Shannon Ranch

Turkeys Near the House

Friday, March 24 –

We got a pretty close look at a flock of Turkeys that came walking out of the pasture into the field next to the house. They didn’t hang around long but kept walking as they pecked around for food.

Stockton and some friends were out hunting and came upon a group of hogs. The animals all scattered except for one little confused baby girl. Stockton caught her (in a cactus) and brought her to us. Aspen brought out her pet bottle and some fresh cows milk which the pig took right away.

We named her Tricki Woo after a favorite British TV character.

Quick Camping Trip

Thursday, September 20 –

We wanted to get to the mountains as a family before it became too cold to go. We headed to the Cloudcroft area of New Mexico. It was a short trip but very enjoyable. We took a tent to sleep in and a few other things for cooking, but traveled pretty light. We just about had the place to ourselves although quite a few people came in Friday night and Saturday as we were leaving.

On the drive over the scenery was so pretty.

We were delayed setting up our camp because it began raining about the time we got to Cloudcroft. But we shopped around in town and waited for it to clear. When we finally pulled into this camping spot, we were surprised to see a few elk grazing peacefully.

It didn’t take long for the guys to set up camp. It did take a while to get the campfire going since the wood was wet, but they did it.

You gotta have bacon for breakfast when you’re in the mountains, right?

It was so nice to be in the mountains again. It smelled so good.

We managed to work in a couple of nice hikes on Friday.

This old train trestle bridge was at the end of our first hike. It was very impressive and dated back to the late 1800’s.

This scenic view shows the white sands near Alamogordo in the distance.

Besides deer and elk, apparently there were bear roaming about as well judging by the tracks we found.

When we returned to camp, the elk were back. I managed to sneak around and get a few closer shots.

Stockton and I had to make a run into town to pick up something at Allsups. The sky was so pretty we snapped these shots.

Colorful Visitor on a Gray Day

Wednesday, February 21 –

I snapped a few pictures of a Gold-fronted Woodpecker that was visiting our feeder for a little snack. It certainly stood out in contrast to the cool tones of the front yard today. The male woodpecker has the red and orange spots on his head, while the female only has a peachy-yellow patch on the back of her head. These are fun birds to watch. Have you ever seen one?

Stockton’s Buck

Tuesday, November 22 –

It took a little stalking, but he found him. Stockton caught up with this mule deer as he was rubbing his antlers in a bush.

Quick Stop in Washita Mountains

Saturday, July 16 –

On the way home from our trip to Tennessee, we stopped in Oklahoma and spent the afternoon in the Washita Mountain Reserve. We really enjoyed seeing some buffalo up close. We stopped for a while by the side of the road and filmed a couple of bulls building up to a little skirmish. The weather was so beautiful, we decided to take a little hike, too.

The Memphis Zoo

Tuesday, May 24 –

While on our trip to Tennessee, we took a day trip to Memphis to visit the zoo. We were impressed with the size and style of the zoo and the exhibits. It was so special to be with Marian and Alan as they saw many new animals in person for the first time.

I think we all agreed that Alan’s favorite animal was the elephant. Marian says she likes these wolves the most. Atlanta has been reading to her out of the Little House on the Prairie books and she’s keen on wolves right now. (In solidarity with little Laura Ingals and her special fears) After the zoo, we were very hot and tired so we found a place downtown to get something cool and refreshing.

When I say downtown, I mean downtown. It was the famous Beale Street that so many jazz and blues music stars made famous (including Elvis). Live music was already blaring out of several interesting looking establishments, but we stayed away from the clubs and finally found our intended destination, an old department store called, A. Schwabs, that had been operating since 1876. It had an old-fashioned soda fountain, lots of souvenirs and gifts, and other interesting things. They were just moving out a lot of ladders and lights and cameras as we arrived hot and tired. Apparently, they had just shot some kind of movie or TV show there that day. They told us that the store was open EXCEPT for the soda fountain due to the filming. I think they must have noticed all our faces falling in unison, because they quickly changed their minds and opened it all back up for us. Thank you, A. Schwabs!