Thoughts for a Monday Morning : Five Things

I've taken to having my morning cup of coffee out on the patio next to the fire pit and sure hope I can get out there tomorrow, despite the predicted few inches of snow.  I have a few things to tell you. 

But first.....the really big thing is that Monday is my sister Jean's birthday!! So first things first: 

 Happy Birthday, dear Jean!

Isn't that a great photo?  Doesn't she look happy?  Well, she was in one of her happy places, Disney's Hollywood Studio,  back in 2013, with one of her favorite people, me!  

Now on to other news. 

1.  We did get a big snow last weekend.  A really big one, enough to shut down most schools and businesses for one to two days, which is certainly unusual around here.   I think it wasn't so much the depth---about 18" here and up to two feet in Denver --- but the heavy wetness of it that caused problems.   It was "concrete snow," looking pretty but backbreaking to shovel and dig out of.  

But within a couple of days the sun was shining again and the Boulder Blue sky was out and it all was melting rather dramatically.   And now that it's mostly gone, or at least well under control, we're having more snow off and on this week to put a few inches back on the ground.   That's springtime in Colorado. 

2.  We got our second vaccine!   And not only us but many of our friends and family.  The rollout of the vaccines has been such a happy development and we cheer whenever we read emails and social media announcements about people who have gotten them.  We are so heartened by the predictions that everyone who wants one will have their chance by the summer.  Can't wait for all the "youngins" to get theirs so they'll be safe and we can-- I hope--mostly go maskless.   

3.  We immediately celebrated with flown-in-from-Massachusetts oysters!  That was a great night.

photo by Ben

4.  We've lost some loved restaurants during this pandemic, but it's beginning to look like things may bounce back.  Colorado is opening up more dining-in capacity this week, and buildings that housed restaurants that closed early in the pandemic are being bought up under new management and rumored to be reopening in the next few months, which is good news indeed.  I was heartened, for example, to see this new pizza place coming onto the Hill and a famous Denver bagel shop is about to open a location within walking distance of us.  

5.  The past few days have been warm and heavenly, drawing everyone outdoors to the trails and even up on the rooftops.   I'm glad to say that students kept their partying under control, as did we all. 

Five Good Things

Like many people, I'm on pins and needles about the upcoming election.  But I try to remember that there have been crazier times in our country's history and I do have hope that just getting the election over with will ease a lot of tension.  I continue to find joy in the daily pleasures of life, such as....   

1.  It snowed!  We got twelve inches of light, sugarly snow here.  It also snowed up in the mountains and it was enough to halt the fires burning up there for a few days, though not enough to completely stop them from burning.  There's a big one threatening Estes Park and the snow stopped it long enough that people were allowed back into their homes to winterize them.  Two other fires are considered "contained" now so that is really good. 

It's warming up and it's expected that by the weekend the winds will be blowing and kicking the fire up again.  

2.  Meanwhile there's a welcome break in the fire activity and we are enjoying being outside without breathing smoke!  Check out the clear sky in the photo below, which I just took this afternoon. 

3.  My sister Jean came for a visit!  We had so much fun catching up that I never even thought about taking a photo, but here she is on our trip to Europe in 2013.  Gosh, was that really seven years ago?  She still looks this great and still has that wonderful smile.  Most of the time when we see each other we're taking a trip together, but this time we "stayed safe" mostly at home.  We did go down to Pearl Street Mall  to shop one day, and to the Denver Zoo another day, and generally made the best of our limited choices of activities.  It really lifted my spirits to see her!  

4. One thing we did was go to the Lyons Quilt Shop for a quick shopping trip.  Jean helped me pick out these lovely fresh colors for a new project I'm starting.  They make me smile whenever I see them. 

5. You never know what fun things you'll see.  Walking Turbo around the neighborhood today we went down a different street where we spotted these chickens on the porch steps of a house.  Reminds me of the line from a Dr. Seuss book: "From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere."  

Linking to my friend LeeAnna's "I Like Thursdays" at Not Afraid of Color

On the Camera: Photos That Made Me Smile

Looking over my April photographs, I found a some that made me smile so I thought I'd share them  with you.

My fabulous sister Jean on a helicopter ride over the outer bands of North Carolina.  She looks like she's having a great time!

Living it up at Oak at 14th with Ben.

Shadows!  This fence at CU Engineering quad seemed to have been built to make cool green shadows.



And some black and white shadows.

My first quilting retreat where wine was part of the plan.  Loved it!

Victor and Carlos, happy to have their photo taken after finishing up their wonderful stonework on our flagstone patio.

Muscular paintings of horses at the Degas show at the Denver Art Museum.

Four young women at Disneyland, proud to pose for a photograph in their lit-up headwear.

Beautiful spring flowers.

This little cutie graced the mantel of my friend Mary, my co-worker in the Boulder quilt guild library.  I felt like this quite a lot during April.  What a busy month!

My SIL, Dawn, making friends in the LAX airport on the way home from our trip to Disneyland.



Flowers that Jean and I sent our good friend, Janice, after her surgery.  What a wonderful friendship we've shared now for over fifty years!   I'm so glad she is on the mend.

Paul and Elsa walking together;  after the picture taking and before Prom.

A detail of a quilt of mine that was accepted into an exhibit by the Front Range Contemporary Quilters and the Parker Cultural Arts Center for a shown titled "Contrast"  I was so pleased to have been accepeted into this juried show.
 

The board of the Instrumental Music Parents Association, for which I am Chairperson until mid-July.  But the bulk of the work will be over by May 15th!

Now on to May!

Joining my friend LeeAnna's "I Like" Thursday, at Not Afraid of Color.

Back from Disneyland

I was gone all this week on a jaunt to Disneyland and the California Adventure Park with my sister, Jean, and my SIL, Dawn, both huge Disney lovers.  I can take or leave Disney but it's always fun to share it with people who love it, like these two gals do.   We were very compatible travelers and this trip was at a perfect time of the year; great weather and small crowds.   

I just followed Jean and Dawn around and bravely did scary rides... 

....like Space Mountain!...

....and Guardians of the Galaxy (the old Tower of Terror, remodeled after Disney's purchase of Marvel Comics).  

I've decided that scary rides are good because you get to scream your head off!  

When I do a trip with Jean we always seem to end up at a ball park, and we did fit in a game at the Angels Stadium in Anaheim.   I enjoy going to games with her since she knows a lot about baseball and tells me what's going on.  Turns out that Dawn knows about baseball, too, and since I sat between them,  I had the benefit of both their knowledge.  Got me kind of excited about following the Rockies this year.

Unfortunately, it wasn't the best game as the Red Socks clobbered the Angels 9-0, although we did get to see a Grand Slam.  We left at the top of the 7th and headed over to a nearby bar where we enjoyed a big plate of really good nachos.  Wicked, I know, but we were on vacation!

I got home Friday evening and most of Saturday was devoted to enjoying Boulder High School's spring musical, Side Show.   Never heard of it, have you?  Well, neither had I but it turned out to be  very entertaining.   I went to the afternoon and evening show and had a great time.

In addition to the kid's amazing performances it was fun to see the result of Paul's work as Head of the Front House.  That means managing anything not happening in the auditorium itself, and in this case it meant turning the lobby into a entrance to the side show.

Paul figured out how to reuse the big circus tent which was originally a prop for the fall Haunted House production as the basis for the decorations.  This was trickier than you might think.  Since the theater lobby is also the main entrance to the school the tent had to constructed so it could be taken down each night of the rehearsals and performances.  Paul worked that out and then taught his crew of two students how to take care of that task on their own.  He was very proud of them!

 Once he had the tent challenge mastered he worked on other fun elements, like circus popcorn and photo props.

   

I think he was happy with how it all turned out.  

In less than a month he'll be out of school; yikes!  It's going to be a wild ride these next few weeks as I have three music concerts and a big music banquet to deal with as Chair of the music parents group, and then there's graduation on May 19th followed by Ben's birthday on the 21st.   Good thing I got all that R&R in California! 

Jean was Here!

My sister Jean was here for the past few days and we've had such a good time enjoying each other's company.  She arrived on Tuesday afternoon and we did some shopping on Pearl Street and had dinner with our friend Lotus.  Wednesday morning Ben joined us as we headed to Glenwood Springs, about a three hour drive west of here, taking the scenic route over the Loveland Pass.  We poked around the shops downtown and then took an early evening soak in the hot springs and had dinner.  So relaxing.     

    

After more R&R --sleeping late and a fabulous breakfast at the Village Smithy in nearby Cardondale--we followed scenic route 82 through Aspen, up over Independence Pass, into Leadville, and down onto I-70 where we hit snow showers.  I was doing the driving at that point and the going was stressful.  Lots of white stuff coming down, socked in skies, and cars and trucks whizzing along without regard for the conditions; well, let's just say I was glad to get home!

No sign of snow showers in this photo of Jean up on the Divide, but you can see it was cold because she has on a coat!  If you know Jean you know she only wears a coat if the weather is really bad.  Way up on the pass it was cold and extremely windy, which was quite dramatic. 

Back down in Boulder at 5500 feet above sea level there were several inches of snow on the ground and trees but visibility was good and the roads were just wet, not snowy or icy.  We went out to one of our favorite restaurants (Basta) for dinner  and it felt like Christmas! 

Friday was a busy day of (more) shopping, visiting John at his new house, and a lucious crabcake dinner here at home with Ray and Paula.

Jean is on her way back to Maryland, but I hope to see her again in a couple of months.  It's always such a pleasure.