The High Country

Happy February to you!  It is still very cold here in Northern Colorado, but blue skies are back and that helps everyone feel better.  However, it is Coyote mating season and they have been on the prowl.   While typically it isn't a concern, this year we've seen one Coyote that was shot in the leg and he spent quite a bit of time up next to our wrought iron fence. It being shot was very upsetting, but a wounded animal can also pose a threat to pets; that was our main concern. Thankfully, we haven't seen him a few days and neighbors were told by local wildlife rescue that he probably mended on his on.  

Today, hubby and I took some dear friends up to Rocky Mountain National Park to walk around one of the lakes and then have lunch afterwards.  While the weather was nicer than it has been, there was a wind that made it feel colder.  Here we are on the lake; don't worry, rangers told us that it would be safe to walk across.  Our friends made it across, but due to the depth of the snow I choose not to and hubby stayed by my side.

Here our pups have been staying inside where the temp is warmer than outside.  They are the best buddies and we love watching them together.

Miss Emmy with one of her favorite toys.  

 I hope this finds you healthy and staying warm!  

Blessings,

Noreen

A Most Beautiful Time of Year

 Happy Monday to you!  I've shared that the last several months have been so much colder than previous years, but I'm certainly enjoying our landscape with all its beauty.  Even though it was in the low 20's this morning, the bright blue sky reflecting on the white show is so pristine.  I'm thankful to be home on cold mornings!  Our snow is melting slowly and of course we know it won't end for several more months; usually by Mother's Day we are over the worst of it.  However, on cold snowy days it makes for getting some sewing done.  Tomorrow I'm going to be seeing one of my Ca. girlfriends who is dog sitting for her brother in a nearby town.  We've planned lunch out and some shopping at Hobby Lobby.  I haven't seen this friend in several years and it will be a good catch up.  I hope you are seeing beauty in your world.

Blessings~Noreen

Newness of Winter

Happy New Year to you all. The last few months have been colder than normal, for our neck of the woods. In the 15 years we've lived here, I can't remember the temperature being well below freezing for most of December. January has started out the same, with lots of white stuff.

 The photo of me was taken several years ago while on a family get away up in Estes Park. Our family, totaling 17, took a hike around Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.  These trips with family have always been high on our memory list. 

We had a delightful family celebration on Christmas Day!  There was lots of laughter, great food and some incredible gifts.  For New Year's Eve, we had our dear friends Steve and Shelley over for a great dinner.  In the past, we've gone out to our favorite restaurant to celebrate the last day of the year.  However, with cost of living so expensive, we had a wonderful dinner here and played games after that.  We never make it to midnight anymore!  

I've been working on some quilt projects from last year and need to get back to my sewing room, or  they won't be finished anytime soon.  

Blessings of joy, peace, love and health this 2023.

Hugs,

Noreen

A Thankful Heart

 

Hello Friends,  It is so hard to believe the days, weeks and months come and go; here we are in November already.  My heart is overflowing for the many blessings in life~two of which are pictured above. This photo was taken one afternoon while the dogs watched for a testy squirrel that visits our yard.  It was one year ago that we drove to Idaho and picked up our little jewel Emmy.  She has added so much to our lives, especially Hunter's; it only took him about 7 months to adjust to have a playmate around all the time.  Hunter is turning 11 next month and I truly believe Emmy has kept him young.  Emmy is the perfect size for us weighing in at 24 pounds and about 18" high; she has finally started understanding what we are asking of her, most of the time. 

The most important blessings in my life are first and foremost-My Lord and Savior Jesus and then in this order- 1) my hubby, who probably wouldn't have added a second dog to our family and yet let me.  After 44 years of marriage, we still enjoy each other so much.  2) my daughters and sons of my heart-what joy in having family who love the Lord with their heart, mind and soul.  Their faith is reflected in every area of their lives. 3) Our 11 grands, who bring me joy continually.  I love that we all live within 10 minutes of each other and have such a close family bond.  4) Friends, some that have spanned 40 years and some less than 10.  Interests vary, but joy is present when we are together.

5) Good health; not exercising as much as I did in previous years, but we try to walk the dogs whenever the weather allows. 

I hope you have a moment each day to reflect on those blessings in your life.  

Take Me To The Mountains

Yesterday hubby and I took a drive up to the Rockies to check out the colors.  We had been given mixed reviews, one friend who only went into Estes told us there were none and someone else said that yes there were. We did find out if you only went into the town you wouldn't see any, but going into the Park there were so many vibrant colors.  I do wish we'd get red and purple too, but I'll enjoy the beauty around us. Look at this handsome young buck.

Bear Lake is a wonderful, easy hike and one of our favorite places to go.

We also hiked up to Alberta Falls and saw some more colors.

The mountains always renew my spirit and I love them. In fact, we are hoping to get one more chance at camping before winterizing our trailer; we'll see.

Have a wonderful day and don't forget to enjoy the beauty around you.

Hugs,

Noreen
 

Welcome Fall and Family

Hello and Happy Fall y'all.

 Our entire world has changed over the last three years; one of the hardest changes of all was not to be able to see family on a regular basis, due to Covid and health/age restrictions. My only sibling left, aka older brother and his incredible wife(aka sister of my heart) came out this last week for a visit. They spent two days getting used to our elevation and relaxing, before heading to our home. It was a jam packed two days that they were with us; two dinners with our entire clan of 17 and just catching up with them. Life moves fast when you haven't been together, so the gabbing was not stop. On Thursday, we had a easy dinner here at our home. My sil took this photo of my brother and myself. When you are not used to being around 17 people, 11 of whom are our grandchildren, it takes the energy out of you. We even got to the coffee house on Friday to see two of our granddaughters working. Hubby and I toured them around our town, to show them how much it has grown. Friday night we had a wonderful dinner at our youngest daughter's house which included steak bbq'd by our grandson, salads, roasted vegetables, breads, potatoes as well as dessert. Three of our grands were celebrating their birthdays this week, so we all sang to them and enjoy a special desserts for them. Sadly today they bid us goodbye for now to head back to Ca. We are all looking forward to seeing them on a more regular basis.

 I'm really hoping that I find a regular time to blog again; I've really missed you friends. I do have to ask though, when I go to leave comments now on your blogs, it puts me in anonymously and won't put in my blog name~I have no idea as to what has changed and how to get it back to sign my in correctly.

Hugs and joy to you today.

Noreen, Hunter and Emmy

 Hello friends,  You probably have wondered where I've been and what I've been up too; obviously my blog seems to have fallen to the bottom of the list of my priorities.  I wish I could say it will change, but who knows.  I miss you all!

Our summer has been so busy; we have had some great camping trips and the most exciting one was two weeks in Montana.  We've never been gone with the trailer that long and it worked out so well. Even the dogs did better than we expected.  We've had other local, three day trips that make my heart sing; of course we have decided that there is a certain couple that we just don't enjoy that much.  Our good friends of 40 years always make camping so much fun and we are so grateful that they live here now.  Last week hubby and I got away for two days, by ourselves with the dogs and it was fun. We find it much more low key when we are alone~we play games and watch movies if the weather doesn't permit us to be outside.

Here are just a few photos from last week~even though it was nice outside we had our coffee around a campfire.

We only took one kayak, as someone-namely me, thought the water might be too cold.

Hunter with hubby.

After many walks and runs on the beach, Emmy crashed.  

That's about it for now; we have family coming in for a short visit this week and there is so much left to do in preparation.  We haven't seen my brother and sister of my heart since pre-Covid and we simply can't wait.  There will be two larger family dinners with all 17 of us.  

May your day be blessed.

Noreen, Hunter and Emmy

It's Fall already

 Hello,  Yes, it would seem that my blog has been neglected and left alone.  Here it is almost fall, at least the weather is saying it is and it was spring the last time I posted. So sorry-but you can find me on instagram or FB.

Noreen

It is Spring

Hello friends,  It is so hard to know that months have passed without me giving thought to my blog....I simply have no reason why, except an energetic puppy, who at 8 mos. still keeps me busy. It is also hard to believe that my fellow bloggers are still checking in to see if I've written anything.  I would love to say I'll be back regularly, but I'm just not sure.  If you are reading this, feel free to drop me a line and let me know.  I will do my best to come visit you.

Hugs, 

Noreen

From Our Home To Yours Happy Thanksgiving!

 

To all our family and friends, near and far, we wish you a Thanksgiving filled with love, joy and contentment.

With love,

Noreen,  John, Hunter and Emmy

Our New Addition Emmy

Hello Friends, Lest you think I've flown away never to return, I figured I'd better fill you in on what's been happening with us. In October hubby and I joined our dear friends Steve and Shelley Collins and went up to Custer City, South Dakota for three nights of camping. We have so fallen in love with this state and the Black Hills and love getting up there each year. We are already talking about next year's trip. It seems the rest of October flew by. Hubby and I have always had two dogs and clearly see the benefits of it. It had always been on my mind to get another dog to keep Hunter company, but it never seemed to develop. We happened to watch our friends Havanese for a little over a week and Hunter was so happy; I started looking into that breed, but clearly felt that was not the right direction for us. As many of you know, our daughter's family has a Standard Poodle that they bred and I love poodles, especially the larger ones. Both daughters have a Standard and I quickly came to realize that this size was just too much dog for us. I happened across the breeders website that one came from and they had a good selection of Moyen size puppies available. One thing led to another and within one week we were heading to Idaho to pick up our new puppy. Please meet Emmy. Moyen size poodles are between a miniature and a standard size. Emmy should get to 17" tall and 20 lbs., just a little bigger than Hunter. It was a long drive to get here-drove there on Monday, met her and the breeder and went back Tuesday morning to pick her up and head home. Emmy is 4 mos old and such a gem. As a puppy, Hunter was quiet and very shy and Emmy is the same. We've had her for two weeks and she is settling in well; she is still shy and gets scared at new noises, but sleeps all night in her crate and has even been going on walks with us. I'm starting to teach her some basics and she loves snuggling. 

Day Two at our daughter's house, meeting the other dogs in the family.

Don't Hunter and Emmy look cute together.

Exploring the yard and finding leaves to play with.

She loves sitting on the hearth.

One funny trait she has is laying down to eat her kibble. I'm about ready to upgrade her bowl.

 Of course we had to puppy proof the entire house and have crates in different areas.  She makes me laugh and keeps me going with taking her outside to go to the bathroom.

I hope you are all well and enjoying each day! Happy Thanksgiving to you!

Joyfully, 

Noreen, Hunter and Emmy

Homespun Devotions-A Treasure

 

Good morning friends, I hope you are all well and enjoying the changing of the seasons! One of the many blessings of the blogging world is that you get to know some incredible people. Over the years you feel like they are family and even though you haven't met, there is a kindship you share. I've followed Cheryl Smith for years, can't tell you how many exactly. I feel like I've known her for decades.  Cheryl is a remarkable woman of faith, wife, mother, friend.  Her outlook on life is one of quietness and strength.

When she first posted about her new book, I was immediately drawn to it, due to the quilt and the guitar.  Her writings draw you into a quieter time without the distractions of our world today. I have imagined sitting with Cheryl sipping tea or coffee and just sharing heart to heart. Her devotions are like that; they are stories of everyday life, blessings and trails and how Jesus met her in each place.  Let there be no mistake though, Cheryl is a fierce prayer warrior and tiger when necessary.  She has written another book called Biblical Minimalism: Following Jesus from a Life of Abundance to a More Abundant Life.

This dear friend has such an encouraging way about her and it shows on the pages of her devotional book. The chapters are short and cause you to stop and think about the lessons learned.  I can pick up this book whenever I feel the need to draw closer to the Lord; she inspires me to dig deeper in the Word and spend time alone with Him.  This is available on Amazon and you won't be disappointed!  

Blessings to you!

Noreen

Hello Fall

Hello friends, I'm not even going to try to make any excuses for why I haven't been around; just decided to show you. This last week we went camping up in northern Wyoming, to an area we hadn't been to before. It was quite the drive-7 hours and the elevation of the campground was 8,300+'. It was so beautiful! I thought you'd enjoy the photos. We hiked around the lake two days; the afternoon we got there was so cold and cloudy that we just had dinner with our friends and caught up on their camping adventure from the last two weeks.  You will notice the sky was absolutely clear, no smoke at all. This is the road in the campground....stunning.

This is the tail end of the lake we hiked around. Actually part of the trial went through marsh type grasses.

I always take old clothes to wear, but we will be adding more items-hats and gloves to our trailer for our next trip.  

Hubby and our friend with our two little white dogs. Hunter loves their Havenese-they get along so well.

Hunter after the walk-so tired.

We so enjoyed camping with our close friends, eating good meals and even watching a couple of movies-who does that camping? Well if it is freezing outside, we do.  Yesterday was a long drive home, due to Wyoming's notorious winds.  Had to stop for gas more than usual, due to the winds. Our vehicles were really working hard.  We decided we'd love to go back, but stay longer and hopefully have two kayaks with us to put in the lake.  Lots of fishing happening, but we don't fish.  

I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the change of season.  Stay healthy friends.

Hugs,

Noreen
 

Goodbye Summer

Hello friends, lest you think I've vanished off the face of the earth I thought I'd share a couple of pictures from a recent trip hubby and I took. Two weeks ago we drove out to Lake Tahoe for five days; hubby spent most of his childhood summers there and our family always made it a vacation destination. In the past, there has always been a boat concourse and we've enjoyed going to it. Last year it was cancelled due to Covid, but it looked like it would be held this summer. We bought tickets and invited some close friends to join us at Tahoe and go to it. Unfortunately, the boat show was cancelled again. The other couple chose to pass and we decided to drive out anyway. I can tell you the drive was tiring! Along with the long days of driving, throw in the Dixie fire and dangerous air quality. We did get to walk around Hot August Nights car show and then spend three days there. South Shore Tahoe is not what it used to be and we both decided we don't need to go back. While we were there, we couldn't do any hikes we had planned and so drove to Fallen Leaf Lake~another hot spot for hubby's teen years. I couldn't pass up this shirt.

It took us two days to get home, only to find out the air quality was just as bad as there.  We decided to run up to one of our favorite Colorado get aways-Steamboat Springs. The air was clear and it was as delightful as ever to visit.  We only spent two nights there and hiked one morning.  

I sent these pics to my girls and was immediately informed that their dad who was styling a fanny pack for carrying water bottles, is really in style-as these are coming back again.  What???  

 WE had a lovely time and a couple of delicious dinners.  We're home now with our busy schedules keeping us running in different directions.  

I hope you are all well. 

Hugs,

Noreen

Memorial Day

Hello All,  Last weekend hubby and I flew to Northern California to attend a 70th birthday party for hubby's brother's birthday.  What's a gal to do, but call her brother and sister of her heart asking them to pick us up at the airport and then go to lunch before we headed to hubby's sister's house.  My brother and sister in law found The Waffle Experience that was in close proximity to where his sister lives and we enjoyed lunch there.  From left to right-hubby, sister of my heart, my brother(both who we hadn't seen for 1.5 yrs) and myself.  We had a such a great time catching up, but sadly it was over too soon.

Hubby's sister has several passions, one being gardening.  While she has quite a small home, she has about 1/3 acre in the back yard.  She has landscaped it beautifully and loves spending time weeding and redoing plants. She has at least 10 Japanese Maples, hubby is standing in front of one.  Their dad loved these trees and had a yard filled with them; hence each of the four siblings love them as well.  We had so many in Santa Rosa, but they aren't as hardy here.  We do have one Lacy Leaf Japanese Maple in the front yard and a miniature in the back yard.  We have to go to some lengths to help them survive our snowy winters.

We had a wonderful two days with hubby's family and surprised his brother who couldn't believe we flew out just to attend the party.  When we got home all my Iris plants were in bloom in the back yard.  I call this garden area the "Loretta" garden after my mom, who loved Iris plants and my dear friend Loretta who gave me all the bulbs that bloomed here.

 This weekend we will celebrate one granddaughter's birthday and then it will be relaxed.

Hope you have a great day!

Hugs,  Noreen

Gourmet Delight

The Broadmoor Hotel is incredible and needless to say we had never experienced anything this high end before.  The food was so delicious; the seafood croquette was so good.  Somehow the photo of hubby's dinner didn't turn out, but he loved the Rack of Lamb.  

For breakfast Friday morning we enjoyed another great meal-I had an Egg White Frittata  and hubby had a simple egg breakfast with all the trimmings.

One of the many delicacies was this Rose Water Raspberry Macaroon.  Let's just say I knew I'll be needing to cut back on calories when we returned home.

 We so enjoyed ourselves and it started our Memorial Day weekend off on a good note.

Joy to you. Noreen

Celebrations

Hello and Happy June to you! Last Thursday, hubby and I went on an adventure to Colorado Springs to celebrate both of our birthdays and our upcoming 44th anniversary.   We started by driving around Garden of the Gods, remembering a family trip taken years ago.  It was a beautiful day, but cold and windy.

Our destination was a hotel that we've heard about for years and wanted to experience-The Broadmoor. It did not disappoint.  This is a very expensive high end hotel that was worth every penny, even if just for a night.  

The next picture is of a beautiful room that used to be an ice rink and many famous skaters, including Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill and Scott Hamilton perfumed there. Everything about this hotel exudes elegance.

 I will share some of our food entrees tomorrow.  Initially we thought we'd wait until our 50th wedding anniversary to go back, but we are both talking about possibly next year to celebrate turning 70.  

Hugs, Noreen