Happy New Year!

 And now the holiday season is past and we welcome another new year.

We took down the Christmas tree yesterday, and I do mean "we."  I took down the ornaments and lights, Paul looped up the light strands into tidy bundles and secured them with Velcro ties,  Ben got the water out of the tree stand and I think both fellows dragged the tree out to the curb for pickup today.  I'm glad I missed those last few steps, as I always find it sad to see the once majestic tree de-decorated and dropping needles as it leaves the house.   

No white Christmas this year, but no one cared as we needed a break after the 20" of snow we got at Thanksgiving and which seemed to hang around forever in the cold and dark days of early December.  And there was plenty of snow up in the mountains, giving us lovely views of the snow covered high peaks. 

We had a lot of fun the past few weeks.  We ate good meals at home, at friend's houses, and at Boulder's excellent restaurants, and I gained four pounds which I hope to lose in the next couple of weeks.  The photo below was taken after a memorable meal at Blackbelly's, a place known for it's fine beef.  Martha, in the blue jacket, lives in Wyoming and had spent the past year in Boulder learning to be a Pilates instructor.  Before she left she wanted one more taste of Blackbelly's fabulous hamburgers.  We'd actually decided to go to an Italian place instead but when we got there found that it had closed, and had a "Goodbye Boulder" sign on the door.  We were a bit shocked and sad as it was a good place, until Martha quickly realized that this might be her chance to get that burger and proposed Blackbelly's.  We were lucky enough to get a table and had a great meal of burgers all around.  

On Christmas Eve Ben and Paul and I drove around to see the pretty light displays and then Ben and I had a late dinner at Frasca's, a special restaurant in town that was featuring a "Seven Fishes" tasting dinner, an Italian tradition.  We did, indeed, have seven small courses of creatively prepared dishes, each featuring a different fish.  The one shown in the photo below was one of the largest courses; this is the type of "important restaurant" with seriously gourmet food, and you don't go away stuffed.

You do go away relaxed and feeling well-tended, and pleasantly surprised and amazed at what can be done with great ingredients in the hands of talented chefs.  Ben and I both enjoyed the evening. 

Christmas Day was relaxing and fun with the three of us opening our presents and helping Turbo open his (he got a cool rope toy), followed by a pancake breakfast which we all ate together.  (That last detail is important to me since the three of us rarely sit down and eat together.  It's one of the best memories from a wonderful holiday season.)  Later Ray and Paula and Paula's mother and sister and our friend Dan came over for a Christmas dinner of a prime rib roast.  It was from Blackbelly's butcher shop and Ben cooked it perfectly, so it was amazing.  Since John and Dawn were visiting her family in Minnesota, I was especially grateful to celebrate the day with such good friends.  

On New Year's eve Paul played a gig downtown and Ben and I went up the hill to a party hosted by our friends Bob and Inger.  That was a fun time and after we watched the ball fall in New York, we went home to bed and slept till nine in the morning!  We'd been on the holiday express, chugging along for a few weeks of work (buying presents, cooking, decorating) and fun (friends, lights, music).  

 Now January is here and we're ready to crash for a bit.

One Week to Christmas!

It's just one week to Christmas, which in my mind means it's time to par down the "to do" list and simplify!

A while back we got a few snowflake lights hung, just in time for the big Thanksgiving snow.  We added a wreath and that's it for this year.  It's not much but it makes me smile when I come home.

Last weekend we made a quick trip down to McGuckins, our local hardware store, and with very little fuss found a suitable tree.  We weren't sure how the tree would be received by our puppy and Sheeba, the rescue cat that came to live with us in the spring, so we let it sit in the living room a few days without any decorations.  They both seemed remarkably uninterested in it so we added lights.   But we only put on about half the usual ornaments, and you know what?  It's just fine. 

After all, we have so many great holiday lights and decorations to enjoy in downtown Boulder.

I spent about two weeks doing some holiday sewing and decorated the living room with a newly made wall hanging and a table runner.

The wall hanging was a kit, meaning that I bought a package created by Maywood Studio called "Most Wonderful Time Projects" and it came with all the instructions and fabric for the wall hanging.   I usually don't buy kits or even patterns, but I fell in love with the luscious thick flannel supplied with this one.   I liked it so much that I bought some extra fabric to make two more projects, a table runner for me and one for my wonderful sister, Jean.

Here's the wall hanging.

I did a lot of free motion quilting around the various motifs, which was just plain fun. 

For my runner I did some straight stitching with a cool variegated threat, which I loved on the black flannel. 

I didn't use a pattern for the runners but just put left over fabric pieces together.  The panel on Jean's runner was included in the kit, but I had to figure out how to border it so it would be the right size for her table.   

I had a lot of fun making these pieces and still have scraps leftover.  Yesterday I saw them and thought "It's not too late to make a little runner or mug rug."  But then I remembered it's only a week to Christmas and it is too late!  I'm not going to stress out this year, but just sit back and relax the next few days.  Well, and think about food.  We are making Christmas dinner and then doing a special meal on New Year's day.     

One reason I feel like we've done enough already and are ready for a calm week is that we had 13 new windows installed last week.  Our windows were thirty years old and not in good shape so it was time to replace them.  It was a slow process for the workmen since we had installed our new Hardiboard siding and trim last year and the trim had to be uninstalled, the windows carefully taken out, new windows put in and then the trim reinstalled once the windows were in.  Of course this meant nothing could be in front of the windows while the work was being done, so it wasn't a good time to get the tree or otherwise decorate.  But it's done now and the new windows are great.  Our workmen were nice and competent, but I was glad when we got our house back! 

Here's a before...    

And an after.  The double hung windows are gone, replaced with lovely casements which provide an unbroken expanse of glass and big openings which will be so great in the summers, since we have no a.c.  

Well, I'm almost done but I have to give a brief Turbo report. 

He is 5 1/2 months old now and is acting more grown up.   I'm already nostalgic for my little puppy, but I'm not missing that puppy biting!  

Here he is with his new friend Milo, sitting "like a proper dog," as Paul says.  It looks like Milo taught him, doesn't it?

He loves most other dogs and all people.  If we're walking and someone comes towards us on the sidewalk, Turbo wiggles all over with the anticipation of meeting a new friend.  If the person doesn't want to meet Turbo, he is one disappointed pup!

Here he is on a puppy play date with Delta, who lives up the street.  They mostly box and bite and roll around and have a great time; this was one brief moment of quiet.

Don't tell, but Turbo is getting a new dog bed for Christmas, having just about outgrown his little round one.

I'm all done Christmas shopping and am now ready to just enjoy the holiday lights, food, music, and, of course, seeing people I love.

I also like my annual hunt for a really good Christmas book.  Over the years I think I've read all the classics, but I keep trying to find something new that's good.  My latest try was Wrapped up in Christmas which read like a Hallmark movie, which made sense when I realized it was published by Hallmark.  I liked it for a while but lost interest and skipped ahead to the end.  Guess what? She got her man and he got his woman.  A quilt was involved which is why I read it in the first place, and it was okay, but not really good.  Nice cover, though!

Maybe I'll have better luck with Nancy Thayer's Nantucket Christmas.  If nothing else, it will be fun to read about Christmas in charming Nantucket!

Wishing everyone a relaxing and joyful holiday!

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

On the Camera

This was the scene last Tuesday when we awoke to 15-20" of sugary snow that had fallen Monday afternoon into Tuesday morning.  The snow continued to fall lightly throughout the day and we ended up with 20.5 inches here in Boulder.  It was the kind of storm that shut down everything, even here where snow is fairly common.  

Turbo wondered how he was supposed to get to the bathroom, all the way past the patio and out into the yard, when the snow was as deep as the steps leading out that way.  Eventually we shoveled him some paths, but the first day was a bit challenging.  

And getting out for a walk was an adventure.  We were happy to find that some dogs had already broken the deep snow in the nearby cemetery. 

Ben worked most of the morning to shovel out the driveway and clean off his car so we could get out.  And where better to go then to drive the half mile up the snowy streets to Chautauqua park?  We drove as far as we could up into the park and then slowly hiked up towards the Flatirons, which looked striking after the storm.   It was such a treat to be up there in the fresh snow and without very many people around.  

Turbo led the way back down, bouncing and jumping in the snow and occasionally turning back to  check up on us.   

On Wednesday my friend Lotus and I braved the snow to get down to Denver to see "Claude Monet; The Truth of Nature" exhibition.  It's a temporary exhibit for which you need advance tickets and we weren't giving up our chance to see it.  Luckily for me, Lotus is an excellent driver with lots of experience in the snow,  and got us downtown  and back without any trouble.  The show had many lovely works, including a painting of the bridge at his garden in Giverny.    

I loved this later work which also shows the bridge.  I didn't realize Monet did abstracts!

On Thanksgiving we went to Longmont and visited with Ben's brother and his wife and family, as well as their good friends who had flown in from Virginia for the holiday.  It was fun and Dawn's cooking was delicious.

 And on Friday John and Dawn were kind enough to include us when they took their friends to dinner at the Flagstaff House.  It's always a treat to be up there, looking down at the city lights as you eat, and especially special when you're with family and friends. 

And now suddenly it's December and we have a nice couple of sunny warm days ahead, perfect for getting all this snow melted.  As much as I love big snowstorms, the aftermath does get tiring and I'm looking forward to walking without dodging snow and ice!

Christmas preparations are beginning, with mysterious packages arriving at the house and plans to put up a tree this coming weekend.   We had a White Thanksgiving, but will we have a White Christmas?

Thanksgiving

It's Sunday morning and I'm sitting at the dining room table with a cup of coffee thinking about the week ahead and feeling grateful.

Looking out I see bright sunshine and the promise of a beautiful day.  We're under another winter storm watch for Monday night into Tuesday, with up to eight inches of snow predicted, and it looks like today will be a great day to get outside before the storm.  Tonight we're taking Ben's brother and his wife out to dinner for the birthday dinner that was postponed due to snow on John's official birthday on Wednesday, so that's something fun to anticipate.

Last night I went with a friend to see Paul's ska band, The Fists of the Proletariat, play at a brewery in nearby Broomfield.  They are a lively, loud, and fun group and I always enjoy both hearing and watching them.  I was surprised and happy to hear Paul stepping out in his playing.  Like many in the band he was a shy player at first, but nowadays he plays with confidence and takes more opportunities to shine.  And that baritone sax has a great sound!  Love it.

Turbo has a play date this morning with a shepherd pup up the street.  They are currently about the same size but Delta will soon outgrow him.  They seem to really enjoy each other now and we'll see what the future brings for their friendship.  Turbo is now about 20 pounds, which we think is about 2/3 of his expected growth.  He finished "basic obedience" training yesterday, is developing some good manners, and has become part of the family.   Don't you just want to reach into the photo and pet him?  

Turbo loves people and thinks every human he meets is his new best friend!  I think he'd be a terrific therapy dog and plan to train him along that line.  Did you know that you can't just decide that your pet is a therapy dog?  There's a whole course of training you and your dog have to do to be certified and welcomed into hospitals, rehab facilities, etc.   It starts with passing the AKC's Canine Good Citizen test, so that will be our first goal.  

Meanwhile, everyday he learns more.  I'm so grateful that he has learned to go up and down the stairs on his own. Carrying 20 pounds around is hard work!  Sometimes Turbo even thinks so and balks at getting himself up the stairs to where our bedroom and his sleeping crate is.  Ben has come up with a fun way to encourage him, putting treats on the stair steps!

Today I need to pack up my sister's Christmas present so I can mail it tomorrow.  She already knows it's a winter table runner but doesn't know what it looks like so I don't want to show a photo of it yet. Instead I'll share this little --7x10"-- abstract piece I made this week.  I was experimenting with making marks on fabric using Inktense pencils and then wetting it and smearing the marks and colors before adding some fabric bits to make a top layer of design.   It was quick and fun and I'm hoping to have time today --or at least during the coming snowstorm-- to make a bigger piece using chunky Inktense crayons along with the pencils.     

On Wednesday I'm going into Denver with a friend to see a retrospective of the work of painter Claude Monet at the Denver Art Museum.  I feel so lucky to live in an area that has so much art to see.   Not just in downtown Denver; there are smaller art galleries in all the small cities and big towns around here.   A few weeks ago I saw this wonderful painted sculpture at the Longmont Museum showing a judge at a rodeo.   It was created by artist Red Grooms for the 1975 exhibit The Great American Rodeo in the Modern Art Museum in Fort Worth.   I loved the loose drawing and bright colors.  

It's getting dark now by 5:00, so I was glad to see the first of the holiday lights the other night.  The Flagstaff Star up on the mountain above us has been lit and I'll spend some time this holiday trying to photograph it, never an easy task but a fun one.  We're going up to the Flagstaff House for dinner Friday which will put us right at the foot of the big star, so that will be an opportunity to capture if from a completely different angle. 

Well, I see that I'm out of time.  I often think I'd have more time for my blog if life wasn't so full, but then I realize how lucky I am to have a life full of family I love, friends to enjoy, a stimulating city to live in, and a beautiful environment to cherish and explore.

Happy Thanksgiving, and may we all take time to count our blessings!

Friday Feelings

On this beautiful Friday morning I'm feeling....

... proud of Paul.  His band, The Fists of the Proletariat, opened for Policulture at the Fox Theater here in Boulder last night.   It was great fun to hear them and be part of the scene.  The band has been together for a couple of years now and I've so enjoyed watching them develop as musicians and evolve as a group.

... physically tired.  Earlier this week we worked hard to clean up the house after the recent snowstorms.  I vacuumed and washed the wood floors and Ben tackled the cars.  Snow, salt, and mud make a big mess, and it felt good to be clean again.  

Then I decided it was high time we got a tall bookcase for the corner of the TV/guest room, so in a spurt of energy Wednesday we picked one up from Office Depot, put it together, and got it into place.  Then, while Ben decluttered the garage and made a run to CHARM (Boulder's Center for Hard to Recycle Materials) to drop off broken small appliances, Styrofoam, plastic bags, cardboard boxes, and other miscellaneous things filling up the garage, I figured out what to move out of my studio and into the new bookcase.  In the process I ran across stuff that simply needed to get out of the house, like old gift wrap, silk fabric scraps, and clothes that I'll never wear.  Processing all that "stuff" takes energy!  But it sure feels good to have it all out of here and my studio space liberated.  

... relieved that Turbo is now four months old, the magic age where he's finally had all his vaccines and is free to get out and explore his world without fear of getting the dreaded Parvovirus.  Yesterday he took his first walk up at Chautauqua park, which was a real milestone.  

It also means that he can now safely meet other dogs and go to Puppy classes for formal training.  It all tires a pup out!  

... feeling thankful for being able to live in beautiful Boulder and to appreciate the large and small wonders of nature here.