A Dusting of Snow

The joy in being a grandmother comes from watching my daughters raise their children with the same values that they were raised with, and sometimes I find my daughters are even more rigorous than we were with them. The other benefit of being the grandmother allows watch by the sidelines and cheer the children on as they pursue their interests.

Such was yesterday as I sat with the other grandmother and watched the girls compete in the last horse show of the season, a fun show that began the Halloween costume competitions. Now, I have to admit that as a mom I was horrible at creating costumes for the girls, so they ended up in the Target plastic ensemble: Big Bird and Strawberry Short Cake.

My daughters do a much better job. Not only did Jen have to dress her daughters yesterday, but three horses too. It was so much fun to watch.

Elinore and Hank were a dragon and a princess. 

Lucy and Mariah were a pirate.

 Lily and Bubba were a rainbow unicorn and were voted the Most Magical.

Hank wore a horse bonnet, designed to keep flies out of the ears, but his were dragon's ears with sparkles.

Lucy and her friend had their own interpretations of a pirate.

Then the gymkhana events began. Because Lily is under 9, her horse had to be led by an adult. Bubba belongs the college student, Katie, a CSU veterinary student who is a neighbor and allows the girls to use her arena. She is kind enough to let Lily ride him. He actually is more horse than what she should be riding, but she is only allowed to walk and trot and Bubba who is actually a trained barrel racer and used in roping events listens to her and with a watchful eye she is learning to ride. Katie got quite a work out yesterday running along side Bubba with his lead line. Thank you, Katie.

Lily was having so much fun.

It was good day.

And today Fall is acting up. The weather people have promised snow for the next four days. We have a dusting of snow here at the Garden Spot. The little water garden in the front entry has a bit of ice on the top. The gold fish are hardy little creatures. The Head Gardener will add a heater--soon, I hope.

The boys are out and about after their warm mash breakfast. 

Some are writing about their lovely fall decorations. Here I am keeping it simple, putting out my Halloween decorations because we've had some company. I purchased the table cloth a few years ago, along with the napkins and for the valance, I used another table cloth that I cut down and hemmed for the valence. 

Outside, the decorations are really simple, like something that wind won't blow away. I had festive autumn leaf wreath on the exterior wall, but the wind carried it away. We are back off the road, so much of fall decor doesn't show from the road. It's pretty much just for me.

Thank you for your kind comments on the cards that we have been working on. I know that the veterans will appreciate them.

Wishing a fine week.

I'll be joining Angie for Mosaic Monday.

Fall Surprises

October finally brought cooler days and a snow storm that blasted through last week along with a hard freeze that finished the garden off. The furnace officially was turned up to a comfortable 72 degrees and then turned down again and then up again. I still like to have the patio door open for fresh air and so that I don't have let the dog in and out.

These cooler mornings often require a quicker warm up, so the gas logs go on with a click of the remote control.



The dahlias took a very long time to come around, finally peaking just before the frost with plenty of blooms ready to open. Perhaps we should have planted them earlier. The Head Gardener gave me 25 for Mother's Day and we waited to plant the. We will dig the tubers and replant next spring, earlier, I hope. I do love them.

With out of state company, we took the customary drive to Estes Park that our guests enjoy so much. Good shopping, great food, and beautiful scenery. I know that some of my followers have been to Estes Park; it is a popular family vacation spot with all of Colorado's natural beauty and is the gate way to Rocky Mountain National Park.  

Along with slow gardens, everything else in nature was slow this year, even the turning of the colors in the mountains. The aspens can put on a real show, but it doesn't take much wind, rain, or snow to ruin them.

Do you see what is playing at the landmark theatre?

Hidden in amongst the trees just off the highway rest a herd of about twenty cow elk, peacefully chewing their cuds while the large herd bull and a smaller bull challenge each other by bulging out their insults. I didn't get very good photos of the elk, but here's one.

  

When you are photographing wildlife, a bad photo is better than no photo.

Actually the elk rule Estes Park. Perhaps you saw the news story of the woman who got in between two sparing bulls and was attacked. She wasn't injured, but rule #1 in Estes: Keep Away From the Elk, especially during rut when the bulls challenge each other as they round up their harems.

Most likely travelers will see the Rocky Mountain Big Horn sheep, too, along the side of the highway. Here is a small herd of ewes and lambs. They come down the mountain and cross the road to drink from the river below.

Just around the next curve right at the side of the road, lucky travelers will see the rams, taking their afternoon meal roadside. Calm, more concerned with munching grass and weeds than than how well they photograph. Still they are comfortable around people as long as they keep their distance. 

Back home there is garden work to do. At the edge of the newly laid sod, we planted 30 multicolored tulips. Can't wait to see them flourish in the spring.

The National Daughters of the American Revolution has declared October 11 a national day of service with chapters across the country doing good things for their communities. Our chapter decided to make holiday greeting cards for the wounded soldiers at the VA hospital in Cheyenne, WY. I offered my home along with my scrapbook stash to make holiday greeting cards. We assembled them in packets of three that contained on hand crafted card, one blank holiday note card, and one generic holiday card with a seasonal message. One card in each packet was stamped with the USPO's current commomerative stamp honoring military service dogs. We included a tag that read, "Made just for you by the Overland Trail Chapter, NSDAR and our address.

We made 30 cards, so we have 30 three-card packs to deliver to the VA hospital.

We signed the back side of the tag with, "Thank you for your service" and our name.

As we worked, we brainstormed mored ideas and decided that we should do Valentines for the troops. I've already started planning for our January card making party.

 Every now and then we have a visitor that takes a moment to relax in the shade of the apple tree: A typical mom supervising her fledglings as they learn their independence. 

The foundation for Elinore's rabbitery, now officially named White Rabbit Lane Rabbitery, grows with her first litter of babies

Her Grand Champion Hymlian female, Reign, finally gave birth to the sweetest tiny little babies. She's been taking photos of them each week. Here they are two weeks old. Tomorrow they will be three--I think--or is it four?

She handles each one every day, inspecting them to make sure that each of the three babies is eating, growing, and gaining weight.

And then one day there were four.

She is not quite sure how she missed #4, but there it is.

I think that catches you up on what's going on at the Garden Spot. I must share one more thing: Our grandson Jacob. You have watched him grow up here. He's now sixteen and has his first car and a job, at Village Inn as a host/dishwasher doing whatever he is told to do. Oh my where have the years gone?

Thanks so much for visiting.

Linking with Mosaic Monday. Join me there.

In the Light of the Silver Moon

Keeping children busy these days can pose a challenge for some parents with busy schedules and plenty to do, but for my granddaughters, there is always something going on that keeps this grandma busy. Yesterday I was recruited to haul rabbits to a show, so I packed up my night bag and spent Friday night with them since we had an early drive to Cheyenne, Wyoming, an hour away.

Ellie loaded up the four rabbits in the back of my Edge while her mother and sisters loaded up mom's car with all of the gear and lunch.

And we off.

The first show that I went to with Ellie, I nearly froze my toes off, but Saturday warm and a nice breeze blew through the rabbit building, still I kept my jacket on all day.

It was at that show that Jennifer bought a very tiny baby rabbit for Lily.

Rabbits came from all over, some crossing the state lines from Nebraska and Colorado. Rabbit Competition is a big deal. People love their bunnies. People of all ages.

 Not a 4-H sanctioned show, it's sponsored by the Rabbit Association (not the official name)

This year was Lily's first year with her Dutch Black named Midnight.  She knows what she is doing.

Mom made the girls' aprons to protect their clothing from rabbit hair. Simple aprons made out of kitchen towels.

The mosaic edited the first photo showing mom tying Lily's apron on. Next Lily grooms Midnight to get him ready for to show. The rabbits are called by breed and put into show cages. The judge takes the rabbit out of the cage and examines it, commenting as he spreads it out, examines it, making note of its strengths and weaknesses then he hands Lily the tally sheet, declaring Midnight the winner of his class. He was the only Dutch in this class, a fine rabbit none the less. 

And a kind man who posed for a photo. By the end of the show Midnight had won every class that he showed in, four blue ribbons

and a purple food dish.

Ellie's rabbits are dwarf red Rexes, Dawn and Mavrick.  Rare in color, so they always win for their color and coat, but they are not perfect rabbits, in fact the buck has been disqualified for being over weight, so Ellie put them both on diets this summer and an exercise program and they both lost enough weight to be competitive. Now they wait to be judged.

And here are Ellie's show results:

Eldorado is a Hymalian buck, a true champion. He comes from a Rabbitry that won all of the top prizes for the day. He will soon be a father.

Here are some random rabbits that I had to photograph. I love the second one, a lop eared rabbit. Rabbits come in so many shapes, colors, sizes. Which one would I choose, were I too choose?

I don't know.

Back at home, the Head Gardener and I drove out a friend's farm late in the day so that I could photograph the sunset at the irrigation pond. Upon arriving we caught sight of pelicans sleeping late. 

End of day as the sun sinks behind the Rocky Mountains is my favorite time of day as sun casts the last of its light, making the world look warm and golden. I love seeing cattle in the fields.

The alfalfa field has been cut and the corn tassels reflect the sun. Soon the corn cutters will run.

We took Brody. He's still a shy boy, not sure at all of the world around him and he takes his time adjusting to new things.

He's a handsome lad, don't you think?

Soon he relaxes and begins to explore; still on a leash, we don't trust him to let him free.

 He's a bird dog, a German Short Haired Pointer, that is supposed to flush the birds and retrieve them. We don't know if he likes water. Some short hairs don't and for sure he doesn't like loud noise, like gunshots. He may not hunt. That's okay.

Black birds have amazed me since my childhood. I grew up with farm ponds and cat tails and Red winged blackbirds.

The pelicans awake when we startle them and float away on the breeze stirred water.

Yes, we have pelicans in Northern Colorado. Lots of them. Most bodies of water have pelicans. 

Its a quiet sunset tonight. No clouds to absorb  the colors.

In the east the moon begins its journey. Full and silver, mysterious, now being invaded once again by earth man's desire to know what's on the moon. Who cares, I ask?

Back at home with less light, I take one last photo the moon.

It was a full week. 

How was your week?

Thanks for joining me. I'll see you over at Angie's for Mosaic Monday

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