More summer fun w/Hiking, Crafting and Cooking

 Summer is sliding on by pretty quickly. We've been out here in the Poudre River Canyon for 2½ months now and it won't be all that long before we are packing up to head back home to FL. 

It has been a really nice summer with quite cooperative weather; not too many hot days and enough rain to keep the grasses and wildflowers green and happy.  Some years with scarce rainfall the canyon terrain gets dried out and turns brownish golden. It certainly makes for a prettier drive into town when it's green, the rock formations stand out more and look more dramatic.

So far on our drives through the canyon we've seen deer (a group of 4) and big horn sheep (group of 4). It's always startling to come around a corner and there they are - yikes! Many times oncoming traffic will flash their headlights in warning, super helpful, nobody needs any drama!

Big Horn Sheep, ewe's or juveniles, heading back
out of the canyon. There were 4 in this group.

I've been mentioning the rabbits and tiny bunnies out and about, and how they've been nibbling. They have been good bunnies lately working on the dandelions and clover in the yard and leaving my flowers alone.

Headed over to a sprinkler puddle for a drink.

It seems I've gotten the "beading" bug and have been enjoying it very much. One thing I've been working on is using armature wire to sculpt flowers into which I add beading. They come out so cute, and look much better in person where you can see the sparkle & twinkling from the various colored crystal beads.

Another project (or 2) has been working with the chicken wire and bead suncatchers. I made one using a thrift store picture frame and enjoyed the process very much, however the results seemed a little stilted for me. I decided to try a few more "free-form" attempts using reclaimed deadfall branches. Here's how one such effort turned out, I like it a lot. Again, the missing sparkle factor really makes it look flat, but it's not, it's pretty lively when hanging outside with sunlight and breezes blowing.

This branch is only about 8" across, so not a huge
commitment in time spent or materials used.

As for outside activities, we went for another hike in Dadd Gulch the other day, which was a great leg-stretcher. Sometimes it seems like the hardest part is coming out of the gulch and walking down to the car parking area. If you zoom in on this pic you can see our car wa-a-y down there, lol.

It's that slightly downhill stuff that gives my hips fits. Here are a few more shots from the hike.

I get the Boss to lead the way.

I was going to try for a "wild berry" collage shot but only saw these bright red berries and didn't dare venture into the brush looking for others, can you say bears?

And some pretty purples..

I've had some nice chats with a few of my "sometime" residents. There are some really nice people in the world. I am doing a bit of crafting with one neighbor and another is from my hometown area of Rochester, NY.

Not a lot of cooking photos taken lately. I seem to get caught up in the process, then eating the results before I remember I need to take a shot of it.  One I did get was this nice-sized pan of eggplant parm I baked in the Ninja Foodi. It made 4, 2-person servings for us and 2 for my neighbor, (she takes my overage which is so nice!).

Check it out - I've already started to slice it, LOL!

One final thing, we like some of the regional bread offerings and miss them when we go back to Florida. The 2 that come to mind is Izzio's Sourdough bread (San Francisco style), and Rustik's *big* half loafs of seeds/grains. So big we always split it (how else are you going to get it into the toaster?, 😁).

Well, that's it for now. Thanks for dropping by and come again. 

A lunch trip to Dowdy Lake and a hike

A very good week was had by all, what with a picnic lunch up at Dowdy Lake to start things off and a day or so later a nice hike up the trail at Dadd Gulch. The weather has been good, but we do have serious haze over the land. No smoky smell but blue skies are non-existent right now. A view along the way, pretty, but prettier with a blue sky.

Along the way we also had to stop for these beauties, (I love any horses!). It was a fairly big herd of maybe a dozen+, including 3 foals. Some taking advantage of the shade from the trees, and some grazing. I always go to the fence line and "cluck", and use sweet, baby talk to try to engage them for their photoshoot, lol. It was pretty hot, so I only got a few raised heads and glances.

A few of the "shade seekers", including 2 of the foals.

Of the other group, I did get the attention of a foal who came up to visit with me at the fence. Poor thing was somewhat fly-bitten. I always hate that for the critters that live outdoors.

I gave a small head scratch but that's about the size of it.
Check out how hazy it is, you can barely see the mountains.

Dowdy Lakes is north of us, near Red Feather Lakes, not far as the crow flies but the winding dirt road slows things down. It's a popular campground and day use fee area ($9). It's a fairly large area with lots of picnic tables along the shoreline. A favorite of the picnicking crowd and people fishing. Also, always lots of kayakers and paddleboarders around.

We picked our spot and tucked into our grilled chicken sandwiches while checking out the lake and watching the ground squirrels (?). There were plenty of them around, some looking a lot like chipmunks and some larger and more like prairie dogs (?).

The Boss looks out onto the scene - so, so hazy 😢

Down at the other end of the lake/reservoir.

Most of the wildflowers these days tend to be either purples or yellows. I don't mind but I am sorry I missed out on wild columbines I've seen before up at Dadd Gulch. 

One of our favorite trails is Dadd Gulch. It's close by, mostly in the shade for the majority of it, there are wildflowers, and streams to be forded and cool rock formations. Plus you are in a gulch with canyon walls on both sides.

At least I didn't miss out on the Black-eyed Susan's.

A view of the gulch walls up above. The creeks didn't have a lot of water running, a mild winter with less of a snow pack perhaps.

Looking up from the trail at Dadd Gulch

Not much else going on except good living, and good eating. I made yet another batch of the blonde brownies, with lots of coconut, pecans, butterscotch chips and semi-sweet chocolate chips. I cut the 9x13 pan into tiny pieces; somewhere around 64 is what I think I got out of it. The pieces are tiny because these brownies have 1½ sticks of butter in them!

Unfortunately I forgot to take any pics. That's all I've got for you but thanks for dropping by for a visit.

Dadd Gulch and Food Delights

 A new day and a new week. The Boss took off up to Dadd Gulch to have a nice hike while I stayed back to defrost the fridge/freezer in preparation for tomorrow's trip into town for a food shop - a win-win in my opinion.

The Dadd Gulch hike like most trail hikes, can be long and strenuous or it can be as short and meandering as you like. He chose long and strenuous to start with but later opted to switch it back to a pleasant meander back down as the temps rose higher and higher.  Here a few shots from his hike.

This gulch is not all that far off the road but is sandwiched
in between the sides of the gulch so it seems quite secluded.

A rather narrow walking path winds along the route

He took a flower shot for me, and I guess these are cone flowers(?)

There are a few nice rock features to observe too, and a great leg-stretcher on a beautiful day.

How about that tree growing on top

Later in the week, after succumbing to the lure of an eggplant during our shop, I used the Ninja Foodie to prepare Eggplant Parmigiana with Italian Sausage. I use the air fryer setting to get the eggplant slices "baked", then bring them back inside to assemble with the sauce. I usually do 2 stacks of 2 slices each. This gives us 2 meals for 2 people, as we split a stack and serve with a nice side of spaghetti.

Assembled and ready to bake.

The finished product, oooey-gooey and delicious - YUM!

 

So easy to make in the Ninja, no propane used and all the heat stays outside.

And finally, here's a couple of new trivets I made up while sitting out in the yard and enjoying the hummingbirds at the feeder.

They're a awful lot of fun to design and stitch up. It keeps my hands busy and that I like!

Thanks for dropping by, and see you the next time.