An Unfinished Life.....

We watched this movie last night and both agreed we liked it alot. Most of it was filmed around the Kamloops, Cache Creek area of BC. Directed by Lasse Hallstrom, it is worth renting. He also directed "Chocolat, Cider House Rules,and Cassanova". Ebert and Roeper give it 2 thumbs up! I like Robert Redford, and love this rugged guy he portrays, he just gets better with age.

Yesterday.......

Yesterday we sat outside in the first really warm day we have had here in weeks. Jim went over to the golf course and hit some balls on the practice range. After my daily 1.5 mile walk, I read, wrote, listened to my music and just enjoyed the warmth of the sun.......With the dogs next to me and having talked to both Jeremy and Christa, it was a wonderful day.

Today it is raining, such is life in the desert. However, just so you know, we are grateful not to be shovelling snow or being cold.

....Little Books......

I love making these little books, the top one I made for my wonderful friend, Christa, and the bottom one for me. A great place to jot down those thoughts that you know will escape you if you don't capture them in that moment. Christa and I talk about this all the time. Trying to remember all those things we have on our mind becomes more difficult as the years go by, so we need to write them down.

So, Christa, yours is being mailed today. I hope that brings you a smile :)

Mesa Flea Market.....

Oh what a fun afternoon we spent. My sister Ev and Richard came up from Casa Grande and met us for lunch at our fav. Paradise Cafe and Bakery, such yummy food. We went to this great, colorful place, Mesa Flea Market. It is alot bigger than the one in Yuma and have all kinds of really cool stuff. The colors are fabulous, and there is is such a varitey of things.

Jim and Richard were great sports, we stayed there for a couple of hours, then came back for a drink at our RV park. Do you notice some favourite colors here? Pink, green, aqua, it's so hard for a girl to resist. I took so many photos, I had to change my battery pack. Of course you know there are more to come.....keep posted.

Mt. Carlyle Lodge, Kaslo, BC

This one is for my friend Shirley Howdle, who will be skiing here for a week of powder. She left this morning for Kaslo, BC and then will fly in by helicopter to the lodge at 7500'. We met in Feburary 1985 at Fairy Meadows, back country skiing for 10 days. We had a wonderful time, great powder, terrific runs, and made some lovely friendships that have lasted all these years. So, Shirley, ski your heart out, ski safe, I wish you a ton of powder, good food, and new friends. It sure brings back great momories those days of skiing together.

Happy Birthday Jan.....

This is my Happy Birthday wish for my dear friend Jan Aitken who is on her winter vacation with husband Joe in Mexico. I hope that you have a wonderful day, and an even better 2007......and I hope that this is the year we finally get to see each other again.

On the road to "Globe"

Globe is about 51 miles east of Gold Canyon on Hwy 60. We thought it would be a fun way to spend the day, and the drive was very interesting. There are wonderful rock formations, that looked like someone stacked them on top of each other. There still was some snow left over from a couple of nights ago. As we drove up this winding road we reached the top of the pass and the elevation marker said it was 4600'. But the most surprising was the huge Copper Mine, mined by Phelps Dodge, and the Austrialian company BHP. It must be at least 20 miles long and we could not see where it ended across the valley. We drove thru such interesting little mining towns called "Superior", Miami" and then into "Globe". They were really trying to keep the character of their towns alive, especially the historic downtown.

There is much better shopping in Scottsdale, to be sure.

Saguaro.....

The SAGUARO is the largest cactus in the USA, commonly reaching a height of 40 feet and reach an age of up to 200 years.
Approximate developmental history of a saguaro (varies according to moisture availability) @ 65 years it might develop it's first arm and reach 18 feet, from 85 -100 years it will start to branch out and become a mature cacti. Gila woodpeckers make their homes in these giants. They look like wonderful sentinals guarding the desert.

Jim is 6'3" tall, so you can tell by comparison how truly big this Saguaro is.

"Paradise Bakery and Cafe"

This is a great bakery and cafe that they have here in the Pheonix area. They make wonderful desserts and yummy lunches. As it has been raining here and even snowing, it was a good day for a drive. Jim enjoyed this enormous piece of carrot cake. I was good and only had a bite. The good news is the weather is supposed to improve and by Friday of this week we will be in the 70's.

Colors of "My Life"......

Thought I would share a few of my favorite things, the colors I love, my scrapbooking stuff, one of my journals, my I-Pod, cell phone, Mont Blanc pen and some big time bling by "Rafael" . Sweet!

Desert Dogs....

These cactus are a small part of some of the ones we see on our morning or evening walk.

Jim was away at the Barrett/Jackson Car Auction in Scottsdale this week, when I took the "girls" for a long walk in the desert right behind the RV park where we are staying. The sun was close to setting, so the light was perfect to take a few photos. There are all kinds of game trails thru this big piece of un-developed land where we walk. We hear coyotoes at night howling just outside the 5th wheel, there seems to be a good size resident population right here.

The weather has been sunny, but really windy, and so we are forced to spend a bit more time inside. Usually, we are up to enjoy our coffee waiting for the sunrise. That is always the best time of day for me, I hate to miss a sunrise, it's something that you can never re-capture.

We hope that where ever you are reading this blog, that you are well, happy and keeping safe on those winter roads.

Vintage Signs of Mesa. Arizona.......

As some of you know, I love these old vintage Motel and RV signs, and Mesa has some wonderful ones. I found these ones last year, and went back yesterday to take these photos. The awesome "Buckhorn Baths" one looks like it is slated for developement, I wonder who will buy this great old neon sign?

Thanks to those of you who have asked about "Cookie" She has recovered, and is back to her lazy, couchnapping, sun seeking self.

We have our statelite TV hooked up now, so we get the Canadian news and weather. Wow, is Ontario and Quebec ever getting the winter blast. Hear from my son Jeremy today, 15th storm in 11 weeks, Vancouver gets hit again, both he and Julie's school are still open.

Gold Canyon, Az

Here is our view from our 5th wheel for the next month. It is a great place to walk the dogs, as we can just go outside "Canyon Vista RV Park" onto BLM lands and they have acres of desert to run in. It was so cold here last night, 25c degrees that all the water froze. I know some of you are laughing because where you are it is -29c, go ahead, I totally understand, wimps that we are, thinking that we might be able to suntan. Ha! I always watch the weather all across Canada to see what's happening, so where ever you live, I can see what's going on in your area.

Thanks Shane for the wonderful comment on the blog, and to let you know "Jim" your man up north is ready for deployment to where ever you want to send him. Any region that is under your Australian Command, Pacific or Asia will do. He is trying to stay sharp and in shape while he waits for you call!! After living with me and 2 large dogs in less than 350 sq. feet, for the past 2 ½ months, I am sure it would be a welcome change!

Experiment.....

I made this page for an Ali Edward's scrapbook challange. My word is "Experiment" I did this page without a photo, and only used words that had alot of meaning to me. "Random Moments of Beauty." Simple and true.

5:00 am .....my coffee

This is my latte and book I was reading at 5:00 am this morning, as our older dog "Cookie" has been sick all night. You would not believe what you see in the RV park that early, walking around and around with a sick dog. There are peacocks here that rest in the trees at night, they really scared Cookie when they started making their croaking sound. All Cookie wanted to do was head back to the 5th wheel. We hope she just is a bit off, but I will stay with her all day just to make sure. Hoping you are all having a good day:)

Pebbles and my Pillow

This is our Pebbles, as soon as I get up, she flops down on my pillow, and then I cover her up. She is an amazing, loving pet. It is cool enough here for humans and dogs to need to be covered up.

Curious....my name

This is a page I made from "the Dares" all about your name., and who you are. It was fun and if you want to know, Dagmar means, " glorious day" "joy of the land" "she with fair hair" Who knew?

Vintage New Year 2007

Found this vintage Cocktail sign just outside Coolidge, AZ. Thought it was a great way to bring in the New Year, galloping right along into 2007. So, here is wishing all those of our buddies travelling to take extra special care on the roads. To my son, Jeremy, hope you are feeling better darlng... shall I send some chicken soup?
xoxo Love Mom

New Year's Eve

Here we are celebrating the last day of 2006. We had a fantastic dinner, starting with jumbo shrimp, breaded scallops, and a tri tip roast. Great green bean salad, potatoes, garlic bread, wine, champange, and ice wine. It ended with this roaring bonfire. Happy New Year to all of our friends out there that read our news.