Friday

Another beautiful day, and no sign of rain.  We got a few sprinkles yesterday. The weather forecast (the one I see, anyway) says 30% chance of rain today and 40% tomorrow.  I remember a saying from way back - - - "only a fool predicts the weather in Wyoming."

Here is Paul and Tracy's camper, all nicely shaded by the trees.  Barrie took elk burgers up last night, and she got a freshly baked loaf of bread and some corn on the cob at the Farmers' Market.

Barrie and Daisy bonding at the picnic table.

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Tracy had broken a fingernail into the quick, and it was sore. She bumped it on something last night, and said "Ouch!  Son of a . . . . ."  She didn't finish the sentence, but Kasey finished it for her, loud and clear.  It was one of those moments when you know you shouldn't laugh, but we couldn't help it.  It was followed by a lecture to Kasey from Barrie about "Remember, you can't talk in school like that."

 

 

Paul hasn't caught any fish at all.  The water is too warm, and the fish are all in the deep areas.  Paul talks to Randall quite often, and he says the water is the warmest it's been in recorded history. 


I am getting in trouble with the Forest Service.  The campsite is in my name, and first of all, I almost lost it because it was not occupied the first night.  Then yesterday, a warning ticket because a cooler had been left out.  Paul and Tracy had gone for a walk.  The cooler had no food in it - just ice and beer, but they can fine you for leaving it out.



Thursday

It's a very cloudy day, and I can smell rain.  Don't know where it's raining, but the smell is in the air.  Love the smell of rain!

Finally finished the drawing of the puppy and lamb.  Made the pup's head rounder, and changed the shape of his hips a little.  Also took off part of his hind foot.  Don't worry, it didn't hurt him.  I sprayed it with fixative and picked out a mat.

I got the rest of the mats I ordered for the art room.  We should be fixed up for a long time now.  Also received the mats I got on EBay.  I was a little surprised at how nice they are, and they are a real bargain.  Love, love, love Ebay!

I see this tree every day out my window, and it seems like it turned yellow just overnight. It is front of Wagon Wheel Motel.  I call it "Fred's Tree".

 

 Does anyone else recognize yourself here?

Wednesday

We had a huge crowd at art group this morning - there were twelve of us there.  One new person, and two who haven't been there for a long time.  We all had to scrunch up to make room for everyone at the tables.

I started this little 5" x 7" pencil drawing of an antelope this morning. The photo was taken in the spring, and I liked the effect of his scruffy hair.

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Kasey wore my favorite hat to the lake yesterday.  This hat has been stepped on sat on, and had gallons of water carried in it.

Kasey follows Paul around and "helps" him do everything.  Here she is helping him build a fire.  She also fed Daisy for him.

There was a group of rather loud people on the beach last night, and they had 4 or 5 pit bull type dogs running loose.  Did not make us comfortable, and it was nice to have them pack up and leave.

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Barrie took the day off yesterday and Kasey skipped school - they went to Rock Springs to Walmart.  They got Kasey's school supplies, and stocked up on things like toilet paper and paper towels.

 

 



Monday

Kasey was so excited she was going to the lake to see Uncle Paul and Aunt Tracy yesterday.  We couldn't go up until after 6:00, so didn't have much daylight left. 

Barrie took Shorty up, and after the initial hackle raising and snarls and threats, Daisy and Shorty began playing and gave us lots of laughs.  They mostly tore around the shade tent chasing each other.

Tracy and Paul moved to a nearby campsite that became vacant yesterday.  They can watch their boat from there

Judi and Rollie were at the boat dock and watched Tracy back the trailer into the water.  Judi took a picture and posted it on her blog.

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I think this is a little extreme! 

 

"The Taliban beheaded 17 people, including two women, for attending a mixed-gender party where there was music and dancing, Afghan officials reported today."

 

It would NOT be a good idea to open a nightclub there!

 

 

 

I have been working on this pencil drawing for a while now.  It is almost finished.  It's not the best idea to draw a white animal next to an off-white animal.  Value problems.



Paul and Tracy's camp

Tracy called from the lake yesterday.  The boat battery was dead, so they didn't get the boat in the water yet.  Paul had just recharged the battery before them came up, so I was to go up and loan Paul my pickup so he could come to town and get a new one

It ended up that Tracy made a couple of phone calls, and was able to find the battery, pay for it by credit card, and told Randy that Barrie would turn  in the old battery on Monday.  So I drove downtown and picked up the new battery.  They were going to wait until this morning before putting it in the boat.  Haven't heard from them yet today, so I guess it all went well.

We didn't put up our small tent this year, and I guess we should have.  The FS has a "rule" that a campsite has to be occupied the first night.  I left a water jug on the table, but I guess we about lost the camp site.

The campground hosts came down to visit with Paul and Tracy after they got here.  The hosts are Janet and Randall Montgomery and had seen my name on the check that paid for the site.  Pretty funny!  Tracy went all through school with their oldest daughter and they were good friends.

Paul cooked supper - brats and barbeque beans.  It was good.

Daisy loves the water.

 Fire felt good.

Chasing chipmunks wore Daisy out.

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Barrie ran dogs yesterday morning.  I think she said she ran a team of nine.  Dogs were so excited to get out and run.

 



Saturday

My blog page no longer shows the menu bar at the top where I can click to make a new post.  However, I can go to one of the blogs I follow, it shows my name at the very top, and I can get there that way.  Weird!

Just got email from Tracy that they are leaving Rock Springs.  I doubt if they even stop here on their way through, but will go right up to the lake.

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Just finished this little 3" x 5" painting in my moleskine notebook.  Only two pages left.  What do you do with a little black book with 60 tiny watercolors in it?  Darned if I know!

 

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How many squares do you see?

 





Friday

Tracy emailed me that they weren't going to be able to leave as early as they wanted today, so they plan on going halfway, and should be here by noon tomorrow.  They will probably go directly to the lake, get the boat in the water, and get their camp set up.

Barrie, Kasey, and I picked up food at Sugar Shack and went up to the campsite.  We'll never do that again.  Sugar Shack, that is, not the lake.  Not too impressive, and they made mistakes on the order, which of course we didn't find until we got up to the lake.

 Kasey is ready for supper.  She ordered a corn dog, and got a plain hot dog.

 Barrie, sorting through the food.  She ordered three french fries, and we got only two.  She ordered a mushroom burger with no ketchup.  It had ketchup on it.  I ordered a cheeseburger, got it, with no ketchup on it.

 

This pretty tree was right in front of the picnic table.  I think it's a juniper?  The campground is so overgrown with brush and dead stuff.  The wild roses are already turning brown and dead looking.  It is SO dry up there.  I usually take up a little firewood for Paul and Tracy.  I bet they won't even have a campfire this year. 

Barrie and Kasy went to the boat dock and went swimming.  I stayed at the table and did some sketching.

Thursday

Our dining room is back!  Barrie hauled our huge collection of "stuff" to the Food Basket yesterday.  She also took two child seats that had been in the back seats of our pickups.  She found two good booster seats at the Food Basket earlier, so Kasey has a new way to ride in our trucks.

(Please don't tell Barrie, but I will be starting a new pile of stuff for the Food Basket soon.)

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I finished getting twelve drawings and paintings ready for the silent auction that will be held at Rendezvous Pointe during the Blood Draw. 

 

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Wednesday

Tracy called.  They have had a campsite reserved at New Fork Lake for a long time.  The more they thought about it, they didn't want to be that far from town, because we wouldn't be up to see them very often.  So she asked me to see if anything was open in the Fremont Lake campground. 

Barrie and Kasey and I drove up yesterday afternoon and found a good space open for them.  It is right across the road from the boat dock.  They have stayed in the site next to this one before, and they can beach their boat at that nice little stretch of sandy beach, so they don't have to pull it out every night. 

They will be here Friday.

The reason the FS isnot reserving campsites at Fremont Lake for the summer was they they were going to be doing a lot of construction and repairs up there. 

Can anyone tell me what the Forest Service did up there all summer?  I watched for evidence of repairs or changes, and saw nothing.  Doesn't look to me like they did anything.

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There were only five at art group this morning.  Judi has been cleaning house after have grandkids all summer, and brought a bag of little toys for Kasey and a bottle of bubbles.  Thanks, Judi ( guess). 

 

Houses are usually decorated in a theme, like Southwestern, modern, or early American.  I have decided what the theme of my house is - early Storage Shed!

 

 

 

 



Monday

I finished this pencil drawing of an elk yesterday, and I'm not sure I like it.  It is just lacking something that gives it an edge.  And I don't know what it is.

This made me laugh.  I actually had a motorcycle once. And I even rode it!  But every time I stopped, it toppled over.  My legs were too short, and the bike was a little too heavy.

Tracy was riding her horse one afternoon, and I was to go get her in Shelter Park.  So I took my bike.  She got on behind me and we started home.  Beause I knew I couldn't stop, I kept circling Falers parking lot, waiting for a break in the traffic.  Tracy kept saying, "That's alright Mom, I can walk home.  But of course I didn't stop to let her off.  We made it all the way to our driveway, and of course, when I stopped, we tipped over.

I think that was the last time I ever drove it.  Driving through the Hoback later that summer, we saw a group of about six men on motorcycles.  They pulled off the road and stopped by some corrals.  And one of the guys put out his feet to balance his bike, and tipped over just like I did.  I laughed the rest of the way home.

I