Life on the High Plains

I'm kind of excited this winter because I joined our library district's winter reading program.  My kids always participated in these challenges when they were young and all three used to win all the prizes and read all the books in the youth section.  They're all three still avid readers which makes my heart happy. Anyway, the challenge is pretty simple and it's all on the honor system.  It runs from February 1 to March 31 and in that timeframe you have to read 30 minutes a day for 30 of those days.   Also, you have to participate in one of the activities that the library has to offer.  Unbeknownst to me, the library offers a whole host of activities for adults--not just kids at no cost.  I signed up for "String Art" a the library branch that is closest to our house.  There is a whole group of "older" ladies who participate in these activities and travel from branch to branch.  (I honestly felt like an intruder in their group.)  There w...

Big news this week!  I had previously mentioned that we were kind of looking for a new dog, but the right dog was going to have to find us.  Well, last Saturday we decided to meander over to the Humane Society to look at a female black lab puppy that was on their website.  By the time we got there she had already been adopted, but there was another kennel full of little nuggets.  We decided to learn more about them so we went to sign up with a matchmaker.  After doing that we went to look at them some more and the kennel was empty! Where had all the puppies gone?  Were they flying off the shelves that quickly? As it turned out between our initial look and our return one of the pups had tested positive for parvo so all of them had to go into isolation. We could only look at pictures of them and we chose this little nugget because of that blue eye.  Her name at Humane Society is Sometimes Sleepy, but that will be changing once we finally get to bring her...

 The big chill has passed us by and is headed East. We had a couple mornings where it was 10 below when we woke up.  Maisy's feet froze when she went outside to do her business and she would just stop wherever she was and hold up a foot or two.  My husband is so kind because he's been doing all the early morning feedings when the windchill is near or below zero. I can't really complain about the cold here though.  My friends who work at Yellowstone year round always like to have a little fun.  This is the ghost ranger at the West Entrance. The West Entrance is an official weather station for NOAA and this was the reading on Monday morning--actual temperature, not wind chill.  I can't even imagine. We ventured out in the artic chill on Monday night for dinner and a show. We saw Tootsie at the Pikes Peak Center which was hilarious.  I haven't laughed that much in quite a while.  The show is nothing like the movie.  I especially enjoyed the one ...

Once again, I've not been following up on my goal to blog more often.  There's a simple reason for it...it's winter in Colorado and we've had a long streak of incredibly cold temperatures and some snow here and there. I feel like an inmate who has been sentenced to solitary confinement.  I find winter to be terribly lonely and depressing probably because we live so remotely.  My days normally consist of waking up early to feed the horses, doing a little painting, a little reading and trying to get to the gym as often as possible.  I really miss being able to be outside in the sunshine and enjoying nature.  In the coming week it's supposed to get up to 40 degrees so if the wind isn't blowing  I'll try to hit a trail somewhere.  Just think, I could be enjoying another winter in Mesa right now. We're thinking about adding another furball to our family so we dropped by the humane society to see who was there.  They literally had about 12 dogs most of ...

It's been an interesting weekend.  I've decided to get more involved with our local democratic party this year so I dragged Mary along to their kick off reception for 2023. We did a little shopping before the reception and then I dragged Mary to a café that I've always wanted to eat at.  Little did I know that it was a mostly vegan restaurant.  I was really proud of her because she agreed to stay even after viewing the menu because she's a meat and potatoes type of person.  She was able to find some asiago macaroni and cheese and I selected the vegan street tacos.  Mine was absolutely delicious and I'd go back to have them again.  I don't Irv would be too thrilled to dine there either. Then we made our way over to the arts center for the reception where they put on a really nice wine and charcuterie board spread.  There were lots of candidates and current representatives there in addition to the officers from the Colorado Democratic Party.  We tri...

So, I said I was going to try to be a better blogger in 2023 and I've already missed that goal.  Here's a quick post to catch up for the first two weeks of January. My handsome grandson seems to be having a great experience in Korea.  I was lucky enough to get a friend request from him so I can see his adventures (little did he know I'd be stealing an occasional photo of how happy and healthy he looks).  He doesn't let many "older" adults in and if you're offended by the "F" word you should definitely stay away. I finished up two paintings this week and they're both of the same thing!  Above is the 30"x30" version that I painted all on my own.  His name is Tatonka (Lakota for bull). Here is the 20"x20" painting currently known as Tatonka Junior.  I worked on the smaller version with my teacher and then would go home and applied what I learned to the big guy.  I've ordered frames for both of them which unfortunately hav...

 We painted the town on New Year's Eve with a visit to the zoo followed by dinner with Mary. It was a fairly warm evening by Colorado Spring standards so glove, hat and a zipped jacket weren't even necessary. My all time favorite zoo lights are at the Phoenix Zoo, but unfortunately we didn't have time to visit during our recent trip there. It was nice going after Christmas because it wasn't nearly so crowded and was mostly an older crowd.  We even ran into some long time friends that we hadn't seen in a very long time. One thing our zoo needs to add is some music.  The Phoenix Zoo has music everywhere and even exhibits where the lights and the music are timed together. You can't go to the zoo without taking the long walkway to the elephant barn.  It's a great place to warm up also. The wallabies were all tucked in for the night in their enclosure.  Normally you can walk right through them because they roam freely in the Australia exhibit. Not a lot of animal...