Sunburst over Jefferson

Looks like another hot one in the high plains as the sun rises over Mt. Jefferson.

And on the same day, the sun sets over the Toiyabe range to the west while Mini watches.

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Just before the fur started flying...

Our youngest and smallest cat was minding her own business taking a nap on the deck handrail when the big bad alpha squirrel decided she was in his way as he came down the deck handrail.....they had a short stand-off with the squirrel going back and forth yelling at the cat. Then the squirrel decided he was coming through anyway---cat or no cat. He did put a couple of moves on the cat this time and lived to see another day.

Asiatic lilies on the bloom

The asiatic lilies have bloomed this past week ensuring another round for next year with hopefully a few more blooms. Hard to get these guys going on an annual basis but well worth the effort.

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His and Hers

The siblings in the picture compare the results of a recent trip to an ice cream store.....the young lad has some bland chocolate mixture that has the word "dirt" as part of the name while the delicate flower of a young princess, who enjoys the finer things that life has to offer, is about to savor a sumptuous serving of hand dipped mixed tropical sorbet made of subtle lime, bold melon and the ever popular mango.

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Hot Summer Days

The mercury has been getting into the upper 90s here in the mid-south with the heat index (feels like) into the lower 100s. Even the suet melts in this temperature but makes it easier for the birds to get to the good parts....

Coming and going...

Just getting back to Tennessee this afternoon and the hostas and daylillies were wating to greet us.....need a little TLC but otherwise showing off their summer form.

Dusk on the South Side

Low tide and dusk came at the same time on the south side of the island the other evening

Looking South Toward Naples

Florida-Georgia Border......Florida side

Driving down into Florida just northwest of Tallahassee along some back roads.

The Home Office

Working out of the "home office" over the next few days....

Roses in Bloom

Stopping on my way to Vegas, the flowers are in bloom after a very tough winter in Beatty, NV.  This candy store is located at the crossroads of Las Vegas, Reno and Death Valley along a well traveled corridor across the western side of the state.

Veins of Quartz--Path to the Motherlode

In the photo above is a typical ore face in the underground mine I recently visited. The rock itself is marked and drilled to allow explosives to be placed into the face and then remotely detonated when the mine is cleared of miners during shift changes. Below is a partially drilled face showing the markings and the PVC pipe placed in the holes as "keepers" that allow for a clean hole in which to place the explosives.  Remote electronic detonators are then added to the mix and readied for the next opportunity to blast.

In the photo below I am holding the remains of the wiring for the electronic detonation that show the melting of the covering and insulation from the flash of the blast.

These remnants in the photo below are fairly typical of the ore mix once the detonation occurs. The blasted rock (muck) is loaded with low profile loaders and placed into low profile ore trucks that haul it from the mine and then stockpiled outside. The ore is then loaded once again and hauled to the mill located ~30 miles away to be ground up and the gold separated.

Below, a blasted ore rock held by one of my peers shows the mineralization that is conducive to the formation of gold.  In fact there actually may be a little gold visible on the surface :)


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