Uninspired

 Really????  I took some time off work today to start getting the greenhouse ready.  Yesterday was sunny and warm......the greenhouse was 87 in the afternoon!  And look what is going on now!   Arrrrrrggghhhh!!  So, I have been pulling up high altitude gardening blogs.  Found one I really liked.  Check her out.  Kate lives in Park City.  I think we would enjoy each other's company!  Kate's Blog  She even uses the same blogger as me!!  Check out the giant pumpkin she grew!!  That's pretty impressive to pull off in Park City, UT!

 

So the bags of dirt (I am embarrassed to tell  you how much I spent on this dirt) are for tomato growing in the greenhouse.  The amount spent would have bought a bunch of organic tomatoes!  But what's the fun in that? 

 

One of the problems of being brought up an Illinois farm girl is that you take dirt for granted.  Plant the seeds and get out of the way in Illinois!  Not so around here.  To start, the "free" dirt is heavy and filled with clay.  It goes from gooey mud to hard as a rock.  Not many plants can handle this kind of dirt.  Poppies, I have found, are successful.

 

I bought a ranunculus last week.  Beautiful thing.  Makes me think of peonies; oh, how I wish they would grow here for me!  I remember three big bushy plants out by the apple trees on the Illinois farm.  Dripping with ants, we would pick the flowers and vase them.  How lovely a flower!  Here is a neat blog site on growing ranunculus and anemones Peonies-Like Beauties

 

So until things warm up, I am forced to dream, plan, buy store flowers, and clean the chicken coop.  Joy.  Off to do that next after I put on my winter boots and jacket!

 

 

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Spring weather, Wyoming-Style!

Out the front door, this morning. Hope you had a nice Easter!

 

 

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Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

Wine rack made from old irrigation pipe! A marble top will complete the project, once it is cut to size.

My husband is amazing! Just sayin'!

 

 

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Picture from a Friend

A friend shared a picture he took of the happy concert-couple. We really had a good time - MUCH better than I expected!!

A Night Away

The rumor was - there were to be 17-20,000 people at the Zac Brown concert last night.  Pushing way out of our comfort zone and normal routine, Mike and I got Jack to watch the dogs (thanks Jack!) and got a Tiny Cabin at Fireside Resort, a seven mile bike ride to the concert in Teton Village.  A bit uphill getting there, we rode north over a clear bike path as the sun sank in the southwest. 

Neat tiny cabin!

We parked our bikes in the Teton Village Fire House - thank you TVFD!!  Then walked down to the troops to say howdy and good luck!

 

Although a bit chilly, it was a great night for a concert.  Although there were a couple of fights, the concert went smoothly.  Neat venue, isn't it?

 

 

The night's coolest siting - 3 very large, very high airplanes flew over just before Zac began singing.  Our ride back to the Tiny Cabin went well - downhill and without incident!  It was a great get away!! 

Dear Sister Sandy

This is where I was sitting when we were talking today!  I want this sculpture!  I sat on a black park bench looking west to the setting sun!  So good to talk and hear about your move, your puppy, your upcoming visit, your life!



Thanks to an afternoon break, I got to get outside and walk today!  What a treat!  Here are some of the sights from my walk.  Fairfax, Virginia.  A Saturday afternoon in a bustling place.

Hotel of occupancy since Wednesday. 

Perfectly manicured grass.

The tulip trees are blooming!

Spring.  Sweet Spring.

 

The Start of The Day

It would be easy to figure you were going to have a bad day when you realized your dog peed in your open carry on bag.  Yup.  Smoke is pissed (!) I was leaving.  The mess wasn't too bad to clean up and really, once I got over being mad, it was kind of funny.  He knew he did wrong. 

So, I sit now in Fairfax, VA readying for a Vision 20/20 Fire Symposium.  Check them out at http://strategicfire.org  Then check your smoke alarms.  Are they older than 10 years?  Do you have one in every bedroom?  Just askin'.

It was a great day to travel.  No hitches.  Good connection in Denver and arrived here to 75 plus temperatures!  Wow.  Heat wave!  There are 4 people here from the little less than 600,000 people state of Wyoming!  This is really cool news, indeed (yes, of course, I know them all!)

So, despite an angry dog, all is well.  I am about to seek out dinner and beverage!  Friday morning, I get to moderate a session - a very big honor for me.  This is a great gathering of people all trying to figure out really smart ways to keep people from dying in structure fires.  Glad to be part of the group! 

More later!

GF Carrot Cake

Sunday morning on a rainy, snowy 36 degree day.  Dark and overcast.  No reason to be outside!  Dinner with Todd & Janet tonight so time to cook!  This gluten free carrot cake has 7 cups of carrot solids!  The juice is in the fridg - a great way to use the "remains" from the cold press juicer.  Recipe is below.

         
Heat oven to 350 degrees.

7 cups of carrots are needed for this recipe.  If you have a cold press juicer, the pulp from pressing carrots is perfect!  If not, you need to do a whole bunch of grating!  Once you've got your carrots, add 1 cup of sugar, stir it up and let any extra juice pull out.  Drain that extra juice off before adding to mix.

Mix dry ingredients:
2 3/4 c gluten free flour (or regular flour)
4 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
2 t cinnamon
1 t salt

Mix and combine:
2/3 c granulated sugar
1 c lite brown sugar
2 sticks softened butter
5 eggs
1 1/2 t vanilla

Mix dry with wet ingredients, then add carrots.  Put into pans of choice (I used 2 8" cake pans) and bake 45-50 minutes.  Cool.  Frost

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 pound room temp cream cheese
10 T softened butter
2 1/2 c powdered sugar
2 1/2 T sour cream

I roasted unsalted pistachios, rough-chopped and pressed to the side of the cake.  MANJA!!

Well Piping

This is a story about the well that went dry.  As you may recall, a new well had to be drilled here at the Becker Place late last fall.  The old pipe, all 300 plus feet, wasn't worth much.  Mike has been looking at it and thinking the only way to get better at welding - well, is to weld!  So, he has been hard at welding and planning for the last several weeks and today the swing is set and complete!  Note the special touches - cedar wooden head piece (with brand).  Swing made of Trex (with brand).  This thing is double tough!  It took both of us, grunting and cursing, to get that swing hung!

As spring flirts with us all, a swing back and forth, watching the snow melt and the dogs get muddy; it was a nice afternoon tribute to Mike's effort of creative and practical (reduce, reuse, recycle) art piece. 

Nice work, Trumbower!!

The artist enjoying his handiwork!  All that is missing is the gin and tonic!