2014 Turkey Shoot

 The annual Turkey Shoot was reinstated last year to the community's delight. It's a fundraiser for local causes. And as much as we'd like to shoot at non-native turkeys, we shoot at targets, and the winners take home turkeys.

This year the whole family participated (although we weren't so good at getting photos of everyone). Even Desert Girl gave it a try, and although she didn't hit her target, she said she liked it.
The temperature was great, but it was really windy.

Daisy showed her shooting prowess, winning a turkey. I hope I can shoot as well as she does when I'm her age.

I think this year was the biggest turnout ever, which meant we had some time for conversation. Sometimes it was a little hard to hear wearing ear protection, but we all managed.

Here's Jenny in the 50 yd rifle. I was really happy with how I shot in this competition, with two bullseyes, two in the black around the bullseye, and one just outside the black. It was good enough for second. The lady who won first place had five bullseyes. I guess I know what I need to do next year!

Here's me looking a little discombobulated (what a great word, right?) as I get ready for the 25 yd .22 contest.

In the afternoon a double rainbow appeared. If I moved in just the right spot, the end of the rainbow was right at the target.

A new addition this year was kids' archery. They had a blast trying to pop the balloons.

Desert Boy did some good shooting.

We ended up taking home a couple turkeys (fortunately my husband shot better than me) and a couple cornish game hens that the kids won. It was a fun day and great to see folks showing off their shooting skills. And to top it off, it was a good fundraiser.

Late Harvest

 This has been the longest season garden I have ever had. I started planting in February, using old windows on straw bales to keep things warmer. It is now December, and I still have beets, onions, and carrots hanging out under leaves and we go and pick cilantro and kale periodically, despite several hard freezes. I've learned that some vegetables are a lot hardier than I had thought.

About mid-November I finally got around to harvesting the rest of my red cabbage, popcorn, some carrots, red beets, kale, and onions.

Popcorn was a new crop to try this year. I had some helpers husk it.

I bought colorful varieties, partly because they might be more nutritious, partly because they're so pretty. It's not easy getting the kernels off, so I just take off what we need. We've had one successful batch of popcorn and one not so successful.

It's strange to think that it will only be a couple months until it's time to plant again--if the weather cooperates! We've actually enjoyed gardening so much we're thinking about putting in a greenhouse. I keep dreaming of year-round cherry tomatoes and spinach. I would love to be able to just go pick my salad daily.

More Free Time

It's the last day of November, which means it's the last day of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I participated this year, trying to write a 50,000 word novel in just 30 days. I was behind for 29 of those days, but today I finished! It feels so good.

Now I'll have a little more time to dedicate to my blog and other activities. I have a pile of books I want to read, new recipes to try, a little more exercise to do, and plenty of getting ready for Christmas.

I'll also be spending a bit of time editing the book. I had so much fun writing it. It's a mystery set in Ely, Nevada during the 2016 National Speleological Society Convention. So I wrote about some of the things I know best--caving and the local area. With a mystery thrown in. I have some loose ends to tie up, characters to flesh out, and facts to check (I couldn't help but throw in some night skies!). But the first draft is done, and it's so much to edit something that's already written!

If you've never heard of NaNoWriMo or always thought you wanted to write a novel, but weren't sure you could, it's a free program (although they accept donations), with lots of encouragement and pep talks. One tool I find really useful is updating my word count and seeing how the bar graph keeps increasing over time.

I find writing such a wonderful creative outlet. I could gush more, but I think I'll stop now. :)

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and wishing you a peaceful Advent.

The New Little Horse Canyon

 During August and September we had exceptional monsoons. Meaning more frequent than usual, and in some places, more precipitation than usual. Unfortunately quite a lot of that rain came on areas that had just burned, causing a lot of erosion. However, many places in the landscape have evolved to adapt to change (it's just that now we have a lot of non-native species that screw things up!). Regardless, seeing the flood damage gives you an awe of the power of Mother Nature.

A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to go hiking up Little Horse Canyon in the North Snake Range in Nevada. We could see new drainage channels heading to the east. They flowed right over the Gandy Road, which is still in poor shape. Whole trees were carried across the road.

We could see why when we got down into the bottom of the canyon. Places thirty feet high were scoured.

some of the rocky banks continue to collapse.

We kept gawking as we walked along, finding debris in trees far above our heads. It would have been so amazing to see this flood. It actually wasn't just one flood event, but at least four.

When we rounded one corner, we could see that the streambed ahead was fifty feet lower. What had happened here?

It turned out the stream had cut down to bedrock and washed everything off it.

On the left side of the photo below, you can make out the old stream channel, which had been cutting through the limestone. It was only a couple feet wide. Now the stream bed is tens of feet wide. It will be so interesting to see what grows back in this area.

The raging creek snapped trees off at their base.

We don't get a whole lot of flash floods in this area, they're more common to the south. But this summer was definitely the time for them. Fortunately very few people live in this area, so although the amount of land moved was immense, the damage done to infrastructure was minimal.

As we left the canyon, we reached the debris flow, where the water slowed down and debris fell out of the current. Trees littered the bench as far as we could see.

It was a really cool hike, and I hope I can visit some of the other places that were flooded this summer. There's something about seeing massive landscape transformations that puts me in my place. Ha!

Nevada State Railroad Museum

We love trains, so we were very happy to go to the Nevada State Railroad Museum on our recent fall break. We actually went twice, as the first time was at the end of the day so we needed more time to see it all and to go for a train ride.

 They had out the special McKeen Motor Car to celebrate Nevada Day. They've done a beautiful job restoring it.

 Our friend Dave also loves trains and came with us.

The train went three times around the tracks on the property. It wasn't long, but it was fun!

The back of the car was especially beautiful.

Then we went over and operated the hand car. Twice. It was great. Inside the museum they had beautiful engines and interesting displays. The kids' favorite part inside was the HO model train and the Thomas the Train toy table, but the part they remember the best was the hand car.