Holiday shopping and snow

Snow falling here - 4 inches last night, just enough to cover all in blanket white but not enough to interfere with travel. Sooo beautiful. I am making great headway with the holiday "stuff" and time draws ever closer til family comes.

UPS must be thinking I've gone crazy. Mountains of packages are arriving in our new "outhouse" drop. Not ours specifically, belongs to the whole development, but I, apparently, am hogging the whole thing.

a trick of exposure - our tree

Love the light, the season, the reflecting snow. I've been walking on my normal route through the woods, so nice, but started out sooo hard. Been away too long evidently... Not a good sign for ski readiness. Which will happen soon, I think - honestly still nervous about the whole skiing thing - this season will tell the tale. Mark bought me a fabulous new outfit with the off- season summer sales. At least I'll look good while falling on my X#&+%.

Strangeness indeed in our world - when you see a tag in a shirt that says "designed in France, made in  Mexico" what is that supposed to mean? Better, worse, I'm confused. Clever marketing at the very least. (I didn't purchase anyway) I hear lots of holiday buying everywhere is going on, but also lots of returning - already. What does that portend?
But, on the other hand, do we not love Amazon - I bow down to that monumental institution of endless variety and excellent execution. Thanks Heather for the prime!

Back home and anticipating Christmas

Bye, bye baby Penny. See ya in a very short time. (Oh, and those parents of yours) Christmas is coming, Christmas is coming! In spite of the fact I have no idea how it has come to be mid-Dec, I'm anticipating with joy our family Christmas, coming oh so soon.

clearly not disturbed I was leaving

The tree is officially in the house and decorated. For three weeks it sat outside in sub-zero temps while we were gone, waiting for us to finally give it it's proper due. In amazing condition -fresh and pretty. Big success this year with the tree cutting - and as Mark pointed out - $8.00 cost (for the cutting permit).

My wonderful birthday present of family pictures from Tiffany, from her fantastic maternity/newborn photographer have come back. So terrific - I'm sharing a few. Family has gotten just a little bigger this year...

Online fingers have been working overtime on this Xmas shopping gig. Am I alone or are we all doing this? Things have certainly changed. Holiday stress is still there though, everyone hang in!

December and Penny

I'm back after a huge delay. Been very busy with Penny Lou and here another week before home to Star Mt. Somehow I've been in Virginia every time the month has changed, for the last 4 months. No wonder I'm disoriented. The race is on to Christmas - and I haven't done a thing.

My report consists of Penny things: she loves her hands, has not discovered her feet yet, loves the sound of her own voice, appears to love her "Nana", and it's amazing what cones back after more than 30 years not taking care of babies. And Penny appears to be brilliant, of course. After watching a science show about the on going search for the 4th dimension with complete non comprehension, I'm sure Penny will be the one to discover the truth of the matter.

Went Xmas shopping with Tiffany  - you gotta do it, get into the holiday spirit - be jostled by the crowds, fight for a parking space, scratch your head over what to get sister Jane. For the record, I have no sister Jane, but you get my drift... Tiffany and Chris are putting up all their Christmas decorations even though they're coming to our house for Xmas. I'm glad, it's pretty and holidayish. Speaking of Xmas, Mark reports our tree is doing well, lashed to a post under the deck outside. (See previous post on tree cutting). He's only there for the weekend and then back to Detroit, so next weekend when we're both back, the tree will come inside for decorating. And be cut down in size - right now it's about 20 feet tall -  way too much to handle.The forest service wants you to cut the chosen tree all the way down to keep it from trying to grow back in a weak, misshapen way. Yippee, more firewood...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Used my new mixer to make a family tradition - cinnamon rolls. I'm trying to help out for our Thanksgiving and not burden the girls with everything we insist is necessary for the dinner - since it will be at Heather's (a three yr tradition) I know you all have equally draw a line in the sand traditions, so no laughing over my baking, freezing, and then packing those darn rolls in my suitcase. Mark just rolled his eyes - yes it will happen.

Snow still on the ground here, although not in Gunnison but definitely in CB. We zipped up to have lunch (Mark's idea - who was even going to be open ?) But he was right and Ginger Cafe was it. People coming in, mountain shuttle bouncing through the streets with skis in the outside storage!, and an uptick of tourists arriving for the holiday weekend time. CB mountain opened today, don't know how good that was, not much snow has fallen (Mark says 20 inch base and mostly only green runs open).

And we have a XMAS TREE! And it was totally legal this time (not explaining that.)Yes it's early but the tree is outside roped to our deck until time to pull it in. Up Carbon Creek to find the tree before the snow makes the road impassable. Smarter this time.

We are traveling back east for Thanksgiving and then I'm staying to help out with Penny. I'll have my computer this time to post. Wishes for a wonderful holiday for everyone. Don't eat too much (of course I will).

White stuff and holidays a coming

Brrr, it's cold over here. No more snow has fallen but not much has melted. Ski resort opens day before Thanksgiving. They're celebrating 50 years and the first day is free for everyone. Nice! My only question is how did it get to be mid-November?

Much has been accomplished this week. Badly needed hair cut, overdue mammogram, plumbing repairs (paid for that, didn't do it)and a big trip to the nearest city (Montrose) that actually has some chain stores - Target being the target (ha, ha) - a nearly two hour drive. Boy, do we live in the sticks...

Walking for exercise is a tad difficult right now. Snow's not melting, but there's not been enough to start snowshoeing - just slippy slidey on the icy road. I walked down Ohio Creek today (which is dry) and visited our neighbor ranch. As I came close, the cows started running towards me and bellowing -wanting food? Totally flipped from the summer when they run away. Sorry, no food on me.

Finished another book - The Other Family by Joanna Trollope. I think I've read almost all of hers, which is saying a lot since she's written over 20. She never disappoints - all about the inner workings of families.
I'm excited about the holidays. I may, just may even put up some Christmas stuff before we leave for Thanksgiving back east. Never ever do that. But, I'm not back until mid Dec. since I'm helping out with Penny for a couple of weeks. And, everyone will come back here for Christmas - baby Penny's first! Yes, I'm excited...

Snow, eggs, and cleaning out

Snow is here - not a huge storm or anything - 6 inches, as a matter of fact in town (Gunnison) there's no snow at all. Crested Butte has what we have and more. Once again Star Mt. does its own thing. I really think someone from one of the weather services should put up a station up where we are.

And we have broken in the new snowblower on the deck. The snow starts to build up in a hurry as it falls off the roof. This could be a losing battle, but we're ready for the fight.

Good news at the farm. After weeks of only able to pick up a half dozen eggs instead of the full dozen, they have acquired some new young chickens.The others are getting old? And these are clearly a different breed - the eggs are mostly all green. Love those green eggs and ham - Dr Seuss anyone?

Doing a little organizing around the house. Totally cleaned out and revamped Mark's closet. Hard as it was, he even filled some bags of giveaway shoes and clothes. Just a little control over a bit of life - yes, yes I know - reality is we have no control over anything. Let me pretend for a moment okay...
Mark off to Arizona this week for work and a little golf thrown in at the end. Weather should be great.
 Penny report continues to be good. Eating better and sleeping longer at night. Very nice for sleep deprived parents.
Finished another book - next in the series by Louise Penny - A Rule Against Murder. Consistently good and entertaining. And lastly, just saw Bridesmaids. If you haven't seen it and want just a silly funny movie - this is the one. Not just a chick flick - we both liked it a lot.

Precious Penny, snow, cows, and home again

I'm back! My one week trip to see Penny turned into 2 1/2 weeks, and I didn't pack my computer. So sorry  - no postings. My darling grandbaby unexpectedly had to have nasal surgery so I stayed to help. She is doing wonderfully well and it should be clear sailing now. Can't say enough about the doctor and the hospital (Children's National Medical Center in DC) - they were fabulous! I think most of us would agree that being able to breath clearly is kind of a necessity...

Mark was finally able to visit Penny and, of course, she has him already wrapped around her little finger. This grandchild thing is pretty amazing. A special miracle.

So backtracking a bit - took these photos on my trek out of town to start the Penny trip. Once again, we do not have traffic as in cars, it's cows... I followed these cowboys for 3 miles at cow speed. No going around - there were about 2,000 of them. And, I had to make a detour once past them to the nearest car wash. A LOT of manure all over everywhere. Quite different from all of you in the big cities...

Ladybug and her dad

Bored?

Had all kinds of weather while in VA. Snow (first time in 30 years), rain (of course - been a big pattern for awhile now) and gorgeous sun with pretty fall leaves. Got to celebrate Halloween with Tiffany and Chris - Penny's first! And I celebrated my birthday there as well. Tiffany made me Shrimp Paesano - one of our special family meals. Yummy! Lemon, butter, garlic heaven -it's to die for, and the recipe comes from a restaurant in San Antonio. Used to be a big secret but it's all over the internet now if you're curious.

blessed sleep

one of my more fun activities at home - the scale

look at those eyelashes!

Finished one book only in all that time. Penny keeps everybody hopping! Very entertaining book - Ree Drummond ( made famous by her blog www.ThePioneerWoman.com) The Pioneer Woman - Black Heels to Tractor Wheels - a love story. It's not a guy book - just warning you, very romantic story of her meeting her rancher husband.

Flew home to Star Mt. (well, flew to Denver, then drove 4 1/2 hrs to Star Mt.) Saw a herd of yak, a herd (gathering?) of llamas, and avoided a small rock slide on the way in. Whew, glad to be back...