Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Road Trip to Colorado and Other Things to Do This Winter


I drove to Colorado Springs and Denver over the weekend with my daughter
 


Amanda wanted to visit her old college friend, Brett, who recently moved to Colorado Springs


Amanda in Manitou Springs at the foot of Pike's Peak


Amanda and Brett enjoyed the old time amusement arcade in Manitou Springs





Followed by great hot chocolate, cappuccino...

...and delicious desserts!

It snowed Saturday night and the temperature went down to 10 degrees F.

We returned on Sunday trying to make Raton Pass (between Colorado and New Mexico) before the snow got heavier

We made it!
(Thanks to my daughter, Amanda, for providing all the above photos)


During these cold winter days, I'm enjoying some good books and tea I got for Christmas. 



 I finished the book Matt gave me, Joan Didion's Blue Nights.  This was a memorial to her daughter, Quintana.  So sad.  My step daughter, Margaret, sent me Amy Waldman's first novel The Submission that I'm presently reading with great interest.

Amanda gave me some new pastels for Christmas but the cold weather prevents me from painting in my unheated studio.















I gave my latest finished pastel painting to my daughter Mary for Christmas.



I also like to bake cookies on cold winter days.  Mary made a gluten-free sugar cookie mix and gave it to me for Christmas.  Yummy!


Cooking Green Chile Stew is always welcome on these cold days.  I break out the frozen roasted chiles from September and make a pot of green chile stew that pleases everyone in my home.



Snowshoeing is always a great adventure and excellent exercise.  The nearby Sandia Mountains have many snow shoe and cross-country skiing trails to enjoy.  The quiet of the forest as you trudge through the snow is stunning!

Amanda snowshoeing on the Deer Spring Trail




Making snow angels in the snow is always fun!

The Friends of the Sandia Mountains hold an annual Sandia Snow Shoe Race in January, and although registration is full for the January 21, 2012 race, you can come watch the event that begins at 10AM.  This is how we raise money to fund all our volunteer work in the Sandia Mountains

The Sandia Snow Shoe Race course
  

Another thing I like to do on these cold winter days is to watch the wild birds when they come to my feeders. 



Mary's fiancee, Matt, gave me some premium bird feed for them.  With all the snow on the ground covering their sources of food, they really love the extra nourishment.

My new black cat, Beeto, loves to watch the birds, too.

2 comments:

  1. love the pastel painting

    i've never seen a sky with a colorful cloud formation like that in any other painting

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  2. Thank you, Paul, for the favorable comment. THAT is the New Mexico sky. My teacher, Deborah Secor, http://todaysartclass.blogspot.com/
    taught me the technique and colors for painting clouds in pastel. She is selling her beautiful paintings ("for a song") here: http://paintingsforasong.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete