Continuing the story of the Colorado roadtrip we took in early June 2025 to celebrate my birthday. For Part I of the story see the post – Birthday Colorado Roadtrip Part I: Glenwood Springs.

After leaving Glenwood Springs, we headed to see Leadville, Colorado where John’s paternal grandmother grew up and he’d not return to since he was a young child.

To get to Leadville, we crossed the Tennessee Pass, elevation 10,424 feet above sea level, and crossed over the Continental Divide.

An Emotional “Divide“

As shown in the image above, the Tennessee Pass section of the Continental Divide is home to the 10th Mountain Division Memorial.

My late husband, Terry (aka “Terry the Quilting Husband”) was a HUGE military history buff, with a focus on the Napoleonic Wars (we visited Waterloo in Belgium), the Civil War (we visited Gettysburg), and World War II (he didn’t want to visit Normandy/Omaha Beach in France and I always suspect he stormed the beaches in a past life by how much the thought of visiting deeply disturbed him*).

*An interesting little story about Terry: His older sister, who helped raise him in a family of 7 children, told me after he passed, that when he was a young child he would set up very elaborate battles with his toy soldiers that were far beyond the knowledge, skill and understanding of a 4 year old child. She always suspected he was a former military person reincarnated or something.

He read/studied/engaged in historical miniature wargaming and military strategy gaming (historical battle reenactment on paper/tabletop game) extensively related to World War II battles and was quite the amateur historian when it came to the United States Army’s 10th Mountain Division which is based out of Fort Drum, New York (Terry grew up in NY and when he served in the US Army as a Medic he spent time at Fort Drum). The 10th Mountain Division had an significant role in the European Theater of World War II.

I was very familiar with the 10th Mountain Division as Terry and I had many historical discussions during the 33 years we were together.

So when John and stopped at the memorial on our way to Leadville I was completely emotionally overwhelmed. Not only because of the memories of discussing the 10th Mountain Division for years with Terry; but because I knew Terry would have so loved to see the memorial. It would have made him very happy and moved him deeply.

I spent some time alone just being with the memorial and my thoughts (John was very understanding). It was a very emotional (Continental) Divide experience…

Leadville, Colorado

We continued on to Leadville and explored the town.

Exploring included wandering around downtown Leadville and visiting an independent bookstore and antique shop – The Two Dog Market; and a yarn/craft shop – Fire on the Mountain:

As well as a very quirky hardware and antique shop – The Western Hardware:

I got a little emotional again during our visit to this hardware store as in addition to historical miniature wargaming, Terry loved fantasy wargaming (like Warhammer 40,000 and Dungeons and Dragons). They had a display of the same type of fantasy wargaming figures that Terry had a collection of and liked to paint (see image above). I then had to spend some alone/emotionally reflective time with this display.

It seemed that the Universe was providing me with quite the memory and grief tinged day!

We also paid a visit to the famous (at least in Colorado) adventure clothing factory store Melanzana while in Leadville.

Here I am in the image above with my new Melanzana “hoody” and cap made with leftover hoody fabric.

After Leadville we headed to Breckenridge, Colorado and then home. I didn’t take any photos in Breckenridge but here is a post from 2024 on on my first visit there – Breckenridge and the Continental Divide (we crossed a different section of the Continental Divide – Loveland Pass – on our way there during of 2024 trip).

Closing the post with a random photo – somewhere that we stopped near Leadville.

Even though it was early June, there was still snow on the ground!

(As a I mentioned in the previous post: Leadville is the highest incorporated city in North America, sitting at an elevation of 10,152 feet/3094 meters above sea level)

Outside Adventures!, Special Events, tierneytravels

Birthday Colorado Roadtrip Part I: Glenwood Springs

August 1, 2025August 5, 2025 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Continuing the story about how I celebrated my 60th birthday that I began in the post Birthday-ing with Bruno.

After our trip to Las Vegas (see post Birthday-ing with Bruno), the next part of my birthday celebration was a Colorado roadtrip in early June 2025 to Dillon, Glenwood Springs, Leadville and Breckenridge, Colorado.

I love Colorado and I want to get know as much of the state as I can/see as much of it as I can.

On the way to Glenwood Springs: Dillon, Colorado

We started out heading to Dillon, Colorado a small mountain town 10 miles from the Continental Divide; and is located 9,111 feet (2,777 meters) above sea level. In addition to Dillon, we stopped in the neighboring town Silverthorne, Colorado another small mountain town and visited the best Habitat for Humanity Restore (Thrift Store) I’ve ever been to!

Image credit: alignable.com

We spent an hour there wandering around and I found a lovely African basket there which I now use in my studio, along with a bunch of awesome CDs (I’ve rediscovered the CD player stereo component and have taken to listening to entire albums in the living, old school style!).

Glenwood Springs, Colorado

After Dillon and Silverthorne, we headed to Glenwood Springs and stayed at the awesome Hotel Maxwell Anderson.

Image credit: maxwellandersonhotel.com

John and I spent a lovely evening with our cocktails sitting in the room above on one of the sofas chatting about life.

During the day we wandered around Glenwood Springs (famous for it’s Hot Springs, which I refer to as “the community bathtub”*) and had a wonderful lunch at the historic Hotel Colorado which in “1905 became the temporary home for the President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt and his assistants during a three-week bear hunting expedition. Already a fan of the state of Colorado, Roosevelt stayed at the Hotel Colorado on multiple occasions” (History of Hotel Colorado).

Here’s some photos from our lunch:

I love this quit when you enter the Hotel Colorado – any place with a quilt displayed when you walk in is okay by me!

Here are some of the “community bathtubs”* (the Hot Springs) that Glenwood Springs is famous for:

I love Glenwood Springs and have visited several times including taking the mind-blowing 6 hour train ride from Denver’s Union Station to Glenwood Springs (see posts Weekend in Glenwood Springs, Train Ride to Glenwood Springs, CO and More – Part I, Train Ride to Glenwood Springs, CO and More – Part II, Train Ride to Glenwood Springs, CO and More – Part III, and Train Ride to Glenwood Springs, CO and More – Part IV). It is one of my favorite places in Colorado, so far!

*You might be curious as to why I refer to the Hot Springs in Glenwood Springs as the “community bathtub”. Well the two times I’ve visited them and soaked in them, they were bath water temperature and it was like taking a bath with a hundred other people!

A Stop in Minturn, Colorado

On our way back towards home we stopped in Minturn, Colorado which is near Vail, Colorado the famous resort/ski town, and visited a tiny whiskey tasting room in a little house for the distillery the Minturn Whisky Company.

We had an awesome time sampling the spirits and John bought home a bottle.

From Minturn we continued onto Leadville (the highest incorporated city in North America, sitting at an elevation of 10,152 feet/3094 meters above sea level), crossing another section of the Continental Divide which I’d not been to before and then onto Breckenridge and back home.

I’ll share our adventures in Leadville and Breckenridge in the next post, but to close this post here are a couple photos from our roadtrip when we stopped at various scenic areas for a break from being in the car. Sorry I do not remember where these are located but they were lovely (smile):

Finished Quilts

“Pieces of Colorado” Now Hung in the Guest Room

June 27, 2025July 6, 2025 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I love Colorado and I’ve been lucky to live here for a little over 6 years.

In 2019 when I was considering the move to Colorado and not sure if it was the right thing or not, the Universe gave me a sign, and this ad was the first thing I saw when I opened a magazine to read while I was still deciding:

That ad did not lie, I feel “truly alive” here!

I want to share that feeling and my love of Colorado with friends and family who come to visit, so I placed my completed Pieces of Colorado quilt in our daylight basement guest room:

In addition to celebrating Colorado, I wanted to celebrate the beauty of the U.S. National Parks some of my country’s most beautiful and precious lands.

So throughout the guest room I have framed posted of National Parks especially those that John and I have visited (together or in our previous lives) and ones we plan to visit in the near future. I thrifted the pictures – got them from a book on the art of of National Parks posters that was not in good condition but most of the pages were.

I also thrifted all the other art/decor in room, including the beautiful rug which I found for $12 at a Goodwill Outlet (we cleaned it very well).

And John made the bedside tables which include built in outlets for easy access to charging devices for guests.

He also built a little bookshelf for the “guest library” where I keep books that I’ve already read and want to keep for guests to read while they visit and/or take with them home.

Here’s a tour:

Here’s a closer look at some of the cool Colorado and National Park art I found at thrift stores (many for under $5):

I struggle with buying anything new these days and there are so many treasures at thrift stores (plus I am keeping stuff out of landfills and giving them a new home).

On the desk in the guest room (we did buy the desk years ago new), I have a collection of thrifted books on National Parks below a thrifted radio:

Yes that is a National Park (Grand Canyon) thrifted mug holding pens for guests to use (I have a thrifted note pads in the desk drawer).

I also have a basket where we are keeping any maps, brochures or pamphlets were pick up while visiting National Parks for guests to look through (along with some unused slippers for them we’ve collected from hotel stays):

When designing our guest room I wanted to have the things I wished people would have for me when I visit and so we stocked the guest room closet with two (relatively inexpensive) bathrobes so our guests can feel cozy:

I hope this doesn’t sounds like a “soapbox” but I feel strongly that if people spend their money and time to come and visit you, you should make them feel VERY welcome. When traveling it is challenging to be away from your comforts of home so we try to give them as many comforts as we can.

We have our guest bathroom well stocked with what we think guests might need so if they are visiting us they don’t have to worry about bringing a lot of toiletries. We also make sure there are plenty of fresh towels. We’ve even put a little hamper basket in the guest room closet for their dirty towels, etc.

People might think we are “over the top” in our hosting but we want to honor each person who visits our home.

I guess this thrifted sign in our guest room we hung above one of the windows sums it up:

Oh wait, this post was supposed to be about the Pieces of Colorado quilt being hung, I think I digressed – ha!

(By the way if this post left your eyes rolling in your head, just accept that John and I are weird…ha!)

Outside Adventures!, tierneytravels

Breckenridge and the Continental Divide

October 17, 2024October 19, 2024 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Well it’s time to start catching you all up on our travels this Summer into Fall. It might justify why there’s been very little “tierneycreating” except for projects that I can take on trips!

It’s going to be in random order as I think of what adventure I want to share when I write the post. So this post I feel like sharing our trip in early August 2024 to Breckenridge, Colorado with a stop at Loveland Pass on the way where we stood on a section of the Continental Divide.

Loveland Pass

The Continental Divide as defined by Wikipedia :

The Continental Divide extends from the Bering Strait to the Strait of Magellan, and separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from those river systems that drain into the Atlantic and Arctic Ocean, including those that drain into the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and Hudson Bay

Here we are at Loveland Pass at 11,990 feet above sea level (yes the air felt a bit thinner up there!)

It was a gorgeous day and we hiked a bit around the Continental Divide area:

We even found some patches of snow in early August!

Breckenridge, Colorado

After a couple hours at Loveland Pass we headed to Breckenridge, Colorado one of the many skiing towns of Colorado (like Vail, Telluride, Keystone, Steamboat, Aspen, etc) for an overnight visit.

Here are some photos from our time in Breckenridge:

I also found some cool old structure that were just screaming to be Black and White photos 😉

Independent bookstores, Outside Adventures!, tierneytravels

Weekend in Glenwood Springs

June 6, 2021January 30, 2023 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I’ve lived in Colorado for a little over 2 years now (moved here in April 2019) and the geologic beauty of this state never ceases to amaze.

A couple of weeks ago, between installments of out of town visitors (3 sets so far and more coming!), we visited Glenwood Springs, Colorado.

Glenwood Springs is famous for its natural mineral hot springs and this was the primary reason we visited – so I could experience a mineral hot springs for the first time, as well as see the beauty of this region.

The drive was gorgeous, especially when we got to Glenwood Canyon which is before you get to Glenwood Springs. We stopped at a park/rest stop in Glenwood Canyon along the river and wow:

I did not want to leave the park/rest stop area, just wanted to pitch a tent by the water and relax!

Here is a little video I took that I uploaded to YouTube (unfortunately I did not think to film it landscape):

Once we got into Glenwood Springs, we checked into the Hotel Colorado which is one of Colorado’s historic hotels (there is another historic hotel nearby, The Hotel Denver, and these are the famous hotels in Glenwood Springs).

I appreciated that there was a framed quilt inside the hotel!

There was a bridge from the Hotel Colorado side of the town to the shopping/downtown area, which provided a nice view of the area:

Do you see the train tracks in the image above? Well keeps those in mind for what I will mention at the end of this post.

Once we got into downtown, we wandered about – there are lots of shops, eateries and pubs. We stopped at a wonderful brewery tasting room and had pierogis for lunch from the food truck across the street.

After lunch we browed a used bookstore which also had a quilt:

We also visited the famous Glenwood Springs Hot Springs at the Glenwood Hot Springs Resort, and it was an interesting experience.

The hot springs mineral water felt great but it was like taking a bath with a hundred or so other people! We all had our bathing suits on but it still felt a little strange with all those people surrounding us while we soaked in the hot springs!

It was a very fun weekend and I appreciate all the post vaccine travel we are able to do now.

Okay, so I asked you to remember the image earlier in this post with the train tracks. Well in the near future I will be riding on those train tracks! My sister is coming to visit and I am taking her to Glenwood Springs for the weekend via the Amtrak train from Denver to Glenwood Springs.

I am hoping it is as scenic as it looked when we drove to Glenwood Springs and saw the train tracks along the way.

I haven’t traveled by Amtrak train in many years and I am pretty excited about the 5+ hour train ride from Union Station in downtown Denver to Glenwood Springs. My sister and plan to bring a picnic to eat on the train, relax, read and of course catch up.

I did find this article online titled: Prepare to be Blown Away on the Best Train Ride in Colorado! That’s a good sign!

Life in B&W, Outside Adventures!, tierneytravels

Garden of the Gods in Black and White

May 8, 2021June 22, 2022 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

This is sort of part 2 of the May 6th post Out of town guests? Put them to work!. We didn’t just make our friends visiting from Oregon work on home remodeling projects, we did actually take them sightseeing.

The weather was cold and a bit snowy during their visit but they really wanted to see the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, Colorado. According to Wikipedia, The Garden of the Gods is comprised of “red rock formations were created during a geological upheaval along a natural fault line millions of years ago”.

This was my second time there and very different from my first visit in August 2019 when we took my visiting sister and nephew there (see post And on the 8th Day…Part I). It was much sunnier and much warmer in August.

In honor of the difference between the warm August and cold/snowy early April visit, I took photos in Black & White instead of color.

Here is a photo journal of the day – enjoy (or cringe at my attempt to be a B&W photographer, ha!):

And yes, Mike the Miniature Schnauzer joined us in the backpack.

Outside Adventures!, What's on the Design Wall

The Mountains on the Wall

September 29, 2020November 15, 2023 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I spend a lot of time in my home office. I work four 10 hour days Monday to Thursday each week. I try to keep the walls of my home office visually appealing since occasionally during boring conference calls I might need to stare at them (smile).

Have you ever played “Conference Call Bingo”? My friend Cody turned me on to it.

I love mountains, that is one of the reasons I chose the part of Colorado (the Front Range Urban Corridor of the Rocky Mountains) I moved to in 2019 (see series of posts Colorado Bound) – it has lots of visible mountains!

I’ve enjoyed some amazing hikes in Colorado (see series of posts Outside Adventures! – the posts on my mountain hikes) and being near any sort of geologic rock formation is one of my favorite things in the world.

I love Mountains. One of my favorite memories while living in the Seattle area was a visit on my birthday to Mount Rainer/Mount Rainer National Park (which I beloved nicknamed “baby mountain” because it was my most dearly beloved mountain of the Cascade Mountain range).

So last year while visiting my Washington state based quilting friends, I picked up a mountain scene themed panel to make a future wall hanging.

Finally, over a year later, I finished this wall hanging. See photos below.

The panel is by one of my favorite fabric lines – Stonehenge by Northcott Fabrics. In a perfect (and frivolous) world I would own the entire fabric line!

I made a simple quilted wallhanging by adding in a thin and then larger border with some coordinating fabrics from the Stonehenge line, and used the outside border fabric to bind it.

Then I hung it on my home office wall (which is also the upstairs guest room):

Someday I need to make a queen-sized bed quilt for the upstairs guest room bed!

In case you’ve been following my blog for a while and you have a very detailed memory (filled with lots of random things you remember), you will notice my home office wall color has changed. It used to be green, as shown in this post from April 2020 – Home Office Tips and Tour.

We decided to paint it the same color as the rest of the house instead of the random green color it had on its walls. It was one of those projects we did during my guest blogger’s (Mike the Miniature Schnauzer) discussion of endless pandemic home remodeling projects in his post Guest Blog Post: A Whole Lot of Remodeling Going On.

In addition to the mountain quilt wallhanging, I also have B&W photos from hikes around Colorado as well as some other B&W photos I love.

The B&W photograph on the right in the second image is by Kirk Fry Photography , a local Colorado artist.

And here is the desk where I endure conference calls from all day – ha!

It helped to have quilts to look at when the conference calls get mind numbing…

I also now have a built in shelved closet in my home office but I will talk more about that in a future post about another remodel of my studio (if you are on Instagram, there are some images on my IG page @tierneycreates).

Life in B&W, Outside Adventures!, tierneytravels

And on the 8th Day…Part II

April 20, 2020August 18, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I am continuing my series of posts to celebrate my one year anniversary of living in Colorado by sharing some of the natural geologic beauty I’ve witnessed over the past year as I explore Colorado. Here is the link to the first post in this series if you missed it – And on the 8th Day…Part I. This post also explains the title of this series of posts.

I meant to continue this series yesterday, on April 19th the actual anniversary, but I got distracted by the endless trimming of half square triangles (No Scrap Left Behind (half square triangle craziness)), so I have a good excuse. No worries (in case you’ve been losing sleep wondering how I am progressing on my latest scrappy quilt) I will update you on this piece in a future post, but for now here is a photo of my growing piles of trimmed half square triangles:

Eldorado Canyon State Park

Eldorado Canyon State Park is one of those hidden gems in Colorado that no one talks about except the native/locals. Luckily my partner John is a Colorado native and knows all the great places to hike. We spent the day there with Mike our miniature schnauzer in September 2019.

Here is the description of this spectacular park from the Colorado State Park’s website:

Eldorado Canyon is a hidden treasure right in Boulder’s backyard! Whether it’s hiking amidst the towering sandstone cliffs, picnicking along scenic South Boulder Creek or climbing Eldo’s sheer golden walls, Eldorado Canyon State Park truly has something for everyone! Discover this hidden jewel and take home memories that will last a lifetime.

Well, like the description above says, I did “take home memories that will last a lifetime” and I took WAY TOO MANY photos!

In preparing for this post, I poured over hundreds of photos from my visit to decide which ones to share. I am only going to share my absolute favorites (smile).

In the Rapids

One of my favorite memories of the day is climbing out to the rocks in the middle of river (or creek?) that runs through the park and being in the middle of the rapids (well it was not that turbulent) and having a little picnic.

My partner John, who took the photos, had to precariously hand me Mike once I got myself safely positions on the rocks in the middle of the water.

My favorite photo from this moment is selfie I took of Mike and I where it looks like Mike is saying: “My human is kind of crazy for bringing me out to this rock in the middle of rapidly moving water!”

Wandering About the Canyon

I only had to select from 20+ photos to provide those photos above. I won’t tell you the obscene amount of photos I had to select from for these next set of photos. Everything was so beautiful and awe-inspiring as we hiked about the canyon.

Here are some of my favorite photos (because I do not want to blow out my blog page image storage allowance, ha!).

All I can say is that these images do not do the beauty of this place justice.

The sky was clear blue and although it was a Saturday in September there we not very many fellow hikers there. At times it felt like we had the whole amazing place to ourselves!

Traveling in Style

As some of the hike involved a bit of easy rock climbing to get around, we decided we would carry Mike in his backpack most of the hike for safety. Here he is traveling in style (we took turns carrying him vs. our day hike pack) and John carried him most of the time.

The Black and Whites

Of course I took B&W photos during the hike? Would you expect any less of me?!?! (If you are new to this blog you can check out my series of posts – Life in B&W).

Here are some of my favorites as I channeled my inner Ansel Adams…

And to close out this post, here is me, feeling quite happy and blessed to be a on a beautiful hike, on a beautiful day, in the beautiful state of Colorado!

Outside Adventures!

And on the 8th Day…Part I

April 18, 2020May 8, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

As I mentioned in my previous post Solo Show Seattle Municipal Tower (re-post), April 19th (Sunday) is the one year anniversary of my move to the Denver, Colorado area.

To celebrate this anniversary, over the next several posts, I want to share with you some of the natural geologic beauty I’ve witness over the past year as I explore Colorado.

The title of this post “And on the 8th day” is a reference to the Judeo-Christian Creation Story in the Bible in which God worked 7 days to put heaven and earth together (actually 6 days as on the 7th day God rested per the story); and the saying I’ve heard from other Colorado residents in regards to the natural wondrous beauty of Colorado:

“And on the 8th day, God made Colorado”

The first example of the natural geologic beauty of Colorado that I will share, is aptly named Garden of the Gods. During a family visit in August 2019, we took our visitors for the day to Garden of the Gods State Park.

The photos I am about to share do not do the awe inspiring beauty of this place justice, but hopefully they will give you a little sample of why people in Colorado joke that this state had a day of Creation devoted to it!

If you’ve ever visited Arches National Park in Utah, it’s a similar concept – amazing rock formations! It is not as elaborate as Arches but it is pretty spectacular in person (as I mentioned, photos do not do it justice…well at least not amateur photos!).

The sky was overcast on the day we visited and I look forward to visiting there again this year on a sunny day. We were a bit hurried during our visit because we will trying to fit in a lot of sightseeing for our visitors. Next time I visit, I want to bring a picnic and spend more time exploring and just sitting and admiring the breathtaking beauty of the place.

A Crafter's Life

Salt of the Earth

August 4, 2019August 4, 2019 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I began drafting this post prior to the recent series of deadly mass shootings across the United States. I am eager to return to blogging, however I thought this was too an upbeat a post to make in light of the recent somber events.

Then I thought – perhaps during these dark times it is good to post a reminder about the good people in the world we meet in our daily lives…

Dictionary.com defines the term “salt of the earth” as follows:

“An individual or group considered as representative of the best or noblest elements of society.”

This term wonderfully describes the kind of people I’ve met and keep meeting since moving to Colorado.

iStock-1063332628-1 — Colorado State Flag, zumper.com

If you are new to my blog, I moved to the greater Denver metropolitan area in April 2019 to start a new life after the sudden death of my husband (Terry the Quilting Husband) and over the past several months I’ve been settling into my new life and exploring the region (see post Greetings from Colorado and the series of posts Colorado Bound).

I knew Colorado was an awesome state with lots to do, little did I know just how warm, friendly and helpful many of its residents are!

Let me share an example (actually multiple examples).

Schnauzerfest!

Moving to Colorado meant leaving my beloved veterinary office and finding a new vet for my Miniature Schnauzer, Mike. I selected a vet based on Google reviews and comments and I was not disappointed.

During Mike’s first visit to his new vet. she connected me with a group of local Miniature Schnauzer aficionados which included one of her best friends. Mike and I got invited to the annual Miniature Schnauzer Club picnic which was like attending “Miniature Schnauzer Fest”!

The photos below will illustrate this better than I could describe and Mike enjoyed hanging out with his new friends, after he recovered from the shock of so many furry people that looked like him in one place!

We met so many wonderful, warm and friendly people at the Miniature Schnauzer Club picnic including a new dog groomer for Mike.

A Proper Grooming

I’ve struggled with finding a good dog groomer for my dog Mike. If you want a Miniature Schnauzer to look like a traditional Miniature Schnauzer, you need groom your dog regularly.

A couple months ago, I tried out a mobile groomer and unfortunately Mike was groomed more like a Bichon Frise instead of a Miniature Schnauzer:

Bichon Frise:

viktor-talashuk--gxRa1vV0KA-unsplash — Photo by Viktor Talashuk on Unsplash

Miniature Schnauzer:

I tried to fix the disappointing grooming myself but Mike ended up looking like a blindfolded, highly sedated dog groomer did the grooming!

Luckily at the Miniature Schnauzer Picnic, I met Carol, a highly seasoned dog groomer with extensive experience in grooming Miniature Schnauzers including competitive show dogs. She even showed a couple dogs herself at the Westminster Dog Show years ago.

We tried to schedule an appointment but had one challenge – she only had spots open in the middle of the week and she lives 32 miles away from me. I telecommute for my work in the health care industry and my middle of the week is peppered with conference calls.

She has a dog grooming station inside her home and she suggested that I come telecommute at her house for the morning/day while she groomed Mike!

And so I did! Not only did she let me telecommute from her house while she lovingly and meticulously groomed Mike, but she even gave me beverages and snacks – homemade lemon poppyseed cake!

I had so much fun telecommuting from her kitchen table while we discussed life and miniature schnauzers! Here are some photos of Mike transforming into a properly groomed Miniature Schnauzer!

In addition to great conversation, exceptional dog grooming, and wonderful snacks – she also gave me a tour of her lovely garden and gave me a bag of fresh garlic from her garden to take home!

She hand washed Mike’s collar before she began grooming him and had me hang it on the clothesline in the garden to dry!

Finally, as an added bonus, she has 4 or so of her own Miniature Schnauzers, so there was lots of Miniature Schnauzer cuteness going on at her home!

I got three of them to stand still for a photo:

Of course every proper Miniature Schnauzer Aficionado has lots of Schnauzer related decorations in their home and she was no exception:

I know this post was likely “Schnauzer Overload” and hopefully you will quickly recover (smile).

My telecommuting visit with my new dog groomer and the opportunity to hang out with other Miniature Schnauzer Aficionados (or perhaps “Obsessives” in a more accurate term) has only increased my feeling of being so “welcomed” to Colorado.

Every day I continue to meet warm, friendly, kind, generous, and welcoming, “salt of the earth” people in this state.

But these few are the salt of the earth; without them, human life would become a stagnant pool. Not only is it they who introduce good things which did not before exist, it is they who keep the life in those which already existed. – John Stuart Mill

Postscript

I promise my next post will be crafting/quilting related!

The tagline of my blog for tierneycreates is “a fusion of textiles and smiles“. I hope this post induced a little smile across your face. The “textiles” part will return next post!

Feature Photo by Jason Tuinstra on Unsplash