Fall Colors

More pictures from our trip up the Blue Ridge Parkway.


This seemed more graphic to me with all the tree trunks going through the picture.

This tree was very lopsided because of growing on the edge of the road. The side by the road was very short and the other side, down the hill, was twice as large. I was very uphappy with its shape and compensated by going in close.

I tried creating visual interest by putting that branch in the center of the picture. Not sure if I did so.

I tried capturing the red, yellow and green in this picture.

The actual road of the parkway.

It's about time

I haven't posted lately because I haven't had much to say. I have wanted to gripe but decided against that since that isn't what this is about. I can't say I still won't use the blog to gripe in the future though.

Saturday, Todd and I went to Blacksburg for the Va Tech vs. Florida State game. It was a 3:30 p.m. kick off so we stayed in Roanoke last night and took a leisurely drive back to Richmond along the Blue Ridge Parkway and Route 60 today. When you get off the main roads, Virginia is really a beautiful state. Our goal was to find picture worthy fall colors. I can never duplicate on film what I see with my eyes. However, this picture came out how I imagined. I will share some others later and you can decide if they are picture worthy yourself.

How Sad

From an article I read today.

The wolf's triumphant return to Yellowstone may be its undoing. The 66 wolves brought to Yellowstone and the Central Idaho wilderness in 1995 and 1996 have grown to about 1,300. At the request of the state legislatures in Wyoming and Idaho — lobbied heavily by organized shooting-sports interests — the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USF&WS) is about to remove the Yellowstone-area wolf from the federal Endangered Species list and allow the states to manage them. Known as the 10(j) rule, a special exemption to the Endangered Species Act allows government agencies extra leeway in controlling "experimental populations" like the gray wolf; in short, the government is allowed to kill them. Both Wyoming and Idaho expect USF&WS to lift wolf protection early next year. Then it will be open season for many eager shooters, including Idaho's governor, C.L. "Butch" Otter, who told a rally of petitioning sportsmen in Boise earlier this year, "I'm prepared to bid for that first ticket to shoot a wolf myself." Idaho's official stance is to allow the killing of all wolves over and above the statutory minimum number of breeding pairs: 100 of the approximately 673 wolves in the state.

Read the whole article.

Blog Action Day

A memory to commemorate Blog Action Day. There are things that I remember from my childhood that often make me go "hmmm". For instance, as a child (around 5 years old and painfully shy) I would not hug my grandmother's brother because he could not talk due to a stroke and to this day I regret it. In middle school, my mother arrived home to me crying uncontrollably about a commercial I had just seen. I believe the commercial was for a telephone company but it had a elderly man asking his daughter where his hat was. "Dad its on your head." Looking back, the man had Alzheimer's Disease. The "hmmm" of this story is that my first job out of college and for the next eight years was working with elderly individuals in a adult day care. Many of them attended the center due to strokes and Alzheimer's Disease.

How does this relate to Blog Action Day? Here is my next "hmmm" story. To those of you who know me, know I love whales. I have a tattoo of one. I have gone on whale watching tours. I adopted one. I own Free Willy and the Life magazine about Kiko. I yelled very loudly for my boyfriend to hurry up on the Oregon Coast because I saw one. I admit I cried after watching the orca show at Sea World.
I grew up in Tazewell County, many miles from an ocean much less a whale of any kind. I don't know what triggered my whale obsession. I remember having a book but not what it said. I don't know if Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom had a special but, I remember a time when I was in elementary school where I decided to make flyer's and post them around my neighborhood (a dead end dirt road with thirteen houses on it, two of them being family in addition to my neighbors). My flyer's were to "Save the Whales" with a crude drawing of a sperm whale on it. I am sure I drew the spout also. I wonder what my neighbors thought?! It's amazing that these animals are still such a fascination for me: ask Todd about my excitement in Oregon. They also still need my (our) help. There are nine species of whales on the endangered list. Currently there are 936 endangered animals on just the vertebrae list. It is us who is taking away their habitat, needing makeup from their fat, or polluting the waters that are endangering these animals (and plants). Research how you can help. Look at other blogs that participated in the Blog Action Day. Make a contribution. Any small amount is a step in the right direction.

Tiger Lilly

I went to Todd's page on Phanfare today and this picture came up as a highlighted one. I LOVE IT!!! I like that it isn't the whole flower. I like the color composition. Somehow it just speaks to me. I can't tell you why I like certain pictures/photos but some stop me in my tracks. This one did.

They Wanted My Food

The first day in Yellowstone, we hiked the north rim of the Grand Canyon. In Yellowstone, you can drive, park and walk a short distance to lookouts or platforms to amazing places...such as the Grand Canyon. Or you can find a path and walk several miles, probably alone, and get to these lookouts along with other amazing views. We were going back to our car along this trail when we stepped into a cluster of Clark's Nutcrackers. They were all feeding in the evergreens along the path. They just kept flying from tree to tree and flying right by us. I was eating trail mix at the time. I was worried they were wanting my snack instead of what they were eating in the trees. However, they did not take any thing from my hands. They are pretty birds but sound like blue jays.

Mountain Bluebird

Todd seemed to beat me on this one too. Since we were together on this vacation, we have very similar pictures. Today he also posted a mountain bluebird.

We believe this is a first year male molting. Of course, I may be wrong. It says juveniles have a white eye ring. Adult males are very vibrant.

No Particular Order

You often see herds or harems of elk in Yellowstone. I found myself particularly found of the young one's ears.

We came upon this guy and two females while hiking the Yellowstone River Picnic Trail. He tried to scare us off by making huffing or sneezing noises. Mostly we just waited for them and took pictures while they decided to keep walking. (Todd tells me this is the second fastest land animal.) I didn't try to outrun him anyway.

This is not some lost unicorn species. This is a Pika that unfortunately has a very large tick in the middle of his forehead. I found this one particularly friendly. He kept running up to where we were standing and then back again. Both Todd and I wondered if he wanted us to remove that tick?!

Day Seven-Tammy's Vacation

I am trying to finish my vacation pictures. Todd and I spent day seven in Grand Teton National Park. Another early alarm so that we could get the morning light as it highlighted the peaks. We also did a hike around Jenny Lake, actually only 1/2 of the lake. We caught a ferry back across the lake to the parking lot. Along this hike, we were again hoping to spot some moose and took a small side jaunt from the trail in search. We hiked to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point was another short hike from the falls. The hike to Inspiration Point was on a very rocky ledge. I was petrified going up and had to run my fingers along the left: touching the mountain to make me feel safer. Todd, who wouldn't walk along the canyon walls in Yellowstone, seemed to jog up this last stretch. I thought that I would need to scoot on my butt as we went back down the mountain. However, walking down was easier. The trail here is actually about five feet wide but it seemed very small to me when we were walking up. We didn't see moose here but this is the day we got close to the moose on the way back into Jackson and my previous post tells you what happened there.

Last day pictures:

Tetons in the morning light

Reflection in Moose Pond

The trail up to Inspiration Point

Day 6-Tammy's Vacation

Day 6 was our finish up day for Yellowstone and then head for Grand Teton National Park. We spent the a.m. walking a trail near Yellowstone Lake. I believe they said we may see moose on this trail. Yellowstone Lake is huge. We did not see moose. We did see Bison and a missed photo opportunity with a coyote. None of my pictures really capture the massiveness or beauty of the lake.

We did continue down into Grand Teton National Park that afternoon.

Day Five-Tammy's Vacation

Day 5 was a good animal day. We were out of the hotel by 5 a.m. so we could be in Lamar Valley for sunrise. Lamar Valley is your best chance at seeing a wolf. We were in Lamar Valley and ready to go before the sun came up. We saw lots of Bison. We also spotted another large brown speck in the distance. Out came the spotting scope and we could see a grizzly bear. You could tell it was a grizzly by the hump behind his head. We created the small traffic jam that morning. Everyone kept asking us what we were watching till a small group formed. We could hear wolves every once in a while but it was hard to spot them. Eventually they came up near to the bear we were watching. This was such a distance there was no way for a picture even if they would have stuck around. Later, we left Lamar Valley for Mammoth Hot Springs and along the way we came upon a bear jam. We were directly behind the park ranger trying to get everyone back to their cars and out of danger so that we got to go through at a very nice pace. This was my shot...out the car window.

Day Four-Tammy's Vacation

September 18th. We decided to hike a trail from Old Faithful up through the upper geyser basin. We got there with only 15 minutes or so to the next eruption of Old Faithful. I had read in the guide book if you go early in the a.m. or late evening/night, the crowds are greatly reduced. We were there around 9:30 and there was just a small crowd. Later that afternoon was much more crowded. We walked the trail and was able to see some other geysers erupt...mostly out of luck since we didn't know the schedule of the day. I believe we saw the Lion Geyser (we weren't close enough to hear it roar) and Daisy Geyser. My pictures are only so-so but here they are.

Old Faithful

Lion Geyser

Day Three-Tammy's Vacation

We get to Yellowstone National Park. Our objective for the day is Grand Canyon...south rim in a.m. and possibly north rim in p.m. Unfortunately, south rim is closed for about 1/2 of the way. We still do the North rim in the a.m. We decide upon the Yellowstone River Picnic Trail in the afternoon. This trail leads you through the narrows of the canyon and then through a field back to your car (well sort of...you have to walk along the main road back to your car). Many pictures from that day including the photo I snapped of the bison walking down the main road.

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Day Two-Tammy's vacation

Our second day (September 16th) was spent driving from Salt Lake City up to West Yellowstone, Montana. We took the off the beaten path approach with the intention of visiting Bear Lake NWR. Bear Lake area also boasted about their raspberries so we thought we would enjoy some while we were there. Well, that area doesn't have much open at 11:00 a.m. on a Sunday so we did not get to enjoy any raspberry milkshakes. (However, we did see our first moose at the NWR). We went into Idaho, Wyoming, back into Idaho, and finally up to Montana.

Somewhere in Utah.

Afton, Wyoming. Just what I imagined of a town in Wyoming.

Antelope Island

We arrived in Salt Lake City, Utah on our first day of vacation. We had the whole afternoon so we went to the Utah State Park located in the middle of the Salt Lake. I noticed that most of the color of the area was either brown, green, or yellow. My new camera allows me to play and this is what I came up with.

Can you find the bird?

Going through my pictures, I discovered this. I know you can't label which bird it is but overall, I like the picture. Kind of funny actually.

Animal Checklist

My final checklist from the trip:

Black Bear-1
Grizzly Bear-2 (Photo to follow)
Moose-Five maybe (...male, female, and baby)
Elk-Too many to count, pictures to follow
Bison-Wow, everywhere you look in Yellowstone. Even became part of traffic jam as a hundred try to cross the road in front of us and behind us.
Wolves-maybe two through binoculars but, definitely heard them.
Coyote-three
Big Horn sheep-three but must have been young
Pronghorn Antelope-many, picture to follow.
Jack Rabbit- one
Cougar-Zero. I believe you can see these in Grand Teton.
Pika (looks like a hamster but a relative of the rabbit)-one very friendly one.
And of course, squirrels and chipmunks. Least Chipmunk, I believe. I read it somewhere that these are the species in Yellowstone. I noticed that they had stripes on their head that my local chipmunks do not.
Birds- Numerous...I am sure I will not remember them all. Black-billed Magpie, Clark's Nutcracker, Grey Jay, Mountain Bluebird, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Mountain Chickadee, Chukar, Eared Grebe, Red-tailed Hawk, Ruby Crowned Kinglet, and more.
I will be posting more today as I go through my pictures and do laundry.

Wildlife Photo Etiquette

Today is the last I am going to talk of this. I do not want to dwell on this as part of my trip because most everyone in Yellowstone and Grand Teton were exceptionally nice and helpful. Our last day of the trip, we were driving back to Jackson after our hike hoping to see something interesting. In Yellowstone and Teton, you can tell the interest of the animal by the number of people around. Bears create the largest crowds followed by Elk herds and Moose. We arrived upon a large crowd and a ranger...another good sign of a large animal. It was a male moose. Todd and I walked over to the crowd who seem very close to such a large animal but the ranger seemed to be okay with it. I selected a spot so that I did not get in any one's way and I could see the animal perfectly. I aimed my camera, waited for his head to come up, and presto...a large, older man stepped directly in front of me. Oh, I was hot but it gets worse. I rearranged myself and presto, the moose sits down and he is no longer picture worthy. Oh, I am really angry now. Todd and several others get to hear me rant about this man and his rudeness. (He had quickly exited after the moose sat down.) A woman overheard me and tells me that he had pushed her when she had accidentally stepped in his shot while trying to allow another woman a chance. Oh, I wished I could catch up to him because I thought it was a first offense but, when he is obviously rude, I felt he needed to know. Todd gets to hear me rant some more. I don't even want to see his moose photos because I am so mad. However, after a few moments, I remember that its not often you get to see a moose. I got to experience that moment. That man can't take that from me. (I later viewed Todd's pictures.)

Mammal Update

First day in the park. Hiked around the Yellowstone Grand Canyon. High up and we did react to the heights.
Mammal update:
Bison- Check, check, check, check. They are everywhere...will post the picture of one walking down the road eventually.
Pronghorn Antelope- check and pictures to prove it.
Wolf-not yet
Bear- Black from a distance, no pictures, too many others trying to get pictures
Elk-yes everywhere and again no pictures. Everyone stops in the middle of the road for these.
Moose-Bear Lake but not in Yellowstone for me.
Big horned sheep-maybe, got a picture of a goat looking animal beside the road.
Coyote-standing beside the road
More updates later.

Vacation Checklist

We are currently in West Yellowstone. We will go to the park for the first time tomorrow however, we have visited some areas in Utah and Idaho for wildlife viewing.
Mammal Checklist for trip:
Coyote-Check
Bison-Check
Pronghorn Antelope-Check
Bear (Grizzly and Black)-Not Yet
Moose-Check
Big Horn Sheep-Maybe...too quick to see
Elk-Not Yet
Wolf-Not Yet
Jack Rabbit-Check
Have also seen many birds. Magpies are pretty for such a common bird. I will have pictures later. (I had already put away my camera when we saw the moose but hopefully Todd got a picture to prove we did see one and its baby.)

Shoe Shopping

It use to be that shoe shopping was so enjoyable. Then the big clunky heels came into fashion. Next it was the earthly shoes. I waited so long for flats to come back in and leaped for joy when they started making a comeback. They are everywhere and cute too. Problem however. I am now having foot issues. I decided that I just have to give up the thought that I am going to be able wear cheap, cute shoes. So my mission over the last two weeks was to buy comfortable shoes. Everyone wears Keen...I will try them. Zappos.com has a new customer. I found cute lace ups and Mary Jane's in the Keen section. However, the Mary Jane's were too wide for my foot. That sucked because I really liked the raisin color. Those got sent back but kept the lace up oxfords. I went to The Walking Store and bought Clarks. Yeah, as much as I thought I could do the 'ugly' thing...I am just not there yet. I returned those shoes after they weren't as comfortable (or as cute) as I had hoped. So back to Zappos.com. This time, I ordered two Teva's. One in a Mary Jane and another in a slingback. Today, I got them. I actually liked both and they were comfortable. However, I couldn't justify both. I went with the pumpkin slingback because I may actually be able to put an orthotic in it if it comes to that. I HATE GETTING OLDER!

Red Spotted Purple

I wish I would have gotten a better picture. It seems if I would have taken this shot from the other side, you would see some more color on the top of the wings and if the wings were up you would see the red spots underneath.

Apple Butter -Take Two

Earlier this week, I decided to make apple butter. The first recipe was:
Approximately 4 pounds of apples (Fuji, Golden Supreme, Gala and Yellow Delicious. Most were picked from Carter's Mountain: the Fuji was from a friend from work.)
3 cups of apple juice
2 cups of sugar
1 1/2 t. Cinnamon
1/2 t. ground cloves
1/4 t. coriander (my touch...I love coriander
Juice of one lemon

I peeled and diced the apples. Place them in a large pot and put in the apple juice (Juice should not cover apples completely). Cooked for 30 minutes and then used my hand held Braun to make applesauce. I then placed the applesauce in a pan with the rest of the ingredients and placed in the oven at 300 degrees. (This keeps you from having to stir the mixture constantly.) I had it in the oven for 3 hours and it did not seem to be thickening. It tasted really good (however, I figured it just wasn't quite right since I don't normally like apple butter). I took it out, placed it in the pot on the stove, and cooked on medium high for another thirty minutes. It still tasted good...this must not be right. My boyfriend (who I made it for actually) said it was a little sweet and needed more spice but still good. Guess that is why I liked it. My co-workers and I did finish a jar. They thought it was good but not quite apple butter. All that work, and I only got five small jars.


Tonight, I tried my second batch with some changes to the recipe.
7 pounds of apples (ginger gold, golden supreme, and yellow delicious this time...ginger gold from a local grocery store)
2 cups apple juice
2 cups of water
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon of coriander (still love it)
2 cups of sugar
juice of one lemon

This time, I cooked the apples in a mixture of juice and water. After cooking cut apples for 1/2 hour, I drained 80% of the liquid out of the apples and then made applesauce. This time it must be more like apple butter because, I don't like it as much. I also cooked it on top of the stove for 1 1/2 hours. I have a blister on my wrist from the bubbling action. It made 7 small jars and does not move when I tilt the jar...success!

One week

To my vacation!

Should have paid attention

Growing up, my paternal grandmother lived across the street. Mamaw Dixie was what every grandmother should be: patient, kind, gardener, good cook, quilter, etc. I remember Mamaw trying to teach me how to quilt, crochet and other not so interesting things to a pre-teen and teenager. I also remember her in the garden bright and early before the heat of the day. She always wore a straw hat. As I have grown older, my southern roots have really taken hold of me (you know the ones I so desperately tried to escape in college). I try to garden (I can grow tomatoes but not zucchini...how is that possible?). I started making baby quilts for my girlfriend's babies. I learned to make jam and tonight my first attempt at making apple butter. Anyway, the point of my post, is that I regret not taking the time to learn then. Now, it is all trial and error. (Seems to be lots of error.) I haven't quite mastered the edging on quilts. It has gotten better but, after nine quilts, you would hope so. I have no idea whether the apple butter is the right consistency. I can only assume it will thicken when it cools off. I bet you Mamaw Dixie would know.

He's is right

Yes Todd did identify my butterfly. To be exact it is a female Spicebush Swallowtail. Or at least we think so. This is the top side of the butterfly.

What's in a name

I am currently looking for the species of this butterfly. However, not knowing how to even begin identifying butterflies limits me. I went to a site that you picked from these various categories. I did that. Checked off Virginia as a range. Obviously I didn't type something correct because this butterfly didn't come up in the seventeen possibilities. I will do more research (I believe it is a swallowtail of some form) but I wanted to post this pretty picture anyway.

Taking a ride

Why is it that I tend to be squeamish with every insect but I will let a butterfly sit on various parts of my body and not mind? Here is the one that I carried around while hiking. When it was on the back on my arm, it was tickling me a lot. Why was it tickling me so? The Hackberry Emperor will lap up the salt from your sweat.

They're creepy and they're kooky

Mysterious and spooking,

and altogether ooky...

This praying mantis is in my backyard. I found him while watering my plants. He would have blended in on my dying spiderwort plant if he wouldn't have moved when the water hit him. There was one farther back on the plant also but to get a photograph would have required disturbing them more. This may be the one that was in my house a couple weeks ago that I so ungracefully removed. He started crawling towards my hand and I dropped him: jar and all.

The water strider was in Shenandoah on the Doyles River Loop today. I was quite excited at how well this picture came out.

Happy Hour

It is not often that I have the opportunity to hang out with co-workers after hours...especially for an "adult" beverage. Today allowed that. Three of my co-workers and I went to Legends. They have a large deck and it was a reasonable temperature day today. We arrived close to five p.m. and didn't leave til 9 p.m. It was a fun experience to be out -outside of work. I didn't get to enjoy the view of Richmond skyline but still a enjoyable evening. I suggest trying the Brown Ale.

How happy am I...

that my vacation is near? This happy!

Cool

I purchased a camera recently to take on my vacation. My boyfriend and I went to Oregon last year and I had my point and shoot digital. I took okay pictures but I wanted more. However, I didn't think I wanted an SLR either. I wanted the ability to point and shoot but also wanted the ability to play some too. I decided upon the Canon S3. I know the S5 just came out but I just didn't think the upgrades were enough for me to purchase it. I may regret that in a year or two. Anyway, the point of my post is that I love playing with black and white, always have. Even with the Brownie camera we had growing up. I always purchased the black and white film then and again when I had my Pentax manual camera. (The brownie camera got lost over the years through my parents divorce and moves. I would love to have it now even if it was just to display it on a shelf somewhere.) My new camera has the ability to pick one color and then black and white everything else. A new dimension to my black and whites, I am so excited. Here are some samples of my effort to learn the camera.

Good News/Bad News

Bad News: I had an incredibly bad day at work on Friday. Nothing seemed to strike me right and just another insult to injury it seemed. Todd and I had plans to see a concert at Innsbrook and I really needed a drink. We were late, it was crowded. Everyone in the world seemed to be there to irritate me. (Standing in my view, talking too loudly, taking a cell phone call, smoking, etc.) It was all irritating me. I am not normally an aggressive person but put alcohol on a bad mood and it can be interesting. I kept saying things at people that I wouldn't normally say such as "the people finding the need to talk is irritating me". The guy taking the cell phone call actually hung up. Lots of snide comments made. I knew I was not being a good date but just couldn't control myself. I did resist the urge to take the man's cigarette and put it out. I let my day at work effect my private life and that was irritating me even more. It was just a vicious cycle.

Good News: I was really excited about seeing Nickel Creek. I love their playing and Sarah Watkins has a very interesting voice. I wasn't as excited to see Fiona Apple. I don't dislike her songs, I just never felt inclined to seek them out either. Her voice complimented the fiddle, mandolin, stand up bass and guitar group. Her hit "Criminal" was played with a bluegrass twist. I was very pleasantly surprised at the interest I was taking in her music too. I especially loved her first song but I wouldn't be able to tell you the name if I tried. I enjoyed the music and wish I had been able to focus more on it instead of letting my bad mood get the better of me.

Six more weeks to my vacation!!!

Still undecided

Still looking for a purpose for this blog. I got a new camera with interesting features. Maybe that will be it. I will be going to Yellowstone in September and have been hiking much. Maybe I will post information on that. My 20th year high school reunion is the same week. I have a valid excuse not to go! I would like to see my friends but not all the others. I just don't really care to know what they are doing. I could post pictures of my really fat cat.

Hmmm...

Now what to do since the party is finished. Maybe I will turn this back into my blog...not just for the party.

Will decide later.