Meanwhile, Back On the Ranch

After the wedding and the grad and the class reunion, I took a few days at my sister's ranch. It's about a 3 hour drive east and the change in scenery and duties is a breath of fresh air. Her calves are out with their mothers on the range, but she adopted some tinier ones.

 We went for a walk and the horses had to see what she was doing. They act like the dogs, following her every move. The fields are almost ready to cut for hay. They make big round bales in the interior, not the small square ones we have in the valley.

 The old grain shed tugs at my heart. Once this was a big grain field, but the climate changed decades ago. It's so green around, it feels like it's changing back.

 The border collies are always on duty. They stay outside and look after the place. I trust Jake to make sure I know where I am and I don't get lost.

The wild roses have never been so spectacular! They did a lot of brush clearing and removing dead trees this year and it made perfect conditions.
We didn't get to catch up with our niece, cell phone service being what it is in the hills, but we did go to the close out sale of Twist Of Fate and I bought two blankets worth of wool. One is all neutral alpaca for my TV chair, and one is multi-coloured superwash merino for a granny square experiment. I am inspired by Completely Cauchy, but don't expect anything so awesome. My crocheting is fine, but my sense of colour is pretty monochromatic. I will definitely be going outside my comfort zone for this one. Pics to follow.