First flower is blooming ;)

Yeah! The first flower is blooming! I was walking around and just found it all along the edge of the road. Small and nice looking...

 

Finally, I got a spider!

I got this comment yesterday - "Not my favorite insect, but the close-ups are remarkable!" It was about Japanese Beetle (A few minutes of beetle's life...) and I totally agree - not my favorite insect too. But... what is my (your, theirs etc) favorite insect? Do you even have one?

 

A few minutes of beetle's life...

Not just any beetle... but Japanese Beetle. Native to Japan, where they are well controlled by natural enemies, these species are invasive and destructive in the US. When these beetles were first detected in the United States in 1916, they had no natural enemies and were able to grow unchecked. Even though these insects are beautiful like glimmering green and copper jewels, the damage they cause is not.

 

First leaves

It was just a couple days ago when the fresh snow covered everything. And now the sun worked on it and melted most of it. And the buds are really ready to open up and... more and more fresh leaves are starting unwrapping from the buds and turn green....

 

Green, green and green - St.-Patrick's Day parade in Denver, 2010

Saint-Patrick's Day is quite popular all around the World. And the traditional parade is a part of this celebration. By the way, the first time the Parade happened in the USA (not in Ireland) in 1762, believe it or not...

 

Flowers in May

There was a lot of snow during the last couple of days in Denver. And even those who love the snow are tired of heavy wet cover, of shoveling for hours, of white color surrounding us... Let's jump back in time and look at colorful May flowers...

 

Snow storm in March

The snow was so slow and unimpressive yesterday (look here - Snow is falling down...)... There were just lazy snowflakes and we didn't expect much of it overnight. But... in the morning we were surprised with the snow storm blowing and howling from all directions...

 

Snow is falling down...

Right... the snow is falling from the sky... slow and, I'd say, lazy... but it looks so nice when the snow slowly covers the earth... the lawns... the trees... all surfaces...

 

Squaw Pass Road flowers

It was a nice August day in the mountains... I was exploring Squaw Pass road, driving up and down, stopping here and there and looking for flowers... Aren't they beautiful? What do you think?

 

Waiting for snow...

We have had really nice weather lately. Sunny and warm... like 65 degrees warm... And more and more buds are opening and the first leaves are bursting free.

 

Fall colors in Boulder

Boulder is a good place to visit at any time of the year. But Fall time is a special time. Everything looks even better and brighter...

 

Bud's day ;)

Tssss... don't tell anyone, but Spring is here! It is just waiting around the corner and just about to come in...

 

Sunny day... Sunflower day...

I don't know about you, but I always liked sunflowers. Even though we rarely had an opportunity to see them far north, in the area where I spent my childhood.

We, mostly, were enjoying not sunflowers themselves, but sunflower seeds ;) But still, walking in the countryside, we've seen them here and there and always stopped to look at the flower we can call "exotic" ;)

 

Cripple Creek, Jail Museum

As you can see, the population of Cripple Creek grew from 15 people to more than 50,000 just in a few months. And a lot of them were adventure seekers, gold diggers or just people that were ready for everything if they could feel the smell of money. And... also... they drunk! So, work, pub, gambling, ill-repute house and "next stop is jail" ;)

 

Cripple Creek, Old Homestead

Cripple Creek has a long history and endless stories can be told all night long revealing the truth and fiction about this place... Let's listen to a couple of them, before jumping to our today's subject, if you don't mind...

 

Town of Cripple Creek

Cripple Creek is such a nice small town and we are already made a first round of walk there - Winter day in Cripple Creek.

As it said before, Cripple Creek is a great place to feel the spirit of an old mining town. And you can start even before reaching the town. 

 

Winter day in Cripple Creek

There are a lot of small nice towns in the mountains. And most of them look alike... but they are still not the same. They all have quiet curvy streets, small houses, trees... But each has something that makes them unique. Probably this is why we really enjoy spending time exploring small towns.

Cripple Creek is a tiny cozy mining town...It has a rich history, but let's not talk about it now and just walk along the streets and have a first impression of this place. If you enter the town from the West, you drive up and down jumping from one hill to another. And you see a small house or two sitting on the top of each hill... And trees... If you choose the right weather, the trees are covered with snow and everything looks like a fairy tale...

 

Cripple Creek, Ice Sculpture Festival, 2020

Cripple Creek is a great place if you want to escape from a busy city life. It's also an amazing spot to spend a few relaxing hours enjoying the atmosphere of the old mine town. It is sleepy and empty during most of the year, but twice a year this town becomes center of life. It's full of people and feels busy and even a bit crazy. And it always happens in February, when the town hosts the Ice Sculpture Festival. The second time it attracts a lot of people happens during Donkey Derby in June...

 

What color do you like more?

Can I ask you a question? Do you mind? No... so... what color do YOU like more?

I know that the answers vary... We all have different preferences... But what if I make this question more complex... Flowers of what color you like more? I guess now we have even more answers and they would be not as simple as before... What about red flowers? Specifically red roses? Do you like them?

 

Morning walk...

Saturday morning wasn't toasty... but it still was hot. The morning dew still was watering Morning Glory flowers and everything promised another exhausting Summer day...

 

Winter is here!

The snow started late yesterday. And continued all night without a stop. And in the morning everything looked just like Winter finally stopped by ;)

 

White, light and cool

Do you have a time machine? No? What's a pity... I have one, by the way. Don't believe me? Look at the pictures below...

 

Flowers non stop

I know, I know... it is February and not many blooming flowers can be found outside... But the Summer pictures could change it and bring the memories about nice and warm weather, about the flowers that were all around the lawns, streets and fields nearby. So let's turn on our time machine and jump back to July...

 

Once upon a time... quiet Saturday in Golden...

I think everyone at least once in their life feels dejavu... You know, the feeling like this already happened to you before and you relive it again. In fact, I feel it quite often when I visit nice small towns... The weather is the same, the views are the same, even the people look the same. I was looking at the pictures I've taken a year ago (in February 2020) and thought that I could go to Golden and take exactly the same pictures today. The weather would be the same, everything would be just the same... the colors, the feeling, the streets...

 

Snow Sunday

Colorado weather... It is nice, but can be rough... It is pleasant, but might be changing rapidly... It is Colorado weather ;)

It was nice and warm just the day before yesterday (check here Dry goods...). 45 degrees and sun made this day really warm and nice. Even a gray sky afternoon didn't make us think about weather change. So when the snow started to powder the ground lately we didn't flinch. But the morning brought us a surprise - everything was white and a thick layer of snow covered all things around - the houses, the lawns, the trees...