Category: iPhoneography

Nature Friday ~ January 23, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 65 Comments

WilsonWelcome to the 2026 Snow Armageddon, otherwise known as Friday where we join our friends, Rosy and Sunny from Adventures of the LLB Gang. We first want to express our concern for folks in the direct line of this massive storm crossing the country from Albuquerque to New England and hope the power stays on to keep everyone safe and warm. While it’s chilly in the metro area, I don’t think it’ll be nearly as bad as some areas but flurries have started this morning. Because this storm is coming from the North, we likely won’t get much in the way of accumulated snow, but it will be cold, of that there is no doubt. Anyway, Wilson has a few pics and thoughts he wanted to share with you.

Wilson: What the bloody dog, Mum? I hope you plan on keeping me plenty warm this weekend. I just heard the forecast and you know how much of a fair weather. I so hope you’re well prepared.

The Mum: Umm, good morning to you too. Just so you know, we’re as prepared as possible but you need to remember that I don’t have any control about how cold it gets. We should be fine presuming the power stays on, buddy. I might even let you snuggle with me on the bed.

Wilson: Oops, sorry about not saying good morning. On the bed? Oooh, YESS…count me in. As you probably know, I’m not particularly a fan of this new rule about being on the furniture. Come to think of it, I still don’t know why it was instituted in the first place. May I remind you that you are not a king?

The Mum: You’re watching too much news, buddy. You were beginning to take over the furniture and after I broke my sternum last year, I couldn’t risk you flopping on me, thus the new rule. For the record, I’ve never minded you on the furniture but it must be by invitation. And you can’t crowd me out which is what you’ve been doing.  So what do you have for us today?

Wilson: {grumble, grumble…fine} The landscape is still brown and drab but I think I’ve curated a few pics that you might like. Warning, if you are not a fan of seeing wild animal scat, you might want to skip this first pic. Mum was pretty excited to find a couple areas where evidence of wild critters (mostly like coyotes) have been traversing the Ralston Creek Trail. I wasn’t nearly as impressed, and wasn’t all that interested in reading any messages. I don’t think they eat very well. Looks like a lot of birdseed and wood chips to me.

Scat

The Mum: You may not have been interested in sniffing, but you were pretty insistent on photobombing-I should have completely cropped out the presence of your foot paddle…otherwise known as a paw.

Wilson: Harumph…uh…I was merely scanning the surroundings to make sure I didn’t have to go into protection mode.

The Mum: Oh please…the chances of encountering a coyote are pretty slim. They will retreat to avoid any threats…

Wilson: I see my reputation precedes me…

The Mum: {eyes rolling} If it makes you feel better. What else have you got?

Wilson: I should haver realized there was going to be a change in the temps after yesterday morning’s walk. There was frost on the bridge planks. It was sparkly though it doesn’t really come through on the photo-more like fading in the wood, but trust me, it looked cool as it followed the shadows. Literally.

Frost

The Mum: I notice the water hazards around the golf course had a small bit of frost in the shallow areas. Makes you wonder how ducks and geese can stand paddling around the cold water.

Water hazard

Wilson: What I want to know is why they avoid me. I just wanted to get close enough to say good morning. But the mallards are very timid and avoid me like I’m some sort of plague carrier. How come they don’t like me, Mum?

The Mum: Aww, buddy, it’s not that they don’t like you, they’re just afraid you might harm them. We’ll have to watch them peacefully paddle around from a distance.

Wilson: Well their Canadian cousins aren’t nearly as afraid. Those geese practically taunt me to come close even though I could care less about them. Maybe they are more closely related to the doggone squirrels who always taunt me but the little monsters always manage to stay out of reach. I think they’re afraid of me…as they should be. The jaws of death are just waiting for them.

The Mum: Easy does it, House Pony. The jaws of death are going to have to put the kibosh and halt all encounters with tree rats as I don’t want you to get some horrid disease from them.

Wilson: While I’m looking out the window at the snow flurries, I’m fondly recalling the beauty of past days this week. It was fun finding this mural on the nearby underpass but it’ll be more fun when the temps go back to 40’sF (4C+) next week.

Mural

The Mum: Yes that mural makes me smile and I’m looking forward to when gardens begin to wake up from winter. I’m going to miss seeing the hyacinths and other spring bulbs that we had in our old garden, but am hopeful folks’ gardens around the neighborhood will satisfy our spring desires.

Wilson: Yup, me too Mum. I like to check out new flowers to see if they smell as good as you say they do. I’m looking forward to seeing what the wildlife habitat offers. Can’t wait!

Wilson

The Mum: With ‘only’ 55 days until the official arrival of spring, it should be interesting seeing how it looks in the suburbs. We hope everyone has a good weekend, staying safe and warm.

Nature

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Nature Friday ~ January 16, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 48 Comments

Wilson-sleeping dogIt’s Friday and you know what that means…it’s time for another edition of Nature Friday where we join our friends from at Adventures of the LLB Gang. Don’t forget to click on the link to see what others shared for their Nature Friday blog hop. Wilson here with a light version of the Nature we encountered this week since we really didn’t see much beyond what we’ve shared before. I mean how many gorgeous sunrises can you stand, huh? Well this one was quite a showstopper with a sliver of the moon showing, but still. Anyway, Mum’s been busy trying to finish unpacking the studio and arranging it so the large space is efficient and easily accessible but she is struggling with moving furniture around. I think she’s come to realize she isn’t a spring chicken anymore. She got another bright idea yesterday that will require more moving. I can hear the sighs, grunts and groans already. Good thing I know how to help.

Sunrise

The Mum: Good morning, lad. Are you trying to blame me for a shortage of nature photos this week?

Wilson: Ooh, hiya  Mum. Nope, no blaming, just stating facts. You’ve been busy and we didn’t have a lot of different encounters with the landscape unlike the pics you’ve already posted from the past month. Critter-wise, mostly we’ve only seen Canadian geese-thousands of them in fact. Apart from them being everywhere when we walk through the golf course area, they are just flat boring. Honk, honk, honk. Don’t they ever do anything beyond honk?

The Mum: Good question; if they do, I sure don’t know what, if any redeeming qualities they have, that would be considered share worthy. We did see a few mallards earlier this week after last week’s snow had melted but they weren’t all that keen on our presence and skedaddled quickly. But watching them float around on the canal was very peaceful and there were some interesting reflections on the water from the branches. But the landscape is more than colorless this time of year. Just drab brown everywhere with lots of wind. There’s another high wind warning for today and proposed power cuts for northern Colorado.

Mallard ducks

Wilson: Yeah, those ducks were boring to me and they weren’t interested in how fabulous I am. Now if squirrels were swimming in the canal, they’d have my full and undivided attention. Heck, I might even jump in the water.

The Mum: Ha…that’ll be the day. You avoid water like the plague and I can’t believe you’d jump into the water, even for squirrels.

Wilson: {protesting} Now Mum, you know I’m totally obsessed into checking out squirrels and will follow them wherever they go. I don’t know why but there’s something quite captivating about those scurrying little troublemakers.

The Mum: Yeah, I do know. All too well. This week the sheepie stubbornness was on parade, front and center. So much so, that you and I had to have a couple of heart to heart conversations. What’s up with that, anyway?

Wilson: [nonchalantly rolling his eyes] I have no idea what you’re talking about. I mean, just look at this devoted, compliant face of a good dog. I mean, ‘who’s a good boy?’ Huh?

Wilson

The Mum: Don’t give me that “I’m such a good boy look. You conveniently forgot to mention it took several minutes to get you in this pose. You acted like you were deaf.

Wilson:  Umm, I don’t think it took more than the usual pocket of bribes treats.

The Mum: Uh-huh. You can say it, but that doesn’t necessarily make it true.

Wilson: {deftly changing the topic} Well, will you check this out! On our daily morning walk, we sashayed past a particular house on the way to the Ralston Creek Trail and I noticed you said out loud…”what the…” and promptly turned me around to go back and confirm what you thought you saw. You know I have a pinched nerve in my neck, right?

Rose budding

The Mum: Oh puleese…you weren’t hurt and seemed more than happy to check it out. I was blown away that this rose bush had started budding out. I know it’s been super mild with temps in the 50’sF and 60’sF (10C – 15C) but it’s WAY too soon for deciduous plants to start setting buds. I mean winter officially started less than a month ago and we haven’t had much in the way of winter moisture…but dang.

Wilson: It is rather surprising and of course, with all the windy conditions, even more shocking. I don’t know what to make of it, Mum.

The Mum: Me either, House Pony. It’s definitely alarming. But there’s not much we can do but supplement water for the new trees that were planted recently to make sure they get sufficient moisture to establish themselves, even though the landscapers assured us they were dormant. Hope springs eternal, right?

Wilson: Right. Not to change the subject, but I’ve noticed you’ve been checking for quirky garden art on our walks now that we have an established route that we take every day. Hopefully we’ll find more otherwise this is going to be a rather dull neighborhood compared to some of the original stuff we were used to seeing.

Signs

The Mum: Yeah, but I did have to laugh out loud when we walked past this house. So what’s up for your weekend? Got any plans, buddy?

Wilson:  Beyond catching a squirrel…umm, no nothing overly special. We may have a birthday party for your granddaughter who turns the Big 3-0 next week. That out to be fun. What about you readers? Anything? Whatever you do (and I hope staying safe and warm is included in your weekend plans), we hope you have a fantastic weekend that includes checking out nature around your ‘Hood.

Nature

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Nature Friday ~ January 9, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 60 Comments

WilsonWelcome to this week’s edition of Nature Friday where we join our friends from at Adventures of the LLB Gang. Be sure to check out what others shared for their Nature Friday blog hop. As you can see, I’m getting more used to doing these parkour poses for Mum. This is a huge log that’s pretty slippery so I had to hang on tight so as not to slip down while patiently wait for Mum to fumble take the pic. Umm, hurry up, Mum!

We have a little something different this week highlighting what the Colorado Department of Transportation Department (CDOT), working together with the Federal Highway Administration recently accomplished by opening the largest wildlife overpass crossing in North America on a stretch of I-25 between Larkspur and Monument, Colorado along a heavily used stretch area where wildlife crossings often collide with the heavy traveled north/south highway. At 200 feet wide and 209 feet long, with wide gradually sloped entrances, it should be easy and inviting for wildlife to use. The location connects wildlife corridors while preserving open space with good proximity to water and is known for heavy movement of large game. Wildlife tend to avoid tunnels, so this overpass is a better solution when keeping both large game and drivers safe.

Wildlife crossing
Photos courtesy of CDOT

The overpass spans six lanes of interstate traffic and connects 39,000 acres of habitat on both sides of I-25. This overpass should decrease the number of wildlife/vehicle collisions by 90% and provide a vital and safe connection for large game to cross I-25 in their natural habitat.

Wilson: When Mum first heard about the completion in mid-December, she became very excited, after having been in a car that was hit by a deer a few years back. It’s never pretty when wildlife and cars collide and too often results in fatalities for both people and wildlife. This project was one of 19 wildlife crossings in the U.S. Department of Transportation has help fund nationwide. Pretty cool stuff.

The Mum: Glad you liked it, House Pony. What a great way to save large wildlife and keep drivers from colliding with them. I just thought it was a very innovative way to keep both wildlife and humans safe.

Wilson:  I love it when humans and animals can live in harmony. So, it looks like Nature heard your request for some snow. We have a good 4-5 inches and it continues to accumulate. I don’t have to go out in it, right Mum?

Snow

The Mum: Oh my gosh, you’re such a fair weather dog! Never fear, it should stop snowing later this morning and then we can carry on.

Wilson: Whew. Well that’s good to know. So this week we saw the Wolf Moon which was the first super moon of 2026. With the neighborhood being so quiet, it was almost eerie at sunset, especially since we been hearing more and more wildlife sounds at night. This week alone, we heard owls hooting and a bobcat’s screams.

Wolf Moon

The Mum:  It was even cool watching it in the early morning hours against the backdrop against the foothills.

Full moon

Wilson: The moon was fun to watch this week as we’ve enjoyed some pretty sunrises. The sky has been quite colorful.

Sunrise Sunrise

The Mum: Mornings have been quite awe-inspiring. It’s been fun watching you check things out. I’ve begun to wonder if you aren’t part Bloodhound.

Wilson: The sniffs are just so doggone interesting. I’m completely enthralled at all the new, fascinating smells.

Wilson

The Mum: You’ve been investigating grasses and logs like a detective. It’s exciting to see you learning about all that’s going on along our walks. Sniffing is a good exercise for your mind and the more engaged you are, the more relaxed you are. Did you see that coyote on the golf course late yesterday afternoon?

Wilson: Nope, I was too busy watching the hundreds of Canadian Geese while they were resting on the green.

The Mum:  I think he was watching them as well. It was chilly day and they were resting near Hole #9. I think he might have been sizing up any weak ones for a bit of dinner.  He didn’t stay in view long enough for me to grab a quick pic, but I’m going to try to be better prepared for the next time we walk through that area. I know a lot of people, especially small dog owners are afraid of them and will go to great lengths to keep their little fur babies safe. I don’t think you lived with me yet when a friend and I saw this little guy in Westminster when visiting a friend who works with the rescue a couple of years ago and we came across this little guy with his mum. I thought that anti-coyote jacket was wild. It seemed to be just perfect for that little guy who seemed to be having a bad hair day.Dog with coyote vestWilson: Wait, people dress their dogs up like that? Poor little guy. Kinda feel badly for him.

The Mum: That lady was pretty adamant about having those jackets for her two little guys. I think if I were that afraid of my dogs getting snatched by a coyote in the city, I might find a different neighborhood to safely walk my pups and avoid the lake where she was walking hers, but to each his (or her) own.

Wilson: Well that’s about it for us this week. We’ve got lots to do in the house today and probably better get cracking at it. Looks like the snow has stopped and I can see a patch or two of blue sky so we best get rolling. We hope you have a terrific weekend and are able to enjoy the first weekend of the football playoffs and have enough time to get out and see what Nature provides. Right now, I need to get ‘back to work.’

Wilson-sleeping dog

Nature

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Nature Friday ~ January 2, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 61 Comments

Happy 2026, peeps. We made it to a new year. We hope you had a safe and happy celebration and didn’t disturb the neighbors too much with stupid fireworks. It was kind of noisy in our neighborhood with a couple very loud boomers but they didn’t last too long and they don’t bother me much beyond going into SWAT mode thinking someone is trying to get into our house. At least they didn’t last into the late night like they used to in our old neighborhood. So that’s a plus. Luckily I’m didn’t get too stressed about the loud noises but made sure the perimeter was secure, just to be on the safe side. I just don’t understand humans and their obsession with disturbing a perfectly nice evening. Don’t they realize they are traumatizing  pets and people who suffer from PTSD? I just will never understand why they do it.

Since Mum is kinda boring, she chose to watch a hockey game instead of ‘partying’ with me. She had the nerve to wake me up a couple of times with loud cheering. Her team continues to have the fewest home losses and they gave the opposing goalie, who Mum despises, a real shellacking and when they scored the first 4 goals in 5 minutes she was, let’s just say, very animated. Hockey is a big deal for her anyway but to beat that goalie was particularly satisfying.

Wilson
Is this what you call celebration?

Wilson: So much for any big celebration action.

The Mum: I dunno, I was pretty excited celebrating that game. It was definitely a nice way to end 2025. But the celebration noise didn’t stop there.

Wilson: You’re so right, when we went for an early morning walk the next morning, there was all manner of squawking cheering by the local golf course residents-Canadian Geese. Whew…what a blooming bunch of noisy birds. I’m sure glad we don’t live on the golf course and have to endure that racket every morning while they’re standing about milling in the breakfast line. Sheesh. I imagine all manner of gossip while waiting for breakfast.

Breakfast - geese

The Mum: Amen, House Pony. That photo shows just a sliver of the noisemakers. We are realizing they are very noisy in the morning and are grateful they have chosen the golf course as their concert hall.

Wilson: That’s a concert? Hmm, not exactly my kind of music since we just walk through the golf course on the Ralston Creek trail. And speaking of trail, just check out this habitat hut the park folks created for critters. We still haven’t seen any but with these huts, there surely has to be some around. I was not exactly primed for posing, choosing instead to keep an eye out for my personal nemesis of which I’m always on alert for spotting now that I’ve seen a couple. Where there’s one, there are probably a jillion just waiting to be chased by the jaws of death.

Wilson
Wait…was that a squirrel I saw over there?

The Mum: Argh…you and your squirrels. So, we received a teeny amount of snow this week and there were a couple of cold nights and thus cold enough to freeze the edges of the creek.

Wilson: I don’t know why those frozen parts captivated your attention. Here we were walking along at a nice clip and you drag me over to one of the bridges that span the creek just to take a photo. Good grief-for dog’s sake, Mum.

Creek

The Mum: I just wanted to see the frozen edges up close. And then I noticed a tree trunk that suggests there may have been beavers around at some point. That’s a pretty exciting thought, though I suspect we won’t be seeing them up close since they’re pretty stealthy. Still, it was very cool.

Wilson: The things that crank your handle, Mum…are obviously well beyond my comprehension. I notice you are constantly scouring the creek. What in the bloody blue blazes are you looking for?

Canal Stream

The Mum: Well, trash for one thing. I feel compelled to dispose of trash we encounter in the bins along the creek and then I’m also checking for signs of critters. I’m fascinated with the natural world, plus I would guarantee there are likely coyotes around with all those geese and perhaps some deer, so it probably is prudent to keep my eyes open as we walk through these semi-wild areas. I’m just trying to keep you safe, buddy-that and picking up after careless humans.

Wilson: I appreciate you looking out for me and nature’s best interests but I can take care of myself.

The Mum: No need tempting fate. Beside, I prefer seeing you pose in this natural world rather than us being a statistic in it.

Wilson
I’m getting the hang of this climbing up thing, aren’t I, Mum?

Wilson: Well, when you say it like that, I guess it makes sense. Just yesterday there was a sensational story about a suspected mountain lion attack and fatality in Larimer County of a lone hiker who may have been attacked.

The Mum: Trust me, Mum knows best and I’ll continue to be careful especially while walking through the dense vegetation in the habitat area. We want to enjoy nature, not be its victim and it’s my job keeping you safe. So what’s on your agenda now that we’re in 2026.

Wilson: Nothing planned for this weekend, maybe entertain a friend who may drop by, but mostly just learning more about our area and checking it out.Whatever you do, we hope 2026 has started out on the right foot and you have a wonderful weekend. Happy New Year!

Nature

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Monday Musings ~ December 29, 2025

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 62 Comments

Monday smileWell, we’ve gone and done it…managed to survive 2025 (presuming we can get through the next two days but we’re trying to be optimistic). It was a bit touch and go there for a while but look what doggedness will do for you.

I’m personally not into the whole resolutions thing and Wilson seems to echo my sentiment telling me…and I’m quoting here…”None of this New Year/new me bollocks. Last year I was floofy and fabulous and this coming year I’ll be floofy and fabulous.” Period.

Well ok then…I guess he and I won’t be having that conversation reviewing/reiterating the house rules. Though I still will continue to try to enforce cajole the barking rule. Wish me luck.

Since we’re not party animals it’ll just be the Floof and me ringing in the new year. I personally will be taking a hard look at went well last year and reflect on how it lines up with my goals. None of that resolution thing but we will try to be hopeful for 2026 and hope however you ring in your new year, it’ll meet all your resolutions/expectations. Best wishes for safe and Happy New Year from the Ranch, erm…Barn. Happy Monday.

Monday smile

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Nature Friday ~ December 26, 2025

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 59 Comments
Oh Christmas tree
Limited decor but happy to have enjoyed a small tree

{Yawn, s-t-r-e-t-c-h} Here we are after spending a quiet day in our new home. Not sure why but Mum overslept this morning (she didn’t do a lot of much yesterday after having her son and partner for a little brunch-sadly without images…clearly the time she’s been away trying to get us settled in has left her a bit deficit in proper brain function…i.e. she forgot to take photos) but I nudged her out of bed with my legendary “quilt” move where I jump up on the bed and smother her. But enough about her shortcomings, I love still her. It was a good day for just hanging out, getting chin scratches from the visitors and a great walk along the creek. I’ve reminded Mum the best way to settle in to the new home is to take loads of walks liberally enhanced with loads of treats for making me feel more comfortable in the new environment. We hope those of you who celebrated the Christmas holiday had a day that was merry and bright with lots of tasty snacks and good cheer.

Today we’re climbing back into the blogging saddle and joining our friends at Adventures of the LLB Gang. Be sure to check out what others shared for their Nature Friday blog hop. While Mum is trying to open her eyes with a second cup of coffee, let me share a few of the things we’ve seen over the past three weeks since our big move.

Wilson: First up…here’s the ‘before’ reveal. A real hellscape and something that had Mum wondering what was she thinking. But despite being a bit OCD about stuff being in its proper place, she put her paws in front of one another and made daily progress. Notice how hard I am working snoopervising the move in.

The Move Wilson: A real mess, right? And that was just the downstairs! It was worse upstairs. Well, I’m happy to report her doggedness has paid off, everything downstairs has now been put into its proper spot and you can actually walk about without stubbing a paw on a bin or box. Thank dog! The language I’ve heard over the past 3 weeks has been shocking and I’m not one to blush.

The Mum: Hey, that’s not fair…I noticed you howled a couple of times yourself.

Wilson: Oops, hi Mum. Thought I was doing a solo today. Ahem…sorry about that characterization. Since misery loves company, Mum reminds herself that this is a community that’s still under construction and more folks will begin to move in and enjoy the move in process that we had {snicker}. We already met the couple at the end of our lane. Mum shakes her head-those folks have managed to complete all manner of projects since moving in (i.e. painting their garage walls as well as painting the garage floor and power-washing all the mud from the sidewalks. They make her back hurt just watching these two eager beavers. I tried to make her feel better by saying there are two of them and she’s only one person. Sadly, she hasn’t been overly dissuaded about her feelings of inadequacy (she continually refers to it as slug-ness) so I’ve reminded her that envy is the thief of joy but she usually just stomps upstairs with an armload of things for the studio, grumbling with each step.

The Mum: You’re right about the theft of joy. I’ll try to do…

Wilson: {interrupting} Well I say a good place to start would be to bust open those presents of treats for me that Santa Paws delivered and stop being so stingy with dishing out the goodies he left me. And for heaven’s sake, be grateful for all you’ve done and accomplished. Sheesh, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

The Mum: I’ll try to keep that in mind. Obviously the dude in red thought you were a pretty good boy this year and not just a pretty face.

Wilson: Well I could have told you that but you were too busy being consumed with thoughts of inadequacy. At any rate, enough about the move…we could fill volumes but I have a few photos from the neighborhood around us to share.

The Mum: Yes, you’re absolutely right. What have you got for us, House Pony?

Wilson: Well, my daily walks are a veritable sniff fest. I’m beginning to think I might even be part bloodhound who’s tracking a burglar. It’s. been. awesome!

The Mum: Yes, I’ve noticed you are enjoying sniffs along our regular route. Haven’t seen as much wildlife as we’d hoped yet for but the wildlife habitat that we walk through might have provided more than just the thousands of Canadian Geese we see/hear along the trail. But there have been loads of dogs, walkers, bicyclists that we’ve passed and it has been interesting seeing so many dogs in strollers with elderly owners pushing them along. The demographics of this neighborhood range from little ones to seniors and is a nice mix of folks.

Wilson: Somehow I don’t see you being able to push me anywhere. We are both entertained with the vegetation, mostly dried grasses (the best sniffs) and downed logs along the creek which is very dry as we’ve experienced temps in the 60’s & 70’sF since after the day we moved in when there was 4 inches of white stuff on the ground making the move quite the challenge. We’ve been told the gravy train of unseasonably warm temps will run out this weekend and temps will be back in the normal range-30’s & 40’s with the possibility of some accompanying moisture. We can only hope. The sunrises have been spectacular and I can’t help but recite the old adage…”red skies in morning, sailor take warning-red skies at night, sailor’s delight.”

Sunrise

The Mum: The sunrises have been pretty spectacular. The above photo was taken the first morning we woke up in the new house and has been repeated numerous times during last week’s power outages amidst the hurricane force winds. Christmas was the most unusual we’ve ever experienced-it was 70F (21C).

Wilson: Well I know you’re constantly grossing about it being too dry but I’ve enjoyed these fair weather temps. You’ll get no complaints from me.

The Mum: You and a jillion others around the region but skiers and environmentalists continue to worry about the unseasonably warm weather.

Wilson:  Well, I say we enjoy it while we can. January and February are coming up and they are the coldest, driest months. But there’s still lots to enjoy.

Ralston Creek Trail
Flying geese
Ralston Creek Trail
Still water

The Mum: Indeed, for a few days this week, I couldn’t help but wonder if the mallard couples may have blown away because we hadn’t seen any in the canal along on the trail this week.

Wilson: It has been mostly quiet on the trail, with only a few of the many Canadian Geese populating the nearby golf course.

Canadian geese

The Mum: Here’s hoping everyone has a great last weekend of 2025 and a Happy Kawanzaa. We’re looking forward to ushering in a New Year next week. Which reminds me, guess I’d better get cracking on putting up shelves this weekend to better utilize the remaining time in this year and to pack up the Christmas decor now that we’ve enjoyed our first Christmas in the new house. Have a great weekend.

Wilson: And don’t forget to enjoy every single minute along your own trail.

Wilson on the trail

Nature

Live, love, bark!  🐾

 

Monday Musings ~ November 24, 2025

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 81 Comments

Thanksgiving bird

Happy Thanksgiving week. Wilson is particularly chuffed that food will be at the center, along with gratitude. He thinks it’s a whole week of celebrating food for which he’s extremely thankful. While it’s Thanksgiving week, it’s still a Monday which means we want to share a smile, or in this case three smiles since we couldn’t decide on just one.

ThanksgivingWe can’t help but wonder if Noah was a factor in putting turkey on Thanksgiving tables but  do know Thanksgiving typically ushers in the Christmas season in earnest. Mostly thought of as the low-to-no-stress holiday with food, family and football punctuating this holiday along with a good dose of gratitude. This year however, it’s going to be a bit different around the Ranch as we are preparing to move. It’s been stressful in ways I couldn’t have imagined but we’re taking it as best as we can and trying to keep meltdowns to a minimum. Now on to Monday’s smiles.

Thanksgiving

Celebrating Thanksgiving in the US is well known for watching a load of football with the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys teams always playing on Thanksgiving Day. This year the festivities begin at 1:00 PM Eastern time with the Lions playing the Green Bay Packers and the Cowboys playing the Kansas City Chiefs around 4:30 PM. Not content with over 6 hours of football, the NFL is offering a third game with the Cincinnati Bengals playing the Baltimore Ravens beginning around 8:30 PM. If you like football, Thursday will be your day. If you don’t make yourself a leftover turkey sandwich and go for a walk.

Needless to say, because this has been a crazy time even before we began to think about the upcoming holidays, the Ranch will be taking an extended break for the next month to move and settle into our new digs. We will not be online much but please know we’ll be with you in spirit. We want to say thank you for your support and friendship and look forward to seeing you again once we get settled. Wilson has already christened the new neighborhood and gave the trail a four paws rating. He has been enjoying multiple visits introducing his presence on the canine bulletin board where he’s already left several messages while enjoying an absolute olfactory feast.

We hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. We hope to return soon. Until then, keep smiling and have a Happy Monday.

Wilson

Live, love, bark!  🐾

 

 

Nature Friday ~ November 21, 2025

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 80 Comments

WilsonIt’s a foggy, grey morning in the 303 and while we’re slow getting our brains to work, it’s Nature Friday so we’re still going to join our friends at Adventures of the LLB Gang for their weekly blog hop. Wilson here. Mum and I have been c-r-a-z-y and it’s not going to end any time soon but, as you can see, I’m working hard to help her out. {yawn, snore}

Let’s see now, Thanksgiving in the US is next Thursday. As you can imagine, I’m very excited about a day  celebrating food. Woof, woof! My tail is simply giddy about it. {wiggle, wiggle} Anyway, let’s show what we managed to find in Nature around our ranch.

Wilson: The weather has been simply amazing all week long until today. We’ve enjoyed temps in the 70F’s (21C). Today our high will likely be in the low 40’sF with a potential for showers. I’m not keen about the wet but Mum says it’s welcome since we haven’t had any moisture since early September.

The Mum: Good morning, Floof…I share your blunted enthusiasm for today. With our foggy and grey skies, it felt good starting the day on the down-low rather than busting a gut dashing about. I don’t know about you, I just wasn’t into hustling out first thing this morning. With all the online difficulties I’ve encountered, I just didn’t have the bandwidth. In case you don’t follow us on Facebook or Instagram, our Instagram account was hacked and it’s been hell trying to wrest control over it. I have changed passwords daily but the low-life gremlin comes back in the middle of the night and switches it again. He keeps trying to sell a 2020 Honda. All fine and good but why not sell it on your own doggone account if its legit, which it probably is not. So if you do follow us, please accept our apologies and for heaven’s sake, don’t click on any links (if you’re so inclined you can report it as well). Of course we’ve contacted Meta repeatedly since they hold the keys to both platforms and all I’ve heard is crickets. Not surprising there. But enough energy on that. Suffice to say our picture taking is somewhat slim this week because I wasted way too much energy trying to fix it.

Wilson: Naturally I’m quite distressed when my Mum is unhappy but I don’t have thumbs and probably less computer savvy than she has (and, let me just say for the record, she doesn’t have a lot and will readily admit she’s a Luddite when it comes to her computer). We’ve got way too much going on to continually fuss about it…do you hear that, Mum? Ok. Let’s get started, shall we. We mentioned in a previous post that the “Christmas cactus” started to form buds and this week a few of them burst into full bloom. It’s such a striking hot pink shade and being in the kitchen window, it seem most happy and is a cheerful presence in the room she’s in a lot-so it makes her smile which makes me happy. We both wonder why it’s called Christmas cactus since it always begins to bloom before Thanksgiving.

Christmas cactus

The Mum: It’s one of life’s mysteries, I guess. But in this month of thanks, I know I’m very grateful for the shock of color when nature is at its brownest. With leaves falling everywhere and windy conditions, everything is very dry and dusty. Today’s sprinkles may help keep the dust down and this potted beauty will warm our souls.

Wilson: You’re so right about that, Mum. Were you as surprised to see some Globe thistle on our walk a couple of days ago as I was? This plant, native to southern and eastern Europe, from Spain east to Turkey, Ukraine, and Belarus, and western and central Asia east to Mongolia, is sparingly naturalised throughout various locations in Canada and the US. The blue color is quite pretty but it doesn’t particularly enjoy a sniffer like mine. It poked back but not so bad that I didn’t adhere to its subtle warning.

Globe thistle

The Mum: Yes, I was pretty surprised. We were walking along at quite a clip and the sight of it took a moment for it to register in my little pea brain. I had to backtrack to photograph it. Blue being my favorite color, I always have to stop and admire blue flowers.

Wilson: Yes, you confused me by going back. I’m used to moving forward but I can see why you wanted to capture it. Let’s just call it like it is…pretty.

The Mum: I noted in previous posts the Christmas tree lot is now stocked with inventory and suspect it will open this weekend. What the actual…there just are no words. While they all look nice and fresh now, given our above average temps are up by as much as 15 degrees above normal, those babies are going to have a hard time staying green through the whole Christmas season. I haven’t had a cut tree for decades and nearly fainted at the price tag on closeup of the 5 footer. Is that a ‘normal’ price? I hope you can see the tag easily enough. If not, it says $79.99…almost $16 buckaroos a foot. Seems very high to me, but what do I know. I know prices are high everywhere for all sorts of things, but like I said, it’s been years since I had a live tree…in fact it’s been years since I put up any tree. I hope this year will be different but the next two weeks will determine that.

Christmas tree
Anyone else notice some brown needles on the left side?

Christmas trees Christmas trees

Wilson: Oh be still my beating heart. Look at all those trees that I could ‘water!’

The Mum: Down dude…notice the fence? That’s specifically up to keep the likes of you (and Christmas Grinches) at bay. You can only look from afar to appreciate. Got it?

Wilson: {sigh} Jeez, Mum, you’re taking all the fun out of the holidays. Well that’s it from me. I guess it’s time that we hit the trail and go for a nice long walk. We hope you have a great weekend and are able to get out and enjoy a spot of Nature. It’s good for your mental health to make time for it. Let us know if you’re doing anything fun and if you’re ready for Food Appreciation Day.

Nature

Live, love, bark!

Monday Musings ~ November 17, 2025

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 74 Comments

We hope you had a wonderful weekend but now it’s time to prepare for the week. With less than two weeks until Thanksgiving arrives in the US, preparations are beginning to become more apparent all over the neighborhood. Some folks have decided to blend the last holiday  with the upcoming one. Despite the addition of yet another inflatable, I thought it was kind of clever despite the addition of yet another inflatable to their growing collection. Wilson simply wants to know what will be served. How are you getting ready for Thanksgiving?

Monday smiles

Happy Monday!

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Nature Friday ~ November 14, 2025

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 73 Comments

Wilson & the squirrelWell here we are again on a Friday. With forty-seven days left in the year, we continue to zoom toward the holidays in break neck speed. As always, we’re joining the crew at Adventures of the LLB Gang for their weekly blog hop. Be sure to click on the link to see what posts were shared by others. Wilson here and can I just say it’s been an interesting week. We’ve been lucky with our weather, it’s been, in a word…gorgeous. Mild autumn days and not too chilly nights. I think I could get used to the low 70’sF (around 22C). It’s been somewhat breezy most days, blowing leaves all over the place but I haven’t minded. It’s glorious and it’s autumn so it’s to be expected, right? Mum continues to remove leaves from under our covered front patio porch several times a day and said we could use some moisture-it’s been 2 months since any wet stuff fell so things are fairly dry and dusty. My once beautifully white paddles (also known as paws) are a lovely shade of grey. Do I care…heck no. Mum keeps trying to remove those little pieces of grass and leaves from sticking to my furs which means sessions with a brush. That part I do care about and hope she stops and soon. I’m fabulous enough without her fluffing me up.

Wilson: {continuing} Like I said, windy conditions are making good at disbursing leaves all over. But there still are a few trees that seem reluctant to let go of autumn, most notably the Bradford pears. They will keep shedding leaves for probably another month. Our neighbor has a pair in his front yard and Mum sometimes grumbles when they finally fall all over her sidewalk when it snows. Nothing like shoveling the sidewalk when the first snowflakes of the season arrive and its half full of Bradford pear leaves. But they sure are pretty. Just look at their color when most trees are down to their branches!

Bradford pear trees

The Mum: Those Bradford pear trees scream “GOOD MORNING WORLD!” every day when we walk past the old Elitches theatre on our morning constitutional. It’s a perfect autumn scene made even more perfect by the morning quiet before the city wakes up in earnest.

Wilson: Another colorful specimen is this Scarlet Firethorn tree. Looks like the birds who stay here during the winter will be well supplied with a nice batch of berries.

Firethorn

The Mum: That firethorn ranks right up there in color with this Japanese Barberry Bush-another screamer.

Burning bush

Wilson:  What? I can’t hear you, that bush is too loud.

The Mum: You’re too funny, you know that, House Pony? So we had some interesting astrological sightings this week. With the Beaver Moon appearing recently we were also treated to some spectacular Aurora Borealis showers over the past couple of days, I never thought I’d see them in person here with our dense neighborhood tree canopy but my son sent me pics a few pics he took from just north of the the Boulder city limits. The colors were incredible and did not disappoint. I loved seeing the tiny white stars showing up in the dark skies. When you live in the city, you get used to not seeing a lot of stars because of light pollution in a metro area so when you’re in an area that has little or no competition, it’s always a wondrous sight.

Aurora Borealis
Photo courtesy of K. M. Samson
Aurora Borealis
Photo courtesy of K. M. Samson

Wilson:  Pretty cool celestial happenings, Mum. With just 41 days until Christmas, the local neighborhood tree lot is getting ready to ramp up for the season. Although we posted about this lot showing up a couple of weeks ago, does anyone else find this signage somewhat ironic? “Fresh Christmas trees” in November…hahaha. While they haven’t begun to display trees and wreaths just yet, but I think not, at least not this early in the season. They are beginning to put out lighted spheres out that were very pretty when they had them last year along with a nice ‘herd’ of log moose and reindeer. It’s nice and festive especially as our landscape continues to get browner and browner.

Christmas tree sign

The Mum: Speaking of moose and reindeer, do you see any other critters this week on our walks?

Wilson: As a matter of fact, I did although I have never seen one of these before, either in Colorado or Missouri. What the dog is that thing?

The Mum: Silly Floof, it’s just more of unusual garden art that amuses me. This one is in the form of an alligator sunning himself on a low wall. I can’t wait until it’s covered in snow. Now that will be a sight!

Garden art croc

Wilson: Harumph…well I for one don’t plan on encountering it, not with that set of choppers.

The Mum: Don’t worry, this guy can’t hurt you. It did made me chuckle though. You know how much I love finding these unique pieces of garden art around the neighborhood.

Wilson: You’re so weird, Mum. Well that’s it for us this week. Hope you’ve taken time out of your busy holiday preparations to get outside and enjoy Nature, Northern Lights and the unusual. Let us know if you have any unusual plans. From both of us, we hope you have a ‘furbulous’ weekend!

Nature

Live, love, bark! 🐾