Labwhiners2005

Summer finally made it here, temps up in the 90's, not a cloud in the sky.  Think the season of the death of the young and dumb on the highways is almost over.  That means tough times are here for the buzzards (saw 3 young buzzards today) and eagles.  Been lots of dead prairie dogs and magpies on the highways. 

 

We made it back up to Wyoming, rained on us the first day, the gullies were running like rivers.  Locals said that it had been raining almost every day for the last month.  The only road open to us was the one we had gone up the last time we were there.  All the other roads cut through gullies and our truck does not double as a raft or submarine.  We went back up towards Twin Buttes, only had to rerock the road in one place so that we would not slide into a gully.  It rained that first night, but the morning arrived with clear skies.  We actually made it to the bottom of Twin Buttes!

Cowboys with their horse trailers bogged in that morning.  There was one horse running with the cattle they brought by, not sure if it was a ranch horse or a loner wild horse.  Found some more good chert and neat places.  The next night was rain free, but that third day the clouds started rolling in again, so we got out while the getting was good. 

 

Since then we have just been making day trips.  One hot day we found some thundereggs (barites, maybe?) that are yeilding some nice lavender chert.  Haven't cut any of the smaller unbroken rocks yet, so don't know if any will be geodes.  Our backs and the rock saw can't handle the rocks that are over a foot in diameter, and there are some chunks out there that appear to be over two feet in diameter.  They do look nice under the blacklight.  The cedar gnats are still around, but the petroleum jelly works well at drowning them.  It is the only thing we have found that works.  Have tried Avon Skin so Soft, fabric softener sheets, vitamin B1, bug repellent, and the nets you can wear.  None of them worked. 

Today picked some wildflower seed that was ready; slate milkweed, wallflower, and a member of the carrot/parsley family.  Will see if they will grow for me next year.  We had great mullien coming up all over the west side of the house, looked just like the dock until the leaves got furry.  It is good for coughs, used to treat lung disease in cattle, and good to smoke, so I dried some to smoke and made a tincture of some for use as a cough medicine.  Been eating cherries and peas out of the yard, Tad is keeping us well supplied with lettuce and spinach.  Jer said he would send me a few tomatoes, maybe in a couple of weeks our tomatoes will be ripe.  Looking forward to 'real tomatoes'!  

  

Well, we went to climb a mountain, but never made it to the mountain.  Spent two days in a swamp, looking at the mountain just two miles away....pics will follow someday, whenever the camera and I dry out. 

Meanwhile, I did manage to upload some pics, miracles do happen!  Lower Butler Wash ruins (Utah) appear in photos 2-4.  In photo 4, about 11 oclock, there are two small human figures climbing the stone-pecked stairs up from the ruins...there is no way down, except for the fast freight elevator.  Tim found some chert in Cody Wash (featured in another of the pics), and we found chert in a couple of other places which did not picture well.  This was in southeastern Utah (four corners area), and Tim is excited about the stone found there.  It is pretty stuff, but I want to go back to Wild Wyoming...where it only rains when we show up.....

We were trying to reach Black Mountain, but never even made it to Twin Buttes (guess we were mooned!).  Spent two nights and three days looking at Twin Buttes in the pickup windshield.  Did get some nice chert, crystals, and fossils around camp between thunderstorms.  Finally managed to escape back to paved roads on the third day, now the weather maps look pretty clear, so we hope to head back that direction soon.....am sure they will get rain as soon as we arrive!

 

Meanwhile, back on the home front, the peas taste good, mullein is drying on the car seat for cough medicine and smoking purposes, and the neighbor's dogs showed up to eat all my sinew and chew on some bones I was drying to paint on.  Life in the fast lane, ain't it wunnerful!

Tim typed weather in the search field, came up with 11 million entries on the weather.  This wonderful new computer has made our dialup service about twice as slow as it was on the old computer.  May have to hook the old computer up to do internet stuff.  My opinion of Dell and mcafee is still what it was a while back.  In doing pics on the computer, I made a slide show, now can't find it anywhere on the computer.  Maybe next winter I can learn a little more about how to do pics on this thing!  The new pic is the only one I have been able to get the computer to let me post here.  Progress? Think I want to go back to the last century.

 

Temperatures are now in the summertime range here.  Hit 83 today, and had a little rainshower.  Tim has been 'canning' beans for the last week.  If you put cans or plastic cups with the bottoms cut out over your bean plants when they first come up, grubworms can't eat the leaves off.  After the beans are about four inches tall, you take the cans off, as the grubworms won't climb over four inches.  They won't eat tomato or garden huckleberry leaves, so they don't need 'canning'.  Peas are about two feet tall, and almost ready to bloom.  The cherries are little green pea sized things on the trees.  Joyce said she is already picking peaches in San Antonio.  We have eaten dock and asparagus out of the yard.  The tulips are gone by in the yard, but the iris, lilac, rocket (garden phlox), tomatoes, and sego lilies are blooming.  Out of town the phlox, indian paintbrush, evening primrose, sego lily, and claret cups are blooming.  My hiking has been a little slower the past week, thanks to a cut on the bottom of my right foot and a sore toe from kicking a rock...Hazards of going barefoot!  Know I will never be as tough as the indians who would be barefoot most of the year! 

 

Tim worked some quartzite from Kane Hollow today.  It was really nice, so next time we go to Vernal will be stopping in for more quartzite.  Tomorrow we hope to go to Wolf Creek, provided it doesn't rain too much tonight.  One year we went to Wolf Creek in June with Dallas and were snowed on!  Time want to try to get down into Hell's Canyon from the topside, going from the bottom up is impossible.  Been there, done that!  I'm getting off of here, a little while ago a spider ran up my leg, so now I feel them everywhere....Kinda like when you find a tick (which are out by the way).  Today there were thirty 'Texas Eagles' (buzzards) flying over Strangely.  Guess the pickings are a little slim outside of town for them.  We saw our first Western Tanager of the year at the bird feeders this week.  Out hiking I've gotten pics of two doves nests.  Their nest is just a grass lined depression under a sagebrush.  My first snake sighting/pic of the year was a three foot long skinny 'yellow racing stripes' snake out on Stinkingwater.  Really pretty, brown with two yellow lines down it's sides.  Bet they are enjoying the eggs this time of year.  Haven't seen too many rabbits out there this year, and so far there are not too many prairie dogs on the roads.  Enough ramblings, gonna try rambling off to count sheep, or rocks.   

Been having fun hunting rocks, and finding new ones to bring home.  Tim was very kind to lift the rock in the picture so that I could see under it.  The garden is in the ground and we are pouring the water on to get it up and going.  Over at the FDA Proctor and Gamble are having to cleanup their Puerto Rico facility that makes Olay skin products and Vick's cold medicine....You smeared what on your face???  You fed your kid what cold medicine???

 

Learned that Pinyon jays store enough pinyon nuts to last them for a year, that's why they don't come to town too often to eat at the feeders.  The pigeons are pulling some fun stunts out on the feeders.  Tim saw one land on another's back while it was standing on a limb...both went crashing to the ground.  Today I watched one slide down the roof of one of the feeders.  The 'redfooted bandits' are being pretty entertaining.  Our neighborhood is finally quieter at night since two dogs have moved elsewhere...wonderful silence at night! I'm still learning how to do pics on the new computer, hopefully will get some more on, have some nice ones.

Tuesday night a fellow who has worked for the Vernal BLM office for 29 years gave a very intersting slide show on some of the area petroglyphs.  They can date some of the horse petroglyphs by the tack on the horses; Spanish bridles, cavalry bridles, saddles, brands. and saddle blankets, indian men's and women's saddles.  A horse tied to a teepee with a rope was done at a time the Utes were confined to the reservation.  The tied horse represented their loss of freedom.  When the TransContinental railroad went through, some petroglyphs of the first trains seen were done.  The Utes had horses by the 1830's, thanks to the Spanish, so any horse petroglyph was made after 1830.

 

On Saturday, May 9th, 8:30 am the archaeology club will leave the Museum Field House and go tour petroglyphs at the MacConkie Ranch and at the Bear Dance site.  On the 12th, will have a chance to see pictures of Hawaiian petroglyphs.  Guess we are getting in on some real art museum tours!

 

Wind is still ricochetting through here, carrying lots of dust and a few drops of rain.  The peas are coming up by the fence outside, and the dock is bit enough to pick and eat.  Inside the house the started garden plants are producing a bumper crop of fruit flies.  Can't move those plants outside till about May 10th, so will have to endure the flies for a month......is that coffee grounds in my cup, or fruit flies......  Down in Texas they are already on water restrictions/drought warnings.  Guess Florida is also very dry.  Learned that Utah is cutting down some cedar trees to improve Sage Grouse habitat.  Guess the new seasons and limits on shooting coyotes has improved their numbers enough to where they are catching and eating all the grouse.  I still think all the sheep out there eat what the grouse would eat, but maybe not.  If this is a year for the Mormon crickets to march they will have more than enough to eat for a little while.  Seems they are trying to keep grouse off the endangered list.  Guess what you can get from being on the Atkin's diet???  Gout....

Necessity is the mother of invention.  We were getting our dose of 5,000 feet of wind again today and discovered that the roof on the porch was threatening to head towards Kansas, kinda like in the Wizard of Oz.  Tim put a great (for us) fix on the problem.  Lugged out the ladder and put about 6 30 pound slab rocks of snail and clam fossils on the roof.  New place to stash rocks!!!!  Oh boy, is he going to unhappy with me if I start hiding rocks up there!  Really, I won't do that, but it is a good place to temporarily store those big flat rocks, plus keeps a roof on!

 

Please remember that there is no rabbit hunting for the next five days...the Easter Bunny is out there!

 

Reading a very good book, 1491 by Charles Mann, dealing with the Indians in North and South America.  Cotton came from the Amazon river delta in yellow, pink, and blue tints as well as the white we are so used to.  Corn is the oldest, most successful result of genetic engineering in the history of the world.  Scientists can't even agree on what plant corn is descended from.  In 1650, James Ussher, archbishop of Armagh, used Old Testament geneology data to determine that God created the universe on Sunday, October 23, 4004 BC.  Remember that birthday!

 

 

 

 

I just saw a picture of a car that is at the top of my oooh list.  It is on display at the Denver Auto Show through April 5.  Very cool looks, 100 mpg, 2 power sources: biodeisel and hydraulics, $40,000 to $60,000 price tag, and available in 2010.  Check out this Colorado car at:

 

 

They also have a blog, youtube video, and more info on their site.

 

Denver got sixteen inches of snow last Saturday, we got about one inch of  snow and 5,000 feet of wind.  Still getting the wind, but only a few scattered snowflakes....so much for the weather channels 80% chance of snow.  March 32 I moved a bunch of hollyhocks to behind the garage, and moved a bunch of sticks to the backyard.  Not sure how my harebrained idea for that corner of the yard is going to work, but we shall see!  We have beat the wind up in the mornings to go out walking in the hills.  so far have drug home a couple of pieces of wood and about 8 year old antlers.  Haven't found any newly dropped ones yet, but maybe today!

We finally broke down and got a new computer to replace our old Dell windows 98 system.  The new computer runs well, I think, but Mcafee service is poor, poor, poor, they could not fix my problem with their antivirus program and Dell was no help to me either.  Hopefully Tim can get some better response from them.  Really disappointed in Dell, they were so much help on the old system...guess that was the good old days.

 

We got about an inch of snow last night, and rain during the day.  The moisture will be very nice.  Have been reading a lot in the past couple of days.  Reading a really good herbal remedy book, The Green Pharmacy by James Duke, Rodale Press ISBN 0-87596-316-1.  Duke gives you the scientific reasons available about how some herbal remedies actually work!  A very nice change from all the hype out there that does not give the reasoning behind their claims.  This is one book I would consider buying.  A couple of things that tie in with stuff going on at the FDA:

People who smoke tobacco have a very low chance of developing Parkinson's disease, thanks to the dopamine released from the brain due to the nicotine in the tobacco.  The FDA may be regulating tobacco in the future-there go your chances of sueing the tobacco company if you develop lung cancer.  It will be like medical devices, you can't sue the makers if the product was approved by the FDA.  Also, tobacco is fermented after it is dried to give it the different aromas and tastes, different fungi and bacteria are probably used to give the different flavors (just like cheese). 

There are a number of different herbs that can be used as a form of birth control or morning after pill.  FDA is going to allow 17 year olds to get the morning after pill without a prescription.  I worry more about the 13 year olds who won't have access to the pill.  Years ago in a hospital I worked in, we had a 12 year old come in and deliver her child, with her parents present.  The girl's mother was going to raise the baby, and the girl's father was also the infant's father. 

The press is having a fine time talking about Clostridia difficile and the people it kills who have been on antibiotics.  What they don't tell you is that C. diff is normal flora in the gut, which takes over thanks to the antibiotics killing off the other good flora which keep it in check.

 

Ok, that's enough ranting for this week, hope you are having a nice spring day, I'm off to throw snowballs at something! 

The deer on Missouri Creek still haven't dropped their antlers.  We saw 21 deer at the bottom of White Face Butte the other day, and one little buck was still flaunting his stuff.  We made it to within 50 feet of the summit of White Face, but due to the lack of rapelling gear, we had to go back down...Guess the only easy way to get up top is to hike the four miles in from the north...Ah well, I was close enough, not sure about Tim though!  We did find a little siltstone and a few two year old antlers near the bottoms, had a great day.  The wild horses are still there, stud piles all along the roads.  About a week ago we found a new oolite source, hope it's good stuff.

 

One very disgusting visit was to Raven Ridge State Park.  Bud Light of Strangely has been spending a LOT of time there.  Has to be at least 8 cases of cans scattered along all of the roads out there.  Bud buys his beer by the case, because all the cardboard cartons are there too.  It is not the sheepherder drinking beer, his campsites were as clean as a whistle.  I may dislike the 'range maggots', but they don't litter, just eat everything two feet off the ground and down.  How do they keep from getting poisoned by all the stuff out there that is bad for sheep?  Guess there is safety in numbers, when there are 300 other maggots eating around you, you can't get enough of one plant to kill you.  Maybe we need to take notes on how to survive by eating just a little of lots of different things.

 

The other day we hiked on the backside of Kenney.  Had a blast!  Went down in the big gully to visit the big overhang.  Got a bunch of pics of a young horned owl...hope they turn out.  In the gully the russian olive were blooming, the ferns were coming up, and I saw my first butterfly of the year....Hopefully will have some new pics posted in a few days.  The weather has been great, a little windy, but oh well, it is spring!  Other signs of spring:  the buzzards are back, the robins are dancing in the road, and the pigeons are making lots of noise on the roof.

 

Went to check out the Sun Dagger site today, but got there about an hour too late to see the circles bisected by the rock shadow...Equinox day, ya know, daylight savings time my ass...it doesn't match the indian's time at all!  I've manages to kill only about five of the tomato plants I started in the house.  The crocus are blooming and the tulips are about 3 inches tall...The deer haven't come around to eat them off yet.  Been having cats as nighttime visitors again, wish they weren't so vocal with their courting, may have to discourage them a little.  They have also been eating birds under the rose bushes, time to put out the gallon glass jugs of water so they won't be using the garden as a litter box....some animals are just disgusting!