Friday, November 30, 2007

On the Mountain Top and Devils Kitchen












We spend a lot of time on car trips, enjoying the bounty of God's creation here in Utah. We love heading for the mountain passes and deep canyons, finding a fairly decent road and following it. One day we took Highway 6 into Spanish Fork Canyon. What a gorgeous drive. We were amazed at the way the highway crew cuts through the gigantic granite mountains, then lines the passes with concrete that looks like it is part of the mountains. Gorgeous! We passed a train loaded with coal as it wound it's way through the passes on its way to the valley. The train snaked along, passing under us in some places. We passed oil donkeys, refineries for the crude coal and other minerals, and gigantic modern mines billowing white spirals of gases into the crystal clear sky. Not a sign of polution the whole trip. Very relaxing and interesting drive. We stopped on top of the world and surveyed the humungous water reservoirs and lakes hidden in the Rocky Mountains. We picniked at the Devils Kitchen and saw the most breathtaking sight I've ever seen! I'm sharing a few of the pictures.

Friday, November 9, 2007

Thoughts


Today is kind of a milestone in our old lives. When our precious son died so suddenly in a needless way, the world came to an end. The lawyers filed a wrongful death suit against the company that caused his death, and today it will be ended. For that, we are thankful. My old heart aches...... why don't folks take better care of each other? If we weren't so selfish I think we would find it very easy to put others first. If everybody put others first, we would all be in first place.... (sigh)..... I'm crying a lot these days...... I hope the tears will soon turn off...... but I don't know how they will when I miss my precious daughter and son so very much. I pray constantly for Heavenly Father's help and I know He is helping me. That is a message I would love to tell everybody...... Pray... always.... He does hear and answers and comforts.

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Why I love my Front Porch


This is the reason I love to sit on our front porch. When I stand at the front window of the livingroom and look out, I am greeted by the majesty of the Wasatch Mountains. I love it. Every morning they display a different mood. Sometimes the clouds are very heavy and low and cloak them, making it impossible to see.... that is when my old imagination goes to work. Other days, the foggy clouds linger near the top and I can only imagiane how tall the gigantic mountains are. The fall colors are gorgeous, and the fringe of perpetual snow is encouraging. In the high desert the snow is very important. This is my favorite view, so far.

Spanish Fork Home






We finally signed the papers and are in the mind-boggling process of opening boxes and setting up house. Excitement, exhaustion, fun, memories, and surprises at what we find are emotions that we experience each day. I'm posting some pictures of our home. We love it here. There was a gorgeous snowstorm one Saturday evening and night, but the rest of the time it has been the typical Indian Summer and we feel so blessed.

Friday, September 7, 2007

Retirement Day for Virgil




Today is Virgil's last day at work. He's a little nervous that his coworkers will try to get even with him for all the jokes and tricks he's pulled on them. He didn't even take his lunch with him, that's how concerned he is. Toooo baddd (giggling). There is a retirement party for him at noon and I'll go. However, due to "no cameras" allowed in the Fed Bldg, I won't be able to get pictures of it.

We've had a couple terrific thunderstorms lately. Then with the wildfires burning a few miles away, the daytime sun is gorgeous. The setting sun in the evening is a breathtaking ball of fire. I'm posting a couple pictures. Tomorrow we are pulling this old RV out onto the freeway and heading for Spanish Fork, Utah!!!!! Yeah!!!!

Sunday, September 2, 2007

August Storm




Usually we get a good ole thunderstorm in the evenings, when it has been a very hot summer day in this arid desert of Idaho. However, this summer has been different. Nice, but quieter with no evening storms. But.... a few days ago we got a warning on the TV channels that a big 60 mph storm was headed our way! The Owyhee Mountain range tempers the winds, but we still got a thrill out of this one. I peeked out the windows of the motorhome livingroom, to see what was going on. There were just a few high clouds and it was very calm. I grabbed my old camera and stepped outside to get a few shots. It was so calm and warm... no sign of a breeze or danger. The school bus stopped and let a little child off, then left. Nice quiet afternoon. Except of the quickly approaching clouds in the distant west. I went back inside, knowing that everything was going to change in a few seconds. Sure enough. Next time I looked out the window, there was a brownish band of clouds spreading rapidly from the western horizon. I stayed glued to the window..... in a few more seconds the winds hit.... the lovely shade trees here snapped and whipped around like crazy.... the brown winds lashed all the cars and motorhomes..... ripping one of our awnings outerlayer and shredding it. Wow! The storm lasted about an hour then it was rain. We needed the rain badly, so we enjoyed listening to it. I'm posting a couple pictures of the storm clouds that started the terrific desert storm.

Wild Mustangs





Here in the Idaho high desert, there are so many beauties and marvels of creation. The wild mustangs that mingle with the ranch horses, are one of them. Some of the ranchers who depend upon the wide open range to run their cattle and horses on, are very protective of the rolling, mountainous desert, and especially the wild horse herds that run free there. When it looks like the herds are inbreeding and become unstable, the ranchers will release one of their best stallions to run with them. This increases the beauty and the strength of the mustang herds. Now that is a good thing, except with more folks living on the desert, there has to be an equilizer.... and that is often the roundup of the mustangs.... and they are tamed and put up for adoption under close supervision, to the public. We know folks who have adopted them, and they make the very best horses for families. Last week we visited the arenas where the adoptions were, and the horses. The BLM crew was there giving demonstrations on how to gentle the horses, and help in a lot of other ways. To make sure the mustangs are adopted to the best families, and there are about 5 families to each mustang, they have very rigid rules. One of the rules is, the horse remains under the protection of BLM for one full year before family can apply for full adoption. Here are a couple of my pictures of the "Roundup of the Wild Mustangs."

Lunar Beauty

Just after the lunar eclipse last week, the moon was gorgeous. Here in our area, the clouds were high and swift and added to the mystery of the night. When my husband drove off in his old pickup in the morning, to go to work, it was still very dark. But the moon was bright as daylight, almost. Then I noticed the night sky full of clouds and the moon was lighting them from behind. I grabbed my old camera and took a few pictures. Here is one.


Monday, August 27, 2007

Jigsaw Puzzles


I love to do jigsaw puzzles. I really enjoy doing them when the picture is one of my own photographs. This link will take you a site that is a marvelous jigsaw puzzle page.


Tuesday, August 14, 2007

New Exhibit at IS Fair


I spent all of yesterday finishing the colored pencil art work I was doing for my son on the day that the man arrived to tell me that my only son was found dead. I have been saving the pencils and the picture for months, hoping I could get back to it and finish it for my beloved child. It is finished. Today I'm going to enter it in the Fine Arts Division of exhibits at the annual Western Idaho State Fair. My dear husband says it looks excellent. I am happy with the finished art work. Time does heal, but it is still lonely and sad and it will take forever ............ tears come very easily to my heart and eyes these days.......

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Neighbors left for Eugene


It is kind of a sad day here in the motorhome. Our dear neighbors of several months, have boughten a lovely home in the green city of Eugene, OR, and pulled their new trailer out this morning at 6:30. I gave them lots of hugs and Pepper waved at them and licked their shoes frantically, making them laugh. It won't be the same around here without them. She is a gardener and she will be in heaven gardening at their new home.

At 3:30 this morning in the mobile home park next to this RV park, there was a terrible fire that killed a family. The fire trucks are still over there. Very tragic.

The wild fires are burning so badly here that we can't see the mountains anymore, and we live at the foot of them. We desperately need some rain the help put the fires out.

On the patio I'm growing a lovely flower, Lisaanthus (eustoma), and am posting a picture of it that I took a couple days ago.

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Sunrise at RV Park




When I walk our little cocker puppy early in the mornings, I am lucky enough to see some gorgeous sunrises. The most interesting ones are when the clouds are still lingering in the east, and some of the smoke and haze from the wildfires are in the air. I'm posting a couple I took last week. This morning when I walked Pepper, there was a full moon and it was bright as daylight, almost. I love the summer mornings and the warm air with the gentle breezes in the early morning just before daybreak.


Friday, July 27, 2007

RV Park Living




It's been awhile since I've taken the time to post. Today I'll add a few pictures of the Hi-Valley RV Park where we are staying until the middle of Sept. It has been triple digits weather-wise, and I'm staying very close to the AC. When I gardened at our old home, I suffered heat exhaustion a few times, and now I don't tolerate the heat at all. My old body doesn't cool itself down like it used to and I get very sick. We added an outside sunscreen to the motorhome front windows and that helps immensely in keeping the rig cool. Plus our awing over the patio/lawn area is huge and it blocks out the heat. The pictures will show our humble home. The most important thing that we really love about living in THIS rv park, is the fact that it is very clean, the staff are very friendly and helpful, and we feel very safe. Not all rv parks offer those qualities.




Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Owyhee Desert Wild Flower


While driving through the picturesque Owyhee Mountain Front, on July 4th, I took a picture of a gorgeous wild flower that lined the dusty dirt roads. I picked one bloom and was amazed at how soft and different it was. The center was filled with long brush-like filaments, and the long lance-like petals radiated out from the center. However, the leaves were a total surprise. They were pale sage-brush colored, harsh to touch, and tended to curl into the middle vein. What a fantastic flower to find on a gorgeous summer drive.

Monday, July 9, 2007

ArrowRock Dam Drive July 9






We are really old, but we have a nice car and we still enjoy a pleasant drive into the desert or mountains or the farmland in Idaho. July 9 we drove up into the towering mountains that make up the east ridge of Boise City. We traveled about 70 miles on one-lane dirt roads to get to the tiny run-down mountain town of Atlanta. It is a treasure of a little town with lots of Idaho history. Some of our friends have summer homes there, but we didn't visit them. We just stopped at a little pole-lodge restaurant and bought some pepsi to drink on the way home. I'm posting a few pictures of our little drive. First we passed Lucky Peak Dam that was built to store irrigation water for the Boise Valley and Treasure Valley farms. Then we followed that reservoir to the next dam, Arrowrock. There were lots of boats and skiiers and jet skis on the water. After leaving the beautiful structure of the Arrowrock Dam, the road hugged the sides of that reservoir until it petered out and became the North Fork of the Boise River, a tributary that feeds into the two dams. The first part of the drive was landscape filled with sage brush, the second part was shady from the old tall evergreens. We stopped and picnicked beside the river and let our little cocker puppy stretch his legs.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Lighthouse in Pastels




Last week we attended the graduation ceremony of our precious granddaughter, Jessica. She had asked me to do a picture of a lighthouse in a storm at night, for her. I did one in pastels. She framed it in a beautiful frame while I was there and is displaying it in her lovely livingroom in Orem, Utah.




I am going to do another lighthouse and this time I'll use my favorites - graphites. Did you realize that each lighthouse in the world has a personality of its own, and has saved many lives? I think that is why we like them.




Today in Boise it is about 100 degrees and the sky is blue and it is a lovely spring.

Friday, June 15, 2007

More Vines


I took pictures of vines that I had sketched. These are the bitterroot vine that grows wild in Idaho and Montana, and the Virginia Creeper vine that is seen on a lot of fences and houses. We had VC growing on the north side of our clinker home here in Boise for over 40 years. It was a fast growing vine and covered the whole side, growing in the shade, and finding easy anchorage on the bricks and clinkers. In the spring it was green, in the summer the huge leaves would pull the vine away from the wall a little, and in the fall the foilage turned amber, purple, and orange. Such a beautiful vine.


The bitterroot has tiny red berries on it and is seen along the highways as it climbs on fences and electrical-line posts.


Today is HOT in Boise. Hot and dry with a mild breeze.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Pastels on Black


I finished the morning glories. It was really fun working with the pastel pencils on the black paper. I used Strathmore 400 series black paper in the Field Sketch. I used General's Pastel Chalk pencils. Pastels are so much fun to work with. They lay down color on the papers so easily, are a dream to rub around on the paper with a brush, and can take layers easily.


Today I'm working on a morning glory graphite sketch. It is my first sketch with the new mechanical pencils I bought a couple days ago. So far, I really, really like them. I'll post that sketch when it is done.


Grandma Barbara in Boise

Friday, June 8, 2007

White Pastel on Black


Yesterday I shopped at Quality Art and bought a sketch book that has black pages. Fun. I used a white pastel pencil to sketch a little critter. Really fun.


Today I'm organizing the RV. The underbed storage will be used for art storage and as a library and linen closet. Nice.

The weather is getting hot. Can't really complain. Better than the cold wind and rain we had a couple days ago.

Thursday, June 7, 2007

RV Park


We are settled into our space at the HiValley RV Park, and we love it here. Our neighbors all seem nice, and we have our own patio and lawn area. Today I shopped at Quality Art Warehouse and bought some graphite mechanical pencils in sizes 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, and 0.9. I bought a new art book and several sketch books. One of the sketch books has black paper and I'm anxious to use my white pastels and CPs on it to see what I can do. This picture is one I took a couple years ago at the Midway, Utah RV resort in the Wasatch Mountains. Great place for photography and walking.
Today it is 63 and sunny. Yesterday it was 50 and windy and rainy. Typical June.

Friday, May 25, 2007

Link to old WebShots Garden Photography



While visiting my old WebShots albums, I copied this link that goes to a slide show of some of the flowers that graced my old gardens in Boise. We gardened in a half acre lawn and loved every inch of it. I miss that. My bones don't, but my mind does (grinning).




Tulips



It's been awhile since I've posted. Life seems kind of empty right now. I think losing two precious children within a two year span is taking its toll on my emotions. Things just don't seem right anymore. Thankgoodness I have my scriptures and prayers. I also have two very precious daughters ready to spend time with me, and a wonderfully understand granddaughter and great-granddaughter who talk to me often. I don't know what I'd do without them.


I've been sketching a lot. Right now I'm finishing up a gorgeous cactus dahlia. I'll post it when it is finished. Because of a friend in the botanical art group, I've found a renewed interest in my old tulip photography. I'm posting one of the lovely pictures today.


The temperature in Boise is sunny and almost cool. In the 60s. Perfect weather for gardening.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Pointillism


I did my first attempt at pointillism yesterday. Judging from the results, I'm going to leave that technique to the masters, whose works I admire so much.