Days like today are impossibly distracting. Working from home, it’s very difficult on sunny spring days to stay focused, sit at my desk, and keep writing in the “dungeon” — my garden-level office in the basement. I can see out of my one little window how absolutely gorgeous it is outside, and I find myself making excuses to pop out of my chair to do little things, like walk the dog (twice), water the lawn (front and back, and — darn! — guess I’d better spend a minute pulling those weeds) and drive the long way to the bank (windows down, stereo up). You get the picture.

And it’s not like I didn’t have a great weekend. Yesterday, hubby and I loaded up the pooch and headed up 285 to 74 toward Evergreen, where there are tons of great parks and trails along the winding route. We hiked around until our rumbling stomachs finally got the better of us, and ended up at the Creekside Cellars Winery & Italian Cafe in downtown Evergreen at the suggestion of a fellow dog-walker we met along one of the park trails. Great idea. What a lovely little spot.

It’s located right in the heart of the old downtown part of Evergreen (across the street from the always-packed Little Bear), and it’s worth a stop simply for the great ambience. The cute little cafe and tasting bar are cozy, but the bistro tables on the back patio are where you’ll want to be on a nice day. Bear Creek cascades beneath the patio, cooling the air and adding its tinkling, relaxing sounds to the already-quaint mountain town atmosphere. We popped in looking for lunch, which we found, and left with several bottles of Colorado wines (on a Sunday no less — there’s a nifty loophole in the no-booze-buying-on-Sundays that exempts wineries.) After noshing on the day’s special, polenta lasagne with spinach and wild mushrooms, we tasted the buttery-yet-light 2004 Reserve Chardonnay ($30) and the house Rosso ($14), a great red table wine that pairs well with low-key Italian munchies like pizza or pasta. We bought a bottle of both, and left happily knowing that perhaps Colorado wines are getting better and better every year.

Come to think of it, I may need to run upstairs and pop that Chard into the fridge for a bit. A nice chilled glass of wine on the back patio sounds just right with dinner tonight.

I think I’m officially done for the day.