Outside of Telluride, there is a lake where we like to fish.  This lake is called Trout Lake.

It’s pretty much a perfect mountain lake, tucked in from the 2-lane highway and popping out like a pleasant surprise as you round a bend in the road.

Surrounded by mountains and, at least when we’ve been there, not too crowded (should I regret revealing our top secrets?!) and if you’re patient, you’ll even catch some fish.  That is, if you have a fishing license and are interested in that sort of thing.  I am much more interested in reading than in fish.  So I find myself a nice spot by the water where I can watch the family and catch up on Ansel Adam’s autobiography (I am loving it, but it is slow going – I am easily distracted).

And really, what isn’t distracting about this landscape?  Ansel Adams would certainly let it slide.

Besides, husband is going to be off hiking a fourteener (mountain +14,000 ft in elevation) this weekend, so I plan on making my way into the mountains and doing some more reading.

I may or may not get distracted.  No promises!

Filed in:Everyday Adventure | Travel

Wow, it has been slow going this Monday – know the feeling?  It’s already afternoon and here I am with a blog post at last.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd7GLvMYSHI]

 

I’ve been listening to this on repeat – LOVE her use of the loop pedal to make a totally interesting mix, and she’s completely by herself!  Skills, I tell you.  I’ve been trying to stretch myself creatively, and listening to crazy stuff like this always helps.

The vertically-striped pants, however – definitely don’t think I’m brave enough for that!

What have you been listening/looking to for inspiration lately?

P.S. Been a little MIA from the blog lately, so sorry! I’ll be back in business with some Everyday Adventures this week, promise!

Filed in:Music
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  • S. RochelleJune 18, 2012 - 11:42 pm

    I love your Today’s Soundtrack posts. I’m terrible at fiinding new music, so I let you pick it out for me! 🙂ReplyCancel

  • Meghan JohnsonJune 19, 2012 - 5:34 am

    I love this! Such a cool song, and such a cool woman. I feel more creative too just for having listened to it. Thanks for sharing, Annabelle. 🙂ReplyCancel

  • RoxanneJune 19, 2012 - 6:40 am

    My best friend pointed me to your website and I’m so happy to have find you, fellow Champion of the Bright Side. I look forward to coming back here with a cup of tea to dig for inspiration. What a beautiful website you have, and what a soothing one too. Thank you for the great song!ReplyCancel

Hooray, it’s Father’s Day! I am super thankful for my dad, he’s crazy inspiring and supportive, and I have him to thank for my insatiable travel bug.  Love you Dad!

1. Have you been hearing about the crazy weather in Colorado? Hail, tornadoes, wildfires…crazy. This was one of the hail storms rolling in, beautiful and ominous at the same time!

2. Seriously, the sky does crazy things.

3. My favorite.

4. You know it’s getting towards the end of a 30×30 challenge when the most bizarre combinations are born (I’ve only blogged through day 14, but tomorrow is actually day 30 for me.)

5. Husband’s favorite thing – and our only plan for today – pool time!

6. We had our staff picnic at work, got paid to hang out in the mountains all day – win.

7. Cowboy is understandably cranky about his summer haircut – while channeling his inner gymnast. The cat life.

8. Playing pool with friends on Friday night.  It’s a good time.

–

(Find me on instagram : @bellatheball)

Filed in:Life

Sunday was National Iced Tea Day, and as tea is one of my favorite things on the planet, this precipitated another celebratory sip. Yes, I will celebrate anything – that’s part of what makes life fun, isn’t it? In any case, I turned to my Homemade Soda cookbook – an impulse buy with a gift card when Border’s was having it’s closing sales. One of life’s better decisions. I found a recipe for an effervescent raspberry white tea and decided to tweak the basic formula to suit my current mood. Which happened to involve green tea (my favorite iced tea variety) and mangoes (husband’s favorite fruit) and more ginger ale.

Here’s what you’ll need (makes 3-4 drinks):

Combine the water and sugar in a pan, bring to a boil and remove from heat. Add tea bags and mango and steep for 5 minutes.

Remove the tea bags and mash up the mangoes – let the mixture cool to room temperature then strain it (you can make this syrup in advance and keep in the fridge.)

Pour mixture into glasses and top with ginger ale – or you could just use seltzer water as the book suggests.

I will note that the syrup is super sweet and pretty mango-y. Cory loved that and he also preferred it with club soda to ginger ale so that the mango flavor was more in the forefront. I liked the ginger flavor, but probably would have used less syrup in mine compared to soda as it was almost TOO sweet for me. Actually, if you’re going to mix with a ginger ale or another sweetened soda (as opposed to club soda or seltzer), I’d probably reduce the sugar to 1/2 cup or maybe even less. Feel free to tweak to your own taste and come up with your own combinations!

I love basic template recipes that can be modified in all sorts of ways – this one is a great example. Other delicious combinations would be black tea + raspberry or jasmine tea + peach! Or instead of seltzer or ginger ale you could use a citrus soda. The possibilities are endless.

Who knew iced tea could be so fancy?

Filed in:Food
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  • myrandasuMyranda SuJune 12, 2012 - 9:27 am

    So simple, but it sounds so yummy! I love mango and green tea..this is a must make!!

    myrandasu.blogspot.com/ReplyCancel

  • Tracy Lee KarnerJune 18, 2012 - 10:27 am

    Cool–I don’t have ginger ale on hand, but I have mango and fresh ginger. I’m going to brew up some tea, right now! Nice idea….ReplyCancel

Driving west from Colorado Springs on Route 50, we discovered the Blue Mesa Reservoir.

Well, maybe discovered isn’t the right word, as it’s pretty much near impossible to miss!

I imagine this is what the Grand Canyon looks like all filled up with water.  This may not be quite as dramatic – but such a huge amount of water in Colorado certainly is!  Apparently, at 20 miles long, it’s the largest body of water that’s completely in Colorado.  Plenty of boating going on here during the summertime, I’m sure.

I love the variation of landscapes in Colorado – everywhere you go there’s something beautiful and exciting going on.  And the skies are always so full of drama!  One of my goals this summer is to make it to the dunes – just another bizarre landscape twist courtesy the Rocky Mountains.

Filed in:Everyday Adventure | Travel

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