Category Archives: Photos-Flowers

At Home, Photos-Flowers, Poetry

~Poem- A flower blooms…

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Loveland, CO, September 17, 2018

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a flower blooms

one final burst of color

saying goodbye to summer

in late September

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Maybe not, is this the last one?

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~I have several pots of flowers in the yard and they keep producing new blooms; hopefully, until the first frost arrives. Autumn, is just around the corner.

“No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace as I have seen in one autumnal face.”
― John Donne

“Autumn…the year’s last, loveliest smile.”
― John Howard Bryant

At Home, Photos-Flowers, Photos-Landscapes

~Cloudy and Rainy Colorado-a walk…

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~July 28, 2018, Loveland, Colorado, Devil’s Backbone.

[See information here Backbone. You can view the website to see what it looks like when the sun is shining.]

Howard and I decided to take a walk this morning after breakfast. We knew the day was going to be cloudy with a chance of rain, but we headed out anyway. It has been raining in Loveland almost everyday, which is usual but welcome. Our high temperature today was forecast to be 77 degrees. Nice, cool!

Howard purchased a new camera and he wanted to try it out. It is the new Sony RX100 VI. It is very small, but powerful. I am so excited that he has once again become interested in taking photos.

I had my Cannon 70D with me and took a few photos. I just wish we would have had a little sun to show off our normally clear, blue skies.

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A tiny purple flower.
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Howard trying out the Sony.
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Howard taking a photo of me taking a photo of him.
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The Devil’s Backbone nature area.
Pretty yellow flowers.
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Perhaps a blue bird house.
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Just to the east and outside the boundary of the nature area is a subdivision, about eleven, big, beautiful homes sit back behind this hill. They get to enjoy the views all the time.

Our house sits to the east, about two miles down highway 34, just over the ridge you see above.

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Another purple flower.
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Part of the Devil’s Backbone on the left.
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A short walk from the car to the trail.
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Walking along.
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Howard’s photo, trying out the Sony.
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The Backbone
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Howard along the trail.
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Some of the trail is rocky. Need to be very careful of rattlesnakes in this area.
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More flowers.

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We didn’t get to walk very far, because it started to rain and thunder so we headed to the car. People were passing us heading up the trail even though it was starting to rain. Perhaps they were tourist and didn’t know any better. Lots of open space, right at 5,000 feet, rain and thunder – hmmm.

The header photo was taken during a previous visit to this area.

Until next time…

On The Road, Photos-Birds, Photos-Flowers, Photos-Landscapes, Uncategorized

~Trying to establish a winter travel routine…

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Dead Horse Ranch State Park, Cottonwood, AZ, October, 2017

Dead Horse Ranch got its peculiar name in the late 1940’s from its previous owners, the Ireys family from Minnesota. They were looking to buy a ranch and on their tour they discovered a large dead horse lying by the road outside of the property. After two days of viewing ranches, Mr. Ireys asked the kids which ranch they liked the best, and they all agreed “the one with the dead horse, dad!”. Acquired in 1973 by AZ State Parks, the Ireys family made it a condition of the sale that the park retain the name Dead Horse Ranch.

We traveled from the Grand Canyon to Cottonwood, AZ staying one week at Dead Horse Ranch State Park. We have been here many times, but it has been several years since our last visit. We throughly enjoy our stay.

Hiking, mountain biking, fishing, horseback riding are just some of the activities one can enjoy at DHRSP.

After an arduous time getting ready to leave home, and our tourist mode adventure at the Grand Canyon,  we were ready to settle into a more relaxing routine.

Howard worked on a few coach maintenance items, setup an antenna and operated his ham radio, and he even got to jog a few times. I enjoyed hiking, birding and photographing this lovely area.

~Mornings:

`Hiking around the Lagoons…

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Still Waters

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Looking through the reeds.

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Relaxing on a log.

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A leisurely swim.

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Sunlight through the reeds.

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A Cloud Sulphur

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`Walking a rocky trail…

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Miles of trails for hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding.

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The Verde River

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A birder along the trail.

~In between – Touring and Eating:

Old Town Cottonwood seems like it has come back to life since our last visit. Many of the old buildings have been renovated and are now occupied by beer and wine tastings shops, antiques stores, galleries and more.

There are also several new restaurants. We ate at the Tavern Grill, enjoyed sitting outside on the covered patio, and the food was very good!

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One of those Micro Brews was mine!
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Outside Patio at the Tavern Grill

If you like Mexican, you should try Pepe’s Cafe. I haven’t had Mexican food this good in a long time. It was Great!

One of our favorite places to eat in Cottonwood is Randall’s; they have been there a long time and the food is very good. Friday we enjoyed Fish Friday – our fav Catfish!

 

~Evenings:

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Waxing Moon

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Rambling Rose at Sunset, Site 76 (notice Howard’s ham antenna)

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The Gambel’s quail (Callipepla gambelii) is a small ground-dwelling bird in the New World quail family. It inhabits the desert regions of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Texas, and Sonora; also New Mexico-border Chihuahua and the Colorado River region of Baja California.

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Female Gambel Quail looking for a last meal.

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Male

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`A Sunset walk along a Mesa:

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Out the door of the coach and up a hill.

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Sunset

 

~Life is Good~

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My best guy and girl!