Nature Friday ~ February 9, 2024

We survived last week’s snowstorm and are waiting for the arrival of the next one sometime this weekend, or so they say. Hiya, Elsa here. As always we’re joining our friends from Adventures of the LLB Gang. Click on the link to see what other posts have been shared.

Elsa, surgeryI’m still recovering from surgery but am doing well actually. Thank you all for your kind get well and recovery wishes.They mean the world to me and Mom.

Lots of you said I should let the foster dog pony get in on the action with posting so without further adieu, here’s the newest Ranch Hand and I’ll judge let him give you his perspective from around the ‘Hood. Hope I haven’t made a mistake by letting him in on today’s post. This whole foster biz seems to have made him a bit anxious and I don’t wanna spin him into a tizzy. And now, live from the corral…I present…the Pony!

Wilson: Umm, don’t mean to get off on the wrong paw with you or your readers, but my name is now Wilson.

Elsa: You say tomato, I say tomahto. Anywho…you need to show them you’re a real live Ranch Hand before your introduction is official.

Wilson: Oh, you mean the one with the hat?

Elsa: {Gasp} Look, you big galute…that’s not a just hat-that’s a Stetson and it’s legendary in the West. You need to forget everything you knew about Missouri…you’re a Colorado doggie these days.

Wilson: {in a snooty British voice} I. beg. your. pardon. You must understand, I’m new to this blogging thing but will do my utter best to try and contribute in a meaningful manner.

Elsa: Oh puleez…what’s with you British guys and your high falutin talk? Save it for another time, dog breath.

Wilson: Well blimey…so sorry. I’ll share a pic of me out in the snow after getting groomed last week. How’s that?

Pointer or sheepdog?

Elsa: Save it, bucko. I can see this is going take some time and energy getting you familiar with how things work around here.

Wilson: {somewhat miffed} Right-o. Well, like you mentioned before, we received some snow. It was heavy and wet after an entire night of rain. It was quite crunchy trying to walk on it-I kept falling through.

Elsa: Well, if you weren’t such a chonker, you might not have fallen through. Now you know why Mom has you on a diet.

Wilson: Are you saying I’m overweight? I’d say all the grooming and removing of mats took a lot of excess weight off. See how trim I am now.

Elsa: {eyes rolling} Trust me, Mom will continue to keep the portions small for a while. Sure, she’ll say something like “it’s good for your joints” or some other ridiculous thing. Get used to it and be prepared to be hungry for a while.

Wilson: {frowning} Oh dear…I’m not sure I’ll be able to survive here. I do like my meals.

Elsa: Forget crumpets and tea, dude. You’ll get two small squares a day and Mom will walk your fat tush off right before she takes me out on my rehab walks. It’s going to be interesting between the two of you, as to who loses the most weight. {snicker}

Wilson: Oh dear…this IS going to be quite the adjustment. How in the world am I going to survive?

Elsa: Relax, you’ll never go completely hungry, Mom just wants to get your weight a bit more under control. She’s already had to resize your collar because it was getting too loose. And trust me, there will always be a treat (or two) around the Ranch. I’ll make sure you get a snack.

Wilson: Bravo! That’s right proper of you helping me adjust to this new lifestyle. I still miss my old family and packmates. You do know my old Mum unexpectedly passed away. I loved her so much but do love my new Mum now. Still it’s been quite the adjustment over this past month but I’m really trying hard to learn how to fit in.

Elsa: For the record, she’s MY MOM. But you’re doing ok so far (even if you caused my injury). Mom says you’re pretty smart and I promised her I wouldn’t hold a grudge. I realize you have a lot to learn. Mom explained to me that you grew up in a tiny little town and the city can be a rather intimidating reality. I mean, come on…you’re doing so much better on walks now from when you first arrived and you’re improving a bit each day. Before you know it, garbage trucks won’t even register in that big, fat head. Got any other pics of the snow? My readers want to see nature at her finest.

Wilson: {clearing throat} Right…it started out like most snowstorms but then it just kept snowing and snowing and snowing. It was pretty though and I found it bracing to run around outside in it.

Wilson: Here’s a view from the sofa that made my mind spin on the day after. It looks unlike any snow I’d ever seen before with that melting/freezing thing going on and with the sculpting wind. Looks like a lunar landscape a bit.

Elsa: Like you’d know about the lunar landscape, although it is the Chinese New Year this week. It was a weird storm, dumping 6-15 inches over the metro area after a night of rain-something we never get this time of year. But you know, things don’t seem any worse for wear for the bulbs, do they?

Wilson: They seem to be fine and most of the snow has gone now but we’re waiting for the next storm which may start later today and be a repeat of last weekend.

Elsa: Don’t hold your breath. One of the things you’ll learn about Colorado weather around here, it’s changes on a dime-and weather forecasters simply cannot be trusted to be accurate. As long as I still get to enjoy some snow cones, I’ll be happy. This was right after my staples came out. I felt like I earned it and Mom seemed to agree.

Wilson: I’ll keep that in mind. So can I share this little guy who I encountered on a walk? Mum’s eagle eyes spotted him, I totally missed him. I’m just learning about other critters; Mum refers to them as tree rats. I’m not a fan of them and have tried hard to run them down catch them. Not sure what to do if I’m able to catch one but Mum still won’t let me go after them.

Elsa: Yeah, Mom is like that…she wants to protect you from potential problems with face to face meetings with wild animals. She also is extremely adverse to being turned into a human kite and since I’ve noticed you possess lightning quick reflexes, but will learn she’s not as easy as you think she’d be when she’s been lifted off her feet.

Wilson: I did surmise that. But I’m a crafty lad, you never know what I can do.

Elsa: Shush you big oaf, you don’t want to give up the element of surprise. Best that you keep your big trap shut. Moms of all stripes aren’t amused by the element of surprise so don’t wreck it by blabbing any moves in advance.

Wilson: {in a hushed voice} Oh right…will keep that in mind.

Elsa: Well that looks like we made it through without killing each other. Guess it wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be. Bravo me.

Wilson: Ahem…I did mention that I could be a sport here and hope you’ll give me another chance in the future.

Elsa: Let’s not get carried away. A lot depends on how I feel and whether or not my readers like your by-line. How about we just say…we’ll see.

Wilson: Roger that. So do I get to ask what everyone’s going to do this weekend. I heard something about some big football game. While we had them in Missouri, in Britain, we call it ‘soccer.’

Elsa: Trust me dude, around here the only sport that matters is hockey. You’ll learn that soon enough. Finally, we would be remiss if we didn’t wish everyone a safe and prosperous  Chinese New Year. Have a great weekend everyone.

Wilson: Oh yes, please do have a splendid weekend.

Elsa: Give it a rest, Pony.

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Floral Friday ~ July 27, 2018

Last Saturday the annual Lavender Festival was held at the Denver Botanical Garden’s Chatfield Farms location. Having had a terrific time last year (click here for a flashback), I wanted to check it out again this year. It was hot but heavenly and I wasn’t disappointed.

Last year’s festival featured around 800 lavender plants. This year the festival featured nearly 2000. From white to pale pink, to blue and purple, there’s something for everyone to love. I’m all about the dark purples and the darker the better, but every single plant was a stunner. And that divine fragrance…swoon. As I walked through the rows, I was struck by the mesmerizing effect this incredible plant has on people. In an age where everyone seems to be constantly jockeying to get ahead of everyone else, people were kinder, gentler and just more consider to one another. It was a pleasure being there, even amongst a huge crowd. Knowing it would be a warm day, I had arrived 30 minutes after the festival opened thinking I could avoid the crowds. But the crowd was already so large, a sheriff’s deputy ‘kindly’ blocked me just as it was my turn to turn onto the access road leading toward the entrance. Harumph…dude, should I bring you back a big bunch of lavender to lighten up your cantankerousness, I grumbled to myself, in between HBO words.

Us plebeians were directed to the backside of Chatfield and I began to wonder if I’d need  4-wheel drive to cross through that back-forty pasture. Up, down, swerving back and forth to avoid small car swallowing ruts, I traversed the access road to find myself in the middle of a fallow pasture that had been turned into a temporary parking lot. At least I had sense enough to wear close-toed shoes unlike many who were clad in low-heeled sandals whose feet were going to be dirty in a matter of seconds as we hiked through the dusty pasture toward the pick up area where ‘farm limos’ waited to whisk us closer to the entrance. Look out Uber, you’ve got some serious competition out there.

Near the ticket booth, I was greeted to a picture perfect, blue-sky day guaranteed to lower the aggravation quotient.

Having pre-purchased my ticket the day before, I didn’t have to stand in the 50+ deep ticket line and made my way toward nirvana. Despite being early in the day, I was surprised there was already a sizable queue at the wine and spiked cider tents. I like wine with the best of ’em, but if you are in need of an alcoholic beverage at 9:30 in the morning, you definitely could benefit from wandering through rows of lavender in which to mellow out.

Lavender does surprisingly well in arid Colorado and English lavender in particular, is quite cold-hardy and generally thought to have strongest fragrance over its French and Spanish cousins. Lavender’s overall health benefits and healing properties were discovered more than 2,500 years ago. A powerful antioxidant with antimicrobial and sedative properties, the Greeks were the first to experiment with this natural remedy and soon the Romans and Egyptians were on board. Many monarchs in Europe made lavender widely popular. Lavender’s underlying chemistry allows for the diversity in its many medical to culinary uses, with a range of biochemicals, terpenes, and acetates accounting for the healing properties of lavender. Okay, enough with science and history of this awesome plant, let’s check out the festival.

Lavender and lemon flavored pops for those with a sweet tooth
This blooming Red Yucca plant was exceptionally striking
This is where a scratch-and-sniff screen would be incredible (Lavandula Augustifolia – English lavender)
Lavender with Black-eyed Susan’s
A pretty bucket of English Lavender
A visitor soaking up sun and scent among scads of lavender
Beautiful white lavender
Some of the new plants
Craft offerings galore
Whiskey pops for adults
Sweet smelling handmade soaps
Wildflower backdrop for a row of lavender
Pretty coneflower with insects
Don’t know what this plant was but it was so beautiful among some lavender sprigs in the meadow
Musical entertainment rounding out the festival

Hope you enjoyed the festival as much as I did. Have a great weekend!

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Flashback Friday

In an effort to get out of the Bah-Humbug funk that has continued to have a stranglehold on me, I went through some old photos and came across these gingerbread houses, some of which I made with one of my sisters a couple of years ago. I gave them to my bosses as gifts. While I may no longer have bosses to build houses for like these, I kind of wish I’d put one together this year, though no doubt, a certain Ninja Elf who shall remain nameless would try to nosh on them! Are they fun to put together? You bet-cha! Just be forewarned…they do take some assembly time (what was I thinking making a tile-roof of sliced almonds?!) and you WILL be sweeping up candy pieces over the next 6 weeks because those little balls bounce everywhere! But all in all, not a bad first effort. While I may not be much of an architect, who can resist cute gingerbread houses to amp up the decorations?

What creative things do you make to get into the ‘howliday’ spirit?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Live, love, bark! <3

Flashback Friday

It’s been an extremely hectic week and my best laid plans for posting…well they didn’t materialize. 🙁 When I did have a spare minute to formulate a post, my brain couldn’t seem to connect in any cohesive way. No among of editing seemed to work either. Sometimes when I get stuck, I’ll browse through old photos. but this time, zip, nada. Then, this showed up. My little Muppet was “talking” to me when were were at Sloan’s Lake near our house a couple years ago. His smile made me smile and I hope it does the same for you. Happy Friday. 🙂

Happy Father’s Day to all Dads

Live, love, bark!