californian! It's a hoot, too! Ahhhh....life in a small town!

Please pick up your award and pass it on to eight others. I decided to post some pretty flowers I saw here in the desert. After yesterday's storm (Idyllwild residents said it was the largest storm in YEARS!)...I thought a little color would be appropriate!!!

Thank you all and a big hug to everybody who visits this blog and my 7 others! Now, go out and enjoy your day!

Snow!!!

After running errands yesterday morning, I decided it was time to head up the hill to the horses' ranch. My German Shepherd, Rommel, saw me getting ready and was begging to go with me! He likes to go along, so I put an extra blanket down in the back of the car. He actually RAN out to the car and jumped in! Silly boy! I gathered my cameras and headed off. By the time I drove to the foot of the mountains, it was misting. Then, it turned to rain. I noticed a LOT of cars coming down the hill with snow on them. The clouds were quickly moving, too. About halfway there, the rain stopped splattering on my windshield and everything was quiet. SOMETHING was coming down, however...little snowflakes! It was so pretty. I pulled over and took some photos and so did another motorist going the other way. In the 35 years I've lived in the desert, this is only the second time I've driven through a snow storm. When I got to the ranch, the horses were wet and I gave them some carrots and their sweet feed. Brrrrrrrrrr!!!!! The forecast this week is for snow down to 3,500 feet (the horses are at 4,000 feet) today and tonight, then a couple days of clearning, then another storm coming.

Scenic Sunday, February 8, 2009 stormy day

You know, I'm always so busy taking photos of our horses, that sometimes I forget that on a day like yesterday, our desert is actually a beautiful place to live! It started raining Saturday morning about 2:30 a.m. and it rained until about 6:00 a.m. When it was daybreak, I could still see clouds all over, so I got dressed and went for a drive. I found these smoke trees with water droplets still on them. Then I drove out to an undeveloped area of the desert and found this beautiful view of our Palm Springs mountains (or...they were supposed to be there!) The two peaks, Mt. San Jacinto and Mt. Gorgonio, are the two tallest mountains in Southern California. They are behind all the clouds! I'm not sure yet what today is like as it is still dark! Maybe if the clouds break this afternoon and the road is plowed, I can drive up to see my horses. Scenic Sunday for February 8, 2009. http://scenicsunday.blogspot.com/