Busy, busy, busy...

I've not made the time to blog as normal...and the blogging will probably be pretty sketchy for another month, but I'll try to keep it alive. 

I'm happy to report that the smoke has cleared (for today), and it's so great to see blue skies and mountain peaks from my patio.  Our green grasses have all turned golden, and a hint of autumn is sneaking in.  We may have seen the last of the 90 degree temps.  The nights have significantly started to cool down.

Music scores, scripts, blocking notes --  those have taken my attention lately.  We are now in the middle of rehearsals for the musical melodrama (a dinner-theater production) I'm directing for the Riverton Library's fund-raiser.  We've got a GREAT cast, and it's been a blast so far.  It all goes on the stage Oct. 2nd and 3rd. 

Throw into the mix of activities more private music lessons too.  I had 6-ish over the summer, and now with school starting and kids getting back into their fall routines, I'm back up to 11 students.  That fills my schedule!  That's plenty!  I still want to feel like I've got days to do as a retired/rewired person should. Hmmm...I'm working on that.

The Labor Day weekend is going to be busy with my family coming in...and I should have photos of more 4-wheeling to share...

Hope you all have a fun/relaxing/joyful weekend.

First day of school

Jo H. and Julie F. are ready to ride.

Monday was the first day of school where I used to teach...and ... woohoo ... I wasn't in a classroom ... and neither were two of my teacher friends!  We let nature be our classroom and life's lessons  be taught without a desk, a pencil, or a worksheet!  And we could eat when we wanted...oh yeah, sitting on a rock, looking out over a mountain lake.  My kind of opening to another school year!

Julie, Jo, and I rode over Limestone Mountain in to Louis Lake for lunch. In several places the trail opens up into high open areas where you can see Oregon Butte and Continental Peak on the horizon to the east.  

Lovely day of sunshine and warm temps.

The smell of pine - divine.

Thoughts for Thursday

Is summer going by too fast?

How long will the hot temps last?

Is there rain in the forecast?

Are the sunset hues colorfast?

More fun at a fest

Over the weekend I took part in Lander's River Fest by being part of a fiber art group with a booth to sell our projects.  The Lander Art Center did a very fine job of setting up a lot of booths, activities, food, and entertainment; the event was a great success.  I enjoyed seeing so many interesting people, their families, dogs, and their enjoyment of the atmosphere in the park. 

I LOVED the live music.  What a treat.  And the day (weather) was just about perfect.  OK, it was stifling hot in mid afternoon because we lost the shade over our booth, but the sun kept moving, and we eventually got back some shade. Whew!! A dream-sickle shaved ice drink helped a lot. We all saw familiar faces, demonstrated our craft, made a few sales, enjoyed  lawn chair chat,  swayed to the music!

From sage ... to wood

It's probably because of the unusual frequent rains this spring, but my Russian Sage plants are bigger, taller, fuller than EVER.  They smell great, the blooms are pretty purple, and the bees are loving them. 

At our local craft fair in the park, I found a great little bird house.  Now...to find a place to secure it... hmmm. 

Hot temps and high winds

For all of you in the western states...I'm hoping you're enjoying the hot summer temps!  We also had 60 mph winds a few days ago, and the tumble weeds were blowing across the hot plains like I've never seen before.  Wall, after wall, after wall of weeds blew across the road; nearly every car sported a tumble weed for a hood ornament.  I had quite a session of cleaning out the grill of my car!

Then I saw the fence-line along my access road...oh my gosh.  It was filled with tumbleweeds. 

Gotta love an outdoor concert

I made a road trip with Jane to Rock Springs Tuesday evening for an 8:30 pm concert.  It's a two and a half hour journey to get there, but so worth the trip when you get to see Martina McBride in concert at the country fair!!!  The stage was set up at the Fairgrounds...and we didn't realize we needed to bring our own seating... oh well.  So, since we (and almost everyone else) were standing, we wiggled our way to a  spot fairly close to the stage. 

That gal has a set of pipes!!  She's a little 'ol petite thing... with a big voice.  She has three back-up singers, her four piece band and another four playing reeds and horns.  What a great - full - sound.  Martina highlighted every single member in her group at the front of the stage, and they were all fantastic musicians/singers!

Great performance!  She sang non-stop for an hour and a half...ending the encore with "Independence Day."  The crowd loved it, swaying, hands in the air, and singing right along with her.  She had lots of adoring fans in Rock Springs.

I overslept the next morning...

My flower garden in pots

My flowers are giving me such joy! Love the colors.  And they are doing so well this year; perhaps it's all the rain... oh, and I've given them some fertilizer that's supposed to be good stuff.

I've had an opportunity now to read a good book while sitting out on the patio, enjoying the green grass, shady trees, and colorful petunias. Yea for summer!

Art on the sidewalk

Once again, it was time to Chalk The Walk at the Riverton Library.  It turned out to be a lovely evening, despite the wind and rain earlier in the afternoon.  Artists of all ages participated and contributed their artistic talents, creating lovely artwork.  Live music was being played from the lawn area, and many folks came out to enjoy the evening.

The gal in the foreground, Rachel, took 3rd place with her drawing of an eagle.

Here' another; this artist finished his drawing in record time...the first to complete his work that evening.

Ohh, the sweetness...

Granted, this is not at all an artistic photo of fresh cherries, but it's a photo...and soon there may not be many cherries left.  I'd have to set up a photo shoot soon if ... oh, let's get real, that's not going to happen.  I'm much more interested in eating them than photographing them.

What's all the fuss? These are Flathead Cherries!!  Yes, from Montana!  It's like red gold for us on the dry desert plains!

Driving by a Farmer's Market on Main Street in Lander, the car couldn't get turned around fast enough.  I bought a medium-sized bag...

Oh my, they are so sweet - so much sweeter than the grocery store variety I've been nibbling...

Ah, sweet cherry juice - carry me away...

Hot, sweaty, summer work

It's hot - and I'm sweaty, but much needed work is getting finished. 

I planted some petunias in flower pots.

I trimmed back some trees and removed dead juniper branches; I loaded them up on the trailer to take them to the dump/recycling facility -- only to find out it is closed on Mondays!  Drat!! 

So, I'm going to sit in the shade and have a nice cold drink.

Thursday's Thoughts...

As soon as we arrived on top of Cyclone Pass, put down our helmets and lunch bags, Mr. Chipmunk showed up.

I thought, "Oh, he's a cute little guy."
He thought, "I'm irresistible!"
I thought, "I bet I can get a picture."
He thought, "More wilderness tourists!  Take all the pictures you want.  I know you've got some food here somewhere."
I thought, "Hey, you're not very shy or very scared of us."
He thought, "No food in the helmet. It must be in this other bag.  Oh yeah, here it is."
I thought, "Come on little guy, move on."
He thought, "Come on gal, share some of this buffet.  See how cute I am?"
I thought, "Hey buddy, it's pretty obvious others have fed you, but I'm not going to, so move along."
He thought, "If I chew through this bag, lunch will be mine!!"
I thought, "Hey, quite that!...shooooo!" 

Over the weekend...

I agreed to sing the National Anthem (in a quartet) for the 5K Parade Day event on Saturday.  I DID NOT, however, realize I would be singing at 6:45 AM.  That was an EARLY morning for moi.  But it was for a great cause, so it was worth it.

Before that request came in, three friends and I had made plans to ride to the top of Cyclone Pass on our 4-wheelers.  This would be my third trip. (I wrote about it last summer- Labor Day weekend.)  Two of the four had not made this ride, and we wanted them to see/experience it.  So later that same morning, we headed for the mountains.

Brett and Marlene were riding in their side-by-side ATV, and about 3 miles up the trail, it overheated.  Dang!  This is the second time/trip this has happened.  Brett thought the problem was fixed... evidently not.  Unfortunately, they felt it best/wise to just turn around and go home.  What a disappointment.  So then, the next decision was if Julie and I would go ahead and make the trek.  Well, after considering all the options, we decided to go on ahead and give it a try.  Once we got to "the chutes," if Julie thought it was too rough, we'd turn it around.  Or if one of us got wedged in somewhere, we could always ride out on the other machine.  So, we decided to go for it.

Here's a little reminder of the trail of boulders once you get to "the chutes."  It is stepper than it looks in the picture, and it's a slow, bouncy ride!  You have to carefully pick your way through the sea of boulders and sharp rocks. 

The Chutes is a 3-mile section and took us an hour.

Looking back at what we just rode through!!

But we made it to the top!!  We took pictures, ate lunch, and thoroughly enjoyed the beauty of the panoramic view.  The elevation is close to 10,000 ft.  The wind was blowing, so we were hoping we could hold the cameras steady.

Shoshone Lake and the Wind River Range

Oh yeah, and then we had to bounce back down... a 2 hour trip back to the pick-up. We were tired, but happy,  puppies at the end of the day.

A desert garden...

Let's check out the Russian Sage.  These two plants are starting to look mature for the first time.  I think this is my 3rd season.  The lavender spiky blossoms are out, and the bees are loving them.  I've never seen such huge bees going after the sweet nectar.  Wonder where they came from.

Summer artists

The second annual Chalk the Walk event at the library was a tremendous success.  More artists. More admirers.  More folks listening to the free live music too. 

One of the gals in our knitting guild won 1st prize with her chalk painting of an Indian Paint Brush.  Yahoo!!  Way to go, Rachel!

Here's another one of my favorites, a chalk drawing of a Self Portrait by Vincent Van Gogh,