Sunday September 30

Antelope Neighbors

I called Microsoft Chat last night to ask about the problems with the computer. It was giving me about a gazillion error messages and problems, all of which I sat and wrote down as they happened. I didn't know how else to ask about this. All the tech person did was have me find and uninstall OLE which I thought was a valid program - that was as far as we got and the whole thing slowly began to crash. I did what she told me to because I figured she would have me continue on with doing something and reinstalling OLE. She said to next run the virus control and I quit that at 3 a.m. Figured I'd start again in the morning. But by morning it was dead. This began another round of calls to Best Buy and them not responding for more weeks.

Somehow I was able to coax a letter for Mixed Media meeting and upcoming show out of the Word program although many of the parts wouldn't work and the mouse eventually wouldn't respond either. Kay and I talked on the phone to tweak it for corrections. Made two dozen copies and got it addressed and ready for mailing in the morning. Then took the dogs for a ride to the mailbox on the ATV. We saw a lot of antelope.

Saturday September 29 2007

Mixed Media on the Upper Green
Counter clockwise from left - Nancy, Melita, Jose, Ruth and Pam


Photomerge Panorama Of the Valley

Looking Down the River from Pam's Deck
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Green River Running Across the Center of the Photo

Snow on the Horizon

I had started out early and got all the things done that I had planned including the mammogram which I wasn't at all sure I would get in (see yesterday's blog). And I got four - count 'em - four, which was one too many, paintings that Judy picked up and hauled home for me from Cody. I'm so grateful to her for doing this for me. But they gave her one of somebody else's and now I guess its up to me to get it back to them. How come things always get complicated?

Met up with Nancy (chauffeur), Melita, and Josie at the Rendezvous Point after we all got our blood test results. Today Mixed Media met at Pam's beautiful home on the Upper Green. The drive up north of Cora past the Place was beautiful and enjoyable visiting with the gals. Pam lives up a hill with an expansive view of the Green River Valley and the Sawtooths. It was pretty overcast so the pictures are sort of dark. When I downloaded the photos I was surprised I didn't get the Sawtooths in except for one small end of them, I guess I was just so drawn to the bright foliage. Fall colors were about as good as they are going to get.

What a wonderful day together in a special part of the world. There were six of us attending today. We first enjoyed seeing Pam's greenhouse with totally amazing Jack in the beanstalk tomato plants, and her home and artwork and then got right to painting. I worked on a colored pencil I'd started earlier, and am not real impressed with how it's turning out. Instead of the Tetons and Jenny Lake, it looks more like some tropical island in the South Pacific.

Pam had a wonderful soup for lunch (creamed carrot and butternut squash with a hint of orange juice) with delicious crusty homemade bread, a home grown cherry tomato and basil salad with balsamic dressing, and Nancy brought a yummy angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream. There was every kind of weather, constantly changing, even a little snow. We stayed until about 4:00 or so and started home. We could see the Wind River's had a new coating of snow as we came down from the mountains. I was able to drop Joe's wool shirts off at the dry cleaners and got home about 5:30. It rained more or less all the way home, and had good puddles here at home. I really enjoyed the whole day and came home a lot more relaxed. Joe had dinner ready, leftover potroast, with the table set and everything!

Friday September 28 2007

Rocky I

Rocky II

Having a run away, so grab ahold and hang on tight. There are ten things going on all at once and I hope I get them all done. After lunch Joe remembered he had a haircut today at 2:30 and has taken off for town. The house is a total mess - bed to change, other laundry to wash and fold, floor needs vacuumed and dishes from yesterday are still needing finished up. A lot of the imperishable groceries are still sitting on the counter to be put away.

Remember that garden wagon I bought a couple of months ago? I finally put it together this morning. There were no instructions with it so I asked Joe's advice on how the washers and bolts went and all he could do was use four letter words about me buying junk from China and how I'd wish I had that $80 some day. He finally said the way I had it looked right. But I like it and it seems very sturdy and solid. So hauled the cat food from the back of the SUV to the shed, then used it to move the flower pots back to the wagon where they set all winter. Cleaned up the rock paved area they sat all summer. I cleaned leaves out of the corners, the steps and the porch, and now the wind is howling and blown them all back. I had a sack of plastic recycling sitting out there to take to the garage, and its scattered all over and the sack totally out of sight.

I need to get pretty well finished with all this because tomorrow is another busy day - mammogram, pick up blood results from Health Fair, get my prescription renewed, meet Judi to get the paintings she brought back from Cody, and go to our Mixed Media monthly painting group meeting from 9:30 until about 4. Then of course Joe will want me home to have dinner on the table by 6. We're going to be able to carpool to the meeting. It's on the Upper Green near The Place. I'll have to be out of here by 7 or 7:30.

The biggest problem I'm trying to deal with today is - remember those 15000 messages I said were sitting on the server? Well they finally sent a email that my mail was about to the quota and I'd have to get rid of some of them. I knew it was happening but hadn't quite figured out what to do about it, because all I could see to do is that you had to click and delete 10 at a time. I had done that once in a while then would give up until another day. And if you're getting 50 or 60 emails a day it didn't change much. I finally asked their tech support -YES!! more tech support - (and this was the second time I inquired - when I asked about this before I was dealing with the receiver problem and they said to wait) - how to purge the entire inbox, and they said the best it could be set on was selecting and deleting 50 at a time. The place to change it was in Preferences, and I didn't find how to get to it until last night. So when I have a few minutes or want to sit down, I sit and delete messages - over and over and over and over. Then, guess what???...... they all go into the trash folder and you have to delete them the same way out of there, or it doesn't take your quota down at all until it is emptied too. Cannot purge it either.

I found the setting that was causing all the trouble while I was reading help and clicking all the buttons. It has a default setting that makes it save a copy of everything that is downloaded into my Outlook Express, so every email has been getting saved on the hughes.net mail for about a year now. And for some reason NOW "its" wanting to download all those backed up messages into outlook express AGAIN. The only way I can figure out how to stop it is get ALL of them out of there. I might have to read more "help", and go into the innards of the thing some more. I might have clicked something and said o.k. that I didn't mean to. I sure don't want to be spending time doing this, and I never will either, so might as well get it over with. So far I got it down to about 8500. When that's done I'll have one more issue to resolve with hughes.net mail program. There are three log in places, maybe more, customer support, mail, and myHughesNet information. All of them are seeming to want a different user name and password in order to log in. It has been driving me insane from the beginning, because every time I went there my password and sometimes even the user name would be WRONG, and I would set another password and it wouldn't like that, and another one and it wouldn't like that. When I went back again I never knew which one was right because none would work. It would tell me the page had expired and wouldn't let me back at all, like I was a hacker. That's why I never went there all this time. So I'm going to have to get that fixed in however many ways there are to do it. Doesn't even make sense, does it - not to me either.

This afternoon I got a call from their tech support I hope will be helpful in the password issue. I have to have the time to sit and go through the steps she had me write down. But I understand how it's working better now.

THEN maybe I can use my new email program which I hear is really nice that came with new new software Microsoft Office 2007 - instead of Outlook Express I will switch to MS Outlook. It has a bunch more doodads in it, but when I tried to switch some time back, there it was downloading 15,000 messages that I'd already gotten - How long would that take??? So its a good thing to be getting it taken care of, just time I don't have. Just for today and tomorrow if I don't get something you sent, send it again in a couple of days. It might have gotten deleted in the frenzy

Why am I sitting here blogging? Because I want to! I'm having a glass of milk and a caramel frosted doughnut and enjoying the quiet for a few minutes .

BTW in case you care to keep up, I wrote up the Rock Springs day in yesterday's blog.

Thursday September 27 2007

A Couple More Muddy Canyon Shots

Off early to Rock Springs. We have an appointment with Joe's eye doctor to see if he needs new glasses and will shop at Walmart. We hoped to get Joe's flu shot at the V.A. but the shots are not ready yet. Maybe also I can shop for a filter fan for over the new stove at Home Depot. Lunch and any other shopping. I have my lists all made out. Its going to be a good day for it weather wise. Hopefully while we are there I can get a copy of my last eye test from the eye doctor to send in for my soon to be expired driver's license. Then I won't have to go into the driver's license place and take the eye test. In that case I can just mail in the application with my fee this time. As long as I don't put off doing it too long.

LATER: We loaded the dogs in the back of the SUV and got away just as the sun was rising. There was a spectacular full moon setting at the same time over in the west. Took the back way to Farson, and the traffic had sure chopped up our road after the last storm, but it was better than getting in the oilfield traffic on the highway. They are also putting a bunch of passing lanes on the highway so there are delays.

We got down to R.S. about ten and went right to Walmart. I was in there two and a half hours. Joe was very patient - he walks the dogs there, has coffee in the snack bar and sits and waits. The good thing is I'm pretty stocked up for winter now. I got me a couple pair of knit PJ bottoms and tried one last night. They are really comfy. And a new pair of jeans. When I came out and we got the groceries loaded from the cart to the back of the car and the coolers, we didn't think we had enough time to have lunch and not be late to the eye doctor, so took the shorts Joe decided he didn't want that we got last time back to Penney's and got a credit on the card, then over to the Dr's. office.

Couldn't believe he was in there three hours. I finally went out to the car for a while, walked the dogs and dozed off 6 or 7 times. After the last nap I felt pretty refreshed. It was too warm in the sun though. I did remember to get the form for the eye test for my drivers license, but it had been longer than I thought since I'd had the checkup. It might not work, but I'm going to mail it off anyway and see if they take it. Otherwise I'll have to go in for the eye test before my birthday.

After Joe was done with the several tests, including the flouracine test where they inject you with dye, the Dr. told him that new glasses wouldn't do him any good. I felt really bad for him. It's pretty well established now that it's not his eyes, but what the stroke did to the part of his brain that interprets what he sees. He has another appointment in a few weeks to have a side vision test.

Joe said later he doesn't think he will get another driver's license after the one he has now expires in a couple of years because of his eyesight. It's pretty upsetting for both of us. We also talked about the heart doctor. That Dr. essentially said that nothing with his heart or medication was causing his dizziness. Joe said he wouldn't go back to Idaho Falls to see him, since he was sure it would end up with them wanting to replace the valve in his heart. I sure wouldn't want to see him go through that, and he doesn't want it either. Between everything, there doesn't appear to be any solution for all the things he's going through, especially the dizziness he has all the time.

So with breakfast very early and no lunch until almost 4 p.m. we went over to the Outlaw Inn and had chicken fried steak which was dinner. Took out the white box of leftovers to the dogs, their favorite part of the trip. Then to Home Depot to get him some pipe fittings for his septic tank project, and looked at vent fans to go over the new stove. I liked the way one of the slender Nutone fans looked. It isn't vented to the outside, but recirculates and filters the air. I think we need to have at least that. The salesman said we'd have to rip out the cabinet over the stove and I said, uh-uh. It will lower the space over the stove by 8", but I think it will work. We will think about it, get more input and maybe buy that when we go back down there about the middle of October. There happened to be a Maytag stove nearly the same model as I ordered sitting there this time, so we were able to look at it. I didn't especially like the industrial look of it, but it will be o.k. It has two ovens, a small one on top, and the large one on the bottom. When I opened the bottom oven I thought boy this is really low! - it goes clear to the floor. As in - think about lifting a 20 pound turkey out of there, but that wouldn't be that often. My friend Jackie said she has that stove and she really likes hers with the smooth cooktop, but that the oven was low. It will be a change from what I've had for 20 years to a whole different way of cooking, but I'll like it.

So it was 5 p.m. by the time we started home. Vehicles coming our way were just solid - we aren't used to this. Five years ago or so you could drive to Rock Springs and not pass that many cars. I said I was going back on the dirt because I was in no mood to do the traffic on the highway. And we did. We only passed one other truck the whole way after we turned off the pavement. I kind of missed the turn we usually take back in the boonies of Farson farms and so we just kept going heading the right direction and went right by the Big Sandy reservoir for a short ways and came out on the road where I'd walked the dogs that morning and hit our road home. We got here about 7 p.m., groceries unloaded and the cold stuff put away and things fairly back to normal by about 8:30.

Wednesday September 26 2007

More Muddy Canyon

There was a beautiful full moon last night. There's a full Moon tonight (Wed., Sept. 26) and it has a special name--the "Harvest Moon," the full Moon closest to the autumnal equinox. In the days before electric lights, farmers relied on moonlight to help them gather ripening autumn crops. The bright Harvest Moon allowed their work to continue late into the night. Now, post-Edison, we appreciate the Harvest Moon more for its beauty than its utility. Moonrise happens tonight at sunset; look east and enjoy the view!And I looked through the spotting scope at Venus in the early morning hours. I could tell it was a crescent, so that was kind of neat. Northern fall has begun with a vibrant flourish of green--that is, green Northern Lights. Another solar wind stream is due on Sept. 27th or 28th.

I got up early this morning and finished my on line appliance shopping - Maytag dishwashers. I chose the stove a week or so ago, and continued to research and decide where I was going to order it from. Lots of phone calls, and going on line to read. The stove will be a Maytag with a ceramic top. That will change my whole way of cooking when I give up the Jenn-aire with the grill top. But it will sure be easier to clean. I'll go back to broiling more instead of the grill. The new stove has two ovens. The one on top is small with a broiler. I like the idea of not heating the big oven up for an hour and a half to cook two baked potatoes. The store in Jackson that was recommended wants $1 a mile coming and going to deliver it plus installation. That is 200 miles. So I will go as we first thought with our local "mercantile" store, Falers. I've procrastinated as long as I possibly can.

It is very different shopping this way, rather than going into a store and seeing what you are going to buy. But there is no store here to do that. Everything has to be ordered. It's also confusing because the prices are different levels, but the statistics for most of them say you are getting almost the very same thing in every model. I don't get it. So I marked the one about 5th from the top of the line. The store doesn't install. I called the recommended installer. So far he doesn't answer the phone, morning or afternoon, so I can make a preliminary appointment for it.

LATER;.....This afternoon I talked to Jim at Falers and ordered the stove and dishwasher. Everything seems all set. I had to change the model number of the dishwasher because the one I rather arbitrarily chose that is online, is out of date now, and I just said o.k. I'm flexible. He sold me one with a stainless steel interior rather than polymer, otherwise it should be almost the same - oh, yes except about $200 more. They are making a special consideration of delivering beyond their 15 mile limit because Joe is good friends with one of the bosses, and they will take the old stove and dishwasher away. Rather than calling a installer to come out, Joe is going to hook them up. He did the last ones and it doesn't amount to much to plug the stove in and connect the hose on the dishwasher....he says.

We're going to Rock Springs in the morning. Joe has an eye doctor appointment for new glasses. Maybe there is a place down there I can actually look at appliances, Home Depot and John Paras I suppose. I'll look into a small recirculating filter fan that will fit under our cupboard above the stove, since the old stove was a downdraft and Joe doesn't want to put another hole in the roof for an updraft. We'll cover the ends of the old downdraft vent.

This morning is lovely and sunny. It should get warm this afternoon - 66 the weather report says. Got some of the stacks of paperwork gone through and filed in the round file, and paid some bills on line.

Tuesday September 25 2007

Muddy Canyon

Joe made his breakfast again, two rare days in a row, and he took the dogs and went to town this morning. It was pretty foggy and snow covering the ground early, but the storm is over. It was also foggy in Pinedale where 3" of snow fell. This is good because it is putting out the forest fires which have still been burning. The fire fighters have had a busy and tiring season.

Then the Dish TV repairman called and said he could come out today. He was here by maybe 10 a.m. I have a full page of typewritten notes so I could describe the problem. COULD NOT BELIEVE within moments he was able to get the dang TV to play properly. We got the second TV going too. It all seemed to be back to normal - as if nothing was ever wrong. And (although he was very kind and helpful) he probably thought it was the elderly owners not able to run the remote control. Even though we've been using this system for 10 or 11 months, and the one before it for years.

He charged me $75 for the service call even though my equipment is still on warranty. Since it was apparently alright he said he had to charge for the visit. I said I guess we needed him since we couldn't fix it. And he left. In a while I went back and tried to change channels, turn it off and back on, use the guide etc. it worked for a few channels then went right back to the original problem of snowy screen saying no signal, and no response to the remote. For some time I tried and went through all the choices, - input - selecting satellite, etc. - could not get it back with a picture. As long as it shows a certain banner on the top, the remote has no response. After spending quite some time, for some unknown reason, it held on satellite and the picture came back correctly.

I called the business and asked them if they could get the TV guy could he turn around and come back on the same service call before he got too far away but they couldn't get him. He called when he got back to their shop and we talked. He said sometimes receivers had interrmittant problems and he would order us a new receiver, since the receiver he had brought to change out was the wrong one and wasn't for our HD-DVR. Our receiver is still on the warranty and Dish pays for everything including the service call. It only has a month to go so its best to get it taken care of now. I asked if I'd get my $75 back since he didn't make the right diagnosis, and he said no, but the next one and the new receiver would be free (the receiver costs $450). I said o.k. but under protest. It will probably be another 5 days or more before he gets the new receiver and brings it out and they don't work on the weekend. What a morning. Not sure why I stressed over it so much, but I have. Need to do my calming breathing and took an herbal calm remedy. I know its just been too many broken things all at once to deal with this summer, and what I've had to go through with all of it to get it taken care of. I may go to living in a tent! And tomorrow I'm ordering the stove and dishwasher from Falers.

o.k.......I feel better now.

So after Joe got back and we had some lunch I took the dogs and we rode up to Muddy Canyon to take pictures of the fall colors, chasing the receding snow and have an outing on the ATV. It was still windy and cold, so wore my down coat and gloves and glad I had them on. It was very pretty with the colored leaves, but my camera batteries were about gone, so that was a nuisance trying to nurse it along to get pictures. Even at that I took nearly 50. Raven and Sparky had a great time too. It was the perfect thing to do,

Judi called just as I got back and she and Vicki are having fun on their Dubois/Cody/Thermopolis trip. They did Sunlight Basin this morning and Buffalo Bill Center this afternoon. She was asking about the motel in Meeteetsee where I stayed at last year so they can go to the museum there too. They picked up my paintings from the Cody Art League. Tomorrow I think they are soaking in the hot springs and then home by Thursday. It sounded like "Having a wonderful time - Wish you were here!"

Monday September 24 2007

Snowy Morning

Joe fixed his own breakfast this morning and let me keep sleeping. It seems I'm sleeping better lately than I have for years and although staying busy and getting really tired, I'm getting more rested - eventually. This is a very good thing.

Peeping through squinty slits in my eyelids first thing this morning I saw that the clouds were down below the mountain tops and gradually lowering to the valley floor. It must have rained again in the early morning hours. Shortly I could see the rain drops changing to snow flakes and pretty soon large feathery flakes were falling. It wasn't sticking at first then started piling up around the tufts of grass. By the time I got out of the shower the ground was white. Snow fell more or less all morning, often big fat flakes. By afternoon it was melting off but continued to snow, just not sticking. The dogs are really holeing up in the house. If we put them out they want right back in. Its really pretty out. I love that foggy misty look. It's supposed to be nice again and in the 60s in a day or so.

Joe was going to town to get some things he needed, but the weather has changed his mind about that. He's been bugging me since the middle of last week about when I'm going to town again. I'd been the day before he decided he wanted soemthing, but I'm not going until we have to go to Rock Springs on Thursday for his eye doctor appointment. Both Sandra and Charm called this morning, and enjoyed visiting with them. So the phone is back on. They weren't getting the snow staying on the ground at their places.

Sandy from the phone company wrote and said the whole system was down again. I'm sure it was off all day yesterday, and probably ever since we had that strange brown-out and power failure. The power has been fluctuating frequently lately. Betty called this afternoon and said she tried to call twice yesterday.

Except for doing the normal duties yesterdayI worked again most of the time on my painting data base. Remember I lost 2 or 3 hours of it I had done by not saving! So got it all back in and all updated. I was happy to see all the sales I had made during the last year, each time an entry changed from available to sold. Even as thorough as I tried to be updating the list I still missed entering a large new piece, so don't know if I'll reprint it again or just write it in by hand. I'm feeling in the mood do work on some of the artwork today. I have 90 pieces hanging in the barn, plus the prints, and maybe seven new ones at the framers.

And am at a place now where I can finish up getting the last comments into our WAOW membership structure for the new bylaws. Then will go on to the next thing - setting up a new Standing Rules and Outline for the officers jobs. Bet the board will be glad when I get back to working on all that. I just haven't had the ambition I had before I got sick to keep up with everything. It's been a change for me to deal with that.

The video of the moment is Lucy and Desi in The Long Long Trailer. I could hardly watch the part about taking the trailer over the mountain road. It made butterflies in my stomach. Nothing else much of interest today. There's leftover pot roast in the oven for dinner.

Sunday September 23 2007

Precious - A Genuine Heroine

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My sister Gloria wrote a few days ago about excitement at their place down in Green Valley south of Tucson. They had been watching a movie on TV and.......Well....... I'll let her tell it:

"Precious (the cat) came in from the Arizona room to join us and she began moving cautiously to our entertainment center that holds all our books and the t.v., etc. She has never paid much attention to it before, as far as climbing into any of the available spaces. There is some empty space with only a few books standing against one edge of the compartment on the bottom shelf. This is where the cat went. I thought, she must want to curl up in there and lay down. But, her body language said differently. She backed up a little and then went in again, head first. I thought that's not right, there's something wrong. I figured it might be a bug or spider that she found there, so I picked up a piece of newspaper, getting ready to whack whatever it was. I gently got hold of the cat and pulled her out, keeping hold of her because I saw that there was definitely something in there. IT WAS A SNAKE!!! It looked like a small one, not rattling, so I didn't think it was a rattler. I put the cat out and closed the door to the Arizona room so she wouldn't come back in. Bob, of course, didn't believe me at first. I called 911 and they connected me to the Green Valley Fire Department. They're our snake people. Then I shut all the doors - office, bedroom, bathroom and stuffed towels at the bottoms of the doors. I DID NOT WANT IT COMING OUT OF THAT BOOKCASE AND SLITHERING IT'S WAY INTO ANOTHER ROOM AND GETTING LOST IN OR BEHIND SOMETHING. Bob laughed at me, but I'm glad I did that. Those suckers can move when they want to! It took the fire department about 20 minutes to get here and all the while the snake, luckily, stayed put. It was a King snake, which is harmless. But, stretched out, when it started to move when the fireman tried to catch it with the snake tongs - it was at least 50 feet long! Well, at least 2 feet. A young one, small and thin, but it really was at least 2 feet long. I have no idea how it got in or how long it was here. It might have just come in today with the rain - somehow! Otherwise, I think the cat might have found it before.So, that's our excitement - hopefully we'll never experience that again. We've had them outside before and called for help, and some of those have been mean rattlers, but I've never had one in the house before. THANK GOODNESS FOR THE CAT!!!!!!!"

Here is my niece Donna's response:

Dear Precious, Thank you so much for being the brave cat that we all knew you were. Thank you for saving mom and Bob and putting your life on the line the way you did. You didn't know if that snake was deadly or not, but that didn't slow you down! You were ready to move at a moment's notice. You were ready to sacrifice life and limb to save your TV watching owners. It's good that someone around there is on the ball. If it ever doesn't work out for you down south, we have a place for you here. Snake free. My eternal gratitude, Donna

(Me:)I'm glad all we have here are the little harmless water snakes. But we grew up with rattle snakes, sidewinders, scorpions, vinegaroons, spiders and Gila monsters when we were little in Paradise Valley. And...OHHHH.... the huge water bugs (beetles) They were the ones I didn't like. They got worse as time went by. We didn't have so many of those in olden times. That was in the long ago days.

Saturday September 22 2007

Here is the ATV Gang -

Time Delayed Taken by Betty's Camera on the Gorilla Pod

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Last night I slept for 12 hours. Could have taken a nap today. But did the usual stuff. And worked quite a while on my Artwork List, getting ready to print out a price list with all the changes and new paintings. I hadn't updated it since a year ago, and it takes quite a while to get all the info in there because there are a lot of headings and columns. So of course I saved, saved, saved, all morning and afternoon. But after dinner I started working and didn't save for a LONG time....and wouldn't you know the power went out and I lost all that part. I'll have to go back and try not to miss getting it all back in. Maybe I'll learn how to save properly one of these days.

The power outage was very strange. There was a brown-out for 10 minutes or so before it went clear out. I unplugged and turned off everything I could. It only stayed off about an hour.

Betty and I talked a couple of times today. The recliner fabric is going to be navy blue chenille and the chair will be rebuilt entirely including the springs. She also sent me 5 or 6 pictures of us with the dogs and the ATV, so I'm putting one of them in above. You should see us all in action though. She said it was raining down there. Then Beverly said Clayton's scout troup's camping and boating trip to Lake Mead had been cancelled because of the weather, but another younger troop of scouts had been camping up at Mt. Charleston and got caught in a terrible downpour there.

This morning sure started off another beautiful fall day, and by early afternoon was turning stormy. This evening we've had some rain showers. There was a severe weather warning for heavy rain and possible flooding. Wish we would get that - maybe it will come later tonight. And tomorrow its predicting snow, but not to amount to much. The wind blew hard for a while each time a front went through, and the leaves are all being blown off the trees in back. Its real early for all the leaves to come down like they are, some of the aspens aren't even turned yellow yet. And not even October.

After Note: It rained all night. The first thing I thought Sunday morning was how much easier it would be now to continue digging my new flower bed because the ground will be softer. Maybe if I lay down for a while that thought will go away. Or the ground could dry up hard again and I won't want to dig then.

I took a ride on the ATV yesterday afternoon with the dogs and we went up to the gate on the way to Muddy Canyon, just to see if it is open, and it is. Went over to look at the creek up there and it's totally dry. I've never seen it dry there. Wonder where the antelope and other animals are drinking. I know there are some ponds and springs, but couldn't be much there either as dry as its been.

"Something" has gotten in the cat food again, emptied the dishes, scattered and spilled food all over, drank a half gallon of water, ripped up the bag of cat food so that went all down the back of their table. Took me 20 or 30 minutes to clean it up. We might run out of cat food before the next planned trip to town. I'll give it one more chance to leave but if it does it again, the live trap is coming out of storage. I'll put apples or peanut butter in it so the cats won't want to go in.

Friday September 21 2007

Goats Grazing - Pastel in Progress

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Aspen Road - Pastel in Progress

Jerry and Joe had pancakes for breakfast. And soon Jerry's visit here was over and he left for another day of painting on the western slopes of the Wind Rivers. He said he got four more studies done. I thought this he emailed later was interesting because I've been thinking the very same thing: "The wind was blowing and while I was painting the hill I was working from lost it's fall color right before my eyes. I looked up and something was different, the leaves were gone. It was a beautiful day and fall is not going to last long." I enjoyed seeing him so much and getting to talk to another artist for a while. We have a lot in common to discuss and debate. And Jerry, thank you again for bringing back my errant "stuff". And thank you so very much for the wonderful gift of tomatoes from your garden. We will sure enjoy those! What a nice man he is, and always so willing to share what he knows about art.

After Jerry left I opened the package of matboards I took to the pastel workshop at WAA back in May. Hadn't seen them since then. I was remembering one painting of goats, but found that there was another one of a road and fall trees that I'd forgotten about. I think they both have promise for finishing and will give me a couple more new pieces to go out into the barn. We will see how they change and develop. I'm kind of eager to get to work on them. Those are the pictures above. The workshop teacher was pretty loose and contemporary in what he was teaching us. See Monday May 14 for the photos of the convention where I was working on the goats.

This afternoon Roberta and Betty came to visit and look at the art show. I haven't seen either of them for a long time and Joe and I will enjoy their visit. They are a couple of brave ladies with all that's gone on in their lives lately and its good to see them out here and looking so good.

Also yesterday afternoon a lady called and said her name was Trish and she lived in southern California. She had bought a painting of mine at a consignment store and wondered if I could tell her something about it. (I always put my contact info on the backs of paintings.) It turned out to be one that I'd given to my sister Barbara for her birthday in 1995 - #677 Poppies For Barbara. It's a 20x16 oil and I told Trish it would be worth about $1800 now. She paid $100 for it, so she was happy she got a good bargain. And I am glad to know that the painting has a good home. She said she loved the painting. Barbara passed away a couple of years ago now. The rest of the story is that the last time I was down there to visit I asked her where the painting was and she didn't know (Barbara had Alzheimer's), she thought maybe Robert had put it out in one of her yard sales, or (my thought) maybe on the curb for the garbage men to take. I also gave one about the same size to Robert of a girl in a turquoise dress on a swing in a big tree. He said he liked it a lot, but I wonder where it is too. Barbara had a couple of older watercolors of mine too, and a whole book of my early drawings. Robert wants no material possessions beyond basic necessities. We'll never know how it got into the consignment store twelve years later, but it's a painting with an interesting history. I'm very glad to know the story and where it is now. Barbara and Robert lived in San Diego.

A really gorgeous morning, so far. The wind will probably blow again. Yesterday it blew pretty strong most of the day. Venus has sure been beautiful lately, rising just before dawn. I am usually awake about the time it is rising (then go back to sleep again). From Spaceweather.com - At the moment Venus has assumed the form of a slender crescent. "The only planet named for a goddess is as beautiful as she is mysterious," This week the morning goddess reaches maximum brightness. Shining at visual magnitude -4.5, Venus is 10 times brighter than Jupiter and 16 times brighter than Sirius--the brightest star in the heavens! Before dawn, look east for the brilliant light.

Thursday September 20 2007

Doo Dah....Somebody Bet on the Bay .....Doo Dah

The photo today is of John, one of our ranching neighbors. I was on the road near Boulder and had slowly woven my way through a herd of Angus cattle being driven by some of the cowboys. Hardly before I could see him and know what was happening, he came racing past on his horse - dust, thundering hooves and all, going to catch up with the cattle. I don't know why so fast, but it was exciting. I'd been holding the camera in case I had the opportunity for pictures and barely had time to point it out the window as I was driving by and happened to get a pretty good shot. In fact the whole thing was so fast I was asking myself - who was that masked rider? I didn't know who it was until I saw the photo on the computer screen.

Betty called last night from the motel in Nephi and had made it that far o.k. It had taken her longer than we expected. She had stopped several times along the way, usually to walk and water Amigo.

Late yesterday afternoon Judi emailed and said she would pick up my three paintings in Cody and bring them back to me. This is a wonderful offer, and will save me a trip over there. She and Vicky are leaving on Friday going to Dubois and then up through the park. They are going to be gone nearly a week. She invited me to go along but I think I better slow down for a while. Between this and Jerry bringing me the art materials from Riverton, it's two problems off my mind. And it will be easier taking time away to go down to Mesquite and get the recliner when its ready.

A couple of days ago Betty saw a cat with a short tail and it turned out to probably be Tigger. I say probably because although it's likely her, it could be another cat entirely. I was pretty relieved to see her since there has been no sign of her for several months. Her tail is even shorter than the last time I caught a glimpse of her. Something must have caught her by the tail, which used to be long, and she escaped. There was blood on the cat bed in late winter. I'm afraid she has had an infection and maybe illness from it, but she has survived. We will never know what has happened or what she's been through. She looked good and jumped up to the top of the fence in one leap. That means I still have all five cats and they all seem well.

Since the TV is out I've been watching video movies. Last night was Jimmy Stewart in "Harvey" and the night before i played a Nature program about wild horses and a little colt growing up named "Cloud" while I gave myself a manicure and pedicure. Tonight I have Arsenic and Old Lace picked out.

Betty called about 2 p.m. and she and Amigo had already gotten home. She had delivered the recliner to the man's shop who will re-upholster it, and had picked up Goldie from the vet. She made very good time.

I've baked some cookies and lemon bars this morning to have when people are around. Today is going to be busy. More later on how it goes.

LATER: Well, we waited for Helena and Maxine to bring lunch. It got past noon, and I gave Joe some leftovers, then it was 1 p.m. and then 2 p.m. Had I misunderstood what day they were coming? I called Maxine's cell phone and left a message saying I was getting pretty hungry. About 3 I gave up and had a sandwich. Called Helena's number too. I was a little worried that they had trouble or were stuck but figured they had gotten involved in all the homestead research and just didn't get here.

Also, the TV guy never showed up. About 4:30 I called the business and asked why he never came. Well, he forgot to write a work ticket, so when he called people to cancel his appointments we never got called. He couldn't remember that he was coming out here, but I asked if he remembered me giving him directions and he finally said yes and did find what he had written down that I told him was wrong with our Dish Network. He said he had to wait for Dave to come back from vacation before he could order new receivers and he'd call back Monday and tell us when he would get a receiver and come to hook it up. The old one is still on the warranty.

This afternoon I got the bedroom back together, did some housecleaning, and went out to the barn and finished up a little more cleaning there and took three new paintings out which I had framed this afternoon.

Jerry got here just about 6, and it was really nice to see him again. I have sure enjoyed the visit with him. I had fixed spaghetti for dinner and about the time we were finishing Maxine and Helena got here - 7 hours late. It was good to see them too and know that they were o.k. They had gotten involved in homesteads that are on the Leckie place and ate the lunch over there. I asked if they would like dinner, but they didn't. We talked about some of the homesteads around, which is always interesting. They wanted to go out and see the art show and we all went out to look.

After the ladies left, I asked Jerry to show me the plein air paintings he had done today and really liked what he did, one down near the Sweetwater and another around Big Sandy I think. He said he is only using three colors on his palette plus white. He is sure doing wonders with mixing his colors. They are beautiful.

Wednesday September 19 2007

Red Boat

Square Top - Green River Lakes

This morning after breakfast Betty and I took the dogs for their last ATV ride together, out around the field and back home. Betty set up the timer on her camera and got some pictures of us all with the machine, since we didn't have much luck getting any photos while we were out tootling around. In a few days when she gets back home and emails them to me, I'll put one on the blog for you to see.

She left her little ingenious very flexible digital Gorilla Pod camera tripod for me as a hostess gift. Also gave me a beautiful hand crafted lap quilt that was Amigo's blankie. I may put it at the foot of the bed where Sparky sleeps and it will look a lot better than the odd sheet I have there now. However it's way too beautiful for a dog blankie.

Before Betty left, Maxine called and said she and Helena wanted to come over and would bring lunch tomorrow. Helena is doing a huge project of starting at the southern border of Sublette County and gathering the history of all the homesteads. She has started on our side of the county (east going south to north). Helena writes wonderful history interviews and columns of the past. I promised iris bulbs to Maxine, so will try to get some dug up before they get here.

THEN....Kay called from Riverton and got my messages about Betty and I coming over to pick up my art materials that Kay has kindly been keeping for me since WAA convention in May - remember I forgot a bunch of my stuff then. Betty and I thought we might drive over to Riverton and pick it up a few days ago, but Kay was up at a great art workshop in Dubois and just got home. She said Jerry is coming over from Hudson to paint plein air at Big Sandy Openings tomorrow, and he wondered if he could have a bed here for the night. And he can bring my stuff. I said of course, and that dinner is at 6. So now am rushing to get the beds changed etc. Kay said Jerry invited me to go with him on Friday to paint. I will see how I'm feeling energy-wise by then.

THEN.....Betty called on her cell phone and all I could hear was - I'm south of Big Piney and crackle crackle cow crackle fence crackle highway crackle can you blank. We tried but there just wasn't reception. I said did you hit the cow? and thought she said no, Thank goodness, but wasn't sure at all. In 20 minutes or so she called again and we could talk. The cow was caught and struggling in a fence gate and she wanted me to call somebody to get it out. She was afraid someone would have a wreck and get killed if it got onto the highway. But a young man came by and was able to open the gate and let the cow back in its pasture.

Tomorrow is sounding pretty busy with ladies for lunch, two meetings in Pinedale for the Art and Conference Center - one at noon and one at 7 pm, the TV receiver repairman, overnight guest. I was planning on taking a long nap. I cancelled the early meeting and not sure now I can make the evening one either. I'll let you know.....in the meantime I'll keep plugging along here.

By the way, first thing this morning the phone repairman called to say that they had our phone system working consistently now. He said lightning had hit the tower on Mt. Airy by Pinedale again, and they had to get some "cards"...?? But we should be all set for the phone working now. He mentioned something happening in Daniel at the same time as the lightning, and I don't know what that is about.

Joe is busily painting the wooden ceiling of the back porch.

The ranchers are beginning to bring the cattle in from the mountain pastures now. Richie's brought another little bunch in to the fields here next to us this morning. See Gina's blog, horseback41 in the sidebar on the right if you want to read about cowboying here at this time of year. She's got some good stuff.

Tuesday September 18 2007

Horses in Field by Betty

Evening Shadows Taken by Betty

Joe went to the dump this morning and had lunch in town. He got supplies for the project he has going now - painting all the outside woodwork. He got back about 1:30 or so. Today we stayed around the house, taking it easy mostly. It seemed quiet time was in order for us both. I made us a chicken vegetable soup for lunch that turned out nice. Betty and Amigo napped and I did a little painting and finished up a small landscape, then worked on a couple of frames and will take four new pieces out to the Barn Show.

We took the dogs for an ATV ride and the purpose was mainly to go down to the creek and see if there was water in the water gap for the horses or if it had dried up there too. On the way down Amigo chased a little buck antelope that had been sticking around the pasture lately. This was the first time he'd run off chasing. We ran him down, which wasn't too difficult as he lumbers more than runs, and disciplined him right away. I had been using a regular buggy whip to fend him off from being in front of the vehicle where he gets more often than is safe, with the command 'back, back". So when we caught up with him, I whapped him a couple of times with it telling him "NO CHASING". He was quite surprised, but it may have made an impression. When he looked and started that direction again, it brought another whap. All the yelling and commotion scared Raven to death and she jumped up onto the ATV and sat in Betty's lap and wouldn't get down. Sparky cringed on his belly saying "I didn't do it - I'm GOOD". Later when we turned toward that place Amigo didn't want to go there, but not sure if he connected "trouble" with the antelope or not. It might take another time of being corrected.

The dogs all did get to chase a rabbit a few days ago, which is allowed, since they haven't got much of a chance to ever catch one. And mine do know the difference. We let them all out of the car at the gate to run 1/2 a mile up to the house. Amigo was alongside and my two were quite a ways up ahead when they flushed a rabbit out and it ran straight down the road toward the car. Neither Betty or I had ever seen a jack rabbit running towards us and it was pretty comical. Amigo was oblivious for a while until the rabbit was nearly upon him, and it looked like it would be a head on collision, but the rabbit veered in a quick zig zag and Amigo ran after him back toward the gate. He was one tired pup when he gave up the chase.....because he went twice the distance by the time we got back to the house. The rabbit was great entertainment for all of us.

Other than that the day was ordinary, cloudy and cool. The phone seems to be back to "normal", and I caught up making phone calls, appointments for Joe and called the local Dish Network company. The receptionist said they couldn't fix our TV for seven days. I pleaded that we had already been without it for four days and couldn't call, but she wasn't sympathetic. And it seems like the couple that had the business when we bought the equipment had sold it back in August so these are new people. Then the repairman called back and asked the symptoms. He thinks it is receiver software failure and said he would be here about noon Thursday. Thank goodness it will be fixed because Joe is pretty bored without FoxNews and football.

In the afternoon we put "Joe's Favorite Chair" into the back of Betty's van. (See the photo on August 29.) She says there is a very good upholsterer in Mesquite and contacted him to see if he will recover Joe's old chair he loves so much. Yes!..... and it can be done in a few weeks after he gets it in his shop. I will have to go to Mesquite when it's finished to pick it up and bring it home. So that trip might be my vacation time away this year. I had given up hope that we would find an upholsterer around here because the man who used to do that kind of work here has retired, and the chair was likely doomed to the dump soon. After buying two other new recliners we haven't been able to find one he is comfortable in. So we are grateful to have this opportunity to get it fixed up for Joe. It will be reconstructed from the inside out.

This evening we had a spectacular light show with the sunset, lighting up the fields and hills. Betty practiced more with her camera, so I've used two of the pictures she took for today's shots. I grilled thinly sliced marinated pork on skewers for dinner with baked potatoes and corn.

Monday September 17 2007

One of the first things that happened this morning was that Joe got the old living room wood stove out of the barn where it's been stored for three years now. I know it's that long because I've been hanging the Art Show in the Barn with it in there, and its been a potential hazard for tripping over and someone getting hurt besides junking the place up and making it hard to see the paintings there. We've tried all this time to give it away because it is still good especially for a shop or something, and have had no takers. But tomorrow it's going to the dump. He used the front end loader on the tractor and nylon tow straps to lift it out of the barn and in to the pickup. We also put in the large picture window that had been in my studio before we put new windows in. It has been sitting in the front yard for about as long as the stove has been in the barn and Joe kept forgetting to put it in when he went to the dump. Thank goodness they are both "out of here".

Got a message from Sandy at the phone company that our whole phone system is down, and they are working on it. The dial tone has been off and on all day, so I didn't think it was a good idea to get on tech support for the TV and loose the call after likely sitting there on hold for who knows how long. Sandy said they were ordering parts for the system and it should be up and going tomorrow. The picture above shows our phone antenna really well. That is where the signal comes to and then goes into equipment that is in the shop that converts it essentially to being a regular phone. As time goes by, you are likely going to hear me talking about getting some new type of phone because what we have is becoming obsolete - what exactly is unknown at this point.

This antelope was just outside our front gate this morning when Betty and I left to go on a picnic. She also got good pictures of him, and also of a large herd that has been just behind our buildings in back. She was getting good practice with her new camera. I think this guy is an outcast from the big herd now that its breeding season. The head buck must have kicked him out, but he doesn't want to go too far.

Big Sandy River

For several days I've been trying to get ahold of a friend in Riverton who got the things I left after the WAA convention in May and kept them for me, and we would have gone over there today and picked them up for something to do. We could have gone to a few other places sightseeing that Betty hasn't been to. But even though I've sent her messages one way or another I haven't heard back, so maybe she's gone right now. I hope every thing's o.k. there.

So instead of another long day in the SUV, Betty and I packed our lunch, took lawn chairs and about 11 a.m. went down to the Big Sandy River with the dogs for a picnic. It was pleasantly cool, with a breeze. We stayed enjoying the day and the sound of the river and letting the dogs get in the water until about 2 p.m. before we came back. We have been going so steadily that I was fairly tired today and we did the easiest thing. I really enjoyed the river. There was a leftover casserole so made some blueberry muffins and dinner was easy.

Today the article and photos for the Art Show in the Barn have been posted on http://www.pinedaleonline.com/news/2007/09/ArtShowintheBarnthro.htm About a quarter of the paintings are shown. It's under PINEDALE LOCAL I was pleased with the way it turned out. It will be there for a month, and then it will be archived and anyone can search the archives to see it in the future.

Sunday September 16 2007

Irish Canyon Road - a Smooth Part

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Scene on the Way Up

Looking Toward East Fork Which Irish Creek Flows Into

- Willows Are Concealing The Creek in the Foreground

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Sagebrush Meadow - Fall Colors

Raven Says "C'mon Amigo"
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Irish Creek

Amigo Wading

Betty Walking on Irish Canyon Road

This shows our house from the Irish Canyon Road

This morning after breakfast and other regular chores and puttering I got the charged up battery back into the ATV and the seats put back on. Then Betty and I took the dogs four-wheeling around the pasture. Amigo is learning not to get too near or in front of the ATV. Lunch was french dip sandwiches with cottage cheese and pears. I wish we had thought to make it a picnic.

By about 2 p.m. we took a drive up into Irish Canyon with all the dogs. Betty hadn't been there before although this area is close to the house. The Dog Man was home and waved at him. He has maybe three times more dogs than the last time I went by. He raises sled dogs. It's really looking more like a junk yard there all the time. We drove to the end of the open areas and parked and hiked probably about a mile and a half (total) as the road gets even rougher in this section. We went as far as the Irish Creek crossing where the dogs enjoyed wading and swimming. We felt like wading in the water was new to Amigo and he thoroughly enjoyed the experience. He went back and forth in the pond area for quite some time. It seemed there were campers in every spot possible, and probably they are mostly hunters. I have never seen that many people, or anywhere near that many, up in Irish Canyon. Usually there is maybe one other vehicle. It was a beautiful fall afternoon, although quite hazy from smoke from the distant forest fires.

On the way down we spotted some flat rocks along the road and picked them up for a small area under the hose bib where Raven always wants to dig a very large hole. Rocking it solid will probably solve that, at least in that one place.

We also stopped before descending the last steep hill and called our friend Nancy in Oregon on the cell phone, but Bud said she was stirring pie filling so it wouldn't burn, and she couldn't come to the phone. Remember Nancy and Betty were here together in May after I got sick. We tried anyway.

Back at home by 4:30, we grilled some chicken for dinner. Later we downloaded photos from both our cameras and showed Betty more about the Elements photo program.

We're all pretty worn out, and the dogs all crashed early. Phone still dead.....TV still on the fritz. No response to my email to DishNetwork customer support for the TV. Maybe they are trying to call on the phone?? MAYBE its just the customer support for paying your bill.....Or MAYBE they make it really hard for you to contact them. I don't know.

Saturday September 15 2007

Tell me if you blame me for feeling hexed by technology. This morning first thing I was going to use the phone. It's dead again. Probably was dead last night. I emailed Sandy to let her know, but here it is the weekend.

After breakfast (biscuits, scrambled eggs and sausage) and doing dishes, Betty and I were going to take the dogs on another ATV run. I have never done this before and don't know how or why it happened now, but I left the key partway on and the battery was dead. So took it out and Joe is recharging it for me. Next thing Joe had been watching Fox News and tried to change to ESPN to watch football and the TV went haywire. It's a long story, but I usually have to get the TV back when he pushes the wrong buttons, but this time it wouldn't go back. When he tried to watch the TV in the studio the same thing happened there. If you switch channels it goes to cable and snowy blank screen. He gave up and went out to paint all his wood trim on the buildings. And I gave up on it too. Could not get it to straighten out by trying everything I know, which is limited for sure.

So we walked with the dogs instead of 4-wheeling. We also spent some time showing Betty how to work with her photos in the Elements program, because she just got a beautiful new Canon digital camera. Had lunch, and then called Sheral on the cell phone and went over there for a little while to return one of her plates and visit with them. Had not seen them for some time, so was glad to catch up there. They are trying to repair a floor on one of their houses, and putting drain pipe and gravel next to the foundation where water has been coming in on the floor in the spring. Its a pretty big job.

After dinner I wrote the TV problem down and emailed to DishNetwork (no phone) trying to find out from their support how we might fix the TV. Frustrating day.

Friday September 14 2007

Tie Hack History Site - Where Railroad Ties Came From


Desert Dog....."SCARY, MOM!!! "

Green River Lake

Amigo and Sparky - Finally Friends

Green River at the Outlet

End of a Perfect Day

Up early and preparing to take a day sightseeing on the Upper Green. Waffles, sausage and eggs for breakfast. Did dishes and vacuumed. Told Joe we'd be back tonight and loaded up Betty and I, and Sparky, Raven and Amigo. We were out of here by about 10 a.m. Stopped in Pinedale for gas. Next door was Callaghan Cabinets where they sell some appliances, so I inquired about what brands they carry. Right there they have very high end brands Viking and Wolf, and she gave me the card of a place in Jackson which carries a bunch of brands and will come and install them, take the old stuff away and do any maintenance. Their store is in Jackson. Took Betty into our newly remodeled bank to show her the artwork they had there, which is quite impressive, all Western paintings.

We made it up to The Place right about noon where we planned to have some lunch. Fortunately they were open or we would have been out of luck for food any where else. Drove along the Green River, stopping to read historical signs and do a lot of photography along the way. I had hoped the fall colors would have changed more, but they had begun. We stopped to take a picture and identify some ducks, and Betty said "What's THAT!!" There was a quite large bull moose and I did manage to get half a dozen pictures of him. Betty was clicking, but she didn't get any picture of him taken. I told her she had buck fever. HA! We were also lucky to see some swans on the river both coming and going. On up to the Green River Lakes. We were fortunate they had graded the road about a week before, as I had been hearing how rough it has been. I couldn't tell it had been worked that recently, so imagined that either my car rode really well or everyone else was a bunch of sissies.

We walked the dogs several times along the way, and had a good time at the lake. Raven and Sparky went right in swimming. It probably was the biggest water that Raven had ever seen in her life. Amigo was wandering along and all of a sudden seemed to become aware of the water ....and the waves. He was a hoot, telling us water had never done that before. So we got a good laugh about him making a new discovery. By the time we left he seemed comfortable with the big water coming after him. Back down the way we came. We stopped at The Place again for ice tea to go and went back into town. It had begun to be stormy coming down from the mountains, and got windy with showers.

We stopped in the library to see an exhibit of aerial photographs of the Upper Green and Wind Rivers, and they had taken it down early so we were disappointed. But there was another exhibit - the theme of the show is Between Fences, and the presentation of “Fence Posts”, a community art exhibit each one decorated by a different person, Several people I know had decorated fence posts in creative ways to show how communities can raise or eliminate barriers (I think). I was looking for Charm's but she told me later she hadn't delivered hers yet. Then to Falers for groceries and home. Joe had fixed himself some leftovers. We unloaded and put away the groceries and Betty and I heated up chicken enchiladas in the microwave with a salad. Then downloaded my photos - 89 today - and looked at them on "slide show". At home we had a beautiful double rainbow (twice) and nice lighting as the sun set. About 8 the thunder and lightning started again and we heard rain on the studio roof. I hope we get some nice moisture out of it.

The article came out in the Sublette Examiner newspaper for the art show in the barn, and it was nice, but no pictures with it. I guess she didn't get them soon enough and it was too close to the deadline.