Life on the High Plains

Here in Colorado we're just beginning to come out of winter and into spring.  The trees are just starting to bud and the grass is slowly turning green.  I think we spend so much of the year in a brown without color that I was totally amazed by the flowers, trees, and other flora that we saw on our recent trip to Phoenix.  We visited the Phoenix Zoo. I assume the Phoenix Zoo has amazing animals although we didn't get to see a whole lot of them.  It was 104 degrees that afternoon so most of the animals, like us, were looking for shade and coolness.  The Zoo does have beautiful grounds with many colors which I really enjoyed.  In fact, most of my pictures were of the beautiful greenery and flora, only a couple shots of the critters. The Buganvilias were my favorite.  When I move to Phoenix is a few years I'm going to have lots of them. The colors of the desert are simply amazing.  Just one more reminder of why I want to re...

What were you doing 37 years ago today? I married my high school sweetheart 37 years ago today in a very intimate family wedding in New Mexico .  We were really young and we had so many people telling us we'd never make it.  I guess they were wrong.  Not only did we make it, we thrived. This man is my very best friend.  He's the one person I can always count on for everything.  He makes me feel like the most special person in the world.  This has been especially apparent these last three years as I have searched for the cause of my chronic pain.  He's always at my side even in the sub-zero tundra of Minnesota in January.  Best of all, he feeds the horses whenever it's cold and windy which is pretty much every day in the winter.  He's awesome for spoiling me like that. I did good! Not only is he a great husband and provider, he's a fantastic dad and an even better Pappy. We take turns  treating each other to a spec...

Today was a really nice day.  We started our Easter by worshipping our Lord who died on the cross for us 2,000 years ago.  It's always nice to celebrate the sacrifice that He made for us so that we could be forgiven of all our sins.  I loved the service this morning and our Pastor, the joker that he is, told the congregation that they didn't need to wait until December 24th to come back again, they could come back next week, next month, or every Sunday.  It's always funny how crowded church is on Easter. We invited the kids over for dinner which started out with a scavenger hunt for Mr. Beans.  He's 13 now and way too cool for an Easter egg hunt so we made it a little more challenging this year.  He actually had to work for his Easter goodies. From the barn...   to the mailbox....   through the pine trees...   and into the goose pen... and the tack room... ....to the shed ...and finally to the shrubbery ...

We recently spent a few days in Phoenix enjoying the warmth and sunshine after a long Colorado winter.  We visited the Desert Botanical Garden and found a great surprise--Chihuly in the Garden. All I can say is "Magnificent"!  I could have spend the entire day there. I love Chihuly. I love the Arizona desert.  (I love it so much that I plan to move there when we retire in a few years.) I love hanging out with my darlin' and my kids so it was an all around great day! Happy Skywatch Friday !

I dragged Irv to the Denver Museum of Art last weekend.  My favorite exhibit was Fox Games by Sandy Skoglund.  Wow!  I just love it!   Why are some people so creative while others aren't? My camera was a little freaked out by all the red so most of my pictures came out blurry, but these two are okay. I also took some shots of painting I'd like to imitate some day.  "Ranch Near Rocky Ridge" by Howard Post.  The painting I'm currently working on is of a horse so we'll have to see how that comes out before I tackle two horses.  I love this painting!  "Independence Pass" by Daniel Sprick.  This is a fabulous painting with all the detail.  Probably too realistic for me. "Mountain Lake (Eagle Nest)" by Ernest Blumenschein.  This is another of my favorites.  I can see myself trying something like this in the future. "Aspen Trees at Twining" by Victor Higgins.  Every Coloradan has to have a painting ...

We went to our first Colorado Rockies game of the season last weekend and there's something new at Coors Field--The Rooftop.  It's an upper right field deck with bars and concessions.  There aren't any seats up there, but I bet it has an incredible views.  I found out that any ticketed guest can go up and visit the Rooftop.  You can also buy a $14 general admission ticket for the Rooftop which includes $6 in concession credit.  That's a pretty good deal!  Next time we go to a game I definitely want to go up there for a visit, but I probably won't want to stay and stand for the entire game. In case you're wondering about those clouds--yes, it was cold and damp.  Prior to the game we had rain, sleet, and snow.  It pretty much stopped by the time the game started, but it was chilly.   The Rockies weren't having a great day so we left at the top of the 8th inning. The D-Backs ending up beating the Rockies 5-3. Happy Skywatch...

I decided to do some celebrating this weekend.  In 21 days it will be one year since I earned my bachelor's degree.  At my age that is no small accomplishment.  One class at a time--it took me four years to complete that degree and there was never any kind of celebration to recognize that achievement.  I also got a nice promotion at work to go along with earning my degree so that's just one more reason to celebrate.  I decided to take it upon myself to say "good job Ellen". Here it is...my brand new 4WD Nissan Pathfinder SL.  Fully loaded with heated seats, leather interior, remote started, heated mirrors, power lift gate, etc. etc. etc. I pick it up this evening. Congratulations Ellen!