Spun Samoyed

Back in December I posted a photo of some Samoyed dog hair that a friend of a friend had given me to spin. I finally got it done this evening. It was long hair and easy to spin, coarse as most dog hair is, and of course smelled doggy, which I don't think ever goes away. I plan to knit her a hat.

Just Stand There and Sing

You may or may not know that George Strait is my all time favorite musician and singer. Early in June the Academy of Country Music honored George and his extremely successful career with a televised tribute. At that time Lee Ann Womack who, was the opening act for some of George's concerts over the course of his career and also his good friend sang a song especially written for him. (She is also the artist who found fame in singing the song I Hope You Dance). I finally found a taped version of Just Stand There and Sing on You Tube and have posted it for your listening pleasure. The premise behind the song is that over the years George has been criticized because he doesn't use "smoke and mirrors" to entertain at his concerts...because he doesn't need to. If you have ever been fortunate, as I have been, to be in the audience then you already know this. The movie, Pure Country, in which he starred, also eluded to his pure talent as well. Anyway the song says it all. Hope you like it.

Lily

This is my friend Beth with her new "baby".

A Day in the Garden

It was a beautiful day-low humidity, temps in the mid 80's, light breeze. We sat outside in the garden area all day. I spun 5 ounces of roving that I bought from Lonesome Stone Fiber Mill in Granby, Colorado. It's their end of the day blend. Mostly alpaca and whatever else they have left at the end of the processing day. I like the natural color.

End of the day roving blend.

Female Widow Skimmer

"Hammy Time" - our own special blend. 4 oz. Pama pomegranate liquor, 4 oz. triple sec.
2 cups pomegranate juice blended with ice. Yum.

Cheers (Daisy wants a sip...)

Yellow wood leaf

Duke, our Holland Lop rescue who is 8, joins us in the yard.

Fourth Friday Find

It was our monthly fourth Friday celebration in uptown tonight. We took Daisy and walked up to check out the booths and the crowd. I stopped in one of the antique shops and found this cute little antique pull toy rabbit. For $3 I thought it was a bargain and snapped it up. I replaced the string and the wooden pull. I think he needs a new tail at some point too.

Ruby & Halo

I have some 4 H'ers that I mentor with rabbits. This summer the girls and I bred their REW French Angora Ruby to my Seal colored Dylan. Ruby had three REW babies but only one survived. They named her Halo because they told me "she is an angel". The girls asked me to come out today to sex Halo. They thought that she was a doe and wanted to see if they were right. Halo has excellent type, and wool and is an extremely promising show prospect for them. I hope my pairing of Ruby's sister Pixie and Dylan produces the same results. They are due on July 1st.

Baby Update

Phazana's babies in color....

Turk's Cap Lily

Andrew, who rides his bike to work in mild weather, spied a single orange flower in the woods on the bike trail on his way home tonight. We went back around 6 pm to photograph it, fearing the the forecasted rain storms would knock it down and ruin it. The flower, a beautiful Turk's Cap Lily is a wildflower that can have anywhere from one to sixteen flowers per plant and is found in woodlands through out the mid to south west and east coast. In all our wanderings we have never seen one before so we were pretty excited about finding it...and glad we photographed it since a veritable monsoon hit around 8:30 pm

Put Me Down

Phazana has five Satin babies as of Monday night from her pairing with Rupert and they all are different colors. I plan to keep a couple of the ones that are different colored from what I already have in my herd in order diversify my yarn color selection.

The Dog Song That Will Put A Smile on Your Face

Look for Daisy. A painting of her is in the video.

Adventures in Whitewater

We waited all week for it to be warm enough to go white water rafting and were rewarded for our patience on the last day of our trip. Adventures in Whitewater took us on a rafting trip down the Colorado River through Class II and III rapids which was fine for us beginners (except Andrew). We had a blast. The water was ice cold and the scenery was fabulous.The Colorado River

Mom, Me, Andrew & Elisha (Elisha said this was her favorite part of the trip).

The Trail to Lulu City

The trail to Lulu City, a ghost town, was another wonderful hike which included surprises such as an elk jam on the trail and the opportunity to see a herd of Big Horn Sheep with lambs.Elk Crossing

Stopping for the elk jam.


A female elk looks at us with curiosity.


Elisha looks at a Big Horn Sheep ram in the distance.


Big Horn Sheep ewes with lambs.

Playful little lambs.

Posing for a photo.

Sulfur Paint Brush

In All Things of Nature...

... there is something of the marvelous...Aristotle. Here are some marvelous things of nature.A stunning sunset.

Evidence of the moose that walked under our balcony.

A broad-tailed hummingbird feeding on sulfur paint brush flower.

A chipmunk munching on a dandelion head.

Mountain Meadow

Another view of Prairie Smoke flower-I just love it!
Forming the big tornado that hit Denver the same night?

Historic Georgetown

We took a ride on the Georgetown loop railroad. We planned the excursion because they have a steam engine but unfortunately it was undergoing renovations. My cousin and uncle from Evergreen met us there and our 5 year old nephew liked the trip nonetheless. Afterward we had a wonderful meal (I had a ground buffalo burrito and Alaskan Amber beer that was out of this world). We did a little shopping in Georgetown too. It was a neat place.

Riding the train.

Andrew & Me having fun.

All of Andrew's family.

The river below.

Icy Morn

One morning we woke up to ice covered surfaces. It warmed up though, to be a beautiful day. Andrew got out early and took a few shots close to the condo of the mist
caused by the icy conditions.
Flower covered meadow overlooking the mountains.

Prairie smoke flower with frost on its petals.

Baby red fox near its den. Watched these little guys at dawn and dusk every day.
There were three kits.

Alpine Visitor Center-RMNP

We spent most of one day at the Alpine Nature Center and adjacent trail. It was cold, foggy, windy and snowing for the most part but for about an hour it calmed down enough to get out and about. Andrew was a little more energetic than the rest of us and he hiked to the top of the trail head and was duly rewarded for his efforts.A view of the mountain road way and the fog.

Snow level at the nature center. They have roof supports on the building to hold the weight of the snow there.

At the top of the trail near the nature center that Andrew hiked.

Alpine Forget-me-nots.

Mom and I brave the 2nd trail part way to look for rare alpine wildflowers of which we saw about 6 different types. I was also hoping to see a pika (the smallest member of the rabbit family but did not).Alpine buttercup. Aren't they pretty?

White tailed ptarmigan on her nest. A rare sighting.

This is what it looked like outside after mom and I got back to the car.

And this is what Andrew looked like after he got back to the car.