Solo—A Star Wars Movie

We saw Solo today and I enjoyed it.  It’s a pretty good space western with good guys and bad guys and the proverbial dilemma.  I’m not quite sure why it has been panned but it might be because the movie does not break any new “Star Wars ground.” In the Star Wars Saga this movie fits in somewhere between movies 3 and 4. It tells the begats of Han Solo and Chewbacca. Along the way there’s lots of action and even a story line. Unlike a prequel from a few years ago, when I said that movie was a group of actors looking for a plot. There’s a plot!

 

A number of the scenes remind me of scenes in other movies...such as the train robbery from “Firefly,” an engine boost from “Spaceballs,” a walk in a desert landscape from “Dune” or “Spaceballs”  or previous “Star Wars” movies, and the character Lady Promixa looked like one of the monsters from “Buffy The Vampire Slayer.” There were several times when I felt like I had seen the scene somewhere else and my mind wandered trying to find where.

Of course, there is the “bar scene” filled with many otherworldly beings that we have come to expect in any Star Wars movie. The only thing wrong with the bar scene was it’s far too short...I wanted to see more. 

Don’t expect any great addition to Star Wars lore with this movie. Do expect a lot of action, some interesting characters all filmed in an interesting corner of some galaxy where there’s not much sunshine but a lot of mud.

Teton Redux

45 years ago I saw these mountains for the first time, and it was love at first sight. Since then I’ve seen the mountains many times and I’ve taken thousands of pictures of them. The Grand Tetons are majestic giants that fill my day with beauty.

   

A relatively short mountain range in the Rockies...only 15 miles long, it is nonetheless tall. The mountains jut 7000 feet from the valley floor.

Ansel Adams photographed them in Black and White—so I tried that too.

No matter the color — the Tetons just make my eyes happy.

Memorial Day

Lest we forget...the price of freedom is high

 Brothers, Fathers, Sisters, Mothers, Friends, Lovers...

They touch the lives of all of us...as 

everyone pays the price for freedom.

 

A day of remembrance for those who served and gave their lives 

A day of thanks for those who served and returned

Let Freedom Ring!

   

One More

My latest blanket for Project Linus

Springtime in the Rockies

Today I was marveling at the beautiful blossoms...yet there is snow on the mountains.

The tree is lovely and the aroma was sweet...but it did not show off the distant snow...

...so I enlarged the picture to show off the snow...and that’s when I discovered the bee. 

Springtime in the Rockies comes late.

Red

To go with the “color” theme, here’s a red blanket. I made this blanket while we were cruising around Australia...

And here’s the mommy of the baby that will be born soon. She loved it!

 

Yellow

It’s a colorful time of year. Not only are there white blossoms, there are yellow dandelions. 

Yes...those are dandelions...thousands of dandelions. Right now, the fields are covered in dandelions.

Some people consider dandelions a nuisance, but they are pretty!

 

White

There’s a short time each year when the trees turn white. It’s called White Day (and it’s not a rascist comment). It’s quite simple, for some reason all the berry bushes bloom at the same time, and they all have pretty white flowers.

The white blossoms last only a few hours...and then they are gone. 

The aspens have white bark which is highlighted by the white blossoms. The garden looks bright.

 

 

Rest Home

While there is no rest for us...the deer are having a grand time. At one point today, I counted 8 lounging in the front and back yards. 

This pretty lady still has her shaggy winter fur. Not to far away was her yearling.

 

The deer can rest here all they want...l love watching them. 

On The Road Again

It's time to be on the open road. But before we go...  

...one poppy blooms. We've been trying to grow poppies for years and years. 

This is the first bloom....that's oretty exciting.

And before the poppy...twilght at the pond. Isn't the sky a beautiful color?

Lawnmowers

The following are not your typical push mower...these all have four wheel drive.

An idyllic setting for a lawnmower....              

Some mowers have a nearby pond ...

Some have a mountain view, but they seem to be too busy mowing to look at it?

Another variety of lawnmower

And lastly, the mulish type of lawnmower. 

 Whatever the variety, these lawnmowers are fun to watch!

 

Critters

It was a banner morning to see critters today. I walked outside and saw the hen turkey that’s been hanging around. Of course she was too fast for me to take a picture of her. I walked a bit more and saw the illusive new calf which has been hidden by it’s mother

 

It was sitting by a tree, but it’s mother was in the background eyeing me all the time.

           

She was not happy that I was nearby annoying her baby. She made a very slight move, and soon the baby got up and started walking toward her.  When the baby got close, momma mooed really loud and headed in the opposite direction.          

They ended up on the other side of the pond, where I could not bother the them. 

Momma is very protective, as she needs to be. The calf is 2.5 days old.

The last set of critters were deer. Deer are not common in my neck of the woods as I’ve seen less than a handful of deer in all the years I’ve lived here. If you stretch out this picture, you will see 2 deer in the background. I’m wondering what brought them into our vicinity. I hope there’s not a problem? 

 

Butterfly

As you know, I took a 10 day vacation with my niece and a friend, Debbie. Debbie likes butterflies and she likes handwork. Since I crochet, I thought it would be fun to crochet a butterfly for Debbie. I looked at hundreds of butterfly patterns, and then I found a winner on Pinterest. It took me 3 evenings to crochet the butterfly doily. I blocked it last night. The finished doily is 14” x 16.5”.

The next step was making a white pillow to show off the doily, — I designed the pillow this morning and ...

This afternoon, I completed the project. It’s a one of a kind butterfly pillow. It came out better than I thought it would.

 I really want to see Debbie’s face when I give the pillow to her. I think she will love it!

 

 

Flowers

It’s a delight to see all the flowers!

The oleanders are in full bloom. 

 

As are the Matilija Poppy, lantana, rock rose, myaporum — others too. 

A fleeting burst of beauty.

 

Space

Yesterday, one of the neighborhood cows gave birth to a tiny black calf. I was hunting all day trying to find the calf, but momma is protecting the baby well. 

If you look very carefully, you will see a smidge of black...that’s the calf! Maybe tomorrow I’ll get a chance to see the baby.

We spent 10 days in NYC, WDC and Williamsburg. The first two cities have no open space, while there is some in Williamsburg. Still, looking at all this space and open land, without houses, apartments, traffic, sirens, loud horns, and a billion of your closest friends, is something remarkable. 

The roses are blooming and they are magnificent! Given this and so much more, I’m glad to be on the Pacific Coast and not the Atlantic Coast!

 

On Vacation—Part 3

 

Our next stop was Jamestown which is about 10 miles from Williamsburg. Jamestown was colonized in 1607 when several hundred settlers arrived from England in 3 small ships. The purpose of the settlement was to make money for the “company” that sent them over. Making money in tidewater Virginia in 1607 was not easy. The first money making venture was blowing glass. The glass making enterprise did not work. (Interesting factoid: today the glassblowing venture is turning a profit)

This is map of the original settlement along the James River. There was a church and living quarters and not much else.         

We first visited Jamestown in 1973, and we were told the “story” of the settlement. Now 40 years later, the story has changed as they’ve disovered many artifacts, building sites, and skeletons. The scientists and historians have been able to identify many of the skeletons and tell their story of hardship and hope. In the end, the colony did survive and it even made a profit by growing tobacco! 

If you visit Jamestown today, look at the Monument, take a ranger led hike thru the settlement then visit the museum to learn about the diggings that are on-going. Finish your visit with the glass blowing exhibit where you have a chance to buy a piece of Colonial American history. Jamestown is very interesting.

 

 

On Vacation—Part 2

From Washington, DC we took the train to Williamsburg, VA. If you have not been on AmTrak for awhile, think about taking an American train. While the WDC train was a little bit late, we made up the time and arrived in Williamsburg in a little over 2 hours. We arrived at our destination on time, but the taxis were gone. No problem, the station master gave us a ride to our hotel. Gotta love Amtrak!

 

The next morning we were greeted with flowers. The azaleas and dogwood were in full bloom. What a treat.

The College of William and Mary had beautiful flowers too.

We walked all over colonial Williamsburg enjoying the ancient buildings and

...the costumed folks who re-created individuals who had lived in Williamsburg in 1699-1710. 

We loved the old town...and the next day we went to Jamestown.

 

On Vacation

I had a whirlwind vacation last week—nine days in New York City, Washington, DC and Williamsburg, VA. We visited a lot of places and saw a lot of stuff and had a lot of fun. 

The new World Trade Center and Memorials to 9/11 were on the list. Looking at the destruction caused by the 9/11 terrorist attacks was hard to comprehend              

 

 

This is the bell that is rung at the 9/11 Memorial. It stands at Trinity Church (the oldest church in NY) and it’s made by the same maker of the Liberty Bell. 

From NYC we went to WDC. This is the National Cathedral—the rainbow of color comes from all the stained glass windows.

Of course we saw a lot of Monuments like the Lincoln...and the VietNam

The reflections of living folks in the cold black granite are a sad reminder of the lives we lost forever. 

There were not many dry eyes at this memorial.

The White House...

 

Our Capital...and so much more (I’ll post more pictures later).

The next stop on the trip was Williamsburg, VA...a short 2.5 hour train ride away.