Monday

When I turned the water on in the kitchen sink yesterday, the sprayer blasted me in the face.  I fiddled with it and even tried WD40, but it was stuck open.  Ken came in this morning, and replaced it with a new one.

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I looked out this morning to see a big swallowtail butterfly feeding at the humming bird feeder.  Wish I had been quick enough to get a picture of it.  Kasey brought the feeder in later, we washed it and filled it with a fresh solution.  After she took it back out, a humming bird came to feed.  I might get hummingbirds yet this summer.

 

A very lazy day, all I have done is read.  I went through my files and found two pictures I took during the month of July in years past, and decided to use them on my blog just to make it a little more interesting.

 

 

 Sunset one July evening from my yard.

 

This is the only good photo I ever got of the Moulton Barn on Mormon Row.  But now that I look at it, I realize it had to have been taken in the fall. 

 



Sunday

 

Judi asked for a picture of "snow on the mountain".  It about 8 inches tall, and does great here.  It spreads, and sometimes even chokes out grass.  It makes a wonderful ground cover.  Some of the plants send up a nondescript flower stem.  I have a large patch of it at the house. 

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Oh Dear!  Poor Mr. Joyful, the balloon man, is wasting away.  I don't think he's long for this world.

 

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I just put some banana muffins in the oven.  The batter was much thicker than I thought it should be, but what do I know?  I've never made very good muffins.

 

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Four of the five caterpillars are hanging from the top of the cup and turning into a chrysalis.  The last one is alive, but hasn't gone to the top yet.  Kasey will be so surprised when she sees them.



Saturday

 

This columbine is growing on the north side of the building.  It is the only one, and growing in a thick patch of snow-on-the-mountain. 

 

 

When I went out to take a picture of the columbine, Missy and her owner came by on their walk.  Well, Missy walks, anyway - her owner doesn't.  I'm not a fan of French Poodles, but this little dog is very friendly. 

 

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Kevin finished assembling my new bathroom shelves.  Now I can't seem to figure out how to get the towel rack out, which is where I want to put the shelves.  Would you believe there are at least a dozen YouTube videos on the Internet on how to remove a towel bar?  I just don't want to damage the wall too badly, so maybe I'll wait and have Kevin damage it. Then he can fix it!

 

 

They are doing a lot of work on the exterior of the new apartments, putting on siding and the rock face on the front.  Still haven't put the metal roof on this part, though. 

 

And I am still swaying, stay or go?  I hate the idea of moving, but it is tempting. 

 

 

No one would believe this if I told them, so I took a picture to prove it.  My cat really does like me a little bit.  My feet is where she chose to take a nap this morning!  That would be nice in the winter, but I don't think I can count on it being a regular occurrence.









Thursday

On this day in 2007:

 

This picture was taken from my back yard.  Who remembers this event?  It was during the fires up Horse Creek, and sometimes there was so much smoke in town the streetlights turned on.

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A lazy day for me today.  No Kasey, the apartment has been cleaned, and I have a good book and a new movie.  Also, listening to Tom T. Hall on my iPod.

 

 



This brings back memories.  I hope Ronnie's teacher gives this to Ronnie's mother, confidentially,  to put in his baby book.  It's a keeper.

When I was teacher, one of my little kindergarten girls brought me a note.  It said to excuse her from recess because it was so cold outside.  It was so obviously written by her second grade sister! I saved it and gave it to her parents when they came to conference.  I made them promise to not even mention it to the girls, but to save it and show it to them when they were adults. 

And yes, the little girl went outside for recess that morning, because I had recess duty and told her she had to go with me!

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Wednesday

Kasey and I went to art group this morning.  Two of Judi's grand daughters from Texas were there too.  The girls were all so good - sat at the tables and worked on art projects.  They did go out and play ping pong in the big room for a little while.

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We decided to make these "spaghetti dogs" for lunch.  This picture is NOT what we made.  Ours didn't turn out quite so well.

 

 

KC is inserting a strand of spaghetti into a piece of hot dog.  I should have put them in a large pot to boil, but instead I put them in a gadget that cooks pasta in the microwave.  I wasn't able to cover them with enough water.  But it worked.

 

 

And this was the best way we could figure out to eat them.  It worked fine, and we had a fun lunch.

 

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I was watching the men work over at the new apartments over the weekend.  It appears the "hard hat" rule doesn't apply on weekends.  They were wearing shorts and ball caps.

  







Tuesday

It will be a quiet day today, as Kasey is going to work with her mom.

She brought a package of balloons yesterday, and that pretty much occupied her day.  She can blow them up by herself, but has a hard time tying the end.  I finally made her quit because her index finger (the one she wraps the end around) was turning black from cutting off the circulation.

I tied a few for her, and this is what she created.

 

She named him "Mr. Joyfull".

After that, she decided she wanted to make water balloons, but we couldn't figure out how to get water in the balloons.  I'm sure I have made them in the past, but didn't have a clue how to get the water in and the air out!  She squirted water all over the bathroom, and I squirted water all over the kitchen, trying to use the faucet.  She finally went outside with some balloons and her water bottle and discovered she could squeeze (or stomp on) the water bottle to force water in the balloon.  She finally got four small water balloons made.

Afterwards, I googled how to make water balloons, and that is exactly the way they showed it on a couple of YouTube videos.

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Barrie took this picture through the windshield of her pickup at the gate she has to open to get to her dog lot.  Yes, those are hungry mosquitoes.

Sunday

 

Kasey and Barrie took me out for breakfast to Rock Rabbit this morning. Had a very yummy breakfast burrito.  I've never eaten in there before. 

It's been a very  long time since I used to buy Tracy "Buster Brown" socks and pants in the upstairs of that building (old Variety Store". 

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 Yay!  I had one hummingbird at the feeder late yesterday afternoon.  She kept coming back to it until it got dark, but I haven't seen her today. 

 

This morning Kat was watching something on the ground out the window.  When I stood up to look, I saw a little mouse-like creature duck out from under the bush and back under again.  I just got a glimpse, so I'm not sure what it was.  Could have been a vole, but I think they are smaller.  Kat would be in seventh heaven if we had mice get in the building!

 

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Kasey took her dead butterfly home with her.  Meanwhile, the caterpillars are growing, and are very active.   

 



Friday

I'm pretty sure the big swallowtail butterfly is dead, but the five little caterpillars we got are very active.  When they are all in the pupa stage, we will take them out of the little cup and put them in the butterfly house.  The little cup has fabric across the top, and when they are all hanging on that, we will take it out and hang it in the top of the butterfly house.

Judi found a butterfly book for KC at the Food Basket, and brought it by this morning. What a thoughtful friend!

 

This is such a good thought, but somehow, I can't seem to incorporate it into my life!

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Just finished a leftover lunch.  Things from the refrigerator that don't even go together.  Threw more leftovers in the garbage, and really need to get the trash out of my kitchen now.  Yes, some things had a little white fuzzy stuff growing.

 

 

Kasey was here yesterday afternoon and decided she wanted to take her box outside.  She played with it over an hour.  Of course all the scotch tape came loose.  She decided she wanted some duct tape.

 

I think that symbol on the Amazon boxes means "this side up", but to me, it looks like a smiley face.



Thursday

The caterpillars came today.  There's not much to do except look at them for the next 5 to 10 days, according to the directions.  KC is not here today, so she doesn't know they arrived.

Meanwhile, the big Swallowtail Butterfly is still alive.  I read on the Internet that the average life span of a butterfly is usually less than 30 days.  His will probably be less.  He's looking pretty tattered, and I have no idea if he's getting enough to eat. 

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My laptop cart came yesterday, and I told KC she could keep the box.  It kept her busy all afternoon, turning it into a little cave.  She also used the better part of a roll of scotch tape. 

 

This morning, the box started jumping, and I found Kat playing in there.  Kids and Kats love boxes!  The housekeeper vacuumed around it this morning.

 

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"Selfies" are the rage, and KC and I decided we would take some selfies.  Gee, I wonder which is which!  Oh yeah, the eyelashes are a dead giveaway.

 

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I actually finished something.  This little 5"7" pencil drawing turned out okay.





Wednesday

We are very happy to welcome Tracy LeClair and her husband Paul to the ERFPD family. Tracy joins Eagle River Fire as our new Community Risk Manager & Public Information Officer. Tracy was previously with Summit County Sheriff's Office and recently moved up to Eagle County. Tracy is a great addition to the department and the community. Welcome aboard!

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What a nice photo and what a nice welcome for Tracy, posted this morning on Facebook.  I'm proud of you, girl!

 

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Another photo from this morning, taken up Horse Creek.  My friends Dru and Tawny Roberts made the comment that they probably wouldn't be bothered by mosquitoes today.

 

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I found a small ledger in the free box at Rendezvous Pointe this morning, and Kasey is filling it with song lyrics from a movie she was watching on the iPad. She is writing a lot, and she is a great speller.

 

 

 

 

 





Tuesday

Kasey and I put her butterfly in the butterfly house this morning.  It has been living in a little cooler mostly in the dark.  I can't believe the thing is still alive!  It woke up, got excited, and fluttered around quite a bit, and is now resting on a large lupine flower stalk KC put in there.

 

Kat noticed the motion, and was very curious.  We watched her closely, but she has lost interest and gone back to bed.  Still won't trust her in a room alone with the butterfly, however.

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Kasey brought her own box of cold cereal this morning, because I don't have any.  We went down to the dining room for a cup of their good coffee.

 

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Freezing temperatures and rain.  And snow in some places.  This weather makes me lazy and sleepy. 

 



Monday

I didn't watch either of the "father" themed movies I planned yesterday.  Instead, I found a new movie on Netflix called "Forever After".  It starts with the Grimm Brothers visiting an elderly lady who shows them what she says are the glass slippers of Cinderella, a drawing by DaVinci, and a gown.  Then she tells them the true story of Cinderella.  Cute movie, starring Drew Barrymore.

This morning, I found this saying on Facebook:

Never look back.  If Cinderella had stopped to get her shoe, she would never have become a princess.

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Judi mentioned an old song called "Go you Chicken Fat Go", which we both used with our kids in school.  I found a YouTube recording of it. 

       Chicken Fat

 

Brings back old memories.  I used to dance (exercise) to this a lot in my teaching days.  And no, we didn't dance on the tabletops to this one.

 

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Kasey decided she wanted a cup of coffee with me when she got here this morning.  Lots of milk and sugar, and she drank the whole cup!

 

 

Kasey was wearing her new shirt today.  Susie gave her this as a gift of appreciation for helping her mom put an IV in a dog to save its life.

 



Sunday

I don't know how cold it got last night.  My indoor/outdoor thermometer said it was 24 below zero.  Somehow, I don't think that's right.

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I cut the "wings" off the loaf of bread KC and I baked, and now it sort of resembles a loaf.  I am calling it "artisan bread".  I read that somewhere.  It is now sliced, and half of it in the freezer. 

 

KC wanted to make muffins the other day.  I have never made good muffins but we might as well give it a try next time she stays with me. 

 

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I took the quilt off my bed this morning to wash it, and put this "Lone Star" quilt on.  I made pillowcases to match this quilt, but didn't put them on yet.

 

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I think in honor of Father's Day, I will watch the movie "Backup Plan".  It stars Jennifer Lopez.  She is a single woman who wants a baby, so has herself artificially inseminated.  And after she is pregnant, she meets and falls in love with a nice guy.

 

 

And this is what happens when non-educators are in charge of education.







Saturday

Just because I got my fan out yesterday and set it up, the National Weather Service is predicting a freeze.  It was cold in here this morning, and I closed the window and turned the heat on for a while.

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Okay, Grandma and Kasey make a lethal combination in the kitchen.  Kasey told her mom "I think maybe we measured wrong."

 

 

And if you're thinking about making "hard boiled" eggs in muffin tins in the oven like the idea I posted a couple days ago, DON'T!  Kasey and I put four eggs in the oven.  I don't think I'll ever get them peeled.  I think the person who originally posted that idea on the Internet did it as an April Fool joke.

 

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I put fresh sugar water in the hummingbird feeder yesterday.  So far, no signs of any birds except for one that just stopped briefly on her way through.  There is one little ant on it this morning.  That's a good sign, I guess.

 

 

The butterfly house arrived yesterday.  It is nice, good sized, and will collapse when not in use.  I should have remembered from when I had one in the classroom that you have to send in a coupon for the caterpillars.  Well, the coupon included said it would cost $9.50 for 5 caterpillars, of which 3 are guaranteed to live.  And it takes two to four weeks for delivery.  I know I didn't pay extra for caterpillars when I raised them before.

 

So - I went a different route, found a different supplier for the caterpillars, and have them ordered.  This damned project had better be successful!  If not, all we have is a cute little laundry hamper.





Friday

I think I'll haul the fan out of the bottom of the closet today.  It's not a very big fan, but this is not a very big apartment, either.  It never got unbearably hot in here last summer. 

I was out of bread, and KC helped me make some today.  She picked out the recipe, (cottage cheese and chives, of all things and did the measuring. When the dough was done in the bread machine, she kneaded the loaf and put it in the pan.  It is now in the oven. 

 

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I took a better picture of Kasey butterfly to make it easier to identify.  Judi told me it was a swallowtail, and I also found a good photo on the Internet.

 

Two Tail Swallowtail, state butterfly of Arizona

 

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They left the butterfly home this morning with a fresh lilac bloom.  Can't believe the thing is still alive!

 

Today the butterfly kit is due to arrive by UPS.  KC is really excited!

 





Thursday

The domestic goddess (me) fixed spaghetti for supper last night.  I was going to have garlic bread with it, so got the bread prepared and put it under the broiler.  It's not my fault KC wanted to see cat go outside.  It doesn't take long for that stuff to catch on fire, with six inch tall flames when I opened the oven door!

The smoke alarm didn't even go off, the flames quickly died down, and I had more bread.  It was all good.

 

I sent Kasey outside with some stale bread to scatter around for the birds.  This is what she found.  Isn't it beautiful.  I don't know what kind of butterfly it is.  I think I've seen it, or one just like it, flitting around outside my window.  Its wings are tattered and torn, and it can't fly any more.  I thought it would die overnight, but Kasey came in this morning with it in a small cooler with some flowers.  It seems to be eating. 

Because of this, I remembered hatching Painted Lady butterflies in Kindergarten, and ordered one of the kits for Kasey.

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James cleaned my apartment today.  There are some changes being made here.  Seems someone has quit.  Xiau Ling is taking over their job, and won't be cleaning my place any more.  Kat will sure miss her!  I don't know who will be cleaning here yet, but I bet they won't let Kat intimidate them.  Guess I'll just wait and see.

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Has anyone ever tried this?  Sounds too simple and too easy to be true.  I think I'll try it, but with fewer eggs.  No need to ruin a dozen.  I'm pretty sure these won't burst into flame in the oven.  Will they explode?  Stay tuned.

Wednesday

Kasey and I went to Art Group this morning.  I fiddled around with a colored pencil drawing.  She not only played with a little Nintendo game Judi had brought, but produced a painting.

 

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After Art group, we went to the recycling center.  Kasey found four great kids' books in the big box for books to be recycled.  We came home and sat on the new bench outside and read a couple of them.

 

I think I have my UPS man to thank for the bench.  When he was here the other day, he had boxes for the housekeeping and maintenance department.  He said he was going to tell them he found me standing outside, and I said I sure wished I had something to sit on out there.  Ken and Kevin had told me they were going to bring it, but it wasn't written down, and I guess they forgot.  So the bench is now in place.

 

Ken drove by today while KC and I were sitting out there.  He stopped and gave me a big "thumbs up".

 

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Vicky finished this painting last week, but I didn't have my camera.  I love everything about it.

 



This is Lenore's painting of the Tetons.  They look magnificent, and that little skier in the foreground gives them perspective. 

 

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We were wondering about Pam this morning, and Lenore took some pictures of us to send to her.  About 20 minutes later, Pam strolled in!   So good to see her!  She is hoping she will be able to spend more time in Pinedale next month and come paint with us.

 

Tuesday

My daily blog seems to have become an every other day blog.  Busy or lazy?   A little of each, I guess.

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I worked with my "backup" computer yesterday, so this computer wasn't even on most of the day.  I installed a couple new things, backed up files on this computer, and restored them to the other one. 

 

I am using the touch pad on this computer today, and it is working fine.  Maybe it just needed to rest. (Yeah, right!)  I know it's dying.

 

 

I thought I would share this photo I took of Fremont Lake a couple years ago.  I have a program called "Photo Stitch" that will take two photos taken from the same viewpoint and find matching points and merge them together into one photo.  It works really well, especially if you have your camera on a tripod and can pan carefully.

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I am reading a new book and every chapter begins with a gem of wisdom supposedly from the grandpa of the hero of the story.

 

• Grandpa Garnier:  If you're gonna go, go like hell.  If your minds not made up, don't use your spurs.
• Grandpa Garnier:  Never kick a cow chip on a hot day.
• Grandpa Garnier:  If you get to thinking you're a person of some influence, try ordering someone else's dog around.
• Grandpa Garnier:  Never miss a good chance to shut up.

I love those jewels of wisdom.  I wonder where they came from.

 

 



Is this the daring young lady on the flying trapeze?

 

Barrie was running the Animal Clinic by herself the other day, and KC was with her.  A dog they had took a turn for the worse, and Barrie wasn't able to reach Susie.  Barrie knew she had to do something, so she had KC hold the dog down for her, and she put a catheter in the dog and administered something.  Maybe antibiotics, or something.  Anyway, the dog came out of it, got up and ate.  KC was pretty excited about it.



Sunday

Although I didn't think California Chrome could really do it, I was rooting for him all the way.  I wish they hadn't interviewed his owner right after the race.  He came off looking really bad, even if what he said might be true. 

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Tracy called yesterday.  Her last day working for the Summit Co. Sheriff's Department was last week.  She  had applied for a position with the Eagle River Fire Protection District, but didn't get the job.  But they notified her and offered her the job.  So instead of a nice vacation, she has only five days. 

She and Paul are going to Aspen for the weekend, then it's back to work for her!

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Substitute the word "cat" for "dog" and this describes me perfectly!

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I started a new painting and forgot that I don't get along well with the heavy, 300 lb. paper.  I know it's better than what I usually use, but I'm not used to it and am getting unexpected (but not good) results.   

 

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I know people who collect and read Louie L'Amour books, but I have never read them.  And I've only read one Zane Gray book that I can remember.  But I downloaded a Louie L'Amour book to my Kindle yesterday.  I almost hope I don't like it.  The man was a prolific writer, and it would take me years to read all his work! 

 

 



Sunny Side Up

 

Yea, it's pretty bad when you post a photo of your breakfast.  I thought using rings cut from a green pepper was a great idea.  It was, but the egg white leaked out between the pepper and the skillet, and kind of ruined the effect.  I kind of expected that though.

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They are digging and moving dirt from in front of the front entry at the new apartments today.  There are two men (not wearing hard hats) who look like they are carefully examining every scoop of dirt before they haul it away.  Are they looking for bones, or maybe gold?

 

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I was told by a resident here that she is waiting to hear from a man at Shoshoni about building a medicine wheel  at the new apartments.  I think she meant waiting on someone from Ft. Washakie which is where the Shoshone tribal headquarters is.

 

Anyway, the local self proclaimed expert on everything here began to explain.  He says you can't cover a medicine wheel with a roof or it will lose its powers.  And he says white men shouldn't try to make one.

 

From what I have researched, the Indians actually don't know any more about the medicine wheel than the white man does.  No one is sure if it even has any powers.  Some day, thousands of years from now, someone will find a recliner chair in perfect condition, and wonder about its powers and its use.  Or maybe a weather vane? 

 

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