It has been a while since I posted, so I just sat down to do a "catching up" post. And, I saw that Lynne is working on a post with most of the same info. So, I'll just bring you up to date quickly and she'll fill in the details.

Camel Rock Lost Its Head in High Winds

I usually do an April Fool's Day post to our blogs. In the past, the post was usually about our dogs and was targeted at the Bernese Mountain Dog community.

For example, I once did a post about how much Margaux, one of our female BMDs who is no longer with us, enjoyed our hot tub as long as it was set to 102.5°. And, that any temperature below or above that was not acceptable to her. You'd be amazed at the hostile replies I got telling me that putting our dog in the hot tub was not good for her (or the tub). We have actually never even owned a hot tub.

Another time I posted about how the rug we had in our living room, which was made from spun hair from our nine Bernese Mountain Dogs, always made the house smell like wet dog when we shampooed it. A few months later a BMD breeder visited us and ask to see the rug!

Anyway, this year I took a photo of a famous landmark at Sand Creek Park. The landmark has two names. When viewing it from the north or south, it is known as Chimney Rock. You've probably seen lots of photos of it on this blog. When viewed from the east or west, it is know as Camel Rock (see photo below). I used Affinity Photo on my Mac to edit the photo, moving the camel head down the hill as if it had been lopped off (see above photo). I then posted this to the Sand Creek Park Landowners Facebook page with a few short words about how the wind had blown the head off the famous landmark and that it would now need a new name. (At least when viewed from the east and west.) 

Some people got the joke right away. But, some were fooled I guess. The post was shared a couple of dozen times and viewed about 2200 times (last I checked). 

What Camel Rock Really Looks Like

The death threats are slowing down now, ten days later.

There is a lot more going on. We've had a couple of heavy, wet spring snows. One of about 8" and another with about 12". They seem to come on Tuesdays. Of course, this time of year the snow only lasts a couple of days due to the warm, sunny days and warm winds. We did have to take the Ranger out after the last storm because we had an appointment to pick up the travel trailer. So, we drove the tracked vehicle to our tow truck's location at Mr. H's house near the CO/WY border. When we got back, a logging company had plowed the county road, so we ended up driving 5 miles on dirt and mud instead of snow.

When it is bad outside, we work on our weaving. Lynne will show photos of the "mug rugs" I'm working on for the trailer.

We are not yet seeing wildlife: deer, elk, moose. However, we have seen the fox around lately and we've seen lots of hawks and eagles now that the prairie dogs are out and about.

That's about it for now. We are in that transistion between Winter and Spring, and can hardly wait for full-on Spring. (It is snowing as I write this.) I'll try to do a better job of keeping things up-to-date!

Sigh.

Two weeks ago while on a drive we came across these beautiful harbingers of spring: pasque flowers blooming a tad bit early. How exciting! However since then Spring has been playing a game of hide and seek with us. After we saw the pasque flowers, this came along.

A sticky, wet Spring snow that coated everything in white cotton candy. It was only about three inches or so.

That melted, then along came this slighlty more significant storm that dropped somewhere between 8-10 inches on us.

In between the snow melted and we could see patches of ground again in spots. And lo and behold on our very own land, we saw lots of pasque flowers struggling to bloom and also buttercups.

And just when we were getting used to walking around without putting on boots, a storm predicted to bring 1-3 inches of snow instead dropped a foot on us.

But the good thing about spring snows like this — they don't stick around for very long.. They pack a lot of moisture too. This snow did pretty much close up the roads for a couple of days and we had to take the Ranger down to H's house to pick up Lex when we FINALLY went to pick up our new travel trailer. While we were gone the logging company that is bringing out logs from further up the county road plowed the road, so coming home we certainly did not need the Ranger.

Here we are at the dealership ready to roll on home!

The trip home was uneventful and we both really liked the way it felt while towing, very solid. We picked a wonderful day with no wind (thank goodness). Lex handled the load extremely well considering the drive home is all uphill! Our lovely little home on wheels is now at its new home at the storage facility in Laramie. We've spent the last two days in town outfitting her for our upcoming trip. We still have a few things on our list that are needed, but we made great progress getting things put away. We are excited for the maiden voyage! It still does not have a name. Rocky and Woody have been thrown out there (because it's a RockWood model) but RIck did not like the connotation of Woody and I didn't care for Rocky. Maybe Roxie? We're hoping that spending more time in and around it will lead us to the right name.

In our weaving endeavors, I have finished my second scarf:

and Rick has mug rugs (aka coasters) on the loom. When finished they will be cut apart and the yarn intbetween each coaster will become fringe. So far he has five completed and he will just keep on until the warp gives out. We are loving the pattern this yarn is making! Can't wait to start using them.

So, I think that about catches you up on the month of April so far. So many fun and exciting things coming this Spring! Our trip to Albuquerque to see the family, Destin's debut in the show ring, the renovation of the outside of the cabin, Rick's Mom's visit in June .... all that is ahead of us in the coming months.

Yesterday we donned our snowshoes and went to check out the status of the big drift on Avalanche Slope. There was so much snow we could not snowhshoe around the drift safely, so we went through the woods below instead.

In the photo above, there IS a road underneath all that snow, level with the aspen trees sticking out of the snow on the left side. I think it will be awhile before anyone can drive on Hidden Meadows Lane! We've had a lot of melting going on and in places the snow is down by several feet but it hasn't seemed to affect this drift very much.

"X" marks the spot over our land. The cabin is in the trees to the left.

I am being a bit premature here folks, but as Rick's last post indictated, we have made it through our first winter and spring is imminent. We will have a few backsliding moments and snowfalls, which at this time of year can be in feet instead of inches, but it won't last.

I liken getting through winter to a woman's labor to give birth. Now mind you, I've never had a child being that Rick and I chose not have children, but I've had enough friends that have given birth to know something about the subject. At the moment all you can think of is the pain it's causing and in the throes of labor you say I'm never doing this again. But then, finally, your baby arrives and is put into your arms and you forget what you've just been through. Given a little time you will have forgotten all about it and you're ready to do it all over again.

That's about the way I feel regarding this past winter. It wasn't all that bad and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, or shall I say, the actual ground where the snow is completely gone. Spring will be just as sweet and welcome as a newborn baby when it arrives (it won't be long!) and we'll forget about the not-so-fun aspects of the winter we've just gone through. By summer it will be only a fleeting memory.

So, yes of course, we are staying on for the next winter. 

Even though it looks as though we have a snowstorm bearing down on us today and snow on and off next week, I can't really complain too much. Like I said, it won't stay around for long. This past week we've had such glorious weather. It gives one hope for more to come. I've been doing laundry at a frenetic pace (two load per day is a lot for us) and hanging it all out on the line. With the brisk breeze, the sun, and temps above 50 it doesn't take them long to dry. When I bring them in they smell so sweet and fresh. I'm almost caught up with the backlog except for sheets and a duvet cover.

We've sat outside on the porch. We've taken walks after dinner. All things that we could not have done even a few weeks ago. Yesterday I even sat on the front porch to weave. It was a bit chilly but not bad at all.

Here is proof of our progress:

Rick standing on propane tank, March 2nd.

Propane tank March 8th

Propane tank a few days ago. wowza.

Snow fence March 4th

Snow fence a few days ago.

Bench in the aspens March 13th.

Bench in the aspens this morning.

BUT ... now that the snow is gone in places we are left with ugly beaten-down vegetation that hasn't seen the light of day since December! It's not pretty. And what snow that is left is dirty and not very pretty either. It's kind of challenge to walk because there are spots without any snow mixed with some pretty deep drifts that are now slushy and we're not able to walk on top of it anymore. So, snowshoes aren't very useful either unless you want to take them on and off. The dogs can't figure out why they are suddenly sinking in places that before there were able to walk on top of. We tend to stick to the roads on our family jaunts.

All in all, it's a pretty good outlook from here on out, even if we get a big snow (which of course we will, always do).

Bald Eagle on Brubaker Lane

Unlike a receding hairline, a receding snowline is exactly what you want to see happening. Finally, the bench makes an appearance for the first time since January, with it's top line sticking out like a row of uneven teeth.

And here is what the bench looked like in the Fall.

Except for the top of our driveway, we can now drive on the roads all the way to town without any over-land detours. Up until yesterday we were still having to circumvent the drift caused by our neighbor's fence, but not anymore. Today Rick will borrow the tractor and dig out the upper driveway so we don't have to walk to the truck. No major snow is headed our way so we should be good for a while.

We do still have piles of snow. Melting piles, but piles never the less. (Notice the spring flag flying on the barn. We think it's working.)

We still have not picked up our new RV. We are hoping to pick it up next week if the weather cooperates. We want a wind-free day, dry roads and the best of possible conditions so we have a good first experience with it towing it home to its storage space in Laramie. Keep your fingers crossed because the wind so far this month is pretty constant and tends to be gusty.

We did manage a fun outing to Fort Collins (CO) to meet up with Destin's littermates and two breeders. We ate outside at a restaurant, sitting in the sun and having lunch and a few libations. Destin was amazingly good for his first time at this kind of thing and wooed the waitress out of a juicy slice of bacon and a bowl of water. He took this selfie of himself.

He got his first Big Boy Groom before heading out to meet with his breeders. We think he's looking mighty handsome!

And here are a couple of pics from the meet-up: in this one with co-breeder Sharon Keefer. Left to right: Virginia, Destin's sister, Pablo, his brother and Destin.

Another fun shot with two extra dogs that are not littermates but belong to Sandy Dunaway, his co-breeder. From Left to Right: Maven, Destin, Pablo, Virginia and Ilsa. I would say Sandy has her hands full, wouldn't you?

We had such a good time being in the Fort again that I think we'll be doing it again soon. Hopefully this next time we'll be able to meet up with some good friends.

Sorry for this long mostly dog-related post, but I wanted to get it down on the blog. I've posted most of these photos to Facebook, but as we all know is a fleeting thing for archiving memories.