Category: Blogville

Monday Musings ~ March 27, 2023

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 77 Comments

Nine years ago yesterday this blog was born. In dog years that makes this space over 60 years old! Considering I knew nothing about blogging, let alone anything about WordPress,  the mere acknowledgment of the date seems beyond wild to me. It would be another week before the first post was published but I still remember the hyperventilating before I hit the publish button for the first time and the dozens of draft versions for subsequent posts that continues to date. Who knew absurd silliness needed so much massaging? I never expected anyone beyond maybe a couple of family members who would ever bother to check it out found myself blown away by the number of folks who began to follow us. Some 1415 posts later and I continue to be humbled by everyone who drops by, reads our silliness and leaves thoughtful, kind and inspiring comments. Let me just say, this is one extraordinary and amazing community of incredible people for which I thank my lucky stars for each and everyday for all of you. We don’t know where the blog will go in the future, but I recently renewed the blog for at least another two years and hope you’ll continue to follow along to see where our adventures take us. We love having you come along our walks and pray we continue to earn your support as we move ahead. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so very much for sticking with us.

And because it’s a Monday, it’s time for a smile to start out the week. This morning we woke up to another snow storm and it won’t be very warm today when Norman and I head out to Lutheran to brighten the day for staff and patients at Lutheran, but I do know there will be some treats for him though not any ‘leftovers’ like today’s smile.

Monday Musings

Thank you again for your ongoing support and I sincerely hope today brings you plenty of treats and smiles.

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Nature Friday ~ September 30, 2022

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 53 Comments

Well, will you lookie here…it’s Friday and that means we’re joining our ‘fur-iends’ from Adventures of the LLB Gang for this week’s edition of Nature Friday. Don’t forget to click on the link to see what others shared.

Autumn is unfolding each and every day with a new scene in the 303 and we managed to find all sorts of signs of it this week on our walkabouts. This week’s offering is somewhat of a catch-as-catch can, with some unusual sightings from around the ‘Hood. First off, as Norman and I arrived at the hospital we came across something unlike anything I’d ever seen before. Like most hospital parking lots, there are a few trees placed around the parking lot. One of the trees along the far perimeter has been on a downward spiral for at least the past year. This past spring it appeared this poor wretched tree looked like it had finally given up the ghost. I always feel badly whenever I see that a tree that has died but I wasn’t prepared for what I saw. Well I’m not sure what it’ll mean in the grand scheme of life but this scrappy little tree started blooming like it was April. Weirdest thing I’ve ever seen. I had to go back after passing it to get a closer look to see if those were actually blooms among the skant few leaves. Sorry about the blur, I was so blown away, I didn’t get the camera to focus as well as I should have.

Tree

When we’re out walking the neighborhood, I like to keep my eyes open for interesting things and that sure seems to fit the bill but it wasn’t the only unusual thing we saw this week. Wisteria is ever so lovely in the spring, but in late summer it can produce bean-like pods. I’d never noticed them in past years, but it sure caught my eye this week. Kinda weird, huh? Given that Halloween is just a month away, it kind of reminded me of a scene from the Bodysnatchers.

Flowers

Last weekend was the end of the season for most of the Farmers Markets in the metro area. A friend and I went to the one in Old Towne Arvada and apart from the typical booths with handmade craft items as well as fresh produce, various flowers caught my attention while we walked around and took in a picture perfect day. Just check out this pretty strawflower and coleus.

Flowers

With autumn’s arrival, a few mushrooms have begun to pop up. When I saw them on this slight grassy incline, they remind me of an air filter on a car. More weird things around the ‘Hood.

Mushrooms

Mushrooms

Changing leaves is a sure sign of autumn and the Virginia creeper always delivers. The reds are always eye catching.

Flowers

Lastly are a couple a pollinators we saw in the yard. The dogs paid no attention but I kept following the Hummingbird Hawk moth through the Plumbago. They tend to be fairly elusive buggers…big but very flighty.

Pollinators

And finally, as I was working in the garden tidying up a few areas, I came across the fattest bumblebee I’ve seen in a long time. This guy had been apparently working very hard as he was carrying large bags of pollen on his body though you can’t see them from this vantage point.

Pollinators

One of the true signs that autumn has arrived is when a neighbor’s begins his annual display of ‘skellies.’ Every morning when we walk past this house, the guy has arranged them differently. I laugh out loud every morning. The guys on the roof especially crack me up.

Halloween

So all and all, it was an interesting first full week of Autumn. How was yours? Find any interesting things? We hope you have a fantastic weekend. We’re sending loads of thoughts and prayers to all those affected by monster hurricane Ian and pray for all those in this path.

Nature Friday

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Nature Friday ~ September 23, 2022

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 39 Comments

Welcome to the first edition of Autumn 2022 where we’re joining those cute hosts from Adventures of the LLB Gang. Don’t forget to click on the link to see what others around Blogville posted for this blog hop.

Yesterday was the official arrival of Autumn, our favorite season and it’s already started to show up in small slices around the 303. A couple of days of some very welcome rain this week probably helped the process though small spots of leaves starting to turn have been noticed for the past several days.

Taking another trip down to Sloan’s Lake, let’s see what Nature served up for us this week, shall we?

As I entered the park, the honey locusts trees practically shouted with spots of yellow brilliance. They are one of the first trees to show signs of the changing seasons and their honey gold leaves appearing in a few spots called out to me.

Changing leaves

Autumn is the season of transition from summer to winter in the Northern Hemisphere and marks shorter days, cooler temperatures and a change in leaf color as deciduous trees begin their annual leaf shedding.

Trees

Like pots of paint from an artist’s pallet, spots of color show up each day while wildlife prepares for the upcoming season of change as well. Squirrels seem to gather more (i.e. they seemingly become more brazen about their garden raids). This little guy was determined to photobomb my golden moment by barking his self-righteous displeasure at me as I walked around the tree attempting to find the best angle.

Squirrels weren’t the only critters spotted in the park. Different kinds of birds cruised by searching for whatever they nosh upon.

Birds

Some just rested in the morning hours, waiting for their opportunity to rifle through trash bins once the morning visits went about their days. These guys refused to yield their space even as I moved closer. Clearly they didn’t view me as any threat.

Gulls

These ducks demonstrated the adage, ‘any ole port in a storm’ will suffice as I walked near the shoreline, although they kept one eye always open and focused on whether I made any sudden moves toward them.

Ducks

Nature is marvelous as it transitions into another season. Crab apple trees produce hips for the local critters to stock up on. The supply chain seems fairly robust around the lake.

Trees

Sharing the bounty of the summer, trees also produces some interesting seed pods. No clue as to what this tree is, but found the seed pods fascinating as well as colorful. It was like seeing fireworks, without the noise.

Trees

Colorado is well known for its quaking aspen’s brilliant gold shimmering in a blue sky but there are some elements of red and orange to be found that dominate the season in the Midwest and eastern states. This holly along the sidewalk hellstrip beaconed me to inspect it more closely. The shock of color provides us uprights with a beautiful scene while producing fruit for birds and other critters.

Holly leaves

This tree just can’t seem to commit to one color, with a few yellow and orange leaves as well as a canopy of red ones.

Changing leaves

This milkweed caught my eye providing quite a curious show with it’s cottony seed pods. Those seeds should provide new plants for butterfly meals next summer.

Milkweed

While Autumn officially arrived this week, the Ranch Hands and I expect to enjoy some Indian Summer weather this weekend and hope for a visit to checkout the changing aspens in the high elevations. What plans do you have for the first weekend of Autumn? Whatever you do, we hope there’s some exploring the gorgeous pallet that Nature shares this time of year.

Nature Friday

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Nature Friday ~ July 15, 2022

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 53 Comments
Sunrise
Clouds from yesterday’s sunrise

Good Friday morning peeps. As usual, we’re joining Rosy, Sunny and Jakey from LLB in Our Backyard for this week’s Nature Friday blog hop. Don’t forget to check out other posts by clicking on the link to see what others have shared.

This week has been dominated by one word. HOT, just miserably hot. And it’s hot everywhere, not just here. Europe is suffering as much as much of the central US with heat advisories being issued for Great Britain and Wales. Today’s forecast for Madrid, Spain is sunny with a high of 105ºF-ugh (around 41ºC).

So for this week, let’s stroll on over to Sloan’s Lake where perhaps we can use the water to at least refresh our parched souls. Sloan’s Lake has been in the news this past year.  Officials had to close all access to the water for a large blue-green algae bloom discovered last year. The potentially deadly condition made it unsafe for any paddle boarding, boating, or any other water sport that the lake allows including fishing and dog owners were cautioned to keep their pets away from the water as well. Added to the blue-green algae closure/news, last month wildlife officials caught a Caiman who had been surreptitiously released in the city’s largest lake. A freaking Caiman! Now dubbed “Miss Bo Mangles,” the small reptile has joined other rescued reptiles at Oscar and Friends, who graciously assisted wildlife officials in the capture. Kudos to Oscar and Friends for saving this creature as she likely would not have survived for long in the lake especially once temperatures drop. [Please tell me they will eventually drop]

Even otherwise fierce Canadian Geese have been trying their best to stay cool in Denver’s sweltering temperatures. I caught a number of them lounging in the shade near the water’s edge.

Geese

When not resting in the shade, some of them decided to train with locals in preparation for the Dragon Boat Festival which will be held next weekend after cancellations over the past couple of years, first for COVID and then again last year after the lake was closed with the blue-green algae contamination.

After a quick sprint with the Dragon Boat team, they exited the lake, single file…one by one.
Geese

The temperatures were so miserable, I could empathize with this mallard who seemed to keep diving in the water to stay cool though I expect he was probably noshing on whatever mallards eat. Ducks and geese

While I’d love to watch the Dragon Boat races next weekend, it will be totally dependant on the weather. Twenty minutes at Sloan’s in the middle of the day was far too much for me and after bidding the one team crazy brave enough to train in the sunny, hot conditions, I bid them a fond farewell. I left the park for the air conditioned comfort of my living room for the rest of the day.

Dragon Boat Race

Still it was great visiting the lake, even for a short period of time. If you like sunny conditions, heat and low humidity the day was tailor made just for you.

Have you got any special plans for this weekend? Whatever you do, we hope you stay safe, well-hydrated and are able to enjoy the wondrous sights Mother Nature provides us when we take a moment to check her out.

The latest countdown update is there are ‘just’ 69 days until autumn officially arrives.

Nature Friday

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Nature Friday ~ June 24, 2022

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 62 Comments

Welcome to this week’s edition of Nature Friday. Award-winning international correspondent, Elsa here joining our fur-pals, Rosy, Sunny and Jakey from LLB in Our Backyard with their weekly Nature Friday blog hop. Don’t forget to click on their link to see other posts about nature from around Blogville.

Norman: Ahem…when did you become an award-winning international correspondent? May I remind you that you were born in Northern Colorado?

Elsa: Geography is subjective, brother…besides I needed to beef up my ‘brand’ by creating a compelling presence for these Friday posts.

Norman: Does Mum know what you’re doing?

Elsa: You better not rat me out, hairball or I’ll make your life miserable.

Norman: Trust me, I won’t be the one to tell Mum her blog has been taken over by a fraud someone who’s ‘creating a brand.’

Elsa:  Whatever. Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission? Besides, you’re ruining my byline with all this chatter. Let’s get on to showing off this week’s images my pawsome reporting skills.

Norman: Go right ahead but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Elsa: Thank goodness, maybe now that dolt will let me get on with doing my job. Sheesh…so this week…let’s take a look at some images mom took recently when she went up to the foothills in Morrison, Colorado to meet with family and friends. They met up at a place called The Fort.

What is The Fort, you ask? It’s a full scale adobe replica of the 19th century fur trading fort, Bent’s Fort. Created by Sam’l P. Arnold and his wife, “Bay” (Elizabeth), local amateur historians who wanted to create an authentic adobe home for their children to grow up in the country outside Denver. Purchasing the Morrison property in 1961, they began building the adobe structure consisting of 80,000 adobe blocks for the main building. When construction costs exceeded the budget, Sam’l and Bay had their builders redesign the lower level into a business location while the upper level served as the family’s living quarters. The furniture, gates, doors and chairs were hand carved by Taos artists in the same style as they were in 1833; their restaurant opened for business in February 1963. Today’s menu is inspired by the same recipes that pioneers ate along the Santa Fe Trail of the 1800’s. While the food is terrific,  the scenery is what we’re going to showcase today.

Foothills

As you prepare to enter The Fort, one of the first things you’ll notice are the surrounding rolling hills and scenic vistas. Then you’re greeted  by quite a sight. Yikes, is that a SNAKE? Mom, what are you doing hanging out with snakes?

The Fort

Mom: Well, Miss award-winning, international correspondent, isn’t that part of your job of due diligence/research for this story?

Elsa: Heh, heh…ummm, I’m going with that’s some fancy kind of kinky artwork on the surrounding red rocks. We’ll leave it at that. Moving right along…

Door handles
Doorway to The Fort’s restaurant

Let’s continue, shall we? The courtyard boasts signage about The Fort’s history.

Sign

After reading the sign, you are blown away by the adobe construction and full sized teepee inside in the courtyard.

Courtyard

Teepee

The bear carving is a replica of the adopted Canadian black bear cub the Arnold’s daughter played with as a child. ‘Sissy the Bear’ lived with the family for 19 years.

The Fort

The Fort is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Fort

An outdoor patio has a few water features that add to the ambience of the area.Water feature

As you prepare to order a meal, you can look out toward Denver and imagine what Native Americans and pioneers alike encountered with the landscape while enjoying a lovely evening.

The Fort

Well, that’s it for this week. Join us again next time when we look at all the remarkable sights Nature is kind enough to provide us. We hope you are able to enjoy Nature the weekend. Stay cool if at all possible, and drink lots of water, okay. This is Elsa, award-winning international correspondent signing out  but before I go, don’t forget it’s “Take Your Dog to Work” today. I hope this means I’ll get lots of treats in the studio. You did bring home a buffalo bone or two, right mom? Have a great weekend, everyone.

Nature Friday

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Praying for Peace in Ukraine ~ March 26, 2022

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 31 Comments

Peace“There never was a good war or a bad peace.”
-Benjamin Franklin

Peace

This weekend, like so many others around Blogville, we join the “Blog for Peace” blog hop hosted by Mimi Lenox from BlogBlast4Peace. Every day we wince and shed tears for the people and pets of Ukraine as they defend themselves from the Russian invasion. The images coming out of Ukraine have been absolutely heartbreaking, especially when you see families walking to train stations, dragging a piece of luggage while carrying their pets, as they flee the bombing of their hometowns.

Blog for Peace
Send your peace globe and a link to your post to Mimi Lenox at blog4peace@yahoo.com or tag Mimi Lenox on Facebook

We hope you will do your part and promote peace by helping the Ukrainians any way you are able.

Peace

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Nature Friday ~ March 4, 2022

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 60 Comments

Welcome to the first edition in March to the Nature Friday blog hop, where we join our New Mexico hosts, Rosy, Sunny and Jakey from LLB in Our Backyard. Make sure you stop by the clicking on their link to see what others are sharing.

SpringLast week, the Mile High spent most of it suffering in brutally cold conditions with multiple days in a row of snow. Total accumulations were between 8-10 inches.  Apparently this week, Mother Nature reconsidered and then decided an about face might be appropriate, apparently trying to make up for being so bloody harsh and mean last week.Spring

Yesterday morning’s walk showed how she was trying to make up by being pretty and nice. Look at that lovely clump of early blooming crocuses.

Spring

No doubt Mother Nature thought all could be forgiven if she merely provided a burst of beautiful color with some reticulated irises. Well…okay…maybe. Sights like this make you begin to think perhaps all those previous HBO thoughts you had weren’t warranted after seeing gorgeous deep purple crocuses with those vibrant, brightly colored stamens. Sigh, how can you stay mad with Mother Nature when she delivers days like this?

Spring

With sunny, warm days like these, one could easily be seduced into thinking Spring was just around the corner ready to burst forward. And then you hear the weekend forecast foretelling of the age-old battle between Winter and Spring duking it out with two back-to-back storms colliding in the metro area beginning later tonight with accumulations of 2-5 inches, depending on where you live. This, following record-tying temperatures in the mid-70’sF this week.  In March! Today will be fairly nice again (albeit dreary) until this afternoon when the first front moves in with a splatter of moisture.

Weather

And then the bungee cord snaps your head back in the ongoing battle between the seasons here…often referred to as “Springtime in the Rockies.”

Join us next week when we share a big announcement-it’s gonna be ‘pawsome!’

Whatever you do this weekend, we hope you get check out to see what Nature has to offer-whichever season she deigns to share.

Nature Friday

Live, love, bark! 🐾

National Read Across America Day ~ 2022

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 43 Comments

Today is Ash Wednesday and marks the beginning of Lent; a time of sacrifice, self-discipline and reflection leading up to Easter. Christians across the world often decide to give up something they enjoy like chocolate or alcohol for instance or  they agree to do special works of service/goodness. The Ranch Hands said “No dice!” on giving anything up but they assured me they would step up and be better doggos on their walks after kind of forgetting what a loose leash walk really means following the recent extended cold spell when walks were impossible. Apparently short term memory can be a problem with dogs.

In addition to Lent, today also marks a different kind of celebration. Today is “Read Across America Day,” created in 1998 by the National Education Association (NEA), as a way to encourage children to read. This annual day is typically held today on Theodor S. Geisel’s birthday, a longtime proponent of reading. You may know him as the estimable, Dr. Seuss. The NEA endorses and promotes the importance of reading and decided to combine their efforts every year on his birthdate.

Dr. Seuss

Little known fact: did you know Dr. Seuss created the word nerd? The first documented use of the word was in his 1950 book, “If I Ran the Zoo” about a boy named Gerald McGrew who visits a zoo and wonders how it might look if he ran it.

We hope you’ll join ‘Thing One and Thing Two’ along with the cats and dogs of Blogville today by reading a book as we celebrate National Read Across America day.

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Flowers for Marg ~ April 9, 2021

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 69 Comments

Welcome to this week’s blog hop for Nature Friday. Today we join our weekly hosts, Rosy, Sunny, Arty and Jakey from LLB in Our Backyard  to celebrate a special edition of Nature Friday ~ Flowers for Marg.

Marg Elemendorf of Marg’s Animals, is a well known blogger who is loved and followed by so many over the  years.  Today we all come together to make Marg’s birthday extra special since she lives alone caring for her many and beloved kitties. Happy Birthday, Marg!

Birthday

Please feel free to leave your own birthday wishes here at this link.

Today is a birthday two-fer for me. Norman, Elsa and I of course send best wishes to Marg but we also send them to one of my dearest friends, Cheryl who celebrates an extra special birthday today. Happy birthday, sweet lady. I’m looking forward to celebrating with you in person this weekend.

Alright, let’s see if we can put together a bouquet of flowers for these two special women who do so much for others. Although spring is taking its sweet time arriving in the Mile High City and it may be a bit premature to cut a lush bouquet for indoor display still, there are some early spring bulbs that suggest bouquets gracing a table won’t be too far away.

Flowers

Earlier this week we saw the first blooming tulips in a border along one of our walks. So cheerful and happy looking.

Flowers

While the past couple of days have been cooler than our warm  Easter weekend, seeing tulips blooming always brings smiles to winter-weary hearts in the Rockies.

Flowers

While our garden is just waking up, there was one early bloomer that caught me off guard. I don’t ever recall seeing pink Phlox quite this early. What a nice splash of color, wouldn’t you agree?

Flowers

On a quick trip to a store I rarely shop at, I stopped by their flower department a couple of days ago and saw an incredible display of indoor orchids. These two deeply colored (and not edited to boost their vibrancy, mind you) stopped me dead in my tracks. I stared for several minutes taking in all that beauty.

Flowers

Flowers

Definitely out of the ordinary yet stunning in true orchid style.

We hope you all have a beautiful Friday. Please enjoy some nature and find time to make your weekend grand.

Live love, bark! 🐾

 

A 2020 Retrospective

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 76 Comments

Don’t let the title of this post freak you out…this is NOT a post about the unspeakably sad losses experienced during the past 365 days. Instead consider this my feeble attempt to get a 12+ hour head start on tomorrow’s Nature Friday with an affectionate look back at some of the wonders Mother Nature so graciously shared despite our planet’s collective poor stewardship of her. We hope you will take a moment to follow Blogville around by clicking on our friends’ and hosts link [Rosy, sister Sunny and her two brothers at LLB in Our Backyard] and hope they don’t mind our pulling the trigger early).

While it’s true we received a spot of the white stuff this week, as fast as it frosted the landscape, it quickly melted under beautiful, bright blue, sunny skies.

Mother Nature may have some prickly moments, but boy does she possess an amazing canvas when she shows it off.

Snow

While some of you may shiver at images of snow, I can’t help but wonder about all those unique and sparkly facets of crystalized ice that highlight a winter landscape.

Snow

Sure Norman, Elsa and I are fortunate to enjoy 300+ days of annual sunshine in the Mile High but we’re also gifted with some spectacular sunsets (and sunrises) on occasion. This one showed up shortly before this month’s full moon.

And now for a look back at a few of the most popular images from nature this year. This past summer provided some much needed visual comfort then as well as now.

Flowers

A 2020 retrospective on nature would be incomplete without some sunshine-y sunflowers from our garden as well as a a view of the plethora of lupine which provided a nice backdrop for the Ranch hands.

Flowers

Ranch hands As we reflect over the past year, all the while keeping a keen eye looking forward to the new one, we’ll toast to a New Year with a recent batch of aged, handmade Sazerac cleverly crafted by my son. Just look at that gorgeous amber color. If you like rye, Sazerac can be quite the tasty cognac/whiskey kind of beverage. Add a slice of lemon or orange peel and voila…a moment perfect for contemplative reflection.

Sazerac

With loads of cheers for love, laughter, with a few tasty treats for 2021, we can’t help but be optimistic after seeing these babies who I spied on yesterday morning’s walk. I’ don’t recall seeing bulbs appear quite this early but I’ll take it. Knowing, or at least hoping there is more white stuff down the road, we’ll keep ‘pawsitive’ that 2021 will be a big improvement over 2020, though it may take some patience to see it blossom.

Bulbs

The Ranch will be taking some extended time off to attend to computer maintenance issues and I’m uncertain as to how long it might take to dust off any cobwebs on the laptop. As I do not wish to yank out all my recently cut hair trying to compose posts on a tiny cell-phone screen, those of you who do have my undying admiration, we’ll be back as soon as our battery pack is refreshed, our files cleaned and scrubbed. No doubt the Ranch hands will think of loads of ways to exasperate me entertain us with new adventures…but until then…stay safe, sane and keep smiling, my friends. Have a Happy New Year!

Nature Friday

Live, love, bark! 🐾