Great Horned Owl

 I went for a bit of a drive today with my two dogs and lucked into finding a Great Horned Owl! I stopped at a well site and let the dogs run a bit. When I went to leave, the owl flew up out of a ditch, landed in a tree and posed. He then flew down the road a bit and posed again, and again. He was not skittish and let me walk right up to him several times.

Have a great day!

White Tail Deer

 I took a short drive within the Town limits and found a bunch of deer. Not all cooperated, but a few did,

I only captured 2 of the 4 runners as I had to wait for them to be clear of foreground brush

From This........to This

In only two days!

 The Larch, or Tamarack are beautiful

 The access trails are sunny and bright

 Then came the snow!

 It doesn't faze my faithful companion though.

 -3 C, feeling like -10 and she still wants to run! Oh well, only six months till spring!

Fall is Coming! Too Fast

It seems that every time I go out, the signs of an early fall get to me. The Bohemian Waxwings are flocking up and decimating the berry trees.

 The Bees are getting pollen from the late blooming thistles. Not many wildflowers are still in bloom.

 Here are a few pin cherries the birds and bears haven't got to yet.

 The mallards are flocking up and appear to be getting ready to go. One good sign that spring may take a while is that the male mallards are still up north. Great idea that, head north, eat drink and party all summer while the missus raises the kids!
 Honey bees are still very active around the garden

 The Pileated Wood Pecker is still digging out grubs.

What say, am I wrong in predicting an early fall? 

Out for the Day

It was supposed to be sunny all day so I decided to take the rifle and go browse a few ridges looking for a trophy buck. The weathermen were wrong again! It was flat light, cloudy and kind of dreary overall. The only saving grace was it was warm, about 10C or about 50F.

I came up on two Whitetail does, that flashed me. I settled down and waited to see if there was a buck hanging around. No such luck and I got to watch them for about 45 minutes. They gradually worked their way down wind and blew and snorted many times before moving off. Note that nobody was hurt in this viewing, and I got a couple of pictures.

The Dog Days of Summer!

The summer is almost over and the crops are close to being harvested. 

 This  is our pumpkin etc. patch. It has produced far too many Zucchinis and now is getting close to Spaghetti Squash time. (see above) There are also many basketball size pumpkins in there. It is hard to see them due to the foliage. The benefits of well composed horse manure continue to amaze me.

 A trip to the dog park was in order today.Daphne chased the Kong until she dropped, then went for a swim, then back to the off leash section to dry off.

  When her tongue hits the ground, it's time for a rest!

 Brooklyn is, well, Brooklyn. She doesn't run much anymore but still loves to swim

 She has just lost the last of her winter hair. Go figure!

Fall Scenes

Apple? Did you say apple? I'm coming. I love apples!

 First I have to get by Boots!

 I am the fearless horse watcher! You want an apple? Give the password!

 Meanwhile, back at the pond, Brooklyn is learning those pesky ducks can now fly the length of the pond!

 The trees are turning fast! Another night with the low temp being -3C ( 26F). Pretty soon they will be bare sticks.

 Why can't I catch a duck? I am bigger, smarter and cuter!

 Meanwhile, back at the ranch acreage, Mr. Coyote was enjoying some sun.

 He and I are going to have words if he doesn't quit yipping under my window at night!

Fall is approaching Fast!

These plants are the first indication that fall is coming! I knew the natives used the berries for dye, but never knew they were edible. Think I will pass on the taste test!

Summary courtesy of "Prairie Wildflowers"

Strawberry Blite: Red berry flowers

The Strawberry Blite flowers form in clusters where each leaf meets the stalk. They begin minuscule and green, with five sepals and no petals. As the sepals mature, the clusters turn red and enlarge to resemble berries.

(Raspberries, I'd say, but the experts — includingVance/Jowsey, source of that info above — see them instead as strawberries.)

These plants are members of the very large Goosefoot family. (The weed — or pseudocereal — Lambsquarters is related, though far from as brightly coloured.)

The berry-like clusters of Strawberry Blite flowers are, in fact, edible, though very bland, according to the webpage for the Royal Saskatchewan Museum's Native Plant Garden.

Habitat for Strawberry Blite: Waste places, garden edges and moist roadsides across the continent, 

What 2 Days Do

The clear, bright snow of two days ago has turned to MUD. To see what it was like click here 2 Days Ago

By tomorrow, the warm days and rain will have made all the white stuff gone.

The old road is hardly recognizable now, and the bent over trees have straightened up.

One good thing about two black horses is that it is hard to see the mud from a distance. I brushed them down yesterday and trimmed the feet on two horse. One more to go!

Even closer up, they don't look too bad. (Just kidding). After a Dr. appointment tomorrow morning, it is going to be "Ride a Horse Day", if it isn't raining.Two Days Ago

Hibernation Time!

So far this fall we have gotten off lightly. There have only been 2 minor frosts, until today, that is.It was a little different looking out this morning. Brooklyn was leaving tracks on the deck. You might say she is still a tenderfoot,. She wanted back in pretty quick.

 The frost hit our Mayberry tree hard. It looked "normal" yesterday.

 The raspberry canes also got hit. Somewhere under that mass of weeds are 100 onions. They are all good sized, red and white, and are still OK. Guess what I'm doing this afternoon?

 The lower field is pretty white. Boots is not bothered at all by the cold, although he did ask to come in last night for about an hour.

 Scarlet our loaner, on a diet, horse seems to be OK. I did not go across the road to check on our 3, but with the coats they have grown so far, they probably did not even notice it was cold this morning.

 How cold? -5C (21F) enough to put a crust on the horse trough. I guess it's time to start hooking up the tank heater and putting the insulation back on the tank. The ice is only about 1/4 inch thick and Scarlet will have no trouble breaking through that.

 The row and a half of potatoes are all dried and tucked away in the pantry. The yield was good this year with 10 pounds of seed potatoes yielding about 140 pounds of spuds.

The Start of Fall

Looking around the Acreage today, the signs that it is now officially fall are every where. The leaves are all turning. A lot have fallen already

 The flower beds are looking pretty barren and bleak. The grass, however, will not need to be cut again! Yeah!

 Our catnip plant flowered for the first time since we got it. Pretty, but what do you use catnip for, anyway? We have no cats.

 If you look hard, there is the odd Icelandic poppy still blooming, but not many. They are a cold hardy plant!

 So, summer is gone! All that is left to say is "so long, Summer"

The End!