Short Story Long

On an unseasonally warm morning in February, I met up with a group of photographers to photograph the early light on downtown Denver's skyline.  I don't have much else to say.  Maybe soon.

Sit and sip a nice cup of tea with me, while we chat!  After refreshing my memory about the things I've posted this year (not much!) what I see is that I really need to get down to something interesting and uplifting for you to read. The past month and a half, I have been working on a turquoise sweater for a friend and knitting patron who lives in Illinois.  I'll write up a little more about that later this week - maybe, if I remember!  I've got a couple of other projects just off the needles - but no pictures!  I guess I'll have to round them all up and tell you about them.   In the meantime, I have been so busy, and this summer included so many things where I was either the hostess, or primarily responsible for the planning, or photographing it!  In the past fourteen weeks, I believe we have had two weekends at home together.  I know many people would think that's a lot, but I don't run well on busy .  You know, I'm not going ...

the latest chapter in a long love story.

Early morning tea...   I recently read a discussion on Flickr about whether and how to capture steam (from food) and that it is often faked with smoke.  Not my first shot of a hot, fresh cup of tea; I'm thinking tea stays steamy longer than bread.  I enjoy all my senses getting involved:  the smell of the blend in the tin, watching the color disburse in the water, the sound of the sugar granules breaking the surface, the warmth of the cup, and of course, the taste.  Having tea is one of my favorite morning rituals.   I recently realized that my favorite variety of tea has begun an affiliation that, to put it simply, I find appalling.  And out of character - or so I would have thought.  I am heartbroken to lose this little, daily moment of savoring what is good, what is simple, what is home.  And I wonder, what should I do about it?  Does this company really mean that they've joined up with the anger and hate?  Or did th...

A weekend with my favorite girl, including a tea party, dance recital, and swinging at the park:  Here and there in downtown Denver: ...including Denver Comic Con and lots of fascinating cosplayers. The best date-week with my husband, whom I just adore to the moon, with breakfast at a cute little diner in the Berkeley neighborhood, Kyle's Kitchen; we loved the mismatched mugs. While the kids were away at camp, I had a little photo session with another artist-craftsman, Jessica, a quilter.  I was definitely inspired by all her beautiful work.  Just maybe, I will get back to quilting sometime soon. Wrapping up the month with a beautiful wedding in Longmont.  Perhaps more on that later?

This school year just zipped by.  Really, I can't believe how fast it's gone.  I suppose that means I really have been too busy.  We're three or so days into summer break and I'm happy to say we've already done some out-of-the-ordinary things.  On Sunday, we went downtown to the People's Fair and also to the Chalk Arts Festival.  I love being downtown with BFJ, it's where we met and spent many fun lunch hours in our youth, exploring the city.  I also love taking the boys to see new things, including people.  We took a break in the shade next to a girl with beautiful blue hair.  I should have taken a picture.  Instead, here are a few pictures of the chalk work. I overheard one of the artists say that they had 2/3 of their picture done on Saturday, and 2/3 was washed away by the rain that night, so everyone had to start over on Sunday.  I didn't take as many pictures as I did last year, but you can check out my whole set on Fli...

I usually start the New Year in a place of tranquility, with plans for the future already in motion. Last night I started the New Year in a car, almost home but not quite, tired and feeling like we'd stayed too long but left too soon, and not knowing whether we would be finding the house dark or light.  We didn't have any power when we'd left, and as it turned out, didn't when we arrived home seven hours later.  However, I remind my self that while I may have had many failings today, it is simply one of seven New Days I get every week and my New Year can start tomorrow.  It's all going to be okay.   I was talking to a friend earlier today and sort of decided, subconsciously, that I'm going to attempt a Project: 365.  Though of course this year it will be 365+1.  I thought I was going to do this last January, but on Day 3 or 4, I found my pictures so far so dismal that I immediately quit.  I have a much different perspective on photography now t...

Today, at the last minute, we decided that we would go, afterall, to the open house at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.  We got there too late for the free lunch and prizes, but we had a lot of fun looking around.  Set minature for To Kill a Mockingbird.  How small is this miniature?  That is my smallest child's blurry head in the foreground. Costumes from Dracula were out for everyone to look at:  Sketches of Jacob, and Marley (dead these seven ye-ahs): A set miniature for A Christmas Carol:  A huge splurge for our holidays, and one we haven't indulged in for a few years, we've already got our tickets for A Christmas Carol.  I might not have gotten them, I might have just thought about it, but if you buy them in July, you can get them half price!  And this year, we are taking the boys.  I am SO excited!  We also missed the backstage tours, which I was really bummed about, but we did get to see how they make 'snow' ...

The Addison Hat is now available for sale on Ravelry here .  Several of my wonderful friends test knit this for me, and one of them even bought the pattern even though I said I would give it to her.  Aren't knitters nice?!  And in answer to Anna's (and possibly others') question about the shop on Larimer, I don't remember what the name of it was but everything was French-, wine-, or dish-related, so I could have spun around with a blindfold on, reached my hand out, and found a good gift for my mother-in-law!  If I think of the name, I will post it. 

Every year there is a chalk art festival in LoDo (lower downtown.)  Often we miss it but this time we caught the very end, which was great for seeing finished pieces.  Unfortunately, there were so many people crowded up next to the edges that we missed several great drawings, trying to manuever through the crowd.  However, I was justified in insisting we catch this when Zoom pulled out his sketch pad when we got home and started drawing. I like how this girl is watching herself being drawn... You could definitely tell who the chalk artists were:  To see my whole set of pictures, check out my flickr set , and while you are there you can type "Denver chalk art" into the Search box and see all the drawings and artists that other people captured.  I especially like the drawing of the cows, there are pictures at several stages, but we didn't see that one while we were there.