Fishing in the rain

The afternoons in the mountains brought rain clouds and thunder and lightning, quite a bit on Saturday. Gary and I decided to walk down the hill to the stream in the meadow and try our luck fishing. The dogs came along, skipping and jumping around.
It began to rain about halfway across the flat land.  Being intrepid fishermen we continued on, as did the rain. Finally the lightning got to us and we returned to the cabin.  No fish this day - they would wait till Sunday, but lots of water - spooked a Barn owl and were shadowed by a pair of deer as we wondered through their territory.
Shoes had to dry out afterwards.

As we left on our way home Monday afternoon, a real good rain storm came along, but I pulled off the road and got this shot of the winding canyon road in the rain. Always wanted to shoot one like this!

Cabin Life

Diana, Murphy and I have been staying at a friend's cabin in the mountains above Fairview, Utah. They've owned the property for over 12 years and have been building the cabin for the last 3 or 4 years.  While not completely finished, It is a great cabin and a wonderful place to stay.
I did some fly fishing and lots of walking, played with dogs and really enjoyed sunsets and some of the rainy weather.  Over the next few days I'll share the best of these with you.
To set the stage, below are a photo of the cabin, a photo of the view from the front deck, and another photo of the cabin from the marshlands down below that you can see from the front decks!  We woke up and went to sleep to Sandhill Cranes talking, watched Harriers hunting, flushed a barn owl and saw a lot of deer.  For a country boy, this was a bit of heaven.
Enjoy!

Veggie Still Life

Wandering through the garden yesterday afternoon, I found a few ready to pick veggies (or fruits in the case of tomatoes). After walking around with them for a few minutes, I thought that a still life with a bit of the setting sunlight might work out. And I was right (or at least I think so!).
The colors and light go well together and it makes a dream-like photo.  FYI, the orange are tomatoes (heirlooms) and the yellow-green is a crookneck squash with leaf still attached.
Lots of possibilities here, but the sun only lasted a few minutes and the entire scene changed.

Floating flowers

I love floating flowers - Diana will say that more should be included, but I am struck by the singularity of the flower. These are backyard flowers, of course.  The Cosmos are coming on very strong - all of them are volunteers from other years. It seems that they are a very hard to get rid of species!

The daylily is that wonderful peach color that warms your heart when you look at it - and you know it would taste heavenly!

Many faces of beauty

The Uintas have many faces of beauty, and one needs to slow down to savor them.  While the wildflowers were not as extravagant as last year, there were many gems to be found. When you toss in the butterflies/moths that pollinate at that altitude, there is much beauty to be seen.

The Moose is Loose!

Murph and I spent a good portion of the day in the Uintas, enjoying the cooler breezes and fragrant smell of the pines and sagebrush. We walk a lot, and this time crossed the stream and followed old logging roads.  Lots of animal sign but nothing showed itself.
But, on the way home, this young bull moose moved at the wrong time and I saw him!  What I didn't realize is that he was sitting down, cause he is so big that he looked like he was standing.  Then I moved about 5 steps off the road and down the hill towards him and he got up quickly. So quickly and he moved forward several feet in a rush and I wondered if I should be heading for the truck door. But he stopped, ate a bit, watched me for awhile, and then took off back into the forest! Jeez, what a huge and beautiful beast!

Sitting down.

Getting up.

Bye-bye

Rise and Shine!

While making coffee this morning, I checked the sky and was rewarded with a rainbow and falling orange colored rain!  What a treat to help me rise and shine!

Garden Harvest

It is that time of year when fruits and veggies begin to ripen and we begin to eat and enjoy the fruits of our earlier labours. Squash are coming out well, a few tomatoes, bush beans, radishes (a bit hot for them), carrots, beets (both red and orange) are a few of what we are getting.  Here's a couple of shots of the harvest.

Hawaiian Memories

Looking through photos from our Hawaii visit in January and saw a couple of shots that I am not sure I ever published. Or if I did I do not remember :-)
I love these - simple, expressive and all with their own story.

Butterfly moment

Butterflies are notoriously hard to capture photos of if you try to chase them around.  We've had this large monarch flitting in and out of the yard this summer, but not stopping much so I was just watching and waiting.
Today he stopped - and what a show he put on. He knew I was there, he spread his wings, turned his body so I could get a shot of the side of the wings, and generally just preened!! When it's right, it's right!

Summertime in the Uinta's

We were fortunate to be able to spend a night at a friend's cabin on the edge of the Uinta's in the middle of aspen and fir. Good food, good talks, and good relaxation.  Murphy and I took an early walk and saw these landscapes.  The cabin is named the "Bear" cabin so it has a number of bear thingies around., The aspen ghoul was on a tree up the road!

Travel scenes

We covered quite a bit of area over the last week or so in the middle part of Utah - you've seen a lot of Boulder scenes in earlier posts; here's a couple from Torrey.  The sandhill cranes were about 2/10 of a mile outside Torrey in a field and the rubber ducky was at the Days Inn in Torrey! (Yes, I took him home with me).

Moments of Beauty

I sometimes need to go back to the reason that I started photographing again - to capture the moments of beauty that surround us.  And you really cannot mention beauty without including day lilys. Here's a rendition of a spectacular lily in the morning sun.

Play time

Today was a great day for relaxing and playing.  No rain, but I did capture a rainbow! Sunflowers, big black bees on the hollyhocks, clouds playing above our heads - fun!

Boulder Day 2

A very relaxing day, Saturday.  We started out with breakfast at the Backbone Grill and were joined by Jezebel.  She enjoyed the buffalo sausage as much as I did! A walk through the countryside, followed by a massage for Diana (I get mine this morning) and naps, hot tubbing, reading, etc..
Dinner at the Grill was wonderful, Jezebel joined us again. Then another long walk to capture the sunset.  A wonderful day.

Jezebel waiting patiently for the next portion.

Afternoon storm clouds over Boulder Mountain

Murphy on alert for passing ducks and coots.

A beautiful ending to a beautiful day.

Boulder Beauty

Diana, Murphy and I are vacationing at the Boulder Mtn. Lodge in Boulder, UT. Surrounded by farmlands and backed by Boulder Mountain, this area is incredibly beautiful. Water rushing through the fields to water both the cattle and the crops lets Murph stay hydrated in the hot sun.
He and I took a walk after arriving about 5 yesterday and here's some of the photos that we liked.

View from Hwy 12 over Boulder Mountain, Manti LaSal mountains in distance.