a post

Good morning.

I've just returned from my morning walk. A neighbor joined me this morning. They have just returned to Vegas for the winter after spending Christmas back in Normal Ill. They got out just before the freeze!    :-)

It was nice to have someone to chat with during the walk. Made it go a lot more quickly.    :-)

And here's a pic I took the other day walking.....

Yes, I'm bundled up with a coat, hoodie and earmuffs. The mornings have been cold at around 40. 
The Spring Mountains and a section of the golf course are behind me. You can see where most of the grass is brown. That's the 'summer' grass that goes dormant in the winter. In the fall, they over seed the greens and main fairways with annual rye for the golfers like in the pic below....

And if you click on the pic and look really close, you'll see snow up on Mount Charleston.
And a neighbor dropped off these cookies yesterday....

Cranberry Oatmeal cookies. They were yummy! It was a big plate of cookies but we ate half of them before I thought of taking a pic.    :-)
Have I said how many nice neighbors we have?
And we finished the afternoon with cocktails on another neighbors patio.

Christmas Day

Good morning.
I'm a little late, But Merry Christmas!

We had a very nice day. Craig cooked a ham.

Even enjoyed a nice snow fall.    :-)
Found some nice you tube videos of snowing in the forest, a roaring fireplace, a snowy stream and even a trek through snowy woods to some pretty waterfalls. Found software that I could use to download the vids. Then I burned them to a blank DVD and can now 'watch' them on our TV. Gives us enough 'winter'.   :-)

And on Christmas day, we had cocktails and Christmas cookies on the patio. Had to light the fire pit as it was only 64 out.   :-)
And yes, that's a pot of pansies between us. They apparently do good out here in the winter.
So a nice Christmas in the desert. I'll take this over the single digits they're having back in Michigan!

almost Christmas!

Good afternoon.
We've just returned from our afternoon walk. A bit cool at only 54, but it will get warmer over the next few days.
 I've been working on a little project......

We have 3 poinsettias under our TV and I'm not having very good luck this year keeping them alive, so I decided maybe fake ones would look okay.
I bought the stuff to do it and put one together.

I actually think it looks better than the real ones.    It's the one in the center.....    :-)
So I've done the second one today and maybe the third one tomorrow. I'll post a pic.    :-)
I also made another pie!

This one blueberry. It is delicious!
We also had leftover spaghetti sauce with meatballs and this time used just zucchini for noodles.....

Used the handy dandy spiral cutter for the 'noodles', and sauteed them for about 10 minutes with oil and garlic.

Topped them with the sauce and some Parmesan and it was very good! We may never eat regular pasta again!
My arm seems to be slowly getting better. I'm getting a little more movement every day. I'm happy about that!
And we're having ham for Christmas this year. A change from our usual turkey with White Castle Stuffing, which we'll have in early Feb. instead.
And tonight, home made low fat pizza. Life is good!

Here comes the sun and zucchini noodles

Good morning.
I've just returned from my morning walk, and as usual, I'm going to bore you with some pics again.    :-)
Here comes the sunrise.....

I know you've seen many, many pics like these but I feel like I need to post pics of something and I don't have much else.    :-)
My arm has gotten a little better, but certain movements still send me through the roof. Of course, it hasn't even been a week yet. And I am very impatient.   :-)
I've read a severe sprain/strain could takes weeks to months to heal.   :-(
We tried something new for dinner yesterday. We had spaghetti and meatballs. While that's not new, what we added was...
Zucchini noodles!
We had bought this spiral slicer some time ago and I suggested we give it a try.

It takes zucchini, or probably most any firm veggie and cuts them into long noodle shaped strings. I used it and it worked exactly like it said it would. Now, to make sure we didn't ruin dinner with some odd ingredient, I made some regular pasta also and we put them on a plate, side by side and ladled sauce on top. It was actually very good! I sauteed the zucchini 'noodles' in a small amount of oil with some garlic until they were just limp. No salt as that would draw out water and make them mushy. We liked it so much, next time we'll just use Zucchini.    :-)
I also found a salad recipe that calls for zucchini noodles. That looked good too.
So as I try continue to expand our dietary variety, Some thing we don't care for and somethings, like this, we surprisingly really like!
Well that's all for now....

a trashcan snitch and a painful day

Good morning.
When we went down to the strip on Tuesday and spent the night, I asked our neighbor across the street to put away our trash cans. Tuesday is trash pickup day in out community. Well, we get home Wed. and one of our trash cans isn't in the garage. I assumed the neighbor couldn't get the door opened and put the can in her garage. But when I saw her she said she completely forgot all about it. So, what happened to the trash can?
I decided to look at our camera system recordings to solve the mystery. And here's what I saw....

At 6:45, neighborhood watch drives by. Look how our Christmas lights make the tree look ghostly.
Then, at the 7:04 mark, here comes our neighbor....

Grabs our can and takes it to his house.

Yep! It was our next door neighbor!
So, I went over to retrieve it. Apparently, they arrived home that evening and saw the can sitting there and all our shades were closed. They figured we must be gone and the trash can sitting out there would advertise that, so they put it in their garage for safe keeping.
Have I said how many nice neighbors we have?
So case solved! We do like our surveillance system.
Then, on Thursday, I decided to add another shelf in our pantry. It was getting pretty full and another shelf higher up would help. We went out and got a shelf, I cut it to fit, got the supports in and put the shelf in to check the fit before securing it. Well, it got a bit wedged, and as I tried to lift and twist it out, I did something to my arm that caused extreme pain. I couldn't move it in hardly any direction without pain. I iced it and and even later it was still extremely painful. Craig insisted I go to an urgent care facility. Long story short, After 3 1/2 hours, it was determined I have soft tissue damage between my elbow and wrist. That means a lot of rest and no activity for a while. If it's not starting to feel better in a week or so, I may need an MRI to determine if I have a complete tear, which hopefully I don't. I guess time will tell. I have it in a sling to help minimize movement.
So, I'm laid up for a while unable to do much with just one good arm. I guess it's good I'm retired an not working.   :-)

a trip to the strip.

Good afternoon.
We've just returned from an overnight down on the 'strip'.   We stayed at Ellis Island Casino/hotel on Koval, about a long block from the strip. Nice little motel with 300 rooms and a cozy casino. Stayed there because the price was good, it's a Wyndham member, and I needed one more night this year to reach Platinum. Rooms had been recently remodeled so was really quite nice.
Walked up and down a good part of the strip, people watching and checking out the Christmas displays. Here's the every popular display at the Bellagio Conservatory....

They do such a beautiful job every season. Definitely worth the trip! And here's a pic of the High Roller at the end of the Linq.

And no, we haven't been on it yet. It's billed as the worlds tallest observation wheel. Takes a little over half an hour for a full rotation.
Strip wasn't as busy as other times we've been there, but their slow time is between Thanksgiving and Christmas. So it was nice not having to fight the heavy crowds. 
And it was a nice overnight diversion from our quiet little community.    :-)

another post

Good morning.
I've just returned from my morning walk. it's a nippy 37 out this morning. But going to reach 67 today.   :-)
Here's a couple of pics. The first is the entrance to our community center....

And the second a pic of the shuffleboard, tennis and pickle ball courts.

 We did Sunday brunch at the Aliante casino with a few neighbors yesterday. I ate way too much! But everything is good and there are are lot of choices. That's why we don't go often. I can't just eat a little. And part of me wants to get my money's worth, which is crazy, since we always have buy one get one coupons. The Sunday buffet, with unlimited champagne, is only $10.99. So that means each of us is eating and drinking for just $5.50 each. Where can you eat and drink for that price?   :-)
I also got my letter acknowledging acceptance into my new insurance plan. Made my first payment and now I can go online and find a new doctor. And just in case it takes me a while to get in, I was able to get another refill for my blood pressure meds. I'm good there now for another 3+ months.
We also got and assembled our new shoe rack.....

 It holds 6 pairs of shoes.

We had a bench type shoe cabinet back in Michigan, but didn't think we'd have enough room in our cube to bring it out. Unfortunately, we ended up having quite a bit of extra room in the cube, But we had already gotten rid of a lot of stuff. Oh well. We do like this style better, and got a real good price online.
Well, that's all I know for now....

busy time

Good morning.
It's been a busy few days since my last post.
First off, I made another apple pie...

 I must be getting better as they are looking a bit more professional.   :-)
I also put burlap over the gate going into the back yard....

We get some strong winds and they blow right between the buildings and through the gate.
The reason for this is along that side wall, just over half way down, I planted a Bougainvillea vine in a pot. It's technically not hardy to the Vegas area, although I've seen a few that look pretty good size.
It all depends on the 'micro climate' it has. They recommend planting it in the ground, next to a south facing wall. Mine is against a south facing wall, but in a pot. We're not allowed to plant anything within 3 ft of the lot line. But pots can be put anywhere. So, to try and get it through the winter, I put burlap on the gate, and I wrapped the pot and lower stalks with Christmas lights then put chicken wire around that and then a good wrapping of burlap. Supposedly, the lights will keep the pot and soil just a bit warmer than the surrounding air. We'll see if that is enough to survive our winter. Of course, it'll also depend on if we have a warm, normal, or cold winter. But it looked so good this year, I'd like to keep it. We'll see!
And today, after our free senior slot tournament, we're going to Big Dog's Tavern for lunch. They have delicious Wisconsin Kielbasas. Found this place using a coupon from our Las Vegas book....

We bought this book for $37 last January, and it has loads of coupons. We've used coupons for free slot play, discounted buffets, and drinks and dining. It's a real good value for the price. We're trying to use up a few more coupons before the book expires on Dec. 31st.
And with that, time to go....

3 posts in 3 days

Good afternoon.
I know! 3 posts in 3 days!
Anyway, Craig saw this package while we were shopping at Walmart last week......

Caramel Apple cake mix with Caramel frosting. He wanted to try it, so, one of our neighbors was having a pizza patio party yesterday, so he thought it was a good time to try it out. We made cupcakes instead of cake, and they turned out pretty good! Wouldn't want to eat too many as there is a ton of calories in the frosting. We did use applesauce in the mix instead of oil to cut the calories there, but the frosting comes ready in a can and no making that better. But they were good!
And I went to the fitness center this morning and took a couple of pics....

Unfortunately, this pic doesn't show the golf course and mountains we get to look at while exercising.

It wasn't very busy this morning, maybe 5 other people there. That's why I thought it would be okay to take a couple of pics. As you can see, a lot of equipment.
And I received my new Chromebook yesterday and after playing around with it I'm very satisfied.  I was even able to load Crossover on it which allows me to play windows games on it besides games from the Chrome Store. It'll be perfect for what I need it for.
 And I finally got my letter from my new insurance company, so after I pay my first premium, they'll send me a card. And now I can go online and find a new doctor. Fortunately, my blood pressure meds should last into January.
Well, that's it for now...

Craig's a winner

Good morning.
Slot tournament update.....
Went to the casino Thursday morning and found that Craig had won $25.  Out of 100 people they give prizes to, he ended up 6th from the bottom, but that was still good enough for $25. Nice! That's the 4th time in a year Craig or I have won . It's not a lot, but it doesn't cost us anything either. We walk in the casino, over to the tournament area, play for 3 min. and leave. Of course, they're hopping people stay and play or eat, but we don't. I imagine a lot of people do though. When we checked the results on the paper they post by the cashier booth, there were 852 people that played the tournament between 10am and 7pm that Wed. so I would imagine a good number also stayed and played and/or ate there too.
In other news......
Here's a couple of pics people posted to our neighborhood Next Door website.......

Yes, they are Coyotes roaming our community. Now, in all my morning walks I've done, I've never seen any, but I have neighbors who have. I've even seen other walkers in the morning carrying sticks or golf clubs which I suppose is to possibly fend off an attack. But from what I've read, there have been no reports of Coyotes attacking people. They're here for the rabbits and quail, which we have a crap load of. So I'm not concerned. They're looking for an easy meal, and I'm a lot bigger than they are.    :-)
So lucky you! I did 2 posts in 2 days.     :-)