Life on the High Plains

On one of his trips to visit me in Yellowstone last summer, Irv went exploring at Lake Hebgen while I was at work one day. He came across this raptor roost that had a family of hawks living in it. He captured some truly magnificent shots of one of the parents bringing dinner home. It gave him the idea that maybe he'd like to have a raptor roost of his own in our pasture.  You might be wondering what kind of raptors we have on the high plains of Colorado.  We have hawks and falcons, and occasionally a bald eagle will stop by for a visit. He did his research and began to build his roost.  Building the platform was by far the easiest part of the project. Of course he needed a very tall pole to mount the platform on.  He managed to get a free one from our local electric cooperative.  They even loaded it onto the trailer, but he couldn't convince them to come plant it in the ground. He brought his pole home and cut it to the ...

On our third and final day in London we made our way to the Paddington train station to catch a train to Windsor.  Our train ride there was packed.  Irv and Shi had to stand up while I was fortunate to have a seat.  (Thankfully, I was traveling with two gentlemen.) The public transportation system in Europe is great!  This country could really learn a lot from them.  I wonder what European visitors think when they come to our country for a visit and realize that the public transportation system really sucks (unless you're in a big city). Once again I had pre-purchased our tickets so we didn't have to wait in the very long line to get in.  Irv and I had visited Windsor about 27 years ago with our girls and it was exactly as I remembered it except for all the security. The castle has incredible gardens in what used to be the moat area. William the Conqueror started the construction of this site in about 1070 to guard the western app...

Okay, I'm getting back to blogging about our recent trip to the U.K.  Day two in London started with a tour of the state rooms in Buckingham Palace.  For a few weeks each summer while the Queen is on holiday at Balmoral the state rooms are open to the public.  I was thrilled that our visit coincided with the Queen's holiday. When I purchased our tickets I chose the earliest time available which was 9:30.  We had a full day planned and I wanted to get started.  Much to my relief Mr. Beans didn't complain about having to get up early. Buckingham Palace became a royal residence in 1761 when George III purchased the house for his queen, Charlotte. Several monarchs added their own touches to the palace, but Victoria and Albert made it into the regal palace that we see today. All of Victoria and Albert's children were born at Buckingham Palace; however, upon his death Victoria went into mourning for two years and the palace was closed. ...