Merry WHITE Christmas!

Hope everyone is having a very Merry Christmas!

First day of Winter

Even though today is the first official day of Winter, it feels as if we've been in the season for weeks now! So far, so good. The shovel, walk, ski, cook & repeat mode is suiting us just fine.

We are also enjoying the wonders of nature. Yesterday morning, a herd of elk came for a visit just up the street from our house on the moutnain ledge. It was truly a spectacular site!


In unrelated news, our granddaughter Roxanne turned one this past Friday, and her daddy Justin turns 27 tomorrow. Happy Birthday to two true sweethearts!

I am off to scour online recipes to come up for a special Christmas menu for Jim. There's no "Honey Baked Ham" store here, so it's a good thing I love to cook!

Happy Holidays!

Just not translating

Trying to snap some shots to show everything snow. But I don't think the beauty and the sheer volume is translating in any of the shots I've taken! You can't see the mountains, let alone more than 15 yards in front of you, and the powder is fresh, dry and everywhere It will be even prettier when the sun comes out and you can see the snow in the mountains. I'll have to get some more shots then.

It's actually not that cold if you are bundled for it, though skiing in this is challenging for us intermediate skiers. Just such a different existence from what we been used to all of our lives!

A Snowstorm of EPIC proportions!

So it can always be hit or miss with these forecasted snowstorms and winter storm warnings, but this seems like the real deal... The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for Telluride with predictions of 1 to 3 FEET of snow between now and Sunday night. Then there's a Winter Storm Watch for Monday and Tuesday with predictions of another 1 to 2 feet of snow.

We will be shoveling fools and then hopefully ski in some serious powder next week. Not planning on venturing out Sunday as the high is in the teens and the low is -3 degrees, and it's 100% chance of heavy snow! Believe it or not, we still have more than 300 days of sunshine a year here in sweet Telluride. And not to worry, we are laughing through all of this. We have chili, books, beer & wine, and a ton of food. It's all good!

No photo, but digitized in my brain

Just returned from a harrowing drive from Grand Junction: 3 1/2 hours, blinding-white-out-crazy-ass snow storm on top of nearly a foot of snow that had already fallen. Ridiculous way to break in us Southerners to this driving in the snow business. Our wiper blades were already malfunctioning. Add to that that they were collecting ice, so visibility was zero, seriously, zero for about 2 hours. We could not pull over for a number of reasons -- a) we could not see, b) we did not know what we were pulling over into, and c) we just couldn't do it! Going 20mph felt too fast, but also made for a long, trechorous drive.

We certainly expect to drive in snow living in Colorado, but this particular storm, with malfunctioning wiper blades, at night, truly stunk, to put it mildly.

Jim is my hero as I am sitting here alive typing this blog thanks to his safe driving.

A Wonderful Visit!

Jim and I just returned from a really nice two week visit to Atlanta to visit our families. Lots of laughs, hugs and kisses, and a ton of food! We left with great memories and lots of great photos to remember them. Above is our granddaughter Mary Ansley, who recently turned 3 years old. She loves to swing, play dolls and watch cartoons.

Below is Jim with daughter Kaitlin (19) and Mary Ansley. Kaitlin is in her sophomore year at GA Perimeter College and hopes to transfer to Georgia State next fall.


Our other little babydoll granddaughter is Roxanne, who turns one in two weeks. Below, is Jim's son Justin, his wife Adriane, and Roxanne. She is simply precious and full of personality!


Roxanne thinks Grandpa's nose is a toy.


We stayed with my family at the house I grew up in. Always a pleasure to have family get togethers at Mom & Dad's. They are even more special now that we live so far away.