Thursday March 29 2007

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Across the Field

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Weather at South Pass Today - Don't Go There

The weather we are getting today seems like the edge of the storm that is going through our area now. Apparently the wind storm we had a few days ago was a microburst. South Pass is closed today and I-80 has also been closed. East of us over the mountains they are getting one to two feet of snow, and one place they say got 60" and its really storming. Even the webcams are knocked out in some places. We are not having it. We are having breezy and cooler with very small flakes off and on. More wind than we've had for a while. The hills are pretty misty right now. They shift from being obscured to visible. There's only a small skiff of snow on the ground. We're supposed to get more snow tomorrow and Saturday. Any moisture will be good for the country.

Today I finally ordered the FrontPage software I need to learn how to work on my own website. Also a FrontPage for Dummies book. And OfficePro 2007 Full Version. The new computer didn't come with much software in it. I thought they were very expensive. So this should do me for a while. I've been shopping online for about 3 months now. I suppose I better take the computer into Pinedale and have it all installed right, and have him look through everything. The computer has been behaving pretty well lately.

My friend Judy and I are going to start doing my website, gradually, since we're both staying busy all the time. We're going to be slow with it, but I'm determined to learn more about it. And also slowly will work on getting more artwork photos sized to use there. Mary Ann in Idaho Falls started it for me and I'm really grateful to her for that. I love the things she did. She also has a ton of stuff she's doing all the time. I don't know how she does it all.

Wednesday March 28 2007

After the Storm

Yesterday afternoon we had a hazardous storm warning and it was awesome when it hit. The atmosphere turned totally opaque, like orange tinged smoke and got very dark. It seemed so strange that much dust or debris could be blown up when the snow just went off days ago. I suppose I should have stayed away from the windows but it was fascinating to watch what was going on. The clouds to the NE looked like the pictures you see before tornadoes come down in other places, a very dark rotating circle and all the clouds were moving over very fast. Our trees where thrashing back and forth but didn't go down. Gusts were as high as 65 mph. Lost count of the number of times the power jarred off an on.

Hangar at the Airport Lost its Roof and the Beacon That Was On Top

The whole county was affected. James called from Pinedale to warn us or see if we were o.k. out here, and thanks for thinking of us James. In Pinedale trees blew down, windows blew out and at least two buildings caught on fire. The whole roof blew off a hanger at the airport, the rotating beacon taken with it. They had a good amount of snow to the north, but we had only the smallest sprinkles. Joe went out afterwards and checked to see if our siding was loose, and we seem to be all intact.

It stopped as quick as it started and the calm gave me a sense of dread. I went out to rake it was so pleasant and the blackbirds wouldn't budge out of the treetops. I don't know where they go in a wind like that but they were sure squalling and squawking about their experience and so were the geese down in the creek. The horses seemed fine and had endured it o.k.

So I got about 2/3 of the backyard raked now.

The weather report I get off the internet for our region said there could be 18 inches of snow and 6 foot drifts. I didn't believe that, and it was warm and calm during the night. This morning it started to snow. The ground is white again, about 2" of snow perhaps. Its supposed to snow or rain all the rest of this week. The country sure needs the moisture.

This is how our Pinedale musher finished in the Iditarod several days ago. He was about 3 days and 5 hours behind the winner. At one time he was running 28th. Not too bad for a rookie. About half the racers scratched.

Matt Anderson (r)
Pinedale, WY, USA Bib Number: 67
Final Position: 41
Checkpoint: Nome
Time In: Fri, March 16, 2007 15:45:00

Dogs In: 9
Finishing Time: 12 Days 0 Hours 45 Minutes 0 Seconds
Average Speed: 3.89 MPH
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Tuesday March 27 2007

Big Kahuna and Queen of the Hill Today

Utah news is saying cold front and big snow on Tuesday. I knew winter couldn't be over yet. So far very windy and still warmer than would be seasonal. Maybe we will get some moisture in the next few days.

The drifts are still decreasing. Maybe in a couple more days I can get the SUV out of the garage.

Yesterday Joe put his snowmachines away for the season, running the gas out and storing them out of the way.I cleaned up the cat poo in the shed (dirt floor). Much better now for people and cats both. I like to use the Arm and Hammer pet deoderant, it works great to sprinkle on the ground and it lasts a long time. Got the garbage barrels burned. Changed sheets and did laundry. I raked in the yard for a while getting maybe 1/4 of the back done. Its nice to be outside working again. I bet if I went outside today and threw the pile of leaves up in the air the wind would totally blow them away and I wouldn't have to haul the piles off.

I'm a bad granny, getting really terrible about procrastinating stuff and now have not gotten my grandson Justin's birthday card into the mail - his birthday is over. They had a family barbeque for his day. Lucky Debbie mentioned it because I just don't even look at my card date book any more. I'll send it late.

In the afternoon I went to see if my ATV would start. YES!! It started right up. I still can't figure why I had such a hard time with it starting last spring. The dogs and I went out for a little ride. They jumped right in the creek for a swim, and also got to chase a couple of rabbits. Happy dogs. Wet, muddy, dirty dogs, but happy. They will sleep good tonight.

My friend Betty in Mesquite, called me both Saturday and Sunday to discuss planning our time together when I go to Nevada. We are in the midst of planning my vacation. I'll go down before the end of April. My daughter Debbie and Curtis have invited me to go on an ATV camping trip near Caliente and Meadow Valley Wash with them, and I'm really excited about that. I asked Debbie if I could meet them in Caliente instead of driving down into Las Vegas this time (Caliente is not far from Mesquite where I'll be visiting Betty). Nothings's set for sure yet because I need to be sure to see all my family and my grandkids too. Beverly and her family are going to DisneyWorld right then so hope there will be a time to see them.

It's our 50th high school reunion year, although there is no official reunion for us we want to get together with some of our "old" friends. Nancy's (coming from Oregon) sister lives in Caliente, and Nancy will be visiting her there. Betty wants to go to Caliente too. One of the other gals, Linda, has been working on the NTS Museum (DOE) in Las Vegas and we thought we'd like to see that perhaps. Maybe Pat will also come down from Bend, and there are a few other friends still living in the area that we hope to see too. Will get the dates set first. Then maybe Betty and I will take a driving vacation - So. Utah? No. Arizona? SW Colorado?? One thought is to ride on the Durango and Silverton Railroad. I told Joe today I was going. He seemed more sad about it than usual, but he will be fine. Read that, he doesn't want to do his own cooking!

Remnant of Big Kahuna

Monday March 26 2007

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Barney - sketch by Lynn Thomas

done with a carpenter's pencil

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A few paragraphs from a story about Barney,

My Faithful Friend

(entry inspired by Gizmo's recent adventure

see the fortmeyer.blogspot.com link)

Barney got acquainted with the wildlife in many different ways. First was the doe antelope who obviously had a new fawn over in the brush next to the irrigation ditch at the ranch. I was leaning on my shovel at the headgate while Barney was taking his usual investigative swing out through the sagebrush when one of the resident does ran chasing him back towards me, through the fence, with sharp hooves flying. She stood several yards away and stomped and snorted - at me! Not at him - as if to tell me to keep my damn dog over there where he belonged! I wasn't sure I wouldn't have to use the shovel in self-defense.

There were skunks and porcupines with the usual results - baths in tomato juice and getting quills out of his nose and mouth with pliers. I felt terrible when I sent him out of the cabin one night to chase away some "small" creature that was scuffling around the door, and it was a porcupine. The funniest acquaintance came soon after we went to the mountains and he and I were taking a walk through the pines and aspens with a misty spring rain falling. He was out ahead of me when I heard a great crashing and thrashing in his direction. He came running toward me, and I burst out laughing because his eyes were as big as saucers. He had a split lip. I knew he was saying, "You never told me there were things like that out here". I'm sure he had come across a moose bedded down. And I'm grateful it went the other way instead of following Barney like the antelope doe had.

One by one he met each animal. He was kind and respectful and seldom chased wildlife. Except the squirrels. He and the squirrels continually vied for the leftover pancakes set out on the back porch every morning. Even though he didn't want them, he didn't want the squirrels to have them either. Squirrels were always fair game for chasing, but I never saw him catch one.

Sunday March 25 2007

We had an interesting happening this morning. After breakfast there was a phone call and a man asked if this was Lynn Thomas, yes, and he said my name is John Boulter. Of course I recognized the name because we live on the old John and Lillian Boulter homestead. They were out on the road calling on a cell phone and wanted to know if they could come and see the place. He was old John Boulter's great nephew and his son Casey was with him. Casey oversees a ranch on the Green River and his hobby is running sled dogs. John is from Utah. We had a nice visit and showed him around where all the old buildings used to be. I showed him photos Verla had given me taken in the 1930s. So I decided to to scan the photos and show them to you today. It needed to be done anyway to save them in the computer. Another learning process working in a new area of the scanner program.

Their family is having a reunion in Pinedale on Memorial Day and they would like to bring some of the family out to see the place that Saturday. I told them it would be fine.

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The caption on the back of this photo reads: Ruth Boulter about 1939. Shows the old barn that we took down on the left, corrals and chicken house. They drilled the well in about '33 or '34, its the well we still use. After M. Johnson proved up on his homestead they brought his cabin over here and built the second house onto it, combined with part of the first big house.

Boulter Place taken in 1929 or 30 looking southeast toward The Butte you see in many of my photos. Notice Bessie, Ethel, Ruth Boulter in the center on the fence. Chicken house, outhouse, shop and first house. Taken standing on a shed that was behind about where our barn is now. The small log building was the first one built here. They lived in it while they built the log house. John Boulter's mother homesteaded here. Verla thinks Morris Johnson built the house.

Etheyl Boulter, Verla Richie, Ruth Boulter, Jep Richie, Bessie Boulter about 1936. This was the second house. This was the kitchen. A living room and 3 bedrooms were on the left. This was combined from part of the old house and Morris Johnson's cabin. The kitchen was the kitchen of the old house. This house was here when Joe's dad bought the ranch in 1949 (about 1400 acres) from John Boulter. They lived in it until the house we live in now was built. Joe said the cracks between the logs were so big that their beds would be covered with snow in the morning.

I didn't see the old house and they had just torn it down the spring that I came here so it sat there for 20 more years. All the buildings and corrals were hauled to a huge wood pile we have near the gate. We've always been going to burn it but its so big we're afraid to set it on fire now. The haystack and the horse shed are nearby too.

1933 Bessie, Ruth and Ethyl Boulter with Muddy Canyon in the background. Dogs are pulling the little sled. Shows the outhouse (which is the one that is in our back yard -the only remnant of the old place left standing - I use it for a garden shed) and the barn. There are horses and cattle on a feed line in the background.

Ethyl and her husband came to visit us about 10 years ago. They lived on a farm in Kansas at that time. It was fun to meet them. I've also gone back and visited the house I liked best twice where we lived in California, so understand how people feel about visiting their roots.

The kids went to school together at a one room log schoolhouse that sat near our front gate. It was still standing when I first came here. There is a lot of history in our neighborhood, a land where the Indians lived, exploration and the fur trade era, the Lander Cutoff of the Oregon Trail goes past here, and the Homesteading Days....births, life stories, deaths, even murders.

A thought occured to me as I was putting the photos into the blog. Ruth, Bessie and Ethyl never would have imagined in the 1930s that their pictures and home would be on the world wide web 70 years later. What a concept.

This is the woodpile where all the old buildings and corrals have been taken.

Saturday March 24 2007

Sage Grouse On The Desert

What a lovely day its been. Made Joe homemade waffles, bacon and grapefruit for breakfast. Its the waffle recipe from a Spry cookbook my mother used to make us when we were kids. If you remember Spry you're at least as old as me.

I still can't believe how quickly and early spring arrived. Every day the country looks greener. Next Joe will be out dragging the field and getting ready to irrigate. Its another lovely morning. Not sure what I'll do today, but work on my WAOW job for sure. A little housecleaning maybe?Betty called and we had a nice visit. We're making plans for my vacation down to Nevada this spring.

Very soon I will need to go out and begin a big transplanting job I have planned. I have to take all the flowers and plants out of the back yard and put them somewhere if I'm to save them, I don't know exactly where yet. I had lovely flower beds in back, always have, but put cottonwood trees there years ago and now the shade and roots have taken over the whole space. My vegetable garden was there in the first place and lost that. I've been gradually reducing the flowers and this is the year they will all come out. I envision a large area in the front corner with stepping stones to get through it. There is rather sparse wild grass and weeds in there now. If I were to water that would get thicker. I would love a greenhouse, but am not in to it that much any more, lots of work. It's probably not safe to think about flowers for all my pots for a while yet, they will freeze.

Joe has started liking fruit smoothies. Astonishing, isn't it. I've made them for myself for years, usually replacing a meal. And, although invited, he would never touch them. So not so long ago I had some leftover and just handed him a glass. Of course it was "What's This!!"..... And he liked it!! So now every day or so he wants one. This is a very good thing, and a pleasant way to get fresh fruit into him - both of us actually. I also put lecithin and wheat germ in it and the base I use has lots of vitamins.

Friday March 23 2007

A Well Deserved Rest

24x36 Oil Painting

The horse in this painting belongs to one of my neighbors and the location is on their nearby (well, relatively nearby - 12 miles south) ranch. They run a very big sheep outfit. This horse is one of the pack horses and carries the camp into the mountains always going along with the herd and the sheepherders. They were a common sight when I lived in the mountains. It's late fall, the sheep are on their winter pastures, his work is done until spring. He's enjoying his well deserved rest.

Today is another beautiful sunny day with a breeze. There are even some bugs flying against the windows. Seems early for that. We got a few sprinkles of rain in the afternoon. The grass in the yard has a definite tinge of green in the last three days. The snow is all about gone off the fields, only a few white spots that are the remnants of the deepest drifts. The back yard and corrals are another matter. Although perhaps reduced by half, there are still very deep piles of snow especially in the corrals. Like my friend Judy said the other day, the drifts are leaking out the bottom.

There was essentially no runoff. The snow and ice kind of morphed to water in the lowest spots and laid there lazy-like down below the creek banks, and everywhere else the moisture just sank right into the ground, so the country is already drying up. Its a big difference from the years when the runoff takes out all the culverts and carves trenches across the roads so deep you can't get across. We have been marooned in here several times until Muddy Creek went down and someone came with a backhoe to fill up the hole.

The horses seem to be enjoying the sunshine. They are going down into the slough and drinking from the creek instead of coming into the corral. They are beginning to shed their winter coats.

Most of yesterday I worked on my WAOW job. Now I wonder what did I do? I must have been still recuperating from the trip to Rock Springs. My job right now is to create wording for a new membership level structure, adding a couple of categories. This will be voted on (hopefully approved) and go into the bylaws which are being revised. There are three of us on the committee. There has already been much discussion by email to determine how the board wants the changes to incorporate the new levels. The message board is an interesting way to have a meeting and we can live anywhere and still do the group's business.

Yesterday Joe had to go to town for his protime test and had lunch in there. He picked up my prescription for me, which was down to 3 pills. I'm glad I don't have to go in for that. Made chicken fried steak for dinner. I got the recipe from one of the best cooks in town, at the Patio Restaurant. He didn't seem to mind at all giving it to me. And after running the cafe all their lives, they soon sold their business. So I'm glad to know how to prepare chicken fried steak according to Billy. He cooked and Annette baked all the pies and ran the place. It was the cleanest place in town. She was always cleaning and setting up new flowers and decorations. It has a counter with stools in the front room with a 50s diner flair and it probably hasn't changed since then. There are a lot of trophy fish, big mackinaw trout, from the nearby lakes on the wall. Sliding glass doors fill the whole back wall, and there is a cozy patio yard creating a nice view from the dining room. The Patio is Joe's favorite place to eat, and that's the first place I ever ate in Pinedale when I first came here.

Thursday March 22 2007

Muddy Speedway

We're back and the trip went fine. The roads are all clear and dry now. Driving was fine except it seemed there was a lot more oil field traffic than last week. We took the dogs. They were very good, and took us for plenty of walks.

On the way out the Muddy Speedway you drive right through the middle of a sage grouse lek. The birds were there dancing and strutting in the early dawn. It was a special gift to see them and I received it with joy in the coming spring. They are awesome to watch.

Seemed like two very long days. I feel like we've been gone a week. As predicted it did rain, but always when we were in somewhere and wet when we came out. Joe's laser surgery went really well. We learned more about his eye problems from the Dr. His dry macular degeneration is doing o.k. at present. Joe calls it his molecular disintegration. He got a different prescription for another new pair of glasses, (we just both got new ones about 3 months ago). We saw some friends from Pinedale in the eye doctor's office. Hank had driven Jim down for the laser treatment. Seems like everyone we know goes to this doctor. Sublette County doesn't have a resident eye doctor. Dr. Jensen goes to Pinedale to see his patients there once a month. So Joe's checkup will be there in June.

After lunch at the China Buffet and ordering his glasses Joe went to the motel to watch basketball and I went to Walmart, Penneys and Home Depot. It was a shopping marathon. When I came back Joe got everything in the back of the truck under the tarp and tied down and lucked out that no one stole it during the night. We went next door to the Kentucky Fried Chicken/Long John Silvers for dinner because it was easy.

Joe slept great but I bet I didn't sleep 2 hours the night we were in the motel. Gave myself a manicure and pedicure while I wasn't sleeping, so that is finally done and feels lots better. Got the cold things the second day after Joe's 9 a.m. checkup. We had good Mexican food for lunch on Wednesday and headed home. The ice cream place at Farson has been closed so no cones. Even the dogs know where the ice cream is. So we're stocked up again. Took forever to get it all put away. For once I got nearly everything on my list. We're all glad to be home. Have had house cleaning to catch up and almost 100 emails to do something with and more coming in all the time.

Now with this pet food recall I'm trying to figure out what is o.k. or not to feed the dogs and cats. Think I'll stick with their dry food for a while til they get it all straightened out. I checked the websites and I have some Western Family which is what they sell at Falers. The numbers don't match the lists so I suppose its safe but don't want to take any chances. I'll probably take it back to the store or throw it out. There was no canned cat or dog food for sale in Walmart. It just makes me sick to think of the pets that may die. Now they are saying its rat poison.

The book I got in the mail a few days ago is "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. He's from Columbia and the book won the Nobel Prize. So when I saw it on Amazon.com I thought maybe I should read it. I took it to Rock Springs and am really enjoying it, one of those I can't put down. I like it especially for the great way he words his phrases and the story is very imaginative. I've been buying some Nobel and Pulitzer prize winners etc. lately thinking before I get too old I should read some "great" literature. Most are too dense for me, hard to read. I'm plugging along on another one now. "The Known World", so far its pretty boring but did win a Pulitzer prize so maybe it will get better. Must be my non-education that I don't get these prize winners. I really love a good book. My usual reading is Art and Western History, plus I like true adventures better than novels.

Doc's cows came over on Tuesday. Its about a 10 mile or so cattle drive. I didn't see them get here this time, but lately they've been riding ATVs instead of their horses. Guess I can't blame them, but its sure not as romantic or pretty to watch. Now they come over and feed them every morning. The Richie cows came over today. They drive them on this leg about 15 miles. The weather is good right now for new calves. Another sad note (to me) is that they aren't using their big Percheron teams to feed with from the old stacks of loose hay, but have a huge fancy new tractor with an automatic big bale feeder. The times are a-changin'.

The husband of one of my very dear friends passed away on Sunday. They and Joe and I have gotten together as often as we could through the years. I just found out last night.

Wednesday March 21 2007

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Joe Turning the Snowmachine Around in the Garage

With a Dolly - Wonderful Invention

A Christmas Gift from the Kids a While Back

They are Backbreaking to Turn by Pulling Them

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Joe Taking Ice Off Roof

Earlier This Year

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Tuesday March 20 2007

Our House In Spring

Beautiful day again. Not much of anything going on here. Joe started raking the yard but the ground is still frozen too hard to do any good. He also started up his old yellow Chevy and fed the horses with it. First time it was started since he parked it about the end of December. Quite a bit of snow went off the field in the last week.

Yesterday was my mother's birthday. She would have been 99. None of us could really keep track of her birthday because she would always tell my dad it was her birthday and he'd say "I thought you just had your birthday". Then he'd go get her a present.

I'm writing ahead since we'll be gone the next two days. Nope I won't get the car out by Tuesday to drive to Rock Springs for Joe's eye surgery, sure hoped it would. Drifts are still big in back, but are getting smaller. The drift in front of the garage is an icy 4 or 5' deep and neither one of us is going to shovel it out. But after lunch Joe walked down to the gate with the dogs and brought the truck up into the yard. So tomorrow we won't have to snowmachine. Hurray. No groceries on the sled - cheering both in the sense of doing less work and that there's not enough snow to use the sled and snowmachines anymore.

The weather report for the next couple of days isn't looking as good as it did earlier. Between 20% and 60% chance of snow/rain and wind about 15 mph for both days. But the temperature should be warm enough it won't be much of a problem. Sure was warm today, too bad it couldn't last one more day.

Still getting ticks off the dogs. It must be from that firewood Joe brought from the Big Sandy Campground that the Forest Service knocked down there. We'll probably have our yard infested from now on. So far we haven't had ticks on ourselves, and I can't stand the thought of it, the possibility of tick fever as well. I'm sure they are coming in the house on the firewood, and crawling wherever or until they find a dog. I keep checking them and doing a lot of vacuuming.

Been trying to make something out of that little landscape study with the building I started at our Mixed Media meeting at Josie's. I can never believe that I just can't get the perspective right on buildings. Then it just tends to grow bigger and bigger. Can draw a horse fine but have neglected working on buildings and figures. That photo would sure make a nice painting subject in a larger piece. Maybe I'll get it all worked out in this study. I hate to give up and throw anything out. I beat them into submission. I'm very tenacious. It looks (a little) better. I have several photos I took that day that I would like to do large paintings of - you know how the light is wonderful some days. I'll take a picture of the drawing to show you.

Monday March 19 2007

House Finch

Are We Having Spring Yet?

Lynn Thomas

2nd half of essay

Continued:

The first flock of geese lands on meadows covered with several feet of snow and stay overnight honking in the darkness. A killdeer peeps past the studio window at 10 p.m., and those ducks are flying to somewhere else over our icy ponds. They all arrive for good before the robins, as soon as they can make a living here. You wonder what they do find to exist on. The Sandhill cranes return while their feed grounds are still snowbound, even before the creek's gone out. The blackbirds are some of the earliest to stay and stake out their territories. They roost in the cottonwoods in back of the house for more than a month. The marsh hawks, horned larks, juncos and curlews are back before the robins, even some sparrows. I put out seeds to supplement what they might find on the horse feed ground, in the corral or the baring hillsides.

Today the wind is moaning around the eaves trying to tear the roof off the house. A winter storm warning, the weather report says. I think of the baby calves and hope they find protection in the sagebrush. Loose things squeak and creak and rattle. We have to hold onto the storm door so its not ripped off the hinges again. A pair of bright bluebirds tries to find shelter. I throw some dog food out for the crows and they and the magpies take it hungrily. The wind shakes the budding cottonwood limbs, the small pines in the yard and the tops of the sage. It knocks down the drifts that remain. I've been charting the progress of the robins in the last weeks. First seen down in LaBarge, then in Big Piney where the snow's been off weeks ahead of ours. Friends in Pinedale who telephone have robins in their yard. Then I saw some a week ago on a trip to town, on a fence in Cowley's field. I hear a rumor about a guy in Big Piney who buys night-crawlers for the robins in his yard when they first arrive.

That's the thing. Robins need the ground to be bare and unfrozen enough for the earthworms to come near the surface and insects to be active. As soon as that happens they'll be out in my garden eyeing the soil, or cocking their heads to listen for a worm underground that will be their next meal. Shortly after that robin pairs will be raising peeping babies, kept busy bringing lots of food on the robin menu to the nest. They glean insects from the garden so thoroughly that I need no pesticides. They're often tame enough that nests are built where grandkids can peek in at the nearly naked pink tiny bodies with gaping bills that open and beg wobbly towards any movement. Children can find beautiful bits of brilliant turquoise shell - amazingly like the summer sky. Sometimes an old nest blows down in the wind, and you can see how neatly it’s made of mud and dried grass with a hole in the bottom where it attaches to the tree limb or other support.

Anyway, I'm anxious to see the first robins in my yard. When they arrive, I will know for certain it's truly spring. I long to hear their cheery song again and watch them raise their family, to see the young robins wearing spotted breasts appear, learning how to live in the robin world. We could learn lots from watching them do their jobs with industry and happiness. It’s a sign that it’s the nicest time for me to be outside, gardening or hiking or sitting next to the river under a pine tree, listening to running water - a sound long absent - like the robins song.

When autumn comes and robins fly south to continue their routine agenda, it will be silent and lonely again without their presence and fine singing through the long Wyoming Winter. We'll be watching again for his bright redbreast bobbing along in our front yard and listening for his own sweet song.

Sunday March 18 2007

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Rusty In The Eaves of Joe's Shop

ARE WE HAVING SPRING YET?
Lynn Thomas

Memories of Robins? I'm sure they were around in the wooded hills and farmlands of So. Calif. where I was born but I was too small to remember them then. I learned in school of Robin Redbreast and sang, "When the red, red robin comes bob, bob, bobbin' along, along, There'll be no more sobbin' when he comes throbbin' his own sweet song". I can't remember them in the deserts of Nevada either. Birds were scarce there unless around some waterhole. Blackbirds stopped on the lawns spring and fall, but no longer than necessary before continuing to more hospitable climates. In my 30's I became a somewhat avid birdwatcher, traveling to the refuges to find new species on their ranges and habitats in the appropriate seasons. Adding a new bird to my "life list" and learning its behavior was fun and interesting. Robin must have been one of the firsts on the list. Bird watching led to learning the flowers, plants and trees.

I became well acquainted with robin life when I came to the Wind Rivers to live at 9200' on the shores of Mud Lake for 6 or 7 months a year. By May when we could get in there the robins were arriving too. Their loud "Cheer-Cheer-Cheeree-oh" could be heard from the aspens and pines above the lake, along with woodpeckers knocking, flycatchers' whistles and grouse drumming. The robin song is part of the forest, which becomes much more silent without it in the fall. Going back to the forest in spring after not hearing that call for so many months, the first sound of the robin is puzzling. I need to think back a minute, to remember - it’s a robin! It's Spring!

Staying the winter in Wyoming is a test of endurance. For such a long time the only movement of life on the endless white is some ravens or crows, a small flock of finches which add a little color, maybe a coyote, eagle or deer. As the birds begin to appear again, friends where winter leaves first tell me they've seen a killdeer, some cranes, geese or ducks flying, bluebirds and meadowlarks. As they appear in our fields, I mark my first sightings on the calendar intending some day to see if each species shows up on the same date every year like the swallows at Capistrano. Their first forays are like a reconnaissance to see if their old familiar territories are habitable yet. Then they fall back for a while to where food is more abundant.

(First half of an essay, to be continued.)

Saturday March 17 2007

Horses in Field Mid-March

Good Morning and HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY. Another lovely warm(er) day. I'm pretty slow getting going this morning. Can I still blame it on daylight savings time? In fact, I'm wondering what happened to Friday?

I've been going to put on my boots and walk every morning since the road was cleared, but haven't done it yet. Kind of reminds me how I was always going to ski while we had the snow. I should be able to get my ATV out soon and ride a little bit. Perhaps if we had a warm calm day I could take my paints and go paint outside somewhere beautiful. It would be good to be outdoors again.

Today's photo shows what the field looks like right now. Next to the house and the south, left, side of the back yard are more open. But the right side of the back yard is still packed with deep snow and the Big Kahuna settled down to about half sized - still 4' deep. No way is the SUV coming out by Tuesday like I hoped.

Did you see the new photo I put for the footer on my pages? I thought it was time to get rid of Big Kahuna. I might stick B.K. in some place else where it's appropriate, just to save it.

By the end of the weekend I have two big things to write - telling Helen H. (new WAOW Executive Director) how the Cowboy Artists got started at the Phoenix Art Museum (a history essentially). And Kathy (show chairman) will get an article in one of the magazines with my artwork if I will write it up- connected to the WAOW show publicity. So I better do that. I'm just not in the writing mood at the moment Don't know if I can cut and paste something interesting together or not. She suggested something about where I live, and to relate how we have the winter art meetings. The last couple of days the WAOW email has been some less so that's a relief.

Joe got his light installed and it works to light up his stove and woodpile. I'm not exactly enthralled with the looks of it, but suppose it doesn't make a lot of difference. I'll take a picture to show you. I could stain the cord to match the wall and it would look better. The fixture is fine. He didn't want to take the wall apart to install the power to it, so it has the cord running down the paneling to the outlet.

Better get busy with some things and accomplish something, maybe walk and maybe paint.

Friday March 16 2007

Headline for today.......THE CREEK'S GONE OUT. There's water down there instead of ice. When he went to get the mail, Joe brought the truck on up to the gate. We'll snow machine to there until our lane dries out. It's a half a mile instead of a mile and a half.

Today I don't have much to write about so far. So I'm putting in a photo of the painting I'm working on - a 24x30" canvas, a large size painting. This is one of our neighbors down near Boulder. I drove past their place a few years ago when he was moving his horses in a snowstorm and got a few reference photos. This is very preliminary, but thought you'd like to see the progress - the rough sketch and first layer of paint are on the canvas. I was initially drawn to the scene by the figures in the storm, and the almost whiteout conditions. So you can see I've lost that already and it's annoying me right off. It gets lots uglier before it gets "pretty". So at each stage I'll take a picture and you can see how it goes. This larger painting is a progression from the small and mini paintings I've been doing with running horses.

The blackbirds are in full song every morning now. Today is calm and warm with a sunny sky. High is about 42. There is more open ground each day.

Made Joe a batch of 10-Day Buttermilk Yeast Pancakes - they really do last 10 days, similar to a batch of sourdough but easier. Caught up the housework and laundry - AGAIN! Cleaned the oven. I got the motel reservation made for Tuesday in Rock Springs. And ordered Joe's meds from the VA in Sheridan. I like the way they do that over an automated phone call then they come in the mail in about a week. Paying more bills on line today, and straightening up the studio.

Thursday March 15 2007

Wagon Wheel Reflection

When I finally looked there were two messages on my answering machine. One at 7:10 a.m. telling us not to come to Rock Springs that Dr. Jensen was sick (about 7 minutes after we left) and another to call and reschedule the surgery next Tuesday. Joe wants to get it over with, so that's the day we will go. Same plan all over again including staying overnight for checkup the next day.

We're still have warmer temperatures although the highest I saw today was about 35. The Old Muddy Hills are just about brown and creeping down across the fields. And its been in the 90s in Vegas so no wonder our snow drifts are melting. Their wind is blowing across Utah to warm us clear up here too. Beverly said that'sthe first time ever its been over 90 in March, and very dry there too.

Joe went to town today to get his hair cut and had his lunch in there. He just got back a while ago and still used our trail across the creek . Apparently its fine so far.

Yesterday morning is the first time I've seen all five of my barn cats outside since the really bad winter weather set in. They have sure holed up this year, usually not even any tracks to be seen outside. I wasn't sure I still had Tigger at all, but thankfully they were all there. Also was worried about the mother cat Rascal, and she seems fine. That black father cat Traveler is quite the cat. He is still leading and teaching them all, very gentle and caring. They were all trying for birds, but as long as I watched they didn't get any. I've never found any blackbird remains or feathers. They must be too smart to get caught by a cat.

Smokey is the least afraid. So she is the one that eats a whole can of cat food by herself every night instead of sharing with the others. All the rest of them are too scared to come out of hiding until I'm gone, then its TOO LATE. And, Boy is she fat!! I started taking out the canned food every other day since she's obviously the only one getting any. I don't think she ever bothers mousing.

Betty sent me a heated water dish for the cats by mail order and its just worked great. All these years their water has frozen solid in a few hours. What a pain. I worried about them not having fresh water. Now it never even gets frosty. Kitties thank you, Betty, and I thank you.

Today I learned more about resizing photos for publication - the ones I showed you that were chose for WAOW publicity. It worked just fine.....I think. I'll know for sure later. I've received three new art books in the last mail and enjoying those. And three more will be coming soon after ordering more today. This online shopping may not be such a good thing! I could easily get carried away.

I've gotten housework and laundry caught up and ready to work more on my "Moving Pastures" painting.

Probably within a week Dan and Vivian will be bringing the white buckskin "canvas" with pine limb frame and the reference for the next Search and Rescue Commander portrait. It will have to be done within the next month or so.

My grandson Clayton is getting all As and Bs. I am so pround of him, because he has had to work very hard. I knew he could do it all the time. And glad he's deciding that too. Everything in life isn't easy, just sometimes easier for some people than others. I hope he doesn't think there always has to be a Disney World carrot to do the work though. His Dad might have to come up with that electric guitar he promised if Clayton got good grades.

Wednesday March 14 2007

Someone Plowed our Road While We were Gone

Tuesday was a totally lost day - up before 6, chores done and gone by 7 to make Joe's 10:20 a.m. laser eye surgery appointment in Rock Springs. We took both snow machines, the sled loaded with coolers for grocery shopping and bag packed to stay overnight - since he had to be checked again on Wednesday morning before we went home - and the dogs out to the truck.

By the time we got to the Muddy Speedway just about all the snow had gone off that country and the same all the way down to Rock Springs. We had plenty of time, about an hour extra. Stopped midway at Farson to get Joe some coffee and bought a couple large bottles of water to have some for the dogs. Stopped on the wild horse road to walk the dogs. Stopped for restroom break and coffee again at McDonalds and then over to the surgery center. Breezed in 10 minutes early and started to sign in when the receptionist said how sorry they were, they had tried to catch us before we left and still waited to the last minute. Dr. Jensen was sick. The only time they ever remember he had to cancel and stay home because he was ill. Joe said, "Oh, Hell!" Had made a reservation at the Econolodge so used the clinic's phone and cancelled that.

Decided to go first to Walmart so Joe could look for a wall sconce he wants to put by his wood stove and I would shop. Nothing there he liked. I was fast becoming uninterested in doing the big shopping. I didn't want to deal with hauling a big bunch of groceries and stuff in on the snow machine sled again. So I said let's just go over to the new Home Depot to look for his light fixture and eat lunch and go home. Filled up with gas @ $2.12 a gallon at Walmart.

This is the first Home Depot Joe has ever been in. He took about an hour and a half to look at all the lights they had, discarding them all. He wanted one with flexible lights and I told him he was the one that needed to be flexible, not the light. Our sales person was from Boulder though we didn't know her, Joe knew all of her family so we had a fun visit with her. With her help he finally found a fixture that had 3 flexible lights the way he wanted - sort of - so we brought that one home. Walked the dogs again in a vacant lot there.

We went to Applebee's and my burger was not good at all but I was hungry, so ate it anyway (It did upset my stomach later). Joe got fish and chips. We took the anticipated white foam box to the dogs and they had a big lunch too. Since we were by Penney's and GNC I told Joe I'd go in there and get some things I needed. I found only about half of the things I wanted at GNC and bought new undies and 3 $20 T shirts on sale at Penney's for $2.97 each! I love a good bargain.

We headed out of town by about 1:30. Lots of big oilfield truck traffic. There was a herd of about 30 or 40 wild horses maybe 20 miles up the road. Saw them at a distance of a quarter to half a mile, so that was neat. Also saw antelope several times on the trip. I've hardly seen any antelope all winter. Saw another new bird this season, a couple of marsh hawks soaring over the fields in back as we went by. Muddy Creek was just ready for the ice to go off back there.

Got home about 3:30 or so. The bottom had gone out of the snow - the condition I call snow cone - still a foot deep on the level, and it's going fast. We probably made our last trip across the creek before that goes too. The day got to almost 50 degrees and was sunny and windy. Didn't need a coat down in Rock Springs at all.

I was tired and glad to be home. I do all the driving any more and just wanted to get comfortable and relax. Fixed leftovers for dinner and went out to feed the cats. The sun was getting low by then. As I came back to the house, raised up my eyes and lo and behold someone had plowed our road!! And neither one of us noticed it until now - 2 or 3 hours after we got home. Not sure yet who did it. We had been talking about how we would have to park the truck by the gate now that the creek was likely to go out, and that Norm would be plowing into his place past our gate any time now. Yes, they had also plowed in to Norm's and cleared roads to and around their haystacks.

After dinner I went out and took a picture so you could see the road at this point. It will take several days for it to dry enough to drive on it without causing a bunch of ruts. Joe took a chain and padlock and locked the gate for a few days so no one would drive on it yet. He's very fussy about keeping our lane smooth. Then I turned around and took the back yard showing Big Kahuna where my SUV is still imprisoned. The notch where he shoveled to make a trail for the snowmachine to the garage is on the left. All the big drifts have diminished about 2 feet from their highest.

Joe zonked out in his chair watching basketball right after dinner. So that was our day. Now we wait to hear from the eye Dr. office to reschedule Joe's surgery and do it again.

Turned and Looking the Other Direction

Tuesday March 13 2007

This one's for Judy - she'll know why - Ha! And it shows a drift behind the buildings over the barb wire fence. That post isn't the fence post but the more distant power pole in the back field.

This one shows the drift that the horses have to get through to come into the corral for water. I probably won't put any more pictures of the drifts. I sure have them well recorded though. I doubt we'll have drifts like this for many years. Hopefully from now on all the images will be of the coming spring.

Monday March 12 2007

Lynn Feeding Our Chickens

In front of the house was Kalmia Street, either of dirt or with a lot of dirt on the pavement. There was a lot of sandy dirt everywhere. The sidewalks were buckled and had big cracks in them. This was caused by the earthquakes and the big cement squares might be an inch or two higher or lower than the one next to it and tilting crazily. The quiet shady street was lined with pepper trees, which had rough brown trunks, lacy leaves drooping on long limbs, and clusters of dark red peppercorns hanging among the leaves. I always thought pepper trees were the most beautiful. And there were tall graceful eucalyptus trees. Their smooth multi colored bark peeled off like paper. Sycamores and oaks also grew on the hills.

The Kalmia Street neighborhood didn’t have many landscaped yards. Of course that was my limited view, since at that age I never went beyond our own yard unattended. You could often see the nostalgic image of women hanging their laundry in back yards and visiting over the fence. I remember running through the clean sunny smelling sheets and clothes and feeling them blow about in the breeze and hearing Mother scolding me about getting the clothes dirty or causing them to fall in the dirt. The lines were supported where they sagged too low with vertical boards that could be moved about. So the whole laundry could go cascading to the ground if the boards were knocked down. It was a comforting, natural feeling to be close to my Mother and the routine of her work.

In the back yard were grass, fig trees, a tall weathered unpainted wooden fence, some rabbits in their cages and….the chickens. They were white with bright red combs. Sometimes I got to feed the chickens grain out of a pail or coffee can. The chickens seemed very big and tall and frightened me if they got too close. They seemed quite fierce when they came pecking after the grain. They scared me, but I kept asking to feed the chickens each day. I loved that, and its one of my best memories at that age. One of my favorite pictures of me at this age is of me feeding the chickens. They look nearly as tall as my waist.

Lynn and Chickens on Kalmia Street

Above are a few paragraphs from "The Book" and the photos are me feeding those chickens - just for fun!.....Wow, I just noticed........I STILL have that same stupid cowlick that sticks up in back.

Its a beautiful blue sky day here, there are some puddles out the back door. But I don't have much new to write about at the moment. Getting prepared to go down to Rock Springs tomorrow for Joe's Laser treatment with the eye doctor. So will catch up in a few days.

Sunday March 11 2007

Big Kahuna from Inside the Corral

Drift Over the Propane Tank

Happy Daylight Savings Time. This is the way I wish the time would stay permanently. Although for a while its hard to loose the hour in the morning - actually to clarify that its hard to get up any earlier. And already its nearly noon.

Yesterday I went to Pinedale for our monthly Mixed Media meeting. As usual I had a hard time leaving early despite good intentions. I got a pot roast and vegetables going in the crock pot for dinner. Fixed Joe’s breakfast, got me and my stuff ready, although most of it I’d gotten together the night before. Noticed the birds were out of seed so fed them. Loaded the coolers onto the sled and off I started on the snow machine and dogs leading the way. I didn’t realize it before I got out in it but we had a new 2 or 3” of wet heavy snow. It was then I also noticed I could hardly see a thing, very bad light for staying on the trail. So I followed the dogs as they had no trouble keeping on the packed trail - however I didn’t follow Raven taking a detour to check out the rabbit haven in the willows. The snow was deep enough off our track that she looked like she was swimming and taking great leaps like a dolphin.

By the time I got out to the truck I was wondering if I would have to ask Melita if I could spend the night with her if the storm got worse since it was predicted to snow all day. I didn’t feel like it was going to be too bad to drive in at the moment however. The road was snow covered, kind of wet and slushy. A few trucks had been through ahead of me. I slipped pretty good starting up Wheeler Hill. I decided even though the snow wasn’t deep I’d put it in 4WD to avoid ending up in the ditch and there would go my day down the tubes. On over the larger hill near Jones’ where the berms where higher than the truck, and in another mile onto the pavement which was already partly clear. It's been so warm that the paved roads have been dry, and probably even our dirt road had been mostly clear. The last time I went anywhere was February 16, although Joe’s been out 3 or 4 times.

The road the rest of the way was only wet, and not cold enough to be the least bit icy. So all of a sudden the winter driving seemed to be over with.

I stopped at the post office to mail the package of Oregon Trail reference to 3rd grader Joe in Texas for a school project. Good luck with your project, Joe. And Kathy was at the post office, which let both other PO employees Debbie and Sandy go to our meeting. So glad they got some help. By the time I got to Pinedale the storm had cleared off, and it was sunny and pleasantly warm, with the gutters running full of water.

Fifteen of us got together at the Pony Express Photo Shop, owned by our friend Josie. Its a very small room and we fill it up. Everyone else was at Josie’s ahead of me this time when I pulled up at about 10 a.m. Hauled all my stuff in and got hugs all around and got a cup of hot coffee with one of Charm’s wonderful chocolate chip cookies.

Then Debbie and I walked our dogs. Her lab Hunter had to have one of his legs amputated because of cancer, and seems to be fine and healthy. Hunter goes to work with Debbie about every day. We did an exercise in using one photo reference to do six small color schemes. By the sixth one I was pretty loosened up, my artwork not me. In a while we had a nice lunch with sandwiches, fresh fruit, and spice cake with lemon sauce. I started a watercolor of an old barn at Merna, but so far am not that happy with it. I’ll work on it a little more before I decide to trash it. My confidence with watercolor isn’t good. I might save it by putting pastel over it.

By about 3:30 everyone was ready to leave so I went on out to Ruth’s to pick up my matted and shrink wrapped prints. We had a nice visit. She said she bought two new horses. Saw Gina's new oil of her childhood homestead house there and she did a nice job with it. We picked out mats and frame to put on my new drawing of Buster and settled on burgundy and gray on it. Then we looked at possibilities for a couple other jobs she had. One large photo I hope to see when she has it finished. It should be awesome. I sure have a stock of the prints ready to be sold now. Maybe I'll have to go to a craft fair or something.

Went to the accountant’s to pick up our finished taxes. Then to Faler’s for groceries. I didn’t stock up on too much this time, and most of it fit right into the coolers which made for easy hauling - only two other small sacks. Along the way home the ice has gone off most of the streams except the East Fork out our way still had quite a bit of ice. It was a beautiful evening drive. I saw a lot of deer and they are migrating back to their spring and summer ranges. Today I saw my first goose flying north.

When I got back to our dirt road I was quite surprised to see much of the snow melted off and …..it wasn’t muddy!! First I was puzzled then I remembered the coating the county put on it last year - almost like pavement. I’ve never driven on the road in spring season before without terrible ruts, water and mud. Stretches were still partly snow covered but no problems. Got to the mailbox, transferred all my stuff to the sled and bundled it up in the tarp, and off on the trail to home just as the sun was setting. I could see the beginnings of our creek wanting to thaw and if the warm weather continues it might be a matter of days before our trail is done across the creek.

We unloaded the sled and Joe put the machine away. I was glad I had started the pot roast in the morning, it was perfectly done and very tasty. Got the dogs and cats fed too, and all the groceries put away. I bought ingredients to make stuffed peppers for dinner today, probably with pilaf. I don’t plan on doing anything major the rest of the day, perhaps work a little on my horse herding painting.

The horses seem to be enjoying the warmer weather, snoozing outside the studio window, and the dogs are asleep on the porch in the sun. Joe’s watching the basketball tournaments. All's right with the world.

Saturday March 10 2007

TEMPLE

Lynn Thomas

The peak has its head wrapped in silver gossamer today
The cloud tops trailing in the wind, hiding from my gaze.
I stand in the valley of its river looking up,
Knowing in my mind what it's like there anyway.
I've been there many times on its steep granite flanks
In just that kind of weather.
I can transport myself up into the mist and sleet.
My horses' hooves splash through the headwaters.
Close to the glacier exposed skin chills.
My eyes scale the cliffs ‘til the tops are lost in grayness.
Ice still crusts the azure lake
and the emerging creek tosses spray over the boulders.
A dipper dives through the foam and pops up again
launching itself to a nest hidden in the falls.
A spear of sunlight bursts on the stunted firs.
The wet granite shines like alabaster.
Wind whips the dripping Parry's primrose
more beautiful for its arduous existence.
I imagine the elk and her calf sheltered in the black timber.
Tomorrow and tomorrow the mountain will have other moods
Changing through eternity with the season and time of day.
I know its many moods and faces
I hold the images in my heart.

~

Friday March 9 2007

Deer in Red Willows

9x12 Watercolor Painting

by Lynn Thomas

What a lovely morning. Hope you are doing well. Got Joe's breakfast done, buttermilk yeast pancakes, bacon and grapefruit. He used the last of the real maple syrup the family sent him for Christmas and had to go back to Log Cabin, poor guy. I had tea and oj. I've been putting some of Melita's rose hip jelly in my tea and its a wonderful change from the Farson honey. Just like smelling wild roses - a nice thing in winter.

Joe's already out bringing in his firewood and getting more hay from the haystack for the next several days. He always feeds the horses first thing in the morning before breakfast. He's the early bird.

Thought since we had a deer photo yesterday I'd add a deer painting for the image today. The doe was with a group of deer I saw on the East Fork River and I started it at one of our Tuesday painting group's get togethers.

Yesterday I got a fine start on a large new oil painting of one of our neighbors horseback moving his horses from one pasture to another in a winter scene. I hope to be a little more painterly with it and will see how that turns out. You'll be the first to see it finished, or maybe we could even look at it in stages as it goes along. We'll see. At the moment its a lot of white and gray.

Yesterday I cut Raven's toenails. She's so funny. I have to kind of surprise her and have the clippers ready at hand or she will disappear if she has an inkling what's in store. She shakes like a leaf but lets me get the job done. Sparky had his done earlier. He's very resigned to having it happen. They get a good treat after grooming and toenail clipping. I still have to vacuum up the toenails off the studio floor today.

Tomorrow I'll go in to Pinedale for the monthly Mixed Media painting meeting. It will be at Josie's photo shop and about 15 are attending. Josie had to stop coming to most of our meetings when she bought this new business and we miss her. I think I'll take my pastels, or at least something lightweight since I'll have to carry it all on the snow machine. Will get a few groceries but save the big shopping for Tuesday at Walmart. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and the usual good time we always have together.

I need to remember to go out to my framers Ruth and Gary's and pick up a lot of prints she has matted for me. They will be ready to go for the Art Show in the Barn next summer. But I'll wait to take new work to be framed until I can drive so something bad doesn't happen to it on the snow machine ride. I really enjoy seeing Ruth. They started their business on their ranch outside of Pinedale some years back, and are doing a beautiful job. Gary builds all the frames and Ruth does the matting and fitting. She's really creative and gives a lot of thought to how the colors go with the artwork. Ruth has horses and does a lot of riding. Gary's family has been in the area since the early days and they still live on the home ranch.

Thursday March 8 2007

Deer Jumping Fence on Richie Road

Woke up to snow this morning, the sun is trying to shine now. I love it when the clouds sit down over the mountains. It changed back and forth all day. At least there was no wind in the morning but by afternoon hail and another ground blizzard. Boy it's finally warmer, we've had a really long cold spell this winter.

Charm wrote that she has a robin. No robins here that I've seen yet. I think her forest trees make a difference - more feed and shelter until spring truly arrives. This is the time of year everybody in the county reports what new bird they are seeing in their yards. Happens every year and you just expect it is part of every conversation. All through the winter its "How cold did it get at YOUR place?" Now its "What bird have you seen?" Next we will be seeing cranes and bluebirds. Four magpies are in a group in the field outside the window just now. They are having some kind of important conference there. Tried to get their picture but they don't stay in once place for long.

Magpie

The whole feeling has sure changed a lot in the last week. Could almost make you think spring is coming early. The ground is wanting to bare up where the wind has blown the snow thin and the drifts have gone down a foot or more. Its a shame to think when they go it will just dry up and be no moisture again this year. Its so dry here.

With two or three days of shoveling Joe has the "trail" for his snow machine through the mountains of snow pretty good now, however it's still a bit adventurous for the back yard. Its also a good two foot drop off down into the garage. If this weather keeps up I should be driving my car out in a few weeks, more or less?? Want to have a lottery on when Lynn's SUV gets out of the garage? I'll be saying "FREE FREE, FREE AT LAST!"

Thank you very much for nice comments about the crane painting. I really loved doing that painting. It was interesting because I did have reference crane photos, but none of them were in this configuration so it was a lot of imagination. I thought of it being in motion like one crane as it would bow and then raise its head as if it were caught in stop action, but made it into the family. It won a nice prize in the Dubois National Show and a lady bought it over there. It was gone so fast I hardly got to keep it very long at all.

Tuesday we go to Rock Springs for Joe's laser treatment on his eye. We have to get a motel and stay overnight because the eye Dr. has to check his eyes at 9:30 on Wednesday. I hope it fixes him, because his eyes have sure been bothering him. He just sits with his eyes shut a lot of the time. We'll have to ride to Rock Springs in the truck with both dogs in the front seat 100 miles. Anyway by leaving him in the motel I'll be able to do a more leisurely Walmart shopping and whatever other stores I want to go in. He always likes to go to Applebee's to eat so he will like that.

Joe's not watching news so much lately and I'm glad for that - it's the new HDTV with more sports channels and some good channels without many ads. He gets so mad at all the news commentators and politicians..... oh....the language (rolling my eyes here). I threaten if he doesn't quit that I'm going to change it to I Love Lucy.

Beverly's going to WeightWatchers and lost nearly 10 pounds in 3 weeks. Maybe she will inspire me to get back to it. I know I've gained weight this winter. I just give up fighting it with not being able to go out of the house. Very good news is Clayton is doing much better with his schoolwork. Perhaps the promise of a trip to Disney World is helping.

I ordered some books from Amazon.com and also some long underwear from Sierra Trading Post for Joe, and really like shopping that way (its new to me). The first shipment of books came in less than a week, in the mail yesterday.

Wednesday March 7 2007

Work Team

14x17 Pencil Drawing

by Lynn Thomas

The draft horse pencil drawing is called "Work Team". It received a third choice from our peers for the promotional in the Animals category, along with the cranes. Its been a pretty nice feeling to have my artwork chosen along with quite a few other very good artists.

Today is sunny, calm and much warmer. The snow depth is going down, and a few spots where the wind scoured it down the ground is showing through in the yard now. The horses are warm enough that their necks are sweaty as they still have their winter coats. They will need it too as spring storms and wind go through. Winter isn't ready to let go of us yet. This morning the blackbirds were singing, the first bird song I've heard for many months.

Reading the progress of Matt in the Iditarod is almost like an adventure novel with the descriptions of the trail. Tuesday, Race Day 4, Matt made it through trecherous Rainy Pass and got to Rohn in 7 hours 33 mins. Miles Traveled: 272 - To Go: 859 He dropped from 32nd to 33rd place. Wednesday he's traveling with only 15 dogs from Rohn to Nikolai, a distance of 75 miles.The first 20 miles out of Rohn has some of the consistently worst trail on the whole race. The IditarodChampion will receive over $68,000 in cash,and a new Dodge Ram 4x4 pickup. Over $600,000 in prize money is given to the top 30 finishers in the race.

There is, or was, a place in Sublette County that made sled dog booties. They were about the only place in the country that made them then. I suppose now there are more.

There are more people than Matt who have sled dogs here. In fact one has lived for years with his bunch of dogs up in Irish Canyon just over the hill to the north of us. Its quite something to go past the place and see how he lives. There is no house, and not much more than a very small old "trailer" for lack of a better word. You have to snowmachine to it in the winter, and the road is very rough in the other seasons. Its in the pine trees, many miles from anywhere. All the dogs are chained to their small boxes which are scattered through the woods. I think he runs them on the Continental Divide Snow Machine Trail and up into the wilderness. Maybe he runs a trap line. I've seen a pickup load of what looks like bones from a processing plant he must feed them, It was midwinter then and would have been just like they were in a deep freeze. I don't know what else they get to eat. I can never remember his name, I just call him The Dog Man. He's got to be tough.

There's another large sled dog kennel on the way to Jackson on Granite Creek. They take people for dog sled rides up to Granite Hot Springs. There's a nice swimming pool there and you can swim in the winter. You can't drive to it in the winter, so have to ski or snow machine.....or dog sled. In summer there is camping, hiking and swimming plus there's a waterfall on Granite Creek.

Tuesday March 6 2007

Sandhill Song

12x12 Oil Painting

by Lynn Thomas

A quite nice thing happened today. My painting Sandhill Song was chosen in the wildlife category by a group of my peers to be one of several images to promote the upcoming Women Artists of the West Show in Chicago. The show will open next November. The cranes were painted from photo reference taken right from the studio window of the cranes we have in our field each year. I watch them a lot with and without my spotting scope. They provide quite a lot of enjoyment every summer and have our field and slough staked out as their territory, raising one or two babies (called colts). They are my neighbors. I love to see and hear them. They come right around the house and yard. The dogs never bother them. In fact the resident cranes should be appearing within the next few weeks. I'll keep you posted on that.

It was nearly 40 degrees today, so that's the warmest since winter set in. Calm and sunny. Joe had to dig a trench through Big Kahuna. Iit had gotten so big he was having trouble getting his snowmachine in and out of the garage. I know he must have been nearly tipping the machine over before he dug the drift down some. He has also been running right over my big wild rose bush. That's never been necessary before.

Pinedale's dog musher in the Iditarod, Matt, moved from from 54th place to 32nd out of 82 racers yesterday. Our area has a big dog sled race that goes for about a week in early February. It used to run pretty close to our house and I would ride the snowmachine up to watch the dog sleds go by in Irish Canyon. Buster used to go with me, riding on the snowmachine seat and was perfectly behaved . He was quite interested in what those dogs were doing.

Today I finally got my bills all paid and all the paperwork that had been sitting in untidy piles and stacks all filed away. I read the last three weekly papers. I even worked for a while before dinner on the new pastel still life that I had started at the Mixed Media meeting. A little housecleaning and fixing salmon, pasta alfredo and green beans for dinner pretty much rounded out the day. And I won a game of 2 suit Spider. It was a good day.