A Few of My Favorite Things

Yes, this is the same plant that you see in a box at Christmas time. I have about half a dozen blooming right now in the yard! They are sooo beautiful.


This poinsettia was a pot plant we bought a couple of Christmases ago! Put it in the garden, cut it way back and voila! In a couple of years it'll be 3 feet tall!


I've taken some pictures of some of my favorite flowers blooming now. Bougainvilleas, amaryllis, hibiscus, and a poinsettia! Enjoy

Late Winter here at Lakeside is the prettiest time of the year. The avocado is blooming, along with the orange tree, birds of paradise, lantana, various succulents, etc. If you ever want to come for a visit, just let me know! I highly recommend February and March.

He's Here

Friday Jan 20th Roy arrived in Ajijic to begin his new full-time life here in Mexico. It was not without lots of mixed feelings. He turned off the cable and cancelled the phone -- a number we've had for 35+ years. The notice from the post office that our mail will be forwarded came in the mail this week. No turning back. Lauren and Forrest took Roy to the airport and I think there were some tears shed too.


Here he is on his first full day of retirement. He said he was going to take lots of siestas and he wasn't kidding. That's Rey Rey and Magda with him keeping daddie company! I think that after 3 or 4 months of this he'll be ready to find something to do that's meaningful and fun, but he said he's looking forward to the down time for right now!

Mexico Blogs

I have links on my blog to too different blogs about living in Mexico. One is a daily blog by a lady (I don't know her personally -- actually through her blog I may, but have not met her in person yet), the other is written by a couple who live here (don't know them either).

If you want to see pictures of what my life looks like here in Mexico, I recommend you check out these two blogs. Jim and Carol's blog is well written and there are lots of beautiful pictures of things like Manzanillo, Colima, and The Lake Chapala Society here in Ajijic. LCS is a expat organization here in the village. It's an amazing place, beautiful gardens, lots of services for gringos and close to my house. The other blog is written by a single woman living here. She writes daily and is sharing what her experience is like living here.

Enjoy!

Roy's on his way

Roy's making the final trek to Ajijic in Joseph's truck with most all of the stuff that didn't get moved down a year and a half ago on the "big" truck. He should be arriving here this evening after a long 12+ hour day of driving. Good news, the weather across Mexico today is clear and beautiful. He got books on tape from some of our Christmas gift cards so he's got something to keep him awake and not so lonely.

Parts of the drive are really beautiful and some parts are like driving across West Texas, flat and boring! I'll be happy once he's here and safe.

Paid taxes today

I went to Chapala today to pay our annual house taxes. There was an increase from last year of, wait for it, .07% -- that's right you read that correctly -- less than 1% increase. The entire bill was less than $900 pesos which in today's dollars is about $65.00 US. Again, you read that correctly, we paid $65.00 today for our annual taxes for a 3 bedroom, 3 bath house plus a one bedroom, one bath casita -- approximately 3500 sq. ft in total.

It's this place grand!

Something cool

I just logged onto to Ravelry and had a message in my mailbox asking if they could use one of my pictures on the pattern page for the Cascade Ripples Throw. Check it out!!!!!


This is really cool. I'm almost as famous as my friend Kenny -- who's going to have a pattern published in Interweave Knits next month!

My Brother Don

I just got back from Fort Worth a few days ago after returning to Texas for my older brother's funeral. WOW, not what I thought I'd be doing a few weeks after Christmas.

It was very sudden and unexpected. He was driving home from picking up take-out Chinese food when he had a massive heart attack and died instantly, and after hitting 7 cars and running up a very steep embankment from Bryant Irvin Rd to SH 183 and jumping the guard rail, his car stopped on SH 183 heading east. No one, thank God, was hurt in the accident that followed his heart attack.

I went back to Texas immediately and got to spend some great time with my family and meet some of his friends and co-workers. It's not the way I'd have preferred we got together, but it was wonderful to see, hug, laugh, cry, and reminisce with everyone. My how the family has expanded over the years.

There's so much to say...The funeral was very subdued and emotional. I hadn't really had much of an emotional reaction to his death prior. But when Jim, Mary, Susie, and Ann got up for Jim to read what they had all written about their dad I fell apart. I realized then, Don was really more like a dad to me too, in so many ways, then a brother, especially after our Dad and Mom both died in 1974 and 1975 respectively.

Don was 20 years old when I was born. He and Pattie Ann were married in 1953 and started having their own family. Mary and I are only 13 months apart. Mary, Susie, Jim, and Ann are more like my siblings then nieces and nephew. But they still introduce me as "Aunt Donna" which always get a funny response!

Don was a pilot in the US Air Force and retired as a Colonel. He majored in dairy husbandry at the University of Maryland thinking he was going to come back to the farm and be a dairyman. Our family had a large dairy farm in Howard County Maryland, very close to the Howard County Fair Grounds.

While in the Air Force they lived in Carlisle, PA; Austin and Lubbock, TX; Hampton, VA; Montgomery, AL and Japan. He did 2 tours of duty in Viet Nam and I found out a couple of days before the funeral that he was awarded The Bronze Star. NO ONE KNEW ABOUT THIS. HE HADN'T EVEN TOLD HIS WIFE. That's my brother Don. He was the Dean of the Army War College in Pennsylvania. He wrote one of the first books on the lessons of Viet Nam. After he retired from his military career, he moved to Fort Worth, Texas and started an investment company for military personnel and worked there for 20+ years. THEN he decided it was time to really retire, and get serious about his golf game. His favorite place on earth was Hawaii.

He is buried at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery. Not exactly Maui, but it is a very beautiful place with rolling hills and lakes and fountains and birds!

My brother was a serious, introspective man when I was a young girl growing up. I never really knew him. In fact, I could probably say he scared me a bit. I was more comfortable with my sister-in-law Pattie Ann and she was the one who hugged me and made me feel a part of their family after our Mom died. As I got older Don and I became better friends. I wasn't so needy and he didn't feel so much responsibility for me and my brother Mike who was younger then he too. The last time I saw Don was 2 years ago at my niece Carolyn's wedding in Dallas. The four of us, Don, Joy, Mike and me have had several occasions over the years to all be together as adults and I am grateful for those events.

I remember he had an awesome, distinctive laugh and he could tell you something funny and make himself crack up laughing to the point he'd cry. He was happy and content in his life. I believe he died with no regrets or unfinished business. For that I truly grateful. He was a much loved and respected man. He will be sorely missed by Pattie, his children and their families, his brother and sisters, and friends.

Good-bye my brother/dad! I love you and will miss you too.