Happy Mother's Day

 

In the fullness of my life, I have received the most joy, 

(and sometimes the most anxiety), in being a mother. 

I am happy to celebrate Mother's Day as a mother!

More Calves Every Day

Colter tagged 16 new calves yesterday, which seems to be an average of the past few days.  I saw several calves when on my hike, with plenty still not delivered.  We love calving season on the ranch!

So Many Blooms

We were in Tucson yesterday afternoon and this morning, for our weekly 

Boys and Girls Club volunteering.  I walked in our neighborhood twice, 

with my camera in tow.  Cacti were in bloom everywhere!

 

 

 

Checking for New Calves

Colter, Carly, Traven, and Colter Lee rode across the ranch yesterday, checking for new calves.  They passed by the house just as I left for a hike, on a beautiful morning.

Clouds

Cloudy days in the desert are about as good as it gets!  Today has been one of those days!  The high temperature today was 77 and the humidity 16%, with a slight breeze blowing. 

Colts

I went with Papa to pick up a load of hay.  The man he buys hay from, also breeds horses.  

He had a whole new crop of colts.  They were adorable!

Ocotillo

The relatively moist spring has produced blooms unlike we've seen in years.  As I returned to the ranch from Tucson on Wednesday afternoon, I passed blooming ocotillo on both sides of the road, thousands of them!  Beautiful!

Doc's Wound

Early Sunday morning, Papa and I woke to a giant crack of lightning.  It felt as if it was just a few feet from the house.  Papa got up to be sure a fire wasn't started.  At daylight, we saw our horse, Doctor in the house yard.  Light rain was falling, so Papa waited about an hour before letting Doctor through the gate.  Later in the morning, he tightened the fence and we didn't think more about it. 

Around 6 on Monday evening, Papa came to the house and said he needed my help.  He believes when the lightning struck, our horses were within a few feet and they were frightened.  It appears Doc rared up and came down on a T-post.  He has a fist size puncture wound where his back right leg meets his belly. 

I drove the truck to the corral while Papa walked Doc down the hill.  We hooked up the horse trailer and Papa took Doc to our nearest neighbor for help.  The wound was gaping and in such an awkward spot, that they thought the best thing to do was put antibiotic salve on it, and watch Doc a few days. 

Papa stayed home on Tuesday when I went to Tucson for BGC, so he could check on Doc every couple of hours.  He's been doing various chores at the corral yesterday and today, to stay nearby.  

Doc is limping and doesn't feel good.  I checked on him this morning.  Poor Doctor!

Got Mail

We received mail from both Toby and Greta.  Toby sent a postcard, postmarked in Iceland, 

on their layover to Amsterdam.  He colored the horse, the geyser, and the eagle.

Greta made this piece of art for us, with heart cutouts and a drawing of "Lulu, Greta, and a cow."

We love getting mail!

Pregnant Mamas

The Hospital Pasture just to the north and west of our house, has 150+ pregnant mama cows 2 years and older.  Papa and I hiked in that pasture this morning.  The cows were hanging out around the dirt tank.  They watched us for awhile before they ran the other way.  They looked fat and happy!