PHOTO ESSAY OF OUR FIVE DAY PAINTING RETREAT

This young snowshoe hare gave us such a lot of laughs. He seemed to be living or sheltering under one of the porches, and would go through such antics playing and leaping and flipping around in the air.

Some of the ranch's horses and mules.

The painting I worked on at the retreat - a 24x36 oil. I left the pond only blocked in to dry so I could put the details over the top of the underpainting. I also did another small painting which I got nearly finished.

Debbie.

Flowers

More flowers and aspens

Clouds before the thundershower.

Buck Deer

Early one morning and another afternoon we had nice rain showers. They didn't cause us a bit of problem, just gave the trees and flowers a nice watering.

Melita, - because of her and Hank we are able to come here and enjoy such a wonderful spot.

Melita, Lois and Judi

Cow and Calf Moose - They came every day on their rounds, and probably watererd from the horse trough. We think this is the same mother moose we've seen with calves other years.

The three photos above are of Ruth repairing the torn painting. The top one is spreading Miracle Muck (glue for this purpose) onto a gatorboard backing. Then the canvas is pressed onto the backing. It came out wonderfully, and I will next paint over the repair after which you should never be able to see any damage.

Some of the cooks (or ... Too Many Cooks?) As usual the meals were all delicious. For the dinners there were teams of two that made the meal.

Cabin. Very nice accomodations.

There were millions ... MILLIONS of gophers.

Hillsides of Sunflowers, and many other varieties, turning whole areas pink or lavender.

Part of the Group and the table we share to work on. Ten attended.

This is Kay. A few people painted outside, but not for long because the bugs were so bad. Everyone got bitten, and their favorite remedy was to swab the bites with vinegar.

Some of the Mountain Scenery in the Wyoming Range. - 4 above

Deer. One day she was clear up on the front porch looking in the picture windows at everyone sitting at the table working.

Thursday July 16 2009

Today Edis worked in the yard again, and got all the Tiger Lilies dug up and into bags with a little damp dirt. It was hard work, and hot out there this morning. She is taking some home, and I'll try to get some of the others into the yard at Arrowhead in the next week or so. That flower bed will just be going back to being lawn, so no weeding will be needed. Edis has been walking the dogs each day, and brushing them. They are loving the attention.
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This is Edis' little dog Lucy.

Back Yard. The whole yard front and back has sure been filling in good.

This sage chicken had a very small chick for this time of year and was protecting it from the cats by making herself the center of attention while the chick got away into the tall grass and sagebrush. The cats wouldn't come out while I was there either. But this behaviour by the grouse was very interesting. After the baby was safe she flew away. This chick must have been from a second nest, or otherwise I don't know why it was so small.

In the mean time I got the food ready to take to the Round Hill Painting retreat this weekend. Judi and I are partners for the Monday night dinner. We will be having hamburgers with the fixin's, a baked bean casserole, fruit salad and Hello Dolly Bars. So I was able to get the sauce for the baked beans made and frozen, and all the ingredients measured out and ready to put the Hello Dollys together. This will save a couple hours work up there. By then it was lunch time. This afternoon, Edis helped me get my art supplies ready and packed into the car, and I got my suitcase packed She pretty much loaded everything, and that was much appreciated. Edis will be leaving tomorrow. I'll need to take off to meet the others artists about 7 in the morning. Will be gone until Tuesday afternoon, so won't be blogging again until then.

Wednesday July 15 2009

Rose Bush in Back

Three Wild Roses

Edis sings at the Rock Rabbit Open Mike.

TUESDAY cont.: Went to town mainly for protime and groceries. Saw Joe's cousin Aubrey in the store. Had the free monthly birthday lunch at Rendezvous Pointe and sat with Judi, Rollie and their granddaughters. Edis arrived at the ranch in the afternoon, maybe an hour after I got back from Pinedale. Her little dog Lucy came with her. Lucy has been sick with a growth on her jawbone. So Edis needs to give her a lot of attention. Lucy is about 14, about the same as Sparky. She got settled in her room and we had some dinner - black bean burritos.

Edis asked if I'd like to go back to Pinedale with her and listen to her play her guitar and sing at the Rock Rabbit. So I said yes. I don't know when I've been in town all afternoon and then turned right around and went back in there, but it was very enjoyable. I like to hear Edis' music. We saw maybe four other people also playing and singing. It's an "open mike". We stopped by the Arrowhead house so Edis could see that It was late when we got back to the ranch.

WEDNESDAY: Dick and Sheral got to their ranch last night about 7 and unloaded their car until 9:30. They had a big load to haul up this time. Dick brought over some groceries this morning that they had bought down in SLC at Costco or Sam's club. I didn't sleep well at all last night, only a few hours.

Edis offered to help me with whatever she could today, and so she did some weeding and used the weedeater. The yard looks much better, and thank you very much for doing that Edis. We have enjoyed her visit very much and appreciate the effort it took to come down from Bozeman to visit.

Sheral and Dick were coming to dinner so I worked ahead of time on that. We had fresh salmon, broccoli rice casserole, corn on the cob, crescent rolls, with lemon bars for dessert. That took most of the day, after once getting going. By evening I was very tired and went to bed early and did sleep well, thankfully.

Tuesday July 14 2009

This is the torn painting. Groan, Alas and Alack. If we can get it fixed I'll show you the "after" picture.

This one is for Hank. I was also just as surprised as you to find cactus blooming in Wyoming. It was unbelievable. Here is another one, don't know the name, that transplants easily and I have in my yard. I don't like those others you showed with the bigger yellow flower because the spines go right through your shoes when you are hiking and get in the dogs feet. The flowers are beautiful though.

This is a mystery flower, but only for Judi. Just because she torments me by not telling the names of her flowers!! She has to guess the name of this one. (The rest of you can hover your mouse over the picture and see the name when you open it. ) Just kidding you Judi - LOL.

Joe is fixing the back door. The name of the piece at the bottom of the door that keeps the weather out escapes me, maybe weather stripping, had worn out and he is putting a piece of metal on the bottom, which you can see the white strip by his feet.

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Sitting in my pjs having a slow start to the day and eating my breakfast. Today after I do some vacuuming, I'll go on in to town for my protime and to buy some groceries. Edis will be getting here for a visit later today. It's absolutely beautiful out this morning. Not a cloud in the sky. Joe went out first thing and started mowing the yard again. Sheral and Dick should get here today and will stop by with some things she is getting for me at Costco. Better get busy. There may or may not be an update later.

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'It's very hard, for most of us to tolerate being loved.'' George Vaillant (a psychologist at Harvard).

July 13 2009

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THE BEST HAPPY BIRTHDAY

EVER TO BOB

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Bob and Gina

Monday July 13

Clouds over the foothills.

East Fork River, looking upstream from the bridge.

Raven with potato chip sack, one of her favorite things to do. Wish you could see this, because it's pretty funny.

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Today has been more cloudy than most days lately, and a gusty wind is blowing - might be around 30 mph. The hay is sure looking good. I might try taking a video of the hay blowing in the wind, waving fields of grain, and put it on the blog. You are supposed to be able to do that. The river levels are beginning to drop, and I've been surprised how much they've gone down in the last week or so.

Doc stopped me on the road outside the gate Saturday and said they had taken the cattle out of that field and we could leave the gate open now (i.e. cows won't come into our field). That is always nice news not to have to get out of the vehicle twice at every gate, just drive on through for a couple of months or so. All the cattle will go onto the mountain pastures today. The cowboys should be trailing them up through the forest now to get to their summer grazing grounds. They won't come down again until fall.

So far today I've mainly been catching up the blog for the days I missed last week. I'll spiff up one of the bedrooms for Edis' visit. Everything else is o.k. as I cleaned house good a couple of days ago. Nothing exciting happening to write about. Oh, I didn't tell you how well the B Complex supplement is working to make Sparky much more calm. From almost the first day, he has done less barking and panting.

Sunday July 12 2009

This is one of the largest patches of shooting stars I know of. They probably are my favorite wild flower, although others are very beautiful too. The wild rose bushes in the yard just popped out in full bloom about day before yesterday.

Sunday morning just took it pretty easy until after lunch. Probably the last week full of busy days was reminding me I needed to rest. Have gotten pretty far along in the huge book I'm reading, by not having the computer. Received a lot of phone calls and visiting which was the perfect time for that - just lounged and talked. Sheral and Dick are coming to their ranch probably Monday, and she will get me a few things from Costco or one of those type stores down there in Layton. Talked to Edis and she is coming for a visit, and she said Monday the 14th, so I'm not sure if it's Monday the 13th or Tuesday the 14th, but think its going to be Tuesday through Friday morning.

Talked to Bonnie for the first time since she got home from the Alaska trip she took with her brothers and sister. Judi and I have been talking about going to Round Hill for the art painting retreat. That is for 5 days starting next Friday. We are partners for the Monday night dinner, which is hamburgers and baked beans.

I also have talked with Betty, and as usual we have lots to get discussed. She had recommended that I try some digestive enzymes and aloe vera gel for my upset stomach (if that's what it actually is - I don't know - but that's what it feels like). The first day taking those I felt better. Her cat Caitlin is still doing o.k., in fact amazingly well so far. Betty has started a blog and been doing it about a week now.

Another of my high school friends, Pat, called to talk about the Basic High School all class reunion that is scheduled for October 9, 10 and 11 down in Henderson Nevada. We sure would all like to get together for that. Pat lives in Bend OR. Charm also called and updated me on her news since I didn't have the computer right now. Great to hear from her and she did have some stories of what's going on in her tiny community. Fodder for a great novel! Think I also talked to Kay, which would have to do with Round Hill too.

By afternoon I was perky and decided to get the computer hooked back up. It all went fine, no problems, everything works again. Joe keeps asking all kinds of questions, he doesn't know much about computers. But is concerned, so he mainly asks if its still running, over and over. So while getting the email for the past week downloaded, I was able to get my ugly cracked and splitting nails and hands back looking somewhat respectable. Dinner was bbq pork back ribs with baked potatoes and corn on the cob, one of Joe's favorite meals. Although he did begin to have a fit that they weren't labeled BABY back ribs. I told him he better just sit down and eat and be glad he had a nice dinner. I thought they tasted delicious and very tender.

Days are all about the same, those beautiful warmer days we wait for all the rest of the year. A front went through in the late afternoon, and there could have been thunderstorms scattered around, but no rain here. We got quite a wind and very cloudy, then cleared bak up by sunset. 60s and low 70s by afternoon.

Joe isn't having to get up in the night to pump water any more, in fact he has skipped a couple of days now, but today is using it to water the yard and shrubs, as he has been doing all along. So that crisis of water getting into the well casing is over now.