A Bunch of Bucks!

"Bunch of Bucks"

We were coming home from the car show at Lincoln, when we decided to head for Bean Lake on the cut across road to Augusta, Montana.  We noticed a mule deer buck in a coulee beside us, and we stopped to take a photo of him.  As we looked onto the hillside, we were looking directly into the setting sun and it took us a moment to make out there were three more bucks on the hill.

We sat and waited.  I took some photos of the bucks on the hill.  But the shot I was hoping for, wasn't happening.  The buck on top of the hill, began to walk out of sight.  The buck at the bottom of the hill was slowly grazing his way up, but he was a long ways from the rest of the bucks, who had begun to gather near the top of the hill.

Once again, the largest buck at the top of the hill began to walk over the ridge.  I held my breath and he stopped.  I ran down the road a ways so I wouldn't be shooting at them, directly into the sun.  The buck at the bottom of the hill finally came up to the others.

There was one split second, when the bucks stood like this together, then the big one walked over the ridge.  The impossible shot had come into being!  There are 25 tines in this one photo....

This photo of the bucks has won two featured spots on Red Bubble, one in the Deer Me! group, and one in the Even Toed Ungulates group.  I hope you enjoyed seeing it, as much I enjoyed catching it!
Donna Ridgway

Henry, AKA Sharp Slicker, my new horse.

Sharp Slicker, or Slick, or Henry :) A favored child has many names. lol If you click on Henry, you'll find my album of more pictures of him. I haven't got good ones since, the light is just wrong for getting good pics of him.

Last night, Robert and I were dragging out some lumber wraps to cover a pile of lumber before it rained. Robert had drug several tarps out and I was going to pick them up to drag them where we needed them, but I had to walk over the pile to get to the other side of them. I wondered what Henry would do, as he was walking along as he always does, with his nose on my shoulder.

I stepped onto the crackly pile of plastic tarps, and he came right along with me. He had to step pretty high to get over them, but he just kept his nose on my shoulder and kept right on coming. I laughed so hard. I guess he will follow me anywhere?

We're having so much fun with Henry...and Pedro likes him too, even though Henry is such a big big boss of the show.

Henry is smooth to ride, his gaits are like air. But he's so large, in three strides he's loped across our small place. We're busy making a kind of arena so I can ride here, when I don't feel like riding along side a busy 4 lane highway. Even though the ditches are wide, it's more fun to have a private place to ride.

So that's what I've been up to lately! Riding and visiting Henry....
Donna

"Kiss Me!"

"Kiss Me!"

Nothing can be sillier than two mules playing!  You'd swear these two are in love!

You can see more of my digital art on my Red Bubble gallery.

The Hitch Hiker

"The Hitch Hiker"

This little foal wasn't quite ready to take on a rider yet, but this cat couldn't resist jumping on his back when the foal walked by the corral fence! The cat looks like he's daring the foal to try to get rid of him...:)

Bright Eyes!

Purchase giclee prints of this image here.

I took a photo of this horse near Charlo, Montana. I thought he was cute as he looked over the back of his pasture mate.  I added an old rusty car hood photo to this for a layer of texture, then I used photoshop brushes and many layers until I made his bright eye pop!

Cowboy Camper

I spent some time this spring, redecorating our pickup camper. It's a traditional type pick up camper, 10 foot, with the bed over the cab. We picked it up for $100 at a farm sale ...It was in good shape, no leaky roof, and a nice floor plan, with two big closets, and a bathroom... We put it on our four wheel drive pickup, we needed a camper that will get us to some of the places we want to go, where a 5th wheel just won't fit!

This photo is of my grandpa, with one of the horses he raised. You can see part of the big haystack to the right, and more horses in the background.
It's not every husband, who could buy something like this for his wife, and have her be happy about it! But this is one of the presents Robert bought me for my birthday. It was an antique bottle opener, but we turned it into a cupboard door handle.
I recovered the back wall behind the table, with the same material I used in the curtains. The knick knack on the back of the table, with the cowboy boots, I painted to match the dishes. We'll use it for napkin holder.
Made the curtain tie backs from strips of leather and some conchos.
Imagine this, I even found a hair brush with a horse on it! The antique spoon, matches the wire whip from the other photos.

Robert made me a towel rack from an elk antler, I made the curtains, hung some antique items on the wall, and the horse just fit into the corner.
The rope hanging here, came off a bale of twine, from long, long, ago! The photo is of the Ridgway Saloon, in Camp Crook, South Dakota. Robert's grandpa ran that saloon for 50 years, and at one time, he owned Tipperary, the famous rodeo bronc.
There's a little horse show cowboy in the corner, swinging his rope, some Sweet Grass in the very corner behind the cowboy, my Grandma Allen's old spice cans, and the cowboy coffee pot, come on in, we'll sit and visit, the coffee's on!
I have an old wire whip, my old cinch ring, and some other antique decorations here...


I recovered the seat cushions with green denim...and made some bandana pillows. I was going for a "cowboy" look.
I painted the table red, and Robert remodeled it, so it sat against the back wall. We'll use the antique cowboy dishes my aunt gave me, many years ago.
This is our gallery wall, Charlie Russell prints, and my art work. We bolted the frames to the wall, so they'll remain where we put them! I do need to find a piece of glass to go over the Charlie Russell at the bottom, at the moment, I placed that print inside a clear bag. It works better when you're actually in the camper, than it does for photos! All you see here is the glare...
We placed black and white family photos on the cupboard doors, we wanted a feeling of nostalgia, and a personal touch. In this photo, you see my grandpa branding the calf, my Uncle Bill on the horse, and my great granddad Howe, looking on.... this photo was taken when they were proving up on their homestead land.
Scarlet had to pose on the bed! She loves it there. We found this southwestern type comforter at a yard sale for $3, we love bargains. I made all the curtains. They're made of denim, and I added the horses you see on the front curtain.

So there you have it, a Cowboy Camper!
Donna Ridgway

"I'm a Real Bright Fellow!" More digital work...

"I'm a Real Bright Fellow!"

First off, I love seeing meadowlarks on fence posts! They're such in integral part of spring in Montana! But there are all ready hundreds of photos of meadowlarks on posts....so I wanted to do something different...

Secondly, I was thinking of the value of tones, sepia, black and white, and full color. So this piece explores that theme also.

When I was finished with the work, the title popped into my head...so there's also a dose of humor in this photomontage. Hope you enjoy seeing my meadowlarks! :)
Donna Ridgway