Wednesday, February 18, 2026
It's after 4 in the afternoon. Charlie is down at the shop, I'm back home after dropping him off. The view to the west--snowing in the mountains and west Colorado Springs, uncertain if it will cross the valley and I-25 and fall on our heads here. Okay if it does, we'll be in the 60s again by Monday. We're hoping for major snowfall up in the mountains, anyway, where winter snowpack is essential for summer waters. High winds yesterday nearly discouraged me from making the drive to Boulder, but it... Sign in to see full entry.
Tuesday, February 17, 2026
Running up the road...
Today we're combining work and pleasure with a trip northwards to Boulder. Charlie needs to go to a particular hardware store to get some long bamboo sticks, and we'll also visit my sister who lives in an elders' community. We plan to have lunch together and visit a while, then go for the bamboo, and then head south to meet up with the guy who is helping Charlie with lighting up some of his fancy boffer weapons. I'm also going to deliver the cowl that he asked me to make for his sister-in-law.... Sign in to see full entry.
Sunday, February 15, 2026
Happy Valentines Weekend!
Sometimes you're your own valentine! Yesterday I stopped at Trader Joe's and gave myself a lovely new blooming orchid. Not one of the little ones, but one of the bigger ones, a pretty peachy-colored one. It has joined the others at the kitchen window, though it's too large to go on the window sill with the others. Two of those are still, again blooming. I don't do anything special--just water them fairly regularly, at least once a week, and they seem to favor the morning light. The blossoms last... Sign in to see full entry.
Tuesday, February 10, 2026
Another day 'at' the Olympics...
Mogul ski runs, speed skating relay, curling, and coming up on more figure skating... I'm getting very good at muting the most annoying of commercials, as well as getting other things done while they take up screen time. Yesterday I took time off for some business of my own. Amy Kessler who does this professionally is formatting my collection of Middle-earth/Tolkien-inspired poetry to be actually published as a book: Lays of Middle-earth. I don't know why it never occurred to me to do this a... Sign in to see full entry.
Saturday, February 7, 2026
Poking my nose back in...
Sun's going down after one of those home days when I never felt the need to get out of my 'jamas. I've watched a bunch of icy, snowing Olympic sports, something I've never done so much before. The skating is always a big draw, but it has changed a lot since I last watched: back then, no one touched the ice on purpose with anything but their skate blades. I even saw one backflip, something that I was told Back Then was flashy but easier than it looks, a 'Capades move, not competition-worthy.... Sign in to see full entry.
Thursday, January 15, 2026
Yesterday I got that haircut--This morning first look in the mirror I realized at any length, hair just wakes up hysterical and frantic, and takes a little while to settle down. Most of the little crocus corms got planted, some outside, some I brought inside. Thinking I should mulch them against tonight's and the weekends' big chill. Two packages of photo books arrived yesterday. The first one, The Forbidden City, was so thoroughly wrapped in bubblewrap sleeves and surrounded by plastic... Sign in to see full entry.
Monday, January 12, 2026
An unusual Monday...
Mondays are usually just an extended Sunday for me, but for some reason today I'm so busy at odds and ends, it feels like a Tuesday--I had to check the calendar just now to be sure. Despite several expensive toys that held her interest for a brief time, her favorite plaything for a while now has been a yard-long piece of half-inch wide plastic strapping tape from some package or other. I've done a moderate kitchen wipe-down, got the dishwasher loaded and running, finished the laundry that went... Sign in to see full entry.
Sunday, January 11, 2026
On an eggroll...
Just back from grocery shopping and a late lunch at the Chinese restaurant we usually order delivery from. We ordered some things we have not tried before, and some we have--but they were sooo much better fresh from the kitchen! And they make the best eggrolls we've found in the Springs so far--though they are not magnificent, just better than the rest: not cooked to mush, mainly. Insides are mostly just cabbage. I was thinking about them because I was watching the British Baking Show where they... Sign in to see full entry.
Friday, January 9, 2026
Things not going as planned...
That 1-3 inch snowfall is now closer to 10 inches which makes this a proper snow day. Glad I had no plans for going out today! And the crochet project... a cowl that takes about 10 hours to make, is a bust as I pulled a problem thread and messed up the first row in a way I have no idea how to fix. So... starting over, reworking the same yarn, unraveling as I go. At least I'm going to improve the technique of joining the ends of the first row to begin the spiral upwards. It wouldn't bother me so... Sign in to see full entry.
Thursday, January 8, 2026
Grey Wednesday
The snow has started--tiny cold flakes--but we only expect 3 inches or so over the next day, and it won't last because temps are going up again by Sunday. Yesterday I finished the next two China trip books--one of the tea garden we went to several times, the other of the Forbidden City. As I do these, I wish we could go back again, there were so many pictures I missed! But just now is not the best time to be visiting China. And I'm not the traveler I was what with the aches and pains of age... Sign in to see full entry.