Our hummingbird and blooming cactus (martha)

Since May, we've had DAILY visits from............

'Hey, this is new. Should I take a drink?'....Oh, this is delicious!



Blooms came (again) to color our world!

We added flagstones - see right side (above) leading to the gate.

Desert Blooms

Color in our world over the past few weeks.



Another cactus near our garage:

Our backyard.

Here's the place where we see our backyard while rocking and relaxing!

Outside our neighborhood....

Fun with Friends

Our good friends from VA, Gayle and Mike Andrews, visited us last week. We have known them for almost 31 years. We had a great time catching up and also introducing them to the unique beauty and ambiance of Tucson and the SW desert environment. We did a day trip to Bisbee, and also had a chance to do our favorite things.

Gayle and Martha had tea at the Chantilly Tea Room




Mike and I had a chance to play golf - twice. The second time we played the El Conquistador Canada course. That is the course that our house is on. The photo below shows us on the 14th green after I sank a birdie putt. Our house can be seen just to the left of my right arm. But Mike had the shot of the day, sinking a downhill, snaking, 40 foot putt that had to almost stop on the crest before funneling down to the hole. That was incredibly fun to watch.

Snow...in Tucson?!

During the night, I heard the rain. When I woke up...here is what I saw!


Once dawn broke and the night sky got lighter, this was my view.

In the front yard....





The view from the back of the house overlooks the golf course. Guess nobody will question a frost delay when their T-time is pushed back!

Ah, the snow is already gone.

Bet you wish YOUR winter only lasted a day, right?

February brought Friends!....(Martha)

Kathleen McDonough and I first met at a Girl Scout camp the summer of 1975. We were both “unit leaders” in charge of 24 campers and 2-3 staff counselors assigned to us. Needless to say we survived…barely. The kids knew more about camping than we did!

Kathleen and her friend, Mike Corbett, were "game" to visit the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum where we are members. We never tire of taking the docent led tours, live animal shows or watch the specially trained hawks in the Raptor show. One day trip took us to the wine country and pizza lunch at the Velvet Elvis!

Book now or the B&K Bed and Breakfast might be full!

Farkle? The BeeGee’s visit Arizona (martha)

The Bee Gee’s, Brian and Gina Stangl, visited us this past weekend. They made the great escape from the Minnesota winter.

Grandma (Jeff's sister,) and Papa (Grandpa) Stangl enabled their get-away by tending their three girls (5 1/2, almost 4 and 6 ½ months). Our weather was sunny and in the 70’s. Minnesota had snow and 7 degrees! Thursday was our first adventure…a tasting at a winery.

After that, we ate a late lunch……at Velvet Elvis (# 1 pizza in Arizona as deemed by a travel writer).

Friday morning we toured the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (hiking, botany garden and zoo).

Friday afternoon, we visited Old Tuscon Studios – the Hollywood of the West. It has been used for more than 170 films, TV shows, commercials and music videos.

Friday evening, Gina introduced us to Farkle. This is a pretty casual game played with a minimum of setup. All you need are six dice, paper/pen to record scores and a willingness to laugh...a lot..when you farkle!

Saturday, after eating cinnamon rolls, Brian, Gina and Jeff headed out to Sabino Canyon. They took the tram up the mountain, hiked to the summit and then walked 5.3 miles down the mountain. Despite warnings for mountain lions, the ONLY critter they saw was a tiny little lizard.

Jeff with his nephew and godson, Brian.

This is the trail they hiked down!

___________________________________________________

On a somber note, the recent Tragedy in Tucson leaves us deeply saddened for the victims, our community and the shooter. It was only 5 miles from our house. We are routinely at that shopping center (same time as the shooting,) but altered our routine that day because Jeff golfed in a tournament. Please pray for healing in our community and throughout our nation.

Kneed Repair……(martha)

At the beginning of November, I hurt my knee. On Monday, December 20th,
I went in for a tune-up (surgery to repair the torn meniscus).



Now we're headed to Minneapolis-St. Paul on Friday, December 24th, to celebrate Christmas with our families. We'll be talking to you in 2011.

Happy New Year!