Oops

When I was really restricted on my right hand, I tried to sew. I planned out the cutting layout (including the length I wanted on the skirt) and Howard was a sweetheart and cut it out for me. I managed to get the zipper in and one seam before the pain won.

Tonight I got most of the skirt done. It is hanging at the moment, so the hem can hang out before I measure and hem it tomorrow. I eked out the fabric, it was all that was left on the bolt. I was so proud that I'd gotten all the pieces without any but a few tiny pieces leftover. You know what they say about pride. grin I forgot to read the pattern pieces, one said cut 4, I cut 2. The last said to cut 2, I cut 1. So I didn't have enough fabric. I used scrap fabric to make the inside waistbands. Without planning it in the least, the stripes (it is a pinstripe fabric) matched precisely on the pockets. That was NOT planning, luck is the only way to describe it. The other problem? Despite measuring several times, the skirt is way too long. It is one of those that really needs to be adjusted BEFORE it is cut. sigh And, of course, if I had measured that correctly, there would have been more than enough for those other pieces. grin

Yesterday was supposed to be an inch of snow, per the national weather websites. We left work with 6 inches. East and westbound I-70 was basically a parking lot, the commute wasn't pleasant.

LAST weekend we were absolutely hammered. I took a picture at work before it really got bad. It continued throughout the night and the next day -- a heavy WET snow that compressed as it fell. The roof at work wasn't built to sustain that amount of weight, 42 inches of snow when they measured it. The building was closed while the snow was shoveled off. Yeah, it is pretty, but it is sure devastating! Some people waited more than 3 days for electricity. Some of them also lost phone and water service too. NOT a happy way to spend the time. The main way we were impacted is that the roof leaked and we have ceiling that decided to come into our bedroom in one place. Joy

Oh My!

Yesterday, we were doing laundry at Serena's. (We gave her the washer and dryer with the understanding that we could do laundry at her house.) Howard went outside to put something in our car. He was surprised by the neighbor calling out "Hey, be careful, there is a bear in the area!" Sorry, that just ISN'T something that happened anywhere else we have lived! Yes, in upstate New York there were occasional bears. But that wasn't anywhere in our neighborhood, although there were church members who saw them. Our house was too surrounded by many others. We did have deer who slept in our yard (we could tell by the grass) but that was it. In Iowa we didn't even have that. There was an unnerving reality of "you have now changed locations" to that warning! grin

We were driving home this afternoon when there was a sign on the freeway saying something like "Fire on Green Mountain, visible smoke". Okay, we didn't know where Green Mountain was. Kept driving. Got closer to home, we didn't pass the fire. We turned off at our exit and there were so many cars going our way. Hm. Looked over to the foothills and BLAST! We saw the fires. Oh dear. So THAT is the name of the mountain! Bad words. The smoke was blowing away from our apartment, but we knew that could change. Text messaged Serena,"Can we stay with you tonight?" She wrote back, "yes, but why?"

Got home, started packing a suitcase for the next few days. Closed all of the windows, hoping that will keep the smoke from adding its essence to our things. Debate as to whether how many days we should pack for as well as what exactly we should take.

The last we had heard, the fire was 85% contained, with cooler weather and perhaps rain expected. The bad news? As we drove by on our way to Serena's, the wind had shifted and was blowing straight toward our place. But the windows are closed (also good news!)

We bought bookcases today, to replace those which don't fit in the elevator. I don't know if we bought enough, but we bought as many as we thought would fit in the apartment. Tomorrow was going to be a day of bringing books upstairs, unpacking then going back for more. We'll wait to see if the fire is contained before we decide.

Life is certainly interesting!

struggles

This hasn't been an easy trip. The other day I walked down the road where Serena lives. I love to do that, there is always something new to see and sometimes it helps me gain perspective. It had already snowed once while I was here, and the ground looked pretty desolate up at this desolation. Yet I saw these bright yellow flowers blooming despite the chill.

If you look closely, there are tiny white flowers in this picture. Despite all of the odds against it, they are still blooming where they are.




And of course, my favorite scene while I am here, trees growing out of rocks. If I had gotten any further back to get the whole tree, I would have dropped off the side of the road and slid down uncomfortably! But this tree has certainly endured a lot to continue to grow where it happened to be.


Smaller trees growing despite all logic. They found just enough to start growing and have continued to grow.

One of Tamora Pierce's books calls trees "Rock Breakers." To grow, they force the rock apart. Takes a lot of steady pressure to do that!

Storm coming in

Pictures taken from Serena's deck as we watched the snow storm come rolling in. Actually, it started with her wistful comment that it was too bad we coudn't capture the contrasts and light. I wasn't able to completely capture it, but you get the idea. Snow off and on most of the day yesterday (seemed more on than off!) and got up today to the winter joy of snow that had melted on the car, then frozen as more snow had fallen on it.

What fun!

I love being at Serena's, I never know quite what I will see! There have been elk droppings all over the driveway, even though I've not actually seen them.

At one point this evening, I saw the tips of a deer's ears go past the basement picture window. A little bit later we heard an odd sound, finally decided it must be a bird. Shortly a fawn came by, and we realized it was the one making the sound! It was looking for its mother, who must have been the ears going by earlier. All of a sudden the fawn came right up to the window and looked in! There was a bit of a concern that it would try to come in! Finally it decided that mommy wasn't hiding in there, and went on, calling for mommy.

Colorado

Yesterday we drove an hour to my favorite yarn store then met up with the aunt and her two daughters who live in Iowa. They were in Loveland visiting Kay’s daughter for the weekend and wanted to see Mom. I’ve lived in Iowa 4 years, but this is the first time my cousins and I have gotten together. I see their Mom several times a year as she lives about an hour away. Do you find it as ironic as I do that we had to catch up with each other HERE?

Anyway, not much knitting is getting done. I think part of that is stress. I can’t imagine why, can you? Sigh and grin.

I did pick up some great yarns for grandchild to be. Dalegarn Falk for a Debbie New baby set and Encore Chunky for a jacket. And some FANTASTIC buttons! I love the fun buttons you can get now!

I left some of my asthma medicine home by mistake. Howard was a dear and mailed it out Friday for delivery this weekend. This morning I sat in the living room, working on the computer with a cat in my lap. On my left was the picture window in the living room, on my right was the patio door looking out over trees and mountains. Bliss! As I sat there two does and a fawn came mincing by on my left, while birds arrived and departed on both sides! What a wonderful relaxing time! I had to stop when my computer, which had been plugged in, died for lack of battery. Not sure what happened, I moved it to another outlet and it was fine.

From Serena's Deck

I can't leave you without some photos taken from Serena's back deck. I took pictures of the view almost every day, it is so beautiful.

Sunset one night.

Good Weather.

A storm coming in.

Wildlife

The birds made this artistic design on the patio. I think it is rather beautiful.

This is the deer that was in the front yard. I didn't get a good shot of his antlers, to show his age.
This picture of him was just before he left the first time. Can't even see the antlers here!

Trees and Rocks

My Dad was fascinated with trees growing out of rocks while I was growing up. What determination it takes for the tree to take root and grow there! One of Tamora Pierce's books calls trees "rock crushers" because the tree takes advantage of tiny cracks in the rock, and causes the cracks to get bigger as it grows. On the walk down from Serena's to the main road, I saw several trees growing out of the rock. The lighting wasn't as good as I'd hoped, while it was daylight, the sun hadn't topped over to shine on the hillside. I thought I'd be able to adjust the pictures more, but they stubbornly defied me. Appropriate, I suppose.

Colorado!

Well, here I am in Colorado, with wonderful scenery all around. This morning, while drinking my tea, a hawk flew into the tree right outside the window. Wow! So close I could see the markings on the feathers! Outside is white, white, white, as there has been 85 inches of snow here since Christmas. A lot of it has melted, but Friday's snow as I arrived certainly is around! Last night we had high winds, but the only affects I see are a lot of pine needles on the ground, and some small branches. Whew! As they were predicting 100 mph winds, I think we were very lucky.

I'm going to see if I can get a ride to the knitting group here Thursday morning. Still working on that. It would be fun.

Speaking of snow, we weren't able to get to the Brown Sheep Outlet Friday, the roads didn't have great visibility in Denver, and we worried about the open stretches up to Nebraska. Perhaps as well, we were rear-ended as we left the freeway to go to Barnes and Noble. Serena stopped at a light, the person behind didn't. Serena had some bumper damage, the person behind creased her license plate severely. We were all very lucky! The roads were icy in many areas.

Not much knitting accomplished, I've been wheezy. First time that has happened when I'm here. Usually I'm so much better here. pout