Roseberry – Historic Idaho Town

We took a drive to the historic old town of Roseberry.  Roseberry is nestled in a beautiful valley within the Rocky Mountains, just 2 hours North of Boise. Surrounded by beautiful green pastures, mountain lakes and 360 degree views, you wouldn't know it today, but in 1911 Roseberry was the largest town in Valley County.  It was a Finnish community.  We visited the old general store, church, museum and several old homesteads.   You can read more about it here.

Another drive around the lake….

 

Another elusive guy..   Every like crackle of a stick, or even the motor on my lens he would jump around and fly off.   These were taken with my 200mm.  The best I could get.  Some day.  And still no moose!

 

The afternoon we were leaving to head back to reality, standing in the middle of the road was a deer staring at us with that deer in the headlights gaze.   She just stood there staring.  We came to a complete stop. My Handyman finally tapped his horn and she slowly crossed the road.   That is the extend of my wildlife viewing other than the birds.  It was a very enjoyable trip.

Lily Marsh Trail

After the BAD eating while on vacation, I really needed to get out and walk. Run. Just move.  My Handyman was not excited about the adventure.  Once I told him I would just go without him he decided to join me.   We drove into Ponderosa State Park which is  on one side of Payette Lake.  

It was mid morning and fairly cool.  I thought it was perfect for a hike.  There were so many people!   YUCK!  I hate that.  I want to get away from crowds when I head for the hills.     Come to find out,  a high school cross country meet was just ending.   There was a couple of spots to park near Lily Marsh Trail.  This was exactly where I wanted to hike, anyway. 

We heard some Pileated Woodpeckers.  They are annoying and loud and elusive.  We finally spotted a couple making all of the commotion.  I had a hard time capturing a photo.  This one is high up as it was pecking away. They are bigger than I thought.

We continued on and headed down the Huckleberry Trail.

Still no moose!

  

I tried to take a couple of creative shots of downed tree’s and debris,

   

The forest was very quiet, except for the occasional noise of the woodpeckers.

After we finished our hike, My Handyman admitted that it was enjoyable and he felt really good.   Maybe I’ll be able to drag him out on future hikes with me.

McCall Adventures

Last weekend My Handyman and I took a few days off and spent them in McCall.   It was a great weekend.  The temperature was around 75* mid day.  There were a few rain showers but nothing major.   We went on a few adventures and pretty much had a relaxing casual time.

We drove around Payette Lake.  This is a tributary of the lake.  I was really hoping to spot a moose in one of the marshy areas.  No luck!   We got to this spot just before a 5 minute downpour.

 

We went to the Farmers Market and bought some fresh produce then took a walk down by the beach at the marina.   The water was so calm.

 

 

I did not eat well during our trip and I really needed to get out and move a bit. Stay tuned for some pictures from our hike in Ponderosa State Park.

Wrapped Around My Heart

 

I took the time to make a few cards a couple of weeks ago.    I was so engrossed in creating that I didn’t even write down everything that I used.  

I made a couple of 3x3 cards.  They are always quick and easy to put together.

The Happy Birthday stamp and papers are from Close To My Heart.

The Wish Big is from Unity.  Papers are from the CTMH My Reflections set -  Later Sk8r!

 

A dear friend of mine retired last week.    She’s been dreaming of having time to do some quilting and sewing so I dug out this PTI stamp set to make this card.

This card has all kinds of fun layers.  I even snipped a few little feathers to add to it.

Products used:   CTMH – Chocolate, Twilight, My Reflections – Serita,  PTI – Quilting Sampler. Seam binding ribbon. Old Sewing tool. Twine. Button. Lace punch.  Distress ink- vintage photo.

 

Be Creative!

Craters of the Moon

It the middle of Idaho is The Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve.  

Craters of the Moon formed during eight major eruptive periods between 15,000 and 2000 years ago. Lava erupted from the Great Rift, a series of deep cracks that start near the visitor center and stretch 52 miles (84 km.) to the southeast. During this time the Craters of the Moon lava field grew to cover 618 square miles.The smaller Wapi and Kings Bowl lava fields also formed along the Great Rift during the most recent eruptive period (approximately 2000 years ago).

It’s a pretty ugly and barren area but so fascinating.

  

Over the past 30 million years, this region has experienced extensive stretching. A recent example of these on-going forces was the 1983 Mount Borah earthquake. During that event the highest point in Idaho, Mount Borah, got a bit higher when a magnitude 6.9 earthquake occurred across the base of the Lost River Ranger. Mount Borah rose about 1 foot and the Lost River Valley in that vicinity dropped about 8 feet. On the Eastern Snake River Plain, rather than producing mountain ranges, these tensional forces have triggered volcanic activity. The stretching of the crust releases pressure on the hot rocks below causing them to melt. The magma can then travel to the surface along planes of weakness like the Great Rift. As long as these forces continue to act, more eruptions will eventually occur. The time between eruptive periods in the Craters of the Moon Lava Field averages 2,000 years and it has been more than 2,000 years since the last eruption.

The volume of past eruptive events suggests that slightly over one cubic mile of lava will be erupted during the next event. In the past, eruptions in the Craters of the Moon Lava Field have generally shifted to the segment of the Great Rift that has not erupted for the longest period of time. Therefore, the next eruptive period is expected to begin along the central portion of the Great Rift in the Craters of the Moon Lava Field, but may well propagate to the northern part of the monument in the proximity of the loop road. Initial flows, based on past performance, will probably be relatively non-explosive and produce large-volume pahoehoe flows. Eruptions from potential vents on the northern part of the Great Rift may be comparatively explosive and may produce significant amounts of tephra (airfall material ejected from a volcano), destroy cinder cones by both explosion and collapse, and build new ones.

Until the next eruption, ongoing -but subtle- changes continue to affect the geology of Craters of the Moon. These environmental factors include gravity, weather, as well as other natural and human caused effects on this volcanic landscape.

"a weird and scenic landscape peculiar to itself" is how President Calvin Coolidge described Craters of the Moon when he established this National Monument in 1924. Craters of the Moon is perhaps the only officially "weird" park in the National Park System