Throw Back Thursday: Two Lives, Two Houses

Throw Back Thursday: Two Houses, Two Lives


Last year we went back to Texas so Bunny could go to HOMECOMING!   Homecoming in Texas is a wayyyyy bigger deal than it is here in Colorado. And Bunny last year was talking to a lovely young man here who "doesn't dance" and "doesn't get all dressed up" and "doesn't do dances".  Except a year later, they are still seeing each other and guess what? I imagine he will. Dance. Dress up. Last year she just was not interested in missing out. So homecoming in Texas it was. This year she says she will be going to prom whether friend boy wants to or not. And he will be going also. I have no doubt that Bunny will prevail.

We had been in Colorado a couple of months. It was all still new here. The girlies were happy to go home to familiar, even though they were loving "new".

It was a great weekend to be in Texas, but we were happy to get back. And it's fun to reminisce.

Back in Town: a few observations about spreading myself around and occupying two places....


Belle and Bunny and I went back to Texas over the weekend for a quick visit.
Carlos stayed in Colorado and went to the kennel. 
Obviously one of us got a bum deal!

I had low expectations for my own entertainment since I knew I would be driving Bunny around while she got herself gussied up for Homecoming.
Homecoming in Texas is a whole 'nother ballgame compared to Homecoming in Colorado.

Homecoming in Colorado. 

No mums, no garters. 

Corsages and boutonnières instead.

Look at all those ribbons! 

Just like big Texas hair, 

the bigger the better when it comes to mums.

A garter had to be procured for Bunny's date. This is a big Texas tradition. I figured that would be easy but nooooo.
Michael's craft store would not accept an order over the phone.  Period. No way. "It's against the rules."
Okay.
A Facebook plea garnered an innocent victim volunteer: a poor friend who had NEVER ordered a mum or garter before. Michael's made her run around the store picking out ribbons and trinkets and while she had NO IDEA what she was doing- the final results were spectacular.

Bunny and date.

With mum and garter.

Both girls insisted on getting their hair done while they were in the "big city".  I was brave and got mine done in Colorado before we left and couldn't be happier. A cut and color for half what I usually pay and I can't tell you how many people told me my hair looked great.
Apparently Texas does not have a corner on the market for "perfect blonde highlights".

I truly did not think I would have time to do any visiting.
Thankfully I was wrong. 
I got lunch with one friend, coffee with another and a chance encounter at dinner with yet another.
And I got to see my horse and a couple of barn friends, too.

I got to see Boy and of course, the hubs. The hubs had been in Colorado the week before and I talk to him all the time, so I hadn't really had a chance to miss him. 
But Boy.  Haven't seen him in over two months and he isn't much of a phone talker. So it was nice to spend time with my oldest child even though he was possibly not as happy to see me as I was to see him. Sometimes we don't see eye-to-eye.
I did get this photo which totally warms my heart. He pretends to be gruff but he's a softy at heart.

 Me, Clara and Boy.

"Hey cuz. Can I have a bite?

The parents aren't giving me real food yet.

I won't tell."

But best of all, and totally unexpected, I got to spend time with the youngest and oldest members of my family at the same time.   My brother and sister-in-law came into town and there was a big ol' gathering at my parent's house.  This was especially lovely since it was the one year anniversary of my other brother passing away and it was a treat for the remaining ones of us to gather. 

Clara and Colby (6 months) with the peeps (1075 months  and 1090 months)

My nephew in Utah had taken my brother's/his uncle's ashes up to Yellowstone and scattered them on Saturday. Brother Paul gets to spend his eternity in Wyoming, a place he never visited but always wanted to go to.  I guess it's true: It's never too late.


                                              

And some little observations.

I walked into the Texas house and thought "There is stuff here that I haven't seen or needed in 2 1/2 months. I need to purge." 
There will be a major cleansing in December.

...

The second thing I noticed was that we left a LOT of animals at home for Boy and the hubs to care for.
A lot.
Three cats, one of them very old and needy.
A turtle.
A chinchilla.
A Beta fish that will turn two next month.
Every one was still alive and mostly doing great.
The old cat needed a bath and a good brushing but I am sure they will do better now that they realize he really can't groom himself.
Otherwise all was good.
We can replace that molding on the wall where someone didn't realize that chinchilla's chew.

Ruby says "YUM!"

This used to be my dining room wall. 

Well, it still is, but now it has "character".

...

Remember the little photo of the bunny footprints in the snow on my Colorado front porch?

Bunny feet prints. Must have been researching his dining options.

Well, while the dog was away, the bunny played. And ate.
That bunny systematically trimmed the flowers off of half of my chrysanthemums on the front porch.  Very neatly. Looks like he used some tiny scissors.

A very neat little bunny- with very sharp teeth.

...

Food that I was greatly anticipating didn't taste as good as I expected.
Tex-Mex!! Come to mama! 
Except- meh- it was okay.   Maybe I wasn't in the mood.

Grimaldi's Pizza- a weekly favorite in Texas- must  have been having an off night.  Either that or Moonlight Pizza here has stolen my heart away.

And I brought back a present for Carlos.  An item of clothing that never in my entire life did I expect I would have a need for.  I went shopping in the "Duck Dynasty" section of my local Academy and purchased a one piece "step in, zip up, go" camo jumpsuit to wear while walking Carlos.
At 7:00 AM  I am incapable of making warm clothing decisions and am very hesitant to actually get out of my nice warm jammies. This outfit "stylishly" solves that problem. Stay in the jammies, cover up and clip on that leash. I will blend into the landscape- no one will even notice if I haven't brushed my hair. (Because I won't have....)

Nope. Not modeling this one...

So....  back in Colorado and pretty happy about it.

I'm working on No.16: Write a letter every day for a week.
First off is a note to the Colorado occasional neighbors. They stopped by while I was away from the cabin and asked Bunny some questions about who cleared our property.

And ....  I will be spending the week traveling back and forth to Colorado Springs.
One of the main reasons I bought the car that I have is that the dealership is less than a mile from my house in Texas. 
Unfortunately the "check engine" light is on and it needs to see a Colorado dealer.
That dealer would be over 90 miles and two hours away from my cabin. Hopefully I can run the car in tomorrow morning, get it magically serviced while I kill time in the Springs and then retrieve it and be home by dinner. If not, I will have to come home and then do that trip again once it is repaired.   
Friday I get to go back to the Springs to see the girls cheer for their last football game.
I just drove in from the Springs last night when we came into the airport there.
So maybe I'm not so happy about this little aspect of being back in Colorado. 

At least it is a pretty drive....

(OK. Yes, I am happy about being back here. I just walked into my living room and there is a beautiful doe standing about ten feet from my door, grazing away. I just LOVE that. As long as she stays away from my flowers.)

Off to write a letter...

...................................................................................................................................................................
Update:  The peeps are now 1087 months and 1102 months.   Clara and Colby are 18 months.  They are no longer the youngest in my extended family. Their cousin, Avery, at 1 year has taken over that spot.
Ruby is still happily chewing away on anything that gets in her reach.
The bunnies and deer are also  still chewing on anything they can get their teeth on here in Colorado.

The more things change, the more they stay the  same.

Throw Back Thursday

Throw Back Thursday: The best of the last two years.

November brings the SECOND anniversary of Project Sixty x Sixty.

Wow!

Out of the sixty challenges I set forth for myself two years ago, I have completed 42 of them. Two of them are halfway done.  Sixteen remain to be finished. I've done a couple of "honorary" ones- things I didn't know needed to be done, but once I did them, I realized what experiences they were.  I have thirteen months to go.
Better get on  it.

To celebrate, I am going to repost some of the most popular posts from the last two years on the November Thursdays.

If you like what you read, please "like" or "share". If you love what you read, please find me a publisher. (No. 11: Get something published.)


From: 14 October 2013

Honorary No. 61: Visit Bishop's Castle

No. 61: Not on my list but it should have been:
Visit Bishop's Castle

Let's talk about passion.

Not the "Fifty Shades of Grey"kind of passion but passion for what you do in your life.
(Although, hey!  I'm game if you are to discuss Fifty Shades, also.)

Few of us are lucky enough to find our true passion. Even fewer manage to make it their life's work.

Part of this Sixty by Sixty Project is to inject some passion back into my life. I feel I've become complacent and I don't want to spend the rest of my life just "going along".

While friend Cherrilla was here we went to Bishop's Castle in Rye, Colorado.

Wow!   Talk about someone finding their passion. Jim Bishop has certainly done that.


This is his castle.

Jim's story starts in 1959 at the age of 15 when he purchased 2 1/2 acres of property surrounded by the San Isabel National Forest.  He cleared the land on the weekends and built a family cabin. He married in 1967 and decided in 1969 to build a stone house on the land. He chose stone because "rocks were plentiful, everywhere and free"*.

Once he started building his stone house, people told him it looked like he was building a castle. Sometimes it can just be an off hand comment, a picture, or a thought that will spark a person's passion.

That's what happened with Jim Bishop.   

Cherrilla and Jim Bishop discussing how he got started.

He is there most weekends still working on his castle.

He heard "castle" enough that he started looking at pictures of castles.

And he kept building. And adding stones.

As he added stones, he added iron work.  

Jim Bishop is a high school drop out with no formal education. No education at all in design, architecture or engineering. 

He supported himself by working in his family's ornamental iron work shop.

This castle has been 100% built by him, with no outside help. 

Every stone. 

Every bit of iron work. 

It is a passion, a feat of engineering and an inspiration. 

The iron work is amazing. 

The turrets are connected by iron walkways and circular stairs take you up the inside and outside of these towers. 

The castle is 160 feet at it's highest point and people are free to climb the stairs up that high if they dare.

(Perspective: 160 feet is about 16 stories high.)

 Me. Holding on for dear life.

People are also able to walk out on the many ledges and walkways that DO NOT HAVE ANY RAILINGS.   That would explain this picture of me with the death grip on the iron work. I am probably 100+ feet in the air and if I had stepped back- well, bye bye.

The castle is a construction site. It is not finished and according to Mr. Bishop, it never will be.

Safety is in your own hands.  A few ropes help keep you from plunging to your death.

 Stairs to no where.

A window to the main room.

Never the less, the element of danger just makes things more interesting. And the beauty of the work overwhelmed most of our desire to stay out of the hospital.

The main room had an amazing vaulted ceiling.

There is a dragon that breathes fire on most summer weekends. When there is a fire in the fireplace, smoke comes out of his nostrils.

Note that I took this picture from ABOVE the dragon. 

Very, very high in the air. 

Unsecured. 

Stained glass windows decorate the lower floors.

Again, let me repeat.
One hundred percent constructed by Mr. Bishop by hand with no education and no out side help.
He rigged pulleys and "come-alongs" to hoist things into place.

We had a fabulous time exploring Mr. Bishop's passion. Although I will say we were more than a tiny  bit nervous standing on steel grating 100 feet in the air. As you can see in this picture, Cherrilla and I were hugging the wall and my right hand was probably clasped tightly around a rock behind Cherrilla's back.  And for the record, I've never been afraid of heights.

But not to worry.

Mr. Bishop has all liability issues covered.
Signs are everywhere and we signed the guest book which apparently meant we waived all of our rights in case we dropped to our deaths.
The guest book was an old school note book.
I had to search to find an empty page to write on.

As we left Mr. Bishop, age 69, was back at work, moving rocks.

Although I suspect for Jim Bishop this has never been "work".
This castle has been his passion.

And we could all use a little passion in our lives.

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