ArizonaRanch

 I went up to the Ranch at the beginning of October to install out new internet link. While there, I tried out the Seek App on my Android phone.  It is used to identify plants and animals when you snap a picture of them. It was pretty good at getting me in the right ballpark at identifying the various plants and animals on my hike, but I had to resort to internet searches to narrow most of them down further. The first plant I tried to ID was this golden weed.  It ended up looking like Broom Snakeweed . Along the road was an easy to identify Rough Cocklebur . A Golden Crownbeard was also found along the road at the bottom of our lane. I had always referred to this next plant as "stick-bushes".  The Seek App says they are Pale Desert Thorn .  They are pretty thick at the lower end of our meadow.  During winter and dry times, these are just bare sticks... Seek says these plants growing in our lane are Pale Evening Primrose . One of the common trees on our ra...

  June 2010 at the Ranch by rdpecken on Jul.07, 2010, under Seasons At the end of June, a couple of friends came up for our ham radio “Field Day”.  On Sunday morning, we all went for a hike up our South Mountain, and there are some pretty nice views from up there.  Here are a couple of shots of the homestead from the side of the mountain… LittleHouse from South Mountain and one a little closer up… Littlehouse closer John took some nice scenery shots from the mountain. View over 29 plains      Ridge on South Mountain     Clearing on the Mountain   When we returned to the base camp, John couldn’t resist capturing a Cholla… Cholla Cactus in meadow And we had a skink under the LittleHouse.   Lizard under the house While I was up earlier in the month installing the ham radio vertical antenna, I ran across some 4 o’clocks that caught my eye. 4 o'clock closeup And one from further out… 4 o'clocks

  Critters ‘n Such by admin on Aug.25, 2009, under Seasons On the way out of the ranch on Monday, I came across this recently deceased bull snake at the corner near the Modahl’s place.  Looks like he got squished by a truck.  It’s a shame, as they are pretty beneficial to have around, and really do no harm.   Bull Snake The cattle were walking right down the middle of the road, and a few were challenging my right to be there.  I just inched through the bunch, and they gave way when I got really close.   Cattle in the Road Then at the gate near the entrance of our ranch, I saw these interesting berries. I thought they looked kinda like cherry tomatoes, but of course didn’t eat them, because I know that almost everything wild that looks good in arizona is poisonous!  It turns out I was right.  They are the Silverleaf Nightshade plant.  A relative of the tomato, but poisonous to humans and cattle.   Silverleaf Night...

  Memorial Day 2009 by admin on Jun.04, 2009, under Seasons We were pretty lucky with weather for this trip.  However, just as we were arriving at Anvil Rock, it started raining.  By the time we got to Markham Pass, the road had turned to butter again.  But we made it through ok. The rest of the week was pretty nice.  It typically clouded up by noon, and kept it cool in the afternoon.  On Friday, we got about a full hour of steady rain.  When it finished, we went outside and enjoyed the nature after the rain.   Peak off to the west from the meadow Some more photos after the rain…   Clearing on south mountain   Stick Bushes got leaves… Usually they are bare…   Stick Bushes A couple of oriels started hanging around the cabin all week.  Here is a pretty good picture of one, but it’s through the screen door, so there is some obstruction. I think it's a Scott's Oriel.   oriel And here is my attempt at bl...

  More May at the Ranch by admin on May.10, 2008, under Seasons Globe Mallow May 28th, 2005. Early Afternoon. There was a bunch of these. They stood about waist-high.   Globe Mallow Small Violet Flowers May 28th, 2003. Early Afternoon. There was a bunch of these, too. But they were small, so you didn’t notice them as quickly.   Violet Flower (Some perrenial grass - fillile?) Remy May 27th, 2006. Morning. This is our pup, Remy. She was about 8 months old when this was taken. A very curious and smart dog. She was a big hit when we visited our neighbors.   Remy Horned Toad Lizard May 26th, 2006. Early Afternoon. As we were unloading a load of water from our trailer, this little guy was found scurrying around in the trailer bed. I didn’t want to squish him, so I just tried to get him to jump out of the trailer. He decided to jump on my pants leg…   Horned Toad Lizard Guardian Bee May 25th, 2006. Early Afternoon. This gal hung around...

  August 2007 at the Ranch by admin on Aug.20, 2007, under Seasons Shop Site August 18th, 2007. Afternoon. 2007 has been a pretty good monsoon year up here. This is probably where we will put a shop at some point. It’s about 150 feet west of the big house site.   Shop Site Purple Flowers August 18th, 2007. Afternoon These were nice to come across. Every year, we see something new. This year was the first time for these flowers, and the first time we saw dragonflys up here.   Four-O-Clocks Looking East August 18th, 2007. Afternoon. The meadow has greened up nicely.   Looking East Looking West August 18th, 2007. Afternoon. We even have some grass, rather than just weeds!   Looking West

  Memorial Day – May 2005 by admin on May.30, 2005, under Seasons Memorial Day ’05 May 28th, 2005. Early Afternoon. After all of the rain this past winter, we could hardly find our lane because of all the weeds.   Lane in May 2005 Green Meadow May 28th, 2005. Early Afternoon. The meadow brightened up some, too.   Meadow in May 2005 Meadow from other Way May 28th, 2005. Early Afternoon. Looking back the other direction, the top of the meadow has overgrown with weeds, too.   Meadow full of weeds Jeep at Camp May 28th, 2005. Early Afternoon. Here is our new little girly-jeep parked at camp.   Camp in May 2005 Front View of Jeep May 28th, 2005. Early Afternoon. We were going to get the silver one, because we knew it would hide the dirt of the ranch better. But the red one was too pretty!   Jeep at Camp May 2005 Flowers May 28th, 2005. Early Afternoon. There were b-jillions of flowers on this trip.   Daisy

  April at the Ranch by admin on Apr.30, 2005, under Seasons April Cold nights and Variable Days With an average low of around 30 degrees and an average high around 70 degrees, April is still a little nippy at night… Carpet of Green April, 2005 We have received over 30 inches of rain in the last year, and 25 inches of snow. The meadow is showing the payoff in the carpet of green grass growing.   Green Meadow Good Grazing April, 2005. The cattle have been keeping the vegetation mowed pretty well. We don’t expect the green to last more than another month, but it is nice to have it right now.   More green meadow Nearby Pond April, 2005. Someone put a pond in a little ways south of us. We hiked over to have a look. It looks like it was pretty full, but has probably soaked in, as the soil isn’t very dense there.   Pond over on State Land Black Mountain April, 2005. Another rainstorm moving in.   Black Mountain Rainstorm Little Yellow Fl...