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.

My Kitties

I love my kitties, or should I say my kids? Most of the time they chase each other around the house and act as if they hate each other, but I know they really love one another as is evident by these photos.

Andy is in back,
Acey in front. They are 6 years apart in age, but look like twins.

A lot of people think it is crazy to walk cats on leashes, but it keeps them alive and they still get to be outside. There are plenty of predators on the ranch that will eat a cat for lunch! This is me walking Acey and as usual when I tell him it is time to go inside, he protests with a "lay down".  

Z's Farmers Market in Telluride

Saturday's are a favorite of mine for many reasons, but the most notable reason is that #Z's Orchards brings their produce to Telluride every Saturday during the summer growing season. I am a regular and usually come home and start cooking or baking with my fresh produce. On the menu today is a Peach Tart and a Tomato Corn Casserole.

An old fashioned farmers market with a beautiful view.

They grow their own flowers as well. 

Everyone shops here including Golden Retrievers.

Kendra, the hard working owner,

My next blog will be my Peach Tart and Tomato Corn Casserole recipes.

Yula Mae's Flowers

I am always impressed that these flowers continue to bloom year after year. They were planted by #Yula Mae Anderson Aldasoro well over 25 years ago. She and her family spent their summers on this same location on this ranch. While her husband and the sheep herders tended their sheep, she gardened and tended to their three daughters. She was an avid gardener and a wonderful lady that we all miss very much. The flowers are around the perimeter of my yard, but were originally within the fenced boundaries of the yard when Yula Mae lived here. I don't know the name of the purple flowers, the others are fragrant yellow roses that typically bloom around the 4th of July. The wagon wheels are the REAL thing. They were used on wagons on the ranch in the very early days.

Jeeping in the Rocky Mountains Part 3

After we left #LakeCity, we took #CinnamonPass to #Silverton and then took "OphirPass back to #Telluride. It was a gorgeous day, but was a 12 hour long ride and as tired as we were, we loved every minute of it. Compared to Imogene Pass and Engineer Pass, Cinnamon Pass and Ophir Pass were gentle and easy to travel. While cruising along, we saw a moose which is a rare sighting in this area of Colorado. Moose are starting to migrate slowly to this area, but this is the first one I have ever seen.

The moose!!

                                                 A marmot posting for us

The original jail near the top of Cinnamon Pass in the abandoned town of Animas Fork.

Why do people do this with stickers??