Under a Red Roof

Early morning

May 8, 2019 in Gardening + Nature by Colleen | Permalink

Oh, gosh, the pleasure of early morning! The first beams of light and bird song. Last year’s planning and planting is really making itself apparent. Every one is bigger and mostly thriving, though the bomb cyclone did have its casualties. I will be replanting milk weeds, mostly, and every bud on our witch hazel froze, which translates to no flowers, no lovely spicy scent! I did wonder if it was even alive after that beating, but the leaves are coming out, so huzzah! It can always be worse.

We really seem to be on top of the weed situation this year – always so many – which feels wonderful and easy compared to our first two. Did I mention how much work that was? HA! So very, very much. We still have big plans, building an arbor, a raised bed for sunflowers, adding more mulch and gravel now that it’s settled, more shrubs and flowers and trees. It goes and grows.

How wonderful it all is, too, and made better by the fact that there is time to enjoy it, sipping and squinting with our girl.

Surprise Snow

April 20, 2019 in Cooking + Baking, Gardening + Nature by Colleen | Permalink

Last weekend’s surprise snow. Greg and I and our weekend guest and very dear friend Jeff cozy at the dining room table, playing a game, as we always do. It lasted long enough to take the requisite photo of Pike’s Peak looking dreamy.

I didn’t used to have a favorite season, each bringing their own sense of beauty and wonder. After returning to Colorado spoiled by sixteen green Portland winters, I now declare it is SPRING. Winters here, and in Pennsylvania, are no greater in length, and certainly warmer than the bone chill of Pacific Northwest rain, but feel longer for the noticeable absence of color. There are some evergreens, yes, and the dazzling azure of sky, but the ground and bare trees and hundred feet of fence are so very brown. I know it is partially the fact that our garden is so young, with trees only starting what I hope to be long lives. But, still.

So when the tiny bud of that pasque flower pushed from the soil, my heart leapt, for there is only more and more and more to come. The orange and pink of tulip, yellow of daffodil, purple of hyacinth, to the peonies and red birds in a tree of summer and poppies of fall. That verdant quilt dotted with the rainbow.

Forty-seven!

Fun with a new torch. I made rice crispy treats with homemade marshmallows, topped them with a bit of the fluff, and then flame roasted them. Our little cousins said they were beautiful and the best thing ever. SO soft!

Delicious

March 15, 2019 in Cooking + Baking, Eating, Gardening + Nature by Colleen | Permalink

The crooked jolie laide, looking rather upright, was delicious! And what a marvelous time we had with our friends, too.

Not so great was Wednesday’s snow bomb, wreaking all kinds of havoc all along the Front Range. The winds were positively horizontal for hours and hours, with icy snow closing highways and airports, stranding people in cars, knocking over trees, power lines, and fences – part of ours included!

We were out of power for just a couple of hours, which was a shock considering how horribly it was blowing. We were ready for the long haul, with solar lamps, candles, and firewood at the ready. Thank you Colorado Springs Utilities for that bit of wonder.

Yesterday’s weather was much more agreeable, with nary a breeze, though still awfully cold, and with all the ice on the ground in the morning, Juniper only got the briefest afternoon walk after sidewalks were cleared or partially melted. It’s sunny now, yet still too cold to walk for long, but how lovely the snow and ice look, and boy howdy, do we need the moisture!