Carly’s Eyes and Good byes

Well, it wasn’t fun and it sure made me sad, but we put our dog down a few weeks ago. Yeah the one who was in the photo shoot with me.

I miss that damn dog!  She was always sneaking into my office and trying to be cozy on the tile floor. And although I always acted like she couldn’t be here [allergies you know] she was always welcomed to be at my feet.

Her last few days were hard.  As she became more and more uncomfortable, disabled and tired, we knew it was nearing time to let her leave this life and  go to the next. Boy, we sure did have a good time while we were all together-she adopted a good family and we gained a pretty, friendly dog who was a fierce protector on the hiking trails and one of the best north Denver squirrel chasers in her youth!

But my very last memory of Carly was when I was saying goodbye.  I looked in her eyes and I could tell she wanted to go, she was tired and she just couldn’t manage anymore. She had lived with us for over 12 years-she was part of our family, another kid, another sibling.  She just belonged with us.

So here’s to you Carly. Like a good Dalmatian, find the path for us so  when we reunite we’ll know exactly where we need to go!

LYM

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lemonlime group Celebrates 100 Year Homes in Harkness Heights!

Happy Birthday to your fabulous home!!!

If you received our special birthday card and balloon bouquet, print this coupon cakecoupon .  Bring it to Cake Bakery located at 3832 Tennyson St. Denver, CO  for your free gift.

Everything in the bakery is fresh and good!

Thank you for letting us help you celebrate the 100th year of your fabulous Harkness Heights home!

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Edison Elementary Earth Day-Present and Future

Tonight, Neil and I were invited by our neighbor, Tina, to attend her son’s 1st grade Earth Day play!  What a wonderful treat to be among children;  excited, energized, noisy and happy.  They were about to show us their Earth Day  play.  Aris played “Earth”-polluted, trashed and just plain abused by the other “humans” on stage.  But in the distance, one could hear the  “small voices”  who convinced the others to clean up “Earth” and stop polluting!

It was not only a cute 20 minute play but a great reminder of how our current living habits are destroying this future generation’s environment. The refrain of one of the songs was  “earth day”, “earth year” and “earth living.”  Although the actors did not fully understand the consequences  of  “earth living” , the people sitting in the audience did.

Great play, great job, great message! Congratulations Aris and classmates!

Earth Day 2010

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Where’s Harkness Heights?

Okay, so we get really particular in Denver about which neighborhood is in which section of town.  We pride ourselves in living in “the” neighborhood.  For me and my family, it’s Harkness Heights.

Harkness Heights is one of 14 neighborhoods that make up the area called Highlands.  And that we are-one of the highest points in the city.

Harkness Heights has bout 320 households and stretches from Lowell on the west to Federal on the east and from 44th on the north to 41st on the south.

If I must say so myself, it’s one of the nicer Highlands neighborhoods. We can walk to alot of  “trendy” places, many of us remembering those locations  before they were “in.”

Now buying into this neighborhood takes a bit of money. After all when you are in, you are desirable and expensive.  So many of us know that if we weren’t already in this neighborhood we would not be  able to buy into it now!

But what makes this neighborhood special are the people. We have our own muffin lady who delivers muffins to all the new residents.  Hey, we take gold when it comes to community and our muffin lady deserves to keep the medal in her livingroom!

No we’re not a Washington Park or a Bonnie Brae, but we know what we have and we like being under the radar, for the moment.

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Why Is This Stuff Called Wine?

Retsina-that Greek wine made with resin-really!!! I’ve trier to drink this stuff. I keep thinking if I can only get past the first 2 glasses, I might actually enjoy it.

I have a friend, Tom (not Greek but none the less credible) who says there are some fine Retsinas.  I always wonder if what Tom is saying is true, or is it that he only remembers his 3rd glass!

Sien!  To Your Health.

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Arts and Craft Bungalows-Let’s Preserve Them

Let’s talk about houses.  I love old houses; always have.  I grew up in a new house,but always yearned to live in an old one.

But I’m lucky, I now live in a traditional Arts and Crafts Bungalow built in 1916 with wonderful original woodwork and hardwood floors.  The craftsmanship in my house is exceptional.

The Arts and Craft movement started in Victorian Britain, around 1880.  It was more a philosophy rather than a style.  This movement came about because of an uneasiness with industrialism and a refocus on the worker, the artisan.  Arts and Crafts valued the craftsman artist over the capitalist factory worker, and it shows.

So many artistic forms were affected during this period:  painting, architecture, textiles, metal works and furniture.  The era lasted about 60 years.

I am all for preserving what this period gave us.  I still have my original kitchen cabinetry-1916 cabinetry in 2010!  Amazingly well built!

If you have a spare weekend, head to the Art Institute of Chicago and see the exhibit Apostles of Beauty Arts and Crafts from Britain to Chicago. Not to be missed and you won’t be disappointed.

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Growing Up Greek-Part 1 Food!

So many people ask me about 2 things: Greek food and real estate. Since one is an avocation and the other a profession, I have plenty to say about both! But for the time being let’s focus on food-Greek food!
My families hail from Kythera, a small island south of the Peloponnese and Kalamata, you know the olive people. Most of what I experienced as a kid was the food from the island. I recently discovered a cookbook “The Greek Cookbook” written by Tess Mallos who hails from Kythera (now living in Australia.) I’d love to meet her; I’m sure we’re related. I have tried many of her recipes and they are very good.
So when the typical non-Greek thinks of food they think lamb, grape leaves and feta cheese. Fortunately the Greek culinary experience goes beyond those staples.
And so like Julie and Julia, I have decided I will work my way through Tess’s cookbook, albeit not so maniacal as Julie, certainly not dedicating my month’s earnings to food and eating every night at 11:00 pm (like the Greeks.) But follow me on this journey; we may find some incredibly interesting food groups that have gone undiscovered.

To Know Greek Food is to Love Greek Food

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