Date Night

For date night we had an early dinner at Wood Ranch in Burbank

before going to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Pantages.

Dinner was great and Harry was… frantic (frenzied? frenetic?? hubby says amateurish). 

There’s a reason tickets were on sale from the first week at 2 for $99. 

12 rows from the stage, just off-center

The theater was about one-third full (ok, it’s a Tuesday night…)

 and we weren’t the only ones who walked out at intermission.

Oh well. 

The theater is gorgeous, dinner was delicious 

and we enjoyed an evening out of the house. It’s all good. 

New Quilt Project. Hooray!

It’s been awhile since I’ve had the urge to quilt (*eye update ⬇️),   

but these ocean-themed fabrics Rachel gave me in February

In value order

got the creative juices going again.  So lovely! 

 Pinterest Link

Spent most of the weekend looking for inspiration and finally settled on this ⬇️

Couldn’t find a pattern by name or through image search, so I made up my own… and have already adjusted it several times. Good thing I started out oversized!

I wanted something that showed off the beautiful colors and sea creatures, which these big blocks definitely do.

Row order is dark to light to dark

Bonus - big blocks sew together fast!

The HST’s (half square triangles) for the top half are done and on the design wall. Wednesday I’m hoping to cut the end rectangles and sew these rows together. Maybe a finished quilt by the weekend??

* My right eye is done, finally! So glad it’s over with. Distance vision isn’t quite as good as they thought it would be, close and mid-range are a blurry mess (as expected) but hey, glasses will fix all that. Time to do the left eye… it’s got to be easier… or maybe not. Surgery was scheduled for this Wednesday but they canceled due to the surgery center being under construction and rescheduled for May 8. Maybe by then we’ll have the disagreement on which lens I’m getting settled. I’m thinking positive and putting it down as a miscommunication rather than a pushy up-sell. Crossing fingers this will really, really be done soon. 

Stuffies and Crafts

Edited to add names for some stuffies…

One of the best things about traveling with the grandkids is loading them up with stuffies before sending them home. The littles are soooooo happy and the dads, almost universally, are not. Win-win for grandma!*

Taffy the cat rode with us on the plane coming home

On our 7 day trip, Jac came back with at least 9 new babies, including a baby bison (Coca Puff), hedgehog and weasel (Buttercup). Not a record for stuffie acquisition, but not bad!

Addy has really gotten into crochet and picks up new techniques super quick.

She decided her purple graduation cap needed sunflower embellishment so we’d be able to pick her out in the crowd. Found a pattern, taught her the magic loop, and away she went. Perfection. 

I’d packed a big suitcase full of stash yarn to give her, including several colors of Caron Pound of Love that just happened to also be sunflower colors. Addy wanted to learn to make granny squares this trip, so we found a pattern that incorporated both. 

A day later she had 8 squares done and the first row seamed together. Today she sent me a pic of her first two rows, seamed and tails woven in. She’s a natural! (I’m so proud!)

* Dads say the kids already have too many stuffies, where are they going to put them, what are they going to do with them... 😂  Grandma and the kids are happy so….Sorry, dad.

Snow Day

Thursday’s prairie winds blew in some April snow

and Jac was thrilled to wake up Friday to a (mostly) white world. 

It was deep enough for her to make tracks, a tiny snowball 

and knock snow off the car hood (and into her shoes 😜)

but warm enough that it didn’t stick to the roads or make her complain about being  “too cold!” Perfect. 

The last of Auntie Rachel’s lollipop treats

And that’s the last of our spring break Colorado adventure. Saturday night we flew home in time for Jac to welcome the Easter bunny the next morning. Me and Pop? We slept in like old smart people…

Wildlife Sanctuary

I got distracted enjoying the last couple of days at Rachel’s, 

Rambo and his new BFF

and then the flight home, so I’m just now getting to our Thursday (a week ago) adventure. 

The Wild Animal Sanctuary (here) in Keensburg CO 

is about an hour south of Rachel’s house, out on the high plains. 

The area is so flat I thought we’d be much lower in elevation, but it was still 4944’,

a big drop from Estes Park’s 7522’ the day before, but so. much. higher! than Camarillo’s barely above sea level 117’.

We’d been here once before, in 2017 (here), and really enjoyed it. 

Wolf pack

Unlike that February visit, we weren’t freezing this time but a storm was blowing in, with steady winds of 20 mph and frequent gusts over 40. 

At one point I had a firm grip on Jac’s arm, concerned she might blow over the railing, 

Wind blown 

and Rachel said I was walking ahead of her at a serious slant. It was challenging!

But Jac (and me too!) walked the entire 2.5-ish miles of elevated walkway under her own steam. 

We were impressed!(and so happy to not have to carry her…)

 Look at the size of those trailers!

The later - and windier - it got, the more animals we saw as they came out of their underground bunkers* for feeding and frolicking. 

Most of the animals are rescues, from backyards, roadside “zoos” and more than 150 animals from the Tiger K1ng tv series. (Here)

These lions ⬆️ were rescued from defunct circuses in S. America;

this tiger arrived (from Mexico?) with two broken legs and internal injuries, and spent the entire time we were near him hiding behind his metal pool.

It’s really sad how some of the animals came to be here but the Sanctuary seems to be thriving. They recently opened two more rescue areas - an animal reserve and a wild horse rescue. 

Heading into his underground home

* A couple of times, we ran into a very chatty, knowledgeable volunteer who shared lots of stories. The animals dens/homes are dug underground, with long tunnels connecting them to the surface. Great way to keep everyone warm - and heating bills down - during the CO winter. 

Lion King art installation 

Estes Park Day

Jac was super grumpy this morning (allergies are no fun) so we stopped and got her a treat before our hour-long drive. Want to guess what it was?

Blue sweet/sour sucker for the win!

We had lunch at Antler’s, a new rooftop restaurant in Estes (pricy but good food), 

Jac loves hanging out with the very patient Addy

then wandered the shops collecting stuffies (Taffy the kitty for Jac, plus a couple each for Rach and Addy), 

polished and unpolished rocks, and a bit of jewelry.

Such a pretty town.

I love the river that runs behind the shops with the Rocky Mountains in the background towering over everything.

Our last stop, 

Dick’s Rock Shop, 

had a bowl of corn kernels by the back door 

and ducks in the yard waiting for treats. 

The girls were happy to oblige.