The summary:

Well, first you want to check out the photos, here.

Kazha's first experience traveling with us was fun. The first morning there, she encountered her first deer, who then, promptly, decided to encounter her. Yep, the deer followed her through the backyard of my parents' house, as Dave and I watched, very carefully. Kazha then wandered through a gap in the fence to the alley. Wanting to make sure she didn't get too far, I skirted around the observing deer one way, Dave another, and we cornered the dog. As she tried to escape us by dashing back into the yard, she startled the deer, who then bounded backwards and back over the fence. It was rather surprising and funny! We then observed that there were three deer hanging out in the yard. Perhaps the same three that were fawns last year?

Anyway, we wandered around town the first day, just enjoying the view and the relaxation. I got a lot of knitting done that day, and Dave started a new Tony Hillerman book. Mom and Dad read and relaxed, too. We had a nice gazpacho for lunch that my mom made. Yummy! Then we went to Nanda Ghan's, a great local restaurant I'd recommend to anyone, for dinner. After that, we took a great long walk, which is where all the sunset photos came from. This is one of my favorites--the East Spanish Peak with the last rays of pink light on it, and the moon shining above...



The next day, on the 4th, Dave and I went for a hike at Blue and Bear Lakes... a little too crowded for our taste, but storm clouds threatened, so we really couldn't go anywhere farther. Still, I got some nice photos of flowers and Kazha on the trail.





And that gave us enough time to get back into town and go to Art in the Park for the afternoon. That's after my mom and dad went to the Cuchara parade. So we wandered, and we found this artist, R. Wade Brown. He had a wonderful piece we couldn't resist... stark white background with a petroglyph looking bison hunt image on it. Beautiful enough that we couldn't resist it. We're working on paying him in installments over the summer to purchase the piece. Hooray for layaway! Another artist there was Barbara Kowalik, who makes shields. She says the symbols are common ones, but she learns the common meanings and then interprets them herself in her works. Take a look at the bottom right of this page to see one, which is one of Dave's favorites. We'd each like to have one that represents each of us, someday. Carla Romero is another painter with works we would love to have someday... when we have a lot of room and more money. :) But admire her work, because it's very striking.

So then, on Saturday night we had barbecued ribs with my dad's homemade sauce (yum!) and baked potatoes and corn. And then everyone was exhausted, so Mom and Pop went to bed early and Dave and I stayed up to read, knit, and chat in a hush. Kazha was not thrilled with the fireworks, but she did okay, considering we didn't have her rescue remedy with us.

Sunday was a nice egg breakfast and then another long walk, this time up through the golf course. That's where I got the lovely bright daylight photos of the Spanish Peaks--Wahatoya. Seeing the clouds roiling over the peaks brought to mind the concept that local NDN tribes had that all weather for the whole world originated with the peaks. The lifeblood of the plains in the area comes from the clouds that have their start over those mountains. It's awestriking. Heh.



We bought our artwork on Sunday before having a last serving of gazpacho and a sandwich and heading back to Denver. A little bit north of Walsenburg, we ran into one of the worst storms I've encountered--and the worst one I've ever had to drive through. We had to pull over while the nearly golf-ball size hail pounded our car while lightning flashed around. The hail was strong enough that we couldn't hear thunder. We saw a few motorcyclists huddling in the high grass as we were able to start off again. We later learned that many bikers found shelter in the cars of other generous people. We'd have done the same if they'd been anywhere near us when we stopped. That hail had to hurt...

When we finally got going again, we encountered a serious accident, with one car that had flipped over, with the top crushed. Everyone else seemed okay, but we know people were trapped in that car. We saw one person's foot near a window, moving. Our prayers went and go out to those people in hopes that they are alright. Many had stopped to help, and we didn't want to be excessive help that would likely hinder, so we kept on. One of those who stopped was a truck driver, so we feel certain he probably radioed the accident in, while several others were directing traffic and trying to comfort those who were trapped. Still, I wish I could find news of the accident to know if the people are okay. I can't find any word...

We traveled on, going through two more storms that seemed much less intimidating, and finally got home to safety with a slightly spooked dog, arriving to find a cat desperate for attention. And, well, that's pretty much it. Nice break. Not long enough, but certainly nice.

Blessings to all our loved ones and anyone else who stumbles here--hope your weekend was as nice, whether or not you had a holiday to celebrate.

Peace

Kazha sitting with Dave, waiting for him to finish his frozen custard so he can pet her...

Peace

Kazha's at home alone, and there are severe storms moving through. Our thunder sensitive pup is going to be so freaked out!

Wish I could go home to take care of her. Of course, my astraphobia doesn't help much, here.

Peace

Wow... been a while since I've posted here. On the other hand, things have been very busy. And I'm not even going to talk about work. You see, that's just plain stress. Stress like mad. Stress that... well, I said I wasn't going to talk about it

The first bit is the recorder group, which now has a video on Facebook and is preparing for our first evening performance at a place in Denver called The Mercury Cafe. Last week, we played at the Denver Recorder Faire at The Tattered Cover book store (only the best book store ever). It went okay, but not fantastic. So we still have work to do. Which means extra rehearsals. Which means the first part of Kazha's hard week.



See, normally, when Dave has choir rehearsal on Monday, I'm home to keep the pooch company. Tomorrow, we have a recorder band rehearsal. Poor poochy.

Tuesday won't be easy for her either, because Dave and I both have to go to church choir rehearsal to get ready for the coming Holy Week madness. I'm singing a solo for Maundy Thursday, and we're doing a concert for Good Friday (those won't be so hard for Kazha because I work from home Thursday and Dave has both days off--and I'm considering the possibility of taking Tuesday from home, too). Then, of course, there's Easter. And Tuesday night is our last rehearsal for all of that. Whew!

Thankfully, we have a break from rehearsals for Princess Ida during Holy Week. Lots of singers in the company have the same crazy kind of week that I do--holy days are great revenue for the working musician. That will give me time to work on my songs and lines.

And of course there's still the writing project. It's going well. There were a few nights I had to double up because I had missed the night before due to rehearsals or gatherings after rehearsals or sheer exhaustion. But each day I've gotten something written down on the theme of the day. It's amazing that it actually works out. Of course, once I'm done with Lent, there's more work to do--polishing, taking things further, really working through it all. But this has been a great exercise for me--to think creatively about the things I choose to, each day. It's nice. But even more, it's interesting to see where I've gone with some of it. I'm enjoying the path.

And now I have a new project--The Blanket! I capped it because it's going to eat up a lot of my mental space for a while. It's cool, though.

See, my friend Marsha taught me to knit, about a year ago, when she was visiting from Massachusetts. Now, she's getting married. She and her fiance have decided that part of the wedding ceremony is going to be a Cherokee blanket ceremony. And they have asked me to make the blanket, which would then fall to me and Dave to place on them for the ceremony (a deep honor, normally reserved for relatives, that we are humbled by).

So, I went out last weekend to find the yarn. Two weeks ago, I ordered the 60-inch cable for my interchangeable knitting needles, so I can make it all in one piece (seems right to do it that way, considering that it represents their oneness). And I had been musing over the pattern for weeks... really, weeks.

I came up with a textured heart pattern. I'm still quite the beginner, so anything more complex than a texture pattern would be beyond my reach to complete in a short time. But I can knit and purl, so I can do textured patterns! (heh)  But the only pattern I could really find was a heart. Now, I love Marsha and Lee. I want to do what's right for them. And they're not cutesy heartsy people. I know they would have appreciated it anyway, but it's just not them.

So I was struggling to want to do the hearts, but I couldn't think of anything else that would be easy for my graphic-design-inept little brain.

It was Dave who came up with it. Which is appropriate.

We live in a state that is traditionally home to the Navajo and Ute tribes. The Ute in particular. And these tribes have a lovely ceremonial piece of pottery--the wedding vase (you can see it in the bottom inset photo, on the left). Dave and I are both very interested in the history of the Ute tribes--they once inhabited most of our beloved state. The two necks of the vase come together in the main bowl, symbolizing the two becoming one.

Dave suggested it. I panicked a bit, realizing I'm not great at design. But I wanted to try. And I came up with this:



I'm not disappointed in my efforts. It came much more easily than I thought it would, which leads me to think it is one of those meant to be sorts of things.

So, the blanket will consist of 9 panels, somewhat like a checkerboard. The five "white" squares (really a moot point, since the blanket will be all white--but these will be, for the knitting types out there, the stockinette stitch panels; the other panels will be reverse stockinette, which is rougher) will have the vase pattern in them. The other four panels will be blank. The whole blanket will have a light border of seed stitch.

I will try to keep updating everyone on the progress. Right now, I just have about 8 rows of the border done for the bottom of the blanket. Not much to see, yet. But once I start to get something more recognizable, I'll try to take photos.

This is an exciting project for me--and add into that the honor of making something that will symbolize the union of two friends I love, and... well... I'm just in awe of the whole thing.

And it all goes on. Insanity in art and in crafts and in expressing the me that I really want to be--not the office drone who gets so frustrated being at work with all the politics and machinations...

This is the real me.

I hope all my dear friends are well... I'm keeping up to some degree, even if I'm not often evidently around. There's just so much life to grasp...

Peace and blesswings...

Don't forget to check my daemon post below, but I just had to get on and post this brief commentary...

Some people just don't get it with animals.

Kazha's first owner, who had her for most of her three and a half years, said on hir release form for the dog that "My dog doesn't need exercise." Now, mind you, Kazha's a pretty laid back dog. Seriously. She's probably sleeping right now after having finished her Greenie for the day. But let me tell you something: she's part border collie. She does mad dashes in the back yard when she's happy, and she dances around us when she wants attention. Granted, she pooped out halfway through our hike with friends yesterday, and it was a fairly mild hike. But I'm guessing that after three and a half years with an owner who thought she didn't need exercise, she's just not used to it. Her energy level could certainly benefit from daily walks and perhaps even some dance or other type of training. She might be too submissive to be terribly successful, given that her choice when confronted with attention is to roll over for belly rubs... But her energy would definitely benefit from regular exercise. What were these people thinking?

And her second owner, who had her for all of a week and a half or so is full of poop. I'd dare say, quite literally replete with BS. They turned her in because, as they claimed, she wasn't housebroken. Well, the first owner said that she was, and I know that sometimes the trauma of being released to a shelter and adopted can "break" training. We had one accident. So far, since reinforcing her by cheering and treating and loving and petting when she first did her business outside, we haven't had a problem. Now, I'll grant you that tomorrow will be the full test, given that we'll both be going to work (I worked from home all last week to get her adjusted to her new space and work on the housebreaking reinforcement). But today, after being left alone for nearly four and a half hours, there was zero problem. Nothing. Didn't chew anything, didn't poo on anything, or anything else. She was just really happy to see us when we got home. And then, she went outside and did what she had to do. She's a great girl, and unless tomorrow holds surprises, I doubt that crate training will be necessary.

Sasha is still taking things VERY slow. I know she came downstairs last night, because Dave said so. He was reading until about 1 am, after I had fallen asleep. He then headed upstairs to give Sasha a good night cuddle. He got partway up the stairs and discovered that she was behind him.

She's still somewhat scared. I know that, too. But she's purring when we go in to see her in her special, safe room. The door is available for her to come out, but Kazha can't go in, so Sasha knows she's safe there. She has ventured out into the bathroom when she knows Kazha is downstairs. And she's eating well. But we'll let her take it--mostly--at her pace. We'll try to help the process along soon. But I'm not going to rush it. Until they meet for certain and establish their relationship, we'll keep the north half of the house closed off while we're gone so Sasha can roam it and Kazha has room, too. And we'll introduce them bit by bit if they don't do it too well on their own. I have a feeling that Sasha will establish her dominance very quickly, once she's brave enough to do it. But we'll be there to keep an eye on it when it happens.

These two animals are so great... I can't wait until they're ready to live with us together, a complete human-feline-canine family once again.

Right now, Sasha is snuggled in her kitty tree behind me, and Kazha is out snoozing with Dave in the next room. And there's an opening between us that keeps Kazha from coming in, but she's not straining to get through it. She's mostly ignoring it. And that's such a relief...

I love my girls.

Peace