6/30/10

Summer evenings, chilled wine, dinners on patios...


...and two-year-olds who don't like to sit still...


6/29/10

Corner View: summer!
My husband took these with my iPhone yesterday. I was in the midst of a heavy work day, unshowered and unkempt. But I came out to take a five minute break in the sun, warming Q up in the hammock after her long session in the pool. Raw and natural, I think these photos are a pure illustration of the word "summer".

Stop by Jane's place and visit the many other corner views around the world. Happy travels!

6/28/10

Berry picking, spring storms, and family time...

Berry picking day at Berry Patch Farms in Brighton.
Q is a fan of chickens.
And strawberries.

On the truck to the strawberry fields.
Spring breezes, far-off storms, and first-season berries.


Family time.






6/27/10

A small preview...

Busy....Oh, so busy right now!!

We have so much to share with you, but oh, so busy. If only there were more hours in the day! But I have so, so much to tell. Soon.

In the meantime, I give you a few tastes of what you have to look forward to:
Baby in a basket.
Kool Kat on a train with her Ah-pah.
St. Mary's Glacier (looks like Q had nefarious plans for my hat, doesn't it?)
Oh, and it's daisy season!! I love daisy season.
Strawberry picking!
Neighborhood walks (plus, she is so cute it kills me!).
Did I mention it's daisy season?
Long, long, action-packed days in the sun.

Until soon! ox

6/26/10

Camping photos from the Great Sand Dunes by Mike and my mum:
There was a forest fire raging just three draws away from their campground...
...but it didn't stop the girls from having their fun.
Q digging in the sand with her cousin Victoria.


The great sand dunes rise as high as Denver's downtown skyline, but it's difficult to get a perspective on their height from most vantage points.
Q and her LaoLao.


Chasing after her cousin.
In the evenings, the sky looked like this...
...and like this.

6/22/10

On a recent Saturday morning, I was walking the puppy the ten blocks between our house and the coffee shop when, winding our way among a narrowing aisle of hedge roses and yard sale trinkets, I spotted these...

Shining in the clear yellow of the morning sun, a glossy blue and red drumset that reminded me of some bright dream from my childhood, maybe re-runs of Josie and the Pussycats, or the Partridge Family, who knows.
I don't usually stop at yard sales because, I mean, let's face it: really we need less "things" in our home, not more! So Mathilda and I kept our heads straight and our noses high and walked on by.
All the way to the coffee shop, however, I kept seeing that drum set gleaming in the sun.

Here's the other thing: when Q came home, my husband specifically forbade me to bring home a drum set. Guitars were OK, all manner of flutes and whistles, even maracas, but not drums.
Not drums.
As Mattie and I headed home with our coffee, I spotted the drums again, still there on the grass. The young man, seated in a rickety chair next to a table full of dusty and well-loved horse figurines, mounted soldiers, remote control cars and the like, wore thick Harry Potter glasses and a faux-fur tophat with stars emblazoned on it. He looked up at me gravely as I passed. He was maybe nine years old.

"Cute dog," he said politely.

"Thank you," I said. "How much for the drums?"
I walked Mathilda home and, studiously avoiding eye contact with my husband, grabbed some spare bills and the car keys.
The drum set is well-loved, beaten like worked copper by the pitter-patter of so many little drumsticks. The high-hat is a little wonky, and one of the toms keeps falling off. But Q loves it. Talk about more bang for your buck! All in all I'd say it's about the best four bucks I ever spent.