Friday, June 24, 2011

Lovely Day for an Anniversary

Our 11th wedding anniversary, that is.

Our anniversary landed on a Friday this year and we had the bonus of Rob getting the day off. We were all kinds of ordinary all morning. He had some business in town and I did laundry. Later around lunchtime we went for a drive, got some lunch at the super market, and ate at a favorite park.

I insisted on Hobby Lobby for a stop and it turned out to be a lot of air conditioned fun for everyone. I scored a remnant and a sale for mere pennies. It was a better deal than a yard sale, I'm not kidding.

We later tossed around a few ideas of what to do next when we finally decided Moab at sunset would be fun to photograph. We could hike around in the cool of the evening and maybe get our feet wet.

Turns out we took our time a little too slowly as we didn't get to Moab until after sunset. Oops! But I got some nice shots along the way, and we got to have a delicious late supper at a very good, affordable restaurant.

The day ended and the next day began before we made it home. With any luck next year we can stay the night and take our time on the return. Otherwise it was a lovely day out with my little family. One to remember forever.

The back road to Moab gives an amazing view of the Colorado River canyon and Monty La Sal. We are close enough to Utah for Monty la Sal to be visible from the high points in our county.

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Just into the river canyon alongside the road are ancient petroglyphs. This large slab of rock is no more than 15-20 feet off the pavement. The drawings (not including the defacement) are thousands of years old.

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Looking closely you can see a herd of deer near the very top. A distant elk toward the middle right, and a busy scene at the bottom with a human figure surrounded by elk, bear, and perhaps antelope and a coyote. I want to believe the very skinny animal beside a bear is a fox. It's a magnificent example, really.

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Further into the canyon and closer to la Sal the red rock buttes get more and more interesting.

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The red sandstone crumbles and cracks with every freezing winter followed by every spring thaw. Washouts of red sand cover the road during heavy rains and rocks fall into and across the highway depending on their size and what height from which they've fallen.

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Up Castle Creek Canyon they are surrounded by these massive sandstone buttes and towering ridges. Castle Creek is also the name of the town. It is safe to describe it as nestled in and among the mountains of eastern Utah.

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The view from Castle Creek toward Monty shows the plug from the volcano that began the formation of these mountains. We have a similar volcano plug up in Crawford at the base of the West Elks called Needle Rock. Joe Cocker lives in the shadow of it, but I digress. Here is the one in Castle Creek and an aptly named road on the southwestern side.

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Much of the rest of our evening was spent finding a restaurant that served food safe for Sis and her diet restrictions. We settled on the Mexican place, La Hacienda, that we'd been to before...

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Located, by the way, next to perhaps the MOST awesome rock shop

I had, I am not kidding, a Monte Cristo chimichanga to die for! and a local brew called Scorpion Pale Ale. Yum!

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Aside from leaving my wallet at the restaurant and not noticing until around midnight when we were two hours away and the low-gas light came on it was a very lovely day for an anniversary.

7 Days Summer 2011 Day 7 - Refraction

You know, instead of reflection.

A morning sunbeam found its way to my peach cranberry juice (50/50 with water) and sent the most beautiful corresponding color onto my kitchen counter. I believe I captured the true color here.

Coffee pot haz eye on you. lol

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Thursday, June 23, 2011

Meet Herman

Herman the adopted Hamster. He's teendie and kinda shy. Lola, the cat, is fond of him. She likes to sit directly on top of his home and taunt him in her silent, menacing, I mean curious way. He loves him's ikkle house and him's ikkle wheel. He's soft and furry and has more whiskers than the bathroom sink. He seems, um, used to his environment. Loud noises don't seem to effect him. He won't yet let us hold him but I hope he mellows out a little. He's squee worthy cute.

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7 Days Summer 2011 Day 6 - Farming in Flip-Flops

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My neighbor lady (83) is certain I am going to develop gangrene and lose my toes if I don't take better care of my feet. I assured her I have talked to my MD about it and that no I am not going to stop wearing flip-flops. I suppose if I could better reach my feet I could take better care of them myself, but I don't really see it as a priority. I've never so much as had a planter's wart. Maybe a few cracked callouses but a little Super Glue and they're good to go. It is safe to say I have happy feet and I like it that way. :)

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

7 Days Summer 2011 Day 5 - White Noise

Nothing better than a nap after a long day at the pool with two rambunctious non-swimmers. I may have actually fallen asleep in the time it took the shutter to snap. Such is the effect white noise has on me.

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Wordless Wednesday

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Tuesday, June 21, 2011

7 Days Summer 2011 Day 4 - Flowers!

There are no less than 15 different perennials visible in the very small sampling of my gardens. (Inset: Alternate - Cat Butt)

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Monday, June 20, 2011

7 Days Summer 2011 Day 3: Shadows

Dorking around with the shadows really brings out the lush green I wish my garden really was. A blessed 1/4" of rain last night helped tremendously.

p.s. So difficult to focus with the hammock chair swaying back and forth.

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Sunday, June 19, 2011

7 Days Summer 2011 Day 2: Reflection in Black

... and white.

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7 Days Summer 2011 Day 1: Braids

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Happy Summer, 7 Days friends.

My poor, aching, old, battered hands.

It's been a long time since I braided anyone's hair. My daughter's hair has been cut in a pixie for so very many years. Yesterday she asked me, "Is my hair long enough, Momma?" and it was!

(Sorry, blog followers, for the repeat.)

Friday, June 17, 2011

Musings From The Children

Willon asked me: "Where is my lunch box with my recorder in it so I can shoot music at monsters and make them dance?"

Rhetta said of her cousin Mark: "My cousin Mark and I are going to the ice cream shop and Mark had three scoops of ice cream. I like even and odd numbers. Mark likes only odd numbers. I had a double dip coconut milk coconut milk [sic] and Mark ordered extra nuts. There were exactly twelve. At the Pizza Hut, Mark ordered exactly three pieces of pizza. One with pepperoni on its sauce, one with cheese on its sauce, and one with onions. I had five pieces of pizza. Two with gummy worms, two with pepperoni on its sauce, and one with olives. And at the bakery, I got the cake that the baker made. It was Mark's birthday and there were candles on his cake. Mark had 20 candles, so he was 20 years old."

Monday, June 13, 2011

Tiger on the Loose

"Hey, Willon! Over here, honey. Do your tiger for me."

This was Rhetta's costume 3 years ago. Yes, it's only June but that's no excuse not to dress up. At some point he was wearing it with the tail in the front and was putting out fires.

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