Winter Holiday in Minnesota

Well, we have been in MN since the week before Thanksgiving. There is about a foot of snow on the ground and we are supposed to get another 6 inches overnight tonight (December 29th). Enough already. Don is tired of both shoveling and blowing the snow and we are both ready to head South to warmth and sunshine. However, this has been a great stay as far as the family is concerned. We had everyone home (except Bill who had to work) for Thanksgiving and really enjoyed the time together and all the traditional foods, even Ketcham salad. Then Don and I made a quick trip to Chicago to visit my Mom and Dad and all the Conleys went with us. We are a congenial group travelling together - Bennett and Maryn are seasoned 'road trippers.' Bennett missed "throwing money" at the toll booths as we now use an automatic device but we arrived in time at my folks to hear the church choir from IJP (our old home parish) sing carols for dad. Watching him smile and keep time and then sing with them was truly amazing and the best gift ever. We spent Christmas Eve at St. Hubert's where Don played the Midnight Mass with Brass Choir. Beautiful. Then on Christmas Day we went to Dave and Karins and had a great ham dinner and watched Amelie and Kaia play with their new toys. On the 27 we all gathered again in Chan for "Christmas" together. Lots of fun and again everyone brought snacks and we ate like kings! We got a chance to watch Brennan play in a basketball tournament at Waconia today. Plans are to see some friends for lunch before we head back. Oh, I should note that Karin won the family fantasy football pool - she admits she has little actual knowledge of football but she managed to make great picks and win in her first year in the league! The Ketcham Salad Travelling Trophy will look good in her house this year. Congratulations, Karin! The time here has flown by - we certainly have made the best of our short visit. Looking forward to warmer weather and the friends we have made in AZ but will miss the family times.

November in the 80s and loving it!

It is Saturday the 15th of November. The weathermen are all saying that we are warmer than usual, but to us - this is perfect. In the mid 80's and sunny. With the Santa Anna winds tearing through California, we are supposed to get high winds this afternoon and evening. For us that may mean clouds of blowing dirt and grit! So far this morning, it is just beautiful - golfers are out on the course already - we have such fun watching them - just like us, everyone hopes to be Tiger Woods and ends up being something much less! We went to Mesa yesterday to a Valley icon - the Mesa Mall. It is a covered flea market that is about two football fields long and has four "streets" that have vendors lining both sides. Yesterday it wasn't too packed with people, the snowbirds don't arrive in force until after Christmas. many things like clothes, tools, artificial plants, toys, cosmetics, souvenirs and jewelry are sold there. There are vendors who sell food items much like the state fair food we are used to - carmel corn, hot dogs etc. Almost all the vendors will deal with the customer on prices which makes me uneasy but Don likes it. We were looking for a ceramic pot to replace the one in our front yard that has suffered badly from the heat and sun exposure. I found several Talavera pots (brightly colored highly fired ceramics from Mexico) but finally decided that spending 70 dollars plus was not what I wanted to do. Besides the pots will be there all spring - to take advantage of those snowbirds - I may get one later. Meanwhile, Don has repainted the existing pot and it is OK for awhile. We are looking forward to a visit from my sister, Margaret, and her husband Dave later this week. They have been hiking and sightseeing in the Four Corners area and will head South into the valley for a short visit before heading home to IL. They may be ready for some R and R after more than a week of hiking. A week from tomorrow we fly home to MN for holidays in Chanhassen. Plan is to have all the kids and grandkids at home for the Thanksgiving feast. Already know that turkey, turnips, Ketcham salad, and pumpkin pie are on the menu plus all the usual stuff. We will have everyone together for Christmas also though this year we'll celebrate together on the 27th. Of course, we'll try to get to Chicago to see my family, also try to get to see each of the kids at their houses, a trip to Shenandoah , and get up to the cabin to check on things there as well. Lots to do, but all part of a family holiday celebration. Happy Holidays. M

landscaping desert style

Just returned from a short walk with Don (who continued on without me since I can't walk as fast as he can!) We went up to the little Solera library which is nice to have though pretty limited. Spent yesterday working on the yard - Don is adding to his group of agave plants. Agave are a succulent that has almost as many types as we have hostas in MN! The neighbors started Don on his agave garden with a gift pf pups (name for cactus and cactus-type babies) from their plant. He bought an larger type at Arizona Cactus and got two more different ones from neighbors. We are slowly learning more about the plants in our yard and around us. Landscaping here is often "xeriscape" or desert ladnscaping which means minimal or no watering. We do have a two zone watering system in the yard which runs about once a week to the plants that need it. We trimmed the rosemary plants yesterday - it smells soooo good in the garage until the gabage can gets emptied. Don doesn't think rosemary smells good so we are of different opinions on the condition of the garage! This is landscpe rosemary but it can be used for cooking. I dried some the first year we were here and it works just fine. Made some new friends - Tom and Kathy Miller who live about a quarter mile south of us. They just arrived here for the winter from - SURPRISE! - Walker, MN. Very nice people. They stopped to ask us about how we trimmed our palo brea tree in the front yard as they have one too and it needs trimming. We ended up visiting for a long time over cold drinks. It will be nice to get to know them better. Tomorrow (Friday) we are going with Kramers from next door to a restaurant at Falcon Field Airport in Mesa to celebrate Rick Kramer's 65th birthday. Big doin's in Solera! All is well. Warm, sunny, and enjoyable. M

Another sunny day in the Valley of the Sun

Another week is done - we had a lazy weekend. We did some yard work, kept an eye on the NFL, walked, etc. Don was lector at church yesterday - no choir so we were out in 45 minutes. It is beginning to cool off here - weather forcasters are saying that we should have highs in the 70's by mid-week. since we came down here for warm weather, we haven't dared to say it has been too hot!!!! Cooler weather will feel good, I think. We saw on David and Karin's blog the pictures of Kaia and Amelie on Halloween. Cinderella and the Sock Monkey never looked so good. Laura sent us pictures of Venom and the butterfly who trick or treated from her house - also good looking. Maryn (butterfly) marveled that 'everywhere I went somebody gave me something.' I would say that life is pretty good when that happens. We had no ghosts or goblins for Halloween since the gates are now closed all the time in the development. I did miss the kids/costumes, but didn't miss having to go to the door all the time. We took a ride around the development this afternoon. There are still quite a number of houses for sale (a couple even in foreclosure) - we can only hope that they all sell and allow the market to settle down. Having Pulte gone should help eventually. The good news is that we are not interested in selling so we don't have to worry. Heard coyotes on the fairway last night - that is the first time since we have been back. I had kind of missed them - they really make it seem like we are in the West. Don is out golf ball hunting - I will rest easier when we have had a frost so the creepy-crawlies go into hibernation.. We had a nice visit with the Sanborns this week - they came for dinner on Thursday. We had met Hank Sinning and Judy at RigaTony's the week before so the Lencronies who are in the valley have touched base this week. Enough for now - I see why Laura was worried that I would have trouble putting on the brakes on this thing. More next week. love to all, M

Day Two of Blog......look out world!

Another beautiful day in the Valley of the Sun. Temps have been warmer than normal here by about 10 degrees - it got to 94 today! We did some work in the yard this morning, trimming the oleanders as we could get rid of the branches right away (today is garbage day!) We both took walks - starting out together and then going our separate ways. Don walks much farther and faster than I do. Visited with some of the neighbors and worked on getting the package of Christmas gifts ready to send on ahead of us to MN. Not much doing this week, though Chuck and Traudy Sanborn are coming for a visit and supper on Thursday. Don starts bocce this week and is playing golf with the neighbors at Las Colinas. This is a test run of adding to the blog so I hope it goes OK. Laura told me tonight that I would like this, I could just yammer on and on - so I will try to show restraint! Nuff said!

Sedona Trip

Mom and I wanted to officially thank you for the trip we just took to Sedona. What a great gift. The weather was perfect, the resort was perfect, and the scenery was spectacular. We chose the two-night bed and breakfast package. I am sending some pictures to show you the resort and some of the things we saw (including the Pink Jeep Tour). Thanks again. You're all great kids and we love you all. Love, Dad & Mom

Sedona

Hi all - Don and I are leaving momentarily (Tuesday) for Sedona AZ to use the wonderful gift certificate we got for our 40th anniversary. We will be at the Hilton Sedona Resort and Spa until Thursday. We are both excited since we have waiited over a yesr to do this. Last time we tried - it snowed over a foot in Sedona - this time the weather is predicted to be wonderful and the leaves have started to turn there! Hooray! And, as I told Julia - we are still married and celebrating so 40 or 41.....it works. Just wanted you all to know where we were in case you need us. We will keep the cell phone on. Love to everyone. M