Big Valley

...is what the Valle Grande might otherwise be called.

Chuckbert, with his computer magic, stitched together my Valle shots that I took and showed you in a previous post.

(Click for the grande version!)

Thanks, Chuckbert!

The Orangatan and the Hound

What a wonderful world we live in!

Find more videos like this on www.truveo.com.

Journey to the Land of Enchantment

It was a winter wonderland!


Kevin and I had a really great trip to NM!

Kevin got to go snowboarding one day. He had great fun, but he decided that the snow wasn't good enough to go a second day.

Kevin, p-doobie and I went to Santa Fe and browsed the New Mexico History Museum. What an interesting history New Mexico has!  There are things to learn there.  Go see!

R2-D2 on the Plaza

Santa Fe p-doobie

BobBIE and I drove up to the Valle to enjoy the views. So pretty! I didn't use image stitching like Chuckbert did so beautifully, but I think the Valle is still stunning in small pieces.

We stopped to visit the Las Conchas trail and one of the Jemez River's tributaries.  This is where Kevin and I fished a couple years ago.  The creek was snowy and frozen over, but at this spot we could hear the gurgle of the water flowing underneath the ice.

Kevin and I enjoyed browsing Otowi Station Bookstore as well as visiting the Bradbury Science Museum. We learned cool stuff at the museum.

Food: Lots! We ate too much! Wait a minute--is there such thing as too much New Mexican food??  Yumminess at De Colores, Plaza Cafe, Rancho De Chimayó....Mmmmmm!

On the last evening, we were treated by RetroMag to the buffet at China Moon (Thanks, RetroMag!). And Kevin got a surprise birthday cake! Fun!

We had a nice time yakking and enjoying each other's company.

 

 

 

 

 

When Kevin and I drove to ABQ, we took the Jemez route, and in the morning hours, the Valle floor was shrouded in a layer of fog. Very cool!

We saw four wild turkeys on the side of the road!  What good camouflage they have!  Click to see a bigger pic!

Thank you to all who made our trip so wonderful! RetroMag, p-doobie, chelbert, Poss, BobBIE and Jack!  You were all the hostesses with the mostesses (except for Jack, he was the host with the most!)

Cocoa Likes to Watch

This is..... Jeopardy!

Christmasy Madras

One of our favorite cocktails is the Madras.

Build over ice:
1 1/2 oz  vodka
3 oz cranberry juice
1 oz orange juice


The cranberries that I love to make at Thanksgiving and Christmas always leave some juice behind.  I used this nice spicy-sweet syrup to make a Madras.  I used less cranberry and more orange, and garnished with cranberries and orange slices.  MMMMmmmmm!

Eye-eye-eye Update

A quick update to my woeful eye story.

I went 72 hours without my contacts, and today, a week after the injury, I wore my contacts for 10 hours, very comfortably!

I will use my years-old spare until May when I am due for a check-up, and I'll get a new contact then.  And to answer RetroMag's question, yes, I got a spiffy new case, courtesy of my lovely daughter!

Whew!

Happy New Year!

Wishing all the best of everything in 2010!

Mark Twain wrote to the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise January 1, 1863:

New Year's Day--Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. Yesterday, everybody smoked his last cigar, took his last drink, and swore his last oath. Today, we are a pious and exemplary community. Thirty days from now, we shall have cast our reformation to the winds and gone to cutting our ancient shortcomings considerably shorter than ever. We shall also reflect pleasantly upon how we did the same old thing last year about this time. However, go in, community. New Year's is a harmless annual institution, of no particular use to anybody save as a scapegoat for promiscuous drunks, and friendly calls, and humbug resolutions, and we wish you to enjoy it with a looseness suited to the greatness of the occasion.

Do you have any Humbug Resolutions?