A Beautiful Autumn

We've had a long and beautiful autumn, filled with glorious color brought on by our wet spring and long Indian summer.  Everywhere there is gold and red and orange which has been delightful to see.   The high winds we're getting this afternoon and evening may blow all the pretty foliage away, but then again, maybe not.   

Usually by now we'd have had our first snow, but I see nothing in the forecast to indicate that we'll get any soon.  We did have an early and quick hailstorm which left some cool looking icy pellets on the patio. 

But in general the past weeks have been all about being outside enjoying the lovely weather before the winter sets in. 

It's been good timing as the work on rebuilding our shed got underway.  This useful little building sits on the back of our yard next to the raised beds, now cleared of the few tomatoes and peppers and many zinnias and dahlias which filled them over the summer.  

The shed's old siding and trim was in sore need of scraping and repainting, a task made more complex by rotten siding and holes near the ground through which various animals found cozy nests underneath the structure.  We thought about replacing the whole thing with a prefab shed, but couldn't find one as large as the existing building.  So our interior designer friend Lotus put us in the line-up for a good carpenter and we got to the top of his job list last week.   

He immediately realized that one side of the shed had sunk six inches into the ground, a problem he quickly rectified by jacking up the shed and pouring concrete footings.  

Then he began the residing using Hardiboard siding that will be painted grey and match what's on our house.   

We had good news about little Miss Sheba.  She's been needing some extensive and complicated dentel work and she had four bad teeth removed from the left side of her mouth last week.  Being such a tiny and fragile thing we were concerned that she might not make it out of the anesthesia, but she did and has been making a great recovery, complete with an increased appetite.  The poor kitty must have been in a lot of pain from those rotten teeth, and it's encouraging to see her not only eating but showing more energy and interest in life.  Also on the good news front is that she does not have any mouth cancers, which was another concern.   She still has three bad teeth on the right side of her mouth, but she's at least halfway through her ordeal.  

Check out the scenery in this photo, taken on the newly rebuilt Tenderfoot Trail on Flagstaff mountain.  We have clear skies after a summer of terrible ozone pollution.  I can't tell you how refreshing it is to see that "Boulder blue" and the distant mountain views.   And it's always good to see our tax money at work maintaining our amazing system of trails.   This particular one was rerouted to take advantage of the lovely rock formations and views while making the hike less steep, something I certainly applaud!  

And another "Whohoo!": We get our booster shots tomorrow!  This is another case of good timing, as Colorado's COVID hospitalization rate is climbing and the state nows rank number 14 in the nation for hospitalizations.   Boulder County has vaccinated 74% of its eligible population, but other CO counties don't have this high a rate.  Nearby Weld County, for instance, has vaccinated only 30% of its eligible population.   And Boulder County has a mask mandate that is well followed by its residents, where this is not the case in many other counties such as Weld.   

From Cagle.com

 I have to show you this photo which I snapped this morning while having coffee with my SIL after our weekly hike.  Yes, that is a big tumbleweed and no, we don't usually see them in the Boulder area.  Everyone at the shop stopped to stare and laugh as it tumbled through! 

One more fun photo,  this one of That Handsome Dog Gus looking at us unhappily from the stairs, stymied in his attempt to get to the master bedroom and see if Sheba left any food in her dish for Gus to wolf down.  Sorry, Gus!  

We'll end with this photo, a reminder that Halloween is this Sunday.  There's a lot of decorations going up in the porches and yards in our neighborhood and in the nearly CU student housing on the Hill.  Clearly folks are in the mood to have some holiday fun.  Our own fun is limited to having friends over for dinner that night, but I'm sure the Hill will be hopping with costumed students and our neighborhood with trick-or-treaters.

Around Here

Around here I've been doing some remote learning, taking an online class on Photoshop Elements from the Pixeladies and a Color Seminar from the Studio Art Quilts Associates.   Yesterday I learned the coolest thing from the Pixeladies class, how to straighten your image using the Perspective Crop tool.  This is probably easiest to explain by showing the following two images, which I took in Rome several years ago. When I took the shot I couldn't get directly in front of the image.    

But here it is cropped and transformed into a straight on view, using two clicks with the Perspective Crop tool.    Pretty neat, yes? 

I'm loving this class but it has given me an appreciation for what kids are going through these days to get online, follow the lessons, and turn in their homework.  Here's my homework for yesterday; looks simple, right?  Well, it took me over an hour to get it sent in due to a glitch in the new version of Safari which resulted in error messages when I tried to upload the images.   Took me some frustrating work to figure this out and resolve the problem by switching to Chrome.   Pity the poor child figuring this out on their own.  

Around here I quilted and finished the edges of the pretty purple, green, and pink piece I had started a while back in an online class by Cindy Grisdela.  

By the way, the above photo was edited with the Perspective Crop tool.  Here's the original photo which was distorted since I took it from across the nearby cutting table.   I'm loving this new editing tool! 

Around here we enjoyed a nice treat from our friend Raymond who shared the Muffaletta sandwiches shipped here from the Napoleon House in New Orleans via Goldbelly.   We don't get much from Goldbelly, but when we do it makes for a fun meal. 

And speaking of eating,  little miss Sheba is eating!  All day long, it seems, with maybe five tiny meals being delivered to her whenever she cries to let us know she wants more.  Of course she has dry food to nibble on throughout the day but that won't do.  No, she wants that yummy pate and she gets it.  The poor little girl is having teeth problems and will need "some work,"  so she is getting babied for the moment.  Look at that face; could you tell her "no"? 

Around here we celebrated my sister-in-law Dawn's birthday with Coq Au Vin made by Ben and a pretty and tasty angel food cake with whipped cream topping made by me.  It was great fun having them over, which was such a treat in these virus times.  We cracked open the windows (yes, it was cold!) and turned up the two air purifiers and wore masks when we could and hoped for the best.   So far, so good; that was five days ago and no one is sick.     

Around here we've had some good weather, with a few days up into the 60's.  Perfect for getting out, but where is our snow?  There's been some good storms up in the high elevations, but not much down here.  We have two jigsaw puzzles and five banana muffins just waiting for us to enjoy on a snow day, but none are in sight.  Oh well, we "make hay while the sun shines" and get out while it's nice.  These shots were from yesterday's hike up on the Bluebell Mesa trail in Chautauqua.   

Around here you can tell things aren't all that exciting.   Our Covid numbers are going down and our rate of vaccinations is going up, which is great, but there's a long way to go.  We mostly stay home, limiting our risks to some grocery shopping, a very occasional dinner with family or friends, and a rare outing without any close contact with people.  I'm so glad that folks around here do wear masks and keep a distance while also remaining friendly and chatting informally when we see each other on the street or wherever.   And everyday I 'm so glad to have Ben as my "Pandemic buddy."  I'm a lucky girl!

Around Here

Around here we have several inches of snow on the ground this morning!  Yes, it is early for a snowfall, but no one is complaining since we need the moisture so badly.  Not only for our plants,  but to dampen the Cameron Peak wildfire that has been burning north of here since August 13th.  For weeks we've had hot and smoky days, and we hope the 14" of snow that fell on the fire will stop it from growing, if not extinquish it all together.   

Labor Day was very hot but then the temps fell some 50 degrees and we had a high of only 31 on Tuesday. That night we had a hard freeze that killed our summer flowers and vegetables and a wet heavy snow that snapped branches all over the neighborhood, including our neighbor's which just missed our new fence.   

We always have comfort food when it snows.  This time it was homemade banana muffins for breakfast and Spicy and Saucy Cherry Tomato Pasta, which was a tasty way to use the cherry tomatoes harvested from the garden before the freeze.  We added ground sweet Italian sausage and it was really good.    

I also picked several vases of flowers that are beautifying the mantle and other surfaces inside.  

I sure have loved the zinnias and dahlias this year and I'll miss seeing them from my studio window.

Around here we are celebrating Turbo's first year with us.  He arrived "home" last September 7th as a tiny little pup and is now a full member of the family.  Here he is up at Chautauqua before the snow hit yesterday.     

He sure is a lot of fun.  Lately he's been watching TV with me in the evenings.  He's always hung out with me in the TV room, but now he seems to actually watch the screen which I find very charming.  If a dog barks on the screen, Turbo gets upset and barks back at them.  Otherwise, he'll watch anything. 

Around here Sheba continues to demand equal time.  Yesterday she was so darn cute sitting on Ben's chest while he slept that I had to take her photo.  (Ben loves these photos!) 

Around here we getting ready to redecorate the basement.  Now that Paul is living with friends, it's a good time to put in new tile floors and to repaint.  We'll keep the bed and drawers for both guests and Paul to use when they visit, and hope to add a larger TV watching area than the two-seat area we have upstairs.  There will also be some open space for doing some stretching/Pilates activities.  I'm thinking of dark waterproof Luxury Vinyl Tile for the floor and neutral paints in white, cream, and soft blue or grey, as shown in the paint ad below, for the walls.   

Around here we got out for a little adventure last week, a drive up to the ruins of Caribou, an old mining town at 10,000 feet in the Indian Peaks.  It was a trick to find it and we were on a gravel road for almost five miles, so we were excited to actually get there.  But no sooner had Turbo leapt from car for a walk but it began to rain.  We enjoyed the views and the cool sweet air up at that elevation before the downpour started in earnest and we headed back to Boulder.      

 Around here I finished a cute outreach quilt out of some Princess fabric.  

And then I created a fun little reversible table topper out of some leftover wine-themed fabric. 

Around here I've been enjoying making my way through the amusing TV show,  Episodes.  Nothing better than a good show that has five seasons!  

 

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

Around Here

Around here our roses are blooming!  This lovely one was here when we moved in six years ago but it took me two years to find it under all the weeds.  Whenever I see its lovely blooms I think that it's saying "thank you for rescuing me." 

Around here Sheba is demanding equal time after Turbo got a whole post devoted to him last time I wrote.  I told her she had to do something cute or interesting to be included in a post and the next thing I knew I found her out on the balcony off the bedroom relaxing in the sun.  It was the first time I've seen this rescue cat anywhere near the outdoors.  She mostly just hangs out on the bed, so to see her outside was a huge surprise.  So, yes, dear Sheba, you get a couple of photos on the blog! 

Around here, we're doing some hiking.   Of course there are two walks a day for Turbo, but once or twice a week we try to do something more strenuous, like a five mile loop up the back of Flagstaff Mountain.   

Around here we've begun to "reopen" by doing a few outdoor activities with non-family members.  Ben went rock climbing up Boulder Canyon twice recently with close friends and hiked halfway upJames Peak, a "fourteener," with an old chum.  

And I went to the Denver Botanic Gardens on a little day trip with a good friend the other day.  Both reservations and masks were required for social distancing, which worked out fine.  I could get used to the reduced capacity but I may never get used to wearing a mask for a long period of time, especially on a hot day walking around outside.  Still, it was great to get out among people and see how the Gardens were doing.  The blackness of this water feature is because the water is dyed black to keep algae from growing, but doesn't it make a great artistic affect?

Around here Turbo has a new best friend.  He and Binah play together several times a week in our backyard, which is quite fun to watch.  Turbo turned eleven months last week; can you imagine?

 Around here we have had several "yardies" with other couples, eating grilled or take out dinners on a backyard patio at tables six feet apart.  I've so enjoyed actually seeing friends again that I never remember to get the camera out.  Perhaps these photos of "just us" dinners will give you the idea.

Around here it's not all just fun and games.  Oh no, along with all our gardening and my sewing (yes, I do actually sew though I don't seem to write about it much) we've been working hard on improving the house.  Being home all the time sure makes you aware of what needs to be fixed or just changed.  In the past few months we've had a new garage door opener/keypad installed and new locks put on our patio and basement door, all keyed to the main house key so one key unlocks everything.  Woowhoo!  

Then Ben got a good idea for improving our entry hall "drop it" zone system.  We used to have a bench with a board with four hooks above it that worked with the closet and a little side table to catch all the things we needed as we came and go from home.   But then Ben ordered this nifty little shelf and hook organizer, which holds quite a bit more leashes, hats, and such.   We very pleased with the upgrade. 

Not to be outdone in the "good idea" department, I decided to organize all my small fabric scraps by color into clear plastic shoe boxes so I could more easily find the color scrap I wanted.  Quilters will laugh at this because it's an old idea that most took up ages ago.  I'm a bit late to the party, but so glad I finally arrived! 

Around here we are done with three very hot days and looking forward to cooler weather and some rain arriving.  

Let's me end this post as I started it, with a photo of some lovely roses, a gift from a friend who came over for a yardie lunch the other day.  So pretty!

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