Sunrise/Sunset

It seems that we have had some extraordinary sunrises and sunsets this fall. Here are a few photos I have snapped with my phone. None have been cleaned up or edited in anyway.

This morning

Sunset Nov 24th- North sky

Sunset Nov 24th- South sky

Sunset Oct 15th

Table settings

I am bad about cleaning photos off of my camera. Looking through photos today, pulling some for work, I found some from my husbands birthday dinner in April. Every time we do a dinner party, i find my self wanting to photograph the glassware and table setting. They rarely come out well, which I like to blame on lack of correct lens and too much clutter in my house- which makes for a bad back ground.

Stuffed Animal Project

A friend commissioned stuffed animals from me, as gifts for... people he knows, I expect.

I found patterns on line, and made adjustments. For the most part I feel that this project went well, especially since stuffed animals are hard, and I haven't attempted making one since I was about 7 or 8.

 Elephant- found the pattern here. The directions are a little sketchy. I actually inserted some wire Us in the legs, as they ended up splayed strait out, on their own.

 

Penguins. There was originally supposed to be a frog, but the sample one turned out bad, and frankly there is a serious lack of cute frog patterns out there. So we went with two penguins. I made my own pattern but the idea was originated here. (ok, i can no longer find the site where this originated, i will correct the link if I do. Also the origin of the panda, below.) Super easy, and way cute, this pattern is a win.

 There was a request that the panda have wings. So it does. I do not recommend trying this with corduroy as I did.

Pumpkins!

I only got 3 of 6 pumpkins carved this year. Maybe I will cook the others down for food stuffs- even though they are the wrong kind.

Dia De Los Muetros

A storm is rolling in. We are supposed to see up to 6" of snow in Denver tomorrow. The fall colors are really vibrant right now as the gray clouds roll in. I wish I were spending tomorrow carving my giant pumpkins, but instead I am spending it writing.  Maybe I can get them moved inside anyway.
 Not sure what I want to carve this year. I didn't do any last year, due to the neighbor kids breaking them before i could do anything with them.

As an adult I find myself looking forward to Dia De Los Muetros more than Halloween. Why? I don't know, I don't really celebrate it. Some years I make a small shrine, but at this point in life I don't have many old photos- they still reside with my parents. I think, I just really like the symbolism of the holiday and the celebration. Don't get me wrong, I freakin love Halloween, but this is bigger somehow.

As I said, we have a snow storm moving in. One of my giant marigolds was quite successful this year and is- or was, still blooming away out there. This afternoon I cut all the flowers and strung them into a garland, adding in pretty pink roses. I made a little shrine in the living room. I may only have 2 photos to add to it, but when I look at it, I think about all of the friends and relatives who touched my life in one way or another and are no longer with us.

Pumpkins. I actually have 6. One is out of the shot. Should I do a series? Ideas? Anyone desperately want a giant pumpkin of their own?

RIP Uncle Bill

William Chilvers 1921- 2011

Salida, CO

Last weekend I headed down to Salida with some Roller Derby folks, to ref a bout between RMRG Kill Scouts and Ark Vally.
It was both a fun and horrible trip. Coming off of a cold, I found that congestion + altitude change = complete deafness. it was a bit scary, and I was with a group of quiet talkers who just didn't really "get it." I also suffered my first ever migraine following the bout. My friend Amy came to the rescue with Excedrin and good company. But I had fun sardined into a car with 4 other people for the road trip, meeting new people and having some amazing green chili at the Boat House in Salida.

Looking South over Salida from the "S"

Looking West over Salida from the "S"

A cute blue house with a yellow roof

Stiff Peg Pete with with a Party Boat sized drink

A pretty window box, still in full bloom outside Amica's Wood Fired Pizza

underground homes

I have been fascinated by underground homes for as long as I can remember. [and tree houses, but that's a different post.] I stumbled across this posting on Inhabit back in December and it's been on my mind ever since.
I love the idea of living in the country. But the suburban city kid in me wonders if I could ever truly leave the city. On the outer edges of the metro area, I believe it would be possible to have both. No we wouldn't be minuets from down town and in the hart of restaurant heaven, but we could have a small bit of landscape to let go wild, while being no more than 15 minuets to the grocery. Somehow and underground hose seems to fit into this idea quite well.
I think my favorite, at least from a modern architecture standpoint is the house featured from Vals, Switzerland. Because it lacks surrounding I had a hard time understanding the scale from the photos. It seemed that the varying pictures made it appear to be everything from a small cabin to a huge structure. Probably I would opt for some stained concrete, or devise a way to add a change of color to various rooms. I love: the natural light, self sufficient heating cooling aspect, modern look, lack of attack on the landscape and the overall aesthetics. The house is also visible in this commercial. [enter at 23 seconds]

The designer [Christian Muller] won at least three awards for this project and it appears to have gotten quite a bit of attention. [in fact it appears to have its own web site. re: Squee1 photos!] My understanding is that this was privately built, but available for vacation rental.

The blue tub is actually a hot tub.

jelly and so much more

the weather was perfect this year for fruit trees- even early blooming Apricots that almost always get frozen out. I believe its been close to 15 years since my mother apricot tree produced more than 3 pieces of fruit.we are now quickly finding various ways to preserve this bounty of fruit.
i actually started a couple weeks ago with making Cherry Bounce. a simple recipe caught my attention and i figured it would make great gifts.previously we have tried to make apple butter and plum jam and have not had luck with the seals working correctly. my friend Mary sent me a couple recipes out of the book she uses.

today i made apricot jelly and apricots in rum- following the same theory as the cherry's.
yesterday i started making apricot leather. and i hope to add apricots in light syrup, and apricot habanero jelly.
assuming these projects go well, i may see if i can get my hands on some more free fruit. apples and peaches are both popular in Denver.

road trip to the balck hills

A couple weekends ago we headed to the Black hills for a family wedding. the wedding was held at the Flying V in New Castle Wyoming.

Bride and Groom

Family

After the wedding, Mr. T and i headed over to the Black Hills of South Dakota. We took a Lantern Tour at Jewel Cave- which was awesome.
We lucked out and had a cool rainy trip- instead of 100 deg and humid. We Found a homemade pie and ice cream shop in Custer SD.
Then we ventured over to Custer State Park, where we walked and climbed around Sylvan Lake. It is beautiful and different than we would have found in Colorado. My interest in Sylvan Lake steams from a family road trip photo album from the 1920s. My great great aunt and some friends borrowed dads car and took a road trip from north eastern Nebraska to the Black Hills of South Dakota. the camped and stopped to make jam along the way. Below are the photos i took and a couple of the photos they took.
Ladies on a hike. in the book, they write that they got up very very early to hike to this point, hoping to be there when the sun rose. i believe that the sun rose quicker than they could hike, but they had a good time anyways.
A fish made from a car at Carhinge in Alliance, NE.


it was an awesome trip.