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Sunday, July 24, 2016
Going back to May 3, 2016
Friday, May 27, 2016
On Old Cape Cod...
As I crossed the Bourne Bridge and followed Route 6 east, memories flooded my mind of all the times Bob and I and the kids came to Truro just before Memorial Day for two weeks, staying with friends the first year, then renting an old beach house next door to them, which was perfect for our gang of kids and friends.
Kat lives in Wellfleet, a wonderful village of restaurants and all types of art galleries and creative little gift stores. Kat actually lives off of Route 6, before you get to the village signs. It is a nice community of summer and year-round homes, with towering pines, many of which need to be cut down. She bought an A frame house, empty for ten years, and with family, friends, and contractors, has made it her own...
An extension was added so she has a very lovely kitchen and dining area. Here you can see the extension outside, and the kitchen on the inside...
The bathroom was enlarged, and there sits a huge old four legged tub in the back...
with a wonderful dresser she found, repurposed into the sink...
... then a very modern toilet and glassed-in shower. Something for everyone. And with wonderful art work on the walls.
As an added convenience, she built an outside shower...
She has begun to do her magic with plantings and landscaping, which she has done with every house she has owned. My dad also had a green thumb and I know he would be delighted to see what she is doing, and certainly give her pointers...Below are just a few of the many plants she has already put into the ground...
Sargeant Pepper, an adopted shelter small poodle, has finally gotten used to people coming and going, and is always happy to see them. This wasn't so several years ago, and Kat has also done her magic with him...
Last night, along with her friend, Peter, we went to see MONEY MONSTER with George Clooney and Julia Roberts. It was well done, directed by Jody Foster, who has always been a favorite of mine. The Wellfleet Drive-In is still showing movies, but now an indoor complex has been built also, showing four movies at a time. That's where we went.
We always took the kids to the Wellfleet Drive-In when we were down here. It was always fun. When I was in high school, Fort Dodge also had a drive-in.
Today, Saturday, some much needed wash was done. Kat had to do it as I can't get down either the inside or the outside stairs. What is really wonderful is that she can hang clothes outside...
I brought the last four boxes of Bob's LP's from Frank's house to Kat's. So while I was working on this blog, she put on record after record and it energized both of us. About 1PM, we went to have fish tacos at the CATCH OF THE DAY...truly the Best fish tacos I have ever had anyplace...my rating is A+++++!
Life is good!
I love you all!
Abrazos,
Sally
There Are Mistakes....
Well, there are mistakes, and I made a huge one! I was ready to send out my next post, not paying attention to what I was doing. Some of my posts were highlighted - well I tried to get rid of the highlighted ones I could see, and I pressed delete at the top line. Suddenly, everything was gone!!! All my posts from 2014, 2015, and 2016 up through May 20th.
I just stared at my screen in disbelief. Even with the help of Google Blogger help, I have not been able to retrieve them. Phil and Kat have sent me what they had, and Edna sent me a bunch also. But I am not sure how to copy them from an email, to a document, and then to my blog site. Still thinking about that.
At any rate, I am at Siobhan's. Have had some good talks with Brie, who is staying here at the moment. Sharing the house with three cats: Moe, who belongs here and is about 13 and female; Pepe, a male grey and white cat with very unusual markings, and his brother, Jay, who is black and white also with some unusual markings.
I am leaving on Sunday, wending my way to Iowa for about a week, and then to South Dakota, and eventually back to Lemitar.
Life is good, most of the time!
I love you all.
Abrazos,
Sally
I just stared at my screen in disbelief. Even with the help of Google Blogger help, I have not been able to retrieve them. Phil and Kat have sent me what they had, and Edna sent me a bunch also. But I am not sure how to copy them from an email, to a document, and then to my blog site. Still thinking about that.
At any rate, I am at Siobhan's. Have had some good talks with Brie, who is staying here at the moment. Sharing the house with three cats: Moe, who belongs here and is about 13 and female; Pepe, a male grey and white cat with very unusual markings, and his brother, Jay, who is black and white also with some unusual markings.
I am leaving on Sunday, wending my way to Iowa for about a week, and then to South Dakota, and eventually back to Lemitar.
Life is good, most of the time!
I love you all.
Abrazos,
Sally
Saturday, May 21, 2016
Old Cape Cod
As I
crossed the Bourne Bridge and followed Route 6 east, memories flooded my
mind of all the times Bob and I and the kids came to Truro just before
Memorial Day for two weeks, staying with friends the first year, then
renting an old beach house next door to them, which was perfect for our
gang of kids and friends.
Kat lives in Wellfleet, a wonderful village of restaurants and all types of art galleries and creative little gift stores. Kat actually lives off of Route 6, before you get to the village signs. It is a nice community of summer and year-round homes, with towering pines, many of which need to be cut down. She bought an A frame house, empty for ten years, and with family, friends, and contractors, has made it her own...
Kat
has great vision and can see beyond what is there. She found a ton of
windows, lights, doors, etc. and even a beautiful dining room table and
six chairs at ReStore, as well as yard sales, flea markets, antique
stores, and on and on.
An extension was added so she has a very lovely kitchen and dining area. Here you can see the extension outside, and the kitchen on the inside...
Also as you can see, her bedroom upstairs was also extended at the same time...
The bathroom was enlarged, and there sits a huge old four legged tub in the back...
with a wonderful dresser she found, repurposed into the sink...
... then a very modern toilet and glassed-in shower. Something for everyone. And with wonderful art work on the walls.
As an added convenience, she built an outside shower...
She has begun to do her magic with plantings and landscaping, which she has done with every house she has owned. My dad also had a green thumb and I know he would be delighted to see what she is doing, and certainly give her pointers...Below are just a few of the many plants she has already put into the ground...
Sargeant Pepper, an adopted shelter small poodle, has finally gotten used to people coming and going, and is always happy to see them. This wasn't so several years ago, and Kat has also done her magic with him...
Right
now out in the driveway are two Kiwi Green Elements, Kat's and mine.
It is fun to see them together. My Matilda certainly stands out from
Kat's because I enliven my car with bumper stickers, whereas she has
none on her car.
Last night, along with her friend, Peter, we went to see MONEY MONSTER with George Clooney and Julia Roberts. It was well done, directed by Jody Foster, who has always been a favorite of mine. The Wellfleet Drive-In is still showing movies, but now an indoor complex has been built also, showing four movies at a time. That's where we went.
We always took the kids to the Wellfleet Drive-In when we were down here. It was always fun. When I was in high school, Fort Dodge also had a drive-in.
Today, Saturday, some much needed wash was done. Kat had to do it as I can't get down either the inside or the outside stairs. What is really wonderful is that she can hang clothes outside...
...I
took the clothes down and folded them. What a joy it is to have fresh
smelling clothes. I would love to do this at my Casita, but as soon as I
hung anything up, it would probably become windy, and I would have fine
sand dust coating everything!!!
I brought the last four boxes of Bob's LP's from Frank's house to Kat's. So while I was working on this blog, she put on record after record and it energized both of us. About 1PM, we went to have fish tacos at the CATCH OF THE DAY...truly the Best fish tacos I have ever had anyplace...my rating is A+++++!
We went to the hardware store, and then drove to Truro and had homemade ICE CREAM - another winner - made on site -Sweet
Escape is part of Savory. I had a scoop of Lemon Divine and one scoop
of Pomegranate Dark Chocolate. Both were outstanding, nice and tart,
and I may have to go back and test them again! My Rating of Sweet
Escape Homemade Ice Cream - A+++ - right on par with Chesapeake Bay
Dairy!
Life is good!
I love you all!
Abrazos,
Sally
Kat lives in Wellfleet, a wonderful village of restaurants and all types of art galleries and creative little gift stores. Kat actually lives off of Route 6, before you get to the village signs. It is a nice community of summer and year-round homes, with towering pines, many of which need to be cut down. She bought an A frame house, empty for ten years, and with family, friends, and contractors, has made it her own...
An extension was added so she has a very lovely kitchen and dining area. Here you can see the extension outside, and the kitchen on the inside...
The bathroom was enlarged, and there sits a huge old four legged tub in the back...
with a wonderful dresser she found, repurposed into the sink...
... then a very modern toilet and glassed-in shower. Something for everyone. And with wonderful art work on the walls.
As an added convenience, she built an outside shower...
She has begun to do her magic with plantings and landscaping, which she has done with every house she has owned. My dad also had a green thumb and I know he would be delighted to see what she is doing, and certainly give her pointers...Below are just a few of the many plants she has already put into the ground...
Sargeant Pepper, an adopted shelter small poodle, has finally gotten used to people coming and going, and is always happy to see them. This wasn't so several years ago, and Kat has also done her magic with him...
Last night, along with her friend, Peter, we went to see MONEY MONSTER with George Clooney and Julia Roberts. It was well done, directed by Jody Foster, who has always been a favorite of mine. The Wellfleet Drive-In is still showing movies, but now an indoor complex has been built also, showing four movies at a time. That's where we went.
We always took the kids to the Wellfleet Drive-In when we were down here. It was always fun. When I was in high school, Fort Dodge also had a drive-in.
Today, Saturday, some much needed wash was done. Kat had to do it as I can't get down either the inside or the outside stairs. What is really wonderful is that she can hang clothes outside...
I brought the last four boxes of Bob's LP's from Frank's house to Kat's. So while I was working on this blog, she put on record after record and it energized both of us. About 1PM, we went to have fish tacos at the CATCH OF THE DAY...truly the Best fish tacos I have ever had anyplace...my rating is A+++++!
Life is good!
I love you all!
Abrazos,
Sally
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Yes, friends, I am once again "on the road" meaning this time, that I am actually going to right a blog! Now I don't want you to fall off your chair, or drop your glass of water or wine, but believe me, I have been trying to get my mind wrapped around this issue for a very long time.
Much has happened since I last took up my "proverbial" pen and wrote anything. In fact so much, that I have decided to try and write 500 words a day, and post daily, so that this doesn't end up looking like an endless post.
So I am going to start with the here and now. This past weekend, son Philip came to visit and stayed for about three days. He went to the Lunch Bunch with me, and was pleased to meet some of my friends, of whom he approved. Now, mind you, I don't need his approval, but he was the one child who was very worried about my living out in the boondocks of New Mexico! We went to the Bosque which is now full of songbirds, raptors, and turkey vultures. Turkey vultures??? They were having a fiesta in the fields which are normally flooded come crane time, and feeding on the dead carp that had been captured when the ponds dried up. Vultures serve a very useful purpose, and are also very social, something I did not know. Phil's wonderful camera was taking photos at a very rapid pace.
Saturday we went to my storage, then out to the Very Large Array (VLA)
between Magdalena and Datil, on the San Augustin Plain.
We watched the short video, and then Phil took the walk around the place, camera in hand. The antenna are huge and can almost fit a baseball diamond inside each one. They collect radio waves from outer space. They are placed in three lines, running on railroad tracks, and evenly spaced. All the antennae can be turned in a different direction by computer.
I drove Phil up to the airport on Sunday afternoon, after a wonderful visit with him. We had great talks, and he helped to get things put away and organized. He confided in me he owed Gihan for this, as he was never really an organized person. I call my organization "organized chaos", for that is what it really is. Papers especially. Phil cleared them off from everywhere and put them in one of the empty tubs, and suggested that I go through and sort and throw out. What a magnificent concept!!
There has been a great deal happening in our family. Siobhan and Scott have parted ways. As have my grandson Frank and his wife Heather. My brother Dick is a grandfather again, with Casey and Bob presenting the world with a 10 pound plus baby boy. BB Atwell had no name for about a month, but is officially now called Jackson Rawlins Green Atwell...
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The Atwell gene pool continues onward....
Casa de Serenidad is getting a new back entrance, which will, I am told, be such that no more water will present itself inside the house. When this is completed, I will take pictures and put them in my blog. They are trying to get it done before monsoon time, which I am told is usually the first two weeks of July. Mmmmm! I always thought it was in August, so these guys better get their rears in gear!
I am currently getting from Netflix the first season of Ancient Aliens, two discs at a time. Absolutely fascinating. I have always believed that there are folks out in space who have visited our Earth many times. The material presented in this series leaves no doubt in my mind. Watch the entire series if you can. Phil tells me that it now going into its fourth or fifth season. I am on Season 1!
Life is good! And very hot here, but dry. We have had about a month or more of temps up in the 100's, occasionally high 90's.
I love you all,
Sally
Much has happened since I last took up my "proverbial" pen and wrote anything. In fact so much, that I have decided to try and write 500 words a day, and post daily, so that this doesn't end up looking like an endless post.
So I am going to start with the here and now. This past weekend, son Philip came to visit and stayed for about three days. He went to the Lunch Bunch with me, and was pleased to meet some of my friends, of whom he approved. Now, mind you, I don't need his approval, but he was the one child who was very worried about my living out in the boondocks of New Mexico! We went to the Bosque which is now full of songbirds, raptors, and turkey vultures. Turkey vultures??? They were having a fiesta in the fields which are normally flooded come crane time, and feeding on the dead carp that had been captured when the ponds dried up. Vultures serve a very useful purpose, and are also very social, something I did not know. Phil's wonderful camera was taking photos at a very rapid pace.
Saturday we went to my storage, then out to the Very Large Array (VLA)
between Magdalena and Datil, on the San Augustin Plain.
We watched the short video, and then Phil took the walk around the place, camera in hand. The antenna are huge and can almost fit a baseball diamond inside each one. They collect radio waves from outer space. They are placed in three lines, running on railroad tracks, and evenly spaced. All the antennae can be turned in a different direction by computer.
I drove Phil up to the airport on Sunday afternoon, after a wonderful visit with him. We had great talks, and he helped to get things put away and organized. He confided in me he owed Gihan for this, as he was never really an organized person. I call my organization "organized chaos", for that is what it really is. Papers especially. Phil cleared them off from everywhere and put them in one of the empty tubs, and suggested that I go through and sort and throw out. What a magnificent concept!!
There has been a great deal happening in our family. Siobhan and Scott have parted ways. As have my grandson Frank and his wife Heather. My brother Dick is a grandfather again, with Casey and Bob presenting the world with a 10 pound plus baby boy. BB Atwell had no name for about a month, but is officially now called Jackson Rawlins Green Atwell...
.jpg)
Casa de Serenidad is getting a new back entrance, which will, I am told, be such that no more water will present itself inside the house. When this is completed, I will take pictures and put them in my blog. They are trying to get it done before monsoon time, which I am told is usually the first two weeks of July. Mmmmm! I always thought it was in August, so these guys better get their rears in gear!
I am currently getting from Netflix the first season of Ancient Aliens, two discs at a time. Absolutely fascinating. I have always believed that there are folks out in space who have visited our Earth many times. The material presented in this series leaves no doubt in my mind. Watch the entire series if you can. Phil tells me that it now going into its fourth or fifth season. I am on Season 1!
Life is good! And very hot here, but dry. We have had about a month or more of temps up in the 100's, occasionally high 90's.
I love you all,
Sally
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
It's the 22nd of January, and here in Lemitar, the sky is robin's egg blue and the temperature is at least 50 right now. How are things where you all live?
Now to show you some pics Santa Fe and our stay there. The historic district is wonderful, with a great plaza surrounding the Governor's Palace, and on the other three sides, shops, art gallerys, and places to eat. In the plaza were also several people playing instruments; one was playing folk music of the 60's; another was playing a beautiful harp. Food was being sold, and handmade jewelry, clothing, and art abounded with Indians sitting outside of the Governor's Palace, with their wares set out on blankets for everyone to view and hopefully buy. Kat, Phil and I went into the Governor's Palace to find the print shop where a friend of hers worked. Unfortunately he wasn't there, but she talked to one of his associates and we bought a few items actually printed on the very old presses.
Santa Fe is really for active walkers, and I was glad to have my walking stick with me. The roads were partially icy, as were many of the side walks, and fortunately my kids were watching me closely so that I didn't slip. One day all of us went down to the Plaza and walked from there to the Loretto Chapel, with its miraculous staircase. For years, I read to my children, from Norman Rockwell's Christmas Book, the story of the Miraculous Staircase. The Chapel was beautiful and all dressed up for Christmas...
Walking back to the Plaza, luminaries rimmed the tops of the buildings and hotels. What a beautiful sight. We had lunch at a nice restaurant just off the Plaza, The Blue Corn Cafe. Good food, and I loved being surrounded by most of my family. Snow was falling in very interesting shapes. I was able to get a close up of one flake. Very neat...
We had a fun Christmas day. Scott gave Phil a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree...
Do you recognize that ornament hanging on it? One of our favorite movies to watch at Christmas - The Christmas Story!!!! Phil got that in his stocking...here is where the gifts were set up...
And here are all the participants with the exception of yours truly - I don't like being photographed in the morning!!!!...I am sure some of you understand...
First grandson Frank, then Siobhan and Scott, Phil and Kat, and last Sergeant Pepper...
Casa de Serenidad all dolled up for the season!
Phil holding Pepper inside my house - a great pic!
On the 11th of January, after meeting with my Lunch Bunch, I drove down to Truth or Consequences, or as everyone around here calls it - TorC. It is about 70 miles from Socorro. I was on a Yoga retreat, the first time I have ever done one. It was for the weekend, and the leaders were two gals, who have retreats several times a year. Marisa owns a yoga place, just 9/10 of a mile from me here in Lemitar. In fact, tonight I am going up there to continue my yoga experience. Halli owns a business in Bernalillo, just above Albuquerque, and is a Life Coach. Both were just wonderful, and I found I could do most yoga exercises with the exception of getting on my knees, or on my belly. But they gave me exercises that worked just as well. We had shared rooms at the La Paloma Spa, which is in the historic district. This is the area where most of the hot springs are located. The rooms and the bath house are orginal buildings, made a little more livable, with heat and hot water and bathrooms. There was also a flat TV, which never once was turned on by my roommate or me. I went down to the bathhouse once, and soaked. Heavenly! I could have gone more often but didn't. Next time, however!!!
The nights were very cold, and the two fountains outside near the parking lot were running and frozen at the same time...I don't know if they were hot, because I didn't put my hand in...
The Yoga studio was several blocks away in one of the old buildings. In it was a huge area, with polished wooden floors, and art work for sale on the walls and benches, which were also for sale. The piece of art I loved the most was this...
I really wanted to buy it, but then where would I put it? The lawn mower really works also! TorC has a great many artist galleries in the historic district, as well as many pieces of art outside around the area...
And the most amazing discovery was that my sister, Marty, had opened up a business in TorC without telling the rest of us!!!! Well, this is Truth or Consequences, isn't it? I wonder what Marty will say if she reads this...what do you think?
Most people had their own yoga equipment, but I didn't. I was happy to know that Marisa had brought down a great quantity for those of us who didn't have our own. We had yoga classes four times; at 5:00 PM the night we got there; at 8:00 AM and 4:30PM on Saturday; and at 8 AM on Sunday, after which we sat in a circle and told each other what we had gotten out of the retreat. Dinner was provided on Friday night, and all breakfasts were provided at a cute little cafe across the street from the yoga studio. The Cafe also provided and packed our lunch choices for Saturday. I loved everything from the time I got there until I left.
Well, Barack Obama has been sworn in twice, and gave a very low key speech to the American public. I think the Republicans have found that U.S. citizens are fed up with their antics and attempts to obfuscate what Obama is trying to accomplish. Maybe once again we will have some bi-partisanship in Washington, D.C.
Yesterday, the appraiser came to measure the house inside and outside. I know that Mary, the executrix, really wants to get the deeds drawn up for all of Anne's property. I do too. Thursday, she is bringing an antique dealer to look at what is Anne's (most everything) and put some kind of value on it. Anne has some very old things here that were her parents, and I am wondering if Anne's cousin are not interested in any of them. That would be unfortunate, but her cousins are not young, and I have no idea if any of them have children. I have drawn up a list of things that I would like to buy from the estate, if I can afford them, but none are any of the antiques. I will have to get back to Virginia and take everything out of storage when this all happens. As my daughter, Kat, noted when she and Phil drove down after Santa Fe, the house is still Anne's, and once all of her belongings are gone, it will become mine. That is true.
In the afternoon, yesterday, Lizz and I drove the Quebrada. This is a very unusual area of formations made by many volcanic eruptions over millions of years, and then having an shallow ocean covering the entire area of the South Rio Grande area. The rock formations, the mountains, the shale hills, the colors, canyons and arroyos, are incredibly beautiful. The road is rough in many places, and runs through both BLM lands and private lands. The drive is 26 miles long, and we drove north to south - from Escondida in the north end to San Antonio in the south end. I plan on going back and just writing a blog about the Quebrada with photos of many of those beautiful sights. The drive took three hours, and will probably be more than 4 hours for me, as I will be stopping frequently.
In San Antonio, we stopped at the Buckhorn Cafe, where we met our friend, Priscilla. The Buckhorn Cafe is famous for its green chile cheeseburger. The owner and Bobby Flay had a cook off (I know that isn't the right name, but so be it) and the Buckhorn won!!! And the burger is good, the green chile even better!!!!
We went to the Cafe not only to have dinner but to hear Blue Monday, a five piece group, who sings rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and what not. They are all local men, the bongo and harmonica player being the owner of the Buckhorn! There was also a sax player, a guitarist, a bass guitarist, and a singer. The singer and the bass player have been playing together for twenty years. They rocked the house, and we were all singing some of the songs and having a great time. They played for two hours, 6PM to 8PM, straight.
I have read THE TE OF PIGLET, which I loved, even though I am not quite sure what Te and Taoism is exactly. I am currently reading THE INVISIBLE BRIDGE by Julie Orringer, which Marty sent to me, and though I just started it, I have been captured!
Next Monday, the book group will met here at Casa de Serenidad. I told people to bring a chair in case there are more present than chairs to sit in! We will discuss WOLF WILLOW by Stegner. I plan to have a fire going to warm up the room.
I can't remember if I wrote before this that I have a temporary roommate, Lizz Taylor, whom I met at the Bosque when I was volunteering down there. She was a volunteer working on the Festival. I told her to park her rig in my back yard after the Festival so that she could drive to Louisville, Kentucky without hauling the rig. Much of her family lives there, including her son. I don't know when she will be leaving to go down to Deming for a couple of months, but it is fun to have someone staying here and we have lots of long talks about many things and take road trips also. She will be volunteering next at the National Forest, near Mena, Arkansas in the spring, then be back at the Bosque in August for the organizing of the next Festival of the Cranes.
Life is good, folks.
I love you all,
Sally
Now to show you some pics Santa Fe and our stay there. The historic district is wonderful, with a great plaza surrounding the Governor's Palace, and on the other three sides, shops, art gallerys, and places to eat. In the plaza were also several people playing instruments; one was playing folk music of the 60's; another was playing a beautiful harp. Food was being sold, and handmade jewelry, clothing, and art abounded with Indians sitting outside of the Governor's Palace, with their wares set out on blankets for everyone to view and hopefully buy. Kat, Phil and I went into the Governor's Palace to find the print shop where a friend of hers worked. Unfortunately he wasn't there, but she talked to one of his associates and we bought a few items actually printed on the very old presses.
Santa Fe is really for active walkers, and I was glad to have my walking stick with me. The roads were partially icy, as were many of the side walks, and fortunately my kids were watching me closely so that I didn't slip. One day all of us went down to the Plaza and walked from there to the Loretto Chapel, with its miraculous staircase. For years, I read to my children, from Norman Rockwell's Christmas Book, the story of the Miraculous Staircase. The Chapel was beautiful and all dressed up for Christmas...
Walking back to the Plaza, luminaries rimmed the tops of the buildings and hotels. What a beautiful sight. We had lunch at a nice restaurant just off the Plaza, The Blue Corn Cafe. Good food, and I loved being surrounded by most of my family. Snow was falling in very interesting shapes. I was able to get a close up of one flake. Very neat...
We had a fun Christmas day. Scott gave Phil a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree...
Do you recognize that ornament hanging on it? One of our favorite movies to watch at Christmas - The Christmas Story!!!! Phil got that in his stocking...here is where the gifts were set up...
And here are all the participants with the exception of yours truly - I don't like being photographed in the morning!!!!...I am sure some of you understand...
First grandson Frank, then Siobhan and Scott, Phil and Kat, and last Sergeant Pepper...
Casa de Serenidad all dolled up for the season!
Phil holding Pepper inside my house - a great pic!
On the 11th of January, after meeting with my Lunch Bunch, I drove down to Truth or Consequences, or as everyone around here calls it - TorC. It is about 70 miles from Socorro. I was on a Yoga retreat, the first time I have ever done one. It was for the weekend, and the leaders were two gals, who have retreats several times a year. Marisa owns a yoga place, just 9/10 of a mile from me here in Lemitar. In fact, tonight I am going up there to continue my yoga experience. Halli owns a business in Bernalillo, just above Albuquerque, and is a Life Coach. Both were just wonderful, and I found I could do most yoga exercises with the exception of getting on my knees, or on my belly. But they gave me exercises that worked just as well. We had shared rooms at the La Paloma Spa, which is in the historic district. This is the area where most of the hot springs are located. The rooms and the bath house are orginal buildings, made a little more livable, with heat and hot water and bathrooms. There was also a flat TV, which never once was turned on by my roommate or me. I went down to the bathhouse once, and soaked. Heavenly! I could have gone more often but didn't. Next time, however!!!
The nights were very cold, and the two fountains outside near the parking lot were running and frozen at the same time...I don't know if they were hot, because I didn't put my hand in...
The Yoga studio was several blocks away in one of the old buildings. In it was a huge area, with polished wooden floors, and art work for sale on the walls and benches, which were also for sale. The piece of art I loved the most was this...
I really wanted to buy it, but then where would I put it? The lawn mower really works also! TorC has a great many artist galleries in the historic district, as well as many pieces of art outside around the area...
And the most amazing discovery was that my sister, Marty, had opened up a business in TorC without telling the rest of us!!!! Well, this is Truth or Consequences, isn't it? I wonder what Marty will say if she reads this...what do you think?
Most people had their own yoga equipment, but I didn't. I was happy to know that Marisa had brought down a great quantity for those of us who didn't have our own. We had yoga classes four times; at 5:00 PM the night we got there; at 8:00 AM and 4:30PM on Saturday; and at 8 AM on Sunday, after which we sat in a circle and told each other what we had gotten out of the retreat. Dinner was provided on Friday night, and all breakfasts were provided at a cute little cafe across the street from the yoga studio. The Cafe also provided and packed our lunch choices for Saturday. I loved everything from the time I got there until I left.
Well, Barack Obama has been sworn in twice, and gave a very low key speech to the American public. I think the Republicans have found that U.S. citizens are fed up with their antics and attempts to obfuscate what Obama is trying to accomplish. Maybe once again we will have some bi-partisanship in Washington, D.C.
Yesterday, the appraiser came to measure the house inside and outside. I know that Mary, the executrix, really wants to get the deeds drawn up for all of Anne's property. I do too. Thursday, she is bringing an antique dealer to look at what is Anne's (most everything) and put some kind of value on it. Anne has some very old things here that were her parents, and I am wondering if Anne's cousin are not interested in any of them. That would be unfortunate, but her cousins are not young, and I have no idea if any of them have children. I have drawn up a list of things that I would like to buy from the estate, if I can afford them, but none are any of the antiques. I will have to get back to Virginia and take everything out of storage when this all happens. As my daughter, Kat, noted when she and Phil drove down after Santa Fe, the house is still Anne's, and once all of her belongings are gone, it will become mine. That is true.
In the afternoon, yesterday, Lizz and I drove the Quebrada. This is a very unusual area of formations made by many volcanic eruptions over millions of years, and then having an shallow ocean covering the entire area of the South Rio Grande area. The rock formations, the mountains, the shale hills, the colors, canyons and arroyos, are incredibly beautiful. The road is rough in many places, and runs through both BLM lands and private lands. The drive is 26 miles long, and we drove north to south - from Escondida in the north end to San Antonio in the south end. I plan on going back and just writing a blog about the Quebrada with photos of many of those beautiful sights. The drive took three hours, and will probably be more than 4 hours for me, as I will be stopping frequently.
In San Antonio, we stopped at the Buckhorn Cafe, where we met our friend, Priscilla. The Buckhorn Cafe is famous for its green chile cheeseburger. The owner and Bobby Flay had a cook off (I know that isn't the right name, but so be it) and the Buckhorn won!!! And the burger is good, the green chile even better!!!!
We went to the Cafe not only to have dinner but to hear Blue Monday, a five piece group, who sings rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and what not. They are all local men, the bongo and harmonica player being the owner of the Buckhorn! There was also a sax player, a guitarist, a bass guitarist, and a singer. The singer and the bass player have been playing together for twenty years. They rocked the house, and we were all singing some of the songs and having a great time. They played for two hours, 6PM to 8PM, straight.
I have read THE TE OF PIGLET, which I loved, even though I am not quite sure what Te and Taoism is exactly. I am currently reading THE INVISIBLE BRIDGE by Julie Orringer, which Marty sent to me, and though I just started it, I have been captured!
Next Monday, the book group will met here at Casa de Serenidad. I told people to bring a chair in case there are more present than chairs to sit in! We will discuss WOLF WILLOW by Stegner. I plan to have a fire going to warm up the room.
I can't remember if I wrote before this that I have a temporary roommate, Lizz Taylor, whom I met at the Bosque when I was volunteering down there. She was a volunteer working on the Festival. I told her to park her rig in my back yard after the Festival so that she could drive to Louisville, Kentucky without hauling the rig. Much of her family lives there, including her son. I don't know when she will be leaving to go down to Deming for a couple of months, but it is fun to have someone staying here and we have lots of long talks about many things and take road trips also. She will be volunteering next at the National Forest, near Mena, Arkansas in the spring, then be back at the Bosque in August for the organizing of the next Festival of the Cranes.
Life is good, folks.
I love you all,
Sally
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