Lilacs

I had mentioned that the poppies were blooming in town. Well, just before that happened, the lilac bushes sure were pretty

This one by a little cabin

This one just inside a starburst fence

and another just inside the museum grounds. That is an old (restored) caboose that once a week rolled into town at the end of our steam train...many years ago.

Linking to: HERE

The Fundraiser

I know it seems that all we do is party here....well, that is apparently so!

My Tom is the Chairman of The Lake City Friends of the Creede Theater. So, once in the summer we hold a fundraiser here in little Lake City, and a few of the actors from Creede come over to give us a taste of the exciting summer season. I know I talk about this theater a lot...but it is really worth talking about! 

 Since over 100 folks attend...you need a lot of hors d' oeuvers. I made two trays of these salami cream cheese/horseradish roll ups.

96 of these mini pizza's

and a tray of fudge.

The ladies of Lake City also pitched in to make sure the table...which ran the length of the room, was full

for the hungry crowd.

In addition to their talented band, three of the lead actors of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels preformed. Pictured above is equity actor Joe Lehman who hails from Chicago, and plays Lawrence in the musical and Emily Van Fleet a very talented actress/singer from Denver who plays Christine.

One thing that caught my eye was this new invention to replace sheet music. This contraption, similar to a kindle displays the sheet music, listens to the musician, and flips the page automatically! How about that!

Speaking of inventions. How did I make so many mini pizzas? Well you just fill this thing up twice!

Okay on to the next party!

Ther New Gallery In Town

Over the weekend we had a new art gallery in town have it's grand opening.

It is housed on our main street in an authentic 1870's building, the inside having been beautifully remodeled. The owner did not like the doors on the building, and  happened to mention it to the director of the museum. He said he had some historic old doors stored in the basement of the museum, and they were welcome to look at them. Well they fit perfectly....and were probably the original doors on this very building.

The Gallery will feature a visiting artist each week during the summer

and since we have very few accommodations available at that time, there has been an apartment installed in the back of the building. The visiting artist will be offered a free place to stay. I would say that is a pretty nice enticement....a place to show (and sell your art), and a week's vacation in paradise!

Pictured above, one of our local local artists, Ruth, and our visiting artist this week, Carol McIntyre who you can read more about : HERE

The Depot

On yesterday's blog you rode along with me to the neighboring town of Creede. We were to attend the opening night of the Creede Repertory Theater. Usually there is a dinner before, to kick off the season , but this year they just had a cocktail party.

It was held in their old train depot, which is now the town museum.

They had a nice buffet of appetizers, which was hearty enough to surfice as dinner.

There were all sorts of vintage stuff in the museum, including this old burial wagon...complete with a wooden coffin  inside.I was so busy visiting with folks that I hadn't seen all winter....that I will have to go back and see the things in museum.

 I was interested in this collection of old irons. Some I think you heated some on your wood stove, and maybe filled others with boiling water? Sure is a lot easier to iron now.

It was a treat for the Museum Director to tell us a little bit about his town back in the mining days.

There was some fun gambling going on on an antique roulette table, and some door prizes that were given away..

Later we all walked the three blocks to the theater and watched a wonderful production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels where you are not allowed to take photographs. Afterwords, the actors lined up on the street to shake hands with the audience. Sure was a wonderful evening.
The Creede Repertory hires around ninety young people from across the country to produce their wonderful summer productions

Over the Mountain

On Friday night we drove over the mountain to the east. We were headed to Creede, Colorado for opening nigh tof the Creede Repertory Theater,

The drive is about a hour, and I never tire of it. You go over two mountain passes, the Continental Divide and pass the headwaters of the Rio Grande River. That is Bristol head in the distance.The fact that there is very little traffic is also a plus. Following are a few of the pictures I took from the car

We are pulling into town Creede which was Lake City's rowdy neighbor back in the mining days, with  notorious folks like Soapy Smith, Bat Masterson, Poker Alice, and Jesse James who was shot to death here in one of this town's then eighty saloons.

Creede has cleaned up it's act since then, and is now a charming place to visit.

Poppies

In June around here

There is hardly a yard in town without them

even behind our old armory.

People on the Street ll

We have discovered that people in this little mountain town are friendly and eager to meet folks. You see most all of them are on vacation too. Tom and I met this nice lady on another of our morning walks.

 Linda is here all the way from Charlotte, North Carolina. It is not unusual to meet someone  from Texas, Oklahoma or even Kansas....but North Carolina is way over on the east coast. Linda and her husband come for a month every summer and rent the very same little (red) cabin. We have a lot of these little tourist cabins in town...mostly built just after WW II. Linda told us that she has been coming here since 1949! Yes, she came as a child with her parents.It is amazing what you find out when you stop to say hello.

Logo/Emblem/Brand

I am not sure what you would call this? A logo,emblem or brand? I guess brand would be the correct word, since this is a ranch

On a recent trip to the San Louis Valley of Colorado, we passed this place, with rusted steel cut outs at the entrance. To me they looked rather Indian in design.....and I thought it may be the brand for the ranch.

Every three hundred yards or so there was the same cut out near the fence line. From the number of them that I saw...I gathered that it is a very big ranch.

Linking to: Good Fences

My sister sent me a link to Mr. Wilson's obituary. The ranch is large 2500 acres. If you are interested in reading about this ranch owner who was a Denver architect and recipient of The Governor's Award from Rotary Int. go:  HERE

Bird Watching

We have been in our summer home in the mountains almost three weeks now

and I never tire of seeing all of the wildlife here. Birds included. I am guessing this is a Red Winged  Blackbird.

 I really don't have to guess anymore, since a guest gave us this great pocket sized edition

of Birds of Colorado. From it's worn condition, you can tell it gets a lot of use.

I like that you can fan out the pages and pick out what color bird you are trying to find.

Are you a birdwatcher?

People on The Street

Tom and I walk most every morning, therefore we come across other folks....on the street..

Meet Thelbert who walks at least a mile every morning. Thelbert,who lives alone in an RV park in town, proudly announces  that he is almost 95 yrs.old. He is a native of Colorado, being born in Hotchkiss , but arrived in Lake City as a young man.. In addition to working on ranches in the area, he also worked at the old Ute Ulay Mine. He said a large truck came the  three miles down the mountain every morning to pick of a  load of miners. Although Thelbert says he worked in the mill up there, which processed the ore.

The Ute Ulay Mine and Mill was here before Lake City, and is the reason this town came about. From 1874 to 1923 the Ute Ulay is reported to have milled $12 million dollars from the discovery of silver, gold, lead and zinc. That would be roughly $280 million at today's value.The mine changed hands over the years, and was opened and closed several times, closing for good in 1980. This site which was high on the endangered list of Colorado historical places is finally being saved with private donations, state and federal funds. I consider it an honor to actually meet someone who worked there.

*Interesting note. The mill was refurbished in the 1960's was operated by an engine that came from a WWII

battleship.

Art Show Part III

There was another piece of art that really caught my eye.

This was painted by a seven year old boy.

The little boy and his brother were living with just their Dad. Well, a couple of years ago the earth mover (bulldozer?) he was driving on a mountain slope turned over and killed him. The boys are now being raised by their grand parents...who by the way are doing a wonder full job.

I will now post a few of the other entries in the local art show without commentary.

These by the way are hand carved fish that are stocked in our area lakes and streams.