The Great Blizzard of '23

Years from now when Barb and I are old(er), sitting in our rocking chairs and reminiscing (oh wait, we do that now) we will no doubt talk about the Great Blizzard of '23. Would you believe that since I last posted we have received almost 30" of snow in two different storms? Storm #1 was last Friday when we received 7". The next storm came into our little oasis, laughed at the piddly 7", said "Hold my beer" and proceeded to dump 20+" in a 24-hour period.  We were snowed in for several days before I was able to get the jeep down the driveway. The wind was so bad that by the time we got back the driveway was totally covered again and we got stuck trying to come back in. 

The deer were here pretty much nonstop during most of the storm getting much needed nourishment to weather out the worst of it. There was one deer who seriously thought she was the queen of the bale! Just a couple days later that bale was totally gone!

So, what does one do when waiting out a blizzard? Make dog videos of course! I know that more than one of you would be thrilled to view these. This first one is for HTDH as it is particularly annoying. This adorable video of Zoe Belle occurs every time Barb sweeps or vacuums,  

Before the snow we had a couple of adventures. The first was doctor appointments for each of us. Barb has the vertigo again. Not bad enough to put her out of commission but the constant dizziness is annoying. Mine was just an annual checkup and blood work. All my numbers came back good. But the side effects from shingles shot put me down for a day with the chills. Not fun. While I was down and out, I spent a little time perusing our blog books. We now have 9 books in our selection. Each with our travel map for that year on the front and a favorite picture from the year on the back. I was particularly interested in our 2016 Alaska edition. We are not going back this summer, but hopefully we will be heading up there the summer of '24 with my sister Judy and her husband!

Another day, we had Kevin, Cheryl, Dan and Bonnie over for a homemade pasta dinner. Bonnie even got her hands in action making a batch!

We also hit the forest to replenish our wood supply. We are almost out, and with luck, after this week we will not need to have fires until next fall. 

As many of you know, when it is cold Zoey, likes to snuggle up to a nice warm fire. 

Both Barb and I spent time out in the workshop where I worked on something I am not going to talk about, and Barb played with her the glasscutter she got for her birthday. 

During the worst of the storm, I took a video of the deer on the bale. Pay attention to the video for a couple of things; When that many deer get together, they get a little cranky, standing up on their back legs and swatting at each other. But not every deer is cranky, there was one deer who was having the time of her life, running around and acting like a goofy little kid. We were laughing out loud watching her antics. If you look in the background of the last scene you can even see her off in the distance still running around. 

And for our last video, we have the girls out for a walk in the snow. A very short walk, as Zoey was not a fan. 

So here we sit, the Great Blizzard of '23 behind us, with the jeep stuck in the snow-covered driveway, (I have not even attempted to move the truck) waiting for spring. There is light at the end of the tunnel, however, today is supposed to be 35, tomorrow 47, with 50's and even 60's over the next 6 days! 

Spring?

 One day it is 40, the next is snowing. Then it's 40 again. That is the cycle we have been on this week.

 Looking at it glass 1/2 full, we need the moisture. Our pond is getting fuller and fuller. We have had years it is totally dry and years it has been over 8' deep. Right now, it is probably 2' deep. 

But according to the calender, spring is here. The turkeys are strutting, the bluebirds have returned, and the cows are dropping their calves. So yes, although it may not look like it every day, spring is here! Barb and I went for a walk so we could enjoy the springness (yes, another word I made up) in the air. 

These turkeys sure are strange looking birds. I've never really noticed but each of them have unique faces and characteristics all to their own as can be seen by these different birds. 

A couple of mature toms

A younger tom and a hen

We have about 7 toms and 40 hens that hang out on an almost daily basis. 

Turkey season opens here on April 4th. I have not gone out the last few years but I am thinking about it this year. No, I am not going to hunt these birds and to make it more challenging, I am going to use my bow. 

Barb and I have gotten out on a few walks around the property. We walked over to the neighbors to see the baby calves just in time to see this one taking its first steps! Sorry about the shot of the backend of the mother, but, that's nature at its finest!

Speaking of nature at its finest, check out this tree.  See those four individual trees in the center? Each are about 20' tall but are not individual trees at all, if you look closely they are actually upright branches coming off a tree that is bent over. Pretty amazing!

Our property is at 4900' but is also considered arid, well, maybe not arid by its strictest definition but it is drier than most of the other areas around. As such, we have cactus and yucca's throughout the property. Here is a shot of one of the many yuccas we have scattered around. 

We also have 4 bluebird houses scattered around. This past week, each of them have new residents. I cannot help but wonder if they are the same pairs year after year, or if they are random birds that just happen by. 

One day after working on the porch ceiling, we got out on a ATV ride into the National Forest. Not a long one, just long enough to enjoy what was left of the afternoon. 

We are always on the lookout for elk and deer antlers when we are out and about. Almost all the bulls and bucks have lost theirs but there are still a couple of stragglers out there like this guy who stopped by for a brief visit. 

We did manage to find one tiny little antler, about 4" long. Of all the antlers out there in the forest, we managed to find one of the smallest ones out there!

Work on the porch ceiling has been slow. We are getting there but I will save photos of that for when we are further along. 

What have the girls been up to lately? Well, Dakota loves to get out and explore with us. Well, except on the ATV which she is not a fan of. But she loves running around the woods. 

Zoey, although she loves getting out and running around, seems happiest on the couch snuggled up to a patch of sun. 

Meanwhile, out in Oregon, our granddaughter Lily got a backpack for Chloe who we affectionately just referred to as "The Doodle"

Have a great week!

A Couple of Turkey's Stop by for a Visit!

 It's been a couple of weeks since we have posted anything about our house projects. Everything we have to work on at the moment is outside work and, well, it has just been too cold for me work outside. So, what have we been doing? Ice fishing of course! 

I went out twice. Once with Ron, a friend from Custer and again with Barb. Both on the same lake which has some nice sunnies in it. Ron and I caught a few but did not slay them. Barb and I, on the other hand, did pretty good getting enough for a nice meal in a couple of hours. 

We also had time to drive through Wind Cave NP and Custer SP enjoying the scenery and some of the wildlife. It is so nice driving through when the roads are not lined with tourists. 

6 more weeks of winter? 
This guy definitely saw his shadow!

We ran into two Buffalo Jams. In the summer these would have held up traffic for hours as gawkers stop to take pictures and are too afraid to drive through. But if you go slowly and ease your way through, they move out of the way. Until you stop to say hi, then they start licking your car, or Jeep as it were. Nothing like a buffalo car wash in South Dakota!

On the home front, the girls are just hanging out. Dakota on her bed and Zoey anywhere she can find a little sunlight to keep her warm. Both seemed to have an oral fixation on this particular day.

Other ranch creatures have been making appearances as well. We don't see rabbits very often as they typically only come out at night but the other morning, I was able to catch this little guy just before the sun came up. 

It was such a beautiful morning that I could not resist starting the day off with an early morning soak.

But the biggest surprise of the week was when Dino and Harry stopped by for a visit! Imagine our surprise when we woke up and saw these two turkey's strutting around the front of the porch. It was such a sight that I just had to take a video of it!

I did not get the names of the other turkeys along with these two but if I were to guess, I would say that at least one of them was named Steve and another was named Bob. 

Finally, it warmed up enough for us to get outside and get some work done! We have 3 major projects left and we decided to take on one of them. The ceiling on the porch. Not horrible work, a little tedious at times while working around the lights. This steel was special order, and I cannot afford to make a mistake. I can do the prep work by myself. but when it comes to lifting the steel panel into place, I need Barb. So far, we have 55 feet done with 80 feet left to go. Once all the steel is up, we will be installing accent beams on each of the joint lines. 

The warm weather only lasted a few days, so the rest will have to wait at least another, maybe two weeks before we can get back at it again!

A Look Back to Barb's Past

 Barb had a lot more pictures for me to scroll through than I did, many of them being quite interesting. I was able to look through then through your eyes as I have no personal attachment to them other than the fact that they contain pictures of the love of my life. 

What I found interesting was the contrast in our upbringings. My dad was born 12 years before Barb's dad who was 20 when she was born, my dad was 37. Being the first child, there were many pictures of her. Me, being the 6th was just another mouth to feed. 

Because there were so many pictures of Barb as a baby there are plenty of opportunities to see what her house looked like back in the day. 

Her mom must have really been into tinsel as their trees were just COVERED in tinsel! This first picture is of Barb and her brother Shorty in 1978. The next one was from 1962, before shorty was born. Someone looks like they were spoiled!

Apparently, she was just not spoiled at Christmas as this picture illustrates. Not sure what the occasion was as her birthday is in March. Check out that TV in the background!

I wished I could have met Barb's mom (Carol) but unfortunately, she died at the age of 39. She looks like she would have been a lot of fun to hang out with. 

Her dad (Norm) was into cars, he looks like he could have starred in Grease or American Pie. Just by looking at this picture you can imagine his personality and you would not be wrong.   This first picture is probably around 1943 when he was 5. The other one, we have no idea. Like someone said in our last post, it is hard to age people in older pictures with no context. 25?, 35?, 45? It is really anyone's guess, but I'd bet my last dollar he has a comb in his back pocket!

Here are some of his cars. Oh, how I'd love to have these parked in the garage now!

Look at those car!

Barb did not remember those old cars, but she did remember this old airstream! I wonder if it is still on the road somewhere. She also remembers an old VW bus where she used to ride on top of the engine compartment in the back. 

I shared Barb's first grade picture during her birthday post but I just could not pass up this one from her second grade! Check out the background, the hair styles, the shoes, the expression on the kids' faces. Especially the girl on the right side in the front row! I am sure she grew up and was an expert at giving her husband the look of disappointment. She probably married the kid to her right who has an expression that shows him reflecting on why he ever married her!

As she grew up, her fashion sense did as well which is demonstrated by this awesome hairdo!

Last but not least are a couple of pictures of all of us many years later. This is a picture of us with her dad who was 52ish. That would have put Barb and I at 30 and 26 respectively. Check out those white socks!

Here is one of the few pictures of Barb and her brother Shorty and families. We were in our early 30's. Living so far apart we did not get together as much as we would have liked. He passed away a few years later. 

Barb and I along with Forrest, Jessica,
Norm (Shorty), Kelly and their kids Holly and Heather

That's it for the trip down Barb's memory lane.  I hope you found it as entertaining as we did. It was an emotional journey that brought wonder, smiles and tears. Hopefully years from now our grandkids Lily, Dylan and Kendall will look back at these posts learning a little bit about their ancestry and know they have relatives somewhere out there, probably on the west coast.