Just a grand-pup ( and some bees)

 

 I already shared the Unitarian deer.

My son plays almost daily with my grand-pup, Zora. He throws a ball, she brings it back, over and over again.

Tai with Zora on a back packing  camping trip.

She's happily resting on the remains of her  doll.

And speaking of dolls...

My friend Teresa made sure I'd remember Black Mountain with this little stuffie. "You've got a friend in Black Mountain NC"  Of course the bookshelf didn't remain  empty for long.

I just saw a wonderful mural (among several) by The Good of the Hive. Here's the video.

This beautiful mural is part of Matt Willey's The Good of the Hive mural project: hand painting 50,000 honey bees—the number in a healthy hive—in murals and installations around the world. Located on the former Honey & the Hive building in Weaverville, this beautiful mural was painted in 2016 and still remains on the building (as of Sept 2025 Google Maps).

This mural became a loving tribute to Honey & the Hive founder Sarah McKinney, who sadly passed in 2020.

The mural can be found at 23 Merrimon Ave/US-19 Business.

Sharing with Saturday's Critters

On the Road - almost done!

 What's for Sepia Saturday this week? And just look at all these skies...so sharing with Skywatch Friday!

In my life, I have some photos that need sharing...but they aren't quite sepia yet.

Along the highways as we traveled from Black Mountain NC to Cortez CO. Here's a feature of Memphis TN.

Going over the Mississippi. I kind of missed Little Rock. Perhaps that was where the road was almost the worst. I think Memphis won that prize.

Three nights in similar configurations. Second night in Fort Smith AK.

Webbers Falls OK

Webbers Falls OK. At the truck stop, I saw this strange military truck.

Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City 

Oklahoma City OK. An interesting vehicle, a command center truck for the US Marines.

Calumet OK

Erick OK. Last stop in Oklahoma. 

We stopped every 2 hours for gas and restroom breaks. It meant taking more time, but kept us sane. And this is where we lost the credit card (and noticed it within 2 hours). No charges were made, but ordering a new one meant switching to using another bank card the rest of the trip. (I moved funds from the lost card account to the second one that evening!)

A short hop across the panhandle of Texas.

Adrian TX

Yes there's more. The desert country will be next week!

Sepia Saturday offers this interesting view...

I have no idea what's going on, but am reminded somehow of Noah's Ark.

Last Sunday at the Animas River

 

Several white water rafts went by, with the steering person directing the raft across the river to the right channel. Flow of river is directly right to left here, but some shoals are near the far bank. My  daughter-in-law said earlier in the week the water had been orange from the  upstream mud and rain.

In the past mines would have their runoff going into the river, but environmentalists have restricted them to using pools for the toxic mining leavings.

My apartment building is right under the yellow arrow pointing at the park. It's very convenient!

 I already introduced you to the Rotary Park on the Animas River. These photos were all taken there.

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Tuesday morning I shopped in three different stores before 11. I had to leave the lamp shade and the two folding chairs, and the two gallons of distilled water in the car for later pack-ups to bring upstairs in my little rolling cart (on the elevator then down the long hall). I got all the groceries from Walmart and Natural Grocery in it however! 

Goodwill provided two used folding chairs with padded seats at a nice low cost. I should have waited to get the lamp shade there, rather than Walmart...but it is done.

I'm so thrilled the stores all had grocery carts to carry my oxygen generator (5 pounds) and my purse (it balances out pretty well) and then can lean on the cart.  Fortunately at 8 am Walmart was pretty deserted, so my slow wandering didn’t cause many people worries. Actually I saw two other people aimlessly wandering without carts.!

I was sad to look out my window at 1:30 to see the haze of smoke from  fire south of Pagosa Springs, about 65 miles east of Durango. It cleared by 5 when I next peaked through the blinds. I can’t open the blinds till after sunset, being a west facing apartment. And the 100 degrees on the other side of the glass also makes it a good idea to have another barrier. But being up in the mountains the nights cool down to 58 sometime before dawn. 

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"It goes without saying that you should never have more children than you have car windows." Erma Bombeck

water lillies. oil on canvas...frank depietro...american painter....landenberg..pennsylvania...born 1975

--------Sharing with Thankful Thursday

Rotary Park on the Animas River

 

Some boulders show a way to get down to the river, if I were maybe 15.

Fie on iPhone's plant identification! Fie! I'm pretty sure this is a form of Black Locust. One identifer wanted it to be Poplar or Cottonwood. They may be around here, but those are sure the wrong leaves!

And Rocky Mountain NPR just posted this...about this very park!

"DURANGO, Colo. — A green plant along the Animas River Trail caught Catherine Grillos’ attention. She bent down, pulled several leaves from the ground and held them up excitedly.

“Ha, there’s burdock over here,” Grillos said. “These are going to make the best pesto.”

Grillos, a forager and chef, sees ingredients where many people see weeds. She gathers plants around Durango and turns them into drinks, salads, crackers, ice cream and pesto.

A 2018 field guide by self-sufficiency author Caleb Warnock catalogs 437 edible wild plants across the Rocky Mountain West, including berries, roots, nuts, greens, flowers and seeds. The guide covers eight states, including Colorado and New Mexico.

At Rotary Park, Grillos pointed out plantain, clover and dandelions growing within a few feet of one another.

“Just where I’m sitting now, all this food is available,” she said. “And it’s free.”

Rotary Park is part of Durango’s Organically Managed Parks Program. The city maintains the park using organic fertilizers and herbicides instead of synthetic chemicals."

I admit to not planning to forage, but this is the fist park I've visited, so I love that it's organically sustained.

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Especially for AC!