Monday August 11 2008

Our Yard Rabbit During the Rain

The Dogs Won't even chase him anymore. The

Cats Stalk Him Sometimes, but Not Much Happens There Either.

Not Quite Like Seeing Duene's Bucks or Moose.

The Chinese character for “thunder” comprises 52 strokes and is pronounced “ping”.

Another of those perfect mornings. Wow. It smells clean, sweet and fresh. You know those days when the temperature is so perfect the air just feels soft on your skin? We had a rain shower about dinner time last night. Just enough to dampen things down. There was some crashing of thunder for a while and it momentarily knocked the power out. Joe's TV was real slow coming back but it did. I keep hearing that other places all around us, mainly north, keep having good rains. Pinedale keeps getting heavy rains, rained all night there. We could sure use it too. I think our chance for that is over for the time being.

Had great visits yesterday by phone from Joan, Sheral, Beverly, Betty and Debbie. I watched some of the Olympics with Joe. Liked the story on the US and Chinese basketball game. Especially enjoyed the women's swimming match where they beat the old record and U.S. got the gold and then the men's swimming where the relay team won, by .04 of a second. They were far ahead then pretty far behind and on the last lap our guy was able to just leap ahead for the victory breaking the old record by over four seconds. How did he do that!.

Any artists out there know what happens if you put sculpting clay- specifically Chevant - in the microwave to warm it up? as opposed to the messy warm water method.

Still puttering in the studio. Should have all finished later today. Tomorrow is chemo day so got the recycling loaded in the car. Not much happening or any news, so if anything happens I might be back later.

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METEOR ALERT: Monday, 11 August Meteor Shower Day: give or take a day, this is when the Earth passes closest to the Perseid meteor belt. The chance for a sight of falling stars or meteor showers is best these few days. The Perseid meteor shower is underway and should reach its peak during the next 24 hours. Forecasters say the best time to look is during the dark hours before dawn on Tuesday, August 12th. The glaring Moon sets around 2:00 a.m., and that's when the Perseids could appear in numbers as high as 60 per hour. The best displays will be seen from rural areas with dark skies. Sky maps, photos and more information are available at http://spaceweather.com/.

Sunday August 10,2008

Field of Wild Iris

Ruby Mountains Nevada

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This morning started off cloudy black and cool. I thought it would pour rain, but as usual we aren't getting it. The tiniest drops on the window. Now sunny with plenty of blue sky. How much longer can we stand all these perfectly pleasant days?? Oh well, the good is that the ranchers can keep haying.

I finished Lonesome Dove and Tales of the Plains, the third episode of Lonesome Dove. Funny I know I've seen it but it was like I never had. It's quite a wonderful movie, or series. Long, excellent story, wonderfully made, super photography. Several times it occurred to me that this story was similar to Brokeback Mountain. Just a thought. Next watched The Edge, one of my favorites. I'm liking the videos with no commercials.

The studio organization and carpet cleaning is finished today. Huge amounts of plain dirt came out of the carpet when I dumped the dirty water container. I'm looking forward to when all the slide boxes are out of the cabinets, and then all the things sitting around the studio can be stored in their place. I got a few things put away in there replacing the boxes Zane took and it sure helps.

Joe kept want to help me. Sometimes he drives me nuts asking questions and lately its been over and over if I wanted him to use the carpet cleaner. Of course not. Although I appreciate him wanting to help I know he wouldn't do it thoroughly enough for one thing, so its easier to slowly do it myself. So I asked if he would like to clean the windows outside and he did that yesterday. I had done the outside of some of them from the inside - you know how they make the windows open now so you can clean the outside from inside. It is feeling so good to have all the cleaning done at once.

Saturday August 9 2008

Tetons at Jackson Lake

Hazy day but an interesting sky

Bright sunny morning, promises to be a lovely day again. I'm sure lazy and drowsy feeling. Guess I need to get moving and do something. Caught up on some of the emails. Played a little Spider. - Yep I'm Good! - checked every one's blog.

Yesterday I spent quite some time filling up a couple of Raven Nests in the yard. What a mess. I've been gradually putting flat rock paving each side of the back porch for a long time just to keep her from excavating, and keep enlarging the rock area, but she just moves further out from the edge so that plan isn't working so well. Whenever I go out around the country I'm always bringing flat rocks back home for it. She knows I don't want her digging holes, but she does it anyway, and she understands it perfectly.

The nests used to be quite small and compact, randomly here and there - an ankle turner right where you step out of the car, one that always caught me on the way to the gate. But NOW she's digging to China, and won't quit. She has a hole by each porch and the one by the front door is right in front of the steps. UGG..LEEE. A visitor could fall in and never be found again. That's one reason why she's always so dirty and brings dirt into the house. We can't keep the house clean even an hour. Wish I'd taken a before and after photo of the one I filled. I'll get one today of the hole at the front porch and show you.

Boy I'm so tired of hearing nothing but politics, and we haven't even gotten to the conventions yet. Wish I had a dollar for every time they've said Barack Obama. It gives me a headache. The Olympics is more tolerable. I thought I'd missed the opening ceremonies, but KSL had them on nearly all night. Used to like them but it mostly seemed kind of boring.

Worked on the studio off and on most of the day. Got about 2/3 of the carpet done and a lot of the clutter straightened up. Will do the rest in the morning. Joe washed the windows outside that needed it. A lot of them can be washed outside from inside.

Today has seemed rather insightful for some reason. Have had some very moving and sentimental thoughts, mostly about things past - people and places in my life. Some insights that were revealing. At one point while I was working it occurred to me how happy and contented I am. Just thought I'd write it down so I don't forget, and wanted to share it with you - as opposed to whining.

Firday August 8 2008

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DEAR BONNIE.

THANK YOU FOR CLEANING MY HOUSE

YOU TRULY ARE AN ANGEL.

8-8-08 - hmmmm.

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I fooled around with some photos this afternoon while I sat and rested, hoping that printing a few out would inspire me to paint something. The one above is kind of interesting - a two photo panorama enhanced. There were only two horses walking through the corral, and I took two photos side by side, then worked on it in Adobe Photoshop to make it look like there are four separate horses. Had to edit out and reconstruct things. I kind of like it. If anyone wants to comment on whether - supposing I might do a painting of this - I should leave all those buildings there or edit some of it out. The horses would be the subject and the buildings would be simplified as "interesting?" shapes. Maybe make the trees a little more pronounced for variety against the sky. and probably eliminate the large posts in front. That would give the horse on the left side a head. Got any suggestions?

They had a deluge of rain in Pinedale day before yesterday, someone told me. It helped a lot to control the big forest fire. It had grown to about 15,000 acres. The smoke and haze seems to have cleared off here for the time being anyway. So much prettier out there with clear air. It sprinkled early this morning, breezy and partly sunny off and on during mid day and then dark again. We had the most spectacular huge thunder clouds this evening. There was a big storm east of Big Piney but so far by 8:30 p.m. we have not had any rain. We could sure use it.

The National Weather Service has issued an urgent Flash Flood Watch for portions of Southwest Wyoming due to thunderstorms. These storms have the potential to produce very heavy rain and flash flooding. An upper level disturbance moving across the region will generate scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms with the potential to produce very heavy rainfall and flash flooding.

Am really tired. Been going all day long. Bonnie came to finish up the last of the house cleaning, I got a bunch of stuff out of the way and some of the furniture moved before she got here because its been such a cluttered mess in here. She got my studio walls and ceiling done. She's all finished now and sure did a WONDERFUL job. I'm so relieved to have the house all clean. We talked about what she would like to have for a painting in trade.

Didn't think the carpet in the studio needed cleaning until we moved things around and its obviously filthy. It hasn't been long since Debbie cleaned it for me. It's Raven! She is always so dirty - I've never had a dog that stayed so dirty all the time. Most of them have always wanted to be clean and at least shake the dirt and dead grass off their coats. Anyway. we moved the furniture away from the walls and I used the carpet cleaner there. I told Bonnie I could use the carpet cleaner. Tomorrow when its dry, Joe will help me move the furniture back and I'll clean the carpet in the center of the room. Then get everything put away and uncluttered.

Had company again today - Jonita stopped in after berry picking and picnicing in the canyon with a couple friends. They checked out the art show. This afternoon I watered the flower pots and some of the shrubs.

The TV guy in town never called me with a time the repairmen would come so I called him today. He says he will have a date for me by Monday - the repair men didn't come over from Idaho Falls this week. But I'm o.k. watching videos until they can fit me in. It's Lonesome Dove right now, and then I think I'll watch all the Star Wars movies. As long as Joe's got his TV we're doing fine. He's being more careful about what buttons he's pushing now Several days have gone by that I haven't had to get the settings back.

We had cheese enchiladas and refried beans for dinner, They turned out pretty good this time - anyway my taster is probably a little better right now. My stomach is feeling better too and my fingers have started healing up. Nanny called this afternoon and had an enjoyable visit with her, then Beverly called tonight. They are all doing fine, just staying too busy as usual.

Judi is going to go with me to Oncology Tuesday. We will meet the shuttle at the Pinedale Clinic at 9 a.m. They're having this month's Mixed Media up at Dee's in Wilson on Tusday and I was trying to figure out how we could go to the meeting for a while, but I'm sure it will be mostly over with by the time we get out of the hospital. I sure would enjoy going.

Thursday August 7 2008

Blooming Lily

Joe had to go to the dentist early this morning. He's been having a toothache. The appointment was at 7:30 so he left really early. He has to go back another time for cleaning. Need to call for an appointment for my lost filling too. Guess I'm forgetting because it's not hurting. I got up about 7:30 and got the sheets on the beds before Bonnie got here to clean and then got my shower. She's finishing up the last bedroom and the bathroom today, and next will start on my studio - saving the worst for last. I don't know what to do about moving all the heavy files and furniture in here - or not! Who will ever know if we didn't clean behind the files? A few years back I tried to buy wheels for them, but after I got them discovered that they wouldn't fit. The files are just an odd size. I've moved them with the dolly before but its a job.

Gloria sent me copies of her journal for the days we were in Yellowstone, so July 25 and 26 are finished on the blog now. I still want to look for the photos of Yellowstone Falls, maybe they just filed themselves in some obscure place. That was our best photo day of the trip.

Sandra called this morning. She and Sue are coming over for a visit and to see the art show this afternoon. Dave's mom Sue lives in Michigan and comes to visit every summer. She's a very nice lady.

Yippee - Mixed Media is having a painting retreat at Round Hill Ranch again. We love going there. We'll spend Thursday through Sunday beginning August 21. It will probably be too early for fall colors, but also not as cold, so we can go out and drive around the country to places for plein air painting over there.

It's kind of windy today. Still very pleasant temperature-wise. Might have a chance of thunder storms. The New Fork Lake fire has grown to about 14,000 acres now. Mainly it's being allowed to burn all the dead and decadent trees and the firefighters are just keeping it from burning private ground - nearly 400 firefighters there.

This morning a small helicopter flew over our place. It usually means checking on a fire, hauling an injured person out of the mountains, counting wildlife, or something with the oilfields. The mowers at Riche's next door went "home" yesterday to begin haying on the next place. The Jensens are also finished here and will go to their home place next. It's looking like a good hay crop for everyone. Otherwise..... nothing else new.

Wednesday August 6 2008

All Three Machines Working

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Our Field All Mowed

Baler and Tractor that Picks Up Bales

Pulling Trailer That Hauls the Bales


Raking

Mowed

Doc Jerry and Marilyn came last night and finished up raking baling and hauling off the bales to their nearby stacks. I'm curious how many tons they got. The hay looked good, thicker and taller than it has for many years. Joe said it is the best its been for years. Of course, the high end near the gate couldn't be mowed. There hasn't been enough water to irrigate it there, so we've sacrificed it to irrigate the lower end. It grows the best crop anyway. So now the job is finished. I bet with their nice equipment that they didn't even spend 24 hours here. Joe used to take two weeks with his one-man job.

Edis taking some plants home

Edis and I went out after breakfast and dug her up some of the orphan plants for the yard at their new house. Her car is really small, a tiny Honda which gets about 30 mpg, so she didn't have a lot of room to take much. She showed me photos yesterday of the house, and they really have a nice place. The yard is already nicely landscaped, but the is room for a few more kind of plants. She took some iris - two kinds, sedum, cranesbills, and raspberries. We found 3 baby heirloom columbine, so hope those go for her.

Bonnie arrived to do more cleaning about 8:30. I hadn't been up for long. She brought us really tasty tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini from her greenhouse. We had some of them for lunch. Bonnie got the last two bedrooms nearly done. The yellow one she will finish up tomorrow and start on the studio. She says there are a few places she wants to go back to and then she should be finished. I asked Edis if she could see Bonnie's wings.

So Edis, Barbara and Lucy started home a little before 11. They have an 8 hour drive without any stops, so it will be a long day for them. Barbara made them a picnic lunch to take while we worked in the yard.

Thank you for coming to visit, Edis. And Thank You for all the help you gave while you were here. And especially Thank You for the two CDs of your music and work at the NPR radio station.

After they left I went back out and got the rest of the dead canes out of the raspberry bushes. We had commented that something has been eating the leaves off a lot of raspberries, and I found a lot of very large grasshoppers out there. We may need to call the weed and pest control and tell them - remember when we had the grasshopper plague some years back. I've been noticing that when I walk there are a lot of grasshoppers again.

Its nice again today, although very breezy, which makes it not too hot. Just very pleasant. Mostly cloudy.

Tuesday August 5 2008

Lucy, Edis' Three-Legged Dog

about 13 years old now.

Barbara and Edis at the Art Show

Stacking the Firewood from the Old Gate
Barbara even carried some on her walker to help.

Walking in the Field

THE BEAR !!!

He's just at the bend in the road -

YES ! I KNOW !!
Remember the photos of the huge herd of deer??

Same thing.

Blogging is a little behind, but that's o.k. Edis, her mother Barbara, and her three-legged dog Lucy arrived here yesterday afternoon about 5 p.m. We soon had a fine dinner prepared. Edis had brought fresh talapia which we broiled with rice pilaf and roasted vegetables. We visited all the while and got caught up.

This morning breakfast was kind of disjointed which is normal any more, but we all got fed. Edis went outside with me and we did a few chores that have been laying around needing attention. We got the garden wagon out and moved some of the flower pots to the porches so it looks pretty About half of the flower pots stayed on the old wagon where they are blooming despite being ignored and not watered enough. I promise to take better care of them from now on.

We moved some more yard rocks to the "dry river bed" Debbie made over in the north corner of the yard. I reminisced that over the many years I had picked up all those rocks from various places and hauled them home to make rock borders on all the flower beds. The front flower bed is also being mostly phased out so the yard can just be mowed and not need much maintenance or weeding any more.

Next we loaded the poles that Joe had sawed with the chain saw up the same day he took the dead tree out. These poles were from the gate that Joe (accidentally) knocked down with his truck perhaps 5 years ago. They have been laying in the yard every since, so I'm very glad to get them hauled away to the fire wood pile. I had been procrastinating doing all these chores and there we had it all done in less than an hour.

After the "work" we checked out the art show in the barn. This was the first time Edis has seen the show in the barn and she and Barbara both seemed to enjoy it. Lunch was egg drop soup and the leftover talapia made into fish salad that Edis garnished up to look "pretty".

After lunch we, Edis, Barbara and I and the dogs, took a drive up to Big Sandy Openings and checked out the campground and the lodge. Traffic was nil, except for many gravel trucks. The county is graveling all the roads south of here and boy are they nice now compared to the old days. We assume the county was given the leftover gravel from the pit near the river where the state had been hauling all the gravel from for the roadwork on Hwy 191. The forest road ot the openings is still dirt, but even that is smoother than past years.

Just before Dutch Joe meadow we couldn't believe Edis spotted a young bear in the road ahead, and possibly it was a grizzly from the looks of its color and the way it walked. I've posted my photograph of the bear. Before we could get any closer to it, it took off running through the trees and we only got just a small glimpse of it and then it was gone.

There were bunches of hikers cars parked up at the trail head this time, but hardly anyone was camped there or anywhere else along the way. It sure was a pretty drive, there were a few sprinkles on the way home, but although cloudy still no rain.

We got back home by five, fixed artichokes, fettuccine and breaded eggplant for dinner. After that I have just crashed, feeling very tired. So now bedtime is approaching. Edis took a walk this morning with the dogs, and is out walking with them again tonight. Last night they all walked and nearly at bedtime jumped into the black muddy creek and had to be sprayed off. They were out for some time drying off. So she took a different route tonight. She said it started to drizzle a little on the way back. Now Sparky adores Edis for taking walks.

About dinner time Doc, Marilyn and Jerry came back to finish up the haying and in no time it was all raked, baled and loaded onto a trailer and hauled away. I'll do a few of those pictures later. Edis saw them and said hi on her walk.