pussyfoot

finally found my cartoon critters official looney toon name - Pussyfoot!

Karl Marx quote

"Owners of capital will stimulate the working class to buy more and more of expensive goods, houses and technology, pushing them to take more and more expensive crudity, until their debt becomes unbearable. The unpaid debt will lead to bankruptcy of banks, which will have to be nationalized, and the State will have to take the road which will eventually lead to communism."

Karl Marx, Das Kapital, 1867

summer campfire

After our family hiking event we came back to our house for a grill out. fired up the grill, put on the hotdogs, chicken and corn on the cob. My grill is very full. lol! sent the girls out in the woods to collect sticks for marshmallows...- The neighbors dog starts barking - they came back rather quick. They spotted yet another mountain lion! This one smaller than the one P saw a couple of months ago. Closer too, apparently. P said it's eyes are green. That's close. So, we build a fire. That should keep the wildlife at bay. We finish grilling, eat... Mmmm! 'twas good. The girls go inside for a bit.. they want to play with P's guitars. So the adults are left to ourselves. A new neighbor notices our fire... So I'm neighborly and invite her over. She and her son ( early 20's) come over. She brings her own dixie cup full of beer. She's already had a few we think. We all chat a bit. we tell her to keep an eye on her dog. we have a big kitty or two in the area. She sits on one of the benches, her son continues to stand. I think he's embarrassed of her. I offer then food..they refuse - they just finished dinner. then she spills my tiki lantern that was on the bench next to her on the ground. I got up and stomp out the flames. Put the tiki farther from her... They leave shortly after this. Guess they realize the big blue cooler doesn't have beer. and there are a lot of pepsi cans around! As it's getting dark the girls come back outside. we are all talking about the hike, the cat, future plans... one of the neighbors dogs start barking again... We all start looking up the hill and around in the darkness. Suddenly something is crashing through the underbrush towards us coming from the side yard! This is no cat.. not graceful at all! Everyone stands up, the guys grab large sticks.. and we all stand closer to the fire. We think it's a bear. It notices the fire and us in it's path because it veers off and up the hillside. We can hear it skirting around us and up the hill. The dog is still going crazy. The guys throw a few rocks up the hill into the dark to keep it going away. After a few minutes everything settles down. All is quiet again. I realize I am hold my small survival knife.. I was using it on the hiking trip earlier today. Put it back in my pocket. We all stand around talking for a bit longer. D & D decide they'd better get home by now any way. it's an hour drive back to their house. The girls will be tired and cranky tomorrow if they don't sleep. They will all have a lot to talk about in school on Monday. lol!

summer days

cruisin' along on back country highways....

Hiking with ALL the family

My sister in law and her family came over on Saturday. We went hiking and had a picnic then came back to our place for a dinner grill out. Mmmm! Originally, they wanted to go up to the lake, but it's the weekend... and it was packed! So, we took them up to another area that should be less known. It was. This trail is short with a couple of steep spots. Quite a few old mine relics left. The girls liked to explore. went into an old shaft that was dug into the rock about ten feet. There was an old wooden door left ajar and then you squeeze past it and into the dark with in. The cave was about 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide. Apparently, they didn't find any gold or silver - because it was a dead end about 10 feet in. It was a good trail and even D & D's girls enjoyed it. the oldest one even stated at the end of the hike that she liked it and wanted to do it again sometime. Impressive considering at the beginning she was dragging behind and making it obvious she didn't want to be there, lol! Ha - Converted another one.

10 years

Wow, I've been such a slacker this month. here it is, almost the end of the month and I haven't blogged anything. And now I see... it is official... we have lived in Colorado for 10 years now! Has it been that long... since I told Lake County good bye... without a tear and smiling! lol!

This month has been somewhat quiet. been on a few short bike rides. We go up to the lake during the week while it's quiet and all the city crowd isn't there yet. bike 'n' hike! its fun! Oh, I read a book this month too! Stephen King's Duma Key. Good Book

bike ride

We've been going out on the motorcycle as much as the rain will let us. T took Paige up to the lake last night. the sun finally came out at our house. Apparently it was still rain mixed with hail on the top though. T said there is a dusting of snow on the peaks. In spite of the cold temperatures, they had a good ride. P likes the fast straight aways and the curves too, lol!

Airport

Picked up P on Tuesday. her flight was good. Said she met an older couple that are from both Buffalo, NY and Denver, CO. They were telling her about the area histories of both Cities. They had some interesting tid-bits and facts. it's still raining off and on most every day here. So, P isn't going to get a break from the rain by coming home either. Went and got some sweet corn yesterday, it was soo sweet and good. put it on the grill. in between rain showers I'd go out and check it. one of the resident squirrels came out of his tree long enough to chatter at me from his podium.

july

wow, the month of July went by in a flash! we have so far survived the crazyness going on at T's job. After we came back from Jackson, WY - we sat around for a few days while the company decided if they wanted to send his truck back to the dealership now or later. They finally decided on now. He got the brand truck he wanted originally when he started working here. So, things are working out. After this toss up, we headed out east on a trip to Maryland and then circled down through Tennessee... which I really loved! T was right. I do like Tennessee. But alas, we couldn't stop. had to get on down to Texas. East Texas is very humid. After that on over to the L.A. California area. Another area I'm not thrilled with. Finally, we come back to Colorado. What a whirl wind. The pay check better be worth it if I can't stop and lolly-gag anymore. That's one of the new "rules" less sitting around being tourists. Hmm, I don't think the office people remember what it's like out here. I don't know about you, but I don't consider spending my day at a warehouse area the highlight of my trip. too much concrete and steel. no where near enough sand and beaches.

what a week...

all kinds of crap hit the fan at T's job this week. I think we've sailed through most of it clear enough. But we've got to get lots of miles to make up for taking most of this week off unvoluntarily. We started out great by going up to Jackson WY. Beautiful up there. love the teton mtns. so jagged and rugged looking. heard the foxes singing at night. no wolves or bear sighted. after The delivery Tuesday morning his dispatcher confirmed a rumor we heard Monday. His boss is apparently in dire straights business wise. he just voluntarily repossessed some of the trucks... and T's was one of them! They made some other rule changes about having to have 10k miles a month.. or you can quit or "slip seat" that's sharing a truck with other drivers. basically part time. well a lot of people quit. That opened up some trucks and miles for those that want lots of miles. So T and I are on our way to Maryland. That should help his quota! The new truck is a differnt brand. getting used to it. it's a bit smaller in the sleeper area. But has more cabinets back there. win some lose some. Currently in Missouri - it's very humid and looks like rain. it just won't rain. I hate that.

fourth of july weekend

T and I had a good weekend. Decided to go to a hot springs resort a couple of hours from us. What a wonderful idea. we spent about six hours there. all the aches and pains are gone. the brochure said that a three hour soak should last you for a week. we are set. want to go again and get a room or cabin there. we stayed there until just after dark and then on down the road. at the next town we caught the fireworks display. it was a good show. lol, there was this one poor sap with a new suv... he kept setting off the car alarm.
Sunday we took it easy. went to Sam's stocked up on everything. we should be done food shopping for the summer. Stopped into Ross. our favorite discounted brand name store. went in to look for deals on shorts. neither one of us could find anything. we bought shirts instead. lol!
Grilled steaks and corn on the cob. Mmmm. love summer fresh corn. turned out really well on the grill. I've never grilled corn.

Central California

We drove this week from San Fransisco to Los Angeles, and had an eye opening experience. Down much of the length of the I-5 freeway, we saw not the green fields of produce or green orchards laden with fruit, but dusty dead and dying orchards. Rows after row, acre after acre, miles after mile of them, perfectly helpless….lifeless.
By way of explanation, these signs dotted the dusty dry roadside: “Congress Created Dust Bowl.

Thought to ponder — it takes 30 years to build an orchard like this up to full production! Almonds, fruit, citrus… Why do suburbs have green lawns while these food sources are left to die?

Farmers through out this region echo the sentiment that politics, not the drought, is the problem. Most of this area of California gets its water from a huge Delta, where two big rivers join in the center of the central valley area. But so much water was being pumped out of the Delta that a tiny smelt there, an endangered species of fish about 2 inches long, is disappearing. So late last year, a federal judge ruled that the amount of water being delivered to the south had to be sharply cut back. Guess who got shafted. Why are we still watering grass lawns? Why are there vast green golf courses everywhere you look?

If this is what the Californian politicians think is best for their state... then maybe it would be best for the budget there to fail, let the government fall... and the California people can take their state back. Of course once the government falls, the illegals will have no reason to stay and the lazy white teenagers will have to get off the couch and put down the game-boy .. and get a real job!

We did see some plots of corn. Some farmers have planted baby tree orchards in the hope that 30 years from now... the politics will let them have a good crop again. They water them with hope and the little amount of water they had saved up.

Ashcroft Colorado

Ashcroft started in 1880. it was a silver town. there is a long an varied history. Silver town, WWII training camdp, potentional ski area, Olympic traidning area, and finally in the 1970's it was preserved. The Aspen Historical Society takes care of it now. They have done a good job. The building at the far end is a two story hotel. it still has some the fancy wood work at the roof line and around the windows. inside, the stairway up was rickety, and we probably shouldn't have went upstairs, but we did. It wasn't gated off like some other buildings. what a view. This is one of my favorite areas of Colorado. Although, one sign said that Ashcroft gets about 18 feet of snow in winter. Brrr! There are a lot of ground squirrls here. you see them and their holes everywhere. looks like the hawks and ermine have a lot of work to do.

Rest in Peace

What a bad week for celeb's. first Farrah Fawcett. then Michael Jackson. and today, Billy Mays.

out and about

Yesterday we decide to go find some ghost towns. so we decided on one near Aspen. From our house we went up and over Guanella pass. It's under construction until 2010 on the Georgetown side. lol, that side has lots of pot holes and narrow lanes so it's like a four wheel road. it was raining on top of the pass. But inspite of that, there were still a lot of cars parked up there and people hiking the different trails. decide it was too cool and wet to have lunch here so we went down farther. Had lunch at a lower picnic area. My Dorito salad, Mmmm! Continued on and over Independence Pass, where it is again raining on the summits. had some hail mixed in here. walked out to the over look anyway. On down past the restored ghost town of Independence. didn't stop today. then on into Aspen. didn't stop here either. public parking here is pay parking. it was getting late so we didn't stay. found our road and headed up to Ashcroft. Many tall thick stands of aspen trees. I understand why the town is so named. Many beautiful blue lupine flowers growing among the aspens. And this little guy. We pulled over on the side of the road and he just stood there flicking his ear and let me take a couple of pictures.

Saxon Mountain road

We started out on CR 130 on the Idaho Springs side. followed that up to the old townsite and mine of Lamartine. then took FR 712.2 all the way to Georgetown. Many pretty overlooks of the Mt Evans range and then of Berthoud Pass, once we get closer to georgetown. this last half of the trail... bone jarring. The book I have listed it as an "easy" road. I guess the atv's have ruined it. loose rocks all over these switch backs. no to mention fallen boulders. some places are one lane only. and with boulders in the way.. just enough room for the Wrangler to squeeze by. had I known it was this bad of shape I would have gone to the top of Saxon Mtn too. I here it has great views and informational signs. Oh, well. may be some time we will hike it or mtn bike it. in my opinion, that's all the trail is good for now. On a positive note. the views were great. the sky was mostly clear and it was a very warm 80 degrees up here! found a few cabin ruins. The jeep did very well with the higher clearence of our new tires. only scraped once.

Argo Gold Mine & Mill

on Thursday T & I took a tour of a local tourist trap. The Argo Gold Mine, Mill & Tunnel.

some history... In 1859, George A. Jackson made the first major discovery of gold in Colorado at the confluence of what is today's Chicago Creek and Clear Creek here in Idaho Springs. The great Rocky Mountain goldrush had begun and almost overnight 50,000 men poured into Clear Creek Canyon, stretching from today's city of Golden, West to Silver Plume and North over Seaton Mountain to Central City. After the gold was taken from the creeks, hard rock mining began. As these mine tunnels all over the mountains got deeper, they found it was harder to get the ore out and equipment in, plus the deeper it went, the more water was flooding the tunnels. Well, an idea was proposed and investors found. The digging of the tunnel would begin in 1893 in Idaho Springs. Tunnel was completed in 1910 in Central City. The total distance of the tunnel was 4.16 miles and the entire length of the tunnel has a .3 downhill grade to the portal to drain the water, which also provided an easy exit for the loaded ore cars.It was on January 19, 1943 .. too many of the mine shafts were flooded. They all let loose into the Argo. the water filled the tunnel to the top and the flow out lasted several hours. In February 1976 the property was purchased by James N. Maxwell to preserve the quickly disappearing history of mining in Colorado and Clear Creek County. The five-story mill was renovated and opened to the public as a historic and educational tour. Most of the equipment used for processing the gold ore remains in place.The Argo Mill was placed on the National Historic Register by the Department of the Interior in 1977.

Epcot Center Fungus

This must be the Epcot Center for fairies. found it on the rock wall behind our house. wonder if they have a fun time there

jet plane

My baby girl left on a jet plane this afternoon. she'll have a fun time this summer. visiting friends and family. good food ( I hope ) and good fun.

new flower bed

planting a new flower bed for

the humming birds. since our one neighbor moved she took the feeders with her. and the birds are buzzing around everywhere. I just don't ever seem to make a mix they like. so, they can have natural flowers next summer. note the pitch fork. lol.

Sunday stroll in the yard

we stayed home this weekend. I planted a new flower bed for humming birds. It's a mixed seed packet. I may still buy a few plants just to look at something sooner. My other seeded flower beds are coming up just fine. T decided to mow the yard. with all the rain the grass grows quickly up here. The landlords grandkids haven't been up to do it this weekend. P was wandering around the yard and asked to go up to the corner were we have a path up the hill. I said ok, and kept an eye on her from my flower bed. she came walking back rather quickly a minute later and told me she saw the mountain lion up on the rocks about 2 cabins over! She saw it's legs and realized also by how gracful it moved, it wasn't a dog. she wanted to go peek again. so I took my camera and pitch fork and we went back over. The squirrels were going crazy so I told her it's still around and we shouldn't be here. we went back over to the house. We even have excitement staying home!

Girl Scout Round up

Colorado Springs. I guess way back in 1959; many lifetimes, and before mine, ago ... lol! .. there was a "roundup" for grown up girl scouts. Ahh the smell of burnt marshmallows and muching on gorp. looking at the web site it's a class reunion of sorts for the now adult girl scouts. the activities sound fun. lots of site seeing and song singing. :) Hmm, my camp days... I remember nightly raccoon raids because some home sick idiot girl brought cookies from home and left them in her suitcase.. making newspaper/wax fire-starters, sit up ons... and of course songs. good times.

Herman Gulch Trl #98

The Herman Gulch Trail. #98. Hmm.. This is the only Trail I have seen with that Name. where is Herman Gulch #1? lol, just kiddin'. I know the Forest service numbers the trails. This was a good day yesterday. The sky was blue and the temperature was just right. Even when walking across the snowfields. Can't wait to try it again. I think we'll do it in July when the wild flowers are peak. I hear the lake is a beautiful green color like Hanging lake in Glenwood Springs

Herman Gulch trail #98

Distance one way: 3.5 miles
Elevation: Trailhead: 10,400' ; Herman Gulch Lake 12,000'

This trail has a couple of great "stair-master" hills. The trail starts off on the moderate side for about a quarter mile until the first split. The sign here says Watrous Gulch and Bard Creek trails to the right. Herman Lake and Jones Pass to the left. The sign says it's 3.75 miles to the lake from the trail split. I think the sign is old, because the Forest Service Web page said the entire hike to Herman Gulch is 3.5 miles each way. We turn to the left, the trail turns into an old sawmill road and it's steep. Let's just say when the road gets close to a stream with several cascades, I had no problem stopping to take an pictures and water breaks.

After the steady climb on the road, the trail enters a meadow with the stream on the left and a thick forest on the right. The trail "levels" out for a while now. just smaller hills. There are lots of rocks and tree roots. We have to be careful not to twist any ankles. There are some early spring wild flowers coming up. A hiking book I have says there is a riot of colors in July. I'm thinging we'll be back.

We take our lunch break at about the third meadow. Enjoying the views and pointing out different mountains. T was standing up and had a piece of granola bar in his hand; pointing at one of the mountains... When a bird flys down and tried to take the granola from his hand! He's standing right next to me, so I screamed. The bird flew away empty beaked. lol, I'm so jumpy! well, he came back and brought reenforcements. some other hikers passed by at this point. One guy stated that his friend was here last week and these birds landed on his backpack as he fed them pistacios. Looks like they are used to getting fed. He called them Camp robbers. They are a grey bird about the size of a blue jay. Same family I'd say! After they left P put a few Cherrios and peanuts in her hand to see if it would come to her. They did and even landed on her hand and ate. I have pictures...some of the best on this hike; if I don't say so myself! lol! After our lunch we found some sticks to use for walking, looks steep after this point. We continue on.

It's not so much steep, as there is still a lot of snow drifted up back here. The snow pack is getting soft in spots. You can see the footprints were people fall in! We try to stay on the hard pack trail. Some places the many springs are leaking from the ground and melting snow on the way to the creek. it's pretty muddy. already our boots are looking wet, and pant legs are wet. This continues on until the mountain range gets close and the trail starts to go up more. The snow trail starts to go more or less straight up at one point. I know this is not the real trail. In summer there will be more switchbacks. I think it would be easier. I love my walking stick now. We reach a level area and can see the summits ahead. looks like a couple more rises up and maybe there will be the lake. T encourages us to continue. P & I want to call it quits. But we go on. 15 minutes later we are at the lake. It is pretty. But snow covered. there is one small spot that is thawing. It's soo quiet up here. we stay for about twenty minutes before we notice grey clouds are starting to come over the mountains. Time to go. On our way back down, we notice a trail sign a little farther east of where we came up the hill... The real trail doesn't look as steep. But, Alas, it has a lot of snow on it and we don't want to get lost. We're careful on the way down. the snow is getting slushier. We do pretty good and my knees don't really hurt until that last steep part that is the old sawmill road by the waterfalls. A couple of tylenol and a few rest stops later - we're back at the jeep. I really like this trail. We'll do it again. and hey, it's also part of the Continental Divide Trail!

Only in America

ONLY IN AMERICA….MUST WE SPEND BILLIONS BECAUSE WE CAN'T LET CHRYSLER GO BANKRUPT, AND THEN, LET CHRYSLER GO BANKRUPT.

ONLY IN AMERICA….CAN CONGRESS FORCE FANNIE AND FREDDIE TO BUY SUBPRIME LOANS, AND THEN BLAME FANNIE AND FREDDIE FOR BUYING SUBPRIME LOANS.

ONLY IN AMERICA….A MAJOR CRISIS REQUIRES SWIFT ACTION TO PASS A BILL WITHOUT READING IT, THEN THE PRESIDENT VACATIONS FOR THREE DAYS BEFORE HE HAS TIME TO SIGN IT.

ONLY IN AMERICA….YOU CAN BE LEGALLY ILLEGAL

ONLY IN AMERICA….THE CONGRESS MAKES LAWS THAT THEY DON'T HAVE TO FOLLOW

ONLY IN AMERICA….WHERE YOUR VICE PRESIDENT DECLARES 'JOBS' A 3 LETTER WORD.

ONLY IN AMERICA...DOES THE MILITARY GET INVESTIGATED BY HOMELAND SECURITY AS POSSIBLE TERRORISTS, WHILE OUR BORDERS ARE WIDE OPEN.

ONLY IN AMERICA , CAN YOU GET A TAX REFUND ON TAXES YOU DIDN'T PAY

ONLY IN AMERICA, YOU HAVE MORE RIGHTS BEING ILLEGAL, THAN YOU DO LEGAL

ONLY IN AMERICA, CAN YOU BE 13 AND HAVE AN ABORTION WITHOUT TELLING YOUR PARENTS, BUT MUST HAVE A WRITTEN NOTE FROM YOUR PARENT WHY YOU MISSED SCHOOL.

ONLY IN AMERICA, CAN CHRYSLER GET $10 BILLION IN AID FOR THEIR COMPANY OF 30,000 EMPLOYEES. I GUESS IT IS DIFFICULT TO RUN A COMPANY FOR $333,333 PER EMPLOYEE.

ONLY IN AMERICA….WE CARE ABOUT 3 GUYS THAT GET WATER UP THEIR NOSE, WHILE OUR ENEMIES ARE BEHEADING US AND BLOWING CROWDS OF PEOPLE UP WITH SUICIDE BOMBINGS.

ONLY IN AMERICA….YOU CAN SAY OTHER INTERROGATION TECHNIQUES WORK, BUT YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THOSE TECHNIQUES ARE.

Chicago Lakes Trail

Distance: About 7 miles to lower lake, 8 miles to upper lake, depending on the book/web site you read

Elevation Gain: Trail gains 200 feet, then drops 400 feet, then gains 1,400 feet to the upper lake

We went up to Echo Lake on Sunday. The weather is iffy.. scattered sun and grey clouds. But, we want to hike. So the three of us park near the lake... and head out to a trail we haven't finished yet. we started it in December, but well... there was a lot of snow piled up. lol. Anyway - to the trailhead -- This is where the Chicago Lakes trail gets interesting. You'll climb about 200 feet in elevation, then drop down about 400 feet to Chicago Creek. The trail follows a shelf along the hillside. While there's a major drop-off on the side, there is also a beautiful view of the valley ahead. We stop and take a few pictures where the trees open up. We enjoyed guessing where we were going from here. The hike to Chicago creek at the bottom is steady up's and down's. Can you say nature's stair master! But you'll know when you're near; you'll hear the rushing water.

There's a creek crossing on a couple wooden planks. Hike a few more yards and you'll come to a road. Follow it up the hill about a mile. You'll pass next to the Idaho Springs Reservoir, then two cabins before the Chicago Lakes trail becomes single track again. There is a sign at this junction with permit forms, even for day hikers. We filled one out, while other hikers just past by looking at us. Well, if a bear eats us... I want the rangers to know who we were.

Catch our breath here, because the trail is about to start climbing. The trail climbs a couple hundred feet, then evens out, then climbs again, then evens out. the flats are such a tease! You'll be doing this for the next 1.5 miles. While it can be tough at times, the scenery is great. We found lots of wildflowers and beautiful views. did a bit of splash hiking. all the rain has given way for lots of little creeks. A wildfire burned 400 acres in this area in 1978. With so many trees gone, you get amazing views of the peaks around the valley.
At about 3.5 miles into the hike, you get your first view of Lower Chicago Lake. The trail is actually above the lake, so you'll have to hike down on one of the many social/goat trails in the area to reach the shoreline. The upper lake is on a shelf higher than the lower. We tried to go on to it --- but the trail was so flooded and the brush was very unfriendly. We climbed up on a rockslide... but we could see no way around. Found a waterfall chugging down. sounded very nice. Then we hear nearby thunder... and it starts to hail. What luck. T says we should take a short cut down to the lake. ( short cuts are never a good idea). needless to say.. it was no trail.. not even for deer. We fight through the brush... and finally find the main trail. It rained the whole way back to the Jeep. Hot showers, coffee/tea & camp pies await at home.. Mmmm! It was a good hike. we want to go again when it's dry to see the top lake.

foggy I70

traveling down the interstate... watching fog. lol, don't worry.. T is

driving; not me. the nice thing about misty - foggy days are hot tea and coffee to go with fresh baked cookies. Mmm! P & I made sugar cookies and snickerdoodles this weekend. Watched some movies... nothing worth mentioning I'm afraid. Took brief walks in the rain. Breathe deep. smell the damp pine trees. Slow paced weekends are refreshing as this summer rain.

Fog

all the rain creates some interesting shifting fog. I like to watch it move through the trees...as if it has a life of it's own. shifting, seeking... breathing.

Memorial weekend

Had a nice weekend. it rained off and on the whole weekend, strange for this time of year. we've had 5 days in a row of rain now. everything is now very green and lush. I hope this keeps the fire danger down this year. I got new paint brushes! put them right to use and did two new paintings over the weekend. I think I am almost ready to check out the galleries now.

I'll get some of my new paintings posted on here too. Was outside in between showers and saw that I some of my flower seeds are starting to sprout! Yeah! It's been unseasonably cool so they have been slow to come up.

Little House on the Prairie

The Little House on the Prairie Historical Site is located 13 miles southwest of Independence KS, just off Highway 75

Rules for 1915 Teachers

• you will not marry during the term of your contract
• you are not to keep company with men
• you must be home between the hours of 8pm and 6am unless attending a school function
• you may not loiter down town in any of the ice cream stores
• you may not travel beyond the city limits unless you have permission from the Chairman of the Board
• you may not ride in a carriage or automobile with any man unless he is your Father or Brother
• you may not smoke ciggarettes
• you may not dress in bright colors
• you may under no circumstances dye your hair
• you must wear atleast two petticoats
• your dresses must not be any shorter than two inches above the ankle
• to keep the school room clean, you must: sweep the floor atleast once a daily, scrub the floor once weekly with hot, soapy water; clean the blackboards atleast once a day; and start the fire by 7am so the room will be warm by 8am.

- Buckeye Farm News

signs of life

well, the flowers and trees are starting to show signs of life at this altitude. Yeah! it has been very warm latley, up around 80! hate to know what it's like down in the flat lands.

Jeep

there... our jeep with new parts. well, since the last posting ... wider fender flares and tinted windows. all washed waxed and shined. I've learned that when instructions say it's easy... no drilling required. just use factory drilled holes... does not mean it will be a simple install. those fenders took us 2 whole weekends to finish. but, we are very happy with how everything turned out. the new windows have that new car smell. so now it's like having a new vehicle without the dealer hassles. lol!

summer pests

Summer bug problems... solved

Ticks : Apply a glob of liquid soap to a cotton ball. Cover the tick with the soap-soaked cotton ball and swab it for a few seconds (15-20), The tick will come out on its own and be stuck to the cotton ball when you lift it away.

Mosquitoes : Tie a sheet of Bounce through a belt loop when outdoors during mosquito season.

Bees : Golfers put a Bounce sheet in their back pocket to keep the bees away.

Oklahoma

more to the point... South East Oklahoma. Traveling down here with T. This corner of the state is hilly and forested. It makes me home sick really. Last night was a heavy rain storm with hail. Apparently it has rained for the last 5 days here. So the ground has standing water and the creeks and rivers are full and high. The humidity is high, (83%) it's taking some getting used to. I'm more used to it about 25%. guess I'm a highlander now. it's harder to breath here. My hair is all frizzy. I washed it last night and it's still damp this noon. and it's 81 degrees .. getting warm! Ahh, feels good. The sky is different here than Colorado. it's a lighter blue and the clouds are more cotton ball like. There are lots of birds singing. Oh, and I saw a June bug this morning. lol! bet there are fire flies later in the summer. I"d put a tornado shelter in my basement. Overall, I would add this area of the state to my list of possibility.

Did you ever wonder...

Why is there a crescent moon on an outhouse?

A: the symbol is an ancient one, and was a sign for womanhood in colonial days and on the frontier. It's male counterpart, Sol, was either a star or a sun burst design also on the door. Since most male outhouses fell into disrepair rather quickly they seldom survived; while the female ones were better maintained, and were eventually used by both sexes. (this seems to still hold true for todays restrooms!) Although you can find outhouses still standing with the crescent moon, the original meaning for gender identification was lost by the later nineteenth century in most areas of the country.

... also ...

The best way to let light in was to put in a window. For privacy reasons, most outhouses were designed with the window above the line of sight. Many early outhouses contained a decorative "moon cutout" covered by glass. This allowed just enough light in to take care of business! It also allowed the real moon to shine through during the night. Bringing a lit lantern into some outhouses could have caused quite a bang so the moon won out! In reality, most people had a covered pot under the bed to go in during the night. Get's mighty cold at night going outside and the varmints are something else!

My B Day!

Happy Birthday to MEEE!!!

new bumpers

convinced T that we don't need a new vehicle. (And I'm not getting rid of my Jeep anyway. He's free to get another pickup truck or what ever, but my Jeep stays. lol! ) So to get over the middle of the payment book slump... lets dress her up so she feels like new again! He agreed so I now have new bumpers, Fenders, hood scoop, Tinted rear windows and will soon have sliding windows for the front doors. We put the bumpers on now that the snow has melted. surprisingly easy. we thought the factory would have them on way too tight. but he got them off. the problem for now is the fenders. the screws holding them on won't all come off. there are no nuts on the backs... they are just stubborn. T called his brother in law, who is also a jeep fan. to ask him for suggestions. he said his didn't come off easy either, and to try on a warmer day. maybe if they are warm it will losen up and come off better. Ok, that sounds fair. I know I have to wait for a warm day to change the windows out anyway. We'll see what else I can find for it.

My Creek

now that the snow is gone.. the creek is up and flowing fast. while all the snow was on the ground, there was only about a foot of it showing. now this morning, it's free to do its own thing. back to being loud and bubbly!

Utah Sandstone

Utah sandstone. here it is erie and quiet. a strange place..almost surreal.

Thinking I need to go to Moab and the Arches national park. saw on the news a few months ago, that one of the lesser arches had fallen.

huge strawberry

check out the size of this strawberry! Got a box at the grocery store and they were all about this size. And they were sweet and juicy! They label said they were from California. well, at least it's not a foreign country, yet.

Dr Suess trees

the trees have so much snow stuck on them - the ends were curling up like the story books. .. I can just hear the who's singing away, lol!

After the Storm...

My area received about 3 to 4 feet of snow from the April 17th & 18th storm. P said our "bubble" broke and we got the 3 year storm. every three years we seem to get a good size storm out here. We have lots of broken trees and branches. the week after the storm... in the 60's. so now most all the snow is gone. we have a chance of rain later in the week.

the spaceship house

The "spaceship house" on Gennesse hill. lol, it kinda blends in now. it's the white egg shape thing on the top of the hill...at skyline.

the april 18th storm.

Well, we survived the storm. we ended up with about 3 feet. next round of weather calls for sunny and 60's. can you say flood!

Well, yet another spring storm is here... and this time the weatherman was right. Darn it! We have a lot of snow. I'll post pictures when it's all said and done. But alas, we do need the moisture here. it has been very dry and we've had fire danger warnings already. the creek is still low too. no danger of flooding. P had to have a water sample of the creek for her science class. They have to study what is living in the water. She has discovered leaches, small crayfish like things and some other little larvae like things. Hmm, I won't be wading around barefoot.