Birds

I would love to have a bird feeder here, but is a well known fact that they attract bears . So, I put some bird seed on a deck post in the morning and the birds devour it quickly.

This Steller's Jay picture was taken by my sister Polly who is visiting. I have a flock of five that show up every morning. They can see me walking about the in house and screech at me until I come out and feed them. I say a flock...there are usually about five. This is a juvenile. It's crown when full grown will get almost black.

I was surprised to find out the the male and female look just alike. We don't have these birds in Texas. The only Jay I know of there is a Blue Jay. Do you have a special bird native to your area?

Blue Skies

We have had a wonderful summer, but due to all of the fires in the western U.S. our skies have been smokey on and off...mostly on.

 It's still pretty...especially our lake. ..but look at the difference.

I took this shot yesterday morning. This is the way our skies should look....clear and blue.

Where's Waldo (ahh the baby)

My older daughter  lives way over in North Carolina. It helps that she is good about sending pictures of her two little girls.

Her three year old who goes to preschool, apparently likes to play school with her little babies.

That would include her baby sister :)...who seems to be enjoying herself.

Scarf Painting

We have a new craft room in the basement of the Anthony Gallery downtown. It was at one time a bar called The Whole in The Wall. I happen to think it is serving a much better purpose these days.

We have a lady who is offering scarf painting lessons. It is only $25 for a three hour lesson and you get to take your scarf home with you.

I tried my hand and this is what I came up with.

I have enjoyed wearing it , and have signed up for another class next week. I hope to paint something that I can wear during the Christmas Holidays...stay tuned.

Tea Time

Oh my goodness I have been very busy. You see I have been a hostess for a Victorian Tea for the last ten years. The hostesses not only serve the tea but bake all of the items.

It is a fancy affair

The first course

second

 and third

The ladies in town have loved it and their attire got fancier and fancier as the years went by.

It was worth the price of admission just to see the outfits.

We of course had very professional waiters...yes that is my Tom.

I was happy that one of my sisters (top left) was in town for the tea along with two of her friends.
I of course had to have the biggest hat!
We are hanging up our hats after ten years and a younger crew will hopefully take over, but we of course will always have our wonderful memories.

HA!

Visiting a nearby ranch one day....

I noticed this sign and had a good laugh...

I have a house full of guests again...and we are constantly on the go....I will return!.

A Zoo...well sort of

Our little mountain town is not large enough to have a real zoo. So a local gal, Karen, who worked at the post office for years, and is also an artist decided to paint replicas of animals and turn her backyard into a wildlife preserve

.Sweety was a real life deer that was orphaned and Karen cared for until his death.

There are actually acres of painted animals

She is actually a pretty darn good artist.

It is certainly a photo oop.

She even has some real life marmots running around.

I took a group of visiting family members and they absolutely loved it!

I still have a house full, which is why I have not been posting.

I hope that you are having a nice weekend....Janey

Is That A Bear!

I do believe that is a bear walking between the cabin and our bench!

It headed up the mountain to the east (that is our deck post)

Then it decided to come back down and sit under a tree just to the west of the cabin. It was a small bear, probably about two years. That is when the mother bear abandons the cub so that she can breed again. The young things seem a bit lost at first. As tempting as it is to feed them...we don't . Not only is it against the law, but if you feed them they hang around grow up and break into your house...eventually having to be put down by the game warden.

Home Tour

For at least the last decade I have helped organize our little town's home tours. Six homes are on the tour, three modern homes one week and three the historic homes the next.

My partner in this endeavor is the editor of the newspaper who is also the president of the historical society. Grant is a wonderful story teller. He not only knows who built the historic homes, but several interesting stories about that family. Some folks are not so interested in the homes, but the stories he has to tell. Even with the modern homes, he will tell you what was there on the spot back in the beginning of this old mining town.

Touring this Queen Anne mansion always draws a crowd. Built in 1893 by a man who owned a mill, it was the first home in Lake City to have electricity. The homeowners were so proud of this fact that they left all of the lights on day and night.

The home is presently for sale so it is mostly bare of furniture.

The small area in the turret still has the stained glass windows and the original light fixture.

I didn't get a picture of all of the homes, but this is the oldest one we toured, built in 1877. The original owner died in a gunfight with another man over the affections of a lady of the evening. The bullet hole is still in one of the buildings in the business district.

The present owners are taking great care of this home. They even had the home raised so that a foundation could be added. The cost of that would exceed what building a new house of this size.

With all of the bedrooms upstairs they wanted to add a half bath up there. The only space available was a small closet. Not having room for both a toilet and a sink,

somewhere they found a toilet with a built in sink!!

World Championship Stick Horse Rodeo

Yep, it is time again for all of the stick horses to come out of the closet!

Some of you may remember this exciting event.

There were all sizes and shapes of horses,

and riders who were present by age group.

This little lad seemed a bit hesitate

as did this little lassie.

That is until she won a ribbon.

As usual all age groups were presented.

A beautiful exciting fun day for all!

How Much Is That Doggie In The Window?

Most of you are probably too young to remember the song "How Much Is That Doggie In The Window"but that is what came to mind when I passed this little green cottage. I think the next verse went....the one with the waggly tail.

Lake Monster!

This unusual creature was spotted on our lake.

Vacationers having fun!

Goats

Some of our visiting kids and grandkids headed up on the shelf roads yesterday to the top of a mountain.. I am not fond of scary roads that have drop offs and no guards rails, so I didn't go,

although I thought I would share one of the pictures they took. They encountered a herd of wild goats. It appears to me they are losing the winter coats.I love seeing seeing so many types of wildlife that our area has to offer.