is anyone out there?

why is it when you need to get a hold of someone you never are able to reach them? 

i'm frustrated today, even though it's friday, and i really don't enjoy this feeling at all. 

anyway, hoping for a weekend turnaround,

m

vacation, please.

things have been kind of hectic around the cabin lately. with winter coming it's been all about winterizing the jetta and the cabin, canning vegetables, and prep work. 

the kittens have become very comfortable here. dennis has mastered fetch (it's a maine coon thing), while sweet dee... hasn't. dennis walked across my lap this morning onto my macbook keyboard and now the 'i' and '7' keys are displaced. can i fix this on my own? 

anyway, aside from the house work, jason and i have been really busy with work. due to the economy's downturn, our positions have become more valuable to the company, so they are making us work a little harder, a little longer, etc. next week we will tailor our office hours to coincide, so we can now commute together and avoid rush hour completely. 

i'd like to update in photo form. however, i keep receiving an error code when trying to upload, so i will try again later. 

enjoy your week,

m

windmills, tulips and the dutch pancake

this week has been crazy busy. i'm EXHAUSTED and ready for the weekend, so i needed this very, very much. 

the dutch pancake: ridiculously easy, fast and goooood, oh so good. this is the kind of food you don't mess around with. no frills. 

this was a breakfast staple of my mother's, especially on dreary winter mornings in north dakota. 

serve it with a little maple syrup (please spend a little more and get something quality) and/or peanut butter (jason likes both) and dust with confectioners' sugar. 

fingers crossed you make it through your work week,

maggie

shirley's dutch pancake

1 C all purpose flour

1 C milk

4 eggs

1/3 C butter

pinch of salt

while preheating oven to 425 degrees, melt butter in a 9 x 13 pan. Combine wet ingredients with flour and pour over melted butter. Return to the oven for 20-25 minutes. Bake until pancake is golden brown and puffy. Serve immediately. 

meet dennis and sweet dee!

kitty pants!

it was decided last weekend that two kittens would be really nice to have around the cabin. the search began, cruising petfinder.com for a potential addition. the evening progressed and two kittens were selected from the pet project rescue www.pet-project.org, an application was submitted and approval was given. 

the kittens will join us september 27th. 

any name ideas? 

EXCITING, no? 

jason is away camping this weekend, so i have the cabin all to myself. time for projects to be pulled out, blogging to resume, cleaning to be done. 

happy weekend (!!!), 

maggie

an august update...

i've been enjoying my time during these lazy summer days.

i cannot, CANNOT wait for fall. chilly clear night sky bonfires, cool temp camping, perfect produce for canning and jam making, knitting in preparation for winter... 

i picked up a few books this weekend, in particular american nerd, and i'm really excited to get into it. 

goodnight,

m

a cozy breakfast

here's a little of what i've been up to lately:

breakfast bread pudding with browned butter caramel sauce

i picked up this recipe via pittsburgh foods eated. on a foggy, rainy saturday morning this really, really hits the spot and makes me wish for fall. 

a happy weekend to you,

maggie

woman king

happy sunday! 

"you don't even call me by my name"

lately i've been having a little trouble getting sleep. 

i have a 3 day weekend in front of me, and i need it, let me tell you. 

a little too much weighing on my mind these days.

i remember the first time i heard band of horses. it was august 2005. i had dreadlocks and an attitude and was just leaving a serious relationship. 

with kesey asleep at my feet, i was drinking beers on my best friend's front porch; it was a perfect summer night in downtown fargo, north dakota...

bombed out and depleted...

you ever have moments where you feel completely alone in this huge world? 

maaaaaannnnn...

i... miss my boyfriend. 

aww. 

13 days? really??

"absence diminishes small loves and increases great ones, as the wind blows out the candle and blows up the bonfire."

boyfriend has been out on holiday for the past week and will remain absent until next sunday.

it's been a pretty decent holiday weekend, a bbq with friends, a lazy, slept in saturday and today, thunderstorms booming through the canyon.

i've been trying to get some projects done, but today i'm just tapped out.

i had every intention of blogging faithfully while jason has been out of town, but as you can see not much to say about much lately.

anyway, here's some of the devil makes three for your afternoon.

happy weekend,

maggie

summer skin

doesn't get much better than sitting in the backyard reading a book jason picked up for me a couple weeks ago. 

there's a sweaty glass of lemonade (and a healthy glug of vodka) by my side, some death cab for cutie in my ear and a welcome sense of self burning inside me. 

have a lovely weekend, 

maggie

a tiny window...

here's what i've been up to lately:

it's alright ma, i can make it

it feels so strange to be in this room tonight. 

over a perfectly poured guinness he tells me he can't believe i'm here. 

that it doesn't feel real. 

he says i look half empty without kesey at my feet. 

he cried and held me the same way he did the afternoon i left the plains, like i was about to say goodbye. 

i ripped a dylan quote and told him all i could do is be me, whoever that is. 

he laughed, finished his beer, went after my king and put me in checkmate. 

sometimes i just want to disappear and let go for a few months. live out of the volkswagen and travel, well, whenever i get jetta back. 

innocent vigilant (extra?) ordinary

that song makes me dance around the cabin like a fool. 

looks like i'm not getting much sleep tonight. 

all i can do is lay here and dream of you. 

faded from the winter

pretty much every night this happens, usually right as i'm falling asleep. last night it happened on a stranger's couch, with a strange dog in my lap. it always sneaks up on me and then hits like a stack of bricks, this feeling of total loss. emptiness. 

i'm starting to forget what it felt like. 

i feel like memories are being stolen from me, one sunshiney day at a time.

nights like tonight i wish it was still winter, fat snowflakes falling from the sky. 

i still don't know how to get over this. 

the juniper bends as if you were listening. 

"i find it shelter to speak to you."

today, man... what a beautiful day. 

not much tops waking up to a bright, crisp sunday morning. a late, lazy brunch of french toast with candied almonds and maple syrup and organic fair trade coffee (ooh la la boulder!!!) with a devastatingly charming, handsome man really set the tone for my day. 

listening to eddie vedder's 'throw your arms around me' with the windows down watching the sun set didn't hurt much either. 

i've been thinking of different ways to get back in touch, to emerge from this period of silence. 

i'm coming back. 

i'm coming out of the quiet. 

i'm crawling out of the cave. 

finally. 

the sunshine feels amazing on my back.

a happy sunday to everybody. 

cinders and smoke...

time has been slipping away from me, and with a couple eyelash tangling blinks of my eyes april is quickly turning into may. 

usually i'm the kind of person who finds comfort in routine, but lately i've been dying for some excuse to change it up. low and behold my excuse showed itself days after my birthday. a new face, a new feeling, a warm body to take away the deafening silence of the cabin. 

last weekend my excuse and i headed out to mt. harvard, a fourteener 10 miles west of buena vista for the first camp of the season. it was... perfect. sure, it was about 20 degrees at 12,000 feet, but with a raging fire and a never ending supply of s'mores there wasn't much to compla

in about. well, except for me forgetting the rain fly to the little kelty tent broken in and seasoned by music festivals, mountains and well, rain. dammit. we set up camp alongside the arkansas river, which was pretty amazing but cold. sunday morning jason and i caved and went to the coyote cantina for some breakfast and hot (!!!) coffee. 

here are a couple pics: 

No Ceiling

spring has officially sprung at the cabin. 

i am also officially 25 years old. 

yay?

right off the bat i'll say sorry for the lack of pictures. i've been having some issues with my camera. they'll be up soon. 

i've been doing my best to stay busy these past few weeks. i've completely cleaned the cabin from every dark, dusty corner to the tops of the walls in every room (which were in dire need of a good scrub down).

i have about a million different recipes i'd like to try out and have been doing my best to knock them out, one by one. this weekend i made some ridiculously juicy, good pork chops, brine courtesy of Smitten Kitchen.

i've also begun planning my little garden and need to get a move on planting. i signed up for the community produce exchange, and i'm pretty stoked to have fresh, local veggies ALL SUMMER. 

honestly, things have been really tough without kesey dog by my side. i've been pretty distant lately, for that i apologize, but i just really need some peace and quiet. 

just wanted to put a tiny update out there.

oh, and one more thing. i know this album came out quite some time ago, i had actually picked it up on its release date, but it's really been a car staple for me recently. maybe it's because i've harbored a borderline obsessive crush on eddie vedder since his pearl jam ten days, but i am in love with the into the wild soundtrack. if you haven't heard, please check it out. if you can't afford to pick it up, email me. i'd be more than happy to burn you a copy or whatever. 

ok, that's all.

goodnight, and be well.

for kesey, may you rest in peace.

hey there.

so, i know it's been a while since i've last posted, much longer than i had ever imagined, and i just wanted to let you know it's not you; it's me. 

things have been pretty insane over the past few months. we've been blessed with a beautiful colorado winter, snow and sunshine aplenty.

the reason for my post is not very light-hearted. 

last tuesday, february 26th, my 5 year old dog kesey was put to sleep. it was very unexpected and completely devastated me. he got very sick very quickly, and it was a choice i made with his best interest in mind. he taught me so much about myself and living life to its fullest. he is deeply loved and is missed terribly. 

there may be a bit more time between this and my next post. 

i have been feeling very quiet lately.