Steel Pennies at the Grand Lake Fall Festival

The Steel Pennies were invited to play at the Grand Lake Fall Festival: 2 sets, with one on Saturday and the other on Sunday. As our regular fiddle player is out of town, traveling the world, Warren Kennison played with us--mostly on mandolin, with some guitar when Terry would play the dobro.

We had a real blast. We were the only band that played on both days and it was really fun, as we got a great reception from the festival attendees. Dave set up the first part of the Sunday set with about 10 gospel songs and that was a real hit. Here are some shots from the shows.

Memories of Dave and Jill's Wedding

Last summer Dave and I went to a beautiful wedding of our friends, Dave and Jill. It was one of the nicest weddings I have ever attended, at a gorgeous organic farm. The bride and groom gave out seed packets to all of the guests, and this summer I planted ours.

I chose a spot for the flowers where I initially planted cucumbers, which promptly died. The sunflowers like the space much more than the cucumbers had. There were two types: one was a solid yellow (almost looking like a Dahlia), while the other brown and gold type was called a 'tiger's eye.' You can see the difference between them in the shots below.

Altona Grange Show

Last Saturday we went to hear some good bluegrass at the Altona Grange. Dave planned and produced the show, working with the Colorado Bluegrass Music Society. Here are some shots that I took that night.


Doris from the CBMS and Donlyn from the Grange took care of things at the back of the house.


Dave kicked things off, thanking the sponsors and introducing the bands.


The Mountain Jumpers kicked things off, with our friends Dave, Steve, and Paul. They took this so seriously that they sat in chairs to perform (Paul was on a stool).


No sitting down for the Horsetooth Mountain Rangers; they were high energy with a lot of action on the stage.


Here's Dave Goldhammer getting psyched up before the show.

Giant Sunflower From My Garden

This great sunflower decorated our food table during the Labor Day party and has been parked on our dining table ever since. I grew it in my garden--proud!

Molly Wearing Her Dinner

Molly got a little sloppy with some leftover beans that David gave her the other night.

Party at Brian and Judy's House

Here's our hostess for a fun evening. Our friends, Judy and Brian Warren, live primarily in Kentucky but have a gorgeous house in Coal Creek Canyon. They were here the past week and threw a soiree at their place which included great food and good pickin'. Here are a few shots.


Here are Karen, Peggy, and Roger, who we all know from playing music.


Dave was in his element, with good food and bluegrass music.


Rod and Roger enjoyed the ambiance from the deck during dinner.


Here's Irene on the deck.


Hal smiles for the camera!


Judy and Pat catch up on all the news.


And the pickin' starts!


Roger did some great guitar work!


Three quarters of Coal Creek were on hand--here's two of the Dave's.


Rod and Brian take a break from the music.


Brian and Dave toast to a great party!

Labor Day Party at the Patton Household

We had a shindig on Labor Day. We prayed for good weather and our prayers were answered. Dave set up lights and a big plywood table on the patio that we covered with a sheet and a red checked cloth; our guests then covered it with food that they brought. We set the easy-up out by the shed for the pickers. Then we put smaller tables around for folks to eat off of. I put tablecloths and vases with sunflowers from the garden on each one. It was fun--I pretended to be Martha Stewart!

We had a great turnout. Dave declared that it was our best party ever!


Here are our friends, Judy, Brian, Catherine, and Ian. It was Ian's birthday and we had a cake for him.



Some of our pickin' friends: Uncle Spook (in the beard), Woody, and Dan and Gail.


Another view of the fab foursome!


Here we have Dr. Barry, who is trying to cure Dave's elbow problem when he isn't playing the mandolin.


Gerhard and Gail--both Dave and I have worked with Gerhard at past jobs.


There's Eric. He came to the party twice that night--snuck in and out when we weren't looking.


Jim and Pat wowed everyone when the pickin' got going.


There was a big mob on the patio, due to all the great food that everyone brought.







A good time was had by all!