“Half of the American people have never read a newspaper. Half never voted for President. One hopes it is the same half.” – Gore Vidal
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Heidi is Gone
It is about 7:30 on Tuesday night the 12th of July, 2005. Heidi is gone. We had her put to sleep tonight.
At over 12 years old, she had already lived about 50% longer than the average Bernese Mountain Dog. (That would make her well over 100 years old in human terms.) In recent months her hip dysplasia really caught up with her. She lost her ability to walk. We had to steer, carry, push, pull her everywhere. (Now I know what tails are for on a dog). When her front end started to go, and when she lost control of her bladder and bowels, we knew it was finally time to say goodbye.
I’d like to write a really nice eulogy for her. I’d like to remind people of her service as a therapy dog. I’d like to share her courage and will to live. But, tonight, I’m really too sad.
You can see some photos and read a little more about Heidi at Heidi’s Web Page. I’ll post a photo I took of her today, later.
Update on 7/13/2005: Here is a photo of Heidi as a puppy.
Posted under: Dog Stuff • by Rick on 07/12/2005 at 08:23 PM
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4th of July Week at the Cabin
Lynne and I, the eight dogs and three cats, spent the week of 4 July at the cabin. It was a great break from work and the bustle of Fort Collins. And, even though it was pretty hot up there, it is usually about 10 degrees cooler than at home. (When we got home the yard and garden were bone dry.)
Of course, the weekend prior to the 4th was pretty busy and noisy up there with ATVs running around and people doing target practice with their guns. But, by Tuesday it was quiet and peaceful—what we go to the mountains for.
We ate well, got some exercise walking the dogs. I caught some fish. We cut some wood in preparation for cooler weather. We hunted mushrooms and photographed wildflowers. We put together puzzles, I wrote some cool PHP-based recipe book software. We read books, watched a couple of movies. Trimmed dog nails and cut mats from behind their ears. We improvised a pizza one night and cooked it on the barbeque. Doesn’t sound like much, but sometimes we just sat and did nothing. The week went fast.
I’ll be posting about a hundred new wildflowers to the Wildflower Gallery soon. And, we will add a few photos to the Mushroom Gallery, too.
Posted under: Cabin News • by Rick on 07/12/2005 at 12:20 PM
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Thursday, June 23, 2005
Monaco Trattoria in Loveland
Tonight we decided to eat out again. (That is twice in as many weeks, unusual for us!) We went to an Italian restaurant in Loveland called Monaco Trattoria. I don’t know how long it has been open, but I heard from a work colleague that it was good.
The atmosphere was good. It is not an intimate place, the seating is all in one room side-by-side, but not inappropriate for an Italian restaurant.
I think a lot of people think of pasta and tomato sauce when they think of Italian food. But, the Monaco serves authentic Southern Italian food. The chef, Guiseppe, is from the Sorrento area, I think. There are painting of the Blue Grotto on the walls and a great mural of what could be Sorrento.
The service was good. I think they are still working out some of the kinks. But, we were taken care of in a professional manner. We never wanted for anything, all the wait staff pitched in together to make the service pleasant. And, we were not put though the pain of personal introductions and trading names…what a relief.
The wine list is enormous, and about 95% of the wines are Italian. At leasat 1/4 of the wines are available by the glass—a good thing if they are getting the volume they need to keep the open bottles fresh.
The menu is very ambitious with many great choices for appetizers, pasta, meat, fish, rissoto, and salads. They have a wood-fired oven which they use for great foccacia and for pizzas at lunchtime.
The food was good. On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d give them a 7. Not a bad score for Northern Colorado and not bad given the ambitiousness of the menu. We had a wonderful fresh calamari appetizer—just fresh calamari, lightly breaded, quickly fried, and topped with a squeeze of lemon and some salt—too much salt for my taste, but apparently the chef likes it that way. Lynne had a breaded veal scaloppini and the breading was not crisp but a bit mushy. Still the garlic-lemon sauce was great. I had some red snapper, braised in some capers, olives, a little lemon juice and some wine—excellent.
In summary, a very pleasant meal. Good service. Nice atmosphere. And, I’m sure we’ll be back.
Monaco Trattoria
218 E. 4th Street
Loveland, CO 80537
(970) 461-1889
Posted under: Food and Cooking • by Rick on 06/23/2005 at 09:44 PM
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Saturday, June 18, 2005
The Inglenook Restaurant in Loveland
Last week Lynne and I, along with Lynne’s mother, had an evening meal at the Inglenook restaurant in Loveland. I had eaten there on a business dinner a couple of months ago and really enjoyed it. Ever since, I’d been trying to find a good excuse to take Lynne. We are both skeptical of eating out in the Fort Collins area—we can ususally do better at home.
The night out was not a disappointment. Lynne had Chicken Marengo (although it had orange in the sauce along with tomatoes and vermouth, a bit non-traditional, but great), her mom had a Seafood Newburg Gratin, and I had Elk Tenderloin. All three were great. Each entree is accompanied by soup or salad. We all had a fresh green salad. I had an appetizer of Crab Cakes that was excellent.
Posted under: Food and Cooking • by Rick on 06/18/2005 at 02:31 PM
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Monday, June 13, 2005
Great Cabin Visit
We spent last week at the cabin in SCP. We were going to go up on Saturday, June 4th, but Larry Martin called us and said there was 18” of snow at his place. That means there was at least 24” at our place, so we delayed our trip up by a day. All the roads were closed anyway, so it would have been hard getting in and a late arrival.
When we got there, there was still a lot of snow on the ground, but this time of year it melts fast!
Our main objective this year was to show Lynne’s mom, Marian, a moose. She had never seen one and was frustrated that in 4 years of visiting the cabin for a week each year, we’d tell stories about seeing moose, but would never see one. We saw 7 moose throughout the week! Here are a couple of photos:
Another notable event was seeing some Mountain Bluebirds nesting just behind the cabin. And, to see an Indigo Bunting—a very rare site in our part of the world. He was probably migrating south to a warmer climate.
Here are the Bluebirds (the female is above, the male, below):
The Indigo Bunting:
And, just for the heck of it, a Western Tanager:
A good time was had by all, especially Bart!
Posted under: Cabin News • by Rick on 06/13/2005 at 02:53 PM
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