Jeannie's Montana Photo Album


It’s been a nice spring. Overall the weather has been very cooperative, except for the first week of April, when I went to San Francisco to go wedding dress shopping with my daughter. The temperature dropped to -7 F with wind chill, making me think that my daughter picked the best possible time to make her dress appointments. By the time I got home, four days later, the temperatures were closer to normal and the unsettled weather led to some beautiful light.


The only other time the weather has been not-so-great, not counting the snow storm last week, was the day the vet was scheduled to vaccinate the heifers. We woke up to this:

So I dressed like this:


And this was the view from the tractor as we fed that morning. 


Below is my husband and 80-year-old mother, who is one heck of a cow hand. She helps operate the chute where the weanlings are vaccinated and weighed, and keeps track of the data. 

It was a good day despite the weather, but my husband’s jacket attests to the temperatures.



 A few other interesting sights…the neighbor was plowing his field, and a passing flock of seagulls swarmed his tractor as he drove, then settled in behind to pick goodies out of the overturned soil. This was a first for me.




I saw a moose on my way to town.


 Our fist calves of the year were twins--a boy and a girl, so the girl will be sterile. If both twins are the same sex, it doesn’t affect fertility. They are adorable.


And that's it from Montana. I'm busily writing a proposal for a three-books series set in Montana, and my first Heartwarming, Her Montana Cowboy will be released in August. See you next month!




Comments

  1. Amazing photos, Jeannie, and I’m not going to complain any more about our weather here in urban Ontario! Montana looks beautiful. I was very interested in your comment about the calf twins. Why is one sterile, if the pair are male and female? Looking forward to reading more about Montana in August.

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    1. Hi Janice! The reason the female twin will be sterile is because she shared placenta membranes with her brother, and his testosterone affects her developing reproductive system. There's about a 10% chance she won't be sterile. Female twins are called freemartins.

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    2. Very interesting! Thanks for this info Jeannie. And I like that expression, ‘freemartins’. Almost like they’re free spirits!

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  2. I'm freezing just looking at your pictures. It was 98 degrees here in the Phoenix area yesterday. I tried to get my t-shirt to stand up like your jacket. It melted into a puddle :)

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  3. Go Mom! Great background for your book. Congratulations!

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  4. I can see why you didn't freeze in San Francisco which I do every time I go there. Our weather is more like what Cathy described. You Montanans are hale and hearty for a good reason. Your twin calves are adorable. Looking forward to your book.

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    1. Thanks, Roz. I love the desert, but I melt in the heat!

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  5. Your state is called "Big Sky" for a reason, eh? It's interesting how your Rockies drop immediately into flat land. Here in Alberta, it strikes me as more gradual; it bumps from mountains to foothills to then more-or-less flat. Farmers around here are reporting a tough calving year. The hot/cold spells are causing an above-average mortality rate. Thanks for the pics and best!

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    1. That's too bad about the calves. We're having a better year than last year in this area. I agree--the mountains seem to come out of nowhere here. The Mission Range north of us, near Flathead Lake, is an excellent example and are so beautiful.

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  6. I love the pictures, even though I'm shivering just looking. That jacket! That's fascinating that twins of different sexes will make one sterile. I wonder if the male would be sterile, too, and if it has any affect on human twins. So many questions. I lived in Casper, WY, a long time ago,and we used to have seagulls. They seemed to follow the Platt. Thanks for sharing bits of your life with us. Can't wait to read the book!

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    1. Hi Beth! The male twin doesn't seem to be affected by having a sister with him. I found the seagulls fascinating, because they don't usually stray this far from the river. We are on a migratory flight path, though, so they may have been traveling through.

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  7. What a lovely post--great photos. It sounds like you have a great life--and now a book celebrate, along with new life on the farm. Congratulations!

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  8. Love the photos that make me so glad to live in a warmer state!

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  9. Jeannie, I love all your photos and wow! Your mom is my new hero. Eighty years old out there in the cold. I'm very impressed. And what an education. I'm sad about all the fatalities due to the weather, but everywhere this has been a very long, snowy and cold winter. We have the first vestiges of spring in the past two days. I hope it keeps up. I'm ready to be outside!

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  10. I am late commenting....but I LOVE Montana pictures! I want to visit Montana some day.
    And I can't wait for your first Heartwarming. I loved Her Mountain Sanctuary - the last Super.

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  11. Stunning photos, Jeannie!! Truly amazing. I've always known your books are fabulous because you live what your write about, and I love seeing your inspiration through your photos. Can't wait for your first Heartwarming book!

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