Celebrate the Night

I’ve been sorting through paperwork most of the day. After dinner I stepped outside with a bit of cinnamon whiskey and watched and listened to the night come in.

 Wonderful time of day. Not a breath of wind this evening just a wonderful dusk darkening into night.

 The mastiffs came out with me and romped around the yard going on guard as they heard one neighbor’s dog then another go on barking guard. The first dog sounded about a mile from me… the second about a half mile. Whatever night predator set them on alert was moving through not sticking around those places.

A cow was lowing, calling out, not in terror, more like calling a calf. I leaned on my fence listening to two owls call back and forth.

The night is coming alive.

Life  is a journey, savor the moments

Mary E. Robbins
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Shared Breakfast and Early Morning Birdsong.

The hubs and I just finished breakfast…grapefruit, basted eggs, golden potatoes sautéed in olive oil, grilled pepper bacon, and fresh strong black coffee.

I stepped outside to breathe in the wonderful moist air and to listen to the birds celebrating the morning. I love the sound of them, their voices all individual in their song, yet in wonderful harmony. The aged juniper tree in the front yard is full of sheltering birds chirping and singing welcome to the new day.

There is a wind advisory for today, but it is still wonderfully calm, and a warm 31 degrees F (-1 C). It is nearly 7 A.M. and the sky is a study in shades of gray as the artistry of the clouds shift overhead.

It rained a bit last night and there is a skiff of snow across the yards and pastures.


It was good to have breakfast together. This is something we have not done much of in the 20 years we have been married. David, the hubs, was gone on the railroad most of the time. Now that he has retired we are adjusting to being in the same place most of the time. Lol. This has been an interesting process. Each of us trying to sort out what our territories are. Frustrating at times, and actually rather funny if you allow yourself to see the humor in the situation.

Now I am at my computer and he is watching Dances With Wolves on the big screen. I like to listen to the dialogue. It’s like being read a story and gives my mind the chance to fill in the pictures.

I gargled with peroxide and mouthwash mixed a couple times last night, and once this morning and my throat is feeling a bit better. I’m going to continue this routine through the weekend and see if it heals up. It’s been rather nasty, feverish, and swollen. I should have started the peroxide earlier, but I wasn’t sure if it was an infection in my throat again, or soreness from whiplash. It seems it was both. I found some salve, Unkers, that has been helping with the muscle pain. It seems to be helping the muscles to actually heal as well.

There is a marked change in the tenderness where my jaw and neck meet in those glands this morning. Yesterday they were swollen and tender enough to make me wince in pain if I turned my head or touched that area. I’m going to give it a couple more days, treating it with the peroxide (ick nasty taste). If it hasn’t markedly improved by then I’ll call the doctor.

I had enough relief last night that I actually slept pretty well. Felt good. Enough of neck pain and peroxide.

Got some happy news, I’d been rather frustrated with my glasses because I’d scratched them up something awful. I decided to call the eye clinic where we bought them to see if they could polish out the scratches. The person I talked to said no, they could not polish them out, but they would replace the lenses. They called me the other day and said the lenses had come in. Now to get into town and have them put into my frames. I did not expect them to replace the lenses, it was a nice surprise.

Today is day 27 of the 100 days challenge: and I am heading to the stationary bike to get my morning workout in. It feels really good to be following through with this.  Ok… I am off to peddle.

Life is a journey, Enjoy the trip.
Mary E. Robbins.

Wood peckers, Frost, and Banana Bread

This morning as I was out gathering eggs I paused on the way into my chicken house. This little bird caught my eye, he was clinging to the stalk of a horse weed pecking away. I was wishing I had my camera, but alas I did not. He had a red mark on the back of his head, a white belly and black wings. It wasn’t until this evening that I sat down at the computer and did a search to see if I could identify what he was. As it turns out, it was a male Downy Woodpecker. I’d never seen one on a horse weed stalk before. I just stood and watched him for a bit. Then I went on inside the chicken house and gathered my treasure. The treasure would be fresh chicken eggs. Lol.

I love it that Wikipedia has the sounds of the birds. I didn’t realize it but I’ve heard them singing or calling whatever you want to call it. Them, referring to the Downy Woodpeckers; I truly enjoy the wild birds out here.

I heard that male pheasant calling again today, he was in the grass, or tree row, to the west of the house today. I didn’t see him, just heard him.

There was around an inch of snow on the ground this morning. It didn’t last long though by this afternoon it had melted into the earth. Good for the pastures. Good for me too, it helps to keep the dust down when the wind blows.

This morning it was calm, a breeze picked up as the day progressed. It is calm again this evening. I went back out to put the hairballs in for the night and my headlamp was exposing millions of brilliant diamonds in the frozen grasses I was walking over. Diamonds, or stars in the grass, actually it was frost sparkling in the light; strikingly beautiful.

There is a fair bit of moisture in the air this night. I wonder if there will be hoarfrost in the morning.

The night sky is clear with just a sliver of a moon showing. I love to get out away from the yard lights and just look up at the sky and stare at the beauty of it. For some reason they seem so much more brilliant on cold nights. It was 20 degrees F while I was out and about this evening.

Beautiful calm night, I am thankful the wind is not blowing. It can be rather wearing after a while. So much fine dust in the air and everywhere. It’s nice to have clear air to breathe for a bit.

Baked banana bread this afternoon while I was sorting my spices and moving them to their own cabinet. I really dislike having them all jumbled up. When they are like that I can look straight at what I’m seeking and not see it. Today I sorted and alphabetized the whole lot of them. Had multiples of quite a few. Now they are in their little cabinet all in rows alphabetized. If I can’t find what I’m looking for now, odds are it just is not there. Lol. The cabinet is on a shelf above my range. May not be the best place for it, but that’s where it is. Lots of climbing on my little step ladder this afternoon. Lol.

It’s good to be baking again. I love whipping up quick breads by hand, then enjoying the aroma as they bake, and pulling out that hot loaf all split across the top and browned.

Life’s simple pleasures, the sight of a wood pecker, sparkling frost, and banana bread.

Speaking of which, I think I’ll have a slice with my tea before a hot bath.



Life is a journey, enjoy the trip.
Mary E. Robbins
307.788.0202

Good Morning , Cuppa Tea?

I love the first blush of the morning, just before sunrise when you can just see the light coming up the eastern horizon. This morning it is so calm. A welcome relief after the winds of yesterday.

I got up put the kettle on for a bit of tea, put a load of laundry in the washer. Those compression pants I’d been wearing were in dire need of a good wash. Had a brief word with my husband, he’s more than likely going back to bed as he was up most of the night. Stepped outside to see what the morning felt like.

It is totally calm. No wind, no coyotes howling, no dogs barking, then I heard it. It would seem I startled a pheasant when I walked across the yard to the thermometer to check the reading. One startled call and then quiet. Well quiet from the pheasant that is. The kennels decided to say good morning.

It’s 30 degrees F (-1 C), amazing how that can feel so much warmer than over 40 degrees when the wind is blowing. Ran the mastiffs out to go potty, brought them back in and ran the house hairballs out. They were dancing and yipping to go after I let the big dogs out.

I don’t run these 2 groups out in the same yards at the same time, Sara’s head is bigger than the Happy Hairballs (Poms) bodies. She is a love but I keep her separated from them, mainly because she is serious about her yard guard duties. Well that and if she thinks I’m annoyed with anyone or anything, she steps up to “discipline” them. She is really good at reading my attitudes and body language. As well as being fiercely loyal.

The hairballs are zipping around the yards, kicking their feet out backwards and stretching. Yapping at the farm cats and doing their business. Gonna have to rake that yard again… pooper scooper anyone? Lol.

Put another log in the wood stove and damped it back down. I absolutely love that soapstone stove. We are using less than half the wood we used in the other stove we had. This one is that beautiful gray soapstone, with a glass view pane in the front. When it’s damped down the fire dances around in a deep orange swirl with bits of blue at the base. It is so beautiful.

Time for another hot cup of tea and raw honey. Feels good in my throat after that wind yesterday. Working out in the wind always gives me a raw throat, the dust of the straw didn’t help any. I am thankful for raw honey to help heal it up. Amazing what it does to reduce allergies as well. Before I started using local raw honey that straw would have had me taking allergy meds and on a nebulizer trying to breathe. By the way, do not put it in the microwave you will reduce it’s effectiveness, and it’s ok that it’s thick and kind of crystallized. That’s normal for raw honey. Oh and yes there is probably a bit of beeswax in it. That’s normal too, no worries, it will not hurt you to eat it.

The washing machine has finished that load. So I’ll draw to a close for now.


May you have a blessed day in every way.

Mary E. Robbins

Old Fashioned Yellow Roses

I snapped these two photos on June 7th, 2008. I love these old fashioned yellow roses. They are so beautiful and hardy. These tough babies survived having a skid loader run over them. I am so glad they made it. I was not happy with the fellow that ran over them however.

Frankly I don't think he gave much of a care what I thought. Oh well, these wonderful roses survived anyway.

They are actually in one of my Kennel exercise yards, in one of the outer surround exercise yards. Just at the corner of a small yard that is inside the outer yard. There is that confusing enough...lol.

Note: You can click on the photos to open them to full size for a better view if you would like. I would suggest right clicking on them and opening them in another tab or window. enjoy

Life is a journey...enjoy the trip.
Mary E. Robbins & the Hairballs
Robbins Run Ranch: Living the Dream With Our Pomeranians
307.788.0202

Asparagus and Flash Flood Waterfall

Note: to access the full sized photos simply click on the photos to open them. I would suggest right clicking and then opening them in another tab or another window. enjoy

I managed to get a few photos of the asparagus coming up in our field, on May 21st 2008. This was the first year since we made this ranch our home in 2003 that I was able to pick asparagus. We had a lovely dinner of steak and aspargus, and I froze several packages for later.

It was wonderful to actually be able to pick some. The past 4 years illness made it too much for my body to handle. It was wonderful to actually be able to do it.

On May 23rd, 2008 we had thunderstorms and rain. This was in the evening, the rain had lightened up and I heard this roar. It didn't sound quite like a tornado, but I looked anyway. Then I thought what on earth is this; it didn't sound quite like a train. Then I noticed the water running off the embankment across the road from our house. I grabbed my camera and used the zoom lense to snap the following pictures.

There are 2 places where the water was coming over. I am soooooo glad they had redug the bar pits on that side of the dirt road or that water would have run right into our driveway. I was standing on my front step taking these photos.




Life is a journey... enjoy the trip.

Mary E. Robbins & the Hairballs
Robbins Run Ranch: Living the Dream With Our Pomeranians
307.788.0202

Pomeranian Puppies at Play on a Beautiful April Day

Beautiful Day, beautiful young Pomeranians. This series of photos was taken on April 8th, 2008. Enjoy.
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One Orange Chocolate girl and 2 Orange Chocolate boy's at play. Orange/Chocolate means that they have an orange under coat(base coat) with Chocolate shading. Like an orange sable. except chocolate. These three wonderful pups have chocolate masks at this age and dilute points. In other words their noses, lip liner, and eyeliner is a beautiful chocolate. Their eyes are a light brown or hazel, sometimes shading into amber. Absolutely beautiful.

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There are 2 black parti boys playing too. The black and white ones are the black parti boys. Such Characters.

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Also a cream sable boy, one orange sable boy and an orange sable girl with white mittens.
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Tuffy (light cream male), Molly (cream female) and Bitsy (black female) are playing together as well. These three are tiny ones. Tiny with huge attitudes. They think they own the world. Truthfully I think they do. Lol.

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Orange Chocolate Brother and Sister. Brother to the left/sister to the right.

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Happy young Pomeranians at play, on a beautiful April Day.

For more information call 307.788.0202 or check out Robbins Run Ranch (my main site) or The Arfing News
Life is a journey... enjoy the trip.
Mary E. Robbins & the Hairballs
Robbins Run Ranch: Living the Dream With Our Pomeranians
307.788.0202

Quack Quack Quack

The photos in this post start Top to bottom. March 24th 2008 to March 31st 2008. Baby Rhoen ducklings. Happily living in my 55 gallon fish aquarium. I guess you could say it is a multipurpose aquarium...lol... enjoy.

The are such cute little peepers. They weren't quacking at this age. Just peeping and playing in the water.

Life is a journey...enjoy the trip.
Mary E. Robbins & the Hairballs
Robbins Run Ranch: Living the Dream With Our Pomeranians

Snowy Morning On the High Plains

Merry Christmas… It’s 5:38 am Christmas day on the High Plains of Wyoming. The wind is blowing and it is snowing a wet sticky snow. I’m going to see if I can capture some of the beauty with my camera after the sun peeks over the horizon.

I woke up about 45 minutes ago. Ran the house dogs outside to do their business and stood in the door and soaked up the beauty of a small elm tree flocked with fresh snow.

When I first looked out I didn’t see any drifts, selective vision don’t you know…lol. Then I looked more than 2ft in front of my face…lol and of course there are drifts. Like waves on the ocean. It’s not very cold, 28 degrees Fahrenheit by the weather channel on my computer. 38 degrees in this valley by the thermometers on the fence. That explains why the snow is sticking to the walls, trees, fence, everything it comes in contact with. It’s freezing and melting, then freezing again.

God be with the folks on the roads today, they are going to need all the help they can get.

The kennel is quiet, no howling or barking this morning. All the work preparing for winter is benefiting the little hairballs this morning. Hauling straw in and filling their houses, covering the fronts of their pens with tin, as well as half the tops. Gives them added protection from the bone freezing wind chill that comes with storms like this.

This morning my dogs, large and small alike are taking advantage of their houses and the windbreaks around them. It was a gut wrenching, muscle pulling, job getting that tin up and anchored so the wind can’t sail it away. My body still feels like it’s been attacked by an oversized meat tenderizer hammer. Ouch! Painful muscles aside, it’s worth it to have the protection up around the dogs.

Before the influx of rescues this fall my kennel was pretty well prepared with calf hutches for houses and dairy stripping for doors (vinyl strips overlapped hanging from the top of the doorways) It took a gargantuan effort to get the rest of it constructed and prepared for winter. It’s still not the way I’d like it but it’s working. The dogs are doing pretty good over all. Taking care of them is kicking my behind. But they have a place to sleep, water to drink, food to eat, and a visit and pat on the head. Each group has at least 2 dogs in it. So they have company and someone to curl up with.

Truthfully taking care of the dogs is about all that has been getting done. Go out take care of the dogs, come in and collapse. Start functioning again and shred paper for the whelping house.
I’ve got to get to work on the paperwork end of things. Ugh! Besides shredding mountains of paper for bedding that is…lol…newspapers, magazines, catalogs, envelopes, whoo hoo it’s a shred fest. Yes friends and neighbors bring me their newspapers, magazines, catalogs, etc for recycling into dog bedding. Their paper contributions are much appreciated.

I do wish I had my dog barn up. That would be wonderful, early morning lights, good venting, solar heat/and cooling for the summer, fresh water all the time, a grooming area with hot water on demand, and cage dryers as well as handheld, more protection from the winter storms, coyotes, cougar, as well as the scorching heat of summer. Indoor outdoor runs for the Pomeranians. So they can still go out and play but with a bit more protection.

Would be nice, change that, will be nice. Although sometimes I wonder if it’s more for me than for the dogs. They seem pretty happy the way they are. Getting to be dogs on a ranch…lol.

Life is a journey…enjoy the trip…
Mary E. Robbins & the Hairballs
307.788.0202 USA Mountain Time

If you click on the photos they will blow up to full size... just remember to use the back button or open them in a different window or tab.

P.S. The photos above are the view this morning, from my front door.

P.P.S. The photos below are more December ranch photos... enjoy...





December 16th, 2007 early morning...
The light shining out of my kitchen window before the sun was fully up.. icicles anyone?

Absolutely beautiful morning...


December 24th, 2007 ...Diesel playing with a piece of firewood.



Ranch cats sunning themselves on poles, in front of the feed storage...


Chickens out and about...



Diesel and LuLu (Lu Lu is the lab)

Breathtaking views from my yards... cattle on the range... view to a ridge 30 plus miles away...

Guinneas and Chickens...

The Gray Goose... 2 of our geese survied the cougar hunting...we are shutting our birds up and night now...

Diesel and Sara... Sara has the fire wood this time...
My beautiful Sara weighs about 120 lbs...