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....

Happy Thanksgiving!

Good afternoon.
Been enjoying our very mild fall here in Vegas. Daytime temps in the mid to upper 60's, and morning temps in the low 40's.  I've been walking every morning except for the days I go to the fitness center, and Craig and I have been walking most afternoons. Trying to get weight off before our 2 week cruise. I read that you can expect to gain 1 lb per day on a cruise, so we need to make some room!   :-)
Here's the latest puzzles I've done.....

Some easy, some a little more work.
Picked up our free pumpkin pie this morning that our realtor gives out every year. It's huge! Should easily give us 8 large pieces.   :-)
And what do I get in the mail today??? A jury summons.   :-/
Had to go online and preregister. I have to call in the evening before to see if I was selected to go in. If not, I'm done for at least 18 months. If I have to go in, I could end up on a trial for 3-5 days.
Fortunately, we have no plans for Dec. so not too big a deal.
Craig has a 14 lb turkey thawing in the fridge and we'll have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. And obviously, a lot of leftovers!
So, that's about all I have for right now.
Happy Thanksgiving!

More pie and puzzles

Good morning.
Just returned from my morning walk. It's a chilly 44 this morning. But going up to 68 and sunny, so should be another nice day.
With the cooler weather, I made another apple pie.....

Used a pecan crumb topping again. It's pretty good!

Turned out delish! And with Appriva no cal sweetener for baking, a lot less calories too!
And of course, I finished another puzzle......

This one was really easy. I love that all these puzzles we're doing are only $1 each!
And to our surprise, we saw a Robin yesterday in our yard....

He's on the wall. He spent a good part of the day hoping around the yard looking for bugs.

We haven't seen one since the several we saw last spring. They must be heading back to some southern spot for the winter.
Been in a house cleaning mode this week also. After cleaning the windows and wood blinds last week, I've hit the bathrooms, carpets and floors, and dusted this week. I like having the house clean, I just don't like doing it.   :-)
Also a couple of days ago, I went over to a neighbors house and swept her front patio and wiped off her furniture. She arrived back in Vegas yesterday, and I wanted  that to be done for her.
So that's what I've been up to.....How about you?

weekly recap.

Good morning.
I've just returned from my morning walk. I usually walk with a neighbor. It makes the time go quicker. But she goes back to Illinois for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I'll soon be walking by myself until she gets back after the new year. I walk with Craig too, but he likes to sleep in, so we walk usually in the afternoon. So yes, I walk twice a day most days.   :-)
I had some left over hash brown potatoes from when I made the breakfast pie, so I got creative, and made breakfast muffins.....

Basically, the same recipe, but I used a muffin pan instead. And instead of cracking an egg in each, I used less eggs and mixed them in a bowl, and then poured a little in each cup. They turned out very good!
And here's the latest puzzle I finished.....

Another challenging 1000 piece. But I think I like the challenging puzzles better than the easy ones.
Helped a neighbor last Friday set up her display at the community center for our communities bi-annual art and craft fair. She's a pretty good painter, and sold quite a few at the fair. Her and her husband are the neighbors we are going on the cruise with.
We've had a couple 'cold' fronts go though bringing our temps down into the upper 60's. It definitely feels like fall here.   :-)
And we are starting to get some smoke from the California fires coming into the valley. You don't really smell it or see it, except it makes the mountains around the valley less visible.
I guess that is pretty much it.
Oh, and thanks to my dad, sis, brothers, cousins, nephews, and everyone who have served or are serving to give us the freedoms we have.

Last week recap

Good morning.
Got back from my walk. A nice cool 52 out this morning  going for a sunny high of 78.   :-)
Here's the latest apple pie I made last week.....

This one I did a pecan crumble topping. A nice little addition. And here's the sunrise on the Sheep Mountains last Saturday as I was going to the fitness center.....

 I've been going to the fitness center every Saturday for a while now. Trying to tone up the body, and Saturday's aren't busy like during the week. I usually do some free weights, some of the machines, and sometimes the elliptical. Sometimes I walk to the fitness center and back and skip the elliptical. It's about a 15 minute walk each way.
And yesterday, while we were out on the patio, 2 hummers came in and had quite the battle.

They must have spent several minutes going at each other. At least long enough for me to take out my phone and snap a few pics. I often see one chasing another out of the yard. They are very territorial, but I've never seen the other staying and fighting like these 2 did. And they seemed totally oblivious to Craig and I being less that 10 feet away.
And while I'm showing pics, here's the latest change to my little yard.....

I took out the Crape Myrtle, and replaced it with a Blue Point Juniper. 2 reasons....
One, As I've seen all over our community, the leaves get burned during the heat of the summer, so the bush always looks like it's half dead, even when flowering. Second, as the Bougainvillea and Bells of Fire get larger, I didn't want a crowded look. So The vertical Juniper should add some nice color/texture to the yard, without looking overgrown and crowded.  At least, that's what I'm saying right now...   :-)   We'll see if that holds true next year.   :-)
And of course, my latest puzzle......

This on took some time. It was a nice challenging puzzle.
Also last week, we got all the windows inside and out and wood blinds cleaned. That was a 3 day job.
Everything gets so dusty here. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, we do live in a desert! And it does get quite windy here. But.......I still wouldn't trade it for back in Michigan!   :-)