February Photo A Day Challenge: Catching Up

Ok, I haven't been slacking on taking these photos each day, just slacking on posting them here. Let's take a look at the last week...

Day 10: Self Portrait. This is me standing in the bathroom, and that's my favorite towel  behind me.

Day 11: Makes You Happy. These guys only come by once every few days, so it's always a treat.

T

Day 12: The Inside Of Your Closet. I couldn't bare to take a photo of my clothes closet, so here's a pic of the pantry. 

Day 13: Blue. My favorite shirt in the dirt.

Day 14: Heart. Lots of 'em.

Day 15: Phone. I keep this thing on hand in hopes that I will someday fix it up and use it. In the meantime, I find it very soothing just turning the rotary dial. It's a weird OCD thing I have.

Day 16: Something New. Christy and Adelle, my brand new friends in town. These ladies are the real deal.

Day 17: Time. Found these beautiful lichens while on a shed hunt the other day. Lichens can  be preserved on rock faces for up to 10,000 years according to Wikipedia. I wonder how long these beauties have been here.

Day 18: Drink. Morning coffee brought to you by the French Press. I prefer Melitta myself, but the press works in a pinch. #coffeesnob

Day 19: Something You Hate To Do. I am still trying to come up with this one.

Say Aaah... Say Aaah...

A night at Willie's from Patrick Munger on Vimeo.


Here's a video made by Patrick two years ago featuring a luscious track from Sebastien Tellier. The photos follow us through a night of karaoke at Willie's. Such sweet memories Note to self to make more of these videos happen soon.

DIY Awesome Light Fixture for the Kitchen

Last summer our vegetable garden was a great success. We planted 14 or so tomato plants, and all but two were productive. Needless to say, we had a lot of tomatoes, which lead to my first attempt at canning. Now, six months in to the post-canning season, we have a dozens of empty canning jars taking up space in the kitchen.

We've been using the pint jars in place of proper drinking glasses, and using the quart jars for dry food storage, sprouting, homemade sauce/leftover storage. Even with all these alternate uses, the ever-growing emptied canning jars have still managed to take over the cupboards... until this morning when I had a sudden burst of motivation to do something about it. .

We had kept a string of white Christmas lights in the space above the cupboards to use as a night light, so this was already in place. From here, I placed the tops and lids on the bottles, and placed them lid-side-down on the cupboard in front of the Christmas light string. Placing them lid-side down will allow the light to escape through the tops of the jars, letting the light glow and bounce off the ceiling.

So, my canning dilemma turned from irritating to awesome with minimal effort. Word up.

February Photo A Day - Day 8 and 9

Day 8: Sun

Day 9: front door

Kane Creek Blvd and Moonflower Canyon

Went on a lovely little hike yesterday up Moonflower Canyon. I drove up Kane Creek Blvd a few weeks ago while exploring around town. I was so pleased to find that not only did the road continue outside of the subrubs of Moab, but it went up several miles and contained all kinds of surprises including camping, cave houses, petroglyphs, a log climb, and several hiking/biking/4x4 trails. Oh how I love this place.

To get to Moonflower Canyon, locate the McDonald's at the south end of Moab on the comer of Main Street and Kane Creek Blvd. Follow Kane Creek Blvd west for 3.1 miles to Moonflower Campground (N38° 33' 14", W109° 35' 15") located on the east (left) side of the road. There are Petroglyphs and a log climb located behind the split rail fence on the south side of the parking area, but we decided to do the log climb another time since the sun was going down and it was getting cold.

The hike starts with a massive tree right near the parking lot. You can walk underneath the huge branches that reach to the ground.

We followed the creek up the canyon, which was frozen in many parts. 

Frosty Leaf

Frosty Cactus

More frosty leaves

Once past the frozen part of the creek, the canyon turned from red sand to grassy/mossy marsh.  

Patrick wandered off and found a little cove with icicles melting in to the creek. The dripping water made the most wonderful echoing sounds in the empty canyon.

BLOOP!

At the end of the canyon is a large pond surrounded by boulders for climbing. There was a teenage couple making out, so we decided to give them some privacy and didn't explore much in this area. 

View from a boulder into the pond below. Purdy!

Can't wait to come back in the spring/summer and see what all of this looks like. Maybe we'll even see some Moonflowers. 

Make out couple's sweet 'stang

The drive further up the road reveals what appears to be a community of modern day cave dwellers as there are several trailer homes parked out in front of man-made caves in the rock. How effing cool is that?! Living in a cave home has become one of my dreams ever since we visited Hole 'N the Rock back in December. 

Here is one of the finished homes sans trailer outside and a full-fledged front door and window set up. 

February Photo A Day - Day 7: a button

I hit this one several times each morn.

February Photo A Day Challenge: the first six days

Day 6: Dinner. Warm goodies on a cold night: Thai curry with peas, rice, a tortilla, and lots of Sriracha of course.

Day 5: 10am. Grandma's quilt made with swatches taken from 50 pairs of polyester pants (or at least that's where I like to imagine the fabric coming from.)

Day 4: A Stranger. I thought this one was rather creepy until I spotted the harp player at the Grand America that afternoon. I was there to celebrate my sister-in-law's B-day. 

Day 3: Hands. Creepy doll pile found at the Sandy Deseret Industries.

Day 2: Words. Went down to Sandy Beach to write love letters to the universe.

Day 1: Your View Today. It was a gloomy day out here in CV, but the view is always lovely.

Day 1: Your View Today. Decided to post two of these since the view inside was toasty warm. PS - that's the ultimate potato soup turned vegan cooking in the dutch oven on the stove.