Our friends for 30+ years, Hank and Elinor Tourtillott, live in Casa Grande, Arizona. (Casa Grande is about 45 minutes SW of Phoenix.) We like to visit them this time of year, both to catch up on the news and take advantage of the warm winter weather Arizona offers.  This year Eli is having some health problems, an even more important reason to touch base with the two of them.

We first met Hank and Eli when we bought a home in Colorado’s foothills west of Boulder, and became good friends. That was back in the early ’80s, and we have kept up the relationship through all of our subsequent moves, which include Oregon, Wisconsin, Arizona, and back to Colorado. They are good people, and we consider them family.

This year we made arrangements to meet our daughter, Felicity, at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix on our Arizona junket.  She flew in from Portland, Oregon, courtesy of  her boyfriend. We celebrated Felicity’s 29th birthday as well as visiting with Hank and Eli.

Blondie relaxes in the hotel room

Acting on a tip from Hank, the Legacy Suites became our base of operations.  We reserved a suite of adjoining rooms, one for us and the other for Felicity.

Our base of operations for this trip

We didn’t realize the place had a pool, or we would have brought our swim suits. (ha, ha) The weather was great the whole time, with daytime temps in the upper 70’s and night time temps in the upper 40’s.

When we arrived in the late morning, we were told we couldn’t check in until 4:00 P.M.  This gave us about 5 hours to kill. Felicity decided to take in a movie — the latest “Underworld” sequel — while Pam and I visited an IKEA store to pick up up a few ideas about living in a small space (which we will need if our land hunt eventually leads us to owning a small cabin). You have to think ahead…

We celebrated Felicity’s birthday with cake and a gift.

Felicity's birthday cake.

Felicity opening her gift

We bought ice cream for the cake from the Dairy Queen located across the road, and had a small party. It was good to have a chance to catch up.  It’s been about two years since we last visited Felicity in Portland.

The desert is renowned for it sunsets, and we were treated to some brilliant ones while in Casa Grande.  My point-and-shoot camera doesn’t really do justice to these kinds of shots, but here is one sunset:

Arizona sunset #1

Hank and Eli are of our parent’s generation, and, sadly, they have begun to have some medical issues. Because of this we needed to keep our 2 visits to about 2 hours each.  We found both of them as sharp and quick-witted as ever, and decidedly enjoyed our time with them.

Eli and Pam talking up a storm

Hank and Pam are exchanging comments with Eli

We hope the two of them enjoyed the visit as much as we did! In our “off” times we sat in the sun, read, walked Blondie, and just enjoyed the warm and clear days.

After the visits, birthday cake, and sunsets, we had to head home. We dropped Felicity off at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor airport, then headed north to Colorado, arriving home late in the day. (Felicity was in Portland many hours before we arrived in Colorado.) The trip back featured good weather, but returning to snow country made us regret not being able to spend more time in Arizona’s sunshine. Round trip was 1,440 miles.

One place we ate deserves special mention. Hank and Eli had suggested a restaurant called Mimi’s Cafe, which features French and southern (Louisiana) food. A banjo on the wall, part of the jazz theme, summed it up with the message it held: “Bonjor, Y’all!”  The food was very good, and we enjoyed the experience.

Here is a slide show with these and more photos taken on this trip:
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Thats it for now. Thanks for looking in!

We may have a white Christmas after all. We woke up to a light coating of snow this morning, about 1/2 inch. It is just enough to make everything lightly powdered in white. This sure  makes the outdoor lights look more festive. A light coating is all we need, and it looks like that is all we will get between now and the 25th.

Pam has the week after Christmas off, as her work place closes down for a winter break. I’ve taken a few days off that week, so we will have some time to shop the after-Christmas sales and take a trip to look at some properties we have seen on the “For Sale” sites we monitor. We have often shopped and celebrated our Christmas after the 25th. This goes back to my retail days, when the weeks leading up to Christmas were filled with long hours and odd schedules. Both of us are looking forward to the break.

Ok..I admit it. I do have an off-beat sense of humor. To all who commented on the “Feliz Navidad” clip (and the limited-distributed “Santa Claus is Coming To Town”) thanks for your feedback. I find humor to be a good way to relieve tension and gain a bit of perspective. I hope these brought a smile to your face and maybe made your day easier. There will be more clips throughout the next year.

Pam’s father has taken a turn for the worse. He is suffering from advanced Alzheimer’s, and now needs to be put in a full care facility. Up to this point he had been doing OK in an assisted living unit, but has reached the point where that no longer works. Pam’s brother Larry has done a Hurculean job of taking care of Myron’s affairs, and the entire family, including Pam and myself, thank him for his dedication. Larry is now in the process of finding a care facility for Myron.

I’m listening to Christmas music as I type this, mostly instrumentals. Its a good feeling. I am looking forward to Christmas and the break next week. To all who visit this blog, have a Merry Christmas!

Welcome!

Welcome to all who might be looking at this page as a result of our Christmas card, which included the address of this web site and blog. Pam and I wish you the best of the season!

A year ago this blog did not exist. I started it last spring (February 23)  as a means of letting extended family and friends know what we’re doing and what’s going on with us. So, what happened in the last year? Plenty. Some good, some bad; the year was a real mixed bag.

My Dad died on December 27th, 2010. As that anniversary approaches he’s on my mind a lot. We also lost Pam’s Aunt Angela in the last year (and her husband Uncle John a year prior). They were among the few relatives who had visited us when we lived in Arizona and here in Colorado. These losses have been low points.  Additionally, Pam’s father is in the late stages of Alzheimer’s at a care facility in Wisconsin.  Adding to the list: A good friend for 30 years, Elinor, from our Nederland mountain living days, recently had a stroke.  We’re in that stage of life, I guess, where the previous generation is starting to leave us and it hurts to lose them.

On the up side, Pam’s sister Becky had both of her daughters, Caitlin and Lilly, graduate from their respective colleges. Way to go! My sister Kitt (Carolyn) visited us in early June for a few days. We enjoyed her visit and the opportunity to catch up with each other. Pam’s friend Sarah from our Madison, Wisconsin days, was able to meet with us while she was in Colorado; her home is in Rhode Island.  Sarah’s son was married this year, and she had a lot of photos to show us. It was good to see her again. My cousin Marcia became a grandmother, and is delighted to have a grandbaby. There is a whole new generation growing up from nieces and nephews who have married and started families.

Our kids, Felicity and Toby, did OK last year. Both are employed and making it on their own. I guess that counts for something in this economy!  Felicity is living in Portland, Oregon, and enjoys city life. Toby is living in Longmont, Colorado, which is north-west of Denver. Both are in good health and trying to make their way in the world – or at least live above the poverty line. Felicity is working part-time and trying to develop her web site design and maintenance company. Toby is working at a manufacturing plant that makes small metal parts for a variety of products. Neither is living high off the hog, but they seem to enjoy what they’re doing. That counts for something.

Most of you know I ride a motorcycle, and have since before I was married. (We celebrated our 37th anniversary this August.) I did ride to the California coast in June, and co-sponsored a rally in Durango, Colorado in July. We had people from many Western states attend, and a good time was had by all.

In a similar vein, I’ve been working on my ’76 Scout II 4×4, my 2001 Mountain Max snowmobile, and was able to purchase an ATV. I enjoy all 3 rides in addition to riding my motorcycle.

Pam continues her animal rescue work. We fostered kittens again this year, our 19th foster litter since 2004. The last 2 kittens were returned to their shelter about 2 weeks ago, where they were put up for adoption. Many get listed on-line at www.petfinders.com. If you are ever looking for a pet, this site is a good place to visit! We also acquired a 3rd rescue dog in November. Auburn Jo is mostly Spaniel, but has some Italian Greyhound and some unknown mix in her genetic make-up. She is settling in well. Between the fosters, our pets, and the outside cats that more-or-less call our place home, we often look like Pet Central. 140 pounds of cat litter per week, anyone?

Pam and I embarked on a quest in 2011 to find a piece of Colorado high country recreational land we could afford to purchase. Although the town we live in is not large, neither of us is particularly fond of living in it, and we feel the need to get out on a frequent basis. We thought we’d found our “dream land” but ran into issues of access. The parcel we wanted is reached by a road that runs through BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land, and the road is not considered public. So, the search continues.  Land purchase in the high country demands a long learning curve, and apparently we’re still learning.  Maybe we’ll find “it” in 2012?

We encourage you to look at the various pages on our site. There are separate pages that talk about most of the things I’ve mentioned so far. There are  Kids, Cats, Dogs, and Jer’s Toys pages, with pictures, that go into more detail.  You can get to them from the main page.  Get there by clicking the  “AppleAttic Home” tab at the top of this page, and from there visit the “specialty” pages by clicking on the tabs at the top of the page. (Here is a shortcut.)  Many of the photos can be clicked on to open a larger version. If you click on photos in the slide shows they will open into a larger version with captions and comments.

If you really have time to kill, you can go back through my previous posts on this blog! 🙂  Most of the posts have photos, so you can pick and choose what you care to read based on what looks interesting.

If you wish to leave a comment, or read comments left by others, click on the little blue dot at the bottom-right of each of these posts. A page will come up where you can enter your comments and send them to us. We would like to hear from you! I generally post a couple of times a month, so check in now and then in 2012 to see what’s new.

May this Christmas  be a good one for you and your families, wherever you all may be.

Home for Christmas

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!