Squirrel Cage Brain

Geeeze....my brain is going at warp speed with all of the things I'd like to do or be doing.  I'm thinking a magic wand would be really handy about right now so I could just flick my wrist and it would all be done.  Yeah, well.
My planter in the backyard, filled to over flowing-- "fluffy"-- with sweet potato vine, I moved to the front porch a week or so before we left town, for some front porch color.  I had yanked up the potted caladiums, so something needed to go there.  Then, one of the hanging baskets needed a little R&R out of the brutal sun, so I put it there as well.  Voila'...instant color--problem solved, or so I thought.  I noticed the sweet potato vine was beginning to look sick a few days before we left with some webbing like stuff on it, and by the time we got back, it was DOA.  I don't know what bugs got it, but I sure hope they enjoyed it.  Short of a burr haircut and some bug spray, this may be more trouble than it's worth trying to coach it back to life.  I may just cut to the chase & and go buy new stuff---  forget the plant ICU.
  Yesterday, I had a moment and went nuts with Mary (my neighbor's) electric hedge trimmers. I finally just pulled all the Asian Jasmine off the house wall on the  driveway side.  I started trimming, but then the over growth just started  peeling off the wall in a big sheet, so I went with that.  It looks great-- now I have to go clean it all up.  I hate that part.  Then I'm hitting the back yard.

And I want to bake, do errands, make a quiche, bathe the dogs, wash their dog beds, and clean the baseboards.  Why??  Hell...I don't know...maybe because it's Fall.  Perhaps what I really need to do is take a nap, and think about it.  All of it.

Back to Real Life

Whew......Now I think I know how astronauts must feel upon re-entering the Earth's atmosphere.  The G-forces are definitely pulling on me.  No sooner did we get home but there was the shooting at UT, and Farm projects kicked right back into high gear.  Full on pedal to the metal.  Since we are having a party in two weeks for one of the cousins who is getting married, dock repair, Barn repair and painting, little house repairs, tree trimming, and a new big flat screen installed, all are in the process of happening, thanks to Fred.  We will go back up this weekend, with our assistants, Wig and Sis, to oversee and work.  I may take my gardening gloves and finish pulling any weeds that have cropped back up since my last overhaul and layer on some mulch.  I just don't do weeds.  They.... drive..... me.... nuts.  Just not the look we are going for, thank you very much.

I think the Wigman may either have allergies or a cold--his bark is a little hoarse--but very manly.  It's still monotone--one note over and over and over--but I'll take it.  It just means he's still here and kicking.  He is asleep in his dog bed right under my desk so things must be good in his world.  I just heard a delicious leisurely moan, so he must be dreaming.  He's already had some of my cinnamon raisin swirl toast, with butter, so no wonder he's happy.

  I decided while we were in Colorado, that this year I'm going to do my Thanksgiving turkey, a la Egg.  I'm not going to smoke it--I just want to cook it on my Egg, and see how it turns out.  So, next on my list is researching that.  I'm going to brine mine again since that makes for the most juicy turkey ever.  I can't wait to pull out my Big Green Egg Cookbook (thank you, Adre') and get busy reading.  I got gourds and little white pumpkins for inside, yesterday, but am going to hold off on outside pumpkins for awhile.  The High school age boys in my neighborhood just love to get drunk on the weekends, and smash pumpkins.  As the mother of two grown men/boys, I know better than to point the finger...mine have surely done lots worse.  And, no, I don't want to know.

Just a reminder to those that do flu shots--it's a good idea to wait until at least October to get one so it protects you during the height of flu season.  If you've already gotten one, no big deal.  At least you are organized.

Just a little slice of  Heaven, no?  This is from Snowmass.

Bears....seriously

In my earlier post, I forgot to mention that it's bear season up here (pre-hibernation) and the place where we ate last night had one come walking in the front door one night, about three years ago, and almost scared a guy to death.  He was eating dinner and  looked up and was staring at a big old bear.  Luckily, Taster's has two doors (entry and exit) fairly near each other so the bear left pretty quick.  They've had numerous bears in houses up here, and all over Colorado.  Any trash for pick up is put inside wooden trash garages with heavy duty doors to discourage bear foraging.  They are in the process of changing the door handles on the doors from a lever to a round knob, since bears are fairly intelligent--or maybe just persistent--when they are hungry.  The same restaurant said they've had two red foxes visit lately, right around dusk.   One is younger and smaller and must be developing a taste for Italian food.  My kind of guy.  Or gal.

We are sitting in the Aspen Airport listening to a C&W band with a fiddle player, banjo, bass, etc.  Fred's already videoed them on his phone, and sent it to Benji--as a potential gig/ ski trip.  Not.  We just love pestering our kids. It's a full time job.

Basalt, Co.

Cutest town ever, bar none, and as friendly as can be.  Their Farmer's Market did not disappoint--organic everything- fruit, vegetables, beef, from local farmers, a holistic healing lady with her products, local honey, pasta, and loads more.  I succumbed to the Sweater Jeanie, and bought a darling wrap type thing made of cashmere, viscose, and something else I can't remember.  It is light as a whisper and warm as toast.  And, it has the most adorable wooden buttons that still look like the tree. She has a website where you can order them in all different colors but she even has more colors now, than are currently on her website.  I've seen the same wrap in Dallas made out of cotton, but it just looked bulky on me.  These drape, and I like that.  Perfect for slipping in your carry on for a cold plane or a freezing theater.

It's time to pack up and leave all this beauty behind.  All of the big fancy private fancy jets have left so I guess it's really time.  I was prepared to blog that we had seen absolutely no elk or other wild life, other than road kill, but last night saved us.  Coming back down Owl Creek Road--the back and more scenic way home from Aspen-- there they were, at almost dusk, a total of 14 Elk--and the bulls were huge.  Two small doe's were right on the roadway about 3 feet from us, but they got scared as I fumbled to get the camera ready.  Oh, well....it's not like we don't have a gazillion pictures anyway but these gals were definitely photo worthy, and so girly.  Such gorgeous gals.

O...M...G

Yep, he did.  I almost couldn't believe it myself until I remembered who I was dealing with.  Fred got all the way down to the drop off point to fly fish, before he realized he had forgotten his waders.  Boots?  Check.  Waders?  Nope.  Short of forgetting his fly rod, waders seem to be mission critical, to me, considering the water is colder than hell.  Driving back up to the condo, I was schooled on how I was not to tell this on my blog.  And in a moment of sheer lunacy (his), he almost said the "F" word--forbid--and then bit it back quickly, as I cackled hysterically.  Oh, man...talk about green lighting something.  You even hint at the word forbid, and you can just consider it DONE.  For future fishing trips, I think we're gonna have to employ the time tested, no fail, gear check list.  Otherwise, next time that water's gonna be pretty chilly on his bare skin, in his shorts.

Now that I finished that, I have to say that he has been one heck of a tour guide.  Usually, that's been my department but for this trip, I turned it all over to him.  We just returned from the glass blower, dinner at Cuvee in Basalt, and the art gallery opening for a new show.  All of it was fun and the food at Cuvee was easily as good and maybe better, as any pricier, see and be seen spot in Aspen, and just as charming.  It was on our list but the glass blower said to definitely try it, so we did.  We both had lamb and it was the best I've had in ages.  And my salad was to die for : spinach with a wonderful garlicky dressing, toasted pecans, dried cranberries, a mysterious unidentified dark but tasty mushroom, and little "tater tots" of fried cheese as garnish.  We sat outside and as the sun began to drop, so did the temperature.  Right as we were finishing up, out came my fleece. Puurrrrfect.

Since tomorrow is our last full day, we are planning to chill out and maybe go back to Basalt to their Farmers Market.  It's supposed to be lots more normal and fun than the Aspen one. " Mr. Activity" has gone full throttle since that's what happens to him when he doesn't take time off for himself, for too long.  He just gets wired and then ultimately fries out.  A lot of Harris males do that so it's nothing new and you can't prevent it--you just stand back and wait with a pillow, until they drop.  And they do. 

I can't get over how dog friendly everyone is.  Two older dapple dachshunds, Oliver and Stanley, walked by with their dad, as we were having dinner.   We had to speak and they stopped, briefly, to chat.  Sis would have had a cow.

Somebody wanted you all to see his big brown trout.

Wig and Sis

I'm gonna go ahead and out myself, since I'm all about honesty---I have texted our critter sitter, once, to check on Wigman and The Sis.  I'm trying to restrain myself and enjoy my time off dog duty but I had to know. She said she thought they missed us, and Fred immediately rolled his eyes.  I bet they do, since both are rotten stinky spoiled--all done by us.  We've been able to get a dog fix from several of the pups in town and around here, so we are good.  I even checked out the Aspen pet store yesterday and it's self service dog wash.  Yes, to the idea of a clean dog; no to taking it outside in the cold, even after drying it.  Brrr.

I found some of the most fabulous purses in Amen Wardy that if I was Lady Astor, I would have snapped up in a heartbeat.  They were small evening purses ( I know...how often does anybody use those?) but I still wanted all of them.  Or, at least several, since they were just so damn neat.  AB, Nic, & Fern, you all would have freaked over them.

Last night, we cooked steaks out on the balcony and when we finished, I thought Fred was throwing a few bites off the balcony to any lucky pup that might stroll by.  Wellllllll....that was the intent, however, he did not count on  birds eating the scraps.  And these were enormous birds--and loud.  This pic makes them look normal size--they're not.  They're fat and big.--probably from all the steak bites.  He's still kind of pissed his local dog friends didn't get to enjoy his largess, but those were some lucky mountain birds. 

OK..out to the deck to finish my coffee and enjoy all God's work.  Maaaaan, He does great work, no?

The Grotto

Man, oh,man...this town is filling up due to the Fall leaf color.  On one of our treks today, we went past the backside of the airport and I've never seen so many private jets all lined up, coming in for all the beauty.  I'm betting there were at least 25-30 jets, and that's about double from earlier this week.  More fun facts??  It seems over twenty of the worlds top art collectors have homes here either in Snowmass or down the road in Aspen, and you can just feel the style quotient amping up, with all that moola hitting town. 

I've never seen a Friday afternoon start so early but this place was kicking back all over town, by about 1-2pm, -- and it was actually kind of nice.  You could just tell people were ready to relax.  And I'm not talking about a bunch of partying.....it was more just people talking and laughing together, and being nice to each other.  I ran in Amen Wardy for a couple of quick gifts, and didn't want to leave.  Not only was the service great, but there were just too many fun people and beee-u--ti--ful things.   One man who worked there could have sold me my own purse ten times, he was that good.  I saw a lady walk in and tell him she needed a "nothing gift", (read inexpensive) for a couple, and he walked straight over to a set of inexpensive cheese knives that were fabulous, and she whooped.  She told her husband she always just tells them how much she wants to spend and what the gift is for-- then they walk around and choose things for her and she's always happy, and the gift is  always perfect.  Love that.  Too bad their Dallas store closed.

Today we did a short hike to The Grotto, with two waterfalls, and ice caves below the rocks where we were standing.  I got Bruce to take a picture of me to prove to our boys that I was actually on a trail, and not in a store.  I am about a half to a one hanky hiker, so if it's straight up hill, let me know how it was, when you get back.  No thank ya.  Today's hike was barely even a half a hanky hike, so I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Tomorrow, Bruce is planing to fish again, and then we are heading down the road to a glass blower, an art opening, and dinner.  Ohhhh....I could get used to this.