Seeing "The Rocks" from a Whole New Perspective

One weekend in September an arts and crafts festival is held at the Rockledge Ranch near the Garden of the Gods. Artists and crafters from around the country converge for a three day sell-a-thon of fabulous goods for everyone, especially the early holiday shoppers. It is held on the grounds of the ranch with large tents and various activities that are related to this historic site. The blacksmith has demonstrations throughout the day. And the most popular vendor is the one selling kettle corn.

There were activites for the kids like face painting and lots of fair food to keep the masses nourished throughout the marathon shopping day.

And with the backdrop of the red rock outcroppings from the park, it was a beautiful day to be a tourist in my own backyard.

Follow your dreams!

Blog Hiatus or What you can do when your computer is broken.

Hi all: it has been a long time since I was able to sit down to a working computer and have the time to update my blog.

While I have been on hiatus, caused by the motherboard in my 10-year old computer finally beaming back to the mothership, I have done some fun stuff.

This little guy to your left posed so nicely for me while he was eating a seed at Crystal Reservoir on the drive up Pikes Peak. Fall is coming quickly here to the high country and everyone is getting ready. Our high country trip was planned around a visit from an East Coast sister. We took her to see the sights around Colorado before returning her to the Denver airport for her trip home.

Here is Dad and Mary enjoying the thin air on the top of Pikes Peak. We lucked into a beautiful day and the temp at the top was pleasant 48-degrees, quite a treat after continual days of 90+.

The scenic route to the Denver airport consisted of a visit to the historic mining town of Leadville; Camp Hale, the site of the 10th Mountain Division's winter training; a side trip through the popular ski area of Summit County and a fabulous dinner at Tommynocker's Brewery in Idaho Springs. And for the third weekend in August, we saw quite a few trees with the beginnings of fall colors. After that trek you know summer is on it's way to an end with the 30th Annual Balloon Festival in Colorado Springs on Labor Day weekend. This year there were 90+ balloons in attendance and the best weather anyone had seen. Lots of fun colors and shapes like: Marvin the Martian, one that looked like the dragon from Mulan, a farm scene, an inverted pyramid, the owl and the pussycat, and a patchwork quilt. And at some point, the sky was full of them.

















Besides summer fun and travel, I have been keeping up with the triumphs and tribulations of my favorite fellow bloggers. and I have a few observations.





Of Crazy Aunt Purl, all I can say is: You go, girl! She found a new dining room set on the affordable side, uncovered wood flooring that is gorgeous and has accomplished all of this in a scant month or so after her declaration to make her "house a home." I am so inspired by her fortitude and stick-to-it-itiveness.

Of the Yarn Harlot, her latest fleece washing endeavor is quite amusing. The squirrel repellent device looks like it worked. The squirrel looked perplexed as he viewed the coveted fleece, yet could not find a way to get to it.

Of Wendy Knits, she is the queen of the summer sock challenge. And I am certain it is because of Lucy's unfailing assistance.

Of What Housework? Milo is my new super hero. (don't breathe a word of that to my own Pirate Prince, Pedro). Milo gives barn cats something to aspire to. The flowerpot incident is too funny for words.

Of the Loopy Ewe, Sheri is amazing. All the energy she has goes into unpacking all the goodies for the store, keeping up with the kids, cooking yummy things and being up-to-date with the most important events, like the return of Pumpkin Spice Lattes to Starbucks.

And during the no computer at home down time I have been knitting -- a lot. I have several Christmas gifts ready for felting and at least two more to knit. No, I will not tell you what they are, it will spoil the recipients' surprise. I hope to have all the gift items finished by September 20th so I can work on a couple items for myself. I like to have the holiday things finished early so I can enjoy the approach of the fun days.

I am hoping that my home computer is back, up and running a couple weeks so I can be more active with my blog.

Enjoy what is left of the fabulous weather.