Tag: Breckenridge

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Spring Skiing, Budding Flowers Evoke Nature’s Beauty

Spring Skiing, Budding Flowers evoke Nature’s Beauty in the mountains and on the plains. Our gardens are waking up, bulbs blooming and trees blossoming.

On any given day in April, these blooming daffodil bulbs could have snow on them in Colorado, possibly into May, as well. The beauty of living in the Rockies is the ever changing weather, especially in spring!

I love spring skiing too – the weather is balmier, the snow amazingly beautiful as we schuss down the mountain ski runs or cross country ski in the woods. Skiing is a favorite sport of mine, as I’ve been skiing somewhere since I was a teenager. Our family skied in Northern Wisconsin, where I chipped a kneecap on one trip. We also went to places like Rib Mountain, Cascade, Mt. Horeb and other nearby hills.  Our family came to Breckenridge, CO one spring break with another Madison family, taking a week of morning lessons and then enjoying the beauty during practice afternoon skiing. People today wouldn’t believe the old skis we used back then!

But now, with the warming temperatures and longer daylight hours, I’m ready to get in the garden. Greenhouses are tempting us with beautiful flowers and bushes, even though we will still get hard frosts until at least the middle of May. So our planting time happens quickly here nearer Memorial Day than now.

To enjoy my garden during the evening, I have outdoor lighting, where I can see my garden through my Silhouette® window shadings. I get sun protection, insulation and partial privacy when I have the shadings covering the glass and in the open position. So I can see the garden, the mountains, and the recent eclipse through the blinds. It is wonderful to have so many choices of window coverings and view through ability of shadings like the Silhouettes®, Nantuckets™, Pirouettes®, Vignettes®, Luminettes®, Soleras™ and many other Hunter Douglas products. The view through is especially enjoyable during the day you have your shadings protecting your furnishings with great UV protection and you want to see your gorgeous view outside.

Seeing the views is such a plus with the shades covering the glass, that we always want to preserve the light giving views. We are attracted to light and so are bugs, gnats and other pesky things. As a long time interior designer, my readers and clients would want answers to that problem. So I invented our CamilyWand™ Sticky Bug Removal Tool™for that purpose, as well as to retrieve items from inaccessible and difficult to reach places. It has proven to be a unique, very popular tool throughout the world. We are in Australia and Europe as well as North America.

We are looking forward to enjoying the views of our gardens and landscapes or our snowcapped mountains.

CamilyWand™ hopes you’ll enjoy your surroundings and views this spring.

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Fun on Presidents Day Weekend

Fun on Presidents Day Weekend was the order of the day for a snowy, beautiful winter during this past week!

Whether or not we had Presidents Day, Monday, February 17th as a holiday, many of us did some fun things to celebrate the day off. One of my friends recently posted a photo of him and his daughter dogsledding near Breckenridge, Colorado. Spending time enjoying the snow either in the mountains or in our own backyards was a great way to get outside, exercise and become energized.

As I searched for an image to use in this blog post, I looked for a photo of Lincoln in various places. At the University of Wisconsin, Madison – my alma mater – there is a statue of Abe Lincoln seated front of our revered Bascom Hall. He looks down a long, grassy, hilly promenade which starts at one end of State Street, the other end a mile away running into the Wisconsin State Capital. Lincoln watches over  a great portion of the University and then looks on toward the Wisconsin government.

I thought a fitting photo would be Abe with Bascom Hall behind him on a spring day with welcome green grass surrounding him; it had great memories for me. But the present photos I found were either of his back looking toward the capital, or with a pumpkin or cheese hat on his head, or of a new graduate sitting on his lap. So the one shown here is from Lincoln’s Memorial in Washington DC – it seems respectful, even though the others were clever~~~

At my home, I have a metal heart sculpture outside of my great room. It looks very nice when snow covered, as I look through my windows toward the Rocky Mountains. It’s always fun to see it sitting outside as I look through my Silhouettes® towards the mountains. When they are covering the glass in my window, (in the down position) and the vanes are open, I’m able to see great views. It is especially fun to see that heart out there, even on days other than Valentines day. The filtered view is great when it is snowy cold outside and I want to see the Rockies.

The Silhouettes® and several other shadings, some from Hunter Douglas, are great at offering filtered views and insulation when they are down covering the window. They have side openings allowing excellent insulation. Inside those openings, the light is wonderful and warm. Debris and bugs are attracted to those openings over time, get inside of the spaces and then are unable to find their way out. They often dry up inside the vanes which are suspended by the front and back sheers, staying there until they are removed.

We invented our CamilyWand™ Sticky Bug Removal Tool™ to solve that problem. After reading why the problem exists, our readers understand exactly what we mean. CamilyWand’s™ construction including a sticky tip on the end does a great job of grabbing anything in its path. It works on window shadings like Nantuckets™, Luminettes®, Vignettes®, Pirouettes®, Soleras™, Illusions, Shangri- Las and others besides the Silhouettes®. It’s other uses throughout the home and garden are  unlimited, only by our imaginations.

We at Camily, LLC  hope you let your imaginations rule as you move through your days, being safe and happy.

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New white powder, skiers gold, storms bringing feet of snow to the Rocky Mountains

Ski season is starting in Colorado! Bring on the snow for the skiers who flock to Colorado and for the water to fill the aquifers that supply water to us coloradans. We got a nice fall snow storm in the Colorado Rocky Mountains this past November weekend, to help signal the start of ski season. People will travel from all over the world to enjoy our snow and winter time.

If you are traveling to Telluride in the San Juan mountains, or Aspen, Beaver Creek and Vail in the central Colorado Rockies, and the many other ski resorts, you’ll find many things to do besides skiing. There are other snow sports and activities, such as ice skating and snowboarding,  educational opportunities and shopping. Each town is different and has developed its own style, so it is fun to check out other areas when you’re in Colorado. Some resorts have opportunities to take chair lifts to the top of the mountains even if you’re not a skier. The views up there are spectacular and make you feel like you’re at the top of the world. That’s always the greatest feeling whichever mountain you’re visiting.

There are beautiful hotels, condominiums, bed and breakfast inns and many other places to stay after a hard day of skiing. Some are actually on the slopes of the resorts. Ski in or ski out right at your door is a favorite thing to do. Apres ski parties and dinners are always special.

Hotels and condominiums are often beautifully decorated. They use top of the line furnishings and window shadings to take advantage of views. You’ll see Silhouette® window shadings, shutters and wood blinds on many of the windows. Some rooms will have Pirouettes®, Luminettes®, Nantuckets™, Vignettes® or Shangri-La shadings to cover their windows. To protect the window shading investments, we have invented our CamilyWand Sticky Bug Removal Tool™ to remove bugs and debris from the tubular spaces between the vanes. These upscale window shadings deserve to be maintained to keep them from becoming stained from bug spots and other unactractive insects. The shadings filter the light, give you a view and insulation at the same time and soften the light in your rooms. They attract bugs during certain times of the year and the bugs aren’t able to get out of the shadings. Our CamilyWand™ will remove them easily and safely to protect your shadings, keeping your shading  investment looking like new.

You’ll have the opportunity to enjoy decorating and design in a different way at the ski resorts. Regardless of which town you visit, you’ll find interesting architecture and retail offerings that often differ by the specific town. Vail is the most european of them all, with a Swiss/Austrian mountain look throughout the downtown. Many of the shops have adopted that feel and offer european items for sale. Breckenridge is more rustic, somewhat of an old mining atmosphere in my opinion. They have a fantastic ice sculpture show in the middle of winter, where ice carving artists from all over the world hone their craft in amazing art works. Beaver Creek is a newer area, upscale as well. Aspen draws musicians in the summer to the Aspen Music Festival and is famous for the celebrities who visit and live there. Each town is unique, offers special and fun events for everyone, along with the skiing emphasis. They are all fun to visit and worth a trip to Colorado.

If you’ve never been here, the majesty of the mountains is breathtaking. When you move west from the eastern plains and the front range of Colorado, majesty awaits wherever you look. Besides the ski slopes, we have the huge Lake Dillon and Grand Lake, many rivers and streams which attract fishermen and boaters. Those lakes are nestled in the mountains. The Keystone resort is close to Lake Dillon, so you can take advantage of the water views one day and skiing the next. Steamboat Springs is nearer the Grand Lake area; both are interesting and fun to visit.

We look forward to a great snow season, bringing white powder snow to the mountains and water for the rest of the state. Winter will bring magical beauty, frosting our green mountain forests with snow and gorgeous views. We hope you’ll be able to see it and enjoy it as much as those of us who love living here.