Finding The Good

After my lamenting on the cold icy weather in my recent blog post, I began to realize how much "good" abounds in our life.  I enjoy following Heather Lende's blog, http://www.heatherlende.com , reading her updates regularly, as she always seems to find the good in every situation, even while living in the harsh winters in Haines, Alaska! 

I have so much to be grateful for each day!  Even when we recently had an invasion of skunks under our house, I decided to be thankful to have a house, we are not homeless!

A perennial bright spot this time of year is the annual blooming of our Christmas cactus plants!

I am always amazed when those awesome blooms begin popping out after the green plant has spent all Spring, Summer, and part of Fall outside on our deck.  A couple of years a wayward bunny rabbit has managed to sneak up on our deck and nibble away on the green foliage of the Christmas cactus plants, but somehow they always manage to come back to their full glory by now!

I cherish my Saddlebag women friends and yesterday was our annual Christmas party.  For several years we have had a tradition of wearing a specific article of attire to the Christmas party, such as wigs, hats, boas, etc.  Well this year our hostess decided it would be a pajama party!  What fun!  Twenty nine women showed up and all except one was wearing their pajamas/nightshirts/slippers/robes!

                            Circle of friends!

 That's Diane (with the red hat/green boa), our hostess for the party, sharing her lovely log home with all of us.

We gathered on Diane's front porch and I snapped this group photo of my pajama-clad friends, some of whom I have known for almost thirty years!  Wonderful friends!

Where's the Sun?

I miss the sunshine!  Today is fifth day in a row with gray skies and very damp air!  Today is the fifth day in a row we have a fire going constantly in our wood stove. Today is the fifth day in a row that the temperature outside barely gets up to the freezing mark.  This is Texas.  We are not use to this kind of weather.  Winter weather usually comes for a couple of days, then goes away elsewhere while we enjoy mild temperatures again. 

 This is our pond covered in ice, well it is really just a low spot now that use to be a pond before nature filled it in over the years with silt and trees.

The handle of our push mower at the edge of our carport!

 

 The Nandina bush covered in Christmas lights--and ice!

I guess My Sweetie won't be grilling anything today!

 And the large elm tree in our backyard is dying and losing its large limbs one at a time.

 The large cedars that surround our humble abode are laden with ice.

 And there are real icicles on our icicle lights!!

We do feel very grateful that we were spared the even worst conditions that our neighboring towns to our west and north received.  Unfortunately most Texans are not prepared for this kind of weather because we don't experience it very often.  We don't own snow plows, snow blowers, or road chemicals/salt in abundance since they are rarely needed.  We figure any ice or snow will be gone in a couple of days when the sun comes out and melts it away.

So in the meantime we just make the best of things and keep warm and don't get out unless we absolutely have to.

One incidental about this cold/icy weather is that my brother Wendall, who lives in Indiana,  came to Texas for Thanksgiving with our family and planned to stay at my Mom's house for a few days to do some maintenance projects for her.  Well he was scheduled to catch a bus back home this past Saturday morning however he is still at my Mom's because the interstate highways heading north from Dallas to Oklahoma City and then on to St. Louis are iced over and closed temporarily.  He is hoping to maybe head home today or tomorrow.  We'll see.  The temps are supposed to get above freezing this afternoon for a few hours.  Now if the sun will just come out also, we will all be much happier!

 Wendall looks a lot like my Dad, and he is very talented in building and construction, just like my Dad was.

Give Mom's great-grandkids a tree to climb and they are happy!

Cold Weather Coming

We are about to get our first sustained dose of winter weather. 
I cleaned the ashes out of our woodstove this morning and laid in a nice fire but did not light it.  It is all ready though so in the morning all we have to do is strike a match to the kindling that I laid in under the logs and we will be cozy warm in no time!  I love our wood stove!

 No.  I have not decorated our house yet this year!  (This photo was taken December 2012.)

I had lunch today with a couple of my Saddlebag friends, Deb and Lanette, who were not planning to go to the Thursday ride.  Even though I have lost all interest in riding my horse, I still very much enjoy the fellowship and camaraderie of my Saddlebag women friends.
This is my friend Deb and me (photo taken December 2012). 

And this is my friend Lanette and me (photo taken December 2012)

I couldn't resist adding another photo of the beautiful fall foliage!

 Our little country road is bursting with colors!

Yesterday we had a nice southerly breeze all day and our "resident bird" was all hunkered down in the front yard with its back to the wind and its feathers were still moving in the wind!

 I'm having to point my camera out the window, thru the slats of the mini blind, zooooom in on it so it is not too clear.  If I make the slightest noise from in the house, he flies away.  He flies away anyway after a little while.

Lo and behold this morning when I looked out there he was again with his neck extended checking out the neighborhood!

I thought maybe it has a nest nearby in the woods but my friend Lanette said it is the wrong time of year for it to have any babies so I don't know why it is still hanging around. It better fly south or find somewhere warm to hibernate for a few days because when the sun goes down today the warm air will gradually slip south to be replaced with that cold wintry air that is on the way tonight!

Got a fire in the woodstove ready to light.  I'm ready. 

Fall Colors

Leaves are falling.  Mild breezy days.  Autumn is here!
I like Autumn however I don't care for what comes next-Winter.  So I'll continue to enjoy the beautiful fall colors and be grateful for each and every day that I am healthy and alive and upright and walking!

 This is one of our neighbor's driveways, lined with crepe myrtles in all their fall glory.

 The contrast of a blue/green cedar tree and the brilliant yellow of an elm tree.

 Our "backyard park" is sporting a blanket of perennial rye grass, a faithful winter arrival.

 As the sun is setting, the trees lining the hay meadow behind our house become a blaze of color!

I love the splash of red from the crepe myrtle in our back yard with the yellows in the background.

We have this bird visit our yard regularly.

As you can see, it really disturbs "Tex" when the bird is present.

  Not sure what it is, some kind of crane or heron?  Maybe my good friend, Pigeon, who is my "phone-a-friend" expert all things in the bird kingdom will be able to identify this bird for me. Hello Pigeon!  Are you there?  Help me out here.
I sneak out quietly to try to get a little closer to "Tex's" new friend. 

And a little closer----settle down Tex, it's just a bird. 

Uh-Oh!  The bird is obviously camera shy.  There he goes, over the gate into Tex's pasture, flying off into the wild blue yonder.

I Love Texas!

My hiker friends, "Greenstone" & "Thimbleberry", who live in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, sent me an email yesterday (along with photos) exclaiming about their first snowfall of the season, 3-4 inches of the white stuff!  They loved it!

All I could think of was Brrrrrrrrrr!  I am so glad I am not there!  Tom and I loved visiting Michigan's U. P. back in July, when the weather was tolerable, cool nights and mild days.  It is such a beautiful place to visit (in the summer).

Here at home, I mowed our yard yesterday.  Since all our recent rains, everything is still growing and green abounds.

My horse, Tex, still has plenty of grass to munch on in his pasture.

And the pepper plants in our garden just keep on producing!

On the first day of November, Tom and I chopped up enough peppers to fill 5 quart freezer bags.  We can't remember ever picking peppers or anything else out of our garden this late in the year.

But oh how sweet it is to live here in Texas and enjoy all the nice weather we are having this Fall!  Thank God, no snow!  Since I was born in Galveston and have lived in Texas my entire life, I cannot even fathom living in a cold, snowy climate.  Brrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Western Caribbean Cruise

Sunday Oct. 20-Sunday Oct. 27

Recently I joined three of my Saddlebag women friends on a 7-day western Caribbean Cruise aboard the ship Carnival Magic, with ports-of-call at Roatan (Honduras), Belize, and Cozumel.  We sailed from Galveston.

                            (L.-R.) Lanette, Mary Ann, Gill, and me

When I woke up on the first morning at sea I stepped outside to check out the sunrise, which by the way is my very favorite time of day!

 Wow!!  I was in awe!  What a spectacular way to begin the day!  Our weather at home when we left was a very chilly 41 degrees so it was nice to wake up to a beautiful sunrise and balmy tropical temperatures in the Caribbean!

Our first port-of-call (after two days at sea) was Roatan, a small island off the coast of Honduras.

We were taken by motorcoach over the mountains to Tabiano Bay and a beautiful beach with white sugar sand and crystal clear blue water.

While Mary Ann, Gill and Lanette went snorkeling, I enjoyed myself walking along the beach with my feet in the water, then snagged me a lounge chair in the shade of a palm tree and enjoyed the day while people-watching and reading my book.  Very relaxing!

When we arrived back at the ship in the afternoon I snapped these photos of the gorgeous blue water as we set sail toward Belize.

The next morning our ship anchored at sea just off the coast of Belize, in order to protect the world's second longest barrier reef which lies just off Belize's coastline.  We are tendered from the ship to a dock in Belize City, about a 20 minute boat ride.

My three women friends plan to swim with stingrays and snorkel while in Belize.  I've "been there, done that" with Tom when we were in Grand Cayman a few years ago and did not enjoy it at all.  Today I plan to go on a tour of Altun Ha, a Mayan site, followed by a boat ride down a river in Belize.  Last year when Tom and I were in Belize we went cavetubing on an underground river thru caves, and really enjoyed that.

Our group boarded a tour bus (from the dock) in Belize City and traveled north on Belize's international highway for about 20 miles before turning off onto a single-track road that was only partially paved, and it had rained earlier so there were plenty of mud puddles and potholes!  I admire the bus driver for getting us safely out to the Altun Ha Mayan Site.  This site was only discovered in 1963 and is still being reconstructed.  The grounds are very well manicured and our guides are very knowledgeable.

I climbed to the top of the temple on the far left where a fellow tourist took my photo.

After climbing back down we headed over to this one:

Yes, I climbed to the top of this one also where I enjoyed great panoramic views of the site.

Then as we climbed down the back side of this temple I saw this unique animal, which had a monkey-like body but a long nose like an anteater!

It began to sprinkle rain as we were walking back to where our tour bus was parked.  (glad I had my rain jacket!)

Next we were taken to the Black Orchid Resort for a typical lunch of black beans/rice cooked with coconut milk, grilled chicken w/sauce, and cold slaw.  Very tasty!  (You could also purchase a hamburger if you did not like the local food.)  There was souvenir tents behind the lunch pavilion, which was surrounded by beautiful flowers.

Even the shrub row had been manicured into an archway over the walkway!

This resort sat right on the banks of the River Wallace.  We walked down to the dock where we were to board a boat for a river ride.

Our tour was divided into two groups.  That is our boat sitting out in the middle of the river while the other boat is being loaded.  Each boat has rows of seats which hold about 30 people.

There were a bunch of howler monkeys in the trees above the dock when we were loading into our boat!  Oh boy, were they loud!  While looking up watching the monkeys scampering about in the tree tops, we saw this huge termite nest in the tree!

Besides our guide, and our boat driver, we also had a "spotter" sitting up on the front end of the boat, who would spot wildlife and tell the boat driver so he could slow the boat down so we could view whatever he saw and take photos.

  This was a very exhilarating boat ride, cruising along at a pretty fast clip unless our spotter spotted something!  We traveled 30 miles down the River Wallace to where it flows into the Caribbean and only ever saw one other boat, a two man canoe, just before we reached the Caribbean.  There weren't any houses along the river either until we were near the Caribbean.  It was a very remote jungle along the banks of the River Wallace!

  These pod-like things hanging down from these palm trees are bird nests!

We saw this small alligator sunning himself on this dead tree:

Then more remote jungle.

Then just before we reached the mouth of the river, we began seeing some civilization along the banks of the river. 

This residence had uninvited guests hanging out on their dock!

The big orange guy is the male and the smaller green ones are the females.  I had never seen such big iguanas!

After going under this last bridge (where there were bats nesting underneath) we were suddenly in the Caribbean Sea.

We traveled south along the coastline of Belize rather quickly and the water of the sea was a lot rougher than the water of the river.  Weeeeeeee!

We arrived back at the dock in Belize City only a half hour before the last tender was to leave to take us back out to the Ship, however the line of Carnival Magic guests who were waiting to be tendered back to the Ship was so long that I knew there was no way they would meet the 4:15 p.m. (last tender time).  Anyway another smaller tender boat was helping and it was our luck to be boarded on it.  The bottom deck only held about twenty people and the driver told us if we rode on the top deck with him we would get wet.  Since I had met back up with Gill and Lanette while I was waiting in that long line, Lanette and I decided to ride up top with the driver and a few other hardy souls, thinking how wet could we get??  I had been dry all day on my excursion, thanks to my rain jacket, which I had already taken off and stuffed into my daypack, silly me.  Well let me tell you, once we were underway and the first wall of water that washed up over us was kind of funny!  We all laughed!  We immediately stuffed all our bags and packs into a small cubbyhole at the drivers feet to keep our cameras, etc. dry.  Silly me, I did not think to get my rain jacket out of my daypack!  Oh well, what a hoot it turned out to be!  We were all totally drenched from wall after wall of water washing up and over us on the open top of that small boat for the entire 25 minute ride back to our Ship!  We looked like a bunch of drowned rats as we climbed the gangplank, and then once inside the ship the air conditioning hit us and whoa! that was chilly!  Lanette and I climbed from Deck 0, up all nine flights of stairs to our Deck 9 to our cabin.  Oh boy did it feel awesome to get in a warm shower and then into dry clothes!  But what an adventure!

The Carnival Magic Ship is quite beautiful, as all their ships are!

  We enjoyed breakfast/brunch each day in this Southern Lights Restaurant.

We had dinner each night in this Northern Lights Restaurant.

Anyone willing to pay a fee could enjoy internet (several locations throughout the ship) or WiFi.

The Lobby/Guest Services area:

The Atrium which surrounds the lobby extends up ten floors with glassed-in elevators and walkways on each level:

I avoided the elevators and utilized the stairways as part of my plan to not gain five pounds this week while eating all this delicious food that is served on this ship!  Every level on all the stairwells have different paintings and all are so beautiful!

On Friday, Oct. 25, we arrived at our last port-of-call, Cozumel.  Now I have been to Cozumel several times and typical of most tropical locales it is not unusual to have rain showers on Cozumel and then the sun comes out and it is usually muggy and very warm.  Well, today it rained. Not just for a little while either.  It rained all day long.  Sometimes hard rain, sometimes soft rain, but always steady rain.  But since this was our last chance to get off the ship before we sailed back to Galveston, the four of us women decided "What's a little rain?" 
Of course Carnival was selling blue Carnival rain ponchos right before we exited the ship, very similar to those cheap $2 ponchos that WalMart sells over in the camping section, only Carnival was getting $7.95 for them.  The price wasn't slowing down the sales of them at all!  All three of my women friends (along with many others) bought one.  I was so thankful that I had packed my new rainproof windbreaker that I purchased at Fayette Historic State Park when we were on vacation in Michigan's U.P. a couple of months ago!  Nice to stay dry on a rainy day in Cozumel!

                           My friends in their "new ponchos"!

  We took a taxi to the downtown square where normally on a Friday it would be a "happening place", but today it is pretty deserted.  Terrible day for all the shops and eateries who rely on the tourist dollars!  And today there are two Carnival ships and a Royal Caribbean ship docked here in Cozumel (that's approximately 6,000+ tourists), but this place is almost empty as the water flows down the streets!  I admire the work ethic of the shop owners and workers who are all standing in their doorways and on the sidewalk in front of their shops trying to entice the few of us who did come downtown to spend some of our money in their shops.

Gill and Lanette both brought their SmartPhones with them hoping to get a signal here in Cozumel.  (Mary Ann's phone and camera quit on her on Wednesday in Belize!)  Anyway after walking around for a bit we happened upon a small outdoor place, tucked in between two buildings, Woody's Bar & Grill, with a small sign saying "Free WiFi"!  We stopped and sat at the counter, under their little roof, out of the rain, used their restroom, had lunch, and my friends enjoyed texting, emailing, checking Facebook, etc.

And it kept on raining.  And raining.

                                    I like this yellow house!  So cheerful!

We walked around from shop to shop, my friends were shopping, and then we stepped inside this small open-fronted chapel, enjoyed the quiet for a few moments, and being out of the rain.

Hey, we're on vacation, on a cruise, how lucky are we!   What's a little rain, right?  I feel bad for the local economy that depends on tourist dollars, but tomorrow is another day, you know.  The birds don't seem to mind the rain at all!

I am so not a shopper! So I told my shopping friends that I would see them back on the ship, walked back over to the "main drag" and took a taxi alone back to the ship. 

We had a wonderfully attentive cabin steward, Smiley.  I really enjoyed having someone clean our room not once but twice a day!  How awesome is that!  I loved the towel animals he left on our bed each night while we were at dinner.

 

He made the heart on our last night on the ship, with our two pieces of chocolates on it!  Sweet!

One day they had a towel folding demonstration in the Lobby area and there were hundreds of towel animals all over the place!

Even though I enjoyed cruising with my women friends, I really missed my sweet Tom!  I could not wait to get home on Sunday!  There is truly no place like home!

P.S. Here are some fascinating facts about Belize that I did not know:
-Over 10,000 Mennonites live and farm in Belize
-Belize is the only Central American country that English is their primary language
-Belize is Commonwealth of Great Britain (formerly called British Honduras)
-Belize's national flower is the black orchid
-Belize's national tree is the mahogany tree
-The people of Belize use coconut milk (instead of water) for cooking rice, beans, potatoes, etc.  (very tasty!)
-I forgot what percentage of the population of Belize are Americans (but it is much more than I thought!)