bags of mail

Good morning.
Here's a pic of the latest puzzle I finished.....

It was a bit challenging, but it was also only 500 pieces, so not bad.
And, while we were out on the patio yesterday afternoon, we had a little visitor....

He/she is on the pavers just to the right of the pot. I enlarged the pic below so you can hopefully see it better...

He was a tiny little thing. Maybe 3 inches or so. That's the 3rd time we've seen one. They're kinda cute! click on the pic to get a larger view.
And Craig made pizza for dinner yesterday.

It turned out delish as usual!
And here's the growing stash of mail I've been collecting for 3 neighbors....

All 4 bags belong to one neighbor. They've been traveling across the country in their big 5th wheel all summer.

This bag is by the door......

And this little bag is by the desk. I have them separated around the room so hopefully I don't mix them up.   :-)
All 3 neighbors are due to be back next week.  That's about when our community comes back alive.    :-)   As all the snow birds make their way from their summer homes back to Vegas for the winter. I'd guess by our street, about 1/4 of all residents are gone in the summer. And we have 2200 homes in our community.
Well, I did my walk this morning, had coffee and a fritter with the Sunday paper, and cleaned up the kitchen from Craig's pizza mess. He sure dirties a lot of dishes when he fixes dinner.   :-)
It's nice I finally have a house with a full size dishwasher!

puzzles, puzzles, puzzles

Good morning.
Just a quick post before I head out for my walk....
Here's the latest 500 piece puzzles I did this week so far....

This vegi one was hard! Took me 4 days to finish.

The balloons? Just 2 days. easy peasy!

And a resident in our community took this pic Tuesday evening with his drone.

It's the moon setting over the spring mountains at the west end of the valley.
The CVS in the front left corner is across the street from our community.
Craig is getting the new Shingles shot today. I have to wait until Next week when my Medicare kicks in and then I'll get mine too.
We're waiting until mid October for our Flu shots. We've been advised since we're going on a late January cruise, you want peak effectiveness, because we'll stuck in close quarters with 2000 other people for 2 weeks, so you don't want to get it too early. Makes sense I guess.   :-)
Now I'm off for my walk......

backyard pics and Spaghetti Salad

Good afternoon.
Well, I've redone the back yard...... again.....
And here's the pics.......

I think I've finally figured out the amount of water for the bougainvillea and now it's blooming again.   :-)

It's really starting to feel like a cozy courtyard. It's taking way more time than I thought, since there is not only a big learning curve, but way more bugs than I expected to find out here.
I've had aphids on my Bells of Fire. I found 3 large grubs in the Burgundy Vinca when I took them out to plant fall flowers. I had grubs in the soil on my Autumn Sage bushes I eventually took out. And I think I have grubs in 2 of my Lantana which don't look very good right now. I wouldn't have expected to find these types of bugs in the desert!  But then again, they have brought all types of plants out here, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. Also, with the drip watering and everything being on the same time schedule, It's been difficult adjusting the drip heads so individual plants get just the amount of water they need to thrive.
But, overall, I'm happy with the direction my yard is finally going in.
And, Craig made a large batch of Spaghetti Salad.

We use to have this on occasion back in Michigan, but have been unable to find it out here. So....I got a recipe off the internet, and Craig made it this afternoon to go with our grilled chicken thighs. It looked good after Craig put it all together, but it needs to rest for 2 hours before we can eat it.
If it turns out as good as the store bought back in MI, I'll post the recipe.
I think that's it for now.....

puzzles and picures

Good afternoon .
The weather here is gorgeous.
I went to the fitness center this morning instead of walking. I like to mix things up once in a while and the fitness center isn't as busy on Saturday as it is in the mornings during the week.
We went to Star nursery and bought a few plants to re-pot our annual pots with. Our Vinca, which has done remarkably well during the heat of the summer is starting to look a bit worn. So, I thought some fresh plants might be in order. I'll post pics once I get them done.
Then I started another puzzle.

 This one is just 500 pieces.  Shouldn't take too long.   :-)
I also went out today to another dollar store and found nearly a dozen puzzles I'd like to do. Some 1000 but most 500.
And here's a pic of part of our community center.

This is the main entrance. There are 2 buildings attached with this covered walkway. Well, the plans for the new addition is calling for connecting the 2 buildings, increasing the billiard room, adding more club space, and centralizing the desk area.

This patio area with the plaque for the veterans will be completely enclosed with a large curving window wall so you can still enjoy the mountain scenery. They will have couches and chairs for lounging and looking out at the golf course and mountains.

The veterans plaque will be moved out to the front of the new addition near the flags in an island by the entrance.

And, since it took so much time to do this post, I was able to finish the puzzle!

500 pieces doesn't take a real long time.   :-)
And right now, Craig is busy in the kitchen, slicing and dicing tomatoes and onions for our home made nachos we're having for dinner tonight.  Yum!
Well, that's it for now....

puzzles and pie

Good afternoon.
The weather here in Vegas is getting nicer! Highs in the mid 90's and lows in the mid 70's. It's been so cool in the morning when I walk, I'm almost ready to layer.   :-)
I've seen a total of 8 coyotes over the last week. That is a lot! Considering I'd seen a total of maybe 3 the first 2 years we lived here. I think the explosion of rabbits have brought some down from the mountain and taken up residence. Maybe in one of the many culverts that run along the golf course and under our roads.
I'm fine with that. The rabbits eat everything they can find. The fewer the better.    :-)
Here's a few more puzzles I picked up for just $1 each....

I decided to do the middle one this week. Started it on Monday.

Progress on Tuesday.....

And Wednesday.....

And I finished it last night during the America's Got Talent Final.

And speaking of AMT, it sure was a good season this year. Some of the best talent I'd seen in a long time. I especially liked the winner. The guy who did the magic card tricks. He was unbelievable!
And here's a pic of my latest apple pie.....

Got just a little overdone on top, but still very tasty!

And as I do with all my pies, I use a crumb topping to cut the calories a little.
And I started a new puzzle today.

It's just a 500 piece. I don't usually do them this small, but thought it might be a nice change, and I liked the picture.
Also, we had to find a new doctor.......again!
Got an e-mail saying the practice had reassigned our doctor to just patients with Humana and United Health Care insurance. Since our primary insurance is now Medicare, he was no longer seeing those patients. What a bunch of crap! But that seems to be the way health care is evolving. So, I had to go online and find a doctor in the same group who was taking new patients. And I did. So got our January appointments rescheduled for him. Obviously, the biggest issue with changing is going through all the medical history again. Oh well, we'll survive.
Well, still loving life in the desert! It's been 2 years retired now. No regrets so far.   :-)

yummy ribs

Good morning.
The weather is absolutely beautiful!  Sunny, morning temps in the mid 70's and afternoon temps in the upper 90's and about 1% humidity. We've been sitting outside on the patio with no fan or misters. Going into the best weather of the year!
And as promised, pics of the yard that I've redone once again....

And it probably won't be the last time I 'redo' the yard either. It all depends on how different plants do. I guess I should be happy it's a small yard.   :-)
And progress on the puzzle....

We tried a different type of ribs for dinner....

Cook in bag ribs! Just 1 1/2 hours at 400 degrees right in the bag! And they turned out really good!

Very meaty and tender. Had plenty for leftovers too!
While I waited for dinner, I finished the puzzle!

It was a picture of buttons, so very colorful and challenging. But that's how I like them. It was more challenging because it was 1000 pieces, and like I said earlier, they are abut half the size of regular puzzles. But at only $1 each, This is a great buy and still a good puzzle. And....it fits on the table!
 I have 3 more to do and I think I'll go back and look for a couple more.
Well, that's all for now.

pizza, puzzles, and coyotes

Good afternoon.
We've just returned from lunch at the 3100 Grill. That's the little restaurant connected to the golf course in our community.  Good food for such a limited menu. We usually split an Avocado BLT with fries on Sourdough bread. Really good fries! We seem to eat there about once a month.
And here's a pic of the puzzle I started.....

We bought several puzzles at the dollar store. These are 1000 piece puzzles, and even though the pieces are shrunken compared to regular puzzles, they were only $1 each! And being smaller means they take up less room on the table!

But the tiny pieces also make it more of a challenge! I haven't done a puzzle in quite a few years and forgot how much I enjoy them.
Then we have a couple of pics from my morning walk yesterday....

Geese and ducks on the pond in our golf course. They sleep there to avoid the coyotes.
I also made a breakfast pizza! Saw the recipe in a magazine and tried it.

I used a frying pan instead of a pan in the oven. It has a bag of shredded hash brown that you mix with 2 eggs and seasonings, form it into a pizza shape in a pan. Cook and brown until golden then top with shredded cheese, break 4 eggs over the top, sprinkle your meat, we used crumbled turkey sausage, the heat until eggs are cooked, and serve. It was really good!
And speaking of coyotes, I saw 4 this morning on my walk.

It's not a very good pic as I was a ways down the street, but they were crossing the street using the golf cart trail up by the community center. So I've seen 7 coyotes in 2 days! Way more than I'd seen the entire first 2 years we've been here. Rumor has it 3 of them have taken up residence in a culvert on the edge of one of the greens. That's about where I saw the 3 of them early yesterday.
And I believe I've also noticed a substantial drop in the number of rabbits I see every morning.
So coyotes are good!
I think that's about it for now....

midweek update

Good afternoon.
Some beautiful weather here in the valley, and it will only get better over the next couple of months.   :-)
Here's a current pic of my fingerling cactus that I planted last fall....

It seems to be doing very well in it's pot. Hope it blooms good next spring.
I've also been 'redoing' parts of the back yard. I know, you're thinking, what could possible need doing in such a small yard? Well, as with all things, some plants do good, others, not so good. So at some point, you just need to decide when to give up on certain plants and just move on. Well, that's what I've been doing the last several days. Once I'm finished, I'll put some new pics here.
And with the 9/11 events, our community veterans group put up flags down the main road and in the community parking lot....

They sure looked nice in the morning when I walked, all lit up all across the parking lot on every light post.
So, keeping busy. Between walking, picking up 3 neighbors mail, checking on their houses, running water at one house every month, maintenance projects around the house and yard,  and weekly free slot tournaments and weekly free play at our casino, I'm keeping as busy as I want to be.
And speaking of weekly free slot play. Today we went to our casino for a play $5 get $5 in free slot play.
So Craig and I played, and turned that $10 into $48.88! I think that's pretty good! Got a little lucky! Of course, the trick is to leave when you get ahead, and not try to get farther ahead. And that's exactly what we did!   :-)
Okay, time for a little lunch......