Well, I’ve been kind of more silent than normal but I have an excuse. I’ve been traveling weekly shooting (video of) sheep. It all began in late July with a trip to Sacramento followed by trips to Ohio, Iowa, Meeker CO, and Greeley. Below are some photos of the folks we shot interviews with for the American Sheep Industry. The interviews will break up the panel discussion segments during a live television broadcast on the RFD-TV channel in September. It was a very interesting set of shoots and the editing is going great. I learned so much about sheep and what it takes to raise them here in our country… oh and I met some GREAT folks who put food on your table every year.

Great times! Thanks Amy Trinidad from the American Sheep Industry and Dan Borgmann of Vendor Hippo for all the help!

I’ve dubbed it our “spread-arden” because we’re using small places across the yard to grow our veggies rather than one big section. The seedlings we planted on May 2 are transplanted into a large brick area around a tree, but we’re going to have to move them since they don’t seem to get enough sun. More on that later.

The tomato plants we got from a friend that were in a little Target starter pack (seeds, soil, envelope — just add water) started out great in the starter pack, but once transplanted went to pieces. So we replaced them with a starter plant from a local nursery and added two other types of tomatoes as well as red, green, yellow and orange bell pepper starter plants, a jalapeño starter, an Anaheim green chile starter plant (thank you Rod Grice for introducing us to these as hors d’oeuvres to be placed on the grill as it’s heating up and eaten while the real meal is cooking on the warmed grill), and last but certainly not least a cucumber starter plant.

It’s only been 2 months and we’ve already learned so much and can’t wait to set out next year’s “crop” based on what we’ve learned so far. Nonetheless I’m really enjoying tending the small plants and watching the beginnings of the fruit (or veggies) of our efforts. Today we added tomato cages around the tomatoes and bell peppers so I thought I’d snap some photos to share.

"Caged" Tomatoes

"Caged" Yellow, Orange, and Red Bell Peppers

"Caged" Green Bell Peppers, Jalapeño, and Green Chiles

Yesterday was a busy day and an important anniversary slipped by. On June 12th 2007 I was summoned to the office of my supervisor to find out I would be part of the sweeping annual layoffs at LifeWay. I’d watched a number of friends go through this experience as it happened about this time every year. There was little anxiety.
Today is the more memorable anniversary. On June 13 on my way to lunch with some of our very best friends it became clear it was time to return to Colorado. The events that followed from June 14 – August 26 when we arrived back in Colorado were unmistakeable. We put our house on the market in early August and had a contract for our asking price within 5 days. Closing wad in two weeks. We loaded up all the stuff and headed to CO.
Three years later were still delighted to be here. Starting your own business during a horrible recession (no doubt fueled by a volitile election season) I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

Week 4 plus a few days we planted the herbs and we got some starter plants for our veggies. Here’s some pics:

Herbs Planted & Sage Transplanted

Tomatoes

Green Bell & Jalepeno Peppers

Cucumbers

When we lived in Hendersonville TN we attempted to plant and eat some of our food from a garden. We were not very successful. Partly because we were pulled in SO many different directions with work and other commitments. Now though, we’re less over extended and more motivated since Julie’s diagnosis with a wheat allergy and it’s associated food changes. This morning thanks to some seeds and materials from our daughter and friends we attempted to launch at least the seasoning and spice portion of our new garden for this year. (and some tomatoes not pictured here… maybe another day)
We’re attempting to grow some seasonings and spices, as well as some vegetables. I’m going to try really hard to post regular pictures and blog posts of some of the stuff we’re trying to do. So for today, here’s the first post and picture:

Our Seed Nursery Day 1

He’s a regular at Boulder tech events. Words are simply not enough. (For those who didn’t believe me)

My mom sent this to me. If you live or have lived in Colorado it will either make you laugh or smile too:

A winter statistic:

98% of Americans scream before going in the ditch on a slippery road. The other 2% are from Colorado and they say, “Hold my soda and watch this”.

NOW:

You’re from Colorado if You’ll eat ice cream in the winter.

When the weather report says it’s going to be 65 degrees, you shave your legs and wear a skirt.

It snows 5 inches and you don’t expect school to be canceled.

You’ll wear flip flops every day of the year, regardless of temperature.

You have no accent at all, but can hear other people’s. And then you make fun of them.

‘Humid’ is over 25%.

Your sense of direction is: Toward the mountains and Away from the mountains.

You say ‘the interstate’ and everybody knows which one.

You think that May is a totally normal month for a blizzard.

You buy your flowers to set out on Mother’s day, but try and hold off planting them until just before Father’s day.

You grew up planning your Halloween costumes around your coat.

You know what the Continental Divide is.

You went to Casa Bonita as a kid, and as an adult.

You’ve gone off-roading in a vehicle that was never intended for such activities.

You always know the elevation of where you are.

You wake up to a beautiful, 80 degree day and you wonder if it’s going to snow tomorrow.

You don’t care that some company renamed it, the Broncos still play at Mile High.

Every movie theater has military and student discounts.

Everybody wears jeans to church.

You actually know that ** South Park ** is a real place not just a show on TV.

You know what a ‘trust fund hippy’ is, and you know its natural habitat is Boulder

You know you’re talking to a fellow Coloradoan when they call it Elitches, not Six Flags.

A bear on your front porch doesn’t bother you.

Your two favorite teams are the Broncos and whoever is beating the crap out of the Raiders.

When people out East tell you they have mountains in their state too, you just laugh.

You go anywhere else on the planet and the air feels ‘sticky’ and you notice the sky is no longer blue.

Slideshow via Flickr

Video via YouTube

So last night, Dan of vendorHIPPO.com, Adam (AK my son), and I went to the IgniteBoulder event in Boulder CO. It was a blast! We hooked up with Ryan Wanger (of The Reluctant Eater) before the event began and got acquainted. Ryan and Dan had hooked up via Dan’s new interest in blogging and Ryan may be a food reviewer for Dan’s vendorHIPPO.com site.

Perhaps the most fun of the night was the look on Dan’s face from about the third presentation on… (wish I had a picture) but it’s that blank stare you see when it’s obvious someone has been drinking from a fire hose of info. But he did great.

We heard/saw 20 slide (timed automatically at 15 second intervals) presentations on everything from what soap bubbles have in common with yoga (really a bizarre presentation, seriously), to info about Lucid Dreaming (maybe more bizarre than the yoga/soap), to instructions on branding yourself, perception possibility, what angel investors are thinking, and more.

Maybe next time I’ll live blog the event. A video of the event is in process. I’ll edit and post a link here when it’s available for anyone interested.

Overall a great evening of branching out and exploring new stuff. There are Ignite events occurring all over the country (world?) and you should definitely check for one in your area and go if can.

Thanks to Andrew Hyde of Boulder for coordinating this event! Let’s do another!

Last Friday, October 3, Julie, our house guest Chris Papetti, and I took our two HD video cameras for a ride in the Rockies to see the Fall color. We ended up putting one of the cameras on the tripod bungied in between the front seats with the top down. We shot video for most of our trip through the mountains to Estes Park via Golden. We wish we could share GORGEOUS Colorado with all our friends, but since so many live in other parts of the country and don’t get to enjoy it, I thought I’d share a little taste here with you. Since you probably don’t want to watch 30 minutes of video I increased the velocity of the playback so 30 minutes is condensed down to about 7. Enjoy!

(this is the super high bandwidth version… which will take a little longer to load – see below for lower)
http://craigkendall.com/media/2008FallColors_1600.flv

(a little lower bandwidth version)
http://craigkendall.com/media/2008FallColors.flv

So, we seem to have made it past the summit of the hot part of the season and have begun the descent into Fall. I think I heard we set a record with something like 21 straight days of 90 or above highs.

Anyway, the high today was 88 and a storm blew by just as it got up there. So, I grabbed my book and am sitting on the front porch watching clouds go by and enjoying the afternoon breeze.

Love working for self from home! Time for some water and snack!