Animal Ark in winter – That is in Nevada?

Animal Ark is north of Reno, NV.  We had been there in the summer, but never in winter.  We found out that Animal Ark was opened for two weekends in the winter of 2017 .

The Reno, NV area of Nevada had received a lot of snow in the winter of 2016- 2017.  At one point Animal Ark didn’t know if they would be even able to open on Martin Luther King weekend since there might have been too much snow!

We decided to go up and we had a blast, but boy were we cold!  It was so neat to see the animals be active instead of hiding in the shade like they do when it is hot.

The actual bears were hibernating.

 

Bobcat (photo courtesy of my husband)

 

We were seeing a lot of cottontail rabbit ‘remains’ in the enclosures.  We were able to watch this jaguar catch this rabbit.  The rabbit ran right for the jaguar!  The staff thought it was since there was fresh straw, etc put out in the enclosures.

Jaguar with a fresh catch  (photo courtesy of my husband)

 

Here is the website for Animal Ark:  http://animalark.org/

If you are interested in going it is a good idea to either check out their posts on Facebook or check out their website a head of time.

Until later – Heather

 

 

 

Red Rock Canyon – That is in Nevada?

At the end of September the husband had a short work conference in Las Vegas so I tagged along and we turned it into a mini vacation.  Most people think of gambling and shows when they think of Las Vegas, but since we live in Northern Nevada we didn’t do any of that.  After spending our required 1.5 days on the Strip, for his conference, we got a hotel away from the Strip and went exploring.

So, I found the Hampton Inn & Suites Las Vegas – Red Rock / Summerlin.   It was is on the west side of Las Vegas and near the ‘loop’ road so I knew we could get to the areas that we planned on going without too much difficulty.

Years ago we visited Las Vegas and Red Rock Canyon was a way outside of  town.  Well, that is not the case anymore.  Las Vegas has grown a lot since the last time we had visited.  It turns out the hotel I selected was 11 miles from Red Rock Canyon.

So, in the afternoon, after the conference ended we went and explored Red Rock Canyon.  There is now a nice visitor center and we drove the scenic route and took some photos.  Since it was later in the day we didn’t go on any long hikes.

Here are a few photos.  Las Vegas is visible in the background of the upper right photo.

Red Rock Canyon outside Las Vegas

So, when was a the last time you visited Las Vegas and did you go see anything besides The Strip?

Later – H

 

That is in Nevada? series

Since I know most people think of desert, dirt, sand and the gambling, etc of Las Vegas I figured it was a good time to start a series showing some of the other side of Nevada.

For example, did you know there are tall mountains, running streams, wild horses, lakes, fishing, green grass, ranches, farm land and more in Nevada?

So, about once a month I will do a post of a different place in Nevada.  Some will be a couple of photos and others will have the history, etc behind the place.

Even though we have lived in Nevada over 20 years some of these places we hadn’t visited until the last few years.  And, yes, I even thought the central part of Nevada was mostly dirt and sand before we went out there.

So, I will start the series with this photo:

Hot Air Balloon over golf course, Gardnerville, NV

A few years ago my husband gave me a Hot Air Balloon ride as my birthday present. If you know me you know I love watching hot air balloons, but I am afraid of heights.  I can tell you that being in the basket under the balloon was magical.    I would love to do another ride sometime since I probably would enjoy it more now that I know what to expect.

This photo is over the golf course in Gardnerville, NV and those are the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the background.  We took our ride in May since the ground is still cold in the morning so they can get the lift.  This was definitely a bad year for snow fall since there was hardly any snow left on Job’s Peak.

So, have you traveled to Nevada?  What are your favorite places to visit?

Later – H

 

Daffodil Hill, CA and another cool book

In March we went away for an extended weekend in Northern California.  Our first stop was Daffodil Hill, CA (near Sutter Creek, CA) – it happened to be opening weekend.

Daffodil Hill, CA

 

It is free to go to Daffodil Hill, but they do have donation boxes out.  We walked around for a while taking photos (along with lots of other people) and then enjoyed lunch across the street (a service organization was serving it) before heading on our way.

 

 

Now about another cool (photo) book.

The Most Beautiful Villages and Towns of California     by Joan Tapper  (2007)

The husband picked up the above book at the library.  Considering we have lived our entire lives in or near Northern California I didn’t think I would really look at this book.  But, when I saw the cover and realized I didn’t know what town it was (turns out it was Sutter Creek, CA which is near Daffodil Hill) I figured I would at least flip through the book.

The book talked about many small towns in California .  It was amazing to realize that we had been through (or investigated) many of the towns (at least the ones near the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Northern California).

What new photo books have you checked out lately?

Later – H

Projects to complete this summer

Hope everyone is having a good summer.  We had some record  breaking hot days, but recently it has been nice (before it get record breaking hot again).  I recently read the post ‘Ten Things This Summer’ on the ‘A Passion for Applique’ blog:   http://apassionforapplique.blogspot.com/  and that got me thinking.  She listed the ten things (sewing projects) she wants to finish this summer.

I recently spent two days straightening, throwing out items, etc in the back room (where company stays and where my projects are stored).  It looks a lot better, but I am realizing I have a pile of unfinished projects  I want (and need) to work on.

So, other than the Challenge Wall hanging Quilt that I need to start (for the local Quilt Guild contest) I think I need to work on my unfinished project pile.   Here are the first few of the projects I want to finish this summer:

1) This hooked rug is almost done, but I needed to find a darning needle so I could finish the outside binding.  Well, in the ‘big clean’ I found a darning needle.

I am happy to report this is now DONE and being used in front of my bathroom sink area.  (Boy that felt good.)

2) I need to finish the quilt for the couch for when Pepper (Golden Retriever) is allowed to get up on it.  I have decided I would rather stop fighting her from getting up with the family and just have a quilt I throw on before (so I don’t have to deal with her dog hairs on the couch).  I need to cut the front and back to the same size and sew them together.  I am thinking of trying some Machine Quilting at least around the outside portion of the quilt.  (Leah Day has some YouTube videos that show Machine Quilting on a regular sewing machine so I want to give it a try anyways.)

I got the back and front sewn together (straight lines for now, maybe I will add some Machine quilting also), but I still need to trim and add a binding.   At least the way it is now it can be put on the couch when Pepper wants to jump up.  Pepper ‘photo bombed’ the photo 🙂

3) Turn up a few pairs of Jeans.  I have a few pairs that need to be turned up, but haven’t got there yet.  I found a way to turn them up and keep the original hem.  I printed out the instructions since I shared it with my 4-H Teen Sewers this last year.  I will find the original post and link to it after I get a pair turned up.

4) Scrapbook – this is a never ending project and there is no way I will ‘finish’ it this summer, BUT I do want to put in the first year photos of Pepper (the Golden Retriever) into a Project Life album.  I usually do Creative Memories albums (with embellishments, etc), but I wanted to try the Project Life concept out with Pepper’s photos.  I have the supplies, but have barely started it.

5) Potholder with Scallops – In the Spring I took a class on how to do a Scallop edged potholder.  It took all three hours to learn how to make the scalloped edge and I never got back to finishing the potholder.

6) Pocket for hanging small quilts – I made some wall hanging (quilts) years ago, but didn’t know about making rod pockets for the back.  So, I took down the quilts, washed them and have made rod pockets so I can hang them back up.  Now to get them sewn onto the back and get the quilts back up on the wall.

7) Remember the post about the Dresden Plate class I took in the Spring?  Well, I never got back to finishing the first plate.  I have decided to finish at least the first plate and turn it into a wall hanging.

8) ‘Coffee’ cup wrap.  I don’t drink coffee, but I do occasionally buy a Tea or Hot Chocolate from Starbucks.  Instead of getting the cardboard wrappers I decided to make a material one that I can leave in the car.  It shouldn’t take long to finish the one I started.

I think this is enough of a To Do List for now.  It will feel great to get these done and off my mental radar.

Photos of completed items will be posted as I get them finished.

What is on your mental To Do List that wouldn’t take long to finish (once you started)?

Later – H

Naomi & Chris got married!

The day finally arrived for our niece’s wedding.  It was a great location (outside with a HUGE Oak Tree in the background) and a lot of work/fun decorating for it.

One present I made was the Guest Signature book using their Engagement photos (using a deal I got through Shutterfly – see a previous post).  I also found out that the American Craft Slick Writer pen worked the best (it was hot so I am guessing the ink dried faster than the article even stated) – see this link for the data I found:

http://forums.adoramapix.com/entries/21294567-Best-pen-for-writing-on-photobooks-

I think it turned out great, but I didn’t get a photo of a signed page (or get to sign the book yet) since it was put in their car before they drove off from the wedding!  Her mom and dad didn’t get to sign it either yet so we will sign it the next time we see the book.

But, I figured out a way to link to a modified version of it on Shutterfly. ( I didn’t think it was right to post their full names or my family’s so I removed those from the shared copy of the book.)

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=wQcNmjNu1Zs2rkY

I will post a photo of the Thumbprint board after the happy couple gets to see it.

Later – H