Last post of the year!

Good morning.
Happy New Years Eve.
It's been very cold here for this time of year. Running around 10 below normal with highs barely 50.
But that's okay. Getting us in the mood for the cruise where it should be in the 80's.
Here's a pic of a ham dinner Craig cooked last week.....

The ham was sooo good! We pared it with scalloped potatoes, and glazed carrots.
A neighbor brought us a plate of Cranberry Nut Bread.

It also was sooo good! We have some very nice neighbors! She is also the neighbor who is going on our cruise with her husband.
And here's the latest puzzle I finished....

Been keeping fairly busy. Either walking every morning, or going to the fitness center. Craig has even been walking with me in the afternoons. Maybe his recent blood tests have made him realize, he needs to move!   :-)
With several neighbors gone for the holidays, I've been keeping an eye on their houses. One neighbor, I get their paper every day. They didn't want to stop it for a week, and a nice bonus for me! I also spotted a package by their front door and put it in their garage. They didn't say they had something coming, but according to the wife, he orders stuff online all the time and never knows when or what is coming. Then a neighbor has one of their cars parked in the driveway with a cover on it that has blown off 4 times since they've been gone. It has been quite windy here and there. So I go over and put it back on. Just being a helpful neighbor.   :-)
And an interesting thing happened the other day. When we went out to do some shopping, the digital screen on the dash that usually shows the speed we're going showed a message stating our key Fob's battery was low.
If you don't know what a Fob is, here's a pic.....

With newer cars, most I think, you don't need a key to open the doors or drive the car. You just need this Fob with you and the car recognizes it as you get close, and unlocks the doors and lets you push a button to start it.
There is an actual key in it, that you could use if the battery died.



So I went online to figure out how to open it and replace the battery. It was very easy, and we even had a couple of the CR2032 batteries we needed. It was nice the car let us know the batteries were low.   :-)
Well, we're having a 2 day pig out to finish off the year, like we usually do. Food we don't eat very often because, well, it's loaded with fat!
Today, it's chicken wings, and a bologna and cheese platter. Tomorrow, it's real pizza, and cheesy mini sausages. Throw in some soft baked chocolate chip cookies and plenty of wine, and we'll probably put on 5 lbs in 2 days.   :-)
But we still have time to get it off before the cruise.   :-)
And with that, this is my last post of the year!

A very Merry Christmas

Good evening.
Had a very nice Christmas. Good food and good company.   :-)
Here's another coyote pic I took earlier this week.

You can't see it from this distance, but it's eating something. Actually, my house is across the street from the back of the ones you see on the other side of the fairway.
And, I made another batch of breakfast muffins that Craig seems to love....

For dinner a couple of nights ago, we made taco cups.....

They're very good!
And on one of my morning walks.....

It looks like fall is done and winter is here..
And a pic at one of the entrances to our community.....

Palm trees lit up for the holiday at Club Aliante, across the street from our community...

One more puzzle done!

And I played this screen saver this morning on our TV.....

It's an animated snow scene with snow falling, lights twinkling, and  music. Plays for an hour.
Hope you all had a nice holiday. We did.

TV's, coyotes, and puzzles

Good evening.
We've had the best weather so far this fall. Running around 10-15 above normal! Hitting 67 today. Love Las Vegas!
And, I've really gotten some good use from my now 2 TVs.....

One night I was able to watch Ellen's Game of games on the 'big' screen, and keep tabs on Survivor on the 'small' screen. Love it! I didn't think I'd watch both very often, and I haven't, but even if it's just once and a while, it's great!
Also, while we were watching the morning shows while we were having coffee, we had the top TV on with our camera system and saw this......

Two coyotes! Obviously, one in the driveway, and the other way off to the right, just above the sidewalk in the road.

And this was around 8:30 in the morning. Now I haven't seen any on my morning walks in nearly a week, but they are apparently still around.
And here's my latest puzzle......

My apple/cranberry pie is very tasty! The cranberries add a nice little tanginess to the pie.
Got my blood test results back and I'm happy to say....everything is good! My cholesterol, sugar, liver, everything! Wish I could say the same for Craig. All his results were good, except for all his Cholesterol tests. His overall cholesterol, his triglycerides, hdl, ldl, his ratio, all were bad. And we eat the same exact stuff! He's on Zetia, and Colestopol, and it just isn't quite enough. I'm on Lipitor, and my cholesterol is 158. He can't take satin's like I'm on because of liver issues, so we'll have to talk to his doctor when we go in early Jan. and see if there is anything else he can do.
And I'm very happy with my blood pressure medication. I'm currently on Metropolol and all my dizziness, lightheaded issues and balance issues are gone.  Lisinopril really did a number on me. And non of the doctors figured it out. I discovered it while researching on the internet. Convinced my doctor to change my medication, and almost immediately felt better. It took nearly a year for all the symptoms to clear, but I now, for about the last 6 months, feel 'normal' again. You really do have to be your own patient advocate!
And with that, time to go watch Survivor, and Property brothers. I love 2 TVs!

Fall foliage, pillows and pie

Good afternoon.
I've just returned from my afternoon walk with Craig.
Yes, I walk every morning, and sometimes with Craig in the afternoon.
Here's a pic of a sunrise on one of my early morning walks this week.....

And the next few pics are of the nice wide sidewalk along Aliante Blvd. and our community....

Yes, fall is in the air! Now some of our trees keep leaves all winter, like these olive trees in the front of the pic.
And I got a couple of new pillows for the holiday...

They were 50% off at Lowe's this morning. Adds a festive touch to the living room.
And I tried a new pie today....

Craig wanted to try an Apple/Cranberry pie.

It looks good, we'll see how it tastes.   :-)
And I received an e-mail yesterday from the Clark Count Courts, releasing me from jury duty.
I was suppose to show up there this morning, but thankfully, didn't have to go.
And so far, we are liking our Sling TV. There are quite a few shows you can watch live, and tons of stuff in their archives I guess you'd call it. I binge watched a mess of episodes of the Carbonaro Effect.  If you haven't seen it, you can search on You Tube for some of the shows.
Anyway, for $25 a month, so far, we're liking it. We can also watch current and past episodes of Discovery and History among others.
Craig made his cheese stuffed meatloaf for dinner yesterday, and we have enough for 2 more meals.   :-)
I guess that's all for now....

coyotes, cabbage, cactus and a cruise

Good evening.
Another beautiful day in the valley. 67 and sunny!   :-)
Here's a few pics of stuff currently in my yard......

I don't remember if I shared this, but I put the Elephant Food plant in a plant stand  near my fingerling cactus. It tends to have a weeping type growth so the stand makes it look so much better.
And here's my ornamental cabbage....

I planted 3 different varieties. They will thrive and look good until about March.
And, the rest of the yard....

A pink flowering type of annual, and a geranium that's loving the cool weather.

My Yellow Daisy is just starting to bloom and will bloom all winter. And pansies in the little pots. They will thrive also until about March.
And a few pics of snow over on Mt Charleston.

You need to click on the pics to see it better. It's really pretty!
And it's a bad pic, but if you click on it, you may see a coyote right in front of the middle pine tree.

While walking with some neighbors a couple of days ago, we saw 5 together out on one of the fairways.
And I just got the e-mail today from Norwegian Cruise Lines that our bid for a balcony upgrade was accepted! That will take us from an inside 142 sq ft room to a balcony 203 sq ft room! And it ends up costing us half of what a balcony room would have cost if we booked that back in June. So very happy for that!
And here's a stock pic showing the difference....

It will feel more like an apartment instead of a closet! And actually have a place to sit besides on the bed. And not to mention all the natural lighting from the large patio doors besides extra seating outside!
For a 2 week cruise, this will be nice!
Well, I guess that's it for now....

Pansies, pie and puzzles

Good morning.
Just got back from my walk. A cool 46 out this morning. Very cloudy out also, which is unusual. We have a chance of rain today.
And here's another puzzle I completed a few days ago....

And I made another grape pie......

They had grapes on sale for .88 a lb. Craig wanted a mixture of black and red grapes in this one. And as usual, I put a pecan crumb topping on it.
And my latest puzzle.....

And another pic of our lights......

We also went to the local nursery and bought some pansies and ornamental cabbage. I have 5 pots I put annuals in.  With our weather, we have several different planting times. Pansies and cabbage grow well here in the winter. And they'll look good until about March. Then I plant mainly vinca which likes the heat, then in the early fall I plant daisies, petunias, dianthus, and any annuals that normally  grow back in Michigan in the summer. I'm also trying Geraniums in one pot. They are looking really good right now, and should last most of our 'winter' as the do better in colder weather. We'll see.
I also have a perennial type bush that is just starting to bloom called Euryops, and it'll bloom all winter. It has yellow daisy like flowers.
I think that's it for now...
Oh, and I saw 4 coyotes out on the golf course this morning. I wonder if they'll head back to the mountains when the rabbit population is about shot.  Or, maybe they'll start going after little dogs that people walk in the morning. I have seen people walking with golf clubs, which I imagine are to beat off the coyotes should they try to take their doggies.

posting

Good afternoon.
Fall weather certainly has arrived here in the valley.
There is a significant amount of snow up on Mt Charleston...

 You may have to click on the pic to see it, but while we got all the rain a few days ago, Mt Charleston got over a ft of snow. Let's hope it stays up there.   :-)
But it's definitely gotten cooler here. Our highs this week, only in the low 50's.
So, I've been working on puzzles, and here's the latest....

Kind of appropriate for the holiday season.
And we finally got a wall mount for the second TV...

We placed it above the new one. Now we can have our security cameras on all the time if we want, and we can watch two things at the same time also.  Like maybe the New Years Day Parades.  Instead of flipping between stations. Oh, and sports! Good thing we have 10 ft ceilings!
We're really enjoying our 70 inch TV! Not too big for our living room. Just right!.

rainbows and food

Good afternoon.
It's been a rainy day today. Can't remember the last time we had rain. It was kind of nice!
Here's another sunrise I took on my walk yesterday morning.....

Then, I made a batch of mini quiches...

It involves taking shredded potatoes, add a couple of eggs and half a cup of shredded cheese. Mix together and press into the bottom of muffin pans. Bake at 400 until golden then add 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese, dividing evenly into all the cups. top with 12 eggs I blended together and poured into each cup. Then add your choice of meat. This time I used turkey sausage crumbles.

Craig really likes these, and they freeze well.
And after my walk this morning with a neighbor, she gave me a pan of Cranberry, banana nut cake.  It was very good with our coffee!
And here's my Christmas lights.....

It's so nice doing these when it's 60 out compared to 20's or 30's back in Michigan.   :-)
And after our rain today....a beautiful rainbow!

You don't see that out here very often!
And just when I was ready to spend the money and get cable for our new TV, after researching, I've decided on Sling TV. It looks like I'll get most of the channels I want, for about half the cost of cable which has a ton of channels I'll never watch. And, our new TV has Sling already installed, so I don't need a box or stick thingy.   :-) And, my 30mps Internet connection looks like it'll be fast enough to stream. So we're happy for that. And with 1048 Gb's monthly Internet limit, I should have plenty for streaming. I only use about 35 Gb's a month right now. And out Internet provider posts my usage online so I can check anytime to make sure I'm okay.
So that's all I can think of right now....

big post!

Good morning.
Just returned from my morning walk. Cleaned up the kitchen, and sat down to do a post.....
Here's a couple of full moon pics I took a couple of days ago on one of my morning walks....

You can see where they've over seeded the fairways for the golfers and let the rest of the grass go dormant for the winter.

This pic was taken outside of our community center as I left last Saturday after my workout.

No moon here, just a view of the Sheep Mountains as I walked.
And the latest puzzle I did......

You may not see them well, but there are 2 coyotes out on the fairway. One in the middle of the pic, and one way over in front of the large bush on the left. I see a group of 3 every few days or so. They are looking nice and healthy from all the rabbits and such they are eating. And we've seen a big reduction in the rabbit population. But I still see plenty of rabbits on my morning walks, so the coyotes still have plenty more to get.

And after I de-boned the turkey carcass, Craig made a batch of broth...

And on Thanksgiving Day, I took advantage of early Black Friday deals and got us a new 70 inch TV!

Buying online is so much better than going to the store early and fighting crowds. I don't know why anyone would do that anymore since you get the same deals online and usually earlier. Just like the Chromebook I bought last year online on Early Friday.    :-)

They even had free delivery. It came yesterday, and we were fortunate that we could use the same wall mount and didn't have to reposition it. So a fairly easy install.
We also finished up the last pieces of the huge pumpkin pie our realtor gave us. The pie was good, but we didn't care for the canned whipped topping. We like the Coolwhip that comes in the tub better.
But I'm not complaining about free.   :-)
Okay, I think that's got us caught up for now....