Summer Project

It is finished and it is green.

Across the prairie

It is an 8 hour trip and carves an "S" right through the middle of Wyoming. The entire state is lush with bright green grass, purple and yellow flowers, and the ever-presant sage. All of the normally dry gullies have running water, the rivers are full and Glendo Reservoir is higher than we have ever seen it; the trees are flooded. The antelope play in belly-deep grass.

On the way home we stopped at a new restaurant in Casper. Actually, it is an old restaurant, Sandford's Bar and Grill, with a new location. So Sad! They open tomorrow, bummer.

The weekend was fabulous; family, food, and fun. We celebrated a birthday, BBQed ribs and brisket, watched our kids play an indoor soccor game, played in the park with grandsons, had a massage, worshiped with Discovery church, went out for sushi, flew a kite, and played Scrabble.

My back responded to the car ride and I have a chiropractor appointment tomorrow.

Face of Stone

We have some interesting rock formations near us. The top of this cliff juts out in such a way that it looks like the profile of Abraham Lincoln. I am sure the rock was around long before anyone knew who he was, I wonder who it looked like then. Can you see him?







Move up closer.





























Right in the center of the photo.

I am stumped

I had a link to a story in my previous blog. When I click on "story" I get an error message. I have been trying to fix this. When I edit that post, I highlight "story" and click the link button. I had coppied the URL for the site I wanted, inserted it appropriately and published the post. When I go to my blog and click on "story" the URL I want to go to is added to my Blogger URL already in my window and that gives me a faulty address. So instead of this:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/FRRROZEN-HOT-CHOCOLATE-SERENDIPITYS-BEST-KEPT-SECRET-109560
I get this:
http://www.blogger.com/http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/FRRROZEN-HOT-CHOCOLATE-SERENDIPITYS-BEST-KEPT-SECRET-109560/
Anyone have this problem?...........Jason,...................CJ

A New Favorite

A blogger I was reading mentioned having Frozen Hot Chocolate when they visited New York City. I was hooked and had to find out more, isn't that what Google is all about.
It was easy to find and came with a story. We tried it, and it is wonderful, we whipped up a batch for friends and family, and they agree. Now it is time to share it with you. Give it a try and tell me what chocolate you used.
Now, people are suggesting other additions; coffee, strawberries, raspberry flavoring.
Ahhhh summer is just beginning, I can try them all.

Frozen Hot Chocolate
Ingredients
6 half-ounce pieces of a variety of your favorite chocolates (We tried it with Hersheys milk chocolate)
2 teaspoons storebought hot chocolate mix
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar (Splenda works, or it doesn't need to be sweetened at all)
1 1/2 cups milk
3 cups ice
Whipped cream (didn't put the garnish on it and it seemed to be fantastic anyway)
Chocolate shavings

Preparation
Chop the chocolate into small pieces and place it in the top of a double boiler over simmering water, stirring occasionally until melted.
Add the cocoa and sugar, stirring constantly until thoroughly blended. Remove from heat and slowly add 1/2 cup of the milk and stir until smooth. Cool to room temperature.
In a blender place the remaining cup of milk, the room temperature chocolate mixture, and the ice.
Blend on high speed until smooth and the consistency of a frozen daiquiri (or a Smoothie). Pour into a giant goblet and top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. Enjoy with a spoon or a straw. . . .or both!

Yellowstone Harmony in Utah

Last weekend our chorus traveled to Salt Lake City to compete in the Region 8 Sweet Adenine contest. We were the smallest and newest chorus there.

We sang our two songs on stage in Abravanel hall. We were costumed as hobos and sang Me and My Shadow and Side by Side.

We had a great time. Saturday night after the contest and the afterglow we hosted a glimmer. Several quartets came by the suite to sing a couple songs.

Now I Need Ham

We have been buying eggs locally and I usually have a choice between brown or white. Today they said the only ones left were green. They are a very delicate blue-green, almost like they have been colored for Easter.
Have you ever eaten green eggs?

Sundog in the Clouds

This little rainbow piece can be called a sundog. Over the last few weeks I have seen several of them in the East, This is the only one I have seen over Heart Mountain. This one was in February.

Last rays of daylight

In February, the sun goes down directly behind Heart Mountain. I captured the last rays followed by evening's golden glow.

I do not keep up with current fashion. I mostly dress in jeans and t-shirts. Though I do own some nice dresses and jackets, usually dressing up means nicer jeans and t-shirt, maybe a vest. That was my attire recently as we waited for a connecting flight. We sat at the airport and watched people go by. My observation is that the "now" color is black or dark blue with a little bit of dark red thrown in. My shirt was a golden yellow that matched a hand-made vest; the only other person wearing that color was a Chinese Buddhist monk searching for his boarding gate.

Nope! I definately don't keep up with current fashion.

Venus de Jo-jo

Jo-jo helped me put a bustle in a wedding dress last week. This is the first time she has lended a hand. Well…Jo-jo has no arms so I guess she lended a body. Jo-jo is an adjustable dress form given to me by a friend nearly a year ago. She stood guard in the den for a long time. It took a while to get used to walking past the door and glimpsing a life-size human figure and wondering who was lurking there.

Dress forms help sewing enthusiasts fit garments to themselves or in this case hold the outfit so that it can be adjusted. Dressmakers have creatively used duct tape to make body doubles when they do a lot of sewing for themselves. I sew for a variety of shapes and sizes so I find the armless Jo-jo to be quite handy.

Pony up! (dumpster diving has its reward)

When the needed repairs are done on my refurbished pony he will look something like this. Of course I will have a different child holding the reigns, probably not a girl and not wearing a rainbow t-shirt





Here is a front view ridden by attitude dude, "Hup, go pony, let's get outta here before Smokey Bear wants his hat back."

I rescued a PONY!

I found him in the alley this morning.
He needs to be patched up a bit, but I am keeping him.
If I hadn't rescued him he would have been gone by noon!
Doesn't he look like fun!