Home Again, Home Again...

Our trip was wonderful but MH and I decided, like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, that there really is no place like home. Squirt agrees with us. We arrived too late on Friday night to pick him up, so I got out to Petcetera first thing on Saturday morning. He sure was glad to see me but he is really not feeling great. This surgery was more extensive that I had thought and he is still on pain meds 3 times a day and antibiotics for another week or so. We were instructed that he is not to run, jump, or do stairs for a month. I may be crazy by then. In spite of his discomfort, he’d do all 3 of those activities if we gave him half a chance, particularly since he is beginning to bear a little weight on the operated leg. Squirt normally jumps on the back of the furniture like a cat, so every piece of furniture in my house that he can jump on is now barricaded, and I guess that is what I’ll be looking at for the next few weeks. We’ll make it, but it might not be fun.





I'm not exactly sure what it means when one ear is up and one ear is down, but I can read that he doesn't feel so hot. The photo is a little fuzzy, but Squirt was feeling a little fuzzy.








Before I sign off tonight, I’ll share a few of the wildlife photos I got at Yellowstone. Maybe tomorrow I’ll post a few of the landscape photos I got at Yellowstone and in the Grand Tetons, a mountain range that was breathtakingly beautiful. I'll say right up front that I don't have any photos that are nearly as sharp as I'd like. When you are traveling with a group, none of whom are interested in photography, you can't impose on them with a tripod. The price - photos that aren't tack sharp. The fact that the sky was very dark and cloudy didn't help either because that made my exposures even longer. I thought the photos turned out right pretty in spite of their shortcomings.



Trumpeter swans - our guide said that they are territorial and very mean.












This is a grey wolf. According to our guide, his black coloration is just a genetic variation. He was so far away that I couldn't zoom enough to get a lot of detail. Most folks were looking at him with a scope. He was looking at us, too. I had to severely crop the photo so you could, indeed, see that he was looking at us. I tried lightening the photo up some in my editing program, but it just lost too much quality when I tried. I took a number of photos of this wolf. He was wearing a radio controlled collar so the park rangers could track him. I was disappointed when I saw that, but I know wolves are endangered. If you will click on this picture to enlarge it, you can see more detail on his face, which I found interesting. Wolves are supposed to be highly intelligent animals.

This is a mule deer. I have quite a few different views of her, one in which she appears to be asleep. I thought she was a beautiful and peaceful looking animal. Of course, I wasn't anywhere close to her. I might have found out differently had I been within range of her hooves. Makes me think of a hysterically funny story about a rancher who thought he'd rope a deer and corn feed it. He liked venison, but the deer didn't like the idea of being roped. The deer won that battle.



Home on the range where the deer and the buffalo roam...... the buffalo roam alright - anywhere they want to. I guess a 2,000 pound animal with horns doesn't have to give a rip about cars. They can walk wherever they please. I saw more of these than anything else. This fellow looks like he could do with a good bath, but I can't imagine who is going to tell him to take one! I'm glad this animal species is on the rise, but they sure are ugly beasts.







This is a beautiful, older male elk. The younger ones have velvet on their antlers and their antlers have fewer points.









The female elk were plentiful and did not seem the least bit timid. This one was grazing right on the grounds of the Visitors Center. The sun had come out and this photo was sharper than most.





Now to change the subject just a bit, but to change it to a subject I had originally meant for my blog to be centered on - sewing (which I have mentioned almost none!)
I have some teaching engagements for 2011. On January 21st and 22nd, I'll be teaching at Beth's Heirloom Sewing in Wetumpka, AL and I've booked March 11th and 12th at The Stitchin' Post in Little Rock, AR. If you would like more information on either of these classes, you may contact me or either of the respective shops.
I'm excited about teaching at both of these wonderful shops.