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.