Moose on the lick!

We drove over the Snowy Range yesterday and saw this young moose at a salt lick. They look so clumsy with their skinny legs. We have a lot of snow on top but not so much lower on the mountain. Everything was so pretty! The Mr. is one of 4 boys living, and his brother Carl, paid us a visit all the way from Indiana this week. He is counting the months until retirement but hasn't decided where to land yet. Also my sister, Joan, who lives in Texas retired! I guess that makes us old, but I doubt that we will ever grow up! This is a shorter post than most but my summers are way too short to spend much of it at this ol' computer so I am signing off 'til a little later. Everyone have a safe and wonderful 4th as we celebrate again our independence and please don't take for granted your right to pursue happiness!!!

"The time to be happy is now. The place to be happy is here. The way to be happy is to make others so." ~ Robert G. Ingersoll

And life goes on

No pictures to post today, just an update on the bluebirds and life in general. Day before yesterday I woke up to all of the wonderful sounds of new life in my backyard. The robins have a distinct call and the blackbirds, both red wings and yellow heads are quite loud actually, even to the extent of being obnoxious. But the bluebirds I have been watching have a sweeter call. As I sat at my kitchen having that first cup of "java" to get my heart started, I noticed a flock of bluebirds at the fence. Two males and three females sitting on the cross rails bickering and fighting. This was unusual to observe and upon closer investigation, I discovered that they were new babies. They were trying their wings on the fence fluttering from the crossbars to the top and back to the gravel on the ground. Watching this was so much fun, but I did notice that they continued to "pick" on one little female. After about 45 minutes, they ventured further and further except for the little female who moved closer to the garage and sat alone in the sun for at least another two hours. Occasionally a male would come and torment her and she eventually flew to the ground, keeping the others at bay somewhat. Then "mom" came to entice her and she just wouldn't follow. I was so fearful that she would just die right there. Eventually, after "mom" kept trying to get her to fly, I walked up to her and clapped my hands. She flew away, but couldn't get enough elevation to land anywhere and ended up behind my iris near the garage. I knew she would have more cover there. Mom continued to keep a watchful eye. By noon, my dogs were out and I was sure my pretty boy cat would find her so I again tried to get her to fly. This time she flew over the fence and under our camper which is adjacent to two and a half empty lots covered with lots of grasses and sagebrush. Mom followed and I can only hope that she is OK. I did not see mom at the birdhouse and did not hear babies in the box but by evening, Mom was back at the box with food. She continued to bring food to the box all day yesterday and today. I have not ventured out to see if there are still babies in the box or not, but that devoted mom who lost her mate nearly two weeks ago, managed to raise at least 5 babies alone. The doves have a baby also. Merle, Pearl and Burl? They fly over several times a day. They no longer come to my pond, but my neighbors must be feeding them as they land in their back yard. The baby robins are so plentiful and they are so demanding! The nestlings out front escaped the nest this week and we have several families visiting the pond. They are messy! Another new baby has arrived in our block. My next door neighbor (we share a fence with spaces you could throw a cat through) has a new puppy. It appears to be an Australian shepherd or mix. What a cutie! It is using it's outdoor voice quite a bit.

I am having a yard sale this weekend and am discovering that I have been hauling a lot of baggage around for a lot of years. It is so difficult to part with "stuff". I shall close my eyes and pitch! I shall close my eyes and pitch! I shall close my eyes and pitch! Someone slap me if I don't please!!! It seems that when I decide to collect something there is no moderation. I go whole hog! I need to stop and get rid of this stuff.

"Keep to moderation. Keep the end in view. Follow nature." ~ Lucan

Mother Nature can be cruel

This picture shows the remains of the snowstorm (especially on the deck in progress), which surprised us yesterday morn. Pleas note the bluebird box on the back fence. We have a family of bluebirds living there and mom and dad were so very diligently bringing insects to the babies until day before yesterday. Since we are re-decking this surface, the steps down have been temporarily removed. The beagle went out early before daylight and couldn't get back up on the deck very well. Anyway, in my attempt to get her back in, my beautiful cat got out. In spite of the fact that he is "pretty", he is quite a hunter. As soon as I got up again, and he had only been out 2 hours, I suspected that the bluebird family was in trouble. I only saw "mom" feeding the babies and the wind was blowing so violently that she was fighting it constantly. The Mr. and I started to search the property for evidence and in the flowerbed near the back deck we discovered both a mouse and remains of Daddy bluebird. (The mouse was evidently an attempt to prove to me that he was still somewhat useful despite his appetite for fowl.) Now comes the mother nature part. In spite of the fact that we have them for companions, cats by nature are hunters. This can be cruel, but it is the truth. Within a few hours of the discovery, and our constant watching her to see if she could keep up with the feeding schedule alone, we noticed another male emerge upon the scene. He became quite attentive to her as she continued to search for food for the babies and fight the wind. He perched on the fence and even peeked into the house, but his quest for her attention continued. We were hoping that he might help her hunt and feed the babies. After 3 days, she is still managing to keep some of the babies at least fed and keep him interested also. (The Mr. peeked in the box when she was gone on the first day and to our surprise, the babies are quite large, fully feathered and there are 4 or 5 of them. We do hope that Mom can keep up the pace as she must be totally exhausted! Our cat is confined to the house for a while now hopefully.

Since it is the first of June, we started to watch for baby antelope and saw our first two yesterday and they were tiny, probably born within hours.




"All gardeners live in beautiful places because they make them so." ~ Victor Hugo

Back from Vacation

We are back in Wyoming and it feels like winter still! I have no pictures to post as our camera decided to expire the morning we left. We did, however, buy a new one after we arrived in Sunny CA, but I still don't quite have the hang of it yet and really haven't had time to work with it...but soon! The Mr. was able to play a lot of pool....didn't get in the money, but did play with his team in a hard luck tournament for 12 solid hours on Thursday. That was their goal. We didn't win any money in Vegas, but did provide entertainment for the Magic show at the Comedy Club at the Riviera. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, let them seat you in the very front by the stage!!! We were a little late getting there and were forced to sit up front. BIG MISTAKE! We both ended up on stage and you have so many bright lights shining in your face that you can't see the audience. That is all you need to know.

The trip from there to Mike's was uneventful, but by that evening, I had what I thought was an allergy and by the time I got home, I am convinced that I had actually contracted a bug of sorts. There were SO MANY people in Vegas. What a rat race! We had a great visit with our kids, Mike, Maggie and Lexi. Food was wonderful and although the time was shorter than we would have liked, Mike and Maggie went back to work on Monday so we left on Tuesday a.m. Elko was our destination for the first night on the road and we woke up to rain, followed by some traces of snow on the trip but mostly rain all day long. It is still in the 30's at night here. Global warming? I still don't have flowers in my pots and boxes. Beagle Butt and Skinny Bitch were glad to be rescued from the boarding kennel (although it is a wonderful facility for this area). We have lots of work ahead and my yard is such a mess! Blooms did greet me however in the back yard and the deer didn't completely devour my flowers out front. I need to work on my quilts, but I am not sure if I am getting the hang of the stippling yet. Need to check with someone who is smarter than I am.

"We have not inherited the earth from our fathers. We are borrowing it from our children."
~Native American Saying.