Winter Time Around Our House

HI!

Winter time ..... for the first time ..... around our house. We are inside a good portion of the day; it's usually cold, and maybe there's some snow. But always the views are spectacular!

We learned to make Lemon Drops, but I've forgotten the recipe. Lemon juice, simple sugar, vodka .... sounds right. Guess we'll have to go back to Jessica's and Dave's for another lesson, LOL!

 It snowed a few times, but oddly enough it's always powder - you couldn't even make a snow man out  of it - and it always goes away quickly, say in a couple of hours or at most a couple of days. It's unlike Rochester (NY) or Burlington (VT) where it snows and stays ..... all winter!

I kinda like the snow. It's cool to see the foxes listening for movement under the snow and then jumping up and diving to catch mice and vols that run their trails under the snow. 

I learned that one doesn't "shovel snow." One pushes snow out of the way with a snow shovel. Trying to lift a snow shovel full of snow - even the powder - just gives one a sore back! The other guys around the neighborhood still asked if I'm going to get a snow blower - but I'm still resisting!

Deb picked up a new hobby this past Winter. She (and I) went to the first meeting of CSS (the Cactus and Succulent Society) - a real treat. The meeting showed off many of the cactus and succulent varieties that are "cold hardy" and have a reasonable chance of staying alive through the Winter.

We listened to a lecture on fertilizing cactus / succulents, ate some cookies, and Deb signed up to volunteer at the CSS show in March ..... she just finished the two-day event a few weeks ago after having fun, exploring lots of new varietals, and buying some experimental plants for our upstairs party deck.

February brought a welcome change to the Winter weather of Denver - Mazatlan, MX! Our friends have a three-bedroom villa, complete with private pool, across from the health / exercise / spa center, just a short walk from the main pool at Pueblo Bonita Emerald Bay - and we got an invite to stay with them for a week!

I hadn't heard of "all inclusive" before. That means that, for a daily rate, all food and drink is "free" - just say "Villa 656" and the tab goes away!

So, you can probably guess what we did ..... got up late, went to the exercise / spa /health center and worked out a while, showered, went to one of the restaurants to eat breakfast, back to the room for a change to pool clothes, down to the pool, eat, drink, eat, drink, back to the room for a nap, change of clothes for dinner, off to a different restaurant for dinner an home to bed. Exhausting schedule, but we were equal to the task.

We did go downtown Mazatlan one day and looked around, and shopped a little - not the new fedora!

 And had a great time getting out of the wintry weather (at least in Denver).

Cheers!