Just a couple of weeks ago our grandkids were building little snowmen after what was probably the last snowfall of the season:

It seems like Spring only arrived yesterday, in that we haven’t had to have a fire going in the woodstove the last couple of days. That’s a lovely break as it seems like we’re always chucking wood in the firebox.

I was out trimming down some brush along the road to the top of the hill near our house, and took a couple of photos to document the lovely spring weather.

The little white dot in the bottom …

We’ve been getting a lot of hail the last few days. The temperature here on the ranch has been flirting with freezing for the last couple of weeks. The snow is mostly gone from last week, but the hail is quite something.

These are color photos, but there wasn’t a a lot of light and they came out mostly black and white.

This cloud raced past beneath a high overcast, forming and flowing and reforming over the course of a couple of minutes into something apocalyptic.

This hill (”Goat Hill”) is a frequent subject; this is the darkest and most …

Ranch life has its perks and today was full of them. It snowed pretty steadily from about midnight last night to this afternoon, when the sun broke out and we bundled up to go out and look at the winter wonders.

This is an oak tree up the hill from our house, burdened with about 6 inches of snow:

This is the view toward the northwest, a view of Long Prairie in the sunshine.

Our garden in winter — usually all you can see is black plastic as we cover the whole thing so that there are no weeds when we’re ready …

I’ve been taking walks lately, usually in the afternoon, sometimes just before dark. The lighting on these walks varies from direct sunlight to light that is reflected off the clouds, to the gold of sunset and the “crepuscular” light of twilight. Always a challenge to know how to shoot photos of some of the views that present themselves on the walks in the varying light.

Here are a few photos from the last week or so.

This madrone tree is a frequent subject - the trunks are smooth and shiny, and usually golden or white. In the glow of sunset they became …

Every once in a while, when doing web design, it is necessary to get up from the computer and get out and take a walk to clear one’s head.

I usually take my favorite walking stick, my dogs (Max & Xena), camera (Pentax K-10D), gun (holstered 9-mil Sig Sauer), hat and gloves, because I live on a timber ranch in the middle of nowhere and because I remember my boy scout training (”Motto: Be Prepared!”)

Mountain lions, bears, lynx and coyotes, are all confirmed predators here on the ranch, and I keep a sharp eye out while walking, as it …

The sky here in Southern Oregon is so clear on some days that it seems impossibly blue. This photo I shot yesterday about 11:30 AM.

I couldn’t stand sitting at the computer through another beautiful afternoon, so Marie and I headed out for a walk. These were some of the photos I took as I hiked and she rode her horse (”Heavy”) up the hill behind our house to the lookout:
Foxglove View

Stonecrop-Covered Rock Face

Stonecrop Flowers

Sword Ferns

All in all, it has been a beautiful day….

Saturday was a perfect spring day here in Coastal Oregon. Sunny and crisp. I took my dog for a long walk; it felt good to get outside again and look around.

When I first got to the ranch 8 years ago, I brought with me a Pentax ME Super camera, which I’ve had since about 1980. I’ve taken tens of thousands of shots with it: product shots beyond number for websites and promo materials and documentation for various businesses and I’ve been in over the years, family portraits, etc. Basically a lot of film went through that camera over 20 …

slash burning - a false alarm

…like riding a rocking chair….