Tuesday, January 24, 2023

January 2023 Walkabout

 We have had a spot of rain or two in January, but at least there was some sun last week for a walkabout.

Lower Meadow:




Lower Meadow again.  The seasonal pond is already full and there was a fair amount of water running to it:



The stream along the base of the pastures was full:


Looking up towards the Middle Meadow:



This is the spring in the Middle Meadow.  It has gone dry for years.  I have blown up the pipe for the pond - it has been a long time since I saw that kind of flow:



Upper Meadow:


Back down the Middle Meadow:


More of the Upper Meadow and winding around it:







This the base of the Upper Meadow. The calves were slipping out here so The Cowboy put a cattle panel in place to keep them out.  As it turns out, it also kept them out of the culvert, keep the culvert clear, and is forcing water to stand a lot longer than it would have otherwise to soak in.


The garden area.  Too wet to work in now.


Completing the circuit, back towards the house.


10 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:18 AM

    Thanks for the pictures of your ranch. Real peaceful looking - hope that continues for the foreseable future.

    We too are getting a good soaking sprinkle on our pasture. A good thing, as the pair of cows and donkey were doing a good job of keeping growth down, causing us feed them supplemental hay. They much prefer natural growth anyway.

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    1. You are welcome and yes, hopeful that it stays peaceful for many years - at least as long as I have a say, it will.

      The Cowboy supplements with hay in the Winter. Once upon a time my Great Uncle grew hay up here when he had cattle, but it has never really been something we revisited. If we wanted to to that, it would have to be dryland farming.

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  2. Such a wonderful piece of property. It's amazing (and exciting) to see your spring flowing again. Rainy seasons keep us from gardening, but it's so helpful when the water can be captured and has time to soak in and saturate the ground.

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    1. Leigh, the water capture was completely accidental but even the Cowboy commented on the unlooked for benefit of it. Farther down the stream - on my Uncle's property - there is an old retention dam and pond. Something to look into.

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  3. Nylon124:22 AM

    Good visuals TB, thanks! Nice to see something NOT covered in snow like here, 52 inches to date here and twelve on the ground.

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    Replies
    1. Your are welcome Nylon12. I cannot imagine that amount of snow.

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  4. Did your parents or great Uncle and Aunt every use the springhouse? I see the remains of a lot of springhouses during my hikes in Arkansas and they were probably still used well up until post World War II.

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    Replies
    1. Ed, my understanding is that before my Great Aunt and Uncle bought the property, there was a small cabin more towards the center of the Middle Meadow, right below the Springhouse. Possibly it was used then (there is no trace of that cabin). As far as I know, they built the house they lived in (now lived in by my aunt and uncle) and the spring was only every used for swimming in by my parent's generation and watering livestock.

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  5. God's blessed country. Thank you for sharing it again, TB.
    You all be safe and God bless.

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