Wester Tanager

We spotted a new bird today.. a western tanager! Isn't he beautiful.

Tornados in Northern Colorado

Today was quite a day, about noon we lost power and water by default (since our well pump is electric). There were 8 tornadoes in the area. The major tornado that hit was an F3/F4, nearly a mile wide, and traveled 35 miles. The worst hit was just across I-25 from Fort Collins in Windsor, where houses were leveled. The storm then moved to north Fort Collins and up to Laramie, WY. Here's the play by play at the ranch. Fog, hail, more fog, bigger hail... we watched the main storm cloud travel north towards Laramie. Thankfully we had little to no damage.

As the storm progressed, all of the birds went into a frantic eating frenzy. It was almost as if they thought that our feeder was their last meal. At one point we had 14 goldfinches, 5 grosbeaks, and 5 hummingbirds at once!! The rarer birds flocked to the house as well. We saw an oriole & an indigo bunting.

Our power returned just before 7pm as Cindy & I settled down to eat our melting ice cream. The sunset was still a bit ominous but beautiful.

George the Mouse

Every couple days I water our compost pile to keep it from drying out. This morning I discovered a little mouse who was eating to his hearts desire on a rotten mango. Ryan named him George. The compost pile is about 50 yards from the house. With all of the resident mice at the ranch, we choose to look at the positive side... at least it's drawing the critters away from the house.

Full Moon Rising

Ryan and I just witnessed the most amazing moon rise! It looked like the sun... an amazing deep red surrounded by twinkling stars. What an amazing night!

Ollie

Nicole & I finally got around to taking Ollie's 1 1/2 year portraits. Here are two of my favorites. If you want to see more CLICK HERE, event ID: oliverroloff.

Fresh Bread

When I was growing up, my mom made fresh bread frequently. Per Ryan's suggestion, I decided to give bread making a try. Well, after the first batch (baked this morning), we decided it is well worth the trouble! I made a honey whole wheat and it was amazing! We are addicted. Now I am trying my luck at a sourdough starter. The next time you see us we will weight 300 lbs!

They're Back

It's been fun to watch our spring birds trickle in. I put out thistle this year and the finches LOVE it.

Fishing the Tundra

Jon's brother, who lives in Seattle, came for a visit this week and wanted to do some fishing. We decided to get out of town and try a new spot so we drove up and over Cameron Pass to try a river we've never fished. A couple thousand more feet of elevation makes a lot of difference. Sustained 30mph winds, snow still on the ground and the water we fished had been frozen just the week before. Fishing was slow because the water was so cold but the scenery and wild country was worth the drive...

We were using huge flies hoping a big meal would rouse the sluggish fish out of hibernation. A couple hours of fishing and we didn't see or feel a single fish.

Finally...


I had to pass the rod to Jon who was standing on the other side of this willow bush because the water was too deep to wade around it and the fish was bolting downstream.

Finally caught up to him...

Saw a few dead cows; must have been a hard winter up there...