Another Day in Paradise: In Between Birthdays

We've had days and days of grey smoky skies, ozone warnings, and high temperatures. It's been depressing to have our lovely Flatiron and mountain views obscured and worrisome to know we're breathing in polluted air. We aren't in a drought, which is certainly good, but the areas that were burned in last year's fires are experiencing many mudslides, including one up in Ft. Collins (about 90 minutes from here) which left three people dead. And you've probably heard about the big mudslide outside of Glenwood Springs which has closed I70 for the past few days. With the constant drumbeat of news about the virus and politics always in the background it's all too easy to get discouraged.

But today I woke to a beautiful morning with cool and clear looking (though still poor quality) skies after an unbroken night of good sleep, and everything seems more hopeful!

We are in between birthdays. Paul turned 21 on July 24, which is a momentous birthday. He went out with friends on the big day itself but then came over here the next day. After a romp with turbo we went up to Nederland for pizza and then to Sweet Cow for a cone.

I'm turning 70 on Sunday but am starting my festivities today. Tonight we'll have dinner here with Ray and Paula featuring crab cakes from Maryland's O'Donnell's Seafood and lobster rolls from Maine, and, I hear, a luscious birthday dessert. On Saturday I'm going to an outdoor craft show in Loveland with my SIL, Dawn, and then out to a special dinner with John and Dawn. On Sunday morning Ben and I are heading up to the mountains for a couple of nights. Should be a fun few days!

Do you buy yourself birthday presents? I do, and especially for a big birthday like a 70th. Look what I bought; yes, it's textile art, a wonderful depiction of canyonlands made by Nancy Dobson, an artist based in Grand Junction, Colorado. When Jean and Janice and I were in Grand Junction in May I spotted a similar piece by Nancy hanging in a cafe and later contacted her about commissioning something like it for me. Isn't it great?

Besides the red rocks, I love how Nancy captured the rocks and plants with stitching and beading.

After seeing photos of my recent works based on canyonlands pictographs, Nancy cleverly added some rock art to the alcove wall above the cairn-lined path. Look directly above the cairn on the left to spot a circular image and then a bit to the right is a figure. Keep looking right and you'll spot a find more images above the cairn on the far right. It took me forever to spot them! As Nancy wrote me: "I think it's fun that you didn't spot them, as rock art is sometimes hard to spot! Follow the rock cairns to what looks like an alcove area. They are very subtle, but they are there!"

I hung this piece in the stairway landing going down to the basement, a bit of an odd spot but it can be seen from the kitchen and the dining room and really livens up that hallway. After I hung it I realized that the light coming in the door window changes throughout the day and greatly affects the light falling on the quilt. So every time you look at it, the light is different, just like on the real canyon walls.

Nancy was a pleasure to work with and I'm loving this piece.

As I've been writing this post the electricians have been here installing new lights in the kitchen.

One of our old ones broke and we needed to quickly buy new ones, so I found these "Gemstone" pendants from Elk Lighting in an internet search. They looked good on the screen, and I went on faith that they'd look good hanging over our kitchen counter.