Light

The Wind River peaks are well hid by the clouds, but the foothills area bathed in a light that shows depth.

When the sun is shining so that the foothills are somewhat back-lit, they don't look flat, like they usually do.  One can see the depth of the valleys and the miles of terrain between the foothills and mountain peaks.  It's all about having light in the right places.

Having light is like having understanding; increased understanding gives depth to what you know and to what you can demonstrate.  Today, let's let the light in and not take things as face value.  Challenges are just an opportunity to see things from a more inspired, well-lit, spiritual point of view.

Snowtember

The snow measured 5.5 inches.

Yes, they've dubbed it "Snowtember" with this unusual storm.  I saw on the news that in Riverton we've not had snow in September since the year 2000.  A good heavy snow is welcomed moisture, but with the leaves still on the trees, it usually means we will lose tree limbs. 

A lot of destruction of this sort was reported, such as big limbs coming down on vehicles and rooftops.  So, we've got a lot of clean-up happening in every neighborhood.

As the temps got warmer, more branches snapped.

To add to the "excitement," we also lost electrical power.  Mine was out from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  I was SO THANKFUL when it came back on. 

Sunny skies are in the forecast for the next couple days...

Makes you wonder what kind of winter we're going to have.

Messin' with the fall photos

I dropped some of yesterday's photos into picmonkey and played around just a little with the effects.  I need to do a whole lot more of this.  Caution: it's way too much fun and chews up a lot of time.  But then, you already know that!!

Steaks of light and enhanced color were added.

This photo has a "soften" effect applied.

This one has a frame and shadow around it, but you can't see it against a white background.

Some effects I really liked were available only if I upgraded, and I didn't explore further to see how much that would cost.  There's always something better out there, eh?

The Aspen groves are turning...

Two knitting buddies joined me on a half-day trek to Union Pass to see check out the fall colors...and to have lunch in Dubois. 

Driving up to the top of Union Pass turned out to be interesting...but not necessarily vibrant with color.  In fact, we only saw one hillside that was photo worthy.  Much of the road is lined with pine trees.  Unfortunately, we commented several times about how sad it is to see so much beetle-killed pine in this area, and it's only a matter of time before a lightening strike starts Mother Nature's natural clean-up process.  Even with the moisture we've received lately, it looks very dry.

Here are some photos of the aspen on a hillside not far from the Line Shack. 

Finishing the pair

I got the 2nd wristlet knit up!  Now to join the ends.  This pattern calls for the 3-needle bind-off, which I used on the 1st one.  But I have opted to join the 2nd with the kitchener stitch.  I am interested in the difference in the look of it and plan to use the pair as a demo for other knitters. 

So, two lessons were learned.  Pick out contrasting beads and think ahead as to which seam would look the best.

A little shake-up

Saturday morning I was awake and reading in bed...and suddenly it felt like someone or something under my bed was turning over.  What the heck??  Then it happened again.  Really creepy!  How could that be happening...shaking my bed like that???  After I got over the shock...and looked under the bed...discovering nothing...I settled down into some rational thinking.  Could it have been an earthquake?  As a matter of fact, it was!  The epicenter of this 4.9 quake was  about 30 miles away as the crow flies. 

My old fence is so weathered, it's starting to fall down.  It wouldn't take much of a shake-up for more of it to go.  So, I decided it was time to take off the top rails, remove the wire fencing stapled to the posts, and pull the posts.  Some of the posts are so rotten at ground level, they just broke off; but some are still in the ground too solid for easy removal.  But, I got started, anyway.  It's time to spiff up the place before it starts looking a little too ghetto. 

I'm putting nails and staples in a green bucket.

The fence represented one of the structures my neighbor Earl helped me build over 30 years ago, shortly after I had a house built on the property.  Earl brought over his tractor and post hole digger, and we spent many days getting this fence built.  I learned a lot from watching and helping him:  how to measure the placement of the posts, how to get the fence height even, how to use both 8' and 16' 2X4's for the top rail, how to staple wire fencing and get it tight.  I was so pleased when it was all done. It outlined a portion of my property line to the west and to the north. 

Well, several years ago I  purchased a few more acres to the west.  So, the fence really doesn't reflect  accurate boundaries anymore.  Neither does it serve to keep anything in...or anything out.  It served its purpose, but it's time for it to come down. 

Talk about shaking- it -up, the recent storms and winds have been shaking loose dead needles off the pine tree and several pine cones have been dropping too.  I have quite a collection of pine cones from the last few years.  I need a  great idea for a holiday project, using pine cones!!  I'll take suggestions!

Matching Yarns and Beads

It was time to string beads on to the pink yarn for the second wristlet.  But I was going rogue... determined to string different beads with more contrast for the topside of the wristlet.  I did this at knit night...with lots of other gals were present.  I strung those 540 beads on the yarn... and then set it away from me.  Suddenly, it was obvious that the beads were NOT a good color match.  And all the gals agreed...not a match.  Oh dang!  All that stringing...and all for naught. 

So, Wednesday afternoon, I took all the topaz beads off the pink yarn and put the multi-pink (no contrast) beads on.  Then, I took the topaz beads and got them strung on the peach-colored yarn.  I think it's a much better look! 

OK.  So, now I think I'm ready to start knitting again.  The prep work is complete!