Please do not sit on the deer

If you click on this photo, you can see the sign. And me!

Leaving on a jet plane

Mojito catchup

At Cuba Cuba, a blackberry mojito. After two of these, I was very glad not to be driving.

You can get them by the pitcher, too. Once the evenings are warm and I can get a couple of people together, we will storm the patio.

Sophie got a bath

It's warm enough that I was going to hose her down before our walk so she would stay cool, but then I decided she would benefit from a good scrub, too.

Perg-oh-la-la

Also on the home tour, I coveted this pergola. It is simple yet elegant, and seems like it would be fairly simple to build (says the nonbuilder). Four posts set in concrete, four crossbeams, steel bars threaded through holes in the beams. I also envision a waterproof canvas "roof" that could live on a roller like a window blind, and just be stretched across over the bars if were raining lightly but still warm enough to eat outside.

The French doors are nice, too, but I'm not sure how I could swing those.

This Old Church

On Saturday, after the Furry Scurry, I went on a home tour in my new(ish) neighborhood. I say "ish" because I've lived at the edge of it, technically two blocks into the next neighborhood, for the last nine years. And I've been walking through it with Sophie all that time. I know all its houses well.

When I learned that the church house was going to be open, I had to go! I've always wanted to see inside. It was built in 1888, and later turned into a church rec center (guess where the basketball court was!) when a new sanctuary was built next door. In 1988 the current owners bought it. They converted one side into living quarters and used the sanctuary as a photography studio.

Now the studio is elsewhere and they will convert the sanctuary to a great room, guest room and library.

Isn't it fabulous?

"Distract the neighbors" grilled chicken with "subsistence tabbouleh"

A while back I posted about "The Language of Baklava," a memoir about growing up in a Jordanian-American family, which included recipes. The other night Mom and I tried " 'Distract the neighbors' grilled chicken" and "subsistence tabbouleh."

I've made tabbouleh many times before, so that was easy. The basic recipe benefited from the addition of some red and yellow sweet peppers and mint. It could have used a little more lemon.

The kebabs were also easy; we used boneless skinless thigh meat and marinated it overnight, then grilled it on skewers. The marinade consists of olive oil, lemon, garlic, rosemary, brown sugar, cumin, cayenne,salt and pepper.

We grilled some large mushrooms as well, and the result was most tasty. Two pounds of chicken meat made enough to feed four people, and the leftovers make for a great lunch the next day.

"Regular and confined, but nourishing and exciting"

This is a book I haven't read yet, but which I inherited when Mom moved, given to her by Great-Great-Aunt Mabel in 1963. Aunt Mabel was the reason Mom had books in her life, says Mom.

I like the book for the author photo and bio on the back (click on it to see it at a readable size). It makes me smile.

Some day I'll read the book, too.

Furry Scurry!

Thousands of dogs gathered Saturday for the Furry Scurry. We saw many standard poodles. And just about every other kind of dog you can think of.

More photos on Flickr. Click here.

Please do not feed "Lucifer"

I will post photos from the Furry Scurry and the home tour, and the fabulous restaurants and meals etc. etc. probably tomorrow. Today I have been very busy and tonight I have had two very good and potent mojitos, so Lucifer (he's a "lizard," you know) is all I can manage. He lives at Country Fair Garden Center.

Dogs' day out

Tomorrow is the 14th annual Furry Scurry to benefit the Denver Dumb Friends League, and I believe it's my ninth annual. The first year I went it was still small enough (maybe 1,000 people?) that everyone got a free steak sandwich. In more recent years it has topped 7,000 people, most of them with dog(s) in tow. Or vice versa.

We're expecting a chilly, cloudy day, which to me is preferable. All those dogs don't need to be overheated in addition to the stress and excitement of DOGS! EVERYWHERE! DOGS DOGS DOGS!

Yes, I'll take photos. Lots of photos.

I scream

Chocolate therapy

All grown up

Barring absolute disaster (knock on wood), I'll be moving in next month.

I realized just now that the Tuesday I came around the corner and saw it was for sale was what would have been my dad's 70th birthday.

He would have thought it was a pretty neat house, too.

Meet Matilda

Another memento of my grandmother's house is Matilda of the Mysterious Past. Also, and sadly, more recently known as Matilda the Double Amputee, due to a tragic tumble from a dresser top.

But now, thanks to the miracles of modern epoxy and the steady hands of Dr. Mom, Matilda's golden dancing shoes can once again peep from under the hem of her gown.

Matilda is looking forward to living in her new, era-appropriate home.

Yum

Though house things and work things and visiting Mom things have kept me on the go, I still manage to nourish myself.

I'm just mad they ran out of the rhubarb crumble for dessert.

I'm finally figuring out the trick to low-light food photography, too: Use the self-timer and a long exposure.

I won't ever use a flash in a restaurant if I can help it. It's distracting to other diners, and it makes the food look like hell, anyway.