Sunday, Not Friday.........

But an update nonetheless........

So........I had been having this thought in my head, and on the spur of the moment, I put a question to a Word of Mouth Facebook group that I am in, "If I started a group for women of a certain age, what should I call it?".  Mind you, this was something that was just sitting in the back of my head, percolating if you will. Immediately, and I do mean immediately, I started getting questions. "How do I join your group".  "I want to join your group". Stuff I wasn't prepared for, to say the least. Obviously I was not the only gal who had the same idea, or the same issues: wanting to meet others for coffee, conversation and the like. And I consider myself fairly social, at least.

The end result? I grabbed a Facebook page as a place to land, invited people in who expressed interest, and last Friday we had our first coffee and conversation,  9 or so of us. Our afternoon lasted from one until almost four at our local independent coffee shop, and I would say a very good time was had by all. Since then our group has grown by leaps and bounds. I don't know what will happen with it and am trying to take it slow. I expect I and some others would just as soon jump right into book groups and girl's day out type trips, but we are taking it slow for now, weekly coffees and every other week lunch or brunch, and seeing how it goes. It may work, it may fizzle out. Who knows?  All we can do is try.

In other summer vacation news:

1. While I miss my daughter, unless she needs me for puppy sitting, I'm holding off until September, even though she'll be back in school. The temps will be mainly 100 and above between now and then, and I don't look forward to going from air conditioning to air conditioning. I've planned a birthday vacation in Hill Country and the beach area, and will invite her along on spend two weeks with her then.

2. In looking for new places to dine out, I've found that Denver has more than one outdoor eating patio that allow canine family members. I'm thinking that next Sunday or the Sunday after, we'll load the pups into the car (giving them a mini road trip, which they'll love) and enjoy Sunday brunch.

Double pillows to add height for my crippled knees.

3. I've spent an inordinate time in my favorite place to be in the summer, the swing in my "needs remodeling  but we can't decide what to do" pergola area. The grapevines have climbed and climbed, giving me built in shade after about one or so, as well as privacy, and I've spent time there reading, napping, watching dogs play and even knitting. Meanwhile, the plant whisperer has reclaimed even more ground under the rocks and weed barrier as well as planting a tree. The yard continues to bloom, with no thanks to me.  

And yes, of course, there's a dog in the photo!

4. I've made a goal of not using my oven (it's Denver, we try and keep the house closed, the air at 78 to 80 depending and open the house at night), and relying on stove top, slow cooker and grilled recipes when the grill master is home.  The end result? Country ribs can be cooked in a slow cooker and don't even need to be grilled or broiled if you turn it on high at the end. The same with barbecued chicken parts. My next goal is to try two pork tenderloins and see if they can actually still be that very slightly pink but not over done after three to four hours on low.

5. As part of my explore the local, it's amazing to me how much local there is to explore, much of it for very little in terms of cash. I come from Washington DC, the land of free museums and parks and other things, so sometimes I don't immediate recognize all that this area has to offer. I've come to realize that I will have a full summer and no desire to travel until fall with all the things available to me. This week: Outdoor museum, free concert, and a special exhibit of local artists at our little museum, as well as a barbecue fest.

This week coming? I'm mainly playing Barbie homemaker. My church is having a silent auction and brunch and I'm contributing breakfast casseroles, coffee cakes and the like as well as offering up a memorabilia quilt and Christmas cookies at the auction. Add that to coffee, lunch, knitting with happy hour and my backyard and you have summer in Colorado!