duchessofgravity

we had a wonderful time on our vacation. i'm still in the process of collecting photos from all the cameras on the trip so once they are organized i'll post a bit about our trip to the jersey shore :)

this is one of my favorite photos ever. several years ago i took a school trip to some telescopes down in new mexico with my photometry* class from C.U. we took a side trip into white sands national monument. we spent the day playing in the dunes, rolling and sliding downhill, making sand angels, and taking photos. i guess there had been a storm the night before because there was this giant puddle in the parking lot. pretty neat huh? if you ever get the opportunity to visit there do. it is absolutely beautiful. *a fancy name for an astronomy science class where you use telescopes with spectrometers to take data and use computers to reduce a nights worth of freezing your butt off at the observatory into a stack of numbers :)

it only seems fitting that since dee started all this that i show florida a little love. mom came to visit us in orlando a little over a year ago. we took a trip down south to the everglades and while we were there we made the long trek down to key west. we had some shrimp. and some pie. and drove back just in time for sunset.

after leaving the wool market we headed up to rocky mountain national park . i never get tired of this place and will always go back whenever i am in colorado. after renewing my annual pass we drove along trail ridge road through the park. mom an i have a favorite route back from estes park. it involves driving through r.m.n.p. from east to west along trail ridge road, down through winter park, then east along i-70. this is the long way for sure. but it is just beautiful. as we drove through the park we stopped at all my favorite pull offs for photos. i think i have these same photos over and over. the trees grow. the seasons change but they are about the same every time! there are a few pines in the foreground that look pretty bad. they are just a few of the trees in the park that are affected by the mountain pine beetle infestation that is terrorizing the rocky mountains. as we traversed the park it jut got worse and worse. there are thousands of acres of dead trees....

on our last day in estes we headed over to the estes park wool market . ive been a couple of other years and i was really looking forward to getting about a sweater's worth of nice wool. rememebr that? well i didn't get anything. not one stinking thing. but i did make quite a few new friends :) that guy on my right was blowing in my ear! dontcha just want to hug them all! bye guys :)

when we got to estes we hit the grocery store for firewood, marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers... kay had never had a real smore before! we then headed up to the y-camp to settle in for the night. my first morning in estes park at the y-camp started bright and early. mom woke me with the birdies. or even a little before to watch the sunrise. i love how the snow on the mountains goes all pink at sunrise for breakfast we had fruit salad and bagel pieces fried in butter. if you've never tried this, do. it is just decadent. obviously the diet was on hold for this trip! we headed in to town to do a little window shopping. it is so fun to wander in the shops up there. there are so many pretty things to look at and so many touristy junk shops. it is highly entertaining! i only gave in to the cheese factor once this trip. it is always so hard. but look at this little guy. isn't he cute. he's only about 2 inches tall. i think he needs socks. i have tons of ya...

the day I arrived my mom, cousin kay, aunt judy, and i headed off for one of our favorite pastimes. thrift store shopping. there are quite a few of these in the denver area and we just love to see what treasures we will turn up. i think mom's wardrobe is comprised almost entirely of thrifted clothing. :) I found a few sleeveless tops to fluff out my summer wardrobe. but my super score was a set of 4 cappucino cups "cappucino please" and a teapot. can you guess what i spent on these 5 pieces? i doubt it. you're going to guess too high. i just know it! i spent a grand total of $3.10 can you believe it? the cups were $.80 apiece, the teapot a whopping $3.00. it was all on sale for half price! i also picked up a couple of neat children's birding books. and a copy of tasha tudor's garden . it's a beautiful book . i'm ready to head out for more pots to plant just everything i can on my patio! after hitting several thrift stores we decided to call it a n...

a couple of weeks ago i got up at o-dark-thirty to hop a plane to colorado. i cast on for a new pair of socks while i was waiting for my plane. and got started with my tunes going on the i-pod... and i knit, and i knit. i boarded the plane, and i knit some more. i finally looked up from my knitting... and it was almost time to land. who knew. good music and good yarn. what a wonderful combination. mom has moved since i left colorado. i finally got to see her new place. can you tell why she picked it? can you tell we're related? not just the haircut, but our insatiable love of all things growing. pansies, cosmos, shasta daisies, and icelandic poppies bird of paradise, shasta daisies, lime tree, peonies, broccoli and cauliflower, delphinium, flax, nasturtium, zucchini, summer squash, tomato, cucumber, bell pepper, sugar snap peas, bush beans, columbine, snap dragon, 3 kinds of roses, dusty miller, red and green leaf lettuces, carnations, holly hocks, tulips, daffodils, violas, an...

it is always bittersweet traveling home. i've had such a nice visit here; but it has made me terribly homesick. for colorado. we love california and have enjoyed our time there so far. but i've never lived anywhere as long as i did in colorado. it will always be home. mom and i have had a great visit. don't worry photos of our travels are soon to come. and of the goodies oh my goodness the goodies. i had to shift some of my suitcase contents into my carryone for fear of having and overweight suitcase!

last week we had a friend of dave's in town to visit. jon had never been to northern california so you know what that means :) wine tasting. touring. and a whole lot of walking :) we went wine tasting 2 different days and headed down to san francisco another. one of the wine days we spent up in the russian river valley. they are famous for their pinot noir up there. and i have to say they were good. great even. but i'm a zinfandel girl so that is what i came home with. not white zin. please don't confuse youself there. eeeeww! bright fruity with just a hint of tannins and wow. wonderful flavor! mind you i was just taking the tiniest of sips. i was the DD. which means that dave and i would share a tasting. which is more than enough even if i wasn't the driver. we hit about 4 vineyards. and a place that makes hard ciders. let me tell you i love cider. not the sticky sweet stuff. crisper and drier. now that's for me! after we finished up tasting we took t...