Happy Non-Laboring Day!

My plan for the weekend? Sit around and watch this video!

Don't Waste Your Time

I'm embarrassed that I picked it up, more so that I read it. I had ten minutes to pick up books at the library and I just grabbed it. The worst part? This was the best book in the bunch!

One realization that's come from my 52 book challenge is the sad acknowledgment that there's very little good fiction out there. It's been so long since I've read something that inspired me. I love to read non-fiction, but sometimes it would be nice to read a novel that makes me sing a little bit inside when I finish it. They're few and far between, that's for sure.

Bummer

I've been spurned by the Obama camp. Maybe because I'm an Independent?

Convention

The DNC is coming! I'm not a political person (registered Independent for a reason, thank you very much) but this is a big deal for Denver. I'm glad my adopted hometown has the opportunity to host an event this big. I have put in for tickets to see Obama give his acceptance speech and I'm supposed to hear by Friday if we got them. Brother-In-Law will be insanely jealous (hee, hee!) as he is also running for political office. Downtown is going to be an absolute zoo, but I told the Mister we had to go at least one evening. The people watching is going to be superb. We don't live that far from the Army-Navy surplus store, so we'll swing in and pick up a couple of gas masks and be ready for our evening of revelry!

Sewing And Other Nonsense

Finished a skirt from this book two weekends ago. It turned out pretty cute, which made me sad. I didn't expect to do so well so I bought cheap cotton fabric to make it! Now that I (sort-of) know that I'm doing I'll spend a little more money next time on the fabric.

This has been a busy week. I spent two days in Vail for a conference for work--tough life, I know! For whatever reason it was really hard to get back into my routine when I got home on Wednesday night.

The weekend holds a lot of promise: my peach mule is delivering 18 more pounds tomorrow. Huzzah! We're also going to Colorado Springs to visit the Mister's cousin and see a movie.

Happy Friday, all!

Yampa Valley Beauty

Today we approached the ranch from the south which took us past Stagecoach Reservoir.

The ranch property includes several homesteads in disrepair that date back to the 1850s to 1890s.

There's also a graveyard of old farming equipment.

BIL is in the middle of haying season. Here's the "finished product" before it gets stacked for the winter.

The Yampa River provides irrigation for the hay and water for the livestock.

It's always relaxing to visit this oasis in the mountains.

Home on the Range

The Mister and I are off to Steamboat for the weekend to visit Little Sister and BIL. We have a hectic weekend of nephew-cuddling, hiking, BBQing, and sleeping in planned.

BIL's family has been ranching in the Yampa Valley since the late 1800s. His Grandma is the Grand Dame of Steamboat and is regularly profiled in magazines and newspapers. BIL's family is committed to preserving the ranching traditions in an area that has very quickly become a popular tourist destination and a town where you have to have at least a million dollars to get into the housing market. Here are a few pictures:

Little Sister and BIL got married in the meadow. This is where they had their ceremony.

The cows live on some very valuable and beautiful real estate.

This is the original homestead (built in the late 1800s). It's known as "The Bunkhouse". Little Sister and BIL lived there for a year before they bought their house. You can see the chinking in between the logs. It's heated in the winter by a cute little cast iron stove.


This is one of the barns on the property. It's in a bad state so they use it only for hay storage. BIL hangs Christmas lights off of it during the winter because you can see it from across the valley.

I will take more pictures this weekend. Grandma's house (the main building) has a wonderful story and history, too. Then of course there's the hot springs, the marmots, T-bone the crazy ranch dog...it's a good thing our camera holds lots of pictures!