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Life in Colorado

May - September 2024
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  • Life in Colorado

    Jumbo the Egg Got the News!

    July 20 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F

    … the egg came first. Not the chicken.

    Here at over 7,000 feet we are lucky in that even when it is really hot during the day, we have comfortable mornings and evenings.

    We took advantage of a nice morning for a neighborhood stroll that took us to a nearby fountain. Not only did we get to visit with Jumbo, we saw a rainbow in the water jet.Read more

  • Life in Colorado
    2

    Littleton: Lavender Festival

    July 21 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    A few weeks ago we came across an article promoting a lavender festival … to be held at Chatfield Farms, which is part of the Denver Botanic Gardens … in Littleton, which is about an hour’s drive north of us.

    Tickets had to be purchased in advance … online only. Knowing that rain storms tend to come through in the afternoon, we purchased tickets for the 10:00a time slot for today … the earlier slots were already sold out.

    Chatfield Farms is “… a historical ranch, working farm, and an important habitat for wildlife.” So said the signage near the booth where our tickets were scanned for entry. Once inside, we meandered, using the paths running through the property, and around the lavender fields.

    Apparently, French and Spanish lavender aren’t cold-hardy enough to withstand the Colorado climate. English lavender and lavandin, on the other hand, thrive here. And that is what is planted at Chatfield Farms.

    Near the lavender fields we found the “Butterflies at Chatfield.” The young woman who gave us the entry and exit rules also told us that there are some 200 butterflies … 15 species. The butterflies were flitting about as they are wont to do, but there were plenty of photo ops when they landed on the colorful flowers in the enclosed garden. By my count, we saw 12 of the 15 species … not bad.

    Next, we headed over to the working farm where they cultivate greens and root vegetables — such as lettuce, scallions, beets, radishes, and more. This section is on the lands of the former Hildebrand Ranch, which dates back to 1860. But even well before there was a ranch here, the land was used by Native inhabitants. The Ute, Cheyenne, and Arapaho hunted, gathered, and camped on these grounds for thousands of years.

    The ranch house today serves as a museum of sorts. It was open to visitors, so we wandered in for a quick look-see before wrapping up our visit.

    I must admit that I was a bit disappointed. Most of the 2,000 or so lavender plants seemed like they were in the early stages of bloom. I was expecting that the festival would be timed to coincide with peak blooming.

    Disappointment in the lavender plants notwithstanding, we had a fun outing … on a sunny day that wasn’t too terribly hot … at least for this time of the year.    Read more

  • Life in Colorado

    Monument: National Ice Cream Day

    July 21 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    How could we not honor National 🍦 Day?

    With the afternoon rain storms holding off, on our way back from Littleton, we detoured to Monument … a little over 6 miles from home.

    First, a late lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant — Casa La Fiesta.

    Then, down the street to our favorite creamery “that’s full of dreamery” — Lolley’s — for ice cream that is scrumpdillylolleylicious! Hey, I’m just repeating what the sign says!

    Methinks we won’t be eating dinner tonight 😊 😉

    And yes, we not only beat the rain home, but managed to get in a quick bit of exercise before the downpour to walk off some of the lunch and desert calories.    Read more

  • Life in Colorado

    Closer Than Ever

    July 27 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 57 °F

    Normally the hot air balloons launch from a place much farther away and float towards us.

    This morning, they launched from a neighborhood nearby … in perfect conditions following several hazy days filled with smoke from the wildfires in Canada and California.Read more

  • Life in Colorado

    Mui's Been Busy (2 … with recipe)

    July 29 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 93 °F

    Mui loves his sweet treats. If they have pistachios in them ... well, so much the better since, in his mind, pistachios fall into the "fresh greens" category 🤭

    So, when he found a recipe for Siirt Kurabiyesi (Siirt Cookies), he just had to take it for a bake & taste drive.

    What did he think of the cookies? "They taste like Turkish baklava," he said.

    Siirt, by the way, is a province in southeastern Türkiye ... a region that is well-known and celebrated for its pistachio production. It is also home to the world's third largest pistachio processing plant.

    While we have visited other provinces in the region, Siirt is not one of them ... not yet at least.

    🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪

    RECIPE

    Siirt Pistachio Cookies

    125 g unsalted butter (room temperature)
    110 g sugar
    1 egg yolk
    100 g finely crushed pistachios
    80 g of flour
    1 teaspoon baking powder
    1 TBSP vanilla extract (or to taste)
    Whole or half pistachios for garnish

    Preheat oven to 350F

    Whisk the butter and sugar for a few minutes. Add the egg yolk and continue to mix. Add the remaining ingredients (except the flour) and mix (a rubber spatula works fine). Slowly add the flour as you continue to mix. The resulting dough is at the appropriate texture if it isn’t sticking to your hands. If necessary add more flour in small amounts until the texture is right. Use a small ice cream scoop to portion out the dough onto the baking sheet. Garnish with pistachios. Bake until the cookies take on color …. required time to bake will depend on size of the cookies … approx. 12 minutes.

    Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let stand until the cookies have cooled. You can then remove the cookies from the baking sheet to a rack to completely cool.    Read more

  • Life in Colorado

    America’s Mountain

    July 30 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    A Mountain of Many Names!

    The Utes knew it as Tava-KaavÌ (Sun Mountain) … the Pawnee knew it as Tûs Pêh (Where the Heavens Touch the Earth) … the Jicarilla Apache knew it as Ya ta ye’ It si’ (Mountain Touching Heaven) … the Arapaho knew it as Heey-otoyoo (The Long Mountain).

    When they came through the area in the late 1700s, Spaniards called the mountain El Capitán. When he spotted it in 1806, Zebulon Pike called it the Grand Peak. In 1820, the mountain was renamed James Peak … in honor of botanist Dr Edwin James … to whom the first ascent of the mountain is attributed.

    Today, we know this mountain of many names as Pikes Peak … named as such during the 1850s to honor Zebulon Pike. Pike never ascended the mountain that bears his name. He merely saw it from the top of another mountain — thought to be Mt Rosa … some 100 miles away. In fact, when he first spotted the mountain, he thought it was “a small blue cloud.” It was only when he got “closer” that he appreciated the mountain for the giant that it is.

    Pikes Peak is number 30 of Colorado’s 53 “fourteeners” … mountains that are in the 14,000-foot plus range. Part of the 300-mile long Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, it has another moniker by which it is known — America’s Mountain … an inspiration for USA’s unofficial national anthem, “America the Beautiful.

    Today was our third time visiting Pikes Peak … but the first time since the new visitor center opened in 2021. Unlike back in the day when visitors had to hike up, ride burros or horse-drawn carriages, we drove the 19-mile road that was constructed in 1915 … a toll road that requires an advance reservation to secure parking at the top. We opted for the 8-10a window. Early, but a good choice. By the time we left around noon, the summit was hopping!

    Another time — perhaps next winter — we’ll ride the cog railway (built in 1891) for a different perspective of the scenery. But today, we simply enjoyed the stops along the road that were familiar to us … but amazing, nonetheless.

    We knew it would be cold when we reached the summit. No worries. We were there to escape the heat … forecasted to reach into the 90F range in the city. Besides, as Colorado residents, we always carry winter gear in the trunk of our car. The parkas came in handy as we were at the top well before today’s Pikes Peak high temp of 48F was reached … + windchill … only slightly mitigated by the sun shining bright in the cloudless blue sky.

    The summit of Pikes Peak is at 14,115 feet. At that elevation, there’s only 60% of the oxygen that is available at sea level. Since we live at a little over 7,000 feet, we’re used to operating with less oxygen … maybe 75-80%. Nonetheless, the difference in oxygen level at the summit immediately made itself noticeable. The solution? Take it slow and easy.

    We had a quick breakfast … packed from home; wandered around the visitor center terraces and interpretive boardwalk; checked out the amazing views from the different vantage points; enjoyed a close encounter with a yellow-bellied marmot; watched the cog rail arrive and depart … packed to the gills in both directions; and explored the exhibits at the small but interesting museum.

    Oh, and of course, we treated ourselves to “Donuts in the Sky.” These donuts are said to be scientifically crafted. Technically, that means that a special recipe is used. After all, at 14,115 feet, the air is thinner and the water has a lower boiling point … some adjustments are bound to be needed. Fluffiest, tastiest cake donuts that we’ve had anywhere … we opted for the cinnamon sugar variety.

    An excellent visit to America’s Mountain … and our local fourteeener.

    [More photos from today at this link … https://eenusa.smugmug.com/North-America-US-Can….]

    [Photos from June 2015 … with snow on the ground … https://eenusa.smugmug.com/WeGoA-Rollin/Fulltim….]

    [Footprint from the December 2019 family visit to the summit … with even more snow on the ground … https://findpenguins.com/8pccjefaitoru/footprin….]    Read more

  • Life in Colorado
    3

    Denver: DAM … Martin Building

    August 5 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 93 °F

    And still we have more to see!

    When we visited the Denver Art Museum [DAM] in June, we only managed to wander through the Hamilton Building … one of the two premises of the museum … located in Denver’s Golden Triangle.

    Going back today, we figured we could go through the Martin Building from top to bottom and see everything we missed the first time around. Hah! We only got through floors seven through four … and that only because we gave a fairly cursory look-see around floors four and five.

    True, we arrived about 30 minutes after the museum opened at 10:00a … stopped to shop at the Middle Eastern supermarket on our way to the DAM.

    True, we took time to have lunch at The Ponti with our friends, Sonia & Boris … great to see them again since our last get together in June.

    True, we left well before the museum closed for the day … we wanted to get home before the forecasted rain storm totally muddled up the traffic.

    Even if we hadn’t done all that, however, I don’t think we’d have been able to get through all the exhibits before our feet gave out. There’s just so much to see at the museum.

    We’ll just have to plan a third trip back to the DAM. But it’s doubtful we’ll manage to squeeze it in before we head to Europe in September for our fall/winter trip. Oh well … something to look forward to in the new year!

    By the by … we did beat the storm. The impending rainstorm had already obscured the mountains and the foothills by the time we got to Colorado Springs. But the heavy winds and buckets of rain held off until we were nice and cozy at home.

    [I took some 200 photos today at the DAM. Difficult to select just 10% of them to share in this footprint. If you want to see more images from today, you’ll find my online gallery at this link … https://eenusa.smugmug.com/North-America-US-Can….]    Read more

  • Life in Colorado

    Doesn’t Feel Like August

    August 9 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

    But we are not complaining.

    Only 57F at 6:45a … with a forecasted high of 69F today.

  • Life in Colorado

    A Good Time Had By All

    August 16 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 88 °F

    Tonight we hosted the Sercels for dinner at our place.

    We met Pat & Jon on the 2022 world voyage … when we joined Oceania’s Insignia for its European crossing segment from Miami to Athens.

    We were supposed to have been on this voyage, setting off from Los Angeles when the ship began the 180-day adventure. But concerns over how the lingering effects of COVID-19 might impact the itinerary had caused us to move our booking to 2023.

    The original itinerary for 2022 was indeed turned on its head because not all of the ports were yet sure they wanted to accept cruise ships. When the revised itinerary called for a spring crossing to Europe instead, we decided to hop on Insignia when it reached Miami to get ourselves to Europe for an early family visit.

    We were having breakfast at the Terrace Café on the first day at sea. Mui was wearing a ball cap with “Colorado Springs” emblazoned across the front. On his way to his own table, Jon noticed the hat and approached to introduce himself to a couple of fellow-Springers. And the rest, as they say, is history.

    With that backstory, moving on to today.

    The weather cooperated with comfy temps, no wet stuff from the daily monsoonal rains, and a lessening of the wind that had made it impossible to place the tablecloth on the deck table earlier in the day. Appetizers and drinks al fresco … with the bonus of good conversation. Perfect. Mui’s hummus and the Brie on crackers were a success!

    We moved indoors to the dining room for dinner. On the menu tonight … piyaz (Turkish bean salad); zeytinyağlı enginar (stuffed artichokes cooked in olive oil); grilled lamb kabobs and shish köfte (meat pattie) … with a side of rice.

    As for dessert — continuing the kabob theme, Mui prepared fruit skewers. But of course, he couldn’t be satisfied with that alone, so he also served orange and chocolate possets … garnished with raspberries.

    If the conversation, laughter, and length of time we sat at the table is any indication, a good time was had by all tonight.

    Here’s to repeating the experience again … when we happen to all be in Colorado Springs and not traveling somewhere around the world 😄    Read more

  • Life in Colorado

    In the Aftermath …

    August 18 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 79 °F

    We didn’t get much rain when the afternoon monsoonal front came through. At least not in our immediate vicinity.

    We did, however, get rewarded with a bit of color. Not a rainbow as we know it. More like a shimmering curtain of color.Read more

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