Color

What a Mess!

Our house is a mess right now. We took down wallpaper that we had put up 23 years ago. It held up well but now it was time for a change. It came down easily…my husband pulled it all off while I was out running errands one day however, now we have the unpleasant task of soaking the walls and scraping off the wallpaper paste.

Yuk!

We are removing paste from the foyer, a large 2-story wall by the split stairways, and our upstairs hallway. We will paint these walls and at the same time re-paint our dining room and sun-room.

Fortunately we can picture the results of newly painted rooms, which lends to excitement and helps us continue with the arduous process.

Time has a way of slipping by. I never thought the wallpaper we had hung when we moved in would still be up 23 years later, and for that matter, the inexpensive carpet we put in the downstairs bedrooms…it’s still there. We said we’d replace that in five years. Hmm…it still looks fine.

I love our little green house on the corner (an exterior color I love and don’t ever want to change). It has been a good and comfortable place to call home. It holds many wonderful memories and a whole lot of love. We’re just changing up the colors a bit inside.

Colored Glass

The Minnesota fall has been warm and wonderful. There have been many days to go outside to play, or work, or a little of both…(balance!)

So I went outside one, fine day to clean off our deck. I picked up a shiny, orange glass dish sitting on the table and took a trip down memory lane as I remembered where it came from.

Back in junior high, maybe – I’m not sure how old I was, I bought this orange dish for my parents to give them on their anniversary (I must have borrowed money from my dad to do so – ha!) but I can clearly see this dish displayed on shelves in the J. C. Penney store at the Apache Plaza Mall, near my childhood home in NE Minneapolis (the mall no longer exists.) It was sitting on a clear, glass shelf with other beautiful glass pieces. I sometimes marvel at the things I remember (and the things I have a hard time recalling!)

Years ago when my mom moved into an apartment and downsized she asked me if I wanted the dish back, so I took it. I couldn’t believe she saved it all those years. But what I thought was interesting is that even back then, when I was so much younger, I was attracted to colored-glass. Little did I know I’d collect colored-glass vases and dishes in antique stores as an adult.

My colored-glass collection on old Singer sewing machine wrought-iron stand. I replaced the broken cabinet with a clear glass shelf to display the colored-glass pieces. A string of lights help show it off after dark.

I especially like green glass but all colors attract me. I find fun things to do with them…use them in place settings to serve ice cream or dessert, put single stems in the vases to decorate a place setting… it’s even a joy to wash them and see them shine.

A few of my dishes in an Amish-made cupboard with clear, glass doors.

An Iris in a lavender colored-glass vase.

As I collected other items off the deck to bring in for the winter I took inventory of a blue, glass ball hanging off the pergola (also from my mother), along with a red glass flower hanging for decoration, a glass hummingbird feeder, and a white glass globe with a candle inside on another table.

So hard to capture this beautiful display of colored-glass…

In April 2014, when I first started blogging, I had a post about colored-glass on a different site. I copied an excerpt from that post and copied it below…

“…While exploring the town, our stroll down Main Street took us into an antique shop where I found a bright, orange, glass basket that would go well with a new picture in our dining room. When I went to the counter to purchase it, the clerk asked, “Do you like color?” Well, yes, I do! It was an unexpected but interesting question. I do enjoy color…in everything: flowers, in nature, in décor, in clothing, in all of creation. And I enjoy scouting antique stores for colored glass and I occasionally find a piece to bring home for my colored-glass collection.

I’ve been thinking of that question a lot these days as I notice Spring bringing new life and color all around me.”

The orange basket on my African tablecloth on my dining room table.

I made the star-shape glass piece in the window at a fused-glass art class.

I think porcelain and pottery are beautiful too, but give me a colored-glass piece any day.

Even More Color and Shapes

We went to the Balloon Fiesta on two different days. The second day we followed the same routine to see the Special Shapes Rodeo, an event featuring special shaped balloons. Again we arrived before dawn to see the Dawn Patrol and watch the balloons ascend. Below are only a few photos from all we took. It was too hard to pick a favorite (well…maybe the Armadillo). They were all amazing.

Humpty-Dumpty had a great fall…but stayed afloat at the Balloon Fiesta.

The Holstein cow is huge…and you can see the scarecrow on the ground being inflated.

The Scarecrow air-born, along with penguins…and a bandit and a British “Bobbie” getting ready to ascend.

The lady with the “Tutti-Frutti” hat ascending, a British Guard getting ready for take off and Uncle Sam still on the ground.

I love this fish’s smile…with a Mexican Dancer close by. The other balloon has ocean critters hanging from it.

A huge balloon in the shape of a dog. Note the basket size compared to the balloon.

This Man on Motorcycle balloon is so huge it doesn’t ascend often. When it does it, only goes across the field. It was fun to see it inflated.

Another huge balloon…boy in a wheelchair. I don’t think it goes up very often either.

This boy balloon enjoying the festival with lots of hot-air balloons reflected in his glasses.

More Color

I love color… in all forms: a Minnesota autumn, colored glass, crayons, flowers and hot-air balloons to name a few.

Way back in high school I remember a friend using the descriptive “colorful as a balloon man at the circus” and I thought it was clever…but now I’m thinking “colorful as hot-air balloons at the International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, New Mexico” is better.

My husband and I had the unique experience of seeing the 46th annual Balloon Fiesta. We were with another couple who had lived in New Mexico for several years so they knew the routine.

Up at 4:30 a.m., on the road by 5 a.m. to join hundreds of other cars all heading towards the Balloon Fiesta field. After parking the car – and remembering surrounding landmarks to find it again – we walked in the chilly morning air wearing our jackets, gloves and hats and entered a fair-like atmosphere with booths selling food and souvenirs, all lit up in the dark. There were hundreds of people already there. We bought some hot coffee at one booth, and a breakfast burrito – with green chili of course – at another, and then walked on the field to watch the Dawn Patrol balloons set up. The Dawn Patrol are the few balloons that take off early to check weather conditions to determine if it’s OK for the other hundreds of balloons to take off that morning. These few balloons look like giant fireflies in the dark sky because the balloon lights up from each blast of flame that shoots hot air into the balloons.

Once the Dawn Patrol gives the “go-ahead” the other balloons are laid out on the field and hot air is blown in to inflate the balloon. The balloons are turned upright with the large basket for the pilot, passengers and the gas burners attached underneath the balloon.

When the pilot has determined it’s ready to fly the tether is loosened and the balloons begin to rise. People get excited and clap as they watch the balloons gently float up, up, up into the sky. It’s a very festive atmosphere and a very impressive sight. By now the sun has started to peek over the mountains and the Mass Ascension continues for about an hour or two until all the hundreds of balloons all ascend. It’s truly an amazing sight to see, and wonderful to be a part of this special event.

For many years I have wanted to go to the Balloon Fiesta, held every year the first two weeks of October, so it was fun to finally be there on the field. It met my expectations. The balloon designs are so varied and the colors are so vibrant. The first day the Mass Ascension included balloons of many shapes and sizes, but more traditional shapes. The next morning we repeated the routine and joined even more crowds to see the Special Shape Rodeo.

A few (very few) photos from the event:

Here’s a little perspective of the size of these balloons.

Spectacular!

At the Santa Fe Ski Basin: 11,000 ‘ above sea level.

We just returned form a six-day vacation in New Mexico. The landscape is so different from Minnesota, as it should be, and that is why it is fun to venture out and see an area of the country so different from where we live. We had a great time.

In New Mexico the quaking aspens turn bright yellow in the fall, but by this time in October many have lost their leaves. There were still several bright ones popping out among the Ponderosa Pine and Pinon trees on the mountains. We visited two cities: Albuquerque, 5,312 feet above sea level and Santa Fe, 7,199 feet above sea level. The landscape is filled with small scrubs dotting the rocky and sandy soil with Sangre de Cristo mountains as the backdrop. The sky was such a crisp, deep blue. It was beautiful to see and fun to be in the Southwest.

All the while I was wondering if I was missing the mixture of reds and burgundy, yellows and golds, lime-greens and oranges; the colors of the trees in Minnesota during autumn. I was happy to wake up at home in Minnesota to lots of sunshine with many trees still in their autumn glory and fall color all around.