To Blog or Not To Blog, That Was Today's Question!

It's been an exciting day all around and since it's also been a LONG day, I really couldn't decide whether or not to post an entry on my blog. The more I thought about it, the more I thought that it was important for me to do this, so here goes!
Frank went to the hospital early this morning as he started to work as a volunteer in the Cardiac Rehabilitation Center at AMH. He put on his handy dandy little uniform and I couldn't help but get tickled at him. I haven't seen him wear a short sleeved shirt with a tie since our early marriage days. All he needed was a T-shirt under it to complete the picture ;-) all kidding aside, he looked very nice and I'm sure that he will not only benefit from having the pleasure of working with these patients since he's been there and done that himself, the patients will benefit from his presence since he is so good with people and makes everyone feel better just by having been around him. He's such a neat guy and I'm blessed to have him as my husband and friend.
Once he was gone, I showered, got dressed and headed across town for a belated birthday celebration with my CbC group. Three of us have birthdays a few weeks of each other, so it was a group celebration. It was not the actual day for any of us, but we don't really need a reason to celebrate, eat and enjoy life!
We started a wonderful tradition 3 years ago before the business was formed and we were still just a group of women who painted together who are great friends.


Rather than just giving a small token gift to each other, we decided that each one of us should paint a painting each year for one person in the group, so that at the end of a designated length of time, we would each have an original painting by each person in the group.
This year Cindy C. had my name and she painted me one of my favorite things ... a martini! She knew that I had painted "A Shot of Olives" and also "Prelude to a Martini", so what better painting than one that would complete my triptych and sit on my bar for all of your guests to enjoy. I was both surprised and delighted with what she had chosen to paint for me. You can see that it's the perfect thing to complete the "setting" in our bar. A little vermouth might be the very thing to complete the scenario. What do you think?
My friend, Margie, did a collage for me of some of the fun times I have had over the past 71 years and I absolutely love it. In my mind's eye I still look like the 103 pound tanned girl in the bikini in Puerto Rico. What on earth do you suppose happened ... gravity ???
I also received lots of darling and useful gifts from some hand painted pliers to open certain tubes of paint, a bottle of Limoncello had delivered from Pompeii, cocktail napkins that I can use with my martini as soon as I make it, a tiny little refrigerator magnet which is a replica of the cupcake that I painted for Canvas by Canvas and many wonderful, hand made and designed greeting cards. There's nothing better than having artistic friends. The gifts are AMAZING!!!

To top everything off, each "Birthday Girl" was served a delicious piece of intense chocolate cake with a candle on the top which we shared with the rest of the group, and one of the waitresses sang Happy Birthday to us in Italian ... a perfect end to a perfect celebration. My thanks go out to each and every one of my beautiful artsy fartsy friends. I love you all like sisters!
Pcasso

Snickerdoodle Coffee and a Cupcake

I have spent the entire morning working on this little painting that I started last night. You will hopefully find it posted sometime today or tomorrow on our www.canvasbycanvas.com website.

It's wonderful to get up early, enjoy some deliciously flavored coffee, listening to the world wake up as our local Mockingbird chirps good morning just outside of our kitchen door, and be able to paint until you finally accomplish what consider to be a "fun" painting. I'm finding out that whipped cream is almost as hard to paint as it is for your system to digest. Maybe I'll paint Cool Whip next time ;-)

One of our members, Betty "Elizabeth" Taylor, calls her blog "Do You Blog Before Breakfast"? Maybe I should call mine, "Do You Paint Before Preparing Pancakes"?

This addition is another painting in our mini-series. When we were in New Mexico, the group decided that it would be a great idea to paint cupcakes to honor our first anniversary as a collaborative group of painters and I thought it was an excellent idea. We formed Canvas by Canvas last July and we've certainly accomplished a lot since then. It's hard to believe that we've only been painting as an organized group for this short period. Time flies when you're with friends having fun!

All of our little gems in our mini series are 0n 6x6 gallery wrapped canvases and can be framed alone or as a group. They are all priced at $40 each. I think they would look wonderful in either a kitchen or a child's room. We are all, after all, children at heart, and who doesn't like cupcakes! Since they're so small and not nearly as filling as a piece of cake, I'm sure that most of the calories have been removed. In fact, there are NO calories in our paintings. Bon Appetite!

Pcasso

Papasitos and Pump Painting

Today has been a fun and leisurely day. I woke up early, fixed breakfast for the two of us, took my shower and got so sleepy that I decided to take a little nap before lunch. This is so unlike me! I think I'm starting to unwind from the trip and I have finally realized that at my age, the old body needs to stop and be recharged every once in a while. A nap was definitely in order.

After a cat-nap, we decided to go to Pappasito's and have fajitas for lunch. If you have not tried their chicken fajitas, I would suggest that you get there in a hurry. They are by far the best I've ever eaten. There is no marinade ... just the best chicken breast that money can buy, with sauteed onions, Pico de Gallo, guacamole, pickled jalapenos and to top it off ... hot, drawn garlic butter. The bonus was chips and salsa and a bowl of Borracho Beans. It was absolutely larapin!

Once we returned from lunch I was in the mood to paint, so I decided to do this little painting for our Canvas by Canvas mini series. I'm way behind, so I needed to play catch-up

The first pair of shoes I painted when I was in Santa Fe was entitled "Party Pumps", so what better name for this newest edition than "Party Animal". Of course, to complete the party, I added a glass of wine :-)

I saw these particular shoes in Santa Fe and there was a very high dollar price tag on them. I decided it would be better to paint them than to wear them. The heels were nearly as high and the shoes were and I was sure that I wouldn't be able to walk in them. I would probably be turning ankles rather than heads if I showed up with them on my feet!

The little shoe that I have painted is in acrylic and is 6x6 on a gallery wrapped canvas. As I have mentioned before, when the canvas is gallery wrapped, it doesn't have to be framed. However, in our mini-series, we are offering custom made frames where you can collect our little gems and build your own large painting. It's great fun plus you will have an original work of art that several painters have contributed to. Check this latest idea out that we have put together on our web page at http://www.canvasbycanvas.com/ so you can better understand what I'm talking about. The small paintings sell for $40 each and prices vary on the frames, depending on how many "openings" you want and what configuration you have in mind for your one of a kind Canvas by Canvas painting. We think it's a very unique idea and these little paintings make wonderful gifts for special occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries, wedding gifts, etc. Oh, and don't forget Christmas. It will be here sooner than you think :-) Be sure and keep us in mind when you need something special for that someone special.

We'll be thinking we can dance again tonight, so I'd better go and start dinner so our time to watch won't be interrupted.

If you keep reading, I'll keep blogging! Pcasso

The Lone Star State is Hotter Than Hades!

This blog will probabaly not be as interesting as the ones from Colorful Colorado and The land of Enchantment. It's a LONG drive home but we finally made it safe and sound. Spent most of the afternoon unpacking and trying to get things back in order. Dirty laundry is NOT an interesting subject and we had a lot of it! The weather has not been over 100 here yet, but the humidity is a killer!

"So You Think You Can Dance" is on tonight, so I've put a pot roast in the oven, will have a tiny "tini" before dinner made with Gray Goose that was my birthday gift from Teresa and Gary and will sit back after dinner, relax and watch these wonderful young people dance. Of course I'll serve potatoes, carrots, gravy

and green beans with the roast as no comfort food is complete without those along with a lot of onions and garlic. It smells delicious as it cooks. Can't wait for a good home-cooked meal!

The show tonight has to be good because they're down to the top ten and they are all wonderful dancers. I'm glad that I'm not a judge! I'd keep them all, but that's against the rules.

We had a wonderful time on our trip but it will be good to sleep in my own bed for a change. Sorry I couldn't bring all of my friends home with me, but they probably wouldn't all fit in my bed ;-)

I'll be signing off for now, but remember to check www.Canvasbycanvas.com for updates and also check out our all of the blogs that are posted there. We're all starting to return to our nests after some summer fun and the paint will start to fly.

Happy days to you all. Pcasso

Culture, Cuchara and Chicharones

Since we didn't get to bed until late last night due to the wonderful cookout we participated in, we skipped church this morning and after a big breakfast, we headed for Cuchara, Colorado for an Art Show. Bev and Larry's son, Jerry, is a very talented photographer and had 5 pieces of his work in the show. We took the "scenic route" over mountains and mountain passes (not my favorite way to go since I am the Queen of Chickens!) My Mother said the I would crawl over the cracks in the sidewalk when I was learning to walk because I was afraid I might fall and hurt myself.

On the way to Cuchara, we stopped at a little town called Stonewall and bought some Chicharones (which in English are pig skins). We always stock up on those when we are on the road because they make a wonderful snack in the car!

We arrived in Cuchara in time for lunch and ate at a little place called the Dog Bar Restaurant. Bev and I had fish and chips and the men had fried chicken ... a good healthy lunch ;-) The food was pretty good and after we finished lunch we went to view the art show. There was a lot of talent there and I saws some great paintings as well as Jerry's fantastic photography.

Since all of his pieces had glass on them, I had a hard time photographing them but I have included one of the pieces that he had entered. There was one that I fell in love with that was a piano by a window with the most subtle light you can imagine filtering through the curtains. It was entitled "Silent and Alone" and it was a very moving piece of art. Unfortunately the light was not right for photographing this wonderful piece, but I will always remember how I felt when I saw it. It was amazing. What a talent this young man has. His work is so full of feeling and emotion and I feel very privileged to have been able to watch him grow up over many years and now see how he is sharing his gift with others. What a blessing!

We had planned on looking at all the art and then picking up his works that didn't sell a little early and bringing them on back to Raton. Wrong!!! They would not let us pick them up until the show closed at 4:00, so we had a little over 2 hours to kill.

We wandered around Cuchara (which didn't take too long) and then decided to go for a drive and look for the ski run. We went the wrong way and never found the ski run which is no longer running, but did have the pleasure of seeing some wonderful scenery.

On the way back, we ran into a heard of mules so Frank got out of the car, hiked across the highway and down into a ravine and took some great shots of them.
I call the one here Nosey Parker because he wanted to stick his nose in the camera and find out exactly what was going on.

We got back to Trinidad, Colorado in time for dinner, so we stopped at a Chinese Restaurant

called Wonderful House (it's one of Larry's favorites) and had a very nice meal.
We will turn in early tonight since it really has been a very long day. I must add that the art was well worth the trip over. Wish you could have all been with us.
Pcasso

Pink Babies, Cookouts and Cadillacs

Many years ago when we were much younger, we used to hang out at the Country Club here in Raton and we invented a drink called a Pink Baby... we being the Salazars and Stolarczyks, or the S&S team. There wasn't a whole lot to do in this wonderful little town, so back then, Bev and I were head of the social committee at the Club and we put on all the parties. We always had a special theme for each occasion. We had luaus, scavenger hunts, barbecues and of course lots of dances. We decorated the club to fit the theme of the month and it was a very special time for all of us. In a small town, you have to make your own entertainment and we had a blast doing this. For the luau, we had coconuts flown in from Hawaii and had someone roast a suckling pig which was brought in on a huge platter ... with an apple in his mouth. We all either wore sarongs or grass skirts and we wrapped the pillars in the club so they looked like palm trees. It really was neat. These are wonderful memories and they were the best of times.
The boys returned from their very fruitful fly-fishing expedition this afternoon, so we decided that we needed to have a cookout and we included Larry and Bev's son, Jerry and his fiancee at the party. He had never seen one of our famous drinks, so we decided that it was time that we introduced him to our famous concoction. We really weren't sure exactly what was in them since it had been 40 years since we had made one, but Frank took rum, pink lemonade, strawberries, ice and a little fresh lemon juice and out it all in a blender and VOILA! ... Pink Babies. They were and still are delicious.

After we sampled several of these, we were almost ready to start cooking. While we were sipping our delicious drinks in their backyard, we enjoyed the beautiful views that I have included here. The big house sits atop a mountain and overlooks Raton and all of the hills and mesas. We have spent many wonderful evenings in this very spot, listening to special music that Larry has had piped into the pool house and watching everything from fireworks, hot air balloons floating by to unforgettable sunsets. It doesn't get much better than this!


When the fire was ready, Frank cooked the steaks and we had a wonderful meal in the cool evening breeze. I have to admit, I kept my eyes open in case a bear or a mountain lion showed up unexpectedly. There were bears in the neighborhood last night and I was hoping they wouldn't make an encore appearance tonight!

When I looked over at the driveway I decided that David Moritz who is the Cadillac dealer in Arlington must have paid us a visit, because all of our cars are Cadillacs! Jerry, Larry's son, broke the mold when he arrived in his Hummer. It was a pretty impressive sight for a family cookout!

We're all pretty tired tonight so we're on our way to bed. Jerry is an excellent photographer and he is in an art show in Cucharo, Colorado, so after church tomorrow we will make a little trip over there to see it. I'll report on what we saw and hopefully take photographs of some of the art.

Have a great weekend.

Pcasso

That Old Gang of Mine

Time always flies when you're having fun. Frank and Larry are still fishing, so tonight Beverly and I planned a little dinner party and we met with three other ladies that were very dear friends of mine when we lived in Raton. The five of us had not been together for over 40 years, so it was a great time for telling stories on each other, reminiscing and catching up on each other's lives. I always refer to them as "the girls" but it also brings to mind a story about my Godmother. When I was about 12, my Godmother who lived in Harlingen, Texas, invited me to their ranch for a visit. I had heard her talk about her circle of friends, "The Girls", for years. When I thought about them in my minds eye, they were just that ... girls. When I finally had the opportunity to meet them I was shocked! They were all in their early 60's and not girls at all. They were older women! I'm sure if Ian and Connor would meet the women I call "The Girls" they would feel the same way. Of course, in our hearts, we'll always be girls. Such is life.

We 5 "girls" have all been through a lot of similar experiences ... the loss of husbands for two of them, children for 3 of us ... together we have a multitude of grandchildren. We talked and talked about how things were when we still lived here, the Country Club and the parties we attended, bridge clubs, both social and civic clubs we belonged to ... They finally ran us out of the restaurant at nearly 10:00. It was a great reunion.

Nancy, to my left in the photograph, gave me a baby shower when I was expecting Franklin 44 years ago and the others were so excited as it was the first baby shower they had been to in years. I'm about 10 years younger than several of them, so baby showers were a thing of the past in their circles.

Bev came down to the house at noon today and we fixed sandwiches here since we knew that we would be going out tonight for a big meal. I was lazy today ... didn't paint and just read, watched a little TV and had a couple of cap naps during the day. We had a hard rain last night and it was very cool here, so that helped contribute to my laziness.

The boys will be home tomorrow and I'll really be glad to see them. I've enjoyed this little time to myself, but I always miss Frank so much and anxiously await his homecoming. I'm very tired so I'm off to bed. Thanks for tuning in.

Pcasso

Prelude To A Martini

You know the old expression, "When the cat's away, the mice will play". Well, in this case, "When the boys are away, the girls will play" ;-)
I got up bright and early this morning, showered, got dressed ate leftover pizza (the best!) and started painting. Beverly came down about 10:00 after she had been to exercise class and had walked goodness knows how far, and we decided to have an early lunch today. I had gotten to a stopping point in my work, so we went downtown to a cozy little spot and had a delicious Southwest Chicken Panini. The lady that runs it said to her, "I see you're driving the Batmobile today". We got tickled because that's Larry's car and he would die to think that someone had called it that. It's THE sports car that Cadillac makes and it's a fast little thing. It sits so low to the ground that you'd think that your bottom was going to drag the pavement any minute. Our friend Ray in Crested Butte has one as well. Check it out, It's something else. A guy (or girl for that matter) could pick up a really cute date with one of these if you were the right age! http://www.cadillac.com/cadillacjsp/model/gallery.jsp?model=xlr (Do you think we're later age crazy?)

After lunch Bev came in and watched me paint for a while and then she went back up to her house to check her Email and feed the dog. His name is Rio and he's an Australian Red Healer. He only has 3 legs, so I told her that she should either call him Trio or Tripod but she won't do it. He's the neatest dog and so smart. Last year, however, he went after a bear that came into the yard and by God's grace he survived. That was a scary thing. The bears around here are very bold and come down at night to raid the garbage bins. You can't even put Hummingbird feeders out since they attract them. If you remember, I photographed a couple of them several years ago that would come down in broad daylight into their yard and swim and get water from their pool. That's scary! Frank was furious with me because he said that the bear could out run me any day and I was getting pretty close. I thought I'd just run into the garage if he started my way and close the door and Frank said it that were the case, I would probably close the bear in with me because they're so fast. I won't do THAT again!

I've tried to get Bev to paint with me instead of just watching, but so far she's resisting. However, I haven't given up just yet. I've finished the painting as you can see and I'm going to put my paints up for a while and then will start dinner for the two of us. She has a meeting at 7:00 tonight, so I said that I would cook and we would eat early. It's a lot easier than going out. I'm going to make what my kids always called "Salazar Slop". It was a favorite of theirs for year ... still is for that matter. It's macaroni and cheese with sauteed onions and ground beef. We'll have biscuits, a Mandarin orange salad and a bottle of white wine with it and I have a surprise for dessert! A BIG peanut patty. This is a real "when you were young and broke meal" and it will be great. We were all young and broke together 49 years ago so it will be another trip down memory lane.

We'll be having dinner tomorrow evening with 3 of my old friends from here that I used to run around with. I'm really looking forward to the reunion. I'll report more later.

I want to thank you for traveling with us. Hope it's been a smooth ride for you so far. It's been a luxury ride for us and I'm loving every minute of it.

Pcasso

Painting, Pizza and Papa's Pal

Today was both a good day and a sad day. We got up early and I worked on the computer a little bit while Frank started breakfast. There is a brand new Cuisinart Coffee maker here and it grinds the beans as well as making the coffee and it is wonderful. Perfect situation, ... right??? Wrong! There was one small problem. When Frank put the beans in and added the water, he neglected to put a filter in the pot, so we had a minor coffee flood in the kitchen to start the day.

After cleaning up the mess, we had a coffee-less breakfast of poached eggs, OJ and toast and then Papa finished packing for his trip to the San Juan with his life-long pal, Larry. I mentioned yesterday that he is a scientist, but that's really putting it mildly. He's probably one of the brightest people that we've ever known. Check him out at this web address. You'll be impressed. There are many articles on him but this is an interesting one. http://www.partnershipsforprosperity.net/conference/stolar.html







Once breakfast was over, Larry drove down the hill and picked Frank up so they could make the 400 mile drive to the San Juan to go fly-fishing. They were like two little boys. SO excited to get together and fish for several days. They will be with their guide and friend, Andy Kim, with whom they have fished for many years.
You can check here to see what they will be doing and where. http://www.yspecial.com/

Even though I was sad to see them leave, the smile on Frank's face was well worth his going off for a few days with a very special friend. They enjoy each other's company so much. It's that special time when they can be little boys together and act like teen-agers when we aren't along. What fun for them!


When the dust settled and they were on their way, Beverly and I went out for lunch and when we returned, I decided to paint. She went up to the big house and I painted all afternoon and into the early evening. The little "Technicolor Bandit" at the top of this entry is the result of my days work.

We ordered pizza to be delivered, shared a bottle of wine and watched "So You Think You Can Dance". When the show was over, she went up the hill and I'm headed for bed.

Have a good rest of the evening. I'll keep my ears open for bears and wild cats and will write more soon.

Pcasso

Pattycake and the Three Bears in "Bearadise"

We had a wonderful and leisurely drive from Crested Butte to Raton, New Mexico. We took the back roads to avoid the traffic and were able to enjoy some really beautiful mountain scenery. It was lunchtime when we arrived in Raton, so we stopped at the El Portal Hotel and had a light lunch.

When we made the move from Raton to Arlington, I went ahead of Frank with Franklin, who was 2 years old and Courtney who was then 9, and Frank and Jim, our eldest son moved into the El Portal Hotel for 2 months while Frank closed out his practice and Jim completed elementary school. He graduated from the 6th grade and we then started a new life with Frank back in school at Baylor Dental School in Dallas specializing in Orthodontics and our little family was back together again in Arlington.

We drove around Raton looking at his original office here where he practiced so MANY years ago and our wonderful little church where Jim was confirmed and Franklin was baptised. We them passed by Goat Hill where they have an annual Christmas Pageant every year. This landmark overlooks Raton from one of the highest peaks in town and at night the sign lights up and the star is red, white and blue during the year. At Christmastime it has white twinkle lights on it.

We arrived at Bearadise which is a wonderful house that our friends bought for us to stay in, and they furnished it the way they knew would like it. I have my own computer, central air, a 60' plasma TV, 3 bedrooms 2 baths and an office/study. It's wonderful and everything in here is brand new. They named it "Bearadise" since we are in the mountains and the black bears come down to the house. Our little house is right down the hill from the main house which sits on top of a mountain. Larry is a scientist and just returned from 3 weeks in Europe lecturing. He works closely with the U.S. Government on secret projects. He and Frank leave tomorrow for the San Juan and 5 days of fly fishing. They do this 2-3 times every year.

Speaking of Larry, today is his birthday, so after we got settled in Bearadise, we went to Trinidad, Colorado to have a birthday celebration. We went to a place called Black Jack's and had wonderful steaks and good, iced cold beer. Bev and Larry's son, Jerry and his fiance joined us and we had a wonderful evening.

Frank and Larry head for the San Juan for 4 days of fly fishing early in the morning, so we were in bed before 11:00 so they can get an early start. Since it's nearly 400 miles away, they want to leave early so Frank can have one more enchilada fix in Santa Fe as they pass through before we leave the Land of Enchantment next week. I hope he has double enchiladas and thinks of me ;-)

I plan on spending a lot of time painting while he's gone. I have the perfect spot out on the patio overlooking a beautiful grove of pine trees. Keep your fingers crossed for me that no bears come to visit me here while I'm here in Bearadise.

Pcasso

Butterscotch, Brahams, Handel and the Holy Spirit

Last night we had an early dinner before the concert which was part of the Summer Music Festival. We dined at a lovely little restaurant in Crested Butte called Le Bosque. It was located in town, not up on the mountain. There were 4 courses and the meal ended with this delicious desert with caramelized butterscotch topping was a great closure for the delicious meal we all enjoyed.
The concert began at 7:30 and it was held at the Center for the Arts in town. It's amazing that a small community like this can have such a fine orchestra and produce such lovely music. We were entertained with the Water Music Suite No. 2 in D Major by George Frederic Handel and Brahm's Serenade No. 2 in A Major, Op. 16. After intermission the orchestra performed a Brahms and Handel selection which consisted of variations for Jazz piano and orchestra arranged by Uri Caine.
Before we went to dinner, we attended the Holy Eucharist at All Saints in the Mountains. When it came to the time in the service when the Priest asks if there were any birthdays, I went up for a blessing. I have not been moved by anything like that in a very long time. The Priest, Father Bill Waltz, who is a very large man, placed his hands on my shoulders and was silent for about 2 minutes. Then he began to pray for me and it was the most personal and powerful blessing that I've ever had. You could feel the power of the Holy Spirit in the room.

By the time that he had finished the prayer, I was in a puddle of tears. Later that evening at the concert, several people who were at the service came up to me and said that that was the most beautiful blessing that they had ever heard him give. Father Waltz had never met me before, and what he said made me feel as though he had known me for years.

Then, to top everything off, we woke up this morning to the sound of a hot air balloon

ascending over our apartment. You can never mistake that sound if you've ever flown. I had the privilege of both flying and being part of a chase crew in Albuquerque several years ago at the Balloon Festival. It's like nothing you'll ever experience. Once you're up, it's is so quite that you can hear every minute sound on the ground. Since you're riding with the wind, it is not windy, but very still and very very quiet. It's an awesome experience.

Of course, the minute I heard the balloon, I grabbed my camera and went out on the deck to see if I could photograph it. When I put the image in my computer, I suddenly realized that the initials on the balloon were WWJD. To me that was a reaffirmation that God is always present. Of course, the initials stand for What Would Jesus Do? Another blessing for me! Two of these experiences in a 24 hour period is almost all that one can imagine. Praise the Lord!

We plan to spend some time in town today and then tonight we will go to an outdoor music gathering where we will enjoy wine, cheese and mariachis. We leave in the morning for Raton, NM where we will visit with some of our oldest friends (that's not old as in age but in years of friendship). We were the closest of friends when we were all young and newly married, and that friendship is still going strong after nearly 50 years. We're really looking forward to spending some quality time with them again. We lived in Raton for the first 7 years that we were married. It will be like old home week. We'll be on the road most of the day tomorrow, so I'll get back to you soon.

Pcasso

Hillside Haven and Hummers

We left Santa Fe fairly early yesterday morning and headed for points North and Colorful Colorado. We took the back roads to try to avoid the traffic and the RV's that are all over the highway this time of year, and finally got to Great Sand Dunes National Park around 11:00. Here we are, driving along in the mountains and looking at all the pine trees and suddenly we came upon this opening and there were the dunes. It truly was amazing. Out in the middle of nowhere there were dunes like you might see in Africa. I remember when I was on my way to Egypt, as we flew over the Sahara Desert, all we could see for hours was sand. Of course, the dunes in Colorado can't compare with the Sahara, but it was quite a surprise to see all that sand amongst all the mountains and greenery!
After many photographs, we got back in the car and continued on our way to Crested Butte. We stopped for lunch and had one of the biggest cheeseburgers that I've ever seen. It was one of those good, greasy kind and I could only eat a little over half of it. Those who know me well know I never leave a crumb when it comes to burgers, so you know that it HAD to be big! Wish I'd taken a shot of it ;-)


We spent most of the day traveling and arrived in the Butte around 4:00. We haven't been here for a couple of years and could not believe how much this place has grown. There are new HUGE homes everywhere. The photograph I've included is of our friend's compound. They live in the large home on the right and we are staying in the building on the left which contains 2 apartments. It would be wonderful to have a big home and then 2 wonderful guest apartments as well. It's the perfect arrangement. We sat out on their deck and watched the sunset and enjoyed Margaritas that Ray had made for us with his new Margarita machine. We then dressed for dinner and went into town and enjoyed a wonderful dinner of pecan crusted halibut and Peruvian purple potatoes with caramelized onions and a good bottle of Cabernet. We then made our way back up the mountain and went to bed. It was nearly 11:00 p.m. and we were exhausted.
This is a wonderful place and we woke up this morning to humming birds fighting for their spot at the feeders along with the sun just coming up over the mountains. The view is spectacular. Their place is on Crested Mountain rather than in the little village below. Our condo was up on the mountain as well, so this is like another home away from home.
We plan on taking it easy today. We will go to church this evening, then have a light dinner and go to the Symphony. The Episcopal Church services here are held in the Roman church and they only have one service on Sunday evening at 5:00. Seems strange not going to church in the morning on Sunday but it's always nice to celebrate the Eucharist with good friends.
Both the Music Festival as well as the Wildflower Festival are going on now so there is a lot of wonderful entertainment and things to see. Crested Butte, or rather Gothic, CO is noted for having the largest variety of wildflowers anywhere in the United States. They are indescribable as far as beauty goes. We're here at the perfect time of year. I hope to gather a lot of material to paint from all the photographs I'm taken.
Better get off of this computer and get dressed. We will enjoy the cool mountain air and sights around town today and I'll report back in a day or two. Have a great rest of the weekend.

Pcasso

We Chose La Choza

This is our last day in the City Different. We will be leaving tomorrow for Colorful Colorado and friends who live in Dallas as well as Crested Butte. We had a place there for nearly 30 years but we sold it last year, so we visit with the Cooks from time to time to get our Rocky Mountain High.

Today was my birthday and our niece and nephew came to visit. Tomorrow is Teresa's birthday, so we celebrated together ... an event for the young and the old. They were at my party last year so it seemed appropriate that we celebrate together again. We had lunch at La Choza which is a neat little restuarant that we like to frequent. It's owned by the same people who own The Shed and it's usually much easier to get in since it's not located on the Plaza. We had a good day together. They will go to Taos tomorrow to go white-water rafting to celebrate her birthday. We decided to pass :-)

We will leave here early in the morning and plan to visit the Great Sands National Park just outside of Alamosa, CO. It is located on the eastern side of the remote, high-mountain San Luis Valley, between the Blanca Massif and Crestone Needle. They are the tallest sand dunes in North America. The dunes cover approximately 39 square miles and rise to almost 750' above the valley floor.
The dunes are the product of the wind and rain eroding the San Juan and Sangre de Cristo Mountains that ring the San Luis Valley. They have collected here because the prevailing winds across the valley blow in this direction and meet winds blowing in the opposite direction. The sand drops to the valley floor and is held in place by water flowing from the Sangre de Cristo's. So over the course of millenia, the dunes have built up to where they are today. And tomorrow they will be different because the wind still blows, the sand still moves and the deposits of sand still grow.
The dunes are like continually changing sculptures. Overall, they maintain a remarkably stable form because they are so moist throughout (from the rain and snow). But the surface layers of sand dry and flow with the wind in ever-changing patterns. They should really be an interesting place to visit as neither one of us have been there.

Don't know when I'll be back on line to post to this blog. We have plans to attend an outdoor concert tomorrow night so no time will be avalable tomorrow. Thanks for following our adventures. I'll continue to keep you up to date even though I might miss a day here and there.

Later! Pcasso

Adobe, Red Chili, Art Galleries and 2 Buck Chuck!

This has been a very interesting day. After a lovely dinner last night with our friends, the Waldies at the Pink Adobe, we came home to watch "So You Think You Can Dance" which we thought we had taped, but discovered that we had set the tape wrong, so we had to watch the news instead. What a disappointment since we are big fans of that show.

We got up this morning, went back to Bagelmania for a delicious breakfast of pancakes and bacon, and headed out on a mission. My artist friends in http://www.canvasbycanvas.com/ have requested that I photograph adobe houses with Hollyhocks in the yard and red chilies for future paintings. We went to Canyon Road to scout these things out and I was very successful. I have many images now of both subjects to add to our ever growing library of images for future paintings.

When we finished that, I visited the Martha Keats Gallery which is also on Canyon Road and left some information on Canvas by Canvas there with the hope that we might be able to show in that gallery at a future date. Be sure and check it out ! http://www.marthakeatsgallery.com/index.html This gallery was recommended to me by the owner of the Meyer Gallery in Santa Fe which is one of our favorites. I had a long meeting with him a few days ago and he's trying to help us get into this market. The bronze sculptures in the photograph that I have included are at the Meyer. Their sculpture garden is lovely.

We will be going on the Art Walk on Canyon Road Friday night and will be visiting the Meyer as Robert Daughters has a show opening that night. It will be my birthday, so to celebrate, we're going to the Flea Market in the morning, our niece and nephew are coming from Tucumcari (the next day is her birthday so we'll celebrate together) and we'll do Canyon Road in the evening. A perfect way to spend the day.

When we left the gallery we ran by Trader Joe's and bought several cases of 2 Buck Chuck to take back to Texas. We can't get it there, so we always load up before we head home.

We plan on taking it easy the rest of the day as we need to get things together so we can pack more easily on Saturday when we leave for Crested Butte, CO. I'll keep in touch and would love for you to do the same. PLEASE leave comments on my blog. It makes me feel loved :-)

Pcasso

There's Nothing Like a Gown Day Every Once in a While

Frank decided to play golf today, so that left me with many hours all to myself here at the condo. I got up bright and early, showered, slipped back into my caftan and decided that I would take it easy, stay home and paint. Even though he left me the car, I didn't really want to go anywhere, so I had what I call a gown day. That's when you don't put on any makeup and just lounge around the house doing a whole lot of nothing. However, instead of doing nothing, I decided to work on a painting that I have had in mind for a long time. It's an "Old Pawn" cross that has been in the family for years and I was fortunate enough to fall heir to it. It's made of hand hammered sterling silver and has a large cabochon coral in the center of it. I wear it a lot and always get compliments when I do, so I decided to paint it. If someone would like to purchase the painting, they can have a little piece of New Mexico history in modern day form. If you remember,Frank's ancestor's helped settle the state of New Mexico, so he's very familiar with the Native Americans and their history. If you would like more information about the painting, you can Email me and I will give you the size and the price. Here is a little info on Old Pawn jewelry. It was used for trading for the most part.

In times past, the people of this area made, wore, and treasured their jewelry as not only a thing of adornment, a protector of good health, but also as portable wealth. They still do so - the lucky ones. Not having ready access to banks, or cash money, this jewelry would often serve as the family "reserve" or "emergency" fund. In times of need, this jewelry could be easily used as security with an authorized trader (pawned) for cash to meet the current crisis. Then, when the crops came in, or the sheep were shorn - or whatever - the jewelry could be redeemed and take its place back in the family. Unfortunately, on occasion this jewelry would not be redeemed as planned. The lender would keep it for the agreed amount of time, and if the loan were not paid off by the agreed date, the Pawn Shop, or Trader, would be authorized to sell the jewelry.
And, often, when the elders of the family die, the items are pawned, and the money is divided up within the family. Americans do basically the same thing, except we call it "Probate" and a large part may go to some lawyer somewhere.

That's about it for today. I've had a wonderful, lazy day and will be rested for our evening out with our friends. Frank had a great day at the golf course, so we're both happy campers.

Later! Pcasso

The Town That Never Was

We had quite an adventure today. After breakfast we went to Los Alamos, NM which is the home of the Bradbury Science Museum. It contains the history and exhibits of the Los Alamos National Laboratory and it's ongoing scientific research. Los Alamos is located in the Jemez Mountains and the beautiful scenic drive to get there is amazing. It's located about 45 minutes from Santa Fe and you climb about 2000 feet in that time period. It's remotely located on top of a mesa and at night, you can see the lights of Los Alamos from Santa Fe. The Laboratory employs 9300 regular employees, 1300 students, 800 consultants and a grand total of 14,000 people. The annual budget is $1.8 billion dollars. Pretty impressive!!!

The conflict that darkened Europe in the late 1930's at first cast no shadow there on the sunny Pajarito Plateau. But soon World War II shook the entire world. Los Alamos, once the site of a boy's ranch school. became the focus of the secret project to develop a new weapon, one that derived it's power from splitting the atom. From this, the atomic bomb was discovered. Los Alamos National Laboratory is a scientific research laboratory focusing on National security. The Laboratory was established in 1943 as part of the Manhattan Project, the nation's top-secret program to develop the atomic bomb.

Since 1943, the Laboratory has strengthened our national security by developing and applying the best science and technology to these three primary goals: 1. Ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear deterrent 2. Reducing the threat of weapons of mass destruction, proliferation and terrorism 3. Solving other national security in defense, energy, the environment and infrastructure. The Laboratory adheres to the core values of intellectual freedom, scientific excellence and security.

This is called the town that never was because during all the time that they were working on the atom bomb, no one who lived there was allowed to say anything about the project or where they were living since the project was top secret. All they could give anyone was a post office box number in Santa Fe if they needed to be reached , so that's why Los Alamos is was called the town was called the town that never was.

I was especially interested in all of this because our dear friend who lives in Raton, NM is closely connected to the Laboratory. He is an engineer and scientist and works closely with the scientists at Los Alamos as well as people in Washington. We will be spending time with him and his wife next week. He's Frank's big fly-fishing buddy and long time friend.

After we returned from Los Alamos, we had lunch, went to a movie (Waitress, which was very good), came home for about an hour and then went to a new Japanese restaurant for dinner. It's been another long and wonderful day and we're ready for a shower and bed. In the words of Miss Scarlett, "Tomorrow is another day"!

Pcasso

Outlaws in High Places

What do you call someone who is the mother-in-law of your husband's nephew? You're really not related, so since she's not an In-law, we decided to call her an outlaw ;-) I'm speaking of our good friend and pseudo relative, Bonnie Frost. She came to stay overnight with us in our little Casita here in Santa Fe so we could all go to hear the Opera singers together and she wouldn't have to drive back to Albuquerque late at night.
After a delicious breakfast at Bagelmania (I had Eggs Benedict) we took a tour of the Supreme Court. Her late husband was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, so they lived in Santa Fe for several years. It was a wonderful experience for us to be able to see all the courtrooms, meet some of the employees and visit the huge Law Library and the courtroom where Judge Frost had been when he was Chief Justice. We also were able to meet and visit with one of the judges who sat on the bench with her husband. It was something that you don't get to do every day and we thoroughly enjoyed it. You can see Judge Frost's courtroom in the photographs as well as Frank and Bonnie discussing some very important issues. Can't imagine what was so serious!
After our tour, we drove to El Dorado to see the houses that she and the Judge had built and also lived in while they were here. I was amazed at how much the area has grown. We haven't been there for a couple of years and there are houses everywhere now. El Dorado is only about 15 - 20 minutes from downtown Santa Fe, so it's a great place to live with wonderful views if you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of tourists in Santa Fe. It is still close enough to be able to enjoy all the wonderfulness of the City Different.
Bonnie left a little after noon and we decided to go to two of our favorite galleries in Santa Fe, the Meyer and the Manitou. I can never spend enough time in these wonderful places. The Meyer, located on Canyon Road,
http://www.meyergalleries.com/
just had an exhibition of Milt Kobayashi works and they were wonderful. A show of Robert Daughters works opens this Friday and we plan on going.
The Manitou is downtown on Palace Street and has artists that we have followed for years. http://manitougalleries.com/ A visit to Santa Fe is incomplete without visiting both of these wonderful galleries.
We arrived back home just in time to take a little break and then we went to dinner with our friends, Mary Dare and Oren Ellis. We met them nearly 20 years ago in El Paso when we were Ministry Consultants for The Anglican Institute and were traveling with Bishop Michael Marshall. Their former parish, St. Francis on the Hill, was one of our Ministry Centers. They were living in El Paso then where Oren practiced medicine specializing in Orthopedic Surgery. When he retired from practice they decided to make their permanent home in Santa Fe (where they had maintained a condo for years), so they built a wonderful home in the Sangre de Cristo Estates and we have been able to visit with them on a regular basis. We would not have been able to see them as often if they had stayed in El Paso.
We had a lovely evening with them as we always do. They celebrated my birthday early by treating us to dinner at Maria's where we all celebrated together last year for my 70th. They were at the party last year, so we had yet another trip down Memory Lane.
This is all I have to report right now. We have big plans for tomorrow, so I'll wait and report them after the fact. No rest for he wicked!
Pcasso