Christmas in Kansas, Part One

Our drive to and from Lawrence was full of both the expected as well as the unexpected. A few things we expected:

Kevin and Jeff geeking out in the back seat:


A bit of prairie here and there:


Oz:


And a bit of the unexpected:

An unfortunate typo:


We tried to go and see the six legged steer,


and figured that if the six legged steer wasn't around, we'd be fine seeing the world's largest prairie dog,


but we only got as far as the fence around Prairie Dog Town. Apparently they aren't open for business this time of year.



More later.

Kitties in Boxes

Stinker and Izzy are making the most of the holiday season and enjoying the extra boxes we've got strewn about the house.




We're looking forward to the arrival of Jeff and Sarah, our first overnight guests, on Saturday night, and then it's off to Kansas on Sunday! Hoorah!

Just when you thought you were rid of us

Goodness we've been busy since our trip to Maine. Seems that most of our time has been spent crafting prezzies for Christmas, so for obvious reasons we won't be posting photos related to that activity. Kevin has also been working tirelessly on his new site design for work, and it looks brilliant.

We did get a bit of snow over the course of the past few days.


Nice, eh? This is about a mile up the road past our house. It's not like we've never seen snow before, but it was just so pretty we couldn't resist taking a few photos.


The trees were all covered in several inches of the lightest, fluffiest little snowflakes. The snow was so light, even wispy plants like this seemed unburdened by the weight.


This super hot guy shoveled off the front steps and made a pathway to the laundry room. I've been doing a snow dance all day in hopes of seeing him in action again soon.


Stinker and Izzy have been doing their best to stay busy. Stinker's favorite new haunt is this brown paper bag. He likes to sit in the bag. He likes to sit on the bag.


Not sure what they talk about when we're not around, but it probably has something to do with chicken. I picked the yarn in the background up at the Handweaver's Guild of Boulder annual sale a week ago. Handspun and dyed by a guild member. At some point I hope to turn it into a neck warming device, but I have no idea when I'll be able to fit that into the schedule.


Sarah and Jeff should be swinging into town in about two weeks, and then we're all off to Lawrence, Kansas for Christmas. We can't wait!

Birds, Bees and and bit of Screech

Well this past week had a bit of everything.

Friends (baby due in January 19th!!)


A birthday (yes, the head wear says 'Party Girl' - the present opening was followed shortly after by a round of mimosas...or two)


Some turkey


A new addition to the family (not the guy on the right - he's been around for a while)


A bit of cheer (note the lobster stirry item on the left - Go Maine!)


The most stupendous turn at darts ever witnessed (M+M 2, Melvin 2 - the tie breaker to be played at a time and location to be announced)


A bit of family beekeeping


But not enough family time

Home Sweet Home

Try as we might, we couldn't avoid the paparazzi. Here they are greeting us at the Portland International Jetport on Sunday afternoon as we tried to sneak home for a quick visit. Where's Leslinka when you need her. That gal can spot the photogs from a mile away.

Bye, Bye Farm

Had my last day at the farm just over a week ago. Contrary to what we were expecting, it was a fairly mellow day - we were even finished before sundown. Perhaps not surprisingly, four months of farm work afforded me plenty of time to ponder my priorities. What I found most revealing is that even my longest 14+ hour days at the farm felt shorter than pretty much any 8ish hour work day I've had in the recent past, even at a fraction of my former paycheck. I have this realization, along with love and encouragement from Kevin, to thank for the fact that I now find myself a week into a new job that I'm loving. I'm working for great people. I'm biking to and from work, about 5 1/2 miles each way. I get to spend time talking and reading and learning about my craft. I'm finally relaxed and happy. Funny how things work out.

I leave you with my favorite view from the upper field.

Planting the Garlic and Shallots

Our Garden Plot began to take shape today. We planted three, four foot rows of garlic and three, three foot rows of shallots.


The wish list of what we'd like to plant come next year is a bit larger than the garden can hold, but so far looks something like this:

Garlic - check
Shallots - check
Spinach
Lettuce
Cucumbers - probably little leaf and lemon
Heirloom tomatoes - various
Cherry tomatoes
Green beans of some sort
Yellow and green zucchini
Scallions
Red torpedo onions
Leeks
Beets - red and golden
Fingerling potatoes
Carrots
Genovese basil
Corn
Sunflowers
Hakurai turnips
Sunchokes
Sorrel
Dill
Rosemary
Mustard
Parsley
Chives - check
Oregano - check
Thyme - maybe check

We plan to install a drip irrigation system in the spring to minimize our use of water. Our soil seems to have a bit of clay as it holds water well considering how little water falls around here.

What Happened to Halloween?

Did someone cancel Halloween? I mean seriously, we live in a big neighborhood, blocks from an elementary school, and we had not one trick-or-treater wander down our street. This, of course, means lots of leftovers for us, but it was a bit of a downer. At least the weather was nice (and the company even nicer).

The night started out well enough, though perhaps not from the pumpkin's point of view.


But soon our jack-o-lantern began to take shape.


We headed out to our front stoop to set up camp, bucket full of candy, mugs full of hot chai. Kevin did an excellent impersonation of the jack-o-lantern.


I spent a bit of time explaining the whole caterpillar to butterfly thing to the jack-o-lantern, who was still lamenting the loss of his innards, and soon we were fast friends. I decided that it was best not to mention that we roasted his brains and sprinkled them with a bit of salt for a tasty treat.

A Room with a View

Not much to report, so I thought I'd share the view from our shower. Yes, our shower. We have a nice little window overlooking the Flatirons. And how high is the sill, you might ask? Well you'll just have to visit to find out.

First race in VeloNews colors

Well, this weekend was the second race in the Boulder series, and the first one with my new VeloNews kit. It was as good of a day as any to jump in with the big boys in the elite race. With about six hours a week of training it probably wasn't the smartest idea. Go hard or go home, right? It wasn't exactly a breakthrough race, but I didn't come in last!


The course was one of the best I've ever ridden. There was an awesome mix of pavement, mucky grass, creek-crossing run ups, dry run ups, sand... you name it, they had it. The best part was that I had my own personal cheerleader running around the course shouting things like: "You're the hottest thing on two wheels!" Can't ask for much more than that.


My days of being a bike racer may be over, but it's still fun to get out there and suffer. The Boulder race scene is a perfect place to enjoy the sport. There were over 500 racers out there taking a beating and getting dirty on a Saturday. There were lots of cowbells and heckling fans cheering me around the last lap. I coasted across the line into the arms of my number one fan and just smiled. It was a good day.

Sunrise at the Office - View East, Naturally

Not a bad sight to behold at the start of the work day. Of course what you don't see here are the seven layers of clothing I'm wearing to keep warm. Yes, it's a bit chilly at the farm these days, but by mid-morning the temps will work their way up to the high 70s, low 80s, and the layers will have been gradually retired, aside, of course, from the socially acceptable layers.

Once the sun is up, the view from the west is also lovely. The mountains look quite impressive now that they're dusted with a bit of snow. This view reminds me of the view of Mt. Washington and the Presidential Range I had from my bedroom while growing up in the western foothills of Maine, though I wasn't quite this close to the mountains and the open space was a lake, not a field.


Slightly off subject. I like lakes, and somehow this reminds me of a ditch just down the road from the house I grew up in, that my brother and I found fascinating for reasons I'm sure any six or eight year old could easily explain. We loved the idea of wading barefoot in the water that would collect there, but didn't like the fact that the bottom of the ditch was lined with leaves and such and might contain creatures unknown.

So one day, we scrounged up two plastic bread bags, removed our shoes and took turns wading in the water wearing the bread bags on our feet. The feeling of the water slowly pressing the plastic against my legs as I walked into the water, is a feeling that I can still remember. The nice thing is that I think we'd both be inclined to such behavior to this day.

Fall Hikes, Yummy Food and Happy People

The cool fall weather is finally hitting us in Colorado changing the east side of the Rockies from a dull brown and green to a dull brown and green with spots of brilliant yellow :) The forest around here is mostly comprised of pine and fir, but there are a few pockets of aspens, so we set out last weekend to see if we could find some. It's a far cry from the diverse rainbow of leaves back in Maine, but beautiful nonetheless.

We set out last Sunday over the Flatirons to Walker Ranch, about ten miles from town. Walker Ranch is a public park, bordering BLM land that used to be a very large ranch neighboring a gold mine. Though mostly exposed, the trail offered occasional protection from the sun.


And dipped down to a creek where took a break and enjoy the cool shade along with some more peak fall colors.


We had to pause and just savor the moment.


The trail undulated up and down until we got to the western edge of the park, treating us to a great view of the new snow on the continental divide.


Besides hiking, we've been spending a lot of time in the kitchen eating Melissa's delicious food. Delicata squash, homemade pumpkin pie from organic pumpkins, zucchini vichyssoise... you get spoiled having someone like her around :)


All in all, things are going really well out here. Lot's of projects to keep us busy. Stay tuned for pix of our new craft-closet-hutch-thing, racing, cold press coffee and lots more. With the winter weather approaching, we'll have plenty of time for fun projects. In the meantime enjoy life... we certainly do!

Single Speed Cyclocross Boulder Style

Today Kevin had his first cyclocross race of the season here in Boulder. He's riding for the Ridley team, and was suited up in the requisite flashy kit acquired just that morning and customized with his Ride Clean socks. Boulder is one of the few places where you can find a single speed category in a cyclocross race, and for a local race there was an impressive turnout with around 60+ people in most categories.

We had a leisurely ride over to the course from our apartment and got a chance to cheer on a few of Kevin's buddies from work. The course was held at the CU Research Park and consisted of a collection of dirt hills, rocks and single track trails. Not perfect cyclocross, but still fun (and very dusty). The single speeds started behind the cat 3 men, and when I say started behind I mean they took off about 20 seconds after, so what ensued was a mass cluster of single speeders swarming the straggling cat 3 riders.

Here is Kevin focused just before his start.


And catching the cat 3s.


And screaming through the dusty trails.


And wheeling in for what I consider an impressive third place finish.


Looking good post race.


Taking a step back from serious racing is a tough transition to make, but races like this should make it a lot easier. Kevin was all smiles both on the course and afterwards, and bikes are supposed to make you smile so I think he's on the right track.

Next Boulder Series race is October 20th. Stay tuned.