A Visit from a Friend
Today’s blog post will be a bit on the short side because Andy and I are in the middle of building the Hoop House (AKA low tunnel also known as a Green House). I’m on spring break and Andy took vacation days off so we could work together to get this project completed in a timely fashion. The good news is… once built I will blog about it so you can read all about our adventures in building a Hoop House!
But until then… my friend Janet came to visit for the day and it was such a pleasure! Janet and I, along with our friend Beth have been friends since I started taking ceramic classes at the Art Students League of Denver in 2016. Janet and Beth were both in Dean Goss’s Hand Building class when I joined. The three of us have been friends ever since taking both Hand Building and Wheel Throwing classes together over the years. They, along with their husbands Al and Ben, have come to every one of my exhibition openings! I feel truly blessed to have them as friends.
Last year Janet and Al bought a condo in Basalt, Colorado which is about an hour and 45 minutes from Palisade. Basalt being much closer to Palisade than Denver, allowed for Janet’s recent visit! This time it was a short trip, only a day, but it gave me the opportunity to show her around the property, venture to Restoration Vineyards for a tasting (and private tour of the winery) and then lunch at Fidel’s in downtown Palisade! Janet had never been to Palisade so it was a real treat for me to show her around our little slice of heaven!
I’m pleased to report she enjoyed it! We are already planning her next visit, a longer stay and will include Al, Beth and Ben joining in on the fun! When we were at Restoration, I was telling her all about their summertime concert series and that’s when we came up with the idea for out merry little band of friends to return for a longer stay. Our Airbnb won’t be ready yet, but I know of a few Airbnb’s around the area and if everything is booked there is always Wine Country Inn.
Janet has been following me on Instagram, so she has seen all the developments etc… on the property and prior to that she has heard about my vision for Palisade Posh over the years and given she knows me well, knows that when I decide to do something… I do it! That made it even more fun to show her around the property. She had seen the drawings of my vision and now she got to see the real thing.
I decided on Restoration Vineyards as our one wine stop for the day because I knew they had a lovely Sauvignon Blanc that is one of Janet’s favorite wines. It was the perfect introduction to Colorado wine country. She indeed enjoyed the Sav Blanc as well as several others and left with a half case of wine in the end. She also got to meet Gary, of Gary and Linda Brauns the owners and wine makers (Linda is the winemaker) of Restoration Vineyards. Gary was delightful as always and turns out Janet and Gary shared a commonality in that they have German ancestry. This discovery came about when they started to have a lively conversation in German, not speaking German myself, I had no clue what they were saying but they clearly enjoyed the discussion. Andy then asked Gary to give Janet a tour of the winery, it being her first time in Palisade, and he gladly said yes. I even learned a bit about the wine making process!
From there we headed downtown for a light lunch and then returned home. As a parting gift, we gave Janet some Pecans, she’d never seen a Pecan tree before and was unfamiliar with the process of hulling the nuts. I’d given her a taste of our local produce earlier in the day and thought it would be the perfect parting gift for an extraordinary day!
The only thing I really miss from Denver are my friends and family. When you’ve lived in one place for 20 plus years you develop friendships that are truly special which makes it hard to leave. That said, when they come to visit, and you can share your new life with them…. Its makes for a really good day!
