We saw a few goblins tonight, fewer than last year though. It's probably because our neighborhood doesn't have many children living in it. But despite the lack of trick-or-treaters, we still like to get in the Halloween spirit by putting up decorations and we always carve pumpkins every year. We are still using the carving templates we used years ago when our girls used to go trick-or-treating! One of my favorite parts is cleaning the pumpkin seeds and cooking them!
When I was a young girl in Hingham, Massachusetts, I remember on Halloween that my brother, Tommy and I would walk through the cemetery to get "spooked". I also remember carrying UNICEF boxes with us as we went door-to-door trick-or-treating. Mark and I were trying to remember if we got them through school or church; we think it was through school.
Glad we got to Web cam briefly tonight with Zoe and Ezra to see them in their costumes! Too bad Ezra is sick though. (Zoe just got over it.) They probably won't be out too long.
Looks like our weather is about to change again. We still have a little bit of snow left on the ground and it looks like tomorrow night we'll see more of the white stuff...another 40 degree drop in temperature is expected! And, we may have more snow this coming weekend!
Monday, October 31, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
First Snowfall of the Season
We woke up yesterday morning to a beautiful blanket of snow covering the ground! It was a very wet snow which when coupled with the fact that most of the leaves were still on the trees created an eery symphony of "popping" and "cracking" sounds throughout the neighborhood--breaking branches everywhere! I was taking a picture out back of the house and right before my camera lens...crack! Down came a branch!
The temperature reached about 40 degrees today and the sun came out which helped melt some of the 8 or so inches of snow that we got. We are supposed to get to 60 degrees by the weekend and may even reach 70 degrees by Monday...wow! The snow will definitely be gone by then.
I was hoping to post a photo, but this blog says it's unable to load due to an "internal" problem. Weird!
The temperature reached about 40 degrees today and the sun came out which helped melt some of the 8 or so inches of snow that we got. We are supposed to get to 60 degrees by the weekend and may even reach 70 degrees by Monday...wow! The snow will definitely be gone by then.
I was hoping to post a photo, but this blog says it's unable to load due to an "internal" problem. Weird!
Monday, October 24, 2011
Back in the Saddle Again
Last week was pretty rough...I managed to get a "bug" or something and was quite sick for a couple of days. Thank goodness, I'm back to normal!
I watched an interesting documentary the other night called, "Forks Over Knives"...definitely an eye opener! The premise of the documentary showed two different doctors' works and how eating a plant based diet can actually reverse coronary and blood vessel damage!
It's basically a vegan diet (no oils, dairy, meat, fish or eggs). Sugars are pretty much eliminated, too. This sounds rather extreme but if you are faced with having to take many pills each day or injecting insulin into your body, this is a no-brainer!
Mark and I are eating this way throughout the week. (I hope to be able to get off my cholesterol medicine someday.) Occasionally, we go out to dinner with friends and try to select food choices as much as we can that are in line with this way of eating. We do plan on fixing the traditional turkey with all the fixings on Thanksgiving for our family but we will also prepare vegan options.
This doesn't mean I'll never touch another cookie or cake again, but it will be very limited. Here is a link to the movie and also the book: http://www.forksoverknives.com/ (It's also on the instant Netflix.) You might like to check it out!
I watched an interesting documentary the other night called, "Forks Over Knives"...definitely an eye opener! The premise of the documentary showed two different doctors' works and how eating a plant based diet can actually reverse coronary and blood vessel damage!
It's basically a vegan diet (no oils, dairy, meat, fish or eggs). Sugars are pretty much eliminated, too. This sounds rather extreme but if you are faced with having to take many pills each day or injecting insulin into your body, this is a no-brainer!
Mark and I are eating this way throughout the week. (I hope to be able to get off my cholesterol medicine someday.) Occasionally, we go out to dinner with friends and try to select food choices as much as we can that are in line with this way of eating. We do plan on fixing the traditional turkey with all the fixings on Thanksgiving for our family but we will also prepare vegan options.
This doesn't mean I'll never touch another cookie or cake again, but it will be very limited. Here is a link to the movie and also the book: http://www.forksoverknives.com/ (It's also on the instant Netflix.) You might like to check it out!
Monday, October 10, 2011
Glad to See Anna Mae and Sue
I enjoyed having my mother-in-law, Anna Mae, and sister-in-law, Sue visit us for a few days! They drove down from Minnesota on Thursday and left this morning. It was a short visit but we did get to do a few things. Went on the Celestial Seasonings tour and then took a drive via highway 7 to Estes Park on Friday. It was a beautiful drive...gorgeous landscapes, especially the view of Longs Peak, the 14,000+ foot mountain that we can see off of our upper deck! The weather was perfect, too...sunny and in the 70s!
We all went to Sara and Zach's on Saturday and had dinner with them. The last time Anna Mae and Sue saw Sophia, she was only about 2 weeks old! Check out the pictures on the right.
Wanted to do other things (antique shopping, walk around Old Town, etc.) but the time was too short. Hopefully, we'll fit these things into their next visit! Glad to know they got home safely just a little while ago!
We all went to Sara and Zach's on Saturday and had dinner with them. The last time Anna Mae and Sue saw Sophia, she was only about 2 weeks old! Check out the pictures on the right.
Wanted to do other things (antique shopping, walk around Old Town, etc.) but the time was too short. Hopefully, we'll fit these things into their next visit! Glad to know they got home safely just a little while ago!
Monday, October 3, 2011
Summer in October?
We have had some amazingly beautiful weather these past two weeks or so. We've seen crystal blue, clear skies, abundant sunshine and temperatures in the mid to high 80s! Is this really October in Colorado? The forecast is for one more day like this and then a cold front moves in. Temperatures are predicted to be more seasonal by the end of the week--60s for highs.
I love the warm temperatures, but I'm also looking forward to donning my sweaters. It'll feel more like fall, particularly since the leaves are changing to nice golden yellows and reds now.
I love the warm temperatures, but I'm also looking forward to donning my sweaters. It'll feel more like fall, particularly since the leaves are changing to nice golden yellows and reds now.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Closing Out September on a High Note
Yesterday (and today for that matter) turned out to be another fabulous sunny, comfortable day in Colorado! Mark and I decided to take a drive up to Rocky Mountain National Park, Moraine, Estes Park, and Trail Ridge Road to check out the fall colors and to see the elk in their rutting season.
Drove up to Trail Ridge Road first and stopped at our favorite spot to photograph. Temperature at almost 12,000 feet was about 54 degrees. In Fort Collins, the temperature was in the mid-80s. Photographed some cute yellow fall flowers; I'm always amazed that they can flourish at that altitude! Stopped at the Alpine Visitor Center for a quick bite before we headed back down to Moraine to check out the elk rutting and to capture pictures of the fall colors throughout the park.
Saw several "harems" of elk with the large bull elk guarding his ladies from younger bull elk. Saw very interesting behavior with one of the harems once we got down to Estes Park. We were watching the bull elk keep his girls all together. All of a sudden, we saw two females cross one of the main roads into Estes Park looking for the pack. They jumped a fence and casually walked over to the rest of the harem. Of course the bull elk had to check them out, probably checking for a male scent.
Next thing we know, we spotted a young bull elk slowly making his way over to the fence in search of the females. He was cautious and took his time. He was no more than 4 or 5 yards from me; he even looked at me! But he certainly had other things on his mind and couldn't care less about the humans that were around.
He finally got up the courage, jumped the fence then nonchalantly started walking over to where the females were. It only took about a minute or so and the large bull elk, got up and deliberately started walking a straight line towards the young bull elk. He went a few yards, then broke into a gallop! The young bull elk decided it was a bad decision and quickly high tailed it out of there.
Such an interesting display of elk rutting! Everyone should get to see this at least once in their lifetime! Click on the fall picture on the right and you'll see a lot of the photos we took yesterday.
Drove up to Trail Ridge Road first and stopped at our favorite spot to photograph. Temperature at almost 12,000 feet was about 54 degrees. In Fort Collins, the temperature was in the mid-80s. Photographed some cute yellow fall flowers; I'm always amazed that they can flourish at that altitude! Stopped at the Alpine Visitor Center for a quick bite before we headed back down to Moraine to check out the elk rutting and to capture pictures of the fall colors throughout the park.
Saw several "harems" of elk with the large bull elk guarding his ladies from younger bull elk. Saw very interesting behavior with one of the harems once we got down to Estes Park. We were watching the bull elk keep his girls all together. All of a sudden, we saw two females cross one of the main roads into Estes Park looking for the pack. They jumped a fence and casually walked over to the rest of the harem. Of course the bull elk had to check them out, probably checking for a male scent.
Next thing we know, we spotted a young bull elk slowly making his way over to the fence in search of the females. He was cautious and took his time. He was no more than 4 or 5 yards from me; he even looked at me! But he certainly had other things on his mind and couldn't care less about the humans that were around.
He finally got up the courage, jumped the fence then nonchalantly started walking over to where the females were. It only took about a minute or so and the large bull elk, got up and deliberately started walking a straight line towards the young bull elk. He went a few yards, then broke into a gallop! The young bull elk decided it was a bad decision and quickly high tailed it out of there.
Such an interesting display of elk rutting! Everyone should get to see this at least once in their lifetime! Click on the fall picture on the right and you'll see a lot of the photos we took yesterday.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Sad News...Happy News
It's been a rather hectic couple of weeks and I finally found time to sit down and just reflect on the past events.
First, on a sad note, we finally came to the decision that it was more humane to have our beloved cat of almost 19 years (Buster) put down than to watch him continuing to suffer with cancer. He was so thin and arthritic and could barely eat 1 TBS of soft food a day! His once strong meow was barely a whisper...it was time. I made the phone call and Mark took him to the vet...I was a mess! He was a great cat all those years! It's hard to believe that Sara was in 5th grade and Holly was in 8th grade when we got him at the shelter! He's on the other side of the rainbow now and in a good place. I miss him a lot!
On a happy note, we just had Sara and Sophia spend a nice weekend with us while Zach (Sara's husband) spent a leadership/team building weekend with his MBA class down by Colorado Springs. It's amazing to see the changes in Sophia each time we see her! She is full of smiles and giggles, especially when she wakes up in the morning! And, she's trying out her voice a lot more, too with lots of baby chatter. So cute!
In between these two events, we've had quite a busy social calendar with dinners, music shows, a candle party, and planning for the next wine tasting event for the Fort Collins Newcomers Club (we are co-chairman with another couple for this year). I'm also working on getting out my first semi-annual newsletter for the New Horizons International Music Association! Lots to do! I haven't forgotten my photography business...I need to finish the Web site and get my pricing set!
And finally, our music lessons, concert band rehearsals and daily practices are in full swing! It looks like this year I may get to be the drummer in our Dixieland Band, too!
Whew...I'm tired just writing all of this! :) Actually, I'm quite happy to be busy...I'm NEVER bored!
Well, that's about it for now. I'll try to do better and be a little more frequent on my post updates.
First, on a sad note, we finally came to the decision that it was more humane to have our beloved cat of almost 19 years (Buster) put down than to watch him continuing to suffer with cancer. He was so thin and arthritic and could barely eat 1 TBS of soft food a day! His once strong meow was barely a whisper...it was time. I made the phone call and Mark took him to the vet...I was a mess! He was a great cat all those years! It's hard to believe that Sara was in 5th grade and Holly was in 8th grade when we got him at the shelter! He's on the other side of the rainbow now and in a good place. I miss him a lot!
On a happy note, we just had Sara and Sophia spend a nice weekend with us while Zach (Sara's husband) spent a leadership/team building weekend with his MBA class down by Colorado Springs. It's amazing to see the changes in Sophia each time we see her! She is full of smiles and giggles, especially when she wakes up in the morning! And, she's trying out her voice a lot more, too with lots of baby chatter. So cute!
In between these two events, we've had quite a busy social calendar with dinners, music shows, a candle party, and planning for the next wine tasting event for the Fort Collins Newcomers Club (we are co-chairman with another couple for this year). I'm also working on getting out my first semi-annual newsletter for the New Horizons International Music Association! Lots to do! I haven't forgotten my photography business...I need to finish the Web site and get my pricing set!
And finally, our music lessons, concert band rehearsals and daily practices are in full swing! It looks like this year I may get to be the drummer in our Dixieland Band, too!
Whew...I'm tired just writing all of this! :) Actually, I'm quite happy to be busy...I'm NEVER bored!
Well, that's about it for now. I'll try to do better and be a little more frequent on my post updates.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)