SAD MISHAP

one of my favorite household appliance's broke today.

yes my clothesline.

i tend to have to replace these every two- three years, usually due to weather. 

meaning i do not get the line in winter storage quick enough and  a heavy snow storm comes through and snaps it in several pieces.

this time it was all the laundry i did after we came  home from vacation.

all the quilts, bedding and afghans all on the line together.

sure wish i had gotten a picture before it all it the ground :-)

BISON WATCHING

one of our days in yellowstone we went to watch the bison.

on the way to hayden valley where the bison are having their yearly party

we saw several lone male bison.

these guys are not invited to the party :(

lets just say they do not have the advantage of modern pharmaceutical drugs,

so the young girls just turn their eyes from these older, mature bison.

and this is why their are many lone male bison all over the park.

and they are grumpy not being invited to the annual party.

feeling a little left out and used up !

it is usually these uninvited bison who gore yellowstone visitors.

visitors like these two men in the picture !

the one man was half way between the bison and where they are standing in the picture,

while the other dude was taking a picture on his ipad !

this bison was getting irritated but held his temper and ignored these two fools.

i thought for sure i was seconds away from getting a picture of a man being gored.

but not today, the ole gent put his head down and was apparently more interested in his lunch.

this guy came a little too close to the truck and i got this picture. 

did not dare use my flash....

the following pictures were all taken in hayden valley at the "party".

we stayed a good 1-2 miles away from this party.

this young bull partied way too late last night and was resting on the banks of the river.

the smoke over hayden valley was fairly thick !

several fires burning in the park and some HUGE fires burning in idaho.

idaho fires were producing so much smoke one could not even see the tetons !

{ love photo shop or all pictures would have this smoke haze in them }

two bisons crossing the river

the yellowstone river runs through the hayden valley.

no fishing in this valley.

also in the valley are grizzly bears, black bears and wolves.

we did not see any of these animals.....darn.

i guess i should of cleaned the mirrors before taking this picture.

another uninvited ole fella on the road we passed slowly and quietly !

facts on bison:

they can run at 35 mph

turn at a 90 degree angle at 35 mph

and jump fences

if they live to the age of 3 years they will die from old age and they can live to 25 years old.

but no predators will attack them or even try !

who would of ever thought something this big could be so agile !

JUST WALKING

OH HOW I LOVE YELLOWSTONE

i spend my days here in yellowstone walking { with my best friend }, sewing, knitting and i have read two fantastic books.

the children's blizzard:

about the 1888 blizzard on the great plains that caught mostly children on their way home from school.

great books, very informative about weather and hypothermia and sad. 

amazing what those first homesteaders went through.

the other book,

montana women homesteaders:

these women were amazing and what an adventure they had.

it was windy and cold one day this week so i jumped in the truck and went to Rexburg and Rigby, Idaho fabric shopping  ;-)

Did not find much in the way of good fabric stores.

but i did find these wonderful receiving and burp pads for babies. 

i bought several as in at least 12 last time i was in salt lake city. i have not ever found these hemmed stitched items except in utah and now idaho.....{ must be a mormon women thing }.

anyways they are the best gifts. i crochet around the edges and whala, i have a beautiful baby gift.

my supply is zero at home so i picked up several packages of hem stitched blankets, burp pads and bibs.

also was given names of several women here in Rigby who do hem stitching.....

i left happy!

i finished this crochet bag just in time for the trip. inside is another crochet blanket i'm making.

i learned how to do bobbles making this bag !

every year i work on my rug. i need a big picnic table to work on this rug.

my puppies somehow got a hold of my "toothbrush" used to make this rug and had a good chew....;-(

thankfully it was still useable.

i keep myself busy with projects, walks and watching this....

eric fixing small problems with the trailer.

a spider set up house keeping in the pipe that heats the water.

their were two big spider webs behind these grates!

eric is wonderful to have around for this " fix it" stuff. i would not have a clue where to start.

and of course i keep my eye the scenery.

this river is the Madison, that is closed to fishing presently....

too hot !

makes the fish very stressed.

and i love watching all the young animals in the park.

these guys are fattening up for winter, which is only a couple weeks away.

Yellowstone has only three seasons- winter, july and august !

aren't they just the cutest !

WELL HELLO LUCY

on the road again, yes we are off fishing somewhere in the west......

actually, first we are going to idaho.

 lucy here greeted me on my morning walk.

isn't she cute?

lucy however has been misbehaving and has a case of the wondering hooves :)

yes, she broke through the fence and at the time of posing for this shot, { her best side of course }

lucy was on the wrong side of her fence.

 found her kicking up her back hooves mooing

i'm free...........

then she saw me.

she looked straight at me and her eyes saying:

"well what are you going to do about it"?

"nothing" i say, "i see nothing" !

WE LOVE FOOD

we love food around here.

food that is locally grown,

some is so local 

it is right out of my backyard.

the best !

lets take a local trip around the plate.

corn bought at farmers market

steak is from a local rancher that we get all our beef 

tomatoes from the back porch { as in my back porch }

chives also from the back porch

potato and sour cream are the two things i bought at a grocery store

doggie corn sticks are from a good friend.

this meal was delish and neither of us could finish our plate......

so the left overs became monday's dinner..mmmmm!

oh how well we can eat from our local goods !

BACKYARD HAPPENING

the yard seems to be bursting with color this week !

or maybe it is just today.

it has cooled down today, the sky is blue, blue, not a cloud to be seen and it is only 80 degrees at noon.

oh how i have been waiting for such a day.

that high 90 to 100 degree was weighing me down.

hard to think and make any decisions.

so nothing got done !

but today, today i feel energized and cleaned a large portion of the house, spent over an hour on the phone with my sister, watered the garden, hung up wash and swept the porch.

and oh yeah my middle girl is coming home today.

we had a birthday this week also

my baby turned 23 years....what?

mr.p., myself and erin girl had a lovely dinner in denver for the celebration.

happy birthday baby girl !

MAKING PLANS

Making plans to head back to PENNSYLVANIA.

Love love this part of the country.

Hope to be there for the fall colors.....hehe, I'm almost giddy already :)

I must remember waiting is part of the magic, like Christmas.

{ more on this later }