Hogg Ranch in Aldasoro Subdivision

 The Hogg Ranch was originally patented in 1890 by Herschel M. Hogg usually referred to as Honorable H. M. Hogg who was Telluride’s City Attorney from 1890-98 and San Miguel County Attorney from 1890-92.  He was instrumental in the arguments against Governor Peabody when he declared martial law in 1904 to quell the Miner’s Union Strike, and later served on the 58th and 59th congress as a Republican from 1902-1907. While in Congress he authored the Bill that made Mesa Verde a National Park. The ranch has been sold several times used as a dairy, storage, a place to keep livery animals, and sheep. The photo to the left is an original photo of the old ranch.


The following photo is of the Hogg Ranch as it looks today. The buildings are historical and preserved by the Aldasoro Subdivision which are at the entrance to the subdivision. I am so glad that some of the historical structures in the area have been preserved for all of us to enjoy.

Hogg Ranch 2016

I added this photo because it is such a perfect cabin, decorated for Christmas and falling snow captured in the photo. It is actually one of the post offices in the Aldasoro Subdivision. I know many people who would like to live in it.  LOL.

White Christmas

Everyone wants a White Christmas...there are even songs written about it. In Colorado, most of our Christmas' are white, but this one was exceptional. In the 7 days preceding Christmas, we had around 4 feet of snow. It has been just gorgeous, but that means lots of snow plowing and shoveling, unfortunately. Following the big storms, the temperatures dropped to below zero overnight and finally warmed up to 32° today.  The photos below are all from Deep Creek Mesa, which is where we live. The photos were taken today after all the snow ended and the skies were sapphire blue. The elk are stomping the snow down as they search for food, the creeks are frozen, the fences are mostly buried.....perfectly beautiful!

Deep Creek snowy and partially frozen. This photo looks blue from the late afternoon light. I did not use a filter.

Our house with some serious icicles, blue skies and a reflection of the corals in the windows.

                                                          Snow almost up to her belly.

 A view of the Telluride Ski Resort from Deep Creek Mesa

More elk hanging out. There are at least 2 bulls in this small herd.

Our cats, Acey & Andy waiting for us in the window when we got home from taking photos. You can barely see them due to the snowy reflection.

Fall Visit

Last month we had friends from Texas visit for a few days; Gary and Key Meyers, Phyllis Ford and David Doyle. It seemed like every minute was planned before they arrived.

Day 1---We drove over high mountain passes and into basins that we had never been to before. It was at the peak of fall color, so the drive was beautiful, but long. At one point #KayZellerMeyers thought we had made it all the way to Mars. LOL

We were high above timberline when these photos were taken. That is roughly 11,500 feet in altitude or higher.

Day 2---we three women rode bikes from Ridgway, Colorado to Ouray, Colorado. Round trip it was 23 miles. It was tiring for me since I seldom ride a bike #KayZellersMeyers and #PhyllisFord are seasoned bikers so it was easy for them even though we were at 7,500-8,000 feet above sea level during the ride.

Kay & Phyllis

Day 3.....the guys went fishing and we three ladies went for a hike. It was gentle, but took a few hours. There were photo opportunities in every direction.

Day 4...I went back to work so I could REST. The rest of the gang continued on with various activities.

It was a great way to spend a beautiful fall. The weather was perfect, the colors were beautiful but the friendships that we have all developed were the best.

Can't wait to do it all over again when our friends all return. 

A Beautiful Fall

It was predicted to be a lackluster Fall with mostly brown leaves due to our rainy summer....so much for that!

We had a gorgeous Fall and I managed to get out to get a few pictures.

Priest Lake

The Sheep are Gone

It is always sad to me when the sheep leave the ranch. What it really means is that winter is just around the corner and they are moved to a lower elevation for winter grazing. The leaves are mostly gone from the trees, flowers are frost bitten and my favorite time of the year - summer - is over. It is back to wearing heavy clothes, sweaters, boots, coats, scarves, etc. Since this summer was so rainy it seems as if we didn't have summer at all. Weather predictions are that we will have very heavy snow this winter. I will keep you posted with some of winter scenes as the snow starts to fall.

One of my last posts regarding the sheep went out without photos. Oops...don't know what happened, but here are a few.

A black sheep with all the other sheep. Wonder how that feels?

Took this photo driving home from work one day. I love this kind of traffic jam.

Is this sheep smiling or is my imagination?

Peach Tart & Corn and Tomato Gratin

As promised, the following are two recipes made with the freshest of ingredients.The Corn and Tomato Gratin is a bit labor intensive, but well worth the trouble.




Peach Tart

2 eggs, well beaten
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup shortening(make sure to use trans-fat free)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 cups sliced peaches
1/4 cup butter
cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously grease a 14 x 9 x 2 inch baking sheet.
2. In large mixing bowl, blend together eggs, 1 cup sugar, shortening and salt until fluffy. Gradually beat in flour.
3. Spread dough evenly over bottom of prepared pan using hands. Dredge your hands in flour in order to smooth out the dough as the dough is sticky.
4. Arrange peach slices evenly over dough. Dot with butter. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon.
5. Bake for 35 minutes.

This recipe works well at sea level or at high altitude since there isn't any leavening ingredients.



I never said it wasn't fattening...but then it is dessert and isn't supposed to be low calorie!

Unbaked

Baked

The Sheep are Back

I am always happy to see the sheep back for the summer. They have been grazing on the ranch for the past several weeks, but with the amount of land they have to cover it has taken them awhile to get to our side of the ranch. I am sure there are some of you that don't see the fascination, but I think they are so picturesque. I doubt the herders and sheep owners see it the same way as I do, but I really think they are cute. Just recently I learned from #Cristine Aldasoro Mitchell that black sheep in a herd help to identify the total number of sheep in the herd, The ratio is approximately one black sheep per one hundred. So if there are 5 black sheep in a herd it is safe to assume that there are 500 sheep total.