No Career Plans for This!!!!

Mothers and grandmothers find themselves doing the darndest (word?) things for their children/grandchildren. Recently I heard my mouth saying, "I could just make Audrey a kid-sized sleeping bag out of the red down bag that used to be Trav's. I know he doesn't need or want it anymore!"

Good grief---whatever was I thinking? Cutting into a big, puffy, slippery, feather-filled bag is just a little short of insanity, don't you think? At any rate, below you will see Raggedy Ann snugged up in Audrey's "new" bag. I added some nice striped fleece for a soft place for a little face to cuddle while Audrey is camping at Rocky Mt. National Park with cousin Finn. There is even a matching pillow!!!! However, I will tell you, remodeling a down-filled sleeping bag is now on my list of "discarded future career choices!"

I am still laughing at myself---it would have been easy to purchase Audrey a new bag and,
probably, more satisfactory! Ah well---it really was done with lots of LOVE XXOOXX!!!

Corinne's 60th Birthday Party!!!!

My sister-in-law, Corinne Davis, hosted a birthday party in Scottsdale, AZ this past weekend at the Hilton Garden Inn...a great time was had by all. She is somewhat younger than I, so there were people from her younger days in Killdeer that I had not seen since I went off to college!
The hotel staff was especially accomodating, overlooking the fact the twenty-some of us just took over the small cocktail lounge for visiting, the breakfast room for more visiting, and the fireplace area of the lobby for even more visiting!

This is Corinne (far right), her sister Susan (far left), brother Morey (back) and their mom,
Gloria (front. Happy looking family, aren't they?

Here are Gloria with husband, Harold Johnson. (This picture is especially for Suzie and Travis,

who enjoyed driving Harold's boat on Orcas Island many years ago!)

We should all stage gatherings more often---we had such fun. Corinne even gave her guests birthday presents!

By the way---if you ever want nice weather, do not invite me. I recently went to San Diego where it was windy and cold and Phoenix was rainy and chilly. Something wrong....

Skijoring on Blair Street!!!!

This weekend is Silverton's 2011 Winter Festival: Snowscape. This morning (Saturday) was what Travis calls "a Chamber of Commerce Day" in the high San Juans---blue sky, crisp temperatures, with sun that warmed as the day progressed.

The exciting event of the morning was the Skijoring! There was a stampede of teams racing up historic Blair Street to the sound of cheering crowds and amplified western music!!

What is skijoring? It combines skiing skills with those of a cowboy. Teams comprised of a horseback rider towing a skier (by rope) run as fast as possible down a 250-yard, snowpacked course. The skier is required to go over various jumps built of snow as well as maneuvering through gates, much like in a slalom, all the while hanging on to the rope that it attached to horse and rider!

People in Leadville have enjoyed the sport for some years. This is Silverton's second skijoring meet and I am hoping it will continue---what a hilarious sport! There were the "horse" people in their boots, hats, and fringed chaps with their beautiful horses, many with elaborate tack. The horses were quite furry, indicating that they came from cold country and have been outside working for the winter. Then there were the skiers---dressed in everything from natty downhill gear (all matching), nice skis, great boots, etc. to some dressed in blue jeans and a sweatshirts! I was glad they all wore helmets!


Yesterday I mosied over to Blair Street to watch the preparation. Our recent 18" of new snow was being modeled into jumps and large banks to identify the course. The street was closed to traffic and workers were installing the posts that identify the gates.

One of the jumps is just north of Ruth Ann's house so she kindly posed by the jump for scale!

(If you enlarge this photo you will get an idea of how high the jumps are---even though I agree that she is not so tall!)

This morning, as I walked over to Blair for the excitement I encountered one contestant having his horse's shoes modified. The farrier was adding spikes to the shoes. Good for snowpack, I guess.

Today the street looked quite different. There were people, horses, and loud music everywhere! It seemed very festive. (Message for Travis: the atmosphere was much like we experienced at the Speed Skiing event.)

Looking down Blair Street to the starting line---here comes a horse, towing a skier who is just about to come off the first jump (skier on the far left of the snow jump). You may need to enlarge your photos to find the skier...

Another team roaring up Blair---cowboy on the left had a huge hat and very fast horse! Skier is about to come off the jump right by the orange flag. This team traveled the 250 yards in

18 seconds---including three large jumps and five gates plus a run-out to the finish.

This is blurry---my shutter speed is too slow---but it will give you an idea of how it looked to have the horse and skier go flying by. Many of the riders were young women. Only one female skier participated.

Here is a skier flying over the jump by Ruth Ann's house---the brown horse head is just visible to the left of the jump if you enlarge the picture.

Skier rounds a gate shortly before the second large jump.

Some skiers wiped out but there was only one fall that looked really uncomfortable. However, the skier gathered up his skis, found his hat and walked off laughing. Finals are tomorrow---today was a elimination round.

Hopefully it will be staged next year---I went up Main Street after the event and there wasn't a parking place anywhere. It looked like mid-summer so I am sure the merchants will be in favor of a repeat. It is exciting to watch---want to come next winter?

Thanks for checking in!

PS The second day best time was 17.04 seconds I believe---and the skier had to collect three rings which were hung on poles along the route!

San Diego Winter

Greetings! Lucky me---friends from North Dakota, who grew weary of the winter there, decided to travel to San Diego, rent a house on the beach for a week, and get warm. They invited me to join them, which took about 30 seconds to think over!

Imagine our surprise to discover just how cool San Diego can be in February though it was gloriously sunny.Daytime temps were in the low to mid-sixties with a cool wind off the Pacific. Here are my hosts, Patti and Butch Goodall (left) and Amy and Gary Swenson (right), seated outside the Hotel del Coronado on Coronado Island, South San Diego. We enjoyed our lunch outside---the only day it was warm enough for al fresco dining.

Here is the Coronado Hotel---it is a grand old queen and is the largest all-wood structure ever built west of the Mississippi. The movie, "Some Like It Hot", starring Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis, was partially filmed here. We watched it the evening following our visit and had lots of laughs---the 1959 movie was black and white---you take it from there!
We enjoyed a boat tour of the naval yards, second largest in the US. This sculpture (the large one) is next to the docked Midway, famous for its WWII success. The Goodalls are featured, imitating the scuptures---don't you think Patti should have lifted her foot a bit more?

Next was the zoo---an almost must for anyone visiting San Diego. This old fellow seemed happy to sit and watch his associates who were having a great day outside of their condo. It actually has television for the primates; the handler told us they love to watch cartoons!
Here is Mama Panda enjoying
her lunch of forty pounds of bamboo. She was very adept at plucking off the stringy bark.
This is not a zoo creature but a mountain grammie at the beach, preparing to launch her kite. We enjoyed seeing porpoises along the beach in front of our house as well as watching the surfers in their wet suits as the water was COLD!

It was a good week---lots of good food, California wine, card games, walks on the beach, visiting by the fireplace, and in general, enjoying vacation time. One suggestion---if you go to San Diego in February, take your sweater and your gloves!

Silverton Starts 2011 With a "Bit" of Snow!

This is an odd way to do a PS! (Below is a letter to Finn, who wanted snow pictures of my house.) Here is the front-end loader which is loading the snow in the
middle of the street so it can be hauled away. This operator (Don Gurule) cleaned out my car-parking space for me yesterday so now I have a PARKING LOT!

Dear Finn,

Here are a few pictures of the snow around and near my house. I hope your mom or dad will
enlarge them so you can see the piles of snow a bit more clearly. The snow on each side of the path to the front door is much taller than your head!

There is so much snow in the sideyard that you would not be able to play there.
See the snowpile on the corner by the neighbors house? If you were here you could climb

up the pile and then slide down. Wouldn't that be fun?
The little house in the middle of this picture is where I live---all the snow around the

house will keep my house warm the rest of the winter!

Love, Grammie Pen Pen

Thanksgiving in PA and Fruitcake

Thanksgiving week found my sis-in-law, Corinne Davis, from ND and Washington, and me in Pennsylvania, guests of Suzie, James and Audrey. We had a wonderful visit, touring Amish country, going to Gettysberg, seeing where the Articles of Confederation were signed in 1776 in York City (where the Heskins live), eating well, and having a fine time.


Suzie and Audrey took time at the Gettysburg Visitor center to pose by the tree while Audrey called someone---no doubt her father, who is a favorite. She has the "Ah ha, hmmm, no, bye" down pat! Aunt Corinne joins them for another shot...
Home again in Silverton! Friend Becky came today to learn to make Ann Thompson's fruitcake.
Here she is, gamely mixing by hand---actually, ten loaves of fruitcake!

Ready to bake---mmmmmm!
Come visit and we'll have tea and cake---Happy Holidays!

Adventures in Scotland's Highlands

Many months ago, my friend Becky (blue coat) and I planned a trip to Scotland to visit our friend, Sheila (middle) who lives in Ayrshire (west Scotland) and to take a road trip through the Highlands. We enjoyed five days with Sheila, who showed us her beautiful shire, including castles, a ferry trip to Arran Isle, and the full range of lochs, firths, and rivers. This photo was taken on the esplanade of the Firth of Clyde (a firth is an arm of the ocean).
Arran Isle was beautiful and had new snow on the mountains. We purchased cheese there and
walked around this firth to tour the castle you can just see on the right of the picture.

Sheila went to Perth with us, by train where we enjoyed the old city on the River Tay. It is in the southern part of the Highlands and was where Becky and I started our road trip.
Of course, when in Scotland, one spends a certain amount of time in the local pubs. We enjoyed a couple of visits to Reid's Pub, in Perth's oldest hotel. None of us tried the Sheep Dip but I thought the statue of the veiled lady just below the sign was an unusual touch.
We left Sheila in Perth and set forth in our Land Rover, on the "other" side of the road. Now, I must say, learning to drive on the left side of the road, looking left to look into your rear-view mirror, and staying out of the verge (the shoulder) is a challenge---one which we undertook on my birthday!!

Our ultimate destination was the Isle of Skye, in the far northwest. Just before crossing a bridge onto the island, we stopped to visit the Eilean Donan Castle, which was built in the 1200s, sacked by the English and then rebuilt. It is on a tiny island with a causeway to the mainland. It had many little hidden stairways for escaping from the enemy after they had breached the castle. It is now the domain of the Clan Macrae...they have reunions and weddings there!

The Isle of Skye was remote, rugged, and beautiful. Near the end of the road we found a stone shop where we bought hand-knit woolens knit by the local farm wives. Their cottages are right by the sea and even in October the wind off the sea was COLD!
After we returned to the mainland and the central Highlands, we had a lovely sunny morning so we drove up Glen Lyon, touted to be one of Scotland's most beautiful and relatively sparsley-populated glens. The fall colors were at their peak and it was glorious country. We saw four huge red stags (deer) and wonderful fluffy sheep. Our little road got even more narrow than this photo shows, and the final track took us up and over a mountain and down into the next glen. At this point we were unsure just where we were but a conveniently located policeman solved our puzzle and we returned to our lodging before dark.
One of the rams in the high country was quite at ease as I photographed him...
We enjoyed the highland cattle, after we finally found some. They are great, shaggy animals with long horns and a direct gaze---sort of a sullen look---but hairy!!!!
Scotland was rainy and misty much of the time but so beautiful. Even though it has been inhabited by man for ever-so-long, there don't seem to be huge scars on the landscape. The roads wind along the mountain-sides or rivers, the villages are tucked into a glen by the river, and the rural countryside still seems to dominate. Here is a rainy-day shot of Glen Coe, the heart of the Highlands---it was spectacular in the mist and would have been glorious in the sun.
We enjoyed so many things about Scotland, including a dinner of Haggis with Neeps and Tatties, which is a specialty made from sheep's organs and oatmeal along with turnips and potatoes. Come visit me and we'll have some. I'm not sure where I'll get a sheep's liver and heart but I'll do my best!