Fraught With DANGER!

“Fraught with danger” – yes, that pretty much describes our recent road trip to Yellowstone.  There were not only warning signs at Yellowstone, but we received cautions and rules to follow all along the way.   We were both struck (figuratively, not literally) with just how many signs there were.  Here’s a little sampling of the warnings that we received:

Some signs had more than just one warning:

Here’s yet more warning:

Even the VA medical facility in Sheridan had safety on its agenda:

This sign didn’t even have a warning, leaving us to wonder just what might be lurking ahead:

On the drive from Yellowstone to Sheridan, Wyoming (via Cody), we ended up going through the Big Horn Mountains.  I would put that drive up against all of the roller coasters in the world…I have never gripped a steering wheel so hard.  As if navigating the steep angle and switch backs were not enough, there was a sign warning us to watch for loose livestock.  Sure enough, there were cattle on the road:

Since there was a little pull-off area and we were both feeling a little queasy, my sister and I took a little break and hung out with those cows for a while.  This little honey watched us from across the road quite intently the entire time:

Later on in that mountain pass, we were surrounded by sheep (and I do mean surrounded, even though the view in the picture doesn’t fully show that).  A group of them decided to cross the road just in front of us:

My sister just fell in love with the little “black sheep” and it was fun to see it scurry to the other side:

I’m feeling pretty lucky that my sister and I were able to make it to Yellowstone and back without incident!

Yellowstone 2012 – A New View

I actually went to Yellowstone this year.  I had not really planned on it earlier  (since Alan had a car, he drove himself this time), but my sister expressed a desire to go and so our first big road trip together was born.   It was just the two of us, and we headed out on Saturday, September 15^th.  In all of the trips that I made with Alan, I always got near Yellowstone, but since the park was not yet open, I never went in the park when he was with me.  Another difference with this trip was that I didn’t blog as I went (for a variety of reasons, one of which was that internet at the locations in which we stayed was either very slow or non-existent).  Since I can’t remember where some of my pictures were even taken, the posts from this adventure will be done by subject matter instead of chronologically.

When we first arrived in the Old Faithful area, we stopped at this building and called Alan to tell him that we were there:

There was just one problem – we were at “the general store(?)” while he was actually at this building (the Old Faithful Inn):

He walked down the little trail to meet us, and after some hugging and more hugging we all decided to go see the Old Faithful Inn (he works in the gift shop that is located inside the building).  We wanted to see this historic hotel, and I got that good-looking guy to strike a little pose for me as we entered:

Looking around the lobby, it sure is a substantial building!

We had already assumed that without reservations there would be no way that we could stay there, but believe it or not we were able to secure a room for just that one night.  When we looked out our window, we could see the people gathering to wait for the Old Faithful geyser to make its appearance:

It was so fun to get to just sit and watch Old Faithful right outside our window!

Alan was working the next day, so my sister and I decided to do a little souvenir shopping in his store.  Here’s what it looks like when you first walk in (I ended up snagging some of the bear pajamas for my mother):

I couldn’t resist getting a picture of him in action…

…Although I get the feeling he really didn’t want me to….

Since we were only able to secure a room at Old Faithful for one night, my sister and I drove to the town of West Yellowstone, and I’m pretty sure we got the last room in town.  We returned to Old Faithful to meet Alan for dinner, and I finally got to see where he lives!  The dorms are tucked away, hidden from the view of Yellowstone visitors, and I’m pretty sure that I drove right by it without ever even knowing.  Alan says that he was lucky to get one of the nicest dorms this year:

When we entered, we knew that we were going to have to behave ourselves:

Here’s the view looking down the hall:

Here’s a picture of Alan’s roommate’s side of the room (Alan’s was not quite as presentable):

There are a couple of these shelving units so that they have a little storage:

Mandy had send a little care package for Alan, and although he liked the gloves and Jolly Rancher candies that she sent, his favorite thing of all was a little album filled with pictures of his number one girl, Paisley:

Alan was off work the next day, so he was able to meet us for some more shopping, eating, and walking in West Yellowstone:

It was so, so sad when the time came for me to leave him, but I must say that it was exciting and quite comforting to finally have the chance to see for myself just how happy he is, and just how much Yellowstone is home for him.  Yes, the view in Yellowstone is wonderful…

You Have to Love a Girl....

Who can make herself at home just about anywhere!

Yard Stuff

We’ve been working in the yard a little bit lately.  The garden here at home is now gone…everything that had been out there had pretty much burned up, so I did a little clean-up.  The garden area is now a sea of black plastic; from the look of some of our tomato plants we began to suspect a disease, so we are sterilizing the soil by letting it bake under the plastic for a few weeks.  We will spend this fall and winter adding compost and amendments in an effort to rebuild the soil, and hopefully it will be better than before.

Despite our piddly results here at home, Robert is still active in the community garden he helped establish over in the city in which he works.  He will be having a fall garden there and has started some plants here at home for that little plot of earth.  Here are his plants:

Yes, you are seeing things correctly.  Those corn plants on the far left were planted in toilet paper rolls.  I had read about this awhile back and we’ve always wanted to try it.  The neat thing is that when it is time to transplant there is no need to disturb the tender young plant.  You simply place the whole roll into the ground where it will gradually break down (plus the plants can send roots shooting out of the open bottom of the roll).  So far we are kind of liking this idea…Updates to come…

I still have all kinds of critters here in the yard.  I removed a pot that was sitting on top of two flagstones to find this little guy:

Needless to say, I promptly replaced the pot so as to not disrupt the integrity of his hiding spot and to protect him from our hound dogs.

Then there is this guy:

I have seen him all over the garden all summer long.  With his fantastic camouflage he has managed to elude the dogs and Opal Chicken, quite a feat .

As part of our clean-up efforts we relocated the big compost bin, which meant dumping all of the compost out on the ground for awhile.  Opal was one happy chicken, let me tell you.  I’ve never seen a girl have as much fun playing in a compost pile!

Our latest round of compost has reached the stage that we finally have consolidated all three bins into one, large, full bin:

We are so happy that it is finally under 100° (for the most part), and we got some much needed rain this weekend.  Opal Chicken is finally able to sleep in her own little coop, leaving me free to reclaim the craft room.  Even though this year’s garden is over, there is always something to do outside, and Opal and Nestlé both love when we spend a lot of time outside because it means more time for them to “free range” in the yard.

Everyone wins!

Here’s the Buzz…Paisley is Two!

The Most Bee-utiful Child in the World turned two, and everyone was buzzing with excitement.  Paisley’s parents put together an absolutely wonderful party at their own little hive:

 There was bee-themed hoopla everywhere:

And, of course, lots of presents:

And some cake:

Robert’s mother, Lynda, came up for the event, and we were so glad that she was able to join us.  Jeromy’s family was there, as well as some of Paisley’s “playmates”.  I didn’t count, but I’m guessing there were about 30 guests or so.  Jeromy, a master griller, cooked out for everyone, and Mandy had already done her part on all of those wonderful decorations, etc. (Mandy is learning to really utilize the Cricut machine, and she even used her sewing machine to make ruffled crepe paper streamers!)

Paisley certainly is one lucky little honey!

Finished!

Awhile back, my daughter introduced me to “Pinterest”.  She is also the one who encouraged me to try Facebook, and then to read blogs, and finally to write blogs.  She also probably knows how to do things with my cell phone that I don’t even know that I can do – I’m convinced that she just knows everything!  Okay, back to Pinterest.  I originally saw Pinterest as a neat way to keep track of things that I discovered on the web without having to resort to having 500 things on my “Favorites” list.  Then I discovered that you could not only keep track of the things that you find, but that you could also see all the wonderful things that your friends (and even people whom you have never met) were finding.

This has been both a blessing and a curse for me.  I must confess, I love all of the wonderful ideas that I see for home décor, gardening, crafts, etc.  However, even though I don’t spend a lot of time on the computer, I was finding that the more time I spent on Pinterest, the more unhappy I was becoming.  It took awhile, but I finally figured out why.  You see, every room, every garden, every finished craft that is showcased on Pinterest is absolutely perfect (even down to the perfect photography!).  My house….well, can we just say that it is not perfect?  Unlike those staged scenes, my house has real people and real animals living in it, and they all have stuff…stuff that is cluttering up the space here.  In addition, no matter how much I work at it there is always another floor that needs mopping; there’s another plant that, for reasons unknown, is dying; and there’s yet another craft project that just will never reach the level of perfection that you see in those pictures that are showcased on the world-wide web.   All of this served to make me dislike my house even more than I already did.  Comparing my house to all of those picture-perfect rooms was making me feel like I was the only person in the world who just could not get it together at all.

Things got at least somewhat better this weekend.  Paisley’s birthday party was yesterday (more to come on that), and my mother-in-law came to stay with us so that she could participate in celebrating the most wonderful child in the world.  Ever since Alan left, I have been working on his old room ever-so-little-at-a-time.  With Lynda’s visit becoming the new deadline, it was time for me to finally get in gear and get that room done!  I had already completed a lot of clearing and de-cluttering, so now it was time to wash the mattress cover and trot out the new sheets, bedspread, and curtains that I had bought when Alan left for Yellowstone the first time.  So here it is, finally finished…this is probably the one room in my house that will ever even come close to one of those Pinterest rooms:

I was pleased with how it turned out (even though the photography still stinks), and it is going to be so nice to have at least one room that is clean, clutter-free, and “company ready”.  By moving some of the other furniture out of the room, there is now even a spot for a cot for a certain beautiful child to spend the night if she can ever get well and stay that way – two cases of pneumonia in just six months is just not good!

I also have found one minor success in the garden of which I can be proud.  Before Alan left this spring, he helped me to transplant a little rose bush.  It had been in a flower bed in the front yard and the poor thing had just struggled for years.  Well, “bloom where you are planted” may apply to people, but I have learned that it doesn’t apply to roses.  At the time we moved it, the sad bush was down to just one lone little branch that was still alive.  After moving it to my decorative bed in the back yard, that bush took off!  Here is a picture that I took not too long ago:

In a yard filled with scorched, sorry looking plants, this is my one little gem.  It, too, is almost Pinterest worthy!

I took a break from Pinterest and other venues like it for awhile, but have decided to give it another try.  I am working on learning to be inspired without becoming mired in self-doubt, dissatisfaction, and feelings of ineptitude.  My house (like my soul) as a whole will never be perfect, but I can find little nuggets of perfection here and there as each little corner or some little project finally reaches the stage of “finished”.

Alone…But Not Lonely

When we lost our lovely Ruby Chicken, I was concerned that Opal would be lonely.  I was so concerned, in fact, that I even got another chicken, Pearl, who in the end turned out to be an Earl (for a flashback, click here).

After (P)Earl went back to his original owners, we didn’t even try to get another hen.  By then, Opal had made it clear that being Queen of the Coop was just fine with her.  I’ve tried to schedule a little more time for Opal so that she can free-range more often in the yard.  And the one good thing about having only one chicken is that when it is blazing hot outside (it’s Texas, ya’ll), I can bring her inside during the hottest part of the day and put her in a dog crate that’s sitting in my craft room.  Opal has let me know that she really, really likes air conditioning – she snuggles right down and rests.  I know, I know…but I’m just a pushover!

Opal has always liked to cuddle with us in the evenings, but lately she has really taken a shine to Robert.  She doesn’t confine her snuggling to the dusky hours, but feels free to pester him at any time, even when he’s busy doing something:

She also still loves to get in the one flower bed that I have that is of a more ornamental nature and she just scratches it to pieces.  Robert put up these cute little pieces of picket fencing for me:

It still doesn’t keep her out, but at least it looks cute.

Yes, my Opal seems to like being the Lone Ranger just fine.  High-yo Silver!