Life on the High Plains

After 52 days of construction I have retaken control of my house!  With the exception of three small pieces of crown molding that has to be ordered, my new kitchen is finally done! It is fabulous! The end of the island has shelves for my cookbooks.  I tossed out a bunch of cookbooks when I packed the kitchen up.  I'm kind of stuck in my ways now.  You will notice, however, that the top shelf has all of The Pioneer Woman cookbooks.  She's my cooking hero.  Each of the two corners has an appliance garage.  We were only going to have one, but Irv wanted a second and that turned out to be a great decision.  Now everything can be hidden away (I hate clutter). The stainless farmer's sink is amazing. It is so huge that we could bathe the dogs in there. I love the back-splash!  I wanted the classic subway tile that never goes out of style and Irv wanted an accent so we combined both for a great look. We decided to go wit...

The sight below in the rear-view mirror caught my eye yesterday as I was driving home (even with a dirty window and mirror).  A snow-capped Pikes Peak is a very welcome sight when snow has been scare this winter. I decided to pull over an get a shot of the mountain.  We've lived at the base of Pikes Peak for 20 years and it still amazes me every day. Since I live in the boondocks of eastern Colorado my neighbors are all four-legged. I figured they would freak out and run off when I opened the car door, but they kept chewing their cud and foraging for food. They did keep an eye on me though. A beautiful, crisp, blue-skied Colorado morning. Happy Skywatch Friday!

Another week and my kitchen still isn't done--but it's getting close. The quartz counter-tops were installed on Friday. They are even more beautiful than I had hoped! The back splash tiling began yesterday (yes, they came out to work on a Saturday).  It's going to be white subway tile with a thin line of accent glass tiles.  The HUGE (or as someone says "YUGE") farmers sink was installed too. Our contractor says everything will be done by Friday.  I'm skeptical.  The crown molding still needs to be done, a couple walls need painted, drawer pulls and knobs need to be installed, trim needs to be completed all in addition to the tiling.  I can not even begin to tell you how ready I am to have my house back.  I actually cannot wait to do a complete and thorough spring cleaning the minute they finish up. This week I also finished up a painting of the streets of Rothenburg, Germany from a photo I took last year. It still needs some t...

It was a beautiful Colorado day today which beckoned us to the trails.  We explored Bear Creek Regional Park in Colorado Springs. Where is the Colorado snow you're wondering?   We've been asking that too. It's really dry here.  We're apt to be in big trouble if our spring snows don't come in. Until then though, we'll just continue to enjoy the trails and the warm weather as much as possible.  A snow storm is forecast for Saturday so we'll keep our fingers crossed. Happy Skywatch Friday!

Today is the big 3-8 for my middle daughter, MKP.  MKP and I do a lot of things together. The craziest thing she ever talked me into was a half marathon two years ago.  It was on her birthday so I was guilted into it when she told me all she wanted for her birthday was to run a half marathon with her mom.  (Why doesn't dad ever get involved with these shenanigans?)  We trained together for weeks and weeks--from long runs down the highway to miserable nights on a treadmill when it was too cold to train outside. She's my Glam Glass business partner. A fellow political activist and TR**P hater. #senatormichaelbennetforpresident2020  (I'm just sayin') She's always up for a hike or 5K (unless it's Sunday...that's her day of rest). We even found a bear together!  We do a lot of silly stuff together... And sometimes some not so fun stuff... We always have a good time.  She's a wonderful mother...

I'm getting really tired of winter!  We've had a very mild winter with only a couple dustings of snow and it has been unseasonably warm except when it is bone-chilling cold. This morning we woke up to our biggest snow of the season--maybe an inch. It may not be much, but I'm grateful for it--especially since I didn't have to drive to work on the icy roads. I'm getting cabin fever.  For a person who likes to be outside on the hiking trails this winter has been tough.  I've had to stay home every day that they're here working on our kitchen remodel.  The cold keeps me inside too.  I really, really, really cannot take the ice cold air. On Sunday we planned to go explore Bear Creek Park then we were going to take Maisy to the small dog park before going to a new dog pub for lunch.  We woke up Sunday morning to freezing drizzle, howling winds, and bone-chilling cold.  So much for those plans--it never got above 20 degrees all day.  It was a ...

I've been thinking about social media lately.  I love Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and my blog for keeping up with my friends and family and issues that are close to my heart.  Over the last few months though I have felt disheartened because of what I've personally experienced on social media. I believe that the majority of my friends would consider me to be a kind and empathetic person.  I'll never apologize for standing up for what I believe in.  One of my favorite quotes is from Martin Niemoller.   First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Trade Unionist Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak for me. I'm for the Dreamers, American and children of immigrants, I'm against hate, I'm for all Americans, not just the ...