A bit of genealogy

I knew that my grandmother had a brother who drowned but didn't know any of the details until recently.  I did a search of newspapers, not really expecting to find anything, and certainly not in a Rock Island newspaper because they lived near Chicago.  According to the census, Herman was 11, not 12, when he drowned.

San Luis Valley photos

I haven't posted here much in a while.  I have been working on books (I now have two books published on Kindle and am working on a 3rd and 4th.) my other blog, www.karensclippings.blogspot.com, though.

This is our first fall in the San Luis Valley and so far it has been beautiful.

Our bees are doing well.

The sunflowers come out in the Valley in August and line the sides of the roads.  Very pretty!  These are in our garden.

This photo was taken July 12, and Medano Creek, at the Great Sand Dunes NP, is running wider and faster than I've ever seen it.

We took a friend out to see the Dunes on September 19.  Medano Creek was dried up above ground and the aspens in the Rockies were really pretty.

We've been in the Valley the last four summers and never saw anything but dust in San Luis Lake until this year.

RooRoo

We understand hens are happier if they have a "man around the house," so Jen gave us one of her roosters.  His name is RooRoo and he made life kind of miserable for one of her other roosters so we are hoping all the chickens will be happier if he lives here.  Our plan was to keep him near, but separate, from the girls for a couple of days but he was so miserable in the cage that we let him out the first day.  It's been a few days now and they are hanging out together more but at first they just ignored each other.  The hens are kind of like teenagers at this point and RooRoo is older and wiser and has his wings full trying to get them to behave.

The girls are curious but RooRoo is playing hard to get.

Still playing hard to get but doing so as close to the girls as he can get.

Great Sand Dunes

We have had a wet spring and summer and Medano Creek is still running strong.

Practically white water in places.  Well, that might be a slight exaggeration but it is moving fast.

And it is wider than I've ever seen it.

And look at all the green stuff!

Looks like light but is really only sand that is dryer than the sand around it.  Still pretty though.

Shot this photo on my way out of the park.

Another one taken on a little further down the road.

Fourth of July parade

Decorating the float and our truck in the Methodist Church parking lot.

Galen drove the truck and I rode shotgun and took photos.  The folks on our float were shooting water canons so inside the truck was a good place to be.

The kids didn't mind being shot at one bit.

I wonder if this woman's husband knows she is setting him up.

He didn't seem to mind.  She's off to the right and out of the line of fire.

This guy used his daughter as a shield.  LOL!

Not too sure about this.

The chickens getting their first look at the outside.

They are not big on new things so decide to go back inside the coop.

Galen lures them back out with chicken treats.

On their way down the ramp into the yard.

Success!

Chickens

This is what might happen if you come to visit us.  :-)

Our guests weren't sure they wanted to hold chickens on their laps.

But they were pleasantly surprised at how social they are.  We have handled our chicks a lot since we got them and they enjoy being held and petted.

Dug a trench, by hand, all around the chicken yard and put up a fence.

We have eagles and hawks and falcons here, too, so Frances and Bob helped us put netting over the top of the chicken yard.

Happy in their new home now but they weren't too sure at first.