Meemo Is Back In The Mountains!

Looking over the ranch from the old airport hill.

And POOF! Powdered diet hot chocolate all over my face, down my front all over the counter and my shiny waxed kitchen floor.  Yep, I know we are back at our "cabin" in the mountains!  We have been here a week and I am beginning to get re-programed to our "high life" (as in 8500 ft. above sea level , all my 60's era friends).  I'm still puffing as I haul my laundry upstairs to the Blue Room to get washed.  My lips are getting over their dry air chappedness and I have caught my first fish from the pond so we know they didn't winter kill.

One of my favorite spring flowers, the Dog Tooth Violet

Here are some more fun adventures we have had this first week back home after 6 months on the road.  As usual the humming birds greeted us within 15 minutes of our arrival to let me know they needed their feeders put out.  The Canadian Geese are our alarm clock for a month or so before they head up to Canada.  We have spotted about 20 head of deer, mostly Does up on the ridge road and of course the antelope greeting committee was here as we came off the county road.  There are at least 2 Woodpeckers that have been pecking away on the house every morning and I have to go out and shoo them away.  Since the family spent Christmas up here without us and Thomas has been here several times over the fall and winter, I have to take stock of what is in the larder and what changes have taken place due to family members making repairs and leaving food up here.

An elk print in the mud.

My buddies, the humming birds are back!

As we come home from our winter wanderings, we have always made a stop in town at the local grocery store to pick up the basics before heading out the 25 miles to our home.  Imagine our surprise when we walked into the store and the shelves were bare!!!  Nobody managed to mention that to us over the winter.  They did have some basics but we were saddened to hear that they were in Chapter 11 bankruptcy and only could buy some basics for the last couple of months.  It does not look good for this community having a grocery store any more.  People are having to go to Laramie, Steamboat, or Granby at least 60 miles away to get their groceries.

The elk passed by here....

Signs of spring--some bear scat.

We spent a week using the staples left here and the meat brought up from Danny's and the shrimp and oysters from Rockport that we had brought up from Texas.  I made bread and we had fresh trout.  Someone had left some delicious cheesecake bites in the freezer and Mudslide and Pina Colada mixes in the fridge.  By the end of the week we were running out of fresh veggies, milk, cheese and peanut butter so we definitely needed to make a grocery run. We decided Steamboat was our closest store so we headed for City Market yesterday and picked up a couple weeks worth of food and wine, hopefully.  Bob got some shotgun shells and we picked up prescriptions at Walgreen's.

AAAh!  The buttercup up close.

 I love the drive over this time of year.  The leaves are actually out over there.  Still no sign of them here but give them a week or so.  I love the Yuppie grocery store over there, too. They have some great cheeses and lots of gourmet choices.  All come at high prices, of course.  One thing missing was the little peppers that I have written about in a previous post.  I also miss visiting with neighbors and friends while doing the weekly shopping.  But wait, we ran into two friends I used to teach with who happened to be visiting a teacher friend in Steamboat!  I hadn't seen them in many years!  I think we will be running into more North Parkers there too, as the checkout lady said they are seeing many people from over here.  They even furnished me with dry ice for the frozen stuff at no extra cost.

Spring flowers up in the trees

Back here, we had a few adventures as well.  We got the 4-wheeler out and took a ride up to the Little Jessie headgate to open it and get some water out on the meadow.  The Harvat's had beat us to it, but Bob was determined to set it right.  Since his Parkinson's Disease he has lost some of his balance(although his "miracle pills" are helping him tremendously).  I got him a walking stick and he made it to the dam but as he was climbing up on it he went over backwards.  I caught him and broke his fall a bit but he ended up in a pool of water so he was soaked but not hurt.  Nothing would do but he needed to see how far we could get up to the St. Joe headgate.  The ride was great. The buttercups and Dogtooth violets were forming a carpet  and we saw lots of sign of wildlife.  We made it to the "thinking rock" hill before we saw any snow.  About halfway up the steep hill was a huge snow bank.  It was time to turn around.
 

I love walking in spring!

A carpet of buttercups

I got off the 4 wheeler and decided to walk back so I could take pictures and Bob headed home to get out of his wet clothes. I had a great walk home, my first of the summer and got some nice artsy pictures along the way.

Crossing the Little Jessie weir so I don't get my feet wet.

There are lots more things to get done, like getting all my embroidery stuff set up, but we are pretty well set for another great summer.

I love my Dog Tooth violets!

Memorial Weekend at the Cabin

 Memorial Day Weekend 2010

As always, click on the pictures to make them larger and hit the back browser to return to the page.
 
We got home from Bob's tests in Denver on Thursday just in time to have missed the major traffic in the Poudre Canyon!  Unfortunately we did not miss the State Patrol Officer that pulled us over between Ted's Place and the mouth of the canyon!  He said we were going 60 in a 45 mph zone.  How many of us EVER went 45 on that stretch.  He could have picked up anyone who went past him, I'm sure.  Actually, he was quite nice and only gave us a warning.  I think he was the vanguard for the "100 days of Heat" campaign on drinking and driving so we were OK on that level.

As we drove over the pass I was trying to see how far up we got before the trees were still not green.  It took to almost the top so I was hopeful that our trees would be green too.  But as we traveled down this side of Cameron Pass the green didn't show up until we almost got to Walden and then you really had to look to see any.  By the time we got out to the cabin there was a very slight hint that maybe we would see some green in the next few days.  By the next morning we had some green!!!  Here are the pictures I took.

 Just a thin veil of green is visible!

 A bit greener

  Those on the hill are really green

I also decided it was time to make my family feel nostalgia for the cabin in spring and summer so I went down to the creek to get some pictures of high water.  It really wasn't as high as sometimes but it at least was bank full!  And then I noticed  the dam that all the kids and grandkids have worked on for years is gone!  It must have washed away while I wasn't looking!  Here are some pictures of where it used to be!

 Looking upstream the creek is bank full and the willows are just beginning to get their leaves

Right where the dam should be

 Looking downstream toward our good fishing hole

I walked up to Beth's grave this afternoon and checked out some favorite spots and the wildflowers.  She has such a lovely spot for us to spend some quiet time!  I went over to check out the new Caterpillar or Crawler or whatever they call a John Deere piece of equipment and then went to get some close ups of what's left of "the red truck" for Carla and Kathi.  I had to go see what was doing at the pond but the wind was all that was happening there!  I did decide I needed to dig some worms and do a little fishing when the wind dies down.  I came back across the old rickety bridge without even getting my feet wet!  I noticed that the huge wasps' nest from last summer that was in the calf feeder is gone!  Now where did it go? and then I got to wondering where wasps go in fall when they leave their nests?  Anybody know?

Beth's grave sight is so peaceful

 

 None of the tulips or irises came up and only a few wildflowers inside the fence

The Luck Penny Ditch is running lots of water!

Micah's Path to the top of the hill

What's left of the old red truck

The ponds looking down off the hill

Me on a very windy day at the pond.  Wish I had my fishing pole but it wouldn't have cast very far!

The old rickety bridge but it's picturesque

Better watch your step--especially Carla!

While I was up at Beth's grave I got to thinking about some memorable Memorial Weekends I have had.  I think the one I remember most was one I spent up in Owyhee on the Shoshone-Paiute reservation (Duck Valley Indian Reservation in northern Nevada and southern Idaho).  On that Saturday I spent the day with my good friend Teola up in Boise getting flowers and other decorations for their family cemetery.  We did a lot of shopping and ate at a restaurant and had a lot of giggles and laughs.  She invited me to come with her family when they went to decorate the graves on Monday.  I felt very honored and excited since it is traditional for everyone in the family from the grandchildren on up to the elders to gather and walk from one grave to the next while the eldest elder gives an oral history of each member of the family buried there.  As Teola and I drove home that day she told me some of the older history of her family when they (her ancestors) lived and hunted in the Jarbidge area of Nevada.  I love the history and stories that these Native Americans have.  It is such a wonderful heritage compared to my pretty boring one!  Well, Monday came and I was plagued with my annual spring eye infections!  My eyes were almost swollen shut so I thought I best run up to the hospital, get some "magic" eye drops that seem to work almost immediately and get back over to the Mannings so I could go with them.  It was not to be.....  It was a holiday with one new Dr. on call and he wanted to consult with some doctors up in Boise before doing anything and being a holiday they were either not there or busy so I waited and waited and waited.  While I was waiting, one of my student's mother who worked up there (I think she, the Dr. and I were the only ones there) came over and sat down next to me to take a little break and to visit.  The first thing she said to me was, "Well, did you decorate?"  I racked my brain trying to think if I was supposed to have decorated for the prom, decorate my room at school, decorate my house, or what!  I kind of gave her a blank stare and then realized she meant did I decorate my family's graves!  Wow! You really know you have made it on the reservation when someone thinks you are Indian enough to have family buried there!  What an honor!  That week end really stands out for me and makes me realize what great friends I had when I worked there!  Unfortunately it was well after noon before the Dr. gave me my eye drops and the "decorating" was all over.  By that time the next year I was in Wendover.

I hope every one has a great weekend and honors those who have given their lives for our freedom.

The hummingbirds are back and very hungry

Happy Memorial day!