Life on the High Plains

Are you quarantine fatigued yet?  Last weekend we needed to get out of the house so we did some hiking. We recently discovered a "mountain" with woods and trails right in the middle of town.  Irv continues to be a kid at heart and will climb or traverse anything he comes across. Being a competitive family, when we hike we each accumulate points for what we discover.  Irv got five points for climbing this rock formation. Here's a better perspective of where he was.  Climbing down turned out to be a bit of a challenge for this acrophobic. Several of these beauties were found.  These are Pasque flowers and they signal the start of spring in the Rocky Mountains. We had to stop for photos.  Do you see that guy in the background?  Yes, Mr. Beans joined us for a hike!  He let it be known that he wasn't enjoying it and we had to quit after a couple miles.  At least he came along.  We had a nice picnic along t...

We're nearing the end of April and we've come to a crossroads--continue the stay at home orders or go down a new path. In Colorado we'll be entering into a new phase on Sunday--Safer at Home.  Some personal services such as hair salons and dog groomers can reopen, retail stores can open for curbside pickup, dental offices can reopen and elective medical procedures can take place, and non-essential offices can open at 50% staffing (all with strict precautions).  For the most part though things are going to stay the same.  Social distancing and face mask wearing is still the normal, no traveling to the mountains for the weekend, no gatherings of more than ten people, schools are still closed, and no traveling more than ten miles to recreate.  Basically, the governor said this is "not a free for all".   I plan to continue to stay at home except for my weekly visit to the grocery store mainly to pickup fresh produce.  I'll keep enjoying my co...

Well, we've made it through the first full week of stay at home orders.  It all started with the following emergency message that was sent to everyone's phone.  I thought it might be fun to see how everyone spends their days. Mine starts with pretty much the same breakfast every day.  Low fat Greek yogurt with lots of fruit.  Only two WW points.  If I don't have this I'll have two pieces of 45 calorie French toast with sugar free jelly (no syrup) and fruit.  That's a four point breakfast.  Delicious and nutritious! Then I'll usually start thinking about what's for dinner.  Before all this craziness started I stocked up on all the ingredients needed for about 30 days of meals.  On this particular night it was Pioneer Woman's Chow Mein. Here's my version of it...definitely needed more carrots and more soy sauce than her recipe called for.  It was okay, but not fantastic. At least once per week we try ...