pets

This Week in Photos

30 Mar posted by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

I love my life. That’s no secret, and this week was exceptionally grand. There were baby goats born, in the form of triplets, my mama cat has six kittens at home, and the weather has been pretty darn nice. There’s been riding, and babies and wind and it officially “feels” like Spring! I thought I’d share my joy.

Dino being, well, Dino.

Kids! I must add that my niece thinks they should be called “goatlings”. She said calling them kids is just “insulting”. She’s something, that kid!

There were two does and a buck- he has a spot on his back:

Sonora, Nora my beautiful dragon:

She is affectionately referred to as the dragon because when she pins her ears she looks like the dragon from the movie, Shrek. She’s all bark and no bite.

Gump and I on our ride where I shared my “office” view:

Heading to the gate on the East side of the pasture, Gump is certainly fast enough to have beat that brumby and his crew out of there, but I didn’t send him galloping across the pasture.

A pretty bay mare. I call this one, Wind In Her Hair:

DX Black Velvet:

The neighbor’s cows are fascinated by my chicken in the yard. I snapped some photos of them at dusk the other evening and then used some new photoshop tools, just because I can.

I love the light and the bugs flying ’round.

Thunderhead:

This kitten is so comfortable looking!

Furs and Purrs!

Thanks for letting me share my week with you. As an aside, if you haven’t liked my Facebook page, you might want to do that now. There’s all sorts of fun stuff going on there!

Happy Weekend Trails!

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Filed Under: horses, pets, photography, pictures, ranching, spring

Friday in Pictures

12 Mar posted by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

I’m not sharing all the photos I snapped on Friday- only because sometimes the best things in life are those worth waiting for! Friday afternoon the light was just gorgeous and the weather had turned to spring. You’d never guess there was a foot of snow here the first part of March!

Here’s my naughty, dirty, Papillon, Higgins:

He’s just the cutest thing ever!

What is NOT to love about this one-eyed, happy, wonder?

Here’s Crystal, being a good dog:

And MJ- the always going, always moving, can’t-sit-still dog:

And of course who can forget Jake, the always photogenic, best, big buddy a girl could have?

He makes the best model, I tell ya!

My favorite- in fact this may be one of my favorite photos of all time (and it certainly was popular on my Facebook page):

And finally, a happy little Chipping Sparrow:

Happy Trails!

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Filed Under: art, photography, pictures

Chick Chick!

27 Jul posted by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

My hens have been sitting on eggs. And like the good Chicken Farmer that I am, I had no idea how long they’ve been brooding. I just know they have. Two days ago, I went to feed and water them and found this little guy:

Here “it” is with the proud mama!

I have another hen that is sitting on 4 eggs and if she has any luck they’ll be more cuteness running around!

Happy Trails!

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Filed Under: chickens, pets, ranching

It’s a Lazy Friday!

13 May posted by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

Actually, it’s not so much lazy today, as it was the other day. Thursday I think, we found our big billy goat, Goatie Goat, kickin’ it on top of a round bale. He’s just hilarious, this goat. He sees himself as a big horn sheep, we’re certain about that.

He looked pretty comfortable.

And then yesterday it was cold and raining, so I went to catch my boys, and get them in the barn so I could ride them in there. I managed to catch them looking pretty wet, and cute and otherwise endearing. Don’t they just look like brothers? Gump is on the left, and Dino on the right.

We have a high school rodeo and high school graduation planned for this weekend. What do you have planned for the weekend?

Happy Weekend, and Happy Trails!

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Filed Under: #Agchat, photography, ranching

Spring is in the Air

4 Mar posted by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

Despite the fact that we awoke to 9 degrees this morning, yesterday afternoon was cause for celebration. You see, one of our two nanny goats, that we keep around for no reason other than entertainment and weed control, had her kids. There is nothing, NOTHING, I tell you as cute as baby goats. They are by far one of the cutest babies on God’s planet. And without exception, animals always cease to amaze me.

I got a text from Bud, that there was one baby goat, then another that said make that two, so I immediately dropped what I was doing, grabbed my camera (of course) and headed to the corrals to find them. One hundred and forty-seven photos later (freak much?) I had chronicled the first few moments of their life and managed to catch a coming yearling heifer honing her mother skills as well. You see, #192 was just certain she needed to help mother these babies, by drying them off. Her tongue of course is just nearly as big as they are, and since they were so wobbly, she would push them around and knock them down, all the while licking and loving on them. She had the best intentions and it was so sweet to witness it.

The easiest way for you to see the photos, all 57 that I chose to show y’all, was in a slideshow. So as usual, click on the first one and scroll through to see the story unfold. I love ranch life, babies, spring and all that goes along with it. I am so fortunate to get to do what I do and live where I live.

[flickrset id="72157626066780361" thumbnail="square" overlay="true" size="medium"]

As an aside, there should be another set of goat kids still to come this spring. I just hope that nanny waits until I get back from Texas. And one of my 3 mares should foal any moment. And her, I hope she does it before I leave!

Have you ever witnessed the miracle of birth (and I’m not talking human here – though that is a miracle)? And if so, what was your feeling in witnessing that miracle?

Happy Weekend and Happy Trails!

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Filed Under: pets, ranching

It’s a Motley Crew

28 Dec posted by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

Blue skies, sunshine and warm temps (for you Texas folks, that means it was about 35 here- and maybe 42 in the sun), called me out into the great outdoors for some photography on Sunday. I could not have asked for a better day. In fact, I have been kind of half-way waiting to take pictures of the snow covered ground (Devon!) until the lighting was good and it wasn’t a mass of gray outside- which it has been for what seems like forever.

With nary a breeze it made for a nice walk down the hill to Granny’s house, where I knew a piece of apple pie awaited me. It’s still the Holidays for us through the 9th this year, so don’t judge me for eating pie at breakfast!

Here’s some of the shots I took on the way down.

Sparkly

Looking across the dam at the saddle horses who seem to be just kickin’ it.

The dam- you can see the dried up reeds.

And as I got closer to Granny’s house, I was greeted by our misfit crew of barking dogs, that weren’t sure exactly what someone was doing walking around outside.

From left to right: Higgins, Crystal and MJ.

Jake, Higgins, Crystal and MJ.

MJ is so cute!

Here’s what I found as I walked around down by the corrals and the hay stacks:

Windbreak fence:

More snowy sparkles:

A chisel:

Jake being a handsome dog:

Hay bales:

Windbreak fence casting a shadow:

WDX Nukem, one of the studs:

Nuke loves attention, so as soon as he sees someone he usually makes a point to come see you so you can rub on him!

I hope you enjoyed the tour around the corrals, through the snow! I certainly enjoyed the weather! And there’s more photos of my ride to come! So stay tuned!

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Filed Under: holidays, life, pets, photography, ranching, winter weather

Goatie-Goat

29 Jun posted by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

As we have established previously, testosterone makes boys, men and bulls ~~think they’re invincible~~,er, stupid. But how does it affect our billy goat?

Well, he just has plans for world domination. You can see it in his eyes, his thoughts, his long beard. He’s scheming, I tell you. Certain he can intimidate the human folk with his ability to stand on his back legs and point his ram-like horns at them, he is pretty sure this ranch is his domain and if he could only figure out how to get through the fences he’d own the state of South Dakota, and then…THE WORLD! (Insert evil billy-goat laugh here).

Yup, he’s a tough one, that’s for sure. Seeing as how he almost melts when you scratch his horns! Goatie- Goat, you’re hours of entertainment, for sure.

Happy Tuesday!

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Jake the Ranch Dog

24 Jun posted by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

What’re you doin’?

Scratch, Scratch, Scratch…

Is it good, Jake?

Earth to Jake! Jake! Come in, Jake!

Is that the spot?

It must have been good, eh Jake?

Hey Buddy! Glad you got your back scratched!

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Macro Monday

10 May posted by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

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One Billy Goat Gruff

30 Apr posted by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

Who’s the baddest billy goat of all?

If you were to ask Goatie-Goat, he’d say it was him, of course.

He’s certainly trying to show this two year old who’s in charge around these parts.

And she’s not sure she’s going to have it. Any of it!

Maybe letting her think like she can push him around is part of some diabolical plan that Goatie-Goat has?

After all, this heifer has no ears. She lost them one winter to frostbite. He could be trying to help her self esteem. You know, Mother Nature, she’s not exactly kind.