Quilt Group

I belong to several quilt related groups and I love them all. Today was Friday PM Quilters. As the name indicates, we meet every other Friday afternoon but I like to think the PM stands for "Perfectly Marvelous!" We take turns hosting the group in our homes. All but two of our members live in Estes Park. The two who don't, used to live here and have moved to Loveland which is about thirty miles down the Big Thompson Canyon road, a curvy, winding, "follow the river" road. Today we met in Loveland - eight of us. We each bring a project on which to work and, while we are all quilters, many of us also bring knitting, embroidery, or other needlework. It's always a treat to see what everyone else is working on. We stitch and chat from one to three then have dessert prepared by our hostess - it's always something delicious!

I took my camera intending to take photos of our group but completely forgot until it was time to leave at four. So, the only photos I took were of the spring flowers blooming by the front door. Those of us in Estes, are envious of our lower altitude friends because spring comes much earlier at 5000 ft. elevation than 8000 ft. elevation. No flowers blooming here yet, unless they are indoors. I am lusting after blooming flowers which I won't be able to plant until June 10 (our last official frost date.) I'll have to be content with plant catalogs and photos of my deck garden from years past but it's hard to wait.

Winter Picnic

One of my favorite things to do on a sunny winter day is to take a picnic to Sprague Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. This was a perfect day for it so we packed some sandwiches, chips, fruit and cookies, picked up Mom and set out for the park. It was gorgeous and we found several others there picnicking, snowshoeing, skiing or hiking. Most of the picnic tables still had snow but we found one in the sun that was clear and we set up our humble feast. Immediately, a Steller's Jay and a Gray Jay came to beg. The Gray Jay was clearer the bolder of the two and flew right down to the table to steal a bite. Sprague Lake was covered with ice and snow. Here are a few photos.

Elk in Residence

I looked out my bedroom window a few minutes ago and saw snow lightly falling on a congregation of elk (cows and a few young bulls.) They are nibbling on anything and everything including grass, bushes and trees. It's a herd of about one hundred. Elk viewing draws thousands of tourists to our little mountain town of Estes Park and to Rocky Mountain National Park, especially during the summer and autumn. The most spectacular elk event is the "rut" (elk mating season) which takes place during September and October. We don't have to go farther than our porch to see the antics of these huge animals. They can put on quite a good show right in our yard. Many nights we've been awakened by the loud, frequent and intense bugling of the huge bulls. It's an eerie and unmistakable sound.


This young elk was born last spring and will stay with it's mother and her herd for at least a year.


A little rest after lunch


The two horses in our neighbors' corral have frequent elk visitors hoping to snack on their hay - it's in that fenced enclosure with the blue tarp covering it.


While I was photographing the elk, a deer wandered by.

Bluebird Watch

Beginning March 1, I always start watching for the first mountain bluebird of the year. My sweet sister gave me a bluebird nesting box several years ago and it has held a bluebird family every year since. The house is rather faded and weathered. It is sitting in an open area of our yard mounted on a post, wearing a cap of snow (melted yesterday afternoon) and waiting for a bluebird couple to claim it for the season. The return of the bluebirds marks the beginning of spring for me. Below is the guy I'm waiting for. Isn't he handsome!