Mountain Road Trip: Part 2

Once we hit Estes Park and filled our tummies with a little lunch we went wandering around at the local Rock Shop. Fun Fun Fun for mom! I love finding a good rock.
A bale of fused glass .... colors galore.

You have to get the rocks wet to see a whole different beauty in them.

Than on to one of the many parks along the St. Vrain river in Estes.Climbing around the many granite boulders - hey what's that tent over there? Whoa - time to get out the rain coats. 70 degrees and rain - we hit the jackpot! It was 101 degrees back down in the Denver area.Let's go waddle over to the tent.

Yea! It's a tent full of musicians - singing and dancing for all!!!!!

So, ya' think that water was cold? Let me tell you - it was worth every purple toe cold!

Singin' and dancin' at the rivers edge once the rain let up.

Sister, "Let's dig for worms!" Little sister, "No, let's dig for frogs!"

Ah, Summertime in the Rockies! We hit the jackpot by just livin' here.

Mountain Road Trip

Mount Meeker

Summertime in the Rockies !!! We decided it was time to beat the heat and get out of town so we took a mini road trip to Estes Park. We traveled via Allenspark so that we could make a stop at St. Malo - a Catholic Retreat and Conference center.

The retreat is built around this little Chapel on the Rocks built in the early 1900's. Pope John Paul II visited and blessed this little chapel in 1993 when he came to Colorado for World Youth Day.

The surrounding fields were full of wildflowers and songbirds. And of course that beautiful blue Colorado sky above.

Just dying to jump in the stream below that has that freezing cold snow melt runoff. That or chase the ducklings that were looking for lunch.

Beautiful! So glad I live in Colorado.

Handmade - The Only Way To Go!!!

If you don't know about Etsy than you must be living under a rock. And now that you will be coming out from under that rock let me tell you about my little secret love affair.

Lorelei makes jewelry. Very pretty jewelry. Handmade jewelry.

This was the first piece that I bought from her - an incredible necklace made from brass, Czech glass, green jade and abalone shell. I get compliments on it every time I wear it. It's one of those feel good things that make me feel special. I just love this piece.

Than I bought this beauty.

And she made these for me to go with it.

I had to have these - I wish that you could feel them. Ahhh.....

She has quite a few pretties listed right now. The best thing about her jewelry is that she uses quite a lot of natural materials and supports other artists by incorporating their art into her own art.

She also has a fabulous blog, Inside the Studio, that showcases her art as well as others. She has a wicked sense of humor - I just know we'd be fast friends if we lived closer. I'd be at her house all the time playin' in her beads!

July Bloom Day

Carol over at the award wining May Dreams Gardens has this awesome little thing goin' called Garden Bloggers Bloom Day on the 15th of every month. You make a post on what is growing in your garden and leave a comment on her blog with a link back to your post.

Now this is not a garden blog but I am definitely a gardener (still not sure what kind of blog it 'tis). It is one of the top 3 passions in my life outside of the passion I have for my family. This is just a few of what I've currently got out in the back 10. Ha - I wish!!! Try 20 feet.

Gloriosa Daisy

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Calibrachoa Superbells

.Lilium American West

Yes this was taken inside - only because it's grown so tall it's bending over. My first ornipet so I am still learning how to make this beauty strong. It is my favorite plant in the garden right now. It smells like HEAVEN!

.Colorful Buckets 'O Water

.Pinwheels Extraordinaire

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Gosh I love Summer!!!!!

Design Inspiration

Sitting out on the patio having a cold one, reading today's mail ... I KNOW all you design freaks out there read this mag. As do I.

There was an article featuring a beautiful, modern designed dining room for under $2000.00. My kind of budget!!! Love the credenza and chairs. Wait, what's that beauty on the wall?

OMG - that is a stencil! Actually some of the Chinoiserie Panels from The Stencil Library no less. HA! And you thought that stencils were those tacky things that you bought at a hobby shop and looked like this ....

(sorry - still got a little of that punk rocker in me)

Boy were you wrong!!!! Stencils have a come a LONG way baby!

Anywho - I got so excited because this design is the same one that was used in this post that Helen over at design inspiration created with Swarovski Crystals.

Helen is co-owner of The Stencil Library and her blog is one of my daily reads. She has the most incredible talent - check out her beautiful house that she has so graciously covered in - you guessed it - stencils. Helen is so very sweet and talented. I have had a few blog words with her and just know that if I lived a little closer to her I would beg her to have tea with me and teach me her secrets!

Summertime

. . . . . is a hard time to blog ......

Youngest one gazing at a "rave light" on the 4th of July.

Glimpse of the Summer space in our back yard.

We literally live back here in the Spring and Summer.

One of my many groupings of pots ... one of the few ways to get continuous color in Colorado in the 95 degree heat.

This is one of my favorites that I did this year - hopefully carries into the Fall.

These beauties were planted by the two beauties below in one of their Seedlings class at the Denver Botanical Gardens a few weeks ago. This is a BIG deal - I've never even planted tomatoes.

Ah, Summertime ........ feels like we've waited forever for you. Least we forget this ....

My Furry Children

Cats have always been in my life - my mother had them all her life - and so did her mother, my grandmother. When it came time to adopt new furry angels a few years ago I turned to the Boulder Humane Society. Here are my "kids" mug shots while they were in their holding cells.

I fell in love with this little calico girl , Isabella.

And had to have her apricot brother, Nicholas.

This was taken in my bathroom about a month after they came to live with us. They like to get on the counter and beg for you to turn the water on so that they can have a drink. Ditto on the bathtub. Have yet to turn them on to the shower. Hmmmm...


Here is Isabella's latest photos. I just LOVE the "bunny" fur that her and her brother both have on their chest - is it so incredibly soft and they take such good care of themselves. Isabella is quite the princess - she is definitely a mama's girl. She has taught me a lot - most importantly about asthma. She was diagnosed with asthma a few Summers ago and spent some time in the hospital. When my youngest daughter came along we discovered she has pretty severe asthma as well. I was prepared and knowledgeable to deal with it. Amazing how things happen.

Nicholas is quite the clown. He is a big, slow, lover cat. Not the sharpest tack in the box if you know what I mean. But he will great you and beg for attention the minute you walk in the door.
He's my talker. When he wants to eat the whole house knows it. Whether or not anyone pays attention is an altogether different story. Poor guy.
This post is to share a little bit more about me and my family but mostly to share with Grahamn Kracker.

I found his blog about a month ago and fell in love. This is a guys that takes really great photos of our little feline friends from all over. His stories about a magazine store in Bangladesh that has house cats got me hooked. He has been out of commission on the cats because of a small little mishap. But until then his story skills will have my attention. If you are a cat lover you MUST check out his blog - allow some time and read it all. Make sure and leave him a note and tell him not to push himself on the road recovery. We'll all be here.