Springtime Update

Well we started last week with the threat of a week of rain ... that never arrived. After living here almost three years now we've learned from experience that unless the likelihood of rain is predicted at greater than a 50% chance, the likelihood here at Painted Views Ranch is that we won't be getting any rain.
And then last Saturday was a day when the temperatures plummetted down into the 40's and never got much above 60 all day. I know that's not much of a hardship but it was a shock after all the nice weather we've been having recently.
But, when I was taking a break from the landscaping projects I've been working on, I was out and about taking some springtime photos here on the ranch this week. You'll find some of them below.

But first I just want to say that there are still some openings in our art workshops for this year, so if you're an artist looking for instruction, please review the workshops on our website, check out the style of each instructor's work, (there's a lot of variety so it should be easy to find someone that you'd like to learn from) and get yourself signed up for one of them.

Each of the workshops are on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday
Aug 25 to Aug 27	Judy Wilder Dalton	Abstracted Landscapes
September 29 to October 1	Qiang Huang	Oil Painting - Plein Air
October 13 to 15	David Forks	Bringing Plein Air into the Studio
October 27 to October 29	Rich Gallego	A Simple Approach to Powerful Plein Air Paintings

For details on the workshops, and how to sign up, click the link to visit our website at: http://www.paintedviewsranch.com/workshops.html.

Now, here are those photos ....
(Click the images for a larger view.)

We've had some gorgeous irises blooming in the pond bog. This photo is from the second batch of them.

The bog is actually part of our pond's natural bio-filtration system. Water from the pond is pumped into the bottom of the bog where it filters up through the gravel allowing the bog plants to take nutrients from the water before the clean water is then returned to the pond.

I thought this might make an interesting shot of our old plow, with the landscape to the west behind it, but as I was taking it I noticed that .....

... Rascal, our Ranch Foreman, had taken up his post for keeping a watchful eye on the cattle in the pasture below, to make sure that none were carried off by vultures.
He must be doing a good job. We haven't lost any yet.