May Day 2014

Last week I was gardening and planting stuff and feeling just like this:

A spring snow, though, has put the outdoor gardening on hiatus for a day or two.

Sunrise Snow May 1, 2014

The snow is already melting (look at the wall in the above pic), but the big question is how is the broccoli I planted four days ago doing? And the apple blossoms? How are they? Is everyone out there okay? My Southern California self emerges, panic at any weather change, News at 11!

It looks like one more cold day and night and then temps will be rising. My optimistic New Mexico self says, "Thanks for the moisture and please, bring us more where that came from!"

Brrr....It's Cold!

 Brr! It's definitely cold here. How cold is it? It's so cold Ms. Pearl lifted up both front paws from the snow, sitting up even though she had never done it before.

 
It's been cold in many places of the United States, even cold in Southern California. Gotta put away the crop tops and shorts for a while, you guys. Get tough, SoCal people!

Here in Northern New Mexico, temps haven't gone as low as MINUS 33, like what happened a couple February's ago, but this morning was -12F when doggie visitor Reggie went out for a little constitutional. Ms. Pearl wanted to stay "turned in," snug under our bed's down comforter. Smart doggie.

 
It snowed all day yesterday, a light powdery 3 or 4 inches of blessed moisture.  That's our upper pasture with plenty of grass. Our two beef steers are methodically eating, one bite at a time. A USDA fellow dropped by for a cattle survey and complimented us on our grass and said we were managing it well. Well, yeah, we only have two cattle on it!

Our two steers, George and Ringo (why, oh why, do I name these cattle?) are still getting used to Ms. P and her officious behavior. "Stay together! Get in line!" are what half Australian shepherds say to both their livestock and their people.

So here are George and Ringo. They are Limousin-Angus cross breeds.

George

Ringo

They are an experiment: Limousin cattle are larger and longer than Angus, so will produce more beef. We will have a couple more Black Angus soon, so maybe we can have some taste tests. These guys are wearing their shaggy, thick fur coats and have found all the tree sheltered spots for when it gets snowy.

Usually, though, all they do is eat or lie down in the sunshine. What a life.

Looking north toward The Enchanted Forest are the mountains near Angel Fire Resort. (Whoops-Those are the mountains above Guadalupita. Sorry.) I know skiers and resort workers who will be very happy.

The creek is almost completely frozen (this photo is from December)  The steers found an open space to drink, but Tom made the opening bigger.

I think if there wasn't sun most days I might not like the cold weather, but it's amazing what a little sunlight can do for my mental health. Heck, I even consider 40 degree weather warm now, and that's what we are supposed to have starting tomorrow. Yippee!