Tuesday August 26

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I completed this pencil drawing of mules yesterday.

Somone said I should toot my own horn and publish this photo of a watercolor with the prize it won at the Sublette County Fair.

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I completed a pastel portrait yesterday, but after letting it alone overnight, I can see where I need to work on parts of it a lilttle more.

I finally started to use the Unison pastels. They are softer than I am used to, but I love them. I have started another portrait on a light tan piece of sanded paper. I have a wolf and a dog started, and need to work on them. I am doing the dog on velour paper, and am not sure how that will work.

It was so nice to spend uninterrupted time alone yesterday. I painted, and also made four DVD copies of VCR tapes. I was tired, and went to bed too early. Then of course I woke up about 6:00. I really hate that. Maybe I can convince myself to take a nap this afternoon so I can stay up later.

When I retired, I planned on taking naps, and watching one soap opera on a regular basis. I have never gotten around to taking naps, and I find that I can't stand soap operas.

Monday - August 25, 2008

Click on images for a larger version Old Gate - Pencil Drawiwng

Can't leave those colored pencils alone.

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Today I think I will lock myself in my room and paint! I haven't done any painting for about a week. Last Tuesday Gary and Kasey were here, Barrie and Kasey were here Thursday and stayed for supper. Gary and Kasey were here on Friday, Barrie and Kasey were here Saturday and stayed for supper, and Gary and Kasey were here yesterday and stayed for supper. That's a lot of company for an old recluse like me!

The new DVD recorder is still messed up. At least the remote controls are. It works OK - I experimented with it a little bit yesterday and was able to copy some stuff from a VCR to a DVD. But I can't turn the player off with the remote - it turns the TV off instead.

So I think I will begin to copy some VCR tapes on the upstairs system. Barrie brought one of our favorite movies - Spirit of the Wind. And I will see if I can get a copy made on a DVD. It is about Geogre Attla, a famous old Alaskan sled dog racer.

We have smoky skies again today, as I guess the New Fork Fire has kicked up. I get so amused at the Forest Service. They can't refer to it as a "fire". They call it an "incidence". They also say the fire won't go out until a "season-ending event". I guess it would sound too common to just say "when it snows".

I read on a Rainbow blog that their big summer gathering will be held in New Mexico next summer.

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How come we choose from just two people to run for president and over fifty for Miss America?

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Saturday August 23

I am hoping to be able to spend all afternoon upstairs on my art work. Seems like I haven't done any for ages. Last Wednesday was art group, and we had a video. I didn't work on anything. Thursday, Barrie and Kasey came over and stayed to eat. Friday, Gary and Kasey came and Gary helped me get the new VCR/DVD set up

Kasey, helping us look for the remote!

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The new VCR/DVD player is a piece of work. The instructions on how to set it up were too complicated for any normal person to figure out. Too many options for different setups, and all I want to do is slip a tape or disc in it and have it work! And be able to record. We finally got it set up, but it's not right yet. If I turn the VCR off, the TV goes off. Now I have to figure out how to program the remotes. Right now, it takes three of them to operate the system. I will have to have a special little "tool apron" for all the remotes. And we discovered there is no way to turn the TV off except with a remote. There is no on/off button on the set itself. I did accomplish one thing this morning - I found the operating instructions for the VCR/DVD player recorder I have upstairs. It had gotten pushed out of the drawer and was on the floor underneath it.

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Probably Terry and I will the only ones at the next art group meeting. Judi and Vicky will be off to Texas, Pam's daughter is getting married, and Conley is visiting kids. The art group has a bunch of new supplies in, especially mats, and things need to be checked off the order list and prices marked. I told Terry I would help her with that.

August 21, Thursday

Another photo of Great Great Grandad John Enos

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Not a very high quality photo, as I scanned it from a magazine. But you can see his coat and the spare mocassins. I also found the article I had about him, and found that he lived to be 107. Also found census records that showed his mother and Chief Washakie's mother were sisters.

Lynn wondered about the purse he was carrying in the photo I posted yesterday. Maybe he was holding it for his wife while she tried on a dress? (Just joking). The Indian men of long ago always carried bags of some sort, I assume because they were so nomadic, and they carried arrowheads, jerkey, etc. with them. I suppose a woman's purse works as well as anything.

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I'm not sure I'm allowed to post these, as they are photographs of original oil paintings done by Dave McNalley of Jackson. Years ago, I put him in touch with my ex husband because he wanted to meet and paint some native Americans. He did these two paintings of Bud, Tracy's Grandad. When Tracy and I saw them in the Wilcox Gallery, we bought the one of him as a cowboy. They are 18"x24". It hung in my house for years, and I finally took it to Colorado and Tracy now has it on her wall. She has made a couple attempts through the years to purchase the one of him in the headress, but the owners were never interested in selling it.

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I have added a new blog site to my list to the right. If you like history and enjoy looking at old photographs, you might enjoy this blog "Old Picture of the Day".

Some Really Old Pictures

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When I began to use watercolors again, I painted this leaf. I think it's only about 2 inches across. I have tried since than to do a couple of still lifes with a fall theme, and have never been able to paint a leaf I liked as well as this. Who can figure?

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A Couple of Very Old Photos -

This is Tracy's Grandad, Edmo (Bud) LeClair. He was a Shoshone Indian, and ranched near Fort Washakie. What a grand old man! I will always miss the great stories he told.

This is Tracy's Great Great Grandad, John Enos. His daughter was Bud's mother. I never knew him. I have another picture of him wearing a long Hudson Bay blanket coat, the tall reservation hat, and a pair of spare mocassins hanging from his belt. The family said he took a bath every day of his life. In the winter, the kids had to cut dead grass for straw to spread around the hole he chopped in the ice of the Wind River. After he bathed, he stood on the grass to dry off. And he lived to be about 100 years old!!

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I attended the art group this morning. Wish we hadn't had the video on so long, it interferes with our social time!

Judi brought me some more toys for Kasey - then Dee C. came in with another bag of toys and books. And Tracy has bought a unicorn Halloween costume for her! And the other news is that Barrie has called me and she and Kasey are coming to visit tomorrow afternoon.

Judi is leaving for Texas to babysit Chase's kids. His wife is going back to college. Rolli will join her later in the winter. Vicky is going to go with her so she won't have to travel alone, then Vicky will fly back. They will have a good time and see lots of sights. I reminded them about "Thelma and Louise", and asked them to behave themselves and avoid the Grand Canyon.

The rest of my new Unison pastels came today. I have 90 pieces now, and that should be enough to produce a masterpiece!! (Ha)

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Monday August 18

More Photo Organizing

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I'm still sorting through photos on my hard drive, trying to organize them in files that make sense and will make something easy to find if I am looking for it - if I know what I am looking for. When my mom began to fail, I made many trips over South Pass. This portion of the road always looks so lonesome and desolate. One day I just stopped and photographed it. I liked the way the sky looked, and also liked the fact that there wasn't another car in sight.

I once took a photo class at the Teton Science School, back when I shot slides. The instructor took us up on this mountain, a storm came through, and we all took pictures like crazy. The photographer kept saying "promise me you won't sue me if we get struck by lightning". Well, none of us got hit, and I only got one good picture. In those days, we had to wait until the slides came back before we knew what we had!

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Photo Scavenger Hunt

My Internet photography group has a monthly scavenger hunt. Sometimes it takes a lot of thinking and imaginatioin to come up with photos for the subjects. Here are a couple:

The word for this was "empty"

The word for this was "scents of the season.

The word for this was "unusual". I didn't come up with this myself - I had seen something similar somewhere that made me think of it.

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It's a lazy day. I haven't done much, and now I'm ready to go upstairs and struggle along with the soft pastels. Seems like they weren't so hard for me to work with years ago! I'm not sure I should have started with a portrait. But as usual, I look at all my mistakes as a learning experience.

Saturday, August 16

I am still trying to organize my photos on my hard drive, a never-ending job! I found a couple of fun pictures I thought I would post today.

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While messing around with the camera and experimenting with different settings for photographing the moon, I was surprised to see there really IS a man in the moon! Can you see the face?

I was setting up a still life for some assignment for a photo scavenger hunt. I have an ulu knife from Alaska with a moose etched on it. When I looked at this picture, it appears that the moose is eating the parsley.

When I took a drive to see the White Mountain herd of wild horses, I was so impressed with the beautiful view from the top of White Mountain. The Interstate and railroad are below the bottom of the picture and Green River is a short disance to the right. I put my camera on a tripod and took about 5 photos, then "stitched" them together to make a panorama.

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Gary brought Kasey yesterday afternoon, and she was so busy exploring - my upstairs room this time. Lots of interesting things up there, and she also enjoyed the toys Judi sent home with me. She just gets cuter and cuter. She is very aware of how cute she is, and is a show off!

I made meatloaf, baked potatoes, corn, and garlic bread, and they stayed to eat. I had an old wooden high chair that had been in the basement when I first moved into this house 40 years ago or so. I doesn't have a tray, but I pushed it up to the table and Kasey dined in style!

The skunk was on the front porch again when they left. He must be a daily visitor, eating cat food and getting ready to hibernate. I think I'll just leave him alone. It will soon be winter and he hopefully will find a place to hole up. And hopefully under the neighbor's house, not mine. With a basement, there isn't a place he can get under.

More Signs

I remembered to take my camera with me today so I could take pictures of a couple of signs around town that I thought were rather comical.

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The ice is VERY thin at the park in August!

I don't remember when they first put up these wood street signs in Pinedale - I know it was a long time ago. The "Z" in "Rendezvous" was backwards, and still is.

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Here are two more osprey photos I took with my 300mm lens at the lake last summer. I kind of wish I had taken it this year, as I missed some good pictures. But it's more relaxing to cruise around the lake without the pressure of getting good photos.

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It is definitely fall. Maybe I am a wimp, but I turned my heat on this morning when I got up. My chokecherries are starting to turn a rosy color. It won't be long until half the robins in town are at my house, eating chokecherries, and leaving big purple splotches on all those white pickups!

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August 14

What a quiet day!! It always seems too quiet when your company leaves, and kind of let down feeling.

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This is Paul and Tracy's camper. They got it last summer. The top of it raises and lowers about 18 inches, or maybe 2 ft. That makes it nicer to travel with, and when up, gives them head room. It will sleep four. They didn't get one with a bathroom, but they get along fine without it. It has a little sink, a refrigerator, and a stove.

Captain Paul

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Tracy doesn't have the time to e-mail me pictures very often, so she brought me a CD with LOTS of pictures. I enjoyed looking through them all this morning. I had looked at them quickly the night they came, but spent longer going through them all this morning. This is a photo of Tracy taken at the Crow's Nest Cafe in Belize.

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The Internet was down for a while this morning. Then when I was able to get back on, I couldn't get my wireless Internet to work. A pop-up screen told me it was very important that I install a Windows update. So I did. After I got the wireless network to work, my e-mail program said it was critical that I update. So I did that. I'm tired of messing with the computer!!

It is sure starting to feel like fall. I am no longer leaving my windows open all night - it gets too cold!

The replacement remote came for my new TV yesterday. I got it programed this morning so I can turn the TV on and off with it and adjust the sound.

I have ordered a new DVD/VCR recorder/player. Seems kind of silly, because I have one upstairs. Can't think of a reason why I would need two!

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Last Day at the Lake

Paul and Tracy left for Colorado early this morning. They had to pack up all their stuff, retreive the boat trailer from the lower boat dock, and load the boat on the trailer. They each have their "job". Paul drives the boat up to the dock, and Tracy backs the trailer down. They make an efficient "captain and first mate". It was so much fun to have them here, as always.

I hate to have my picture taken, let alone let anyone see it, but here I am with Kasey, in the screen tent at the lake

She looks much happier when Tracy is holding her. Or maybe I am just a better photographer than Gary.

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I didn't accomplish a thing at the art group meeting this morning. It was just nice to be there and visit with everyone.

Judi brought me some little toys for Kasey. She is so thoughtful. When I left, my friend Dee was "bowling" on the Wii with some others. She took something away from her grandson, and he started to cry. I held out the bag of toys to him, he reached in and chose one, and was happy. I know Judi won't mind that we shared.

Donna and Terry spent time looking through the photo album Judi has put together for Rendezous Pointe. It is so interesting, and she even had Vicky's daughter's wedding pictures in it already.

Yesterday was Judi's birthday!! I want to add my best wishes to all the others. She certainly has a wonderful family, and they all made sure her day was special.

It was also Cat's birthday. Cat and Tracy have been friends since school days, and Cat saw on my blog that Paul and Tracy were here. She left a message on my answering machine with her phone number, Tracy called her, and Cat drove up to the lake to have breakfast with them yesterday morning.

In years past, the cell phone reception has not been that great up at the lake. This year, it seemed to be perfect. Paul was able to contact his office in Colorado, and the owner of Miley (the dog) called from an airport in Boston. I think there has been a big increase in tower construction because of the gas development.

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