Thursday

Feeling pampered.  The apartment has been cleaned, there are clean sheets on the bed, and Ann did some shopping for me at Ridley's and brought me the groceries.  And I have an afternoon of sunshine and a good book to look forward to.

*********************

The lettuce in my refrigerator froze yesterday, so I have it turned down.  It's strange that it's gone this long without getting too cold.  Hope that's not a bad sign, but then that's not my worry.  All I have to do is ask, and they will bring me a different refrigerator.  Love it here!

 



 

 

Here is another book I couldn't give up and brought here with me.  This is Sir Cedric, and his faithful (and tall) steed, Walter.  Sir Cedric is a knight, and he jousts with Black Ned (who has black hairs growing out of his nose) and rescues Fat Matilda from the tower.  He takes her home, and asks her parents, the king and queen, for her hand in marriage.  They eat cucumber sandwiches and drink blackberry wine. 

 

Can you blame me for wanting to hang onto this book? 

 

 

Another February photo from the files.  I knit these socks, and yes, they are supposed to be mismatched.

 

***************************

It is John Steinbeck's 112th birthday.  Maybe I will read one of his books today.







Killjoy

Yesterday I glanced up and saw a man's legs walking by my window.  He was walking on top of the ridge of snow that slid off the roof, so I could only see his legs.  He was carrying an axe,
 
I didn't take long to figure out it was Ken, and see what he was doing.
 

If you will look back a blog or two, you will see the photos of the huge icicle and lip of overhanging snow I have been watching.  Ken made short work of them with his axe.  I am sure he went around the whole building, knocking snow and ice off the edges of the roof.  Yes, I know that stuff can do damage to the roof and it needed to be done.  But I will miss the icicle.
 

************************

 

 

It's amazing what a little warm weather can do.  The surface of the street has appeared out my door!

 

 

There were three pieces of heavy equipment working to clear this street yesterday and haul off the snow.  They had "DEERE" written on the sides of them.  Why are they yellow? Haven't they heard that song "John Deere Green"?  Yellow is for Caterpillar.

 

Only four days until the start of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race!







Tuesday

 

 

Is this an exercise in futility?  This is the front entrance of the new apartment complex, not inside, but a covered drive up carport.  It's overcast right now, with a light snow falling.  Wunderground says there is a 40% chance of snow.

**************************

 

I have no hot water in the apartment this morning.  I have cold, but when I turn the temp control to hot, it shuts off.  I'm not the only one, so I guess they are working on something.  Nothing to worry about, I guess. 

 

*************************

I'm making cottage cheese/chives bread this morning.  Don't know what to expect.  It might take a lot of jelly to get that down.

 





Monday

I thought yesterday was Monday.  Must have messed myself up with that nap I took!

I left many books at the house when I moved here, but I made sure I kept my favorites.  This is one I moved with me.  I took it off the shelves today to read it again.  It is actually a children's book, but the pencil (probably charcoal) illustrations are wonderful, and I never tire of looking at them.

My pencil drawings are nothing like this, and I wish I could draw like this.  I tend to fuss and nitpick too much.

I Googled the illustrator and looked at other drawings he has done for other books.  Most of them are a little disturbing, as he illustrates scary stories. 

********************

 

No sign of snow today.  It is  40° and the sun is shining bright.  The guys have shoveled off the roof of the new apartments again and are working.

 

**********************

I grabbed Kat this morning and cut the toenails on her front feet.  She behaved perfectly.  No growls, snarls, or fussing.   I'll do her back feet another time.



Sunday

We got another two or three inches of snow last night.  It just keeps coming.

 

 

This looks like an avalanche waiting to happen.  I keep thinking that lip of snow is going to let loose every day, but it keeps hanging there.  The icicle in the corner is getting bigger and bigger.

 

 



 

 

 

Looks like a painting.

 

***************************

Something stinks in here this morning.  I have emptied the kitchen garbage, washed the garbage can, and cleaned the litter box.  Sprayed some air freshener and opened the windows.  Maybe I should take a shower??

 

**************************

 

I have hundreds of colored pencils, and can't find one color I need - indigo blue.  I have lots of other blues, but not that one, and I use it a lot. 

 



I Hear You Knocking

 

"I hear you knocking, but you can't come in".  (There's an old song by that name.) The young bull moose came for a visit yesterday.  This is at the outside door by my apartment.  I couldn't take his picture, because I couldn't open the door.  He sure seems to like those bushes.

************************

 

Big fat snowflakes are coming down right now.  I think the poor guys who are working on the roof across the street have given up for the day and are doing something else inside the apartments.  The snow is building up on the tree branches and ends of the bushes.  It's not cold, and the wind's not blowing.  Beautiful day, actually.

 

******************

 

I bought Kasey a bunch of elastic bands to put her hair in a pony tail when she is here.  I put them in a small box I keep on the back of the toilet stool.  Kat discovered them, and I have picked up at least 50 of them around the apartment.  She brought some into the kitchen, and they are now under the stove or refrigerator. 

 

 



This old clock sits down by the front entryway, but it's not running.  I would love to hear it chime.  I wonder what the story is on it.
 

Friday

I watched an old movie last night that I have seen before, but it's been a long time.  Thoroughly enjoyed it.  I took a screen shot of the ending.  Do you recognize it?

 

I got an early start on the day.  Well, early for me anyway.  Maybe I will get some drawing or painting done.

***********************

 

We got just enough snow during the night that the poor guys working on the roof of the new apartments have to sweep the snow off.

 

***********************

 

I went to the small discussion group that meets in the Heritage Room every week.  It's always Wyoming history related, mostly Sublette County, and usually pretty interesting.  Yesterday we talked about the big flood on the New Fork River that happened in the 1930's.

George asked me if I remembered the radio newsman who always said "And now for the rest of the story . . . "  Of course I could remember it, but not the name of the man.  It took about 15 seconds to Google it when I got back to my apartment.  How could I have forgotten Paul Harvey??

 

*********************

There has been something going around on Facebook called "Throwback Thursday".  From what I can tell, people post old photos from their past.  I found this one I composed several years ago.

 

 The first one is of my cousin Bob and me at our Granddad's farm.  I think it was during the war, and maybe my mother couldn't afford to buy enough fabric to make my dresses long enough to cover me.  Also, unless I'm mistaken, I'm wearing white high top shoes.

 

The second photo was taken about forty years later at a family reunion in the Black Hills.  We remembered the first picture because we argued about who got to hold the puppy. We staged the second photo and I still got to hold the puppy!  Also, my knobby knees are covered.

Thursday

It's getting pretty bad when the housekeeper has to wake you up in the morning to clean your apartment!  Actually, I was awake earlier, but my bed wouldn't let go of my back. 
 
Anyway, I am up, had my coffee, sitting in a nice clean apartment, and my supper is in the crockpot,  And it's not even noon yet!
 

*****************************

The stakes are getting high on the Canada-U.S hockey games.  Here is a billboard I saw online:

 

 

The ad read "winner wins a case of beer, loser keeps Bieber".  Now that's funny!

 

***********************

 

 

They're busy as a hill of ants over at the new apartments.  They are putting what looks  like big sheets of foam insulation on the roof.  They lifted big stacks of it up on the roof with a big fork lift a couple days ago.  They've got a lot of roof left to do.  They've been working two days just on the roof of the entrance. Haven't even started on the apartment wings.

 

*****************

I'm listening to my Kevin Costner playlist on my iPod.   I love his music, and wish he would make another album.  I've only seen him sing in one of his movies.

 

 

 

  





Wednesday

It is so icy, and I try to be extremely careful if I'm outside. 

Barrie went to the drugstore for me yesterday, and brought me some beer from the liquor store.  She hadn't fed yet, so she and KC didn't stay long.

This morning I gathered up my art stuff and walked all the way to the front door of the building, only to find my pickup wasn't in the parking lot.  So I came back to the apartment and looked out the side door.  Sure enough, Barrie had parked my truck there.  It's really icy out there, but I got in the truck and found it has new windshield wipers.  Ah Barrie!  You are so good at the "care and feeding of Grandma"!  

**********************

 

There were four of us in art group this morning.  I worked on the colored pencil portrait again.  It is sure slow going.

 

**********************

 

I was accidently social yesterday.  I walked down to get my mail just as people were gathering for coffee and cookies.  They had a welcoming party for new residents.  They left a note in my mail about it several days ago, but I had thrown it away and forgot all about it.  It would have been pretty rude to just leave, so I stayed.  It was kind of enjoyable, actually.  But it's kind of uncomfortable to be with a group of people who can't hear each other.  Makes for some interesting and confusing conversations.

 



Tuesday

I'm sure you all know that I am enjoying cooking, and I look for recipes on the Internet.  The other day, I saw a list of recipes that included hush puppies.  I was interested, so I clicked on it.  Here is the list of ingredients:
 

• 1 box of  McCormick hush puppy mix
• 1/2 cup water

What the heck?  I thought the point of having recipes was so you didn't have to use boxed mixes or prepared food!
 

 
 
I guess I'll go back to my old antique Betty Crocker recipe book, where it lists the ingredients, and says to "fry in fat"!  It also has a story about how the hunters sat around the campfire and threw hunks of fried corn meal to the hunting dogs.
 

************************

 

 

 As a teacher, this poster really got to me.  I taught several kids with special needs through the years, and was almost always proud of the way the other kids treated their classmate.  They were accepting, patient, and protective.  A few were not, and it was so easy to see that their parents felt the same way.  I actually had a mother who wanted to pull her child from my classroom because I had a special needs child.  She also talked to other parents about her concerns. She actually thought this child would "pull her kid down".  I really hated that woman.

 

But my granddaughter says that word is inappropriate, so I have to say I disliked her!







Monday

Relaxing to the sound of Floyd Cramer's piano from my iPod this morning. 

I spent time moving photos from the card of my camera to the computer hard drive.  I organize them by year and  month.  My computer has lost the ability to make a new folder.  The only choice I have is to make a new briefcase.  I googled my problem and found that this has happened to a lot of people. The only solution seems to be to copy another folder, rename it, and delete its contents.  It's a hassle, but it works.  I now have a blank, clean memory card in the camera, and the photos that were on it are stored.  Time to back up the computer.

Another photo from a February in the past.  This is one of my all time favorite pictures.  What a round, cute little button!  Very little resemblance to the lanky long legged first grader of today!

Sunday

And then the wind blew.

 

 

 

 This didn't last very long, thank goodness.  But I have heard the wind is worse out of town and the roads are bad.  Glad to be here where I am!

 

*************************

 

 

The picture I posted yesterday from Dru and Tawny reminded me of this.  When I was teaching kindergarten, we used to take the kids out to the ranch about in March to "help" feed.  They used two teams and two sleds, and we had about 50 kids.  Best field trip ever.

 

This trip took some preparation.  We had to really prepare parents and kids to the importance of dressing warmly.  We also informed parents about five times that we had to leave as soon as the kids got to school, so no one could be late.  We didn't even let the kids take off their coats before we loaded them on a bus.  We had one mother who was habitually late, and sure enough, her kid wasn't there and we left without him.  She was furious.  I don't think she improved on being prompt the rest of the year, though.

 

At Louie and Lisa's place, Louie had dug tunnels through the piles of snow in the yard, and the kids had a ball climbing through them.  Lisa baked cookies.  I don't think kids get to do that sort of thing any more.

 

**********************

 



I did this!

Saturday

 

Do we really need this? Another 5 or 6 inches? 

 

 I think this guy votes "No".

 

**********************

 

I'm thinking this could lead to some serious cabin fever before long.  There's plenty of snow on the roof left to slide off, but for now, I can still see out the window.

 

 

 



 

Why am I complaining?  Dru and Tawny, who live up Horse Creek, took this picture this morning at their ranch.  They said they got the horses fed, but not the birds.

Thursday

The winter storm watch has been lifted, and the sun is shining.  What a change!  And the snow is still sliding off the roof.

 

I truly do love my bed.  It is so comfortable, and I wouldn't mind staying in bed until noon!!  After I've been up a while, it seems that my back starts hurting.  It doesn't matter if I'm sitting or standing up, it just hurts.

 

Another old February photo, this one taken in 2007 going across South Pass.  That was the year my Mom passed away, and I spent a lot of time going back and forth to Riverton.  This was a good day, the road was clear and the wind wasn't even blowing too much.  Through the years, I've made some hairy trips over that pass.  No visibility due to blowing snow, following behind a snow plow, chained up, etc.  I think those days are behind me!

 



And still more snow

It wasn't too much work getting the windshield on the pickup cleared and getting to Rendezvous Pointe.  But I did spend almost 45 minutes yesterday getting the snow off the truck.  It's official - - - I miss my garage!   I don't miss anything else about the house, but I liked the garage.  Especially when the snow keeps getting deeper and deeper.

This makes me laugh.  Someone posted on "Sublette for Sale" on Facebook.  All it says is "Will trade for a gun".  Well, it's not the ideal car to drive in Pinedale in the winter. 

Another post on "Sublette for Sale" this morning:
 
"Anyone on 40 rod able to pull me out!!"

*************************

The family of Mary (who lives across the hall from me) has been working all day clearing out her apartment.  She has been moved to the nursing wing.

 

******************

 

 

I'm sure if someone asked Xiao Ling, this is how she would describe my cat.  Darned cat gets a real kick out of jumping out at her from under the bed.

 







Monday

Barrie said it took some doing to get to her dog lot, but they made it, and put in a new trail.  She said none of the dog houses were blown in, so the dogs all had shelter and straw bedding. 

 

Kasey and I watched the snow slide off the roof yesterday. It kept sliding all day, and I can see in the reflections of the windows across from me that there's still plenty of snow.

If it keeps this up, it may block the view out my windows!

**********************

 

 



When Barrie got home, we were joking around, and Barrie threatened Kasey that she was going to take her out and dump her head first in a snow bank.  Kasey screeched, screamed, and giggled.  And this is what happened! It's a good thing it wasn't cold.  KC was pretty well covered with snow when we came in.

The icicle is even bigger, and Kasey couldn't see it. Then she finally realized she was looking right at it.

When Barrie was small, she, Tracy and I went to Spearfish to tour the college .  We pointed out Devil's Tower to Barrie when it came in sight, and she couldn't see it.  We kept getting closer to it, and Barrie still couldn't see it.  Finally she said, "Oh, you mean that big rock up there?" She was looking for a tall steel construction.  Yeah, a tower.

When we got there, we parked and walked around the base of it.  Barrie played mountain goat and climbed up a ways.

Sunday

Barrie and Kasey started out to the dog lot on a snow machine yesterday to feed.  They ended up turning around and coming home, so the dogs weren't fed yesterday.  She said she couldn't find the trail into the dog lot, and because she had KC with her, she decided to wait until this morning and hope she would have better visibility.

I fixed shrimp and cheese grits for us last night.   Seems like cheese grits are a popular side dish with shrimp.  What I made was baked in the oven, so it wasn't soupy.  I cut it into squares.

The jury is still out on the grits.  KC didn't like them, Barrie ate hers.  I put butter and salt on mine, and it tasted okay.  Of course, I'll eat just about anything if it's got lots of butter and salt on it.  During the meal, Kasey asked us to pass the salt, and she salted her bread and butter.   Hmmm?  She must be related to me.

 

Barrie brought KC by this morning.  She decided she didn't need a 6 year old kid on the snow machine with her while she attempted to get in the dog lot.  Her dad was going with her today, too. 

The first thing KC did was go find her sketch pad and some colored pencils.  I had started a drawing of her wearing her hat and had it out on the table.

 

And this is what she drew.  I bet it's better than mine will be!  I'm kind of sad she now spells "Grandma" correctly.  I liked the way she used to spell it, "Gerama".

Saturday

Still watching it snow.  We got at least six inches last night, probably more, and it is still snowing.  It has warmed up quite a bit.

 

 I just read that the Kemmerer leg of the Stage Stop Sled Dog Race was cancelled, due to the weather.  And Big Piney schools did not bus kids to watch the start of the race because it was so cold.  White Pine is closed, and a ski meet has been cancelled.  And of course lots of road closures in the state.

 

This is why you don't want to drive a small white car if you live in Pinedale.  Can you see it?

 

There are often two ravens perched on this streetlight outside my window.  This morning it looked as if they were "smooching".  What I like best about this street light is that it doesn't work, so it doesn't shine in my bedroom window at night!

 

*************************

I like to look back through my files at old pictures I took through the years.  I found several interesting photos I took during the month of February. 

 

Judi tried her hand at editing a photo the other day, so I thought I would share this one.

 

 

This is actually two photographs. The sign is up on South Pass, and the little two track road is south of Pinedale.  I put the two together, did a lot of cloning and blending, and came up with what looks like the Oregon Trail itself beside the sign.

 

 



Friday

Watching it snow.  Seems like it should be too cold to snow.  But it's really coming down.

I hope the windows in the new apartments are better than these.  These must be double paned, but they are sure cold.  I've GOT to remember to take the herb garden off the window sill at night.  If I don't, the herbs will freeze. 

 

 I think I'll look for seed for cat grass.  The cat is eating the chives. On the other hand, why bother with cat grass if she likes chives?

**********************

 

 

I watched the second half of "The Stand" last night.  The movie was pretty good, but didn't do justice to the book, which is my favorite Stephen King novel.  I used to read everything he wrote, but I guess I got my fill.  I haven't read one of his books for a long time now.

 

 

**********************

I still have two volumes left to watch in the watercolor lessons videos the art group recently bought.