December - Colorado High Country

The Yurt

This past week we stayed in a yurt for the first time. Here's a video I made with music soundtrack.

From Wikipedia:

A yurt (üi or kiz üi in Kazakh, ger in Mongolian) is a portable, felt-covered, wood lattice-framed dwelling structure traditionally used by nomads in the steppes of Central Asia. A yurt is more home-like than a tent in shape and build, with thicker walls. They are popular amongst nomads.

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Ours was not as primitive and it was constructed with more modern materials. There were three layers on the walls consisting of heavy plastic inside and out with something else in between - couldn't see that. It was built on a concrete pad, was very sturdy and probably not useful for the typical nomad as it was all put together with hardware and such. It did have three big windows. They unzipped on the outside and had screens. We opened them all after it warmed up outside. Our day weather was perfect, sunny and a high of 65F.

The rest of the time, the propane stove kept the inside very cozy. When we woke each morning there was frost on everything outside, but we were just fine inside. Cooking was done on our little Coleman propane grill/stove outside on the picnic table. Each morning, after the sun came up over the hill and warmed things up a bit, we made a crackling fire in the sturdy fire pit outside of the yurt and sat beside it wrapped in blankets with our coffee.

The yurts were in Sylvan Lake State Park southish from Eagle, Colorado. I made the reservations online. Cost was $60/night and a maximum of two nights.

What a beautiful area. Although we visited a little late to see the aspen in their full glory, there were still many that were still shimmering with their golden leafy disks. Aspen leaves in the wind are delightful. They dangle and the slightest breeze sets them dancing to and fro.

We hiked a little. We drove to a old mining town called Fulford that was a mishmash of old, ratty shacks and brand new cabins. We had a little trouble understanding why anyone would want to build a new cabin there, but as we all know, there are all kinds of lifestyles and all sorts of different tastes.

As I was driving us down the mountain road on our return trip from Fulford, my eye caught a movement at the right edge of the road. I slowed. Merle opened his window and looked down. Right next to our Jeep was a little weasel with a big mouse (deceased, thank goodness) in it's mouth. Our little weasel was quite cute, even with a mouthful of mouse. It couldn't decide where to go with it's meal, so it loped down the road in front of us for about 20 feet before veering off to the left into the brush. I had the camera, but was so fascinated by this first time viewing of a live, in the wild weasel, that I didn't think to capture it digitally (I almost wrote "capture it on film" - not). Here are pictures of long tailed weasels that I think are the same as the one we saw. I got them off of Google Images. It had a black tip on it's tail. It was very small, about 10 inches long including the tail. Teddy bear ears. The mouse was so big that the little guy had a hard time seeing over it.

I'm so cute!

Sylvan Lake itself was around the mountain about 10 miles away. We went there both evenings of our stay to take showers at their well kept campground. We sleep so much better if we can get cleaned up before bed. The lake was small, but lovely. Cabins around the lake were very intriguing and I imagine that we will go back sometime and stay in one of those overlooking the lake. This time of year, there were very few people around.

There are all sorts of beautiful places in Colorado that we have yet to discover and we've lived here a long time.....

Ireland - June 2010

(has music soundtrack)

Our two week visit to Ireland was a 20th wedding anniversary gift to ourselves. We were married on St. Patrick's Day in 1980. Believe it or not, we did not plan our wedding date or our 20th anniversary to be "Irish" things. They just turned out that way.

After our return, I sat down and wrote my immediate impressions. Here is the list with some other pictures we took. Although I could go through our itinerary while there, I feel that this best conveys our experience.

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Ireland

Upon arrival we drove from east to west Ireland (less than a day's drive across) and stayed with a friend, Una. A schoolteacher, she lived in the above pictured house on a lush hill surrounded by trees, rock walls, horse farms and a distant view of the sea. We stayed there 4 days before heading eastward along the southern coast area for several more days before reaching our starting point and flying home.

Visited a "working farms" exhibit on a typical Irish day, slightly cloudy, slightly cool and slightly damp. It was a walking tour that led us down down peaceful dirt roads lined by swaths of ever abundant Irish foliage while stopping to visit little farms of varying size. There were thatched roofed cottages and peat moss fires burning quietly in some rustic fireplaces.

Shaggy sheep on a verdant mountain pass. The highest mountain in Ireland is 3,414 feet above sea level, so there is no timberline area. Every Irish green thing has enough oxygen to survive.

Field after field in valleys and on hillsides, bordered with timeless rock walls and thick varied hedges.

Soft, clean cattle eating mouthful after mouthful of long luscious, delicious grass

The fine aged face of a widowed farmer who was born in the house where he lives with two grown sons. His name is Michael. Una's good old Dad. He has tended his cattle. He has never lived anywhere else or set his Irish foot outside of his homeland. His bride he brought to the house, his children she bore there. And there the angels bore her away to be with them on a sad day.

Bleeding heart bushes several feet high and long

Tropical palm trees in unusual places like next to an old church ruin.

Abundant forest ferns growing from crevices in ancient stone walls

Flat fronted Irish homesteads in creamy shades of white. Then the occasional bright burst of a buttery yellow abode.

Clothes hanging on the clotheslines. Dryers not preferred in Ireland it would seem

Beautifully landscaped gardens

At the San Antonio B & B in the pretty harbor town of Kinsale, our gracious host loaned Merle his guitar in the parlor.

Thick cream for your sweet, hot cup of perfectly brewed tea

Irish Fry – heart attack breakfast of fried egg, sausages, bacon and black and/or white pudding. It’s not a pudding really, but a type of sausage. Black pudding has blood in it. All the "fried" meats and toasted breads done up in the typical Irish oven broiler.

Butter on your brown bread, your soda bread and your scones. Marmalade too.

A thick chowder of oysters and fish chunks and carrots and potato eaten on a pub patio with a neighborly cat and intermittent rain clouds and sun

Very old rock walls bordering the narrow country roadways, overgrown with so much vegetation that they can hardly be seen.

Suddenly, a compact forest of pine, neatly growing in the middle of an expanse of grass

Changing skies of blue, gray, rain, sun. Wind.

The smell of the harbor

The fishing boats. Some large, some small. All festooned with floats. Some with rust, others brightly painted along with the rust.

Walking in a salt marsh where several narrow bridges span small rivers of salt water. A sudden rain shower. We pulled our rain hoods close to our faces and turned our backs to the blowing water drops.

Open toed sandals – the footwear of the Irish ladies in summer.

Beautiful children with fresh wind chafed faces and wild hair.

Vivid music played by rough and tumble toe tapping lads

The Auto Loo

(It does everything but pee for you)

Evenings. Light until 11p and later.

A pint of Smithwicks, bangers and mash

A pint of Smithwicks, cabbage, bacon and parsley sauce

Babies. Baby carriage with babies. Toddlers at the beach. Lots of children here.

Down a one lane valley road with pullouts. Black Valley. Pony carts of tourists toodle by. Pull over we must.

Moments of tenseness on the road as inches separate you and the car or immense tourist bus traveling in the opposite direction and the impenetrable hedgerow on your other side.

Breakfast at a sunny roomed B & B served by the owner, a lady from Germany.

Being the passenger of the car on the right side of the car and as the car goes around a curve on your left, you lean to the right – it’s too close.

Blacksmithing. A doorway into a dark small room. A fire glows heavily. The steel is pressed to the flame and it glows with the fire. The blacksmith bends and pounds it into curling shapes that become the horns of a ram and then snuffs out the glowing in a quiet, cool barrel of water.

Everything against a background of many greens

The sea

Summer is Shorter Now................

The weather used to be less wet in the spring where we live, the sun shown more and it was warmer. I remember a time when in April - September it was SUMMER. The typical day would consist of a clear sky full of sun all morning with a few clouds in the afternoons accompanied by the occasional temporary thunderstorm. Everything was washed clean and then the clouds moved on, leaving the sun to dry things for the rest of the day. You knew when you took a hike or some other outdoor activity, the afternoons might bring a refreshing bit of thunder and a brief burst of sweet rain.

Now, there is wind. It's cool. It's more wet than it used to be. It's already almost June and we have had only a handful of days where the temperature has been over 70F. The wind, in particular, has been the most unwelcomed feature of our changed weather. Not only is it extremely annoying but it makes it much colder. That wind chill factor thing.

Summer has changed. Do I sound like I am pleased about that?

My Full Cupboard of Life

Alexander McCall Smith. My newest and certainly now, my favorite author. I've been reading the complete "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" series of books and really have never read anything with such uplifting and interesting content except maybe the book "To Kill A Mockingbird". Book after book (so far), I find wonderful insights into human nature as Mma Ramotswe, the delightful, traditionally built African lady detective solves little mysteries for her varied clientele. All of the characters in these books are wonderful and you have to read the books to appreciate them. It's more than I can describe herein. I discovered these books by chance at the library and later found out that they are very popular. My daughter asked me one day if I had heard of them and of course, I had. I'd already been reading them. We are both fans. In addition, I have watched the HBO produced first season of Ladies Detective Agency - a well done production. Rather a little prettier than I imagine McCall Smith had envisioned, but nonetheless, good. One addition of a homosexual male hairdresser, not a character in any of the books, is the Hollywood signature along with the "prettiness". I personally believe homosexuals are like the rest of us (except in the most obvious way), but as usual, Hollywood must insist that we, the public, are ignorant of how good these individuals can be and they must educate us. I wonder what McCall Smith had to say about such an overt character addition to his work. If I have any criticism of the series, it's that Hollywood can't keep themselves from trying to influence us all about their beliefs and using entertainment as their tool. Once you have read the books, you realize, that the HBO production is not true to the books in many ways as it does the usual "appeal to the masses" thing.

Mma Ramotswe is played by a beautiful, traditionally built (heavy/fat) women named Jill Scott. Her manners and lovely smile in her pretty face show how a person of weight can also be sexy and very attractive.

Although I've never been to Africa, it appears to me that this show depicts some aspects of it quite well.

MY FULL CUPBOARD OF LIFE

My life is very full. We survived this past winter by keeping very busy making our floating rock sculpture. Click the Sky Rock Sculpture link to the right for a tour. This has been a big focus for Merle and I as we prepare for a couple of show type events this coming summer. We are hopeful that we will be able to sell sculpture and to actually make some money. This will require a fairly large amount of sales as we have managed to already spend a fairly large sum on materials, fees, equipment, etc..

Our grandson, Keir is a delight and I continue to post videos of him on his blog - also a link to the right. He is talking some now and we hope to hear more and more very soon.

Today is to be a beautiful day with lots of sunshine and warmer temperatures. I will babysit Keir later today and he and I will spend our afternoon out on the deck enjoying the sun, the sky and the fresh air.

No TV for over 10 years now.........

This doesn't mean we haven't watched television anywhere - just not at home in the typical sense of the word. When traveling and staying in hotels where there is television, we usually watch it.

In our home we have one analog television that is not hooked up to cable (it couldn't be, as analog television is obsolete now) and we use it to watch movies occasionally. We occasionally watch television shows on Netflix Instant Watch or Hulu , that is, when our Internet streaming is adequate (not often). We also rent movies from Netflix and go to the movies at our local theaters. Our time spent in front of a screen watching a television show or movie is less than 4 hours/week and sometimes not at all. So, what are our lives like under these circumstances? Do we wish we had television? What are the advantage? What are the disadvantages?

The advantages outweigh the disadvantages by far in quality of life, so I'll start with the disadvantages and get them out of the way. The only disadvantage might be that we miss out on the news as done by the networks, Oscar Awards (my thing) and some good television that might be out there. We hear from others with television about particular shows and sometimes think it might be fun to watch them. However, we can usually do this on the Internet through various means - after the show has been on prime time, of course, but we can do it if we wish to. 99% of the time we don't bother. For current affairs the Internet is a better source anyway. I can forget the Oscars, they are never shown anywhere after the actual show - this doesn't break my heart.

The advantages are many.

1. We save money for one thing - cable is not cheap if you want any selection of channels.

2. There is lots of mindless garbage on television. When, upon occasion, we are at a hotel and flip through the channels, this mindless garbage thing is confirmed. We usually end up watching Discovery Channel and even there you get hyper active chefs and other fodder served up MTV style. Yes, we watch some shows on the Internet, but that way we are forced to be selective about what we watch. People can and probably are selective about what they watch on television, but it's not as easy when you have such a huge selection at your fingertips.

3. No commercials. What more do I need to say about that?

4. You develop other things to replace television. Like reading. We read. My husband reads and that's something he never did when we had television for the first years of our 20 year marriage.

5. Music. My husband has two guitars and loves to play. He spends a lot of time each evening playing his guitar. I have a baritone ukulele and enjoy playing it also. We recently "jammed" together with music from a super Internet site called Ukulele Players. Click the Chord Finder (a great thing in itself) and then the little yellow pick that says Play Along Songs. Great fun.

6. Art. My husband sculpts with rock, I dabble in it also. I also paint paintings. We've both sold our work and plan to sell more. Sky Rock Sculpture The Sputnik Lounge

7. Helped our marriage relationship. Too many times, one or the other of a twosome will spend an inordinate amount of time in front of the boob tube. I know this because I've read about it in the newspaper (Dear Abby), or on the Internet and I've experienced it. It can cause problems. We don't have to deal with those as long as I (me) do not spend too much time in front of that other screen - on the computer.

Confession: I have by accident stumbled upon Desperate Housewives - one of those mindless, soap opera television garbage things. I'm sort of hooked now, though and rent it through Netflix or the local Blockbuster. The other soap opera I watch is MADMEN. Those two shows are pretty well written (especially MADMEN) and they are my sinful indulgence in the realm of television entertainment. Sinful being the key word as, generally speaking, they are both filled with naughty stuff. Not R rated mind you, but certainly much more liberal and explicit than I have ever seen on television in the way, way past.

To summarize. We have discussed getting television, but opt against it. Right now it would be an expensive venture for us as we would also have to buy a new television to accommodate cable. But, that's not the main reason. Lots of good things have developed out of our not having it and that tells us something about how inordinate amounts of television viewing can stifle the creative spirit, at least it did in our lives in the past. That's not to say that we might not change our minds someday especially if there is ever an option of paying only for the channels you want. Not likely, though.

Post Holiday and "Tableaux with Pear"

Well, we made it through the holiday season with little, if any, mishap. After it's all over and done with, there is this sort of big sigh of relief, at least on my part. Not that I don't love the Christmas season with all of it's music, decorations and generally upbeat spirit. It's just that I prefer the relative predictability of the non-holiday season overall.

For Christmas I received a baritone ukulele. Yes, a baritone ukulele - emphasis on the baritone. This is a ukulele that is about twice the size of the soprano ukulele that most people are used to thinking of when the word "ukulele" surfaces. I played one way, way back when I was a teenager. It had been purchased by my Dad. He intended to play it, but never really got around to doing so. I took over and played a little. I remember I did enjoy it and so when the Christmas list situation came up, that was my request. I have been practicing and have the calloused fingers to prove it. I can play several songs and if I get brave enough will one day post a video on here of me doing just that, including the singing part. This will require great courage.

On other topics. I mentioned in a prior post that I was one of several artists invited to paint a Dali like painting for an exhibition called "Twirling Dali's Moustache" at our local museum.

"Tableaux with Pear"

The artist's reception went well and my painting will be hanging, along with about 30 others, until early February of this year.

This Saturday I will be making a presentation along with other participating artists who volunteered. It will be for the public who are interested in how we created our paintings. Because I enjoy making videos, that's what I did. Here it is, with soundtrack.