Hiking With Friends

Happy Monday and end of October to you! This morning I joined my two walking buddies and we drove up to an Open Space area called Devil's Backbone; it gave us different place to walk, but with the high winds it equaled our three miles at home. The weather was nice, except for the wind and it was a wonderful outing. I can tell you these two friends are in the 70's and often put me to shame with their pace and stamina. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Charlotte and I at the Keyhole.  She taught in the area and often would take her students here for nature studies.  She pointed out things I never would have seen alone.

You can tell how windy it was by looking at our hair.

Charlotte and Lillian~love these gals!

I already am planning on taking family and friends here to hike, when it's springtime or summer.  Our youngest daughter and her family hike here all the time.  There were a lot of hikers we met on the trail.
Now I'm ready to have some lunch and then do some sewing; later on Hunter goes to a new vet for his annual checkup.
Hope you have a great day!
Hugs,
Noreen

Date Night

Happy Friday to you! Thank you to all those who wished Rich a Happy Birthday, I know he appreciated it! So every Thursday night Rich and Sue have a date night-isn't that sweet that after almost 50 years they still take one night a week to spend together. Amazing! Last night, as usual, they went out to dinner and these arrived in my inbox this morning. Does Sue know I was looking for something to blog about other than painting?! She must; this was her dinner and doesn't it look so good.  I wouldn't have been able to have this Scalonie, due to the coating and gravy, but it looks like it would melt in your mouth.

Here is a great picture of my brother, taken on an IPhone.  Love it, it really shows his whole personality.  The Salmon looks pretty tasty too.

I'm off to walk this morning and then have to empty out the other half of our closet so hubby can paint when he gets home from the golf course; no he isn't playing, he's working this morning.  I see some sewing in my future and probably some cleaning.  I hope you have a great day today and a fabulous weekend.
Blessings~
Noreen

A Special Day Today

Here is our group from Saturday's game-sitting down is my man with the CU shirt on, our friend Dave; back row-my brother, sister of my heart, Aletha and me.
Today is a very special day-it is my brother's birthday, he is now 76.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY RICH!
Everyone, including all of our family love him; he is funny, loving, kind, generous, thoughtful, athletic, devoted to family and so Irish.  There are so many family traits we share, which makes me laugh when we are together.  He still owns his appraisal business and works every day; he has always been such a great businessman and loves going to work.  I am so glad that we got to celebrate his birthday early.  I couldn't be prouder, it is so incredible to have him as my big brother.  We all love  you Rich!

Lifelong Friends

Here are the photos of our gathering for the Stanford/CU football game on Saturday; unfortunately I didn't get any with my brother and sil. CU is now bowl bound.  Loved our time together, but it went too quickly.

Makes me wish we had more time to spend with Dave and Aletha.  Aletha and I go back a long way-to our early teens; no matter where life has taken us, we still love spending time together.  Our hubbies are the best of friends too.
What made it even more enjoyable was that after five hours of waiting for our flight that was delayed, we got to watch the first half of the Broncos game on the plane.  It was like our old team was back.
Driving home we saw big freeway signs that read "United in Orange", which was perfect since we won.
Have a great Wednesday,
Joy to  you!
Noreen

A Sweet Victory

Happy Tuesday to you!  On Friday, hubby and I flew to San Francisco to spend the weekend with my brother and sister of my heart.  The reason for the trip was simple-Stanford University was playing Colorado and we have a bit of a family rivalry that goes back and forth.  Truth be told, you can take the gal out of California, but you can't take California out of the gal/guy.  We had a wonderful time, but for some reason I can't get two photos to upload.  Our dear lifelong friends came up from Carmel to go to the game with us, which made the day even sweeter.  There were rumors floating around the CU really had a good chance of beating Stanford.  Given the fact that for the last three games we attended together, Stanford tromped on us-we were hoping the rumors proved to be true.  The final score was 10(CU)to 5(Stanford). We had a wonderful time, enjoyed a nice tailgate party and got to go out for dinner after the game.  Our friends did not want the evening to end and neither did we.  I'm off to walk and will share more in the coming days.
I hope you are enjoying the weather where you are; it's cold and cloudy here today.
Blessings~
Noreen

Tea Time

It was that time again with our girls, such fun! Such good training. An excellent lunch of Tomato Soup, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Salad, plus a Paleo Pumpkin dessert. Enjoy the pics.

Boys will be boys; while the girls sipped on tea and discussed their favorite book, the boys played upstairs and as you can see there is more than one comic in our family.  Mr. B loves showing off his skill at weight lifting.

Hope you had a great weekend.
Joy to you!
Noreen

Another Great Product from Chewy

Hello Pet Lovers, Ms. Sydney from Chewy always gives us so many excellent choices and this month's is a perfect example. I am so aware of the need for dental health in our dogs and always looking for items that will help with keeping Hunter's teeth and gums healthy.

This Bristle Bone is the perfect size for him.

He loved it and I'm sure it will help.

Here is the description provided by Chewy:

It's a doggy dentist's favorite tool and a doggy's favorite chew… all in one! The Busy Buddy Bristle Bone Dog Toy has nylon bristles and rubber nubs that stimulate the gums and remove plaque and tartar as dogs entertain themselves gnawing and chewing trying to get their hard-earned reward: rawhide! Bristle Bone Dog Toys are available in multiple sizes and include 4 treats.

Key Benefits

• Durable nylon and rubber construction, includes 4 Busy Buddy treat ring refills
• Comes with all-natural rawhide treats
• Nylon bristles and rubber nubs that stimulate the gums and remove plaque and tartar
• Made using compressible rubber that's perfect for medium-strength chewers
• Available in multiple sizes

The only drawback is that just four treat rings come with this toy.  I love that they are made in the USA.

You can find other great products here:  https://www.chewy.com/busy-buddy-bristle-bone-dog-toy/dp/48842   They have incredible prices and customer service; check them out!

Disclaimer:  We received the treats free of charge as a Chewy Influencer.  All opinions are my own.

Happy Birthday To Our Girl

This Sunday is our daughter, Carrie's, birthday; unfortunately we will be in California for the Stanford-CU football game. Last night we celebrated our girl; we all gathered for dessert and showered her with love. She is such a remarkable woman~so kind, mature, grace-giving , thoughtful, loving; the list could go on and on. We all love her to pieces! I don't know what her dad and I did to deserve such an incredible daughter, we are so thankful for her. I fixed an apple and blueberry crisp(Paleo recipe)and everyone enjoyed it. You know you've got a large family when there is only a tiny bit left from a 9"x13" baking dish.  Here she is with her youngest.

Her hubby is a clown and this was so cute to watch, little Miss E was giggling at her daddy.

We will be heading out tomorrow for the weekend, it is just a short trip-but will be filled with lots of fun.  Rumors have it that CU actually has a chance this year; in the past it has been a landslide on Stanford's side-can't wait to see how we play.
Hope you all have a great day today.
Blessings to you!
Noreen

The Cottage by Michael Phillips

Once again, a timeless treasure has continued the saga of the "Secrets of the Shetlands" by Michael Phillips.
Here is a little bit from the publisher:

"When Loni Ford is informed that she has inherited property in the Shetland Islands, she laughs. She wants nothing more than to sell it and be done with it. But when she arrives in the North Sea enclave, she is stunned to find that "the Cottage" is not at all what she expected, nor is David Tulloch, the man most of the islanders believe to be the rightful heir.

The locals could hardly be more surprised that the heir is a woman--and an American. Loni, in turn, finds the islanders quaint and a bit behind the times. Expecting David to be as provincial as the rest of his clan, she discovers that there is far more to the man than meets the eye. And there is something about the peaceful atmosphere of the place--and the character of its most prominent citizen--that soon gets under her skin."

I read the first book in the series and was totally delighted; it had been some time since I read any of Mr. Phillips books.  Of course, I love all stories that take place in Scotland or Ireland and this second book was no exception.  I already felt like I knew the characters and Mr. Phillips continued to embellish his characters in a rich and deep way.  This story transports its readers to the place.
I loved it, but it left me wanting more; I hope his next book comes out soon.
I would highly recommend this series to everyone.  I rate it a Diamond Rating and will look for this series to continue.  This is a series I will keep for my family and others who love historical Christian Fiction.

Disclaimer:  I received a free copy from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing.  No review, positive or otherwise, was required; all opinions are my own.

Noreen

Eye Candy

Have I told you enough how much I love Maine and all of New England in the Fall?  When my days get busy and I am in a rush, I can always day dream about New England. Hope you enjoy!

These pictures make me want to jump on a plane and head there; but the colors would possibly be past their peak by the time I arrived.  The thing is when you take photos of the incredible colors, they never turn out as vibrant as they are in person; at least this is what we found on the two trips that we made years ago.  Our last trip was for our 25 anniversary and was 14 years ago, so I'm thinking we may need to go back next fall to celebrate our 40th anniversary.  We'll see; I remember talking about having a small condo there so we could spend each autumn there, but somehow our ship never came in.
I'm off to my Fig Leaf(quilting) club today and then hope to get to the sewing room this afternoon~I am so behind in my projects.
Blessings~
Noreen

Our colder nights have helped bring the vibrant autumn color to the trees and I'm so thankful for the beauty we behold. Enjoy!

Our burning bushes just didn't turn this year-I think because they are still so small.  These are in our neighborhood and I get to walk by them daily when I do my 3 mile loop.  Love them!

Such a stark contrast against the blue sky with puffy white clouds

This year has been the best for colors since we've lived here-coming up on 9 years.  I'm going walking in a few minutes and then plan to spend the day sewing. I did my best to get to the machine this weekend, but we had several activities that hindered it; yesterday we had our snow bird friends over to catch up before they drive their rig out to Borrego Springs for the winter.  We had such a good time catching up and they'll be back over the holidays, so we aren't bidding them adieu yet.
I hope you had a great weekend and that your week starts out well.
Joy to you!
Noreen

Happy Friday to you.  As usual, last night I was running around getting dinner together and totally forgot to take pictures.  I will try to remember tonight to take some;  our guests enjoyed the Butternut Squash soup-which was actually three recipes combined, the roasted root vegetables and cornish game hens.  Ruth brought fresh berries for desert-yum is all I can say.  I love fruit, more than bread even and since it is towards the end of the season, I throughly enjoyed the strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.  We played a couple of games-one of cards and two of Sequence.  Today I walked and then went to my quilt meeting.  It was such fun; I always learn new techniques and tricks and today was another example-the hostess shared her method of making table runners with "Quilt as you go" method.  On the way home, I took some photos of brilliant maple trees and Aspens; I am still awaiting them to arrive at my inbox so I can share them with you!  This weekend I've got to work on my Fig Leaf project-we are supposed to have it done by Tuesday.  My good friend told me that the instructions were very difficult to follow, so I am going over to her house tomorrow to have her show me what she learned.  It is cooler here, bits of sunshine poke out and then disappear behind the clouds.  Every one I know has already turned their furnaces on-it's that cold in the morning.
I was so disappointed in our football team last night-just didn't seem like they were all there mentally and playing as well as normal.
I hope you have a great weekend.
Hugs,
Noreen

It's Thankful Thursday and I'm so thankful for all of life, all the blessings from above and for the Grace that has been poured out on me.  Yesterday was a very cool, even cold day here in Colorado!  I attended my ladies bible study and then spent the afternoon with hubby.  He painted our hall/guest bathroom and we also went shopping for the dinner we are preparing tonight for our friends.  In case you are interested, I'm making Butternut Squash Soup, roasted vegetables, bbq'd Cornish Game Hens, a rustic olive bread and our friends will bring fruit for desert.  I will be cooking a good part of today and this afternoon take some neighbor gals to a cute little boutique that has cute tops, purses, leggings, camp's, jewelry and goodies.  I hope to get some photos of our dinner tonight; if I can remember. After dinner we will be playing cards or board games. Hubby will make sure we DVR the Bronco's game to watch after they head home.
 Life is good and I'm so thankful for my beloved, my family, my furry companion who warms my heart-Hunter and for all my friends.  I'm thankful we live with incredible technology, regardless of the fact that I am annoyed by FB sending me text alerts that tell me about recent posts by you, my friends.    Tomorrow I hope to have some new photos, but I've also got a quilt meeting in the morning and may not.  There are days that just fly by so very quickly that I am surprised when I realize that I didn't post.
I pray your day is good and filled with peace; we certainly need it during these awful election times.
Blessings~
Noreen

Celebrating Autumn

Good Morning to you! Our nights are getting colder and our trees are getting brighter and more vibrant-I love it! Yesterday I was having issues with getting my pictures up, but here they are.  Hubby was in a goofy mood and making lots of silly faces at the grands.

The hay ride-so fun, brought back memories from when our girls were young.

Our Peanut took this photo I think. She loves taking pictures; little Man was also trying to get our camera to take some of his Papa.

These Mums were so pretty and I know Peanut too this photo.

Again, more silliness. Love this man to pieces.

A cute little guest cottage, the decorations were perfect.

So all my family, even Little Man takes selfies all the time; I wanted one of my man and me.

I'm embracing the season; the only thing I've resisted is having lots of Autumn scent candles burning.
Hope you are enjoying some beauty of this season.
Noreen