Easy Care

Our home in the winter, we are going to call our city house. All summer we live in a log cabin at 9,000 ft in the most remote county in the lower forty eight states . So, when Fall comes, we are ready to experience what the city has to offer. There are no franchise stores in my little Colorado town, which could explain why I was like a kid in a candy store, when I walked into a super Walmart this week.You are going to find this hard to believe...but from Lake City,Colorado to the nearest Super Walmart is 200 miles round trip!

We built our city house..because we were not quite ready to downsize into a condo. There are two outdoor spaces here, and they are small...and easy care.

 

I love my little morning porch, just off of the kitchen. It is on the front of the house, and the French doors let a lot of light into the kitchen.

It is very small, but a great place to share a morning coffee, and get some fresh air..I pictured this space on a previous blog.

We also have a side patio, which is a little larger, with an  underground drip system to water the plants. I got my morning porch, and my husband got a fire pit; he really  loves sitting around a fire. Are you wondering how we got the lawn so green so quickly.?

Well, it is artificial turf! Remember, I said the idea was easy care! Don't worry, we do have real grass out in the front yard. I think I am going to like this place. Now that I have found the SuperWalmart...I shall see what other stores I can find! Yipee Skipee!

The close up of our Blue Bonnet picture (see previous blog entry) was requested by Kate.

Eloise, my cousin painted it. She was visiting us (years ago), and we had dinner at our golf club in Houston. My Tom showed her a large bluebonnet painting, that he loved, hanging in the dining room. Eloise took a picture of it...and the next year she brought Tom his own Bluebonnet painting. He treasures it.

We lost Eloise in 2007 at the age of eighty.

Speaking of Art

Oh..I guess we weren't..speaking of art. You see, as I mentioned a blog or so back. We have been busy hanging pictures in our new home. I say pictures, because the majority of our "art work" are not works of art. Although, we do have several pieces painted by my cousin Eloise that are.

 

She did these  two water colors many years ago. The pecan one reminds me of my childhood. Eloise

  had a pecan tree in her front yard. It was not just a native pecan, which produces small hard to peel nuts. It was what we called a paper shell pecan tree. It produced large pecans, that were very easy to crack open (and delicious to eat).

The other watercolor print is of a persimmon branch. I can remember learning the hard way that you never want to take a bite of a persimmon until it is ripe. Bite into a green one, and your whole mouth drys up and puckers.. I remember some not so nice kid encouraging me to take a bite....which if course I did. Surely I never did that to anyone else? Hope not.

 

My favorite watercolor, that she did though, is a bluebonnet scene. Bluebonnets are our state flower, and they bloom mostly in the Texas hill country, in the Spring. I treasure this one, and it now hangs in our entry hall.

 

I stopped in a furniture consignment shop this week, looking for a console table for the bedroom . They didn't have one, but this Picasso numbered print caught my eye. Oh man, I wanted it! Our new house is French in style, and this can can girl would be perfect in our powder room.

 

Then I saw this one. Another numbered Picasso sketch. Do you see the Eiffel tower in the distance?. Oh it would look right at home in the bookcase, in the family room. Remind self. "You are not out shopping for art!" We need furniture pieces. Okay, I am not going to think of them again....sigh.

The Aggies March

This weekend in the Metroplex (the Dallas, Ft. Worth area) The University of Arkansas and Texas A and M.
competed in football. So, on Saturday morning there was a parade of the A and M Corps of Cadets in downtown Ft. Worth.. Marching in full uniform, it was quite moving to see 2400 clean cut young people. We have good friends that are A and M alumni, and they invited us to go downtown to see the parade.

 

Here they come. That is their mascot Reveille, a Shetland Sheepdog 

 

At one time it was an all male school. That has changed.

 

The band was of course there too, and they were amazing.

This young female cadet, band member, had no idea that an butterfly had hitched a ride.

The football game was very exciting and went into overtime.

A and M pulled it out

A and M 35 Arkansas 28

Pictures pictues, everywhere!

We are trying our best to decide what pictures to hang where in our new house. This house is not a lot different in size than we had in Houston, but we have more windows....and less wall space.

Today we will start in the dining room. Do you find hanging art stressful? I dislike all of the measuring..and disagreeing on the height they should be hung ..

 

These mirrored botanicals are especially tricky to hang

I know which wall I want this still life on

 

and then there is this. My husband fell in love with it. It is very large...which really doesn't bother me. It's just the black background..... Kind of reminds me of an Elvis painting on a piece of velvet.

Oh, I didn't say that. We will hang it...and I will like it...

 

 

I'm Back!

Hello from Texas. I am not sure anyone missed me...but just in case. Here I am.

 

On our drive back to Texas ( through what we call the panhandle), I spotted what I thought was an old school.

My Tom is use to me yelling "pull off", and he doesn't even complain (well, maybe not all the time).

As I looked closer, I thought  maybe it is an old church. I was going to get out and investigate, but two ferocious dogs, by this time, were biting at our wheels. So, here it is...You tell me?

 I don't know why, but I am attracted to old structures. I guess I try to imagine what they once were?

I will try to get out in my new town and take more pictures....I have been just terribly busy. I haven't even had time to visit my favorite blogs..

So

 Please stay with me! Janey

The Party is Over

Well, I hate to do this, but it is time to go home. We are packing and closing up our cabin, in the mountains, and headed back to Texas for the winter. I know it is a little early, but we have a lot to do in our new home there...and no that is not a gun..it's a Ukulele.
.

We pack most of our clothing in zippered blanket bags. They hold a lot more than suitcases, and are easy to put in the pod on top of the car.

All liquids are gathered, and put in tubs on the breakfast table. The sun pours in these south windows all winter, and keeps them from freezing. If they do freeze and burst, they are in plastic tubs.  We use to put them all in the basement bathroom, and left the baseboard heat on, just in that one room. It cost us about $44.00 a month for ..seven months. We finally wised up, and did the math. It would be cheaper to buy all new liquids! All electricity now goes off....and water. The whole place is winterized.

 

So that it is easier to put away when I get back. I put a colored post- its on each item.

 

Then you can refer to the chart as to where everything goes. A friend stopped by yesterday, when I was doing this. A very artistic friend, who obviously thinks from a different side of the brain than I do. She looked at me and said. "I wish I didn't know this about you" .

So friends. I am taking a break until  we arrive in Texas

We are migrating like the birds.....Hope to see you soon....Janey

Last Hike

This was our last hike of the season. We are heading to Texas this week. It was actually my first hike with the hiking club, that my husband hikes with all summer. There are a lot of pics. It was just so pretty, I couldn't choose.

It was early morning when we arrived. We had traveled up a rough 4 wheel drive road for about three miles. It was 33 degrees when we got out of the car.(looking back north)

 

We had to cross Cottonwood Creek on two downed trees. That is frost on the logs. There were twelve people on the hike. That is not me. I was the only one that scooted across sitting down..

We crossed that same creek several times going up.

 

At times it felt like we were walking through a jungle

 

I of course loved the blooming plants

 and the abundance of green moss

There was even a strange tree. Sorry, I was laughing at my silly husband, which is why it is out of focus. 

We saw large paw prints in the trail and a faint smell of bear.

 

It was certainly worth the climb. That is me with my hiking stick on the top,

 

where this was our view while eating our packed lunches.

Thanks for coming along.....

You have now hiked Cuba Gulch!

Target Practice

I went with the local hiking club this week, a first time for me. We hiked Cuba Gulch, which is a gulch running along Cottonwood Creek high in the San Juan Mountains. of Colorado.

 

I had never been on this 4wheel drive road before,and was so excited when we came upon this! I have no idea how long it has been there, or even what make or model it is?

 

I do know that someone has been using it for target practice.

To see other old things 

Linking to : Rubbish Tuesday

Deer Spotter

When we  drive the fifty five miles back over two mountain passes, and through parts of the Gunnison National Forrest, from Creede, CO to Lake City, we usually have the person who rides as a passenger, in the front seat, watch for deer. I have seen on this drive a fox, marmots, big horn sheep, deer, elk, a cougar and moose....all crossing the road, over the years.

 

We were however, a little shocked to see these cattle up on the top of Slumgullion Pass which is 11,530 ft (3,510 m.). It is not open range . We would have called the police to report them...but there is no cell service up there. Hopefully the rancher found his cattle!

Our Day in Creede

The weather was beautiful for our day in Creede, Co, which is about an hour over the mountain.

 

Our first stop was North Clear Creek Falls. There is no admission charge here, beautiful views all around, and picnic tables for a quick lunch.

We arrived Creede in time for the stage play Hope and Gravity (matinee) at our favorite repertory theater, housed in an old opera house.

 

Creede, like Lake City, is on the map because of mining back in the late 1800's. Most of the mines were straight ahead, in these hills. Creede was a little rougher around the edges, back in those days, than Lake City....Quite a few outlaws called this place home.

 

Today it just oozes charm, with cute shops

and a nice selection of places to eat. At this place you can eat indoors, or out on the garden terrace. We have also stayed overnight here. There are about five rooms upstairs. A good choice is one of the remodeled rooms on the front, so you can people watch from the balcony.

 

We ended our day with reservations for dinner on Antler's Ranch ,where they have a great chef.

 

We had plans to eat on their deck

 which is right of the banks of the mighty Rio Grande River;it's headwaters just up the hill,

but our weather went downhill. No, this is not an old holiday shot. Many of us keep a Christmas tree up all year here in the mountains.

 

The rain finally stopped, and our waitress told us we may want to go outside and see the the rainbow.

A perfect ending to a wonderful day.

Come back tomorrow, and I will show you the wildlife we found in the road, on the trip back over the mountain!

The Truck Alarm

 

I think this is about the best truck alarm that you can have. Can you tell that I love dogs. Problem is, I am allergic to them ..

Pretty Blues Eyes

Wasn't that a song, Pretty Blue Eyes?

 

Well, we saw a dog when we spent the day in Creede, CO

 

She came over to the fence to say hello, and she had the prettiest blue eyes.

 

I am not sure what she was, maybe a Husky mix?

Me, I will just call her Pretty Blue Eyes.

A Frilly Fence

This is a fence in front of a little B and B in Creede, Co

I feel sure that the pretty Sweet Peas will be replaced by snow against that fence soon, but I bet it will still look pretty!

Linking to: Good Fences

Over The Mountain

We drove over the mountain to a neighboring town of Creede, CO this week. We do that several times during the summer to attend The Creed Repertory Theater, which is one of the countries best.. We absolutely loved the play. You probably haven't heard of it, Hope and Gravity...but I just know it will make it all the way to Broadway..It is that good!

 

We walked around town after the play, and went into the Quiller Gallery.

Stephen Quiller is one of the most famous artists in these parts, and this is his gallery pictured above, where you can also sign up for painting classes. I like that he is a big supporter of the theater.

 

We actually own a signed Quiller print, a gift from the theater, for our volunteer work.

I  came across Stephen painting on our side of the mountain, back in 2012,

and wrote a blog about it. I stopped to ask if I could take his picture, and when he said he was from Creede...I asked him if he had ever met the famous artist that lived there...Stephen Quiller? Imagine my embarrassment when he said he was Stephen Quiller!