Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Ready or Not...

Well, we enjoyed a long and beautiful Indian summer here in the mile high city. For me it included many a bike ride...


Lots of walks in the park...


And plentiful days outside playing in the garden...


The garden staged a remarkable comeback after the hail storm, and I was almost starting to think that maybe we'd have a nice smooth ride this year with gradually cooling temperatures and beautiful autumn days like this one last week...


But, this is Denver after all, and Denver wouldn't be Denver without crazy unpredictable weather. So after posting a record high of 80 degrees on Monday, this morning we awoke to this:


Fortunately, that's my next door neighbor's tree, and not mine. But here's how my garden looks today:


Actually, the snow is rather pretty...


And even though it was a bit of a sprint to the finish, I managed to harvest everything that was harvest-able...


I am still musing over the monstrous quantity of volunteer pumpkins and squash...


As compared to the one I actually tried to cultivate...


I think there's a lesson in there somewhere about the relative enthusiasm one shows when one is acting out of pure desire vs. being drafted into service...

Anyhow, the cook-a-thon continues. I think there will be MANY more batches of marinara to come...


As well as whatever else I can think to do with my garden bounty. Today's experiment was roasted rosemary chicken with potatoes, onions and red bell peppers... Not bad for a recovering vegetarian who still doesn't have a clue!


And while the kitties certainly enjoyed all of the warm weather...


I'm actually looking forward to snuggling up with a cup of hot tea...


And enjoying the fact that I don't have to worry about my little Princess Kitty this year, because she's now safe and warm and INSIDE! (Note to Cat Fairy... the Inn is full... seriously... I'm NOT taking any more in, so don't EVEN think of sending any more starving strays my direction.)


It's all good!

14 comments :

  1. I was trying to figure out how on earth people in Denver plan what to wear. Do you put on a bikini and then put a parka on top? It must be a very confusing place to live ;)

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  2. Merry - There's a standard joke in these parts: If you don't like the weather, just wait a few hours!

    I've lived here pretty much all of my life and I still have a tough time wrapping my brain around it. It all has to do with the mountains and up-slope vs. down-slope winds... but scientific explanations notwithstanding, it's still freaky! It does teach you the importance of paying attention to the weather forecast though!

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  3. that snow looks so beautiful and what a great harvest. Love the look of those potatoes too

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  4. What did you did with all those green tomatoes?

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  5. We have that same joke in Ohio, although our weather swings aren't *quite* that severe. Snow in October? *shudder!*

    And ah, there are your kitties! They are cuties!

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  6. OOOOOOOOOOOh, you are tempting fate. My spidey sense is tingling......I see a momma cat & kittens in your very near future, who need shelter from a snowstorm.

    And even I tried cooking last week. Made un-beef stew with Gardein beef tips. Turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself.

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  7. Kristy - It is quite beautiful. It was totally gorgeous this morning with a beautiful blue sky and snow stuck to everything. If I hadn't been such a lazy bum I'd have gone out and taken pictures!

    Janeen - I fear that photo doesn't even begin to tell the story of the green tomatoes! There are three huge boxes full. Actually, tomatoes will ripen quite nicely inside, although if they didn't at least start to blush on the vine, they tend to be a bit pulpy and not so good to eat. But most of them will be used for marinara anyhow. CatMan LOVES lasagna, so we go through quite a bit of marinara. Hopefully it will make enough to last us through next year.

    Candi - A few years back we had a huge blizzard in mid-September! OY! Unseasonably warm weather around here generally means that a big storm is approaching. Even though I know all of the scientific explanations behind it, it's still hard to get used to! I'll have to post some better photos of my babies at some point. They are the sweetest things that ever lived.

    Connie - Don't EVEN say such things! I even went so far as to trim away all of the low hanging branches on the pine tree so it wouldn't be such an attractive place for various creatures to congregate. Seriously, I think even one more cat might push me totally over the edge. Congrats on your cooking BTW!

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  8. Your cats are gorgeous! Most of our pets have been adoptees, too. The last guy (dog) parked himself behind me while I was emptying the car. Turned around and there he was! I think one of the endearing things about rescuing a pet is they never forget who saved them.

    Green tomatoes: fried green tomatoes, relish, yummm!

    Heard 'bout the snow! Also saw that Obama made another trip to Colorado!

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  9. Jay - I think that there must be a big neon sign hanging over my house... one that only cats can see... which reads "The Sucker Lives Here!"

    All of my babies just showed up, but Princess was the most challenging. Sometime last fall my neighbor told me that there was a cat living under my pine tree. I looked outside and sure enough there she was. I tried and tried to get close to her, but she wouldn't let me. We went through the entire winter last year, even when it was 20 below zero, with Princess out under the pine tree. I was beside myself with worry. I built kitty house after kitty house and shoved them under there... I even bought an outdoor rated heating pad and rigged it up with an extension cord. The neighbors must have thought I was totally nuts! I can still hear them saying "That crazy lady is out there crawling under the tree again..."

    Anyhow, finally in March she woke up and decided that I was OK. She kept darting past me, and with each pass she'd get closer and closer. Finally, I just stuck out my hand and brushed her fur as the darted past... she whipped around, and at first I thought she was gonna attack me, but it was like a switch flipped and she just purred and snuggled and literally climbed into my lap... and the rest is history (well... after a vaccination induced seizure and a heart wrenching month of waiting to be sure she didn't have FIV).

    It just totally breaks my heart to think of her out there all winter last year, and I am SOOOOO glad she's inside. It would have been so much easier on both of us if she'd just decided to trust me a few months earlier!

    I may have to try fried green tomatoes... the only think I know about them is the movie!

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  10. What a wonderful/heartbreaking story. Think I should reread some of your earlier posts! They all look so healthy now. Good Mommy.

    Our cats were all rescued by DH, scrawny, flea bitten, -one still hadn't opened his eyes and had to be bottle fed... ah, the strings of our hearts.

    Oh yeah, loved the movie, too :-) Indeed, I've only eaten fried green tomatoes at southern diners (!); pretty amazing in a totally unhealthy kind of way.

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  11. They seem to go from "wretched and starving" to "spoiled rotten" rather quickly around here!

    I've never rescued a really young kitten... they are soooo precious, but from what I've read, many times they don't make it, and I think that could very possibly break my little heart. So congrats on your bottle fed baby!

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  12. I'm not going to get this just right, but there's a joke/saying that goes

    Dog's thinking " human is doing this for me, he must be God"
    Cat's version "human is doing this for me, I must be God"

    :-)

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  13. Love the kitty picture, they are sooo cute! We also have adopted and rescued kitties, or should I say they adopted and rescued us :)

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