THOUGHT I WAS DONE....

Glorious SNOW came in and over 14 inches! It was cold, below zero cold and as 2020 would have it, our furnace was not working! We spent 36 under quilts with winter jackets on until the heating guy could get to us. Warm now!

I thought I was done 'putting up food' for winter but then this beautiful Hubbard pumpkin was on my counter. Hubbard pumpkins are BIG and make the best pumpkin pies, bar none! 

This smoke cloud was over the city for several days before the snow began to fall on Saturday night! 

So much destruction! 

Fall here in Northern Colorado has been a real trial. Few days spent out on trail walks, (or any walks), fall colors not seen, no Indian summer days experience, no savoring the last days before winter hibernation. 

Again, 2020, I am looking forward to seeing you in the rear view mirror!

FIRE WEEK

above picture was taken over a week ago, last semi-smoke  free day for the next eight days.

Wednesday, Oct.15th. Cameron Peak fire exploded and moved quickly burning through 15 miles in a day. We had winds sustained in the mid-thirties and gusts 70+ MPH. 

Days like Wednesday are filled with anxiety. Friends up in Foothills that own homes, will those homes be there when this is all over? Nothing to do but wait and try to keep busy. I made beef bone broth, the broth I simmered for about 36 hours and then pressured canned my golden broth. It has been years since I have bought any bone broth, homemade is so much better with a real deep earthy taste. Also, it's a great way to use up dead end veggies. (that I throw in the freezer), and all the bones from meat we eat. Use it up or do without! 

Kids are playing in their new Halloween outfits! Since we will not be trick-or-treating this year, thought it would be fun to start a little celebration early this year. 

OUT and ABOUT

eagle spotted by river

helicopter flying in to fill up with water to drop on fire

 helicopter flying to fire with bucket of water

We went out for a little hike on Saturday and had I realized how smokey it was, we would have stayed home.  But, the kids really wanted to go and so we did. We hiked about 2 miles or more and the kids did great, very few people on the trail which was a welcome situation. On the way back the helicopters were coming in one after another to fill their buckets with water, then fly back up to the fire to drop their load. 

This was an extra treat for  us all of to watch, they have about 4-5 helicopters flying all day everyday and over 900 fire fighters working up on the Cameron Peak Fire. To complicate things, the Mullen fire that started in the Medicine Bow Range has crossed into Colorado, ( burned over 120K+ acres). Beginning to wonder if these two fires are going to run into each other, not sure if that is good or bad.

HELLO EARLY FALL

The weather is changing over to FALL, and a very welcome site! 

Nights are cool and the day temps this week will climb to high 80's but then a steady decrease in temps. This is very helpful for the Cameron Peak Fire, steady decrease in temps. Still little containment on the fire but so much work has been done in the past week. Thank you fire fighters for all your work! 

Knitting: not much done in the last week, quilting has taken center stage.

I have several quilts that are close to being done and really need to focus my attention on these quilts and get them completed. I set up my big quilting frame and loaded the Amish Quilt on, this quilt has been in the hand quilting stage for years and only the borders are left. I had forgotten how much easier it is to hand quilt on this frame. Nothing to gather, its all right there, ready to sit down to for a few stitches or an hour of stitching. This quilt will be finished by Christmas this year, (I hope). 

I have started the BOM quilt designed by DiFord, Sutton Grange, who sadly passed away late spring of 2020.

The fabrics sing to my heart,  a mix of appliqué and machine piecing with an overload of color and prints. A year long BOM quilt, perfect for COVID isolation going into the fall and continuing through 2021. 

Not a book read or started the past week, but plenty of books stacking up on my table to be read. 

The weekend was a mixture of calmness, quilting, and movie watching. 

 

Saying goodbye to late Summer and hello to early Fall.

EARTH, WIND and FIRE

Hmmm.....my fire  and ash snowing pictures will not load to blogger, hmmm.

Labor Day Weekend here on the Front Range was long, hot, smoke fill, ash snowing, sun blocked out dark and well---just very concerning. Monday morning opening the drapes, the outside looked apocalyptic, not a bird in the sky and nor a chirp could be heard, so quiet and orangie dark! With city lights on all through the day and temps in town hung out at 60 degrees, while all around us it was 93 degrees. This is what being under a smoke plume from a major forrest fire is like. Friday night, the fire started expanding but still not out of control, with the hot, dry , windy conditions by Monday morning the fire exploded and took a ten mile run on all three sides, roaring down the canyon (east), bursting into Rocky Mountain National Park (south), and threatening the Red Feathers area (north). Alerts were beeping every 5-30 minutes to evacuate these area "now" and the Voluntary Evacuation lines being widely extended. A cold front was pushing in with winds 50 miles/hour pushing this fire, which has so much beetle kill timber for fuel to burn. By midnight the temps were really dropping and it started to rain lightly thru the night, around 5 am snow was falling.....thank you Jesus! It snowed on and off all day and will continue til late morning Wednesday, with temps staying cold, 29Deg tonight. This is much needed time for the fire fighters to regroup, bring in more resources and get lines around this monster and go on the offense. { rest assured, Fort Collins is in NO danger}, this fire is in the high country/foot hills, however their are several thousand homes in these areas that are being threaten, 100+K acres is approx. 102 sq. miles that has burned. Thankfully no life has been lost.  This week the temps will slowly climb into the high 80's, with drying conditions. Praying for fire containment and early snows to come into the Northern Front Range.

Sunday, I did manage to finish 2 dresses for the kids but no knitting done this past week. After Monday and the apocalyptic atmosphere,  by Tuesday I was exhausted. Soup was made and that was it!

Oh 2020 I am ready to see you in the rear view mirror.

Linking up with Kat and Unraveled Wednesday

LABOR DAY WEEKEND

Out and about.

Bird Bingo

Love a little boy who can put on his own pants! Inside out and backwards!

Smoke  from Cameron Fire, Estes Park, Rocky Mountain National Park.

Thanks Julie for photo, My Sister Knits.

Sunrise Sunday

Smoke cloud over house

Our weekend was full, with the littles for a sleep over on Friday. This is the kids favorite day and they know what Friday means...."Sleep Over at Mimi's house". We eat dinner, (and a not very healthy one at that), then it's bath time, popcorn (their favorite), a movie and the grand finale; "sleep over".  Pretty simple stuff makes a 2 and 4 year old happy. Saturday, out for a walk, (before the smoke moves in), and Gus mastered the balance bike. Bird Bingo was a BIG hit as well.

By Saturday afternoon the smoke from the Cameron Fire was covering Northern Colorado. Window closed and the air turned on, it was also 100 degrees outside. Yes, I am soo over these high temps and the smoke clouds covering us are also dropping lots of ashes. I have had a sinus headache all weekend. But, the BEST news, SNOW! Yes, I will be like a little kid this afternoon with my nose glued to the window waiting for a 60 degree temperature drop, and the.....glorious snow! Oh, how we need this, 1) it will help the fire that now has crossed into Rocky Mountain National Park on the NW side and has moved further down the canyon, 2) we need a break in these ridiculous high temps. Besides isolating from people with COVID, lately I feel like a mole hiding in my basement from heat and smoke! Tuesday morning I will be outside with woolens and boots on, looking up and being grateful for cold-wet snow! 

While holding up in the basement on Sunday, I started this twilling dress for Betty. Today the buttons will go on, after I watch a You Tube tutorial on using Bernia button system. Buttons are my nightmare in the garment making adventure, I just cannot seem to master this much needed technique. Any help would be appreciated. 

 

THIS and THAT

yes it has been awhile since my last post.....

...... i was a victim of the dreaded upper respiratory infection

.... .i am still coughing but other wise fully recovered

.......  the girls [ sisters ] came together for a long weekend

..... my sister mary margaret got me spinning again

forgot how relaxing it is to spin kinda like getting into the zen.

...... weather has been warm one day - then snow the next

...... and a fire west of town in the foothills

way too early in the season for fires ;(

.... been knitting a lot

.... machine quilting - even bought a new quilting foot for my bernina.

so you can understand why i have been absent from blogging.

not really much going on

so i have little to say.

i'm sure i will get my thoughts and voice organized in the near future

and be back posting regularly.

oh and it is time to start thinking about the

garden.

THIS, THAT and ANOTHER

look what i made....

a book about the high park fire.

i take lots of pictures but always end up just keeping them on my computer.

sure several make it to the blog but for every picture on the blog i must have ten that are not seen ever by any one but me.

so i decided to make a book. 

lori times five was my inspiration.

lori is a fantastic knitter and she and her husband are photographers. 

go on over and visit her, you will not be disappointed.

 i have finished knitting a baby sweater for a dear friend.

the knitting went by fast, fast as in less than a week.

now i hope to have it sewn together in less than a week.

doing finishing work is my least favorite part!

i love to do mindless knitting but not finishing work.

wish me luck and pray that all the procrastination spirits leave me alone!

what am i thinking, buying more plants to to throw into the ground.

gulley's is having a great sale and at a dollar a plant ...

well i just couldn't leave without buying a cart load.

 always seems like a good idea when in the store.

now i have to plant them all.

my thinking here is : if i'm going to water i may as well fill the beds full of eatable plants.

so more tomatoes, peppers, herbs,sunflowers and marigolds.

sure hope all this heat goes away by the time i have to be "putting up" all these goods.

gotta go now and get my hands in the dirt.

MONDAY MONDAY

weekends always seem to fly by way to quickly.

i just want to cry on sunday evening " no it can't be over yet, i still have things to get done".

but i have never known time to slow down yet for me . 

i did however get some time on the back porch, { early in the morning  before the temperature rose to 101degrees}, to do a little knitting. i am making this scarf using Madeline Tosh lace "prairie" yarn. 

it was lovely on the porch, with a hot cup of coffee and cool air all around me.

but by evening this is what the sky looked like from the porch.

the high park fire just exploded again.

what with the heat and all, i'm amazed that the fireman can work in these horrid conditions.

they certainly are the heroes in this community.

i wish they would put their pictures on tv one at a time so people know

what REAL heroes look like.

this is what the house looked like at about 8pm last night.

the sky is throwing up some amazing color with all the smoke clouds moving across the big blue.

how was your weekend?

finish any projects?

GARDEN HAPPENING

Oh my stars has it been hot this week and DRY.

I have had to water everyday after work!

By the time I get home after work everything and I mean everything is limp and knocking on deaths door.

I have never had to water this much. I think the fire up here is causing the air to be dryer than normal plus all the ash is playing havoc on these plants. The plants in the pots are doing a little better which has been a surprise for me.

We have been enjoying lettuce and it is soo good and sweet all by itself, no need for topping such as carrots, tomatoes, nuts, etc.

If I can keep my 10 tomato plants alive through the summer I will be rolling in tomato heaven.

One of this life's pleasure for me is to eat home grown tomatoes.

They are so sweet and juicy, nothing like any tomato bought in the store. I almost refuse to buy tomatoes from any store even the so called "vine ripe" tomatoes.

The only thing fairing well in the garden is  my welded Lady Bug. Is she not cute:)

What's in your garden?