Brunch at Burnt Toast.
A walk by the Riverwalk in Pueblo.
Going to get ice cream at LM in FoCo.
Jack and I went to the Botanic gardens to see the tulips.
The finished Derby hat.
Dazzle jazz.
At a doggy event.
We stayed at Catbird hotel.
The next morning we had breakfast and lounged in the lobby for a bit. Then we let Jack play ball, checked out and went to see some RiNo murals.
Monday we drove up to Mt. Evans just for a scenic drive and to let Jack have a roll in the snow and that’s it.
I took Jack with me to get water samples and he had fun wallowing in the water, of course he didn’t realize that I was letting him get wet because I was going to give him a bath afterwards. Yes, I’m mean.
Back to the regular Prost salad.
Littleman opened up a new location, so we went to the Grand opening. We waited in line for 45 minutes for ice cream, not bad.
Went to Pappadeaux’s for lunch on a sunny Saturyay!
Went to Rocker’s for music and drinks.
Went to see The Mousetrap at the LTAC and it was SO GOOD!
Went on a windy walk with Jack and saw a hummingbird nest.
Took pics of Jack in the dandelions.
Worked on my Derby hat.
Went to Rocker’s again for music.
With a trip up to Rollinsville for coffee, just because it’s a nice drive.
Happy Spring flowers.
I tried a different salad at Prost, it was good.
We got the professional pics back from the doggy event, I’m so glad they had those glasses.
Finally got the string of pearls for my planter.
I felt so bad for Stephen and the band we were the only people there, eventually another soul showed up, but dang, that’s bad.
I have a new found love of ceviche.
The great eclipse of 2024, I watched it through the colander.
James went on a work thing to Seattle so Grace and I went to an all you can eat sushi place. I didn’t realize how popular it was and when we got there we were 24th in line on the wait list. It went pretty fast though.
She said we should be daring and eat this fish roe, we did and then I said I hate you.
Jack and I went to the art museum, he was bored (because he’s a dog and doesn’t get art.)
Got a new shirt.
Jack being cute.
Took Jack on a hike looking for pasque flowers.
Jack is spoiled.
Palm Sunday by Laura James, I really like this artist.
Eating at Pub dog.
I was supposed to take pics of Matt and Grace at the park, but it snowed, so we just took some in front of the house. I wanted to print out a pic and frame it for him to take to his parents (he is going to see them in April.)
This is the one that we liked the best (the one below.)
At a doggy event.
Easter.
Joel surprised us and came into town so we had him, his friend Josh, Grace and Matt at the table. I made roast pork, honey glazed carrots, chili garlic crunch brussel sprouts, strawberry spinach salad and Dr. Pepper cake.
Grand opening of the Colorado Buc-ee’s. Yes, it was a total madhouse. We got some BBQ sandwiches, drinks and snacks and then headed to our favorite picnic spot at Barefoot lakes to eat.
It was a nice drive and nice weather. Then it was time for my birthday. This year it was perfect weather, which was nice because we were eating brunch outside at Wonderyard.
The mushrooms that Grace made on my cake were very red.
A tea cup from Bethany.
We went to Blue pan pizza for dinner and had a deep dish pizza and eggplant fries, so good. Grace made me a chocolate cake with strawberry filling and chocolate ganache and buttercream icing with meringue mushrooms and it was so good.
A very good 51.
Of course we come back from a sunny cruise to snow, lots of it, but I had no plans so it was fine.
Grace was snowed out of work so she made fish cookies, Jack played in the snow, I got laundry done and read and relaxed.
I made a cherry Pi pie on Pi day.
We celebrated Jack’s 6th bday with a cake and paw patrol pinata.
Over the weekend we went to Fiction where they had a lady doing beer cocktails with their beer, it was interesting.
We went to a St. Puppies day event and Jack got a beard, it was hilarious. How fast can your terrier skin a ball? Not faster than mine!
Then we rounded out our St. Patty’s day with Living the Dream and River North.
There’s something comforting about arriving at our favorite hotel in Miami. We thought about staying at the Art deco hotel that has Havana 1957 at the bottom of it, but it’s a good thing we didn’t because it turned out that it was Spring break and South beach was crazy, they actually closed the beach from 6pm to 6am every day, streets were closed off (which made it very hard to get an uber drop off and pick up.)
We had a snack and some drinks at AlmaRosa, which was around the corner from the hotel and got in the hot tub for a bit before dinner.
We got our same table as last time at Havana 1957, on the patio, perfect weather.
The next day it was off to the port to grab my walker (my knee shots wore off quite a bit ago and James thought it would be a good idea to get a walker for the trip) and get on the ship. Having the walker meant that we skipped the regular line, which meant that we got on earlier!
We watched the sail away from our balcony.
At sea day – we read by the pool, listened to music, did the martini tasting, took a nap, had a leisurely dinner at the churrasco, saw the comedian, caught the cabaret show, went by the library, caught the show band doing big band tunes and Casablanca was playing on the TV when we got back to the room.
The next day was our Key West stop, which was funny because it wasn’t that far from Miami but the ship had an at sea day so we went very slowly. We had a tour train excursion and it was fun and very informative, we could hop on and off, but we stayed on the whole way. We passed by a few historic homes, a cemetery, a naval base, Ernest Hemingway’s home, the beach, the Southernmost point buoy, Kermit’s (which sold frozen Key lime pie on a stick covered in chocolate) and more. We had some cold drinks and conch fritters at Sloppy Joe’s and had lunch at Caroline’s (which was pointed out on the tour) and saw a lizard basking in the sun. We had an absinthe drink and local beer at the Salty Frog (also pointed out on the tour) and saw some chickens there. We had to be back on the ship super early (1:30pm), but that left time for Bingo, drinks, a magic show and a nice dinner.
The next day was Nassau, they had built a new little shopping complex since the last time we had been and it’s very nice. It makes the old straw market look really bad, but if you want a good deal, go there and haggle (which is what we did.) We took cab to cable beach and got a couple of chairs in the shade and bought a refillable coconut that came in pina colada or bahama mama so we kept switching them out. I took a short swim (the water was a bit chilly) and then snoozed. We made our way back to the port area and ate lunch at Lukka Kairi, an open air bar over the ocean – it was very nice. I had the conch ceviche and it was amazing. Back on the ship we saw the Rock on show and had dinner, then drinks and more music around the ship.
Stirrup Cay was the last day, nothing to do but take a tender boat from the ship to the private island, sit in the shade of the cabana, swim, eat and drink.
We saw this ship on the way back in to Miami.
For once we had some time in town before our flight, so we had breakfast at Bacon Bitch (we saw it on our way to Havana 1957 the previous week.)
Then we went to the Art Deco museum because it’s always closed when we’re in town and this time it was open.
Then we went for another drink, because when in SOBE why not?
Then, we still had time on our hands, so we went to a Contemporary art museum.
Then it was time to go to the airport, fly home, pick up Jack right as the snow started because –
Spring in Colorado!
I got a new water bottle from Target, it’s cute, so I took some selfies with it. Jack and I took a walk at Hudson and they had a whole area blocked off to clean the pond, so we had to walk a different way, but he saw a squirrel, so it was worth it.
We had lunch at Prost, I can’t bear to order a different salad.
I made some art.
Jack went to the vet to get a shot and he was a big baby about it.
I thought we had missed the Manitou Springs Mardi Gras parade, but it turns out they moved it because of the snow, so we didn’t miss it!
Brunch at Cochino’s.
Girl scout cookie ice cream at LM’s.
And a walk to walk all that off!
A walk around Johnson lake.
The first sign of Spring (and a sure sign that a true Spring blizzard will cover them.)
NIA!
The 2nd time that I ordered a hot tea and a cup of ice at Enchanted Grounds. Little did I know that when I came back from vacation I would be banned from the store (for ordering the cup of ice.) Does that sound insane? Well, it’s true. The owner banned me from the store and when I went in (because I wanted to hear it from him, not from my friend) he called the cops on me because he said, ‘You are banned and now you are trespassing, so I’m calling the cops.’ Do I think he was really calling the cops? No, was I going to wait and find out? No, so I left.
Jack went all terrier and ate my bookmark.
Took a very windy walk.
Went to Dazzle for jazz (a Christmas present.)
Went to Denver Beer for the beer, bacon and coffee fest, but mainly beer and bacon. The flat white stout and the honey smacks blonde were both really good. Jack thought the bacon was the best.
A picnic at the Platte.
Of course, NIA.
It snowed.
But that doesn’t stop me from NIA!
Water sampling.
Got some Spring flowers for the planter.
March incoming!
Monday I had my brain MRI to check for aneurysms, and they found none. So, I guess that rules out my docs assumption that I have some genetic predisposition to weak arteries and make aneurysms, instead it’s more likely that the ones I keep making in my spleen are the result of him cutting off arteries and thus making higher pressure on the remaining ones and me trying to make new routes around them, thus making aneurysms and needing to just get the spleen out to stop that. It was such a pretty day that we took a walk around Johnson lake, it was my first long walk with the walker and I was determined to make it all the way around the lake (1.4 miles) and I did! We stopped to let Jack see the prairie dogs, which he loved, they are used to people and dogs walking by so they let you get really close.
Grace and Matt had a Mondate and then came over for dinner and we listened to Monday jazz (a staple.)
Tuesday I ran some errands, went to NIA coffee (but not NIA) and took Jack walking by the Platte.
I had a really good lunch, a Thai salmon patty with rice and edamame, the leftover pastrami spiced beet and bean and fennel salad.
Wednesday I went back to NIA for the first time since surgery, it felt so good to dance!
Then I had a barefoot walk with James around Marcy park.
Thursday I had a Black history poe-tea for myself. I baked treats, read some poems and wrote this one.
Nina,
soul singer
ripping tunes from the heart.
Fingers dancing across the keys.
Singing of other women,
and weeping willows.
Dreaming of loves that won’t stay.
The harsh realities of stardom
and a product of the times
she grew up in.
She was Civil disobedience
because black was the color of her skin
and music was her way to scream,
“Love me or leave me,
ain’t got no life,
Freedom!”
-Liese
To eat:
Nigerian Shuku shuku (coconut balls)
Guinean Akwadu (baked bananas)
Egyptian Umm ali (bread pudding
Moroccan Chebakia (sesame cookies, okay, I’m not Moroccan, I halved the recipe and they turned out more like fried doughnuts, but not bad.)
The Colorado adventure 