Mesa Verde

 Mesa Verde has been on my bucket list for a few years.

When I was scheduled to record a DVD in Loveland, Colorado in early May, 

it seemed like a perfect opportunity to add some travel to the itinerary.

Mesa Verde is in the south west corner of Colorado, so we had over 300 miles to travel 

to get here after the taping was done.

The first look surprised me.  Above is the entrance to the park.

 It is a pretty long climb up to the top of the mesa, where the cliff dwellings are

tucked into the ledges. 

 The valley below looks like a rich agricultural area.

We learned this valley was farmed extensively 1000 years ago when 

the cliff dwellings were inhabited, and people also farmed on the

top of the plateau.  Apparently, at it's peak, about 5000 people were thought to 

inhabit the mesa.

 

Here's the view from the top - looking south. We were on the lookout for some of those 

cliff dwellings, which are scattered all around - there are many of them here.

Mail Art Project Ninety Two

"Abstract II"

Hand painted cotton.  This fabric was painted by my small art quilt group - WAV.  We each had a color and a paintbrush and walked around the table adding to each area until it was almost all covered in paint.  When it was dry, we each took a piece of the fabric.  I used mine to create a series of postcards.

This week's quote:

"I have not failed.  I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

-Thomas Alva Edison-

1847 - 1931

Foot Square #25

Hand dyed, screen printed, block printed, and the red is also printed with an onion sliced lengthwise.  I love onion prints!  The onion is sliced and left out to dry out overnight so the rings separate and give more definition to the print.

The Chinese writing says: "Montana".

My Beautiful Iris Garden

 

The iris above is called "Local Color".  The iris below is called "Sneezy".

 

The iris above is called "Jigsaw".

The iris below is called "Ancient Echoes"

This iris is called "Godsend".

Beautiful Iris

  

The iris above is called "Peach Royale".  The iris below is called "Ride the Tiger"

 

The iris above is called "Sneezy".  I don't know what the one below is called.

My Iris Garden 2012

 

The iris above is called "Circus Dancer".  The iris below is called "Circus World".

 

The iris above is called "Just for Fun".  I don't know what (or if) the iris below has a name.

This iris is called "Swingtown".

My Iris Bloom

I am slowly converting my yard to an expansive iris bed.

These flowers are one of my favorites. 

Furthermore, this is a flowering plant that is well suited to the environment here.

They do not require much water and the deer do not eat them 

(usually  - although it has happened at my house).

 

The iris above is called "Ace".

 

The iris above is called "Daughter of Stars" and the iris below is called "Gladys Austin" .

Mountain Sheep on Sylvan Pass

 We took all these pictures out the window of our car as we drove the highway on Sylvan Pass between Yellowstone Park and Cody, Wyoming.

Mail Art Project Week Ninety One

"Leonardo Meets Michelle"

The fabric is screen printed with a Thermofax screen created by my daughter, Michelle - while she was a student in the Commercial Photography department at Northwest Wyoming College.  Then, I screen printed over it with the famous drawing by Leonardo diVinci.

Today's quote:

"Reader, suppose you were an idiot.

And suppose you were a member of congress.

But I repeat myself."

-Mark Twain-

Foot Square #24

 Here we have this week's Foot Square.  It began as this lovely hand dyed fabric below:

 Here it is after block printing (below).  I had to crop it significantly to get the 12" square.

Here is a picture of the back before I added the binding.

Sylvan Pass

 Our route through Yellowstone and toward home took us through Sylvan Pass.

 This scenic drive was made even more interesting by the areas exposed by the forest fire.

 As you can see from these pictures, the views were spectacular.

 

We were fortunate to come across a large group of mountain sheep near the highway.

I am guessing there were about 7 of them hanging on the hillside together.

We got some good pictures of them - these were taken out the window of the car.

Yellowstone - Burned Trees in the Snow

 As we headed out of the Yellowstone Lake basin, the road passed through a large area of burned forest.

 I am really not sure when this area burned.  I spent some time researching online, but could not really come up with a date  - or even a year.  I think this area burned within the past 5 years, though.

 I just loved the shadows these burned up tree trunks created on the snow.

Burned Forest at Yellowstone Lake

 This was the first time I had been back at Yellowstone Lake since the forest fires raged in this part of the park.

 It makes a dramatic scene - the burned trees with the lake and mountains in the background.

The hillside (above) has been burned and the trees look dramatic against the snow.  The ice is breaking up on the lake in the foreground.