Our newest neighbors

Mr. & Mrs. Robin moved in a few short weeks ago and quickly built themselves a nice little home on top of the greenhouse window facing our backyard. It wasn't long before Mrs. Robin began spending her days sitting quietly in their nest, but I couldn't see how many eggs she was incubating.

Just a couple of days ago I finally got a peek at the Robin brood. I counted four babies! Four BIG babies -- it looks like they're almost ready to fly the coop. That'll be a great day, because then I'll feel okay to go into the backyard again and not worry that I'm disturbing our newest neighbors.

Another Pikes Peak photo

This was taken on Thursday in the parking lot of Sam's Club! Pat and I were there picking up a few things (Pat loooooooooves bulk shopping), and while I was waiting for him to load up the car I snapped this through the windshield. Amazing view, even from such a mundane place as a parking lot. Yes we are lucky to live here!

You have to admit this is funny

I thought the name of this church was ripe for double entendres. Had to get a snap of it for the blog... you have to admit, it's funny.

The bleeding heart

Another denizen of my secret garden. Bleeding heart only blooms for a short time in the spring. I wish it would bloom like this all year. It's so pretty.

The secret garden

I'm a gardener, but since I'm also a wedding photographer it can get a little difficult to deal with both during a busy summer. Because of this, I've gotten into the habit of "one year on, one year off" with my gardens. This is an "on" year. The growing season has just started.

Pat's pretty much in charge of our yard and the outside of our house, since I'm in charge of the inside. But his work schedule has been so demanding the last year or so, I'm afraid my gardens have paid the price! Just now I checked my secret garden on the south side of our house, to find that it's buried under a zillion rotting leaves from last fall. I did see that most of my plants survived the winter with flying colors, including my prize hostas, which are several years old.

I can't wait to clean it up back there and get it looking good again!

Durannie to the death!

I was at the supermarket today, waiting in line at the deli for a pound of roast beef, when I saw this in the case. I had to take a picture of it. My friends know that I am a Duran Duran fan. Huge fan, since college days. My friend Jenn fancies lead singer Simon le Bon, but I have always been a John Taylor girl. (For the uninitiated, John's the bass player.) I just think he's dead sexy!

Hmmm, John Taylor's pork roll...

All you need is...

Happy Memorial Day everyone! It's a little soggy here. I feel bad for all the people who were looking forward to a barbecue. Here's a photo from a sunnier day, to cheer you up.

Many thanks to all our service people, past and present!

Tamera

Walt's kitchen window

I had to drop by my friend Walt's house, a 1919 late Victorian, yesterday before dinner. It was one of those dreary rainy afternoons, a weather pattern we've been stuck in for several days now, and I noticed his kitchen window looked so pretty and nostalgic in the soft light. I had to take a picture of it!

A cup of coffee with cream and Shuga's please

A companion to yesterday's post... here's the cup of coffee I ordered at Shuga's the other day. Just a simple cup of Joe, but presentation is everything! Sugar served in a shot glass, a thimbleful of cream, a tiny spoon, a 1970s vintage cake plate. Love it!

Shuga's

Shuga's is a unique place. Opened about six or seven years ago, it was an instant hit, and the idea behind it is genius -- it's sort of a funky coffee place by day and a chic drinking establishment by night. During daylight hours, drop in for a gourmet sandwich and a capuccino or lavender-tinged lemonade; during the evening linger with friends over tapas and cocktails or vino. Any time you go to Shuga's, day or night, you'll find hipsters rubbing shoulders with senior citizens, hippies co-existing happily with foodies.

Housed in an old typewriter shop on the south end of downtown, Shuga's successfully blends quaint, funky and chic -- not an easy task. You'll find that the art changes frequently, every table holds a vase (or vintage soda bottle) and flower, and all the furniture is secondhand but stylish and patinaed, not shabby. You can see just from looking at the front door that it's an intriguingly stylish place to hang out, so hop on your Vespa and scoot on over!

The king of the world

Sorry I missed yesterday's post! It seemed like all things conspired yesterday to keep me from fulfilling my daily duty. I am backdating this to 5/21/09, 11:59PM.

It's the king of the world! Okay, not really. It's my friend Mike, standing on an giant boulder at Eleven Mile Reservoir last Sunday. He may not be king of the world, but he was king of that particular moment.

Eleven Mile Reservoir

Just a quick snap of Eleven Mile Reservoir, west of Colorado Springs by about an hour or so. On Sunday my friends Charlotte and Mike invited me to picnic with them at Spinney Reservoir; afterward we stopped by Eleven Mile just to admire the view. It's a gorgeous place!

Spinney Reservoir

On Sunday I went to Spinney Reservoir with my friends Charlotte and Mike, and their dog Ally. It was a perfect, picnic-by-the-reservoir kind of day. I took quite a few pictures, including this one. More to come over the next couple of days...

An American guy

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... Retired Suburban American Guy (RSAG). Pat and I spied this truly exceptional specimen at Schlotzky's Sandwiches on Saturday afternoon.* Please note the white tube socks pulled up as high as they will go, paired with the black slippers. Note also the polarized clip-on "shades" attached to the eyeglasses. There are many stellar characteristics of the RSAG here. Please click on the photo for a closer view, so you can read my detailed commentary.

I asked my British friend Mike what the main difference is between an RSAG and an RSEG (Retired Suburban European Guy), and he pointed out that the RSEG generally wears black socks pulled all the way up, and pairs them with sandals. Also, whereas the RSAG may often be seen with a fanny pack (or "waist pack" in England) strapped around his midsection, the RSEG is sometimes known to sport a man-purse, or murse. In the absence of a murse, the RSEG will carry his wallet in a front, rather than rear, pocket. In all other respects, however, the RSAG and RSEG are virtually indistinguishable in that they primarily dress for comfort.

*Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

The flowery house

This house sits just outside the entrance to the Patty Jewett Golf Course. As you can see, they've already gotten a jump start on the rest of us with their perfect green lawn and their wall-o-flowers. I can't wait to see this in a month or two, it's going to look great!

Patty Jewett is one of the most desirable neighborhoods in the entire city, yet a lot of people don't even know it exists. It's just a few short blocks of perfect little 1920s bungalows, some of them in the Spanish style like this one. If you go a few blocks west you'll start to run into Victorian mansion land, but Patty Jewett is more charming in many ways.

The next time you're downtown, cruise over to the streets just west of the golf course and see what I'm talking about. There are very few "for sale" signs in these front lawns though, so I guess you'll have to be like me and daydream!

Patty Jewett Golf Course

This is the road that leads in and out of our most beautiful public golf course, Patty Jewett, on the northeast end of our downtown. Isn't it beautiful and peaceful? I don't golf but I do shoot the occasional wedding here. I would love to live in this neighborhood, it's just wonderful.

The Famous

Last night Pat took me out for dinner at the Famous to celebrate our anniversary. (Okay, our anniversary was in March, but we just now got the chance to celebrate it.) The Famous is a swanky steakhouse downtown, one of those places where ordinary mortals only go on special occasions because it's heart-stoppingly expensive. The food is delicious and the service is wonderful.

We only dine extravagantly like this about once or twice a year, so when we do it's a big deal. We get dressed up: a little black dress, red lipstick, Chanel No. 5; Pat shines his shoes. Yet I am always shocked when we look around us in a place like the Famous and see people dressed in shorts and flip-flops! Listen, if you're going to drop $100+ on a couple of steaks and diet Pepsi (and that's not including tip!), you might as well dress up for it! I guess there is only one bastion left in town where you literally have to get dressed up or they won't let you in the door: Charles Court at the Broadmoor. I'd probably faint at the prices though, so we'll have to wait for our 50th anniversary to eat there. By then maybe I'll have saved up enough money to afford it ;o)

On our way back to the car, Pat pointed out this extremely cool view looking southward down the alley behind the Famous. Another cool shot suggested by Pat!

Happy anniversary honey, I love you.

April sunset

I took this photo on April 29th. It was a very mild day and I was hoping for a spectacular sunset -- I even went to the Mesa overlook and waited patiently for about 45 minutes, but it was a dud. Since we're so close to the mountains we rarely get good sunsets here. Oh well. It was a nice day to sit and enjoy the twilight anyway.

The East Coast Deli

Pat and I had lunch the other day at the East Coast Deli (24 S. Tejon), one of my fave lunch spots. If you're a transplant to Colorado Springs from the east coast, this is the restaurant for you. Are you craving an egg cream? How about a potato knish, a king-sized reuben or a nice bowl of matzo ball soup? As near as I can tell, this is the only place in town where you can get that kind of food. Personally I love their potato pancakes!

Here's a photo of the coffee mugs they keep lined up on every table. It's very New York.

Abandoned baseball diamond

Here's the cage of the abandoned baseball diamond I was talking about yesterday. Pat asked me to take this picture, and when I took it I didn't think it would be anything special. But now I look at it and I really like it, so thanks Pat! This is the kind of blue sky we get here almost every day. Wonderful.

[P.S. How do you like my new, bigger picture size? Is it too big?]

Abandoned Chevy truck

I noticed this truck a couple of weeks ago, in a spare lot behind a building on the west side. To me it looked like an awesome prop for some future shoot (perhaps senior portraits?), but it also looked like a great subject on its own. I was intrigued, so Pat and I investigated it a few days later. It's weird. There's a big office building, and behind it another, smaller office building. Beyond its parking lot is this weedy spare lot, which apparently at one time held a baseball diamond and a small playground of sorts. Then beyond that are some posh, well maintained townhomes.

Who would park a truck in a baseball diamond and just leave it there? It would seem so easy just to have someone come and tow it away to the junkyard. The name of a plumbing company was painted on the side in faded letters, so I guess there's your culprit. The battery was sitting on the ground in front of it (for shame!). As we investigated, we found all kinds of weird flotsam in the weeds, including a decrepit jock strap (!), a wooden spoon, some odd plastic things that looked like they had a plumbing sort of purpose, and an old shoe.

You can find the strangest things if you just look down as you're walking.

Hey ho, hello!

I couldn't resist posting one last photo from my visit to the Swetsville Zoo. I just loved this little guy. I think he's made out of a propane tank, some shovels and possibly a rake. He has the cutest countenance -- very jaunty! (Admit it. You want to hug him.) I also like his buddy the train in the background. I can't imagine how much work went into these two guys!

The jolly frog

Actually I don't know if it's a frog or not, but that's what it looks like to me! This happy guy and his companion (a dragonfly?) live at the Swetsville Zoo outside of Fort Collins. Aren't they cute?

Long-legged lunch companion!

One of Bill Swets' clever creations at the Swetsville Zoo outside Fort Collins. Very cool! If I had to guess, I'd say it's a '75 or '76 Super Beetle. For some reason I was loathe to walk under it, isn't that funny? I walked all around it and shot it from every angle, but I think head-on is the best.

I would absolutely kill to shoot a wedding at this place, I'm serious! Wouldn't it be the coolest location ever?

The Swetsville Zoo

To follow up yesterday's post... My Fort Collins trip with Jenn on Sunday included a stop at the Swetsville Zoo, where you can enjoy the quirky folk art of retired farmer Bill Swets. The Swetsville Zoo sits right off of exit 265 (from I-25 take a right and you're there). I've heard of it but never visited, so thanks Jenn for the suggestion! It's not a zoo in the traditional sense of the word. It's a sculpture garden full of marvelous folk art, set on a farm.

I was amazed. For one thing, the place was completely deserted except for Mr. Swets' artwork. It was just Jenn and me wandering around with our cameras. (And a few mosquitos, since the Poudre River runs through the property.) Wandering around this crazy, deserted sculpture garden/farm was such a neat experience. The sculptures themselves are crafted completely from, well, junk. And they're so cool! Lots and lots of dinosaurs, dragons, frogs, giant bugs... you name it! I could spend all day there. Too bad I didn't bring a "real" camera, but I got some decent pictures with my little point-and-shoot. I'll post a few more here over the next three or four days.

Unfortunately the Swetsville Zoo will soon be dismantled. Yes, it's sad. The road that it sits on is scheduled to be widened, and the Swets' property is smack in the middle of all that progress. The art will be donated and disbursed here and there. I'm glad I got a chance to visit the place before that happened.

A little teaser

There's a very interesting place just outside of Fort Collins called the Swetsville Zoo. Here's a little teaser photo to pique your interest. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow!

The Student Services building at CSU

There is absolutely no point to this blog post, other than the fact that I loooooooooove this building! It's got so many curves and planes, it's awesome! I could just walk around it all day and photograph it from every angle, especially in the late afternoon light.

CSU sure has some cool buildings on its campus!

The Animal Sciences building at CSU

With a student population of roughly 28,000 (!!!), Colorado State University in Fort Collins offers as diverse a curriculum as any large college, but it is especially reknowned as an "aggie" school. That is to say, its agricultural and veterinarian programs are top notch. In fact, it's one of the best schools in the country to get your veterinarian credentials. While my friend Jenn and I were at CSU yesterday touring her old stomping grounds (she majored in music), I snapped this picture of the Animal Sciences building. I like the farm animal murals. Very inspiring!

CSU, Fort Collins, Colorado

Today I had a wedding album to deliver to a client who is also an old friend. He and his wife live in Fort Collins, over two hours north of Colorado Springs. Ordinarily I would ship an album that distance, but what the heck I was up for a little road trip. Fort Collins is only a few miles south of Wyoming -- that's a decent drive. I took my friend Jennifer with me. Jenn attended Colorado State University in Fort Collins for two years back in the 1980s, along with my brother Chuck. She hasn't been back to campus since then! We had a lot of fun just walking around, with Jenn recounting all the great times she had there.

Of course there are "no skateboarding" signs posted everywhere, and of course skaters completely ignore that rule, just like every campus all over the world I bet! These two skaters, Tim and Eric, were nice enough to olley off this loading dock three times for my camera. (Thanks guys!) When Jenn told them she went to CSU in 1988, they looked at us like, "Wow, that's before we were born! Those ladies must be really old!" Ha!

More from my day in Fort Collins in the coming posts...

What the duck!

I apologize for being an hour and-a-half late with my May 2nd post. I had a medical procedure done yesterday and it kind of threw me for a loop for a couple of days! (I'm fine, no worries.) So I'm backdating this to 11:59pm for the sake of continuity. This is another image from Monument Valley Park a few days ago. I love it when ducks go under in search for food, and their little heinies stick straight up in the air. It's so cute!

May theme day: shadows

It's the first of the month and you know what that means -- theme day for City Daily Photo bloggers! This month's theme is shadows. I thought about it for a few days, then decided that a sundial would be a great subject. There's a sundial on the south side of the former Van Briggle Pottery building in Monument Valley Park near the Colorado College, so Pat and I ventured there yesterday to photograph it at around 4:30 or 5:00pm. (More about Van Briggle in another post.)

The shadow wasn't as dramatic as I'd hoped it would be, but still you can see where it tells time very accurately! According to the shadow I took this photo at 4:45pm.

To see more theme day photos from City Daily Photo bloggers around the world, click here to view thumbnails for all participants . Happy May Day everyone!

[ETA -- Some of the CDP bloggers seem to have confused shadows with silhouettes or even reflections, but even so the pictures are cool, so check them out! One clever blogger in Sydney, Australia even took a photo of someone's five o'clock shadow!]