Cat's Meow Jewelry

Getting a new gate for the courtyard

2011-12-27T19:11:00.001-08:00

This is the new gate we installed as the entryway to the courtyard for out new house. We took our dog Glory over to check out her new yard. It is like six times the yard she has now! She was very excited to say the least. She has already learned to use the doggie door into the third garage. Now if we could just get the inside done so that we can move in!

2011-12-27T19:06:00.000-08:00

This was the old gate going into the courtyard when we bought the house. We liked the idea of the gate for a little extra security but we weren't crazy about this gate.

2011-12-16T21:45:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of how the kitchen looks now.

Evolution of a house - Kitchen

2011-12-16T21:26:00.000-08:00

Last March Steve and I put an offer on a house being offered as a short sale. Well six months later after we had given up and started looking again it closed. Don't believe what they say about the 45 day rule. The house was built in 1986. It has a wonderful floor plan and sits on a half acre of beautiful desert landscaping. We felt it just needed some updating and besides we were getting it at a really good price! Besides new counter tops and appliances Steve and I decided the kitchen needed two things. He wanted the ceiling raised. Although most of the house has nice high ceilings the kitchen for some reason was only 7' 6". I felt the hugh U shaped counter left a lot of open space in the middle of the kitchen and maybe needed an island in the middle. Working with a kitchen planner and a contractor one thing led to another and the whole kitchen is being redesigned. Along the back wall the pantry is being replaced by the microwave/ oven, the refrigerator is going where the oven is, and the range is being moved to the back wall in the middle. The pantry which is really hugh will be half the size and the access will be from the hallway. And the hugh U shaped counter is getting straightened and while we are at it why not move the sink to the middle of the new counter. You just have to saw cut concrete!

In Telluride, CO

2011-09-10T18:16:00.000-07:00

We spent Labor Day Weekend in Telluride, Co. This is during the Telluride Film Festival which has debuted such films as Last King in Scotland, Slum Dog Millionaire, and King Speaks. This year the buzz film seemed to be My Material World which is a film about George Harrison. I didn't see the film but understand that it is over 3 hours long! You might want to buy the bigger size popcorn. I was hopping to have a picture of George Clooney who was supposedly here but alas I didn't chance to spot him. So you are getting a picture of the San Miguel River on a new hike I discovered. By the way the temperatures were in the high 60's to low 70's. Perfect for fall.

Happy Trails Dog Kennels

2011-08-05T21:09:00.000-07:00

These are pictures from our last day in Alaska. On our way from Denali to Anchorage we stopped at the Happy Trails Dog Kennels. This was truly one of my highlights of the trip. The kennels are owned by Martin Buser who has raced in and won the Iditarod Race. The race celebrates an event in Alaska's history. In January 1925 a diphtheria epidemic broke out among the Eskimo children in Nome, Alaska. The only way to get serum to Nome was to send in on the train from Steward to Nenana and then to haul it the rest of the way on dog sleds 674 miles. Twenty mushers worked with 100 dogs in a relay to get the serum to Nome in five days. The Iditarod Sled Dog Race started in the late 1960's. The race covers 1049 miles in 9 - 15 days. One picture shows how excited these dogs get when it's time to harness up with each other to start racing. They all wanted to race. Another picture is their version of a dog treadmill (or treadwheel). I actually saw several dogs get in the wheel by themselves and start running. These aren't your pretty Alaskan husky thoughbred dogs either. These are all mixed breeds bred for stamina. During the race the musher must carry enough food and supplies for his dogs. There are mandatory stops every twenty to sixty miles during the race in which both the musher and a veterinary must check out each dog. If a musher has a problem with a dog while racing he must be able to carry the dog in his sled to the next stop. The mushers start out with 12-16 dogs and must end with at least 6 dogs. I was really impressed with the love and care given to these dogs. All the dogs let us pet them. They even let us hold the puppies.

Trip though Denali Park

2011-08-04T19:34:00.000-07:00

These are pictures of a grizzly bear and it's yearling (a one year old cub) and a caribou with a radio collar. I'm not even sure how the caribou holds those antlers up. Caribou is the only one in the deer family in which both the female and the male both grow antlers. These pictures were taken from the bus while we were traveling through Denali Park. There is only one road through the park most of which is unpaved and is 92 miles in length. No private cars are allowed past the first fifteen miles. After that you need to be on what looks like a school bus repainted either green or tan. The top picture shows us stopped at one of only three allowed rest stops washing our windows. We traveled about 50 miles into the park with everyone on the bus spotting for wildlife. Most of the wildlife spotted was too far away for my basic digital camera but these three critters were kind enough to be relatively close to the bus. The scenery along the way is absolutely fabulous.

Mt. Denali/McKinley

2011-08-03T19:21:00.000-07:00

From what we were told only 20 per cent of the visitors to Alaska actually get to see Mt. Denali (due to clouds) which used to be called Mt. McKinley. The Alaskans object with good reason to one of their most magnificent sites being named after an Ohioan senator who never set foot in Alaska. This picture was taken from the Talkeetna Lodge which is still 90 miles from the base of the mountain. The town of Talkeetna is popular as a staging area for climbers wanting to tackle Mt. Denali. Most people take a bush plane from here to a base camp at 7,000 feet elevation and from that point try to climb another 13,320 feet to the top of Denali. We felt very lucky to get a peak of the majestic mountain peaking from the cloud cover for a limited time.

Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center

2011-08-02T22:36:00.000-07:00

These pictures were taken at the Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center which takes care of orphaned animals and those with special needs. It was a wonderful facility with plenty of room for each group of animals. The eagle only has one wing so it can't fly and the Kodiak bear and his/her sibling are orphans. We also saw caribou, moose, bison, musk ox, and a very smelly porcupine. I discovered that there are only three major types of bear. Black bear which are smaller, brown bear which are bigger and include grizzly bears and polar bears. Unfortunately polar bears are only found much further north in Alaska from where we visited.

The Hubbard Glacier

2011-08-01T23:05:00.000-07:00

Sorry I had to interrupt my Alaskan blog but I lost internet when we disembarked from our cruise ship. So even though I am home I will continue for the next few days with my Alaskan trip. This is a picture of the Hubbard Glacier which we sail by on our way from Sitka to Steward to the end of our cruise. The dust in the middle of the picture is from the glacier calving. While we were watching parts of the glacier would split apart and fall into the ocean causing a loud boom like thunder. It was quite magnificent to experience. You won't want to miss the end of my trip. On the last day we visited the Happy Trails Sled Dog Kennels.

Sea Otters in Alaska

2011-07-25T22:22:00.000-07:00

If you look real close you might be able to tell that these are sea otters. There not the easiest animals to take pictures of in the wild because they are not all that big and you don't get really close up. But we did get to see many of them during our boat cruise outside of Sitka, Alaska.

Whale Watching in Auke Bay, Alaska

2011-07-24T18:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we enjoyed an evening whale watching cruise in Auke Bay, Alaska. We were extremely lucky to encounter a pod of about 10 to 12 whales right from the start. The boat operator follow this pod for most of the trip. The pod even included a baby whale who was having a great time playing in the water flipping his tail and breaching out of the water. This so far has been the highlight of the trip. They are so beautiful and graceful.

A Crab Feast in George's Inlet, Ketchikan, Alaska

2011-07-22T18:29:00.000-07:00

This is me holding a live crab which we just pulled out from a crab pot in the bottom of George's Inlet during a tour of the inlet. While on the tour we saw eagles, black bear, harbor seals and of course crabs. After our boat tour we arrived at a lodge where we feasted on all the crab we could eat after we learned the proper way of cracking a crab.

Leaving Vancouver

2011-07-21T13:47:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of the Vancouver and Canada Place as our ship, the Regent Navigator set sail. We set sail yesterday and tomorrow we will dock at our first port of call which is Ketachan, Alaska.

Off Again

2011-07-14T21:27:00.001-07:00

Steve and I will begin our Alaskan cruise next week and afterward will tour Denali National Park for four days. So the intention is to try to blog while I am away. Hopefully I remember how. Thank you to my friends who have been after me to get back on my blog!

Recently in Telluride

2011-07-14T21:15:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of Steve and I after hiking up Bear Creek Canyon in Telluride, Co. Steve isn't big on hiking but was gracious enough to consent to hike with me to Bear Creek Falls on our wedding anniversary last month. The hike is about 3 miles round trip with about 1000 foot elevation gain. Because of the amount of late snowfall this year in the San Juan Mountains all the area waterfalls were bigger than we had ever seen them at this time of year.

Crater Lake, OR

2010-08-10T19:46:00.001-07:00

Steve and I decided to pose in front of this painted backdrop and call it our vacation at Crater Lake. Honestly it is the real thing! Crater Lake was formed by the volcano Mount Mazama thousands of years ago. It is the deepest lake in the United States and is a beautiful cobalt blue almost purple color. We declined to go swimming since the water is a chilling 44 degrees. We are spending the night in Bend, OR and plan to travel back to the Oregon coast tomorrow.

Glass Beach, Fort Bragg

2010-08-10T08:21:00.000-07:00

We're finally in Oregon with our final destination being Redmond , Washington. We drove yesterday from Mendocino, CA to Medford, OR. On the way we passed through more rugged California coast, the Redwood National and State Parks and beautiful Oregon forests. Mendocino is a quirky little coast town set on a bluff over looking the ocean. We stayed at the Hill House of Abbot Cove which played a critical role in the tv show Murder She Wrote with Angela Landsbury. Just north of Mendocino is Fort Bragg were we discovered glass beach. This is portion of the coast that the residents of Fort Bragg used as a dump from 1949. In 1967 the beach was cleaned up but of course they couldn't get all the garbage so the beach is littered with tiny pieces of glass which are frosted and rounded from the constant tumbling of the waves. Just like a giant tumbler!

More of the Coast Highway

2010-08-08T20:15:00.000-07:00

Today Steve and I traveled up more of Highway 1 from Bodega Bay to Mendocino with a side trip to Sebastopol and Bodega. We were attracted to Sebastopol because it is known for being the southern most Russian outpost in North America during the 1800's. What we found there was a wonderful farmer's market. The fruits and vegetables look more sculpted than grown. And the varieties of each fruit and vegetable! They didn't just sell peaches but they had sun crest and Arctic gems and another variety. There must have been a dozen different varieties of tomatoes. The vendors were also selling huge bunches of herbs for two dollars. On the way back to the coast we went through Bodega which is famous for being one of the locations used in Alfred Hitchcock's film "The Birds". Here is a picture of the school house used in the film. It is now occupied as a house with a gift store on the bottom floor. Guess what the main theme in the gift store is?

Point Reyes National Seashore

2010-08-08T07:39:00.000-07:00

Point Reyes is a peninsula which sticks out from the California coast and the San Andreas fault. This is beautiful rugged country dotted with old farms. The old lighthouse although no longer in use is open for visitors. The trek down included 300 stairs. The little town of Point Reyes Station outside the park has some cute shops and restaurants. We also visited Cowgirl Creamery where they make some of the most wonderful cheese and sell other cheese from around northern California. We watched them make red hawk cheese yesterday. You can check them out online at www.cowgirlcreamery.com.

more houseboats

2010-08-07T20:49:00.001-07:00

Here is another couple of houseboats. Each boat had a sign on the dock stating the home owner's name, the boat name and what type of boat it was originally. Most boats were either life boats or tug boats. See the previous post for more pictures and description.

Sausalito, CA

2010-08-07T20:31:00.000-07:00

So after a week at Capitola on the California coast; Steve and I are traveling up the coast of California, Oregon and Washington. Today we made it from Capitola to Bodega Bay on the way stopping at Sausalito and Point Reyes Station. Sausalito is a funky artist colony just over the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. I have always heard about the houseboats that people actually live on which are permanently moored at the dock in Sausalito. Each one was as different and unique as its neighbor. So here are a few of my favorites. Since living space is at a premium the outside space displayed flower pot gardens, patio furniture, barbeque grills, and work benches. A few houseboat owners were offering home tours. The inside reminded me of a motor home the way space was utilized.

Capitola, California

2010-08-02T20:34:00.001-07:00

This is a view from the cliff overlooking the pier and beach at Capitola, California. It is hard to make out in the picture but right at the beginning of the pier is a row of brightly colored tiny homes. These are the first condominiums in California. Steve and I are actually staying in #11 this year. The sun does come out each day somewhere between noon and 2 pm. We really don't care if it doesn't show. The cool, misty mornings are the best.

Yosemite National Park

2010-07-30T20:40:00.000-07:00

Steve and I are on a road trip through northern California, Oregon and Washington. It is really too hot to stay in Vegas if you can help it. We spent today touring through Yosemite National Park for the first time. What a treat! The scenery is a study of contrasts between the hugh gray granite monoliths, the stately sequoias and other pines and the cascading waterfalls. The first picture is a view of Bridal Veil Falls in the early morning. The second picture is a view of Yosemite Valley after passing through the tunnel carved out of solid granite. The rock on the left is El Capitan.We had only one day to spend here but you could easily spend a week hiking, biking, rafting, horse back riding, etc.

I made the local paper!

2010-07-13T16:09:00.000-07:00

Check out this site: http://www.telluridenews.com/ . Every Monday in one of the town parks is offered a free yoga class in Telluride. This last Monday someone was there taking pictures and guess what I was in it and the picture make the front page of the Telluride Daily Planet. Do you see me? One hint - I am in real need of a haircut.

Telluride Farmer's Market

2010-07-09T17:37:00.000-07:00

Every Friday in Telluride on Oak Street is a Farmer's Market. This is a fantastic place to shop for fresh vegetables, fruit, breads, baked goods and meats. Farmers from all around the area come in to town to sell their produce. Today I was able to get fresh lettuce, small potatoes, squash, apricots, cherries, flowers and chocolate chip cookies. You have to come early for the best selection.

Giverny, France

2010-07-07T17:20:00.001-07:00

Steve and I recently spent two weeks in France visiting Paris and northern France. I wasn't able to blog while there so over the next few days I'll upload some pictures of what we saw. Every travel book of Paris mentions Giverny which is an hour outside of Paris. Being interested in art I have always wanted to see Claude Monet's gardens which were the inspiration of his famous water lily paintings. I saw the paintings in the Musee de Orangerie on my last visit to France so when our Paris friends mentioned taking us to Giverny I was thrilled. The gardens and lily ponds are gorgeous. This is a picture of just a small portion of the lily pond and one of the Japanese bridges.

Case of the missing sunglasses

2010-03-28T19:57:00.000-07:00

We are in Telluride currently for a few days enjoying some spring skiing. The slopes got 22 inches of fresh powder two days ago so the skiing is wonderful. We were here late January when Steve while walking around town tripped on some ice and his sunglasses fell out out of his coat pocket. They were prescription sunglasses of course. Steve retraced his steps and couldn't find locate them. Tellluride is a quaint town of about 2200 permanent residents so Steve called the marshal's office and asked if they had a lost and found. They didn't; but recommended he call the local radio station - KOTO. KOTO is a radio station based in Telluride run by volunteers and plays a variety of interesting music depending on the tastes of the volunteer DJ. Steve called KOTO and was informed that they would mention his lost sunglasses on the radio. Lo and behold the next day we got a telephone call from Laura who works in an office here in town and who had picked up Steve's sunglasses. This is one of the many reasons I love being in Telluride.

The end of our Olympic Experience

2010-02-19T21:52:00.000-08:00

So this is it - we are going home tomorrow. Steve and I have had a great time here is Vancouver, British Colombia enjoying the people, the events and the landmarks. Vancouver is a beautiful metropolitan city. Granville Island in Vancouver has a public market that has everything including fresh produce and meats, already prepared food, and food items from around the world. The surrounding area outside of Vancouver is wild and wonderful. I certainly have a new appreciation for some sports such as curling, cross country skiing and hockey. We did a whole package deal through CoSports and we understand that they are also going to handle packages for the 2012 London summer games.

Day Eight Olympics

2010-02-19T21:38:00.000-08:00

Today we saw two events at the Whistler Olympic Park which is between Vancouver and Whistler. The first event was qualifications for the men's long hill. The top ten jumped for practice and the rest of the athletes jumped so that they could continue on in the next round. The second event was ladies' cross country pursuit. This is a neat event to watch. The women athletes start out doing two laps (7.5 kilometers) of classic style cross country skiing and then switch skis (see them lined up on the course) and do another two laps of free or skate style skiing. A Norwegian women won in just under 40 minutes. Sweden was second and Poland was third. The second and third place was determined in a photo finish.

HOCKEY!

2010-02-19T21:30:00.000-08:00

Last night we went to the Russian versus Slovakia men's hockey game. We had the premier seats in the first row behind the Russian players. In my seat I could see the players come out of the locker room. I'm sorry I didn't know more about the players but they look really rough up close. The game itself was great. At the end of regulation play Russia and Slovakia was tied one all. There was no score in the 5 minute overtime so they went to a shoot out. It was tied two all after three shots so the shoot out became a sudden death. Slovakia won on the seventh shot.

Day Seven Olympics - Curling

2010-02-18T16:03:00.000-08:00

This is for my brother-in-law Rich who wants to see curling. We went to our first curling match today. I now know much more about curling than I did. My first mistake was thinking that I was going to see two teams play against each other. In a curling tournament such as this there are four sheets of ice so there are four games of two teams each. Each games consists of 10 "ends" where the goal is to get the most stones closest to the center of the rings. All this is going on at the same time. It gets pretty exciting! The games boiled down to the Swiss over Great Britain, Norway over Germany, Canada beating Sweden and unfortunately the US lost to Denmark. This game ended in a tie so there was an extra "end" played and we had the "hammer" (the last shot). We should have won. To Rich - I am not taking my shirt off and adding body paint to get on TV!

Men's 1000 meter speed skating

2010-02-17T23:22:00.000-08:00

Speed skating two days in a row. So you thought I saw all the orange I could yesterday? Wrong! Today I saw a man in an orange suit, someone who used an orange pylon as a hat and finally an orange hard hat with an ice skate attached to the top. The Dutch take orange to a whole new level! But the event was mostly USA. Shani Davis of the US won the gold, Korea took the silver and USA took the bronze. I hear the coverage in the US leaves a lot to be desired. Here in Canada there are two different stations carrying Olympic events. Olympic coverage runs 24 hours. We sat in the bar at the hotel tonight and every other TV was either tuned to one of the hockey games or the Ladies downhill.

Day Six Olympics

2010-02-17T23:16:00.000-08:00

Steve and I are in Vancouver with a tour company called CoSports which handled the tickets, hotel and transportation. So today we get on our bus to go to the men's 1000 meters speed skating event and we are surprised by the fact that Bonnie Blair (5 time Olympian in speed skating) is on the bus with us and is going to talk about speed skating on the way to the venue. What a gracious lady. She answered questions, signed tickets and posed for pictures. She is the woman in the green turtleneck.

Day Five Olympics

2010-02-16T22:28:00.001-08:00

Today Steve and I went to the 500 meter women's speed skating event. Speed skating is a fun event. At least one third of the fans to a world speed skating event are Dutch and they dress so that everyone knows that they are Dutch. I saw orange everything including orange jackets, t-shirts, cowboy hats, hair, scarfs, hats, gloves, even bathrobes and slippers. Check out one of the pictures. In the other picture the couple is from Germany. Alot of fun is had by all. The gold medal was won by a Korean girl, Germany took silver and China took the bronze. There was a lot of fast skating.

Free Program Pairs Figure Skating

2010-02-16T00:05:00.001-08:00

Of course figure skating is beautiful but the best part about watching it live is not having to listen to Dick Buttons' or Scott Hamilton's whispered commentary. The performances are so wonderful with just the music. This picture is of the Chinese couple who won the free program but placed second in the medal standing.

Day Four Olympics

2010-02-15T23:54:00.000-08:00

Today was a busy day. In the morning we traveled to Cypress Mountain to see the men's snowboard cross event. This is as exciting as it gets. Four snowboarders traveling down the course at one time. The first two winners in each heat advance to the next round until they are down to just four riders. If you fall you are out of the competition. It was an exciting race. An American named Wescott won the gold medal. Canada took the silver and France took the bronze. Because this venue lacked any snow except what they drove in by truck; it required climbing 240 stairs to get to the stands. Talk about a workout.

Day Three Olympics

2010-02-14T22:38:00.000-08:00

We started out today taking a bus from downtown Vancouver to Whistler for the luge competition. The day looked sunny when we arrived but an hour later when we were ready to take the gondola up the mountain to the Sliding Center it was pouring rain. Then shortly after the competition started the rain stopped and the sun came out again. So far we have not had any delays getting through security at any of the venues. They call that "mag and bag" here! Even getting down the mountain on the gondola was going really quickly. As our car came into the station at the bottom it seemed to jump the cable and was dragging on the ground and the car behind crashed into our car! No one was seriously hurt and they had the gondola running again in just a few minutes.

Luge

2010-02-14T22:30:00.000-08:00

Today we saw the men's final for the luge. These guys are crazy. Do you know how hard it is to take a picture of someone traveling almost 140 km per hour. You take the picture before you see anything and hope for the best. This is the American slider. We feel really bad for the Georgian who died. You would never know that they built the wall at the finish line and added the extra padding unless you knew what to look for. Germany took the god medal.

Canada Versus Slovakia

2010-02-13T23:04:00.000-08:00

We watched the Canadian women play the Slovakian in ice hockey tonight. We felt sorry for Slovakia. They lost 18 to zip. And as you can tell the crowd in the stands heavily favored the Canadian team. This was Slovakia women's team first Olympic games.

Olympics Day 2

2010-02-13T22:56:00.000-08:00

Steve and I had some free time today before our event so we walk around downtown Vancouver. We saw several eagles painted in motifs probably by different artists. This one is located close to the Hudson Bay Department store. Many of the buildings have beautiful banners hanging on them. The Canadians are great hosts. They walk around downtown dressed in sweatshirts, hockey jerseys, scarfs or hats with the Canadian maple leaf or name printed on them. So proud to be Canadian. We we asked a Canadian to take our picture and she made us to say "Go Canada Go"!

Opening Ceremonies

2010-02-13T01:07:00.001-08:00

The Opening Ceremonies were fabulous. It's midnight and we just got back into the room. There is a pre-show which lasts for about an hour prior to the beginning of the opening. The purpose of the pre-show is to train the audience when to turn on their flashlights and beat their drums. Hopefully we did our part correctly and the audience looked perfect. I know everyone watched. It was definitely an extravaganza.

Day One Vancouver

2010-02-13T00:48:00.001-08:00

Steve and I are enjoying downtown Vancouver with our friends John and Jody from Ft. Worth, Texas. This is Day One in Vancouver and what a fabulous welcome we got. Canadians are so friendly and Vancouver is a beautiful city. We are staying at the Fairmont Hotel which just happens to be the same hotel that Vice President Bidden is staying at along with the Russian committee organizing the 2014 winter games in Sochi. We're having a great time meeting people from all over.

Latest Jewelry Piece

2010-02-05T19:56:00.001-08:00

I love taking copper classes from my friend Colleen McGraw. Sometimes they involve a lot of hammering which is a great stress release. I'm always going to go home and make more of the same project but it just never seemed to happen until her last copper bracelet class. What sent me over the edge with this project is that I figured (with Colleen's help) out a way to incorporate my glass into the copper project. Sooo four hardware stores later, two days work, three times raiding Steve's tool box, and one order to Rio Grande I have a completed copper and glass pendant. this first one I'm selling for $300.00 but I'm sure the I'll be able to get the price down considerably on the next one. Thank you Colleen for all your help and inspiration.

Snow Sculptures in Telluride

2010-01-27T07:42:00.000-08:00

OK - So much for promising at the beginning of the year that I would update my blog once a week! Steve and I were back in Telluride for a few days. While we were there the resort received almost three feet of snow. At the base of the ski resort they had a snow sculpture competition; similar to a sand sculpture but with snow. Here are a few pictures of the entries.

Telluride at Christmas

2009-12-26T13:11:00.000-08:00

We finally made it back up to Telluride - again. As most of you know Steve and I arrived here on December 16th and had to leave the next day because my Mom passed away in Las Vegas. We then flew to Pittsburgh and had funeral services for Mom on December 21st. My sister Lisa did a great job with the services which were well attended. Steve and I drove back up to Telluride on Christmas Day and it is gorgeous here with all the snow and lights but it is also very cold. We hope to get some skiing in over the next week.

More of the Virgin River

2009-10-09T20:02:00.000-07:00

This is an area of the Virgin River called big springs about four miles from where the walkway ends at the last shuttle bus stop in the canyon. That back pack I'm carrying probably weighs about thirty pounds. We rented water shoes, neoprene socks and the wooden hiking poles from the Zion Narrows Outfitters. The equipment worked out great. I also rented and carried dry pants but didn't end up using them. After a while you just get used to being wet and it doesn't bother you. I had a garbage bag in my back pack which kept most of the contents dry.

Hiking the Zion River Narrows

2009-10-09T19:39:00.000-07:00

I spent last weekend hiking the Virgin River Narrows in Zion national Park - 16 miles! Having never done this before I was told we would take two days to hike 16 miles down river and stay overnight in a camp ground half way downstream. Didn't sound too bad. Well I should have remembered better some of the stories of the early explorers who first map some of the rivers in the West. Going downstream is not always going down stream. Sometimes to avoid little waterfalls and deep areas you are forced to take the path up on the bank and over rocks and boulders. We started out Saturday morning at the trailhead after driving 15 miles on a narrow dirt road. The camp ground we reserved was located at mile marker 10 which we finally reached about one hour before dark. The water Saturday wasn't much above our knees but the water Sunday reached above our waists at times.

Telluride

2009-09-03T20:18:00.001-07:00

I was hiking today and took this picture on the trail above Telluride. This is basically the town set in a box canyon. The long streets run west to east. There is only one road into town unless you want to count a couple of the four wheel jeep trails which run over the mountains. The weather is great right now with the temperature getting into the 70's every day and the nights cooling down to the 50's.

My sumer reading list

2009-09-03T16:09:00.000-07:00

Since my last post was about how much more reading I'm doing with my new kindle I thought I would give you a list of my summer reading:

1. The Host by Stephenie Meyer - Stephenie Meyer is the author of the very popular Twilight series and since I liked that series I thought I would read her only other book called The Host. In The Host the bodies of humans are being taken over by alien souls only because the aliens feel that they can do a better job which when you think about some people it isn't a stretch. The book is a page turner and will have you asking yourself what it really means to be "human". Totally different from the Twilight series but still very enjoyable.

2. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese - Instead of reading this book with a medical dictionary in my other hand I skipped over the latin medical terminology which litter the book. But even so the novel was very entertaining. The story is about twin boys born in Ethiopia to a nun born and raised in India but sent to Africa to work as a nurse. One twin has to leave Ethiopia and finds his way to America and his father who he has never met. Great story.

3. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoos by Steig Larsson - Set in Sweden; a magazine editor Mikael Blomkvist tries to solve a thirty year old mystery with the help of Lisbeth Salander who is an anti social troubled private investigator with great internet hacking skills. Another page turner and the first in a trilogy for books but each reads as a separate novel.

4. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett - I know this isn't a brand new book but I finally got around to reading it. The Pillars of the Earth is about the building of a cathedral in England during the 1100's. I've studied how cathedrals were built in art history and the some of the differences between them but I never fully understood the "why" of the undertaking. This novel explores every aspect of the undertaking of building a cathedral in times when the general population had barely enough food to eat and a place to sleep. This novel also explores the nature of the political climate during this time.

5. The Forgotten Garden: A Novel by kate Morton - This novel is about a little girl who travels by herself from England to Australia and is taken in by a family. Later she learns she was adopted and then tries to find out about her past. A light but enjoyable read.

My Kindle

2009-09-03T15:44:00.000-07:00

Sorry no picture but just go to Amazon. com to see what one looks like. I've had a kindle for about three months now and I absolutely love it. There are a couple of issues I want to warn you about before you go off the deep end like I have. First of all I'm reading constantly; like every night before I go to bed. Before my kindle I basically read on the airlines and away from home. My book selection stemmed from the new paper back releases available at bookstores in various airports. Now it is so easy to just go to Amazon.com and download a new book that I find myself worrying if I don't have at least 1 1/2 unread books sitting waiting for me on my kindle. I can download in the middle of the night if I'm desperate. My second problem is my choice of reading material. When I'm reading my kindle no one knows if I'm reading a trashy novel or an intellectual tome. I was always embarrassed to read trashy novels before because of the pictures on the front cover were to revealing. Now I don't have to worry about anyone even knowing what I'm reading. Amazon is pretty smart about this too. I got involved in one series of novels (six to be exact) because the first one in the series was on the Amazon/Kindle bestseller list and it was free! I've also found that I can even read my kindle in a moving vehicle which has always given me a headache before. I'm recommending a kindle to everyone but buyer beware it can be addicting.

Sequoia National Park, California

2009-08-04T20:13:00.000-07:00

Steve and I are in Sequoia National Park outside of Three Rivers, California. These trees are immense. The park is a great place to visit with a variety of views and sites. We climbed the over 200 steps to the top of Morro Rock, hike to the largest tree named the Sherman Tree (at least the largest in volume), and toured a marble cave. We also saw a total of 4 bears; one we found walking up the road we were traveling on and a mother and two cubs we discovered routing around in the dirt above the road we were on.

Bear Creek Falls, Telluride

2009-07-02T17:36:00.001-07:00

This is not your average site along the side of the road. I had to hike two miles through a canyon with a 1000 foot elevation gain. That's why I love hiking! But isn't it beautiful! This is Bear Creek Falls just outside of Telluride, Colorado. It is probably the most popular hike. Just head up to the end of Pine Street and the trail head starts from there.

White Nights in the Baltic

2009-06-22T21:45:00.001-07:00

We are finally home but I had another picture I wanted to share. This picture was taken about 11:oo pm on the night we sailed from St. Petersburg. Unfortunately the sun is setting behind a cloud which is just above the horizon. The Baltic countries refer to the summer solstice (June 21st) as Midsummer. The Scandinavian countries and St. Petersburg refer to the time around the summer solstice as White Nights. The days are so long that there is no real darkness and only a short amount of time as twilight. Many residents will paddle small boats or walk along the River Niva in St. Petersburg.

Stockholm, Sweden

2009-06-19T03:17:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of the Vasa which was a Swedish ship that sank in the Baltic Sea in 1628 on its maiden voyage just 1,500 meters from the coast. The ship was built too top heavy and was too narrow. A gust of wind came up and the ship just tilted over. In the 1950's the ship was discovered in the bottom of the sea and a massive effort was started to raise the vessel in tact. The project was a huge undertaking and lasted many years. After the ship was raised, it was dried out and coated with chemicals to keep it from deteriorating any further. It is now the oldest intact vessel of its kind. The museum also showed how life on a ship worked, the colors of the wood carvings on the ship and how much was learned from the restoration. This is my last blog entry until we arrived home since we will be leaving the ship tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed!

St. Petersburg, Russia

2009-06-17T00:31:00.000-07:00

This was our second day in St. Petersburg, Russia. Today we took an hour drive to see Peterhof which is one of the places where Peter the Great held court. He also lived on the grounds in a small house. The grounds are full of fountains. It is a little hard to see but there is water running down the steps on both sides of the main waterfall and a huge fountain behind me and many other smaller fountains. The water originates in the hills above Peterhof and continue down the long canal from the base of the house to the Gulf of Finland just a short walk from here. This was really one of the highlights of the trip. The amount of restoration done on these historical treasures since the end of World War II is simply amazing.

St. Petersburg, Russia

2009-06-15T09:19:00.000-07:00

St. Petersburg, Russia! Besides being a beautiful city we are also in former Soviet Russia. Everywhere else we just walk off the cruise ship and entered the city; but in Russia we had to give the port officials a copy of our passport and get our passports stamped. We also had to be with a tour guide the entire time. So our tour today included Catherine's Palace just outside of St. Petersburg. The picture here is of the Mirror Room inside the palace. All the gold is gold leaf! The room was designed in the early 18th century to copy the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles, France. We also visited several other spots in St. Petersburg including St. Peter and Paul Catherdals and the Catherdal of the Spilled Blood. Tomorrow we go to the Peterhof.

Tallin, Estonia

2009-06-14T03:54:00.000-07:00

Tallin, Estonia is a beautiful historic seaport on the Baltic Sea. Fortunately not as much of the city was destroyed during World War II so there are many more 12 and 13th century buildings to enjoy. This picture is of the old town hall building. There is still a ring hanging from the outside wall that people found guilty of a crime would have to put their head and hands into and have to stay there for a certain amount of time depending on their crime. Outside this area on most days is an open air craft market of wonderful hand made crafts including felt hats, wool sweaters, linens, wood carvings and glass jewelry.

Riga, Latvia

2009-06-13T01:43:00.000-07:00

It's Saturday - we must be in Riga! A different country every day is starting to wear on us. Today unfortunately it has been raining all day; but we did get to visit part of the old town in Riga. Riga has 42 churches for a population of 700,000. This ornate building was reconstructed after World War II. All the streets in this area are cobblestone.

Klaipeda, Lithuania

2009-06-12T05:06:00.001-07:00

Klaipeda is a small port town in Lithuania. This is the main square in the town and there was a folk group singing. We went to an Amber museum and learn all about amber which is very popular in this part of the world. Amber is really tree resin and is millions of years old and comes in yellow, orange, brown and even green. Our tour guide took us to a local pub to have some locally brewed beer. I'm not much into beer but Steve said it was very good.

Gdansk, Poland

2009-06-12T04:51:00.000-07:00

s
This is a picture of the main street in Gdansk, Poland. The street was only open to foot traffic with restaurants and shops lining the side. We happened to be there for a religious festival and heard a band playing "When the saints come marching in". We felt quite at home. Since Gdansk was practically leveled by the end of World War II everything we saw was built about sixty years ago.

The Berlin Wall

2009-06-10T14:14:00.000-07:00

This is me in front of what is left of the Berlin Wall. I always imagined the Berlin Wall being huge and really thick. It is probably only 10 foot tall and very thin. On this area that I am standing in front of; different artists were invited to paint certain sections of. You can also see some of the graffiti painted over the artist's work. We spent the entire day in Berlin visiting Checkpoint Charlie, the Allied Museum, Brandenberg Gate, and the allied airfield where the planes landed everyday for nine months with supplies to service the people of Berlin. Our tour guide today actually lived in West Berlin during that time.

Gottenberg, Sweden

2009-06-09T08:44:00.001-07:00

This is a picture of Gottenberg, Sweden. It is a very beautiful town with pretty fountains commemorating Poesiden, beautiful gardens and lots of old history. Not very many old buildings have survived due to the fires over the years. Most buildings are made of wood.

Changing of the Guard

2009-06-09T08:31:00.000-07:00

There were so many people that we hardly could get anywhere close to the fence to see the actual changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace (well until Steve let me crawl up on his shoulders - what a guy!). But we did get a picture of the band marching over from the guard house to Buckingham Palace. All the pomp and ceremony was fantastic!

Three days in London

2009-06-07T11:30:00.000-07:00

Sorry no pictures yet but Steve and I just spent three days in London before boarding the cruise ship to start our Baltic Sea cruise. Let see - we saw Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, the Crown Jewels, Windsor Castle and HARRODS! London is an amazing city. The people are very friendly. We rode the hop-on-hop-off bus, the tube and the train. We are now sailing to our first stop in Sweden.

Ginger

2009-05-30T13:18:00.000-07:00

We're testing to see if we can transfer a picture from my camera to my blog for use on our trip.

Colorado National Monument

2009-05-11T09:00:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of Independence Rock located inside the Colorado National Monument outside of Grand Junction, Colorado. If you are ever in the area the Colorado National Monument is a great park to drive through and take some short hikes. The drive through the park is about 20 miles of fantastic scenery of red rock cliff faces and deep river canyons. Steve and I recently enjoyed the drive through the area on our last trip to Telluride.

2009-05-09T08:26:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is Mother's Day and I want to celebrate my Mom’s life and to thank her for just a few of the many qualities she has imparted to me. First of all I want to thank my Mom for teaching me how to walk in the woods and enjoy the beauty of nature. Because of my Mom I have learned to walk many places and have enjoyed the beautiful nature God has given us. Thanks to my Mom I have hiked to the top of mountains and deep into great canyons and have seen many of God’s wonders.

I want to thank my Mom for teaching me how to be creative and how to work with my hands. My Mom taught me how to sew and how to do macrame. Because of my Mom I started a business with my sister Pat and learned how to do many different arts and crafts and enjoyed a profitable and fulfilling career for many years. I was able to teach others how to be creative.

I also want to thank my Mom for teaching me how to work and accomplish goals without giving up or getting discouraged. I want to thank my Mom for teaching me how to give of myself and my time to others. As a young child I remember taking meals to older persons and helping them with their housework. I remember my Mom being a Girl Scout leader, an active member in our church and a teacher. I remember my Mom making making more pies than anyone could count for church functions. Even when she started forgetting things she still tried to tutor young children and encouraged them to learn.

Finally I want to thank my Mom for teaching me how to grow old gracefully - how to hold on to your independence as long as you can and when it finally becomes necessary to give up that independence; how to do it with grace. She has shown me that you can be cooperative and cheerful even when you would rather be cranky and irritable. Spending these last few years with my Mom has taught me that you can still live with dignity and spirit even when you can no longer feed or dress yourself. Thank you Mom for being my Mom.

Spring in Telluride

2009-05-01T13:52:00.000-07:00

May in Telluride is referred to as mud season. The snow is melting in the mountains and creating lots of water run off and "mud". This picture is of Cornet Falls which is a 1/4 mile hike at the top of Aspen Street. In Telluride you typically just walk to the end of a street and find a trail to start hiking. I'm not sure why but this year the falls is surrounded half way around by a cone shape of ice. It's quite magnificent!

Elton John Concert

2009-04-26T10:48:00.001-07:00

Last Sunday night Steve and went to see Elton John in concert at Caesar's. This was one of his last performances for the Red Piano Concert Tour at Caesar's Palace. It was a terrific concert with a lot of energy and favorite songs; such as "Tiny Dancer", "Bennie and the Jets", "Crocodile Rock", "Levon", "Candle in the Wind", and many others. Justin Timberlake played a young Elton in a great video to accompany "Rocket Man". We have unique opportunity in Las Vegas to see many wonderful performers and right now many places are offering half price tickets to locals.

Steve's Retirement Party

2009-04-06T21:36:00.000-07:00

These are pictures of Steve's retirement party at Maggiano's at the Fashion Show Mall. We had 60 friends, family, business associates and ex-employees help us celebrate Steve's retirement. Maggiano's did a great job with the food and bar and even sent an accordion player in to play a few tunes including; "For he's a golly good fellow". Several people asked to speak and said some really nice things about Steve. Steve's in the middle of the picture on the left.

FIRST Las Vegas Regional

2009-04-01T21:27:00.000-07:00

Sorry I wasn't closer when I took this picture but this is the winning match for the FIRST Robotic Competition Las Vegas Regional. 50 high school teams showed and competed over a three day period. The competition was based on robots collecting moon rocks and loading them into their opponent's pod trailing behind the robots. Each match took two minutes and it was best two out of three matches to advance. Competition was fierce and the over all winner was an alliance including Cimmaron High School. I volunteer for the event and learn how to run the pit administration desk. It was a lot of fun working with these very motivated high school students.

Steve's Volunteer of the Year Award

2009-03-28T22:04:00.001-07:00

FIRST is a national organization which hosts high school robotic competitions across the country and then hosts a world's final competition in Atlanta. GA. My husband Steve became involved several years ago when he discovered parents of these high school students coming in to his business buying bearing and belts. Since then he has sponsored and mentored several teams in the Las Vegas and Kingman areas, he has traveled to several regional and the national event, and has convinced other adults to get involved supporting and mentoring teams. This year at the Las Vegas Regional this weekend, Steve was awarded the Volunteer of the Year Award. he was very surprised and honored. Congratulation Steve!

Valley of Fire

2009-03-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

I bet it has been at least 10 years since I've been to Valley of Fire. So Steve and I decided to go and we invited our friend Nicole who is visiting from Paris, France. This is a picture of Nicole and I. We all had a great time. We drove around the park, hiked a little at Mouse Tank and Elephant Rock and had a wonderful picnic lunch. Nicole was super impressed with the beautiful colors and the Indian petroglyphs. It seems to me that the facilities have been improved upon since the last time we've been there. What a fun day trip to get out of the city and enjoy nature.

My friend Nicole

2009-03-22T19:47:00.000-07:00

My friend Nicole who lives in Paris, France is visiting Las Vegas. Last Thursday I decided to take her on a hike. We ended up hiking to Hoover Dam. This is the greatest hike to take Las Vegas visitors on. We drove toward the dam but pulled off the road and parked at the Lake Mead Visitor Center which is on the left hand side of the road before you reach the Hacienda Hotel. The trail is well marked and for the most part follows the old railroad bed which was part of the dam construction. The trail follows through five tunnels without much elevation change for about 3 1/2 miles and ends up at the top of the parking garage at Hoover Dam. We did a little sight seeing at the dam and had lunch at the cafe before heading back to our car. Nicole throughly enjoyed the hike.

Skiing

2009-02-20T18:37:00.001-08:00

There is not a whole lot to like about downhill skiing. Let see; you're dressed up like a football, your fingers and toes are registering somewhere between really cold and freezing, you're in the most uncomfortable foot ware and you've got a board strapped to the bottom of each foot. One thing I do like is once you have figured out how to manipulate the skis and poles you can become one with the mountain and terrain as you're cruising down the slopes. But what I like the most is the scenery. It is breathtaking to be at the top of a peak and look across the surrounding mountains and valleys. Here are two of the pictures I've taken recently while skiing in Telluride, Colorado. Both pictures are taken from a ski run called "See Forever". In the second picture if you look closely you will see the Telluride airport runway; the shoveled out black line on the mesa in the distance. Imagine flying along looking down in a canyon and having the ground come up to meet you as you land. Disneyland has nothing on landing at Telluride.

Bacchanal Dessert

2009-02-19T20:44:00.001-08:00

I'm sorry I don't have a picture for this but it is so easy and there are so many variations that you will be fine without a visual. This is a dessert that was very popular at the Bacchanal Room at Caesar's Palace years ago. The only ingredient that is mandatory is pound cake; either fresh from the bakery or the frozen Sara Lee version. If using Sara Lee make sure it is thawed. Cut the pound cake into 1/4 inch slices. Use a dry skillet (no butter or oil) over medium heat to brown the pound cake on both sides. Frying the pound cake carmelizes the butter in the pound cake and gives it a whole new flavor. Simple enough! The hard part is deciding what to use for toppings. I like fresh berries and a little whip cream; my sister Nancy likes fresh berries and ice cream. Think of how much the Bacchanal Room must have charged for this dessert and it's only fried pound cake!

Pictures of my Maui vacation

2009-02-19T20:38:00.000-08:00

here today; gone to Maui

2009-02-09T17:14:00.000-08:00

How relaxing to spend a week on the island of Maui; except for all the other thousands of people trying to do the same thing. Maui is the "Valley Isle" and appears to be actually two islands connected by a narrow isthmus - on the larger side is the Haleakala Crater which a dormant volcano and on the other side is beautiful rugged mountains. The interior is surrounded by tremendous beaches, rocky cliffs, sleepy harbors and the zigzagiest two lane road you ever saw. Of the numerous outdoor activities we decided on kayaking and snorkeling and fell in love with both activities. We even got to watch a turtle under water feed off a coral reef. This is whale watching season so every stop along the road is a chance to spot spouting and tail fins. We spent a day on the road to Hana which is an adventure all of it's own. It's is definitely not the destination that matters but the journey. Our journey ended at Mama's Fish House in Pa'ia for our best meal on the island. Their menu changes twice a day so that they can not only tell you where the fish was caught but by which fisherman! We went with our friends Paul and Jeannie and had a marvelous time.

Dinner with friends

2009-01-30T13:41:00.000-08:00

I went to dinner Friday night with some girl friends. We ate at Roma Deli on Spring Mountain Road between Linville and Jones. What a great little restaurant! The bread was great which they served with oil and vinegar. (I never trust an Italian restaurant which serves butter with their bread. We all had wonderful pasta dishes; I had penne pasta with broccoli and oil which was prepared perfectly. We stayed so long eating and talking that the waiter sent us each home with a bag of left over bread. How delightful! The friends I ate with are all involved with the Las Vegas Valley Humane Society. These are dedicated ladies who have been rescuing cats and dogs form the most horrible situations for years. If you ever feel the need to donate either time or money to an animal organization this is the one. No one receives a salary and the money is all spent for the animals. Check out http://www.lvvhumane.org/

A tribute to my sister and best friend - Pat

2009-01-20T18:57:00.001-08:00

Today if she were still alive my sister Pat would be 71 years young. Pat was a very special person. She was vibrant and full of life. Pat loved all kinds of life evidenced by all the dogs and cats she rescued and cared for. She loved nature and the outdoors. Pat was an artist and a teacher. In the 70's she taught physical education in high school and coached a girl's basketball team encouraging young women to spread their wings and shoot for the stars. She would sit with girls in her office and help them fill out college applications that she obtained for them. One such girl finally finished college after many starts and stops and now runs a grant program in which she takes new college graduates before they go to their real jobs and spends six or eight weeks doing community service projects. She was an artist creating beautiful designs and encouraging others to do the same. Pat was full of compassion, life and sunshine. Today I celebrate Pat's birthday and remember the precious gifts she gave me and many others.

The Flat Belly Diet Book

2009-01-19T10:31:00.000-08:00

So maybe to look at me you think I don't need to be on a diet; but everyone needs to eat healthier. My husband; Steve heard about a new book called "Flat Belly Diet" written by the editors of Prevention magazine. One of my favorite cookbooks is also by Prevention magazine so I thought we should give it a try. The basis of the book is to eat four 400 calorie meals a day, never starving yourself, drinking sassy water and adding MUFA's to every meal. Sassy water is water with grated ginger, sliced lemon and cucumber and mint leaves added. The taste takes a bit of getting used to but is designed to aid in digestion and helping you feel full. This really does work - I feel less hungry when I'm drinking the water several times a day. MUFA is an acronym for monounsaturated fatty acids. This is the good fat found in oils, nuts and seeds, olives, avocados and dark chocolate. A diet book that tells you to eat dark chocolate; thats for me!Our bodies require fat but too much of the fat in our diets is the wrong fat. There is tons of information in the book explaining how you can ward off cancer, adult diabetes and even Alzheimer's disease by eating healthier.

Provolone Terrine

2009-01-16T21:06:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sun dried or oven roasted tomatoes, chopped small

1 1/4 pound sliced provolone

1 cup pesto

cheesecloth

8 ounces cream cheese

1/4 cup unsalted butter

2 garlic clove minced or pressed

pepper to taste

1/4 cup roasted pistachios

To make garlic cream cheese: In a food processor chop pistachios then add cream cheese, softened butter, garlic and season with pepper. Set aside.

Cut the cheesecloth to lay in the bottom of a glass pie plate plus several inches to overlap on top. Wet the cheesecloth with water and wring dry. Place cheesecloth in the bottom of the glass pie plate. Cut provolone slices in half. Cover the bottom and sides of the pie plate with the provolone slightly overlapping the slices. Smooth 1/2 of the pesto over the cheese. Cover the pesto with provolone slices; slightly overlapping the slices again. Sprinkle the cheese with 1/2 of the chopped tomatoes (either sundried of oven roasted). Carefully spread garlic cream cheese mixture and sprinkle with the rest of the tomatoes. Cover the tomatoes and cream cheese with another layer of provolone slices. spread remaining pesto and cover with a final layer of provolone. Fold the cheese cloth over the last layer of provolone, cover with saran wrap and press lightly to compact. Chill at least 2 hours. remove saran wrap and fold back the cheesecloth. Invert a serving plate over the pie plate and flip everything over. Allow cheese dish to loosen from the pie plate and remover the cheesecloth. Server with crustini of baguette.

Oven roasted tomatoes: Quarter 12 roma tomatoes lengthwise and remove the seeds. Toss tomatoes in olive oil, salt, pepper and Italian seasonings. arrange tomatoes skin side down on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Roast in a 150 degree oven until dried and shriveled looking. We will turn the oven on and off while roasting the tomatoes so not to cook them too fast. Steve roasts tomatoes once a week and we add them to salads and other dishes. They are so flavorful!

The Almarez Taco Martini

2009-01-16T19:09:00.000-08:00

This is a recipe copied from a wonderful restaurant named J'Y's in France. We named it after our friend who order it.

Martini Glasses

shredded crab meat

guacamole

diced tomatoes

shredded cabbage

cream fraise (sour cream will work)

crushed tortilla chips

Fill at least 1/2 of each Martini glass with crab meat. Next layer with gaucamole, shredded cabbage, diced tomatoes, cream fraise and sprinkle crushed tortilla chips on top.