Opening up... it's good for the soul

Since the day we signed a lease to rent this house, I envisioned an open kitchen.

After we bought it, I longed for, prayed for, begged for an open kitchen!!!

All it took was a large beam...

The expertise of our neighbor, friend and contractor, Jim...

And LOTS of load-distributing wooden structure in the attic, before we could hack that kitchen wall into pieces and drag it out of the house.

Before:

The blue line is my best effort and demonstrating the shape I would like the new kitchen island to be.

During:

This is harder than it looks!

After:

Aside from some minor inconveniences - ducts, electrical outlets, old TV antenna wire and our programmable thermostat, the deconstruction was a piece of cake!

The dust and debris that was akin to a bomb going off in the house was not super ideal, but I still maintain it was worth it, just to get this far.

Let the good times roll

It's a love-hate relationship... Home improvement.

I love the anticipation. Watching something grow out of nothing, evolving into what could only be an improvement - given what we are starting with!

I hate the mess and of course the expense. There is nothing like a front living room full of "stored items" from the garage to encourage feelings of chaos and filth.

Ah-hmmm, that is bicycles, the cat's transporter box, a watering can, storm windows and plenty of extra t.p that you see :-(

It was this exact time last year that our back room was remodeled. And as I write, we are embarking on our biggest project yet....

Our 1955 kitchen, complete with aging washing machine behind a green curtain, dysfunctional in every other way, needs much more than a face lift! Someone (a man?), in their infinite wisdom, designed it with no dishwasher, few usable cabinets, lighting that comes from another room and little counter space.

We are redesigning it and it WILL be good!

But before I put the cart before the horse, we needed to work on a couple of pre-kitchen remodel projects.

That washing machine deserved a laundry room... somewhere to hang with the dryer and where its chattering vibrations could be closed off.

Enter Josh and Eric... To the rescue again. :-)

Once the back end of the garage... as if by magic, almost overnight we have a floor joists for the raised floor, framing in place for the laundry room and half bath (new addition, decided on the fly!) waste and other plumbing lines in.

Today was actually Day 3 of the project. We now have an insulated floor and walls in the new laundry room and a fire-stop door from the laundry room into the remaining garage. (Building code has changed since 1955, when things like stopping the spread of fire into the house or insulation in the walls of a house were considered unnecessary luxuries. Don't even get me started on grounding outlets, I KNOW they had appliances and lightning in the 50's!!!)

So far so good! It certainly looks like a room now.
They will be back to help finish the install in a little bit... stay tuned.

Camping at Rainbow Lakes

It was my first camping trip of the season and coincided nicely with the hottest day this year. So nice to be up at altitude, enjoying natures own air conditioning!

We joined our friends Kris and Charles, who got to the campsite a little earlier and did a great job setting up... and cooking the most delicious steak dinner! It's a good life :-)

The next morning, after a hearty breakfast we hiked the Arapahoe Glacier trail - or most of it.

The men went a little further along the trail as Kris and I hung out with our PB&J sandwiches, marmot friend and delicate wild flower carpet. I got to 12,200 feet... my highest ever. :-)

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The hills were alive with the sound of music! Birdsong, cricket chirps and marmot calls.

Mauled by a tiger!

The don't come any cuter than this tiger cub!

While his siblings yowled impatiently, awaiting their turns to be cuddled and photographed, this little one did his best to chew on my hand.

Those teeth certainly know what they are doing... but it was worth it!

This weekend was the last opportunity to handle the cubs. They have now retired from a life of public appearances and can be viewed safely from the other side of a cage. They are maturing rapidly under the close watch of staff and volunteers at Serenity Springs Wildlife Center.

Serenity was missing from my life...

I took the day off!

At 6:30am this morning, Heather and I stepped outside of Boulder.

After a later-than-planned start, a long and somewhat unusual detour off US36 and a stop for gas, we arrived at our destination. And for those of you still convinced that I drive like a grandma... we shaved at least a half hour off the estimated time by Google, even with the detour!

Destination: Serenity Springs Wildlife Center

A safe haven and retirement community for wild cats. Featuring tigers, lions, cougar, bobcat, leopard and so much more. Each animal rescued from a bad or illegal home, show biz or unfortunate circumstance. This non-profit provides great companionship, healthy food and veterinarian care for animals that otherwise have nowhere to go.

This tiger was ready to greet us before the 9am tour... one of many tigers who live here, but significantly more active than most of the others.

Sleeping in on the weekend.

And there were the tiger cubs... happy (and lively) little accidents. I couldn't wait to give one a cuddle!

This lioness was a movie star in a former life... you might recognize her from Second Hand Lions. Unlike actors and actresses of the human variety, big cats are retired fairly young - at least before they have a chance to grow bored or cranky!

As we walked around Serenity Springs, we were joined by the smallest cat resident here. A domesticated house cat with a passion for visitors and a hankering to taunt the larger residents with his black and white tail as we passed each cage.

This mountain lion perked up, big time. That little cat had "snack" written all over him!

A black leopard

last but not least ... some non-cat residents, to mix it up a bit. These are coutimundi. Kinda related to to raccoons.

The Mighty Hunter!

It was a warm day and more of a work-out than both of us had anticipated. Marley (lucky dog) was able to cool off in the streams as we passed by. There were plenty of them and he didn't mind a bit that I changed his name to "Mr Filth".

Once cool enough, it was time to hunt - for a suitable rock companion.

The aim is to use surprise to stun it so it doesn't get away!!! Marley pounces!

Then stops to clear the water from his nose, in the only way he can.

Victory.

This rock is coming home with us... another 1.5 hours riding in Marley's mouth should see us there. And no, I didn't teach him this.

A Walk In The Woods

Marley and I headed out for a couple of hours of hiking. We began at the South Boulder Trail head and headed west toward the Flatirons, aiming for the Mesa Trail which would take us to Chautauqua - in about 6 miles.

Those foothills are further than they look and it took us an hour to get to Mesa Trail.

Most of the trail was uphill and apparently I am not in the shape I thought I was!

We were never to going to make it to Chautauqua this afternoon, on time for my next client appointment.

Luckily for us, Osman was on-call for a pick-up and an hour later we pushed our sweaty and exhausted selves up the last hill to NCAR (the National Center for Atmospheric Research)and to the waiting 4-runner.

I may not be in the best shape, but was definitely not expecting to be sore for 3 days after this moderate 2.5 hour hike.

It's hard to say if my butt or ego was hurting more in the following days... Actually, it was definitely my butt!

These are a few of my favorite things...

Just like whiskers on kittens and brown paper packages tied up with string, I love shoes, sunshine and outdoor adventures with friends.

It was almost 60 degrees today. The ground, still thick with snow from Fridays vicious storm, sparkled and crunched as we exited the car at Bear Lake. Just perfect for my very first snow-shoeing experience!



Osman and I joined our friends Kris and Charles for a three and a half hour jaunt through the forest, up a moderately steep trail, across frozen Nymph and Dream Lakes to the heights of Emerald Lake.



The view at the top (and most of the way up) was gorgeous!



Under a bright blue sky, we paused for lunch. Sheltered by the rising peaks and well planned layers, from the sharp wind and blowing snow. Rewarded with dark chocolate almonds, PB and J sandwiches and a flask of hot chai.





Then a quick stop to commune with wildlife... Birds that not only seem unconcerned by our proximity, but that take advantage of our good nature by greedily demanding food!




Does life get any better?

Junagarh Fort

Junagarh Fort was actually quite impressive on the outside. But what was more impressive, was the inside. What a place to live this must have been! Beautifully laid out, luxurious in every way and with views of the grounds and city that were certainly more than enviable.

Every wall was hand painted with flowers, windows and doors had ornate screens, and stained glass and Chinese art abounded. But it was the murals of the life of the Maharaja that really got me. Stunning!

The Fort was dotted with friendly older Indian men who spoke some broken English. According to a notice I read, they were considered “Servants of the Fort” - free guides. Nice touch. Completely unexpected considering the handful of other city forts I now had under my belt, which made you pay for a guide upfront or spend 20 minutes trying to get rid of one that had adopted you and would later demand payment.

On two occasions one of these guides would open up locked areas of the fort, rooms not open to the public, and gesture us inside. At first we wondered why we couldn’t be seen going in or out - one made us wait inside, silently, until some other tourists passed before he would let us out!. All the while being told to take pictures of this and that, not to miss certain details or explanations of the hand-painted murals.

The Servants of the Fort reminded me of the older men working at McGuckins, (A reference to a Boulder hardware store that specializes in service). I loved to see how proud they were of their city treasure, their knowledge and their history.

Once back outside, the day had heated up and it was time for chai and a snack. Nothing like a high end restaurant, filled with a bus load of aging white tourists to break the monotony of Indian culture!!! We enjoyed it for what it was, anyway.