I thought the POTUS was the Servant of the People....

You ARE paying attention, aren't you?

Check out these headlines!

from: http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0809/We_are_Gods_partners_in_matters_of_life_and_death.html?showall
'We are God's partners in matters of life and death'
A reader points out that President Obama's call with the rabbis today — as recorded in Rabbi Jack Moline's and other clerics' Twitter feeds — freights health care reform with a great deal of religious meaning, and veers into the blend of policy and faith that outraged liberals in the last administration.
"We are God's partners in matters of life and death," Obama said, according to Moline (paging Sarah Palin...), quoting from the Rosh Hashanah prayer that says that in the holiday period, it is decided "who shall live and who shall die."
The president ended the call by wishing the rabbis "shanah tovah," or happy new year — in reference to the High Holidays (that should be spelled "Holy Days"! jill) a month from now.

I'm enjoying the comments made in response to outrageous statement that "we are God's partners in matters of Life and Death" made by the man who has declared "We are not a Christian nation" and who would not attend National Day of Prayer as he felt is interfered with separation of Church and State

My favorite comments so far:

"Like hell we are!" signed "God".

"Ooooo...somebody's going to hell!"

"Problem is, Mr. Obama thinks he is the senior partner."

"Newsflash: God doesn't need a partner....but thanks for exalting yourself, Obama!"

"Now that is compromise we can believe in.. Obama is actually willing to share the spotlight with GOD!?!?!?"

"We aren't God's partners you arrogant twit. We are dust specks. You are a narcissistic dust speck."

"Sorry Barack, this is a family-owned business." - God

"I believe, Mr. President, with all due respect, sir, that God's partners in life and death are the God, the Father, His Son, and the Holy Spirit. He doesn't have any vacancies right now due to the recession!!!!!"

"The more our President speaks, the more wary I become. Last time I checked, God wasn't looking for volunteers to help Him make decisions."

"He has that president thingy down. Promotion time!"

"If an ordinary citizen went about seriously proclaiming himself to be God’s partner, we would consider having him committed to a mental institution for observation."

"Partners???? I thought God worked for him. Did God get a promotion?"

"Oh man. I wouldn't want to stand near him in a thunder storm."

"Don't assume the god he speaks of partnering with is the one of the Bible. There are many gods, but one I AM."

Let's see... When asked by Rick Warren when life begins, Obama said that he could not answer that because it was "above his pay grade". Now he claims "We are God's partners in matters of life and death." Next thing you know he will dissolve the partnership and say that matters of life and death are none of God's business!

"Just so you know, the act of "attributing partners to God", is one of the most serious sins in Islam. This quote will be shouted from the minbar all across the Muslim world tomorrow at Friday prayers. "

"This is waaaayyyy above Mr. Obama's pay grade. "

Step down, Barry...step down NOW!

Before and After: The Hat Room

Before we get into the "before" and "after" shots...I have to show the adorable California quail families that have been dropping by every morning and evening the last couple of weeks.

Here's a Daddy Quail, in the bonsai garden area. Isn't he handsome?

And here are the two California Quail families. Two males, two females, two babies per family. One is out of the picture.

California quail are not native to Utah. Fourteen pairs were introduced to the area back in 1860something. They are still very much California-ish though. No self respecting Utah family has only two kids!

OK...enough of that. On to the Before and After Shots of the Hat Room.

This will be the last B&A shot for awhile...only the laundry room and the cold storage room remain to be done, and we are in no hurry to deal with those issues just yet.

Before: I didn't even bother to include this room in the first tour of the house back on Dec. 31st. It was just a tiny downstairs bedroom wedged between the laundry room and the bathroom. Typically, it was painted a vivid color, and originally had bright olive green carpet. Oh, and the paint was lifting off the plaster because the former owners had created a planter on the other side of the exterior wall without bothering to seal the wall first.

Jeeze people. Get a clue!

The room was Gail's guest room during my mid Feb. meltdown season. It was the last room that got painted and I was in a fetal position around the paint cans by the time we started to roll the little room. I had no inspiration left to choose a color; bland beige was the best we could come up with.

Then a lot of junk got tossed in the poor room. The "junk" (everything that I just couldn't deal with placing in the house or getting rid of) later got moved to the famous former Bob Marley room, which now looks like a garage sale following a hurricane, put on by a crazy lady.

(Yes, eventually I will post those B&A pictures too...)

All of this is to let you know what went before with this room. This past weekend I finally got up the energy to create a livable space in the room for myself.

It was done to celebrate a huge event:

The one year anniversary of our move to Salt Lake City!!!!!!!!!

Can you believe it has already been a year?

What a year it has been!

I re-read the last posts from Houston, where a year ago I was packing two duffle bags, in a town where it was in the high 90's with almost 90% humidity. This past weekend in SLC it was in the mid 70's with humidity in the low teens.

I was glad to come to Salt Lake City. I loved it before and I love it even more now. But the year was very difficult.

* We basically moving four times in one year (to Jeff's condo, to an apartment, to a room in our basement, and finally into our whole house...)

* both B. and I starting new jobs

*I had to look at 70+ (mostly horrific) properties while awaiting the sale of our house,

*We wondered if our Houston house even was standing after Hurricane Ike blew through and knocked out power to that city for a week.

*I lived with just the contents of two duffle bags, a backpack full of computer stuff and my purse for over a month.

*Our son become engaged and married

*I had to oversee the packing of our Houston house in one weekend just before Christmas.

*There were a LOT of decisions to be made for the remodel of the house we finally decided on(paint, sinks, faucets, doors, windows, carpet...it went on and on....)

*I had no girlfriend nearby to hang out with (my real estate agent was my best bet for venting!)

*We worked at finding new friends at church, only to discover our small group had three pregnant young women, and I was the only other woman (sigh...they all had little ones already. Busy mommies!)

* My husband's brother suddenly had cancer. Very serious cancer.

*I developed a ganglion cyst on my forefinger, which required surgery and bone scraping. Try living without your right forefinger for a while...try just turning the key on your car!

I could go on and on. Yes, I hit bottom around March. Yet even in my darkest moments I still looked out to Salt Lake City and thought "wow. this place is amazing. I absolutely love this place."

Are you still reading this?

Amazing.

Well...here it is, a year of testing and trials later...I feel sassy and happy again.

And I am SO ready to have a hat room back!

AFTER:

Not quite as lovely of shelving as my hat room had in Houston. With the low ceiling in this room, I just made do with whatever didn't fit elsewhere in our house!

I used hanging sweater hangers to create a "built in" effect in the closet, and removed the sliding doors for full access. Very cost effective!

The upside is this make do shelving is that 98% of my hats are now on display, while in Houston I never had more than a dozen out at a time.

No more fussing with hat boxes...this tiny room serves as a walk-in closet just for hats!

People at work are getting used to seeing me in a hat and are starting to warm up to the idea. My dear real estate agent Luann came over and "played" hats with me on Saturday. Several people at church and work want to come see the collection too. I think it is almost time for another "Sip 'n See" hat party!

I was told no one in SLC wears hats. I think that is about to change.

So how many hats do I have?

You will just have to come visit and count them for yourself. I will only own up to having a few more than a hundred. (With my fingers crossed as I type this...)

Bonus material: A batch of No-Knead cinnamon rolls that I whipped up for fun.

Even that simple recipe became a challenge to me.

We now live at just a tad under 5000 feet above sea level.

That is what is known as "high altitude" and it messes with all the baking and cooking recipes.

I'm learning how to cook all over again, in my new kitchen where I am still trying to remember where I put things.

Yes, so much in my life has changed.

Change is both hard....and good.

It stretches you and makes you toughen up.

It makes you grow.

Then, eventually, life goes on again.

Yellow!

The supermarket two blocks down the way has the cutest displays!

Utah "Salt and Pepper" corn was stacked high, and on sale: 10 ears for 98 cents!

The store knew this was going to be a door buster sale and were well prepared for additional business.

Look closely: They also displayed everything else you would need for a big corn on the cob feast.

Napkins, big pots for boiling corn, butter, salt and pepper, corn "stickers", aluminum foil so if you wanted to throw the corn on the grill, grills...

What else could you possibly need???

Well, dental floss of course! They really DID think of everything!

They even set up a Shuckin' Station!

Isn't "salt and pepper" corn pretty?

Jeff and Rachel invited us to dinner. We brought the corn and the bread...they grew the tomatoes for the salad.

Oh yum!

Sunny summer yellow goodness.

More yellow: I enjoyed the yellow roses on my dining table, and am experimenting with candles and my Wheeling gold china tea service collection from the 1920's. The china was decorated with 24 K gold. I wonder how much they would be worth if they were sold for their gold instead old tea pots?

Outside we are having the yellow breasted black headed grosbeaks visiting our bird feeders.

The yellow sunshine of summer is glowing everywhere!

Not to brag....well, actually, yeah...I'm bragging big time!

What proud mama wouldn't want to brag when her son and daughter-in-law are featured in one of the biggest bridal magazines west of the Mississippi?

Jeff and Rachel's engagement story and pictures were featured on Utah Bride and Groom's blog buzz on Monday.
Hope you can see the pictures, otherwise head over to the link above!

(And now you can understand why I rarely showed pictures of my kids when they were little. People would look, and then get sad when they realized that I had the most beautiful children ever....and their kids were, well, just kinda cute. Don't hit me! I'm kidding!)

Aug 10, 2009
09:41 AMBridal Buzz
Engagement Photos: Rachel & Jeffrey
By Tessa Woolf
Aug 10, 2009 - 09:41 AM
I love Rachel and Jeffrey's engagement photos shot out and about in downtown Salt Lake City by Pam and Ritchie of Ritrato Photography. (The shot at Blue Iguana is one of my faves—and it's a great restaurant, too!) Enjoy the photos and the couple's sweet proposal story.
The Couple: Jeffrey Spriggs & Rachel Burton
The Proposal: "Earlier in the week Jeff suggested that we get Mexican food at our favorite fish taco joint on Friday night," says Rachel. "We'd gone there on our first dinner date, so I started to suspect that he was going to propose."
"When I called him after work I was planning to hit the gym, but he suggested we go watch the sunset and drink champagne above the Capitol for our 'Monthiversary.' We'd been to the overlook before on one of our first dates and it has the best view of the lake, valley and sunset. I scrapped the gym and hustled home from work to get dressed for our date."
"Once Jeff picked me up, we headed up to an overlook to watch the sunset. After we cheers'd to seven months together he told me he had a present for me and to close my eyes. When I opened them he was on one knee (in the mud) with a gorgeous engagement ring and he asked 'Rachel, will you do me the honor of spending the rest of your life with me?' I said 'Of course! I can't wait to be your wife!' Then we headed down to Lone Star Taqueria for a dinner of the best fish tacos in the valley!"
The Wedding: was held May 2, 2009. The couple were married at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Sonoma, California, followed by a reception at The Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa. "I am from Santa Rosa, California (wine country), and I wanted my Utah friends to see where I grew up!" says Rachel. A Utah reception at the groom's parents' home in Olympus Cove in Salt Lake City was also held on June 13, 2009.

Two, three months....

Caring Candle for
Mark Spriggs

Cancer
Get a Caring Candle

Last February, around Valentine's Day we learned that my brother-in-law Mark had cancer. He under went surgery, and a large mass was removed from his abdomen, along with the several organs that the cancer had invaded.

The doctor admitted that some cancer was still left behind, in places that could not be breached by the knife. As soon as Mark was considered well enough to endure the next challenge, he began a very heavy chemotherapy regime.

Last Wednesday he had a MRI to determine if the chemo was having a good effect. On Mark's 51st birthday he was in the hospital and was soon to learn that the cancer had returned. A mass had formed again, just as large as before, and it is not in any way operable.

They discharged him to return to his wife of five years and his two young adult aged step-children, with the advice to get his affairs in order; he may only have two or three months to live.

Mark is a believer. He came to faith in the saving grace of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ around eight years ago. He then married a Christian woman and became active in a vibrant church, where he played worship music...he who before had rocked on the drums in clubs and videos. I've heard he has written faith music, and that he plays mostly bass guitar at church. We never got to see him in action in that capacity, but judging from the notes left by church members on his Caring Bridge link, he apparently has been much admired and his music much enjoyed.

The number of friends from his band days, and work places (he himself had worked as a radiology therapist...he worked with so many who had battle with cancer...) have left caring messages for Mark that have been quite comforting to all of us. As typical with siblings with different life paths and interests, there had been little overlap between our lives. It has been good to know his life has been full of friend and lot of fun.

Most of all, it is good to know that while parting is hard for all of us to consider at this time, (he is too young!) the parting will hold his healing. He will be fine, forever, and his only longing will be to find us all with him in heaven one day.

For now, we pray for a miracle, of course. Barring that gift, we pray for ease of pain, sorrow, and all the feelings that go with departing. We pray for that for all of us. For all of us here on earth who know that death is never timely, and dread the inevitable physical outcome for each of us.

The body is weak, and fails...the soul takes flight...and is an eternal creation. Like during the birth of a child, we as a family are labouring in our spirit for the end of Mark's season of life here on earth, and for the release of life, like a birth, into heaven.

Please pray for Mark's mom and dad, his brother and sister, nieces and nephews, wife and step children. Pray that through the dark days ahead they will still have a vision of light, a light of knowing that there IS a good eternal future ahead for Mark.

Houses With Criminal Pasts Sickens Owners: MUST READ ARTICLE!

WARNING! HOUSES WITH CRIMINAL PASTS SICKEN OWNERS.

While this post is not cheery, I think the article below important enough to risk being a bit of a Monday "downer."

When I first saw the article I wondered how you could get sick by buying a home a criminal had lived in.

I had NO idea. This is especially serious when you consider how many young families try to get their first home via a "deal" such as auction or foreclosure.

IMHO, the following hair raising article should be posted everywhere.

Spread the word to everyone you meet who is shopping for a house right now.

July 14, 2009
Illnesses Afflict Homes With a Criminal Past
By SHAILA DEWAN and ROBBIE BROWN
WINCHESTER, Tenn. — The spacious home where the newly wed Rhonda and Jason Holt began their family in 2005 was plagued by mysterious illnesses. The Holts’ three babies were ghostlike and listless, with breathing problems that called for respirators, repeated trips to the emergency room and, for the middle child, Anna, the heaviest dose of steroids a toddler can take.
Ms. Holt, a nurse, developed migraines. She and her husband, a factory worker, had kidney ailments.
It was not until February, more than five years after they moved in, that the couple discovered the root of their troubles: their house, across the road from a cornfield in this town some 70 miles south of Nashville, was contaminated with high levels of methamphetamine left by the previous occupant, who had been dragged from the attic by the police.
The Holts’ next realization was almost as devastating: it was up to them to spend the $30,000 or more that cleanup would require.
With meth lab seizures on the rise nationally for the first time since 2003, similar cases are playing out in several states, drawing attention to the problem of meth contamination, which can permeate drywall, carpets, insulation and air ducts, causing respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Federal data on meth lab seizures suggest that there are tens of thousands of contaminated residences in the United States. The victims include low-income elderly people whose homes are surreptitiously used by relatives or in-laws to make meth, and landlords whose tenants leave them with a toxic mess.
Some states have tried to fix the problem by requiring cleanup and, at the time of sale, disclosure of the house’s history. But the high cost of cleaning — $5,000 to $100,000, depending on the size of the home, the stringency of the requirements and the degree of contamination — has left hundreds of properties vacant and quarantined, particularly in Western and Southern states afflicted with meth use.
“The meth lab home problem is only going to grow,” said Dawn Turner, who started a Web site, http://www.methlabhomes.com/, after her son lost thousands of dollars when he bought a foreclosed home in Sweetwater, Tenn., that turned out to be contaminated. Because less is known about the history of foreclosed houses, Ms. Turner said, “as foreclosures rise, so will the number of new meth lab home owners.”
Meth contamination can bring financial ruin to families like that of Francisca Rodriguez. The family dog began having seizures nine days after the Rodriguezes moved into their home in Grapevine, Tex., near Dallas, and their 6-year-old son developed a breathing problem similar to asthma, said Ms. Rodriguez, 35, a stay-at-home mother of three.
After learning from neighbors that the three-bedroom ranch-style home had been a known “drug house,” the family had it tested. The air ducts had meth levels more than 100 times higher than the most commonly cited limit beyond which cleanup is typically required.
The former owner had marked “no” on a disclosure form asking whether the house had ever been a meth lab, Ms. Rodriguez said. But because he is now in prison for meth possession, among other things, the Rodriguezes decided there was nothing to gain by suing him. They moved out, throwing away most of their possessions because they could not be cleaned, and are letting the house go into foreclosure.
“It makes you crazy,” Ms. Rodriguez said. “Our credit is ruined, we won’t be able to buy another house, somebody exposed my kids to meth, and my dog died.”
Federal statistics show that the number of clandestine meth labs discovered in the United States rose by 14 percent last year, to 6,783, and has continued to increase, in part because of a crackdown on meth manufacturers in Mexico and in part because of the spread of a new, easier meth-making method known as “shake and bake.”
There are no national standards governing meth contamination. Congress ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to publish cleanup guidelines by the end of 2008, but the agency is still reviewing a draft version. Without standards, professional cleaners say, it is easy to bungle a job that often requires gutting and repeated washing.
About 20 states have passed laws requiring meth contamination cleanup, and they use widely varied standards. Virtually all the laws hold the property owner financially responsible; Colorado appears to be the only state that allots federal grant money to help innocent property owners faced with unexpected cleanup jobs.
In other states, like Georgia, landlords and other real estate owners have fought a proposed cleanup law.
After the Holts bought their house here, Tennessee passed such a law. But since 2005, only 81 of 303 homes placed under a resulting quarantine have been cleaned, according to the state, which has one of the few registries tracking meth lab addresses. The law applies only if the police find a working meth lab at the house, and Jerry Hood, a lawyer and cleanup contractor hired by the Holts for the decontamination work, said many houses in the county had escaped the legislation.
The health effects of meth contamination are frequently difficult to prove, and research is scant. But John W. Martyny, a meth expert at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver, said living in a former meth lab made children more likely to develop learning disabilities and caused long-term respiratory and skin problems.
Even brief exposure can have severe effects, Dr. Martyny said. A 2007 study by the Denver center found that more than 70 percent of law enforcement officials who had inspected meth labs subsequently reported health problems.
To Ms. Holt’s horror, inspectors found high concentrations of meth on her kitchen countertops, where she sterilized bottles, prepared baby food and doled out snacks.
“We had no idea that we were starting a family in a meth house,” she said. “We bought a house that eventually was going to sentence our family to death.”
When the family left the house, moving in with Mr. Holt’s parents, their health problems largely subsided. The children no longer needed medication to breathe. The migraines and the kidney ailments vanished.
But the heartaches continued. Ms. Holt has been working two jobs to earn money to pay for her house’s remediation, which has proceeded in fits and starts with donations from church fund-raisers and local businesses. And Anna, 2, had a relapse and had to return briefly to the hospital.
“We don’t know what it’s going to be in the future,” Ms. Holt said, standing in the barren, unfinished structure that was once her dream home and reflecting on her children. “This meth contamination is all their immune systems have ever known.”

A New Blogging Challenge: Photographing Fairies.

Everyone said photographing butterflies was pretty challenging.

Actually it isn't all that hard.

I've moved on to photographing fairies now.
Oh, they are out there you know.
You just have to look for a spot that looks "fairy-ish" and have your camera at the ready.

(And hope the cats don't get to them first. Or the other way around. I think I've met a few cats that have had fairy run-ins. Hoo boy.)

Anyone else out there photographing fairies these days?

Please let me know if you are...let's compare our fairies and see if they all look alike!

Me and B. and Bee...

Thursday was different around here.
There was a huge cold front heading our way, which caused 60 mile per hour wind gusts downtown. I went outside, not knowing what was going on and nearly got knocked over!
The sky was white, with no clouds, just high dust, and leaves sailing by.
The temperature outside was 96 degrees...with 14% humidity.
Whew!

So naturally we went to see a baseball game.

As we were leaving for the game, our surgeon next door neighbor was walking her toddler and dog. We chatted with her, and told her where we were headed.
She said she was on call tonight so be careful at the game.

We drove to the game wondering what could possibly happen at a baseball game that could possibly be dangerous. (cue the low scary cello music sounds....)

B.'s company was going to the game; this event had been planned weeks ago.
The team is in the triple A league, and feeds the LA Angels pro team.
Currently our team is the division leader!
Talk about fun!
This is going to be great!

How cute is this!

A Tee ball team on the field!

Each child stepped up to the mike, said his or her name, and number, then jogged to take a place on the field.
The little guy sucking his thumb couldn't have been much older than three.

The little girls got the giggles, gave their names twice...basically all of them were channeling Goldie Hawn from Laugh-In.

A-dor-able!

Yeah, and we were pretty cute too....Love my B.

I did mention that the team is the Salt Lake City Bees didn't I?
Love this Bee too!

More fun: They played Elvis film clips and then had a live Elvis impersonator singing in the stands.

I kinda wished we were with the people having picnics on the lawn.

My corn dog was pretty good though.

(Isn't the smell of ball park food wonderful?)

As it turns out, our seats were situated such that a foul ball could easily whack you.

One foul resulted in the ball AND the bat sailing up to the concession stands.

Hmmm...I guess the next door neighbor doctor lady knew what she was talking about.

You can see Elvis singing to the crowd...he's the white clad X like figure behind home plate.

Around nine o'clock some of the field lights went out suddenly.

And we could smell smoke really strongly too.

There were fire truck sirens...after that we decided to call it a night.

Darn.

The Bees were ahead too!

We don't know what was going on at the stadium, but around SLC a billboard had been blown onto a major highway, and a wild fire was burning across the same highway elsewhere.

Once I got home I checked the local news on the Internet and learned about those situations.

But the most interesting bit of SLC news was linked to here.

Like I said...it has been different around here.

I'm just glad that all the horrible possibilities and events didn't bother us.

We actually have had a pretty great day!

Cheeto Love: My New Grandbaby!

Newlyweds Jeff and Rachel have made me a Grandmama.
It is about time...they have been married three months now. I was starting to wonder when they would have a little one.

Actually this is Jeff's second go at parenting. My first "Grand" is now about nine years old, and he was raised by single dad Jeff.

I still remember meeting Meowsie (then known as Sebastian) back when Jeff was in college.
Sebastian looked like a smokey grey puff.
This time I got a red head!

Christened "Cheeto" this little guy is about ten weeks old.
I guess I am not the best Grandmama ever....I don't even know his birthday!

Awww....the first time Grandmama holds the little darling.
(Note to self: If I ever get a human grandchild, remember not to wear three day old camping clothes for the first cuddle picture. See previous post for all that camping fun!)

Little Cheeto loved Bernie too. In fact...the little guy never stopped purring the whole time we were there.

Big Brother Meowsie is getting a lot of extra love so he won't be jealous. Right now Jeff is sleeping with Meowsie (who curls up on Rachel's pillow...he really loves Rachel best) while Rachel and Cheeto are "bonding" in the guest room bed.

A "first picture" was taken of Cheeto sitting on the bar stool. Every month another picture will be taken so we can all see how Cheeto grows.

What fun to have a new baby in the family!

Newlywed Camping...again

New car...a book about car camping....and memories of the first and only time B. and I ever went primitive camping.

That camping trip was 32 years ago, six months into our marriage...our first vacation.

A few months later a baby was on the way. After that it was camper trailer camping at sites with showers and a camp store nearby. Later there was the RV truck camping with a refrigerator, stove and plush couches inside. We never again ventured to camp without water, bathrooms, and trash pick-up.

Well, it is just us two again. So off we went last Friday morning, driving 124 miles southeast, and up to 9,000 ft. elevation. The new car held all our gear perfectly.

B. had researched campgrounds and had one in mind. And that would have been where we would have stayed if we had gotten there when we thought we would.

Fate stepped in...forgotten fishing gear meant turning around almost half way there.

The last site was taken where we thought we were going to camp. I decided this meant there was something much better for us.

And there was.

A site for just us, with a river wrapping around the edge to the campsite.

It was like camping on a perfect island.

Shadows and small water falls, interesting trees.

The camp was scented with balsam and wild rose wafting in the very soft air.

We hadn't remember firewood either...and yet someone had left a bundle at the camp.

What more could we want?

Nothing...just the two of us again under a starry sky.

In the morning we drove around a bit to explore. Several reservoirs dotted the valleys below.

The valley in the distance below...the HOT valley. It was close to 100 down there; we were enjoying mild mid 70 temps instead.

And delphiniums!

Fields of blue flowers.

Imagine if the white trunked aspen's were golden leaved as well...

Pretty competitive with blue bonnets.

Imagine driving a horse cart down this road. Or being proposing to, with a sapphire engagment ring.

The two toned yellow petals...I haven't seen that before.

(Can't stop taking pictures of the blue flowers and the views!)

Eventually we pressed on to a small stream to try a few casts. Only a few tiny fishes took a nibble. The wind made the grasses do the billowing thing...making the land look like a green ocean.

While Bernie hunts fish, I hunt butterflies.

One variety of moth is in heavy hatch.

(FYI: a butterfly will always rest with wings folded upright, while moths fold their wings flat against their back.)

Another kind of blue flower.

The dreaded pine beatle has decimated much of pine forests in the area.

So sad...North America's pine forests brown instead of green, and nothing can be done at all to stop it.

Beaver dams please me. GO BEAVERS! GO OSU!
Once a beaver, always a beaver....

While Bernie fished, I studied butterfly flight, and determined where they were feeding.

I got comfortable, and waited for them to come to me, rather than trapsing along after their wild flights.

I was right...the butterfly came.

After a bit the butterfly didn't even seem to notice me anymore and I could get great shots.

A prickly but beautiful design of geometry and color.

Another butterfly-a small wood nymph.

These flowers...

Along the roadside.

A quick stop at a tiny store where hamburgers were "rolled" on a interesting machine that toasted the bun and flamed the meat.

This weekend I am also thinking about having a Cheeto soon...(wink. more about that later.)

We laughed at this. End of track. And just in case you didn't notice this, there is a sign that says "End of Track."

And if THAT doesn't help you "get it", there is a pile of rocks to MAKE you stop!

We drove past this mining operation and wondered what they were mining.

We were going through a tiny town called "Coalville" at the time.

It took a moment...but we did figure it out eventually.

Have I mentioned how much I loved all blue flowers in bloom?

The coral reds were pretty too.

A kid's fishing pond, with lots of dads and moms, kids and dogs wetting a line from the shore.

With blue meadows and blue summer sky in the background.

Up the road were what looked like white Indian Paintbrush.

A rather nice assortment of wild flowers bloomed alongside that road.

I like the deep red petal alternating with the orchid pink petals.

Next we headed to Huntington River where we had been told the best fly fishing was to be found. Bernie waded in the icy water as I wandered about doing my own usual thing with the camera. I was so surprised to see these little flowers blooming across a slow side-stream beside the main river.

Gorgeous!

The spikey red flowers on the other side of the river taunted me....I wanted to get a close up shot, but didn't want to go wading.

Wild roses sweetened the air wherever we went.

Sticky geranium was pretty common too.

Lovella and Terry roared by....

(just kidding.)

The stream was fairly deep and an especially deep pool formed beneath the fallen log.

I could see huge trout leaping up at the thick hatch of flies. Bernie cast repeatedly right to the fish, but apparently "fresh meat" beat artificial flies that afternoon.

I picked a spot and waited for butterflies. They came...with spots...to my spot.

They came...

I saw so many butterflies, and it was maddening to see huge butterflies lite down and lift just as I noticed them about me. The last morning at breakfast a HUGE yellow swallowtail nearly landed on Bernie's forehead! Aaagghhhh....I was not fast enough with the camera!

I was having a hard time deciding if the close up shot using a macro was better than just the regular lense. Macro requires a steadier hand...

This butterfly was about an inch in size.

Eventually we returned to camp, and Bernie cooked up a great chicken and rice and salad dinner.

We ate, made another fire, and I toasted the best marshmellow he had ever eaten. We talked, and learned things about each other, and about ourselves, and marvelled that 32 years later we could still be learning. Bernie found a lot out about himself as he sought to learn fly fishing (no, he didn't get any fish this time either) and I had been reading a book about cloud formation that was making me think. Funny how we could just chat and chat.

Later thirteen kids came splashing through "our" river, herded by a couple of adults. We chatted a bit with them too...apparently this was the younger portion of a yearly family reunion.

It stuck us that we would never be likely to have enough family to have such a sizeable family reunion. For the first time I kind of missed having the ability to have more children....

Bernie had gotten up in the middle of the night the night before and was awestruck by the stars overhead. He encouraged me to look about me if I arose in the middle of the night. I did...and he was right. The sky was so dense with stars it almost vibrated. Next trip we will attempt to bring our telescope along.

Roses with our breakfast of pancakes and yogurt, coffee and juice.

I love that Bernie cooks on camping trips.

Seriously, the roses above the river and balsam trees combined to make a scent I have to have again. I've never found a rose and balsam scented product before. Some one should get on this idea now!

The view from our car to our camp. We decided if we were to come here again we would put up a dome tent in the front camp site, and pay for both sites for the weekend.

At three dollars a site, we could rent the whole place for six bucks a night, and with having to use our own port a potty in the bushes, I think I'd prefer to be "alone," if you know what I mean!

Just in case we might need to share camp grounds, we'll be buying a privacy screen for future trips.

We packed up after breakfast while the day was still cool. I decided I would take a dip...and Bernie grabbed a camera to document my dunk. My feet froze...lost feeling...it was a brief event, but invigorating.

The funny thing was I enjoyed it, but didn't really need to wash.

For years we have beach camped, and the campfire smoke in the damp sea air always permeated every fiber and pore. The feeling of being sticky and smelly with smoke made swimming and showering off a must. Pillows, sleeping bags and every thing that went to beach camp had to be washed several times to remove the smoke odor.

I was very surprised that here the smoke didn't "stick" and my clothes and hair still smelled fresh the next day.

After years of avoiding campfires, this was a most welcome realization: things are different here up in the dry mountain air.

We drove 124 miles one way to this area, if anyone is interested in finding it on a map.

I had never heard of this problem before. It sounds just dreadful, doesn't it?

On the drive home I said to Bernie I'd be happy to camp at that campsite again any time.

He pointed out that there were so many mountains ranges and rivers and places in Utah, that life was too short to keep going back to the same campsite over and over again.

He is right of course. And now that we have car camping down pat, and a list made of "things we didn't realize we would need but thankfully didn't need this time" I think we will visiting as many camping places as we can.

After all, as newlywed campers, take two, we've got a lot of camping fun to look forward to.

I like primitive camping.

I'll bet you are surprised!