Christmas 2014

The time off so far has been fun.  My sisters and BIL came to town for a few days.  We did a lot of tourist things and went to a bunch of local restaurants.  A good time was had.

One thing that disappointed me was the lack of hot air balloons.  I talk all the time about how we see balloons in the air all year 'round.  No such luck.  I guess all the balloonists were working at their day jobs in the days leading up to Christmas.  My younger sister did get lucky on Christmas Day.  She went out to get the newspaper and there one was at the end of the street.  She took a couple of photos (I don't have copies).  They left on Friday and wouldn't you know, one took off from the park out back this morning.

In looking at my last post, this appears to be the same balloon shown in my previous post.  I guess they're a balloonist that resides in this neighborhood who finds the park a convenient launching pad.

Today I added to my small amount of Christmas decorations.  While my sisters and BIL were in town, it occurred to me that putting Christmas tree balls in my cut glass bowls would be pretty.  I was at Target today and they had decorations on sale so, what the heck.

I think they look very festive.

Happy Holidays!
Papillon

A Weekend - Gone Too Quickly

On Friday morning I was awakened by a hot air balloon.

My suspicion is that they were taking advantage of the weather.  Friday was a lovely day.  Sunny and cool but not cold.

For the past several days, the local weather people have been sounding the alarm.  The front that had dumped a whole bunch of rain on California was headed our way.  Weather warnings!  Weather warnings!  This will hit on Saturday PM.

With this is mind, I did all my errands on Saturday because they were forecasting possible snow for the whole metro area and I wasn't sure what the roads would be like on Sunday.

Sure enough, the rain started around 7:30PM.  From the puddles remaining today, we must have gotten a significant amount of rain.  However, it wasn't the violent downpour the weathercasters had made it sound like we'd be getting.  It was more of an extended gentle rain. 

This morning I woke up to sunny skies.  It was chilly, made more so by a sharp wind.  It sounds like the wind has died down, but it's still quite chilly.

Having said all that, the metro area did get snow.  This picture shows why I don't live in the Sandia mountains east of town.  I try to avoid situations that involve me shoveling snow.

I'm still missing Oscar.  It's been a week and 3 days.  I miss seeing him curled up asleep in my recliner.  I even find myself missing him at 8 PM.  He had to have one vaso-dilator pill a day and that was the time I usually gave it to him.  Missing you, you silly furball.

Papillon

Missing Oscar

Over 16 1/2 years ago, I adopted an orange tabby named Oscar.  Here he is, just a day or so after coming home with me.

He has aged gracefully over the years, at least until April of this year.  At that time, he began losing weight.  Since he was not overweight at the time, this was not a good thing.

I took him to the vet who said it was a question of 16+ YO kidneys beginning to give out.  The vet gave me a prescription for Oscar, vaso-dilators to help his kidneys continue to function.

He did OK, but more and more little things started to surface.  He couldn't jump up onto things like he used to - such as my bed.  I put a chair in place so he'd have a halfway point to use.  Then, his balance was beginning to go.  He couldn't make quick turns. 

This past week, the downhill slide speeded up.  When I got home from work on Tuesday, he was so heavily asleep it took him a half hour to notice I was home.  Even more balance problems, including not being able to squat when he urinated and getting urine on the floor.

I called the vet and set an appointment for Thursday morning.  Wednesday evening we spent with him on my lap being petted.  By this point, he was still drinking water, but had stopped eating.

Since my appointment was early on Thursday, I was hoping for some peace and quiet.  No such luck.  There were a couple of unhappy cats letting everyone know how unhappy they were.  Plus, a large dog (golden Lab?) who did some barking. 

That said, I did get some alone time with Oscar in the exam room and got to hold him as he passed over.

I sure do miss him.

Here he is, about a week prior.

I love you, silly kitty.
Papillon

I Love Long Weekends!

Here it is, day 3 of my 4 day weekend.  I've been having fun so far.

Thursday was very quiet, I watched football for part of the day.  Two of the games were lopsided so I spent part of the afternoon reading a good book.

Friday had more activity.  The dining table I've been using at the new house fitted nicely in the old house, but was a bit small for the new one.  (OK, it occurs to me I need to start calling it the current house, since I purchased it over a year ago.)  Plus, the chairs I'd been using at the old house were in fairly crappy condition so I got rid of them when I moved.  In the meantime, I've been using folding chairs with the old table.

On a related note, a friend of mine has been downsizing.  She mentioned she was getting rid of her old dining table and getting a smaller one.  Having spent lots of time with my quilt group around the old table, I knew it was in good condition and even without any leaves added was bigger than my old one.  So, I asked her how much she wanted for her old table.  She quoted me a price, et, voila, I had it moved to my current house yesterday.  It's looking good.  (It's pictured with 4 of the 6 REAL chairs.)

The runner was made by another quilt buddy several years ago.  It's got an Xmas theme so fits in well with the season.

This morning I was awakened by the sound of people celebrating the weekend with balloon rides.  From the noise, it sounded as though they touched down in the park to swap out passengers.  Here are a couple of them.

Later I went to the Rio Grande Arts & Crafts Festival.  I saw lots of lovely things, but restrained myself from going heavily into debt by buying them all.  I did get a couple of Xmas gifts so it was a productive trip.

I'm not sure what I'll be doing tomorrow, but I plan on doing it in a leisurely fashion.

Feeling thankful,
Papillon

Afternoon flights

Usually we'll see hot air balloons in the morning.  It's unusual to see them in the afternoon.  So, I was surprised to walk out this afternoon and there were four of them.

I'm thinking they were taking advantage of absolutely perfect weather.  It was clear, not too hot, not too cold, very little wind.

One loitered over the park in back of the house for a while. 

The others were north of my house and heading farther away.

From the related color schemes, I'm thinking they belong to a local company that specializes in giving balloon rides. 

It was fun watching them.

Papillon

Lucky for trick or treaters

The 200 or so people that showed up at my house on Halloween got lucky.  That night it was chilly but clear.

That wasn't the case today.  It started raining around lunchtime and has continued, off and on, since. 

We're glad to see this.  After all, it was just a couple of months ago that New Mexico was officially out of drought conditions.  Even with that good news, there are still a lot of reservoirs that are WAY
below levels where they should be.  So more rain is a good thing.

Papillon

Halloween - oh, my word!

I bought my 'new' house about a year ago.  I had some remodeling to do so hadn't moved in when Halloween hit.  So, I wasn't sure what to expect this year.

In my previous house, the neighborhood was older and a bit farther to the west side of town.  Over the years, the kids seemed to grow up and move away.  The first several years I had a respectable but not overwhelming showing.  As the years went by, there were fewer and fewer kids and I always had candy left over. 

Here in the new neighborhood, things started at 6:30 and I now know what it's like to experience a human tsunami.  I think I had more kids troop to my front door in the first half hour than I did for the ENTIRE time I lived at the old house.  I think the longest I've gone between groups in the last hour has been about 3 minutes.  (Which I will use as the excuse if this is a bit disjointed.)

I strongly suspect that a large number of the kids don't live in this subdivision since I've not seen this many kids either individually or collectively coming out of the neighbors' houses.  I suspect some of the kids play sports in the park out back and decided we looked like we had potential.

I don't really have a problem with this.  With the exception of a few of the older kids who went 'minimalist', most of the kids have been well costumed.  If they've made the effort, why not get some candy?  A few minutes ago I saw the cutest, tiniest USAF 'officer' ever.  He was darling.  I find I'm amused at the parents who are 'trick or treating' for their babies (in strollers or being held).  Yeah, right.  Like those kids are going to see any of that candy.  Ever.

I forget where I saw it (Facebook, maybe?) but the suggestion was made to do a drinking game of shots whenever an Elsa from 'Frozen' showed up.  Surprisingly, I've not seen any so far.  I did see one pre-teen as 'Maleficent'.  A couple of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, one of whom was quite young and obviously tired. 

I was at the liquor store earlier and decided to follow the Halloween theme and get a bottle of Vampyre ale.  I'm glad I did because I think I'm going to be in the mood when this is all said and done.

Wow, I think I've just gone 5 minutes with no kids.  Things may be slowing down.  I'm thinking I'll give it until 8:00 and shut things down.  Spoke too soon, just had another group.

Oh, this is the first Halloween where I've seen so many smartphones.  Not just the kids, but also a few parents. 

Well, an honest little girl just told me she'd already been to my house.  OK, now I'm apparently getting repeats.  I may stay 'open' for the remainder of the bag of candy, but will be shutting things down.  End of bag or 8:00, whichever comes first.

It looks like I'm getting a bit punchy!  All for now.

Papillon

Well, it's about 10 after 8:00 and I've finally shut things down.  I usually give out Smartees - small rolls of very tart candy.  The manufacturer says there's about 217 servings in the big bag.  I have a few rolls left so it looks like I had approximately 200 kids come to my front door in just about 90 minutes.

At the old house, Oscar the cat liked to watch me hand out treats.  This year, he checked out a couple of groups and then, meh.  Granted, he's an old geezer at 16 YO, but I think he was overwhelmed.  He spent most of the evening in the recliner.

I think the house across the street either ran out of candy or energy about 7:45.  I totally understand.

Lovely weather - and then not so much

The day started out clear and nice.  Not surprisingly, there were balloons up early.  This one hovered over the park out back and then hit the burner, lifted off and headed north.

The first three photos were taken from my back patio (facing south).  The last photo was taken after I walked through the house and out the front door (facing north).

The weather forecast said that clouds would move in and the wind would pick up later in the day.  I went to brunch around noon.  There were clouds building on the western horizon - big, fleecy, white clouds.  When I walked out after lunch (about an hour later), imagine my surprise to see big, BLACK clouds much closer than the western horizon.

I headed west to check on my 'old' house that's for sale.  Keep in mind, on the west side of the ABQ metro area, there's a whole lotta open space.  As I'm driving along, the wind SUDDENLY really kicked up and put a whole lotta dust in the air.  At one point, I could barely see the car in front of me (about 6 car lengths away).  All I could see was their tail lights.  Fortunately, I was able to drive through the dust cloud and clearer air.  When I got to my 'for sale' house, you could feel that the temperature had dropped several degrees. 

Needless to say, I did a quick check of the house and headed back to my 'new' house.  I got back and prepared for some really nasty weather coming in.  Only to have it all peter out.  A few sprinkles, a few more wind gusts and then, nada.  Oh, well.  The rain would have been nice, but I'm glad it didn't turn out anything like it initially threatened.

Papillon

Voting

As you can see, I participated in early voting which started today.  There was a regular influx of people at the City Hall in spite of the fact that it's Saturday. 

Now I have to endure political ads for the next couple of weeks, knowing that nothing they say will have any effect on my vote.  Sigh.  I'm not fond of political ads at the best of times, but it's even more annoying now.  Especially the robo-calls to my home phone, more so since I seem to remember from a number of years ago that robo-calls are illegal in NM.  However, nobody pays much attention to that.

I find that, over the years, I've turned into something of a "yellow dog" Democrat.  For those unfamiliar with the term - it comes down to - if there's a political race between a Republican and an actual yellow-colored dog (probably of uncertain ancestry) running as a Democrat, I'm very likely to vote for the yellow-colored dog.

That said, I did vote for a couple of Republicans on the ticket, one of them being the Sandoval County sheriff.  He took over after the previous sheriff (a Democrat) apparently 'lost his mind'.  Not clinically so.  Or completely certifiable.  But close to the end of his second term in office, there were three or four incidents which did not put him in the most favorable light.  He explained that he was acting in his official capacity as sheriff, but everyone just kinda rolled their eyes and looked away.  The current sheriff (Republican) has done a proficient job and since the Democrat was an unknown quantity, I decided to vote for the 'devil I know'.  (So to speak.)

I can't say I'm 100% satisfied with some of the Democrats that I voted for.  However, in a number of cases, I was even less satisfied with their Republican opponents.

So, I've done my civic duty and will endure the remaining couple of weeks with as little whining as possible.

Papillon

Balloons Overhead

I was awakened this morning by the whooshing of propane tanks firing as balloons floated overhead.  I suspect they most likely didn't launch from the Balloon Fiesta field but more likely from some open space on the west side of Albuquerque.

It was lovely weather this morning.  However, I'm suspecting the evening Glowdeo may be cancelled.  Some nasty looking clouds are moving in from the west and I think I'm hearing intermittent thunder.

Papillon

Rainy Days

Yesterday and today, we've had cooler temperatures and sporadic showers.  Bad for Balloon Fiesta, good for the countryside.

Driving home from work yesterday afternoon, I spotted a lovely rainbow.

I did get some fun news further along on the way home.  I decided to fill up the car.  Imagine my pleasant surprise to see the price per gallon was $2.99.  It's the first time in I-don't-know-how-long that the price of gas has been below $3.00.  Granted, it's only a tiny bit below, but it's still a good thing. 

Papillon

Over the Back Fence

Balloon Fiesta is underway.  It started this past weekend (10/3) but I've become rather jaded after 20+ years so haven't really made much of an effort to track the balloons.

However, it's not hard to enjoy things when a balloon comes to me.

Granted, he didn't do any real 'flying' since he remained tethered to the ground.  You'll also notice it doesn't have a traditional gondola (passenger basket) underneath.  It was one man sitting in a chair-type device.

Here's another view as he fires up the propane.

What fun!  Nothing like my own 'personal' Glowdeo!  The neighborhood kids certainly enjoyed it.

I may have to do some balloon stalking next weekend.

Papillon

A night at the ballpark

Last night was a company event at the Albuquerque Isotopes.  For the unfamiliar, Albuquerque has long had a farm club for the LA Dodgers (with a short hiatus when they were the farm club for the Seattle Mariners).  Originally, our local team was the Albuquerque Dukes, named after the Duke of Alburquerque who held the original land grant.  (Yes, the Duke's version is the correct spelling of Alburquerque.  The current correct spelling of the city of Albuquerque is, in fact, incorrect.)

I don't remember the dates, but Albuquerque was without a baseball team for a number of years after I moved here when the team was sold to (I think) Portland. 

Then efforts were made to get another team in town.  When those efforts were successful, the new owners needed a new name since the name 'Dukes' went to the Northwest location.  The TV show, The Simpsons, had run a storyline where the fictional Springfield is worried that their minor league team, the Isotopes, is going to be sold to Albuquerque.  So our team has been called the Isotopes since, life imitating art.  They even put up some life-sized statues of the Simpson family (with permission of the show, of course).

July was the fourth wettest July on record.  This made it worrisome that the game would be rained out, especially because the morning looked really threatening.  Very dark clouds loomed over the Sandia mountains.  However, they cleared off as the day went on.  There were a few clouds in the area during the game, but nothing remotely like a rain cloud.

Here's one of the Isotopes batting at last night's game.

The weather was nicer than in years past.  The past few times I've gone to one of these annual events, the temperatures have been really warm, 90 degrees and thereabouts.

Last night started out at 81 degrees.  The temperature slowly dropped as the night/game went on and a stiff breeze popped up.

By the end of the eighth inning, the temperature and breeze made me wish I'd brought a lightweight jacket.  It was 71 degrees at 9 PM.  The 'Topes were also down - the Tacoma Rainiers won by a score of 5-2.  I suppose I could have stayed on to the end, but I headed on home. 

It was a nice enough evening. 

Papillon

Getting Caught Up

Last Sunday (6/29) I went to an all-day seminar put on by Mike Dooley.  I've long gotten his upbeat emails from The Universe.  He is a proponent of 'Thoughts Become Things'.  I had a good time and am glad I signed up for it.  Here's a picture of me with Mike.

I spent a quiet Fourth of July.  This woke me up Friday morning.  I don't recall seeing this shape of balloon years ago.  They seem to have become more popular since I've seen at least 3 different balloons of this shape in just the last month.

I'm not a big fan of going to one of the live Fourth of July events.  I did that many years ago and now prefer to watch the shows on TV from the comfort of my air-conditioned living room.  Sipping an adult beverage/libation. 

It turns out my neighborhood likes fireworks as much as they do Xmas decorations in December.  Neighbors a couple of doors down on either side had lots of fun.  Here're the folks on my west side.

 

Today I went shopping for more furniture.  I found a nice nightstand plus a couple of end tables for the living room.  It'll be fun to put them in place once they are delivered.

Papillon

More furniture

A quilt buddy of mine (Mary) has long had an extensive collection of Santa figurines.  Recently she decided to display it in a different manner so she wanted to sell the tall lighted display cases she'd been using.

A neighbor bought one of the cases.  While I was at our last quilt group get-together, Mary mentioned she was selling the remaining one and I said - I'm interested!  We agreed on a price and I set up a date and time with her to have it moved to my house.  That took place today.

Mary was rather astonished because my movers (Albuquerque Discount Movers) showed up early (that surprised me as well since I was still on the way to Mary's house when I got the call the movers were headed that way as well).  She was also impressed at the efficient way they handled things.  Apparently the neighbor's movers took well over an hour to get the first case bundled up and up the street to the neighbor's house.  Mine were in and out and had the case on the truck in about 15 minutes.

I've now got it set up at my house.  I do have one small problem.  In deciding on where to put it, I'd neglected to notice where the doors on the cabinet are located.  They're on the sides so I can't use the doors on the right since they're very close to a kitchen cabinet.  I think I'll leave it there for a while.  If having to put things in only on the left side begins to pall, I've got a Plan B location in mind.

Here's a picture of the cabinet with some of my cut glass in place.

I took the picture from the side since otherwise there'd be a lovely image of me reflected in the mirrors on the back.

I've had some folks (primarily at work) asking me if I'm done getting the house pulled together.  I have to explain that my old house was about 1,000 sq. ft.  The new house is a bit over 2,000 sq. ft.  When I moved, I only brought over about half the furniture in the old house.  So, I've filled in about 750 sq. ft. so far with a BUNCH more furniture to get.  Since I've no desire to go into debt by buying a bunch of furniture, I'm spacing out my purchases.  I figure it'll ultimately take me at least a year or more to finish my furniture buying.  Spread out the fun, so to speak.

Papillon

Sunday Morning Balloons

After several quiet weekends, the balloons were out in force this morning.  There were two balloons of an unusual shape, I got a picture of one of them.

Normally you don't see special shapes on routine weekends.  However, there was one this morning.

Here's a shot with multiple balloons.

There were lots more balloons in the area, but most were too far away for me to get a good shot.  I don't want the balloon to just be a tiny dot on the sky.

It sure is a fun way to wake up on a sunny Sunday morning.

Papillon

Furniture

I've been adding furniture to my new house.  Keep in mind, my old house was small (about 1,000 sq. ft.) with a huge yard (about 1/3 acre).  My new house has a MUCH SMALLER yard and is about 2,200 sq. ft.

When I moved from the old house, I donated a lot of my older furniture and had some other pieces go to the landfill.  Which means I've essentially been starting from scratch with furniture at the new place.

Recently I added a couple new pieces.  Four months and 4 days after I ordered it in early February, my bed frame finally arrived.  The mattress/box spring arrived a month earlier and the furniture store allowed me to use a 'rug roller' - which is a metal frame that got things up off the floor.  Here's what the new bed looks like.

The quilt is one I made years ago.  I'm not sure if I'm going to continue to use it or make a new one.  If I make a new one, the old one will be in place for the foreseeable future.

On Wednesday, I was at lunch with some coworkers.  One mentioned that a nephew (I think) was coming to stay with them (while in college, I think).  The room he'll be staying in had an armoire in it.  He decided he didn't need it so my coworker talked about selling it.

My ears perked up because I've been looking for an armoire or other cabinet with door/drawers.  My master bedroom does not have a linen closet so I've been making do with my bed sheets and towels.  There's a nice large niche in the wall by the door and that's where I planned on putting the armoire.

I asked my coworker if she could send me dimensions/price/pictures.  She did and mentioned she and her husband could deliver for a small fee.  SOLD!

Here's the armoire.

Here's the armoire being officially inspected.

The difference in color is because I used a flash in the cat photo and not in the other.

It's good to be getting more furniture.  That said, I've still got lots more furniture to buy. 

Papillon

Ups and downs this weekend

There have been some ups and downs this weekend.  Starting on Friday, we've had some rain showers move through each afternoon.  As I was leaving work on Friday, it had been raining, but stopped long enough for me to get to my car and get about halfway home.  At that point, it starts to rain.  No big deal, until it starts to hail.  Fortunately, it was only pin-sized, but it was fast and furious and VERY noisy and slightly scary.  I drove through it and finished the drive home.  No damage to the car.  Yeah!

Saturday morning started out with me running errands and then heading to the State Fairgrounds for a quilt/craft market.  Part of the way there, my 'low tire pressure' light came on.  WTH?  A few minutes later, it went off.  Again, wth?  I found a gas station and put in a few pounds in the front tires.  (The rear tire pressure was fine.)  In the process I got dirt all over my right fingers from the tires.  Sigh.

I had a good time at the quilt/craft marketplace.  I found several fun panels.  A couple I may leave as is, just sandwich, quilt and bind.  One, I may cut up and rework since I want a longer than wide panel and as is, it's wider than long.  It's kitchen/bistro themed and should look cute on the wall in the kitchen.  I managed to get all my shopping done while there was a shower going on outside.

I headed homeward.  On the way, I thought I'd do my weekly stop by the old house to check things are OK.  I got there, stuck my key in the deadbolt and started turning it.  Only to have the cylinder come part way out of the lock.  It then got stuck in position, which meant I couldn't get the key out of the lock.  Sigh.  Then, when trying to get things to a position that'd allow me to get the key free, it snapped off.  Sigh.  All items are about 20 years old so can't entirely say I was surprised.

I went to the new house and called a locksmith I'd used to rekey the new house.  He could be at the old house in about 45 minutes.  Hooray!!  I stopped on the way back to the new house and bought a new deadbolt.  I got back to the old house and read part of a Perry Mason mystery until the locksmith showed up.  He was able to replace the old lock with the new one and rekeyed the new one to match the old deadbolt key (I had another non-snapped one on hand.)  Problem solved!  Woohoo!

This morning (Sunday) was sunny with a few clouds.  Around 7:30 AM I woke up to hear balloons overhead.

And another - in the distance.

And two more.

I make it a point to sleep in on weekends so after taking these photos I went back to bed.  About an hour later, I was again awakened by balloons somewhere close.  I rolled out of bed and what do I see but a couple of different balloons landing in the park in back of my house.

I would have taken more pictures, but the batteries in my camera picked this point to start flashing 'low battery' warnings.  At this point, I got up and headed out to get groceries.

In early afternoon, more clouds started rolling in.  I know there are probably folks who'd planned lots of outdoor activities this weekend.  I, on the other hand, am glad to see the rain.  It sure made it easier to pull weeds in the backyard.  Not to mention giving me an excellent reason to stay inside and read a good book.

Here's hoping tomorrow goes well.  I've been feeling a bit paranoid when I've been driving (since Saturday morning), keeping a wary eye on where the 'low tire pressure' light is.  So far, no recurrences.  Keeping my fingers crossed.

Papillon

TREES! and other thoughts

A coworker made me laugh and laugh recently.  Her daughter is planning on going to law school and has been making some trips to various schools that she is interested in.  Two of the schools were William & Mary (Virginia) and UNC (North Carolina, of course).  Coworker and daughter scheduled a several day trip to check out the campuses.

Note:  both coworker and daughter (plus rest of their family) were born and raised in the Albuquerque metro area.  There's a reason there aren't a whole lot of tall native trees in this area, we are classified high desert.  (High because we're a mile above sea level and desert due to the fairly low levels of yearly precipitation.)

Coworker freely admits that in the past, when someone mentioned there aren't a whole lot of trees in the area, she would disagree with them gesturing at all visible trees.  (Most of which are imported species that have to be manually watered regularly.)

So imagine the looks on coworker's and daughter's faces when they land in Virginia.  Where there are more trees growing right up to the roadsides than there are in all of New Mexico.  They were stunned.  Coworker did have to laugh when her daughter commented that all those trees are 'unnatural'. 

Things have generally been quiet in my sphere of influence.  I did find yet another piece of cut glass today.  A lovely pitcher that only cost me $17.99 at one of the local Goodwill stores.  It's much lovelier in person.  I don't know why it looks so flat in this photo.

 

Tomorrow is the first of the twice-a-year book sales at the Albuquerque Main Library.  You show up between noon and 4 PM and grab a grocery bag.  Put as many books as you can in the bag.  You can fill up as many bags as you want (I average 4 bags).  Then you pay $5 per bag.  I love this sale.  I know I don't need more books.  But I sure do want them.

 

Papillon

 

Cars and more

My new house backs up to a local park.  I knew when I bought the house that there would be times when there would be noisy activities in the park.  A couple of weekends ago, several animal rescues got together and put on an adopt-a-thon. 

Today (Saturday April 26, 2014) there was an event called 'Park in the Park'.  As you might have guessed, it involved cars.  LOTS of them.  Not just on exhibit, but parked ALL along the road.

There were also some colorful cars.  Literally.

There were also some classic cars.

This is a 'woody' as sung about by folks like the Beach Boys.  It even has a surfboard on top.

This event was noisier than the pet adopt-a-thon.  They had a DJ so there was lots of music.  (The DJ is the appliance repair guy who fixed my refrigerator two weeks ago.  The drain hole for the auto-defrost of the freezer was plugged and water was leaking into the fridge.)  There were also several older cars (1940's?) that had been fitted with fire engine-style sirens.  Periodically they'd drive up and down the streets, sirens going.  (Sigh)  Fortunately they didn't do it TOO often.  Everything wound down around 3PM so it's all quiet now.

Sadly, they got 2 to 3 times as many attendees as the adopt-a-thon.

Also sad was what I found at my old house today.  It's now on the market (if you know somebody in the Albuquerque metro area who'd like a 2 bed/1 bath fixer upper with a LARGE backyard).  I've been going by there once a week to make sure everything's OK.  Today I walked up to the front door and there were 2 dead teenage rabbits.  No, I don't think it was a 'Fatal Attraction' or 'horse's head in the bed' sort of thing.  I suspect they were chased by some predator (coyote?) and ended up on my porch.  I think they may have died of fright at being cornered.  There was no blood and no apparent injuries.  The predator may have cornered them and then been scared off itself before it could eat them. 

I was startled and then saddened.  They were very cute little bunnies.  I think all this had happened just in the past day or two.  There was no obvious decomposition and only a couple of flies.  Fortunately, I had a garbage bag in the car and some paper towels in the house, so got the bodies taken care of.  I just hope nobody came by to show the house before I got things cleaned up.

On  a different topic, I've been notified that I'm now part of the latest jury pools for Sandoval county.  Sigh.  On a positive note, it's only the second time I've been selected in the 20+ years I've been living here.  Still, I thoroughly dislike jury duty.  It's committees at their worst.  The last time I was on a jury everyone was in agreement except for one idiot woman who'd seen WAY to much CSI.   I spent our time together mentally cataloging the ways I wanted to kill her.  I'm not on a jury as yet, I'm just part of the pool of potentials.  On Monday, May 5th I get to go in and see if I'll be picked.  (sigh)

Papillon