EL Camino
Posted: March 21st, 2010 | Filed under: Just for fun | Tags: Big Eddy Hill | 2 Comments »
The song says it all…….
Living in the Pits
Posted: March 21st, 2010 | Filed under: Just for fun | Tags: Colorado rental | No Comments »
It will come as a complete shock that for our Colorado getaway we rented a house built (and furnished) in the 70’s. We just can’t leave it at home.
By far the most beloved feature of the house was the sunken living room, or conversation pit if you will. I must admit, not only was it fab to look at, but amazingly comfortable as we all nearly slept there one night after a long day….crackling fire, comfy nest…it was all we could do to drag ourselves to bed.
I’d love to build one of these in the playroom one day…..
I also thought the Peruvian alpaca rugs on the walls really gave it that 70’s ski cabin finesse. The geese, not so much, but I actually love the patterns.
These groovy fixtures were all over the house….
The only down side was NO DISHWASHER. When you are in a remote locale, cooking is a necessity, so that is one update from the 70’s that would have been nice, but hey, it didn’t ruin our time in the least.
It was a bit of a drive to the slopes, but it was worth it for the quiet, peacefulness we enjoyed here. No town lights means kick-ass stargazing… AMAZING.
Unplugged
Posted: March 20th, 2010 | Filed under: Just for fun | Tags: aloft hotel | 2 Comments »
While some may call me paranoid (I prefer practical), I didn’t mention I’d be dropping out and unplugging. Sites like Please Rob Me make the nasty side of social media a bit more obvious, so I heed their warnings…sue me.
We had a really great week of family QT during the Minors’ spring break….we got both Things AND the Crafty Counterpart all up on skis for the first time!
I hadn’t skied in ages, so I was cautious, although you wouldn’t know it from the state of my knees. Just as well I don’t practice any spirituality that requires kneeling….I’d be a goner in the afterlife. After day 3 of skiing, I went to kneel down to help Thing One lace an ice skate and I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t squat, and I certainly couldn’t kneel..EMBARASSING! My knees had swollen and made me look like a big Kewpie doll from the waist down.
Anyway, it was all worth it. I realized how much I missed the active lifestyle of living in the Colorado Rockies, and it was good to be back…I felt both old and young again all at once.
I’ve got some fun stuff to tell you about the trip, and this week will be our last pottery class so I’ll be updating you on that too. Oh, and spring came while we were gone! SO much to do!
On a random side note, we were forced to change our travel plans last minute due to an impending snow storm on both the front range and Denver, so we came down a day early to avoid missing our flight and booked in at the W Aloft by the airport. I’d never stayed at one, but for $89, I’ll definitely be back. It was so refreshing AND affordable…again…good design doesn’t have to cost a lot, and THANK GOD someone realizes that a simple cotton duvet is all anyone ever needs. Later polyester quilted naff-ness! Color me impressed…it IS worth the hype.
Hope everyone had a great week and I’ll catch up with you later…
Question
Posted: March 4th, 2010 | Filed under: Just for fun | | 8 Comments »
After a discussion with a family member today….I ask this: For those readers who have their own blogs…..do your parents/family members read it….or even know about it? If so, what’s the reaction?
Learning the Hard Way
Posted: March 3rd, 2010 | Filed under: Just for fun | | 2 Comments »
I have mentioned that I’m an amateur-ess before, and today, once again, I proved it.
Sorry to those alarmed by the big error message today…..
You weren’t the only one. I got the same message when I tried to go to my dashboard….”Uh…NO I DI’N'T DELETE MY BLOG…..”
My first thought, for about 5 seconds, was that I’d been hacked…then…”puh-leez, who gives a s**t about this stuff enough to hack it? Those peeps have better sites to hack…” After a little digging, I realized my domain had expired yesterday, but none of the links to renew it were working in my dashboard..I felt like I was locked out of the house without a spare key…for about 6 hours.
I won’t get into all the hairy details it took to get back in the house, but I’d like to warn all Wordpress.org users who were previously on Wordpress.com….put your domain expiration on your calendar! They will NOT e-mail you to let you know they are about to pull the rug out from under you, they put an alert on that Wordpress.com dashboard you don’t use anymore….helpful eh?
S0….fellow amateurs and amateur-esses…learn from my foibles and go forth…
And my dear professional and tech savvy readers….yuk it up and enjoy….I lay my dumb-assness out here for your entertainment.
Now, I need a drink…it’s 5 o’clock somewhere, right?
Jack Frost Action
Posted: February 24th, 2010 | Filed under: DIY, Just for fun | Tags: metallic bonsai | 2 Comments »
We had a freakish warm front come in over the weekend, so I spent every moment possible outdoors…mostly sandblasting. It became apparent that I would not be able to accomplish the painting of the newly blasted furniture before the weekend was up, and the cold was on its way back in.
I needed to paint something since I might not get another warm day like this until mid-March. I remembered a really OTT pic I’d seen in MSL, also found here …..
When I saw this, all I could think is how great it would have looked if they hadn’t put all that crap on there. As much as I love my birdies…this was fugly to me…yet I tore it out because I loved the idea of a metallic bonsai.
I didn’t have a faux bonsai, but sadly…I had a dead one. (BTW, This is why I need to stick to terrariums inside!) I looked at my recently deceased bonsai and thought, “…well…why not?” I hadn’t had the heart to throw it out yet.
I started to mask off the pot, but it looked weird, so I just went all the way and gave it the shiny, icy, frosty in a can treatment.
Since I’m far too deep into my spring fever, this can hang out for the week, then it goes to the attic with the other wintry decor. Maybe I’ll perch a single, tiny bird on it next Christmas.
Once Upon a Time, I Had Basil…
Posted: February 19th, 2010 | Filed under: Just for fun | Tags: spring fever | 8 Comments »
….and it was OBSCENE.
This is a photo from my last house….2 of many, many planting beds I had to feed my gardening fix. I made and froze enough pesto to last 2 years and I still gave half of it away to my neighbors. These beds got SO much sun that anything I planted there became overgrown quickly. It will be interesting to see if the deer will let me ever have anything like this again, but you know I’m going to try…maybe in the tallest part of the new beds at the side of the house.
Early spring brought lettuces, spinach, arugula…..ahhh….spring….I’m ready baby!
After a long day of digging in the dirt…I’d rinse off with a nice, hot outdoor shower. We’ve GOT to build another one of those. It was probably my favorite of all our DIYs at that house. I’d love one facing out to the forest with a Japanese zen vibe…better put that on the To Do list.
My Kind of Valentine
Posted: February 12th, 2010 | Filed under: Just for fun | Tags: Sagan Druyan Radiolab NPR | No Comments »
You know how I don’t buy into the whole Valentine’s bit, and that I’m a geek…but if you haven’t heard this yet, it is my kind of Valentine story. Have a great weekend.
(couldn’t embed for some reason-sorry!)
MP3 of Carl and Annie NPR Radiolab
Photo Sagan/Druyan Assoc. via NPR
Bono-rina
Posted: February 9th, 2010 | Filed under: Just for fun | | 3 Comments »
I’m afraid all my Chinese New Year’s crafts are slipping away due to the fact I’ve been visually incapacitated all week….I had PRK surgery and it’s taken me a lot longer to recover than I thought. I HAVE to rally, since I have 2 classes of kids expecting a boatload of fortune cookies on Friday, so we’ll get that done somehow. I also have pottery class again this week and you KNOW I’m not going to miss that, even if I have the fly vision. I can’t let that jerk think he ran me off.
Blurry vision and sensitivity to light have me sporting the doctor issued Bono Zooropa goggles 24/7. Why have I chosen to finally reveal myself in pain, with no make-up? My money is on the Vicodin… the silver lining to this whole laser beams frying my eyeballs thing. When I sober up, I’ll probably delete this post in horror, so don’t expect it to be here next week….
Crafty Time
Posted: February 6th, 2010 | Filed under: Just for fun | Tags: pottery class | 2 Comments »
This is a vase that my father made in the 70’s, and this week, the CC and I start a pottery class. I’m so excited, as this is something I’ve been wanting to do since I was about TEN. I need some new teacups anyway. We’ll see what we create as the weeks unfold…but if someone dares hum even a single note of Unchained Melody, I’ll hurt them…seriously…don’t ruin my dream with that cheez.
UPDATE: First class was…sucky. My teacher is a COMPLETE tool. When my bowl became off center on the wheel, I intentionally collapsed it so I could start over and he lost his s**t on me. He yelled at me to the horror of my classmates..then stomped off to the other side of the class room and continued to rant to his assistant about how “FRUSTRATING” it is. He attempted to smooth things over with me at the end of class by explaining how much he “wanted to strangle me” when he saw me destroy my piece…I think I GOT that already, you prick….nice apology. More than half the class left early. Gonna be an interesting 8 weeks….