Quilted Kat

What Summer?

2009-08-21T07:09:00.004-06:00

From what I have seen and heard from others, we are not the only location experiencing unusual weather this summer. I mentioned previously that we have had more rain than I can remember at any other time since we moved here. Couple that with cooler than normal temperatures and this has been the summer that wasn't! We are finally getting some warmer days this weekend and Ken and I are going to celebrate by hiking up to Deep Lake for a few days.

The weather has had an effect on plant and animal life in the area. A number of species of birds that we normally see as occasional visitors migrating through in spring and fall have decided to stay around for the entire summer. The wildflowers have been spectacular and longer lasting and the few pine trees we harbor have had a bumper crop of cones. We knew the cones were ripening when we were suddenly invaded last week by flocks of pinyon jays and Clark's nutcrackers. I don't know how they knew but suddenly, all in one day, we were overrun with the two species of birds that we had not seen all summer. The pinyons are beautiful birds that many visitors mistake for giant bluebirds. We have quite a few visiting our property every year even though they seem to be pretty scarce in the rest of the area.
I like this photo because it shows one with an actual pine nut in its mouth. It is funny to watch the rock doves as they will follow the pinyons from tree to tree and sit at the base hoping to snatch up the nuts the pinyons drop on the ground.

Another effect of the cooler weather this summer has been the smaller number of snake encounters. We are used to having at least a couple dozen meetings each summer and this year we are probably at about a dozen so far. This good sized rattler was camping out in the chicken coop when I went down to feed yesterday. You can tell by how fat he looks that he had been doing a good job eating mice in the area. When Ken went to relocate him you could clearly see three mouse bumps in his mid-section. That coupled with the patch of warm sunshine made him lethargic and easy to grab. He wasn't too happy about being relocated to an area well away from the chickens and llamas but it beat chopping him up like most people do. The funny thing was that when he was in the coop the chickens were wandering around like nothing was out of the ordinary. They gave the reptile a wide berth but they weren't in a panic and he seemed totally unconcerned by their presence. I think he knew he couldn't eat them and they posed little threat to his existence so he just settled in to digest his breakfast.

Hobbit

2009-08-16T11:54:00.003-06:00

I know I said I would talk more about this summer's Search and Rescue events but I am going to leave that for another day. Ironically part of the reason is that we have our annual SAR picnic this afternoon and I find myself in a bit of a hurry. I thought I would tell you a little bit about one of my favorite llamas instead.

Hobbit is one of the smartest llamas we own. Unfortunately that doesn't mean he stays out of trouble. Just the opposite, in fact. Intelligence, at least in llamas (and often in people I think) seems to go hand-in-hand with curiosity. And curiosity can often lead to trouble.

Hobbit came to us at the tender age of 6 months at which point we gave him his unusual name because of his decidedly unusual appearance. He was born on a ranch just south of here on a night when the temperature dipped to minus 15 degrees F. By the time his owners discovered him the next morning his ears had frozen solid. Over the next few days his frozen tissue proceeded to slough off until he was left with just stubs where his wonderful banana ears should have been. I am not sure if his brutal beginning also did something to his eyes but they just don't seem to be set properly into his face - one always seems to be pointed the wrong direction although he has shown no signs of difficulty with either his sight or his hearing. Because the ranch where he was born was in the business of raising show llamas, Hobbit did not fit into their plan at all. Until we brought him home he had been living his life inside a paved dog run with a very limited area in which to roam.

The first night we had him on our place we put him in a small (20 acre) pasture with two very gentle older llamas. By the next morning we had our first clue of what life with Hobbit would be like. As he came running up to us we noticed something did not look quite right. Closer examination showed dozens of porcupine quills sticking out of his face and up his nose. We live in the desert. In the 15 years we have been here I have never seen a porcupine or any sign of one within ten miles of here. It didn't matter. Hobbit found one. He was smart enough to let us remove the quills and life went on. Fast forward six years. We have lots of Hobbit stories, all of which have happy endings, thank heavens. He has turned out to be one of our best pack llamas because once he learns something he doesn't ever forget it. But last night he proved once again that maturity does not mean lessened curiosity. As I went out to feed the animals this morning I noticed a distinct odor of skunk as soon as I opened the door of the house. A glance down at the pen where all the males were taking pains to stay as far away from Hobbit as possible confirmed the source, as if I had any doubt. Like the porcupines I have never seen a skunk in this arid environment. Doesn't matter. Hobbit found one. Lucky for us he learns quickly and I doubt he will approach another one anytime soon.

I also thought I would post this photo of Capola I took this morning. The cottontails around our place are relatively tame and put up with Ken and I getting pretty close. They are totally comfortable with the llamas and will often share a bowl of food in the morning. This one was walking unconcernedly down the trail in front of Capola who was following him as if the bunny was leading him to some special place.

PEI

2009-08-09T15:33:00.005-06:00

If I had any sense at all, I probably would have thought a little more about the timing before I started posting again. Both Yellowstone Quilt Fest, which I am co-chairing, and the national SAQA exhibit, "Fibrations", which I am curating, are scheduled to take place in the next few weeks. My life seems to be a mad flurry of organizational busy-ness at the moment. Add to that the fact that eight childhood friends of Kens are arriving a few days after YQF ends and you may begin to understand my current stress level!

At least the weather continues to be cool and conducive to working indoors.

Earlier this week we received a package in the mail that made me smile. Over the years I have been incredibly fortunate in meeting a number of very talented artists. Never would I have imagined however, the circumstances under which Ken and I would meet Tom Forrestall, the well known Canadian painter. We went "home" for a week in July. Home is Prince Edward Island, the land where I grew up and where my parents still reside for much of the year. The visit was timed to a similar visit by my sister, living in Ottawa, and one of her two sons, and my brother and his family from Nova Scotia. Without going into a lot of detail, I will simply explain that Mr. Forrestall was visiting some friends of my parents in the area when he discovered a tick that was making himself very comfortable in the artist's leg. Ticks are basically unheard of on the Island and no one knew quite what to do about the unwelcome guest. The friends called my mother who mentioned that Ken and I were both on Search and Rescue in Wyoming and had, no doubt, lots of experience dealing with the little buggers. As a matter of fact she was right. So Mr Forrestall arrived at the door and, with great practicality, dropped his drawers so Ken could perform the tick-ectomy. What made the whole thing funny was that Ken was in his usual teacher mode and left the poor man standing in his (very civilized) boxer shorts while he lectured on the life cycle and habits of the North American deer tick. Eventually the operation was successfully completed and the tick-free artist could proceed on his way to deliver a scheduled lecture at a prestigious gallery in Charlottetown.

Anyway, as a thank-you, we received a lovely catalog of Mr Forrestall's work from an exhibit at a Toronto Gallery. I find his painting very compelling - a little mysterious and dark.

The excuse for visiting the Island this summer was to celebrate my dad's 75th birthday. He actually reached that venerable age in April but we were not all able to travel at that time so chose a PEI summer week instead (we're not stupid!) Neither my mom nor my dad look their ages and they certainly don't move like they are more than 7 decades each. While we were there we went for a bike ride on the new "Confederation Trail". It stretches more than 100 miles across the Island from end to end and is a beautiful route with no fear of facing the traffic of the narrow PEI roads. The day we went Ken and I rode to Kensington and back - about 20 miles - and mom and dad did about 15 miles of the ride. They are talking about getting the entire family together next year for a multi-day trek from one end of the island to the other. Sounds good to me!

Dad and I took advantage of the low tide one evening to dig bar clams. We got a big bucket full in no time and man, were they good!

To Ann Marie and Louise - How wonderful to hear from you both! You asked about the llamas who are all well but really in need of a week or two in the mountains.

Ann Marie asked specifically about Quatro so I included a photo of him taken today. He is an interesting story. He has inherited the incredibly gentle nature of his father. Unfortunately he has also apparently inherited the stunted growth gene. About five years ago Wyld Card, Quatro's father, sired a male llama we named Curry. Curry was small to start with and seemed to stop growing at about 6 months of age. We hoped it was just a one time fluke but now it seems that Quatro (with a different mother) has inherited

the same trait. Curry was given away to a family that loves him dearly and wanted a pet llama. Quatro may go the same way if a suitable family comes along. He is lovable and funny but he will never be a pack llama. Maybe we need to start a new breed of miniature llamas! With 18 mouthes to feed, we really need to pare down the herd a little and Quatro would make an excellent pet for someone who would love him.

Now I've gone and spent way to much time writing about various things. Next time I will talk about some of the SAR calls we have had lately - summer is here.

I'm baa-aack

2009-08-02T15:46:00.003-06:00

Over the last nine months since my November post, a number of people have asked when I would be getting back to my blog. In each case I answered "soon" and I always meant it at the time. Somehow though, life just kept getting in the way. And the more that happened, the more I felt that I was so far behind I would never catch up. So I finally decided the only way to get back in the groove was to start as if today was the first day missed. You will just have to take my word for it that the last 3/4 of a year has been wonderful and busy.

One unusual aspect to the last three months has been the weather in our part of the world. This is the first summer in 15 years that I have not spent one day wishing we had put air conditioning in our home. Even more unusual is that we have already reached our average moisture level for the year and we still have five months to go. Our home is situated in an area that seems to encompass the dividing line between rain on the prairie in front of us and dry air in the mountains behind. Because of that we get more than our share of rainbows, even in a typical year. I can guarantee there is no pot of gold at either end because if there was, I would be a millionaire many times over this year!

I took this photo a couple weeks ago as the rain moved off to our east. It looks like our house is captured in some sort of weather dome. I wish I could have caught the rainbow ends but that would have meant running much further uphill and I could see a second rainstorm moving in from the west.

Last fall I posted some photos of elephanthead flowers, including a few images of very unusual albino plants. At the time I was disappointed that I couldn't find my close-up lens for my camera so I could show those who have never seen an elephanthead how they got their very obvious name. Well I have since located the missing lens and yesterday, when Ken and I went fishing at Fantan Lake in the Beartooths, I took a close-up of this wonderful plant. Can you see the head? and the ears? and the trunk? Who says there are no such things as pink elephants?

Fantan Lake was full of Brook Trout. It took no time at all to get enough for supper and one extra to take home for an experiment. Even though I seem to have far too many projects on the go right now, I have been wanting to try my hand at "Gyotaku" or fish printing. So I took a half hour today and slapped some fabric paints onto the one brookie left whole and then transferred the paint to a t-shirt. I didn't quite get the image centered so I added the hook

and line and the words "Brook Trout" with a fabric marker. I think I like it!

Apology

2008-11-14T15:29:00.002-07:00

I owe an apology to anyone who stops by to read my blog on a regular basis or even on occasion. I assure you I have not fallen off the end of the earth, although it may certainly seem that way.
I do have excuses - several of them in fact:
1) My computer had a complete meltdown. This caused (and continues to cause) frustration beyond a level I could have imagined. We have a back-up external drive but in some ways that made everything worse. Getting things out of the external drive and back into the computer is just not an easy process. For one thing, all the programs are gone, so even though I can go in and retrieve documents I can't open them. I have three years of photographs that I have managed to recover but they are completely jumbled with no organization at all. And strange things seem to have happened to my settings in the breakdown - I just discovered yesterday that I had a bunch of blog comments stuck in my anti-spam filter. So it is not that I am ignoring those who have written - I just didn't realize you had!
2) My biggest excuse for disappearing from life as I know it is that the paperwork for my judging certification process is due December 31. I have been working on this for many months, trying to do some every day, but now that it is crunch time I am not even sure I am going to make it. I have been spending an average of 6 hours a day sitting in front of the computer typing for the last month and I don't yet see the end in sight. After the melt down I am terrified I will lose everything just as I finally get it done so I have been e-mailing it to my remote account at the end of every day. By the time I get through typing line after line of judging decisions I am too burnt out from sitting at the computer to even consider adding to the blog. It is too bad because we have had an exciting month with a grizzly sow and her cub traveling through twice and creating major havoc in the llama pen as she goes by.
3) My third and final excuse is that I have just plain taken on too much in the last few months. I had an email last week from a woman I like and respect, asking me if I would head up a fund raising committee for a cause of which she is the chair. I really hated to disappoint her but as I started hyperventilating at the idea of taking on another task I realized something had to give. I added up the number of committees and Boards in which I currently play an active part and the total was eight. Of those, I am the committee chair or executive member of six. Each one has its own unique and time consuming responsibilities and duties and I can't just blow them off. It became very clear to me that the time has come to just say NO! I need to work on limiting my involvement in the various organizations and not take on any new duties in the next year or two. I have not had time to paint or sew for several weeks and I notice a distinct effect on my attitude toward everything because of it.
So, having said the above, I think I am going to have to take a break from blogging at least until my judging paperwork is in the mail. I will continue adding my small contributions to the WAV blog and to the Fast Friday Fabric Challenge blog in the meantime, but I really need to concentrate on getting my paper out the door.

So Happy Holidays everyone and I hope to meet up with you again in 2009!

Meet Pete

2008-09-30T16:19:00.004-06:00

Our chicken coop is a necessary evil of sorts. We would rather allow the chickens to roam the yard freely, but we quickly discovered that was a death sentence for the tasty birds. So for a number of years we have kept them contained in a clean, spacious enclosure, free from the threat of owls, eagles, bob cats, coyotes, fox or numerous other dangers. In the summer they get a fan, in the winter they have heat and, I have to say, overall they appear pretty content. The coop has a totally enclosed inner area that contains the roosting boxes and a spacious outside area that is accessed through a windproof tunnel. The interesting thing about the chicken coop is the number of visitors it receives besides the resident hens. It is really amazing to see a full grown cottontail move back and forth through the chicken wire as if it isn't even there. The baby chukars often find their way in, although they seem to have a harder time getting back out, and we often have to rescue them at the end of the day. The pigeons will not go through the chicken wire. They just won't. They will, however, squeeze their way under the plywood door to the interior of the coop on occasion.

I tell you all this so you can picture the situation of Pete.

About a week ago Ken and I were in the llama corral when Ken pointed to a pigeon on the ground nearby. "I don't think he can fly." said Ken. I walked closer to the healthy looking bird only to have him move slightly away where he stopped again. After several times of performing this dance step I declared Ken's statement to be accurate. Throughout the day we watched the bird as he hung around the corral, carefully moving aside when the llamas got too close. He was easy to identify as he has a different coloration than most of the other pigeons. The bird books call it a "checkered" pattern. That evening we decided we needed to do something. We knew he would not survive a night on the ground and there was another, more insidious danger. One somewhat unique feature of pigeons is the amount of water they need to survive. They are heavy drinkers and we knew this guy had no place he could go to get the needed liquid. He didn't look sick so we decided to see if we could put him inside the chicken coop for the night. It really wasn't too hard to pick him up, although he made it clear he wasn't thrilled about the process, and I placed him inside with the bigger birds. We were able to put an extra water container on the ground just in case he couldn't figure out the system and we knew he could always slip under the door if it was too unbearable for him.

The next morning I looked in the coop and there lined up on the roost were three hens and Pete the pigeon. He tolerated us adding feed and water and later that morning we saw him walk out of the pen like it was the easiest thing in the world. As I got close to him he sort of fluttered away and I thought "Hmmm, I guess he's cured!" The next morning I went to feed the chickens and what did I see? Three hens and Pete on the roost. He had let himself in the night before. As he has done every night since. He comes out and walks around all day and then tucks himself in at night. He is welcome to stay as long as he wants. I know he doesn't lay eggs but he makes up for it in the smiles he brings each morning!

Birthday Fun

2008-09-26T15:15:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was my 50th birthday. As a general rule, I don't pay a lot of attention to the annual passing of time, but there is something about marking a half century that makes it notable.

I received some wonderful gifts: a "tabula rasa" journal from my sister-in-law and her family (something I have been quietly coveting for a couple years now), a digital photo frame from my sister and her family, a shirt and a set of coasters printed with the image of one of my quilts from my mom and dad and a beautiful outfit from Ken.

Ken's other gift to me was a trip to Red Lodge for dinner and a visit to the Nature Center. I have wanted to visit the Center for some time but always seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere else when I was in the area. It is a sanctuary for wild animals that were injured or abandoned at a (usually) early age and were unable to survive in the wild. They have a large number of creatures ranging from black bear and elk to sandhill cranes and a grounded magpie.

All the animals are safely enclosed behind wire fences, but I found if I focused the camera just right, I could minimize the appearance of the wire in the photo.

The wire is pretty obvious in this photo of "Bob" but it was such a great pose I decided to show it to you anyway. His yawn makes it obvious why I worry about Frank the cat running into these guys in the yard. Two nights ago we had an exact repeat of an incident that occurred three years ago except that in this case it was Ken who was involved instead of me. Ken was outside at about 4pm and just happened to look up and see Frank in the front yard nose to nose with the bobcat that has been hanging around. Ken jumped up which made the bobbie take off. Instead of running for the house like an intelligent kitty, Frank took off after the much larger animal, delighted to see he had him on the run! Ken chased the both of them up the hill until he and Frank collapsed on the ground out of breath and exhausted. The bobcat never even slowed down. One of these times Frank is going to meet up with a cat that isn't going to run and then he will be in real trouble!

Fall Color

2008-09-26T14:38:00.004-06:00

Last weekend Ken and I went up into the Beartooths for a late summer hike. We opted not to take the llamas because the area we wanted to visit sits in a section of the '88 burn and the downfall is prevalent. We have been to this particular lake several times and there is no trail that gets you there. It is a steep bushwack over varied terrain which makes it hard for even humans to navigate. The reasons for going to this spot are its solitude, its incredible beauty and its fat, hungry cutthroat trout.

The colors in the undergrowth were amazing. We are not used to seeing a lot of red in the fall trees here, but the huckleberries more than made up for it. The crop must have been especially good this year because we were still seeing the berries hanging off every bush. We were deep in grizzly bear territory and signs of the large bruins were everywhere. The picture to the left is of a bear scat that is much larger than the length of Ken's boot. You can see by its color and consistency that the griz are eating all the huckleberries they can stuff in their bellies before the snow flies.

One of the amazing things about the lake we went to is the presence of an ancient wikiup, probably a remnant of the Sheepeater Tribe. It is in much worse shape now than it was last time we visited. I think it has reached the point in its demise where it is deteriorating rapidly. I feel honored we have had the opportunity to see it over the years before it totally disappears.

The rain started just as we were finishing our dinner of fresh trout and rice and continued all

through the night. We were dry in our trusty two person tent, although it felt pretty close seeing as how we have been spoiled by having the llamas carry a bigger tent for most of the last decade. We got pretty wet on the trip out the next day but I was still glad we had gone.

A side note - After my last post Annmarie asked about Quatro's name. I'm afraid the answer is that I was lazy. Ken and I usually make a game of naming each new baby llama that comes along but since he wasn't home when Alexis had her newborn, I decided to name him for the order in which he arrived - the fourth baby of this year.

Introducing Quatro

2008-09-11T10:51:00.002-06:00

Alexis lived up to her reputation for hanging onto her babies just a little longer than everyone else. Quatro, our fourth and last baby llama of 2008, is a male born on September 10 at 4pm in the middle of a cold fall rainstorm. In the photos he is about 18 hours old. You can see he has figured out how to nurse because he has milk on his mouth in the first picture.
Since the first three babies were all pretty much solid in color, this little guy comes as quite a shock! He definitely takes after his father. He is going to be much woolier than the other three as well.

Whooo's There?

2008-09-08T07:26:00.002-06:00

For a few minutes last night, I thought I was in the middle of a Harry Potter movie! I had gone to bed, turned off the TV and the lights and was drowsing off into neverland, when suddenly, at the edge of my consciousness, I heard an unidentifiable sound. Unidentifiable sounds are not generally a good thing when you live miles from your nearest neighbor and have a bunch of animals you care for. I threw on my shoes and ran for the door, grabbing the giant flashlight along the way. As I opened the door the noise became much more distinct but no more recognizable. It was a loud, repetitive shriek but not the scream I associate with mountain lions. My first thought was that one of the baby llamas had been injured somehow. I stepped outside and pulled the door closed behind me, worried about Frank the cat following me into the darkness. As I took a step forward I realized the noise was not coming from the llama enclosure, but rather was directly in front of me and headed my way. I turned on the flashlight and couldn't believe what I was seeing. There, not 25 feet away and coming straight at me were not one, but two great horned owls, one behind the other and slightly to its side, both with wings fully outspread as they seemed to be coming in for a landing on my head!

No doubt the smart thing to do would have been to dive for the door, but I was totally frozen in place, completely mesmerized by a sight so beautiful I was having a hard time taking it in. They angled upward as they reached me and landed on the roof directly above where I was standing. I took a few steps forward to look up at them, turning off the flashlight so as not to blind them with the light. The security light from the pole by the llama pen allowed more than enough light to see their giant silhouettes on the roof. One of the two took off almost immediately and resettled on top of the llama shed 100 feet away. The other sat on the roof for several minutes while I looked up at it until it also flew off only to land close by on top of the hay pile. The whole time this was taking place they never stopped screaming back and forth for a second.

I was so pumped up by the whole thing I didn't get back to sleep for at least an hour after coming inside. I was also trying to make sense of what I had seen - for one thing, I have heard great horned owls before and they make the normal "hoo, hoo, hoo" sound you expect them to make, not the ear-splitting screech I had just heard. Also, my understanding is that it is rare to see two of the giant birds acting together like that. Then, in talking to Ken this morning, he came up with the most likely explanation. What I had witnessed was not a pair of owls hunting together, it was a fight for territory. That is why they were so unconcerned with my presence and focused on each other instead. With the number of bunnies and rodents we have around here, this must be considered a prime location for an owl and they don't want to share.

Last night's visit was actually my second amazing bird sighting of the day. Earlier I had been on my way across the yard to my studio when a prairie falcon suddenly came up out of a cedar bush right in front of me. I ran back to the house and grabbed the camera knowing there was probably a freshly killed pigeon in the bush and hoping the falcon would be back to finish his meal. As I went back to the studio I glanced in the bush to see if I could see the target and there, instead of the pigeon I was expecting, was a headless baby chukar (the first thing falcons do is chop off the head of their prey). Falcons will only take their victims in the air so the poor baby must have been spooked enough to fly rather than his usual mode of running away from threats. Little did he know his flight would be his downfall. The falcon must have been sufficiently scared by me because he didn't return. I felt badly about the kill for two reasons - first, I'd rather see the predator bird stick to his usual menu of squab and second, I hate that he didn't get to eat his prey after managing to kill it.

Here Kitty Kitty

2008-09-04T08:10:00.003-06:00

I wasn't planning on posting this morning because I have a busy day ahead with lots to do and not a lot of time to do it. But I couldn't resist adding my latest photos of an early morning visitor. I had a feeling he was around last night just by the way the llamas were acting but I didn't actually see this guy until this morning. He is quite small - probably this year's litter, but with the three baby llamas around, the older llamas are incredibly protective right now and they chased the poor thing into a hole in the rocks where I was able to get a couple of nice shots. I would have liked more light but I will take what I can get with these elusive cats.

Christmas?

2008-09-03T13:28:00.001-06:00

When I was chairperson of the Yellowstone Quilt Fest five years ago, I was trying to think of a way to raise money for the event that wouldn't put the burden all on one or two people. The typical solution for quilting groups and events is a raffle quilt, but it is often a big job that falls to a few hard working individuals. About that time I read a post on quiltingarts.com that talked about a block challenge. Ah Ha! A way to share the work - at least the task of creating the pieces for the quilt top. The quilting and finishing is still usually the work of one generous volunteer. To get people to participate we offered prizes for the top three blocks based on "people's choice" of the displayed blocks during the show. The concept worked and the challenge has continued to this day. Every year I say I am not going to make a block because I don't have time, and every year I find myself scrambling to get one done at the last minute. This year is no exception. I finished my 12" (finished) block this morning and I will put it in the mail to this year's chairperson tomorrow. The theme this year was "Cowboy Christmas" and I thought it might be a perfect chance to use some of that "barbed wire" trim I bought a few months ago. It should lay flat once it is quilted.

I haven't seen the mule deer hanging around for a few days so it was with surprise that I opened my blinds to discover a group of five standing right outside my window yesterday. They did a great job of trimming the weeds and pruning the cedar bushes before making their way over the hill.

I sometimes feel I am a prisoner in my own home these days. It is totally self-inflicted. I just can't bring myself to open the door when there are 20 or more baby chukars milling around my front yard. And it seems like there are always 20 or more babies milling around my front yard! The exception is the early morning when they are tucked away in the rocks from the night before. I would never claim the chukars around here are tame, but there is no doubt they are trained to my voice. As soon as I go out in the morning and say "hello" to the llamas, I hear the instant "chuc, chuc, chuc" response from the comical birds. They know full well I always have an extra scoop of llama feed that will get thrown on the ground for them to share (not always graciously) with the cottontails. The group in this picture is one family that lined up this morning waiting for me to finish with the llamas so I could get to the all important task of providing them breakfast!

One more baby llama picture, if you can stand it! This photo shows the complete unpredictability of color results. Licorice is rubbing noses with her sister, Dusty, born to Jake's Girl a year and a half ago. Neither one of them resembles their mother or the father and they obviously don't look much like each other!

Speed!

2008-08-31T12:02:00.003-06:00

I have two photos I want to share even though they are never going to win me any prizes for ability!

This first one is my favorite photo of Licorice so far. It is hard to describe the simple joy to be had from watching all baby llamas find their legs, but I will admit to having a special spot in my heart for this little one. She has more energy than the other two combined. She rarely sits still and when she does slow down it is usually due to curiosity about some new discovery in the corral. She has already managed to get her nose scratched by a haughty Frank the cat more than once!

This second photo is of one of a pair of Sphinx moths that showed up in the garden last night. Also called Hawkmoths, they are often mistaken for hummingbirds. If you look at the wing action it is easy to see why that is the case. If you click on this photo to enlarge it you will get a better view of the amazing proboscis this creature has for getting at nectar deep in flowers.

Babies

2008-08-28T11:39:00.006-06:00

Ken and I raise llamas solely for our own use and pleasure. I remember back when we first became aware of the possibility. We were on an airplane flying from Cincinnati to Wyoming, headed out on another of our many backpacking trips. We had already purchased property in the Equality State (Wyoming was the first state to allow women to vote) but were not yet living here full time. I was in my mid-thirties, Ken in his mid forties, and we were lamenting the fact that our packs seemed a little heavier on every backpacking trip we took. Ken is severely allergic to horses and we knew that would never be an option for us, so we were discussing the fact that there would come a day when we would no longer be able to take extended trips into the backcountry because of our inability to carry that much weight for days on end. Ken was reading a Smithsonian Magazine when he suddenly turned to me and excitedly said "You've got to read this!" It was an article on llamas and their suitability as pack animals. It talked about the fact that they were much more plentiful in the U.S. in recent years, that they had come down substantially in price as their utilitarian purpose was outweighing their show animal status and - this is the big one - that they were non allergenic!

We could hardly wait until that trip was over to arrange a visit to a llama farm near our home in Cincinnati. It was truly amazing to see Ken enter the barn and touch the animals without the least indication of his asthma setting in.

As soon as we moved to Wyoming and built a place to stay we set about finding a pair of pack llamas. We ended up purchasing three experienced male packers that were soon followed by two females and two very young, untrained males from a ranch that was going out of the show llama business. Since then we've witnessed the births of 17 babies, we've lost one of our original males to old age and we've given away 6 animals that were never going to be packers and are quite happy as lawn ornaments at their new home.

We decided last fall that we would breed four of our females and that, no matter the outcome, this would be our last round of babies. In just a few weeks I will turn 50 and Ken will be 60 before the end of the year. We had three new males born last year and, with proper care and training, they will be packing for us for the next twenty years. I hope we will still be taking trips into the backcounty 20 years from now, but I suspect they will be more in the way of day trips than extended camping adventures. To keep making more llamas when we will only be faced with finding homes for them someday just doesn't make a lot of sense. So it is a little bittersweet to watch this year's crop come forth in the last week. Babies are just so much fun!

All four of our females were due the first week in September but llamas tend to be incredibly unpredictable. On Sunday we arrived home to find two new babies in the yard, one obviously several hours old and the other being born minutes before. The first one, a male born to Cinnamon, we named Olympus to celebrate the games ending that day. The second was precocious from her first seconds and hasn't changed a bit in the few days since. She is our first and only completely black llama and we call her licorice. Her curiosity and courage are amazing and I just hope she can stay out of trouble! She just couldn't help coming up to smell the camera everytime I tried to take her picture. The third was another little female born yesterday at noon to Pepper. She is the only one of the three that shows any variation in color at all and we have named her Nutmeg. We have one more chance to get another male for packing when Alexis delivers, but we may have to wait a while for that. Her last baby was called Tardy because she held onto him for 380 days, more than two weeks longer than usual gestation!

White Elephants

2008-08-25T10:54:00.003-06:00

Ken arrived home Thursday night and couldn't wait to head to the mountains for a hike. On Friday he suggested we spend the next day walking back to our property from the top of the Beartooths. This is a hike we have done several times in the past and it is not for the faint of heart. It requires leaving a vehicle parked on top of the plateau and walking about 7 miles across the bumpy tundra to the edge of the mountain, then taking the old cow trail straight down
another 5 miles - a descent of almost 6000 feet - followed by a final 3 miles across the baked prairie desert to our home. It is a hike you only do every two or three years because it takes that long to forget the pain from the time before. Of course I said "let's do it!"

We parked the car and started walking about 10 am on Saturday. It was much cooler at an elevation of almost 11,000 feet but still warmer than we expected at 55* or so. The first few hours were extremely enjoyable with the rolling hills and arctic wildflowers still in bloom. The arctic gentian were everywhere. This is the only place I ever see them on a regular basis and it is such a treat. My favorite wildflower, though, has always been the elephant head. I remember the first one I saw near Banff back when I was still in my teens. I couldn't believe the amazing resemblance of each little bloom to the actual head of an elephant, complete with ears and trunk and even tusks. So imagine my joy when I discovered this incredibly rare occurrence at a remote location on the very top of the Beartooth Mountains - a cluster of albino elephant heads! I GPS'ed the spot so I could find it again when I had my close up lens in hand.

We stopped for lunch about 1:30 as we reached the front edge of the mountains. There are only a few routes off the top on this side and of those, probably half, like this one, are virtually unknown to all but a few. The trail we were on was the one used by the Tolmans to move their cattle up and down to their summer grazing allotment on the Shoshone National Forest. For a number of reasons - primarily losses due to predation by bears and wolves - they have not used the allotment for the last two years and there is some concern the trail will simply disappear from dis-use. The next 2 1/2 hours proved to us once again why this trail is used so infrequently. Going downhill at such a severe angle for a prolonged period of time is absolute hell on knees, ankles and hips. By the time we got to the bottom our packs felt twice as heavy as they had starting out and every muscle in my lower body was protesting in pain. One thing people tend to forget when getting ready for a big hike is to cut their toenails. Mine were fine but Ken had a big toe that was severely cramped the whole way down. He was limping badly for the last few hours and every step on the downhill was agony for him. His toenail was totally black by the next morning and I am sure he will lose it.

As we got lower in elevation the vegetation, wildlife and temperature all changed significantly. As we neared the prairie at the bottom of the mountain I heard the telltale ch-ch-ch-ch-ch of a rattle snake. Sure enough, there he was, stretched across the path in front of me until Ken chased him away with a stick. I tell you, I can find those critters anywhere! A friend once told me he thought my middle name should be Medusa and I think he may be right! A little further along I discovered one of my favorite high desert creatures. Horny toads are not very fast so they have to rely on blending in to avoid being eaten. They do a pretty good job of disappearing into their surroundings.

Once home we collapsed into chairs. It was a while before I could summon up enough energy to make a light dinner and then it was off to bed with the dirty dishes left in the sink until the next day.

The next day we woke up sore and stiff. We both know the best treatment for such a condition is a little bit of the "hair of the dog" so it wasn't too hard to convince Ken that we should take a short hike back to the white elephant heads when we went up to get the vehicle we had left behind. The plan was to take my close up lenses and get some photos of individual blooms but I was totally bummed to find that, despite a solid hour of searching everywhere I could think, I simply cannot find my lenses. I know where and when I had them last but they have disappeared. I am sure they will turn up eventually but for now it is a real disappointment. We went up and did the approximately 6 mile loop anyway just to stretch our sore legs and to get a few more photos of the area.

We have had three more Search and Rescue calls in the last few days and I am hoping we don't get a call for at least another day or two that requires a lot of hiking - particularly downhill. As it is, the three that came in have followed the path of the last few: the first was for a missing pair of horse riders that did not return to their vehicle after going for a ride north of Cody. The problem was that during the time they were gone the forest fire burning in the area had tripled in size due to strong winds. We were not looking forward to having to go into the fire zone to search but before we made it that far they showed up at another trailhead further north. They had been scared by the increasing smoke and had changed their plan. The second came at 11pm at night and was for a missing three year old. The child was located before we made it as far as the pavement. The third page woke us up at 3:30 am Saturday morning and was for a 17 year old who had been partying on a mountain near Cody. She had headed back to her car but became disoriented and had called 911 on her cell phone. We were at the mailbox when the call came in that she had been located wandering along a dirt road by a sheriff's deputy in the area.

Chukar Time

2008-08-21T12:01:00.003-06:00

Spring is the time of year we tend to associate with the birth of baby animals and birds in this part of the world. Chukars are an exception to the seasonal rule. It is sheer conjecture on my part, but I assume the late hatch is due to their diet of grass and other seeds. Why try to raise a brood before the harvest is mature?

Every year it seems that late July rolls around and Ken and I lament the fact that there are no baby chukars. Then, within a week or two in early August, it seems as though the little grey balls are crawling over every space imaginable. This year was no different, other than I think it is truly a record crop. I have verified at least four flocks with 6, 11, 14 and 15 chicks. It is always the same: the two parents share in the duties of guiding and protecting their young. On rare occasions you will see a single parent with one or two babies - never more - and they may try and join another complete family unit. It is sometimes permitted but it is made very obvious to all that the joiners are at the bottom of the pecking order and are expected to follow and eat at the end of the line.

Yesterday I looked out the back window and was astonished to see the family of 11 plus mom and dad all in the enclosed patio out back. That is pretty bold! Mama walked back and forth across the bridge while keeping a close eye on her exploring young while papa stayed on top of the rock as lookout.

The funniest thing was when one of the babies discovered a shady hole in the garden wall. He hopped on up and all the rest soon followed. I was rolling on the floor laughing as I watched them. They resembled nothing more than a Volkswagen full of high school students trying to break the world record for how many bodies they could stuff in to a small space! Meanwhile, mom and dad started going nuts as they suddenly lost sight of all their small charges. Eventually the youngsters had enough and jumped out to rejoin their frantic parents.

Catch Up

2008-08-20T13:52:00.002-06:00

The months from June through September of 2008 will go down in my personal history book as the summer that wasn't. It isn't just that we had the wettest spring in history, making the prairie green and the mountains white far later in the year than normal, or that the brutal heat of the season didn't even manifest itself until August was well under way - no, it is the combination of those things plus many more. The biggest thing preventing this feeling like summer even now is that Ken and I have not been to the mountains even once. In fact, Ken hasn't even been around for most of the last few months. His work has kept him in Cincinnati and he has only been home twice in the last 45 days - the first time for three days which we spent visiting his folks in Jackson Hole and the second for four days, three of which I spent in Douglas helping judge the State Fair!

That is the other thing that is different about this year - I have been traveling a lot in an effort to work toward my NQA Judging Certification. Getting the required experience means attending a lot of shows which means putting in many miles. I have also been spending a crazy amount of time doing the paperwork required for the program. It is surprising how intense and time-consuming the whole process is.

Many months ago we talked to Ken's daughter about having her son spend a couple weeks with us in July and August. The plan was that Allmon would arrive, we would load up the llamas and we would head into the Beartooths for a week or so. That was before we realized I was going to be a work widow for much of the summer. Allmon and I got along fine despite the change in plans but it was surprising to find out how little time I had to call my own while caring for a 12 year old for 14 days! Ken actually came home for a couple days while Allmon was here and we drove through the Park and down to Ken's mom and dad's place for a few days. While there I took the obligatory photo of Ken and his grandson next to the "mushroom" rock.

Since Allmon left I have been trying to catch up on my quilting and other chores but I still feel like I am behind for now.

Even Search and Rescue has been a little strange over the past few weeks. We seem to be getting lots of calls but they are resolved before we get to do anything. For example, we had three calls in the last week - the first was for a horse wreck in an area of the Beartooths with which I am totally familiar and I would have loved to hike in to assist. But it just so happened there was a med-evac helicopter in the area and he was able to fly right to the guy and load him on before we could even get to the trailhead. Then, a couple nights ago, there was a call for a missing child in Cody. Happily for all concerned he turned up at home before I even made it as far as my garage. The latest call came yesterday morning when it was announced that four kayakers were overdue on the Clark's Fork River. The Sheriff sent up our plane to locate them just to find they were all fine and had just decided to spend an extra night on the trail.

My photos are completely out of sync so I will just stick them all at the end and hope you enjoy seeing them.

This first one is called "Dreams of being a peacock". This bunny knows exactly where the shade is and he spends every day next to this aptly named "rabbit bush".

Allmon and I went for a hike while he was here and discovered this pack rat trying out his climbing skills in this crack in the rock!

Here are Ken and Allmon at "the mushroom".

Last but not least - A photo of a baby swallow. Doesn't he look mad?!

Dog Days

2008-08-01T15:58:00.003-06:00

Red sky in the morning, sailor's warning... Unless you happen to be living in the American West during fire season. Then every morning is rosy and every evening too. We have two large fires burning near us: one in Red Lodge, Montana just to our north and one west of Cody to our south. Some days the smoke goes right over the top of us and we don't notice it much. Others, like today, it seems to land on us and it is hard to even breathe. Right now it is 102* outside my door and, since I don't have air conditioning, not far behind that in here.

It really was a dog day of summer a couple days ago. We have a very small pond in back that we fill with water from the hose. We keep it topped off in the summer as a watering hole for the local deer and the birds. Since we don't stand there and ask for ID, however, we often find the coyotes and the bobcats stopping by uninvited to partake. Since they tend to get their drinks at dusk or during the night when Frank the cat is safely in doors, we don't begrudge them their sips. This guy is a bit of an exception. He is probably this year's pup. He is not very big but he is bold. I chased him away three times only to turn around and see him sneaking back into the yard. I finally gave up and brought Frank indoors for the morning, much to his chagrin. But I have a feeling this guy's boldness may have caused his downfall. Two days ago I was on my morning run, trying to breathe shallowly so the smoke wouldn't burn my lungs quite so badly. I was about a mile from the house, near the front gate when I suddenly I caught a whiff of something even more foul than ash. I made like a search dog and followed the scent cone to its peak where I found a dead coyote about the size of my visitor. I don't know if he was taken down by another coyote, a big cat or the neighbor's dogs but I was sad to see him go.

One of the funnier sights I see around here in the summer months is the plethora of pooped cottontails. We have so many of the smaller rabbits and they are not the least bit spooked by our presence. When it gets above 90* or so, I sometimes have to watch where I walk so I don't inadvertently step on top of a lethargic lapin. This guy had all he could do to open one eye as I took his photo.

I saw this pair this morning and had to take their picture. What do you suppose they are doing? Dancing? Mating? Dry land synchronized swimming? Don't they know it is too hot for any of the above?!

Flying HIgh

2008-07-25T15:31:00.004-06:00

Today was the day to capture a couple of photos of local flyers.

This morning, as I finished feeding the llamas, I looked up to see this goldie on Vertebrae Rock right beside the house. Although I am used to seeing golden eagles in the area, and they seem quite used to us as well, it is rare to see them this close. He (she?) seemed unconcerned by my presence and I was able to get at least 20 shots - all in RAW - before he simply walked to the other side of the rock and out of sight. I will say, I didn't like the way he was looking at Frank so the poor cat had to stay inside for the rest of the morning through no fault of his own.

This afternoon I snapped a couple shots of this swallowtail on the butterfly bush. He is pretty beat up but the colors are still beautiful.

potpourri

2008-07-23T11:04:00.004-06:00

The last thing I said in my previous post was that I was going to try and be more regular in my writing. That was certainly my intention, but then things went a little screwy. Two days after my last post I sat down to write and discovered I was unable to access any blogger sites. Not only couldn't I post to my own space, I couldn't even pull up any site that had anything to do with blogger.com. Nothing else on my computer seemed to be affected and I soon ascertained that no one else I knew was having the same issue. For the next five days I spent far too much time trying to figure out what was wrong. I changed my browser, I deleted cookies and temporary files, I closed one eye and then the other, I even deleted the last update from Microsoft thinking that had something to do with it. Nothing worked. Then I got up one morning, clicked on my blog and up it popped. I will probably never know what happened. I don't think it had anything to do with my actions; it just decided to start working again. I decided to catch up the next day as I knew I would soon be leaving on another trip and would not have computer access for a while. I sat down at the computer and realized I didn't have any Internet access. Period. Not only that, I soon realized I had no long distance telephone service either. When watching the news at noon I found out that service was down all along the State line and would be out for the rest of the day. So much for my good intentions!

Last Wednesday I left for Colorado Springs for a week. The trip was related to meetings that Ken had to attend for a company for which he sits on the Board of Directors. We have attended this gathering every year for the last fifteen and it is really the week of the year when I become totally and absolutely spoiled. The meetings are held in a different location each year - last year we went to Rome - but they occasionally return to old favorites, like the Broadmoor. This was my fourth visit to that amazing place. This is no small gathering. This year the attendance was almost 800 people. One of the most amazing things about the week is the entertainment provided. They typically break the group into two and each section has a night at a location with a private concert. In this way I have seen The Beach Boys, Glenn Frey (The Eagles), Emmy Lou Harris, Ricky Scaggs, Alison Krause, Vince Gill, Amy Grant and, this year, Huey Lewis and the News, up close and personal. In almost all cases I have had my picture taken with the performers as well as with many other wonderful entertainers and speakers including my favorite, several years ago in Switzerland, Margaret Thatcher. The week is amazing for many other reasons as well - the food is incredible, the events are spectacular and the company is thoroughly enjoyable. I was still glad to get home once the week was over!

Search and Rescue is in full swing right now. We get one or two calls a week and have to be ready to run at a moments notice. The night before I left for Colorado we had a call to a lake near here. Because of the location I was the first to arrive upon the scene where I found a gentleman in severe pain from a spinal injury. I knew he was going to be a perfect patient when the first thing he did was offer me his bug spray even though he was in terrible shape. We ended up transporting him by boat to the boat ramp where we were able to get him up the bank and into the waiting ambulance. I hope he is okay.

It seems like I have had one issue pop up after another over the last month. When I think nothing else can possibly go wrong, it does. My three year old computer totally died, as did my 7 year old front-loading washer followed almost immediately by my refrigerator of the same age. In both cases they said they couldn't be repaired so I have had to replace them. The replacement fridge, delivered the day before I left for Colorado, is defective and I have not yet been able to convince Sears they need to replace it. They keep insisting I need to have it fixed under warranty even though it was a defective product, not one where something broke down after I had it for a while. My car, with just about 100,000 miles on it, is making really bad noises and they are saying they will probably have to replace the 4-wheel drive system. They are also saying it will be incredibly pricey to do so. On last month's credit card bill there was a charge for a stay at a motel in Jackson Hole where we have never stayed. Numerous calls resulted in them admitting they had made a mistake and promising to credit our bill. Instead, this month I open the bill to discover not only haven't they issued a credit, they have charged us again! Many more calls resulted in profuse apologies from them with another promise that it will be fixed next month. We will see. Then I arrived home Monday to find one of my front windows shattered. I suspect the culprit was a pigeon although there is no sign of the poor thing anywhere. Because of our remote location, the estimate to fix the window is almost $1000. That's what I get for bragging about my good luck last month!

It is funny how the wildlife seems to know when we are gone for a few days. I always see more animals within a few days of returning from a trip than I do at other times. Yesterday there were mule deer everywhere. We have two huge bucks hanging around plus several mamas and a few babies. This bambi has terrible scars on its face. I suspect it met up with the resident coyotes at some point.

This morning I went on my usual run. For some reason I decided to stop about halfway across the lower field, pretty much in the middle of nowhere. All of a sudden a big jack rabbit sprung up from a sagebrush not two feet away from me. What magnificent animals they are! Their ears are way too long, their eyes are too far apart and their feet are beyond belief. It makes me wonder how many of the creatures I pass every morning without even being aware of their presence!

I saw the first group of chukar babies yesterday. There were only six little ones tagging along behind mama so I hope there will be other groups around soon.

If I can ever finish dealing with all the issues that have been popping up I have a number of quilts to finish. I can't believe it is almost August. Winter will be back before we know it!

Summer has Arrived!

2008-07-10T10:56:00.003-06:00

Carol asked to see a photo of my new do, so here it is. Short and grey. I like it - I am not so sure Ken is too crazy about it though. I will let it grow out a little but I think the grey is here to stay.

I may have spoken too soon about the lack of snakes this year. Ken got home last evening and had an encounter with a rattler this morning. The little sucker was curled up inside one of the laying boxes in the chicken coop. That is why it is not a good idea to stick your hand in blindly searching for eggs unless you have looked first. Luckily, Ken had. Unlike me, he decided to give the grabber pole a try and has declared it a success. He was able to relocate the angry asp quite a ways behind the house.

I have convinced Ken I have become rather attached to the darn pack rat living in the grill. So when we go into town later today we will buy a live trap and see if we can add him to our pest relocation program.

I haven't had my road bike out for a while so when I got up yesterday morning and saw the total lack of wind I decided to forgo my normal run and do a bike ride up the canyon instead. It is not a very long ride - a total of about twenty miles round trip - but it offers some interesting challenges. The first ten miles are uphill into the wind. I would not even consider riding the canyon if there was any breeze at all at our place. It could be dead calm at every other spot on the planet and you could still be assured the wind would be howling down that stretch of road. But as long as you are willing to tough out the west bound leg, the ride offers some amazing rewards. The scenery is spectacular, the traffic is nonexistent and the return trip is ten miles downhill with the wind at your back! So I loaded my bike in the back of the Tahoe and drove several miles down gravel roads until I hit pavement. There I unloaded my bike and pointed west. I struggled to maintain a speed of 13 miles an hour on the out leg but once I turned around I thought I was Lance Armstrong! I easily kept the speed at 20 miles an hour or more on the way back and even topped 42 mph on the one short, steep downhill. I will have to make a concerted effort to trade in my run for a bike more often.

The mule deer have been incredibly active lately. It seems like every time I step out the door I startle several. This gal came by yesterday and she was so intent on eating the sweet yucca blooms that she didn't seem to mind getting her picture taken.

Critters

2008-07-07T12:37:00.003-06:00

Our friend Mary said she has seen more snakes this year than any in recent memory. I was surprised because we have had the opposite experience. I can count the times I've come across a snake on our place since April on one hand; definitely not the norm for around here. Still, I'm on full alert every time I enter the feed shed. That is where the mice hang out so it only makes sense the snakes will show up eventually. Yesterday I approached the shed with my usual caution. There is a wooden door jamb at the entrance and I always stomp my feet on it a couple times to announce my arrival. Snakes don't see or hear too well but they are good at sensing vibration and will usually let you know if they are around. I listened for a minute after signalling my presence and, not hearing anything, entered to go about the feeding. The shed is not very big. It measures about 10' x 10' and seems much smaller once you are inside because of the hay bales on one side and the four large garbage cans filled with llama treats and chicken feed on the other. There are two old coolers stacked behind the garbage bins that the big feed pail and scoop sit on top of. I reached out and lifted the pail and there behind it, right at the level of my belly button, was a good sized rattle snake coiled and ready to strike. I backed up and considered my options. Now I know logically that a rattler cannot strike more than about half its body length and I knew he wasn't about to launch himself through the air at me, but I have to admit I was feeling a little uncomfortable with his obvious irritation at my presence. I did some quick calculating and decided that as long as he would keep himself visible I could go about the feeding and leave him to hunt down mice the rest of the day. I also know from past history that the vipers don't usually hang around the same place for more than a day, so I thought I could let him be and he might just get rid of a few rodents for my kindness. After Ken got bit by a rattler in the shed last year, I bought a grabber pole like the kind used in zoos. But I wasn't real excited about trying it out for the first time on a snake that was at waist level and pretty irritated. It took me about twenty minutes to finish feeding and that snake didn't stop rattling for any of it. Which I appreciated because it let me know exactly where he was every time I went in or out of the shed. Once I was done I closed off the cat door so Frank wouldn't stumble into a bad situation and I left the snake to his hunting. You can bet I searched the shed well before I entered this morning but, as expected, the slinky visitor had moved on.

We had a short, violent storm move through last night. It couldn't have lasted more than ten minutes but it still managed to cause some flash flooding in the coolies around the house. This morning I looked out and realized the blooms were all gone off the yucca in the garden. I am sure glad I took a photo yesterday when it looked so perfect! At first I thought the denuding must have been caused by the wind and rain last evening but then I heard a "ping, ping" coming from the gas grill and I suspected a different culprit. Sure enough, I went outside, pulled the cover off the grill, opened the lid and there, lounging in a bed of fresh cut yucca blooms was a lousy packrat! They have got to be one of the most destructive animals alive for their size. They collect everything! This guy looked at me like I was interrupting his morning tea and obviously expected me to close the lid and let him get on with it. Where was that rattle snake when I really needed him?! I called Frank the cat and showed him the critter and Frank did just what I expected - he turned tail and ran. He has been on the losing side of a battle with a packrat before and the memory was obviously still painful. So I did what I had to do. I got a broom and I chased his little butt out of the grill and into his hole in the garden wall. I am sure he will be back tonight and will probably collect the columbines this time!

A couple things I forgot to mention in yesterday's post:

1) I represented Search and Rescue by riding a four wheeler in the Fourth of July Parade in Cody on Friday. I am pretty sure that is the first time I have ever been in a parade and it was kind of fun. I was shocked by the hundreds of people lining the streets - I think the citizens from all the surrounding burgs must have come to Cody for the event.

2) I went totally gray on Wednesday. No, I wasn't scared or worried into it. I just got tired of putting chemicals on my head every few months to keep my hair blond. I have been dying my hair for more than twenty years. For the first few years it was just highlights but it wasn't long before I went to all over color to hide the incoming gray. My hairdresser said she would need to cut it short to get rid of all the color and I told her to go for it. I now have much less hair than either my father or brother. Debra warned me that people will assume I have been sick and she is probably right. Yes, it is that short. I had a friend take a photo of me so I could email it to Ken. He gets home in a couple days and I wanted to give him a chance to get used to the new look before he arrived. After all, he will have to look at it a lot more than I will. Lucky for me, Frank the cat and the llamas and chickens don't seem to care.

Catching up - again

2008-07-06T06:56:00.003-06:00

Whew! What a month June was! It felt like I was away more than I was home - probably because I was.

For ten days of the last month, I was living out of a hotel room in Columbus, Ohio. I was there attending the National Quilting Association Annual Quilt Show and Convention. Even though the Show was only a three day event, I had to be there days ahead of time for the judging. As a Candidate to become an NQA Certified Judge I am required to assist at the judging of the Annual Show at least twice during the five year process. I must assist at least once before I can even submit my paperwork so I was anxious to get this first experience under my belt. It was all I hoped for and more. The certification program has a lot of candidates right now so there was no lack of helpers in the judging rooms. The judges were excellent and I learned more than I ever thought possible from observing their actions and words for the three full days of judging show entries. What I didn't expect from the experience was that I met a lot people with the same interests as me and made some new friends.

After the judging was complete I had a day off before the official opening of the Show and its classes. I spent the morning visiting nearby galleries with another Candidate from New Hampshire and then I helped out with last minute Show details in the afternoon.

The next two days were spent in the Quilt Judging Seminar taught by Klaudeen Hansen and Anita Shackelford. It was especially helpful taking this two day class after having spent three days in the judging room. Klaudeen and Anita are excellent instructors and I am amazed at how much they packed into 16 hours of instruction.

I had few chances to get out and actually take in the Show, but when I did, it was a real treat to see my two entries hanging amidst the more than four hundred quilts in the Show. I was actually represented by a third quilt, "Island 2" which was there as part of the special exhibit from "Sacred Threads". This was my first chance to see some of the quilts from that exhibit up close and the experience was every bit as powerful as I expected. "Sacred Threads" is the brainchild of Vikki Pignatelli and I was scheduled to take a full day class from her on my last day at the Show. It was wonderful! I would recommend her as a teacher to anyone. She is generous with her knowledge and accomplished at her art and I am so glad I finally got to meet her and take her class.

Since arriving home I have been trying desperately to get caught up with everything. It has been a struggle with one thing after another demanding time and attention. While I was gone I missed two search and rescue calls. The first was for a horse wreck in the back country. The guy was pretty busted up with broken ribs, flail chest and a punctured lung. Ken was out until 2am Columbus time helping out. I know because I called every half hour until he got home. He has always told me the hardest thing for him when he travels is when I am out on a call and he imagines all sorts of things going wrong. I have always accused him of over-reacting but now I know exactly how he feels! The second call was for a guy that fell off his raft in the river and went out of sight of his friends. He was found safe and sound a few hours later. Shortly after I got home we had another call. This one was for a car in the river near Powell. We had to send a couple guys into the river to check the vehicle for bodies before we could call in a wrecker to haul it out. Ken and Chris and I were stationed along the bank with throw bags in case the two guys in the boat needed help. The rivers are at an all time high right now and currents are unpredictable. It turned out the car was empty and it showed up as stolen from a ranch several days earlier.

It has been hot since I got back. The flower garden is in full bloom, including the volunteer yucca that we have allowed to flourish. I was out watering yesterday when I heard the tell-tale noise of a tiny visitor. I looked around to see this little hummer making the most of the honeysuckle blooms. I don't know how they do it - every year we have a couple of the little creatures hanging around for much of the summer even though there seems to be very little for them to eat in this desert environment.

I have a few more days home before I head out again. I will try to be a little more regular about posting this summer, even though I would rather be outside than sitting in front of a computer!

Summer in West Yellowstone

2008-06-10T07:28:00.006-06:00

Each June, Ken and I attend the Annual Meeting of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. With the exception of last year, because of building renovations, the meeting is always held in West Yellowstone, a small community just outside the NW corner of the Park. I love attending this function, in part because the speakers are incredibly knowledgeable and inspirational, but also just for the adventure of the event. It is hard to explain to people who have never been to West Yellowstone why it has such a feel of the rugged west of old, but it truly does. When we left our place on Thursday morning, it was sunny and hot and I once again asked myself if I really needed to pack my down jacket and winter hat and gloves. Then I recalled previous years at the meeting and decided maybe I should throw in my long underwear just to be safe.

We took the direct route through the Park which meant up and over Sylvan Pass, through Fishing Bridge, Canyon, Norris, Madison and along the Madison River to West Yellowstone. It was a beautiful drive and we saw all the usual Park inhabitants along the way.

Friday was the first day of meetings. The schedule at the event goes like this: Five or six incredible speakers each morning after which you grab a bag lunch in preparation for the afternoon field trip which gets you back to town with just enough time to make the 6pm cocktails and dinner at 6:30 during which you get to hear another amazing speaker or two. I have to confess that the field trips are the reason I really love this event. This year I signed up for a painting workshop on Friday with Jennifer Lowe-Anker and an 8 mile hike overlooking the beautiful Centennial Valley in Idaho on Saturday.

As the last speaker was finishing up on Friday morning, we heard the distinct sounds of a storm moving in. All of a sudden the building was being shaken by wave after wave of crashing thunder. As we grabbed our lunches and pulled open the doors, we were all stopped in our tracks by the sight before us. Not only was the lightening flashing overhead like a mid-summer brown out in NYC, but it was snowing - hard! The white stuff was actually accumulating on the ground and it was cold! Many of the field trips ended up making alternative plans for the afternoon, including mine. Instead of painting out of doors as originally planned, we grabbed a conference room at a nearby hotel and settled in for a cozy afternoon indoors. Ken's hike was cancelled so he decided to play tourist and took the car back into the Park to Old Faithful where he spent the afternoon getting absolutely soaked on a wonderful solitary hike along the Firehole River.

There were 10 of us in the class being led by Jennifer Lowe-Anker. Jenny is an amazing individual for a lot of reasons. She is an accomplished painter, author, mother and adventuress extraordinaire. She is the widow of the world renowned climber Alex Lowe to whom she was married for almost 20 years before he died tragically a few years ago in an avalanche in Tibet. Her book, "Forget Me Not", is a memoir based on the life they had together with their three children. Her main medium for her artwork is cattle markers and she manages to create masterpieces with the lowly paint sticks. For the afternoon with us she put aside her traditional materials and concentrated on working with watercolors. Much of the afternoon was spent watching Jenny create three beautiful paintings and then we all got to practice on some small pieces of hand-made paper she brought with her. At the end of the class many of the participants had drifted away and there were only four die-hards left in the room with Jenny. She asked if we wanted her practice paintings and of course we said "yes!" We drew straws for the works and I got my second choice which is the bison painting you see here. The small painting of the yellow-headed blackbird was my attempt at using the hand-made paper. You need to know the bison painting was completed in about 10 minutes. One of the participants had asked for a demonstration on painting snow and this was the result of a few well placed brush strokes from Jennifer.

The snow continued Friday evening and we all marvelled at the cold even as we heard reports of temperatures in the high nineties on the East Coast of the country. One of the speakers Friday morning was an expert in the subject of "Global Weirding" (her term) and I have to admit it seemed an apt description of what was taking place.

On Saturday morning Ken and I got up at 5am so we could join the pre-conference bird watching outing. We picked up 51 species including numerous bald eagles, osprey, western tanagers, sand hill cranes and a peregrine falcon. By 8am we were back in the hall listening to a new round of wildlife and wildland experts. At noon 17 of us loaded into cars to head into Idaho for a challenging hike. It was a lot of up hill bushwacking over difficult terrain so most of the group went about half way and turned back while six of us continued on the entire length to get the full reward of the view down into Centennial Valley. I have never seen so many Glacier Lilies in my life. They were truly spectacular and I loved capturing some close up images.

One of the funny things that happened on the hike was that Laurie asked me if I had purchased my raffle tickets yet. The GYC meeting is also fun because they have a huge silent auction each year with dozens of great items up for sale and they have a raffle of about a half dozen spectacular prizes worth several thousand dollars a piece. They sell thousands of tickets to members from all over the world and then they draw for the winners at the annual meeting. It is a bit of a joke because the winners are invariably from somewhere far away and are never present at the meeting. Of course that doesn't stop us from buying tickets every year. So I answered Laurie that yes, I had purchased my tickets and I really thought I was going to win this year. I should explain that my father is one of those people who has the "lucky gene". Of the three kids in the family, I seem to be the one who has inherited at least a little bit of the magic. While I don't win as often as my Dad, and he certainly doesn't win all the time, my streak of luck is better than seems to be explainable by random chance theory. So it was that I was probably the only one not really surprised when they drew my name from the more than 30,000 tickets in the box. I had purchased six tickets and put my name on three and Ken's on the other three. I did not win the Grand Prize which was a luxury trip for two to Mexico; I won the fly rod and reel valued at $1000. The funny part was the reaction to my good luck, particularly by a certain portion of the male species. While many friends congratulated me enthusiastically, there was a portion of the population that exhibited obvious signs of envy. After the dinner, as Ken and I were standing by our table, a big man with a florid face came huffing up and stood directly in front of Ken. Ignoring me completely, he stuck his finger in Ken's face and said "You'll regret this you know! She doesn't want that rod! Do you know what this is going to cost you? She's going to want waders and clothing and all sorts of things and then she'll decide she doesn't want to fish in the first place. What a waste! I'll take it off your hands for $100!" I felt Ken's hand firmly grasp my arm and I knew the message he was sending was "Please don't punch him in the nose! Even though I know you really want to!" I wasn't sure I could control myself so I turned and walked away as I heard Ken saying "She can't wait to use it and its not for sale!"

As I walked over to the table to claim my prize I was stopped by two more men. Each said the same thing - "Do you understand what you have won? This set-up deserves respect and I hope you are going to take it seriously!" I was actually glad to grab the rod and make my way back to the room where I could examine it in peace.

The next morning Ken went down to the lobby to get coffee. When he returned he had a big smile on his face. I asked him what was so funny and he explained he had run into Phil in the elevator and Mike at the front desk. The first thing each man said "Tell Kathy congratulations. I sure wish it was me who won that rod!" Ken said the way they spoke was so wistful that it was obvious to him that, were I not already married, I would have at least two proposals coming my way. So after almost fifty years on this earth, I have finally discovered what men really want - a nice fishing rod!

For the drive home on Saturday we decided to take the scenic route through Mammoth, Lamar Valley, Cooke City and over the Chief Joseph Highway to home. It is a little longer that way (although we later found out Sylvan Pass was closed because of an avalanche and it would have taken us hours more to come home the "quick" way!) but it is worth it for the views in Lamar Valley. We saw a grizzly bear and a sand hill crane nest along with all the other animals and a lot of their young. I love this photo of two bull moose near the NE Entrance. There was a third animal - a cow - just out of sight but these two in the snow made for a great image.

So now I have a couple days to catch up before I head to Ohio this weekend. I know this was a really long posting and I am sorry for that but I will not get a chance to post many more this month and I really wanted to share the wonderful journey to the other side of the Park.

Paintbrush

2008-06-04T14:22:00.003-06:00

"Paintbrush"

Transparent watercolor on 140# paper

8" x 10"

I am not sure if this piece is finished or not. The original intention was to use it as a test for a very dark background a la the amazing Anne Abgott. But I think the colors may be too strong to pull that off. I think it does need a background of some sort so I may add one in once I return from West Yellowstone next week.

The Other Paintbrush

2008-06-01T15:09:00.003-06:00

I spent a couple hours this afternoon getting my quilts ready to ship off to Columbus, Ohio for the National Quilting Association Convention. I have two quilts in the main show plus another in a special exhibit so I will be well represented. My quilts will ship tomorrow and I will join them in two weeks time when I will spend more than a week in Columbus participating in a variety of activities to do with the convention. The first three days will be spent assisting in the judging. I then have a day off, followed by two days in classes related to judging and then the last day in a "just for fun" class with Vikki Pignatelli, someone whose work I greatly admire.

As a reward to myself for getting the quilts ready to go, I grabbed the camera and set out on a short hike with the goal of capturing some photos of Wyoming Paintbrush. With the rain we had last week, the State flower is blooming in an abundance I have never before seen at this altitude. I came back with an overload of images and can't wait to turn some of them into paintings. This picture will give you some idea of the amazing colors. In this grouping alone there are three distinctly different hues: salmon, scarlet and crimson. What a feast for the eyes!

Catching Up

2008-05-31T14:56:00.003-06:00

I spent the last few days in Green River, Wyoming, judging their annual quilt show. It was a wonderful experience with lots of great quilts to see and an outstanding group of people to work with. I had never been to Green River so wasn't sure what to expect of the town. I was pleasantly surprised to find a community that included many pieces of sculpture along the main streets and an amazing park that stretched for miles beside the river and made my morning run a treat. It was a long drive - 6 1/2 hours each way - but the recent rain meant that the scenery was incredible and the miles passed quickly. I have never seen Wyoming so green!

One of the most amazing sights I saw on my trip occurred before I got to the end of my driveway. As I came over the small rise just before the last cattle guard I suddenly realized there were a couple of female pronghorn by the side of the lane. I had a second to wonder why they didn't bolt (pronghorn are incredibly intolerant of human presence) before I took in the fact that one of them was licking a newborn baby. My only option was to try to get by as quickly as possible so they weren't completely panic stricken by the vehicle. Even so, mother and baby took off across the field and so I stopped to get a shot once I went through the gate and they were at a distance where they wouldn't feel immediately threatened. Pronghorn babies are born able to run as soon as they hit the ground. Elk and deer tend to hide their newborns in the sagebrush and rely on a lack of scent and noise to keep them safe from predators in the first few days but American antelope have the ability to flee from the second their feet hit the ground. I expected to see a lot of baby pronghorn on my drive but that was the only sighting, despite the fact that I saw hundreds of adult animals.

While I was judging the show on Thursday, the vendors were setting up in preparation for the next day's opening. As we stopped to take a break for lunch, one of the vendors that I have known for a number of years came over to talk to me. She said she was delighted to see me there because she had just picked up a new embellishment for this show and she had thought of me immediately! Now, how fun is this?! I have to say, I don't do a lot of "western" stuff but she hit it right on by thinking I would get excited over this trim. She let me buy 7 yards even though she wasn't set up to sell at that point. I have at least three projects in mind to use it and I am already thinking I should have bought more from her. I have two friends that are going to be so jealous of my purchase!

I went for a walk today to try out some new hiking boots. I took the camera with me because the wildflowers are in full bloom. I tried to stay high and in the open because the elk are calving right now and I didn't want a repeat of last year's incident when we startled a cow mid-birth. I was on full alert, expecting to see a rattle snake because it is just that kind of day. Even so I was surprised when I came down off a rock and saw this guy on a ledge beside me. He is pretty big for a local rattler; two feet at least with 7 or more "rattles". I hate it when they don't make any noise at all. You can see how well he blends in and without that warning sound it is easy to step right on top of them. After looking at this guy for a minute it became pretty obvious why he was so sluggish. Look at that belly! He should be about as round as the last three or four inches of his tail. Instead he is so stuffed he is almost flat! I don't know what he ate but it must have been almost as big as him. He will be digesting that meal for the rest of the day!

Best Laid Plans

2008-05-28T05:47:00.004-06:00

The Fast Friday Fabric Challenge for May was "deconstruction". We were to make a small piece or use an unquilted piece we already had laying around, chop it up and put it back together in a whole new way. Ken thought the concept was pretty crazy but I was happy because I have a collection of "also ran" tops that I have never taken to the final quilting step. I leave today to judge a quilt show in the southern part of the State so I knew I couldn't do anything too big. I had this small (16" x 24") top that has been sitting around for about seven years so I decided it was time to take the plunge. This was originally created to be part of a larger quilt. It was meant to be the quilt within a quilt, but once I got everything put together, I realized the scale was too small so I set it aside and made another, larger piece for the original. I had invested far too much time in this piece to just throw it out and yet I hadn't put the attention to detail in that would allow it to stand on its own as a miniature so it just sat around looking abandoned until now.

Once I decided on the piece I wanted to use I needed to come up with a new design. The lupines are blooming all over our place right now and the colors were perfect so I decided to go that direction. I chopped up the quilt top and added in some pale fabric for the background. Then I ironed some Wonder Under onto a few fabrics of the right colors and started cutting free form. I ironed everything down and then free motion stitched close to all the raw edges. It then got quilted and bound and - voila - a whole new quilt. I will admit I am happy to have a finished piece rather than one more UFO (Unfinished object for the non-quilter). It is certainly not perfect and there are things that I know will be shot down by a judge, but all in all, I think it was a good result for a day and a half of effort!

My intention was to finish this piece, do a painting for Illustration Friday and work on another small quilt, all before I had to get in the car and drive south this morning. Of course, all that assumed I would have so many hours each day to work on things. But then I lost an entire day on Monday and my plans had to be modified. The problem with Search and Rescue this time of year is that it is inconsistent. Once you go for two or three weeks without a call you find yourself lulled into a state of complacency where you forget the disruption an emergency can cause. So when the pager went off at midnight on Sunday night it was even more of a rude awakening than usual. The call was for a stranded party in the mountainous area east of Cody. The problem was that a young man had called 911 on a cell phone and had just managed to give his approximate location and the fact that he was stuck before the phone died. We all knew no one from around here would call 911 just because they had to spend a night in their car so we had to assume something more was going on. Were there children in the vehicle? An injured person? Someone who needed medication they didn't have with them?

Nine of us showed up to respond. Two stayed at the hall to manage the incident and the other 7 of us headed into the field with four wheelers and a six wheeler and enough gear to treat just about any situation. We found the vehicle at about 3 am. Imagine our surprise to discover a young, healthy college student with enough camping gear in his vehicle to survive at least a month in the wilderness. It turned out he was a biology major from a college in North Carolina who was taking a road trip as part of his summer vacation. He had been on his way from Greybull to Cody the night before when he decided to take a detour onto the dirt roads to see if he could see any wild horses. This, despite the fact he didn't know anything about the area and that it had been raining for three days straight and that he had a very small, un-powerful vehicle without 4-wheel drive. His biggest concern seemed to be that we were unwilling to spend the time at that stage of the morning to figure out how to get his car pulled out of the mud. He was upset that we expected him to call a wrecker and that vehicle removal was not part of our services.

If I sound a little annoyed it is because I am. Ken and I arrived home at 6 am and spent the day Monday barely able to function. We do not charge for Search and Rescue in this State. All our people are volunteers who give up time in their lives to help others. Would I respond to this same call if it came again the next night? You betcha. Without a second of hesitation. That doesn't mean I wouldn't have appreciated at least a "thank you" from the person we (9 of us!) gave up a night and a day to help out of a sticky situation.

A Little Loco

2008-05-22T10:42:00.003-06:00

"Loco Weed"

Transparent watercolor on 140# paper

10" x 12"

Garden Guardian

2008-05-21T09:08:00.003-06:00

I have mentioned in the past that I like bull snakes. I like how they look, I like how they feel and I love that they keep the rodents in check in the garden and the feed shed. By this time last year I had already had several snake encounters and I have been kind of bummed that they have been so scarce this spring. Ken saw one a couple days ago and was greatly entertained by its interaction with the magpies, but I wasn't home at the time so missed the show.

Then, last evening, I looked out the living room window and found this visitor in the flower garden. He is a pretty good size - probably four feet at least. He parked on the warm stones in the waning sun and collected the last bit of heat for the day. I am sure he is curled up hiding today as the weather has cooled considerably and promises to stay that way for the next few days.

After my last post I had a couple people ask me if I wasn't worried about being attacked by the bobcat. The answer is "no". Anyone who has been scratched by a house cat knows the claws are nothing to scoff at, but I was fairly certain the wild cat was not going to take a swipe at me. For one thing, I was standing in the middle of a herd of 9 llamas. Even though the cat obviously didn't see the bigger animals as a threat, he was still looking up at more than a ton of total animal mass. Also, I was above him, putting him at a strategic disadvantage. He was not cornered in any way and had lots of room to run away from me down hill and I was pretty sure that would be his instinctive reaction.

If the feline visitor had been a cougar it would have been an entirely different story. Cougars average about 120 lbs of muscle as compared to the 40 or so pounds of the average bobcat. Cougars seem to have little fear of anything and have been reported to attack humans just for the sheer fun of it. I have no doubt that if cornered the bobcat could easily fight his way out but I wasn't going to put him in that situation.

A Gift

2008-05-19T08:49:00.003-06:00

What an amazing gift I received this morning! I happened to be looking out the window, laughing at the antics of a chukar pair, when I saw one of the llamas come to full attention. Thinking something might be up, I wandered outside and made my way to the edge of the hill where the entire herd was now gathered. The llamas were sounding their distress call so it was no effort to sneak quietly up and into their midst. As I looked down a beautiful male bobcat came into view on the ledge about five feet below me. I couldn't believe how close he was! As he walked along he would stop every few seconds and look up at the llamas above but it was obvious he was not at all concerned with their presence. He took time to spray just about every rock and every bush in his path and seemed as comfortable as he could be. I held my breath as he walked by, amazed that he was tolerating my presence. If I had bent down and reached out I could easily have touched his back. Then, as he stopped to look up at the llamas one more time, his eyes fixed on mine and the physical transformation in his bearing was incredible. His eyes widened, his tail went between his legs and his entire body sunk to the ground as he sprinted under the nearest large rock ledge. I ran back to the house to get Ken and the camera. When we came back out the cat was still under the ledge but as soon as we neared he sprinted off and I was not able to get a shot. Ken watched as he went behind a tree in the distance and then, lo and behold, he came out on the other side with a bunny in his mouth! Even in his flight he hadn't given up the hunt for breakfast.
I can't imagine I will ever be that close to a wild cat again. I feel extremely privileged to have been given such an opportunity!

Its Been a Hoot!

2008-05-18T07:51:00.003-06:00

This has been a fun week despite some bumps along the way, such as a flat tire and a computer melt down! On Thursday we headed into Cody, carefully nursing a plugged tire on the Suburban, just hoping to make the repair shop without a major blow out. Our spare was jammed up under the vehicle and wouldn't release and our other vehicle happened to be in the shop getting its 100,000 mile servicing, so we were stuck limping down the highway, holding our breath much of the way. A few miles this side of town I happened to glance out the passenger window and see a dark shape in a tree alongside the road. I focused in a little more and realized I was seeing a great horned owl and what appeared to be a huge baby sitting on a branch beside her. I yelled my delight to Ken just as I took in the fact that there was another baby on the branch above and one more just below. Four great horned owls in one tree! I was in heaven. The only bad news was that I didn't have a camera with me and, because of our fragile tire state, we couldn't simply pull over and do a U-turn back for Ken to see the sight. I filed it away in my memory bank as a once in a lifetime opportunity.

The next evening we had dinner at the ranch of our good friends Mary and Luis. The air was clear, the temperature was perfect and the view was phenomenal. Just as were finishing an amazing meal, their resident elk herd of about 400 head wandered into the pasture and mingled with the white tail, mule deer and antelope that were already there. The curlews are nesting right now and their warbling yells provided the sound effects for the show. It is hard to imagine a more perfect setting.

Yesterday we packed our bikes into the repaired Suburban and headed for Yellowstone to join a group of cyclists for a 42 mile ride in the Park. This is the only time of year you can even think of riding the Park as the tourists have not yet arrived in the staggering numbers we will see in a few weeks time. As we approached Cody I began scouring the trees for the owl family. Sure enough, they were perched in a tree not far from where I had seen them on Thursday. This time I had the camera with me and I convinced Ken to turn around so I could get a shot or two of the magnificent birds. As I left the vehicle one of the babies spooked and flew to the ground so I quickly took a couple photos of the remaining three and got back in the car. Their positioning was not as photo ideal as it had been on the earlier day but I am excited to have the pictures I do as I don't think these baby hueys will be around for too much longer.

The ride in the Park was perfect! I got to ride at a pace I really enjoyed, the company was delightful and the weather couldn't have been better. The highlight was seeing a wolf on the ice of Yellowstone Lake but traffic was such at that point that I didn't feel I could stop to take a photo. Another one for the memory bank! On the way back to Fishing Bridge from West Thumb we all stopped at a prearranged spot for a group photo and we had a friend take a photo of Ken and me in front of the frozen lake.

After we got home last evening Frank the cat had his first chance of the day to spend some time outside. Unfortunately it didn't last long as he got hounded back into the house. I have said before he is not much of a hunter and I guess the magpies are onto him. The aggressive birds all have chicks right now and they don't tolerate any animal invading their space. This one herded Frank all the way from the hay pile to the door of the house, running behind him squawking and actually pecking him on the tail when he showed signs of slowing down. I know poor Frank was humiliated by the experience!

Chukar in winter

2008-05-14T16:17:00.002-06:00

"Cold Feet"

Transparent watercolor on 140# cold pressed paper. 10"x12"

Leapin' Lapin

2008-05-11T12:57:00.003-06:00

If it seems as though I am obsessed with bunnies lately, it is because they are ubiquitous this time of year. The books say that our breed of desert cottontail is capable of giving birth year round, but there is no doubt that at this latitude and altitude, the months between winter cold and summer heat are the prime time for mating and birth. One of the things that seems to take place during these activities is that they become oblivious to all other creatures, including humans, as they concentrate completely on their own kind. That allows me to get closer than normal to capture photos of the irresistible rodents.
In folklore and cartoons bunnies are always portrayed as hopping creatures. There is no doubt that is a result of the way they move their front two feet and then their back two feet in synchronization. There is another hop that is common this time of year and I was lucky enough to capture it in action this morning. Ken thinks it happens when a male and a female face off but I am not so sure. I have never seen it result in a mating and I think it may be more of a male to male exhibit of macho prowess. It starts when the two come face to face. They circle warily like a pair of sumo wrestlers until one suddenly leaps straight up in the air. Often the other will react by following suit and eventually one gives up and runs away. You can just about walk right up to them during this ritual and they will ignore your presence entirely as they concentrate on each other.

The photo I got was not the best but considering I have been trying unsuccessfully to capture a mid-leap image for some time, I am quite happy to have recorded anything!

Illustration Friday - Electricity

2008-05-10T13:38:00.003-06:00

The Wyoming State Bird is the Western Meadowlark. If all you saw was its back, you would probably ask yourself "why?" It is only when the bird turns around and you see its startlingly yellow front or it opens its mouth to sing and you hear that sweet, piercing melody that it feels as though someone has plugged it in!

Eating Good

2008-05-08T11:18:00.004-06:00

Like many people, we wean our wild birds off the feeder in Spring. That doesn't mean anyone goes

hungry but it does mean they tend to disperse more in search of the next meal. There is always a certain group that is a little bolder or a little smarter - I am not sure which - that hangs around the house and cleans up whatever scraps of chicken or llama feed happen to fall on the ground. Over the last two days I have taken a couple of photos to show what I mean.

It is funny because the llamas wouldn't think of letting another llama eat out of its bowl but they seem more than willing to put up with sharing with magpies, chuckars, rock doves and bunnies!

This morning I witnessed a full circle of life and death in the bunny population before I even made it out of my pajamas. It started because we had a load of hay delivered yesterday. There is nothing Frank the cat likes better than a new pile of hay. Normally the first thing we do when hay is delivered is to re-stack the entire pile so it doesn't fall over in the wind. Yesterday was one of those extremely rare days when it rained a wonderful spring rain all day and we decided to leave the pile the way it was so it could dry out before we re-stack and tarp it. It was leaning pretty good so we braced it with some poles and the ladder and pulled a tarp over the top to keep it from getting even wetter.

This morning Frank was at the door before first light, in a frenzy to get outside and smell the hay pile. He went so far as to climb the ladder so he could get a really good look at it all. Because the bobcat has been hanging around regularly I was keeping an eye on Frank out the window when I saw all the llamas run to the edge of the hill and look over. I grabbed the camera and headed out the door in pajamas and slippers to chase away the intruder - either a coyote or a bobcat, I assumed - and maybe get a good photo in the process. Instead I was surprised when I looked over the hill and saw below me the golden eagle with a rabbit in his talons. By the time I got the camera in position he had dropped the bunny and was flying off so I just caught a rear view.

As I turned around I saw that Frank had followed me to the hill so I turned and started back to get him into the safe zone. As we walked by the llama feed trough a bunny jumped out of the trough and ran at us. Both Frank and I recognized the maneuver as an effort to distract us and we looked into the trough where we saw the newest baby bunny I have ever seen in my life. He was tiny and wet with eyes still closed and ears still glued to his head. I realized I had a choice of getting a great photo or getting Frank out of there before his curiosity got the best of him so I did the only thing I could do - I scooped up the cat and headed for the house. By the time I looked out the window mama bunny was back and was moving her newborn under the trough where it will stay for a week or two until it is big enough to fend for itself.

catching up

2008-05-05T14:43:00.002-06:00

I don't think Jane Neale reads my blog, but if she does, she needs to stop right now and go do something else. It is not that I don't like Jane. In fact she is one of the sweetest, smartest and most creative people I know. The problem is that a little further along I am going to show a photo of a piece of a row robin quilt that Jane is not supposed to see for another two months.
Four months ago six of us in the local quilt guild took on an "art row robin". What that means is that each participant made a row out of fabric in a certain theme and then passed it on to the next person in line to add a row. Each month the steadily growing pieces are passed along and eventually we will each end up with a quilt made by six different people. This month I happen to be working on Jane's quilt and I am having the most fun I have had at the sewing machine for a while.

In the meantime, a week ago Friday was the day for my monthly Fast Friday Fabric Challenge. The theme this time around was re-cycled blue jeans. I really didn't plan on participating because 1) I was in Virginia at my stepson's wedding for much of the week and 2) I don't own a pair of blue jeans that are ready to be recycled just yet. But by last Thursday I was back home and getting the itch to participate in some way. I pawed through my "ancient fabric" pile and came up with a large amount of a medium weight chambray and a nice yard of corduroy. Faced with less than two days to meet the deadline I decided to be entirely practical and put together a hanging holder for my multitude of rulers. Maybe now I can spend less time searching for just the right measuring stick when I need it!

One of the things I love about spring around here is getting to see the dozens of baby bunnies that seem to suddenly appear everywhere. One of the things I hate about spring around here is seeing how many baby bunnies end up as snacks for magpies, ravens, eagles, foxes, assorted weasels, coyotes, bobcats and mountain lions. Frank the cat is another problem. Now Frank is incredibly gentle when it comes to other living things. The only animals he really dislikes are humans, with one notable exception (moi). That doesn't stop him from bringing me presents of small or injured animals. Baby bunnies are especially vulnerable and, even though Frank doesn't hurt them when he brings them to me, it is tantamount to a death sentence as I usually have no way of knowing where he found them and they can't survive without their mother. This little fellow on the left was one of the lucky ones as I saw where he came from and he is old enough to survive being carried out of his nest by the gentle Frank. He is about the size of my fist and softer than it seems anything could be. I love the little white spot on the top of his head.

Now on to Jane's quilt, which has a Southwest theme. The original panel was about 22" x 9" with a vertical orientation. I decided to add a saguaro cactus to the piece. I had a large piece of light green sateen in my stash that I wrapped shibori-style around a big tube. I then spray painted it with three different colors of fabric paint mixed with water. Once that was done I added a bunch of pin tucks to give it those "saguaro seams". The most fun was adding the painting of the elf owl that you can see in the photo. He was created using a combo of Caran d'Arche watercolor pastels and fabric paint. I am thrilled with the final piece and think I may have to explore this whole process a little further in a quilt of my own.

Illustration Friday - Seed

2008-05-04T09:25:00.002-06:00

If you took a census of the plants growing on our property, it would probably be a toss up as to which is more numerous: sage brush or yucca. It really is not surprising the yucca are as successful as they are even though they don't bloom every year. The ones that do bloom develop large seed pods like the one I painted in the upper right corner that each contain hundreds of seeds. The pods secrete a sugary sap for the first couple months of their existence and the mule deer and antelope can't seem to resist the sweet treat. That is the first way the seeds are dispersed. Those pods that aren't consumed eventually dry out and burst open at which time the seeds are available to be carried near and far by the helpful wind.

I am trying out a new method of watercolor painting with this piece. I think the composition leaves a lot to be desired, but I feel like I learned a lot in the process.

Casa Gaia

2008-04-22T08:02:00.003-06:00

This is the photo of a small - 12" x 12" - quilt I made a couple months ago as my entry into the Quilting Arts Magazine 2009 Calendar Contest. I haven't been able to show it until now because one of the contest rules was that entries be unpublished. Alas, my showing it now means it did not make the cut. I am disappointed as I really thought it had a chance. It took me as long to make as a much larger quilt because of all the details, particularly the painted pieces. I was working with a combination of paints and dyes and had to do numerous applications working with both wax and water-based resists. The piece includes a number of materials including tyvek (sun), wool (the continents), tulle (cloud), faux leather (roof) as well as a base of dyed and painted bamboo/cotton mix.

One of the deals I made with myself was that if it did not make the final round of the competition I would concentrate more on my painting for the next six months. I won't give up fabric entirely, of course, but expect to see more watercolors here this summer in place of quilts.

Bird Brains

2008-04-19T08:41:00.003-06:00

I think I will have to change the title of this blog to "Bird Brains" if this keeps up! A couple days ago I was downstairs when I heard a loud "thump" from above. I assumed Ken had dropped something and promptly forgot about it. It wasn't until about a half hour later when I came up the stairs and saw Frank the cat sitting on the sill and making his "here birdie" noises that I realized something else had taken place. When I looked out the window I saw a beautiful red-shafted flicker perched precariously on the arm of a deck chair. He seemed aware that he was being watched but unable to do anything about it. He had obviously hit the window hard and was trying to get his wits back before attempting to fly. I got a couple good shots out the window before he made a short move to the deck railing where he sat for another two hours before feeling fit enough to flee. I hope he is okay.

It has been a strange week all around. I spent one day skiing in the Beartooths, another biking the North Fork. Ken tore a muscle in his back by trying to move a downed tree and Mom broke two ribs by tripping over a sand snake at the gym. (For those who aren't familiar with sand snakes, they are the southern equivalent of a snow snake on the ski hill; a mythical, invisible beast that slithers out and trips you when you least expect it. No one ever sees them except those whom they embarrass.) I have been trying hard to finish my Guild Challenge which means the pager has been unusually busy. We have had three Search and Rescue calls this week: a run-away, a missing person who wasn't and the last yesterday morning when I had to drive to the mountains, strap on my snowshoes and hike a 1/2 mile in to a remote cabin to tell a man his daughter tried to commit suicide, again. Of course Ken hasn't been able to participate in any of the activities which hasn't helped his disposition one bit!

Petroglyphs and more!

2008-04-11T08:57:00.004-06:00

Almost all my free time for the last three weeks has been consumed by my efforts to start and finish a quilt for the local Guild Challenge, due April 28. I think I have a shot at making it but it will be close!

We have, however, had time for a few fun distractions. I want to post photos from last weekend's hike to Petroglyph Canyon before the trip is as old as the images we saw! I have a couple of wonderful friends who are members of the local rock club and they tipped us off to the hike. The caravan of vehicles was to begin in Powell early in the morning and then drive northeast to the Pryor Mountains and the Canyon. On the way over to Powell I mentioned to Ken that I had seen a pair of sandhill cranes in the area earlier in the week. As we came over a hill I instructed him to be on the lookout for the pair as there is nothing I enjoy seeing or hearing more than the long-legged avian ballerinas. As we topped the hill we were stunned by the sight before us. There were about 200 cranes in the field to the south scattered in amongst a herd of an equal number of cows. We slowed down but it was obvious they were aware of and disturbed by our presence so the photos I got were limited. My day could have ended there and I would have been happy!

We arrived in Powell in time to join the convoy of a dozen vehicles or so headed north. About an hour later we arrived at our destination and started the hike. It was a gorgeous day with perfect lighting and wonderful camaraderie. The hike was relatively short but the canyon was spectacular and the petroglyphs were worth the trip. The only disappointment was seeing the ubiquitous graffiti that has reached to pollute even this desolate space.

Later that evening Ken discovered an unwelcome souvenir from the trip. Some men are "chick magnets", Ken has always been a "tick magnet"! For as long as I have known him the little varmints have been strangely attracted to him and seem to latch on at any chance. Lucky for us we saw the intruder and removed him before he could get too comfortable.

Illustration Friday - Save

2008-04-06T11:26:00.003-06:00

The small words at the bottom of the painted image, cut from the newspaper, say "save a tree". It is meant to be a bit tongue in cheek as I doubt most people will go so far as to try and save paper by painting their watercolors on used coffee filters like this one, but I think it does make the point!

Out Like a Lamb?

2008-03-31T18:52:00.002-06:00

The return of the bluebirds, witnessed a couple weeks ago, is a definite sign that Spring is on its way. There are two things, however, that I count as proof it has actually arrived. The first is blooming Douglasia which I saw for the first time this year on my run yesterday morning. Then the Wyoming State bird, the meadowlark, made its appearance this morning and I knew it was true despite the softly falling snow. Spring is here!

Douglasia is a delicate purple flower. I have always thought its discoverer - yes, his name was Douglas - did it a great disservice by insisting on bestowing his masculine moniker onto such a fragile flower. On the other hand, it is not uncommon to see it blooming under a layer of snow so maybe it isn't so delicate after all.

A couple years ago I wanted to do something different for my Secret Sister at Quilt Guild so I wrote her a quilt related poem every month and painted a watercolor sketch to go along with it. I will never be known as a great poet but I really enjoyed creating a new set of lines each month, and my poem for March was one of my favorites. I have a secret dream of someday making a small quilt to go with each poem and creating a calendar of the images and words to give to family and friends.

Anyway, on this last day of March, 2008, here is my poem for the month.

March
March. It's a month out of step
Half winter, half springtime, half frozen , and yet...
There's a warm, whispered promise
Of days still to come:
The glimpse of a bluebird, a wildflower so young
It's barely noticed surrounded by snow
Just a pale, purple blush on the landscape below.

There are those who insist winter's end is a dream,
That hints of warm weather are not what they seem;
But a quilter's heart gladdens to see life re-new
As fresh, favorite colors of green and sky blue
Come together in squares that dance with Spring Fever
And turn even cynics into believers!

Flying South

2008-03-28T06:54:00.004-06:00

I put on quite a few miles last week as I headed first to Florida to spend a few days with my Mom and Dad and then to Salt Lake City to enjoy the Easter festivities with my in-laws. One of the great things about visiting my parents is that they live in the middle of an area that is protected for bird life. The big excitement this time was the bald eagle pair that had built a nest in a tree just across the street. We spent many wonderful minutes watching through the telescope as the two young eaglets were fed their meals. I didn't have the proper camera equipment with me to capture any great eagle photos but I did get some pretty good shots of some of the other residents.

This guy to the left was my biggest surprise of the trip. I was walking on the raised boardwalk one morning when I heard a loud commotion right under my feet. Out ran this not-so-little guy. There was no one else anywhere in sight and so for a few wonderful moments it was just the two of us watching each other warily in the overcast morning light. I was totally intrigued. It seemed obvious he was a juvenile of some type but I really couldn't identify the species. It wasn't until I returned home and could look in the bird book that I discovered I was eye to eye with an immature yellow-crowned night heron. That makes him the second night heron I have ever seen in my life.

A few minutes later as I headed back along the boardwalk to reach the street I looked down to see this green heron just a few feet away in the mangrove. He seemed quite unimpressed by my presence and sat patiently as I snapped a number of photos. I love the detail in his feathers. This is one I think I will have to paint.

Just around the next bend sat a Louisiana heron on the rail of the bridge. I was trying to get a photo of him straight on and I succeeded, but it is not that funny unless you know just how long that beak really is!

On the way back to the house I saw this Great Egret fishing in a lake alongside the road. I was struck by the incredible green in his face patch. Why have I never noticed that before? I also love the pattern of the water in this shot.

The last photo is of the sunset at the beach off Anna Marie Island. I am thankful to the seagull who picked that moment to fly in front of my lens.

Spring is for the Birds

2008-03-15T14:13:00.002-06:00

After a week of temperatures in the high 50's we had a smattering of snow sneak in on us Thursday night. That was why it was especially surprising to look out yesterday morning and see my first mountain bluebird of the year highlighted perfectly against a backdrop of white snow-covered rock. The photo at the left is one I took last summer. I love seeing these birds and am always shocked by the intensity of their color but I have a really hard time capturing a photo of them. They don't sit still for long.
A short while later I was out on my run when I heard more of the bluebird song down by the irrigation ditch. I stopped to take a look and couldn't believe the sight - I counted 27 bluebirds in one single tree! This morning Ken counted an even dozen in a tree when out on his run. Even though the snow disappeared almost immediately yesterday I can't imagine where these guys are finding enough bugs to keep them all fed.
This morning we heard a commotion outside and looked out to see the biggest flock of ravens we have ever seen. We are used to seeing a couple around most of the time and we have seen large groups of crows occasionally in the past but never this many ravens together. We counted thirty in this single grouping. For a minute it seemed as if the whole sky was black then they all circled around and seemed to go their separate ways.

Two of the coyotes were visible in the rocks not far from the house this morning. At first we thought they were hunting a bunny as they would disappear behind a pile of rocks and suddenly we would see dirt flying everywhere as they dug in the sand. They seemed unfazed by our presence up on the hill as we fed the llamas. Every so often they would come out and check to see what we were doing but it wasn't until I moved in their direction to take this picture that they decided it was too much. A while later we went down to look at their dig site and it just seemed to be a hole in the ground. We could see them watching us from above as we looked. Now I think they are getting ready to den and are picking a site within view of the house. Huh!

Last night we went into Cody to a benefit dinner and concert for the Park County Pedalers. The entertainment was by Jalan Crossland of Ten Sleep, an artist I hear on NPR fairly regularly and one I like a lot. Probably the only thing I regretted giving up when we moved to Wyoming was my road bike. We live about eight miles from a paved road and it just didn't seem like we would get much use out of our road bikes once we were here. We traded them in for mountain bikes but it just hasn't been the same. Road biking was my sport of choice in my younger days and one at which I was better than almost any other woman I knew. Ken is less enamoured of the sport and was once seriously injured in a cycling accident. Last year when I decided to start competing in triathlons again I went out and bought a very basic road bike. I didn't get a lot of miles in, partly because Ken hates for me to ride alone, but I really enjoyed what I did do. Then this year I became friends with some people from the Park County Pedalers. Now I am planning on joining them on a number of organized rides and I am really excited about getting back in the saddle. I will probably have to drive to Cody to start the rides but that is true for most of the social activities we do anyway.

Illustration Friday - Garden

2008-03-10T08:46:00.001-06:00

A Dangerous Blister

2008-03-09T10:52:00.003-06:00

I used up yet another of my nine lives last night. I really believe that without my very basic knowledge of wilderness medicine the night may have ended much differently than it did.

The day started off well enough. It was clear and warm and the temperatures on the plains were forecast to be in the high fifties. That was good news since we were signed up to join the Park County Nordic Ski Club on their annual end-of-year ski trip from Sylvan Pass to Pahaska Teepee. Sylvan Pass sits about 12 miles inside the East Entrance of Yellowstone National Park and is high enough that the snow is still cold and deep even on these spring like days. For the last five years the Nordic group has hired a snowcoach to haul members up to the Pass on the last day the Park is open in the winter season and then they ski the mostly downhill route back to their vehicles. We were on the last coach of the day which put us at the Pass just after noon. Ken and I are not members of the Nordic Ski Club but we have friends who are and this seemed like a perfect way to get a few more miles on our new cross country gear before we put it all away for the season. The ski was wonderful. It took us about 3 1/2 hours to do the almost thirteen miles, including a break to enjoy a nice leisurely lunch. We only saw three or four other people the whole time as the group was pretty spread out over the trail. I started feeling a hot spot on my right heel at about the 8 mile mark and knew I was going to have a pretty good blister before the day was over. I have had blisters on that foot from these boots every time I've worn them so I had started the day with a large bandaid over the vulnerable spot but it obviously wasn't enough, especially with the heat we were experiencing causing even more sweating than normal.

After limping into the finish I removed my boot and could see a huge circle of blood seeping through my sock. It was obvious the blister had progressed to the raw meat stage but I've been there before and wasn't too worried.

On the way home - a two hour drive from Pahaska - Ken and I stopped by our friends place to have a cup of tea. Then we decided to grab a quick dinner in Cody so didn't roll in the driveway until dusk. Once home we did a few chores and then Ken headed to bed while I stayed up to watch a little TV. When I made my way into the bedroom an hour or so later Ken mumbled that he had set out some medical supplies in the bathroom for me to take care of my heel. Sure enough, there on the counter was a virtual pharmacy of blister care products. I wiped the injured area with an alcohol wipe, put on a dab of antibiotic cream and then covered it all with a space-age looking bandage that claimed to have some magic formula embedded into the gelled surface.

A little while later I woke up and realized I was in trouble. I couldn't breathe. My chest felt like a truck was sitting on top of it. I started sneezing violently and couldn't stop. I couldn't believe it. In my fogged state I thought I had come down with the worst cold in history and wondered how it could have come on so quickly. Then I looked at the clock and realized I had been in bed less than an hour. I got up to get a drink of water and when I came back to bed I discovered my lips and tongue felt funny; they were tingling and felt like they were swelling. And suddenly I knew - these were the signs and symptoms of anaphylactic shock. I was having a severe allergic reaction. But to what? Then I realized the only thing it could possibly be was the magic blister pad. I tore it off my foot and threw it away. I downed two antihistamines and prayed for my heart rate to slow down. I debated telling Ken he needed to get me to the hospital - fast. Within minutes my breathing eased and the pressure in my chest lessened. Within a half hour I couldn't tell there was anything wrong. I didn't sleep much after that and Ken couldn't believe I didn't wake him when I recounted my story this morning. Now I feel like my chest is bruised and I am tired but I think I will be back to normal by tomorrow. Who knew a blister could be so dangerous?!

Cheap Entertainment

2008-03-06T06:46:00.003-07:00

The coyotes have been incredibly entertaining this winter. There are at least four of them that show up almost every day and usually several times during the day. I don't know when they sleep as we hear them howling all night and they seem to hunt during most of the daylight hours. They have a perimeter that is about an eighth of a mile from the house in any direction and they are really bold at that distance. They will sit on the ridge and watch Ken and I working outside without any sign of fear. Occasionally they will come in closer, like this one in the photo to the left, and then they are much more wary of our movements. It is pretty obvious they have figured out we are unlikely to shoot them.
The entertainment comes in watching them hunt. They work as a team and have some pretty intelligent strategies. Most of the time I am cheering for the bunnies, and most of the time the bunnies get away unharmed, but , of course, the dogs have to eat to survive too. I hope they are controlling the rodent population by munching on mice and pack rats.
I am not concerned for the coyotes as a threat to the llamas. It is pretty clear who has the upper hand in that battle. The chickens are not a worry either as their coop is situated in the middle of the llama corral. The only real concern is for Frank the cat. He has a healthy fear of the coyotes and will run for the house, furred up to three times his normal size, if he hears theirs howls at any distance. The worry is that chance meeting when the coyotes are too close and Frank is wandering too far. I try to keep pretty close tabs on him but it gets more difficult as the warmer weather moves in.

I woke the other morning to a new horizon line of mountains in the distance. They were mountains of mist and didn't last long but it was interesting to see the landscape with a feature other than those we have grown used to.

We have had an unusual visitor each of the last two mornings. I feed about 10 lbs of bird seed a day and the usual diners come flocking in at the sound of my voice. It is probably just coincidence but both yesterday and the day before I have stood by the feeder giving my usual invite only to look up at a bald eagle circling low overhead. I can't imagine what he is looking for as there is not much fitting his dietary preferences available here, but he is certainly a thrill to watch. The two resident golden eagles have been around every day for weeks and are acting a little strange, hunting right up to dusk each day. Ken thinks they have a nest going. That would be great as it has been about three years since we have seen three eagles flying around all summer.

Done!

2008-03-02T13:01:00.002-07:00

About a year and a half ago or so my brother brought up the idea of him, my Mom and me doing some sort of joint art project. Then, about a year ago, I put forth the suggestion of a fractured photo based on some of the successes I had seen with such a project in the quilting world. Ken had taken a photo of the fishing pier at French River on Prince Edward Island when we were up for my parents' 50th wedding anniversary and, after some discussion, it was decided to use that photo as our inspiration. Once all the "rules" were put in place we set a deadline of the end of February of this year. Mom finished hers months ago, I finished mine today and I have heard rumors that Garth is working on his so we will actually have a completed project.
The plan was this: we each took the photo and divided it into three equal parts which we then rendered in whatever medium we desired to come up with three finished pieces at a size of 5" wide by 9" high. We will now swap pieces so each of us ends up with a complete picture made up of one piece of artwork from each of us.

I thought about doing it in fabric but quickly discarded that idea because of the complexity of the piece and the relatively small size of the finished project. My next plan was to use acrylics on hardboard but that did not go well and I abandoned that approach after a couple of days. In the end I fell back on what I am most comfortable with - watercolors on Bristol.
For the most part I am pleased with the results. I may do a bit more tweaking but it is pretty much finished. I am not completely happy with the water but one of the problems with working on Bristol is that it is easy to overwork the surface. So I guess I can live with it. Now I just need to figure out how best to package the two pieces I am sending off so they make it to Canada without being ruined. I can't wait to get the other two pieces from Mom and Garth so I can frame it and hang it up. Ken will have another role in the finished project as he is the matting/framing expert in this house.

I would have finished the painting a few days earlier if we hadn't been busy with Search and Rescue over the last few days. Usually this is our quiet time of year other than the odd snowmobile accident but this has been an unusual winter. We haven't had a single snow machine incident but we have had to deal with car wrecks, heart attacks and yesterday, a husband and wife ATV accident. They were playing in the McCullough Peaks area when he came over a hill too fast and found his wife slowly making her way down the backside. He tried to hit the brakes but in the excitement hit the gas instead and rear ended her pretty good. He got the worst of it and had to be flown to Billings by helicopter but we had to go back the three miles or so to the site and transport her out to the waiting ambulance. It was a by-the-book rescue but it sure took up a good part of the day.

I found a wonderful surprise in my mailbox when we got home from the rescue yesterday. There was a package with the new book by Betty Blais - "More Amazing Angelina" - and a whole bunch of Angelina film that she sent along just because she is a great person. I can't wait to play with this stuff, especially since I have Betty's book with all sorts of ideas on what I might do with it. And did I mention she included photos of two of my quilts in the gallery of her book?

Now it is time to head to the studio and work on some quilts. I have one that needs to be finished before the next WAV meeting and at least two that are in the quilting stage.

From Spam to Ham

2008-02-28T13:35:00.003-07:00

I received a ham in the mail yesterday. No, I am not talking about a part of a pig (although the shape is the same - hence the name) but rather about a tailor's ham. For many years clothes makers have made use of this valuable tool for pressing curved seams such as armholes during garment construction. It has been years since I have actually seen one and I was cursing my lack during the sewing of my last few jackets. Several months ago I was in the quilt shop in Greybull Wyoming and I happened to ask the manager if she has seen a ham for sale from any of her suppliers. Her eyes got a far away look as she answered that she hadn't seen one since she was a child.
Fast forward to about a week ago when I received an email message from Betty S of Basin, Wyoming. It turns out Betty was in the store in Greybull the day I asked my question. Shortly thereafter she ended up traveling to Florida to take care of her elderly father who has been having some health problems. It seems she has been amusing herself by taking in the local flea market on weekends and had come across several used tailor's hams at one of the booths. She was emailing me to ask if I was still looking for one. I said "yes" so she picked one up for $2 last Saturday, put it in the mail and I had it by yesterday! Don't you just love random acts of kindness?
It is feeling like spring here this week. Every day has been in the 50's and the national news this morning reported that we were warmer than most of Florida! I have been seeing bunny nests everywhere. I hope they aren't getting duped into having their young too early only to have a return of winter in a week or two.

The Chronicles of Norton

2008-02-27T07:52:00.002-07:00

Once again I am asking a piece I made to do double duty. The Fast Friday Fabric Challenge topic this week is "Spam". The Illustration Friday topic is "Multiple". If there is one thing I have multiples of it is spam so I decided to combine the two into the above 32" x 22" quilt titled "The Chronicles of Norton".

The words on the bottom read as follows:

"Welcome to a brief glimpse into the Chronicles of Norton. On his home planet of Earth he is just another mild mannered geek...But once in cyber space he is transformed into Spam Buster, a modern day superhero sworn to protect computer users everywhere from villains such as The Stretcher, Hot Russian Babe, The Fraud Squad and many, many more!"

This piece was almost too fun to make. There are a few things I would do differently next time but I tried out at least two new techniques I have been wanting to use so I am calling it a success.

Ken thinks I am nuts. He loved the background when I finished it and really wanted me to turn it into a landscape instead of a cartoon. I had to convince him it is only fabric and I can make another background just like it (although I probably never will!)

Home Again

2008-02-19T07:30:00.001-07:00

The week since I last posted has been an interesting one. Rather than floating by like a lazy river, it has been an exciting ride, punctuated by one memorable event after another.

On Wednesday Ken and I drove to Jackson Hole to spend four days working hard at getting our Wilderness First Responder Recertification. The recert actually started Thursday evening so we had all day Thursday to ski the big hill. I love that place. It is one of the few ski hills I enjoy skiing almost as much as back-country. The slopes are challenging and huge and you can exhaust yourself by the end of the day without even trying too hard. Somehow we got talked into participating in the Valentine's Day Couple's Slalom Race. We were the oldest couple in the race by about 20 years but it really didn't matter. The course was set up as part slalom, part obstacle: we had to ski a little, stop and grab a Valentine from a cooler, ski some more, stop and throw three rings onto a pole, grab another Valentine, ski to the end, remove our gear, grab another Valentine and run hand in hand through the heart-decorated arch. Corny? You bet! Ken and I watched some of the other couples participating and Ken came up with a detailed strategy about how we needed to throw the rings to gain the most points. I was given specific instructions about where to stand, how hard to throw, how to hold my poles and gloves, etc. Then it was our turn. We took off like bullets (okay, slow bullets) through the starting gate. I could see Ken out of the corner of my eye as he navigated each gate in the slalom and I prayed I wouldn't wipe out and embarass us both. We got to the ring toss and stood back to back, each with 3 rings in hand. I threw my first one - bullseye! The second - another bullseye! Then the third - unbelievably another bullseye! I was psyched! Then I turned back to the course and saw Ken's 3 rings spread all over the hill. So much for that strategy. We didn't win the race but we laughed so long and hard about our failure that it felt like a win just the same.

On Friday morning we entered the classroom with 25 other students (again we were the oldest by many years) and were immediately given our written exam. I have been studying diligently for the last couple of months so wasn't too worried. A passing grade for the exam is 80% and about half the class ended up having to take a second exam at the end of the course to bring up their grades. Lucky for me I did well on the first one so didn't have that added stress to deal with. The next 3 days were intense lectures and lots of outdoor scenarios. I am always amazed at how quickly you forget this is all practice and really get into the role of trying to save someone's life. We were staying at the Teton Science School Jackson Campus and that is where all the classes were held. Time becomes very distorted when you spend all your waking hours going from one adrenelin rush to the next. I could not have told you what day or time it was on any of the days we were there. I could have been there for an hour or a year and I wouldn't have been surprised.

Once everything was over on Sunday afternoon we jumped in the car for the 7 hour drive home. We arrived close to midnight so just checked the phone messages and headed to bed. I was delighted to have a message saying I had won the raffle put on by the Cody Humane Society. I bought 6 tickets a couple of weeks ago but didn't even pay attention to when the drawing was because I never win these things. I won a huge basket filled with several hundred dollars worth of outdoor gear including a new GPS and a bunch of other fun stuff. I plan to pick it up this afternoon in Cody.

Then, Monday morning, I started looking through the 200 emails that had accumulated while we were gone. More joy and excitement as I discovered my "Elvis Lives" quilt had taken first place in the Big Horn Quilts Elvis Challenge. It is a $600 purchase prize so I am very excited to be the winner!

Another email was from Betty Blais of Embellishment Village and author of "Amazing Angelina". She wanted permission to include photos of two of my quilts in her new book on Angelina. Of course I said "yes"!

Not all the emails were good news. I also learned the mother of a good friend had passed away unexpectedly over the weekend. My heart aches for Jeanne and her family and I will keep them all in my prayers.

Ken barely had time to unpack his suitcase and pack another and he is now headed for Cincinnati for a few days. I hope I can get caught up on all the things that piled up while we were gone before he returns. This Friday is another Fast Friday Fabric Challenge already so there is that to look forward to as well.

Catching Up

2008-02-11T11:24:00.000-07:00

I have been terrible about posting to my blog since Christmas. It is not that I have nothing going on in my life - au contraire - I have been so busy that I don't know where to start. The longer I go without posting, the further behind I feel I am and then I put it off for even longer. I think the only way to get back on track is just to start from point 0 - today.

I will briefly mention a few of the things that have happened in the last six weeks or so:
* My Mom and Dad were here for Christmas. That was really nice even though the weather didn't always cooperate.
* Ken and I then traveled to California with my parents for the Rose Bowl Parade. Lots of fun and beautiful flowers.
* Shortly after returning home we packed up again and headed into Snow Lodge at Old Faithful for a few days of cross country skiing with some friends. Great comaraderie and wonderful wildlife viewing.
* I have been painting and sewing up a storm. Lots of "work-in-progress".
* I have enrolled in the NQA Certified Judge's Program. It is a lot of work and time and actually takes a couple years to get through all the requirements.
* We leave Wednesday for Jackson Hole where we will spend four intense days getting our Wilderness First Responder recertification.

I have been playing more with quilting cartoons and have developed a strip for a couple of guild newsletters titled "Around the Block". One of the strips was my contribution to Illustration Friday last week. I learned something while posting it on-line. I have had a couple comments from readers unable to read the words. I can understand as I can't read them myself from here. The problem seems to lie in the fact that I added the wording in Photoshop. For some reason that disabled the ability to "click and enlarge". I am not computer savvy enough to know how to fix it. I guess in the future I will just have to make sure to do my text by hand and not on the computer.
I know it is not at all the same to read the words after the fact but the story in the cartoon is this: Kat spends six months and hundreds of hours laboring away on a queen size quilt as a Christmas gift for her MIL. On Christmas Day she and her husband arrive at his mothers only to find that she had received a "beautiful bedspread" from her sister who had purchased the gift at Walmart. As a result, Kat's "homemade" gift was given to the family pet to be used as a doggie blanket. The sad thing is that I have heard similar stories in real life!

Illustration Friday - Blanket

2008-02-06T14:17:00.000-07:00

Blanket - That awful "B" word that every quilter dreads!

(Note - Disclaimer - Although the quilter and her husband are based on Ken and me, his mother in the cartoon is definitely not my MIL!)

Illustration Friday - Tales and Legends

2008-01-26T12:31:00.001-07:00

This is what happens when you cut the deadline way too close! You end up with the only photo being one with the flash glaring off the glass. This is the first giant sized (20" x 25") cartoon I have worked on and it had to be completed by Thursday evening at 4pm to be presented at a dinner that evening honoring the Search and Rescue commander for Park County. I finished at approximately 3:30 and Ken was throwing it in a frame as the paint was still drying.

It fits the IF theme of "tales and legends" because it portrays a very tongue-in-cheek epic tale of a search for a lost subject. There are a total of 28 people depicted (including the victim) as well as 6 dogs and one each of cat, seal, mountain goat, buzzard and horse. The equipment list includes a boat, a kayak, 2 four wheelers, a six wheeler, an airplane, a helicopter a mobile command center, a motorcycle, a bicycle and a tricycle.

The detail to the left shows Ken and I while the one just below depicts Kris B being pulled behind her very active search dog, Tate.

This was a fun project but I am glad it is completed so I can move on to other things!

Illustration Friday - Stitch

2008-01-11T17:00:00.000-07:00

Timing is everything! I have been away from IF for a few weeks but I returned just as the word of the week was "stitch". The image above is a small portion of a piece in which I put the last stitch today. One of my personal challenges on this piece was to show movement of the puppies tail using only stitches.
Hand-dyed, hand painted and commercial cotton and polyester, cotton batting.

WAV Christmas

2007-12-21T09:15:00.000-07:00

I have been spending a lot of time in the studio recently but you wouldn't know it from looking at the pictures on my blog. The problem is that most of the pieces I have been working on cannot be shown, either because they are Christmas gifts or, more likely, they are part of an upcoming competition or exhibit that prohibits publication of images before the event. Since this blog allows public access it qualifies under the publication ban.

One of the things I can now show is the book cover I made as part of the gift exchange for my fabric artist's group in Billings. The theme for the Christmas exchange is often chosen a year in advance and we then have 12 months to plan our creation. Even so, I would guess that most of the gifts, like mine, are constructed after the first of November or even later. The theme for this year was "book". We can interpret the theme however we wish and we do not have to stick with fabric in the creation, but it does have to be something made with our own hands. There is no requirement to participate and we often have a member or two who simply finds the season too busy to spend time on the gift exchange so they sit out a year. All along I had planned on making a book cover. I had doodled out several possibilities, all landscapes and was zeroing in on a final choice. Then, about September or so, it seemed like every book and magazine I picked up featured a new method or technique or design for making book covers. When I saw the one in the newest issue of Quilting Arts Magazine I knew I had to re-think my sketch. The technique shown looked like so much fun I just had to give it a go. The result is the cover shown here in the first four photos. The luscious texture is achieved by covering the whole thing with a layer of polyester organza, free-motion machine quilting over it all and then applying the heat gun to the surface to melt away the organza in places. Even though the article warns against making the piece too small I still managed to do so so I added a leaf of faux leather to the closure side. The cording used to make the closure was braided using a simple method I discovered in Bead and Button Magazine a few months ago.

The fun part of a gift exchange is, of course, the exchange part! We use a non-biased method of placing a number on each wrapped package and then drawing names out of a hat to see who goes home with what present. My gift went to Linda MacD. I in turn received a wonderful package from Brooke A that included the little gems shown here. The container is a deep shadow box and inside were three incredible pieces of art. The base of each was a page from an old book with the intriguing name of "Adventuresses and Adventurous Women". Inside each was a grouping of sharp objects: rose thorns in one, broken glass in another and pins and needles in the third. The theme of the grouping was "Quilting as a Blood Sport" and it was inspired by the hair-raising adventures of those of us who participated in this summer's artist's llama trek in the Beartooth Mountains. Each little miniature then has an extensive amount of stitching holding it all together.

Next year's theme has already been chosen. Jeanne K put forth the idea of "Time" which was adopted by all. I am already thinking of possibilities!

Illustration Friday - Backwards

2007-12-20T08:05:00.000-07:00

"The faster I go, the behinder I get!"

The above statement is a silly old saying I remember hearing as I was growing up. Like most silly old sayings, it has a ring of truth to it. This time of year especially, it seems that the more we rush around trying to get everything done, the more there is to do. So I propose we all take a deep breath, pour ourselves a cup of nice hot tea and take a moment to sit still and enjoy the season.

Happy Holidays!

2006 Journal Quilts

2007-12-15T11:24:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it has been a week since I last posted. Life got in the way, as it tends to do over the holidays, and the last seven days just vanished when I wasn't paying attention!

On Monday I received a phone call from the mailman saying he had a package I needed to sign for. It turned out to be my 2006 Journal Quilts, returning home after touring the country with about 1000 others of their kind for the last year. I was excited to receive them; not because I have any particular use for them at this time, but simply because I could not remember, for the life of me, what they looked like. I was thrilled to discover I still like them. It was as if I was seeing them with fresh eyes since I had them in my possession for such a short time before they left home.

The first one was my first ever attempt at painting on fabric with Dye-na-flo paints, a technique I have used extensively since in everything from large quilts to pieces of clothing.

Number 2 is colored with fabric crayons. I wasn't too thrilled with it at the time and I have only recently picked up the crayons again for another try.

The third quitlet uses a combination of paint and foil to create the pears.

The fourth piece is probably my favorite of the bunch. The dragonfly was painted with Jacquard Lumiere paints onto a polyester sheer fabric. This was then layered over a hand-dyed cotton and quilted to emphasize the shape. I still want to go back and give him a pair of crystal eyes.

The last piece was started in a class at Yellowstone Quilt Festival by Barbara Olsen. While I really like the look of it I have a hard time thinking of it as my own. This technique is so obviously Barbara and anyone who has seen her work would easily identify it as a poor knockoff of one of her masterpieces.

I will miss the Journal Quilt Project. I participated in the last five years of its existence and learned a lot along the way. I think the Fast Friday Fabric Challenge Group that I am now part of will probably go a long way to taking the place of these wonderful little exercises.

Illustration Friday "little things"

2007-12-09T13:37:00.001-07:00

Maybe it is the fact that there are just too many obvious bad jokes that could be illustrated under this heading that made me take the high road for a change. This image was constructed from a bunch of photos I took of a family of Canada Geese in Jackson Hole last spring. There are certainly some things I wish I had done differently but it was a fun exercise nonetheless.

For the Birds

2007-12-07T15:27:00.000-07:00

This has been the week of the birds. A few days ago I reported on some of the tracks I had observed in the snow, including a bunch of chukar prints. That prompted a comment from Tomme in Iowa saying she had to look the bird up to know what it was. It always surprises me that the beautiful partridge is so little known. I had never heard of them myself until I moved here and witnessed them in the flesh. Most days we have about 50 chukars hanging around in our yard. We feed them in the winter which no doubt accounts for their presence in such high numbers. It also helps that we don't shoot them even though the rumor is they make delicious eating. I really like this photo I took of two of them in the back yard yesterday even though it is a little too dark to fully appreciate the birds. The one on the right looks like he is looking up at the snow and maybe trying to catch it like a child does on his tongue.

Then, as Ken and I took off on our run yesterday, we saw one of the golden eagles circling low over our trail. They spend quite a bit of time visiting in the summer but the winter is when they move onto our place and hunt rabbits daily. I was a little bit ahead of Ken and as I got about 2 miles out from the house the eagle started circling lower and lower overhead. I stopped running and held my breath as he landed in a tree just a few feet away. We both remained motionless, starring at each other until Ken caught up and the eagle decided the pressure of two people was too much. Ken's reaction was great. "What the h--l was that?!" he said. "I thought maybe the eagle thought your hat was a big pink bunny and he was about to swoop down for a meal!" I didn't want to admit that the same thought had entered my head. I was prepared to hit the dirt fast if it looked like the big bird was coming for my head but he obviously had other things in mind. I would love to think he is finally getting used to us after 15 years of co-existence, realizing we are not a threat. It is more likely, however, he was just bored and curious about these strange two legged creatures who move at such a slow pace even when they are trying to go fast.

But today was the best sighting of them all. After lunch, as I went outside to head back over to my studio, a pigeon ran right into the side of the house in front of me. He shook himself off and flew away but I felt guilty, assuming I had startled him from his resting place. Then I rounded the corner and saw this big boy perched in the juniper bush. A Northern Goshawk, pretty rare and an amazing sight to see. They are huge birds, not as big as the eagle of course, but impressive nonetheless at almost two feet tall. He spent quite a bit of time hanging out in the yard, allowing me to take numerous photos of him, then finally flapped his powerful wings and headed elsewhere in search of lunch.

Life in Wyoming

2007-12-03T08:44:00.000-07:00

I was just settling into a new project yesterday when the pager went off. An 11 year old boy was missing south of Cody. I used to get upset that the pager always seems to interrupt me in the middle of something until one day I realized...duh...unless I am sitting around waiting for it to go off, it is always going to come when I am doing something else. We loaded up our gear and headed to town but the boy was found by a Sheriff's Deputy before we arrived so back home we went. It is our slow time of year right now but we have still had a few calls in the last week: a missing Alzheimer's patient in the middle of a snow storm, a call to the airport for a private jet that couldn't get its landing gear to engage, and now this one. All have ended happily and with little fanfare.
As we headed down the road yesterday afternoon we had to flag down our neighbor, Buster, who was about to deliver us a load of hay. He was very understanding and agreed to wait until we called him later in the day. By the time we got home and he arrived with the load, it was getting dark and the wind was picking up. We couldn't risk leaving the stack the way it was so Ken and I re-stacked the bales (4 ton of them) in the dark. It is a good job we did because the wind arrived on schedule last night and we registered 70mph on our gauge. That hay would have been spread for miles!
When Buster came in to get paid I showed him our copy of this month's National Geographic magazine that just arrived. It has a big story in it about modern day cowboys and his two nephews are featured as part of the story. One of the boys is the one that was accidentally shot in the back last month and he is still in the hospital in Denver. Buster says he is doing much better but is pretty depressed at the slowness of healing.
I am running again. I probably shouldn't be as my foot is far from better, but I am wearing a night brace and new supportive running shoes and I at least don't seem to be making it any worse. We had a thin dusting of snow on the ground yesterday morning and I noted the following footprints, by size:
* mouse
* pack rat
* chukar
* cottontail
* jack rabbit
* fox
* bobcat
* coyote
* deer
That means at least one of each of the above has been in the vicinity within the last 24 hours. I saw chukars, cottontails, coyote and mule deer in the flesh so can verify their presence.
Today I start wrapping Christmas gifts so they can be put in the mail to Canada and actually get there before the big day. I hope to also keep working on a variety of projects. This is when they are most compelling to me - when they are just getting started and the promise of what they might be is still fresh. Life is good!

Illustration Friday - Excess

2007-12-01T15:38:00.000-07:00

Going Green

2007-12-01T10:58:00.000-07:00

A year and a half ago I received an invitation, along with about 40 other quilt artists, to participate in a show to be presented at a gallery in Tillamook, Oregon in March of 2008. Now how can you say no to someone who gives you that much lead time? Besides, I was honored to have been asked and I thought it would be kind of fun. There were some guidelines: the finished piece had to be 18" wide by 45" long and the theme was "Its Good to be Green". We could interpret that any way we wanted. I started mulling over ideas in my head and discarded most of them as not too exciting.

Shortly after I said I would participate in the show I traveled "home" to Prince Edward Island to help celebrate my parents' 50th wedding anniversary. It was August and by then the landscape surrounding my high desert Wyoming home had settled into its mid-summer tones of beige and brown. When I got off the plane on PEI I felt as though someone had turned my visual sensors to read green. I couldn't believe how lush and tropical everything looked. After all, we are talking about an annual difference in rainfall of many, many inches between Wyoming and the Island. I took lots of photos while I was there and soon settled on one that would be the basis for my "Good to be Green" quilt. I even had a name - "The Green, Green Grass of Home". Once I returned from the Island I doodled around for a few months until I had the design I wanted, then summer came round again and I put away all things fabric until the cooler weather returned this fall. By then I had come up with a second possible design for a quilt for the show and I decided to proceed with both and choose the one I preferred once they were complete.

In September I got serious about putting them together and dyed all the fabric I needed for both quilts. I experimented with batik on the one and was quite pleased with the results. I kept working on the two quilts along with a half dozen other projects until I suddenly realized my huge lead time was getting shorter and shorter and I needed to focus on one or the other and get it done. I settled on my first idea and finished the applique and started on the quilting about a month ago. I was still feeling pretty good about it all until I went back and read the correspondence in early November and realized I had to have a photograph of the finished quilt to the curator by December 1st. And that I would be gone for at least a week of that time over Thanksgiving. Aaagh! I put in lots of hours over the last few days and sent the photo off on time (barely) yesterday. Even though it doesn't say anywhere that we can't show the quilt, it doesn't feel quite right doing so before the show opens so I am going to do what I have seen done by one of the other participants and just show one of the detail shots here. I am pretty pleased with the final piece. The bamboo/cotton combination fabric I used took the dye beautifully and the colors are rich as I had hoped they would be. Ken thinks I need to add a flock of geese in the sky and I may still do so even though I have sent the photo already.

I am excited to be able to move on to other projects now. This summer I wondered if I would ever quilt again - I just seemed to have lost the desire. It has returned with a vengeance over the last few months and I have enough designs backed up on my drawing board to take me through the next ten years at least!

Anti-zoo

2007-11-28T08:20:00.000-07:00

The word for Illustration Friday last week was "zoo". I just couldn't get excited about the topic. Part of my issue was the activity of the holiday and part was my rush to finish a number of other projects, but my biggest mental stumbling block was the fact that I live in the middle of what I think of as the "anti-zoo". After all, barely a day goes by that I don't witness the doings of some amazing wild creature in its natural environment.

Yesterday morning I heard the llamas sounding their distress call. I looked out the back window to see this beautiful coyote posing on the ridge. I walked outside to take a number of photos of him standing proudly in the sunlight. He pretty much ignored me, giving me a couple of disinterested glances and then resuming his lookout for a bunny breakfast.

This morning I looked out the same window and there was one of the resident golden eagles sitting atop eagle rock. Every time Ken and I look at this particular ridge we think we see an eagle sitting there only to then realize it is a rock. Obviously the eagle thinks it is a logical place for a big bird to perch as well.

I took this photo of my Christmas cactus as I headed back into the house. This plant has always preferred Thanksgiving over the December holiday and is blooming in all its glory right now.

Fast Friday Fabric Challenge - Scale

2007-11-26T14:56:00.000-07:00

How funny that two weeks after the Illustration Friday topic is "scale", the same theme shows up in my Fast Friday Fabric Challenge. Once again I couldn't resist the play on words. This one was fun with all sorts of little touches such as beading, hand embroidery, fabric paint and more. The finished piece is about 10" x 14".

Illustration Friday - Superstition

2007-11-17T11:10:00.001-07:00

Its supposed to bring good luck, but so far the only thing its brought me is coyotes!

Blown Away

2007-11-15T11:18:00.000-07:00

It has been a strange couple of days around here. We knew on Monday morning that we were in for a gale when we heard the weatherman calling for high winds in Montana. The area in which we live rarely gets any attention because of its remoteness and small population. In fact, I would guess that most people, even relatively close by, don't know we exist. Those who do know the area, once they find out where we live, are quick to ask "Why do you live in such a windy place?!" The reality is we probably get wind less often than either Cody or Billings - but when it comes, it comes with real force. Our record so far in the years we have lived here was 86mph. That was the day it hit 126mph at our neighbor's place. We are a little protected, you see. We get violent winds about six or eight times a year and at least one of those tops 100mph in the area. It is always surprising to me that there is not more damage done during these storms, but anybody building in this area knows you have to prepare for hurricane conditions.

The gale that blew through on Monday night topped anything we have seen to date. Part of the problem is that so many new people have moved into the area and when they arrive at their new home in the gentle breeze of summer, they have a hard time understanding why the rest of us are insisting they need to get in the habit of leaving nothing outdoors. We measured 89mph on our meter - several times - at the height of the storm and it hovered between 60mph and 70mph for most of the night. That means no sleep. And no electricity. One of the things that made this an especially stressful night was the fire in the next drainage. Just as the wind was starting to get itself wound up to full opera strength, we got a phone call from our friend Mary wanting to know if we were okay or if we had to evacuate. Turns out a fire was raging in the more heavily populated area to the north of us. At least six families were being evacuated along with their horses, dogs, cats and whatever else they could load into their trailers. I still haven't heard what started the blaze but it apparently got going farther up the mountain in the brush, which points to the most likely possibility of a careless hunter. A fire is scary at the best of times, but with winds now hovering in the 50mph to 60 mph range, things were looking pretty dire for all concerned. I was glad Mary called because just after hanging up from her call the phone rang again and it was a neighbor a couple of miles to the southeast of us calling to say he could see our house on fire. He couldn't, of course. He was seeing the blaze on Line Creek and misjudging where it was located.

We lost power about 11pm on Monday night and I got it back again Wednesday afternoon. Pretty much the whole community was without electricity for that time so I still haven't had a chance to talk to many people about damages but I did hear everyone in the fire zone has returned home and no houses were lost. I went out to the mailbox on Tuesday and was shocked at the debris everywhere. I saw a number of downed fences, one overturned horse trailer, one broken window with a 2x4 sticking out of it and an unbelievable amount of garbage strewn about. I am really curious to hear what the wind speed was at some of the spots on the plains as I suspect it topped 130mph.

I am just relieved all our animals are safe and we had very little damage. The only near disaster came when the 200lb log shown in the photo to the left was picked up out of its spot and moved about 100 ft toward the house. A little more to the right and it would have gone through the greenhouse. A little more to the left and it would have smashed into the front door. Instead it came gently to rest against the retaining wall and now I just have to figure out how to get it back where it belongs. There is something screwy with part of the electrical system that still needs to be figured out but we got off pretty easy overall. The only bad thing is knowing we are at the front end of four months of possible wind storms, any one of which could be worse than the last!

Illustration Friday - Scale

2007-11-11T10:39:00.000-07:00

Seems almost too obvious, doesn't it?!

The Sky is Falling!

2007-11-07T06:50:00.000-07:00

I love my husband dearly and I really like having him around. The truth, though, is that I get so much more sewing done when he is travelling. After all, I don't have to worry about silly things like taking time to eat when he is not here so I can spend much more time in the studio. On Monday we both drove up to Billings so he could fly out at 6am on Tuesday morning. After he left I stayed to do the monthly grocery shopping then headed home. I arrived home slightly after noon and hurried through putting the groceries away and feeding the animals so I could get at my eagerly anticipated creating marathon. I should have known better. I barely finished feeding and watering the final chickens when my pager let out its intrusive scream. A plane crash south of Cody. These are scary calls. A plane crash can mean anything from a one seater to a 747 and rarely has a happy ending. It is something we train for regularly and, even though it is not common, this is not the first time we have been called to the scene of a crash.

By the time I got to Cody we knew the craft involved was a private helicopter. Its location was the very top of one of the higher peaks around but luckily there was lots of room to land other choppers for medical help and evacuation. Our pilot went up with the Sheriff in our fixed wing aircraft and was soon able to transmit back more information about the scene. He dropped a radio to the people he could see on the ground and we soon knew there were four people (including a six month old baby) and a dog in the chopper when it went down. None were seriously injured and there was only one person who required medical help for a back injury. Their biggest problem was that they were stranded and darkness was coming soon. They had a satellite phone with them and had somehow managed to call the National Guard in Montana when they hit. The Sheriff's Department is still trying to figure out all the details but for some reason the State of Montana sent in a Black Hawk helicopter from Helena to assist before calling and alerting us. We had immediately called in Air Idaho for medical evacuation plus another chopper from nearby Worland to take some of our SAR people to the accident location. I was given the job of ground support at staging. I hate that job and find myself pacing the whole time wishing I were at the scene but we have to take turns at the various tasks and each job is as important as the other (at least that is what they tell us to make us feel better - it doesn't work!) Anyway, all the choppers arrived at about the same time and I guess it was an amazing sight to see the four birds - three rescuers plus the injured craft - and the fixed wing plane all congregating on top of the mountain. We were able to get everyone out in one stroke and order was restored in no time but it was still bed time by the time I got home last night. I am not sure what they are going to do about the chopper they had to leave on top of the mountain. That is one expensive toy to throw away.
I am keeping my fingers crossed the pager stays quiet today so I can sew!

Illustration Friday - Hats

2007-11-05T10:37:00.001-07:00

"Mexican Hat Dance"

Fabric paint and hand stitching on original hand-dyed fabric.

Stereotypes

2007-11-04T09:08:00.000-07:00

Quilters are amazing people. Now I know it is not considered politically correct to generalize these days, but I have never met a more generous, caring bunch of individuals than those who express themselves by taking needle to fabric. This was brought home to me several times over the last few days.
I am still in the "no run" mode so yesterday I walked down to the mail box to get the mail. It is a pretty rugged six mile hike round trip so I felt like I got a good bit of exercise as well as saving a little gas. I have been trying to bike down and back each day but the wind was pretty brisk yesterday so my two legs seemed a more pleasant mode of transportation. I was surprised when I opened the box to discover a beautiful, brightly colored package nestled inside. Then I saw it was addressed to me. Its too early for Christmas, my birthday has passed, what could it be? Imagine my delight when I opened the envelope and discovered an amazing book called "Contemporary Hawaiian Quilting". There was a note inside from Dianna G., a fellow quilter who lives in Hawaii and has an uncle in Cody that she visits on a fairly regular basis. Dianna and I have never met although we came close when she was up in this part of the country this summer. Her note said she meant to give me the book when she was visiting but since we never got together she decided to put it in the mail. Is there ever a more welcome or appreciated gift than one that is totally unexpected? I spent much of the rest of the day perusing the gorgeous photos in the book and I know I will spend many more hours looking and reading about the art within.
Then, this morning, I received an email from Evelyn B., a member of the local quilt guild. She had been in Greybull yesterday where she ran into Gale R., another guild member who gave Evelyn a package to give to me. Gale overheard me making a comment at the last guild meeting about a product I was looking for and she happened to have one at home. So she was giving it to me. Or, in reality, giving it to Evelyn who will give it to Jeanne who will give it to me.
How does one pay back such unselfish giving? This is only a mildly rhetorical question. I really feel like I need to "pass along" the positive energy created in these acts of kindness. I guess this is how karma works. One good act leads to another and so on and so on until together we have changed the world in a positive way. At least that is what I choose to believe.

Thank you.

Pinned Pigeon

2007-11-03T08:59:00.000-06:00

We had an interesting discovery this morning. To understand what probably happened you have to first know a little bit about the relationship between the cottontail rabbits that are so prevalent on our land and our llamas.

The photo to the left is one I took a couple years ago but not much has changed since then. The bunnies simply love to get into the rubber feed bowls we use to give the llamas their morning treats. In the case of this photo we had an older llama (who has since passed away from old age) and we elevated his bowl to make it easier for him to get his food. Even that didn't stop the rabbits. I guess they are probably looking for leftover crumbs in the bowls but I'm not totally convinced that is their mission. After all, the llamas do a pretty good job of cleaning their plates and there really isn't much room for the bunny to eat anything once he wedges himself into the bowl. They do, however, invariably leave something behind before they get out. They always poop and often pee inside the bowls and, needless to say, the llamas do not appreciate having a soiled eating surface. So the bigger animals have developed their own mechanism for fighting back - once they finish eating, they will pick up the bowl in their teeth and toss it in the air. If it doesn't land upside down they just pick it up again and toss it until it does. Every morning for the last few years we have had to turn the bowls back over the right way to put the feed in. Pretty smart, eh?

Which brings me to this morning's discovery. Ken turned over one of the boys' bowls and there underneath, cold and miserable, was a rock dove (commonly known as pigeons in the city). It would have been virtually impossible for him to climb under the bowl and he had obviously spent the night there so the only explanation seems to be that one of the llamas had an amazing toss and caught a pigeon under the bowl. Maybe we can teach them to throw horseshoes!

One of my goals for today is to tattoo a mermaid on an octopus. I think I can safely bet that I am the only person on earth to say that on this particular day. Of course it is not a real octopus (or a real mermaid). No, I am making this multi legged creature out of the stretch knit fabric I received from Brooke A. for her recycled fabric art project. Because the idea was inspired by the beautiful mermaid I saw made from the fabric at the last WAV meeting, I decided he should have a tattoo of the lovely nymph on his octo-butt. I won't be able to finish him off today because I don't have any poly stuffing on hand but I will post photos once he is complete.

Trick, no Treat

2007-11-01T09:52:00.000-06:00

Hunting is not for the faint of heart. I mean that literally. It involves strenuous physical activity, typically at high altitude and often in adverse weather conditions. The Search and Rescue calls we get involving hunters are pretty evenly divided between horse wrecks, shooting mishaps and heart attacks. The call that came in at dinner time last night involved the latter.

I had just turned on the flame under the salmon when the pager went off. A male in his late fifties from the (low altitude) eastern part of the country, was hunting deer with a group of friends about 25 miles west of Cody when he had sudden chest pain. The salmon went in the fridge, the cat went in the garage and Ken and I went in the car and headed for town. We arrived at the hall just as the second truck was pulling out with the trailer carrying our ATV's. On the way to staging it was decided to place Ken at the nearest helicopter landing site with one of the other rescuers while I went on to help carry out the patient. Because of the terrain the closest we could get a chopper was about three miles away and with the early darkness it was going to be critical to the safety of the medivac personnel to have a well marked and lit landing zone for the helicopter. There were seven of us - including two EMT's from the Cody hospital - that went in to find the patient and get him out to his ride. It was basically a flawless evacuation. We found the guy quickly, the EMT's did their thing which included administering nitroglycerin, we loaded him on the stretcher and transported him to the trailhead where he was then taken by ambulance to the waiting helicopter. We were back home, tired and hungry but otherwise happy, by 11pm and the patient was by then at the cardiac unit in Idaho Falls. I wish all rescues could be that smooth!

Fast Friday Fabric Challenge

2007-10-31T11:39:00.000-06:00

" Salsify"
Here is my entry for the second month of participation in the Fast Friday Fabric Challenge in which we are given a theme and a challenge and have one week to complete a quilt. This month we were to show movement through line and to incorporate embellishments into the finished product. The timing was perfect for me as I just purchased an "embellisher", a machine that basically does needle felting, and I needed an excuse to try it out. The first thing that came to mind was the wind blowing the seeds of a salsify plant. The "flying geese" (those little triangles that indicate the wind in my quilt) were a true challenge but I think they worked quite nicely in the end.

Women in Wilderness Retreat

2007-10-26T07:07:00.000-06:00

After almost a year of blogging, I am still trying to get the hang of making it all flow smoothly. I think it is safe to say I have not achieved that goal with this post! The description of my wonderful few days at the GYC Women in Wilderness Retreat is at the end of the string of photos. I hope you will enjoy the visual stimulation and take the time to read about the event in the few paragraphs at the bottom. Note that you can link to some of the people and organizations I mention by clicking on the highlighted items.

Pronghorn near the Lamar River

The view from my cabin at the B-Bar Ranch

An Ancient White Park Bull

Young Suffolk Punch Draft Colt

Horse Drawn Sleigh Ride with Hannah examining the body of a weasel she found in the barn. I am sure he will be immortalized in a drawing!

Elk going up the hill across the Lamar River

Bull elk in YNP

Big Horn Sheep near Gardiner, Montana

Norris Geyser Basin

One of the problems with writing about an event such as the retreat I attended last weekend is that it is an almost overwhelming task because of the richness of experience. I am sure I could sit here and type for the rest of the day and still remember things I forgot to mention at the end of the sitting. Therefore, I am going to give a very brief overview of the weekend and the people involved and then let the photos speak to the rest. I hope you enjoy helping me re-live the wonder and joy of spending four days in one of the most beautiful places on earth!

The first ever Women in Wilderness Retreat was hosted by the Greater Yellowstone Coalition at the B-Bar Ranch in Tom Miner Basin, just north of Gardiner, Montana and the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park. I have driven by the road that goes into the basin many times but this was my first time driving the 8 miles back to the ranch. It is a magical place, full of wildlife and breathtaking scenery where they raise Suffolk Punch Draft Horses and Ancient White Park Cattle. Liz Harrison of GYC was the lady charged with keeping us all occupied and she did an outstanding job throughout the weekend. There were three presenters/facilitators that helped Liz in her mission: Carol McEvoy of the Rim Country Land Institute; Hannah Hinchman, Artist and Naturalist; and Gloria Flora of Sustainable Obtainable Solutions (SOS)

Our first day was spent getting acquainted with the ranch and the other participants. There were ten "retreaters", many of whom had traveled great distances to be there, including some from Pennsylvania, Florida, Indiana, Idaho and more. I was reminded yet again of how incredibly lucky I am to live so close to this amazing natural resource. All the meals were provided by the B-Bar Ranch and the food was truly outstanding the entire time we were there.

Day two started with yoga in the early morning followed by a van ride into Yellowstone where we concentrated on the geology of the northern section of the Park. It was a cold, wet, snowy day and we ended up cutting our planned route a little short because of icy roads but the hike around the Norris Geyser area was a real treat nonetheless and the sightings of big horn sheep along the Gallitan River and elk sparring in Mammoth were just sprinkles on top of the cake. In the afternoon we traveled back to the ranch where I had a wonderful massage and then more interaction with the other participants including another fabulous dinner and a talk by Gloria about her history and the mission of SOS.

Day three began early as we loaded into the van by 6:30 with our sack breakfast for a day of wildlife watching in the Park. We didn't have to wait long as we were about two miles down the ranch road when a grizzly bear sow and her cub of the year came running out of the willows beside the road and crossed in front of us. We didn't see any wolves that day but we saw just about everything else and I love the photos I got of the coyotes hunting rodents in Lamar Valley. We did several great hikes (which I paid for later with my throbbing foot!) and then headed back to the ranch for some sketching time with Hannah and then a horse drawn wagon ride around the ranch. Dinner was followed by another amazing session with Carol and then back to our cabins for our last night of sleeping at the B-Bar.

Day four started with another early morning yoga session and then an hour hiking in the crisp winter air around the ranch. It was the first day of hunting season and we all donned bright orange vests so some overly anxious hunter on the nearby public forest land wouldn't mistake us for a herd of mule deer. We returned to the main lodge for our closing circle and left the B-Bar feeling like we could move the earth if we really wanted to!

I have left so many memories out of this accounting in the interest of time and space. It was truly a magical experience with an amazing group of strong, intelligent, caring women. I feel like I walked away having made some new friends for life and I am already looking forward anxiously to the opportunity to repeat the experience next year!

Good News

2007-10-24T08:23:00.000-06:00

I intend to post later today about my retreat experience last week, but I thought I would first share the good news I have had about two of my quilts this week. It was suggested by a couple of friends (thank you Christine and Jeanne!) that I include more photos of quilts on this blog and this has been such a wonderful week that it seemed a good time to start!

When I returned home on Sunday I found an email from Jeanne letting me know that "Yip-EEE Wyoming", the king-sized quilt pictured to the left, can be seen on the Quilter's Newsletter Magazine website. This quilt was made for the Wyoming State Fair in 2003 where it won first place in the state challenge and also received the Colorado Quilt Council Award of Excellence. Fast forward to 2006 when I received a letter asking if I could send it to Colorado to be part of a six month showing at the CK Media Gallery of Award of Excellence winners from the last few years. I am thrilled to have it included in the show and even more excited to have it showing on the website but there is one thing they did not mention and it is critical - this piece was quilted by Jeanne Knudsen of Cody. Of all the quilts I have done, this one more than any other is a two person quilt. I designed it and pieced it but without Jeanne's expertise it could have been a total failure. When you look closely you will see all sorts of western symbols quilted within the piece; horses, cowboy hats, stars, boots, etc. Since this piece was completed I have taught myself to machine quilt but I still don't think I would attempt a quilt this size and I know I wouldn't achieve anywhere near the skill that Jeanne did.

Then, last night, I got my second piece of good news. Of the forty some quilts that are part of the Fabled Fibers exhibit about to debut at International Quilt Festival in Houston, my "Lily the Llama" was one of twelve chosen to be included in a 2008 calendar based on the exhibit. Lily will be Miss April. Guess what everyone is getting for Christmas this year!

Illustration Friday - Grow

2007-10-22T10:20:00.000-06:00

This is my entry for Illustration Friday for this week. I didn't crop out the sketchbook edges because I wanted to show the context. I have been on an amazing retreat for the last four days on the edge of Yellowstone Park and one of my fellow participants was Hannah Hinchman. Now for those of you who are not into journaling, that is basically the equivalent of saying "I shot a few hoops with Michael Jordan". Hannah has written many books on the subject and teaches lots and lots of classes. She has been faithfully keeping track of her life and surroundings in pictures and words for about 40 years and her collection of personal journals is an amazing treasure.

While on the retreat I sketched a number of images but the only one that really seemed to fit this week's theme was the shallot above. It was picked off a plant in the greenhouse at the ranch.

Follow Up

2007-10-17T06:33:00.000-06:00

I visited the podiatrist yesterday. The combination of x-rays and examination revealed a small tear in the ligament that connects the ankle to the foot as well as a pretty good bone spur on the bottom of my heel and a seriously strained plantar fascia . In other words, a classic case of Plantar Fasciitis, most likely brought on by changing my running gait after injuring the ankle in February.
The good news is that they are very encouraging about a non-surgical solution and so now I have to follow some rules for the next month:

- Lots of ibuprofen (I hate taking pills of any kind but I am willing to do this for a month)
- Ice packs three times a day.
- Stretching exercises
- Shoe inserts
- No running for at least four weeks (ouch!)
- No standing for any length of time (meaning it will be tough to be in the studio. Double ouch!)

I guess it is good news that I am off to Paradise Valley, Montana, tomorrow for a four day retreat on Women in the Wilderness. The itinerary shows lots of activities built into the event but in most cases there are alternatives such as yoga or sketching to the more active hiking or walking. On Sunday I will come back through Billings and attend the monthly meeting of WAV (Women of Artistic Vision).

I had a phone call yesterday from the grandfather of the boy who was shot on Sunday. B (the young man) was flown from Powell to Denver and has since been through three surgeries and faces many more in the days ahead. The good news is he is stable. The bullet nicked his illiac artery and caused massive internal bleeding. They gave him 40 units of blood and an equal amount of plasma before they were able to stop the blood loss. His bowel was shattered and his pelvis has multiple holes from shrapnel but the worst seems to be over.

Animal Oddities

2007-10-15T12:49:00.001-06:00

I have had a couple of rather unusual animal encounters over the last few days so I thought I would share them here.

1. Doe is me
The patio behind our house is where we have elected to grow a small flower garden. Of the more than 1200 acres we call home, it is the one very small spot we have closed off against animals. (We have lots of other fenced areas but the fences are wildlife friendly - barbless three strand wire or log.) The pack rats still mange to get in and destroy some plants and we have to chase the occasional baby bunny, but for the most part we have been successful in keeping the four legged creatures out. The weak spot in defense of the area is the four foot high garden gate, but up until now it has been enough to dissuade the deer and antelope from entering. Then, three days ago, Ken did the unthinkable. He forgot to close the gate and the mule deer got in and discovered the taste of mums and honeysuckle. Now there is no keeping them out. They jump the closed gate as if it isn't there even though the patio is closed in on all four sides, one of which is the back of the house. The doe in the photo came to visit last night and I had to chase her out of there. I am sure she will be back and will probably bring her friends next time!

2. Have a Pheasant Day!
I went down to check on the animals last night and discovered a huge pile of feathers between the llama's hay trough and the chicken coop. My first thought was that something had gotten into the coop and had dragged out and killed one of our chickens. But in examining the coop I couldn't find any spot that was vulnerable. Then I counted the chickens and discovered they were all there. I went back and looked more closely at the pile of feathers and discovered they belonged to a ring necked pheasant. Now this is odd for several reasons: a) The closest I have ever seen a pheasant to our place is at least 10 miles away and b) the body did not seem to be from a fresh kill. I was a little concerned that something (bobcat? coyote? owl? eagle?) had killed the bird and then brought it all the way to our llama shed to eat but it just wasn't making sense. Then in the middle of the night the more probable explanation occurred to me: the animal that had brought the pheasant to its final resting place was most likely me. I suspect the poor bird was a victim of the haying process and its body had been concealed inside the half bale of hay I fed to the llamas earlier. When the animals pulled the hay apart and discovered the body wedged inside they did what any self respecting vegetarian would do - they took it off their "plate" and set it aside.

3. I'm not Lion about this!
I think we have a big cat back on our place. This is really not odd or unexpected, it is just that they usually hide themselves so well we are unaware of their presence. The first clue came on my walk this morning when I discovered an area of intense scratching on the ground. I told myself it could be anything, but the only other time I have seen it was the last time a cougar boldly hung around our place all summer. Then a little further along I came to a nice big puddle of cat puke. The presence of several blades of bright green grass in the mess proved yet again that there are few degrees of difference between the big felines and my little house cat. Next to the vomit were several cat tracks that are likely too big to belong to our more often seen bobcat population. A half mile after that I discovered the pile of black scat, full of hair and bone fragments and, more disturbing, glistening in its freshness. Why do I always find these things when Ken is not around? I decided to cut my walk short and head back to the house. I may have to sleep with the window open tonight to listen for the telltale big cat scream.

A Very Bad Day

2007-10-14T12:18:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago I posted about the fact that we seem to be getting Search and Rescue calls just about every Sunday. The trend continues.

I have replaced my morning run with a walk for the last week because the ankle I injured 9 months ago is giving me serious grief. I have an appointment to have it x-rayed on Tuesday. I was two miles from the house when the pager went off. I forgot about my ankle and broke into a jog when I heard the call - a 21 year old male involved in a hunting accident and the location given was that of my nearest neighbor. By the time I was able to get back to the house and my car and race to the scene, the local first responders were already there in full force. That's when my worst fears were realized. The boy who had been shot was my neighbor's son, a kid I have known for almost fifteen years. He and his brother and another boy from the neighborhood were hunting in the mountains behind the ranch when something went wrong and one boy shot the other through the back with his rifle. The bullet came out his pelvis, causing an untold amount of damage on its way. For some reason the doctor on call was insisting the boy be taken by ambulance to the Powell hospital even though most of us thought he should be flown to Billings in the helicopter that was already en route. Even though he was awake and communicating when we loaded him in the ambulance, I have very grave concerns for his future. Among the first responders on scene were his grandmother and his aunt and uncle. I can't imagine how difficult the whole thing must be for them, let alone for his brother who witnessed the whole thing. This is the first time a call has struck this close to home and I am finding myself having a difficult time moving on. I will keep all involved in my prayers.

Illustration Friday - Extremes

2007-10-13T15:10:00.000-06:00

Need I say more?

Illustration Friday - Open

2007-10-11T14:52:00.000-06:00

"Open For Business"

Click on image to see bigger version.

Fast Friday Fabric Challenge

2007-10-05T12:40:00.000-06:00

I recently became part of a group of fiber artists similar to the Illustration Friday group, except our "drawings" are created in fabric. On the last Friday of each month we are given a theme and then we have one week in which to create a piece fitting that theme. I joined the group for a number of reasons: 1) I love a challenge 2) I would like to work more spontaneously 3) having a deadline forces me to finish something and 4) it sounded like fun.

Of course the first challenge arrived as I was on the road and in the middle of a crazy few days. I wasn't able to start work on the piece until Tuesday and I had to have it finished by today because tomorrow is the beginning of the two days of my third annual "Weekend to Dye For". The theme we were given was "architecture" and we were to concentrate on creating depth within the piece. Because of the short turn around, I decided to fuse the pieces in the quilt. It is not a technique I use often and one with which I am really not all that comfortable. This challenge did nothing to change my point of view.

The piece is 12" square and is called "Inside Out". It is a depiction of a portion of our back patio which runs from the rear wall of our house to a natural sandstone cliff against which we have planted a small flower garden. The name comes from the fact that we use the patio as an extension of our living space for much of the year.

Illustration Friday - The Blues

2007-10-03T09:24:00.001-06:00

It has been so long since I have had time to participate in IF that I decided to post this one even though the perspective is obviously off.

One More Busy Week!

2007-10-01T07:37:00.000-06:00

What is it about Sundays lately? They certainly aren't a day of rest, at least not for those of us on Search and Rescue.

On Tuesday Ken and I went up to Billings for my dentist appointment plus the usual milk run of gathering supplies for both us and the animals. We didn't get home until evening and then found ourselves scrambling Wednesday morning to get everything done before we headed south to Jackson. As we turned over the wheelbarrow to carry the newly purchased chicken feed down to the shed, we discovered a beautiful specimen of the most poisonous creature in North America. The toxin of the female Black Widow Spider is 15 times as powerful as that of a rattlesnake. This one was not happy about being disturbed but she posed long enough for me to get this photo of the classic red hourglass on her jet black belly. I love the shadow in the background!
Our drive through Yellowstone Park was uneventful but beautiful despite the lack of wildlife along the way. The aspens and cottonwoods are all turning and it is hard to imagine a more striking landscape than the yellowing trees in front of the majestic Tetons.

We arrived at Ken's Mom and Dad's place on Wednesday evening and spent the next day and a half getting them ready to head down to their winter home in Utah. The bluebirds were in a parallel flurry of activity, gathering lots of nourishment before their own migration south.
Just after lunch on Friday we headed toward Pinedale and then Farson before making the big loop back north, up and over South Pass and on to Lander where we would spend the next day participating in the 40th anniversary of the Wyoming Outdoor Council.

On Friday evening we had dinner at Twin Creeks Ranch, an amazing place situated about a half hour southeast of Lander. My big mistake was in not taking my camera along as the views were spectacular and unlike most of the country we had been driving through for the last few days.
Saturday was an extremely long day with lots of presentations by many people ranging from State politicians to some of the giants of the environmental movement in Wyoming. In late afternoon Ken and I gave our far too brief presentation on oil and gas development along the Beartooth Front. Unfortunately our talk was made much more timely by the announcement just a few days ago that the DEQ has found benzene from the well blowout in the drinking water of one of our neighbors. What a horrible discovery and one that is likely to get much worse before it gets better. There is a town meeting tomorrow night on the subject and I will attend although I fear emotions will be running high.

On Sunday Ken and I got up early and did a nice run along the river in Lander before grabbing a bite of breakfast and heading north. The plan was to drop Ken at the airport in Cody on my way through so he could head to Cincinnati while I made my way home to try and catch up on all those things that have been ignored over the last few hectic weeks. We arrived in Cody about two hours before his plane was to leave so we decided to grab a sandwich at Subway before sentencing Ken to hours more of sitting in airports and on the plane.
One of the young gals that has recently joined us on Search and Rescue works at Subway. As soon as we walked in to the restaurant she asked why we weren't on the call. Of course we had signed out for the time we were gone and didn't even have our pagers with us so we were unaware of the activity taking place. We left Subway and I quickly dropped Ken at the airport before heading to the hall to see if I could help. It turned out there had been a missing person report turned in on a 29 year old male five days earlier. Law enforcement had been on the lookout for the man and we had even flown the SAR plane but to no avail. Then, on Sunday about noon, a walker along the Southfork highway had seen the glint of a vehicle at the bottom of a steep cliff off the road and had called it in. I was about an hour behind the rest of my crew and I had the minimum amount of equipment with me but I was glad I went along as we were pretty short handed and the extra manpower was needed. The truck did belong to our missing person and he had obviously died on impact. The cliff is the one pictured in the photo to the left and the truck is out of sight in the trees at the bottom. To give a sense of scale, the small dot at the top of the cliff is the wrecker truck trying to get in place to bring the wreckage back up the steep slope. The tow truck seen is attached to another much larger vehicle at the top of the cliff and together they will try and lift the debris without going over the edge themselves. The victim was not wearing his seat belt and had been thrown from the vehicle but not before being tossed around inside like the ball in a violent game of pinball. It was one of the worst body recoveries I have been on and one I hope never to repeat. Rather than take the body back up the steep cliff we headed down and floated it across the South Fork River at the bottom on one of our rafts to the other side where we were met by the coroner. By the time I got home all my thoughts about getting things accomplished were out the window for another day.
I hope this week is the one where I get my life back on track!

Another Busy Week

2007-09-24T07:42:00.000-06:00

This weekend seemed the fitting end to another week of barely controlled chaos. Four Search and Rescue calls in the space of 48 hours (Actually five if you count the fact that we had two emergencies at the same time in one outfitter camp.) But I am getting ahead of myself...

On Monday Ken and I headed to Cooke City to be in position to hike into Slough Creek on Tuesday. The rain started around midnight and by the time we got up everything was well soaked and the thermometer in the car read a chilly 38 degrees. The Slough Creek trailhead is inside Yellowstone National Park and as we turned in the dirt road that leads to the start of the hike we were greeted with a parking lot full of cars that could only belong to the mass of loyal wolf watchers. Sure enough, we parked for a few minutes and were treated to the sight of the Slough Creek wolf pack feeding on an elk kill across the river. They were too far away to get any really good photos with my equipment but you can see the shape of two of the big dogs in the photo. Once we got past the crowd the trail was empty and we had a wonderful hike among the fall colors. Ken did a little fishing - catch and release only in the Park - and I did some sketching at McBride Lake, about four and a half miles in from the trailhead. You often come across antlers or even whole skulls of elk such as the one seen here inside the Park. Because it is illegal to remove anything from the Park, these things build up over the years and there are fields where it is hard to walk without tripping over shed antlers.

As usual, we did a fair amount of bushwacking and as we came out to join the main trail at the end of the day we saw a couple standing a little ways above us and staring in our direction. We didn't think much of it until we stopped to photograph a family of ruffed grouse a little while later and they caught up to us. The first question they asked was if we were able to get any good shots of the grizzly bear. "What grizzly bear?" I asked. "The one standing about 50 yards behind you as you were walking across that meadow." they replied. Huh! As we drove home later that day we had to stop for a large red fox to cross our path on the road. Once home we were greeted with our usual chorus of coyotes on the ridge, making it a rare and special three dog day.

Wednesday was spent getting ready for the exhibit of my quilts at US Bank in Cody as part of "Rendezvous Royale" week. Early Thursday morning I headed to town and set up my display then played at being "artist in residence" until the bank closed at 4pm. Friday was a repeat with a break for lunch with a friend and then I took the quilts down in the afternoon and headed home. On Friday evening we had the first SAR call for a hunter that had been bucked off his horse and suffered back injuries. It was one of those calls where we could do nothing but listen to the radio as the accident had taken place about 30 miles into the wilderness and there was no way to reach this guy quickly or to get him out except by helicopter. The chopper was able to make a successful pick up and get the patient on his way to the hospital.

On Saturday we headed back into town to work out before getting all dolled up for the annual Ball at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. We were staying in town after the event so as to avoid driving home in the early hours of the morning and were headed to the hotel to get changed when the pagers went off again. Same outfitter, different camp. Two patients this time, one had been bucked off a horse and the other had a heart condition. The somewhat funny thing about this call was that Ken and I both suddenly realized we would much rather be headed into the mountains with our packs on a call than to the hotel to change into a tuxedo and a formal dress! But once again we were relegated to the position of listeners as our supervisor tried to find a medivac helicopter willing to fly into the Thorofare and pick up the patients. These guys were not so lucky as a storm was moving in and no one wanted to fly. It ended up being late Sunday before they could be picked up and transported to a hospital. Of course, if we had hiked or even ridden into their location it would have taken us at least that long to get there and then we would still have to try and get them out. And my experience has been that once someone has been seriously injured by being thrown from a horse, they are not too willing to climb on one's back even to get to medical attention.

The Ball was fun but now I have it out of my system for another few years.

On Sunday morning we got up early and had a quick breakfast at the hotel before heading home. We had just topped the hill out of Cody when our pagers went off and we made a U-turn and headed back to town. It was a water call to the canal between Cody and Powell where someone had discovered an overturned car in the water. The accident had not been reported so it was unknown exactly when it had occurred and if there were people in the vehicle or not. By the time we arrived the owner of the car had turned up at the scene and swore there was no one else in the car when he had "made a wrong turn" at 10pm the night before. He was quite belligerent about the whole thing and refused our help or that of the wrecker so we were released and he was left to deal with the Sheriff's deputy. You can just see the bottoms of two of the car's tires in the photo here. Something tells me that one is a write off!

By the time we got home we were ready to call it a day but things were not settled just yet. Our pagers went off again and this time the call was for a missing five year old girl in Cody. All that stuff you see on TV about waiting 24 hours before reporting a person missing really doesn't apply in a small town and it most certainly doesn't apply when children are involved. It was no time at all before all the emergency services of the town had been called to assist: SAR, Fire, City Police, Sheriff's deputies and medical services were all involved in the search. We drove the hour back to town and had just arrived at the staging area when the little girl was found riding her scooter blocks from home. Another U-turn and home again.

So now it is Monday again and we are working hard to get our presentation on oil and gas exploration in the Beartooths ready for Friday. Tonight I have to drive back to Cody for Quilt Guild, tomorrow morning I head to Billings for a dentist appointment. Tomorrow is also my 49th birthday (I think. I could swear I turned 49 last year but Ken, keeper of the calender, tells me I am one year younger than I thought.) Wednesday we leave early to drive down to Jackson to help Ken's mom and dad get ready for their move back to Utah for the winter and from there we drive to Lander on Friday to give the presentation. On the way home on Saturday I will drop Ken at the airport in Cody and he flies East while I come home and maybe, just maybe, have a few days to work in the studio before another round of activity. I will be glad when this month is over!

A Busy Week

2007-09-16T06:18:00.000-06:00

This week has been especially busy, as I knew it would be. Tuesday I drove 600 miles to Casper and back with a four hour meeting sandwiched in the middle. Lucky for me I had some good company to share the miles. Wednesday I had to be in Cody by 9am to assist at the judging for Yellowstone Quilt Fest. We had an NQA certified judge this year so I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to learn from her. It was really fun to participate and to be her scribe but it was another long day. I entered six pieces in the show and ended up with five ribbons: one first, two seconds and two thirds, so I was happy. On Thursday we hung the show and spent the day going up and down ladders. Ken also helped out and after the hanging we went to the Rec. Center in Cody to run and do our usual workout so we could then just go straight to SAR training rather than driving the hour home and back again. Training that evening consisted of learning how to operate the newer motorized zodiac boat on the reservoir while those on shore practiced their navigation skills. I was in the first group of five that went out in the boat. We had a destination exactly one mile from shore where we were then supposed to flash our lights for one minute while the two groups on shore tried to triangulate our position. Our supervisor had commented that the motor had been cutting out on him the day before but he thought he had the problem fixed. He didn't. It ran great until we reached our destination, then quit and wouldn't run for more than a minute without stalling from then on. We had to row back to shore using the oars. It was a long mile in the dark with some pretty choppy waves and we were happy to finally pull in to the dock. Needless to say that ended that night's exercise.
On Friday I started getting serious about creating a couple new pieces by dyeing some bamboo/cotton fabric for backgrounds. This is the first time I have worked with this particular combination of material. I was quite impressed with the way the fabric took the dye although it is different from 100% cotton so you have to be aware of the effect you may get. I headed back into town in the afternoon for the YQF reception. It was fun to see some people I haven't seen for a long time.
Yesterday I continued working on my new quilts by experimenting with some batiking techniques. It was a learning experience with some success and some failure. I will certainly be incorporating more of it into my work in the future.
In the afternoon Ken and I caught the two young male llamas and took them on a long walk down to the irrigation ditch and back. They haven't been weaned yet and this was the longest they have been apart from their mothers but they did great. It is important to introduce them to flowing water at a young age because you can still pull them into the stream. Since they have never seen a river, the whole thing is very scary to them and they are afraid the water will swallow them. By the third time we show them the ditch I guarantee they will be running to get in the water instead of pulling as hard as they can to avoid it. On the way back to the corral we made a rather gruesome discovery: the head of a coyote, severed at the neck and with the fur still attached. There are a number of possibilities for his demise such as a wolf or a mountain lion but the most likely is probably that he was the weak link in the pack and was killed by his own. Ken had commented several times over the last month that he has been seeing one of the canines limping badly. It is a cruel world out there! Last night we watched a huge coyote pace back and forth on the ridge, close enough that he was driving the llamas crazy but far enough away that he obviously felt safe from us.
Today is the WAV meeting in Cody at the YQF show and then we will take the show down so it is another day of driving. My exhibit at US Bank as part of Rendezvous Royale starts Thursday so I have some work to do to get ready for that but Ken is lobbying hard to spend at least two days hiking Slough Creek before the weather changes for good. It is hard to say no because the chill is obvious in the air and it won't be long before the backcountry is only accessible by snow machine until next year.

Coyotes

2007-09-09T08:36:00.000-06:00

It is obvious this will be a lean month for posting to the blog. I have a lot of things scheduled and not a lot of down time. Much of the activity revolves around quilting although not much of it is about creating. I have the annual face-to-face meeting of the Board of Directors of Wyoming State Quilt Guild in Casper on Tuesday. As Treasurer of the organization that means I have lots of paperwork to prepare let alone the entire day it takes just to get to the meeting and back. On Wednesday the fun starts with Yellowstone Quilt Fest in Cody. I have volunteered to assist at the judging as well as the usual day of hanging quilts on Thursday and all the related activities throughout the weekend. That is followed closely by my exhibit as one of the featured artists in "Art Around Town" as part of Rendezvous Royale, then the BBHC Ball, a trip to Jackson Hole to help move Ken's Mom and Dad back to their winter home and then Lander where we will be presenting as part of the Wyoming Outdoor Council's 40th Anniversary Celebration. Whew!

We looked out the window this morning to see all the llamas at full attention. This picture shows the girls in formation as they band together against whatever threat they see. By following their gazes we quickly located first one, then two, three and then four coyotes strolling through the yard, just out of reach of the animals in the corral. We have been hearing the dogs every night - usually three or four times each night - and they seem to be getting bolder and bolder. I am not really worried about the baby llamas because I don't think the coyotes would risk facing the herd of angry mamas but I do worry about them catching Frank outside. It seems like they wander through at all times of the day and night. The group this morning looked like it might consist of this year's pups. One of them was so white he (she?) could hardly even be seen against the background of the grey rocks. I got a picture of him which you can see here at the bottom. I couldn't get any really good photos because I was scared Frank would slip outside so I just shot through the windows.

IF Alphabet 2

2007-09-03T16:10:00.001-06:00

So this is way different than my first entry for this week's theme. But I have to admit, there is something strangely satisfying about turning Pat Sajak and Vanna White into aliens!

Illustration Friday - Alphabet

2007-09-01T15:02:00.000-06:00

When I first saw the word for this week's Illustration Friday I immediately had an image in my head involving a rousing game of Intergalactic Wheel of Fortune. I even started a few rough sketches and may finish one off just for fun. But when I walked into the yard yesterday afternoon and saw Cinnamon assuming the position, everything changed. Cinny is the fourth and last of our llama mamas to give birth this summer and the only one we really worried about. This is her second baby and he was actually not due for at least another week. Her first cria, Magpie, was born two weeks late and then simply refused to nurse despite the fact that her mother was obviously willing and able. Now, bottle feeding a baby llama every two hours for four months may sound like fun at first, but it gets old real fast. I was pretty much home bound for the whole time - particularly since I can't even get to town and back in less than two hours!
But no worries with this guy! I think he was trying to make up for his sister as I have never seen a baby llama start nursing as quickly as he did. Even the biggest and strongest seem to spend at least an hour in the comic/tragic act of nuzzling knees, ears, tails and every other protrusion mama has to offer before finding the one that actually produces nourishment. Rusty simply stood up on his third wobbly try and went straight to his mother's udder like he knew exactly where to find it.
Many baby llamas bear a striking resemblance to ET but this guy is even more alien looking than most with his deep reddish body and black head. Good job he's intelligent!

Quilting

2007-08-31T07:49:00.001-06:00

I mailed off the last three of my seven quilts headed to International Quilt Festival in Houston yesterday.

I still have to pinch myself to think I have that many pieces going into this major event. Of course you can only enter two pieces to be juried into the main exhibit and I was incredibly lucky to have both my entries accepted. I also have my small journal quilt from 2004 that will be in the display of quilts from the book Creative Quilting, my 2007 journal quilt, Island 2 as part of Sacred Threads, Lily the Llama as part of Fabled Fibers and Stardust in The Sky's the Limit. I wish I could be there to see them all hanging in the show but I don't think it will happen this year.

I was sitting in the vet's office in Powell on Wednesday afternoon trying to kill time as he dealt with an unexpected emergency surgery on a dog. I had my sketchbook with me and while doodling I had another idea for a block for the "Rocky Mountain Seasons" challenge for YQF. I started on it when I got home and got it in the mail yesterday. Because of the short turnaround there are some things about it I am not very happy with but I like the concept enough that I think I may work on it as a watercolor sketch for homemade Christmas cards.

A few months ago I listed a couple of my favorite blogs. One of those was the musings of Inge Mardal and Steen Hougs. At the risk of sounding like I am gushing, I have to say these are two of my favorite artists in the world of fabric. Their works are phenomenal and certainly transcend the medium to the point that any lover of art would find their work inspiring, whether they enjoyed fabric art or not. So imagine my surprise and delight when I looked at my mail a couple days ago and there was a comment from them thanking me for reading their blog. It made my day!

Sadness

2007-08-30T06:17:00.001-06:00

On most evenings after dinner Ken and I will spend a little time working with the younger llamas and then sit a while on the porch swing and talk about the day just past and the one to come. Yesterday was no exception and I had just gathered up Frank and gone inside when Ken opened the door and yelled for me to come back outside. He had heard an animal noise he couldn't identify and wondered if I knew what it was. I had never heard anything like it. It was halfway between a growl and a bray; quite loud and coming from just over the hill. Ken grabbed the bear spray and I gathered up my camera and we headed in the direction of the noise. The strange thing was the reaction of the llamas: they were acknowledging the noise but not acting at all distressed by it. It didn't take us long to discover why. As we came over the hill we saw the two doe mule deers we have been watching all summer. Twice in the past couple of months - the last time just a few days ago - we have intervened just as one of the coyotes has been about to make off with the one doe's fawn. This time the canines had apparently succeeded. What we were hearing was the sound of a mother mule deer in mourning. She was acting erratically, searching behind every rock, and then lifting her head and making the horrible sound when she realized her baby wasn't there. I know it is what has to happen in the wild, but I can't help mourning for the fawn just a little bit myself.

2007-08-28T09:14:00.001-06:00

Once a year we are asked to lead a llama hike for local members of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. This year's hike took place on Saturday and the destination was Stockade Lake off the Morrison Jeep Trail in the Beartooths. We labeled the hike as "difficult" even though it was easy rolling terrain because it was still 7-8 miles round trip and last year we had people along who had no business being on a hike that distance. Even so there were a few of the ten who came this time that probably won't be back next year! At the same time I have to say that the variety of people who show up is one of the fun things about the hike. I love this first photo because it gives you a glimpse of what I mean even though you can't see the faces of the participants. We decided to take Tesoro along to test his ability to go that distance after his apparent illness. This is the first real hike he has been on in a couple of weeks and we let him go without a load just so we could watch his performance. It was like night and day from the Yellowstone adventure. He was full of energy and would have run the last mile to the trailer if I had let him!

Once we got to Stockade Lake we took time to eat lunch and for a few of us to do some fishing. I was catching nice little brook trout on every cast so quickly switched to a barbless hook and didn't fish for long.
The picture to the left is of Losekamp Lake just above Stockade. I love the look of the sky in this photo.

Last night was Quilt Guild in Cody. Yellowstone Quilt Fest is coming up fast and so I worked to finish my entry into the block challenge so I could take it to the meeting. The theme for the 12" blocks this year is "Rocky Mountain Seasons" and I hope it is obvious my choice was winter. The background is painted and the tree fabric hand-dyed. The whole thing got accented with a bit of stitching although it is hard to tell from the picture. If you are going to YQF you should pretend you haven't seen this photo as the blocks are supposed to be anonymous so people can vote for their favorites.

I was reminded once again this morning that I shouldn't leave the house without a camera. I looked out the window to see one of our female llamas, Alexis, making warning noises. I was waiting for Ken to get off the phone so we could go run and decided I might as well explore what was disturbing Alexis even though none of the other llamas were showing any signs of distress. I hiked uphill about a quarter mile and climbed up on a big rock that hangs out over a steep wall that drops about 20 feet to the ground below. There directly beneath me were three mule deer - two does and one fawn, still young enough to show its spots. They obviously had no idea I was looking down on them and neither did the large coyote sneaking up on them and getting closer every second. The young coyotes seem to have moved onto our place and have been coming way too close to the house for comfort but this looked like one of the adults. I really don't want these guys feeling comfortable this close to the llamas and the chickens and Frank the cat so I let out a yell and he put his tail between his legs and took off just as fast as he could go!

Illustration Friday - Visitor

2007-08-27T07:33:00.000-06:00

This is my first IF entry in a few weeks and what perfect timing for the word "visitor". Bobcats used to be frequent visitors to our yard until about eighteen months ago when first the coyotes and then the wolf moved in. The big dog was captured, collared and relocated in early spring and the coyotes have been somewhat scarce for a few months (although we have been seeing far too much of their offspring over the last few days!) Friday we looked out the window to see our first bobcat in over a year. He was beautiful and had obviously been drawn in by the noise of the chickens. He was pretty frustrated to find the feathered cluckers safely enclosed inside a coop!

Day 5 +

2007-08-24T07:34:00.000-06:00

Day 5

The first four days of our Beartooth adventure were filled with sunshine and warm temperatures. That changed on Thursday night when thunder and lightening rolled in as a precursor to the rain that pelted the tent all night long. Lightening viewed from a tent is so much more impressive than that seen out the window of a snug house. Even in my sleeping bag in the dark with my eyes closed, the flashes of light were bright enough to make me wish I was wearing my sunglasses!

I think the llamas were happy to be saddled on Friday morning. They had been hanging out in the same pasture for two and a half days with just a few short walks for entertainment and they were ready for a little exercise. The rain and weather had pushed out the smoke and ironically, though overcast, the sky was clearer than it had been for days. The plan for the day was to reverse our hike back to Surprise Lake where we would camp for the night, leaving us a short 3 - 4 hour hike out the next morning. What we hadn't counted on was the slickness of the trail. Even on the flat areas the ground was muddy and slippery. Once we got to the steep, long down, it was even harder to walk without sliding. And so we had our only mishap of the trip. I was about half way down the biggest hill when I heard a scream above and behind me. I tied Chico up and ran back up to hill to find Cindy nursing her wrist. It seems Crowfoot had started sliding on the steep slope and ran into the back of Cindy. She slipped and put out her hand to stop herself, straining her wrist in the process. It didn't look like it needed immediate medical attention so we decided to keep and eye on it and continue on.

We arrived at Surprise Lake about 1pm and unloaded the animals. Cindy said her back and neck had tightened up since the fall and she didn't think she could endure sleeping another night on the hard, cold ground. It was still raining intermittently and promised to continue for some time so it was an easy decision to put the loads back on the llamas and continue to the trailhead. It made for a long day of about 10 miles with lots of up and downs but I think everyone was happy to reach the vehicles about 4:30pm. I had called Ken on the satellite phone and he was there to meet us so Cindy rode with he and the llamas back to our place while Jeanne, Terri and I stopped to celebrate the successful completion of a great trip with hamburgers and ice cream!

As I have been saying, this trip was wonderful and one I would repeat again in a heartbeat. The original sign-up list included ten people, six of which dropped out for various reasons ranging from schedule conflicts to money issues and health concerns. In retrospect I think it was a blessing because a group of four was really a perfect size with the same number of llamas along. I think an important component of the adventure was that we were all artists. The fact that we all work in fabric was less important but gave us a clear point of commonality. The age of the participants ranged from a low of 49 to a high of 53, a tight span that probably also helped in our ability to get along.

Since our return two of the participants have faced major crises with Jeanne driving south to be with her family while her mother undergoes brain surgery and Cindy finding herself and her family evacuated from their home with almost no warning because of fire danger. You can read more about Cynthia's experience on her blog by following the link provided.

Days 3 and 4

2007-08-22T15:36:00.000-06:00

Day 3

Our first full day at Spogen Lake started out big and blue. The smoke had subsided somewhat from the night before and we decided to stick to the original plan for the time being. After some discussion we opted to take a shorter day hike to Trail Lake to do a little fishing and sketching and leave a longer hike to Clover Leaf Lakes for the following day.

Trail Lake is a beautiful, deep fishing lake. It is only about a mile from Spogen and the view alone is worth the trip. The shore of the lake is quite hilly and in the picture to the left I was shooting down at Cynthia and Terri as they tried their luck. I was using a gold Jakes as my lure and the big cutthroat trout didn't seem able to resist. I was getting bites on almost every cast and ended up catching a really nice specimen for dinner. Jeanne proved her catch at Surprise Lake was not a fluke as she also caught a beautiful cutthroat.

We headed back to the campsite just after noon and decided to split up for a little while. Cindy headed up to check out Wright and Martin, the two lakes upstream from Spogen while Jeanne, Terri and I headed back downstream to Whitcomb so they could get a look at that lake. Jeanne and Terri explored the north side of the lake while I took a nice refreshing bath in a deep cove on the south shore.

Once we all met back at camp around 4:30 pm we decided to do an art exercise. One of the suggestions for the trip was that each person bring along a project for everyone to work on. Jeanne had brought an actual physical exercise as she had her husband cut picture frames which we were then supposed to cover with items collected on the trip. After our first day, however, she decided they were too heavy to carry around so we had stashed them at Surprise Lake and would pick them up on our way out in a few days. My exercise for the group was called "Sketching 101". Each of the participants was to chose a subject that was interesting but not too complex. We then proceeded to sketch our chosen piece four times: first from memory, next a contour drawing, then a gesture and lastly a detail drawing. The entire exercise took less than an hour and I think everyone had fun.

Day 4
Our goal for the day was to hike to Clover Leaf Lakes and back by doing a huge loop. This is a big hike under any circumstances. It is not so much the distance - six miles round trip - but the fact that you bushwack the whole way off trail, there is a lot of elevation gain and loss and almost the whole trip is done by bouldering over large rocks while carrying a day pack and trying to keep your balance.
I have to say that this was one of those days that I will remember forever. If you are very lucky you have a dozen or so days in your life when everything seems sharper and more intense and for the rest of your life a simple smell or sight will bring back the memory as clearly as if you were still there. That is how I felt on Day 4. I was incredibly proud of the women traveling with me as they marvelled as I did at the beauty of our surroundings, never once whining that I was leading them into uncharted territory. Once we got to the top of the pass looking down onto the three clover shaped lakes, we found a small patch of snow still hanging on despite the summer temperatures. Cindy had announced her art exercise for the trip was to have us construct a piece of art using only those natural materials around us. Jeanne decided she would start by building a snowman in the patch of white stuff and the rest of us soon caught her enthusiasm. I figured out the timer on the camera and you can see us posing with our creations in the photo above.

Once we left Clover Leaf we headed downstream to Rachel Lake then through a narrow rocky gorge to Martin Lake, Wright Lake and Spogen. There was a series of waterfalls as we traveled down, each one more beautiful than the previous.

Along the way we talked a little bit about the idea of creating a collaborative piece on the shore of Spogen Lake. We opted for a flower image and even though the idea might seem a bit of a cliche, I think the result was beautiful. The center is toadstools, moss and asters and the rays are pine cones. The longest rays were at least ten feet long. The idea was to leave a piece that would eventually go back to the earth, leaving no trace, and I think we achieved that goal. I would love to have a hidden camera to see the response of those few travelers who discover our creation in the meantime!

Days 1 and 2

2007-08-22T06:19:00.000-06:00

Day 1

On August 13 at approximately 11 am, the four adventurers (adventuresses?) left the Clay Butte Trailhead to head into the Beartooth Mountains for a week of camping, fishing and camaraderie. Each of us lead a llama: I had Chico, Jeanne had Pancho, Terri led Hobbit and Cindy brought up the rear with Crowfoot. I had told the participants that we had about ten miles to go to reach our destination. We would break that down into two days travel doing about 4 miles on Day 1 to reach Surprise Lake and six miles on Day 2 to reach Spogen Lake where we would stay for three nights before reversing the trip. Not long after we began Cindy pointed out that the map actually showed the distance for each of the days to be almost equal. She was right - it just always seemed like the second day was further because of the more difficult terrain.

We arrived at Surprise Lake shortly after 2pm, having stopped along the way to sight see and have a bite of lunch. Jeanne, Terri and I put our fishing rods together to see if we could catch some dinner. Cindy had a license for Montana only, so would have to wait until the next day before she could join in the fun. I have had mixed luck at this location in the past. There are days when I seem to get to get a bite every cast and days when I have been skunked. This was one of the latter. Jeanne, on the other hand, caught a beautiful Brook trout right off the bat. Terri followed with one only slightly smaller just a few minutes later. It was a great start to a great trip!

Day 2

We got up on Tuesday morning and went about doing what needed to be done to move to our next location. By 9 am we had eaten breakfast, torn down camp and had the llamas packed and ready to go. The terrain from Surprise starts out with a big down followed by a big up, another big down and then a huge up before flattening out for the last mile or two. I was a little concerned about the effort needed to get to the top but I needn't have worried. We took it slowly and had no issues with either llamas or hikers. The landscape starts to change as you get deeper into the wilderness and the beauty of the surroundings was enough to distract anyone from the effort of the trek. We ran into a few people on Day 2 and I was a little worried we might arrive at Spogen to find someone already camped in our first choice spot but that was not the case. There were a couple other campers in the general area but they were camped at either Martin or Kidney Lake and so were probably at least a mile from our location.

After setting up camp Cindy and I hiked down to Whitcomb Lake, just below Spogen and the lowest in the chain of four Lakes in the area, where we went about catching dinner for that night. The Brook Trout in Whitcomb were much more accomodating than those of the night before - although much smaller as well - and it was no time before we had four nice trout to eat with our rice.
After dinner I hiked up the hill behind camp. The smoke from the Yellowstone fires had been getting thicker all day and it was actually hurting my nose and eyes as I got higher on the hill. If you click on the photo just above this one you can see our tent through the trees as I looked down on it from above. When I got back in camp the smoke was thick and the sun was the red you see to the side. The only consolation was that we knew there was nowhere we could go within a hundred miles where it would be any better. We discussed the possibility of leaving a day early if the smoke didn't clear out the next day but we were all hoping that wasn't going to be necessary.

SAR

2007-08-21T07:45:00.000-06:00

The all-women-artist-retreat-llama-trek took place in the Beartooth Mountains of Wyoming and Montana from August 13 to August 17. All I can say is "Wow!" That is what a backpacking experience is supposed to be. This trip will rate up there with my best treks of all time. Much of it had to do with the company. The three ladies who were my traveling companions were a joy to be around and I came back refreshed, relaxed, inspired and at peace. What more can you ask for?

I took so many photos while we were in the mountains that I am going to break the experience down into several posts. In this first entry I am not even going to get into the trip, but instead talk a little bit about the week leading up to our departure. The plan was to have the participants meet at our place on Sunday, August 12 at 4pm to go through our food and gear and pack the llamas' panniers so they were properly balanced. The ladies would then stay in the bunkhouse that night and we would get an early start Monday morning. Ken was going to drive the horse trailer with the llamas to the trailhead as he is more comfortable maneuvering the load up and over Chief Joseph Highway. We would take another vehicle and he would drive home in it and reverse the process when we were ready to come out six days later.

On the Wednesday before the trip we got a Search and Rescue call into the Beartooths to a spot north of Clay Butte. There was a 60 year old man hiking with some friends who had become extremely ill and they suspected altitude sickness. The call said they were camped at Surprise Lake. I know that area very well and, of course, it was the same area we were planning on entering on Sunday but I had never heard of Surprise Lake and couldn't find it on the map. Luckily they were able to give us coordinates and once I identified their location I discovered it was the exact lake where we were planning on spending our first and last nights with the group. I have always called it No-Name Lake because I have never seen a name on any map. Surprise!

Then on Sunday our pagers went off at about 10 am. Another man in his early 60's was involved in a horse wreck while on a trail ride west of Cody. This turned into one of the saddest calls of the year as the fellow had hit his head when he fell and we were unable to revive him. What had started out as a couple hour trail ride for a family on vacation turned into a nightmare as the father died of his injuries with the family gathered round. The coroner made the comment when he arrived that we have been seeing far too much of each other this summer and I have to agree. We got home just before 4pm and barely had time to unload the car before the gals arrived. Ken offered to make dinner while we did what needed to be done to get ready for the trip and he called us at 6 to say everything was ready.
We had just started to eat when the pagers went off again. I had signed out for the week because of the trip so I stayed back while Ken headed to the Beartooths once again to search for a woman who had failed to show up for a scheduled rendezvous at Granite Lake with her boyfriend. I was able to listen to the radio for much of the night and I followed their progress as they found the girl just after midnight. At that point she just wanted to get out so they loaded up all her gear and headed back for the trailhead.
The next morning we realized we were going to have to get to our destination without Ken's help so we rounded up the llamas, loaded the vehicle and headed for Clay Butte. I was able to call the Sheriff's Department where I found out that Ken had opted to wait for us at the trailhead as they had made it out with the lost gal at about 5am and it didn't make sense for him to drive home and pass us along the way. We found him looking very tired and holding our parking spot as we arrived to start our adventure. I was worried about him driving home after a sleepless night and I tried to call him later that day to make sure he was okay. I couldn't reach him until the following day at which point I found out they had been called out again to the Beartooths for a hiker who had fallen and broken her nose and jaw.
Some weeks are like that!

Illustration Friday - Emergency

2007-08-12T07:55:00.001-06:00

Where did this one come from?? A mouse about to have his tail amputated, done in 15 minutes with pen, gouache and colored pencil on brown paper. The mind works in strange ways sometimes!