Random pix

Sorry for the silence, dear readers. I've had a nutty week with multiple writing deadlines and lots of things on my plate. So rather than write anything witty (my brain is pretty fried), I'll simply show you a selection of random photos I've taken over the last couple of weeks.

Black-chinned hummer.

Early-morning sunshine on dewy grass.

Busy robin feeding babies.

Some elk watching us from a nearby pasture.

Oak leaves.

For some reason, though, the tree is sporting a few red leaves, even this late in spring. No idea why.

We had this handsome boy grazing in our yard one afternoon.

Potatoes. I took this photo on May 30, so they're even lusher and taller now.

A neighbor's horse, framed by tree branches.

Aftermath of a thunderstorm...

...which left behind a beautiful double rainbow...

...as well as a pretty sunset.

My nuclear strawberries are starting to produce heavily. I'll be picking a generous bowl full every other day.

This was the first harvest. It's ramped up since I took this photo.

Some sneaky robins are enjoying the fruit too.

One last holdout. I figured breeding season was over, but evidently this fellow disagrees.

I removed this spider egg sac lest it get buried during a project. It ripped open and all the eggs were visible.

Poofy afternoon clouds.

Frumpkin, Older Daughter's cat, looking exceptionally cute.

So there you go, some random photos from the last few weeks. Hopefully I'll get all my writing deadlines done in the next couple of days and can un-fry my brain.

Cloud drama

Yesterday evening, after a day of warm and humid sun and clear skies, things suddenly got cloudy. I looked out the window and saw this:

Hullo, where did this cloud drama come from?

I checked the weather and saw this dramatic alert:

Holy cow. Out of the blue. The satellite imagery confirmed it was just a single isolated storm cell, scudding along at a fast clip and leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.

The storm entirely passed us by. We got not a single drop of rain or puff of wind. We braced ourselves for power outages, but didn't get those either.

The clouds did, however, provide us with a splendid sunset.

From the sounds of it, that was some cloud drama we were glad to miss.

Spring walks

One of the advantages of having an active dog is he's relentless when it comes to taking afternoon walks (meaning, he makes sure we get our exercise). In fact, we joke that we'd better take Mr. Darcy out before he explodes.

Our usual walk is a two-mile circuit (one mile there and back) along the dirt road leading to our house. At this time of year, early spring, the vista is constantly changing. Come along on one of our afternoon perambulations.

The meadowlarks are returning. For some reason I have a dickens of a time photographing these melodious birds. They're cagey and don't let you get too close, which is why I had to zoom in and then crop these photos ... but wow can they belt out music.

In March, large flocks of geese are not unusual. These guys are heading for the lake.

Here some fog is just burning off, showing a glimpse of the hillside across the canyon.

By contrast, here are some sheets of rain around the butte. Despite the ominous setting, we didn't get wet since the rain skirted around us.

More rain across the canyon.

Now here's an interesting thing. See this vista?

Or this one?

In both photos, note the glimpse of flat green field in the middle distance. Those fields are early growth of winter wheat, just emerging after the snow. What's not obvious is those fields are loaded with deer.

It wasn't always easy to focus on the deer through the tangle of tree branches.

Here's some ice overlaid by mud from an earlier water flow. The mud is insulating the ice against a fast melt-off.

Being a golden retriever, Mr. Darcy is forever toting sticks along the road.

Maybe it's a guy thing, but it seems the bigger the stick, the better. I can't tell you the number of times he's tried to drag small trees along for the ride.

A pair of mourning doves.

Five cows, five calves. I am forever taking a mental count to make sure no one's missing.

So that's a walk in early spring. Thanks for coming along!