Raptor

 No, not all raptors are birds...some Raptors are very special Ford pickup trucks.

You can tell a Raptor from a regular 1/2 ton pickup truck because it has a huge F-O-R-D printed across the nose.

Did I tell you that a Raptor is a very fast truck with exhaust pipes the size of an old coffee can. 

If you want to get one of these souped up trucks, you have to order it. 

They come in 4 colors: blue, white, yellow and black. This is one “cool” hot rod truck. 

You don’t buy a Raptor to get good mileage, you buy a Raptor to have fun with your truck!

Last year, 22000 of these beauties were made. I cannot find statistics for other years. 

They are not common, so if you see one, take another look at the truck. 

(The last stats I found...Ford made 700,000 1/2 ton pickups in 2015–roughly 3% of them were Raptors.)

Hearts for Michael

One more heart blanket...this one is for Michael. 

Through the Screened Porch

Unlike Alice in Wonderland, who saw things through the looking glass, I see things through my screened porch. Right now there are juvenile deer hanging out. They are growing their first “big rack” of antlers and they are looking mighty pretty. The problem comes when I leave the screened porch to get a better picture. They run away (as they should) and I cannot get a clear image. So the only pictures I have of my “teenage” deer are through the screen....except for one

This teenager stood by long enough for me to take his photograph before scampering away into the trees.

 

 

Long Ago

 

I saw this once proud wagon on my walk. Can you see past the 

               

... broken and worn wheels...

                 

...the ancient geared brake...

             

...the rusted fittings and tired wood?

Can you see a driver sitting in this seat leading 4 proud horses to market?

The stories this wagon could tell, if only it could. It was a long time ago...or was it?

 

Saturday's Flowers

The wildflowers are still blooming. Goldenrod has shown up, which is usually a late summer flower. The coneflowers are in bloom...you have to look hard to find the tiny flowerets. Next the Sacred Datura or 3-spot lily. In the center is a salsify puffball. They are pretty common this week. The second row starts with asters—the last flower of the summer. I don’t know if this is true this year or not. I saw the first asters on June 15, before summer started. If the “old wife’s tale” is correct, that was a harbinger for an early fall..time will tell. The next is a picture of Shasta daisies and purple daisies and the last picture is of the official state flower of Wyoming—the Indian Paintbrush. 

Mary Mary, how does your garden grow?

With lilies and asters never in a row.

 

You Gotta Have Heart

A few weeks ago, I was looking thru Pinterest for some crocheting ideas and I saw a beautiful blanket with hearts on it. 

I searched all over the web for the pattern and I finally found it...but it was written in Russian. While it was nice to find the pattern, it did not do me any good. The next step involved enlarging one of the hearts and figuring out the pattern. I diligently counted all the stitches and spaces and came up with a paper draft. That was tedious. From there I translated the paper draft into a crochet square.        

After many false starts I finished a “sample” square which served as my pattern. I thought it would be downhill from there on out...but another surprise was in the offing.

       

The blanket was 8 rows from the end, when I ran out of yarn! I let the blanket sit for a few days as now I was frustrated and did not want to start all over again. I went to my local yarn shop (which is a hardware store by the way) and looked for matching yarn, and of course they did not have this particular varigated pattern. I settled for buying white yarn and I tore out all but the bottom three hearts and I started over again.

Finally, the blanket is finished. There are alternating rows of hearts some pink some white...I’m still debating about putting on the fancy border that the sample picture has ... but as right now I don’t really want to work on the blanket.       

I started the project on June 2 and I finished it last night. It rarely takes me that long to make a baby blanket. I don’t have a baby for the blanket yet...but if you know of a baby girl who would like it, let me know and I’ll send it your way.

 

More Wildflowers

 Harebells

 Pink Dianthus (wild carnation) amid Shasta Daisies

 Spanish Bluebells

 

And spotted berries for the deer to sample. 

This Week in Wildflowers

Salsify Puffball...it will soon break into individual "parachutes" and fly away. There will be more salsify next year.

One of many types of thistles. The flowers are pretty but the greenery is tall and "nasty looking"

More thistle...very thorny and prickly.

Mullein is about 3 feet tall. The leaves are felt-like around the center shoot. The flowers on the center column are sticky and attract all sorts of bugs. 

Vetch and flax.

Red Poppy

                 

Colombine

Mustard

Unidentified orange bloom (I visit a large number of wildflower websites, and when they can't find a flower they don't say "I don't know" they say "unidentified")

Unidentified sneezing attack

 

Fireworks

The Idaho Falls fireworks were wonderful. 

It was a great way to spend the 50th anniversary of our first date

Independence Day

 Happy 242nd Birthday United States! 

Today we were supposed to start the celebration off with a parade...we saw folks heading

...for the parade...but we never saw the parade. 

 

This ensemble should have won best “float” with two puppies dressed for the occasion. They sure are cute! Later today we will go to Idaho Falls and witness the best fireworks display west of the Mississippi. Expect some pictures tomorrow.

 

 

 

This Week’s Flowers

Red Clover 

Indian Paintbrush       

Lupine

Arnica

Saxifrage

I don’t know

   

Coneflower

Tall Prairie Grass