Summer evenings, chilled wine, dinners on patios...


...and two-year-olds who don't like to sit still...

Corner View: summer!
My husband took these with my iPhone yesterday. I was in the midst of a heavy work day, unshowered and unkempt. But I came out to take a five minute break in the sun, warming Q up in the hammock after her long session in the pool. Raw and natural, I think these photos are a pure illustration of the word "summer".

Stop by Jane's place and visit the many other corner views around the world. Happy travels!

Berry picking, spring storms, and family time...

Berry picking day at Berry Patch Farms in Brighton.
Q is a fan of chickens.
And strawberries.

On the truck to the strawberry fields.
Spring breezes, far-off storms, and first-season berries.


Family time.

A small preview...

Busy....Oh, so busy right now!!

We have so much to share with you, but oh, so busy. If only there were more hours in the day! But I have so, so much to tell. Soon.

In the meantime, I give you a few tastes of what you have to look forward to:
Baby in a basket.
Kool Kat on a train with her Ah-pah.
St. Mary's Glacier (looks like Q had nefarious plans for my hat, doesn't it?)
Oh, and it's daisy season!! I love daisy season.
Strawberry picking!
Neighborhood walks (plus, she is so cute it kills me!).
Did I mention it's daisy season?
Long, long, action-packed days in the sun.

Until soon! ox

Camping photos from the Great Sand Dunes by Mike and my mum:
There was a forest fire raging just three draws away from their campground...
...but it didn't stop the girls from having their fun.
Q digging in the sand with her cousin Victoria.


The great sand dunes rise as high as Denver's downtown skyline, but it's difficult to get a perspective on their height from most vantage points.
Q and her LaoLao.


Chasing after her cousin.
In the evenings, the sky looked like this...
...and like this.

On a recent Saturday morning, I was walking the puppy the ten blocks between our house and the coffee shop when, winding our way among a narrowing aisle of hedge roses and yard sale trinkets, I spotted these...

Shining in the clear yellow of the morning sun, a glossy blue and red drumset that reminded me of some bright dream from my childhood, maybe re-runs of Josie and the Pussycats, or the Partridge Family, who knows.
I don't usually stop at yard sales because, I mean, let's face it: really we need less "things" in our home, not more! So Mathilda and I kept our heads straight and our noses high and walked on by.
All the way to the coffee shop, however, I kept seeing that drum set gleaming in the sun.

Here's the other thing: when Q came home, my husband specifically forbade me to bring home a drum set. Guitars were OK, all manner of flutes and whistles, even maracas, but not drums.
Not drums.
As Mattie and I headed home with our coffee, I spotted the drums again, still there on the grass. The young man, seated in a rickety chair next to a table full of dusty and well-loved horse figurines, mounted soldiers, remote control cars and the like, wore thick Harry Potter glasses and a faux-fur tophat with stars emblazoned on it. He looked up at me gravely as I passed. He was maybe nine years old.

"Cute dog," he said politely.

"Thank you," I said. "How much for the drums?"
I walked Mathilda home and, studiously avoiding eye contact with my husband, grabbed some spare bills and the car keys.
The drum set is well-loved, beaten like worked copper by the pitter-patter of so many little drumsticks. The high-hat is a little wonky, and one of the toms keeps falling off. But Q loves it. Talk about more bang for your buck! All in all I'd say it's about the best four bucks I ever spent.