Elk

 This is our back yard in a matter of speaking.  We border the Silver Spur ranch which is a large ranch with holdings in several states.  In the background, the trees border the North Platte river and in the foreground, the barbed wire fence with bluebird house is the edge of our property.  Our neighbor and good friend called yesterday to let us know that this herd was headed our way.  This is only a small portion of the heard and as you can see they are 3 and 4 abreast. We watched them cross the highway and travel across the wide open prairie in a northwesterly direction. I took the picture from my back door.  Awesome!!!

 Just cannot resist posting pictures of the girl above.  She climbs into any spot to nap...she hopped up into an old radio cabinet where I display many of my quilts a few days ago, but I didn't get a snap of it and of course below more of the magnificent sunsets.  This would have been the backdrop for the elk herd as they traversed west had it been later in the day.

I think we are supposed to get much more snow today and the wind sounds like a freight train.  With the garden catalogs coming, I can't think of planting anything yet.  I try to go to lunch once a week with a friend here and we have been going to Riverside, which is about10 miles south of here.  There are 2 eating establishments there, both of which are rustic...the Bear Trap is where we eat.  Both are bar/cafe's as I would describe them and if you blink, you will miss the town completely when you drive through.  The customers are mostly locals--ranchers and a few truck drivers who wander in and you will have to stop and pet the 3 or 4 dogs that wander in from the bar.  This is Wyoming.  Some of the establishments here have a store pet and a few years ago almost all did.  Tula, a dachshund who was a store dog in a shop where I worked once, was a regular attraction and all who came in were greeted with enthusiasm.  Some do-gooder from back east complained about this once here as I remember and some dogs disappeared from the shops, but we welcome the furkids.  But back to the story...the food is wonderful at either place and you can back up the fire and stay as long as you like.

Winter happenings

 I woke up to a small amount of snow covering the prairie here.  It is cold...only 18 degrees, but not as cold as the rest of the nation in places.  Above, this is what I woke up to yesterday morning.  These two little bucks just outside my living room window, doing a little sparing between bites of my lawn. The sun was just rising and as I sat in my chair next to Coalette who had crawled into my sewing basket for a short nap, I was thankful to be enjoying more critter activity.  In town there are deer that live there all year and you may have to stop to let them cross the street any place there.  The big bucks will nap in the shade of a tree and they are spectacular when the antlers are in velvet.  We only get the deer out here in the winter.  Venison anyone?  I think not!

   The Mr. and his friend and neighbor went for a drive yesterday into Colorado for lotto tickets and lunch and it was a three hour block of time for me to get this quilt finally sandwiched so that I can begin to quilt it.  First the backing was stretched and taped to the floor (for lack of a larger surface like a table...you improvise and blue painter's tape worked great).  The next picture shows the sandwich with batting and the quilt top.  It was then pinned to keep the 3 layers in place and rolled up from both sides to prepare to quilt.  I hope to get started on it soon, but that took 2 hours.  When my friend and I go for the day, we spend all day and she called when the guys got back wondering why the guys were gone only 3 hours.  She was doing similar work and was looking forward to some "me" time without her Mr.  She works still during the week at a job 50 miles away, but I am fortunate to be over that daily grind and time away from cooking, laundry, housework is precious when you don't have much of it. 

When we girls go for an out of town jaunt, we always hit a big flea market and some antique shops and since it is a two hour drive for us, by the time we "touch everything" at the flea market, we have spent 3 hours and our day is more than half over.  The guys just don't need to touch everything unless they get to a ranch supply or a big box improvement store and where they went yesterday, neither place existed.  Winters are long here and the wind blows constantly it seems, but the peace and quiet and time to enjoy doing nothing without guilt are well worth it in the winter of my life.  I have a sister not much younger than me, who in the winter of her life is working to keep a different type of retirement.  She has many different animals and lots of them...all kinds of fowl, rabbits, goats, dogs, cats, and more and with that, life and death happen every day it seems.  Their winter has been cold for the south and it is a struggle to feed and keep water for them thawed in the elements.  Chores must be done morning and night, critters escape and they deal with the threat of other animals killing to survive.  She lives out in the country also, but unlike her, I get my eggs from my neighbor.  As children, we had to gather eggs and chickens still lay eggs in the winter time.  I hated gathering eggs and would make her get the eggs as I took a stick and shooed the chickens away from the nest...I always got pecked if I didn't.  It is a healthier life when you raise your own food but keeping critters is a lot of work, especially in the winter.  But our daddy, rest his soul, would approve.  It is how we were raised. 

Critters

 Late afternoon brought the deer into the back yard to graze.  This buck found grass on our leach field to use as his supper and in addition, his buddies joined in the feast.  They have only started to venture this close to the house as they search for food this winter.  I counted 15 in this herd, 6 of which were bucks like this fellow.  A couple of does along with their chubby fawns lingered longer and even settled down for a quick nap before I had to let the dogs out into the yard after their supper. 

 I rise early every morning, because early day is my favorite time and because it has always been a way of life for me.  As a child, we had chores to do and had to catch the school bus mostly in the dark. In addition, our dad was always up early and we spent time together as we did chores and had breakfast with him after chores were done.  I still cherish the couple of hours early before the real day begins for me.  However, my critters are another story.  They sleep now in the laundry room and powder room area above, but when they hear me rise and open the baby gate, and hurry out to potty, they look forward to going back to sleep.  Roger above rushes back to his bed and Hildy and Spencer snuggle up on the couch.

 Only the cat greets the new day with enthusiasm.  I attempted to change the bedding yesterday and she decided to challenge me to finish the project with her help. She made herself a nest in the sheets and I just had to walk away until she got bored with her little game.  I am sporting new wounds where she won the next battle yesterday as she got herself wound up in the thread in my sewing machine. 

With the new year upon us, and the years ahead shrinking for us baby boomers, I have taken note of all of the unfinished projects I have accumulated.  My goal is not to leave this earth with a lot of half-done quilts and other crafty, artsy stuff. I started to make a list of those things I wanted to finish and guess what?  If I live to be 115 (Heaven forbid), I will not get this done.  Plus I ran out of lines on the dang paper.  I need one of those BIG CHIEF tablets.  Do they make them any longer?  And if I embark upon that task, where do I start?  I couldn't decide so I have started new projects instead.  I will have to start getting up earlier. 

Summer projects

 I have the main bodies of two bunnies and two moose completed....still need some small details.  I also need one more bunny and at least two bears.  These will be placed face down on clear contact paper, placed in the bottom of a form coated with petroleum jelly, and covered with cement.  There is a lot more to the project...but that will come later.

I need to grind more on the moose legs as they are a bit chubby and the horns....well they are a bit more complex.  I will finish the bears and other bunny first.  I hope to recruit one of the girls to help and I promise to feed her.  Hopefully when the weather gets better .

I have been drawn to the sewing machine the past couple of days.  It has been a learning experience and I was fortunate to have the Mr. here to help pull the wheel off with some equipment he had so that we could clean it.  My hands looked like a mechanic's...old dirty greasy grime on them.  After all it appeared to have 100 years of accumulated gunk on it.  Oil, steel wool, tooth brushes and rags and some stupidity along the way in that I broke the belt after the Mr. put it on, added to my education.  We have since ordered a new belt and I have yet to tackle the bobbin.  It has been a satisfying experience to say the least...I am learning that these old machines are pretty straight forward in their construction and they can be taken apart and put back together again unlike the new machines.

"Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you. ~ Aldous Huxley

Another Score!

 I have a friend with whom I try to have lunch once a week. She has some health issues, but don't we all. She is one of those people that allows me to be myself, and she understands that I can be goofy sometimes.  So when we were there last week, this is the machine that just screamed "take me home please!".  Can you have too many sewing machines?  And what becomes of these treasures when you go to your happy hunting grounds?  Luckily I have a daughter who sews and will probably appreciate these as goofily (that's not a real word) as I do.  This makes #6 and really they all have a different purpose.  I have a serger, for serging.  I have a featherweight for traveling light to classes.  I have a heavy duty straight stitch for quilting, leatherwork etc.  I have a new machine that also embroiders for embroidering and zig zagging.  I have a Singer for back-up and now I have a treadle for when the electricity goes out?  Maybe.  It is a 1917 White Rotary.  But although the actual machines are pretty readily available, the cabinets are not. 

 This is a little bit of the detail of gold leafing, however, from the pic above, you can see that the machine has lost most of this leafing.  It is filthy and I think it was owned by only one family from the information I received.  So I got on line and found some information about cleaning it and the Mr. was able to download a manual as these are available also.  The belt needs to be put on and perhaps replaced.  Did you know they are leather?  I did not.  Did you know that they still manufacture these treadle machines?  The Amish still use them.

The cabinet most intrigued me.  In my mind, it a work of art.  Although the wood is very dry, the majority of the veneer is still intact and even some of the detailed relief--and some of it is missing, mainly the carved branches on the drawers and part of the "T" in White, it is in amazing condition.

It is threaded, still has its threaded bobbin and is waiting for a further cleaning and oiling.  I am anxious to see if I can master the treadle as I have never done that, but I learned to drive on a stick shift automobile so I am willing to try this. 

The real thrill for me was that it cost $75.00.  I think that was a steal!

New year news

 The new year is upon us and with that, my to do list is a top priority.  The Mr. had a birthday, went to a pool tournament and I took a few days to rest and finally whip this virus I think.  On the "list"...start to prepare for summer retreat projects, one of which is the stepping stone with glass insert.  The moose above is one I did more than a decade ago and is still very much intact so my hope is that everyone will have a finished stone with which they will be pleased.  My intention was to do just glass moose.  However, I find that I don't have enough glass to do as many as I want and have realized how much work they are.  Below I have set up cutting and grinding stations in my sewing room, craft area and art studio and the past two days, only have two moose bodies done..  Still having to cut the feet, beard, ears and antlers, I have decided to do some other animals as well, taking into consideration each of the girl's personalities and the glass on hand.  I still have more grinding to do on the 2 moose, but the difficult part is done.  So I have chosen a couple of different rabbits and perhaps some bears.  We'll see!

The other projects will be a winter banner, painted, and the wine class Santa or snowman candle holder as well as the lighted bottles. 

I went to lunch with a friend yesterday and we stopped at a new shop which is opening in Encampment...In there I spotted an old sewing machine and the cabinet intrigued me.  Unlike any other that I have seen, I debated the purchase of same, and my better judgement at the moment got the best of me.  After all, how many machines is too many?  But, lest you think it is not on my mind--it still haunts me. I am still going to try to go back for a better look.  It was covered with dozens of homemade soaps for sale and I did buy one of those thinking that purchase would satisfy me.  It didn't!

The seed and bulb catalogs have begun to clog the post office boxes and my new garden magazine arrived.  Declaring NOT to garden here when we relocated, I am finding it impossible to keep my hands out of the soil. Having a good friend and wonderful gardener in my midst who showers me with extra plants, I am also going to have to enlarge my beds.  (Also on my to do list.)

"Flowers are loves truest language." ~ Park Benjamin