Yellowstone with the Carsons

We love going to Yellowstone. I think it has something to do with the air there. Usually around the end of August, we are so tired of the heat that we can't wait to take the 5 hour drive up to West Yellowstone and stay for a few days. A friend of mine once said that their family would make the trip north each summer and I asked her what it is that drew them there. She really didn't have an answer but after our first trip there - we were hooked too and have probably been there 10 times or so.
Anyway, we had been wanting to take Rick and Marta for a long time now and we finally made it. The big worry was that we had never been there this late in the season and didn't know what weather we'd be facing. Luckily, it only rained a bit the first day, but after that the temps were in the 70's. The day after we left, the first snow arrived in Yellowstone and this past weekend we had 6" in Farmington. (just in the nick of time, I'd say!)

The Love Birds of West Yellowstone!

Jackson Hole, Wyoming- Some elk is awful mad that his antlers have been stolen - again!

You know, pictures never, ever do nature justice - you just can't believe how big it is out there until you see it! Looks fake don't it?

Beautiful Jenny Lake -Tetons

The Mrs.....

...And the Mr.

Some More Wild Life!

I'm used to seeing red cones in the occasional parking lot to direct you around some little pothole or wet paint or something -

But, COME ON - isn't that steam coming out of that pothole? HOT!
There's a Grand Canyon in Wyoming?? Again I say....HOT!!





Overlooking the Madison

Marta and Me

I'm so excited that I can now post some pictures on my blog! The sad news is that since I still don't have a digital camera, I can only post the pictures that I just developed! I guess I shouldn't do anything or go anywhere until Christmas when Santa brings me a new camera!

Marta and Rick just left us in West Yellowstone last weekend and went traipsing all over the western states on their way home to So. Cal. I got a few pictures of our time together - which is never enough for either one of us.

We always go to Gardeners Village - a goldmine of an idea (one of those "wish I had thought of that" ideas). A woman started "gathering" up old houses in the valley and moved them to the site of an old grain mill. It's very picturesque - it's set up like a village with the shops lining the "streets". There's a pond running through the middle of it complete with ducks and a couple of covered bridges. We hardly ever spend any more than maybe $40.00 each but I love going there with my Marta.

If you look close enough you can see the wicked witch flying through the air on her Schwinn.

My Pretty Sewing Room

I have re-done my sewing room and it's fit for a sewing princess! it's so girly that anyone setting foot in there is in danger of an estrogen overload. When I was a little girl I always got pretty hankies for presents. You just weren't fully dressed without your hankie! I remember wrapping my milk money in a hankie and taking it to school.

I have been buying them up on ebay and have a collection of about 40 of these little walks through time and hung them up as the valance in the Pretty Pretty princess Room.

But, to know the total transformation this room has undergone is to know what it has looked like for the past 10 years...

The wall under the chair rail was painted deep forest green with off-white above and pine cones stencilled every few inches just above the chair rail. soooo beautiful--right? Well, now it's the prettiest shade of aqua and white. I loooove sewing in here now.

UGH!

I bought this little table top ironing board from the D.I. for $2.00 and made an aqua froo froo cover for it!

I tend to keep things more organized now




The Princess's throne, uh, (froo froo chair)


One of the best things about my new room is that as pretty as it is, it is now much more functional. I re-arranged the space and hung a lamp next to my sewing machine for much needed light - of course, it's dripping with crystals!

Autumn In the Air

I think Autumn might be my favorite season. When I was a kid -no doubt about it - Summer was IT --but now, I really appreciate mother nature and what it does to my soul to see the leaves turn, feel the crispness in the air and listen to the wind and rain come down.

We took a drive in the "back country" this weekend and thoroughly enjoyed what we saw -I can't even imagine what New England must look like. We don't have even a fraction of the hard woods growing on our mountainsides that they have all over the place.

There is something quiet and calming about it and makes me think of family.

Happy Autumn!