Cruise Pics 2 - Puerto Vallarta

A picture of our first port, Puerto Vallarta, from our balcony.

We decided to take a hiking tour and here we are on a short bus ride.

And we're off....beautiful and lush greenery all around us as we climbed up the foothills -- it was a VERY steep climb!

If you zoom in, there's a beautiful butterfly...in fact there were tons of different kinds of butterflies flitting about us -- it felt kind of like a fairy land (just really humid weather!)

This is an example of one of the trees that has many nasty thorns! It didn't take us long to learn to stay away from those!

Michelyn is waving in the distance

A hot mineral spring -- but we were so warm from the hike we just looked and waited for the cold small river coming up...

These turkeys don't know how lucky they are....their poor cousins north of the border are going to have a tough Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Michelyn kept her eyes open for unique birds...here's an egret in the river.

Cruise Pics 1 - The First Few Days

Derek & I set out on our cruise last weekend - a first for either of us. We were so excited and had a great time. Here we are in line, getting the initial glimpse of our ship...the Carnival Pride

We boarded the ship but had to wait a little bit for the rooms to get finished being cleaned. Everyone got to start wandering about the ship. First up for Derek was the Perfect Game Bar - a sports bar, but alas, no good football games :(

We got lunch right away -- our introduction to non-stop eating for the next week. Here is the Lido deck with the pools and casual dining area. "Conveniently" our stateroom was just one floor beneath it

The first few days were actually "Fun Days at Sea" as we headed to Mexican waters. As we got closer, the weather got warmer and warmer. There were lots of activities to keep us occupied...here is an ice-carving demonstration

Michelyn & Derek standing outside the FunShops after a "cruise elegant" evening.

Yay..... our first towel animal!!!! We were getting mighty spoiled with nightly turn-down service and mints on our pillows.

Derek sitting in the Rafael Lounge where many of the trivia and other games were held.

Our deck was awesome! We loved hearing and seeing the water so close by!

Carnival likes to party! Here is a dance fest on the Lido deck with live music and everyone having a great time.

More photos and memories to come!

I finally finished the dog house project. We got this dog house from some church friends and thought we could insulate it to add some warmth, for Shasta in particular. Last Saturday I cut and fit some styrofoam-looking insulation pieces using our hack saw -- no injuries but then it rained Sunday. So the attaching of plywood (so they wouldn't shred the insulation) was post-poned to this weekend. Derek did the major cutting of pieces with the circular saw but everything else I did. Everyone who knows me knows I don't really like "fixing" things or using tools, but I 'sucked it up' and made use of the drill, screwdriver, chisel and metal brackets. I even made a Home Depot run or two. Whew...glad it's done and over - now if we can only get Shasta to use it! At least I know that she doesn't have to be freezing if she doesn't want to be and she has a dry, warm place to go.

Wacky Weather

Well, I know that Tehachapi is the "Land of 4 Seasons" but I didn't realize it would all happen in 36 hours. Saturday afternoon I was cutting and fitting some styrofoam insulation for the doghouse and it was so hot we were in shorts and t-shirts. Sunday came and it was shivery cold with heavy rain and stormy clouds. This morning there were tiny little patches of snow on the tippy tops of the mountains! Fun, but dang if it isn't hard to keep up with wardrobe changes!

In Memory of Amelia

One of my precious piggies went to piggie heaven Monday. Amelia was the guinea pig that started it all for me. Here she is on the first day I brought her home. She was very skiddish at first (I even wrote a story about it) but she came out of her shell quite nicely and she was a very good pig! I named her Amelia after an audio book about Amelia Earhart I listened to on a road trip to Oakland for a wedding. The Sunday I came back into town I stopped at the Petsmart in Alhambra and brought her home. I had her for 4 1/2 years and I got her at a time in life when I was living alone in Pasadena and needed something small and furry to care for. She seemed to go quickly and gently and I knew something was wrong with her that morning - so I snuggled her and got to tell her how much I loved her. That night, Derek found her in the cage and she was just laying on her side. We buried her in the front under our big oak tree. I will miss her but I know she led a good piggie life.

Here Amelia is 'helping' Isabelle when the baby piggies were born!

I will miss you, Amelia!

Always Fun to Have Family Visit

A weekend visit from Derek's family was a LOT of fun!

Grandma Charlotte and Petie even made this trip! We had a full house but worth all the laughs and good times.

We got to celebrate Little Mack's birthday -- can't believe he's 2 already!

Birthday presents are always fun! Kyranda was ready and willing to help try out all the new toys!

A short visit to Brite Lake - we even took the dogs. I brought some bread to feed the ducks, but they must not get fed very often because they wouldn't come near the shore - oh well!

Nemo - our birthday mascot

Kyranda tries on the Nemo birthday hat.

Happy Birthday, Little Mack! We are so glad to have you in our family!!!

Busy Woodpeckers

Well, winter must be approaching in the not too distant future as I watched our woodpeckers start storing their acorns in our huge, old tree by the house. They really are interesting to watch ! The one this morning would hop around on the ground, locate an acorn, fly up onto the tree, find a hole, put the acorn in the hole and then tap, tap, tap it into place! I love nature!

Dog vs. Deer

Well, the dogs have taken to "protecting" their territory from the deer. The one mama deer with the two babies often comes around our place and she seems to like to eat something in back where the 'seasonal' creek runs. She will come right up to the fence which drives Shasta and Monkey crazy! She will keep eating as they bark hysterically but you can tell the loud noise bothers her ears.

When the babies are with her, mama deer will run along the fence with the dogs, seeming to use herself to block the dogs from the babies. Sometimes she will even make like she's going to charge the dogs.

You'll probably have to zoom in, but here are the babies just behind their mama.

Two Years in Tehachapi!

Today is our two-year anniversary in our house! What an amazing blessing it has been to have this place and this town to call our own. Shout out to Derek who has worked so hard to be able to provide our home!! I love you, honey!

Not Much New...

Not much new on our home-front. We're both working really hard and are busy trying to keep up with the jobs!

I was out in our backyard and noticed a surprise! A beautiful sunflower has sprung up in the middle of nowhere.... I love how nature does that! I certainly didn't plant it there but I do put out sunflower seeds in the front of the house in our bird feeder -- so I'm thinking a wayward seed found its way to the back and voila!!!

Probably the only other "exciting" thing this weekend was trying Coldstone's new NutterButter ice cream. Quite tasty... ymmmmmmmmmmmm

A little this, a little that

The local sheep eating some local weeds

A small blossom on my Chinese Lilac plant:


Derek and the pups "watching" football: