A day of outdoor work

Yesterday on a blustery but hot April day, I took the day off from the studio, draggeed Q's toy bench out back, tarped and taped and set to work painting it.
After a year and a half, approaching time for transitioning to a 'big girl' bed, I am finally working on redecorating Q's room.
When we first bought the house, I painted my bathroom (which was on the "old" side of the house and very worn and decrepit) in patterns inspired by the wall paintings from African mud huts. I have always loved the way it turned out, and decided to draw from some beautifully-woven African fabrics for the patterns on this bench.
I think it was a hit with the Q.
As for me, it felt like a spring cleaning of the mind to crawl out of the depths of my studio, sit on a tarp in the sun, and just spend the day painting a piece of furniture.
Now on to the rest of the room...I'm kind of excited to see how it turns out!

icecream

Rain, rain, go away...
Or, actually, stick around. After all, the Q loves her umbrellas, and her galoshes.
That, and Colorado is a dry state. On average, March is the wettest month, and summers are very dry. This year, we had a fairly storm-free March, so I guess we'll take all the April showers we can get!
Make hay while the sun shines, and make flowers while the rain falls.
About 60 seconds after this shot was taken, the rain turned to heavy, wet, overwhelming, torrential spring snow. And then back to rain again after about a half hour. I'm sure it will turn to snow again tonight before this spring storm has run its course.

But...that's spring in Colorado.

The Clock Tower

Recently the city of Denver hosted a day-long open tour of historical building, and though we didn't have a lot of time before my husband's work, it was a beautiful day, and we made a dash to see the inside of the famous clocktower, whose outside we have so often admired.
The Daniels & Fisher clock tower, modeled after the Campanile in Piazza San Marco, Venice (though that's not what you'd think of standing in downtown Denver), was built in 1910 and was at the time the tallest structure west of the Mississippi.
From the top deck of the clock tower are some amazing views of Lodo and 16th Street.
But the inside of the clock itself is the really magical part.
I wish I thought Q would remember all these wonderful adventures, but people keep reminding me that most recalled memories are formed after the age of three. Still, that's why I take all these photos, isn't it? Or at least, that's my excuse ;)
It was all fun and games until Q started swinging from the stair rails some three hundred feet up inside the tower, and it was time to head for solid ground.

Blustery spring day

New family member

This is Sawyer. She's a girl. She's nine months old, very small, and adopted.
She is Q's new cat, and our new mouser.
We have been badly in need of a mouser in this house, and Sawyer was chosen partly on the basis of her clear status as a fearless hunter among cats.
She was also chosen for her petite stature, her obvious intelligence, her outgoing nature, her gorgeous eyes, and her youth.
I briefly had cold feet on our way to the pound, but once we saw and visited with this one, I lost my trepidation. I'm now pretty sure we've found the right cat, and she's found the right family.

I was dubious about the note on her cage that said she was litterbox-trained, but this proved to be true. She is also tolerant of loud and aggressive toddlers, and very open to direction.
Q was really hoping for a purple cat, but failing that, she thinks Sawyer is pretty cool.

More about spring

de l'amour des arbres...

My sweet blog friend Juniper of Capers and Olives passed me this little post in honor of tree several weeks ago, and I have been waiting until the spring trees were in full bloom to do it the honor it deserves.
Of course I was also hoping against hope that there would be a bloom this year, since last year April blizzards wiped out the bloom entirely.
But I got lucky, and this year the bloom is one of the most spectacular I've seen.

This little russet-headed bird helped me immensely with this post, as it sat singing its little heart out to the spring skies in some still-bare branches.
I do love trees (in fact I'd be a little suspicious of anyone who doesn't) but this is definitely the time of year that I am the most giddily and madly in love with them here in our garden city. You can see why!