thursday journal

2011-12-12T12:12:00.000-08:00

Family Snowfall Holiday

Browse Christmas invitations and holiday cards by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

hiking buddy

2011-11-13T08:39:00.000-08:00

piper is turning out to be a great little adventure dog. we took her to two of our favorite local areas for walks over the weekend.

friday we went to temple canyon park, outside canon city.

piper learned some valuable lessons about cacti, but she's a tough little dog. not even a whimper while i sat pulling cactus spines out of her feet and legs (i packed the tweezers, just in case). she also sat patiently while pete did some fishing. she's a great trail dog, always waiting for us to catch up if she's ahead.

saturday we went to the upper section of the beaver creek wildlife area. we took the trail along the creek, which has lots of opportunities to run and plan and jump over logs. piper hopped across the rocks at the stream crossing with no hesitation.

and she even sits still for a few pictures, just to humor me.

piper

2011-10-16T06:24:00.000-07:00

We'd like to introduce a new member to our family. Piper is a 10 week old border collie mix from Life Is Better Rescue in Denver. We saw her on petfinder.com, and after talking with her foster family this week, we decided to drive up to meet her yesterday. It was love at first sight.

All puppies are adorable, but she seems like the perfect fit for us. She's smart, curious, sweet, and active but calm. She slept on my lap for the whole drive home, and settled into the house really quickly. We can't wait for her to meet all our friends and family.

gunnison

2011-05-30T16:45:00.000-07:00

we spent the holiday weekend camping and hiking in the black canyon of the gunnison.

we drove to the black canyon of the gunnison national park on friday. we stopped in the town of gunnison to pick up firewood (berfields stage stop) and marshmallows (safeway) and made a quick swing through gene taylors outdoor store, where i scored a new daypack on clearance for $20. woot!

we chose the north rim of the park, hoping it would be less crowded. we found a nice campsite in the small campground, then took a short hike from the north rim ranger station to exclamation point. it was an easy walk with great views of the canyon.in the evening, we drove the north rim road, checking out all the overlooks.

friday night was rough in the campground. people driving through (repeatedly) almost all night trying to find a spot, and some guy trying to set up camp on our picnic table around midnight. not much sleep.

saturday morning we got started bright and early.

this was by far the most difficult hike we've ever tackled. the park won't even call it a trail, they're all unmaintained "routes" into the inner canyon. the entrance to the route is just before the beginning of the campground loop, to the right of the road. seemed like this one is used a lot by climbers, who go down the trail and then climb the canyon wall ending up back in the campground.

we hiked the 1800 feet down to the river in about 2 hours, explored the canyon for a bit, and made the long, hard scramble back out in just under 3 hours. by the end, i felt the route was aptly named.

we had a much more peaceful night saturday, thankfully, and packed up and headed north through crawford and hotchkiss and back down to the blm gunnison conservation area. even though we could barely walk from the hike the day before, we were determined to tackle the duncan trail, which had kicked our butts the year before.

as we expected, it wasn't nearly as difficult as it seemed only a year ago. the first mile is easy, but the last half mile has almost all the elevation change (600 ft). even with the scree and loose rocks and occasionally confusing trail, we hobbled our way down in about 45 minutes.
brutal winds made for terrible fishing, but the canyon was still beautiful and peaceful. the trip out only took a little over an hour.

lots and lots more pictures HERE.

maps of the trails made with our new gps are HERE.

View Black Canyon of the Gunnision - 5/27/2011 in a larger map

steampunk

2011-04-10T13:20:00.000-07:00

newlin creek trail

san isabel national forest
florence, co
5.4 miles (roundtrip)
1,400 feet elevation gain

this trail is in both our "southern front range trail guide" and the falcon guide "hiking colorado." it's a small trail that zig zags through the valley following (and frequently crossing) newlin creek.

there are interesting rock formations

small waterfalls

and at the end a meadow with an abandoned steam engine

pete tried to figure out how it worked
but i was more interested in the lichen

on the way back out, pete spent some time in search of some greenback cutthroat trout
(with no luck)
it was a fantastic hike, and one i think we'll do again

lots more pictures HERE!

2011-04-01T18:00:00.000-07:00

spent the afternoon at the quilt show at the el pueblo museum, and the quilt and stitch expo at the convention center.

some beautiful examples of applique:

and hand quilting:

pinwheels, my favorite quilt pattern:

these extremely tiny hexagons fascinated me:
and a couple of quilts i know my friend janet would love:i couldn't pass up the opportunity to pick up some vintage feed sack fabric:

holiday

2011-01-03T15:13:00.000-08:00

now that the holidays are over, i thought i would share some of the christmas crafting i did.

first, jami's reading mitts

amy's reindeer hat

hats for my sisters and brother, to meet their requests

and finally, some christmas knitting for me!

first was a hat, knit while we were stranded in kansas, waiting for car repairs

a scarf to match the hat (knit while visiting friends)

and a pair of reading mitts for me
(knit christmas eve and christmas day, while visiting with family)

Car Talk

2010-12-18T08:25:00.001-08:00

Waiting for car parts at James Automotive in Ottowa, KS. Most helpful and pleasant mechanic, who took pity on us stuck on our way across the country, and tracked down new bearings for us. He even pointed us to a local bakery while we waited.

So many books, so little time

2010-11-06T09:04:00.001-07:00

Happy halloween

2010-10-30T18:04:00.001-07:00

phantom canyon

2010-10-24T16:28:00.000-07:00

friday we took a drive to enjoy the last of the fall color.

phantom canyon road follows the route of an old railroad that originally carried gold out of the cripple creek area.the road winds through the canyon to high plains at over 9,000 feet elevation.

View Phantom Canyon in a larger map

there were beautiful trees
this lovely bridge, built in 1897 to replace the previous wooden bridge destroyed in a fire
harvey played hide and seek with some livestock
we did some scrambling around the rocks

and a short tour around the town of victor

working gold mine

interactive exhibit of old mining equipment. this tip cart was pete's favorite thing

a stop for a short walk on a trail, and then a lovely drive back home

lots more pictures HERE.

fall color

2010-10-10T18:47:00.001-07:00

even though they're not the fall colors i love from home, the aspens are beautiful

Needle in a haystack

2010-10-10T17:54:00.001-07:00

About a month ago, pete went hiking and fishing along our favorite trail in the san isabel national forest and harvey managed to lose his collar and tags. Yesterday we were back hiking the same trail, so we looked around the brushy areas. Against all odds, pete spotted something as we scrambled down stream.

rabbits

2010-09-06T06:31:00.000-07:00

~camping and fishing along the conejos river over labor day weekend~

we thought we would try someplace different this weekend, so we headed down south to the conejos river (spanish for "rabbits") in the rio grande national forest. the drive was about 3 hours, and took us almost to the new mexico border. we made a stop at conejos river anglers on the way in, and picked up some fishing flies and advice on where to go. we drove the road along the river (county road 17 and then forest road 250) and scouted out places to fish and camp. we fished a couple of sections above the lake fork campground, with no luck. but i did try out my new field guide.

after that, we headed back to the primitive camping area just above the pinnacles
to set up for the night.

when we got there, the campground was a little crowded.
but harvey cleared us out a space.

a cold night was followed by a cold morning, but pete made a nice fire while we waited for the sun to come up in the valley and dry the tent.

the area was very busy for the holiday weekend, and i believe hunting. i've never seen so many horse trailers, which i assume are packing hunters back into the woods for the start of muzzle-loader season.

on the way out we tried our luck with fishing a couple more times. no luck at one spot, but i did watch a very busy american dipper across the stream.

we stopped along CO17 at a private farm that allows angler access. i hooked a huge rainbow trout, but got excited and forgot everything i knew about fishing, and he flipped off about 5 feet from me.

lots more pictures here.

shooting stars

2010-08-13T11:01:00.000-07:00

thursday night/friday morning we trekked out to see the perseid meteor shower, which was beautiful. pete pried me out of bed around 1 in the morning and we drove down into the san isabel national forest, to get away from the city lights. we used this site to find the best place to go.

http://www.jshine.net/astronomy/dark_sky/

we decided to go somewhere we knew, which was a hill top in the national forest on ophir creek road with a large open area for lots of sky to view. the stars on a regular night are beautiful. last night was amazing. we arrived around 2 in the morning, stretched out on the sleeping bag and watched meteors streak the sky for a little over an hour, before the cold and tired set in and we headed home. i lost count of how many meteors i saw, but it was probably at least 30. Definitely worth the late night trip.

quilt progress

2010-08-07T13:36:00.000-07:00

the top of my first quilt is done!

i owe a big thank you to janet, for helping to motivate me to work on this again.

holiday

2010-07-05T06:19:00.000-07:00

we spent most of our holiday weekend taking advantage of public parks.

friday morning we drove out to brush hollow reservoir to try out the new oars that pete bought for the canoe. turns out i'm a natural at rowing a boat.

saturday we took a hike in the pueblo mountain park near beulah, co. we took a familiar trail - northridge to devils canyon. lots of fun, and lots of great pictures along the way.

sunday we hiked the san carlos trail in the san isabel national forest. we stared at the CO78 trailhead and hiked 1.5 miles down to the st. charles river.

the hike was lovely

and the river was full of trout
we spent some time exploring the river

we had to do some scrambling to get downstream, but harvey was a trooper
harvey found this shortcut for the way back, though (which seemed a lot easier for him to squeeze through)

and sunday night we spent enjoying the neighborhood fireworks

lots and lots and lots more pictures here:
canoeing
pueblo mtn park
san carlos trail
fireworks

sunday morning on the lake

2010-06-27T14:04:00.001-07:00

pete suggested an early morning trip out to pueblo lake, which turned out to be a great idea. the weather was beautiful, the lake was calm
and we had our favorite cove all to ourselves.

we rowed right up to this kingbird, who was singing in the trees

and past this cormorant sunning on a branch

and when i got tired of fishing, harvey and i lounged around the canoe

we managed to convince harvey to take a quick swim, and the jury is still out on whether or not he thinks that was a good idea

i think he prefers staying in the boat

more pictures HERE.

brush hollow

2010-06-26T19:35:00.000-07:00

friday afternoon we made the short drive to brush hollow reservoir, about 40 minutes west near penrose, co. its a small lake, but the no-wake policy made it sound canoe friendly. we put in at the small dirt boat ramp near the parking area on the east side. i managed to back the trailer in on the first try (~looks proud~). once we got on the lake, we found there were only a few other people out. we paddled a little ways up and then broke out the fishing rods. despite some noisy neighbors, we had a good time, and caught a few small fish (silver spinners were the big hit). my bluegill was the prettiest catch of the day, but pete caught the world's tiniest bass-it was about the same size as the lure.

we had our eye on some rain clouds, and kept close to the shore, but the wind rolled up on us pretty fast anyway. we found ourselves making a struggle back to the boat ramp ("i'm paddling, why aren't we going anywhere?!!") but managed to make it back without getting divorced. barely. ;)

more pictures HERE.

...and bears, oh my!

2010-06-06T06:13:00.000-07:00

a short camping trip, close to home

friday morning we drove about an hour south to the san isabel national forest and into the ophir creek area. (like all places in colorado, "ophir" seems to have many different pronunciations. oh-fear or ohfur. we spent the whole time trying to decide.)

we found a lovely dispersed campsite all to itself in an aspen grove.

it was only a short walk down to ophir creek, where we spent some time exploring

"fairy slipper" orchid

and relaxing

we drove the rest of ophir creek road that was open, and saw some beautiful sights

and on the way back by, near the beaver ponds, we spotted this guy

we spent a relaxing evening around camp, with burgers on the grill, and corn cooked in the campfire. and smores (which i was too busy eating to take a picture of).

harvey spotted some elk making their way past the camp. when they realized we were there, they took off in a hurry.

saturday morning we took one last drive before heading out, and spotted a whole herd of elk in the valley off gardner road.

more pictures of the trip HERE.

gunnison

2010-05-31T06:07:00.000-07:00

Taking advantage of the long weekend, we went camping around the Gunnison area.

Friday morning we packed up and headed out towards Gunnison.Once we got to town, we ate a picnic lunch in a small city park, and made a stop at the visitor's center. We also made a stop into Gene Taylor's outdoors store, which was packed with lots of tempting camping and fishing supplies, but we made it out with only a map of all the public lands in the area. Unfortunately, flows on the rivers and streams in the area were high because of snow melt, so we decided to try out luck by heading north towards the tiny town of Almont. At the Almont Angler's shop I picked up some fishing supplies and chatted with the owner, Mark. On his advice we headed up the Taylor River area, and took the road into Spring Creek. Along the creek are several campgrounds, but primitive camping is also allowed. We picked a nice private spot overlooking the stream and set up camp. Pete cooked dinner on our coleman stove (thanks Mary!), and we enjoyed burgers and fried potatoes before heading out for a little fishing.
No luck fishing, but fortunately the area was beautiful, and we enjoyed the scenery.
We spent the evening around a campfire, admiring the little dipper and the sound of the nearby stream.
Saturday morning dawned COLD, so we packed up shop quickly and headed out for the Gunnison canyon. The Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park offered beautiful views, but extremely limited access that allowed dogs. We took the Rim Rock trail from the south rim visitor's center, but the trail parallels the road, and wasn't much to speak of except for a few lovely views of the canyon.

(We broke the rules to get this picture of Harvey, taking him off the leash for a minute)

We discovered that the BLM operated a National Conservation Area elsewhere in the canyon, so after getting directions and advice from one of the rangers, we drove to Montrose, CO and visited the Cimmaron Creek fly fishing shop. After a quick stop at City Market to pick up some firewood, we drove to the Conservation Area and made our way to the Duncan trailhead.

The trail is 1.5 miles, and makes its way 840 feet down the canyon to the Gunnison River.

The first mile of the trail was enjoyable, but the last half mile or so was very challenging, where the "trail" consisted of scrambling over rocks and scree along the canyon sides. It was occasionally tricky to distinguish the trail, but we found that cairns consistently showed the way (even if I didn't want to believe them).

Harvey scaled the rocks and technical areas with ease, thoroughly enjoying himself the entire time. After a few slips and a scraped arm on my part, we made it to the bottom of the canyon, which was beautiful.

We ran into a BLM park ranger (Ryan) who was extremely helpful and nice, advising us on camping spots and other areas of the Conservation Area to visit. After an all too short time, we had to start the trek back up the canyon. We made surprisingly good time, scrambling out in an hour and a half. I'm not sure I have ever been so happy by the sight of our dusty xterra.

Although there were lots of opportunities for free primitive camping, no fires are allowed in the Conservation Area, and we didn't want to leave such a long drive home for the next day, so we headed back towards Gunnison, and camped on another spot along Spring Creek. Hot dogs and marshmallows over the campfire were the perfect end to a great day.

Sunday morning was a lazy start, eating oatmeal overlooking the stream valley. Pete got in some more fishing, while I puttered around the camp and enjoyed relaxing in my camp chair. After the tent dried we packed up and drove north to Crested Butte. Lunch at the Brick Oven Pizzaria, and then we headed home.

All in all and awesome weekend, and an area that we can't wait to visit again.

Lots more pictures HERE.

pequeño jardín

2010-05-23T17:30:00.000-07:00

rainy day fishing

2010-05-15T06:35:00.000-07:00

a new fishing spot, and another awesome day (despite the rain)

pictures HERE.

fair weather

2010-05-09T06:57:00.000-07:00

another beautiful day, another adventure. i was leaning towards staying home, but pete lobbied successfully for a fishing trip up the arkansas. we packed a lunch, loaded up the car, and headed to on of our favorite spots.

the wind whipped through the canyon, and the flows weren't the best for this spot, so after and hour or so, we decided to move on. i had heard about a nearby stream, so we thought we would take a little scouting adventure. after some searching and arguing with the gps, we found our way to sand gulch road, a four wheel drive road through a wilderness area.

we stopped at a large boulder outcrop to eat lunch.

and then continued on. slowly.

after several miles, we decided to leave this hard trek for another day, and headed back to the arkansas for another shot at fishing. we stopped by our other favorite spot, and unmarked camping area. luckily, the fish were jumping, and we were in luck.

and when i got tired, i watched the bighorn sheep grazing on the hillside.

all in all, an excellent day. all the pictures are here.

summer time

2010-05-09T06:50:00.000-07:00

we woke up to beautiful weather on friday, which seemed like a perfect day to get the canoe out. a quick trip around the lake turned out to be a lot of fun. since its still early in the year, we only saw one boat, and the lake was extremely quiet. swallows dipped low over the water, herons waded by the shoreline, and the red winged blackbirds sang from the tops of half-submerged trees. the massive spawning carp created quite a commotion, a were a site to see.

more pictures here.

2010-05-01T15:33:00.000-07:00

despite the iffy weather, we decided
to take a short hike at the beaver creek state wilderness area.
we tried a new trail, and had lots of fun. except for the part where harvey stepped on a cactus. but luckily we carry tweezers in the backpack for such occasions.

it was great to see some signs of spring, finally.

pictures HERE.

bunny

2010-04-23T08:29:00.000-07:00

the first of what i hope to be many silly baby hats for my favorite "niece" amy

pattern: bunny tail from itty bitty hats, yarn bernat cotton tots

craft swap gift #1

2010-04-15T17:32:00.000-07:00

the first of my craft swap presents is finished and delivered! a patchwork kindle case

pattern is a modified version of the patchwork kindle case from the sometimes crafter, the fabric is jessica levitt - timber collection.

happy birthdy - to me!

2010-04-02T16:31:00.001-07:00

lunch out at edelweiss

(not pictured: weinerschnitzel and spaetzel)

orchids

2010-03-27T14:22:00.000-07:00

a lovely early birthday present from my wonderful husband*

*also came with the assurance that he will take care of them,
as i've killed every plant i've ever been in charge of.

2010-03-20T19:05:00.001-07:00

today was busy at the raptor center. i was the only volunteer, so there was lots of work to do. cleaning and feeding and watering, as usual. and then i learned a little about handling the birds. here i am with ariel, a (very patient) peregrine falcon.

i also learned how to handle the rehab birds, and helped out feeding a great horned owl in the ICU. lesson learned for the day, from diana: "hold your hand here behind his head so that if he turns around he can't bite you. that way you don't have to explain to the emergency room nurse how an owl bit you on the breast."

scout

2010-03-13T09:47:00.000-08:00

we spent yesterday fishing and scouting around the south park basin.

we started out in elevenmile canyon, but our favorite spot was taken, and the fishing was tough. we had heard there were some state wilderness areas near the small town of hartsel, so we thought it would be a good day for a drive.

on the way to hartsel we drove through wilkerson pass. after topping the hill the view opens up to the south park basin surrounded by snow capped mountains.
after finding hartsel, we took highway 9 north to fairplay, and found the entrance to the tomahawk state wildlife area (but the road was snowed over, and the river is still frozen. so we'll leave that one for another day). at fairplay we turned around and headed back to highway 24, but went a little farther west and found one of the access points for the badger basin swa, and drove to the antero reservoir.

after heading back into hartsel, we took highway 59 past the hartsel springs ranch and towards spinney reservoir. we found more swa access for spinney mountain ranch, and passed some interesting farms along the way.

(elk, llamas and maybe fallow deer?)

between spinney and elevenmile lakes we stopped for some late evening fishing and wildlife viewing.
herd of antelope grazing

bald eagle

finally, cold and tired we headed home. all in all a good day with some beautiful sites and some new potential fishing spots.

lots more pictures here.

making fake bugs

2010-03-07T10:45:00.000-08:00

happiness is finding another person who wants to spend a saturday afternoon organizing fish hooks.

********************************************************************

so we like to fish. specifically fly fish. which requires flies.

it might not look like it, but that cup full of flies costs a lot of money. this little guy is $1.85.

which doesn't sound like much, until you think about the fact that my plan is to tie it to the smallest plastic thread i own, stand on a brushy river bank, and whip it at some fish hoping it gets eaten. lets just say they don't last too long.

so being the crafy, resourceful person i am, i decided to try to make my own. luckily for me, we already own a pile of supplies.

so after an hour or so of fussing with thread and feathers, re-reading tutorials, and watching youtube videos i came up with this.
he won't win any beauty contests, but he might just trick a fish.

another really cold fishing day

2010-03-05T19:02:00.000-08:00

we decided to try another day of fishing up on the south platte river. on the way through woodland park we stopped at the donut mill for the world's biggest donuts.

we scoped out a new spot near the happy meadows campground, but the stream was still completely frozen over there. we got a chance to use the new gps, which went really well except for one little side trip down a road that may or may not exist which involved more 4 wheel drive action than i care for.

we ended up settling at our favorite spot in elevenmile canyon. it was COLD- ice kept freezing up the eyelets on my rod, and i kept having to take frequent breaks to shelter in the car and regain feeling in my fingers. but around noon the fish started hoppin and we caught one fish after another (future note to self: gray midge size 20, 7x tippet)

all the pictures are here.

thursday afternoon roundup

2010-02-25T15:32:00.000-08:00

misc things i find entertaining:

the next snuggie iteration.

oh, those funny hipsters.

conan pitches a new show

why i don't work out more.

where are you going?

2010-02-25T05:34:00.000-08:00

yesterday our new toy arrived:

pete spent the afternoon installing it (and taking pictures so i could blog it. he's the best)

and then i got to do the fun part

all the pics of pete's hard work are over here.

elsa

2010-02-21T04:28:00.000-08:00

pictures from the raptor center here.

la veta & cuchara

2010-02-19T17:21:00.001-08:00

we took a winter drive down towards the spanish peaks, through the little towns of la vita and cuchara. the snow capped mountains were beautiful, and we took a short (and cold) walk at the turn off for the cordova pass road, which was snowed over.

lots more pictures here.

cold fishing day

2010-02-13T19:16:00.000-08:00

even though we knew it would make for a cold day, we decided to go check out the fishing at our favorite spot in elevenmile canyon. we are tired of being cooped up inside, so we put on about 4 layers of clothes and headed out.

elevenmile canyon was beautiful. some parts of the stream were still completely frozen over with ice and thick layers of snow. (it was 32 degrees when we were driving through woodland park).

pete caught a lovely little rainbow trout, which i happened to get a picture of with my new camera:

harvey enjoyed himself despite the cold.

but after a short while we'd had enough. we scouted a few more spots, but nothing looked worth braving the weather. pete suggested a reconnaissance trip to the nearby "dream stream" section of the river. a drive over the mountain backroads took us into elevenmile state park, past the reservoir.

the dream stream is beautiful.

but COLD.

we tried our hand. but no luck. the cold and the wind were too brutal for us (but not harvey)

all in all, a fun (if chilly) day out. more pictures here.

2010-02-06T13:10:00.000-08:00

volunteering at the raptor center continues to be fun. besides feeding and cleaning the rat room, i helped some of the other volunteers with cleaning and watering the outside bird enclosures, and met some more of the birds. i've always loved owls, so i was thrilled to see one of the screech owls, elsa, was out and about. the great horned owls, guffy and aggie, were quite annoyed with our intrusion, and guffy closely monitored our cleaning activities. i learned some sage advice from one of the other volunteers - "never turn your back on an eagle." i promise next time i'll get some pictures!

sewing continues (slowly) on the quilt. i'm sewing the rows and sashing together.

and last, i'm so very very excited about this fabric that came in the mail.

jessica levitt - timber collection, from hawthorne threads.

2010-01-31T15:06:00.000-08:00

i was eager to start a project out of my new book "quilting for peace," and also excited about the fabric i picked up at the thrift store this weekend. so i just had to try a quick project....

this is the "30 minute shopping bag" from the book, modified to have an interior divider. i used a vintage sheet and pillow case.i'm hoping this will be the perfect bag for running friday morning errands. i wanted something to handle mail, library books, and the occasional shopping trip.

2010-01-31T10:57:00.000-08:00

this weekend in thrifting....

a lovely cafe curtain with red embroidery

i just bought the book "quilting for peace," and i'm thinking of trying out the shopping bag pattern with this fabric paired with some linen.

and for a change in style from my usual tastes....citrus retro! i'm thinking the green stripes would also make great shopping bags.

and a quick quilting update....all the rows for the front are sewn

2010-01-30T15:32:00.001-08:00

this is harvey's favorite spot in the house, a tiny space in the spare room/craft room wedged between the bed and the desk. so to make his spot a little more cozy, i whipped up a small dog bed from an old blanket.
he seems to like it.

although i think he is tired of my photo shoot.

i'm next

2010-01-30T07:46:00.001-08:00

someone in this house (who is not me) had a birthday yesterday.

birthday angel food cake:

new handmade potholders:

they tried to make me go to rehab...

2010-01-24T06:28:00.000-08:00

yesterday i started my volunteer work at the local raptor center for birds of prey. its a small facility that does both rehabilitation for injured birds as well as education.

there are a dozen or so "residents" that live at the center and help with education. they are birds that can't survive in the wild due to some injury or defect, and that do well in the captive environment. they're on display for visitors, and also go out for educational programs.

my favorite of the residents has to be griffin, an american kestrel that was hatched and raised by people, and consequently thinks that he is a person. in the spring time, i'm told the "circle of rejection" begins. griffin courts all the visitors (showing off his nest box, bringing them dead mice), only to have his best advances rebuffed. lucy, the other american kestrel, sees his displays and answers with her own courtship, only to be completely ignored by griffin.

besides the residents, there are "rehab" birds in for rehabilitation of an injury. they are housed in one of two "icu" rooms with small kennel sized cages, in one of the indoor or outdoor larger enclosures, or in one of the two large fly rooms (a large barn like structure with slatted sides with lots of room for exercise).

volunteer work begins at the bottom, so to speak, with basic maintenance and cleaning. the raptor center breeds their own rats and mice for food, so a lot of the work is taking care of them. i started out in the "rat room", which is this little room with two sets of shelves full of bins that the rats live in. its pretty easy work, just set up new clean bins with shavings and food, take a bin of rats, open it up, and move them over (you just grab them by the tail). i consider all those years of keeping gerbils excellent training.

so certainly not glamorous work, but necessary none the less. as i get more experience, i can branch out into the education or rehab areas. overall i enjoyed it, and i'm very impressed that the center runs with only one full time and one part time staff member. all the rest of the work is done by volunteers.

luckily, there are no velociraptors at the raptor center.

2010-01-23T06:00:00.001-08:00

a birthday gift package for a wonderful friend: a small tote bag and a rice heat therapy bag (for surviving a cold office).

here we go....

2010-01-22T13:07:00.000-08:00

my first quilt.

the fabric:

medallion in teal and flowers in the sky from patricia bravo's french riviera, and kona cotton in bone.

the pattern - simple 9x9 inch squares with 3 inch sashing.

progress: all the pieces for the front are cut and layed out. and the first two rows are sewn:

2010-01-16T09:21:00.001-08:00

the new camera has its first big day out - a hike along banta gulch in the beaver creek wilderness area.

ravelympics

2010-01-13T11:07:00.000-08:00

so for people who love to knit, there is this geeky fun thing of that started out as the knitting olympics, and moved on over to the ravelry knitting/crochet site. the idea is to pick a project and knit it (start to finish) during the winter olympic games. that's two weeks. its suppposed to be a challenge. there are teams, and events, and points. i'm telling you, it is geeky good fun.

anyway, if you're still reading this and not trying to have me committed....here's my olympic challenge.

i'm going to knit the ishbel scarf size out of this yarn (which i already own). it is a lace project, which i have not done much of, and something i have had an irrational desire to make for quite some time. go team colorado!

christmas 2009 follow up

2010-01-12T14:58:00.001-08:00

now that everyone has opened their gifts, here's a little roundup of the crafts i made this christmas:

jami's owl
(pattern from lollychops)

and jami's simple pin cushion for her new sewing room

mary's slouchy hat for cold walks
(pattern elizabeth from jane richmond, yarn baby alpaca grande)

and some fingerless mitts with the leftovers
(pattern cabled fingerless mitts at tangleonline)

dad's watchcap
(pattern made up on the fly, yarn cascade quatro)

drew's jackyll & hide

mom & bert's little blanket
(modified version of the 3-2-1 throw)

rachael's cloche
(pattern classic cloche from knit one, felt too, yarn cascade 220)

hannah's crazy hat
(pattern bulky baby hat, yarn ironstone fun wool)
jenna's j hat
(pattern turn a square, yarn araucania cotton)

amy's bunny
(pattern snoogem)

grandma hilbert's slippers
(pattern easy house slippers, yarn cascade ecowool)

before being sewn up:

before felting:after felting:

adventures in sewing: camera case

2009-12-27T09:40:00.000-08:00

santa was very kind to leave a new digital camera under the tree for me
(who am i kidding, i opened the box at the post office).
a sharp fuji f70exr that i am already in love with.
anyway, it was quite cold in the chilly colorado winter, so i decided it needed a little case to keep it warm (and scratch free).

i started out with two old shirts to be re-purposed. the stripes for the outside, and the gray tshirt for the inside lining.

i cut squares about 10x6 inches out of both fabrics.

i used a double sided interfacing to fuse the two fabrics together, and give the case a little padding and structure.

i squared everything up, and then sewed in the zipper (mom or dad, will one of you fly to colorado and teach me how to sew a zipper?).

i sewed up the sides, turned it right side out, and proceeded to be very proud of myself.

thrifty fun

2009-12-27T07:27:00.000-08:00

yesterday i went on the hunt for a cheap leather jacket that i could re-purpose into some craft projects. i went to the south side to visit the arc, a local thrift store similar to goodwill. i found some awesome deals!

first things first - i found a full length suede leather coat right off the bat, $7!

after that i wandered into the domestics sections, and scored 2 yards of this amazing woven wool fabric from pendleton.

and compared to the $54/yard pricetag on line, i think i did pretty well.

on the way back to the register, i wandered through the brick brack, and couldn't pass up a few small things.

this mug, which i want to turn into a pincushion similar to this.

and this little turtle. a pincushion as well, maybe?

2009-12-20T13:27:00.001-08:00

my first try at quilting! just a small wall hanging to get some practice in.

i started out piecing a few squares

then i added some sashing around each square.

i cut the back and batting, machine sewed the binding to the front, and hand sewed (with a ladder stitch) to the back.

all the sewing was done on my lovely vintage singer:

i just hope he doesn't turn into a chia pet

2009-05-19T11:51:00.000-07:00

our yard has been in a state of flux for over a week, in an attempt to have the grass replaced. for approximately 6 days, the lawn area has been bare dirt. the dog has avoided it like it was made of lava, and done his business in the gravel.

today, the landscapers put down manure, sowed grass seed and turned on the sprinklers. the dog that has not set foot on the lawn area for a week, decided today that it was perfect of a little romp, some pooping, and then TO SCOOTCH HIS BUTT ON.

choose your own adventure

2009-05-18T13:54:00.000-07:00

your loved one has been paddling a canoe for approximately 3 hours. in the glaring sun. she is hot, tired and sweaty. do you:

a) inform her that she is paddling wrong? (turn to page 42 "get whacked in the head with a paddle")

b) declare that this isn't the specific half submerged tree limb you wanted her to paddle over to, and ask why she isn't listening (turn to page 11 "i told you we should have bought the effin' map")

c) point out that she is making too much noise and scaring all the fish (turn to page 6 "maybe you should just marry the fish if you love them so much")

d) tell her she is lovely (turn to page 8 "receive a sweet kiss")

its always in the last place you look

2009-05-17T11:12:00.000-07:00

~needs world's tiniest screwdriver~

~has world's tiniest screwdriver somewhere in the house~

~searches everywhere that world's tiniest screwdriver should be~

~does not find it~

~searches in places it is not likely to be, but could possibly have been misplaced in~

~does not find it~

~begins to search in places you would not normally put a tiny screwdriver: under the bathroom sink, sewing basket, silverwear chest, undewear drawer~

~does not find it~

~gives up looking, decides to try using the edge of a pair of tweezers~

~on way back out to garage, spots world's tiniest screwdriver hanging out in our key bowl by the mail~

~stares~

~shrugs~

~loosens world's tiniest screw with world's tiniest screwdriver~

cc: angry mob

2009-03-18T11:29:00.000-07:00

memo

to: the person who cooked fish in the office microwave
from: everyone
re: we all hate you

your microwave privileges have been revoked. you are now required to eat cold hot pockets and crunchy ramen noodles for lunch. security has been informed to conduct a daily search of your lunch bag for seafood, cabbage, and microwave popcorn. you have been warned.

the wii fit is trying to screw with me

2009-03-11T13:16:00.000-07:00

exhibit a: put my mii in sweatpants and a belly shirt, and then made it fat

exhibit b: praised my reflexes, but then after skiing declared that i am "unbalanced." are you implying emotionally unbalanced? well? are you?

exhibit c: gave me a "personal trainer" that is either a mannequin from lady foot locker or a really active vampire

exhibit d: told me i have gained 3.5 pounds. in 24 hours. regular bathroom scale confirms only a 1 pound difference. lets face it, the bathroom scale and i have been together longer. so what are you trying to pull here?

books on the amazon best seller list that describe my struggle to not eat the chocolate donuts in the vending machine

2009-03-05T08:24:00.000-08:00

audacity of hope

eat this not that

the omnivores dilemma

the great depression ahead

the tipping point

meltdown

run for your life

ways i have attempted to get the neighbors daschund to shut the hell up

2009-03-04T08:22:00.001-08:00

glared at it out the window
opened the back door and yelled at it
stood on the porch and yelled at it
stood on the other side of the fence and yelled at it
tried to bribe it with organic lamb and chicken treats through the fence
tried to bribe it by throwing organic lamb and chicken treats in the yard
threatened to tell its father
threatened to call the dog pound
threatened to roast it on a tiny spit
showed it the cookbook from which i will get the recipe for daschund stew
cried

i'm not a good hostess, apparently

2009-03-03T08:01:00.001-08:00

what i do to prepare for guests:

vacuum
pick up dirty laundry
put clean sheets on spare bed
wash dishes

what i should do to prepare for guests, according to martha stewart:

clean the guest room with a handmade cleanser of baking soda, lavender, and tears of joy
starch and iron sheets for maximum illusion that guests are staying in a four star hotel
stock the guest bath with special soaps and lotions; provide several towels made from 100% egyptian cotton hand picked by mother teresa
place a vase with single flower on nightstand, along with a selection of books the guest might enjoy and a small piece of your soul in a handmade pottery bowl

things I have said to friends during arguments

2009-03-03T07:10:00.000-08:00

(subtitled: why i'll probably die alone)

"if you can't tolerate someone having an opinion and expressing it, you need more self esteem."

"if its true that you constantly go home and cry because of something i say, why is this the first i ever hear about it?"

"...and you can't say i haven't tried my best, because i was trying months before you even noticed there was a problem."

"i'm not asking you to cater to what i want. i'm laying down the ground rules for being my friend."

" i'm sure shouting at him through the floor is probably the best way to handle that situation"

"and while we're talking about growing and changing, maybe you could not stab someone just for trying to tell you that they are upset. that someone being me."

"i just say the things you're thinking, and you know it."