January 11, 2012 - Snow and Cold

More snow today - the light fluffy, sparkly kind.  If I were fluent in Inuit, I could probably find a word which describes exactly the kind of snow we have...  There was some sort of electrical issue today.   As I was coming home from work, Central Avenue was blocked off and there were several power company trucks parked alongside the road.  Men were working on the lines.  My son said our power was off for awhile. 
I went out to check the greenhouse and discovered the heater was off and the temperature inside was hovering right at 32 degrees.  I could not see any damage to the plants, but I suspect it will show up in a day or so.  I got the heater to kick back on and was pleased to see the overall temperature go up a degree or two, however when I went back out a couple of hours later the temperature was still just above freezing.  The low is predicted to be around 13 degrees tonight, but it looks like it is already below 10 degrees on our back porch.  I need to find a better heater for the greenhouse.  I'm using a Juliana/Pelonis which is supposed to work for small greenhouses like mine, but it does not do the job when it is zero or below.  The seedlings have a heating mat underneath and cover over the top, so I'm not too worried about them, but the other plants are less pampered.  I may take some blankets out and cover them for the night.  The high tomorrow is supposed to be in the mid forties, so things should stabilize for awhile after tonight.

It needs some finishing touches, but it does a super job of keeping the plants going.  This is our learning year.

January 10, 2012 - Nearly Full Moon

The moon looks bigger in the winter.  I don't know if it is the snow, or general atmospheric conditions, or just my imagination, but it always seems to be larger and much, much colder in the winter.  It's beautiful - in a cold and distant way.  I've spent a lot of time trying to capture perfect pictures of the moon, but have not yet succeeded.  I don't seem to have a long enough lens.  But I will keep trying, because even if it is cold and distant, I love the beauty of the moon.

January 9, 2012 - Freedom

Today I said good-bye to the telephone company.  I did not get rid of my phone - or even change my number.  I am taking baby steps into "modern" technology and am purchasing my phone service from my cable company.  With the free long-distance (anywhere in the US and Canada...pretty well covers my circle of family and friends), and reduced rates, it is costing me 1/10 (yes, one tenth) of what I was spending before.  The telephone company just changed names again, and made some mistakes, and acted like they were the only game in town.  They are not.

 

I know losing me as a customer probably means very little to that huge company, but losing my connection to that huge, uncaring company means a tremendous amount to little old me.  

January 8, 2012 - Snow Again

Most people think winter in Colorado and snow naturally go hand in hand, but that is not always the case.  I live in a protected area near the foothills.  The big snow storms usually go around us and dump their gorgeous champagne powder gifts on the higher elevations.  This year is a little different.  We have had now seven significant snows.  The snow brings much needed moisture to this semi-arid climate.  I know some places have enough snow they don't need to keep count.  It's just unusual here. 

 

Oh, if anyone missed that Broncos game...... ahem...... they won!  Tim Tebow pulled it out again...

January 7, 2012 - Resolutions

Most of us make resolutions for the New Year, and most of us, of course, start struggling with them by now - 7 whole days after the beginning of the New Year.  I am no exception.  One of my resolutions was to write in this blog *without fail* every single day (unless I was incapacitated or stuck in a cave somewhere).  Unfortunately I can claim neither calamity, but I have not written every day....   I have, however, given myself permission to catch up... and so I will :)

My other resolutions are much more on track.  I will keep practicing on this one.

January 6, 2012 - 12th Night

This is the traditional day for taking down the Christmas tree and decorations, and returning to the mundane chores of everyday living.  It hardly seems like winter here today.  The temperatures are way above normal right now, however, a cold front is expected to blow through tomorrow and bring some snow.

Before everything is packed away, here are some memories of the ornaments and the tree:

January 5, 2012 - Life is Fragile

We returned to work this week to find that a man who works in our building passed away from a heart attack this past weekend.  It was a shock. He was only a few years older than me, and had planned to retire this summer.  Life is so fragile.  It is important to tell your family that you love them and your friends that they mean much to you.  You never know when the chance to say those things will be taken away.

January 4, 2012 - Blurry Pictures

I belong to a photography site called DPChallenge which offers a wonderful community of photographers from all over the world.  The site administrators issue various challenges each week - and people enter the challenges, vote on other peoples entries and try to win virtual ribbons for the category.  Most of the time it is quite competitive and an interesting learning experience.  There are also "side challenges" where someone offers a theme and people post images relating to the theme and offer comments and suggestions.  The side challenges are much more relaxed, and are usually quite a lot of fun.  This month there is a side challenge running for "blurry pictures".  Although I usually try to avoid blurry pictures, I am having lots of fun with this and discovering that some of my favorite pictures are indeed blurry.  The one above is my buddy, Bear, running like the wind through the tall grass near a creek.

And this one is Chaco running through the snow.  It seems the older I get, the faster time goes by and some days, like these photographs, go by in a blur.

January 3, 2012 - Nearly Empty Nest

My New Mexico kids left for home today.  It's a six-hour drive and, although they are very competent adults, I still worry.  I wonder if those whose children live nearby realize how lucky they are - to be able to see their children often and to look upon their faces.  I have children in 3 states now.  My youngest is at home for awhile, and I am grateful for that, but I do have the two in New Mexico and one far, far away in South Dakota. 

I know that, as a parent, I needed to give them roots and give them wings.  I do o.k. in the "roots" department, but I have  a real problem with the "wings" portion.  They are all building wonderful lives in these far away places, and I am very proud of them, but I miss seeing their faces every day.

January 2, 2012 - 77 Days Until Spring

This past Fall, my husband built a greenhouse for me.  I have wanted a greenhouse for as long as I can remember, and now it is a reality.  He finished hanging the doors on a Monday in early October when some snow flurries were predicted.  We pulled all the potted plants from the yard into greenhouse that evening and the next morning awakened to this:

taken from inside the greenhouse looking out.  It was a little more than flurries.  Since then we have had six five inch or more snowstorms - unusual for this part of Colorado.  It usually snows all around us, but not so much here.  We have had some challenges since.  It got very cold - down to -10 degrees all at once and the heater we are using had difficulty keeping the temperature above freezing.  We lost most, but not all, of the salvia that night.  We are looking for a more effective heater; however, the small Julliana Pelonis we are using does fine as long as the outside temps stay above zero.  We still have petunias blooming, some African Daisies budding and blooming, and the geraniums are going crazy.  My husband has reminded me several times that he had expected some food plants to share the space, so as of this writing I can proudly report that I have lettuce, chard and kale sprouts which emerged today.  I planted two flats of greens and a few onion seeds, using soil cubes and heating mats under the trays.  Maybe, by the end of February, I'll have fresh greenhouse grown veggies for the table.

It is 77 days, 18 hours and 18 minutes until Spring.  I can hardly wait.  I am so looking forward to planting the garden, setting out new flowers, starting some cottage gardens, and the return of "our" hummingbirds and goldfinches.

The following images are from last year's Spring gardens, but I am posting them here to remind myself that the beauty will return.

77 Days.... I can hardly wait....

January 1, 2012 - Beginning Again

I had a blog a few years ago, kept up with it for awhile, and then abandoned it when I got so far behind it was embarrassing to start up again.  Does that sound familiar?

This new blog is an attempt to "take the bull by the horns" and establish a new beginning.

O.k. I know this is a cow, not a bull; however, she does have significant horns..... (Longhorns are actually very docile.  This one seemed to be hoping we were bringing her some hay.)

Some will say that to start anything this year is an exercise in futility.  After all, the Mayan calendar does end this December and some say that will mark the end of time.  I choose not to believe that.  After all, it could be that they just ran out of rock.

My daughter has a tee-shirt that says "Every sunrise brings new hope."   This is what I am choosing to believe.  There will be infinite new sunrises and infinite new hope.  Life will continue and we have within each of us the power to make this year the best year ever.

Happy New Year 2012!