August 28, 2010 - a Saturday afternoon

Summer is almost over, unfortunately.  I have been enjoying the warm weather.  Today we are having erratic weather.

It started with dark clouds.

The wind blew and pea-size hail came down.  My husband was moving llama manure with his tractor. I was opening and shutting the gate.  We ended up under the shelter with the llamas, too bad I didn't have my camera then.

The llamas went back out in the pasture and I got out my camera.  Then I started thinking.

It's been awhile since I just took shots around the property.  It's going to be winter soon.  It's a good thing we're getting ready for it.

Our neighbors are cutting, splitting and stacking wood for us.  It's not a service project, we're paying them, but they're doing a fantastic job for us.

The llamas have hay for the winter.

Wally's grateful!

The flowers will fade soon.

But not yet.

The hail hit the petunias a little hard though.

The neighbors came back with another load of wood.  And then it rained again.

Just a little glimpse into My World here in Utah!

Celebrating the Return

Wordless posts are congregating here.

How big was that fish?

I received these pictures in an email from Cousin Ken.  He is one proud Papa and when you see the fish his daughter Emma caught you will understand why!  Here's his story:

Last Tuesday Emma and I spent the day fishing with a guide on the San Juan river in northwest New Mexico. Just after we set into the river and Brian, our guide, had Emma rigged with two #20 nymphs on her 5 wt. fly rod she commented "there's a nice one". Brian and I were just yakking while he set up my rig so he told her to go ahead and cast out. You should know that we fished the Juan with Brian a year ago so we are not strangers and that Emma caught a nice 5 pounder while fishing with Brian's boss, Chris last year. While Brian and I chatted Emma shot about 20' of line out and the next thing we heard was that wonderful singing of the fly reel that means a nice fish is running like hell. 15 LONG minutes later she got her fish up to Brian and he had it in the net. This whole thing happened right at the set in point and there were about 8 guide boats with clients who had hung around to see what would happen while this cute 9 year old girl fought what was obviously a nice fish. The result (see pictures) was what Brian said was the biggest fish of the season. According to him and based on his 9 years of guiding on the river only 10% of all clients could have put this fish in the boat on the tackle we were using. I'm glad I didn't have to find out if I was in the same class. The measurements were 23.5" in length with a 15" girth. Based on the standard formula for determining the weight of a trout (girth squared x length divided by 800 ) the fish was 6.6 pounds but several guides put the weight at over 7 pounds. This was a completely unassisted catch from sight to cast to set to fight to net.  (My emphasis)

This girl is a scary good fisherman. I only hope she keeps taking me with her. The rest of the day wasn't bad ...we caught and released 20 fish, the smallest a 17" brown with 6 rainbows 20" or better. At least half of the total and the biggest of the day were Emma's.

This story isn't exactly My World but it sure is a great story to share with the world!  (Or at least a little piece of it.)

WAY TO GO EMMA!

Early morning light

High in the Colorado mountains, very early in the morning,

the sunlight was perfect for taking pictures.

Nature provided the colors.

Visit Lisa's Chaos for her 100th Macro Monday!

Blue Skies in Rocky Mountain National Park

My husband and I spent last weekend in Boulder, Colorado.  To get there we drove through Rocky Mountain National Park.  If you enlarge the first picture you will see a moose in the water.  The trees look sick because pine bark beetles have been feasting on them to the detriment of the trees.

There are many scenic views in the park.  From the website:

Trail Ridge Road spans the Park and connects Estes Park on the east side to the town of Grand Lake on the western slope. It's the highest continuous paved road in the United States, reaching an elevation of 12,183 feet. It follows a path that the Ute and other Native American peoples used for thousands of years.

The Trail Ridge road was closed due to snow the last time we visited (in September).  It's amazing to be able to drive above timberline.

There was a lot of road construction along the way.  The cars are stopped on the ridge.

Hiking on a trail in the tundra literally took our breath away!  The air is very thin at 12,000 feet (3657m)!

Visit SkyWatch Friday to admire views from many elevations.

Wind River Sky

It's hard to believe it was four years ago when we took our girls and our llamas into the back country of the Wind River range in Wyomin, quite the spectacular place.

There's lots of Sky to Watch in Wyoming!

Life goes on without pictures

It's been a very busy time for me.  Last week I went to the Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City with three girlfriends.  We saw Much Ado About Nothing and Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.  Both plays were excellent and very well done.  I had my camera with me but didn't take any pictures.

Two days later my parents arrived for a visit.  They just left this morning.  Again, I didn't take any pictures.  We had a wonderful visit and I am blessed that the two of them are still so vibrantly alive.

Also on the job another grant is adding work hours to my schedule.  And the kids will be leaving for college in a couple of weeks.  And.....and.....and.....I've had so little time for blogging and commenting, but I do appreciate everyone who stops by!

I think I will regret not taking any pictures but sometimes I'm just not in the mood.  Anyone else have this problem on occasion?

Perhaps it's not a bad thing to opt for visual memories--as long as my memory remains intact!

The Center for Uintah Basin Youth and Families

Dearest Bloggers:

As you may or may not know, I'm a social worker, through and through.  I help families who have children with complicated needs.  Last fall I was lucky enough to "get" a Master of Social Work student who wanted to do her field practicum with me.  Joslin and I formed a great team, I helped her learn new things, but she also helped me learn a lot of new things too.  Our synergy created momentum for what we call a System of Care in our Uintah Basin.  

Please read what she posted on her blog last night, check out the project and VOTE for this project to help families and youths!  Anybody can vote and you can vote everyday.  Winning is a popularity contest so go for it!  Spreading the word is what I'm up to in My World today.

Thanks! 

SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 2010

I NEED Your Help!

Seriously I do...

I had this crazy idea while I was out of my mind one day

"I should apply for a grant and open a child abuse and delinquency prevention center "(insert laugh here)

But my "out of mind" experience didn't stop there because here I am almost 7 months later and I'm in the final stages of getting a grant. So, you wonder what the bad news is?

I need help!

And lots of it! I wrangled my co-students into getting involved, but I need about million times more help!

I applied for a $250,000 grant from the Pepsi Refresh Everything Project. The awardee is decided by popular vote. Whichever project is ranked #1 by Aug. 31st at midnight EST gets the money!

Here's how you can help:

1. Text 101793 to pepsi(73774) daily standard messaging rates apply
2. Vote by way of facebook (you'll have to click on the pepsi application and then vote)
3. Vote by way of our website
4. Vote by way of Pepsi -or-
5. Use the vote button on the top right of this blog!

After you've voted:

1. Pass it on to your friends, family, and coworkers!
2. Tell your neighbors
3. Let your kids vote (anyone 13 yrs and older can vote)
4. Have your spouse vote

And then, DO IT ALL AGAIN TOMORROW!

Thank you in advance to everyone who chooses to support me in this!