HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! to everybody, too,......

Love the photo - Is it New Year's Eve or New Year's Day?

Ken - Great shirt

I second your hopes for the new year plus; the poise, presence, and courage to act purposefully when we know the time is right. Step into the light and shine!

2011, here we come

WELCOME 2011!

Happy New Year to one and all! It's been a wet start here - wish we could send the Boulder family some rain. From the weather reports it sounds like the New York family has plenty of wet stuff, of the white variety!

Hope everyone has a year filled with hope, happiness and good times. We love you and miss you all. Love from all the Blackwells

Christmas Week

I give up on placing these but the order is almost correct and I'm sure the posting process will change them around a bit. The idea was to illustrate the progression from Christmas Eve and Boden reading the Night Before as part of the group for the first tiome to talking to the Blacwells on skype. Then christmas breakfast at the Kelloggs including sticky buns produced by Rico and frajitas from kate - good start to the feasting. We had a break at the park with basketball and sliding for the younger members and swinging for the elderly. Then Mom and I headed home for a lunch and stockings on the deck - a first for Christmas. The final views in these shots are of opening gifts at our place followed by Christmas dinner of steak and kidney pie and an attempt to connect on skype with Coburns and Blackwells. No luck but we had talked (skype) to the Blackwells on Christmas Eve and were able to see Julie and Matt on Boxing Day - a real treat. We hope we can get our camera to work every time in the New Year.

Earlier in the week, Mom and I had gone for several short hikes on beautiful, high 50s, afternoons. We took one along South Boulder Creek where the water gurgled and the sun picked up silver in the bark of the trees - a remarkable thick and crusty texture on the lower and fatter part of the trunk and then a smooth, glistening bark on the higher levels. That with the golden grasses in the background and a few tall, dark, almost black, thistles provided some lovely, textured viewing.

Yesterday I skied at Eldora with the Kellogg guys. We all did a run from the top and I took up the rear - Boden scoots right along making small turns when needed always appearing to move at a steady pace, fully under control. Reid showed how well he has adjusted back to skis from the years on the snowboard by skiing backwards down several stretches on the runs we took on the smaller mountain. Rico, as always, is a pleasure to watch. It was windy but sunny and not frigid - a bearable day temperature wise and a good test on the willingness of all four of us to ignore the wind and enjoy the day.

Today Mom and I drove up Sunshine Canyon to Gold Hill and down Four Mile Creek to view the area of the September fire before the ground is covered by snow in Thursday's predicted storm. It was truly eyeopening. The fire was so choosy - jumping roads, ignoring one home and taking the neighbor (30 yards away) to the ground, leaving sections of green trees in a field of black trunks and charred ground, burning on two sides of Gold Hill but not touching the town. Some of the erratic burn must be due to the efforts of firefighters, but some must be just the impact of nature acting erratically. We ended the day at the movies seeing The King's Speech - an excellent show having already garnered many award nominations. It is the story of King George VI's struggle to overcome his stammer which he was able to do well enough to have his wartime speeches become a rallying cry for the British people and Empire. I remember some of them, but never knew the details of the persevance and struggle it took for him to achieve the result. A very uplifting story, very well acted, and a provider of some interesting insights into King Edward, his abdication, and pre-war Britain. I recommend it highly on many levels not the least of which is its historical insights.

So that what's been going on with the Kellogg seniors. We've bought some fruit and vegetables in case we don't get to market until a few days after our predicted snow - I doubt if it will be up the the Boxing Day blizzaard in the North East - but it doesn't hurt to get a little prepared.

First view - Indian Peaks from Sunshine Canyon Dr. Second view - Outside Gold Hill - note the black, green, and scorched brown areas and the tiny house in the bare area at the left.

We all had a great time!!!

Merry Christmas to you, too!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!!

• 

Responses

Lots of news in the recent postings. I admire the beards on Boden and Reid - much better copies of Santa's than mine. I took a couple of photos today of our tree - quite a contrast to last year's large and beautiful live one but still very bright and cheerful - and the new deck whose final touches - two steps - are being added tomorrow. Unfortunately, we have misplaced the cord that lets us just move a couple of photos to the computer - what we have to do is move over the 150 pictures we have on the memory stick and we already have them on and edited thanks to the Aussie computer. We'll get some photos on soon of activities at our place.

We're pleased with Rachael's OP. Australia has a distinctive approach to college admissions and it applies a lot of pressure - now it continues until January when the colleges act on the applications. Even with that continued pressure, it must be nice to know you have earned a level of achievemnt that meets the collge requirements for admission to courses you want. If I can find it, I'll put onto this blog a photo of the University of Queensland we took when touring in November with Rachael and Elli. It has a beautiful setting. ( Can't find it, in fact, can't find any of the Aussie trip photos I thought I had on the computer - guess that sets me up with something to do tomorrow.)

I like the blue mantel. It makes a nice focus. It will be interesting to see how it wears. The combination of warm walls and cool fireplace is appealing. Hope it works - amazed at how fast the transition from brown to blue went.

We have a rather quiet few days coming - at least there is little on the calendar. I'm sure we will be filling it up. I'd like to ski again this week but I just heard the weather report for the mountains - four feet of snow between now and Tuesday night with six feet in some places. I may have to wait until it gets packed down. Will be interesting to see what Eldora gets. None is predicted for here.

HO, HO, HO!!!

Now that the break has finally arrived, we're getting into the full holiday swing! The tree is up and decorated and we've been enjoying the first couple of days off with some outdoor activities- skiing and hiking and trying to avoid retail environments. Julie- I think the blue mantel and the tree look great! Post a photo of the two of them together. Kate was insistent that this year we would have a perfectly conical little butterball of a tree, and I have to say it looks very nice straight ahead of you as you walk into the house. Alden was very taken with the ritual of unwrapping all the ornaments and putting them on the tree- she covered a two square foot area of the tree with the greatest possible density of ornamentation. (We stepped in and aided the dispersal later!) The boys and I skied today- it was gorgeous; about 30 degrees, no wind and a light snow falling. We had a blast catching perfect snowflakes on our gloves and comparing them, and all the fresh snow made for some fantastic skiing. It was a nice winter wonderland moment. When we got back, Kate had the house set up for a little cookie decorating gathering for Boden and four of his little buddies. After piling some sugar cookies with obscene mounds of icing, the crew retired to the playroom to watch "A Christmas Story", where they are now. I can hear the guffaws coming from over there as Ralphie just made his entrance wearing his pink bunny suit. We're looking forward to a full week to finish shopping, do some projects around the house and enjoy more skiing. Congratulations to Rachael on moving forward with her academic plans and good luck to Drew with his comps.

Happy holiday season!

The latest from the East Coast,....We have the tree and the holiday mantel color scheme is set. Color to be reevaluated in the New Year. I can't let go of natural wood, yet.

Thanks! Congratulations to Rachael and her familial support group! No matter what happens and where you think/want things to go, change and redirection happen. It's not what happens to you, it's what you do when it happens that is the important thing. I have a feeling that Rachael will be just fine.

Ah,...the color. After much heated agreement during Coburn Secret Santa time last night, we all agreed that the brown is disgusting and the next color to try on the mantel is a pale Williamsburg blue. It should brighten and broaden the room plus pick up the delft tile and rug blues. Matt suggested taking off the paint and going with distressed natural wood. I think he may have something there! Pictures to come!

Merry Christmas week to all!

Another 2 cents worth!

Hi all- Jules, I really like the wall colour. Not so fussed on the mantle - I agree it could be lighter. If you really like the colour, maybe you could go over it with a thin layer of white and just make it lighter? Not being a painter I don't know if that's possible, but it might be an interesting experiment! If it doesn't work out you could always paint over it.

Hope everyone's enjoying the Christmas build-up. I'm happier now that our ferocious thunderstorms seem to be over - at least for the time being. The past 3 afternoons have been pretty harrowing, but thankfully the hailstones have passed us by.

Rachael received her OP score yesterday - a very complicated, and to my mind asinine, way of ranking high school graduates to determine suitability for university entrance. Similar in a way to the SAT, I guess. Dad might be able to explain it better for those who are interested - I think he understood Rachael's explanation better than I did! In any case, she is happy with her result (an 11 out of 25), and immediately went onto the uni application website and changed a few of her preferences around. The upshot is she is hoping to get accepted to the University of Queensland for a dual degree in either Arts/Social Science or Arts/Science. She's still undecided on her long-term plan, but knows she wants to start uni next year if possible. The first round of offers are made in mid-January, so we won't know anything until then - fingers crossed!

Another view

I like the warmth of the yellow - I do think the mantle is dark and it doesn't bring out the tiles in the photo - I'm harping on them as a focus to the room! I'm glad its done and can't wait to see it and read other comments - on to the tree!

Dad

Great Progress

Congratulations on your work! Sounds like you are just in under the Christmas festivities wire! You can put down your paintbrush and whoop it up with the whole family tonight---good work!
My first reaction to the photo is DARKER than I expected/wanted. The color itself looks beautiful, but the mantel and all around the fireplace should be WHITE. Get as much white into the room on trim as you can. It will set off that lovely copper. So that's my initial reaction for the ADD Painting Company!
We have a thin snow cover which transforms the landscape. Temperature in the 20's. Working on Christmas cards. Love to all, Mom

Almost ready for the tree!! Well, as close to ready as we have been yet. The color is Lilting Laughter,... It is a derivative (?) of a beautiful copper. During the day, it looks like a glowing cream, at night, a warm peach. Both go with the rug, brighten the room, and we get the tree tomorrow. Matt comes home tonight. We have the Coburn Secret Santa extravaganza here tonight (in the playroom). Sarah and I have school through the 23rd :(

Drew feels good about his comp exams. We'll see. The mantel is an experiment. We'll see how/if it works with the rug. It's the third rung down on the paint chip spectrum. Just read this, I think I have ADD from working with 5 year olds!

Paint Opinion

OK- I'll be the first to admit that I've been slacking on the posts, but I promise I'm saving up a lot of good pictures and the insightful, witty commentary you've come to expect, and I'll 'drop' it over winter break (only 3 days away!) I am compelled to respond to the paint conundrum. Pick the lightest neutral hue from the rug and match it. The rug is massive enough to dominate- go with its ultimatum and don't try to compete. There's the 2 cents of an art major. I hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas buildup- I'll post a picture of our cute tree.

A Senior Week in Review -

Mom and I have had a good week. Kate's birthday last Sunday was fun for us. We spent time in the afternoon with the kids - Reid and I came to our house and baked a cake from scratch - my first. We did well, but forgot the baking soda until the end when we stirred it into the cake batter in the pans. Result, a partially risen cake. We did a lemon filling that was delicious, as Reid said, "like lemon chiffon pie" -his favorite, and a white icing. It seemed to be a hit. Mom stayed with the younger kids. We had a nice dinner over there cooked by Rico.

Monday I had lunch with a UNA member who asked me to serve as President of the organization for two years. A nice honor after only 3 years here but I said no - my first, I think. Ten years ago I'd have done it but 'I've been there, done that' and I have some personal projects I'd like to do.

Wednesday Mom and I went to the dermatologist expecting to have some major surgery on her leg. After checking it carefully, the doctor recommended another biopsy, scraped a little around the edges, and said let's wait. A relief in one way but the possibility of surgery still is there and legs heal so slowly. The issue is that after a cancer is removed, the new skin around the edges sometimes comes in appearing to be cancer - the cells don't know what they yet. I gather the scraping around the edges can remove those and new skin will grow. Let's hope.

We went out to dinner Tuesday night to a place that serves Happy Hour tapas all night - a nice little meal with happy hour wine prices. Relaxing. On Thursday I had a planning luncheon for the UNA discussion group - one topic we'll be exploring is the impact of the wickipedia leaks on the future practice of diplomacy.

We had some great weather during the week and Mom has had some walks and I did my three swims a week routine. Saturday we did a lot of Christmas actitities such as wreath and presents plus mailing one package. Today we took Boden to the Gem and Train Show. Really neat. He was able to polish a stone on the wheel, pan for gold, and watch trains. The setups are large and very impressive. The most amazing was the logo exhibit. Five different trains, scenery from Victoian houses about a foot and a half high to a quidditch court, assorted dragons, and all kinds of people and activites. We all loved it.

Dad's response on the living room

I'd paint the outside wall white to make the room larger - the white you find in the delft tiles around the fireplace. Then, if you don't want a light white/rose (which is my first chice for the whole room) I'd pick a blue that isn't too dark but picks up the blue in the rug or the blue in the tiles. In other words, I'd emphasize the tile as my first approach - it is a permanet part of the room as are the walls.

I'd be careful not to go too strong in the living room. The library makes a statement and the bathroom is another strong color. The pale blue in the hall might be too cold - the room is nice with the sun, but it can also be on the cool side so don't emphasize that spectrum. There are so many whites that you could find one that is a light/white? version of a rug color if you want to build around the rug. Either tiles or rug should be the cue.

One opinion! I'll be interested in hearing the result. Other views?

Here is a "vintage" shot of the LR. We are trying to figure out what color to paint it. Any help/advice would be welcome. We have ruled out "jute", pale pink, and red velvet. The rug will be the same. Want to get it done by tree time!

We are home 2 - December 3

The Blackwells are also safely home (minus Chai, who gets picked up from her puppy-sitter's at 5pm) after a fun-filled (if not sun-filled!) 3 days at Noosa. The weather was cloudy, humid and cool. It rained on Wednesday, the sun came out for a bit late on Thursday, and we had clouds and showers today. Perfect weather for playing and relaxing at the pool and not worrying about sunburn - although Rachael's shoulders were a bit red last night. When you're as pale as she is, it doesn't take much!

We browsed the local shops, spent hours in the pool, Ken went body-surfing at Noosa Beach, and we played lots of games: Bananagrams, Cluedo and SmartAss. The girls (yes, even Emily!) survived 3 days without computers, which we feel was one of the biggest benefits of the trip. It's so nice to have your children's undivided attention once in a while! This morning we indulged in our requisite breakky at Moondoggy's Cafe, which is always a highlight of the trip and was as delicious as ever. (And Mom, Emily had an iced chocolate and we all raised a toast to you.) Can't wait for next year!!

Glad to hear that Mom and Dad's trip home was as pleasant and uneventful as the trip down, and that they are home and all is well. We miss you - thanks for a very special month.

We are home - December 2nd

We had a good trip home yesterday. It was the shortest trip ever - 23 1/2 hours door to door which included 3 hours at the Brisbane and 4 at the LA airports. We have been raving about Virgin Australia to everyone. The plane we had was on its maiden flight having gone into service Nov. 25th - as the attendant said,"It even smells new." The seating is good and more room for legs than on other flights - we were in economy and not at a bulkhead. The food is good, plenty of it, good wine, and bottled water is passed out as soon as the seat belt sign goes off. The planes are fast - 13 hours down and 12 home. I got some sleep and after checking out the house where we arrived at 3:25, I swam - I think it helps adjust, it sure did flying down when we swam the afternoon we arrived.

The Blackwells left in a rainstorm for Noosa after leaving us at the security gate. I hope they got a bit of sun on their short break. Rachael was the driver to the airport - first time we drove with her and she did a fine job. It was raining then and looked as tho it would all day - the first all day rain we would have had. We did get lots of sun and cloud days with showers, but the weather was great overall. It was a good visit - participation in another milestone passed by the grandchildren and very relaxing and easy for us with delicious dinners and good conversation provided each night - who could ask for more?

The flight from LA to Denver provided beautiful scenery. Even LA was sharp with the mountains, dark green, appearing clear and very close. We flew over Venice Beach and could see the UCLA campus clearly as well as the Santa Monica Mts. Then as we flew east the vast dryness of massive areas of the west was evident. The colors were endlessly changing as were the patterns on the surface. The flat, uninteruppted yellowish tan, of central California was first, then a few clusters of homes appeared surrounded by tiny areas of green. Next came more tan but patterned with ridges that gave a dark contrast to the general color. Las Vegas was a set of small rectangles, monochrome again with no green relief. Lake Mead seemed a huge, dark blue spill that ran for miles edged with shades of white, yellow and tan with scattered groups of white tiny boxes surrounded with green along its edge. Orderly white specks appeared on the flat, blue surface wherever there was a green area. The surface became much more unbalanced with erratic designs in the yellow, orange, red spectrum with each color revealing a range of values that illustrated the structure of the mountains - deep valleys, eroded mesas, canyons were all there. This was followed by some flattish areas of dark gray with small areas of white scattered about which soon gave way to tan and brownish flatness broken into large squares bounded by dark lines. Occasionally a rectangle would enclose a circle of slightly darker color arranged so all four sides touched the circle. These disappeared and again dark gray and white areas returned on a crumpled surface. Suddenly we were over a massive region of reddish-yellow sand with a few very dark green, wide lines drawn on it. We flew through the first clouds of the flight and emerged to see large multi-colored rectangles imposed on flat land. Denver rose in the distance, a concrete strip was under the plane, and we were 'home.' I've flown over that area a number of times, but had never seen it so impressive, clear and beautiful.