Winter Ride

Well, yes, its been 6mo since I've posted anything on here and once again no good excuse. Blogger has re-done the way pics are loaded on here and for some reason I can't get my cursor to go to the left of the page without causing major issues with the pictures so things may not be completely 'correct' as far as paragraphs go. 

This winter was definitely a hard one!!  We were blessed with snow which was received with many smiles from friends and family especially since last year was so dry-the driest its been in over 20yrs according some residents that have been here for a long time..  The affects of the drought are still very evident and unless we get a wet spring and moisture through out the summer it will definitely take a while for the vegetation, ranches and wildlife to re-bound.  Also this winter though, it got cold. To you, this may be a 'duh' statement but let me explain.  The temps we got were completely normal 20 below happens almost every year but I can't remember a time in the 24yrs that I've been here that it lasted for a month!!!  Around 20 below at night and maybe teens during the day gets old real quick!!   Many people suffered from it too-frozen water pipes were very common. We are selves had our fair share of 'issues'.   It started with the waterline to outback freezing up-there goes the use of 4 hydrants-2 of which really make watering the chickens and the horses that I board much easier. So, that started the hauling water outback in a stock tank in the back of my truck to bucket to the horses out back so they could drink-not to mention the water had to be chopped out first so more could be put in. This lasted for over a month!. Then a week or so later, the frost started reaching the other waterlines and before I knew it, I had 1 hydrant outside that hadn't froze up; needless to say, watering all of the horses, goats, dogs, rabbits, chickens and cats got very tiring.

Thankfully, God is faithful in bringing the changes of seasons and things started to warm up and thaw. The waterline to outback was the last to thaw-end of March but we were able to run hoses out back for the horses out there so that helped a lot and thankfully, despite having all of these lines frozen, none of them broke-a HUGE blessing!!!

"You set all the boundaries of the earth; You made the summer and the winter."  Psalm 74:17

    Okay, so now I can't the cursor to go to the center between my pics so hopefully this still 'flows' well.  Despite the cold, there were plenty of sunny days that after bundling up wasn't to bad to be out in and we managed to get a few rides in.  The snow was 'squeaky' at this time-a rather annoying sound if you ask me but not enough of an annoying sound to keep my sister and I from a ride out back.
                                                                                  

   The meadow out back was almost completely untouched from any forms that life has been out and about-its been too cold.  However, there is something fun about blazing your own trail through the untouched snow. The horses seemed to enjoy it too.

    As you can see the sun was very bright and actually quite warming.  This is Sara in her new winter gear on Lena and below me in my already tried winter attire with Riata.

We rode for at least an hour or so-it doesn't take long for the temps to change as soon as the sun started to drop but we both felt a little 'rosie' on the cheeks when we were done and wondered if a 'sunburn' wasn't the reason.

 "May the name of God be praised forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him. He changes the times and the seasons....."  Daniel 2:20-21