Winter Wonderland

Is it a Winter Wonderland where you are?  I have to admit, I'm not very knowledgeable about global warming, but I do know one thing, Baby it's cold outside! 

Living on the Western Slope of Colorado, we normally do not see this much snow.  As you can see, the seasons are confused.  The leaves have fallen on top of the fresh snow. 
My husband and I have finally moved into our new townhouse this past week.  The weather changed from good to snowy and cold Thursday evening.  If you happen to believe in karma, my husband and I agree that ours suck!

First I backed my car up too close to the awning legs in our old home, while moving, and gave them a nice crinkle.  Not good because we already sold the home, so now we have to fix the supports and gutter that I crunched.  We did get it all repaired, but not in time for the snowfall to put a wet damper on the project. 

Friday we moved the larger furniture with the help of some of the girls from the Winery I work at.  All went smooth. 

Saturday morning, my husband and me go to Starbucks to get our latte's to wake up.  In the parking lot as I unlock my car but before I entered it, I heard my husband yell something and upon looking up I don't see him.  He had slid on the ice and on his back he went, part of his latte all over the passenger door window. I helped him up and into the car, but his right hip and elbow are stiff and very sore. 

This morning upon awakening, he called me at work to let me know he is having trouble walking down the stairs in our new home.  Not good.

Moving stinks, I don't care who you are or how far you are relocating. Add in the wonderful winter land we are presently enjoying, NOT, and it all adds up to Nasty.

I always attempt to find the best of every difficult situation.  I have found my positive in this situation.  All the moving is complete and I am now able to direct all my attention onto my romantic murder mystery called: PickMe.com Corpse.

I am hoping to have it released in January 2014.  Be sure to watch for it. It will be available on Amazon.com in a Kindle edition plus paperback.  If you enjoy reading murder mysteries with a little sex and romance mixed in, you will enjoy PickMe.com Corpse.

Where ever your Sunday, December 9th leads you, do your best to enjoy the beauty which surrounds you. 

Donna

My weekend.....

My weekend is over and the start of a fresh work work begins today. I had a productive weekend, unlike the last one,  how about you? Even though it's still warm here in Western Colorado, my husband and I are thinking ahead to winter and next spring. We purchased a new window for our home to install this fall. Nothing wrong with the old window, except next spring we are going to purchase a window air-conditioner that will go in the new window. We are tired of the swamp cooler which is positioned on the roof and much too difficult to take care of.  Our place isn't Taj Mahal, but for the two of us, it suits us just fine. When we eventually found the establishment we purchased the window from, we asked the gentleman, Ken, if he knew of anyone who worked on roofs. Our roof needs a little TLC and since Brett can no longer go up onto the roof after his quadruple bi-pass and installation of his pace-maker, defibrillator, we have to search for decent contractors. And we found him. Ken gave us a price, and it's much less than previous quotes. He's hired!
 Also this weekend, I made and canned eight pints of salsa with most of the ingredients from my garden.

Last weekend was a bit of a bust. My step-son and his wife of four days at the time, told us they were coming to see us. Brett couldn't make the trip for his wedding because it's risky for him to go into higher elevations due to his congestive heart failure. Since the wedding was held in Ft. Collins, CO, it meant that we would have to travel  close to 12,000 feet to attend, out of the question per Brett's cardiologist.
So my step-son and his wife told us they would arrive at noon, but arrived at 4:30pm, due to a tire blow out along the way. I arrived home from my writers group at 4:55pm and by 6:30 we left for dinner. After dinner, we went back to our home and had dessert which I had made. By 10:00pm, they announced they were leaving to head to their hotel which we set up and paid for.  At a face-pace the two of them headed to the front door telling us they would see us in the morning. Brett and I looked at one another, perplexed as why they bolted so early. The two of them have been living with each other for 3 years, PLUS they told us they were coming.
The next morning came and went, and so did my step-son and his new wife. They blew out of town, passed our home without  so much as a phone call, good-bye or thanks for dinner or the hotel room.
What is one to think? It's been over a week now, and Brett's son did leave a message on the answering machine that they were home safe. He also e-mailed us and told me that things didn't work out like he planned and asked me to take a picture of his dad and me and send it to him since he doesn't have any recent ones and he planned on taking a picture of us when he saw us. No explanation as to why they blew out of town, since neither of them had to return to work until the following Monday.
What is sad about this is that he doesn't know when or if he will ever see his dad again. Brett died twelve times, almost two years ago. His prognosis isn't great since his heart is working less than 20% on its own.
Sad that so many of the younger generation have no respect. His son wasn't raised like that, what went wrong? I don't think we will ever really know the REAL TRUTH as to why they flew out of here like a bat out of hell. It's not like their around the corner. They live 5 hours from us.

Where ever your week takes you, make the best of it, I know I will.

A new take on Toad Stools

Throughout this summer, Brett and I were finding 1 1/2 to 2" "gifts" on our porch every morning. I thought perhaps it was a neighborhood cat, although it was much too small for a cat.
Brett thought a squirrel, but once again, too tiny for that.
We then noticed a couple very large toad sitting on the porch and wondered if by chance it could be a toad-stool!
Being who I am, I had to "google" toad poop and was agape to learn that low-and-behold, it is toad poop!
Our mystery was solved!
The calender claims that summer is quickly disappearing, but the weather here in Western Colorado is proving otherwise. It has been an exceptionally merciless, four months.
Most children are back to school, Labor day is four days away and vacations are winding down. Unfortunately, we are inundated with commercials both on the radio and television with ad campaigns. I'm hearing most people say they can't wait until this election is over, and I agree. For the next three months, our airwaves, newspapers, magazines and Internet will be mopolized!
Solution? I have my mind made up for who I will be voting for come November. The lies and half-truths will not affect me. I'm thankful that I can choose what I read, and my television & radio remotes have a MUTE button!
Where ever this Thursday leads you, make the best of it and keep your remote close by.
 

Anyone for......

Zucchini? As you see, my garden is doing wonderful! Several zucchini are going to be ready to pick by later this week. Banana peppers are going wild, as well as my jalapenos. I planted this garden the first week of May, and with the over one hundred degree temperature's we're having, it's important I keep my ninety-six foot garden watered! I say ninety-six foot because when my ten year old granddaughter was visiting me in April, she helped me enlarge the garden. She then measured it. and in an instant informed me that my garden is now 96 square feet! Have I mentioned how smart my beautiful granddaughter is?
I've planted eleven tomato plants of three varieties, one didn't make it. My red cabbages are growing great, as well as onions, both green and yellow. I'll be picking a few jalapenos, blanching them, then freezing them, later this week. I use those in my salsa I make the end of September. Although it may be earlier this year.
Have you planted a garden this year? If so, what wonderful vegetables does your garden grow?
Plans for Tuesday? Where ever your day leads you, make it happy! If you live near me on the Western slope of Colorado, stay cool, it's going to be another hot one today!