i totally fell in love… with this great little town… paonia. i actually considered moving there before i moved to my little neck of the mountains… but i hadn’t yet visited and i’m super glad i had the opportunity to this week! i had heard that there were farms up in paonia where you could pick your own produce for a nominal fee… and obviously – i was all over that!
the season for peaches is almost over, but orchard valley farms still had plenty of trees to harvest from! i had never done anything like this, it was quite the experience! ❤
i left my camera at home, because this was sort of an impromptu trip… but i had the trusty iphone.
hehehee {not a real person, but totally fooled me!} 😛
entrance to the garden and grove… {those are “peach pickers”}
peach trees galore!
ladder to pick the really big ones at the top!
like this! 😀
sipping wine and picking peaches… what a day!
pumpkins! {no pickin’ pumpkins, though!}
no picking wine grapes either… but the merlot/cabernet blend from black ridge winery was just wonderful!
oh how i wish i could dig my toes in the warm sand right now… inhale the ocean air and feel the breezy salty mist on my face… listen to the crash of the ocean waves and the peaceful sound of the ebb and flow of the water… i’m desperately seeking a rendezvous with the big blue! ❤
what have you been daydreaming about?! have an awesome weekend!
… i was housesitting, and this awesome little chicken was one of eleven that i had the fortune of feeding and watching while the owners were away… they are so cool!
… i had this for breakfast : a sausage & cheese croissant roll, two flax seed chocolate brownie muffins, and my trusty half caff americano {with a little cream}…
… i totally saw this dead snake in the road………. oddly, the first one i’ve seen at all since moving here.
… i took a silly selfie on the bus and tried to be all discreet but made myself look even sillier… 😛
… i harvested these absolutely beautiful organic cherry tomatoes and some mixed baby greens from the garden outside of the house i was sitting…
{so grateful!}
… and i added in shredded chicken, olives, cucumbers, sharp cheddar, red onion, and dressed it in a french vinaigrette… YUM!
… i saw like, four billion ants………… i wonder what they were all working on…
… i saw these carrot-tops poking through a cute little community garden…
… i ordered and devoured an entire 12 inch pizza called the “BLT” from my favourite local spot… it’s seriously like eating a blt on a round pizza pie : “crispy bacon, smoked provolone, garlic, onion & house-made sundried tomato pesto topped with shredded leaf lettuce tossed in our famous house-made ranch” it’s one unique and delicious pizza. they serve the lettuce and fixins’ on the side so you can dress it by adding the lettuce topping at the end. it is AHH-MAZING! one of my favourite pizzas, for sure!!!!
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happy sunday!
and, always be sure to eat a lot of {healthy, colourful} food and take a lot of {awesome} fotos!! 😉 ❤
people kind of freak out when they find out i’m not on instagram. part of me feels like i should be, since i’m a fotographer and all… but honestly, just keeping up with my blog is time-consuming enough. i left facebook over a year ago, and i don’t plan to go back or add in any new social media to my life. i started this blog so i could keep all the happenings of my life in one place online. thank you to each one of you who follow, read my posts, comment, engage, and make it all worthwhile! 🙂
here are a few pics from my week… i hope yours was great and your weekend is even better!
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i had a “moment” with my favourite coffee barista this week – i walked in to get my half-caff americano on ice and he greets me with a smile and says, “the usual?!” i giggled and said, “awww, i have a usual – and you remembered it!” hehehehee
i’ve been eating these yummy buffalo taco boats – and i can’t wait to share the recipe!
double rainbow over mount sopris…
i’m so jealous of my cat… who sleeps {sometimes in awkward positions} 80% of the day…
these have been breakfast all week…
love this snowmass sticker i saw on the bus – 81615.
i’m constantly reminded of my former coworker and friend, yarrow… it grows pretty wild here!
selfie in the sun… it’s finally feeling like summer!!!
this is what i see on a typical monday night…
i met this adorable tabby at the bus stop one evening… i named him “gary” – he was so sweet!
first of all, i just want to send a quick shout-out to all the newcomers… i’m always humbled whenever a new follower joins the fun! welcome to food and foto and thank you for your support! ❤
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i just love this shot from the archives, taken by my friend michele when i first moved back to colorado in 2011… it’s been 3 years, almost to date. i do love parts of this great state – especially the mountains, the peaceful sound of the nothingness in the air, and the sunsets. however, there is such a dichotomy to my personality. i miss the city – the hustle and bustle, the lights, the diversity, the people.
i miss new york more than i ever thought i would. it’s kind of funny how i always say i went there to pick up a piece of me…. and yet – i feel like when i moved, i left a piece of me there…
we are almost half way through the cycle… and now mercury has left the sign of cancer and entered his home sign of gemini…
so what does this mean? — well, the last week or so may have presented you with issues to deal with, revisit, resolve, etc. in the following themes : home, roommates, intuition, nostalgia, mother/mother figure, childhood, emotions, security needs… these are some key themes of the sign of cancer. perhaps you made the decision to move or make renovations in your home? perhaps a past project came up that needed tweaking or you had an “epiphany” regarding something from your past. you may have learned to trust your intuition more, or to learn to come to terms with some emotions you are feeling… MR in cancer offers an opportunity to revisit, rework, and release in these areas of our lives… and with the full moon energy last week, this period has had amplified energy to support it, as well…
now mercury is continuing his backward travel through the sign of gemini – which is where his “home” is. for the next couple weeks we can expect to see our thoughts shift into the themes that gemini represents. these include talks, short trips, local activities, brothers/sisters, electronics, vehicles, writing, the internet, and anything else that involves connecting or communicating. mercury LONGS to connect, and when he is in the sign of gemini, he has the most success in doing so. however, since he is retrograding in this sign, we can expect to see our thoughts become more introspective. we may want to get other people’s advice or opinions on the current relevant matters in our lives. we may revisit a writing project or rework a trip we had planned. any vehicle or electronic issues may arise to be addressed {sorry, that IS one of the bummers about this period – i hope you backed up your computer recently!} and/or we may find people from the past showing up again to rework, reclaim, or revise a situation. there is great opportunity during MR periods… it’s like taking a mulligan 😉
mercury retrograde periods get a bad rap – but i believe it’s because we don’t generally UNDERSTAND what they are for… and we don’t properly harness the energy presented during these times, so many of us are left feeling frustrated and wondering what happened. which is ironic because that is precisely what mercury retrograde longs to be – UNDERSTOOD! i can’t tell you how many times a day i catch myself thinking or saying “i just wish {that person} understood how i felt.” you may catch yourself using some of my catchphrases lately – like, “did that make sense?” or “i just want to explain it so you can understand…” or “that came out the wrong way, let me rephrase that…” or “wait, i didn’t mean to say that…”
astrology doesn’t MAKE stuff happen… it can’t cause events. but time and time again i find validity in the movements and study of the planets and their behaviour. being natal mercury retrograde, i have a unique and tremendously accurate understanding of how this planet’s movements effect our lives in a major way. perception is EVERYTHING in life – and it can be to our benefit or to our detriment. this has been my biggest lesson during this current MR period. i guess it all goes back to being true to who you are. we are not all the same – we are very uniquely different. but i believe that the ways in which we are the same can bring us together and allow us to be ourselves, as individuals… if we could just simply change the way we look at things – at life.
every puzzle piece has importance, significance, and relevance – we just don’t and CAN’T all have the same design, function, or purpose – we must each bring our own individual strengths to the group, the collective, the puzzle itself. and we should never try force a puzzle piece to change its shape… we simply can’t. and besides, then it wouldn’t fit in the puzzle, anyway – you dig?!
thank you for reading, and for your support – it means the world to me! and please let me know any thoughts you have or feelings you wish to share… i love hearing from you! and don’t forget, i also am available for hire to conduct natal astrology interpretations.
callee has recently become a lapcat… she never used to lay on my lap and let me pet her and now she’s always climbing all over me – especially when i’m sitting at my desk blogging. so – apparently my kitty callee says hello, everyone! 😉
squeezin’ in some vitamin D anywhere i can – even on my lunch-break…
speaking of vitamins, i am trying these new kickass 100% organic food-based vitamins from garden of life. and how happy was i to find my favourite quote ever inside the box?!?!!! 😀
watching sopris emerge from the clouds…
taking more shameless selfies : featuring new shades…
i was having a nice moment with this cute little bunny… until a loud truck drove by and scared her away…
yep, those are two ladybugs… *ahem* …on an asparagus stalk…
bloomin’ onion…
how do you feel about ravens?! they are always all around me… practically everywhere i go.
the house is coming along nicely. it looks really cute and i can’t wait to see it when it’s complete. watching it being built has me dreaming of having my own actual mobile tiny house someday… and i hope to make that happen!
for now, i am enjoying living in this great tiny home and watching one being built right next door – pretty sweet stuff!
here are some more fotos of the project, still currently underway…
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DAY FIVE
another day on site…
hard at work…
quite literally “men at work” …
😉
first wall goes up…
first wall is UP!
end of day five…
by the way, later that day… this happened :
{that’s hail!}
i couldn’t run out to grab a foto of the tiny house because that would be crazy, so this will have to suffice 😉
mercury went retrograde in cancer today… for three weeks we can expect to see our thoughts become more reflective and introspective. a few of the key themes will be home, renovations, real estate, roommates, moves, security needs, childhood, intuition, emotions, mother/mother figure, and creativity.
as you may recall from my previous rants, mercury was the messenger god in greek mythology… he “presides” over the following themes in our lives : communication, travel, electronics, writing, thought-processes, transportation, and the like. he longs to communicate and relate. he was the figure responsible for communicating messages to the “mortals” from the “gods” – what a job, huh?! try communicating with a bunch of people who don’t “speak your language” … it can be quite challenging.
this time, mercury is retrograding in the sign of cancer. and cancer is ruled by the moon, by our emotions. cancer represents things like our security, home, family, and intuition. what makes this particular mercury retrograde interesting is that the moon will be housed in it’s ruling sign, cancer, during this transition, as well… that means a WHOLE LOT OF ENERGY under one roof! my advice is to expect the unexpected. trust your gut – listen to that voice inside that speaks softly to you; it’s nudging you one way or another… and sometimes we have to surrender and let go of what we feel is “safe,” in order to open up to a whole new world…
as i’ve mentioned, i was born with natal mercury retrograde in my astrological chart. these time periods {occurring about 3-4 times a year for approximately 3-4 weeks at a time} tend to make me feel extra good. for one, i feel more like my “authentic self” and less like i’m trying so hard. i feel more articulate, open, and creative. this is particularly true this morning.
i have had a weird couple of weeks over here and this morning i woke up feeling different… and i welcome good change.
now – to see where this energy takes me…
❤
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by the way, i am available for hire as an astrologer. i specialize in conducting accurate birth chart interpretation and would love to help you on your way to understanding YOU a little better… 🙂
my camera broke recently… and so i haven’t been able to really take any new fotos of anything… it’s been a real bummer… because i’m not sure i can fix it… and i’m just trying to stay positive and really focus on the things in life that make me truly feel GOOD… and i’m thankful to have a phone with a camera so i can capture moments in my life that are memorable… i mean, even if one doesn’t have a camera, i feel it’s important to stop and make a conscious memory of the things that make us feel good…
yanno, the things that make ya go “mmm” …
… like perfectly-priced happy hour 4-oz samplers of four amazing local brews… {can you guess which one was my favourite?!}
… and a sampler snack platter to compliment including savory tomato jam, perfect stone-ground mustard, multi-grain crackers, goat cheese, hard salami…
… and catching a rainbow…
… and seeing artists repurpose all kinds of amazing stuff… like bikes! …
… and other artists being silly and engaging through chalk…
… and doughnuts. mmm, DONUTS!!!!!! *homer simpson drool sound*
… and relaxation time in {mostly} solitude…
… and visiting a friend’s house… who happens to have a great sense of humour…
…and sunbathing under blue skies…. SO BLUE!…
… and random stickers/graffiti that remind me of new york…
food & foto 