Mary Christine's Photos

Rocky Mountain Sober

2009-07-12T22:22:00.000-07:00

I am at home. Praise God.

I love home.

I love the Denver Airport (this from a person who thought building that silly tent out on the prairie was insane!)

I love that my flight landed at about 8:30 p.m. and I got to see the sunset over the rocky mountains. The beach is fab, but I am in love with my home scenery - the mountains.

I love that I got to take a bath in my own bathtub.

I love that in this arid climate, my hair is fluffed back up after a week of FLAT, FLAT, FLAT.

There is so much to write, but I am utterly and totally exhausted.

I will lay my head down on my own pillow and gratefully go to sleep.

Tonight when I got to Denver, I experienced familiar emotions, because I am always glad to come home - no matter where I go. But tonight I had a new one.

I am so grateful that I live in this place, so far away from my family. Not because I am far away from them, but because I struck out a long long time ago and made my own place in this world. And I really do love it. It is not fabulous like others, but I don't care. Fabulous is in the eye of the beholder and my bathtub and bed are totally awesome tonight.

I will write more coherently tomorrow.

Making Salsa

2008-08-30T21:02:00.000-07:00

The day starts with a trip to the farmers' market. Tomatoes, chiles, cilantro, onions, and garlic.
Starting with washing the cilantro and blanching the tomatoes. (Do you see that colander? I got that as part of a wedding present for my first (wedding) in 1970 - it was an entire set of tupperware - this is the only piece I have left. I bet it looks like an antique by now!)
A box of chiles, just out of the roaster. I wish I could show you how they smell! The entire house smells heavenly.
Bowls of chiles and tomatoes. Getting ready to cut up the onions, garlic, and cilantro.
This my garbage bowl after a day of slicing, dicing, and peeling. Note the latex gloves. You do not want to handle these peppers with bare hands!
The product? A bunch of pretty jars of salsa.
I'm finally done. It's 8:51 p.m., 67º outside and 83º inside! An entire day of work for 17 pint jars of salsa. But, boy, is it good!

Home Improvements!

2007-10-08T10:41:00.000-07:00

This is my old garage door and color scheme...This is my front door as it was...
This is my new garage door and you can see my red front door!

I had three moons in my house, this is one.... they are all gone now.
The new foyer light - and the new red door... note the rooster knocker on the front door.
Dreadful, dreadful, dreadful.
The new ceiling fan. I think it is so pretty.

The old dining room light. eeeeesh.
My new dining room lighting. This is probably my least favorite of the new fixtures. I still like it WAY better than the old.

The old kitchen lights, two moons hanging over my kitchen. I have disliked these things since the moment I walked in here - 6 years and 2 months ago.
My new kitchen track lights (shouldn't they be called 'tract' lights?) I love the way these things open up my kitchen. And yes, that is a half an apple pie on the counter... and note the little chicken lamp on the counter.

This is happy stuff. I have wanted to do all of this stuff since I moved here. But little, by little, it gets done.

Some Favorites

2007-07-15T19:02:00.000-07:00

A cell phone photo, taken while running along the beach at sunrise in Galveston, TX

Three generations of wonderful females.

My front porch, which I love.

The finishers medal from the Colfax Half-Marathon, May 20, 2007

I took a run on Christmas Day in this snow!

A bit of fun.

From inside the rest room on top of Vail Pass - in October!

My father's big book (this is all I wanted when he died)

My beloved big book.

A day in the life

2007-03-14T17:52:00.000-07:00

My current project - a pair of socks with cables at the top - for my sponsee J. - this is what I do in AA meetings in order to keep my big mouth shut.

After the 6:30 a.m. meeting, I decided to take a picture - it's my foot (obviously), my knitting, my coffee, my purse, and a box of kleenex - with the steps and traditions in the background.

Breakfast once I hit my office. I eat the same breakfast every single morning... plain, nonfat yogurt, with blueberries - and Uncle Sam Cereal.

Picked up a few items at lunch time to bring back to the office.

This is my "view" most of the day, except for the feet... I was hamming it up for the camera.

I LOVE the view from my office, putting my foot on the window sill was unnecessary, but it felt good anyway.

I got home and decided to head out into the garden. Pruning a rose bush - it's alive! it's alive!

Yes, I really have gloves and crocs that match - and they are both dirty - which means I really use them both for gardening.

Blizzards of 2006

2007-01-13T11:12:00.000-08:00

Look at how much snow is on my bedroom window sill by late afternoon!
It looks like ghosts are having a cook-out.

NO! Please, Please, NO More! December 29 - Another day off of work due to snow. It's pretty, but I really want my life back.
YakTrax might be the best product ever invented. Certainly the best $30. I have spent in a long time. They make it possible to go outside without it being a death / disability wish.

Who ever saw so much snow?
Finally !!!! It is all shoveled. This was a herculean task, one which I hope never to repeat.

Apple Pie

2006-10-07T21:29:00.000-07:00

Don't these apples just SCREAM - make me into a pie!?
Getting the 'gredients together...
The crust is made.
Doesn't this just look like a great way to spend an afternoon?
Under construction.
It goes in the oven.
The finished product. And it was good!

Garage Project

2006-05-30T19:07:00.000-07:00

This is not your father's peg board. This is girlie peg board purchased at Target. $4.99 each modular panel. And my studs were not spaced so that I could put them side by side as I had planned. Damn those studs! They never cooperate!
Look at those nice shelves I assembled! I am so impressed!
Look at those cords, hanging on little nails! Isn't that amazing?
Oh, but this is the "dark" side. The side I have not yet gotten to. Can I ever clean this?
But my car still fits in here, so I will tell myself I am not THAT disorderly.

Saturday Morning Bike Ride

2006-05-14T05:12:00.000-07:00

My new bike! See those big fat tires? Those enable me to ride again without the terror that has been present since my accident. Yay!

Bear Creek Lake - this "beach" is actually crowded in the summer. It is a nice place for a little open-water swim.

A foot/bike bridge over Turkey Creek
I got to the top of the trail! And this is the view to the east... (denver)
A view to the west
Bear Creek
A pretty foot/bike bridge over the Bear Creek.

It was a nice little (12 miles) bike ride. It feels so great to be back on a bike. Biking is my favorite form of exercise. It just feels like fun to me.

Sunday Morning Hike

2006-04-30T15:25:00.000-07:00

My Sunday Morning hike begins... Putting one foot in front of the other...
I love yuccas
Snowcapped peaks of the front range
See Denver off in the distance?
Red Rocks.
Doesn't life just seem like this sometimes? Uphill and rocky.
And after walking, almost entirely uphill, for an hour - I have a view of two highways (C-470 and I-70). So I turned around and walked back. It was a glorious day.

Late April Snow

2006-04-24T18:34:00.000-07:00

I decided to take one little sprig off the bush in case it is lost...
Aspen leaves with snow.
My tulips now. Oh well, they had a good life.
The lilac bush now. Let's hope the tarp will keep it warm enough and undamaged enough to let the flowers come to fruition.

Field Trip

2006-04-11T15:49:00.000-07:00

Driving at the (butt) crack of dawn, as my kids would say.
I tried to take a picture of these weird cellular receiver towers they tried to make look like pine trees, but you can't really see them in this picture... look to the left at the things that KIND OF look like trees, they are not trees. They are creepy.

Pike's Peak from a Scenic View place I have never stopped at before.
This is at a "Colorful Colorado" rest area.

I love Yuccas.

April Saturday

2006-04-08T11:38:00.000-07:00

Driving home from the meeting.

It takes a pretty "special" (stupid) person to be driving 65 mph and taking photos.
The "pregnant" tree in my front yard.
Tulips - I am so hopeful that next week on Easter Sunday, there will be pink tulips here.
The tiny, tiny little lilac flower buds - I am so happy because I just planted this last spring and was worried it wouldn't survive the winter.

Somebody must have needed the nozzle to this WD-40 more than I did... when I got it home from the store, it had no nozzle with which to spray.

My new screen door. Please note the lack of cat scratches.

I mowed my lawn for the first time this year. Used my new (new to me, formerly my sponsor's) electric lawn mower. It is very very neat. Quiet and not smelly. And it doesn't take Arnold Schwartzenegger to start it.

Icon

2006-03-23T18:02:00.000-08:00

After the second day. You cannot believe how much work went into this - it sure doesn't look like it...

At the end of day three. Gee.
At the end of the fourth day. I am still not sure this is going to be anything I am going to feel good about.

The end of day 5.

This is it! My first icon. It is hard to photograph it because it has a sheen and it is hard to see the gold halo. That is really 24 karat gold. What a process it was to make this.

I am so incredibly grateful for the experience. I think I will probably continue to do this and I hope that my icons will get better. I just love this one, not because it is great, but because it is an icon of St. Michael the Archangel.

Winter Storm Warning

2006-03-19T10:25:00.000-08:00

Where Suburbia ends and a real ranch begins. The ranch is soon to be just more suburbia.
Rooney Ranch. This is normally the turn-around point in my morning run.
Green Mountain is white mountain today. This is a great trail head...
This would normally be a view of Denver - on Monday Nights when the Broncos are at home, you can see the lights of Mile High Stadium from here.
Brrrrr. Poor St. Francis is cold today.

My orchid (the white one) and my sponsor's orchid. They are living in harmony. She asked me to keep a couple of her plants for a while. I love this orchid.

I see you!

2006-03-11T14:53:00.000-08:00

I see you too! Thank you JJ! What a wonderful thing to get in the mail!
A little slice of my RED HAIR! I LOVE IT!
The dreaded treadmill
I wore this shirt to work out this morning, it has such wonderful memories.
Minerva the kitten
Breakfast. Yummy.

March Fifth

2006-03-05T17:32:00.000-08:00

The view to the east as I head down to the pool. I love to be up and out to see the sunrise.
The view to the west.
JJ- I am grateful for 2 Cs: Car and Coffee
I put $5 into the coin machine at the car wash and got this crap back! I will never do that again! I don't care if they were used at the car wash, when I put in $5 - I want Five Dollars in change back. Not tokens!
Sat outside with Minerva for a while this afternoon... she is so odd.
My day ends with watching the Oscars.
P.S. I can't believe anyone wants to see these, but I know I love looking at others' pictures, so I will post these on the off chance that someone wants to look at them.

March Bike Ride

2006-03-04T12:06:00.000-08:00

Today I took a beautiful, but dangerous and therefore shortened bike ride. The wind was so strong, it was blowing me into traffic as I was riding. It really was kind of scary. And I am not quite over the accident last year that broke a rib. It was pretty though....

Look at where my PINK BANDANNA was hiding all winter!

Bear Creek - no, this is not sepia... it is just the monochrome of winter.

The Bridge from which my bike got blown by wind (as I was taking this picture.) ......and the bike where it fell....

My biker leg and foot. (that is the Colorado State Flag on my socks!)

And when I got home.....

I realized that a couple of the crocus in my back yard had bloomed! Yippeee!

And thanks JJ

for encouraging me to do this!