Alabama Soap Meeting

Darlene was selling Shea butter fresh from the calabash, so her hands were greasy.

Darlene: Just put it in my pocket.

Jen: What do you mean I have to get change?!

Sadly, I did not win the grand prize on either day. Friday's was a $250 gift certificate from Snowdrift Farm, and Saturday's was a "Tank" cutter donated by the soap meeting itself. DebbieT is demonstrating hers in the picture above.

Debbie also organized a business card swap, and made the cutest little card holders I've ever seen. Isn't she brilliant?

I think I changed a setting on the camera by mistake (I took Hubby's since it's small), so a lot of the photos didn't turn out well. All the ones I accidentally took of my feet were perfect, of course.

Mar crowned (and knighted!) our new President, Sandi, while our outgoing boss, Jen, was giddy with joy. She's been our President, our benevolent dictator, and fearless leader for the past 11 years, and has never steered us wrong.

We were so lucky to have Anne-Marie from Brambleberry as our main speaker. She taught us how to make massage candles, and also spoke on the topics of Goal Setting and Rules to Succeed in Business. She should know, because she had a company grossing over $1 million when she was only 25 years old! I believe that was about six years ago, and her success continues to build. She is smart, smart, smart, but also very personable, kind, and sharing.

Edinburgh's Royal Wedding

It was Edinburgh's turn on Saturday for a royal wedding - that of the Queen's granddaughter Zara Phillips and England rugby player Mike Tindall at the Canongate Kirk on the Royal Mile. They're pictured above leaving the church. All photos are courtesy of my daughter, who had a prime spot nearby.
Amazingly the sun shone, which was fortunate not just for the bride and groom, but for the three people who had camped overnight. Three is a pretty good number - this is Scotland, remember. Two of them were still fast asleep at 7 am when my daughter arrived to join friends who had staked out their position at 5 am.
A long wait then ensued, with ritual cheering of anything official that moved. Things began to warm up when the self-conscious but clearly delighted choir from Gordonstoun, Zara's old school, was escorted up the Royal Mile to the church.
Below, Mrs Queen is welcomed by the minister of the Canongate Kirk, Revd Neil Gardner.

The bride's arrival, below.

A collection of Royals after the ceremony. From left to right as far as the pillar: Princess Anne, the mother of the bride; her husband; Timothy Laurence; the minister, Neil Gardner; unknown - at least to me; Prince William (or the Earl of Strathearn as he is in Scotland); unknown man in suit; Her Royal Highness Catherine, Countess of Strathearn; Prince Harry.

Black Hill Fat Tire Festival begins

For the BHFTF, I will be shooting normal exposures - no HDR exposures.
Friday morning I slept in. Needed the rest! Stopped in at the Firehouse for lunch (they are one of the sponsors if the Festival). Then it was to check in an get registration packet.
Bringing the camera, took a couple shots of the venue during set-up. Mostly spend the afternoon visiting with friends from previous BHFTF.
THOR friends - take a look at the trailer that the Black Hills Mountain Bike Association got this past year! The trailer is a great advertisement for the association and sponsors!
At the festival headquarters i learned that the bicycle trail from my motel to the social venue was clear (no flooding). I was worried about that since some crossing are underwater from the heavy rain Rapid City received Monday.

Nap time before the Welcoming Social.
The Social was hosted at the Chop House - same venue for the 4 years. It felt good to be on the bike. Rode the hardtail. Not that far - just about 3.5 miles. The hot day turned into a comfortable evening. Spend more of the time with friends that have ties to Omaha.
After the Welcome Social there was a viewing of "Woman of Dirt" showing at the Elks Theater. I was too tired, so instead headed back to the motel and crashed.

Chickens love watermelon

Chickens love watermelon, with a passion. These were just our leftover rinds, with only a bit of red. Last year we bought an over-mushy melon by mistake, and they ate the whole thing: chicken heaven.
I had figured that the black and white chickens were Dominiques, but now I'm not so sure. Dominiques (or Domineckers, as they are called here) have a rose comb, and these don't appear to be headed in that direction. The female on the right as a lot of whitish feathers on her front, but the others don't. The feathers on the back of their necks seem to be changing from black-and-white to brown-and-white.
My husband says they're probably all just mutt chickens. The three remaining excess cockerels haven't made it to the stew pot yet. They're not fighting, or even crowing, so far, but it's just a matter of time. For now though, they are helping decrease the insect population in the yard. This little flock roams further afield than others we've had.
I hate the fact that after the cockerels are culled, we'll have one tiny flock of two chickens and another tiny flock of three. "Can't we all just get along" is not a sentiment that's shared by chickens, apparently. The older birds just won't have anything to do with the younger ones. They treat them as if they were another species entirely. I wonder, if one of the older ones dies... will the remaining one prefer to spend her time alone, or will she try to join the younger flock? I'm guessing the latter.
The one on the right is lowest in the pecking order. The other chickens chase her from the food at times. But I've taken a tip from some people and started offering bugs that I find in the garden to the chickens. This gal is the one who comes running the fastest, for her caterpillar treat. Now she runs to me, expecting bugs, every time she sees me. I'm tempted to buy mealworms to keep in my pocket, so I won't be such a continual disappointment to her.

Canyons

Was planning to write this posting last evening, but had big issues with the wi-fi here in my motel. I hope it stays connected enough that I can get it done this morning.

Sunday was the time to start heading towards home. Early up and mostly packed in the room in Jackson, Since I had not eaten any solid food Saturday, I started with a full breakfast at the Virginian. Good food, so=so service. The server could not understand that I wanted my "go-cup" filled with ice and then topped with water - NOT filled with water with some ice in it. Oh, well, there was some king of "local resident" discount. I looked like an tourist, but was there when the restaurant opened. Many she thought only locals would be in at 6:30.

Checking out of the motel, I stopped in downtown Jackson - scoped out goods for sale and stopped in at the visitors center. Mostly had to use the rest room! Headed North for Moran Junction. Did my final "Good-bye" to Grand Teton, heading for Buffalo.

My route took me (on purpose) through Wind River Canyon (upper photo), Had discovered this canyon during a trip to Yellowstone in the early 80s, The canyon ends near Thermopolis, WY. Did not remember the large hot spring at a state park there.

Up to Worland then East to Ten Sleep. This was my second scenic drive of the day. US 16 through Ten Sleep Canyon was called the "Cloud Peak Skyway" (see lower photo).

Found my motel in Buffalo (stopped in a convenience store for directions - they said they did not have a Days Inn in Buffalo!) The motel had changed name in May. Anyway - the frustrating evening started.

Could not get a reliable wi-fi connection from the room, The staff at the motel was mostly worthless. One person came to the room and verified the problem and rebooted the router. Never saw him later.



Waiting the router to re-boot, I was going to head to dinner at Winchesters (recommended by the desk clerk). Winchester's Steakhouse was closed for 5 days - over Labor Day weekend! Saw Bozeman Trail Steakhouse. Like breakfast, the food was good but the service was lacking.

After dinner, the internet was in the same condition. Keep telling me there was not problem - even though I was having the same problem on my tablet and laptop. Finally I gave up the internet and just processed my photos.

Calmed down and got some sleep. Should get ready for the day, soon. Devils' Tower and Black Hills today.

Winter's Day on Mt. Rose

Went for a snowshoe hike up Mt. Rose today. Man, it was beautiful out there! What a delight tromping through the woods with a foot of fresh, light and fluffy snow! Today we had beautiful blue skies and a warm 30 degree temp with no wind... TERRIFIC day to be outside!

Writing in books

I was well into my thirties before I could sufficiently suppress my upbringing, and dare to write in a book. Even now, it's almost always for practical reasons. Notes in field guides: how to distinguish similar birds, where wildflowers grow. Corrections to genealogies.
Maybe it's because it's not my habit. Maybe it has to do with being forbidden, or that it's hidden away beneath the covers. But I get a secret thrill every time I find someone else's handwriting in a book. All kinds of handwriting.
Straightforward: AUTOGRAPHS
Many Things Have Happened Since He Died and Here Are the Highlights
This wasn't an early printing. Someone -- I picture a tightfisted typesetter grumbling about the price of ink -- chopped the legs out from under the title of this lovely book.

What a fun surprise though, to find an autographed library book. I wonder about 14-year-ago Elizabeth Dewberry (Vaughn at that time), and what brought her to sign it.
Did I miss her reading at Springville Road, my old library? She grew up in Birmingham. Was she bored enough on a trip home to sneak between the stacks and practice guerilla signings? Maybe she just donated the copy.
And why does it say "teen readers"? It wasn't in the Young Adult section, and it certainly didn't strike me as a teen book.
Perfectly acceptable: GIFT DEDICATIONS
Holiday Tales
I'm not Jewish, but I enjoy reading about religions, so I was bound to gravitate towards this book.

But when I opened it up and found it already dedicated, to me, it sealed the deal.

I'm filled with questions about this other Karen. How did her book travel from South Africa to a thrift store in Boaz? She would have been almost exactly five years younger than me -- surely she's not dead. (So young!)
But why, after bringing it all that way, would she give up this book? Did she lose her religion? After moving to Alabama, was she overrun by Southern Baptists? Did she tire of musty old pages from her young adulthood? Or did she just lose it in a move?
Audacity: TALKING BACK
The Day I Became an Autodidact
I read updates on this author all the time. She's Kendall Hailey, who's married to Danny Miller, the blogger behind Jew Eat Yet. Talk about your fated relationships... before they ever met, her book fell on his head! I bought my copy from Ebay, since it's out of print now.

The previous owner liked jotting comments in the margins.

Rather smarty-pants comments, most of the time.

But he ran out of steam after my favorite one:

I'm assuming it was at this point that the scribbler decided he was funny enough to write his own book. Wonder what it's called?