Picture Wall

I recently gave a make-over to a wall in our living room.

Lots of pictures, so I decided to do a collage

It's a mix of older and newer family pics, travel memories, and inspirational reminders

Squirrel In the Window Well

This little guy

was stuck down in here

because that piece of wood was covering the lip of the window well and he couldn't climb past it.

So I lured him out with a tomato and he is happily running back and forth along our fence again.

Trail Ridge Road in the Fall

This prime fall weekend for viewing colors, we were apparently not alone in choosing to head into the mountains...

These two in yellow matched the scenery all day long

Every time we encountered a new peek of brighter color, we pit stopped to grab a closer look. And as we climbed to higher elevations, it got better and better.

We found a great place to have lunch, wishing our own Cy was along with us

My favorite shot of the day

These memories will be held dear

Okay, so how is it that I have lived here over 25 years, but I have never before driven over Trail Ridge Road? I'm pretty sure I would have remembered these steep drop offs. Yikes! 

Way steeper than it looks here

Just to compare, this is a similar view of the road we traveled, but in winter.
No wonder they close it down for several months each year.

But really beautiful views

There we are

My girl and I, enjoying a river

And my love and I, near the end of a very full day

Reminiscing: Independence Eve

We traveled to my home town for July 4th this year. I just came across some photos from a fun family day shared with my nieces, nephews, sister, brother-in-law, parents, husband, and daughter. It's so great when we converge together from the three states where we live.

A gorgeous, mild day to visit a beautiful park and walking path.
Kind of fun to be with this posse. (and you know, I looked up "posse" - it's
"a group of people who have a common characteristic or purpose.")

feeling rhythmic

feeling relaxed

he thinks he's hiding

almost 24  years with this guy

what's a summer night without a convertible ride?

waiting for fireworks. And wishing we had brought chairs!

Evening finale

Garden Makeover

Perennials are the best.

I have six flower beds with 900 square feet of planting space in our yard, and each one has primarily perennials. I cultivate and rearrange and thin and sell and pull out and cut for arrangements and give away and thoroughly enjoy them.

We have a long, narrow bed right by our front porch. When we moved in, there were already a few rose bushes and some tall phlox, and I added a few things through the years.

While it's really established and pretty, I also felt that it was getting quite overgrown. The ground cover was kind of a pain, and the lavender patch on the right end was overtaking things.

So I enlisted the help of the men in my family, and they were so kind to dig up everything. Yes, everything.

Quite a collection that was redistributed to a few other spots in my yard and shared with a friend

A Blank Slate

A drain spout goes right through this bed, so it's been nice to have a strong root system in recent years. (I didn't think of this fact when I decided to do this revamping project.)

I'm concentrating on adding back some of my favorite perennials that grow in a more controlled, circular pattern. Yarrow, heuchera, Japanese iris, veronica, and mums are a few that I am working on moving into this new spot.

I transplanted a lot of the lavender to an often-unseen area where weeds constantly threaten to take over. I am hoping that the lavender wins next year!

The guys dug up those threatening weeds here, too,
so I could move some of my plants to this area.

The past few days, I have worked on rearranging and sharing some of my favorites from the back yard into this flower bed. It's so empty! But once I add some mulch to tuck it all in for the winter, it will be fun to see what comes back bigger and stronger and prettier next year!

Returning to the Work World

I've always had a bookkeeping job - it was bigger in our early marriage, and I juggled a lot when our children were young. It was even busier when we home schooled and I took kids and books to work and came home and found that kids hadn't completed their assignments; so it was nice when work scaled back for me as we continued our ten years of home schooling.

In recent years, I have been working one short day each week, keeping books for our church. It's not too demanding, and I have been able to serve my family and others without stressing too much about not having enough time at home.

As my youngest entered college a few weeks ago, I was a little concerned that her absence at home was going to leave me blue in the mid-week afternoons. We have shared a very close friendship, being highly involved in each others' lives. However, we are adapting to the changed structure in life. (And it doesn't hurt that we still exchange a few texts, emails, and phone calls frequently.)

I set my sights on getting busy - seeking caregiving or household organization jobs, considering a virtual office assistant job at the recommendation of a former boss, and applying for a few positions with our local school district.

God has provided just the right amount of "busy" for me during these first weeks of college: I have cared for a friend's mother at home on hospice; I have met up with a friend and her little ones for a play date; I have listed lots of stuff on CraigsList and done substantial de-cluttering; and most recently, I was offered a position as a substitute para educator with our school district.

I enjoy staying busy, and it's been nice to find that I still have marketable skills and am making an impact with new relationships!

Remembering 9-11

It was my joy to get up early this morning and head over to a local 9-11 memorial, walk and pray with a friend, and then participate in the community observance of what happened 14 years ago.

We heard bagpipes play Amazing Grace, a trumpeter's God Bless America, and three tolls of a bell for the three locations that experienced great loss.

May America stand strong in the face of adversity!

Mountain Escape

For Labor Day weekend, we got away to the mountains. We stayed in a great townhome where each of us had our own space, and it served as our home base for all of the little hikes, walks, and exploring we did. It was so homey and comfortable, we were happy to be nestled in there during late afternoon rains. We even cooked and stayed there for our two meals a day.

Three generations at Echo Lake

Don't you love these blue trees? They were painted with a natural pigment to inspire discussion about deforestation

A mom is always happiest when she's with her beloved children

Soaring down a mountainside coaster - the ride was way too fast for $20!

Others chose the alpine slide

Me and my love

We got in on some early changing colors