Life a la casa

Things haven't been dull here at home. I'm certainly keeping the economy going. First, I had to have the air conditioner winterized; then, I bought storm doors for the front door and the sunroom entrance on to the patio. Mike Grillo and John did an excellent job. Darn, didn't take a picture.

One morning when I was on my walk, I heard some terrible honking. It was only the geese flying south.

Ginny, my rv friend, has been in town. We took a drive through chili/cotton country, and stopped in Hatch to buy some goodies. Hers were to decorate her daughter's new condo on Oahu where Ginny will be spending the winter. Naturally, I bought a wine glass that I didn't need. One Saturday, we went up to Bosque Del Apache to watch the cranes come in. Our timing wasn't right, so I didn't get any good pictures.

Last Thursday, I decided to have lunch with Rotary. I had a really fun time with Mario, Terry, Ray, Claudia, Sheila, and Blanca. Here's a pose from Claudia and Ray.

On Friday, I went to Las Cruces to spend more money, but, more importantly, to have lunch with my niece Jeannie Stipe, who I hadn't seen in over 20 years. We had a wonderful time with plans for a lot more visits to look at pictures, and swap family info for genealogy purposes. I can't wait. Again, no picture. I won't make that mistake again.

This past Saturday evening, I had a pleasant surprise: Cathy and Bob Raner called from the Elephant Butte Inn. They hadn't planned to stop and see me, but at the last minute changed their plans. We had drinks and dinner, and breakfast at the Club Sunday morning. We plan to meet up some time this winter for more fun.

This morning when I got home from my walk, the silly froggie hanging from the beam on the patio caught my attention.



SKPE Rally

Last Tuesday, I decide to give up my dedication to yard work and join Judy and Rex at Pancho Villa State Park in Columbus, NM. Judy and Rex are on their way to south Texas where they will spend the winter. They had just spent the past several months with this  nice group of RVers in Benson, AZ. Judy and I did a lot of walking in the mornings, and I showed her the highlights of Columbus, and we stumbled on some new ones. For one thing, I didn't know they had such a big modern elementary school in Columbus. I wonder if English is their first or second language? Bad!

We also had a full moon, and Tuxedo actually stood still while I took this picture.

One day we went to lunch at the El Patio Restaurant, but no one sat on the patio. What a shame! I took pictures anyway. I just loved that door, but I have no idea where it went. Can you see the hand holding the torch?

During our lunch that day, a fellow Escapee, who doesn't own an RV yet, was asking us all sorts of questions, and I think we scrambled his brain. I also ran into Ray Hodges second cousin. What a small world!

On Thursday, we did lunch at the Pink Store in Palomas, MX. We were there for lunch and to find the geocache. First, we tried to find the geocache, and then decided to shop, have margaritas, and have lunch in whatever order came first. I found some margarita glasses and butterflies that I couldn't live without, and some Creme de Tequila 1921 which is good on ice cream. Here are some pics of me, Rex, Judy and the store in general.



We found the geocache right by the door in a pink box. I took a pomegranate cleansing bar, and Rex threw in some candy and a quarter.

Then we toured the plaza behind the Pink Store and took pictures of the statutes of General Pershing and a very tall Mexican military guy.

Judy and I also made a  new friend, but he was also huge and had funny sandals.

One of the gals at the rally told us about the Perfect Man Shrine, and it we found it in a residential neighborhood west of town. A man by the name of Earl Starcher was building it, but he died before he finished it.

What a beautiful three days and what great friends. Thanks Judy and Rex!

Life at Home

I arrived home on September 19: one day shy of being gone three months. Being home is a lot of work, but it keeps me young, tired, and able to sleep at night. I have lists of things to do, but they get done when the spirit moves me. The first weekend back, Marty and Sue and Skyler and her friend Layla came for the weekend. Marty and Sue arrived on Friday and helped me get some stuff done around the house. We did our usual Friday nite thing at the Inn. Mo and Eddie and a lot of the other regulars were there. Marty had to do his usual clowning around.

The next day Sky and Layla arrived, and we headed out to show Layla the sights. She's only been in New Mexico five years and never been to Elephant Butte. I was interested in seeing just how very low the water was. This is one of my favorite shots. I call it Eye of the Needle.

This is Sky and Layla. I don't think they were too excited about being in the water. In some spots it had a lot of debris.

Sky's just enjoying being on the lake, and grandma can't resist taking pictures.

I did a scrapbook page of the Blue Heron that we saw on the shore. We got a big laugh because some one yelled, "Look at the great big heron!"  Instead of saying GBH or Great Blue Heron.

We had a fire out back that night and the girls made s'mores. After my company left on Sunday, it was back to my never-ending lists.

I try to start every day with my three mile walk. I got a pedometer ap for my iphone and was disappointed to find out that modifying my walk over the years has got me down to 2.4, so I rearranged things, and now I'm up to 2.86, and I can really tell the difference. Here are some pictures that I've taken in the morning. Sunrise and Datura!

My friend Cindi is living in a beach house on the lake, and it is so wonderful and peaceful there. The boys and I went over to share a glass of wine with Cindi one night, and a got a picture of the lights in her cedar tree.

Last weekend, I went up to ABQ to visit with Tammy, Bob, and Sky to show them their childhood pictures that I recently acquired while I was back East. We'll have to have more get-togethers for that purpose. It was a whole lot of fun. Over at Sue's, she cooked some great pintos with red chili and Marty made ribs on the grill. Monday was Sue's birthday, so here she is showing off the fan and gold scarf that I got her in Savannah.