Oh.  My.  It's been several months since I've participated in the weekly Yarn Along.  The Yarn Along.  It's every Wednesday.  It's hosted by Ginny.  Everyone who plays along shares their yarn and books.

This current project is called Pretty Palette.  It's a cowl for one of C's teachers (she has two) for Christmas.  I am using yarn from my last YarnBox subscription.  Not my favorite colors, but I think they would perfect for Mrs. S.

I have so many books that I'm reading right now.  Or not reading.  I've been on vacation since October 7th and I just don't seem to have any time to read.  Part of that is while I've been at home, I find to many things to do during the day and feel guilty for sitting around to read.  Oh. the pressure.

I have been reading A Fountain Filled With Blood on my ipad before bedtime.  It's by Julia Spencer-Fleming.  The two main characters are ex Army helicopter pilot, Reverend Claire Ferguson and Police Chief Russ Van Alstyne.  This is the second book in the series (you know, it's my obsessive behavior to starts series at the beginning).  The series takes place in Upstate New York.

I'm excited to read all of what has been happening while I've been gone.
Happy Yarn Along Wednesday!

This time of year Mother Nature is bi-polar.  Tuesday it was 70 degrees and yesterday it wasn't.  March is the snowiest month in Colorado.  Last week we got six inches of snow.  And it was pretty much gone two days later.  Yesterday we had a crazy spring blizzard and got sixteen inches of snow at our house on the west side of Denver.

Denver International Airport was delayed from the get go.  The power was out and they couldn't fuel or deice the airplanes!  It just never got better.  The wind was gusting so much that the visibility dropped to zero and nothing moved.  The road to and from the airport was closed.  Needless to say I did not have to go to work!

Bryan played with his snowblower pretty much all day.  Our driveway is clear.  All the sidewalks are clear.  The elderly neighbors sidewalks are clear.

Oh.  And it's supposed to snow next week too.   Happy Spring to you!

 My sweet baby girl made her hand bouquet in school last week.  It almost made me cry.

My mothers day weekend was spent camping in Cortez, Colorado (in the four corners area).  Bryan was in a 12 hour mountain bike relay race (I know, crazy!).  I have no pictures from camping or bike racing.  What I have is pictures of our drive home...
 We left Durango heading north and this is what we ran into.  We turned around because the snow plows hadn't been out yet and there was six inches of wet heavy snow and it was pretty slick.  We then went east out of Durango and had a pretty dry drive until we were about 2 1/2 hours from home.

This is Coal Creek Canyon and it is the canyon I grew up in.  There are several spots the highway is washed out and this is (I believe) the first one.   My parents went up the house on Saturday to check on it and had to go up Clear Creek Canyon and around.  But at the time they were able to get there.  A neighbor called them yesterday to tell them the dirt road to the house has been washed out.  My dad was headed up today to check on the damage to the road.  And that's if he can get there. We've since heard that the canyon is closed at the top (close to where the house is) because the road is washed out.

So many people are stranded.  We have some friends who can't leave their house because there is no road to town.  They are safe and have food and water, so they are lucky.  Others aren't so.  My heart goes out to them.  There is just so much devastation and damage.  I know you can't prepare for a flood and a flash flood is just that.  A flash.  There was no warning.  There was just water.  Lots and lots of water.  Mother Nature seems to be very angry right now.   And she wins every time.

As I type this the sun is trying to come out.  Come on Sunshine.  We've missed you!

 It has been dropped hundreds of time so the pages were not in any order.  The rings don't match their mate and the pages are dog eared, ripped and the holes torn.
Yesterday was rainy and in the 60's (I know, in July even!), so I got out the cookbook, scotch tape and the hole reinforcing stickers and set to work.  The rings still don't match, but they are better.  I've taped the pages and reinforced the holes and put pages in their proper order.  It should be good to go until I drop it again.  But after perusing recipes while putting it in order, there are several recipes I'd like to try.    There is a while section on eggs and cheese.  Pretty soon, I'm hoping for an abundance of eggs, so I know where to turn!

Last Saturday I watered the garden to try out my new drip hoses.  I forgot to turn it off when we left to go to a BBQ.  Oops.  The tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers had a good drink.  

*  This past Sunday there was a knock at the front door.  The lady on the porch lives down the street from us.  She asked if I would be interested in an iris swap later in the summer.  She was eyeing my peach and purple iris.  She would trade me some of her pink iris.  Sounds good.  She introduced herself and gave me her address.  Later in the day we drove by her house (like we do just about everyday) and that is when it hit me.  She gardens in a long t-shirt.  Just a t-shirt.  I didn't recognize her fully dressed.

*  Last Wednesday the high temperature was in the mid 60's.  Yesterday it was 100!  And now there are four fires burning in Colorado.   Three of them are down by Colorado Springs and south of there.  The biggest one is northeast of the Springs and it has burned for two days uncontained.  Over 100 homes have burned.  The wind is blowing hot, it feels like a blast furnace.  The tankers have flown over our house regularly all day.  The air is smoky, it smells like after you've come home from camping.  We've been at a deficit in the water department for so long.  I guess all that snow we got in April really didn't help.

*  The big dog is hogging the AC vent in the kitchen.  Henley goes out about 3AM and comes in about noon.  It's hard being a big black dog with two fur coats.  I think he is longing for some snow!

On this half of the garden are the tomatoes, broccoli and peppers which I bought from the nursery down the road.  I planted bush type cucumbers and under the trellis are lemon cucumbers- another favorite.   I usually start my tomatoes and peppers on the windowsill in the kitchen, but never got around to it this year.  While there was a good selection of tomatoes, the one I wanted, Red Siberian,was not available.
We have been having nice weather here on the Front Range.  I haven't even turned on the sprinkler system yet.  That will change this week.  Today was 90 degrees and windy.  Those little tomato seedlings did not like being so hot.

I must be patient.  It's hard.

 These iris are in the front yard.  Last  year I divided all of the iris in the back yard so I'm not sure how  many will bloom this year.
This funny lilac is on the same branch!  One white bunch amongst all of the purple.  And it's the only one.

Sadly, the apple and plum trees did not bloom this year.  The cherry tree did bloom, so we'll see what happens in about six weeks.  And I heard the peach trees on the Western Slope got frozen too.  It will be a bummer year for fresh Colorado fruit.  The neighbors crabapple tree did not bloom either.  I'm only partially disappointed because it is the most spectacular pink tree when in bloom, but not so disappointed because my side yard won't be covered in crabapples!

When I got home late from work Wednesday night I'd say we had about five inches of snow.  It is a very wet and heavy snow.  Luckily the trees don't have leaves yet.  That would be a  mess.  But it's cold again, 25 degrees on the way home.  I'm hoping the cold doesn't harm my fruit trees.  The snow won't stick around.  I'm guessing most of it will be gone tomorrow.  We do desperately need the moisture so maybe this will help the wildfire situation later in the summer.

This isn't the latest it has snowed in Denver.  I grew up in the mountains outside of Boulder and can remember when I was in the 7th grade we got three feet of snow on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend.  The news the Tuesday night said the latest it has snowed was in the 1940 and it was on June 4th!  Now that is springtime in the Rockies!

We really need the moisture so I'm not complaining.  OK, I am complaining a little bit.  We've had over 15 inches of snow in April!  Crazy!  The garden will get planted by June, I'm sure of it.

Have a great day!

Last week it was 80 degrees on Tuesday and Wednesday.  By Friday it was in the 30's.  Saturday saw rain in the morning and spitting snow in the afternoon.  Monday it was back in the 70's.  I love October!

I was out of town and had hubby cover the tomatoes and peppers that I hadn't had a chance to pick.  When I got home I bundled up and picked the ripe ones in the cold and wet.  I recovered the plants in the hopes they would be okay.  They weren't.  I pulled the plants today.  I'm bummed but I think we got plenty of goodness anyway.

I love the warm days and cool nights.  I love snuggling under the warm blankets with the kitties (because according to Bryan we have to wait until November to put the down comforter on the bed).   The dogs are loving the days because it isn't too hot for them.  We are getting back into a routine of afternoon walks.
I wish we had more red trees, but they are not as common here as they are on the east coast.  We do have beautiful yellow/gold aspen groves.  Word is that because of hot dry summer the leaves won't last as long and won't be as pretty.  What I'm not loving about the leaves is Henley bringing them into the house on his fur.

Hope you are having a fabulous Indian Summer too!

There are 54 14'ers in Colorado.  A 14'er is a mountain peak that is 14,000 feet or higher.  Last Thursday we set out to hike LaPlata Peak.  LaPlata is the 5th highest peak and is 14,336 feet.  One of the most important rules when climbing a 14'er is to start early, summit and be off the peak by noonish.  It's a good rule of thumb.  Generally thunderstorms build over the Rockies in the early afternoon.  The last place you want to be in a thunderstorm is above treeline.  You know what they say about lightening striking the highest point...above treeline a person IS the highest point.
We did not get an early start.  We were on the trail by 8:30.  Our plan was to be there by 7:30.  We keep forgetting it is so much harder to get anywhere with a kid.  Then I misread the trailhead directions and instead of taking us to the FWD parking, I directed us to the lower parking area.  That added an extra mile in each direction.  We were finally on the trail at 9:30.  It was a beautiful hike.
This is in the valley floor about 12,000 feet, looking up at the climb we are about to do.
A close up view of what we just hiked.  This part of the hike was full of loose gravely rock and dirt.  It made for a very difficult climb to the ridge.  We made it the top of this climb and saw clouds forming to the west.  We made the difficult (and adult) decision to turn around at this point.  Bryan wanted to take his time on the descent because he was carrying the kiddo.  And if weather was coming in, we didn't want to hurry.  I was very bummed about turning around.  It wasn't the first time we've been turned around before the summit and it won't be the last either.  You can see how dark the clouds were by the time we got back to the base of the climb.
This is the view from the ridge line.  Beautiful little valley floor.
Mama carried Corrine on the flat part of the trail.  She was a trooper.  We haven't done that long of a hike (7 miles) since she was about six months old.  She wasn't walking yet, she weighed less and she slept more then.  I was a bit concerned that she would be bored and impatient in her backpack, but she only fussed a couple of times so we stopped and let her out.  We also took the dogs with us.  It may be the last long, high altitude hike for Henley (the Newf).  He was worked and he doesn't recover as fast.  He did enjoy the cooler weather.  But we can't take Buffett if we don't take Henley, so for long hikes like that the boys will stay home.  That is very disappointing.

Even though we didn't summit it was a very good day.

A cold front moved through Denver starting last Friday.   The temperatures dropped.  The highs were in the 70's!  It stormed Friday night.  It stormed again on Saturday.  And again on Sunday.  I left town Friday morning.  I came home Sunday afternoon.  So I missed the whole thing.  Kind of.  I'm loving the cooler weather.  We have our windows open and can feel the breeze and hear the rain.  I woke up Monday to a very nice rain storm.  I'm not sure how much rain we've gotten.  There is a lot of standing water on roadways and some huge mud puddles down the street from us.

My garden is loving it!  Every thing looks greener and bigger.  I'm sure things have shot up and inch or two since last week!
 These are my pickling cucumbers.  I've had to replant them three times already.  The first time I planted them, it got really hot and the poor little spouts got heat burned.  The second time I planted I planted them they got buried in a pile of wood chips.  This is the third time and I'm hoping it's a charm!

It has been HOT!  This whole past week (with the exception of Wednesday and I was out of town so didn't get to enjoy) has been in the upper 90's or even in the triple digits!  Friday it was 102 at Denver International Airport (where they take the official Denver temps) and that broke a record set back in the 1800's.  Saturday it was 104 and now they are saying it is the hottest June ever in Colorado.

There are eight forest fires burning throughout the state.  Three down in the Southwest part of the state by Durango.  One in the mountains outside of Leadville and then the other four are on the front range from Colorado Springs up to Ft. Collins.  Those poor fire fighters out there is the blazing sun with all that heavy equipment.  There is no rain in sight and the humidity is something ridiculously low like 5%.  Not helping at all.

On the home front the garden is baking.  Everything is slowly wilting in the heat.  I try to water later in the day so the plants can cool down, but I don't want to water in the heat of the sun because it will evaporate that much faster.  We have a 150 pound all black Newfoundland who is just about miserable.  I let him in the house in the heat of the day and he lays in front of the AC vent.   Then late in the afternoon I turn on the sprinkler for the dogs and Corrine.

Our plan for Saturday was to head up to the mountains to attend Frozen Dead Guy Days (FDGD) and have chili dinner at a friends house.   FDGD's is a quirky little festival to celebrate Grandpa Bredo frozen in the Tuff Shed until he can be brought back to life.  Not kidding.  If you check out the above link there is an "About" page and it explains the whole kit and kaboddle.  They have a parade, coffin races, a polar plunge, music tents, and of course a tour of the Tuff Shed.

I happened to grow up in this quirky, offbeat, odd, beautiful, hippie community called Nederland.   I was living in Western Massachusetts 20 years ago when I read an article in The Boston Globe about Grandpa in the Tuff Shed.  I immediately called my mother to get an explanation about this embarrassing event in my home town.  News that had made it all the way to the East Coast.  I was mortified.  I was young.  Now I embrace this odd little community because growing up there formed me to who I am today.

Anyhoo, back to the plan for Saturday.  I was giving Corrine her morning bottle while watching the news.   Breaking news..."FDGD's outside events postponed until Sunday due to wind."  The wind was blowing (like it always does) with gusts over 45MPH and up to 60MPH.  The beer and music tents were destroyed.  The decision was made on the side of caution.  Disappointing.  But not the end of the world.

We still made the trek to our friends house for chili.  Dee-lish.  And perfect for a cold, windy afternoon.  It was good to see friends.  Some we see every week, others not as often as we would like.

I took the recycling out to the bin this morning and to my surprise, saw some tulips pushing through the ground!  It has been unseasonably warm here, but typical of Colorado it changes from day to day.  Last week it was warm enough to finish melting the snow that we got the first part of February.  Yesterday it was 65 degrees and windy.  I wanted to hang my laundry on the line, but was afraid my wash would end up in Kansas!  Today it is sunny, but only 32 degrees.
We still have to get through March.  It is the snowiest month here.  Luckily it doesn't get and stay really cold.  And the snow is usually a wet, heavy snow.  Otherwise I would worry about my tulips coming up this early.  But it sure is a nice sign that Spring is just around the corner!

Or at least it was this morning at 5AM! My husband, Bryan, and I were standing in line outside at 5AM for a limited edition CD that goes on sale at 8AM. KBCO radio puts out a CD every year at this time that is benefits the Boulder County Aids Project and The Food Bank of the Rockies. The artists that make up the CD have performed live on the radio throughout the year when they come through the Denver area. This is the 23rd year that KBCO has put out this CD and it is a collectors item. The idea is to get there early and wait in line (some people even camp in tents to be the first in line!) and get the CD. If you go later in the morning you still have to wait in line and there is no guarantee that CDs are still available. It is a tradition that we have every year. This year, however, was 20 degree, a tad on the breezy side and snowing. Yuck. But, we got our CD!

Earlier this week is was in the upper 50's. We were able to hang our Christmas lights and decorations outside wearing t-shirts. It was a clear, blue sky day! Gotta love living in Colorado.
Today: