Have I mentioned how much I love living in Wyoming?

I mean, just look at the "wow" lines in the sky.  How could you not love that?

And homemade ice cream to boot!

I bought an ice cream maker before my niece and nephew visited in July, and besides the river tubes, this has been my favorite summer purchase. It's a small one at 1.5 quart capacity but I usually make smaller sizes when it's just for me. One of my surprise favorites is this blueberry ice cream.... just milk, cream, a little sugar, a half pint of blueberries, and a splash of blueberry syrup (for color). It is as light and fluffy as a meringue!!!

More Gardeny Goodness

Garden Bounty

I planted a garden this year for the first time. I've been enjoying cabbage, a variety of lettuce, yellow and red tomatoes all summer long. It's going to be sad to see that produce go come winter!

A Girl and her Dog

Perfect Trout Stream

Reflections

Last weekend I did a little camping in the northern part of the Big Horn National Forest.  The weather was perfect, as was the scenery, but the first was crowded with end-of-summer folks, so I headed back to my cabin for some peace and quiet!

Duck, duck, cloud

Just a Girl wearing Boots hopping on Rocks

Wyoming Adventures

At the end of July, I flew my niece and nephew out for a visit.  Really, it was to share with them the things about Wyoming that I love so much - specifically, the plethora of outdoor activities.  I started with a basic itinerary over about 8 days, but it was soon packed with adventures - including a bingo game to identify Wyoming wildlife during driving times.  We had a blast, so I thought I'd post some of the big take-aways here:

Total miles driven: 1,321
2 States

• Montana
• Wyoming

4 National Forests

• Big Horn National Forest
• Teton National Forest
• Shoshone National Forest
• Custer National Forest (MT)

1 BLM area
2 Native American Indian Reservations

• Crow Indian Reservation (MT)
• Wind River Reservation (Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho)

2 National Parks

• Grand Teton National Park
• Yellowstone National Park

Things we did:

• Horseback riding at a friend’s ranch
• Rode a Tram to 10,400 feet Rendezvous Peak in the Tetons
• 2 boat rides
• Hiked about 13 miles
• Tubing at the creek next to the cabin where I live
• Swimming
• Whitewater rafting
• Visited 2 museums
• Explored downtown Cody, WY and Red Lodge, MT
• Went to the Cody Nite Rodeo - and Kyle joined in the Calf Chase
• Visited 2 playgrounds

Wildlife we saw:

• Hawks*
• Eagles
• Osprey*
• Sandhill Cranes*
• Chipmunks
• Grizzly Bear
• Brown Bear
• Skunk*
• Pheasant*
• Horses
• Pronghorn (antelope)
• Cows*
• Mule deer*
• White tail deer*

* animals we saw at the cabin where I live

Our adventures started and ended at the Billings, MT airport, but we were able to plan a big loop through the region:

Finally, in no particular order, here are some highlights of our trip:

It's a Dog's Life...

Cloud Porn

Gorgeous, angry clouds after today's sunset (so around 9:15 pm)!

Crazy pre-storm clouds

I love late spring storms in Wyoming. They're fierce, you can see them coming, they cool things down, and they only last 20 minutes. But boy do they pack everything in! Wind, thunder, lightning, hail, funnel clouds....then almost as soon as it starts, rainbows.

Wild Horse and Twin Foals on BLM lands

 

Ten Sleep Creek

 

Wildflowers in Ten Sleep Canyon

 

Big Horn Ram

 

Buffalo shedding his winter fur

 

Sunset reflected on clouds at Renner Wildlife Management Area

 

Mammatus clouds

 

Near Red Lodge, MT....redux

I drive by this same spot today and snapped a pic with my phone to illustrate the difference the moody skies provided.

White knuckle drive

This may not look like a white knuckle drive....but it was. This was the road from Red Lodge back Eastward toward Billings yesterday. What made it white knuckle- for me, anyway- was the 7% downhill grade, the coming hairpin turn, and the fact that the road was as slick as snot!!  Made it back down without incident. Thank goodness there was no other traffic!!

Near Red Lodge, Montana

I'm exploring this southern part of Montana for a couple of days, and this is the first time I've been to Red Lodge. It's a beautiful town that reminds me somewhat of Telluride.  In this cell phone photo, both the sun and an emerging snow fall are battling over this scene. The road leading into the mountains here is someone's private road. Can you imagine that being your driveway??

Just your average weekend...

Cloud Peak...from the front deck

I'm not sure if I'll do this daily, but I'm somewhat sad to see the snow receding up into the Cloud Peak wilderness. This may not look wonderful from a cellphone camera (and zoomed), but Cloud Peak is the snow-covered dome just left of center.

Yeah, about that "imminent update"....

So, exactly 4 months ago I posted a short note that an update would be imminent.  I think that pretty well demonstrates how committed I am to this blog.  We've had some great history, and it's always just kind of there in the background, but I have been neglecting it.  Mostly because of facebook.  I forget that some folks follow just the blog, and I'm in the habit of micro-blogging every day....sometimes moreso.  That means sometimes it feels redundant to write out what I've been doing here.

What I think might be a better approach for me is to use this as a photoblog - maybe not so much written content, but a regular posting of snapshots.  This will be easy because I've got a pretty ok camera on my phone, and I take a good dozen or so shots a day.  The beauty is the Blogger app, which allows me to upload photos (along with commentary) directly from my phone.

For a basic run-down of what I've been up to over the last few months - I'll see if I can't recap that here.  First off, I've moved.  I'm still in Hyattville, but I'm now at a log cabin next to a creek and a beaver pond and  some cow pastures.  It's down a 2-mile long dirt road.  At first, I was worried that it would be too remote.  Since then, I've removed all the window coverings and really love being able to sit on the front porch in the morning in my PJs and not be concerned that anyone can see me.  I love seeing the beaver build his dam at dusk, and there is a mated pair of sandhill cranes that sing-up the sun every morning down by the creek.  Life really probably couldn't get any better, but it has.

Since December, I've been able to help out on a few ranches nearby - for sheep shearing, calving, and cattle moving - and some of this by horseback!!  The hardness of the water (I suspect) has really helped my nails - formerly as strong as wet newspring - not only grow, but strengthen. If you've ever seen my nails you know what a big deal this is.  I've been working with the state's economic development forum and small business administration - and have been enjoying some guest-lecturing spots with them as well.

My company is officially a company, too - Paintrock Consulting Services, LLC.  I know, I have a lot of LinkedIn updating to do.  While I've bought the domain name, I haven't built the website yet, either. Oh, and I finally went ahead and bought a Verizon network extender - so now I can use my cell phone at home (aka, "the cabin") - provided that the internet or electricity don't go out on me.

All right, I think that pretty much does it for updates for now.  I'll be sure to post some snapshots tomorrow.  Thanks to those (all 5) of you who still read this blog and prompt me from time to time to keep it alive!  I'm glad it's here, I'm just bad about giving it the attention it deserves.

Golden Hour

The close view is South from my deck...the long view looks East. Daisies, citrus mint, lemon balm, and found feathers make a great windowsill during the Golden Hour.

Update is Imminent!

Recently I have been doing a bit of exploring nearby towns in Wyoming, in a bid to determine where I want to live ultimately.  Currently, the home I am renting in Hyattville is perfect, but it is a home base from which I can hunt for more permanent housing.  So, I've returned from spending some time in the Big Horn mountains, driving through a snow storm, visiting a ski lodge, getting to know Sheridan and Buffalo better, and incidentally finishing all of my locally-sourced Christmas gifts and shipping.  Now that I am back in Hyattville, I've got a number of photos and other items to go through  - as soon as that's done there will be a more substantive post here.  Stay tuned!

Bountiful Baskets, Indeed!

I don't think I've blogged about this before, but if I have and this is repetitive, let me know.  I recently joined a Co-Op called Bountiful Baskets.  It's a participatory, all-volunteer effort to source reasonably priced produce and breads every other week.  Because the money is pooled by the Co-Op, the prices are unbeatable.  You opt in whenever you want.

Today, I had my pickup for my $25 food share order.  You can order the food in shares, or baskets, that are a grab-bag of produce - good quality, and usually a mix of fruits and vegetables. You can also select an organic share, or add artisan breads to your order.  This time, I decided to order one food basket, and one order of artisan bread.  It was listed as English Muffins, two savory loaves, and a baguette.  Well, the English Muffin bread is in loaf form - that's new to me, and it seems much more bread by volume than buying the 6- or 8-pack of English muffins at the store!  

At any rate, the pickup for these orders is 8 am sharp at the Hyattville Community Center.  Nancy does a fantastic job of managing the orders, dividing up the produce, having it ready for pickup, and overall managing the program for the town. 

Now, I was prepared for this week's haul to be lightweight since it's just before Thanksgiving, and because the previous order was so good.  The orders are every other week, so for a single person like me, that gives me enough time - if I'm really dedicated - to get through the whole haul in two weeks' time.  Except I didn't.  I still have two zucchini, two acorn squash, and some lemons from the last order.  

Today, I decided to walk the two blocks or so to the Community Center.  I thought it silly to start and drive the vehicle two blocks to pick up a grocery order.  I took my dog (of course), my regular sized back-pack, and just in case, a trash bag (to carry the bread).  Unfortunately, I was the last one to arrive to pick up my order - although the prior person was just leaving, so I hope I didn't make anyone wait on me. 

Imagine my surprise when I saw an entire produce box waiting for me - in addition to the breads!  Nancy and the others who were there were pretty doubtful that I'd be able to carry everything in just my backpack and trash bag.  In the end, I was able to fit everything in the backpack and trashbag, but Nancy insisted on driving my "haul" back to the house, since she was also dropping off Jo Ann's order at the Cafe.  I gladly accepted the hauling help!  

At any rate, here is the unloaded haul on the dining room / work table.  Remember, the squash, zucchini, and lemons are from the prior order (two weeks ago), but everything else is fresh.  Could you buy this for $25 or less in a store?

This week's rundown:

5 artisan bread loaves

1 honeydew melon

1 pomelo

1 pineapple

1 bunch of Romaine lettuce

1 bunch Celery

3 bags of full sized carrots

4 Russet potatoes

12 navel oranges

9 green apples

3 vine tomatoes

6 bananas

This haul was deceptively heavy, and I consider myself challenged to consume all of it, but I'll give it my best.  At $25, if the worst case scenario happens and something goes bad before I can eat it, my losses are very minimal.  

One new tool I've discovered to help with ideas on what to do with the food is a website called AllRecipes - particularly their search panel.  In it, you can enter the ingredients that you have, and be provided with a list of recipe options for those items.  A thank-you shout out to Karen C for the tip on the website!