Fourth of July Weekend

Otter pops, BBQ's, fire works, otter pops, BBQ's and some more otter pops and fire works! That basically sums up what our Fourth of July weekend revolved around. It was really hot, hence the millions of otter pops that we consumed, but it was fun! We had about 3 BBQ's where we ate as much as our stomachs would hold. Will is a pyromaniac so he kept bugging me about buying some fire works, so about $50 later he was happy. Fireworks lately are getting pretty crappy though, so typical Will was sitting there taking apart fireworks trying to rig it to get a bigger bang! No worries, there was adult supervision and I helped! ;) We even dragged ourselves out of bed before sunrise to see the hot air balloon festival; I just wished that we could have actually ridden in one. The parade was pretty nice, but I have to say that Provo needs more parking, it was crazy!
Well we hope that everyone had a good and safe Fourth!

Will left me for .....THE iPHONE 3G!

When Will mentioned that he really really wanted to get the new iPhone 3G that was coming out, I had no idea that he really really wanted it enough to leave in the middle of the night and camp out side the AT&T store to get it. So I wake up by myself and go to find him where else, but sitting looking really tired with a huge smile on his face since he was 10th in line. Lucky for him I brought him breakfast! Well to end this little story, Will finally got the iPhone. So he won’t be dragging me to the AT&T store every week to stare at it and I'll have to admit, it's pretty cool so he might be missing it every so often! ;)

Northern Flicker

Every day on my way to work I have been observing two Flickers (Colaptes auatus cafter) feed on the grass boarding a retention pond. Flickers are ubiquitous in our area and are quite large, so they are hard to miss. I had a moment this morning to try and sneak up on them.


Flickers do commonly feed on the ground, using their large bills to probe for insects. There must be something very tasty in this one spot of grass because I see them there all the time. Perhaps there is an ant colony. Ants make up 45% of a Flickers diet although they will also eat berries, fruit, nuts.

Yellow-bellied Marmot

Yellow-bellied Marmots (Marmota flaviventris) are the sun worshiping denizens of the mountains. They are often observed sprawled indelicately upon a fat rock, their large bellies barely supported by the stone. After hibernating for 8 months I can see why. I too emerge from the winter both fatter and sun-starved. If I had buckteeth, I would look just like a marmot.

Marmots are actually ground squirrels and are related to the infamous ground hog. I suspect all our hibernating marmots roll over in their sleep when their distant cousin declares a longer winter. If a marmot’s fat reserves run out while hibernating, it will die. Alas, I have too easy access to chocolate, fine dining, and chicken wing binges to every worry about that! While late summer is my time to slim down, it is the time for marmots to gorge themselves on grasses, berries, lichens, mosses, roots, and flowers. How boring! They need to read some of my restaurant reviews. A diet of lichen is hardly fat building.

Like me, marmots can be found at any altitude but prefer to live above 8,000 ft. They dig large burrows that have many entrances and exits. They line the burrow with grasses and fur to make it comfortable. If I had to live underground for 8 months, I would do more than shed on the floor. These burrows are usually on rocky slopes next to meadows.

When I took these pictures, there were so many marmots lounging on the road that it looked like a road kill convention. Highly territorial, they did not want to move. Somehow the law of gross tonnage does not apply to marmots, they think they are bigger than they are. Perhaps they have a tail complex. At 6 inches I might have an ego too.

Anyway, marmots are ubiquitous in the mountains. They will shriek at you if you invade their territory or look the other way as if you are not worthy of attention. The two that I photographed here seemed jealous of the mountain goats that I was following and kept posing like glamour girls on the catwalk.

Finally, a new post and a new look!

A great many apologies to you all for such a serious lack of posting. I hope to be posting more regularly now that I have got caught up with lots of things going on over here at the Vintage Lifestyle house including updating the look of our blog!

Life has been pretty busy for us over the last month or so. I spent several weeks making costumes for a school play, then before I realised it, birthday week was upon us which took some planning and lots of shopping. For those of you who know us or might remember from last year's post, my birthday, my son's and daughter's are all in the same week and it can be hectic as well as lots of fun!

With the weather as appalling as it has been, I spent a very rainy day making myself a bag with a favorite fabric that I had been saving for just such reason. I am very pleased with how it turned out even though it is full of mistakes! Whilst at a little fete today I bought a beautiful bouquet of Sweet Peas and Alchemilla for £1. I sat my bag by the fence along with the sweet peas and it was such a pretty sight i had to take a picture (at the top of the page). I am quite sure that anyone who saw me thought I was very strange indeed taking a photo of a bag by a fence but sometimes you just have to capture the moment!

I was inspired to take more photos after I went home but as the weather was again "lacking" I took a few pics of some pretty things around our house. Below are a few of "my favorite things".





Above is our full length mirror in the bedroom. As you can probably tell, it's an old wardobe door. We found it at the rubbish area of a local auction! I painted it and added a pretty blue colour and a large pink rose to the panel at the bottom. Over the years the seam of the panel has come apart a bit but I just love it as it is including it's door handle which we left on. I really do like things that are a bit quirky!



Next is a mirror which I bought quite a long time ago on Ebay. It's beautifully painted flowers and bevelled glass are perfectly vintage!



This pretty blue velvet hat goes perfectly with a blue needlepoint bag. Every time I use this bag someone tells me how lovely it is. I love vintage clothing and accessories, they are so unique and such beautiful quality. They also make great decorating pieces.



And last but not least is my early Victorian hanging plant holder. I found this at an antique auction. I was determined not to leave the place without it. I wonder where it hung originally. Maybe in the orangery?

How about sharing some pics of a few of your favorite finds or creations?

Bumble Bee

I see far more Bumble Bees (Bombus bifarius bifarius) in Colorado than I do Honey Bees so I couldn’t resist trying to capture a few pictures of one as it lumbered from flower to flower at the Mesa Trail trailhead. Note that I did not say flitted, or bounced, or zoomed. The flight of a Bumble Bee defies logic and reminds me of a pimped out Hindenburg.

Bumbles are social insects even though you invariably see them feeding solo. Their colonies contain around 50 individuals and they will often feed up to 2 km away from their home. Since they return to the same flowers day after day, they leave scent marks warning other Bumbles away. Too bad human’s sense of smell is so retarded. I would much rather have gangs scent mark their territory than spray paint it.

Bumbles use a long tongue to suck out the nectar from flowers. This requires them to crawl over the flower’s reproductive parts and thereby collect pollen onto their legs. When they land on another flower this botanical groping results in the pollen being transferred to the new plant and the miracle of pollination occurs. Not only do the bees “do it”, they also participate in cross species manage-a-deux, which is very kinky if you think about it. Who said Mother Nature was boring?

Bumbles can sting just so you know and sting repeatedly like wasps. In fact only Honey Bees have the barbed stingers that result in Kamikaze death. Bumbles are not aggressive, however, and will only sting if threatened either while feeding or at their colony. Still, I find it best to get out of the way of any Bumble lumbering my way. Who knows what they see out of those compound eyes. Just hearing their buzz raises the hair on the back of my neck. In nature, a yellow and black motif is also a warning sign. Just so you know, a Bumble’s buzzing is not caused by their wings but by their flight muscles. It takes a lot of oooMPHF to move the Hindenburg.

So next time you are lying face down in a field of Colorado wildflowers take a moment to observe the Bumble Bee.

Bee Balm

I always regret the appearance of Bee Balm (Monarda media), also known as Wild Bergamont, on the Mesa Trail. It blooms in July and August but always seem to be the last flower to bloom in the season. A hybridized version is available for garden use, which has the reputation for attracting humming birds.