Happy Birthday

Well have what seemed like a long wait our mare gave birth early this afternoon to a beautiful, healthy filly.  Momma has been looking pretty miserable for a week now and we've been thinking yup today is the day, but the day would end and go into the next and still no baby.

Last night I had noticed that her udder looked bigger and she was rocking on her feet, so I knew that it wasn't going to be long now.  Then early this afternoon she finally got down to business and gave birth.

Mom was pretty exhausted and she didn't want to get up right away and I can't blame her.  We rubbed down the baby with towels and moved her in front of mom so she could lick her off and begin the bonding with her baby.

We have decided to name her Alexia Agriosa. Mom and baby are now doing great.

Sturgis 2013 -the trip home.

After a wonderful week in Sturgis, Hill City and Rapid City it was time to head back home to southeastern South Dakota.  But we couldn't pass up making a few stops as we went.  The first stop was at the Badlands.  If you have not seen the badlands it's another one of those wonders of nature that has you shaking your head.  South Dakota is know for it's vast open prairie grasslands, mountains on the west side of the state and rolling hills and valley on the east side, but the badlands is this arid, spiky rock formations that have such unique color variation.

I could spend days wondering through the eroded buttes being totally amazed at the sharp angles and colors that pictures don't seem to be truly capture. 

And no stop is complete if you don't make a stop at Wall Drug, which we stopped  at on our way to Sturgis.  Wall Drug is place know for multitude of gift shops, free ice water and 5 cent coffee, but the comical part is the billboards on the way. 

This one is right at the beginning of our trip at Sioux Falls.

As your driving along you see all kind of different road side billboards advertising Wall Drug and one of these days when our grandchildren are older I'm going to have them count just how many signs they see along the way. 

Finally we arrived our destination and surprise there is motorcycles everywhere. 

And no trip is complete if you didn't see the famous Jackelope.  The local legend of the half Jack Rabbit half Antelope creature. You can even hop up in the saddle to get your picture taken. 

The final stop of the trip was Crazy Horse Memorial.  This is such an outstanding dream of Korczak Ziolcowski tribute to the Sioux Indian nation and the dedication of the Zilocowski family carving this monster of sculpture into a mountain.  Korczak started carving in 1948 and today his sons are continuing his dream to hopefully one day to be completed.  

 You either take the hiking path up to the top and walk around on the arm section and get right up to the head or you can the bus part of the way and then hike the rest.  From a distance you can the see head is large, but once your up there your just a gasped at how big it really is. People look like ants next to the head. 

Next time we are there we will stop by at night when they do a night blasting and a light show where they use lighting and projections of what the mountain will eventually look like completed.  So cool!!

It was so nice to come home and see the mother Friesian and her new foal out in the pasture.  This little guy was born the day before we left, so see him romping around made coming home such a joy.  

I wasn't the only one glad to be home after a week being gone, several of the other horse starting kicking up there heels and running to where I was standing just like they were say...yeah mom's home!!

Thank you so much for coming along with us on our vacation and I'm already looking forward to next year.

Sturgis 2013 Continuted

The following day we took our friends on the grand tour of the Black Hills and showed them Mount Rushmore and the surrounding area. I'm always stunned by the shear beauty of western South Dakota with the majestic mountains, the foreboding badlands and the dark green pine trees that give the Black Hills there names.  The Lakota Sioux named the hills Pahá Sápa, which means black hills because from a distance the hills have this dark appearance. 

Our first stop was Mount Rushmore.  You get such a feeling of freedom on the open road riding through the trees. It's such a pretty ride. 

This time of year motorcycles out number cars and we just had to stop to take a picture of all the bikers stopping along the side of the road taking in the view and taking pictures of their own.  

 Arriving at the monument I took this picture of hubby and noticed afterwords how the windshield on the bike framed the heads in the background. 

Walking around we got an added bonus to see a herd of mountain goats grazing in the area.  I've been to the monument many times, but this was the first I had seen the goats.  What a thrill!! 

After several hours of touring and getting a bite to eat our friends saw a pamphlet about Devils Tower in Wy and we couldn't resist making the 2-1/2 hour trip to the tower, which every time I see it I'm just awe struck how mother nature made such a unique land mass.

Pictures do not really do this justice as how big this really is and the ridges are so much bigger that the people rock climbing look so so small. 

We had such an amazing trip with a wonderful couple that was so over joyed and so glad they had made the trip to experience the Sturgis rally and outstanding views. I'm always so humbled by the land that God made and how one man Gutzon Borglum had a grand vision to put the 4 presidents on the side of a mountain. Everyone should at one time in their life make the trip to the Black Hills and get a chance to see it and walk through the museum to learn about the men that made mountain monument and see the love and sacrifices to create such a wonder. 

I'll blog more of our trip home, going to the Badlands and Crazy Horse Memorial. 

Sturgis 2013

Another great year at Sturgis!  The weather was typical where it rained at some point most days, but not enough to stop you from getting on the bike.  This year I made the wise decision to put my bike in the trailer and drove out to the Hills, my behind thanked me for that. 

When we travel to Sturgis we camp out in Hill City at the Crooked Creek campgrounds, which is such a pretty place and it gives you much needed peace after all the excitement and craziness that is the town of Sturgis is during the rally. 

 We've been here since late Friday and this is our baby is parked in the back and you just can't beat camping among the pine trees. Love the smell of pine in the morning. 

My Harley baby, gotta love the windblown helmet hair. 

View of arriving at main street Sturgis.  There are so many bikes it take forever to drive from one end of the street to the other. 

Our friends from Vancouver was able to make it this year to their first ever rally and it was such a joy to see the amazement on their faces.  They couldn't believe how many people and bikes were in one place. 

One thing you see a lot of is skin at the rally and the only stipulation is that it must be covered up in someway.  Many choose pasties that covers the nipples and other choose to have their chest painted.  Booths are everywhere that you can get either airbrushed or hand painted.  This woman decided to go patriotic. 

This one is my favorite she choose 2 rooster. 

And then there are the bikes, you see all kinds but there are some that just make stop and look.

 This guy comes every year, but you still have to stop and watch him driving down the street.

Tomorrow we are going to take in the site and show our friends Mt. Rushmore.  Will post more pictures later. 

Round One Done....what a mess

Well round one of the storm that hit us is done, but round 2 is on it's way tonight.  Uhug!!!  Round one came in the form of rain that turned into ice on everything.  By the time it was over we now have an inch of ice coating everything.  It looks like a war zone.  Broken trees, branches and power lines are down.

Went outside last night around 10:00 pm and even though I couldn't see a lot without a flash light it was the sound that was the scariest.  Loud bangs, crackling and snapping of trees and branches breaking.  The loud bangs were the large old trees with huge branches breaking off or the whole tree coming down.  

 The mulberry tree did not make it, probably will have to remove the whole thing. ;(

 The maple that has done so well in past storms didn't go unfazed this time around and it took out the walkway gate out as the branches came down.

 Under this mess is a row of lilacs, I hope they come back for lilacs are my favorite flowers.

 

It just breaks my heart to see all the big beautiful trees looking so broken up, some will recover but many will have to be removed.

Power lines didn't fair any better.  1000's are without power and the brave men and women have been working non stop around the clock working to get the power restored. I'm so thankful for their dedication and sacrifice.  I'm thanking the Lord we did not loose our electricity and am keeping my fingers crossed that we don't in the future. 

 

The weatherman are saying that round two is to start tonight with 6 to 10 inches of snow coming tonight and the one term they keep using with this coming storm that just makes me cringe is 'thunder snow'...yikes.  Any time you have thunder and snow at the same time, it will be really wet and very heavy.  Something we so don't need with the weight from the ice that we already when we have. 

Someone recently gave me a quote which is so true, beware of what you pray for, you just might get it.  Which after the drought that we've had this moisture is really needed. But in the middle of all this there is still beauty to be found.  When I was at the farm checking out the damage there I couldn't resist taking a picture of the empty corn crib.  The ice had made such a beautiful pattern on the whole crib.

 

So I'm crossing my fingers and toes that we will miss this next wave of weather like we have been in the past, but if we don't there is nothing that can be done about it except how you perceive it.  I'm just thankful my family and friends are ok and nothing is permanent in this life except for the day our good Lord welcomes us back into his loving arms.  

What a difference a few days make.

Wow, what a difference a few days make.  Just Saturday we got an inch of rain that sent the river out of it's bank.  Today just 4 days later the river is back within her banks and she's back being the gentle lazy river that she usually is. 

Saturday the river was flooding with large chunks of ice float past.

And here is what it looks like 4 days later.  The ice chunks are still piled up along the bank showing just how high the water got. 

Here is the scraggy tree that had water right up to its base and today it's a long way's away from water.

It always amazes me how quickly mother nature can change from day to day. As I was out for my walk I saw a Robin and thinking YEAH! spring is not far off, and then I thought you crazy bird, it's still too cold for you to be here you should have stayed south for just a bit longer.

Here are some reminders left behind of the might water and the power it has to pile large ice chunks like they are just kids blocks. 

Even my cat seemed impress as she hopped up on a stump, but mostly she was just checking out her territory and making sure everything is as it should be.  

HoneyBun sure has changed in the year that she's been here. On a very cold January morning I stepped out my door to have this very thin, dirty, scraggy looking cat come out of the warming nest I had made under the bench on the, porch.  I've always said that my place seems to be on the underground kitty railroad where if you need some food, water and some loving pats on the head then come to my porch.  I've made a nest of old blankets and tarps over a bench to give them some warmth and out of the elements.  From time to time a cat will show up for a just a day or may stay a week or 2,but most of then seem to move on.  But HoneyBun is one that she decided this would her last stop on her journey and it was to become her forever home.  

Last winter she was a bit too wild to join the indoor cats, but as the summer progressed the calmer she became and slowly I introduced her to indoor cats and then when fall became too bitterly cold, she decided she wanted to become an indoor cat and now she's a fat happy mostly indoor kitty and sometimes is an outdoor kitty.  She's my constantly shadow when I'm outside in the yard or down at the barn with the horses.  She now the queen of her yard and the house.