Pooks Canyon

As you may or may not know, we're moving to Chico, California on May 31st. Our prospective domicile is a 1980's contemporary extravaganza and I have been up late nights planning the minutia of interior decor to suit the style of the house. Call it overactive nesting instincts. Anyway, the kitchen has dominated much of these nocturnal ponderings. It is an eat-in kitchen with some serious built-in appliances in black... 1983 double ovens anyone? Why not black, I wondered? I have stainless at my current house and have concluded we are not tidy enough to qualify for a package of stainless steel appliances anyway. Black: I'm going with it. A little research on how to decorate a kitchen with black appliances revealed some helpful information. Did you know that black appliances visually recede rather than pop-out? Sounding good so far... I'm down with receding appliances. Can it make the dishes and mess recede as well? Another tidbit: a modern style kitchen with checker...

Jon and I are replacing windows, insulating our attic, and installing a whole house fan with a loan from the Boulder County Climate Smart program. Climate Smart loans are funded by a bond issue Boulder voters approved last year. Basically, the loan is paid off via an increase in your property tax and if you sell your house the loan goes with it. We'll borrow 10k to the tune of 1k/year. But the improvements we're making qualify for Federal tax credits and Xcel Energy Rebates of nearly $2,000 THIS year. Not to mention the decreased home heating costs! Anyway, I am putting this on the blog for two reasons: 1- If you are a Boulder County homeowner you must attend a 2 hour workshop THIS month and apply- bids in hand- between 4/1 and 4/10. So if you don't want to miss out, get crackin! 2- Kudos to Boulder County for thinking-up and voting-in this very real stimulus that is both boosting the energy efficiency of Boulder County homes and boosting business for contractors acro...

Leah saw this bird alight on the deck railing and had me come look. We thought he was very proud and cute. He was a largish bird and when he took off there was a beautiful flash of red feathers under his wings. From the beak, I'm thinking woodpecker...

Boulder County Cyclist Chases Suspect

High as a kite on his first dart, the lion runs, hoping for a second. Playing his favorite bondage game - anticipating the rubber pellet session to come. This lion is a super-freak. Our 2 year old mountain lion friend returned to the neighborhood where he was found last week , presumably for another tranquilizer fix. A photo of the lion, blacked out on barbiturates, can be seen in my previous post. Clearly he likes it and just keeps coming back for more. This is despite the fact that his pushers, after dosing him up, take him out back and shoot him with rubber pellets. This co-dependent relationship is unhealthy... and now they're strapping a GPS to him; he is no longer his own lion. Come on dude, clean up! Get out into the open space and have a nice deer. Stop lying under people's porches and feeding on raccoons.

Two blocks from Leah's old school Dad- wanna offer that mountain lion insurance again? What was the premium, 25 cents?

The Library is exhibiting some great contemporary art. The medium is blown glass and the name of the exhibit is clever.

Yesterday I got a sunburn riding my bike in 80 degree weather. Today I relieved said sunburn getting snowed on.

What a concept! It appears Colorado liquor stores will be allowed to stay open on Sundays, starting in July. For beer connoisseurs, this means something other than Coors (or other 3.2 beer) will be available 7 days a week. Grocery and convenience stores are upset because 90% of their beer sales take place on Sundays. Cry me a river.

We're on the dance floor at the Boulder Theater, the lights are low, the DJ is pumping, people are sipping fruity drinks from cute little straws. Did I mention this was "Baby Loves Disco?" Yes, the people on the dance floor are children, mostly 3 and under. There are hula hoops, bubbles, and little shakers (that Axel loved). The bar is stocked up with goldfish crackers, fruit, and juice boxes. This is quite possibly one of the cutest little things I've ever seen. Axel and his hula hoop rock out to "Thriller." He loved the shakers.

This herd (flock?) of about 200 goats is confined within this electric fence to eat the vegetation. CU gets free mowing on difficult to trim areas and the goat herder gets free food for the goats.

If you read this Blog, then you have to copy the list to your own Blog and fill in your own answers. (thanks Cyndy K). Tag, you're it! 5 things I was doing 10 years ago. 1. Waddling around 8 months pregnant 2. Coordinating Home Health Care visits for a Home Health Agency 3. Trying to think up a 9 months pregnant Halloween costume 4. Planning my 21st Birthday Party 5. Buying my first home PC and hooking up to Prodigy Internet 5 snacks I enjoy 1. Anything my Aunt Elisabeth sets in front of me 2. Hummus and Pita Chips 3. Carrots and Ranch 4. Popcorn 5. Crackers 5 songs I know all the words to (not that anyone besides Axel would ever want to hear me sing) 1. Norwegian Wood, The Beatles 2. Hotel California, The Eagles 3. 2 Joints, Sublime 4. Bad, Bad Leroy Brown, Jim Croce 5. Jet Airliner, Steve Miller Band 5 things I would do if I was a millionaire 1. Travel the world with my family 2. Buy 2nd homes in Mexico, Manhattan, and San Francisco - and let my friends use them 3. Buy this hou...

Here is Axel at "Burnt Toast" a restaurant on the hill. The waitress just gave my tea to the people that came in after us- then took their food order. Time passes... Now they are sending back the tea because it wasn't what they ordered. Duh. Shall not be returning unless the food is insanely good. I don't think the other people will either - they just got their food but still have not received their drinks... We have the taste of burnt toast in our mouths. Added Later: see my comment for the rest of the story...

Guess what???? I don't go grocery shopping anymore. My grocer is a Boulder start-up called Aspen Grove. They take your order online -either for pickup of delivery- and there are basically no fees if you do big enough orders. At noon I spent about 5 minutes choosing (based on saved favorites from my previous orders) what I wanted and then took a nap with the baby. I awoke to Leah dutifully putting this counter full of groceries into their appropriate locations. Dishsoap, ice, Salmon, lunchmeat, soy milk, carrot juice, lettuce, kiwis, bananas... you name it! They also sell formula and diapers, but I've got 1-800-Diapers covering all of that with Wal-mart prices and free shipping. Ahhh.

I left a comment at the bottom of this Daily Camera article . Dad, is the yearly premium for lion insurance still $0.25?

For those of you that visited us over the last year, this is the final product of that huge construction project that was going on at Broadway and Canyon. People came to look at the house yesterday and there are two more showings today. Maybe there will be an offer soon...

Even waiting at stoplights in Boulder is pleasant.