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A view of downtown looking northeast from the parking lot of the City Utilities building. I had to go there to pay a bill today and I had my camera with me, so I grabbed a shot before going inside.

Kansas

I mentioned the other day that I had to drive Pat to the airport in Denver, but I didn't tell you why. It was because he bought a car on the other side of the country. New Jersey, to be exact! So off he flew to finalize the transaction and drive it home. He motored all the way from New Jersey to Colorado in a couple of days, and I fretted the entire time, of course. He didn't stop any more than was necessary, and he took only few pictures, including this one of a dramatic sunset and mammatus clouds outside of Kansas City. How beautiful, despite the bug covered windshield. Kansas has no shortage of bugs.

Sunday Style!

It's rare for me to feature one of my brides on this blog, but Taryn was such a style maverick that I thought she deserved to be seen! She didn't want to wear a traditional white gown, and since she's an extremely skilled beadworker (she owns White Rabbit Beads in Old Colorado City), Taryn decided to take things into her own hands. The bodice of this two piece ensemble is a 1980 Mary McFadden piece that she found in a vintage store, and the matching skirt was created by a seamstress friend. The bodice had existing beading, which Taryn enhanced with yet more meticulous hand work. At the same time, the existing zipper in the back was replaced with corset lacing and the sleeves were removed. Taryn added dramatic lace panels to the skirt, front and back, and again applied countless beads by hand. The whole process took many months. I couldn't wait to see Taryn in it, and I thought she looked SPECTACULAR on her big day. Oh and she wore mint green platform Converse under the dress, isn't that awesome? She also opted out of carrying a bouquet, and instead wore colorful corsages on both wrists. All told, this wedding was unique and creative. If you'd like to see more of it you can catch it on Facebook HERE or on my professional blog HERE.

(One more thing -- I like to give credit where credit is due: the photo at the top of this post was taken by my second photographer, Steve, who was filling in for Joy that day. Nice shot, Steve!)

Sexy Beast

Check out this awesome spider that I found on our house yesterday. Yikes! It was about one and a quarter inches, including its leg span. Pretty impressive. I'm not arachnophobic and don't have that "kill it!" knee jerk reaction to spiders, so I left it in peace. Even so, it's not like I'd want it crawling on me -- this thing was huge! I did a little research to see if I could identify it, but no luck. My best guess is it's some kind of orb weaver.

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Apologies for the delayed post! This was meant to go up yesterday -- I had the photo prepped and ready to go in the middle of the day, but got sidetracked and put it off until later. Then I had to drive Pat to the airport in Denver, which is over 150 miles round trip. I got home after 10:00pm, tired and a little cranky, and completely forgot to do a blog post! I'm going to backdate this to yesterday not just for the sake of continuity but also because exactly a year ago, August 16, 2018, I posted a nearly identical photo. You can see it HERE. Isn't that a funny coincidence? The photo in this post was taken in Old Colorado City, and the photo from a year ago was taken in Victor.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

The Garden of Eatin'

The Charmaine Nymann Community Garden in Bear Creek Park is overflowing with goodness right now! Just look at all the beautiful vegetables, greens and flowers! I don't know how many plots there are in this garden, but all of them are bursting with deliciousness!

I'm so curious -- I can't think of a reason why anyone would need this much dill! I currently have three dill plants in my garden and they aren't nearly this huge (we planted about 3-4 weeks late this year). Maybe this gardener is planning on making a LOT of pickles.

This person is growing a salad! I want to know what variety of lettuce this is. Mine always bolts in this heat.

Garden Love

Pat and I were in the neighborhood of Bear Creek Regional Park this evening, so we stopped by the the Charmaine Nymann Community Garden to see how it was coming along this summer. This is a place where you can pay a small fee for a plot and grow veggies and flowers to your heart's content, and as you can see, many gardeners do just that! It was getting dark out but there were still a few gardeners about, tending to their crops big and small. These are people who probably work all day, then go home and cook dinner, then come to the park to get in their "me time" among the plants (can you see the woman watering her tomatoes in the distance?). Aaaaah! As a gardener, I can relate! It's not a chore, it's relaxing and rewarding.

I took a few more pictures and I'll share them tomorrow. Cheers!