Handmade Buttons

I started this blog with the idea that it would be a place where I could share some of my many collections and some of my work. Life intervened, and the blog has evolved into mostly accounts of trips we've taken. I haven't forgotten or abandoned my original intent, I've just been waiting for the right time to blog about collections, and I am hoping I am up to producing some interesting work I can share in the near future.

This post is about some wooden buttons I made about 20 years ago. All but the walnut ones were sliced from dowels, then shaped/finished with a Dremel tool, drilled, sanded, painted, and varnished. Most have a high gloss finish. 3 in the middle of the second picture are unfinished. The walnut buttons were sliced from a rectangular scrap, are unpainted and finished with a matte varnish.

closeup of the ladybug buttons

Rocky Mountain National Park, Trip #2

We returned to Rocky Mountain National Park for another afternoon drive Monday. This trip it was Joe's turn to show off his new Access Pass.

Part of our drive took us on Fall River Road, an unpaved one-way road that took us through some incredibly beautiful parts of the park.

Recent rains have really greened things up

video (no sound) of a waterfall just off the road

As the road climbed in elevation we found ourselves driving in and out of the clouds. Sometimes the clouds which had rolled into the valleys were below us.

We saw a marmot sitting on a rock in the rain (you'll have to take my word that its a marmot, I know...)

Fall River Road's endpoint is the Alpine Visitor's Center, which is over 12,000 ft in elevation, well above the tree line and on the tundra. These plow guides give an indication of the 20+ ft drifts that are cleared from the road, usually in early June

Quite a bit of hail on this section of the tundra. We drove through some heavy rainstorms complete with thunder and lightning, but seemed to be just behind the hail

It was a cool, damp, gorgeous day on the tundra.

Back on Trail Ridge Road, we ran into some pretty thick fog and more rain

thick, pea-soup fog conditions at times

And of course, a few pictures of the flowers we saw: