An online journal sharing my interests in photography, nature, coffee life, journaling, fountain pens, spirituality and asking deep questions.
No, I’m not talking about the weather as it dropped into the single digits last night. But, my ex-wife and youngest daughter made tamales last weekend and asked if I wanted a dozen. When my daughter handed them to me she told me they were the hot ones because they were not that hot. Well, her hot and my hot are definitely not the same “hot.” Whew!
A welcoming smile can sure start the day right. I had two special smiles on ‘sunday morning. First I stopped at a local coffeehouse where one of my favorite baristas, Myra, greeted me with her smile. Dang, makes me wish I wasn’t old enough to be her grandpa. 🙂
The next smile you’ll find at Rocky Mountain Bagel Works in Fort Collins. As you come in the door a hallway leads you to Brittany, or one of her co-workers, who greets you with a smile and warm welcome. Once you recover from her smile you must now decide what you want from the menu. An assortment of bagel flavors and cream cheeses, breakfast or lunch bagel sandwiches, coffee, lattes, smoothies. 🙂 It is a great way to start your day and fits the small budget and they’re local!
It was good, too.
I just happened to be in Cuppy’s Coffee Shop the other day when Ayala was just getting her spinach quiche out of the oven. It not only looks good but tastes good. Her quiche is not the only thing on the menu as there are gourmet sandwiches, soups, salads. Besides quiche she also bakes knish and apple strudel. Knish which consists of a filling covered with dough that is either baked, grilled, or deep fried. She normally fills hers with potatoes and cheese or potatoes, cheese and spinach. If eating is not on your priority list then Krista or Michelle or one of the other baristas will gladly make your favorite latte or smoothie while you enjoy the ambiance they offer.
Spent some time wandering through the Drake Farmers Market yesterday morning. Took a few images and sampled almost everything they had, that way I did not have to eat lunch, but dinner, well that was different story. 🙂
I enjoy these community events. You can actually talk to the person who made the product which could include growing the vegetables in their own garden, harvesting them, caning them and using their own special recipe. And, as I mentioned above, you can sample the product before buying. I found a couple of things I just had to buy and made my dinner with them last night.
Last week I spent a couple of days in Seattle, flying up on Wednesday and coming back on Friday afternoon. I took one small backpack with spare shirt, shorts, socks, toothbrush and just the G12. I stayed at the Green Tortoise Hostel which is located at the corner of Pike and First Street. It is literally across the street from Pikes Market Place. First of all the hostel was great. I stayed in a room with four beds with only three of them occupied. Andrew was from England and Bosco was from Miami. The hostel provided breakfast each morning: eggs, pancakes and toast. The only stipulation required you to make your own breakfast and then cleanup after yourself. On Tuesdays from 1:00-5:00 pm they offered the Dead Guy tour where they load you up in the hostel van for a tour of Seattle. Along the way they take you to the graves of Jimmy Hendrix, Bruce Lee, and Brandon Lee. I passed on that. They offered free dinner on Tuesday and Thursday. So, I did indulge in the taco dinner on Thursday.
Faye had a sweet post on her blog yesterday. Her image and story awakened some forgotten memories of my childhood. Just like her story, we would gather with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins for a summer evening meal. I remember the grilled hamburgers, hotdogs, potato salad, pork and beans and of course chips. What I remember most was the homemade ice cream. My uncles would take turns hand cranking the White Mountain freezers. Man those were good times. So, Faye’s image of the watermelon is to blame for the indulgence in some good old watermelon last night. It’s all gone now. 🙂