A blast to the past...

Yesterday's adventure took us to the cool air of

It was a step back in time, like an eerie Twilight Zone episode, complete with retro roller skate carpet and mushroom stools to put on those tan leather skates. Complete with the world's longest limbo line, filled with 6, 7, 8, and 9 year olds. Complete with changing, multi-colored globe lights on the ceiling and a really cool disco ball. Complete with two happy girls tossing dice for the dice game.And in the end, three happy, but tired, skaters.

Weather report

HOT!!!
We are still in a heatwave. Hot! We are approaching a record number of consecutive days over 90 degrees. If Wednesday reaches 90, we will have exceeded the record of 18 days. In addition to that, we have had 15 days in July at 95 degrees or higher. The forecast is grim, to say the least; it will hit 93 today and reach 100 by Friday.

While this may not seem too bad; this is unusal for Colorado. Many houses don't have air conditioning.

So, we are busy trying to say out of the heat! Today we will step back in time to keep cool. I am taking the girls (my 2 and 1 of Kerry's) to Skate City. It's straight out of the early 80's. Hopefully there will be some good photo ops. Stay tuned.

How is it where you are?

Backyard Project

Monday, and I am exhausted already. Our weekend, backyard project was a doozie. Let me share my photos to explain.

I started digging last week to add a flagstone patio to our back yard. While my husband was at work, here is the area I dug:
Here are the rocks I dug up an moved. They were remnants from an earlier attempt at a stone patio.
Here is the trailer I loaded with all the debris.

Here are the materials for construction. The upright sheets of rock are red Colorado Flagstone.
Saturday and Sunday, my husband, my in-laws and I finished preparing the area.

Here is the patio, almost done:

While I was digging, I found lots of bulbs. I will plant them in the fall.

I was looking for buried treasure. You know, maybe some old jewelry, an antique diamond ring, a bag of money. No such luck. Here's what I found. One old bouncy ball, one marble, two polished rocks, a piece of chain, 3 plastic men, a broken earring, an old, iron door knob, and 2 blue ceramic heads. Not riches, but interesting nonetheless.

Well, when we finish, the stonework will enhance the entrance to our humble little studio. I will share more photos when we're done. Any idea of what to do with the heads?

I've got a bad case of the blog blahs!

We know we haven't written in awhile and we don't know why. Is it because it is summer and we are having a crazy heat wave here in Boulder? Is is because we have so much we want to accomplish before school starts again? Is is because our book club books are really good?

Yes, to all of the above. Summer is rushing past and it seems like there won't be time to do all of the things we had high hopes for in May. As we approach yet another near 100 degree day I am going to sit and dream of crisp autumn air, sweaters, football games and Halloween.

So please, bear with us until it cools down and the kids are back in school. I am off on my first ever cruise next week and promise to take lots of pictures and lots of notes for writing. And Rachel promises to watch my dog and one of my children and write witty stories about their stay at Casa Hanson.
We are currently seeking treatment for the 'blahs' and hope to be up and typing regularly soon.

Friday Freebie

A couple of oddities from the black and white post card collection. These two definitely fill the "People are Strange" criteria. What's their story?

#1

(above) Eunice and her siblings were kicked off their cross-country train for a hosting a rowdy cribbage tournament and inciting the other passengers. They now find themselves in the middle of Iowa with no place to go, no luggage, and no food, except for the fruit basket that Bertha swiped from the dining car, and is now wearing on her head.

#2

Poor little Freddie, finds the punishment for swiping that tempting two-cent candy is baking bread in the boiler room. He'll never do that again!

(Both images come from vintage postcards. Right click the images to save them to your computer)

Facebook

We discovered the wonderful world of Facebook yesterday. For me it all started when Kerry set up her account and I got the Facebook generated email that says, "Check out my Facebook Profile." From there I was stuck--Sucked into the black hole that is the Internet. I had to create my page, fill out my profile, search for friends, try to add more friends to my list...you know how it goes. By the end of the day, I still only had 7 Facebook friends, and 4 of them are immediate family. How lame is that?

On the creative front, little if anything, is being accomplished. The studio, with no air conditioning is a efficient little oven. There is only so long that Kerry and I can sit in there before it starts to feel like a sauna. Not to mention having all 4 girls home can be a hindrance to creative time for Kerry and Rachel. This works out some of the time, but the need for other playdates, swim time, lemonade stands, camps, and time apart dictates the rest of our studio time.

We are making efforts to keep the artistic ideas flowing, though. We each got an art journal. Really just a blank sketchbook to hold our ideas and plans and to do a bit of art journaling. I admire so much the art journaling done on Lia's blog, ArtJunk Girl. Who knows if I will have the nerve or inspiration to share any of my pages on this blog. We'll see.

No, the summer is not a artistically productive time for us. What a shame! So there you have it, my little rant for the day. Thanks for listening.

On a lighter, more creative note, Kerry and I have some grand plans for a little studio re-do and a great art sale in the fall. Say posted for all the details. It should be quite exciting! And, if you can't find us in the studio this summer, check on Facebook. We may be there.

Irish Wit and Wisdom

Kathleen Murphy was standing vigil over her husband's death bed. As she held his hand, her warm tears ran silently down her face, splashed onto his face, and roused him from his slumber.

He looked up and his pale lips began to move slightly. "My darling Kathleen, " he whispered. "Hush, my love," she said. "Go back to sleep. Shhh, don't talk."

But he was insistent. "Kathleen," he said in his tired voice. "I have to talk. I have something I must confess to you." "There's nothing to confess," replied the weeping Kathleen. "It's all right. Everything's all right, go to sleep now."

"No, no. I must die in peace, Kathleen. I slept with your sister, your best friend, and your mother." Kathleen mustered a pained smile and stroked his hand. "Hush now Patrick, don't torment yourself. I know all about it," she said. "Why do you think I poisoned you?"

Tagged, again...

So, a week or two ago we were tagged by the creative and talented Brandy. The rules of the game are: 1. Link back to the person that tagged you. 2. Post these rules on your blog. 3. Share six unimportant things about yourself. 4. Tag six people at the end of your entry.

Here are the six unimportant things about me...(in no particular order)

1. My favorite color is red.
2. My dining room walls are red.
3. My favorite wine is red (any varietal)
4. I have red lilies blooming in my garden.
5. I have red coffee mugs.
6. My prom dress was red (but I won't share that photo)
   

It's fun to play the game, but since we tagged people a month ago, we will pass on tagging this time. Play along if you'd like. What's your favorite color? How do you encorporate it into your life?

Summertime...

Good friends...

good food...

good cheer...

lots of fun...

How was your weekend?

Friday Freebie

Happy 4th of July!

In the spirit of patriotism, here are a few snippets from a vintage color poster titled, "Uncle Sam's Family," by Luis Davila Madrid in 1936. The critique printed on the poster says, "Madrid had the keen and understanding insight into the very spirit of our national affairs to depict our past Presidents with such humorous faithfulness to history. ..."

Enjoy your weekend!

(right click the images to save them to your computer)

How cute is that?

My new find:I found this cute little gem in the Target $1 section (for $2.50). It fits all my criteria for cuteness: it has a nice springy lemon-lime color; it is small, only about 6 inches across; it is a petite version of a full size colander; it was inexpensive; it feeds my need for small sized dishes. But would it be useful? Kerry asked what I would use it for and helped me come up with several ideas.

Today I had the perfect use--breakfast:

A note about our absence:
You may have noticed, or not, that we haven't been around much. I guess that's true. With various trips to Pearl Street in Boulder, The Bay in Broomfield, swimming with friends, multi-night sleep overs, and of course shopping at Target, the week just got away from us. Sadly, we both (separately) tried to blog yesterday and couldn't even log in to Blogger. The best intentions. So this week, no favorites, no wit, no wisdom. We'll try harder next week.