Fire on the Mountain

When I was at the cabin last weekend I could see this one stand of aspens that was flame red, not the standard yellow, high up on the mountain that creates the south side of the valley in which Eldora, and the cabin, are located...

This is quite a distance west of the cabin, so I'm not sure this is still considered Spencer Mountain, the mountain that overlooks the cabin directly to the south.  

I could have taken a photo of this from the cabin, but there are so many utility lines in the area that I decided to seek a better vantage point.  I took The Loop Trail, walking from "downtown" Eldora, across the creek, along the south side of the creek and west.  

The further I walked, the worse the view!  I remembered that a little over a year ago, when Lola and I walked on Labor Day...

...we got high enough that we had a spectacular view of the entire canyon, so I took a slightly different route and got the view I was seeking...

Another hiker commented she had heard there were some fires in the area, and although I haven't been able to confirm that, the air certainly was hazy.

Everything I have found on line about aspens indicates this red color is unusual, even rare, but I haven't found anything telling me why some turn red rather than yellow.

After I captured the Fire on the Mountain shots, I walked on to what became my phone bench...

 I sat here and talked to my brother in Tacoma with this as a view...

Here are a few additional photos taken last weekend....I love the way the aspens decorate the conifers...

..as if they were already getting ready for Christmas.  I took this one last October...

This combination of colors and textures reminds me of a Japanese flower arrangement...

Even the boulders were getting into the act...

I love the patina on the metal roof of this shed...

And to end on...

...I was so focused trying to capture these aspen leaves going over this little waterfall on their way to Boulder that I didn't even notice the reflection in the viewfinder until I got these back to the apartment, transferred them to the computer and started editing.  

A happy ending to a happy day...Teddee

The Color of Fall

I went to the cabin last Saturday afternoon just for an overnight.  NOAA was predicting a week of rain for both Boulder and the high country.  I thought if I wanted to get any photos of the aspens in full fall regalia I'd better make a quick trip up.  

By Sunday afternoon I had taken two walks and 127 photos.  Having read the latest Vanity Fair from cover to cover and finished this book (If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it.  Filming of a movie based on the book and starring Jeremy Irons, started this spring.  I will go see this one),

I couldn't wait to get back to the computer to see what I'd actually captured on film.  I spent almost three hours editing photos.  Here are a few...






















I snapped this just about two blocks west of the cabin.  The "leaf peepers" were parked almost bumper-to-bumper along the south side of Eldorado, the street on which the cabin is located, when I returned from Sunday's walk.  This was the eye-catcher...

The locals hate anything that brings more traffic to Eldora, so now I can't decide if I'm a local or a "leaf peeper"!  

Someone had even driven as far in as they could on the access road along the south side of the creek, usually used only by residents, and parked just a few feet from one of my favorite photography subjects...

this old rusty mining auger...

I guess, based on the way this made me feel, I consider myself a local!

Join me on my favorite walk...

Not everything colorful is up...

 

One stalwart harebell hanging in...

At least this "peeper" came by un-motorized conveyance...

It was so dry earlier in the year that there are few rose hips...

...no rose hip syrup for gifts this Christmas.  Remember last fall?...

I love the way decades of heavy Rocky Mountain snows have, gently, molded this metal over this boulder like chocolate fondant over nougat...

Nature's frame...

That's all for today.  Tomorrow...Fire on the Mountain.  Teddee

Trying to Get Back in the Groove

I really have trouble blogging here at the apartment...it seems so blah compared to life at the cabin...so I've decided I'd better try to get back in the groove.  

I had hung a mirror last week in the apartment in a space that seemed to accommodate it nicely, but it reflected nothing.  I decided that was probably bad feng shui...

Over the last couple of years I've been seeing, in magazines and on line, more and more layered mirrors, so decided I'd hang this small round mirror...

 ...for which I had paid $2.99 at Goodwill at some point...



...and for which I'd been unable to find a place at the cabin...over the larger rectangular mirror.

For that, I needed ribbon.  And I could see the ribbon in a storage box that was about five layers down in this storage closet...

...so I had been procrastinating, but this morning I moved everything out, got down to the ribbon and got to work. 

First I had to loosen the mirror back by removing two screws so I could thread the ribbon under the back and through the hanging hole...



After replacing the screws, I decided I'd hang the mirror from this vintage hook, one of two I'd scored at a thrift store some time over the past two years...

After gathering all my standby tools...tape measure, level, drill, hammer, screws and plastic anchors...

...and avoiding at all costs this recliner...

...that another resident asked me to take temporarily because she has no room for it, but about which I'm in a constant state of angst for fear it will get damaged or soiled...

...I decided how long the ribbon needed to be and where the hook needed to go so the small mirror would hang in the right spot over the large mirror, marked and drilled the holes, tapped in the anchors and screwed in the screws.  

The screws that went with the anchors were so silver...

...so I daubed some black paint on them...

...yes, that's a votive candle holder.  I find they are just right for holding small amounts of paint and if you wash them out promptly, the paint doesn't adhere and the holder can still be used for candles.

So then I had two mirrors reflecting nothing!  I don't know if feng shui experts would consider this doubly bad, but I decided to insert some faux pheasant feathers under the small mirror and call it good.  I like it (they could just be empty frames, which is another thing that's "in" these days), so I'll just have to wait and see if I feel a lack of energy in this corner!

Actually, I just feel a lack of energy.  So I don't think everything is going to get put back in that storage closet this afternoon.  And anyway, I'm finding all sorts of fall decor in the various boxes that I am really ready to play with...

Just spruced up this basket...by using the hot glue gun to reattach some of the leaves and berries that had fallen off of it since I bought it at the Lafayette Goodwill many months ago...loaded it with some fake pumpkins, gourds and squashes and set it outside my door in the hallway...

This may be one of the pluses to living here.  No high winds in these hallways!  I had been unable to decorate outside at the cabin because everything blew away in the notorious Eldora gales.

I had to mix up a bit of reddish orange paint to daub on any white spots where the finish on the berries had broken away (I just hate that.  It really catches one's eye) and my paint was in that fourth box down on the right...

 ...so more boxes had to be removed from the storage area!  My living room is a disaster.

But, in the process, I found this faux pumpkin vine, that I bought at the Jefferson County Beautiful Junk Sale in Golden, Colorado, last year...

...and draped it over the hanger that I made for these bruised but beautiful metal wine plaques I think I found at the Boulder Goodwill.

I just got my invitation to this fall's Beautiful Junk Sale...

...and I've marked my calendar and will be heading to Golden with my two cans of food the morning of October 19 in search of treasure.

More later...Teddee