Arizona Moni

Beautiful weather in Tucson

2012-01-11T12:56:00.001-07:00

I have been in Tucson now for approximately two months now. I love the weather and the citrus and the warm dry winters. I enjoy the surrounding mountains which are so pretty when it rains here and snows up there.:) I wish my hubby was here, he would love the idea of getting yummy navel oranges directly off a tree.

All is well here, we are looking forward to being able to get into a larger home with a big yard for our doggies. Nothing really new to report. To make sure that any emails reach me, try: moni3130@yahoo.com or monismith50009@live.com/ . Talk with you later.

Trouble logging into FB

2012-01-07T08:57:00.002-07:00

This morning I am having a problem logging into facebook! Hopefully I will resolve this sometime today, lol. So far, so good. We are ok and the weather has been in the 70s all week which is fine with me.

2012

2012-01-03T20:41:00.001-07:00

So now it is 2012! Yesterday Stew drove us south to Nogales, Az. Just a nice little drive. We stopped and got ice cream shakes at McDonalds; I love their chocolate shakes with whipped cream and a cherry on top! I don't do very much these days except watch tv, play on my computer, read books on my new kindle fire, (thanks Phyllis & Larney), so I really will be putting on weight, sigh:(

Things are going along well for me. I am getting a little stronger each day and hopefully one of these days I will be able to act normal all the time, lol. My gait is still a little unsteady.:(

I still have Hospice people dropping in on me. A couple of them will be here in the morning. I guess they have a difference of opinion as to how much I need them. These ladies are very nice however, so I guess it can't hurt to get their input as to how I am doing.

Take care all, I will try to do better with my blogging for this year.

Better days!

2011-12-23T16:38:00.001-07:00

It will soon be 2 months since Floyd died. I really miss him at times. We spent most of our time together, so we depended on one another a great deal. I miss talking with him and sharing my feelings with him. Anyway, time goes on and all is well. I am feeling better and as a matter of fact, hospice is cutting me loose; they say I am not sick enough to meet their criteria. So that is certainly all right with me, I don't want to be any sicker than need be.

Christmas is Sunday and seems like it just arriving so soon. I'm not ready! I am wishing all of you a happy new year and a generally great holiday season. Talk with you all next year; take care of one another. Hugs, moni xo

Living in Arizona

2011-12-07T14:07:00.001-07:00

After my last posting, I ended up in a hospital with yet another heart attack. Story of my life! I was there for a week, then Stewart convinced me to move to Tucson, Az where he lives. I have been here for a couple of weeks and everything is going along fine. My daughter Phyllis and her husband Larney moved our furniture and belongings from Deming to Tucson. It was a hard, dirty job, but they did it with no complaints at all, so much hard work.

Stewart has been trying to put things away. His house is really cute, but really small. Next Spring he hopes to be able buy us a larger place so we have room for everything. He is renting this place from a very nice lady. So many good people out there! I need to mention The Animal Guardians of Deming for finding a home for my old dogs and for my kitty. They fed them and cared for them until they found good homes for them and I will be forever grateful.

So now I am on Hospice. They are wonderful people and make life as easy as is possible. I do not have any pain, and that is a blessing. They provide just about everything anyone would need to be comfortable. My heart is just worn out and can't be fixed any more. Stewart is a great cook, and he provides lots of yummy food for me. I doubt anyone ever had it so good. :-)!

After long last, we are both back online and it is wonderful to be able to talk to all my super facebook friends. Going to take a nap now, talk with you all later.♥♥

Goodbye Floyd

2011-11-04T12:45:00.000-06:00

I buried my sweet hubby last Wednesday. He was such a good guy and I am going to miss him something awful. He wasn't sick all that long and I never thought of losing him until it happened. He had a massive heart attack followed immediately by a stroke caused by a huge blood clot on his brain stem. He fell in the hospital and the doctor said that he was probably dead before he it the floor.

Now I am learning how to live without him. Floyd was my caregiver, so I was so very dependent on him. My children are so smart and they know how to take care of me.The only problem is, I feel like a child and they seem like the adults! Well, can't be helped, I can do some things, but not too much. My daughter Teresa was here all day yesterday, and she made my lunch, changed the linens on my bed, vacuumed the floor and generally did everything including taking care of the dogs and the cat. Stewart is going to take care of me now; he has just moved here from Tucson. My eldest daughter Phyllis is taking care of all kinds of business matters. I am a lucky lady!

Today is a truly beautiful sunny day, not too hot, just a perfect Fall day. I wish my sweetie was here with me.

2011-10-10T13:18:00.002-06:00

Good News

This morning Floyd and I went to see his doctor so that she could explain his CT Scan. Well there was nothing to explain, his brain was clear of any leakage of any kind. She is a little concerned about his confusion, but she wants to wait to see how he does in the next few weeks. He has a mastoid infection and she hopes the antibiotic will clear up his thinking. His confusion doesn't really bother me so long as there is not a physical component. We all get confused as we age. Floyd's pain is all gone and the one problem which continues to bother him is the dizziness he experiences when he bends over. We figure that is due to the infection. At any rate, we are so happy to have him back with normal brain function, lol. It may not be optimal brain function, but it will do for us! Take care all and I will keep you posted as to how well the antibiotics are working.

We took the "city bus" to the docs and then to Walmart to pick up his medication and then home. I mean, that was a bumpy ride but Floyd's doc does not want him to drive. Unless it involves his doctor, I will probably be taking the bus alone.Floyd absolutely did not enjoy taking that bus, lol.

Hope everyone has as good of a day as we have had. We are enjoying a lovely, sunny day and it is so good to be out in our warm sunshine.

Busy month so far!

2011-10-03T21:39:00.000-06:00

Well here it is October already. This is an absolutely beautiful month here in SW New Mexico. Our temps are just perfect. I called our plumber today to make an appointment for him to come out and drain and cover our cooler and to light the pilot light on our heater. The soonest this can be done is Oct. 18, so it is a good thing I called!

Kind of an eventful month. Floyd had a little stroke and has had some difficulty eating and talking. He is slowly recovering however and that makes me very happy. At first I was really scared. Stewart came from Tucson and stayed three days. Deb and hubby Harold came from SoCal and stayed here a week. Well, they actually stayed at LaQuinta, but they were a great help, bought food and prepared it too. Hauled Floyd off to Las Cruces to have a CT Scan of his brain, and spent time with his doctor. We don't know when it happened, but he was eating dinner one night, last Friday, and he looked at me and said "I seem to have trouble swallowing". I called the ambulance and they took him away to the local hospital where they ran labs on him and then let him come home. His tongue was laying on the bottom of his mouth so his speech was very slurred and he had difficulty eating. He was weak and was unsteady on his feet and complained of neck pain. He kept his head bent over because it hurt for him to straighten up. Well, his neck is getting less painful and he is able to hold his head up now. He still gets dizzy when he bends over. His labs were excellent, but his lower back had been hurting so the ER staff gave him lots of fluids and his lower back quit hurting, sounds as if his kidneys were the problem and it is easy to get dehydrated. He is carrying around bottled water nowadays and he is actually drinking more water.

So now neither of us can drive and we are making arrangements with the local senior bus and with the local bus service so we can get around town. Floyd can't drive until the doc says he can and I let my license expire last year. Darn!!!

Hopefully, Floyd will continue to improve so we can take care of things ourselves. It is difficult to be dependent on others and Floyd has trouble with this. I'll keep everyone posted as to his progress.

September 2011

2011-09-03T13:34:00.005-06:00

This time of year, our local merchants are roasting green chile and selling red chile. Normally, it is a couple of weeks earlier in August, but things are all ready to go now. Roasters are outside of Walmart and Peppers and many folks own their own. I just love the smell of roasting green chile; makes you hungry even if you're not, lol.

September is a good month here, like summer only a little milder with even cooler nights. Seems August was the hotest month on record in the southwest, so a little cooler sure sounds good. Monday is Labor Day, but we don't really have any special plans except it was a good excuse to buy a watermelon, lol. I am the only one who truly loves watermelon, so basically it is all mine.

I sure hope everyone enjoys this last special weekend of summer. After this, we all must hunker down for the cold months. :(

Just maintaining, lol

2011-08-23T22:12:00.003-06:00

Well, let's see; earlier this month I sang the blues about being an old person, lot of nerve huh?? So many young people never have the opportunity. I don't know why I was complaining, just having one of those pity parties. Oh btw, my errant grandson added me back to his FB buddies, lol. What's new?? Well, I have lost 30 lbs. over the past 4 months. Actually, it began when we had some bad air move into our area from that Arizona fire and it made me extremely short of breath; I thought there was something awful wrong with me, I mean I just couldn't breathe. I went to see the doc and he had me get a chest xray and determined that it was just the bad air. Our air is normally nice and clear and clean So, he just told me to go home, keep my 02 on and take it easy! Anyway, somewhere along about that time, I really lost my appetite. I needed to lose the weight and I want to lose about 20 lbs more if possible. I just don't do any exercise, so losing weight is difficult. I have been hungry all day, so I guess that is why it is on my mind, lol I know I haven't lost any lbs today!

Otherwise, we are fine. Well, as fine as old folks can be. Today was really hot, the sun was relentless and not a cloud to be found. We have been fortunate to have early evening thunderstorms which cool things down a lot; not the case today. The country is having strange weather. Earthquakes in Virginia/dc area, Tornado warnings in Wisconsin, Hurricane warnings all up the coast to Maryland. Perhaps this Fall will bring some stability to our weather. I have a friend who is vacationing in Germany and says that they are having lovely weather.

Getting about my bedtime, hope everyone is well.

.

Being old :(

2011-08-04T09:19:00.002-06:00

It seems like these days nobody has any use for us old folks. I mean, we watched a comedy show where at least half of the jokes were at the expense of old folks. We sure make a good target. Before long the "babyboomers" will be aging, and I don't know how they are going to cope. Do you realize that even families don't like the old people in their families. We are kind of expendible and as a matter of fact, I just had a grandson "unfriend" me on Facebook! Who ever heard of such thing? I guess since he doesn't live around us, he feels like, out of sight, out of mind; he is not a teen, he is 27 years old. Well, on the other hand we had a granddaughter and her hubby come from California to visit and they were wonderful. I guess I need to think about the good things and forget the bad. Aging is not fun and it seems not a week goes by that we are coping with something new. All you old people out there know what I am talking about; lots of little things.

Here in our neck of the woods, school begins this month. Back to school sales, etc., I was always use to school starting in September, and August seems awfully early, but then again, the kids get out earlier in the Spring. Can you believe that next month is Fall? Wow, time sure flies!

Guess I am through with bitching and whining, lol. Trying to keep positive thoughts going here.

Chicago

2011-06-19T15:25:00.003-06:00

When I was 17 years old, I took a greyhound bus from St. Louis, Mo. to Chicago, Il. This was in 1952. I spent a wonderful summer in Chicago. I found a nice little efficiency apartment on N. Clark, about 5 short blocks from the Lake. You could go on the roof of the apartment building and watch the boats on Lake Michigan. Always a nice breeze so near the Lake. I think I walked on every street that was fit to walk on. I walked as far north as the far Northside of Evanston, and as far south as the neighorhood appeared safe. I found both ball parks, walked every step of Lincoln Park and the zoo. I caught the El and rode all over the city. What a wonderful experience for a young girl to be alone and free to explore such a town. Needless to say, I fell in love with the city. I walked north and south on Sheridan Avenue with LSD always within my sights. I went to the Navy Pier, walked the Gold Coast, and went to Soldier's Field. It is a wonder my legs didn't fall off, lol. I enjoyed walking and it sure was a good thing. I found an abundance of "neighborhoods
", and once found a small neighborhood consisting of people from the State of Tennesee, lol. I walked Michigan Avenue from north to south and love walking across the bridges on the Chicago River, what a sight to see those big ocean tankers coming right through the heart of the city; the bridges would raise to let them through. I loved the food of Chicago which for me was mostly hot dogs or "red hots" as they were called. At 17, the city made quite an impression on me; I loved every inch of it, museums and all.Do you have memories of a special place??
.

June, 2011

2011-06-02T23:02:00.003-06:00

Seems that I am only blogging once per month. I didn't plan it that way, but oh well. I think it is all due to Facebook. I can keep in touch much better with friends via Facebook, so blogging takes a back seat plus, I just don't have that much news. My computer has been acting up for the past two weeks, off and on and I was pretty sure it was my modem, but no, just my phone. I switched from Vonage back to Qwest (unlimited long distance and calls=
$5.00 per month) and, no contract! Guess they are determined to compete with Vonage.

What else?? One of our grandchildren is coming to visit next month from California, Jennifer and hubby Jim..sure wish them a good trip. Oh yes, received a nice birdhouse in the mail from son Stewart in Tucson. He made it for me.:) Floyd hung it up in front so we can see it from our front porch and I expect the birds to love it.

It is just now summertime and we love it. We have a swamp cooler, no A/C, and it is very inexpensive to operate; works really good in this desert heat.

Locally, things are humming right along. The new truck lane at the border crossing is nearly completed, the wind farm and the solar voltaic facilities are being built, just enough to keep our economy and work force stable.

Tomorrow is shopping day and luckily I found a bottle with some nitros in it in my purse, it helps sometimes when I have to walk a lot. I would drive one of those carts they have at walmart, but my vision,(or lack thereof), would have me running into things!

Floyd got the grapes planted and they are looking good. They were bare-root stock and I ordered them online from Missouri, so they all have leaves now, which means they have taken root. No peaches or plums this year courtesy of a late freeze, boo!

I hope you all enjoy your summer. I am watching the Casey Anthony trial on tv and I am hooked like most people are who follow the court trials.

May, 2011

2011-05-09T15:53:00.003-06:00

It has been so windy and dry around here. Every day we get "red flag alerts" which means dry and subject to fires. We haven't had even one drop of rain all this year; and the midwest has way more rain than they need. Mother Nature sure is strange!

Nothing much new going on around here. I have ordered some Marquis Grape vines to plant to replace some of the nice green vines that we had and were destroyed by that awful deep freeze we had in February. Otherwise, most of our desert cacti and succulants are doing fine. I was worried about our ocotillo, but is has turned green and looks great.

Mother's Day was great around here, none of the kids were here, but Stewart sent me a cash gift and bought me a nice big chocolate cake with red roses on top and it said "Happy Mother's Day Mom"..delicious. Teresa sent me some chocolate covered strawberries which I dearly love and Phyllis sent me a large houseplant which I truly needed because all my other ones were killed. So it was a happy time for me. I enjoyed talking online with some dear old friends from many years ago. Time changes us all, but it is so good to talk to people that once played such an important part in my life. When I say "talk", I really mean writing on Facebook. I dearly cherish all my Facebook friends.

April and NO showers

2011-04-05T22:38:00.003-06:00

March went by quickly for us. February was a short calendar month, but seemed to us to last forever. April is going pretty good so far. We need rain in the worst possible way. Daily the weather bureau gives us fire alerts because of the wind and very low humidity. I love the sunshine, but our region is a tenderbox, just waiting for something to start a fire. New Mexico is having some fires not too far from here, one in the Gila and one over in the Ruidoso area. I don't think that Luna county has had a drop of rain this year.

Nothing new to report. Kids and grandkids appear to be doing well. Grandson Nicholas will begin studying at VCU in the Fall. He is such an artistic talent, and I know he will do well. Everyone else is just busy working and making life best as they can. Son Stewart has moved to a new location in Tucson and I am anxious to see some pictures!

We are well, pops and me. I'm having a little arthritis pain, but so what? Just a couple of otc pain pills work just fine. Haven't been blogging much because really I haven't any real news. We are enjoying our kitty very much. We have always had dogs and this little cat is such fun, hungry all the time. I think she is spoiled because she can do no wrong.

Wishing you all a happy Springtime. Hubby is still trimming the dead stuff off many of our shrubs due to that awful deep freeze we had in February. I hear that the freeze killed off over half of the Palm trees, here and in Las Cruces. It is recommended that the palm trees that we all plant be California Fan palms instead of the faster growing Mexican Palms. Live and learn the hard way huh? Some of those trees were 40-50 years old.

Hawk was here today!

2011-03-18T12:39:00.003-06:00

We had a "sharp-shinned hawk" come visiting and was sitting on our fence. They are year 'round residents, but we have never seen one that close to us, it could see us sitting on the porch! We think the many small birds that came to eat our birdseed, was the attraction. However, it may have been it's intention, but the small birds just took off immediately when the hawk arrived. It was unnerving for us to see a bird of prey so near our doors.

Our temp is to be 82F here today. Spring is official this Sunday but it has been "springlike" for a couple of weeks now. Our fruit trees are in bloom and hubby just went to Walmart to get some fertilizer for them. He has fertilized the roses already. So many of our shrubs look awful after that deep freeze last month. We just don't know if we can save any of them.

Nothing new happening here, and that is indeed good news. Take care all and enjoy your Spring!

March 2011

2011-03-08T21:41:00.003-07:00

I really hope that this month is better than last month! February was the pits. We had that horrible deep freeze that killed much of the local flora. Also our town had frozen water pipes of epic proportions, every other home had some water damage. We were without running water for 7 days total. So I am glad that is done and over with and then my computer modem (qwest) went down and I had to send it off for repairs. I guess I thought they could just repair it online, but no and worse yet, I sent it to a wrong address and it was sent back and then I had to resend it. I hope the rest of this month shapes up. Our weather forecast shows 70s and upward all next week so thank goodness for that. My telephone is vonage and it has also been OFF since it is dependent on my internet connection. I went out a bought a little tracfone and am having trouble activating it, don't know why. You know, life gets much harder when you get older..that is all I can say about that.

So anyway, I sure hope life has been better for the rest of you. I see that my friend Lyn was having water problems;( but who hasn't. Have good days people and enjoy Springtime!!!!

January 2011

2011-01-14T21:00:00.003-07:00

This picture is just a little part of my Cherokee heritage, my great grandfather on my mother's side was a full blooded Cherokee. Although, the Cherokees don't care much for bloodlines, mostly they follow geneology via names.

We are in the middle of January and one thing I can say, winter has been on the mild side. Our elevation gives us very cold nights, otherwise it would be like Fall in most parts of the country. We are looking at about 10 days of 60+ - 70+ weather, very nice. I am due to receive some books from my bookclub, and I plan to sit outside and read my books, fun time!

I have been watching "In-Session" on tv lately. I am fascinated by the trial currently underway where the Arab doctor murdered his Italian-American wife by lacing her calcium caps with cyanide.:(

Otherwise, all is about the same here. I'm a little concerned about Floyd's memory, think I had better talk with his doctor about it. Which reminds me, our best friends David and Betty Watson have left for Fresno, CA where they will live with one of David's grandsons. Apparently this grandson really wants them there and has the room and funds to be able to care for them. Betty has Alzheimer's and David has lung cancer, so, crap happens with us old folks. Makes me want to cry but David is tough and I have no doubt that if this doesn't work out, he will just make other arrangements.

I am looking forward to this coming week and the milder weather. I always love the sunshine.

Looking forward to 2011

2010-12-27T20:33:00.003-07:00

I don't know why, but I always look forward to a new year. At my age, you would think that I would want time to stand still. I guess it seems like a new beginning, a fresh start. All is well here, no complaints. Christmas came and went and we enjoyed it. Up until Christmas Eve, we had mostly low 70s as a daily high, but that didn't last. No rain here at all, but some clouds off and on. Much colder nights, but this being a high desert, we expect that. Seems that all family members are doing ok what with this recession hitting some worse than others. This too shall pass.

I enjoy the western channel on Encore and they are having a 24 hour Wagon Train marathon on Dec. 31 and then beginning Jan 1st, they are having Wagon Train episodes every afternoon, like they do The Virginian. Looking forward to that. I love my cowboys, lol.

Healthwise, we are about the same. I have been eating too much sugar this past week, but a little insulin helps. No plans for New Years except to watch the Rose Bowl Parade, a little football and some yummy snacks. I certainly wish all of my FB friends and all my family and otherwise friends a wonderful 2011.

Quiet Christmas

2010-11-28T17:27:00.003-07:00

Hope everyone enjoys their Christmas holiday this year. We plan to be at home and enjoy a peaceful time with good food, our pets and lots of nap time, lol. How boring ,huh? Oh well, it works for us.

Big birthday doin's!

2010-11-20T16:32:00.002-07:00

My son came to see me on my birthday. He lives in Tucson, Az. He brought me a brand new 32" vizio tv for my bedroom, it was a gift from him and his two sisters, Phyllis and Teresa, and included a lovely card. Phyllis also ordered me a special birthday cake from Peppers and so it was a very festive day for me. Floyd gave me a pretty red BHG Coffeemaker and some Candy and Patsy sent lovely flowers and candy, what a day!

Anyway, Stew hooked the tv up for me and took away the little one that I had. Then he fixed me a nice breakfast and bought us all food for dinner from Amigos. Really special and it helps being old and sickly much better.:) I just love the TV.

So my oxygen is working great at night and so far I haven't needed it during the day, only sometimes in the evening when I go rest and hook myself up, lol. Also I have had computer problems, but many people gave me good tips and I finally am ok with the computer, the problem turned out to be Internet Explorer 9 beta, which apparently never installed properly. I am so glad that I don't need to purchase a new one.

Also our little kitty kitty had surgery Thursday. She was spayed and got her annual shots. We take her back on Dec. 8th for booster shots and she will be good for a year. She is so sweet and today she is acting like herself again, just chasing the dogs all over the place,:)

Hope you all enjoy your Thanksgiving. We plan a rather scaled down meal with Turkey and all. Just the two of us plus the kiddos. Just a nice quiet day so I can have naps and floyd can just relax and do his thing.

Holiday Season

2010-11-04T12:54:00.010-06:00

It won't be long now and the holidays will be here;
we will not be doing a lot of celebrating; going to make it a quiet time. Daughter Patsy and family will be visiting sometime around Thanksgiving but mostly it will just be the two of us and our pets..:) I don't feel up to any heavy-duty cooking and also don't want to eat out, that is just too tiring for me these days. I plan a nice meal that has some of our favorites; just prepare a dish a day for one week. We wish everyone a happy holiday season, no matter how you spend it. May you find peace, happiness and joy in everyday experiences.

Election Day!

2010-11-02T11:39:00.002-06:00

Time to vote:

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-30T22:41:00.000-06:00

Cooler week

2010-10-23T14:20:00.002-06:00

My last post mentioned temps in the low 80s during the day, well no more, they have been in the upper 60s, just missing 70F by a hair! Low this morning was 41F. The sun still feels warm and a good place to sit is in the sunny parts. We haven't had any frost or freezes yet and that should happen in about 3-4 weeks.

No news around here. The local papers are full of news regarding our new Spaceport Road Dedication and the flight of Branson's WhiteKnighttwo which buzzed the new Spaceport, still under construction. There were large crowds witnessing all the activities of the day at Upham, NM.

As for us, we are doing fine. Nothing new to report. Had an email from daughter Patsy and she and the family plan to come see us over a weekend near Thanksgiving. It will be great to see them. The date isn't firm yet, but we have no special plans for the holiday, so it doesn't matter.

Hope everyone is enjoying this lovely Fall weather.

life changes

2010-10-14T23:24:00.003-06:00

It has been an interesting week. I have all the equipment that I shall need when my chf advances to end stage. I'm not sure, but it is probably already at that point. I have my oxygen and it has helped me sleep much better, which surprised me since it is only at 2 liters. My hospital bed is taking some getting use to as I have had a queen-sized bed to myself for 20 years, and now I have cute little motorchair, a "jazzy" which I also must adjust to; it has a lot of power and wants to run "fast". Also, I have ordered an overbed table to keep the things I need close by.

I don't want my room to look like a "sick room", and I don't think that it does. I could use a larger screen tv, but nobody has everything.

Our weather has been perfect, highs in the low 80s or near 80. lows in the mid to lower 40s. No rain in sight! Really nice breezes and if our leaves had turned, they would be blowing everywhere; but, they are still nice and green and clinging to the trees.

I talked to my son today, and he is coming to visit me for my birthday, which is November 6th. I will be 76 years, lol. Don't know where all those years went, that's for sure. He plans to stay in Tucson with his new family over the holidays and that is fine with me, it is where he needs to be. We are going to keep our holidays as usual with less decorating for Christmas. I enjoy the holiday spirit but we don't need all the work.

We have our three dogs and now two kitties, so we really do have a family here. They all depend on me and floyd making a home for them, and we do so gladly.:) Time for bed, wishing everyone a happy Fall :)

Geography

2010-09-27T22:17:00.006-06:00

One of the things I love about living in the SW Desert, is the fact that you can see for miles. Also, the very land you walk on has remained the same for thousands of years. The Apaches lived here and made very small footprints on the land, living in those little wicciups that they made out of desert scrap. They hunted for their food and ate cactus as a vegetable and for medicine. When you walk across this desert, you can easily imagine the Apaches walking in the same places, nothing has changed. The Desert is living history.

Iknow the advantages of living in the midwest, south and west. I have never lived east of east texas so I only know about how that looked to me when on vacation. The far west has the best weather over-all, but it is not nearly perfect. Some people think our weather is perfect. I probably would agree with this if I was younger and had better circulation. For now, the winter nights are just so cold to me. The south is great if you can handle the humidity and the bugs, especially the mosquitos and the giant roaches! The midwest has long cold winters, hot humid summers, and not for me. The best thing about the midwest, is the four distinct seasons.

I am glad that we settled in this part of the country. Deming is nice little town, good for old retired folks since this town has many opportunities and facilities for senior citizens. Deming is not a vacation destination. Most of our families live on the west coast and the 680 mile drive appears very difficult for them. Before we made the move from San Bernardino, Ca., we would drive to Deming approx. 4 times a year. We would have breakfast at Dennys in San Bernardino, drive all day, stopping for lunch and potty breaks for our little doggies, and arriving at dinner time. Slow, easy drive. Our families seem to find this a very difficult drive and to us, it was just an adventure.:)

Lovely Weather

2010-09-19T13:34:00.003-06:00

Fall is definitely in the air, even though the temps don't truly reflect this. It is 85 today but partly cloudy with breeze gusts so when one is in the shade, the temp feels just wonderful. Our kitties love being on our front porch which is screened in. They watch the birds and anything else that moves.

I've been trying to call our fiend David's home for a week now, with no answers. He must be either in a hospital or staying with family. Nobody answers the phone at his house. We hope that he is comfortable. I am so glad that I have been lucky enough to have the time to plan out my end of life. I am slowly but surely arranging my life so that I will be comfortable without being too much of a burden on family. I am getting a power wheelchair so that I can navigate from room to room without someone hanging on to me, lol. I am going to order a hospital bed so that it will help me position myself for comfort when I need it and I guess I will get oxygen delivered next week after a pulmonary eval. I have a tv within reach of my bed and next thing I am going to do is clean out my closet and get rid of a lot of old clothes that I never wear and stock up on some comfort clothes suitable for in home and resting. David's illness hit him so fast, that he didn't have time to think of anything. I may be around for a couple of years, but I feel the need to take care of business. I feel lucky to have most of my wits about me,and I want to take care of stuff while I am able.

About my funeral, well, the family and the mortuary can figure it out, nothing religious for sure but since I don't really believe in funerals, they can all just keep it simple as possible.

Fall weather

2010-09-13T10:06:00.002-06:00

Today and tomorrow we are to have thunderstorms. There are high clouds over our area now but still sunshine. Only a few more days until Fall is here officially. I think most of our nation enjoys the seasons of Spring and Fall the best. I am happy that we don't change our time back until November, keeps the days from being soooo short. After Fall, we need to go to Australia to begin the cycle all over again and skip winter entirely. The truth of the matter is; time goes so quickly for us that it really doesn't make any difference. Last Christmas Floyd said to me "why take everything down and put it away, before we know it, it will be Christmas again?" It sure seems like that. I lose track of time and what seems like a couple of years ago always turns out to be more like 8 or 9 years ago. Time is elusive for old folks.

Actually, I have no complaints. I finally did the P.T. eval. Found out that my arms, hips and back are "weak". Oh well. After my birthday in November, I won't be that far from 80 and how strong are most 80 year olds anyway?? We went to see our long time friend David a couple of weeks ago and it is heartbreaking to see how he has deteriorated. He has lost so much weight although he is still alert. We haven't gone back because he has some family staying with him and he is so heavily medicated, that he drifts in and out. I could see it took all of his energy to try to maintain a conversation. I just wanted him to know that we had not forgotten him. We keep losing our friends, which is a problem with oldsters.

Nothing new happening here, which is the good news, lol. Talk with you all later.

Lazy, crazy, days of summer!

2010-08-24T23:08:00.006-06:00

Peppers and Garlic, lol. Those of you who remember my recipe blog will remember this little graphic. Summertme down here is pretty well represented by peppers, garlic, onions, etc.

We have been fortunate to have had guests from California. We love all the kids, but you know, the mindset of our California kids is very different from ours being Senior Citizens living in the Desert. For one thing, when we go out to eat, they TIP more. They call waiters and waitresses SERVERS, and they think nothing of TATS, that is INK in Calfornia talk.LOL Oh well, that doesn't really matter, just things that we noted. When Phyl was here, we took her to Adobe Deli for a Sunday lunch. We were very disappointed in that place. I think it was dirty, but it was too dark to really tell. There was one waitress (server), who did a great job, but she really needed help. The bar was not open and no background music, plus I thought children were not allowed when a full menu was served, but there were some there. We never see kids in "sit-down" restaurants, they generally go to the local "fast-food" places. The food was ok, limited menu but large portions. We do not plan to go back.

Floyd's daughter Deborah, her daugher and her daughter came to visit fo three days. We enjoyed their company and I enjoyed having the girls to talk with. Floyd went to Rockhound Park with them and found some more rocks. We have a rock collection and I don't mean music. It has been nine years since we last saw these folk, and their lives have really changed a great deal. Ours have been pretty much the same except for us getting older, I think they were a little taken back by that. Well, time marches on.

I will say that Facebook gives us a way to keep in touch so that we are aware of what is going on in the family without actually being there. With technology being what it is, I think more and more families will visit electronically. Take the new Cisco Technology for instance, I think this is great and wonder when it will be available for individuals.

At any rate, the kids all seem to be well and taking care of business as they should. My son Stewart will be here on Sept. 3rd over Labor Day and he visits often enough that we know what is happening there. All appears good for him and that is great. He has had a tough couple of years. Anyway, I am so looking forward to visiting with him. We understand each other very well, lol so it is a comfortable visit. No divided loyalties with him. This coming weekend is the GADR and Deming does a great job with the Duck Races. This 4 day celebration had evolved in a very fun and happy happening here in town. Lots of vendors, entertainment, food, rodeo,carnival and everyting you would expect from a true celebration..and, don't forget the Parade! :)

Comings and Goings

2010-08-11T10:25:00.003-06:00

My daughter Phyllis came from California for a visit. It was great to be able to talk with her. She has a very busy life and works very hard. It is tiring just thinking about it. She bought me a new camera which I needed.:-)Now Floyd's daughter, granddaughter and great-granddaughter are coming for a few days. Four generations right there, gotta get a photo!:) It has been a long time since Floyd has seen his oldest daughter, like 9 years!

I use to do a lot of cooking for guests, but nowadays, I just do a minimal amount of cooking. I am making a blueberry cheesecake and a large pan of green chile enchiladas (chicken), then I can fix some hot wings and potato salad for another meal. That's about it, ...then we go out to eat, lol. I actually enjoy cooking, but my health precludes me from spending much time on my feet.

I just can't believe that school begins this month and that next month is September...FALL, yikes! Seems as if summer just arrived. I mean this getting old stuff is getting old!

Guest all gone :(

2010-08-09T19:54:00.005-06:00

Daughter Phyllis left this morning for home. We really enjoyed her visit. She bought me a super nice camera. I am all thumbs with new technology, but I promise to figure it out and post some pictures of Kitty. I never had learning problems before, but my brain just doesn't work right these days. Too many times when it was deprived of oxygen:( This week Carlos is supposed to come over and measure me for a scooter. My gait is just unsteady and who knows why! I turn in the paperwork tomorrow, pick up my meds and then we are going by David's house to see how he is doing. He was expecting news about possible back surgery when the doc told him that he has terminal lung cancer. I feel so badly for him. He went from taking zero pills to the realization that he is dying. Well, like I told him, "we are all terminal from the day we are born". I need to take him something tasty to eat because he has no appetite and is losing weight rapidly. Be grateful for your good health.

Thunderstorms

2010-07-23T21:04:00.005-06:00

Every evening it rains. Part of the monsoon thing and since that is the bulk of our annual moisture, we all enjoy it. Lots of boomers, scares our dogs, but they do seem to be adjusting to it. Baby hides under my computer desk right at my feet. We got 3/4" of rain yesterday.

My daughter Phyllis will be here in 2 weeks, YEA!!!

She will be here for 3 days, so we can get all caught up on stuff.I haven't seen her in three years, so lots to talk about. Once they come visit, you just don't want them to leave. :(

There is a possibility that granddaughter Jennifer and husband Jim will be able to come visit early Fall. I sure hope so, me and Jenn can talk for hours, lol and have lots to catch up on too.

We are going to have a great summer!

I love summer

2010-07-06T15:29:00.003-06:00

I've been spending this summer reading and watching tv movies. Just relaxing. We had a nice 4th, the food was good and everywhere we looked we had fireworks;the only problem was that the youngsters with firecrackers must have stayed up all night. We could use some more rain since it is monsoon season, we hope to have some nice rain this month. Every evening we have fluffy white clouds that build up, but then they disappear; our air is just too dry.

Gotta go fix dinner, going to fix fajitas tonight. Have a good week y'all.

Monsoon season

2010-06-29T10:34:00.002-06:00

We are in our summer monsoon season which runs from July through September. The temps are more moderate and every evening, the clouds roll in, thunder and lightning surround and showers. The wind picks up and rain or no rain, our evening temp drops approx. 20 degrees and it is very pleasant to be outside. We did get 1/4 inch of rain yesterday which was good. This is the desert, so any amount of moisture helps.

Had my annual doctor's appointment yesterday and basically what that means is that I have another year to get my meds, lol.

Here it is going on 11 am and still in the 70s with a nice breeze. Floyd just finished cutting our grass, and it smells so good. He stays busy. Yesterday he put together a little windmill for our front yard. We still have that canopy to assemble and it is going to take some time as we do move slowly, so we are waiting for Fall temps.

This week our peaches ripened and I baked a couple of pies. They were yummy. One thing about being retired, we can set our own schedule for doing things.

Yesterdays

2010-06-14T23:32:00.003-06:00

We went through many packets of old photos yesterday. At one point, floyd became so immersed in what we were doing that he forgot where he was..it only lasted for a moment; scared me though. I can't seem to find my digital camera, so I will probably just buy a new one. I haven't even tried out my printer/scanner yet,well, I've used the printer, but not the scanner; like floyd said, when we first moved to Deming, we took pictures all the time but the past couple of years we have both lost interest. Probably just our age/health issues.

Today was a beautiful day locally. Our peaches are ripening and they look so pretty. The wind took most of our fruit, but we have some plums and peaches left. Maybe I will get some pictures when they are ripe:)

Cholla season

2010-06-09T20:50:00.001-06:00

All of our cactus is in bloom, but the Cholla is really pretty here and all over southern new mexico.

Early summer in the desert!

2010-06-03T14:52:00.006-06:00

Summer always comes early down here in the SW Desert. Since we have retired, we enjoy the nice warm weather. Used to be that many residents moved away back to their northern homes for the summer; not many do that these days. People from southern California and Arizona have moved in and they are not afraid of the heat.

The poppies were fabulous this year due to a wet winter. Life is good living quietly in the desert.

Memorial Day, 2010

2010-05-30T11:34:00.003-06:00

Wild Things

2010-05-21T23:10:00.006-06:00

During the 1960s, New Mexico imported some exotic animals. Nothing dangerous and I believe they were brought here to improve tourism and hunting. We have natural wild things as do most states like, bears, coyotes, wolves, mountain lions, wildcats, pronghorn antelope, ringtail cats, Javelin, lynx, bighorn sheep, and many, many more. The imports are: the ORYX,and the IBEX. We are also concerned about the jaguar that keeps creeping into our state from Mexico.

Mother's Day

2010-05-10T16:11:00.003-06:00

Mother's Day was great around here, heard from all my kids and a few grandchildren. I have a fridge full of sweet goodies, should last a while! It was a lovely day all the way around. I don't know how I raised such considerate people.:)

We have had great weather, not really hot yet although the temps may seem like it feels hot. We only turned the cooler on twice for a short period each time. We have a canopy cover that we need to assemble but we are going to wait until we are guaranteed a calm day. The big wind we had a couple of weeks ago tore our old canopy apart. We can't really complain though, we had the old one for 12 years, lol. I think we paid $125 for it at Sears. This canopy should last as long if we can anchor it somehow.

We are enjoying this nice time of year and sure hope that everyone else is too.

Really summertime

2010-05-05T13:03:00.002-06:00

Today will be about 90F for a high and it just delights me. Warm weather has been elusive this Spring. I do believe that it is here to stay. I love living in the desert. Low humidity, no mosquitos and clear skies, no smog. I love the clear night skies when the Milky Way is so pretty and it seems there are a gazillion stars in the sky.

Even though our weather has been a bit odd, our Spring flowers are doing just fine. My pink poppies are thriving and are spreading a little more each year. This year there was a really bumper crop. They are so pretty.:) They were a gift from my neighbor Connie who passed away last fall.

Today is Cinco de Mayo and normally I would be preparing mexican food, but not today. I am upset with the illegals and the assistance they get from the semi-legal mexicans who live on this side of the border. Oh well, things generally work themselves out.;)

Illegals in the Southwest

2010-04-25T14:36:00.006-06:00

We live in SW NM which is next to SE AZ. Recently an Arizona rancher was killed by an illegal alien near our NM border with Arizona. The illegals cross our border daily and have assistance from the locals on this side of the border. Some of the residents in Columbus, NM have relatives across the border in Palomas. The violence in Palomas is so bad that very few tourists are going into Mexico via Palomas. The dentist who heads of the largest dental and hotel business in Palomas has been kidnapped and held for ransom. Not only is our southern border become a dangerous place, but illegal drugs and people are being sent north as witness the capture of many of these people and many tons of illegal drugs, heading our way from Mexico.

When we drive in the country, we see gallons of water along certain north-south routes, left there by illegal sympathizers. I believe these people to be traitors to our United States. Hermanas Rd. and Hermanas Grade are two of these routes. Children from Mexico are regularly bussed to Deming to attend the Deming Public Schools. Our local hospital is used by all those south of the border who need urgent medical care. Of course all of these services are paid for by local taxpayers. These Mexicans have no insurance and no money and the costs are passed along to everyone else. Pregnant women come to Deming to have their children delivered so that they are "U.S. Citizens". Deming has built brand new apartments for migrant workers and also sends social and educational assistance to the migrant children; we don't need the migrant workers any more, there are machines that can do the harvesting, however, the farmers don't want to pay for them.

I am very supportive of our President Obama, but this is one issue on which I respectfully disagree. Our country can no longer afford to take care of the thousands of people who come across our borders illegally on a daily basis. They are no help and place a heavy burden on the border communities along our southern border. They bring crime and poverty and in return we are forced to offer community services, food and medical care. It isn't fair and something needs to be done about it. At least now Arizona has a viable solution and if New Mexico doesn't do something similar, we will be inundated with illegals coming from Arizona to New Mexico and into Texas.

Nice week!

2010-04-19T16:02:00.003-06:00

This past week has been especially nice as my son came from Tucson and he and his little dog spent 3 1/2 days here visiting. It was good to have someone to visit with and we sure enjoyed the company. I had a bout of arthritis while he was here, so I kind of limped around, lol. Feeling much better now. Why do bad things happen when people come to visit????

We had our cooler serviced and our furnace serviced for summer. How nice to only worry about the warm temps instead of the cold temps. I just hate cold weather, which I think the whole world knows, lol.

Lovely days and lovely nights.

2010-04-13T14:02:00.003-06:00

The weather has been great and nothing is nicer than being able to sleep at night with my bedroom window open. The air is clean and smells so good out here in the desert. I pity people who live in polluted cities with the smell of diesel fumes out their windows; they keep their air conditioning on all the time so they can't smell the air. That is no way to live.

April is a super month here as it is in many parts of the country. Of course, I enjoy summer even when the temps get over 100F, what I don't like is cold weather!! My roses have buds on them and my Lady Banks roses are blooming. My Iris's are still blooming and look great this year. We saw hummingbirds by our honeysuckle bush so they are eager to get started and we have the little house finches nesting around our porch. Spring is such a wonderful time of year.

Summertime

2010-04-09T16:57:00.004-06:00

We are so fortunate that our weekly forecast is for temps in the 80s. Some places in this country are still cold! Nice weekend ahead and we will probably get out and drive around the countryside. Our son might make it here by Sunday, he lives in Tucson and it's about a 3 hour drive. He plans to come for a visit, but he doesn't know exactly when. We sure enjoy his company and he brings his little dog cookie too; she plays with our dogs, lol.

I love this time of year and it makes me doubly glad that we live in the Desert. No humidity and no mosquitos. I'm grateful for DST because now there is more daylight to enjoy the outdoors. Monday, the Cactus Cafe' opens again. The original owners are taking over. For years, before we moved here, we ate at the Cactus on every trip, beginning about 15 years ago. After we moved here, ownership changed several times and always worse, so anyway we are delighted that the original owners are back and our old favorite place will be back again.

Easter, etc....

2010-04-03T15:06:00.005-06:00

Tomorrow is Easter, so I did a little grocery shopping so I could make a complete meal, lol. It will be just me and floyd and the truth of the matter is, we could have eaten out anywhere but I like leftovers, I need leftover ham for when I want split pea soup and also, I enjoy leftover salads. I make potato salad and fruit salad.

Our temp for tomorrow will be 80F so that is perfect. We have spent most of today outside, just so nice to have all that warm sunshine. I am so grateful that we don't have to worry about mosquitos and humidity. We do have to tolerate those Spring winds, but not today and not for the next few days.

So, all is well in our part of the world. I am wishing I had family that lived nearer to me but feel lucky that my son is only about 3 hours away. I find that I am envious of my ex SIL, she lives near her children and they are able to share their lives.

Health Care Reform

2010-03-21T15:31:00.002-06:00

I am just so happy that the Health Care Reform bill is going to pass and President Obama will sign it into law. It was a long hard fight and now that is over. What we can all do now is try to make sure that the amendments to this bill will bring it into the 21st century. The insurance companies tried their damnest to scare people with those slick misleading tv commercials, but thankfully they did not work. I do believe that many folks were scared by these commercials on tv, but the majority of people looked beyond what money could buy.

Well, this is the news that has made my day. It is a lovely day here in Deming and Floyd is out taking a nice long walk as he does daily. We are looking forward to a week of warm, dry, weather.

Beautiful Day!

2010-03-18T12:04:00.003-06:00

Beautiful warm day here. My iris's have buds on them and everything is greening up so pretty. I love Springtime. Much of the country is experiencing this lovely weather and it is wonderful. That winter was too long, too wet and too cold. Glad that is over.

I am going to spend much of today outside just soaking up the sun. The national weather map shows warmth and sunshine coast to coast so everyone should be happy. I love the longer days. Enjoy everyone.

Time changes tomorrow

2010-03-12T20:41:00.005-07:00

"Spring forward", most of the U.S. will begin Daylight Savings Time. We set our clocks ahead one hour and then we have longer days with more sunshine to work in, also, saves energy. Arizona doesn't change it's time so after tomorrow, California and Arizona will have the same time.

Floyd sprayed our fruit trees today. I was going to do it, but he had already done it, lol. Tomorrow (Saturday), it is to be nice and warm, so we are going to our local auction house to see how it goes. If we like it, we can take some things there to unclutter our storage shed.

We plan on going to the Rock and Gem show Sunday, but if it is cold and/or rainy, we will stay home. We don't leave our dogs outside in bad weather.

Our plum tree is blooming and our peach tree has large buds on it. We have a nice large cactus garden and last week we picked up a rattlesnake (fake) at Kmart. They only had two and I could tell by looking that they would sell quickly. The snake looks like a western diamondback and it is large and heavy, kind of curled up but seems to be in the process of uncurling. Looks great among the cactus. We had so many people ask about it when we were in line checking out. Hope Kmart orders more. It was $40, a good buy. It is very heavy, and even our strong spring winds will not move it.

I cannot tell you how happy I am that the weather is warming and trees are greening up. We have had a very wet and cold winter and I am tired of it.

Enjoy your weekend everybody!

Happy Days!

2010-03-02T17:11:00.002-07:00

This little sun says it all! We are predicted to have 70s all week and you all know how I enjoy the heat. We have had an especially wet winter and I hope it guarantees the farmers a good season, especially the Pecan farmers.

This is a great month because the time changes here and that will provide us with an additional hour of warm weather each day. Also, Spring begins and in this part of the country, our weather warms before the official start of Spring. I remember when I lived in the midwest, Spring would start and sometimes it would snow, at any rate, it was never really warm. I am so glad we moved to the southwest.

WINDY!!!!

2010-02-23T13:50:00.003-07:00

Our lovely Springtime weather has gone away for a few days. Last night the wind howled around the house and made me snuggle under the covers, even covered up my head! A dusting of snow was on the ground this morning, but soon burned away. The winds have been the culprit, blowing 17-20 mph and very cold.Floyd and the dogs have been outside for most of the day. Not me, I am so cold natured that I wouldn't last very long out there. Oh hurry warm weather !!!

Happy Days!

2010-02-18T22:27:00.007-07:00

The following pictures were taken a couple of days ago by my son who was visiting from Tucson. My little dog, Baby,is black, fat and spoiled a lot. The next picture is of Duke, our bird dog: Baby is on the sofa and Duke is in the recliner! Now a picture of Stewart's little dog, Cookie: She is blond and cute as can be.We had a great visit. These pictures posted out of order, but you can figure it out, lol

It is really Springtime here now, the roses have brand new leaves and our front porch was 70F today, just beautiful!

Spring is in the air!!!!

2010-02-05T12:17:00.002-07:00

Beautiful day here in Deming with lots of sunshine. Floyd has been working outside and just enjoying being able to spend time outside with the dogs.

I enjoy the warmer weather also. I imagine most folks are looking forward to the Superbowl tomorrow. Geaux Saints!! We will enjoy some snacks and plan on enjoying the game.

Hope Spring arrives at your home soon. :)

2010-01-29T21:06:00.003-07:00

We have had a very good day. Our friends David and Betty stopped by and we had a nice visit. They were not able to sell their home at auction because no one can get financing. They figure by June of this year, they will have sold their home so they can move back to Oklahoma. I think David misses the Casinos, lol.

We had sunshine all day today after several days of grey skies and lots of rain. Also, luckily, virtually no wind at all and it was wonderful. Our temp never got above 50F, but the sun was good and warm.

It is hard to believe that February is just around the corner. The year is flying by and really, springtime and summer can't come too soon for me. Hope everyone is having a good day and that the snow and ick that was here, misses you.

Cooke,s Peak

2010-01-26T21:29:00.011-07:00

A good picture of the snow on Cooke's Peak which is a local mountain. All the rain down here has put snow on the mountains.

2010-01-26T21:29:00.009-07:00

2010-01-26T21:29:00.007-07:00

2010-01-26T21:29:00.005-07:00

2010-01-26T21:29:00.003-07:00

2010-01-26T21:29:00.001-07:00

One week until February!!!!! Love is in the air.:)

2010-01-26T17:27:00.005-07:00

So the months are just flying by and soon February will be here. I know Spring does not officially begin in February, but it acts like it around here. We will have Groundhog day and Valentine's Day this month as well as President's Day. Something for everybody.:)

Things are going well around here. Of course I continually complain about the weather, with me only liking temps in the 80s+. Floyd's checkups have been very good and I have had no real problems that I don't already know about, lol.

Two of our grandchildren are returning to school, Allie and John, and we have a new great grandchild, Kimiko Bree! So things are going well. We are looking forward to Spring and all that goes with it, lol

Changes

2010-01-16T10:59:00.003-07:00

Our longtime friends from California, the watsons, have their home up for public auction today. They are moving back to Oklahoma. We wish them luck and we will miss them. I personally do not think it is a good move, but it is not my life, so, we wish them luck.

Springtime is a good time for changes, don't you think?? Mild weather and sunshine. Our little town of Deming has fallen on hard times, but still, this past year has been a good one. For one thing our new public transportation has really taken off and has many riders. Our movie theater and bowling complex opened with much success, and another larger motel, The Hampton Inn has come to town. Our Chile crop and Pecan Crop has been better than in previous years. So changes come slowly, but still, they are welcome.

We love living in Deming. No place is perfect, but this little town is nearly perfect for us. What would make it perfect?? Family living closer would help as well as milder winter nights, lol.

Looking for Spring!

2010-01-08T21:23:00.004-07:00

It won't be long and Spring will be here. No more cold weather, ice or snow. It is a shame the damage the cold is doing in Florida and also in the southern cities of New Orleans and Houston. All that pretty tropical vegetation is taking a beating.

Our highs for the next 10 days will be in the upper 50s. Stewart lives in Tucson and you can figure his temps will be at least 15F higher than ours! Some of our local crops are still not harvested due to the ground being wet. Mainly, the Pecan crop which should have been over and done with by now. The paper says that our Pecans will be harvested and immediately put on a ship heading to China. Well, by boxcar, then shipped out. New Mexico is second in the production of Pecans, with Georgia being 1st and Texas being 3rd. Although, there have been many new trees planted the past few years in our area.

I sure hope that the rest of the country gets a break from the awful weather, and soon. I worry about the poor little critters that have to live outside and fend for themselves.

Holidays are over!

2010-01-04T09:23:00.002-07:00

Thank goodness, now back to normal. I must have gained 10 lbs, lol Lots of goodies around here plus Stew's two large containers of home made cookies, yum! Plus we had candy of all kinds, yum. :) I like sweets, lol. Oh well, out of sight out of mind, so we are hiding the goodies for now.(freezer):)

Our daily weather should range from highs of 48F to 62F for the next 10 days. Oh well, it is January. I hate winter! I am pretty sure everyone knows that. Winter is so restrictive. At least we will have bright sunshine everyday. The east coast is being hit with a cold wave like the midwest had last week.

All friends and family seem to have survived the holidays in tact. The Western Channel had a great 3 day weekend of old classic western tv shows. I just loved them. I watched as many as I could stay awake for because they were on 24 hours a day.

Facebook has some good photos of some of my children grandchildren and great-grandchildren playing in the snow in Denver, Co. The little ones seem to enjoy this, lol.

HAPPY NEW YEARS!

2009-12-31T16:34:00.003-07:00

WELCOME 2010!

Snow

2009-12-29T10:23:00.002-07:00

We woke to snow this morning. Doesn't happen in this area every year and as a matter of fact, it has been about 8 years since our last snow, at least as we saw it. Some parts of Luna County may have had some snow. Our newspaper didn't come this morning and we didn't expect that it would. The streets will be full of water as the snow melts. Deming doesn't have very good drainage and it is fortunate that we live in the desert or we would always be walking or driving through water.

Floyd just left to go to Walmart as he wanted to pick up a few things. It will be a messy drive. We took our tree down on the 27th and we will take the rest of the stuff down sometime this week. We needed to get the tree down because we were walking a maze to get seated, lol.

This week should improve weatherwise as highs will return to the 50s with no more moisture. We always need moisture, but not snow!! Strange place to live in some ways, but our winter comes early and leaves early. The worst is probably over now, at least I hope so. Our nights have been bitterly cold, in the 20s and we do not need more of that.

Enjoy the New Year. We old folks go to bed early so we will watch the Rose Bowl Parade and a little football and that will be the extent of our celebration. That is just fine with us. Hope the people that shoot guns and fireworks go to bed early this year, lol

Christmas is all gone!

2009-12-27T11:08:00.002-07:00

Just four more days until 2010. We had our son here from Tucson for Christmas. He stayed for 2 days plus Sat. morning. I just hated to see him leave, but he has work to do and a life in Arizona. Luckily for him, he will arrive home to warmer and generally milder weather.

Christmas morning was fun as was the entire holiday. Our kids were generous to a fault, so we feel very fortunate. I had a long conversation with my brother Rich in Illinois and all is well with him and his family. Holidays are good for catching up.

Our weather sux!! Well, the nights are bitterly cold and that north wind that we get during the day just sucks the life out of you. We have been having highs around 50F, but that wind makes it cold. The only redeeming feature is our sunshine. The sun is most always bright out here in the desert. Now on to 2010, which seems odd somehow. Floyd and I just keep hanging in there. I don't think either of us believed that we would be here for 2010, lol.

We wish you all a wonderful New Year and hoping that 2010 will be a banner year for all!!

One week away, ;)

2009-12-17T09:25:00.003-07:00

No, this is not our tree, but I thought it was pretty. This tree is in a library up in Idaho and the picture was taken by an internet friend.

One more week until Christmas Eve. I do minimal shopping, but I do have a few things to pick up. I sound like scrooge. I have a lovely centerpiece that was sent to me and it is live, so my place can smell like the holidays. I have cash to spend that was also sent to me, so I certainly have no complaints. I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday season.

Floyd had an early morning Dr.'s appointment. He had to fast, but he could drink his black coffee and he had extra this morning, lol. He won't be gone long. His tests always turn out good as he is health conscious.

Usual daily chores to do today. Nothing strenuous happening here, lol. Enjoy your day!

Reading Sue Grafton

2009-12-06T13:39:00.003-07:00

I have read all of Sue's Alphabet mysteries, but I am reading them again, just for fun. I don't have all of them, but I do have most. I just received ("U" is for Undertow), which is the last one she has published. Previously, I read them from the library, but now I am buying them. They are relatively inexpensive since most have been out for quite a while.

Floyd is outside doing something. He gets claustrophobic if he is inside too long, lol. Our weather is more or less normal now after that really cold spell. In the 50s and 60s. Yesterday was 65F but today is cooler. The sunshine is bright and that helps if one can get away from that north wind.

I have watched a couple of Western movies this morning. Made myself a hamburger for brunch and have been reading since. What a life!!! Woot Woot! I don't have a clue as to what Floyd is doing, but I hear hammering, oh oh! The big dogs are outside with him, but Baby is asleep in the recliner, lol. She's like me, a big sissy.

Gonna fix something easy for dinner. Pasta with meat sauce.:-)

Introspection

2009-12-03T11:28:00.009-07:00

Way back in 2001 when I first started blogging, this little parrot was on my web page. I still like him. Actually, he is supposed to be animated, he says "hello", but blogger doesn't allow animations. I had nine pages plus two from my high school with lots of pictures that were sent to me by my old classmates. I would spend lots of time uploading interesting tidbits for my old friends and some new ones too. I don't do that anymore and I am letting my domain expire. Now there is a very sweet and much younger person who will pick up where I left off. It sure was fun though.

I had pages about my town of Deming, my adopted State of New Mexico, Native Americans, especially the Navajos. Lots of pages, sigh. My health kind of keeps deteriorating and not much becomes too much for me. I know some of you can appreciate that. Getting old is certainly not all it is cracked up to be.

I am very lucky in that I have a very attentive and loving husband of nearly 32 years. I was married previously and after that awful experience, I know good when I see it. My children have all produced grandchildren. Also, I have step-grandchildren. All sweet kids but I don't really see them except in photos. I am not complaining about that, I know I am not up to visiting with children at this stage of my life. I like quiet and peaceful things which children are not. I loved my children when they were little, but you know, kids don't remember that. My neighbors keep dying off. Our neighborhood has, (or did have), many senior citizens. My next door neighbors, Margie and Joe, moved up to Placitas, NM. More accurately their kids came and got them, put the house up for sale and built them a small place next door to them. Well, Margie used to call from time to time but didn't want to give out her phone number and finally quit calling. I hope she is ok. Joe was getting pretty bad with his cancer and chf, so I expect that he is gone now. My neighbor across the street Connie, whom we saw everyday, was moved out of her house by her son and went to live in one of his apartments so he could have someone look after her after she had a fairly serious fall. I really miss Connie. She died 3 weeks ago. Our longtime good friends from California are getting very scarce these days. Betty and David. Well, I know why, Betty has Alzheimer's which is getting worse and David has already transferred all the property into his daughter's name in Kansas. He is just waiting until he can put her into a Nursing Home and I don't like the way he talks about her.

Our lady from down the street that walked every day by our place had surgery and died on the table. She always stopped and talked. She was from Michigan. She gave me cabbage and broccoli plants and enjoyed talking gardening.

See the problem with getting old, I am 75, is that you lose your friends. My good friend Don who lived in Gladstone,Mo. was the best. He knew all my secrets, and he died last year after a long hard battle with diabetes. My old classmate Bobby had a serious stroke last year and is living on borrowed time, because they cannot reach the blood clot behind his brain. My husband Floyd takes walks and has a few old guys he still stops and visits with, some are in their 90s and it gives him some contact with people, and gets him out of the house.

My health problem is mostly CHF and poor vision. I can stand and work for about an hour and then I must rest. Some days are better than others. I like to cook and if I do it in stages, it works. I can still go shopping but do more and more online. I can walk in the market, but not more than one hour. It will get worse. I am not renewing my driver's license this year, just gonna get an ID Card. I just need it to cash checks. Floyd takes me everywhere and doesn't complain. Rides are not much fun because if we are gone more than about 45 minutes, I get very anxious and I don't know why. Doctor said I cannot fly and of course a long drive is out, so what I enjoy is basically my home, my dogs, books and TV plus the computer. I think that is a good deal. We get a daily newspaper which gives us local news and Floyd listens to the local radio station.

Life changes when we get old, for some the aging process comes about slower than for others and some folks are able to be active well into their 90s and now, even beyond.
I wish my children a long, healthy life. To some extent, we are all a product of our genetics. Hopefully, that genome map will aid in extending life for folks in the near future.

I enjoy reading about just about everything and love TV, but without my computer, I would be so messed up. I enjoy reading blogs and have added two more to my friend's list. I love reading about active outdoorsy types, lol.

Here is something cute I stole from Melody:

Christmas Time!

2009-11-27T18:16:00.002-07:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Our son was able to come visit us from Arizona and it was so good to see him. He hooked up some external speakers to our TV and now the sound is so much better..thanks Stewart!!!!

Now on to Christmas!! We enjoy some decorating and the radio has already begun with the Christmas music.

Thanksgiving Feast!

2009-11-12T19:21:00.002-07:00

Just 2 more weeks!!!

Veteran's Day

2009-11-11T11:03:00.001-07:00

Shopping for Thanksgiving

2009-10-31T23:11:00.002-06:00

Everyone enjoys good food. I enjoy shopping for Thanksgiving Dinner. Always Turkey, dressing (cornbread), mashed potatos, gravy, candied yams, fruit salad, boiled New England Vegetables, cranberry sauce, black olives, sweet pickles, pumpkin pie, apple pie, banana pudding with lots of whipped cream. Hot rolls and butter. Yummy fixins.

Do you like to fix a nice big meal on Thanksgiving???

Month is almost gone :)

2009-10-30T12:27:00.002-06:00

So what do you think, another month biting the dust. Also, another time change. Today is rather mild considering that Winter came into town and hung around a few days, yuk!!!

We went to Walmart this morning and we bought so much junk, lol. Floyd said "let's get candy for the kids". I said "floyd, the kids just don't stop by because of the dogs." And, he said "well, it's an excuse to buy candy"..which we did and then some. We bought this big, big, bag of peanut butter cups, huge bag of peppermint candies, cookies, apples, a pumpkin and lots of "stuff". I told him that I planned to bake some pumpkin sugar cookies tonight, but oh well. He wanted to buy a pie for dessert tonight but I nixed that. Old folks are like kids, I believe that. :)Oh yes, floyd did pick up a case of diet coke for me, YEA!! When we shop for groceries, he always says "what's for dessert?".

Beautiful coolish day here, lots of sunshine. I'm surprised that our trees still have leaves after that awful wind of this past week

Enjoy Halloween and don't forget to turn back those clocks Sat. night.

Cold weather hits Deming. :(

2009-10-27T12:13:00.002-06:00

This photo was taken this morning in Deming. The temp. at our house was 35F for a low and we are getting this cold weather a good three weeks early this year. I'm not too surprised since the entire year has been odd as far as weather is concered. We have an RV Convention in town and I feel bad for those folks who thought they would be far enough south to avoid this cold. They will most likely never come back!

President Obama is spending money on a new elec. grid for our country. There is a large fibre-optic line coming across the southern U.S. thru NM and AZ and the purpose is to carry the electricity from local windfarms and solar farms so we are on our way, :)

Happy Birthday Hillary!

2009-10-26T13:10:00.004-06:00

They looked so young!:) Hillary is 62 today. She has had a wonderful life with some exceptions and she has always worked so hard for others. Wishing her a wonderful day!

October! !

2009-10-02T20:19:00.008-06:00

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Halloween comes this month and then Thanksgiving in November and then Christmas in December. Lots of holidays this time of year. Also I have a November birthday and floyd has a December birthday, so yea!!!! I enjoy the holidays still, but keep it simple and inexpensive. We do not spend much money on them, that is for young employed people. I can remember the day when I enjoyed shopping, but no more.

Time for us to put out some pumpkins for decorations. I don't bake pumpkin pies anymore. We just buy them. Today was a beautiful day weatherwise. We did have a plumber come by and cover our cooler and service our furnace so if it gets cold we will have heat. Luckily, our winters are on the mild side, but still too cold for me, lol. Being an older person, I just cannot get warm or stay warm so I bundle up when it is cold.

This weekend is the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta and it is very special. Before 911 they had over 1,000 balloons but now it is around 600 because of all the restrictions and regulations of overseas entries.

Fall already

2009-09-23T15:48:00.002-06:00

This is a picture of green chiles in Deming, NM. Fields of them being harvested. The aroma of roasting green chile is everywhere in the county. Our county Fair starts today, (SW New Mexico State Fair), and green chile cheeseburgers are the best, yum, yum! Roasted corn is also a yum. :)

The air is cool, but not cold. By weeks end, we will be back to the l0 80s. If you are driving I-10, stop off in Deming and check out the Fair, Rodeo, Wineries and all the fun Fall stuff!

Country Drive

2009-09-12T20:03:00.003-06:00

We went for a drive yesterday out toward Rockhound SP. Actually, we went to the State Park, drove around,just checking things out. It has been a while since we were there. We also found a new restaurant on hwy 143 about a mile from the intersection of Rockhound Rd. and Hwy 143. It is a brand new building and looks good, they specialize in BBQ. The also have a paintball course behind the restaurant and behind a tall fence.

Didn't see any stray cattle or horses which have been wandering around out that way. It is open range, but the news reports horses running into cars and vice-versa. One young man driving a small pickup hit a horse, killed himself and the horse.

The new Hampton Inn is nearly completed and will open next month. It will be the tallest building in Deming.

Tonight they have the burning of Zozobra in Santa Fe. It is an annual tradition and I love it. People put their problems, troubles, mortgage notes, etc. Write down things you want to get rid of and put them inside this large character made with cloth and wood. He is set on fire and all your troubles disappear. He is 50+ feet tall.

Have a good Sunday everyone. :)

September already!

2009-09-02T23:02:00.002-06:00

Here is a cute little green chile. It is roasting time in Luna County and the green chiles are being roasted in parking lots at Peppers and Walmart and where ever there is a roaster. People also have home roasters and for just a couple of hundred dollars, you can get a smaller version of the commercial roasters and do your own.

Here in SW New Mexico, school has already begun and the next holiday is Labor Day. Lots of bbq, beer, watermelon, etc. being sold for the holiday. We just fly our flag and eat some of the good stuff. No special plans here.

We are getting new neighbors across the street. After Connie moved from her house, her daughter and family moved in, but the son in California who bought the house last year wants to sell it, so maybe more new neighbors in same house. Also the house next door to them has new tenants moving in. Floyd knows the owner and he said that he already has people ready to move in. The former residents have moved to Albuquerque. This has been a very stable neighborhood but now new people.

September is an OK month here in Deming but next month is October and nearly perfect weather. We don't really get cold weather until the middle of November. However, this has been an odd weather year, so who knows??

Hope you all have a good weekend out there and that the weather cooperates. Those terrible fires in California should abate soon.

Monday, Monday....

2009-08-24T15:32:00.003-06:00

We did get some nice rain from several thunderstorms that moved through our area yesterday. Monsoonal moisture, finally. All is going well here in Deming. The Duck Races are all over for another year. Two winners who each won $1,460. Two young boys won the money and are already making plans on how to spend it, lol.

Several cooler days on tap and that is always welcome this time of year. Floyd went for a long walk today, the weather made it enjoyable. What did I do,...not much!!

August will soon be over :(

2009-08-18T23:24:00.003-06:00

Lots of days of sunshine. We sure could use some rain. Actually we did get a thunderstorm a week ago but no measurable rain and we haven't seen or heard from the Monsoons yet, how crazy is that?

I haven't felt so peppy these past few days so floyd has been taking care of things. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day. :)

Kids are back at school and some adults too that I know. The start of school always conjers up thoughts of Fall. In our part of the world, Fall doesn't really begin until October. By the time Thanksgiving gets here, it is nice and chilly, but usually warm enough during the day that we can have our dessert on the front porch.
My son is coming to see us next week, YEA!! He can only spend the day because he has obligations back in Tucson. Then, he will be here for Thanksgiving all day!! YEA again!!!!

Floyd is going to get a haircut in the morning. He gets up very early and chances are that he will be gone when I get up. He goes to bed early and is up early. Probably why he is so healthy, lol.

Hope all is well with all my readers out there. We are basically fine, no real news to report. Oh yes, Duck Races this week but I imagine floyd will go alone again, just kind of too much for me. I don't think he minds, he knows what he likes to do.

Talk to you all later.

Summer

2009-08-12T14:11:00.002-06:00

I love summer, heat and all! By the end of this week, school will have started here, the Duck Races will be on and the temps will be in the upper 80s or low 90s. That is cool for our summer and just means that Fall cannot be far away.

Our supply of zucchini is endless, lol. No rain from the Monsoon season which appears to be nonexistant this year. If we don't get our southern moisture, then we will have a severe drought. Since we live in the desert, most won't even notice the lack of moisture. What it means for us, is a lot more watering of our trees and plants. Our local farmers use irrigation to keep their crops and pecan groves healthy.

The local merchants have their green chile roasting bins in their parking lots all ready for the demand.

Eventful week

2009-08-05T09:48:00.002-06:00

Seems it doesn't take much these days to make our week eventful. For starters, we were planning on doing some plumbing changes to our bathroom and it now proves to be too much for us, so that's off the books. We had a leaky toilet and so are removing the floor tiles and must fix toilet problem. The tiles are proving to be more of a project than we anticipated, so it will take a while...visitors don't look! New tiles will look nice though, that is the upside, lol.

Weather has been warm but not too much so. Inside has stayed nice and cool and we are grateful for our swamp cooler. They use just a fraction of the electric needed to operate air conditioning. We have had zucchini up the wang, but still tasty! I baked a couple of apple pies from apples given to me by my neighbor and they were yummy if I do say so myself. One went to the neighbor of course. I hope she was able to enjoy some of it, her chemo takes her appetite away. Her son stops in every day, so I know he could help her with her pie. She gave us a seedless watermelon which I will have today. Summer can't really be summer without watermelon.

Son Stewart has been giving excellent instructions on how to do plumbing and we are so grateful, saved us a fortune in plumbers. One of the disadvantages of living in a rural area, is that good tradesmen are often hard to find. Well, now I need to find someone to fix my dishwasher or purchase a new one..which will it be???? I had a Maytag dishwasher when I lived in the country and I loved the thing so I probably need one of those.

My daughter Teresa is heading for another California trip and class reunion. Should be fun and daughter Phyllis will enjoy her visit. Son Stewart in Arizona is having an excellent week so all my kids are happy, and that is all it takes to make me happy. :)
Posted by moni at 8:28 AM

TGIF

2009-07-24T18:07:00.002-06:00

Just throwing in a pretty painting of New Mexico. So another weekend coming up and we wish you all a very happy weekend.

Weekend! :)

2009-07-18T12:57:00.003-06:00

Another weekend and we are quietly enjoying it. Yesterday I made a large pan of red chile beef enchiladas and that is what we had for lunch. The balance will go in the freezer for several meals. Easy way to cook ahead.

Floyd bought himself a new radio at Radio Shack. He really goes through radios; listens everyday and most new portables have push buttons and they wear out. I think that you are supposed to keep them for a year or so then discard them. Anyway, this one has some push buttons, but alternative dial knobs. Just what he was looking for. I remember when we had lovely radios that were nice pieces of furniture and lasted forever. Now, use and discard, just like the cigarette lighters.

No complaints about the weather. Naturally it is warm since it is summertime in the desert, lol. Late afternoon and evening thundershowers since it is the monsoon season. Lots of zucchini and we have shared with our neighbors. Connie keeps us in tomatoes.

I think I need a nap, talk with you all later. Sure hope this weekend is good for you.

GD Gignormous Skip Loader!!!!!

2009-07-14T11:29:00.002-06:00

:Honestly, sometimes I get so angry with the City of Deming that I could just scream, not that it would help. Early this morning, they sent this huge noisy thing out to clear some gravel from our street. Needlesstosay, it was not efficient and left about half the rocks on the road. We do have road crews here that know what they are doing, but NO, they send someone who barely knows how to drive and probably (you can bet on it), speaks little or no English. If I told you how I really feel, I would be kicked off blogger!

So then we go to get my meds. The new girl at the Walmart Pharmacy says "none of your meds are ready and one is out of stock". I told her "why don't you check those bags down there to see if just maybe my meds are in there?". She did and they were, except for the one med that was out of stock. Guess what was not even in the building, NITRO! Yes, the worlds largest pharmacy cannot save a life if someone dropped right in line to get their meds.

I don't think I can talk to anyone today, I just am unable to be civil. Maybe I will be better tomorrow.

Ground is broken for Spaceport America!

2009-07-13T11:45:00.003-06:00

LAS CRUCES, NM – The New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) has selected two contractors to provide services for the construction of Spaceport America, the world's first purpose-built commercial spaceport that is now being built in southern New Mexico. After reviewing proposals from several contractors, the NMSA Board of Directors awarded construction of the airfield to David Montoya Construction, Inc. The board also awarded the Site Enabling contract to FNF New Mexico, LLC. The airfield for Spaceport America is a 10,000-foot runway designed to accommodate horizontal launch space and air operations that complement the existing vertical launch infrastructure. David Montoya Construction, Inc., of Alameda, NM, has provided construction services on many large-scale projects since being established in 1985. The company has provided similar concrete paving services for Albuquerque International Airport and Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo. David Montoya Construction, Inc., is recognized by the Hispanic Business Magazine as one of the top 500 Hispanicowned businesses in the United States.

FNF New Mexico, LLC, of Albuquerque, NM, has extensive experience in large-scale construction projects including airports and highway construction. FNF will design and execute a plan to facilitate the construction of the spaceport. The activities include preparing the site for construction and coordination with all contractors for site security, dust control, and other crucial functions. Less than one month after the groundbreaking of Spaceport America, NMSA officials are excited by the current pace of development. "Spaceport America is fully underway, and we continue to make rapid progress," said Steve Landeene, Executive Director for the NMSA. "NMSA will continue to issue Request for Proposals (RFPs) and Invitations to Bid (ITB) for more services and construction at the spaceport, and awarding contracts to the best qualified contractors." The latest RFP/ITB information can be found online at www.spaceportamerica.com

Gerald Martin Construction Management and HDR of Albuquerque, NM, were awarded a contract in 2008 to oversee the spaceport's construction phase for the NMSA. After marking the official groundbreaking ceremony for Spaceport America on Friday, June 19, officials are moving forward with the construction of the airfield. Spaceport America plans to have the 10,000-foot airfield complete by late summer 2010 with the Terminal Hangar Facility projected to be complete by early 2011.

Hot!!

2009-07-07T22:10:00.003-06:00

We should have temps around 100F starting tomorrow and off and on for several days. We are under a high with a bright sun and few clouds. This is normal for this time of year. We do any and all shopping early in the day or online.

This year I am glad the 4th is over. The day was enjoyable, but the fireworks went on until early am and our dogs were terrified. One thing I did was buy some Tony Roma shortribs from the frozen food aisle. They were delicious. Pricey, but yummy.

No real news at our end. We do have lots of zucchini and we love it. Produce has finally become reasonable locally. Our neighbor is supplying us with tomatoes.

Floyd keeps our grass cut and the yard looking nice. He manages to do this before the heat sets in. Just the routine stuff going on around here but all is good.

July 3, 2009

2009-07-03T11:06:00.002-06:00

Tomorrow is our country's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA. Also, it is our granddaughter Kimberly's birthday, HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIMBERLY!

Kind of drizzly, cloudy day here and we have flood alerts, oh sure, it hasn't flooded in our area in 500 years but the weather bureau has to have something to do.
Went shopping this morning and bought a few necessities. Finally got some of those little sliders that you can put under heavy objects to move them. We need them all the time. Got some red flowered placemats which clash terribly with our tabletop. Time for a tablecloth.

June 27th - Happy Birthday Phyllis

2009-06-26T22:21:00.003-06:00

Tomorrow is my eldest daughter's birthday. How time flies as I can remember that day as if it was yesterday. Wow, life is short at best.:(

We can tell that it is near the 4th as I hear fireworks all around the place. One thing that happens in Deming every 4th of July, everybody buys and uses fireworks. The city puts on a very nice display free of charge, but still we can sit on our front porch and see and hear fireworks until the early morning. They come from all directions, big pretty things. This may be a depressed area of the country, but folks spend a lot of money to celebrate our country's birthday.:)

So we wish all of you a very happy weekend and 4th of July. Enjoy outside activities if you can and weather permits.

Sad news day.

2009-06-25T19:58:00.002-06:00

Today Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson both died. She was 62 and he was 50. Both were too young to die, but her death was expected, his was not.
I remember that I bought two copies of "Thriller", just in case. He was quite a talent.

Nice weather day today and the real heat that we have been expecting all month just hasn't materialized. June is traditionally our hottest month. We have been lucky.

Things are going well around here. Floyd had an excellent Father's Day and thanks everyone who thought of him which turned out to be all the kids.

My neighbor Connie gave us a huge bucket of peaches and tomorrow I am going to bake a couple of peach cobblers. One for her, one for us and if I end up with three, one goes in the freezer for another time. Don't you all love peach cobblers??? I know I do. I like them just slightly warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. Yummy!!

Great June weather!

2009-06-18T13:59:00.003-06:00

Normally, June is our hottest month. The main reason for this is the clear sunny skies. So far this month we haven't had one day that has reached 100 F. The 100s are expected in June. Today's high will be in the 80s, imagine that!

I now have some fresh zucchini squash which we love. I cut them into strips, dip them in batter and deep fry them. Then serve with ranch dressing for dipping. Even our doggies love them. Of course, I also put them in soups and stews or serve as a vegetable.

Finally picked up the balance of my meds as did Floyd. Walmart had mine all mixed up, but the problem is corrected now. My health regime consists entirely of taking the proper medication. A beautiful day here today. My new kitchen curtains are so cute, but they do make my kitchen darker, oh well! I like the "cozy" look anyway.

I sure hope everyone has a great day and weekend. Wish all the dads a great Sunday.

Monsoon Season

2009-06-15T16:08:00.003-06:00

According to our weather people, today marks the first day of the official Monsoon season. Normally, it doesn't begin until July 1st, but this entire year has been different weatherwise, so I guess the meterologists look at the oceans and long term effects of the El Nino and declared today as the first of the summer Monsoon season.

It is a lovely sunny day with some white fluffy clouds about. Yesterday we did have some thunderstorms with just a little rain but with lots of thunder and fireworks.

My zucchini has buds on it, lol.

Time to stop and finish dinner. Hope this is a good day for everyone.:)

www.stuffonmycat.com/

2009-06-13T18:25:00.001-06:00

For all you cat lovers and actually everyone else too, this is a cute site. Also coming soon: www.stuffonmymutt.com for dog lovers. We pet lovers will take whatever we can get.

Happy Flag Day. :)

Plumbing problem

2009-06-08T18:45:00.002-06:00

This week our challenge has been to repair a water line which Floyd has taken of. It happened over the weekend and we couldn't get anyone to work on it. Began as a little pond in our yard.

Nothing much new going on around here. Nice week weather wise and surprisingly cool for June which is traditionally the hottest month of the year for us. It has been a strange year as far as weather is concerned, warmer winter, cloudy May and now cooler June. Very different for us.

I need some new kitchen curtains but am having trouble finding the design I want. I will just keep surfing until I do. I did order myself a pasta maker. I love homemade lasagne with the soft pasta and I want to be able to make my own.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summers. Our school was out May 15th, but we haven't seen all that many kids around. Maybe they left town, lol.

Starmax Open

2009-06-02T13:59:00.002-06:00

Some landscaping has to be completed but other than that, our new Starmax Entertainment Center is complete and open for business. Also, a new Hampton Inn should open in October. The building looks complete, but much inside work needs to be done. Deming is growing and that is prompting new construction and new business.

We went to Walmart this morning and did a little routine shopping. Weather is near perfect and we are enjoying getting out and about in these nice warm temps. I am so glad that I live in the Southwest U.S. In the midwest and south, the views are obstructed by trees. Here we have wide open vistas and the large expanse reminds us daily of the old west before so many people came from the east to settle. We still have land to spread out and when we go for a drive in the country, we can get away from houses and people in a short time. I love it.

Summer!

2009-05-28T11:12:00.002-06:00

Beautiful day here in southern NM. The air is dry and clean, the sky is blue, and the little white clouds are just drifting by. We haven't seen or felt a mosquito yet, even after that one inch rain we had last week. It is so nice to be able to have the doors open and the windows too with no cooler on.

Our local radio station plays oldies on Thursdays, so Floyd is tuned in. He enjoys listening to the old guy who does the spinning, "Spinnin with McKinnon" - a scotsman. This old guy goes to the same eye doc that we do, we've seen him there. Oh well, where else can he go, it is a small town, lol.

One day is about the same as the rest around here, weekends have no special meaning. We must get over and check out the new Entertainment Center. It will be open 365 days a year, so no hurry. Next week we are going to get David & Betty and take them out to lunch. This week they have procedures scheduled.

Hope everyone is enjoying their day. Talk with you all later.