Category Archives: Colorado Daily Life

3000 Miles Apart

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I’ve been getting text messages and phone calls from Britton with updates on what’s going on down in Puerto Rico. Sounds like it’s nice and warm and tropical as usual and that the houses are looking good.

Back at the homestead, things are so weird without him here. Even the animals don’t know what’s up. (But they manage as long as I feed them 🙂 )


Britton is currently about 3000 miles away!

This is the farthest we’ve ever been apart since we got married. When we were still dating I lived in Querétaro, México for a summer, and that was really hard to be apart for that long!  

It’s so different doing everything by yourself…cooking, cleaning, taking care of the pets. I’m glad we planned this trip during the week, because at least I have work and that keeps me busy. On the weekends we spend the whole time together usually, so it would have been a lot tougher. And I have a few things lined up before Thursday when he returns. Tonight I think I’m going to go to Trivia night at Old Chicago’s and Wednesday night together with my friend Shana, my mom and my aunt, we are going to watch Eat, Pray, Love and have dinner and drinks. (Girls Night In)

But I still want to know what is going on down there in the tropics. It’s hard to only get the play-by-play and not see the action myself. Lots of questions…So, how was the flight? How was the new airport? What time did you get in? Is it three hours or two hours ahead of Colorado time? Did you get to spend any time with the Kruses? How was the first house? Was there a stream? What did it look like? What kind of view does it have? Is it really hilly? How far is it to the beaches? Etc, etc. I’m excited to know the details, but he’s busy looking at them! 🙂

I really hope that we find one that we can work with, so the next time we can bridge these 3000 miles -together!

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Poker Memorial for Dad at Cattlemen’s in Greeley

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Thursday night we went to a poker memorial for my dad at Cattlemen’s Steakhouse in Greeley. He had talked about getting his poker group together along with us (his family) for months before he passed. He gave his best friend, Mory, some money to cover a nice meal and said to have a good time on him when he was gone. He was just that kind of guy. He loved poker and gambling and he loved his friends and family. It was a fitting tribute. And we felt him there that night.


The group at dinner

We had a large group come out. Most of his regular card crew came as well as their significant others. We all commented that we should have done this before. The wives had never met the other wives (it’s mostly a boys’ card club, but women are welcome), but they knew all the men from many, many years of rotating houses and fixing the food. So it was nice to fit the family with the card player. And we even had links we didn’t know were tied to Dad! (Greeley is a small world after all.)


Pre-dinner conversation

We had a nice meal that Dad would have approved of. He loved Cattlemen’s Restaurant here in Greeley and its western theme really fit with who he was. We toasted and told stories of his serious love of cards.

Then we got started with the poker. We had so much fun! We were laughing and joking and remembering his little sayings, like how Queens were Queeches, Kings were Cowboys, Twos were Deuces and other random fun stuff Dad taught us. I remember being four or five years old sitting on Dad’s lap playing cards with this and other groups. It was just a part of him. So this night was a perfect memorial.  And he was so forward thinking to put this idea into motion even before he was gone.

The night was wonderful. I felt like I had had a second chance to be with Dad again. We even dealt him in a hand of seven-card no peek and the first card turned was…a Jack! But it also left me nostalgic and longing to really see him. To hear him laugh, hoot and holler, joke and bet. To see him slide the poker chips around in his hands. To watch him bluff -something I can never muster enough sneakiness to adequately pull off.

And with all these memories, my feelings of sadness and loss welled up by the end of the night. But I know that I only miss him so much because of what a great hole he has left. In me, my family, and even this great poker group.

Dad’s perspective- he would be smiling

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Winter Wonderland in Greeley

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Well, it has happened once again. The first snow of the season. A blanket of white drapes itself over our whole landscape. Colorado is so strange. This weekend we had 80 degree weather. You would think it was summer if not for the  lack of leaves on the trees and the yellow coloring on those that remained. It was gorgeous and sunny. We went for a walk by the river and hung out outside. Then Tuesday we had our first taste of snow, but it didn’t stick around.


Brrr out back

Today I have the day off as it is Veteran’s Day. So I slept in, nice and cozy. Britton still had to work, so there was no rush in getting up. When I finally roll out of bed it is WHITE. Everywhere. Cold, fluffy and white. A winter wonderland in Greeley. Kitty was sitting at the back door and so my aunt Laura (who is staying with us) let him in. He is an outdoor cat, but we are not that “cold” and so we let him in if he is being good. And he is. He loves warm soft spots, just like me. And that’s where he ended up. On our bed curled up beside me.


Kitty Snuggling up next to me in bed

Schnoodle, on the other hand loves the snow. She presses and nuzzles all around and in it and just gets completely covered in snow clumps all over her fur.


Schnoodle in the Schnow 🙂

The chickens tolerate it, but they obviously don’t enjoy it. How can you peck and scratch when everything is wet and cold? So they keep to the side of the house where the overhang protects them from snow. We had thought about moving them and their coop into the greenhouse for their winter home, but just hadn’t done it yet. Maybe this weekend we’ll do that. It stays relatively warm in there and they have a dry area to walk around on.


Greenfoot avoiding the snow

It’s hard to believe that in just a few days Britton will be in Puerto Rico. No snow there. While it is certainly beautiful this shiny, shimmering snow, I think I could try a life without it in the tropics for at least a little while…

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Fall, Freezes and Feathers

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We had a pretty hard freeze the other night and so all our beautiful flowers out front, our basil, peppers and tomatoes all just turned black and shriveled up into a mess. The same thing happened in our greenhouse. We also had some horrendous winds and so most of the yellow and red leaves have blown off the trees. Still, in true Colorado fashion the weather shifts between mid 70s to 30s depending on the day.


Front after the freeze…all withered and wilted

The chickens have been laying a lot fewer eggs and Henrietta started molting which means no eggs from her at all until that’s done. Some people put a light in their coops for about an hour at night to increase their laying, but we don’t. We figure it’s a good time for them to rest and follow nature’s rhythms. I know that I want to sleep a lot more too!


Henrietta’s Spikes


A close up

Pretty soon we will be moving them into their winter home: the greenhouse. After the freeze I went in there to check it out and so did they. They helped clean it up by eating some of the over-ripe tomatoes for us. Also, don’t miss Kitty’s cameo 🙂

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