Summertime In Texas

We have had a beautiful spring this year in Texas. The wildflowers bloomed and the trees budded out into their green glory. The birds began to sing and the creeping and buzzing things returned. I see fireflies at night and butterflies during the day. The hummingbirds are buzzing around our feeder. We have been having bright blue skies with huge fluffy clouds that develop into thunderstorms. And I have a new litter of kittens. We are quickly passing from spring into summer. Very soon the temperatures will begin to rise. The days will get much longer and the pastures will no longer be green. I have been feeling a bit under the weather lately so my dear hubby drove me around the country this past Saturday to cheer me up. I snapped a few pictures to share with you. I thought you might like to see what it is like here as Spring changes into Summer in Texas.

There are still wildflowers blooming in the fields. They change colors from the bright colors of spring to yellow, orange and purple during the summer. The cattle are fat and happy out in the pastures. The grass is plentiful and water is easy to find.

The farmers are bringing in the last of their wheat harvest here. It wasn't the best harvest that I have seen but I know The Creator will see His people through.

During wheat harvest the farmers cut day and night as long as the wheat is dry enough. It is a race to get the harvest out of the fields before it rains again. Every time it rains the harvesters are left waiting until things dry out enough to cut.

The combines cut the grain heads off the stalk. When the combine is full it will pull alongside a large truck and dump its load into the truck which will then carry the load to the nearest grain elevator.

I live in an area that is surrounded by many ranches. On this day we were out around one of the Ranger Creek Ranch houses. Ranger Creek has several ranch houses all over the area that they rent out to hunters and tourists and such.

These cattle were out on the Ranger Creek Ranch.

Ranchers who raise livestock each have their own brand that is registered. Their livestock is branded with this mark and that helps designate who the livestock belong to. You can see the Ranger Creek brand on their gates and their sign. Believe it or not there are still cattle rustlers. In Texas we have Southwest Cattle Raisers Association which has law enforcement officers who are a branch of the Texas Rangers. These particular Rangers investigate livestock theft across Texas and Oklahoma.

As times get hard the theft of cattle rises but I do not recommend trying it because we have some very fine Texas Ranger Officers who are great at their job.

I just love taking pictures of the cattle in the fields. They always seem so content. It would be good if we could learn that lesson to be content in all things. It can be a tough lesson to get though.

The sunflowers begin to bloom now and they will continue to bloom right into Fall. The fields and the ditches are covered with them. Many farmers and ranchers like to let them grow because the dove and many other birds like to make a meal on their seeds.

I just love the way the yellow flowers pop against the green of the pastures and ditches.

You should have seen me trying to get down low enough to get this picture with the sunflowers against the blue sky. Did you know that sunflowers follow the sun. If you will look closely in the pictures all the flowers are faced the same direction. As the sun rises they turn their beautiful faces towards the sun in the east and by the end of the day they are turned to the west. I guess maybe that is why they are called sunflowers.

The cattle in this pasture looked so cute peeking at me through the trees that I just had to snap another cow picture. I hope you enjoyed our drive through some of the countryside around Seymour, Texas.

Until Next Time
Debbie