CHRISTMAS 2017

Believe it or not we still have garden produce in December!

We do not have many pictures for Christmas.

My brother and sister-in-law came to visit for the week.

We went to Christmas Eve Eve service and

Mexican dinner afterwards.

Hubby and I attended the community
Christmas Eve Open House.

Santa even made an appearance!

 That night we toured a nearby 
neighborhood's Christmas Lights.

It was much nicer to walk through the neighborhood 
than drive the car like so many other people did.

  Christmas Day my brother, sister-in-law, and father 
shared breakfast with us at our house.

We added my sister and brother-in-law to the party 
and took the easy way out for Christmas dinner 

by going to "Our Place" restaurant.

Holidays are very special when shared with family!

FIRST SNOW!

We wanted to sneak in one last visit with the grandchildren 

before the weather turned cold and snowy, 
however we were not successful!

Chicago had their first snow during our visit.

I stayed inside while the grandchildren went out and played.

While sitting around the dinner table one evening

I realized again how much children are like sponges.

They absorb everything!

I did not think our granddaughter 

was paying any attention to the conversation, 

but at one point she contributed a very pertinent comment.

 Scenery on the way home which we do not see in Florida.

During our visit our grandson had a loose tooth,

so every day we asked him if it was ready to be pulled out.

We even tried to convince him to tie a string around a doorknob.

Murphy's Law -->  The day after we left he pulled his first tooth!!

 I love my grandchildren!!

BEACH TIME!

When things settled after Hurricane Irma 

we decided it was beach time.

Instead of our usual early morning beach time

we decided to have after lunch beach time.

After walking north for about an hour

we spotted one of the "shell" trees.

The shell tree was sporting a different look!!

It looks like the painted rock craze had infiltrated the shell tree,

because it had painted shells.

 We decided to walk south to Pier 60 and

see what was new on that end of the beach.

As you may have noticed the skies 

look a little dark.

Fortunately we made it back to our car before 

we got too wet.

 

ROAD TRIP ADVENTURES

As summer drew to a close it was time to travel back to Florida.

Our car adventures continued on the road!

 The first day on the road we stopped at a couple of quilt shops 

for the Row by Row Experience patterns and license plates.

On the second day we continued to stop at quilt shops.

Unbeknownst to me 

hubby continued to watch the car battery level drop.

Finally he shared what was going on and

asked me to search for a car dealership near Mobile, AL. 

The battery level continued to drop and

just as we had the dealership in sight 

(literally in sight diagonally across the street) 

the car lost all power. 

Hubby carefully steered the car to a nearby parking lot.

 We promptly called AAA!!

We saw some people coming out of the building 

and asked what business parking lot we were in.

It was Radney Funeral Home!

 How appropriate that our car died in a funeral home parking lot.

I liked the name Radney and

decided if we would ever get another dog 

it's name would be Radney.

We had to wait about an hour for the tow truck

so we enjoyed the sights and the beautiful weather.

 The tow truck driver was the best!

We all jumped in the cab and

traveled the great distance across the street.

Of course by this time the dealership was closed,

but hubby had been on the phone 

with the service department manager earlier. 

We left the car in parking spot 77

and the tow truck driver drove us

further down the road to the Holiday Inn Express.

 It was a novel experience to drive up to a motel, hop out of a tow truck,

grab a gym bag from the truck bed, and check in for the night.

The car was ready the next day after lunch.

Fortunately we had no further car adventures

on our way home.

Needless to say hubby now has a new car!!

Off with the old . . . . 

on with the new!!!

Happy driving!!!

FAMILY VISIT

We were so blessed to have family (SIL & BIL) visit for one day!

We went into town for dinner and then

visited the Bluffs for a Kodak moment. 

 The Bluffs has such a beautiful vista of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range.

It was soooo great to see SIL and BIL,

but we were disappointed that they could not stay longer!!

 See ya next year!!

ODDS and ENDS AROUND THE HOMESTEAD

 Days and nights!

I guess you can never have too many garden beds.

No, these are not graveyards!!

Believe it or not they are garden beds for next year.

We have seen a wide variety of wildlife.

wild turkeys

horned lizard

 buck

Then there is the work that needs to be done 

around the homestead.

 Lots of firewood!!

trimming bushes

New walkway from the attached garage 

to the workshop. 

There is always something to do in the house too.

 Painting the master bedroom and bathroom.
Making a valance for the bathroom.

 We do not have much wall space in FL,
but there are plenty of blank walls here.

Scenic View Trail

homemade sign

Guard Dog!!