SkyWatch Friday: Tricks & Treats!

After waiting in vain all week for a hauntingly beautiful Halloween sunrise to share, I had a sky-less Halloween post ready to go… until just a few minutes ago! As my finger hovered over the "publish" button, BW called to me with eerie timing, "Come see the sunrise!" Sure enough, it was a colorful, luminous beauty that seemed to mimic a glowing jack-o-lantern…

Oh those trickster Wyoming sunrises! Now you don't see 'em, now you do! :-)

So here's my originally planned post with more Halloween fun from (mostly) ground level…

Above-ground level, that is. ;-)

First, a sneak-peek at one of this year's quilts in the annual Fiber Arts show at the library. The lone Halloween quilt in the exhibit and one of my top three favorites in the show, I thought it would be better appreciated here than on my upcoming quilt show post...

"Who's Watching?"

Technique: Pieced

Artist: Tammy Johnson

From a kit designed by Heidi Pridemore

Quilted by: Karen Van Houten

On the day of our visit to the cemetery and picnic among the "Roman Ruins" last week, we also drove by this old home in Sheridan's historic "Residence Hill" neighborhood. It was for sale when BW and I were looking for a place and we made an offer on it, but it was not to be (just as well - ideal location, but way too big and in need of too much work, it would have meant delaying BW's retirement and thank goodness that didn't need to happen!)

A spooky spider, pretty pumpkins, and comely crow await trick-or-treaters

I didn't have to wander far from the home we did end up living in to get these next photos. Our neighbors a few doors down have their place very festively decorated for fall and Halloween, but I especially love these gossamer ghosts gamboling around the festooned spruce...

And up the street in the opposite direction one is greeted by these gregarious ghouls and their hauntingly hospitable howdies! :-)

Remember our friend the Red-tailed hawk? He showed up again at dusk last Friday, perched on our next door neighbors' roof. I took some more photos of him (of course) despite the bad lighting, and really liked this one of his eyes reflecting my camera's flash. By darkening the original a little I ended up with this great silhouette ~ add a few spooky elements courtesy of PicMonkey and our red-tailed friend becomes The Haunted Hawk of Halloween! :-)

It's predicted to be sunny and 71º here today (and tomorrow) with no wind. Combine the balmy weather with the fact it's a Friday night and we're expecting a record turnout of monstrous moochers Trick-or-Treaters, though we "only" bought enough vegan goodies for the first 250 or so. Wish us (and our poor doorbell) luck, and enjoy a safe and happy Halloween! 

Cattail Striptease

In late March in northern Wyoming, signs of spring are subtle. No soft pink cherry blossoms, cheery golden daffodils, or vibrant green leaf buds appear this soon to announce its arrival. Instead, one must go out on a warm, sunny day and hope to catch sight of a cattail doffing her winter woolies! 

I only had time to get this one photo before the long strand of cattail fluff detached itself and blew away across the marsh. So I had a little fun creating a few more versions of it...

Springtime Smiles :-)

(An encouraging reminder to friends in the northern Midwest and New England!)

Happy Vernal Equinox to my fellow Northern Hemispherites! :-)

Though like many of you we continue to have some wintery weather, we've also been enjoying some tastes and signs of spring recently ~ from a few sunny days in the mid-60's, to our first robins, to some patches of green grass here and there. Even the snow and ice seem to be happy about their upcoming sabbatical, as they were all smiles at the edge of a local pond...

And just in case you had trouble seeing the eyes, nose and wide smile...

:-)

And seeing this sweet sign on the interwebz made me smile, and will hopefully provide another encouraging reminder to everyone still wishing for spring but buried in snow...

and will awaken soon. Then we can switch to complaining about weeding and mowing! :-)

(And Happy Autumn to my Southern Hemi friends!) :-)

House progress, infinite irises, Memorial Day aftermath

As promised, here a few of my latest photos of our future house, taken on the cold, wet and windy eve of our cold, wet, windy Memorial Day weekend. During the past two weeks the plumbing, HVAC ("Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning"), and electrical were roughed in, and some sheet rock and spray foam insulation went up. It's critical and laborious work, but definitely not as impressive in photos as other sorts of progress on the house (some of which we hope to see happen starting today) can be. As you can see, it's still very much...

...so please watch your step and pardon the mess. :-)

The kitchen, taken from the living room. You can see the roughed in electrical and plumbing, where the island (with the sink and dishwasher) will eventually be, the door to the garage straight ahead, the pantry on the left and the breakfast nook on the right (beyond the living room window).

The HVAC plenum distribution chamber inside an upstairs wall. 

Thrilling, I know! :-)

The bonus room's dormer window, partially sheetrocked and foamed. 

(The window's larger than that, the sheet rock has to be trimmed). 

Ah, an action shot to liven things up! 

The foam insulation-spraying guy applying foam to the garage walls. 

He was one person who was happy it was only in the 50's, 

totally covered as he was from head to foot in impermeable attire! 

Okay, enough of messy construction sites. How about some eye candy?

We did have one very brief lull in the rain and wind early Monday morning, so we took the dogs on a long walk. When we came upon this house with its seemingly infinite irises, I was smitten. The sun was positioned perfectly, the raindrops on the iris petals sparkling in its dazzling light - the only thing missing was my camera! So as soon as we got home I grabbed it and returned on my bike to get some photos, which took me longer to do than I'd reckoned because the by then I had to play cat and mouse with the returning clouds that kept darkening the beautiful sunlight...

(note also the climbing roses and giant lupine by the porch to the right)

And then I decided to have a little more PhotoBucket special-effects editing fun, so here are two "before and after" photos...

This one looks like it was just visited by Flower Faeries! :-)

After all those days of unrelenting rain, Tuesday dawned warm, calm and sunny. So once again I hopped on my bike and rode to the cemetery to see if anyone had braved the bad weather to leave Memorial Day flowers - and boy had they! Here are a few photos of how pretty it looked ~ click on them (especially the first two) to get a better look, because it was hard to capture in just a few photos how bright and colorful it was across several acres... 

The Elks Lodge section (see the elk statue?)

I thought this site was especially sweet.

The bird feeder was filled with seeds for a cemetery filled with birds.