Ruidoso, New Mexico.....

 

 

This view of the lake is one of my favorites...

 

A very sweet Texas lady helped us with this photo.....where it looks like we're choking the dog 😁

 

 A wee bit of color in the woods.....

Another beautiful view....

There were pluses and minuses on the condo.  

    Pluses: Deer, turkey, birds were all over.  Some of the deer were very tame and allowed people to touch them.

                Amazing views...

                Fairly quiet.....

                Open woody areas for hiking/walking the dog....

                Inexpensive, with a full kitchen so we didn't have to eat out......

 

    Minuses:  The outside lights came right through the flimsy curtains, so it was like having a full room night light.....

                There was no soap for the shower (which I felt they should have let us know ahead of time)...

                The sofa and chair were so worn out it made your back hurt after 30 minutes, but the tv wasn't in the bedroom.......

                 The shower head, omg, sprayed water every where.......

                 A charge of $50 if you don't wash up the dishes ~ there was a dishwasher but no soap for it....

                They put us right next to the office, so there wasn't much privacy when we were out on the deck (which was most of the time when we weren't out and about).  The family who ran it had kids, and one little girl thought it was fun to sit and watch us......to be fair, she did get bored after a few hours... 

 

Next time we go we are going to rent one of the cabins in town.  These condo's were obviously high end back in the day ~ there was a jetted tub that worked at one time.  It's just so run down!  Ah well, lesson learned.  We had a good time relaxing and it was so good to get away.  The minuses were minor inconveniences really.  Or, we could stay in Cloud Croft, which is a very small town not far from Ruidoso.  

 

Enjoy your weekend!

Love, 365

 

P.S. I voted early not long after the early voting began.  I've been amazed at all the folks that have dusted off their voting plans and have gone out there!  Records are being set all over ~ I believe I heard Texas has over 9 million early votes!  So, don't be shy, get out there!!

 

 

The good, the bad and the wonderful.....now for the wonderful..

 

 

I know it doesn't look white like snow, but it is....

 

Look closely ~ those sun shades/picnic tables are the same as they were in the 1950s when Romeo's family first visited...These were designed by Lyle Bennett, who also designed the visitors center.

 

Sioux with her goggles on.....she did ok but we did have to adjust them constantly...

 

Oh, Romeo, my Romeo......💞

Yeah, that last one...oh, how I dislike having my picture taken.  

Although we arrived in Ruidoso on Sunday, we took off for White Sands on Monday morning.  The weather was perfect, and we hiked bare foot!  Not many places you can do that.  The people had a lot more fun than the dog.  She didn't really like all that sand, but you'd have to ask her to know why!

 

I will post more photos and stories this weekend.  

Love, 365

“The truth is, of course, that what one regards as interruptions are precisely one’s life.” CS Lewis....

 

My Mom's thimbles.......

It is still fairly raw, cleaning out my Mom's house.  Mom is in assisted living now, and bedridden, although we are hoping that she will regain a small bit of mobility in the months to come, with physical therapy. 

 My sister and I placed Mom's house for sale, but first it needed a new roof (thankfully covered by insurance) and repair of an area with water damage.   The first full weekend there were over 7 offers on the house.  Two of them cash offers.  We settled on one cash offer from a man buying the house for his son who works nearby, also giving his mother (son's Grandmother) a place to stay when she goes into town to see her doctors.  He did not care about having an inspection, saying he would take care of any repairs that come up.  To say that we were blessed with that offer is an understatement!  The cash offer meant that closing is quick, easy.  So, Mom's house is now someone else's house, which is sometimes difficult to come to terms with.  I suppose the next time I'm in town it'll be weird not to go "home".

We are preparing for our trip out of town to Ruidoso, probably a 3 1/2 hour drive from our house.  It's just a get out of town and be somewhere else trip.....we plan to hike, and walk, and visit White Sands.  

A photo of the balcony of the condo where we are staying in Ruidoso.....this is from their web site.

Also from their web site, a photo of the outside.......

White Sands National Monument, photo from their website.  I hope to take some great photos there too!  We haven't been to White Sands in 20 years, so I'm excited to go!

Of course we are taking the doggo with us, and Romeo bought some "doggles" to protect her eyes while we're in White Sands.....

This is not Sioux (I'll try to get a few photos of her with them on, but these are what they look like).  Not exactly sure why Romeo thought it necessary to buy these for her, but he's been getting her used to them with varying success.  She'll be ok with them when we're on our walk, but once we get close to the house she tries to get rid of them by shaking her head or rubbing on our legs 😀

Our trip is not too long, a three night stay, but nice to get out of town without having to comply with a two week quarantine afterward ~ which we are supposed to do if we travel out of state.  Not sure this makes any sense, considering we are experiencing an uptick in cases here as is everywhere else.  😟 

 We will be cautious, and take our own pillows (although I'm not sure this will make any difference at all), and take our Lysol wipes, etc.  I'm not going to go crazy with that sort of thing though.  

Have an amazing weekend y'all, and hopefully I'll have some amazing photos when we return!

Love, 365

Autumn musings.......

Normally we would be enjoying the last day of the International Balloon Fiesta here in Albuquerque this past Sunday, but like so many other things, not this year.  

The same weekend of the Balloon Fiesta, my church produces the Greek Festival.  Of course I knew this was cancelled in April, because that's when we start baking and preparing for all of the baked goods that are sold.  

I'm sure all of you have felt the loss of the special events held in your town, or the one down the road.  So, perhaps we won't take things for granted next year.  But we still have Thanksgiving and Christmas this year.....but it's normally just Romeo, me and the dog then anyway.  I still feel bad for all those who won't be able to travel to see their families.

Garden update: Oh, boy does the tomato plant look awful.  But last weekend I saw a large fruit that was beginning to ripen.  So, last night I went out to check on it, and some critter had eaten half of it.  So, the ugly tomato will be unceremoniously ripped out today or tomorrow.  I still have peppers that are ripening and a pimento that is nearly ready to pick.  I just hope the critter doesn't like pimentos!  Romeo thinks it's the squirrel that had taken residence in the tree of the house next door ~ it is still empty after our neighbor passed away this past summer.  I'm not sure why the house is still on the market, houses are selling quickly here.  

We did get some great news at work on Wednesday's monthly meeting ~ the Docs have decided to give us all some time off at the end of the year, so after Dec. 23rd, we will be closed until January 4th.  And we'll be paid!  We were all very happy and grateful.  And, yes, surprised since this hasn't exactly been a banner year.  A bright spot to finish off a rather dark year....

So!  Today is the first day of my vacation until October 26th.....a greatly needed break!

Have a great weekend!

Love, 365
 

The start of the last season.......

 

Here we go with the last season, and the first season of the spin off, The World Beyond.  It both excites and repulses, you know?  The train wreck analogy....you just can't turn away.  

It's been a really nice break from work.  I have more scheduled for November and December.  Next time I take off a Tuesday instead of a Thursday, for reasons that aren't worth explaining.  Best of all we leave for Ruidoso in two weeks.  It's only a few days, but it will be so nice to get out of town!  

I can't believe that we still have our a/c on.  Usually by this time we have turned it off and put the warming pad on the bed.  Oh, wait, there's no global warming right?  That's just a myth.

My youngest son asked me who I was planning to vote for, and I had to say that it'll be the best of two awful choices.  It was a great conversation we had ~ he is not much of a talker!  Spoke to my eldest too, and wow, you could hear the chaos in the background...that comes from 3 boys under the age of 7.  

Tried a new recipe for snicker doodles that were yummy.  I made them much smaller than the recipe called for.  Can you imagine an 8 ounce cookie?  The whole batch would have made a total of 12 if I had done it the way the recipe called for.  As it was I got 28.

That's it!  I've got nothin' else!  Stay safe, be kind and generous to those who need it.  Love to you all...365