busy 2 days.

Good afternoon.
Just got back from my afternoon walk. Here's something I saw.....

The first cactus in bloom! They are so pretty and huge compared to the size of the plant! And as you can see, this little cactus is loaded with blooms! The cactus itself is probably 1 1/2 ft tall.
Also today, I baked another blueberry pie.....

I used frozen wild blueberries. I saw on TV that wild blueberries are suppose to be much better for you than regular blueberries. We'll see what it tastes like. The berries are much smaller, so the pie should be nice and thick.
Yesterday, we went to Siegels 1941 steakhouse at the El Cortez hotel/casino down on Fremont street.
Food was very good! Then we went over to Container Park at the one end of Fremont St.

They have this giant praying Mantis that shoots flames out it's mouth at night.

This area is all made up from actual shipping containers. They have shops, restaurants and bars scattered throughout the space along with sitting areas and play areas for children.
The ladies in the pics are neighbors we went there with.Then we wandered down Fremont street for a little people watching. A nice afternoon.
And summer is here. Highs this week in the low 80's.   :-)

busy some more!

Good morning.
Busy, busy, busy.
Sunday, we went to a little car show at the park across the highway from our community.

There were some very interesting vehicles there. I can't imagine the amount of money some of them must have spent to fix them up the way they were. But it was a beautiful day and we also got a good walk around the park before and after we strolled around looking at all the cars.
Monday, I bought some plants for the pots in our backyard. My Pansies are looking a bit worn so I decided it's time to put something fresh in. Also my ornamental cabbage is about done flowering. I'll post some pics when I get them all planted. We seem to have 3 planting periods here in Vegas. Spring, for plants that like it warm, summer, for plants that like it hot, and fall/winter for plants that like it cool. Much better than the one season in Michigan.   :-)
Then Craig made Beef and Broccoli for dinner. It was yummy!

Tuesday was again Taco Tuesday and we had a crowd of 10 neighbors at the Salted Lime for margaritas and street tacos. Afterwords was the biweekly sock hop. This weeks band was pretty good and we danced quite a bit.
Today, we are joining a few neighbors down on Fremont street downtown at Siegels 1941at the El Cortez Hotel Casino for lunch. Their restaurant is award winning and they offer 50% off for seniors on Wed. Looking to have me some good steak!
So about time to go!

A few nice days.

Good morning.
It's been a nice few days weather wise, and a busy few days.
Thursday, a neighbor invited us over for dinner. Stuffed pork chops, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and asparagus. It was all delicious!
Bur before dinner, she asked if we could put together a chair she bought. Guess we had to work for our meal.    :-)

It really didn't take too much time. Above is the old one next to the new one. Yes, it's exactly the same chair. But the old one is very worn. She said she tried dozens of different chairs, but likes this one the best.
And here's a very unusual cloud formation I saw this morning on my walk....

And coming home, I saw these 2 ducks checking out my yard. I don't think there is any good spots to build a nest here.   :-)
The garage is my neighbors. My front yard is in the foreground.

And yesterday afternoon, another neighborhood couple took us out to lunch to thank us for picking up their mail while they were gone and I also repaired one of their watering drip lines. They took us to this very nice Mexican restaurant. The food and Margaritas were very good!  I had Empanaditas. They are stuffed bread like things. Mine was filled with shrimp and Chorizo.
Then we went over to their house and had cocktails on their patio enjoying the golf course view, (their house is across the street from ours and backs up to the golf course) and the beautiful weather.  I was a teeny bit hung over this morning but I still walked! Sometimes you don't realize how much your drinking when your having fun.   :-)
Oh and I saw another Robin this morning on my walk.  It was sitting on the corner of a roof singing away.  I imagine it's on it's way north and just stopping by. I can't imagine it staying here all summer. But that's the 3rd one I've seen in the last month or so. And I never saw one last year at all!
And that's my update for today.   :-)

taco tuesday and a project.

Good morning.
Got a little wet this morning on my walk. We are having some drizzly rain today.  The temp was a mild 59. Heard many birds singing and it felt like spring back in Michigan!
Went again to Taco Tuesday with 4 other neighbors. I sure do like those street taco's! Craig wanted a change and had nachos. I had a taste and they were good too! After eating we went over to one of the neighbors for a little patio party. The weather has been very nice in the low 70's.
On Wed. I did a little project.

Our grill sits on the patio and backs up to the walkway that goes to our gate.

I don't like how the back is open and exposed. But I don't want to back it up next to the house.
So, I had some screen left over from doing the gate and decided that might look better.

I think it does!   :-)
We also did our senior slot tournament, but got no where near the threshold.  Maybe next week.
I did some cleaning and we had afternoon drinks on our patio.
And that's all I have for today.

foodie post

Good afternoon.
Here's a pic of my little ornamental cabbages blooming.....

And, a pic of the latest apple pie I made a couple of days ago....

And we made spaghetti yesterday, but not with pasta noodles

We 'spiraled' zucchini and sauteed them in olive oil and garlic....

Topped with sauce, and turkey meatballs.

And of course Parmesan cheese!

It makes for a tasty satisfying dish without the added calories from the pasta.
Finished details on our summer trip back to Michigan. Got all the hotels booked. This trip will be a little shorter than last year. 19 days on the road was a little too much. So this trip it'll just be Muskegon and Lansing. No other side trips. A little easier on the pocketbook too!   :-)
It's a crime how much hotels cost, considering all I need is a clean bed and hot shower.
But time for our afternoon walk. It's a mild 70 out this afternoon.

a Funday Monday win

Good morning.
I've just returned from my morning walk. This cold weather pattern just doesn't want to leave.   :-(
But, it's still better than back in Michigan.   And sunny nearly every day.     :-)
Haven't done a whole lot the last few days. Craig and I have either been walking in the afternoon, or going to the fitness center. We've also been watching some of the NCAA basketball tournament. Our Michigan State Spartans won their first game and play again on Sunday.
We didn't win anything on this weeks slot tournament, but I did win $25 on Funday Monday.
That's an e-mail I get once a month from the Realtor we bought the house from. They have this quiz with a question and 4 answers. You e-mail back your answer and they put all the correct answers in a drawing for a $25 Amazon gift card. It's always easy figuring out the correct answer thanks to google.   :-)
And this month, my name was drawn! This is also the Realtor that gives out Pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving. So besides doing a great job with helping us buy our house over 3 years ago, they just keep on giving! I think it's a smart and relatively inexpensive way to keep their name out there.
Well, that's about it for now.....

picture post

Good morning.
A couple of days ago, Craig and I did our afternoon walk across the highway at Nature Discovery Park. It's one of 3 large parks in out master community.

At one end of the park they have a large pond with waterfalls.

And of course, the water attracts all sorts of visitors. We've seen a number of very unusual duck like birds.

In between the large pond and small pond there is a large playground area. Can you see the Spring Mountains between the palm trees in the background?
Then yesterday, it was Taco Tuesday at the Aliante Casino. We went over there with about 6 other neighbors. And after that, we went into the Access showroom for their free sock hop featuring the Kenny Dee Band.

It was a fun evening with some very nice neighbors!
We also finished waxing the jeep and I made a blueberry pie.  I also fed our outdoor cactus and succulents for hopefully some nice blooms this spring.
Today we'll give the Wed senior slot tournament another try. Wish us luck!

a wet morning.

Good morning.
I just returned from my 40 minute walk.
Here's a couple of pics from my patio...

As our weather begins to warm, the ornamental cabbage starts to go to seed. But first, it elongates and flowers!

And the pansies are still doing good.
And here's a few pics from my walk this morning.

The Sheep Mountains were almost completely shrouded in clouds.

We had some rain move through the valley late yesterday and during the night. Fortunately, no rain for my walk.   :-)
 It's suppose to get sunny again today.
And i forgot to mention, Craig won $25 last Wed. at the Free Senior Slot Tournament! That's after I won the same just a few weeks earlier.
Also we washed and got half of the jeep waxed before the rain started yesterday. Hope to get the rest of it waxed today.
That's all for now.

projects done.

Good afternoon.
It's been a fairly productive few days.
First off, we replaced  all 4 of our smoke detectors.

We have hard wired detectors in the hall, 2 bedrooms and living room. I replace the batteries every spring with the time change. This year, we decided it was time to replace the units. They are supposed to be replaced every 10 years and ours were about 12 years old. And they are easy to replace. Just screw them off their base, unplug them and plug the new one in and hook it back up. A fairly inexpensive peace of mind that we hope we'll never use.
Then, we gave each other haircuts...

It's nice we have in house stylists.    :-)
I only have a pic of Craig because he's the only one with nice hair.   :-)
Then I painted the screws on the gate where we put the screen on.

Now it looks more 'done'.
I also finished painting the new bedroom door. 
So I think we're pretty much done with all the little projects around the house.
Now, we have a patio party to go to. It reached 76 today. A beautiful day!

my bath counter refinishing project

Good morning.
I've just returned from my walk.
Here's a few pics of the second bath and the refinished counter....

I'm happy to say that it looks like a brand new count top! I'm extremely pleased how good it turned out!
Like I said, the were spots where it looked like glue or something got on it and someone used a sharp tool or knife or something to 'scrap' them off leaving numerous scratches on the surface. It also appeared someone repeatedly laid a hot curling iron on the counter as there were numerous raised ridges on both sides of the sink. I was told that a young teenage granddaughter was living with them, so that would have been her bathroom.
Anyway, I got everything sanded down and smoothed out and went from a 220 grit to a 400, then an 800 and finally a 1500 grit. I then used Gel-Gloss to polish the surface.
Thank goodness for the internet!    :-)

always seems to be another project.

Good morning.
I've just returned from the fitness center.  Arms doing pretty good so trying to slowly start working with it.
Here's a pic from one of my early morning walks.....

A full moon! And if you click on the pic and look close, you can see My Charleston in the distance shrouded in clouds.
And we went to the 3100 Grill at our golf course for lunch, like we do about once a month.

This is the view from our table there. Good food, good prices, and a great view.
Also, I've got 2 coats of paint on one side of the new door, and I'm working on refinishing the second bath counter top. When we bought the house I discovered that the white Corian counter top Had numerous scraps, scratches, and areas that were slightly bubbled up from, I'm thinking, maybe a curling iron . It looked crappy. I've been wanting to replace it but Craig kept dragging his feet about it. So, I did some research online, and decided to try and refinish it. I've got it sanded down where it's completely smooth again, and now working on slowly upping the grit on the sandpaper to hopefully get it back to a nice shiny finish. But even if I can't, it right now, with a matte finish looks better than it did before.  And it saves us a bunch of money not having it replaced.   :-)
So, that's whats been going on here.....

more on our community

Good morning.
Here's a few pics of my early morning walks.....

This pic is along Aliante Blvd on the west edge of our community. And below is a pic from that sidewalk looking at our community with the Sheep Mountains in the background.

And a pic looking across the Blvd at the section of the golf course that runs through a gated section of our Master Community.

Our Sun City Aliante community is the age 55 section of a very large Master Aliante Community of nearly 6,500 homes. Our section is the largest with just over 2,000 homes. I think there are about 8 sub communities in the Aliante Master Plan.

Our community is the large section to the right of the red arrow. Our house is at the tip of the purple arrow.The section to the right of the blue arrow is where our golf course goes through a gated community. And the orange arrow is where the Casino/hotel/movie theaters are. The big white path through the middle is the 215 highway.
In other news....
We got the door hinges cut out and the door hung. Surprisingly, it closes and fits like a glove!    :-)
So with the insulation on the garage door, the screen on the gate, and the door on the second bedroom, the house is now finally complete!  Yaa!
And that's it for now...