Based in beautiful Jackson Hole, Wyoming, I have worked in both the Domestic and International markets for most of my adult life. During the past four years the United States has seen a complete change in direction when it comes to accessing health care and obtaining mandated health insurance coverage. I have been an agent selling in the U.S. markets for more than 30 years. Today I work exclusively serving the needs of our International health insurance clients. If you are outbound or inbound to the United States I can help guide you through the process of selecting proper International Cover that is right for your family.
Like our drink coasters we offer select Wyoming Photography on a 11 ounce solid black ceramic mugs. Being a coffee drinker I wanted one that looked good, felt right in your hand, microwave safe and easy to wash.
Some great looking mugs are a bit on the large side in that your coffee or tea gets cold before you get to the bottom of the mug. Take home some memories from of our awesome state. The perfect gift for those who LOVE Wyoming!
Wyoming’s own artist Brock Jennings releases two songs from his upcoming second album “Wide Awake”. The Title Track to this album is the song “Wide Awake” is now available to purchase and Stream on all music platforms.
After almost 2 years of writing, re-writing, recording, producing, mixing and mastering Brock releases the two of 10 songs on this production. Recorded in Jackson Hole Wyoming this long awaited release will not disappoint.
Currently two of the ten songs are now streaming on ALL music platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Google, iHeart, Pandora and more with the third song about to be released shortly. If you subscribe to any of these add Brock Jennings to your playlists and support Local Artists.
Exclusive to Jackson Hole Tim
“Wide Awake” Then new album from Wyoming Music Artist Brock Jennings is available here for the first time in it’s entirety. Brock has given us permission to post all ten songs from his newly debuted album Wide Awake.
It was about one year ago this week that Peyton and I were in Aspen Colorado, one of our favorite towns to hang out in. I had the great pleasure to deliver this Commissioned Fluteto one of my favorite people who works and lives in the Aspen area. In fact this is one of two flutes that I made for customers in Aspen that we delivered during our visit just a year ago.
Crafted from Alaskan Yellow Cedar this flute featured Sapodilla Totem Rails and a Mustang fetish also crafted from a piece of Sapodilla. For this project I crafted a handmade cabochon made from a remnant piece of Catlinite (Sacred Pipestone) that came from a pipe project I had been working on. Hand shaped and finished to a statin sheen this stone was finally bezel set in Sterling Silver and then inlaid into the body of the flute.
The stands are both functional and simplistic in design. For this project these stand cradles were also made from Alaskan Yellow Cedar. The bottom of each stand has a felt pad to protect stand and surface they are set on and the cradle area also has felt padding to help protect the flute itself. These are very cool little stands that you can set on any surface for display without having to do any mounting.
This was a beautiful sounding flute tuned in the key of D# because of its larger bore. The long aesthetics of my hand crafted flute designs make for wonderful functional art displays while also possessing the soft wonderful voice that an Alaskan Yellow Cedar crafted flute delivers. The owner of this new flute now has it mounted in a place of honor in his home and is one of our favorite people to visit when we travel to this part of Colorado.
Yes, Aspen Colorado holds a special place in our hearts and we always enjoy our time there. As we get ready to travel this weekend we are looking forward to some awesome Fall weather and of coarse, a few places to eat or two….
Afton Wyoming Mormon Temple early morning before sunrise.
On this cold Fall morning I only had one thought in mind and that was to get myself up and out the door to see what images I could capture. As the Fall days progress the daylight hours shorten it is now dark in the early morning hours. The dark colder mornings definitely makes it harder to get motivated for the day ahead. If I am not awake when I leave the house I am by the time I reach my truck. Cold air does a great job of awakening you in quick step.
Like most mornings I proceeded to drag myself out of bed, started the truck to warm it up ahead of the upcoming drive. On this morning my journey took me past the Afton Mormon Temple which I have photographed before. A beautiful building for sure but I am so used to seeing it during the day that I usually just pass on by. This morning was no exception as I just drove right on by but on this morning I looked into my rearview mirror and saw the building all lighted up and thought I would turn around and take a few shots.
I pulled a U-Turn and parked across the highway as I have done before and it was then I discovered no tripod in the car. After a couple of seconds I decided too bad I was not going home to get it so I decided to take my pictures hand held. They came out pretty good but I will definitely have to come back and set my tripod up for some better longer exposed shots.
One final thought… I was not immediately sure what else I was missing and it was then I realized I had NO COFFEE with me. This made this short journey a bit more of a challenge but I assure you my next picture event at the LDS Temple will include a tripod and very LARGE cup of fresh hot coffee…
It has been a while since I posted a Morning Coffee Post. I thought it was about time to get back to sharing how blessed we are here in Western Wyoming no matter what the journey. This morning it was a trip into Jackson Wyoming and to the Aveda Salon for my wife. Truthfully I did not have plans to make this trip with her but she twisted my arm and so off we went.
First stop was to refresh our morning coffees, a decaf latte for her and a large Americano with steamed Half/Half, EXTRA HOT for me!. As usual we ran into some of the local people we know and started our visit in Jackson with some morning chat. I dropped off Peyton at the salon and once she was inside I was gifted with a couple hours all to myself.
Medicine for my Soul
North End of Mormon Row, Grand Teton National Park
As I pulled away from the Salon I quickly looked into the back seat of my truck to make sure I had my camera with me. Yep, I do so where do I want to go for a few hours and relax? Without hesitation I headed north out of Jackson Hole, coffee in hand into Grand Teton National Park. I have so many favorite places I like to visit but because of time constraints I decided to keep the distance driven down thereby allowing me more time to just sit and take in Mother Earths blessings.
Today the weather was not stellar for photos but it was absolutely a beautiful day. Even though it is early May the tourists are definitely arriving and so are their driving habits…UGH. In some cases watching them is more fun than the park itself…lol.
These pictures taken this morning are all from the general same area in Grand Teton National Park. This last one is a place called Black Tail Ponds. This is such a beautiful view of the Tetons which are only a couple miles to the West of this place. Moose, Deer, Antelope, Elk and the elusive Griz frequent this place. The water that lays just below these pines is a ribbon of the Snake River which runs basically behind them.
Black Tail Ponds, Teton National Park
On a morning such as this… this place feeds Medicine for my Soul! The view never old and if ever you are in this country come to this place. Bring a cup of your favorite Coffee and enjoy what the morning has to offer.
Recently I was contacted by a woman who lives in Anaconda Montana about a flute she and her husband found while hiking on a Spring outing. As the story goes it was a dewy spring afternoon when Julie and her husband went on a day hike in the John Long Mountains in Western Montana.
Another beautiful Montana day led them along the Butte Cabin trail head where Mother Earth was delivering some of her pure mountain snow-melt down stream to a thirsty world. They came to a crossing point that consisted of an old log with a rope that had been positioned to help in crossing the stream before them. The water was moving too fast for their canine companion so Julie traveled upstream to look for a more suitable place to cross.
Flute as Presented as found in John Long Mountains of Montana
When she found a place her dog could safely cross it was then she looked down at her feet and saw what she thought was a beaver chew in some leaf litter. She picked it up and realized it was actually some kind of instrument with holes evenly drilled into the body. So she grabbed her newly found treasure and rushed back to the log crossing her husband was still at. Not knowing what it was they tried to make some sounds with it but to no avail.
What she actually found was the body of a Native American Style flute that was visibly worn and blotchy (as she described it). Clearly someone had lost this flute some time before, maybe making a similar hike as she and her husband were enjoying. She pondered what journeys this flute had made long before she came across this little treasure this beautiful Spring day.
Upon returning home she did some research on Native American flutes and discovered it was missing a very important part of the flute which was the Fetish or Totem as some call it. She learned that with this specific flute the fetish that was missing also required the Focusing Channel to be cut into the bottom of the fetish in order to make it play. Who made this flute she wondered and what happened to the fetish? The only identifying mark was the letter “A” that was cut into the foot of the flute. This identifying mark was actually the key of this flute.
As she searched the Internet for a possible fetish replacement she came across our website here at Jacksoholetim.com. Julie reached out to me to see if I could help her with fitting a new fetish that would work for her new found treasure. I was humbled and excited that she reached out for help and shortly thereafter she sent the flute body to me to see if I could bring new life to it. I am always humbled by those who trust me with their wind instruments not really knowing who I am. But she did and soon after I received it in the mail.
After looking at this flute closer I was pretty sure the original flute maker was High Spirits Flutes out of Patagonia Arizona. There style of flute is unique and most all of their flutes I have seen are made where the focusing channel is cut into the bottom of the bird rather than the body of flute as I do it. This was once a nice little flute that was voiced in the Key of A.
So in short I created a new Otter fetish, cut the focusing channel into the bird and finished it so I could mate it to her flute. My Otters are a bit larger than the original fetish that probably was made for this flute but I like a bit larger bird so I went with it. Mother Nature had done a job on the previous finish and left some battle scars and water stains that needed to be addressed. I am sure this flute spent a winter or two in these mountains before she was found.
It was clear that the fetish I made which was out of a piece of Black Walnut required some work in matching the color of the fetish to the flute. I sanded the flute body down to it’s natural state, added a little stain for color adjustment and finished it with many hand applied coats of Semi Gloss Lacquer. I used some of our hand cut Warriors Blood Bison lace to attach the bird and in the end a nice little flute.
All in all this was a great little project for me. Even thought I did not make this flute I hope my part in restoring to playing condition brings many hours of joyful playing for it’s new owner.
We have added some new photographic images to our selection of high gloss coasters. These are very nice 4″x4″ coasters with a real cork backing. Mix and match or select a set from a single image.
Recently we have ordered with great success some really nice coasters. Our first image selected for delivery was this hand drawn sea turtle drawn by our daughter Brynn Jennings. These Photo Coasters are 4″ x 4″ and are feature a durable high gloss finish.
Each coaster is backed with a .125″ thick durable cork backing which is great on any surface. They are easy to clean, light and store in a very small amount of space. Our first order sold out!
These will be in stock shortly and prices start at $4.95 for a single Coaster or order by the set. The set sizes start at 2 units and are available in 2, 4, 6 and 8 coasters all with the same image or shortly we will have mixed sets.
Watch for more coaster sets coming soon with images of Authentic Wyoming!
Recently I took some early morning pictures of the relatively new Mormon Temple built here in Afton Wyoming. After many requests I am making two images available to order. If you are interested in either of these two images CLICK HERE.
I have ordered and have in stock both of these images in 11×14 metal prints. These can be hung directly on your wall with the included mounting hardware or have them framed for a truly stunning effect. Available now.
Some days I just feel like cutting flute blanks. For me this is actually something I need to get psyched about in order to get them done right. There are so many steps that go into making a good quality blank not to mention the large amount of time that goes into each and every one.
I have been cutting flute blanks for not only my own projects but for flute builders of every skill level a very long time. I have cut flute blanks for more than 18 years and I would guess we have one of the best selections of ready to build flute blanks sets around.
For the past several days I have been going through boards and selecting what I think will make good flute blanks and cutting them to size with all the parts that are needed. Each and every blank gets drum sanded to exact dimensions for our jigs and then checked and double checked for accuracy. Finally each one is shrink wrapped to protect the integrity of each one prior to shipping.
Russian Olive Flute Blank Sets
One of my favorite woods to make a flute from is Russian Olive. Russian Olive boards always seem to have a twisted soul. But when I can find a board that I can render blanks from I try and spend extra time making sure they are right. These 7 pictured here are exactly what I like to end up with. 2 have already been spoken for but these are some really nice Russian Olive blanks sets.
If you are a flute builder or just a weekend warrior visit our Pre-Bored Flute Blanks page and see if you find a blank that you can transform into another magical wind instrument.
