8th Anniversary

As of today, Mark and I have been together for eight years. This is the bronze year so we are considering our bronze Pan our gift to each other. It is stunning. We have spent the weekend cycling and eating. We rode 38 miles on Saturday, 62 miles on Sunday and 21 miles today. Yesterday we were caught in the rain and then a hail storm. We were soaked when we got home. Today we cut our ride short when the rain started again. Everything is green and beautiful. I replaced the dead apricot tree on Saturday and we planted some coleus along the drive way. Our yard is beautiful. This year the clematis by the sun room has grown tall enough that you can see the blooms easily while sitting. We love our little lives in Denver.

Pan

Colorado Spring is here which means it is warm one day and can be cold the next. Today is a cool and cloudy day. We have tulips and daffodils blooming. The yard is very green after the big snow last week. We bought Dwight's newest sculpture Pan 2 of 30. The piece was commissioned by a man Dwight knows in Seattle. Otherwise I would have gotten the first one. This is a most spectacular statue. I suspect that others might want one too. You can contact Dwight through his website at www.davidsonsculpture.com

Spring Skiing

Even though it is not really Spring yet, we have Spring conditions in the mountains. Yesterday Mark and I got onto the mountain late in the morning. The temperature was in the single digits so we lounged around the cabin until it warmed up a bit. When the days and warm and the nights are cold the snow gets very packed and hard. It makes the skiing a little less enjoyable. So we wait for the sun to soften the snow and then the skiing is great. With day light savings time it is light late into the day. This makes for great afternoon skiing. We did a lot of bump runs and by the end of the day we were ready for the hot tub. For some reason we were starving when we got back to the cabin so cooked right away. Our friend Anne had brought us a can of duck meat which we devoured on rosemary crackers. Then on to our dinner of herbed chicken, potatoes and a salad with pomegranate seeds. It was great. We finished watching the 5th season of Nip Tuck. That show pushes the edge. Matt the son wound up having sex with his sister. Neither knew they were related when they hopped into bed. They liked the sex a lot and giving this up because of being sibs did not come easily for them. The characters in this show are perfectly dreadful and so fun to watch. Today Mark and I went skiing at Vail. It is a great mountain. The conditions are still Spring like. The snow has been melting and it looks more like mid April than Mid March. A red fox was scavenging around the cabin this morning. He was not very shy when we went out on the deck to get a better look at him. He actually approached us from below the deck, I think to see if we had something for him to eat. I love seeing the wildlife here in the mountains. Tonight we will have a simple meal of cheese tortellini, fennel with oranges and a salad. We like to take Mondays off from time to time so we can have a three day weekend. So we will ski again in the morning and then head home in the late afternoon. The ski traffic is heavy on Sunday afternoons and at times it will take three to four hours to get home instead of the usual hour and a half. Well it is time to build a fire as the sun has set over the mountains to the west. The temperature drops quickly when the sun goes down.

Ski Weekend

Mark and I are heading to the mountains for a three day weekend of skiing. Breckenridge got snow last night and hopefully will get more this weekend. March is the month that we generally get the most snow. It has been dry this winter in Denver. I watered our fruit trees last weekend. Last year I planted two types of cherry trees, two types of apricot trees, two types of plum trees, two peach trees and two apple trees. The apple trees are grafts with three types of apples on one tree and four types on the others. All of these trees are in a row along the north side of our property. I suspect the blooms will be nice this Spring. Palino's is my favorite gardening center and I consulted with them on the types of trees to plant. Our Spring on the Front Range of the Rockies varies a lot every year. We can get snows up to May so the trees need to bloom late and the fruit needs to mature quickly. We have daffodils and dutch irises blooming in the yard. This is really early for them to bloom here. The tulips are coming up. I planted about 300 new ones last fall. They should be nice. My niece Melissa was supposed to come up skiing next week but I have not heard back from her. It is her Spring break from teaching.

Run the Republic

On Sunday Mark and I participated in a fund raiser for the American Lung Association. Mark was 7th in fundraising for the event. So the event was running up the Republic Building which is 56 floors. Simply put we were breathing hard when we reached the top. We had leftovers for lunch and then went to a wine tasting by one of our favorite wine shops, the Vineyard. Our handsome and tall friends Kris and Tony joined us. Mark and I took the bus so we could taste to our heart's content.

Celebrating our Kitchen

On Saturday evening Mark and I cooked dinner for our construction crew that remodeled our kitchen. Tarl the general contractor is married to Diana who is from Mexico. Her mother and his mother came. Mary his mother actually designed the kitchen with our input. It is a great design. Mario and his wife Maria are also from Mexico. John and his wife Rachael who is completing her surgery residency came too. John did a lot of the carpentry work. Cameron the painter/artist wound up being someone who used to wait on Dwight and me when we would eat at the Mercury Cafe. So now for the meal. We made Duck, papaya, artichoke tacos with a pepper corn vinaigrette. Then a tomatillo soup served over tortillas, cheddar cheese and fried quail eggs. The main course was turkey with mole and rice. Desert was tres leches cake. We served a different wine with each course. Tarl mentioned that when he told Diana that we were making mole from scratch she was sceptical. I suppose the best compliment of the evening was when she said that we far exceeded her expectations. She said she did not think we would be able to make mole and this was one of the best that she has eaten. Her mother Sylvia devoured the tres leches cake. When I mentioned that I guessed she did not really care for the cake she laughed with glee. All in all it was a terrific meal enjoyed by all.

Valentine's Day Weekend Skiing

Well Mark and I have skied for the past two days in Breckenridge. The snow has been good. We had Valentine's Day dinner at our favorite restaurant Cafe Alpine. We both had the froi gras salad with honey truffle vinaigrette, then I had the Crab meat Wellington, Mark had the Pork loin with bacon served with sweet potatoes and a sauce with pomegranate seeds. For desert I had a Cognac filled Frangepane and Mark had a Kafir lime and lemon grass scented Pot De Creme. A great meal. Steve and Ginny were at the cabin with their friends when we got home. We are all planning on eating pizza tonight. Back to Denver in the morning.