I took so many great photos today it was almost impossible to choose. Eeny-Menie-Miney-Moe picked this one. Sleeping Indian is seen in the background blanketed in snow with the elk preserve bathed in late-day sunlight in the foreground. Beautiful.
Bison under the Tetons
Posted by on June 18, 2011 Leave a Comment
My friend Lorraine and I took our boys up to camp today. It was a full-day affair that had us driving through Grand Teton National Park. There are almost always huge herds of bison in this one particular area. The herd we found today was quite small, but the view was still stunning, especially for James and Lorraine who had never seen wild bison or the Grand Tetons before.
Adolescent Bull Moose
Posted by on June 18, 2011 Leave a Comment
This is why I love Wyoming so much. I flew out today with my son, his best friend James and James' mom. We are dropping the boys at Teton Valley Ranch Camp in Dubois tomorrow. This adolescent bull moose was just waiting by the side of the road to greet James and Lorraine as we were driving to the house. What a great Wyoming greeting for two first-timers to this beautiful state.
Dainty Flowers
Posted by on June 16, 2011 Leave a Comment
These beautiful flowers are blooming in my garden right now. With the goats having free range of the yard until their new fenced enclosure is built, it is fascinating to see what they eat and what they ignore. Apparently these flowers do not appeal to them as they remain untouched. Others, however, have been picked clean from their stems.
Goat House Cupolas
Posted by on June 15, 2011 1 Comment
Double cupolas on the goat house are complete
When I first started researching cupolas to use on the goat house and chicken coop I was astounded at how expensive they can be. Michelle had drawn one cupola on the chicken coop and two on the goat house. At the prices I was finding that would have been prohibitively expensive. Then I stumbled across 3 birdhouses at a local decorating store warehouse. I thought they’d be perfect for cupolas. Then I came across these solar-powered attic fans and I thought that would be great for keeping the animals cool in the summer. We have an enormous old dinosaur of an attic fan in our house and it does wonders to cool off our house. The contractors said they could just build it into the lower box of the fan.
I was feeling so ‘green’ and energy efficient!
Just to really kick it up a ‘green’ notch, I added two solar-powered lights – one for each house. The houses look more technically savvy with all those solar panels than our house does! Then, just for shits and giggles I decided to distinguish the two houses with appropriate animals. I found a great copper rooster at, of all places, Pottery Barn! Perfect for the coop. Then I found really inexpensive goat weathervanes on-line. Two of those for the goat house. They are actually boer goats, but most people would not be able to tell the difference.
And the last items completed today were the ramps for the chickens to get in and out of the coops. Because of the big grade change around the houses, some of the ramps are quite steep! I guess I won’t have any fat chickens when they’re running up and down them all day.
The Barn at Mormon Row
Posted by on June 15, 2011 2 Comments
This is the famous barn on Mormon Row in Teton National Park outside of Jackson. It's a beautiful barn with the most incredible views of the Teton mountain range. I leave for Wyoming on Friday morning to take Evan to camp. I haven't been to Jackson in six months. I can't remember the last time I've gone that long. I'm really looking forward to getting out there. I am so exhausted from all of the hustle and bustle of the last month or two I fear I may just sleep for the 3 days I have to relax there!
I Was Drowning in Strawberries
Posted by on June 14, 2011 1 Comment
We picked 47 pounds of strawberries on Sunday.
That’s a lot of strawberries. Especially when you only have one decent huller. The twins and I took turns hulling, but it was still a 2-day affair. In the end, which was today, I have 18 pints and one half pint of very intense strawberry jam and 10 jelly jars of amazing strawberry compote. Amanda and I had some of that over vanilla ice cream tonight. Wow.
Vanilla Ice Cream with Strawberry Compote
And then, because I’m an idiot, I bought a bunch of blueberries while I was at Trader Joe’s buying goat milk for the babies. With that I got 6 jelly jars of Blueberry Lemon Marmalade.
And if you didn’t catch it above, Amanda’s got home from college today! Finally. At last, and very briefly, my whole family is together again.
How Luxurious
Posted by on June 14, 2011 1 Comment
The final “wow” was added to the chicken coop yesterday. The exterior nesting box doors with the individual viewing windows. How’s that for fancy? I think my friend (and architect) came up with the idea, but I just love how it looks. I also love the exterior doors so I can collect eggs without having to go inside the coop.
We got trim around the whole coop’s exterior too. The interior trim will be done next and then the siding and roof! I cannot wait to see that.
And finally, this is the look I get every time I leave Grace and Kiki in their stall. Breaks my little heart.
Cabbages
Posted by on June 14, 2011 2 Comments
There's an unusual garden in the next town over where I took this photo today. It's unusual in that it's on the corner of a busy intersection and the garden is built around an enormous electrical tower. It's been there for years and it's extremely well cared for and tended. There are dozens of cabbages right now, and later he will add other vegetables. I always enjoy looking to see what is at it's peak when I drive by it.
Strawberry Picking
Posted by on June 12, 2011 1 Comment
The twins and I got out early this morning and headed up to Shelton to go strawberry picking. I cannot imagine better picking. In a little over an hour we picked 47 pounds of beautiful ripe berries! We spent the better part of the rest of the day hulling them and I've still got about 15 pounds to go. Strawberry jam here we come!