Winter Artwork

On March 12, 2019March 12, 2019 By stefrobrtsIn art, barclay, cars, navi, pets, photography, snow, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Wow, it has been a long, cold, boring winter. I don’t remember a winter that has been this cold, or snowed so many times. We usually barely get any snow, and usually get none at all. But this winter…well, at least the dogs enjoyed it!

Not sports car weather!

I do love it when the trees look like this, especially against a bright blue sky.

And I love the dramatic shadows cast by the low winter sun.

Tree Shadow

So I cleaned it up in photoshop and made a piece of art of it. That is actually a pretty nice way to pass the time when trapped inside by winter cold.

Mount Navi

Winter Navi.

We also went to a Winter Woolies horse show and took some photos. I love doing horse photos.

English Horse2

English Horse 4

And then for something completely different:

boats in the bay

This piece was made from a screenshot from Red Dead Redemption 2. I added the textures to make the sky-glow and painted it. I was really happy with how it turned out.

So that’s how I’ve been fighting the winter doldrums! Luckily it is almost over, and spring is on its way.

Snow Day

On February 21, 2018May 29, 2018 By stefrobrtsIn barclay, navi, snowLeave a comment

I don’t post as often when I’m working. I’m just not getting out and taking pictures so much. But yesterday was a snow day, so I snapped a few pics of the dogs out hanging around in the backyard.

Barclay was chillin out on the patio couch.

Our greek statue ladies are under the patio now so they don’t get the blanket of snow like they used to, but they might last longer. The concrete fountain one of them sat on has pretty much crumbled from the weather.

Navi was out exploring, eating grass and digging for grubs. Lately they have both been very distracted by whatever the heck it is they are eating out of the grass. Sherry sais Sake and Sitka are the same.

Snow Day, 2014

On February 9, 2014 By stefrobrtsIn barclay, dave, navi, snow, TheRancho1 Comment

Barclay wants us to go outside and play!

Pretty Please?

Dave threw him some snowballs.

He didn’t always catch them…

Dave threw some to Navi, but she had her head in a hole!

Did someone throw something at me?

Barclay wants to play stickball

Too cold for this!

The snow just keeps coming down.

We took the Flex out to Fred Meyers to pick up some groceries. It did great! I think the van would have gotten stuck in the driveway!

Our first big snow at The Rancho!

Barclay is glad we went outside to play!

First snow at The Rancho

On January 2, 2013 By stefrobrtsIn barclay, navi, snow, TheRancho4 Comments

First snow in our new house! Not much of a snow, just a dusting really. I went out first thing in the morning to explore the frozen backyard with my faithful companions

Two faithful companions, reporting for duty!

I was first attracted by the apples that still hung on the tree, capped with snow

Frozen birdbath

I went to the frozen fountain, and thought it would be fun to photograph a contrasting pebble across the expanse of ice. So I picked out a pebble and tossed it out there.

Thanks, Barclay! You’re a lot of help!

The statues looked kind of haunting, draped in frozen cobwebs and snow

Snow and cold marked every part of the yard.

The little birds who visit the birdbath every morning must have been disappointed to find it frozen over. One hopped across the snow and left tracks for me to find.

Snow day 2012

On February 25, 2012 By stefrobrtsIn barclay, navi, snow3 Comments

Yay! Snow!

We woke up to an unexpected dusting of snow. It’s funny how sometimes they know the storm is coming, and talk about it all week, and then nothing happens, and other times you don’t hear anything and just wake up to snow!

Barclay knows how to enjoy snow…

Our neighbors have been hard at work tearing down the rusty old barn.

It will be nice to see it go. It’s not a cool old barn, it’s just an eyesore, and I wouldn’t trust it to house a horse without falling in on them.

Handsome Barclay!

I don’t want you to think I only take pictures of Barclay, but Navi just doesn’t hold still. She is constantly orbiting around me. She never stops running…

Running…

Running.

And when I do try to get a nice picture of her dirty little face after digging a hole, she can’t sit still long enough for that either!

And..she’s out of here!

See ya later, suckers!

Snow and Alpacas

On March 1, 2011 By stefrobrtsIn snow3 Comments

We’ve had a couple days of half-hearted snow. It has mostly just been wet and mushy. Everything is slushy and melting, and it’s sort of raining, and the swale is flooded, as is the bottom of the field. You can see why we can’t have any heavy animals on it in the winter, it would be a horrible mess.

Luckily these animals aren’t heavy! Jeeze, they’re goofy looking, aren’t they? Unfortunately I don’t feel any sort of fondness for them, even a picture like this – I just see myself on the receiving end of a spitball if I’m not careful! If you get behind them you are in the kicking zone. I find it’s best not to let them anywhere near me.

Black and White are the troublesome ones. Red has actually been doing very well. He comes running when I call him, walks politely through the gate into the garden, and waits for me to hand him his food. Then when it’s time to leave he moves away from the gate so I can open it and walks calmly through. I think I’m going to start working on some handling with him and see if we can make haltering less of an ordeal.

Snow day! Didn’t see that one coming!

On February 16, 2011May 29, 2018 By stefrobrtsIn barclay, farm, jack, navi, pets, snow5 Comments

Jeeze, I guess I should pay more attention to the weather reports. I had no idea this was going to happen!

I think this is Navi’s first really good snow

It seems to bring out the ‘play’ in the eskies!

Tennis ball + snow = snowball!

Jack doesn’t like it when it’s cold and wet

Let’s go inside and lay on the couch and watch TV – and turn the heat up!

Of course the alpacas have no choice. But they seem to like it. If they didn’t they would have stayed under the shelter, and not have snow on their backs.

Yay! Snow!

There’s just something special about a snow day!

Still snowing…

On March 9, 2009May 29, 2018 By stefrobrtsIn barclay, chickens, pets, snow3 Comments

Still snowing, but not really sticking. White rain I guess. Sure is pretty to watch.

Night before last when I heard snow was coming again, and the temp had dropped considerably by nightfall, I went out and caught the garden chickens. They were napping on their roost for the night, which made it easier to catch them. Still, big red chicken SCREAMED the whole way, while I tucked her head under my arm to muffle the sound – I’m sure the neighbors thought we were having chicken for dinner! I put them back with the rest of the flock. I don’t think the chicken tractor is warm enough for the chickens to stay out in it in this kind of weather. I may be pampering them, but I wanted them to be in the insulated coop while it was storming out.

Lousy weather!

On March 9, 2009May 29, 2018 By stefrobrtsIn barclay, pets, snow2 Comments

Although it hasn’t really been enough to stick, all day we have put up with hail/sleet/snow. Not that Barclay cares…

Time for a quick dip in the trough, then back to playing!

Then maybe a little rest in the straw under the shelter

This morning…

On February 26, 2009May 29, 2018 By stefrobrtsIn barclay, pets, snow1 Comment

This morning we woke up to a beautiful, sunny, blue-sky day…

And snow on the ground! Again? Really? I’ve never seen so much of the white stuff in a single winter!

Barclay thinks it’s great! We run around, finding the white lumps in the yard that cover his toys. He ran to the far end of the pasture and back to watch someone walking down the street (we don’t get a lot of pedestrians).

One of his very favorite toys is a soccer ball with straps around it so he can pick it up. I kick it for him and while he’s fetching it I get one of the other balls and kick that around, so he brings back the first ball and waits for me to kick the second one. This is a great way to wear him out! Plus he loves to grab the ball by the straps and swing that baby around!