Monday July6 2009

Clouds Hills Shed Field

At high water we can see Muddy Creek from
the house like this. Otherwise we usually can't
see it. It is mainly a marshy boggy place
very good for birds and small wildlife.

Me at the Upper Green River with Squaretop in the back.
This was taken and sent by Nancy.
Thank you Nancy!

Another quiet day. Still cool, doesn't seem to be getting out of the 60s which is nice. Thankfully we've had hardly any wind to speak of, just soft breezes. Seems a continuation of the last several days, possibly some afternoon thunderstorms. Lots of bird songs coming in through the open windows.

Joe mowed the yard in back. It's good exercise for him, since he can't do much other walking. He seems to be an obsessive mower.

Got some phone calls made this morning. Have had a list of several to sit down and do. We will try to make Joe's VA Clinic annual checkup sometime in probably August, so we're not going down to Rock Springs in winter weather. It's always been November in the past and often cold and blustery if not actually stormy.

Also had procrastinated about my protime results of last week. "They - from oncology" never called me with changes to the dose, so I kept doing what I was on, however when I called today to check in and see if I should get another test tomorrow, Paige said I was to have gone to 2.5 every day. Someone goofed up - I never got that. So am to take nothing tonight and get it checked again tomorrow.

Joe has decided he also wants another bigger culvert on the east driveway at Arrowhead as long as Scott is doing the landscaping. That would be next to the street on the other outlet to the circular drive. So I called him today to let him know.

Am getting the studio cleaned today. It needs it, especially with the dogs in here so much. Dinner will be chicken fried chicken, with leftover scalloped potatoes. Yesterday I tried the potatoes in the crock pot and they aren't the greatest that way. I just want some good crock pot recipes, so it will seem easier or quicker to get a meal on the table. I'm not finding that many I like though. Also made an angel food cake.

Tomorrow will be the small group painting day and am undecided about whether to go on into town and do all the errands and shopping in the same day, or take another day. It's the driving! Would just like to get it over with all at once but that makes a very long day. And am supposed to go to the clinic for my protime.

Will be taking the computer to town to be worked on tomorrow, so no blogging or email for a while. Unless I decide to bring the laptop back home. After its fixed Rick (nope, didn't get Mike this time) has said that he would give me a few lessons in some of the programs I've been agonizing over.

Check Gina's blog today (up on the right, horseback 41, to see the best ever photos of Nube and Bob. She looks like a happy horse.

At five minutes and six seconds after 4 am on the 8th of July this year, the time and date will be 04:05:06 07/08/09.

Sunday July 5 2009

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It's a beautiful sunny morning, with mountain bluebird skies. Those cumulus clouds are building around the edges though, promising some more possible thunderstorms this afternoon. Its in the 60s so far with a nice breeze.

Well I started off the morning in a bad mood I guess. I had been grumbling, internally, about Joe wanting to watch Wimbledon tennis, instead of another 30 minutes of CBS Sunday Morning which has always been one of my more favorite shows. Oh well, tennis is good and he likes it.

But when I sat down to read e-mail I found another thing to keep me in a REALLY REALLY bad mood. My godaddy account had charged me - without asking or advising beforehand - nearly $150 to renew my website for 3 more years. There was the receipt glaring at me from my screen. This had cost me $27 for 3 years the last time it was renewed- i.e. went from $9/year to $50 per year.

I could not believe it. So went right to the phone number and cancelled the whole thing. (Had to page the handset first, because this room is in such a mess I couldn't find the phone!!) Anyway I guess they would never have gotten the money because that's the credit card that was cancelled about 6 months ago. I would have renewed the website if they had charged essentially the same fee, but was not even given that option, nor did he answer any of my questions, just told me how to cancel it and they would refund to the (non-existant) credit card. This time I didn't even try to be polite, although he was and continued to just go through the process.

So..... there is no longer a Lynn Thomas Art website any more. It's just as well, because I didn't know how to work on it or never tried, Even had bought Front Page to work on it, and the book to learn how. Guess I could have eventually figured it out. Help that had been promised never came because of large problems in two friends lives who got it started. But why bother at this point. If anybody knows how to save it - onto a CD or something - before they take it off will you please let me know? Thanks.

Going in to dinner at Kathy and James was a very enjoyable evening. We took time on the way to go search and possibly find four houses that Scott had landscaped and given me directions to in order to see some of his work. It was kind of like searching for needles in a haystack, but we think we found them all. The directions sounded simple, and were, but when we actually got to each one were never sure we really had the right house except most of the places did not have any landscaping. So came to the conclusion that we were in the right place if there was new landscaping. And the landscaped yards all looked nice.

Then to the cousins. There must have been about 10 adults and a small band of well behaved kids. Two of their grandchildren were there and they each had a friend or two. Dinner was delicious and it was fun to see those we knew again, and meet new friends from Georgia and Florida. We didn't stay for the fireworks, as it would have been three more hours until dark and then the show and long drive home. Neither of us was really up to it and Joe had to continue pumping water. So we came on home. They had sprayed for the mosquitoes in town but boy they were swarming here last night. The dogs just get covered.

Saturday July 4 2009

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HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY

God Bless The USA

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Today is Independence Day, celebrating the day in 1776 that the Second Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence, and the United States officially broke from the rule of England. (Of course, there's lots more to it than that!!)

Today's pictures are from the fireworks display in Idaho Falls. These may have been from when my first digital camera was brand new. I happened to be over there for other reasons, shopping and such, that year, and stayed with Mary Ann Cherry which was most enjoyable visit. They went to a barbecue with friends and then we stood on the bank of the Snake River to watch the fireworks. It was fun. (Just a note about the pictures, I sent them as a group to myself in an email, which made them "smaller". Then saved them to the desktop and downloaded them to the blog from there. They download quickly that way.)

Quiet morning. Despite the predictions there was no rain. This morning it is lovely out with mostly sunny skies. Looks like the lurking clouds could mass into thunderheads this afternoon though. We will be going in to town for dinner with James and Kathy and their guests and it remains to be seen if we can stay up and get back to the ranch after the fireworks there. We could stay at the house in Pinedale but Joe still needs to pump water.

If one day soon I don't blog, there is definitely something bad wrong with this computer. Its a possibility it could crash, and at least the next time I go to town I'll take it in to someone to have them going through everything, condition or whatever. I tried system restore, and that won't work.

I've been painting.

Friday July 3 2009

Kay's Wild Flax

Kay's Teapots

Kay's Iris

Smokey the Huntress

So dark and cloudy this morning. Foothills all covered with clouds. Kind of makes you want to ask "Think its going to rain?" Some sun was coming through about noon, but Salt Lake's weather report sounds like more of the same - heavy rain - this afternoon. It rained all through the night and things were sure soaked this morning. Regardless of everyone wanting to see some nice summer days, now that we finally have summer, I am very thankful for every drop Mother Nature will give us.

James called last night and invited us to come over for grilled steaks tomorrow, and so we will go in to Pinedale for dinner at their house and maybe stay for the fireworks. Pinedale has a great fireworks show and they will go up on the hill above the cemetery to watch. We need to bring out lawn chairs. Everyone's been worried about the mosquitoes though. They always spray for them, but haven't been able to yet because of the weather. when I called Kathy to coordinate to accept the invitation, she said it sounded like they were flying to spray this morning.

My night was an up and down thing, but did sleep. Woke up about 6 a.m. Had a cup of tea. Joe was already up and so I asked if he would like me to make him another waffle which used up all the batter. Then I went back to sleep again until after ten o'clock. Feel pretty rested. Pains are better but still there. Just will take some time to go away as usual I suppose. Maybe it would be good to remember not to move the living room furniture again. That was probably not a good idea.

Thursday July 2 2009

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Like a flock of red
birds in gusty breeze fly
scarlet poppy petals

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Haiku by Lynn Thomas

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Sparky by the Poppy Bed.

He loves to pose for his picture every time he sees

the camera and holds still until I say OK!! Good Boy!!

Our Other Blogger Friends Have Been

Showing Us Their Poppies

I was going to put these pictures in a couple

of days ago, but had others subjects to use.

So here are mine. When the wind came up

this afternoon, it blew most of the petals away.

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Cranes in Field

Muddy Ridge During the Rain

Rainy Day at the Ranch
Muddy Canyon Socked In

Ranch in Summer

Joe went to town today. He had loaded the garbage barrels in the bed of his pickup with the tractor bucket, so went to the dump. He also got a haircut, and his protime at the clinic and ate lunch in town. I moved the furniture in the living room, got that room cleaned up and finally used the hardwood floor finish in there. Also cleaned the kitchen and did laundry. Guess I must be feeling some better, but still have that pain in my neck and another one in my stomach, plus dealing with the arthritis. Guess the storms are keeping that riled up. This afternoon I worked on all the financial stuff, going over the credit card receipts and all the bills and paperwork that has piled up. Also made more than half a dozen phone calls for various reasons pertaining to medical or financial things. Getting through all those menus is such a time consuming and frustrating thing.

Joe is on the VA drug plan, and its a good thing, but like other government institutions they tend to get it all mixed up and of course its nobody's fault there. We've been having a time with them, and with keeping all his prescriptions coming on time like they should. There is a "coumadin clinic" the have and some young sounding bimbo seems to be in charge of that. The deal is that if they provide Joe a coumadin prescription, he must be in their coumadin clinic. Otherwise they won't provide him with coumadin. He can get his protime test at the clinic here and they fax the results to the VA. The VA then monitors the results and is supposed to adjust his dosage when it needs to be changed. But here is the problem. Heidi has NEVER EVER called to adjust his does. Only to call once in a while to ask me if Joe wants to be in the coumadin clinic. I always say yes, but tell her they never call. Every time before we hang up she sounds like she's about to climb the walls, and I'm not in such a good mood either. That happened again today so I called their patient advocate there and told him what was going on. I don't know if the call will help anything, but I hope she gets talked to about being more helpful, and hope that the phone call she and I had is recorded and they listen to it. Also another issue is that we try to follow their instructions for renewing his other prescriptions, which they usually manage to get goofed up. Last month he was out of something and they were saying he couldn't get it again until October. Its so annoying. Rant, Rant.

Sherese called yesterday and they are expecting about 25 of Kevin's family up to the ranch over the 4th. They should all have a very enjoyable time. Sherese might come and get some more flower plants from our yard.

It's probably time to let my flower beds fill in with just grass, as the extensive weeding they need 3 or 4 times a summer is too much to do now. The yard will still look neat that way and if I get some bedding flowers going that will give some color. The back yard where I had the biggest flower beds is nearly all filled in with lawn now and looks pretty nice. The Oriental poppies have sure bloomed their hearts out with all this rain we've been having, but they are about finished now. Maybe I can get some seeds pods from them this year and scatter those in my "wildflower patch" at the Arrowhead House. I'll take some of the perennial plants from here over there too and get a few things started. Hopefully it can be more xeriscaping there than I've had here.

We had quite a steady rain storm this afternoon again. Only today it really put down a lot of water in a short time. Very quickly the whole yard was standing in water. Guess you could call it a heavy downpour. It's after 8 now and still showering more or less. There was a lot of lightning, and rumbling thunder. Nothing cracking all that close this time though. The power went out about four times, plus brown outs a number of times. I unplugged all the computer stuff just in case.

Wednesday July 1

Another month gone by. Hard to believe how quickly June raced into the past.

Today's pictures are of the smoke from that fire I described yesterday, taken from Kay's second story deck. The photos seem kind of hazy, so maybe there was some smoke in the air. The others are of the Green River and Faler Creek on the 7D Ranch, the hayfields and pastures, ranch buildings and the Green River Valley. George is the foreman at the 7D.

Today is quite cloudy, pleasantly cool and this afternoon there have been lots of lightning flashes with distant thunder. It started raining nicely about 3 p.m. The sound of rain on the roof is so relaxing. It sure looked like it would rain last night, there was such a black front that went over, but it never did.

I'm not doing much today, but slowly feeling better. Joe is still doing his water pumping job getting up in the night a couple of times, and out there early in the morning. He got his new pump day before yesterday. Can't believe it's all lightweight plastic. Joe says it's a piece of shit. I thought the UPS man dropped it in his truck, I heard such a clamor of falling things with cursing etc, and I outright asked him if he dropped it and he said no.

Debbie called this afternoon, so was glad to talk to her. They will be in their new house in about two more months. The work is going along really well and its ready to be painted inside. Stucco then paint outside will be next. Will make hot German potato salad for dinner tonight. Joe asked for it a few days ago but we didn't have enough bacon then.

http://www.pinedaleonline.com/pinedalelocal.htm#makiburn

Tuesday June 30 2009

Charm and Iris

Kay Welcoming Us to Her Home

Meeting at Kay Meeks Studio

Charm, Melita and Lois

Kay with a Mule Deer Painting

Lois

Ruth and Her Painting of Mustangs.

Got up about 6:30 and ready to go to town. Went first to the Arrowhead house to get some of my art supplies and pick up some of the personal items I never brought back to the ranch with me such as the hairbrush I like and my hairdryer and makeup, etc. I decided to go on out to Kay's for our small painting group meeting and leave the other errands until afterwards, so I wasn't late getting there.

Such a nice and enjoyable day to be creating some artwork with the artist friends. Kay prepared a very yummy and different lunch - Waldorf salad, and meadow mushroom sandwiches. She had gathered the plentiful mushrooms that we have this time of year that usually grow out under the sagebrush, and there are lots of them especially after the rains we've had. She sauteed bacon and onions and then added the sliced mushrooms, and we spread wheat buns with mayo and spooned on the sauteed mushroom mixture. It was sooooooooo good. Now I have to go mushroom hunting. She had apple Betty with homemade caramel sauce for dessert. Everyone got good artwork done.

There was a fire that I could see driving in over in the Wyoming Range, Kay said around Horse Creek or North Cottonwood, and everyone thought it was a prescribed burn. But it was sure putting up a bunch of smoke. You could see it very well from her deck.

I stayed just as long as I could squeeze the time to keep painting and then went on to get my protime at the clinic. It was 2 points better today. Then back up to the house to pick up a box of slides that had pictures of a few paintings I want to get done, took plastic to the recycling center, and then got groceries. I brought deli chicken home with fries, rolls and coleslaw for dinner.

After getting home had another quite bad spell of that pain in my neck and shoulder that I had worst when Debbie and Curtis were here - if you remember me describing that, hurting worst when I would take a breath in. I've had this quite a few times now. It may be related to the occluded veins. So laid down after dinner with my new heating pillow Debbie gave me and tried to get some relief. It seems to happen when I raise my arm up as I was in doing the painting and work with my hand up in the air for a prolonged time. Before I had gotten it washing the windows, so now I'm getting really skeptical of working or scrubbing that way. It wasn't a very good night at all with stomach ache/gas, very sore hip, and a headache too. I probably overdid things. Hate that I can't go go go like I always have in the past.

Read some chapters in my book. Talked to Beverly for an hour or so. This is the week Clay is gone on his Boy Scout camp and she to girls camp at Mt. Charleston - not last week like I thought. She is staying busy.