Trying New Things

For the first time we went to a Renaissance Festival. It was bigger than I expected, more shops than I expected, and I probably won't go again. Its not the era I belong in and apparently a lot of other people do. I was surprised at how many people came dressed in costume. The highlights for us were the animals. From the raptors to the elephants, my children can't get enough close-ups with creatures of every kind.

This really is the year I've become a quilter. After all these years, go figure. MyMike keeps saying, I thought you didn't like to sew. Well for the first forty-plus years of my life I didn't too much, but I find its like scrapbooking on steroids and I'm loving it. There is more fabric than colored paper and putting them together to create something useful makes me happy. I finished the second of five sampler table runners I'm making. I added a star binding to this one and liked that better than the original binding so I'll probably add it to all the rest. I still need to steam-iron it so it lays flat, then its all done. I really liked making the bear's paw pattern in the center. Curves are more challenging but I'm glad I learned how. I have three baby quilts I really want to make but I'm disciplining myself to finishing these first before I start on those. Most of these will go to my quilt guild's annual fund raiser in October. The baby quilts will go to my grandchildren . . . someday. As I started these blocks six years ago I thought I'd better get a start on things.

Happy 25th

25 years ago I was married. Here. In Southern California. To MyMike.

I can't find a lot of photos of us today. This one was taken by one of our kids three years ago on the 4th of July, but I think its a fitting photo since today is a day of celebration. Unfortunately, as sums up too much of our marriage, once again I am sick. With a bug, that is making me feel like a truck ran over me. From the beginning this has been a challenge we have faced, over and over, sicknesses of one kind or another. There have been other challenges too, but somehow we just keep forging forward and along the way there have been great celebrations and joy and happiness too.

For a couple that loves and was introduced through music, we realized a few years ago that we didn't really have a song what was "ours." So, we both thought about it for a couple of days, and came up with a couple that we agreed are "us." This year I'd like to add Nat King Cole's, "Our Love Is Here To Stay." Today we remember how good it is that we found each other, and  recommit to "forever and a day. . . for our love is here to stay."

The Climbers

The past week LittleBuddy has been gone with our neighbors from Maryland. With all the fires, plans were changed from hanging around here all week to them taking our boy to Moab, UT. They had a great time climbing the rocks around Arches and Canyonlands while we were home.  I was quilting, organizing and trying to stay sane . . . just one of those weeks.

One of the highlights was finally capturing this photo of a bluebird, perched on my roof. Love this color blue and am happy every time I see them.

So, after leaving last Tuesday, they all came back yesterday, wearing their souvenir tee-shirts and hats. The last two days they spent at Rocky Mountain National Park, thus their shirts proclaim, "I Made It To The Top."

To finish our neighbor's Colorado vacation, we showed them our much smaller scale red rocks at Garden of the Gods. LittleBuddy had called me up during his trip and told me he now loved rock climbing as was "an expert," his exact words :-)

At the Air Force Academy he got himself a snow hat, so he's now wearing that constantly. My boy and his hats . . . makes me smile. Just being himself.

Pretending to be holding up Balancing Rock.

Finding new places to explore.

They kind of disappeared from view for a while. This is what we saw instead - a cute mule deer just walked in front of us.

The boys were up and down, exploring, and being boys, and feeling the joy of being out in nature. Glad to have him home again but glad he had a great week too!

Oh, and I thought I had a picture of the quilted table runner I made, but alas, No. But, I have four more waiting to be finished, so I'll be making more and take more photos later.

Happy Fourth of July

July is a wonderful month, full of celebrations. It starts with Cowgirl's and my Grandpa's birthdays, on the same day as Canada Day, moves right into the 4th of July, adds another celebration with Mike's and mine anniversary on the 17th and rounds out the month on the 29th with BigBuddy's and Uncle Dennis' birthday, again on the same day. In between are Aunt Jan's, Cousin Jill's, Aunt Debby's, and my brother, Steve's birthdays. And, we just finished remembering my brother Rob and Cousin Jennifer, also on the same day in June. Seriously, its the party time of the year with lots of shared opportunities to celebrate too!

Miss this Cowgirl always. She got to go to the rodeo to celebrate her birthday. I love watching her grow up into such a great woman! She's fun, beautiful, and a great friend. I think she's been catching the news on the fire more than I have, just checking up on all of us. What a week its been! Good news is, the fire's almost out, and it rained a lot today, for the first time in a long time. Our fasting and prayers have been answered. Hopefully the fires by her will be out soon too.

I love America. MyMike loves America too. This is the Library of Congress, right next to the Supreme Court. We spent a lot of time visiting all the places back East that were and continue to be important to this great country while we lived there.  In 1776 it took a lot of Divine Inspiration to create a nation out of farmers and merchants. Without His help, they wouldn't have made it, and neither will we. My wish for the 4th is that as a nation, individually and collectively, we will be more humble, and seek His will, not our own.

We tried some new things this past week when we whisked our dad away on a little mini-vacation. First up was National Jr. Drag Racing.

Notice how empty it was. These were only qualifying races, but fascinating to watch.

The boys had fun nicknaming the cars and rooting for the ones they named.  We saw speeds over 100 miles an hour,.

The next day we went tubing down a creek near downtown Golden.

It was a hot day outside and cold in the creek, and we loved it. Even I joined in the fun. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get photos where the rapids were but its a memory we won't soon forget, and hope to repeat again soon.

After picking everyone up at "the spot," we'd tie on the tubes and drive back up to the top.

What a great way to spend a hot summer day, hanging onto each other's tubes.

This was the final exit spot, though I didn't make it this far. The next bridge up was where most of us exited, but it was so picturesque around here.

 

We were soaked to the bone, but loved every minute.

Not much creativity this past week, but the week before I made a handful of cards. These are among my favorites.

There's always a reason to celebrate this month. I'm going to need to make some more cards soon.

Waldo Canyon Fire - Day 3 -1/2

What started out as another day of a large fire in the mountains not too far away, turned into a nightmare of flames crossing the ridge and coming into the city of Colorado Springs late this afternoon, and essentially, bringing it a lot closer to where we live. We were on our way to viola lessons when LittleBuddy took these pictures with my phone.  Its actually much worse than it looks, and that's a lot of black smoke. The flames, somewhat visible in the lower picture, were glowing bright orange as the traffic inched along, everyone just shocked at the horror and what its consequences would bring. So far, 32,000 evacuated, 20,000 residences and 160 businesses threatened. Those are staggering numbers. The ranch where we had our family picture taken last year that got sent in our Christmas cards - all gone. It had been in business for almost 60 years. Its just heart-breaking to think of all the families who have lost their homes. Fortunately, they are evacuating people early enough that I believe no lives have been lost. We keep praying for a change for the better, but so far, nothing has improved.

From what I read in the scriptures, people suffering is built into His plan for us all, but witnessing it in mass amounts is just overwhelming. We're so grateful for the many firefighters who are risking their lives to do their best to stop it. We pray for all the people involved personally, and will look for more opportunities to do something to help. Its just been one of those years - lots of trials. Some years are like that. But, for good or for bad, we know He loves and watches over us all and we love Him too. Now to keep praying.

Busy Week

Technically, the week started on Sunday but the busyness started Monday at 3:59 a.m. That's when Littlebuddy bound into my bedroom, announcing the time. My alarm went off exactly five seconds later, at 4, and we were out the door at 4:20 to get him to Scout Camp. He came back exhausted, much more tan, a few scratches all over, and having earned four merit badges so overall it was a good week though he thought the food was just okay. Gotta love a boy who loves his mother's home cooking!

Here he's modeling his new aviator sunglasses, the hat he uses to tame his cowlicks, and the Bronco bandana. I think he just wears that for kicks. No one else keeps us laughing and thinking and entertained as much as Littlebuddy. Cowgirl comes close, but she's not trying to entertain us. His absence was noticeable. We were glad to have him back home again on Saturday even if he did spend most of the afternoon sleeping.

Last Sunday was Father's Day, and how great it was to have my dad here with us for a double celebration!

My children had picked out a new motorcycle helmet for their dad and were so excited for him to open it. Unfortunately he hasn't time to use it, though we are sneaking him away from work this Thur and Fri for some R&R which should be relaxing for him. Motorbikes, while fun, take work to get them on the trailer, tie down, gas up, etc. And, our dad needs less work and just fun before he really goes crazy with his work schedule in July.

We love having Mom and Dad here often. We are so blessed with all they do to serve us. Mom came by to help unload my kitchen cabinets before the counterops arrived. Dad brought me to his house in the middle of church today when my eyes were in desperate need of lubricant eyedrops. The eye plugs aren't working so well for my right eye. Bummer for that but grateful for some relief, courtesy of my parents!

Friday was my mom's birthday. What a great day! We were together for most of the time between 11am and 11pm. We started by going to lunch, then dad took the kids back home while Mom and I quilt shopped. It just happened that the cutest quilt shop in town was also taking part in a quilt "shop hop," so we found some extra goodies (i.e. Moda fabric, large packages of single colored buttons, patterns, etc.) there, played games and loved realizing it is only 5 minutes from Hobby Lobby. It was the first time I've been there. We will be more frequent shoppers there in the future, I'm sure.

By the time we got home it was just time to get everyone ready to go to the ballgame. Mike's company invited everyone to enjoy watching the game in the Luxury Suite Level. We had Box Seats! Seriously.

There was a catered dinner starting at 6, with burgers and hot dogs and wings and chips and dips and mexican dip and fresh fruit and vegetables and home made big cookies, and of course lots of peanuts and a good selection of drinks. The younger kids went back and forth to the kiddie area you see above. We're just past that stage. It sure went fast!

We were seated just off home plate. Each suite has eight outside seats and four-six more inside. Mom and Dad came with us, and so our little family, minus Littlebuddy, occupied most of our outside suite. Others would walk in and out, and it was nice to visit with some of the people Mike works with and their families.These are the Browns. Their dad is the business manager. Afterwards there was a fabulous fireworks show! I don't know how we're going to top this for Mom's birthday next year, but at least this one was memorable.

Just Saturday, around noon, a fire broke out west of Garden of the Gods, and north of the cute artsy town of Manitou Springs. Its where you catch the train to Pike's Peak. Yesterday it was evacuated, but tonight about 8 pm they let people back in. So far, about 3000 acres have burned, and 13,000 people have been evacuated, but no houses or structures lost. That could change tonight.

We had to go pick up a rental car for Mike, as he travels the next three days, back and forth to another company, carrying his antenna. The view from our house just shows some haze.

The closer we got, the more evident it was how bad this fire is, and how close it is to the city of Colorado Springs. This view is just before the Air Force Academy which is just the other side of the mountain from this fire, called the Waldo Canyon Fire.

This is the exit just past Garden of the Gods. Its closed, as are all the major parks in the area. The road is closed going to Pike's Peak, but was finally opened again this evening. We had a few raindrops on the car, but that's it. We sure need more. Its more dry than anyone can remember. Usually we get a thunderstorm with a good 10-20 min. of rain almost every day. This year, nothing.

These pictures were all taken between 6:30 and 7pm. Its usually quite light around here. The further we got into town, the worse the air was. 

As we left the airport, this was the view of Pike's Peak. Usually clear as a bell. Trust me, we're praying for the firefighters, for moisture, and with help containing this fire and all the fires in the West. This one is at 0% containment after almost 36 hours of burning. 

My creative project of the week was making this patriotic banner out of just 3 handerchiefs. I saw the idea in the Family Fun magazine while I was waiting at the orthodontist a couple of weeks ago and it looked easy enough to do.

You need one handkerchief of each color. Cut them all in equal fourths.Using 12 and a half feet of grosgrain ribbon, fold the handkerchief top over the ribbon first, then have the sides meet in the back. I used double sided 1/4 inch tape to hold everything in place. After I took this picture, I then decided it needed a little more reinforcement, so I sewed along the entire ribbon length, just a quarter inch from the top edge. This will keep anything from sliding. I'm excited to use this for a decoration for the Fourth of July next week. It took about an hour and a half to make and was a good project at the kitchen table while a movie was on one night.

So, while there's been a little time to relax in summer, its been busy also, and the next two weeks should be even more busy. Then I think I'm just going to sit and sew. At least I hope.

Last of the Indoor Big Projects

I was talking to a friend this morning from Maryland. It seems like its been about two years of fixing up one house or another. I am so happy to say today is the end of the indoor projects.

The workers were here on time to rip out the old grout and tile. You will NOT be missed.

And installed the new granite. Its called Tan Brown, and was the mix of black and brown that I wanted, not too speckly and not too boring and doesn't show fingerprints. I wanted it to read almost solid from a distance but up close have some interest and sparkle, and it does. So, I'm happy.

The contents of the lower cupboards and countertops are now waiting to be put back where they go.

*An update posted 6-20

Here is a better view of the bar and sink with the light on above. Notice how much lighter it looks, more gray than black, and the brown stands out more. We now have an under-mount sink, which Mike did all the plumbing before and after, and saved us a lot of money. I also realized the photo above shows the only seam line in the whole kitchen. The entire L-shaped bar is one piece and this seam runs along the right side of the sink as it reaches the bar, so its only about 3 feet long.

 And, here is the kitchen now - all finished. Everything put back in place and ready for cooking!

I learned something in my shopping for countertops; the darker the granite, the more dense, and less likely to crack when being cut. May I live out the rest of my days without grout in the kitchen! It feels more sanitary already!