Winter Day Excursion, part 4

We got to see a lot of animals. I didn't get good pictures of the mountain goats or the bighorn sheep. We didn't get to see the caribou herd because the upper roads were too icy to travel. It was a fun day, though and Logan really enjoyed seeing the animals.


These two bulls are from the first herd of elk we saw.





The bison were on the roadway so we had to wait while they dispersed.



Then they were right next to the tram.





This is the dominant male elk. His antlers are all broken and chipped from the clashes to prove his dominance.



The herd crossing the road in front of us. They were also blocking our way at first.



Someone's lost antlers.



The moose were hard to get on film. They just wouldn't cooperate and give me good angles. Here is the bull moose.



Here is the one female that didn't turn her back on me completely.

Winter Day Excursion, part 3

We got to see lots of animals on our trip to Northwest Trek last week, but I think this one was my favorite. He is a Giant Pacific Salamander. I found him to be so cute I had to laugh. Something about the little face with his sucked in lips which make him look like he forgot to put his teeth in just cracked me up. Plus, you have to love the pink gills which make it look like he's wearing a boa and those startling blue eyes!.











Logan had a super good time and made some friends. Here are some pictures of Logan enjoying himself at the different centers and on the tram.

He is running to get another puppet and almost ran into the other grandma that was there.


Enjoying the snake. I'm so glad he missed the part where the snake swallowed a live mouse that was in the tank. I'm glad I missed that, too.


Making a wreath.




We told him the tram was a 'train' that was on wheels instead of a track. He bought our story and enjoyed his ride on the 'train'.


A preview for tomorrow's blog:

This is the dominant elk in the elk herd. The big animals were all right up next to us, even blocking the road while we drove through.

Winter Day Excursion, part 2

After our trip to Morse Wildlife Preserve we took Logan and went to lunch at a little Mexican restaurant. We then headed to Northwest Trek. It is not normally open for the weekdays in the winter, but they were having a special day to celebrate winter. They had little centers set up to teach us about winter care for the animals. We had a great time and Logan enjoyed himself. We got to see lots of animals. Here are the eagles and owls. I will do the other animals tomorrow.


The Bald Eagle.



The Golden Eagle.



The Snowy Owl.



The Great Horned Owl.



The Barn Owls.

January, 2011. Wow.

I've decided to do the January NaBloPoMo monthly blogging. The theme for this month is "Friends". I have decided I will start with photos of my trip out last Wednesday with my friend, Becky, and my grandson, Logan. We had a really nice time. It was a beautiful sunny day with snow on the ground.
First, we visited a little wildlife preserve. It was Winterfest at Morse Wildlife Preserve. I had never heard of the Morse Wildlife Preserve in Graham, but it is a nice little place. They took us on a comfortably paced, guided walk through their property. We identified plants and birds and just enjoyed the lovely day. Logan was able to make himself an owl mask in the little barn before we went on our walk. They have a nice little look-out tower, easy to climb the stairs and with a beautiful view of the surrounding land. Here are some of the pictures. Tomorrow I will post the pictures from our Northwest Trek excursion.

Ready to glue.


Watching the helper take the lid off his glue.


The finished product.


Gorgeous day with a gorgeous view.


Posing for Grandma.


Snowy bushes.



This tree lost its battle with nature.


From the tower showing the neighboring property..


One of the ponds formed during the wet season in the wetlands.


Logan looking around from the tower.


The barn where they had the crafts and informative materials. They had hides from several animals, a owl that was preserved through taxidermy and many pamphlets and pictures, plus hot cocoa!

New tree, old ornaments.

This blog was started before Christmas but things got in the way of me finishing and posting it, so here it is now.




I decided to buy a new tree this year. I haven't really put up a full size tree for several years. Last year I used a Charlie Brown tree. I thought I had a picture of it, but here is a link so you can see it if you want to have a look-see.
I love my Charlie Brown tree and plan to put it up in the bathroom this year.

Some years I use the nice little wall tree referenced here. It can also be a stand up tree if you open up the branches and attach its stand. Either way it's a pretty little tree and looks nice with my snowmen and candy ornaments.

This year I decided I wanted a new tree because I wanted a pre-lit version. I bought a nice little seven foot tree with all white lights. I really prefer multi-colored lights, but decided to try the white. I figure I can always add a couple of strands of color if I decide I want them. For this year, though, I just used it the way it is.

Logan decorated the bottom for me







I decorated the top and put the garland on. It turned out nice. There is only one thing I can't figure out. There is no way to effectively attach a tree topper if it weighs more than a couple of ounces. They need to make artificial trees with a piece that sticks up from the top that can hold the weight of a tree-topper. I used to have a nice angel tree-topper, but it started looking like it was going to burn up. I bought a nice star this year because the angels all looked like Barbie dolls dressed in costume.


I had to nestle it in the branches near the top and while that looks ok, I would have liked to have placed it on top of the tree. Maybe I will make a nice new angel one from a toilet paper roll. My very first tree topper was made from a toilet paper roll. I wrapped it in gold foil paper and put a nice little angel package decoration on it. I used it for years but if finally died. Here are some close-ups of some of the other ornaments that are still with me after many years.

I have a lot of ornaments that make decorating a big tree nostalgic for me. I bought these ornaments for my very first tree when I was 19 years old and moved into a little house of my own. ($85.00 a month rent! haha.) These ornaments have been with me all my adult life and go on the tree every year unless I use one of my smaller trees. A few of them have died over the years, but I still have most of them 41 years later.

















One that my sister's kids decorated and gave to me for Christmas presents one year. I love these, too!


Keri made this one in 1982.


And her daughter Rhyan made this one, but I don't have a year for it.


I always include a selection of the kids's school project ornaments on my tree each year.





I made this one in the seventies.


These I hand painted in the early seventies. These are the "bottom" ornaments that the kids put on the tree unless I have a child living here. In that case they get their own tree and these go on that. My kids had their own trees in their bedrooms so they could decorate and undecorate to their heart's content!