Out with the old

Pardon the break, but I took a few days off! Couldn't resist taking a picture of the cookies. A very dear friend came over before Christmas and we spent the day baking cookies. I then made more on my own and tried out a couple of new cutters including the mitten and the gingerbread people. Christmas has never been Christmas for me without spritz either...yummy! One other new recipe, which will be a yearly addition to the goodies is Peanut Butter Cheese Fudge. It is a Paula Deen recipe and it is yummy. Yep! Butter, Velveeta cheese, peanut butter and powdered sugar along with vanilla and nuts. Now out with the old and in with the new. My kitchen and dining room floors are finished. After painstakingly removing the first layer of parquet, the mister was left with lots of glue in the floor. He started by using a belt sander, but the friction heated the glue which became gummy so we used the heat gun and scraped. (The glue curled up like wood chips.) What a chore, and it took several days. The installation of the new floor wasn't without problems either, but it is beautiful now that it is installed. Will post pictures later. Anyway, with the old year about finished (and it didn't end really well did it?) we can only hope that the new year brings with it a brighter future for us all.

If walls or floors could talk

This is the area of floor in my studio with some definite cracks. Brown branches and one stroke leaves and stenciled roses were a great camouflage for the imperfections. It was also cheap. I like to think I am being thrifty and practical, but it probably is just cheap. As most of you following this blog know, this is the 7th home we've purchased...camp #7. Each time we begin to explore our new digs, we dream of finding that lost fortune in the walls or some great treasure at the least. I can't recall ever finding much except perhaps a tool left behind in the rafters by an absent minded construction worker, but as the Mr was installing a new sub-floor in the dining room this week, he decided to go to the basement to see how far the screws extended. Future construction will necessitate installation of a ceiling downstairs. After peeking into the area under part of the flooring he discovered a jar of what appeared to be homemade jelly. And there was more! We discovered 2 more canning jars of a mysterious substance and decided to explore more of the spaces. Next was an old 8-track tape. Then a block of wood with 4 pictures of a small boy decoupaged to the sides and the quote "Chip off the old block". Finally a rental tape of a porno film! Obviously this had been a hiding place for someone, but who? Previously I had discovered a small plastic bag on top of my bathroom medicine cabinet with a beaded necklace and bracelet. A forgotten gift perhaps for a child or teenager or a stolen item from a sibling? Again it was clearly put there for a hiding place and long since forgotten. One room in the basement was a recording studio and the ceiling is insulated with egg cartons. When we approach that project we may find more hidden treasures. Who know? The second picture of the kitchen floor demonstrates clearly the ugly task the Mr. has encountered in removing the first layer of parquet flooring which was securely glued to the first. The underlying parquet was laid so that the cupboards were installed on top, so that layer has to stay. We are now ready to install the laminate and pictures will follow. If floors could talk this one would surely say "ouch."

Things my father taught me.

As my siblings and I were growing up, my father was the best teacher in lessons of life. Reading our local paper this week, I stumbled onto an article about being happy. Surround yourself with people who are happy, people who have a positive attitude toward life, people who can laugh. Our father had the best outlook on life, but it came from lessons learned and being true to himself. As I have approached the twilight years (maybe just the afternoon years) of life, I realize that not everyone I meet has a chair at my table. I don't have time or energy in my day for negative people. No longer do I feel guilt for removing them from my life. It is a choice we need to make. It is a choice you need to make and for goodness sake don't feel guilty. You cannot please everyone and you shouldn't. Daddy was not a religious man, but he did live and teach by some pretty good guidelines. He always said "A man is as good as his word." He lived by that. There were lots of other pieces of advice he gave us and he was as good as his word. Some of the things he taught me were:
Don't complain about your spouse to your in-laws. Don't talk about yourself when you meet people and definitely don't talk about your ailments. Everyone has them. Don't complain about your money problems. Don't give your grown children advice unless they ask for it. (This is a sure way to alienate them.) There is no material thing that is more important than your children's love. Things can be replaced, children cannot. Treat others the way you wish to be treated. If you don't vote, don't complain. These are a few....more will follow later. I have siblings with very serious health issues, but they keep a positive attitude and don't spend time dwelling on them and don't bore others with their problems....something no doubt learned from Dad and his outlook on life. So we surround ourselves with people who make us feel good and people who aren't looking for sympathy. I miss my painting groups, they were people who didn't complain and who made me laugh, but they are still at my table. Some very good friends whom I have known forever are still at my table. Daddy was an honest man, a hard working soul, but he knew how to have fun and knew how to laugh. He was not a complainer. Now for these confusing pictures. I have been painting the floor in my craft room. I am not sure how these pictures will come out but there are three which will show the contrast in the bare cement and the finished gridded squares. I marked 18 inch squares to resemble tiles. They were masked and then painted with a contrasting paint. I uses floor paint and it was odorless and dried fast. Where all of the branches are, were the inevitable cracks in a cement floor. I added leaves and a few stenciled flowers. I normally wouldn't stencil, but this was a pretty monumental project and quite frankly, I was tired of the whole thing. However, I must say that I am really pleased with the final result. Will post another picture later.

Fuzzy Bunny Slipper

We got a ton of snow this past week! I know the interstate was closed last weekend as we had friends who spent the Saturday night with us and had to wait until Sunday afternoon for the roads to open up and today is the first day that we haven't had snow. We must have gotten about 8 inches total and after the wind came up, it has been a mess for travelers. However, for us, we just snuggled down. It was cold too! It actually got down to 1 degree last night. The Mr. was able finally to get the driveway cleared with the snow blower and I couldn't resist getting a couple of pics of the skinny bitch bringing me a stick to throw. REALLY! We took Hojo, our cat to the vet for removal of a tumor from his hind leg and he was a grump for everyone. We don't have the results of the biopsy back and his stitches come out on Monday, but look at his foot! He has such big feet that he appears to be wearing a bunny slipper. He hates the oral medication we have to force down him and he is just not happy. The vet shaved his leg which adds to the funny appearance. Poor thing! ~"If you can't make it better, you can laugh at it." --Erma Bombeck

Lazy Dog

I changed and laundered the bedding one day this week and before I had a chance to get the spread and multitude of pillows back on, guess who plopped down on my side of the bed? Yep, the skinny bitch Hildy. What a sweetie she is though and I just can't get upset with her. She wakes me up with the most loving of hugs and is truly a wonderful creature. She understands quite a few words of conversation and is the most brilliant of dogs. That said, we had to take our cat, Hojo to the vet as he has a tumor on his leg and there is a possibility that he may need an amputation. We take him back Monday for removal of the tumor and will know more about what to base a decision on then. Poor baby. He is 11 years old and has been a great cat.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and ate way too much but were able to share with a very good friend. We missed friends who usually dine with us but had to make other plans this year. Times are difficult for lots of folks and we are thankful for our good fortune, our health, our friends and our freedom and remember the less fortunate, the sick, the lonely and the enslaved.
Despite the economy, we do live in a great country.

Now, the cute little make-do is a pincushion mounted on a piece of metal which allows it to be attached to a table with a threaded screw-like mechanism. "Make-do's" were those items made from odds and ends which would normally be thrown away, but by combining one or more items could be used for another purpose. Until recently, I had not heard this term, but being the thrifty daughter reared by my thrifty parents, I realized that I had been doing this all along. I have a real difficult time throwing away a perfectly good part of something that is still good. My storage bins and plastic buckets are full of old hardware, keys, knobs etc. which served a purpose in a previous life that I just might need to reinvent something else. I believe that creature is called a "pack rat"---GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY!

Giving Thanks

Not your typical Thanksgiving bird. Being involved with a few projects this past couple of weeks has caused me to resort to an archive picture from July 4th. A nesting osprey with offspring resided at an area south of Saratoga...Cow Creek. There are several homes there on small acreages and the osprey was none too happy about having her picture taken. She was very vocal, but like the sitings of the moose, deer and other creatures co-habitating with us, we continue to marvel at their existence and are thankful for the opportunity to be an observer in mother nature's scheme of things. We are all leery of what the future will bring in this shaky economy and I am very thankful for the way my parents prepared me for survival. One very important thing I have come to realize is that what you THINK you need and what you REALLY need are two very different things. Take pleasure in simple things. Be thankful for family, your health, your friends and don't lose your sense of humor. It may be the only thing to get you through some difficult times.

This past two weeks have been crazy. I stripped the office of 4 walls of horrible wall paper only to find a bright pink paint underneath. Not only was there pink paint- there were craters where nails had been and a section behind the door where the wall had been pathetically patched. Now though, it is a pale shade of buttery yellow and much more pleasant in which to work. (Another notch on my tool belt!). Today I began to paint the floor in my studio in the basement. It is a large room and a wonderful place to work.

Most of this week we have had construction in our back yard. The power is being upgraded in our neighborhood and our yard was selected to be one of the points to bore in both directions for the new lines. First we had all of the utilities marked which involved people with funny flags and bright paint lines everywhere. Then the actual equipment and workers arrived to bore holes and that brought big trucks and equipment of all sorts. My poor dogs didn't know what to think.
Today they finished here and as compensation for the inconvenience they moved a pile of dirt from our front yard to the back to fill a hole back there for us. Unlike most of our neighbors, our yard has not been landscaped and it really caused no damage to have all of the equipment there. They expressed their thanks to us several times.

Then, since my poor old body is aging, I am fighting the process with all available medical help I can get. Luckily we still have insurance and I am trying to get all of those ugly tests and procedures the experts say you should have (and we all dread) before the end of the year. Maybe, just maybe I will meet my deductible!! Sooooo...I drank the half gallon of gook (it used to be a gallon), and starved myself for a day and a half, and spent a lot of time in the bathroom and had my colonoscopy like a good girl. Every one over 50 should have that done. It is one of the procedures that can detect cancer in early stages. I am thankful that my pipes are fine!

So many reasons to be thankful.....I remember a story my Dad used to tell about a couple of people who had gotten snowed in for the winter in the far north somewhere. After being rescued, they told of having survived on only dry beans to eat. When asked if they were sick of beans their reply was "no, we were thankful for them-----the beans saved our lives!"

Perhaps this year with so much unknown about what our future might bring, we need to simplify and take stock of what really is important and be thankful, truly thankful. Have a nice Thanksgiving and eat a piece of pie for me!!!

Friends

I don't have a picture to post today. This weekend I made a trip south, well as far as Colorado, my old stompin' grounds. I stopped in Nunn to see a dear friend whom I haven't seen for several years and we had the best visit. Thanks for being home Pam (and for answering the door). You see, my visit was unannounced and I am sure she thought I was a solicitor. Hope your anniversary was a good one. Then I trekked farther south to my sister's home and spent the night. We then went to Denver to see a cousin who will be 83 this month. She sent my uncle's rocker with me which I will cherish and we then met a friend at a craft fair. It was a good weekend!! Today, we had a visit from Rawlins friends. The Mr. and I are so very blessed to have such good friends. Even though we have moved, they continue to stay in touch.

Today I embarked on another room to paint and started to strip off wallpaper in the office. Luckily though, this paper stripped with ease, however you should see the walls. Pink, Pink, Pink! I asked the Mr. what color I should paint and he said "anything but pink!" Thank you for following my blog. Sometimes I don't get much done here, but I plan to start doing better. (famous last words)

~~"A friend is like a good bra, close to your heart, hard to find and supportive."-anonymous

Memories

See what I scored at a cute little shop here in Cheyenne this week. These little Christmas ornaments are covered with seed beads and brown feathers. This is the beginning of the craft show season for the holidays and I hit three Saturday. The weather has been absolutely unbelievable for the first of November in Wyoming. Usually we have snow, snow, snow by now. The temp has been in the upper 60's every day.

This is as far as I have gotten on the quilt top but it was so much fun to see it come together so easily. As I recall my grandmother and her friends sitting around her dining room table and quilting, I wish I had been older and could remember more of those quilting bees. I don't think she called it a "bee", but there were 6 to 8 women and her frame always sat on the table with these ladies visiting and I was always playing under the table. My memories are so faint though, because you see, I couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 years of age and that was nearly 60 years ago. Wouldn't granny be amazed at the techniques and speed with which a quilt can be assembled now!! I hope to have it ready for an actually quilting class---it will be machine quilted I am sure. My poor ol' arthritic hand just couldn't manage I am afraid.

We had another pleasant happening this weekend also. An old classmate from grade school, through high school stopped to visit. Understand that I grew up in a rural community where many of my classmates were children of farmers. It was a small community and every one knew everyone else, sometimes generations of families continued to stay. They were strong, hard-working people. As a child, I remember that he worked as hard as a grown man and there were times when he stayed home from school to work in the fields. If a kid stays home today, you can bet it is not to help the family in their business or trade. Not many small farms continue to survive there today though and the values instilled in this man have made him a success in his own right. Anyway we were a small class of kids and I remember so many times that one of their parents would volunteer to haul the same bunch to Greeley to the skating rink or to the movies. A real treat for me as we didn't get to do that very often. We had so much fun!!! There was not much money either for those kinds of frivolities, but my folks always managed to find a way to let me go. Not very many of us still stay in touch, but I treasure the friendships of the few who do still take the time to do that. There were kids who came and went, but for the most part there were about 8 of us, 4 boys and 4 girls who were just pals. From 1st or 2nd grade we had a bond of sorts unlike any other. Not all, but most of us even went on senior sneak together and that was a kick. I don't think a trip like ours would be done today. (Maybe that will be another blog.) Oh, to be 12 again! Memories!!! You can't take those away.

~"That's the trouble with the world, too many people grow up. They forget. They don't remember what it's like to be twelve years old."-----Walt Disney

Birthdays

Just sending a picture of the new paint job on the house. It was really weathered wood before and we have put close to 40 gallons of paint on the interior and exterior combined. Happy birthday house!

Actually, my sister, Twyla had a birthday this month and came yesterday for a short visit. I had baked her a cake and she thankfully took half of it home with her. Like I need another piece of cake on my butt!!! But it has caused me to reflect on Birthdays over the years. My first memory of a birthday party was at some point in time when I was a little girl and classmates were invited to my home. I only remember being in total awe (evidently my mom planned it for me) when these kids from school showed up. I think only one boy came. I don't remember ever having another party like that. Mostly it was just family, but there was always a cake for us and at least one gift to open. We always had ice cream as we had a cow and dad made ice cream a lot for us.

We have lots of pictures of the Mr. and his brothers and cousins with birthday cakes and candles. Just a bunch of hick kids in overalls and blue jeans and bare feet, but his mother also made sure that birthdays were special days.

Our two children were as different about birthdays as two kids could be. Mike had lots of birthday parties and was always ready for a party...especially when he was a teenager and it didn't have to be a birthday party. If there was a party....he was there it seemed. Erica hated birthday parties. What mother doesn't want to pamper and dress up her little girl? Her grandmother bought her the cutest dresses when she was little and I got away with it 'til she started school. We didn't see her legs after that until 8th grade graduation. We had a slumber party for her when she first started school and she hated it! The girls fought and wanted to go home.....not a pretty scene. She wouldn't even let me take cupcakes to school for her birthday. She didn't want anyone to know it was her birthday. (Now she calls me every year on her birthday to thank me for giving birth to her.)

The Mr. threw me a surprise birthday party one year and he invited my co-workers to have dinner at the Hotel Wolf and it was a wonderful birthday. He had help from a friend and we had a huge cake. Great fun!!

I love birthdays!!! I plan to have a lot more of them!!

~ "Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that the people who have the most LIVE THE LONGEST."----Larry Lorenzoni

Tools of the Trade

Tuesday was my first quilt class and there were two other women and a man in the class. I was so relieved to find that the instructor was relaxed and open to the creativity students. Although she used precise directions and demonstrations, she encouraged experimentation with fabrics and I found that she made the class a fun experience. The tools, a cutting mat, rotary cutter and ruler and how to use each was clearly demonstrated. Sooooo....from those previous fabrics I showed, I cut 3 1/4" strips from both the light and dark fabrics. Then they were stitched with exactly 1/4 inch seams in strips of 3 lights, then 3 darks.
Here is the 1/4 inch seam. This has always
been a puzzle to me...but with "teachers" help, we measured on the ruler so that the needle touched the 1/4 in line, and drew a mark along the edge of the ruler on a piece of masking tape which had previously been laid down on the machine. Simple! That is as long as the fabric is fed so that the line is on the edge of the fabric. Then we stitched 3 pieces of fabric together, pressed the seams and were ready for the next step. More to follow!!

Today, the Mr. and I worked at painting the outside of the abode. We battled the wind, but the temperature was moderate so at least the
paint didn't freeze. I will try to get a picture tomorrow. We got really brave I think in choosing the colors for the exterior. We chose a light olive for the main color, a mossy green for the trim and a reddish brown for the accent.

The trees are turning and this year we have so many trees with leaves on still as late as it is. Usually we have had a couple of major snow storms and quite often the trees don't get a chance to turn colors. The heavy cold snow simply causes them to fall.

This post may be a little dull reading, but I really want to document this quilt project and will post something a little different next time. Thanks for hangin' in there.

~"Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused."....
Anonymous (That's me!)

Quilting

Look at this stash! I signed up for a real quilt class and these are the fabrics I have chosen, with of course, the experts pointing me in the right direction. The quilt pattern is "Venetian Tiles" and I had to choose 15 darks and at least 6 lights. I needed a break between paint jobs. I will continue to document this project and have my first class this week. Wish me luck!

I did a little "googling" and found a lot of information on Pawnee Buttes (Colorado) and used those 3 key words for my search. Rather than put a link here, check it out if you like. It has become a real spot of interest apparently and we thought it was just a secret place our Dad used to take us!!!

Today is Twyla's birthday...Happy Birthday Girl!! We got snow finally today and as I compose this little bit of twitter it must really be nasty on the summit between Laramie and Cheyenne as the scanner is on and the WHP is really busy with accidents.

I spoke with a couple of dear friends this week. Moving has put a little distance between old friends, but we will remain dear friends and will cry and laugh together. There are others I need to call and will eventually get that done. If you have a friend to call...do it...cry and laugh together.

~ "Laughter is the shortest distane between two people."...Victor Borge

Pinto

Being from a very western community, we have lots of livestock, lots of horses etc. Some areas of town (I think we are about 53,000 pop.) are apparently grandfathered in or like us, not in the city limits. Yep, we are in the county! So you can see pastures with horses near the mall. I don't know the difference between a paint or a pinto. Surely there is one, but all of my life, the words have been used to describe a spotted horse. This shouldn't be confused with an Appaloosa which can also be spotted. That is what the ol' homestead looks like. It has been scraped, caulked and primed in spots. If the weather holds, the Mr. may get the rest of the primer on tomorrow. We took the day off to take care of some business. We will probably regret that when the snow arrives this weekend. Here you can vote early, we registered last week, but weren't prepared to vote that day, so we arranged for ballots to be mailed today. We also got flu shots, bought 10 gallons of paint, got birthday cards, (had lunch), found the Mr's location for pool league tonight and hit the grocery store. That took the better part of the day. I will start painting on the livingroom and hallway tomorrow. In yesterday's local paper was an article about Pawnee Buttes. It is really in Colorado and I should have taken the time to put a link here. Maybe I will do that another time. It brought back so many fond memories of our father. He used to take us on trips to the prairie in northeastern Colorado as that was where he spent a lot of his younger days. He was quite an educator, if you were interested in the plains and the history of the early pioneers. I only wish I could remember more of his stories. I know that as a teenager and during the great depression, he spent time with his sister's family there on the drylands. There was no work for most and he would tell us about the jackrabbits and cottontails that he hunted so that they would have food. Another time he told of the same sister's child who died as a result of a rattlesnake bite. They had so far to go to a Dr. that by horse and buggy, they couldn't get her to town in time. Times were difficult, and as we face our current economic situation, I can't help but reflect on some of those tales and draw from the strength of our parents and grandparents. The will to survive tough times runs in my blood and I know that what we need and what we think we need are two very different things.

~"What we need are more people who specialize in the impossible."....Theodore Roethke

Decisions

I don't think I posted the finished vintage chair and glider that I finally finished just before the move so here it is and if I did....sorry. What can I say-I'm getting old and forgetful. I am finding it a great excuse, the getting old part. My new neighbor, Ingrid, is 79 and really struggling with health problems. She has such a sense of humor though and when I ask her how she is, she just replies "I can't breath and my bones are falling apart, but other than that, I can't complain." I can still breath and my bones are not too bad, but the memory thing ....I am not sure about. We are needing to get new carpeting in the entire house, but for now are doing the living room, guest and master bedroom and hallway. These rooms are big and that is a lot of carpet and making the decision on type and color are almost overwhelming. In addition, we are starting to get the primer on the exterior. The Mr. has used about 9 tubes of caulking and we bought more today. It has been so time consuming to scrape and caulk for the Mr. and the house is so tall on half of it that this is a major project. Will post pictures later. I have to make decisions now on paint for the interior, based on the carpet I choose and wallpaper for the wall that I am stripping...still. This about day 6 I think and I am hoping to be finished tomorrow with that project. Yuk!! Who puts wallpaper on an unpainted, un-primed wall. We have however made a decision on the exterior paint colors, if we ever get to that point and really, I shouldn't say "we" as the Mr. has been doing that. This post is just to let all know that we are still alive, haven't had the time to call anyone this week, but please be sure that we think of you.

Home

Home......"Home at last". Part of a quote from Thomas Wood. The Mr. and I are working at making this abode our home. Some call us 'flippers', and it may seem to those who know us well that we have done that in the past. It keeps us busy. We buy at a good price and have been fortunate to make a profit on our sales, but really I think it is time to stop. The Mr. has spent the better part of the week scraping, caulking and priming the exterior of the house on a tall, tall ladder when necessary. We still have to pick our colors for the final coat, but that is still a week or so away, providing the weather holds. I began stripping this ONE wall of paper and have discovered that this is original to the home, no sizing or paint behind this wall and the paper is so old and brittle that what you see is the result of 3 hours work. It will take me an eternity to finish this and I have removed LOTS of wallpaper in the past. Nothing compares to this!!! UGLY
We also need carpet and that will be on this week's agenda....to price carpet. There are always those incidentals...in stripping wallpaper from the guest bedroom (balloons), I moved the ladder, and a plastic water bottle for spraying fell off hitting my glasses which couldn't be repaired. So I had to fork out over $400.00 for an eye exam and new glasses. Gorilla tape held them together until I could find an old pair to wear for now. I have finished staining the woodwork and the interior doors. They are beautiful now!!! They were scratched and are all 2 over 4 paneled (maple I think). Paint on the walls will complete this makeover for the fall. Next spring the yard will be a priority. Pictures of the doors will be posted soon as well as this dining room remake. We have had the most glorious weather as the first day of fall has come and gone. It still is in the 70's and the trees are beginning to turn and the nights and mornings are a little cooler. I spoke with an older lady tonight about the beautiful evening and sunset, as I was waiting for a friend and she said "yes, why would you live anywhere else". She had been here for 50 years. We are living to turn this house into our home and....
~It takes a heap o' living to make a house a home!~ Edgar A Guest

Winter around the corner

No picture today...will try to get busy and add one soon. We went over the Snowy Range to Saratoga to get our camp trailer today. It was beautiful and the aspen are beginning to turn. Also the chokecherries are ripe and still some left after a heavy picking season. I am not in a position to be making any jelly so we are not picking chokecherries. Coming back home this afternoon it got a little chilly on top and the temp dropped to 39 degrees with a little rain turning into sleet. No moose or wildlife was seen today. This is the hunting season here in Wyoming and the fashion of the day now is camouflage in every shade and pattern available from the big hunting supply store. In addition, all of the fancy "must have " equipment to aid in the capture of the game of choice is dusted off and pulled out for all to see. Trucks with big tires and engines pulling fancy trailers, some with camping trailers you could live in all year, some loaded with four wheeler ATVs and some with horses, all parading to favorite campsites. This is a big deal here!!! I remember when my dad went after the annual deer to fill our freezer, he packed a sack lunch with a thermos of coffee, headed out in an old pickup with mom in tow and was back in the afternoon with the "meat". When the Mr. and I first started to hunt for elk, we went with a week's worth of food, gas, fuel for the camp stove and camped with a party of several other friends and it became a real social occasion, hunting during the day and sitting around the campfire at night. As our son grew, he too joined the sport with all the experience of the Mr. as a teacher and that first kill is always a bit traumatic. Then came the camp trailers and a much softer and warmer place to stay. Still it was a fun experience and as father time creeps up on us, it has become for us merely a spectator sport. We "watch" the hunters parade down the road. We are amazed at all of the fancy equipment hunters have gathered up and know they must be having a ball, and the youngsters are excited, taking off a day or two from school for that right of passage the first hunt. This will continue here for several weeks and then the bows, arrows, guns, gear and fashionable clothing will be put away until next hunting season. We will be watching for next year's parade.

Pot O' Gold

It has been one week since we moved into "our new digs" and it has rained a good deal this past few days.  But with the rain, comes the rainbow.  Spectacular was this one this afternoon as it made a complete double rainbow from horizon to horizon.  The colors were so brilliant and the picture doesn't do it justice.  If I had not been so tired, I would have looked for the pot of gold.  (I am sure it was just over the hill...He! He!) As we continue to unload boxes and boxes and more boxes, we wonder where we will put everything.  This is our 7th home purchase and it seems that we accumulate more as time goes on.  Everyone our age is downsizing and we do just the opposite I believe.  The Mr. has been able to make arrangements to get on a pool team already and his table is up and getting a work-out when he has time.  We have made numerous trips to the big box hardware store for things like drapery hardware, screws, brackets of all sorts etc.  The critters are settled in and it was about four days before the skinny bitch Hildy decided we were staying.  She kept going outside and would sit by the pickup waiting to get in and go "home".  Poor thing.  The beagle made a great adjustment and the cat, who was my worst worry, adapted best I believe.  He has even been outside to explore and found lots of new places to hide. He did make a lot of noise during the ride over the mountain...not a happy traveler. Both dogs had been kenneled for about a week while we were moving and closing etc.  When we picked them up and headed over here, you can see how glad to be in their truck they were. They just conked out cold. 
I am so behind on my communication with everyone and have lots of contacts to make yet...but all in good time. Tomorrow  we will trek to the Farmer's market here at the old depot and I am anxious to see what is available. We have already found such an abundance of fresh fruit and produce available.  We will miss the small-town atmosphere of Saratoga, but have lots to look forward to here.  We have met a few of our neighbors already and they have welcomed us into the neighborhood and that is a good thing.  So until I find that pot of gold, I will just keep plugging away.  

'Til we meet again

Well, this has been an historic day hasn't it? John McCain announced that Sara "Baracuda" will be his running mate. Alaska must be so proud of their Governor. As I reflect on this, I realize that I have lived to see a great deal of history in my short life. I remember when the word "God" was added to the Pledge of Allegiance. It wasn't always there. I remember when our first launch into space took place. (Our bus driver had us all sing "God Bless America".) I remember exactly where I was when John F. Kennedy was assassinated. That was about the same time the company I worked for had the first computer. It took up an entire room. The bookkeeping department had a calculator that was so large it was on a table that was wheeled around. I remember my first "transister" radio...what a thrill. I could carry it with me the way people carry IPODS now. So much for reflection. I plan to see a lot more history take place.

As summer will soon give way to fall, the picture is of the creek we camped near this summer and in which the Mr. pans for those few flecks of sparkling gold. The flowers will be gone and the stream icy, and the meadows and valleys covered with snow. We had a wonderful time camping and look forward to next year and more adventures. This will probably be my last post for a while. The movers will be here in a few days and it will no doubt take us a while to get settled enough to be back on line. Keep checking on me though as I WILL BE BACK!
"Happy Trails to You, 'Til We Meet Again!

Clean-up

Remember when you were a kid and were told to clean up your room? I shared a room with two sisters and a brother for a time and then got my own room, such as it was. It was an addition to the back door which included a porch of sorts. Mom did her washing there on an old wringer machine, and our deep freezer was there and we did the separating of milk and cream on that old contraption of a separator. A small room which became my bedroom was there also and the enclosure to the cellar was also part of that addition. Daddy did it all with his own two hands and the house still stands there as it did those many years ago. But since my room was so small, there wasn't much to clean when the time came. However, I remember going through that learning process with my two kiddos. One kept a fairly neat room and I finally learned to close the door on the other. The pile of clothes on the floor was very clearly not "dirty". I was told it was in various stages of cleanliness. I learned!! Anyway, I am cleaning up my folder of photos so the posted pics for a few posts might not be pertinent to the blog. Above is my Chocolate Rudbeckia...depending on the light, sometimes more chocolate than orange. The other photo is of a squirrel the beagle found up a tree and couldn't entice down. Look closely--it really is there! The other clean-up is the one taking place as we pack for our move. When you move every 4 years or so, it would seem that excess baggage would be eliminated. Not so! I swear that I accumulate more junk than anyone. We have sorted, and deliberated about treasures to the point of confusion. As the deadline to be out nears, it has become apparent that our children, when we are gone to the happy hunting ground, will be in charge of the decision to pitch or keep. Until then, we will keep on lugging around our excess baggage and forget about the cleaning up process. It is all in various stages of necessity or cleanliness! Whatever!

Not the Black Dahlia

One of my very favorite movies is the Black Dahlia...the original, not the re-make. The story of the investigation done much later is even better. The man doing the investigation discovers that it was probably his own father, a Dr. who committed the murder. I don't remember names or dates, but if you get a chance do some investigating of your own, check it out. My dahlias are not black, but I am so thrilled with them that I just had to post these pics. The single pink one is nearly 9" across. I am afraid that I won't be able to get to the bulbs before I move, but I am going to give it my best. We have begun the packing process and my feet hurt! We had a visit from my nephew and his wife and little girl yesterday. What a joy that baby was! A real sweetie. They live in Alaska and flew down for his grandfather's 80th birthday. We went to dinner and they left for a road adventure on their way back to Colorado.
This blog is going to suffer I fear until I can get moved and back up on line so if you find me away for a few days after the 1st of the month, hang in there....I will be back. We will miss our neighbors and friends here, but this is just another marvelous adventure and life goes on.

Where the deer and the Moose (?) play

Really it is supposed to be the deer and the antelope play isn't it? I promised the picture of the moose and the mama deer with baby. There were twins, but the other twin was still to the right of these and the other moose was to the left. Click on the picture for a larger image.
When the first hunting permits were issued here several years ago and not that long ago, the moose were just beginning to be sighted here. I remember in early 2000 there were only 5 permits issued and the population has increased significantly although I am not sure of the numbers. Having come from a hunting family and now with Wyoming depending on this income from residents and so many out of state hunters, it has become a way of life here. These are always awesome to see in the wild, but as with 4-H critters who are raised as pets, eventually some of them become part of the food chain. A bitter sweet reality.
I keep finding more pictures in my folder of these lady bug bowling balls. This shows how we secured the antennae with rock hard putty. Then the putty was painted black to match the ball. You may be getting bored but it's my blog!!!
I went to lunch with my dear friend, Ginger today and because we have become cheap in our old age (you're not old Ginger, just me), we decided a few weeks ago to pack a lunch and meet in the park rather than spend money for a lunch we could provide ourselves. It has been very relaxing to picnic by the river and there is no one to overhear our gossip, I mean conversation.
Every day brings about another episode in our home moving process. Today we received more paperwork which we needed to forward on and as each day passes, things look more and more like the end is in sight. The problem is that we haven't started to pack and in the event that it all falls apart near the end (which is when it will happen if it does), I don't want to have to unpack everything. This is the sixth home we have sold and with the current home foreclosure situation nationwide, everyone in the business is taking greater precautions and requiring more information. Of course, this is as it should have been anyway. However, the others home sales were each different so this is just another adventure in life's journey. I do realize that I am getting older each time I make another move which makes the moves a little more difficult.

~We could certainly slow the aging process down if it had to work it's way through Congress. -
Will Rogers

Summer joys

I hope you don't get tired of my flower and garden pictures. Erica posted a picture a few weeks ago of Lulu, her assistant seamstress and as you can see, I also have a very dedicated tailor's assistant. Whatever in the world attracts the feline to the sewing table is beyond me, but every cat that I have belonged to (they pick you) has loved the paper patterns, the fascination of the moving needle and the soft fabric on which to nap. Really, it can be a nuisance and I always fear piercing a paw with the needle. Hojo took this opportunity to take a nap.
We were in Cheyenne yesterday to deliver more paperwork toward the purchase of our house.
We are not getting too excited as we know from experience that it may not take place. We have had the inspection here though so some things are happening. The other picture was taken near North Spring Creek when we were out camping last time is of shooting stars. Mother Nature at her best!! I love summer and am not looking forward to winter.
Centennial Wyoming, a small mountain town as you enter the Snowies, has a wonderful eating establishment known as the Corral. We stopped yesterday evening for a Buffalo burger and onion rings. This was a real treat for the palate. The new proprietors have had the place since December and it was our first stop this summer. Not a mistake!! As we continued along the winding mt. road we happened upon a pair of bull moose and as we were taking snaps, a doe deer and twin fawns entered the little grassy clearing and we were able to get a picture of the doe, one fawn and one bull in the frame. Will post them next and keep you posted on our continuing adventures of home progress.

Lady Bug as promised

There will be more of the lady bug as I couldn't get enough of the way she looks in the garden. The antennae don't show up well in this picture, but they are soooo cute!! Also the lilies are such a dark color and Erica.....the bee balm you bought me last year is just really spectacular. My garden is such a delight this summer.
Mother Nature has been good to me and I have many more clips
so stay tuned.


We are packing up again to go camping. Our friends are already down there and this year we are really prepared in the event that we have another bear encounter. We have the dogs, which were absolutely not the least bit help as they didn't even see the bear walking up the road toward us, and we have bear spray. I Guess that is actually pepper spray and we have heavy duty ammunition ...real stuff!!! After watching the evening news and seeing how many incidents have occurred this year in the rocky mountain region it is apparent that they are getting bolder and bolder. Tonight we saw film of an intruder who went into a kitchen and ate shrimp from a freezer and chocolate chips from a closet. At least that bruin had good taste. So many of our campgrounds have been closed because of the beetle kill and it is so sad. It will only continue to get worse until our mature forests are gone. We will camp as long as we are able.

The hummers have been late this summer. My feeders have been devoured by the finches but now that my bee balm is blooming, they are starting to show up. My garden Guru, Bonnie told me that bit of information and darned if she wasn't right! So, Erica, thank you so much for the bee balm.

Lady Bug, Lady Bug, Fly Away Home

As heavy as these bowling balls are this lady bug ain't flyin' nowhere! These are a few of the steps we took to get these hummers done. We took contact paper and masked off the head.

All 5 look a little weird and the one at the back was our experiment as we had no pattern.
We drew circles and cut them out. Try removing the backing from 35-40 little dots of contact paper!
This shows the spraying process and next post will show the finished bugs.
Today I was invited to go into town and meet with some friends at the ice cream shop. One of our ol' buddies who deserted us last year for the warmth and beauty of retirement life in Tuscon came through to visit. What a great visit we had. We miss you Nancy, but know you are having a great life there. (The ice cream was pretty yummy too!) Our realtor called to show the house as I had dirty dishes in the sink, banana bread in the oven and laundry in both the washer and dryer and was putting lunch on the table. The Mr. and I rallied and got most of the house presentable and the banana bread came out of the oven to make the house smell good. Then as I was still in at the ice cream shop, they called and wanted to see it again at 4:30. This time, the Mr. was on his own, but did a great job! We have been so busy that I meet myself coming and going. Will keep you posted but in the interim......

"I try to take one day at a time--but sometimes several days attack me at once."
~ Jennifer Unlimited

More glory from Mom nature

The pasture behind our fence at sunset can sometime be a glorious site if mother nature cooperates.

Today I went in to meet with my buddies and we jumped in with both feet to transform bowling balls into ladybugs for the garden. I have one more snap to take before posting the pictures, but not really knowing what we were doing and with a vague idea of what was to be....it was a success!

More to follow!!!

"Nature, like a kind and smiling mother, lends herself to our dreams and cherishes our fancies."
~ Victor Hgo

Catch-up

I feel as if I have been on that Merry-Go-Round again and I need to get off!!! As a child I loved the carousel horses. Living in rural Colorado, the only chance we ever got to ride was the 4th of July when the carnival came to Greeley. What fun!!! Our Dad was so good about taking us and he loved the Ferris wheel. The best was when it stopped with us on the top and he would rock and rock that chair. My past week was busy and the one coming up is even busier. Time zips by of course, but it all happens at once in a whirlwind. Guess I will survive, but I may be dizzy!

We went camping this past week and took our new camper trailer for its maiden voyage. It was wonderful.

Anyway, I am trying to catch-up on this blog. Below is the quilt that I started and posted pics this past spring. Finally, I finished it. Believe me it was a challenge to stipple this large project and teaching myself with a book I found at a yard sale, was an experience. After making probably every mistake possible, I figured out that certain needles work better, certain threads work better (that was the biggest discovery). Don't anybody look at the back, but by the time I got to the border, I felt as if I had gotten that hang of it. I am ready now to move on to more!!

I also mentioned that I was working on these vintage metal lawn chair projects. This shows the primered seats and frames as well as the color that I chose for the seats. Some of the parts for the glider were in need of replacement and the Mr. will fabricate them for me as he is so very talented. I have only had these for about 7 years and bartered a chest of drawers for the two pieces. Personally, I think I got the best of the deal.


Thar's gold in them thar hills! Well, the Mr. is convinced and our skinny bitch, Hildy always spends the entire time with him in the water. This stream was cold and she shivers the entire time he is panning. Why hypothermia doesn't do her in I will never know. Click on the photo and you will get a better view of the Wyoming Indian Paintbrush in full bloom. The wildflowers were spectacular and I have more to post. That will be more of my CATCH-UP. I am off this week to transform bowling balls into lady bugs so stay tuned.

"When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment."
~Georgia O'Keefe

Amazing technology

These pictures are of the re-decking job the Mr. did. I guess I didn't get a final photo of the hand rail. The old decking was really in bad shape!!














An update on the bluebirds!! After the first little ones left the nest, mama began adding twigs to the old nest and invited the NEW Mr. to join her. They have been very intently watching the back yard and I have had to capture HOJO the pretty boy cat, nearly every morning. He insists on tormenting them!! One morning, in fact it was the 4th of July, he surprised skinny bitch Hildy with a ground squirrel carefully placed belly up in her water dish. He is totally indiscriminate in his search for prey.

Now as we await the person or persons who will be unable to resist our home as theirs, we have continued to do our own search. After seeing about 10 houses in about 5 hours, we were pretty confused at the end of the day last Wed. We have a few criteria and one is price of course. Also on our list is RV parking and room for the MR's pool table. Being in the older generation, it would be nice to find a one-level ranch. The amazing technology now is that we have Google Earth. This allows us to literally fly at our computer to any home on the market and see if there is RV parking for instance, or if there is alley access or if there is a railroad near. AMAZING!! Several will be on our keep list and hope that we are not moving as the snowflakes fly. Summer is the best time here in WY as the evenings cool way down and the days are not so very hot. The river is still up so the floaters and fishermen are happy and the baby antelope and deer are starting to be seen as we travel along the prairie roads. The bachelor buck deer are in the velvet as their antlers are beginning to grow and they seek shade in many front yards here in town during the heat of the day.

I am re-doing a set of vintage metal lawn furniture from the 50's. Both the chair and glider had many, many, coats of paint on them and not having access to a sand blaster or powder coating establishment, I am doing it the old fashioned way and not too particular at that. Will post the progress!!

"My next house will have no kitchen, just vending machines." - unknown

Flippers, flowers, etc.

At left is a water iris which is blooming in our pond of green pea soup. However ugly it is, the plants and the fish seem to flourish. The fourth of July here was a beautiful and we took ourselves downtown, along with friends, to view the parade and the shoot-out which is always staged at noon on the 4th on the main street of this little western town. It is really a melodrama of sorts with saloon "floosies" smacking the local men during the parade with lipstick kisses and flirting with all. Then there is gunfire and always a villain and a hero who saves the day. Fireworks follow in the evening and we are fortunate to have an anonymous person who is very generous to the residents of this little western town by donating these. We took a trip in the afternoon to the mountains to see how much snow was still there and discovered that we would have no trouble getting to the area where we normally camp. Now to the etc. part of this blog. For those of you who haven't heard directly from us or indirectly from others, we have our home listed for sale. We have been looking at real estate in Cheyenne and depending on our market, we may be moving.

One evening not so long ago, I couldn't resist snapping the sunset. We have such pretty ones here in the west. Happy trails!!