October 09, 2020

Backyard bliss 2020

October 09, 2020/ Lisa Carpenter

The spectrum of fall colors in Colorado can range from brilliant reds, oranges, and yellows one hopes remain on tree branches all season to crunchy, crispy, brown disappointments offering satisfaction only once raked, bagged, and gone. It all depends on the when the first hard freeze arrives.

Despite most everything else about 2020 causing dismay and despondency, fall colors in Colorado this year are the best I recall in my forty-plus years in the state. Thanks to no hard freeze yet. (Knock wood!)

September 11, 2020

Summer 2020: What I didn't tell you

September 11, 2020/ Lisa Carpenter

July 25, 2020, marked the eleven year anniversary of Grandma’s Briefs. During many summers, I’ve taken a break from blogging from Memorial Day through Labor Day, to allow me time to enjoy summer fun without being obligated to publish anything.

This past summer, I chose not to take a break. I figured that with Covid restrictions and all, I’d have little to do and lots of time to write about the little I might do and see and ponder.

June 26, 2020

Blooms and birds: Sights that soothe Covid chaos

June 26, 2020/ Lisa Carpenter

Here we are several months into the pandemic, and Colorado seems to be faring relatively well. We’re one of the few states with falling or stable cases of Covid-19, thanks to (most) folks wearing face masks, adhering to social distancing rules, and refraining from congregating in large groups.

Stay-at-home orders have been gradually relaxed in my state, though not yet completely ceased, and staying home as much as possible is still recommended.

Which suits me just fine, considering the chaos far and wide on pretty much every front imaginable. I’m more than happy being confined to the …

April 09, 2020

Getting to know you …

April 09, 2020/ Lisa Carpenter

During this time of physical isolation, video chats with my grandsons are for me, like with many grandmas, a saving grace. They not only let me see those faces my heart misses so — the long-distance ones as well as the one belonging to my local love bug — the sessions allow me to get to know the boys in ways not possible in face-to-face real-time rendezvous. Trying to keep conversations flowing provides telling insight … and some fun musical performances too.

March 11, 2020

Snow day for Flat Stanley*

March 11, 2020/ Lisa Carpenter

Alternate title: Oh, the things that we do for our grandchildren!*

I don’t typically make comments or judgments about the physical appearance of folks who visit my home. Yet, a friend of my grandson Camden recently stayed at my house and I just gotta say, well, that kid was thin. Flat, in fact. So flat that the descriptor is officially part of his given name.

Yes, it’s Flat Stanley of whom I speak.

February 17, 2020

Beach boys!

February 17, 2020/ Lisa Carpenter

Beach boys!

A while back, Declan simply could not get enough of Disneyland and pleaded with Mommy for them to please go again. They did go again not long after … and again the beginning of February.

The fortunate grandsons also went to the beach — a definite delight for the desert-dwelling trio.

A definite delight for this fortunate grandma, too, who was on the receiving end of ...

January 24, 2020

Major surgery

January 24, 2020/ Lisa Carpenter

Now that my husband and I — and my piano — finally feel fully settled into our new place, the time had come to tune the 1913 Brinkerhoff we thankfully had space for in our downsized-by-half home.