July 2: Why I'm Smiling Today

I confess to being very upset about the recent Supreme Court rulings, to the point where I see that I need to step back and focus on the many good things that I'm lucky enough to be enjoying in my life.   So here's a few reasons why I'm managing to smile today despite all the distressing political news. 

1.  I feel really good about how I was able to travel to Utah to stay a few days with a good friend when her husband died suddenly two weeks ago.   I think I was able to be of some comfort and help, and that felt good.  I've known her husband since they married almost fifty years ago and his death reminded me again to make the most of the time I have here on earth.  

 2.  I also felt really good about helping my Venezuelan friend find a refurbished bike to replace the one that was recently stolen.  She'd been using it to cart her two young kids around town and was really missing it, so Ben and I took her to Community Cycle which takes donated old bikes and spruces them up for continued use, selling them at reasonable prices.  It was a long shot that they'd have what Rei needed, but they did, so big smiles all around.

3.  And speaking of feeling good, we moved out of our 90 degree weather and are enjoying a spell of beautiful mid-80 days, generally with a welcome mix of sun and clouds.  Our sunsets have been particularly striking. 

  4.  We had a lovely Father's Day, taking a hike with Paul and then driving up the canyon to Nederland for a delicious meal at Cross Cut Pizza, one of our favorite causal places to eat.  Turbo went with us and bounded up the steep hike with exuberance. 

   5.  I'm quite delighted with a little fabric artwork I finished the other day and hung over the fireplace yesterday.   I was inspired by scraps of the purple and green fabric I used in the border, which was left over from another piece I finished about two years ago.  I found it while cleaning up my studio and decided it was too cool not to use in some way.  The purple reminded me of eggplants, so I drew a design with two of them and then created them by collaging other scraps that I had around.  My critique group helped me with ideas for how to quilt it, I added a piece of fuzzy yarn around the edge, and now it's hanging in the living room next to the blooming artichoke piece that I made a while back.  I think they make a good pair!  

6.  And if all that isn't enough, today is gym day!  It's not always easy getting myself to the gym to lift weights, but I'm always happy when it's all over and I'm back home relaxing! 

Taken from Cartoonstock.com

Hope everyone is finding some joy today.  I find it's usually out there if I shift my focus. 

December 27: Christmas, Quilting, and a Full Moon

Boulder received about an inch and a half of snow on Saturday the 23rd.  The low temps kept it from melting so we had a White Christmas!  It was perfect; just enough to make everything lovely and festive and not enough to cause any traffic difficulties. This is not our wreath or our fence --I spotted it while walking Turbo in the neighborhood on Sunday-- but it sure says "Merry Christmas." 

In our home we've been enjoying these lovely flowers from the local florist which I selected Friday from their "Weekly special." The red and white carnations are called  "Candy Cane" and used to be wildly popular.  I love them and was glad to find them for sale. 

I finished the Christmas tree table runner just in time for Christmas dinner.  I had made the tree out of tiny bits of various green fabrics last year, ran across it this year, and vowed to finish it, which I did! It's made of leftover scraps from previous holiday projects and I just put it together in a way that I liked without using a pattern, so it was a lot of fun. 

We had invited five friends over for a lucious Christmas dinner of crab cakes and scallops, and the seating of all of us was made so much easier with our new sliding patio door providing the space the old swinging door had taken.  Then about 6:00 Raymond and Paula came bearing caviar and homemade blinis to have with champagne, so it was a full and fun day.  Paul visited most of the day and made Turbo very happy by paying attention to him when everyone else was busy. 

Yesterday was cleanup day.  Today was devoted to entering three small quilts in an online show.  Two were finished and I "just" needed to do the entry paperwork which meant making sure the photos were formatted correctly and writing both a "materials" statement and an "art statement."  I keep them both very short!  But there was one piece that needed to be completed.  So I knuckled down to the job, finished the stitching on it, and bound the edges with a facing.  Once that was done I took the required photographs and wrote up the entry.  It was all a good half day's work and I'm glad to get it finished so I can relax as we move into the new year. 

Here is the new piece, which is 16x17"in size and made with my own hand dyed, stamped, and painted fabrics. 

And a detail: 

I didn't have any idea when I started what it would turn into, but along the way I realized it reminded me of old traditional "bar quilts," like this Amish one, so I named it Bars.

from the John Moran company website

Have you seen the full moon?  It's not too late!

  

December 10: A Weekend in Denver

We went to Denver this weekend with Ben's brother, John, and his wife Dawn, spending two nights enjoying the city's holiday lights, good food, and entertainment. We stayed at the Crawford Hotel in Union Station, which was great fun as it is quite the holiday hub, filled with "private events," i.e, holiday parties, and plenty of good restaurants both inside and nearby the station.  This is still a working railroad and bus station, and there was plenty of activity.  

I was quite taken with how the holiday themed projections onto the building regularly changed every few minutes.  

Here's another nearby building which featured holiday projections, this one with snowflakes and an elf. 

And we didn't see this one, the City and County Building, but clearly we need to next year! 

I do love holiday lights and my heart was warmed last week when Paul suggested that he and I do a tour of holiday lights on Christmas Eve.  Ah, bliss! 

Well, it was a good weekend, complete with a good meal eat the Water Grill. Here I am relaxing after dinner...

...and here's Dawn at our champaign tasting at Corridor 44. 

Not to mention seeing Six at the Denver Performing Arts Center. This wild romp of Henry the Eighth's six wives was a real eye opener to me as it was my first "pop musical." Very loud, very fast, very...different!  Dawn and I both agree that we enjoyed the new experience even if we didn't understand what was going on for about half of the show! Different can be good, especially if it leads one to do more exploring and study afterwards.  I found the whole soundtrack on Spotify and am now busy listening and learning.  Should have done it before I saw the musical, yes!, but better late then never, right?  

Our rooms overlooked the main hall of Union Station and seeing all the lights and sights and activity put me in the holiday mood for sure.  I'm ready, Christmas, bring it on!

Around Here; May 19

It's May and that means Mother's Day.  Ben tested positive for Covid on the 5th and was laid low for almost a week.  He was still in isolation on the 14th so it was a subdued celebration for us.  It was so odd for Covid to hit us just as the official end to the emergency was upon us.  While everyone else was moving on, we were hunting up our masks and tests.   And even though I didn't have any symptoms or test positive, the CDC guidelines told me to mask around other people until the 16th and I mostly did.     

Our Mother's Day dinner plans with friends were canceled but Ben was able to buy a delicious chocolate heart-shaped cake which we shared with Paul....

...and Paul brought me some very pretty vibrant red roses, which livened up the house. 

May weather around here is notoriously fickle and we aren't able to plant very much until later in the month.  This year we were treated to a long spell of cloudy, cool, and rainy days which further delayed planting.  

 

On the plus side, we've sure enjoyed some lovely views of the cloud-shrouded Flatirons. 

In between the rainfall we did have a few days of wonderful sunshine and managed to mow the lawns, buy and plant several tomato plants, some bean and cucumber plants, and got them and many pretty annual flowers planted.  

It's a lot of effort to do so much yard work in such a short time, but very satisfying to know the plants are in the ground waiting for the round of warm and sunny days we are supposed to have next week and that the grass is all cut nicely and the edges trimmed.  Since we live on a corner of two active neighborhood streets we get many comments on our yard and plants, which is gratifying.   

May is also the time when the turkey vultures and the hummingbirds return from their migration.  The vultures love a particular tree about a block here and I always am wary about their return until they again establish that tree as theirs.  One of these years they are going to get tired of that tree, and I sure hope they don't decide that the big spruce in our yard would make a perfect new home.  

Hummingbirds like to return to their old haunts as well, and as soon as I hear their distinctive buzzing cry I get our two feeders up and running for their pleasure.  Unlike the vultures who fly in and out soundlessly, the hummingbirds love to fight and chase each other around while making a lot of racket.   They are quite entertaining. 

Here are the pretty pink tulips in the bed along College Avenue... 

...and our neighbor's early poppies, which always make me smile to see.  

May 5th was the 23rd wedding anniversary of Ben's brother, John, and his wife, Dawn, and they celebrated with dinner at the Flagstaff House.  Ben and I were included in the celebration, but Ben was still sick then with Covid, so it was just the three of us.  I love having Dawn in the family and we had a great time. 

And last but not least,  May is the month when Paul's lease on his two bedroom apartment ends.  He decided it was time to live by himself so he spent a few weeks looking for studios and found a nice one about 15 minutes outside of Boulder.  He got the keys Tuesday and has until the 27th to vacant the old place, which is excellent timing.  He's managing all the planning for the actual move, but I'll still be glad when he's all settled in.  

The new place is a four-story modern big apartment building, quite a change from his two-story walk up here in Boulder.  Here's the view from his door.  A tiny room for a bed is on the left and the main living space is at the end where you see the balcony door.  There are two big windows to the left of the door, which allows for some good lighting.  

And here is the kitchen with the appliances all in a row along the side of the living area.  Check out the fridge; I wish I had space for a big one like that! Maybe Paul will let me store my bags of summer cherries in that big freezer! 

And here is about 2/3 of the living area.  I think it will be just enough space. 

   

Well, my goodness, there has been a lot going on this month!  To relax I binged on The Diplomat ...

 

...and read a great book.  

Not much quilting so far this month but I did get a big box of unneeded fabric and supplies packed up and delivered to a local quilt guild for their garage sale.  My emptier and more organized sewing studio is waiting for me! 

Welcome April!

We had some nice weather the past few days and it's been refreshing to enjoy temps in the high 60's and nothing on the ground to make walking challenging.  

It has been quite windy, but unless you were caught in this portapotty which blew over in a gust, you did okay. 

photo by Kylie Bearse, NWS

There's been much snowfall up in the mountains, which have made skiers happy and gave us at the lower elevations some lovely views of the snow topped peaks. 

Snow was predicted for last night into this morning...

 

...and when I awoke I was pleased to find a winter wonderland outside.  I'm writing this about noon on Tuesday and it looks like we have about three inches outside with another inch expected by night.   This is the view from our door; baby, it's cold out there!

Well, let's see; besides our every-changing weather, what's been going on around here lately?

I went with a friend to see the Boulder High School's production of Mary Poppins, which was excellent.  Paul was hired as an adult assistant to work on this, and taught a crew of students how to use the brand new sound board.  He always saves us front row seats, which is a nice perk!

 Ben and I braved the wind and took Turbo to the Louisville dog park which is across the street from the big housing area destroyed in the Marshall Fire on December 30, 2021, and I was excited to see the rebuilding had finally gotten underway. 

We bought a new microwave which doesn't sound like a big deal, but was since it resulted in moving all our small appliances around and generally reorganizing things in our small but powerful kitchen.  I won't bore you with all the details but we ended up with all the appliances in more convenient spots and with less crowded countertops.   At the same time our very old but wonderful coffee maker died and we bought a new one which fits right into the new plan and stream lined look. 

Did you notice the two little racks on either side of the stove?  It's such a handy little thing that I thought you might like to know about it.  Its available here on Amazon in case you're interested.   

We have two traditions when snow days are predicted.  First, we sleep in....

and second I often make overnight cinnamon rolls to enjoy in the morning and to give to neighbors.  

I've enjoyed mine while checking up on the progress of Trump's arrest in NYC.  What an age we live in!

 

Besides distributing cinnamon rolls I have just two things on my "to do" list today: doing my PT and washing and drying this scrap quilt that I recently finished. 

It's cute, isn't it?  It's Timna Tarr's "Strip Sandwich" pattern.  I'm fascinated by how different it looks depending on what fabrics you chose.   Look at how different it is from this one which I made from hand-dyed solid fabrics. 

Before I go, I have to include this fun photo I took the other night when Ben and I walked downtown to have dinner at The Kitchen.  Those are orange slices that the bar tender is dissicating to use as garnishes in cocktails.