The Ranch in Winter

Brrrrrrr! Even here in Texas, it's cold! This morning we woke up to 25 degrees!! It's been pretty foggy for the past several days as it was this morning as you can see. The horses have a heavier coat and oft spend the night against (or inside) the hen house. In fact one morning Mike found Eeyore shut in and peaking out the chicken door, looking to be rescued!!! The frost this morning was quite beautiful - our world was frosty!
The live oak tree which keeps its leaves year-round had frost-outlined leaves; the crepe myrtle right next to it looked 'flocked' (like the fancy christmas trees), and the large tree behind was a little coarser frosted, but I rather liked the contrast between the three (click to appreciate detail):

Brindle (left) was checking out the contrast between the green grass just starting to appear and the frosted shrub. Right, I thought the bird nest in the pecan tree was interesting. The loop that looks like a rubber band is likely a hair from one of the horses tails which was used in constructing the nest. The aqua blue is from the twine around the bales of hay. (click for detail)

Last week one day, I came out to get the mail and along the fenceline across the street I was met with a hundred eyes looking at me......

until Sam barked and they gathered together and then stampeded away! Sam likes to herd those cattle across the street!!

The last few mornings have all been below freezing and it's interesting to see the dog dish where Sam and the kitties have licked a hole in the ice and it freezes in rather interesting patterns.

On sunny cold days (like last week) the kitties like to gather together and take baths and hang out on a blanket on the porch. This works well until Sam decides he wants to lay there. Sometimes he'll share, sometimes not!

Sienna (front) is the senior member here. Her daughter is my semi-house kitty. In the middle of the pack is Patches (with the black and orange coat and the black eye) - she'll be a year old in May and is Sienna's sisters little one. The other three are my orphans, born in July. Bonnie (behind Sienna) comes inside part of the time. Brindle is the only one I have left with that coloring, and last is Blondie (he's the only little boy in the picture). This picture represents half of my kitties.