Today I woke up to this incredible clear blue sky, and somehow just knew this was going to be one of those perfect Boulder days. So I decided to take my camera around with me and share it with you.

This is what I see from my bed when I wake up in the morning:

And, if I lay in bed too long then this is what I will see:

The boyz know feeding times down to the minute, and they never let me forget it!

So I got up and fed the boyz, and had a peek at Mr. or Mrs. Kestrel, in their usual perch at the top of the pine in our front yard:

We realized about 3 weeks ago that this pair of Kestrels were nesting in our neighbor’s birdhouse across our backyard fence. She told me they have babies in the birdhouse but we haven’t seen them yet. The two adult Kestrels are so impressive and gorgeous. My camera doesn’t have enough telephoto to get a good close shot, unfortunately!

Then we headed out for the morning walk. This is my daily view, Wonderland Lake in North Boulder:

This lake borders our street on the south side. There is a walking trail all the way round it. Since I have to be out there twice a day every day practically no matter what the weather is (thanks to the dogs) I am reminded daily that I really do live in a wonderland. The boyz are so cute walking with their little coupler leash!

I brought home a branch of Russian Olive from one of the trees on our walk, and put it on my studio windowsill:

Apparently it is an unwelcome nuisance tree here and Boulder is actively trying to get everyone to get rid of them because they are non-native and use huge amounts of water. But when their little flowers are blooming they have the most lovely perfume! To me, that smell signals that summer has finally arrived.

At 10:30 am I have a tennis game at a club downtown that we are members of. So I just have time to put a few glaze tweaks on two chinas and pop them in the kiln. I have three chinas I’ve been glazing this week, that are now at the manes/tails/hooves/eyes stage, which is so pleasant because I don’t have to run the noisy airbrush and exhaust fan. I love this part the best; I just get to paint those details using only paintbrushes and my palette:

That Belgian-colored Boreas is coming along nicely!

We have started riding bikes or taking the bus downtown instead of using the car, as much as we can. So I have been riding my bike down to tennis:

The boyz are always bummed out when they can’t go someplace with me. It’s about 10 miles round trip, mostly up hill on the way home! It is especially beneficial to me as a pre-tennis warm-up. I’d been struggling with bursitis in my hips and tight muscles in my calves and hamstrings, and I can already tell the different that just riding my bike before I get on the tennis court has made. No pain during tennis or later on or at night!!

The best part of the ride, is that I get to take the Boulder Creek Bike Path. This incredible bikeway runs beside Boulder creek as it comes out of Boulder Canyon, and runs for miles through the heart of the city and out to East Boulder county. It is the treasure of the city as far as most of us who live here are concerned. Here it is right in the center of town:

Right now the snow melt is on, so the creek is starting to run high:

There was a really good snow pack in the mountains this year, so we might actually see the creek flood its banks later in the month. A little flooding is OK, a lot is definitely NOT!

Here I am at the tennis court; what a great morning for tennis, sunny but not too hot yet:

Thanks to my partner Nancy and opponents Karen and Jackie, we had a super fun set that we eventually lost in a heartbreaking 5-7 score! Usually we can get two sets in in an hour and a half, but that one took practically the whole time. Great challenging play made by all!

No perfect Karen day would be complete without lunch at the Boulder McDonalds:

Though fast food is sadly my vice, I have to say I have been doing much much better about not indulging that vice very often these days! It sure is hard to be a junk food junkie in health-food-fanatical Boulder, either. I feel like I ought sneak in there with a hat and dark glasses disguise, so nobody sees me going in!

Paul and the boyz turn out to greet me as I wheel home into the driveway. Here’s Paul fetching the mail (and he helpfully took my on-bike photo for this blog).

Nothing beats being greeted by the ones you love most in the world.

Paul telecommutes his job from an upstairs office in our house:

Our family joke is that he’s so often on conference calls, that we actually communicate best via emails. He can type when he might not be able to talk to me!

Wow, this MUST be a perfect day. I got a box of books from Amazon, including a long-awaited sequel, woo hoo!

Ooh now I get to see how the two chinas in the kiln turned out, the best part of working in ceramics:

These are two Hagen-Renakers I’m glazing. One is very very special to me, it is a bisque “Swaps” thoroughbred that I acquired several years ago and just got around to glazing. I have been waiting until I felt equal to applying a quality glazing work to match the rarity of the piece!

Well, now it is nearly 4pm, and my work-slash-play day is coming to an end. We always go out for dinner on friday nights, and what a gorgeous evening it will be I am sure. We’ll have to find a restaurant with an outdoor patio I think.

Thanks for coming along with me on my perfect Boulder day!