The Vicissitudes of Nature

Today started out very beautiful here in the foothills of the Alberta Rockies. Here's a clip of the horses coming in for their breakfast. It was an absolutely lovely, sunny morning.



Bell is at the front of the line. Notice her beautiful feathering. The vet came this afternoon to sedate Bell, shave her feathering, and scrub her lower legs with Hibitane. He then applied a black gooey paste to the active lesions. Bell was a star! Hopefully this will help finally clear up her skin condition.

After Bell was ready to return to the herd I went for a walk in the forest with the dogs. Within half an hour a thunderstorm blew in and tiny hail filled the air. While trying to take a photo of the donkeys thunder clashed very nearby, so the dogs and I scooted to the house. In this photo there are 3 donkeys in the shelter with Jasper standing looking rather pathetic in front. Jasper had been in the big shelter by himself, but decided to move for the photo op.













After getting into the house the hail changed to a snow storm with almost zero visibility. We ended up getting about 6" of snow. Even in our little forest oasis the wind was so strong it was blowing the hay away as I put it out.


Here is an "Ogopogo" photo of two deer at the edge of the pasture.














Ironically, I saw my first Robin of the season during the snow storm. Here are some photos of the horses this evening. It always amazes me how well the horses just accept what is.


Bell and Stryker















Juno




















Luna and Juno















And....the donkeys! (Sweat Pea, Wilbur & Jasper)














This would make a great Christmas card!


.