Author Archives: Heather Bilden

It is with a heavy heart that I share this week’s Scenes from the Ranch. Our sweet Jersey cow Hot Lips died this week. Despite our best efforts, we were unable to save her following complications from milk fever. I miss her calm presence in the barnyard, the licks from her rough tongue when IContinue reading “Scenes from the Ranch May 26, 2023”

Farming has begun with a four-up team. Jack and Jill are joined by Maggie and Delilah for field preparations before we plant cover crops. Bear relaxes in the evening light. We are all enjoying a weekend full of sunshine and warmer weather. The snow squall and strong winds of Wednesday seem like a distant memory.Continue reading “Scenes from the Ranch: April 23 and May 13”

We made it over to Showdown Montana on the last weekend of their season for our annual ski day. Maybe next year we’ll get over there for two days – or more! You wouldn’t know it it was the end of the season – still SO much snow. What a treat. Calving season has goneContinue reading “Scenes from the Ranch: April 8, 2023”

It is deeply satisfying to roll out a bale of sweetly scented hay for our cows in the midst of a March blizzard. Sipping cocoa and thawing my feet by the fire afterwards felt equally delightful! Hot Lips – our milk cow – doesn’t seem to mind sharing her straw nest with the chickens. I’mContinue reading “Scenes from the Ranch March 10, 2023”

On Sunday it was fifty degrees, and the only snow in sight laid in old, crusty wind blown piles along the county road. I hiked with a cotton shirt and sneakers under sunny skies. “Where oh where is winter this year?” I wondered. Well it came back with a wonderful heavy, wet bang yesterday! SixContinue reading “Scenes from the Ranch February 15, 2023”

Sometimes its just too cold for wet nose kisses, but there is no stopping Maverick. Baby it’s cold outside! I’m SO glad I had time to clean the chicken coop before the single digit weather hit. The chickens have not gone outside – and have plenty of fresh straw to peck at in their sunny,Continue reading “Scenes from the Ranch January 30, 2023”

Whenever I return to the barnyard after a hike, I spend time talking to and petting our sweet horse, Ruby. We are both working on trust and confidence in each others presence. Someday, I hope that she will become my partner on long rides moving cows across the prairie. This ball of love and blackContinue reading “Scenes from the Ranch January 20, 2023”

We love having friends visit us, and enjoyed a day hiking on the rims above Coulee Creek with Marian and Michael. I spent the week after Christmas sick with a cold, sleeping on the couch much of the time, so it felt great to get fresh air and movement again. Seeing the ranch through visitors’Continue reading “Scenes from the Ranch: January 2, 2023”

Scenes from the Ranch: Winter has settled on the landscape in a beautiful, bright blanket of white. It is a shallow, light layer of snow and the cows are still grazing. Jack worked solo on a wagon ride up to the North pasture to break the ice on the cows’ water tank. It has beenContinue reading “17 December 2022”

This year has been a challenging one for me. I didn’t find time and space for my soap-making hobby until Thanksgiving! But I now have three batches curing and ready to sell at the Holiday Market at the Montana Audubon Center on Saturday December 10 from 10am – 2pm. If you can’t make it down,Continue reading “December 3rd, 2022: Scenes from the Ranch”