Tuesday

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Kasey in her floppy hat, which she wears to protect her from the sun. Too bad it can't protect her from mosquitoes

Looking over the edge of Mary Lou's deck at the boulders and dirt. Mary Lou gave her a big spoon and an empty planter, and she didn't look this clean very long. She is wearing her "girly" shoes.

A couple of photos of Mary Lou's house. I wish I had taken a picture of the exterior. It has log siding, and a nice attached garage. These photos show the living room and kitchen. There are two bedrooms and a bath. It is such a nice bright and comfortable place.

I don't know if I said, but I first met Mary Lou after my divorce and was going to college in Riverton. Mary Lou babysat Tracy for me some then. She had five children, one girl and four boys. Tracy referred to the boys as "those dumb boys". After I completed my degree in Education and was teaching in Pinedale, Mary Lou's husband took a coaching job here, so I immediatly pounced on her to be Tracy's baby sitter. That was Tracy's kindergarten year. She was in the afternoon class. Tracy remembers playing "The Horrible Pink Curtain" with Mary Lou. I remember they went to Jackson. The car broke down on the way home, and a Highway Patrolman delivered Tracy to kindergarten. What fun memories!

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It was supposed to get hot today, but it wasn't too bad. The wind came up and it clouded up this afternoon, but I didn't see any rain. I wouldn't mind another nice afternoon rain shower.

It's like a hospital ward here

Barrie is giving antibiotics to Kasey and also to two dogs! Kind of like a hospital. Kasey got stung by a mosquito a couple of days ago and had quite a reaction. Her eye just kept swelling, so Barrie took her to the doctor this morning. She is on antibiotics with eye drops and benadryl.

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This is Grinder and Dell. They are the two females who got into a fight a couple of days ago. They both had to have stitches and are on antibiotics. They are staying in kennels in the horse trailer in the driveway right now.

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We went to Mary Lou's house for dinner last night. She has such a nice house - brand new, not too big, but big enough. She lives out in Green River Ranches, I think it is called. It is out by Warren Bridge. I was amazed at all the homes that have been built out there! You can't see most of it from the highway. She will be going back to Colorado in September.

Kasey loved it out there. The house has a nice deck around two sides, and some big boulders in the yard, with some nice flowers planted among the boulders. Mary Lou gave Kasey a spoon and a planter, and she played in the dirt and rocks. She was so dirty when we came home that she left mud in the bath tub!

It's Getting Hot

I'm afraid the heat is here. The forecast is predicing temperatures in the 80's for at least the next few days, and I'm not comfortable when it's that hot. Time to haul my little air conditioner out of the closet and figure out where to put it. The cat tree I got for the cat kind of takes up the space I used to put it in front of the window. This air conditioner is for upstairs. The downstairs of my house stays pretty cool. After I got the new furnace down there, it is even easier to keep cool, as I can turn on the fan only, and it brings up cool air from the basement.

My lawn is not happy when it gets hot and dry. It is already starting to look bad. Part of my yard is in the shade and in standing water. But the main lawn is on a west rocky slope, and it will dry out and look brown in just a couple of days without water.

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Kasey came upstairs yesterday chattering about painting, wanting to know where her "book" was, and wanting to get up on my lap and paint. I found her watercolor pad, we produced this masterpiece. I forgot about her name, but she reminded me that she needed to put her name on it. She loves to write her name, and calls every letter "y". Well, she doesn't actually write her name. I hold her hand while she has the paintbrush. She always wants blue, if I ask her which color she wants, but I'm not sure she knows which is blue. Maybe it's just the easiest one to remember and it's easy to say.

Three cottonwood trees are gone! These trees were blocking my view of the ditchbank, and Barrie cut them down yesterday. She finished cutting the "stumps" of the big willow bush too. I know a lot of people would love to have these trees growing at their place, but I was beginning to feel clausterphobic with all the growth closing in around me. And the ditchbank is such a good place for wildlife viewing.

Late last night I heard a kitten crying outside. I made Barrie come up and listen at the window. Bless her heart, she went out to check. She went down the road to the south, and heard it up on the ditchbank. And another kitten ran out of a clump of grass by the road. Later, I thought it was to the north of my house. I suppose one of the cats took their litter out to teach them how to hunt, and left them there. Maybe she came back to gather them up later.

Saturday

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The male Blue Bird took a break from feeding babies yesterday to groom himself in the rain.

I took this picture a couple of winters ago when I was still putting out several bird feeders in the yard. Between the deer and the racoons I couldn't keep them filled. The cats were a little hard on the bird population. I finally gave up and just put one feeder up in the winter. It is out my upsairs window where it is easy to fill, and it's easy to watch the birds. Also, the other critters can't get to it.

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It looks like we won't have any rain today. It is sunny, but the wind is trying to blow. Makes it a little chilly, but I'm sure it will warm up as the day goes on.

Barrie brought two of her female dogs in this morning and took them to the vet. One of them had gotten loose and got into a fight with the dog next to her. They both had some battle wounds and will need some stitches.

More Rain - Friday

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The Old Cowboy Sign

When I first got my good telephoto lens, I'm sure I drove the hummingbirds nuts taking pictures of them! I sat in the shade with my camera on a tripod aimed at the feeder, and just kept taking pictures. I also took some out my upstairs window when I hung a feeder up there.

I saw a hummingbird one day about a week ago and hung up two feeders, but have no birds at them yet.

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Where did all this water come from? It's been another rainy day, and I know most people are sick of it, but I like it. My lawn likes it too. It was actually starting to look dry, and it is perked up and green again.

I have never seen my big old pine tree grow as much as it is this summer. Every branch tip has new growth of 2 or 3 inches, and it is covered with new little pine cones. My chokecherries are just beginning to bloom, and the Oriental Poppies are blooming.

Historical???

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A photo of Fremont Peak from the overlook at the top of Skyline. Nothing special, but I never get tired of this view.

Barrie with a friend at the petting zoo at the County Fair in Powell. I still think she looked really cute with short hair!

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Today in 1876, George Armstrong Custer and 210 of his men were killed by Indians on the Little Big Horn River in Montana. I've always been interested in this event and the history surrounding the Indian wars. I was so impressed when I visited the site of the battle years ago. Custer was made out to be a hero at that time, but as time passed, he lost a lot of his credibility and charm. I have attended several Indian Pow Wow gatherings, and always saw bumper stickers that said "Custer Died for Your Sins".

And history making events today - Farah Fawcett died, after a long battle with cancer. I always enjoyed watching her, especially in "Charlie's Angels". Even though that show may seem a little old and corny now, I still enjoyed watching it.

And then there is the news that Michael Jackson died of cardiac arrest today. I can't believe all the media mayhem and how people are responding. There are hundreds of people gathering outside the medical center and some are trying to get in. One of my first grade students years ago loved him, and brought a tape to school. "Beat It" was his popular song, and we listened to it a lot. I did like his music then, but that was when he looked and acted like a real person.

The Eyes Have It

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Wow! What beautiful eyes!

This is "Puppy", one of Barrie's sled dogs. She brought him to town today to introduce him to people and traffic. She took him for a walk through town today, and said he did great. He was really ducking away from the camera, but I got a couple of good shots of him. Doesn't he have the most incredible eyes?

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Another Calvin cartoon

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I enjoyed the art group meeting today at Rendezvous Pointe so much! My long-time friend Mary Lou came with me today. I was going to say "old friend", but hmmmmmm!! Barrie, Kasey and I are going to visit at her house this weekend. I first met Mary Lou when I was going back to college in Riverton after my divorce. Tracy was about 3, and Mary Lou did some baby sitting for me. Later, Mary Lou's husband came to Pinedale to coach and teach, so I took the opportunity to talk her into baby sitting again. Through the years, Mary Lou has obtained a degree in nursing, lived in Alaska for a time, and I'm not sure what other adventures she has had. I love spending time with her.

Terry returned to the group today after a long absence. It was so good to have her back. Terry, Conley, Vicky, Judi, Nancy J., Barbara, Mary Lou and I were there. It was the largest group we have had recently.

I took my little baby food jar of vodka with me today and started a "whiskey painting" of an old wagon. Terry also used my vodka and started a really nice one of flowers. She started doing the pen and ink on hers, and it looks great!

Tuesday

More old slides scanned

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Another photo of Barrie and little pup Boomer. This was surely a match made in Heaven. Barrie has never forgiven me for this haircut. She said people thought she was a boy. I thought she really looked cute with short hair.

On Barrie's seventh birthday, we had a family party for her. Her classmate, Cody, decided he wanted to come. He didn't have a gift, so his wonderful stepsister, Cat Urbigkit, took him downtown and bought a nursing kit. I had no idea Cody was coming, and when we got home, he was up in the big pine tree with the gift, with Boomer sitting on the ground below daring him to come down.

I took this photo a long time ago at Waterton Park in Canada.

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A very frustrating day today with computers. I used to be able to print to my big Canon photo printer downstairs from my laptop. But since the power outages, The printer does not like this computer and does not want to be shared. Also, I was able to access files from my laptop to the desktop, but not vice versa. I think it was because WiFi is built into my laptop, and it wasn't really on my home network. So I began to work on that, and also installed the new networking program on Barrie's laptop. Now my desktop can find the laptop, but I still can't print to the Canon from upstairs.

Then when I came upstairs, my laptop was totally screwed up. It kept giving me messages that applications were not working and would close, and that I had corrupt files. It ran "chkdsk" twice, and I am now on the internet, but I think the computer has slowed down a lot. I had to start it in "Safe Mode" twice.

I have not bothered to learn enough about the Vista operating system. Don't know what I have screwed up.

Monday

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"Waiting for the Mail". I just finished this watercolor. The mailboxes are from a photo Judi took in Texas. The rest of the painting is just kind of made up. I posted this on the "Wet Canvas" site and a couple of members of the forum thought I should put in some shadows to emphasize the light source and I suppose I should.

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The above two photos are just pictures I took of flowers last summer. I did some creative editing on them with Photoshop.

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It is warm, sunny and windy today. No rain in the forecast, so I suppose everything will dry up quickly. I will miss the afternoon rain showers.

Barrie went to Ridleys this morning. She said she saw no evidence that they were cleaning anything up. I asked her to get some yeast, and it was $5 for a small jar! It was the Western Family brand, and top of the jar was dusty! We both think we should avoid that place totally. We can stock up on things in Jackson, and probably pay for the gas in what we save. Also, Specialty Meats has things like milk and eggs, so we will be able to pick those items up there.

Sunday

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Whiskey Art

Several members of the art group have been experimenting with "whiskey art", which Vicky told us about and showed us what she had done. Judi had done several and was very disappointed in them until she put finishing touches on them with pen and ink. They suddenly became "works of art" and something she should be proud of. So I decided to try it again and used pen and ink as a finishing touch. This is not as nice as hers, but I was happy with it. It's about 5" x 7". I will try it again, but will reverse the photo before printing it, as gets reversed when you lay it ink side down on your water color paper.

I should say mine is "vodka art", as there is no whiskey in the house!

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I see in the paper that Ridley's has finally been issued citations from the town of Pinedale and has paid some fines. Residents have complained about the appearance of the store and all the trash that was accumulating. The article stated they have been issuing warnings for six months, and that Ridley's essentially ignored them. So it will be interesting to see if they actually clean up the place. Now if there was only a way to make them do something about the interior of the store!

I woke up at 4:00 this morning, finally got up and took one Tylenol PM. ( I thought) I remember thinking, as I dozed off, how well they work. I slept until almost 10:00 this morning, and saw the pill on the counter in the bathroom. I had gotten it out and then stumbled back to bed without taking it!! Oh, the power of suggestion!

I plan on finishing a watercolor this afternoon of some old mailboxes with an old house on the hill behind them. As usual, I am having problems with my values.

I'm sure this is Fremont Lake, but am not sure when or where I took it. It was one of the slides I scanned

Saturday

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Several years ago I bought Paul and Tracy a squirrel proof bird feeder. They have lots of the little Pine Squirrels, and they got into the feeders. She sent me this picture yesterday. This squirrel somehow got clear inside the wire around the feeder and was enjoying the bird seed

The View from my Window

This is the view from my window yesterday morning. Barrie attacked the willow bush with the loppers and got rid of it.

This is the view now. I can actually see down the ditchbank. The Caragana bush will be the next to go, and there is a fairly small cottonwood tree in the corner that has to go.

I found my sprayer and my weed eater this morning. I couldn't believe the sprayer still had some Roundup in it. and that it worked. It is one of those pump-up kinds. I got a few weeds sprayed, I am a little better at doing yard work this summer than I was last year, but the place is just an overgrown jungle and I get discouraged. So quit and come in the house and paint.

Friday

A Day in the Life of a Cat

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Watching birds out the window

This is getting boring

Why are you looking at me?

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A beautiful sunny day today. It's a little breezy now, and I see a few clouds gathering in the west, so we'll see what happens. I worked in the yard a while this morning, but really didn't accomplish a lot. The yard is overwhelming. There are Caragana bushes, cottonwoods and willows coming up all over the place, and I don't want them. This place is already a jungle, and I don't need any more trees and bushes.

I did a little cleaning in the little front yard, but Barrie was using the shovel, and I used that for an excuse to quit. Barrie was digging out the little drainage ditch we have across the yard behind the house. We will have water in the back yard no matter what, but it helps to keep the little ditch flowing.

I didn't want the bluebirds nesting here because of the cats, but they have a nest in the birdhouse on the south side of the porch. I saw them taking bugs into the house to feed the babies while I was outside. The male is such a brilliant blue. I will take my camera out later to see if I can get a good picture of him.

I saw a hummingbird yesterday! It was hovering around the yellow flowers of a Caragana bush. So I have both hummingbird feeders up. If that one was just moving through, at least I know it's time for them.

Wet and Green

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This is the Sweet Rocket that reseeds itself all over my yard. I had thought for several years it was wild phlox, and now know it's Sweet Rocket, thanks to Roger. When Paul and Tracy got married, they had packets of wild flower seeds at all the tables at the reception. I planted several packs, and this is the only thing that I still have.


It is so green out every window that it doesn't look real.

And more green

Oh oh! Well, I know we have had a lot of rain, but not this much. This is a photo I took up at the CCC ponds, then used a filter that adds a lake where you want. The filter was a trial copy, and I never bought it, so don't have it any more. Kind of fun, though.

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Enjoyed art group yesterday. Vicky was there for just a short while, as she had to take her car to Jackson. But she brought us treats!! Judi, Conley, Nancy J. and Barbara were there also. Judi has been trying the "whiskey painting" that Vicky told us about, and she produced some beautiful small pieces. I tried it again this morning (I used vodka), but my results are pretty bad. Maybe I should just drink the vodka.

Barrie went out to give her dogs a training run at 5:00 this morning. I heard Kasey talking (on the baby monitor) about 8:00. Barrie was back and getting her up and dressed. Barrie read somewhere that two-year olds usually are putting 2 or 3 words together in a sentence. We have tried counting the words Kasey uses in a sentence, and we thought she was using about 15 words. We could only understand part of them, but when we ask her "what?" she repeats the whole sentence again.

Barrie said it is very muddy at her dog lot, and all her dogs were the same color after their run.

Wednesday

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This little finch had just left the nest and made it as far as the bird feeder outside my window. I think he felt very overwhelmed, and would not try to leave. He stayed there all day, and his parents came in and fed him often. The next morning he was gone. This photo was taken last summer.

These are rock chucks. There was quite a group of them living in a pile of old logs on the road out to the Mocroft place. I went out several times to photograph them, and old cabins, when Mary Ann and Bobby lived there. The Indians call these "whistle pigs" and eat them. I never tried one, but "Aunt Minnie" told me how they fixed them. They are so fat that they stuff them with grass before baking them to soak up the grease.

I used to enjoy going out on the Mesa to hunt arrow heads, and usually saw some horned toads. I haven't been to the Mesa for a long time. A lot of people don't even know what you are talking about when you say "The Mesa". It's referred to as the "Pinedale Anticline" now. The last time I drove out there, there are so many well pads, rigs, and new roads that I hardly recognized the place.

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Really hard rain again this morning. Are we surprised? NOT!

Done

Done

I say these are done, but do not claim they are "finished". They can use some study and "tweaking". I am trying to discipline myself and finish the things I have started. It's hard for me, because I keep coming up with new ideas and want to start right away. So I put back things I have been working on.

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Hank's old rusty car is back again. I am going to paint it again from a different angle. I bet Hank had no idea how much time I would spend with this car when he took the pictures!



I still need to work really hard on painting water. Practice, practice, practice!

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This is a photo I scanned from a slide. It was taken quite a while back, and think it was somewhere in the area of the Upper Green. Maybe Gyp Creek.

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Barrie got up somewhere around 5:00 this morning and went out to take her dog team on a training run. She put the baby monitor in beside my bed, but I don't think Kasey even stirred. Barrie was back in time to feed Kasey and get her to day care before I even got out of bed.

I had some problems getting this blog done today. Right in the middle of it, I got up to look at something and forgot to touch the metal lampshade before I touched the computer. My fingers "snapped", and I lost my wireless connection and could not save what I had done. I restarted the computer and I think things are fine now.

Can't believe it hasn't rained today! There are some beautiful puffy clouds, but they don't look threatening.

Monday

I really thought we might make it through a day without rain yesterday, but I was wrong. I really like the rain. Everything is so green and fresh looking. I could do without the lightning and power outages and surges, though.

As far as I know, there is no serious flooding or mud slides in our area.

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Dog Days

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Barrie and one of her sled dogs. A mutual admiration society.

Boomer and Barrie soon after we got Boomer as a little pup. I think this was the summer before Barrie started Kindergarten

Boomer grew, and grew, and grew. He loved being a "lap dog". When told to "sit down", he would back up to the couch and sit on it.

Boomer had very good table manners. He carried a little plastic butter container around waiting for us to put something in it. If we didn't, he would put it up on the table. He also helped with chores. He would bring the newspaper in, and he loved to help pack in firewood.

Barrie took Jarvi and Shorty for a walk yesterday and Kasey in the stroller. She said she saw Rollie and Judi and that they took her picture. I see they put them on their blog today, and Judi also e=mailed them to me. Thanks!

I worked on my recipe book for kitchen gadgets. I cooked pinto beans in the pressure cooker, and they were delicious. I did soak them overnight, but they were done to perfection in 50 minutes. I was kind of apprehensive about buying this cooker, but it made perfect rice and the beans were great. I wasn't real impessed with the roast I did in it, nothing like I remember the roasts my mom used to make in her pressure cooker. I bought the roast at Smith's in Jackson. and I guess I better get the next one at Obos!

Sunday

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Chickadees are one of my favorite birds, probably partly because they stay here all winter. I was sitting on my front porch with my camera on a tripod last summer, waiting for hummingbirds to come to the feeder, when this Chickadee made attempts to get a drink.


This is another photo from the day I went up Horse Creek last spring. It is the only good photo I have ever gotten of a Sandhill

Barrie and Kasey on the path down to see the Kahuna rapid on the Snake River

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More and more rain! It was sunny this morning, but clouded up and rained hard with thunder and lightning this afternoon. This country just keeps getting greener and greener! When it first began to thunder this afternoon, there was an especially loud "Boom", and a silver streak went by me into the bedroom and under the bed. I think Kat has never heard thunder before, and it really freaked her out.

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The Colorado Rockies have won 10 straight games after their game with Seattle tonight. I'm afraid my upbringing stays with me. I don't follow it faithfully, but find that when I watch a Rockies game on TV, I enjoy it. I grew up in a family of baseball players, and my nephews and their kids still play.

http://www.pbase.com/duener/image/55361844