Denver has a beautiful botanic garden in the center of the city.  We had been there before, in a different season of the year.   We saw so many beautiful flowers and other plants.  Unfortunately, I didn't pay attention to the plant names, but want to let you enjoy their beauty. One of the ponds is surrounded by green trees and shrubs that make it look like it belongs in a mountain valley.   This is such a beautiful collection of blooms. There is also one Chihuly glass creation.  The Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix has several of his creations. I love the look of this green  plant. I wonder if this is some kind of coleus. I caught a picture of a bee feasting on pollen in this pretty white rose. These somehow don't look like water lilies.  I wonder what they are. Beautiful red leaves. I wonder what this delicate flower is called. I believe these are some variety of daisy. These are marigolds.  We had them in the back yard when I was growing ...

The times, they are a changing.  Remember when for homecoming and junior and senior proms, the students choose a king and queen?  These were often the most popular people or best athletes.  Not today.  Today, at least at Heritage High School in Littleton, Colorado, at least.  Staff nominate and students vote on the nominees who they believe demonstrate the most spirit, most enthusiasm, most support for their school.  Each class has several nominees. Earlier in September our grandson John was nominated for the senior class spirit award.  The awards were announced at the homecoming football game and so, of course, we went to learn if he was one of those elected.  First there was a beautiful on-field presentation by the marching band and other student groups. Each of the nominees was announced and they walked with their parents through this column of their classmates. Here we can see our son Eric, daughter-in-law Liz and John waiting with other nomin...

Downtown Denver is full of interesting scenes.  I lived in Denver for the first 18 years of my life.  At that time my mother insisted that I wear a skirt or dress whenever we went there.  It was the proper thing to wear.  That was an age when women and girls wore white gloves when they went out to nice places. The first time I wore pants there was when I was working at the Denver Theater in the concession stand.  My uniform was black satin pants and a jacket of black satin with white lapels.  The only time I remember dressing differently was when the theater had a special premier showing of a new film.  Each of the girls working in concessions wore formals and the theater paid for us to have our hair done.  How fun for us. The dome of the Colorado Capital is covered with gold--celebrating the extensive gold mining that provided income in the state's early years.   The building in the center of this photo is the Denver City Hall.  It is a...

Last week we made a sad trip, driving to Liberal, Kansas, for a funeral.  The young 40-year-old woman, Kelly, who was our goddaughter, had died suddenly.  Kelly was the daughter of Charlie and Connie Bowman.  Charlie was a friend of John's since he was growing up in Castle Rock.  At that time, he had helped out at John's family's funeral home.  After college, John became a policeman in Boulder.  When Charlie finished school, he was a policeman for a while in a Denver suburb.  Later, he went to mortuary school and became a funeral director.  Kelly married Mike Hornung and they bought a funeral home in Liberal, and Charlie and Connie moved there, supporting the purchase and working in the business.  It is located in the town where Connie grew up. After the funeral mass, Kelly was buried in the Restlawn Cemetery.                                      ...

Three years ago, Eric and Liz bought a new (to them) home.  We helped them move in and get settled.  The home came with a beautiful garden.  This summer they have harvested peaches and zucchini.   Two weeks ago, they gave us a bag of peach slices.  I made a peach cobbler. Recently, they gave us a large zucchini. We have raised zucchini at several of our homes.  I realize they grow very rapidly once they are mature.  I would go out to harvest and find huge vegetables.  We often eat zucchini and yellow squash at dinner time, but once they grow very large, they don't taste that good just sauteed.  What to do?  Peeling them and then shredding works well.  I can freeze the shredded zucchini in two-cup portions to use in zucchini bread.   Last week I did shred the zucchini.  I have owned blenders, several different mixers and even a meat slicer.  This week, I was wishing I had a food processor.  It would have...