My house feels like home now that everything is out of boxes and on the walls or on shelves where I can enjoy seeing my "stuff" everyday. I had a discussion with a friend last week about how do you know what "stuff" to keep and what to get rid of. When I was cleaning out everything before I left for France my deciding factor was, "will it have a place on a wall or shelf in my new house or will it just be packed away in a box?" I only kept those things that I knew would be on display every day in my house. If it wasn't something I wanted to see on a regular basis then it obviously was not that important to me and I didn't need to keep it.
That being said, I love my new house and all the things in it. I do not buy anything new unless I know exactly where it will go without everything else being cluttered or being put in a box! And I do enjoy being at home and sitting on my back porch watching the birds and squirrels playing among my trees, bushes, flowers and herbs. It's my own little sanctuary.
One of my recent adventures was buying a hot tub!! I had one for 28 years at my old house and used it almost every night. I have really missed having one for the past year and so can't wait for it to be delivered sometime next week.
Of course, most of my recent adventures have been my weekly trips to the zoo. It's so nice to be able to "visit" with all my favorite animals - especially the primates and the lions. There is some excitement with the gorilla troupe as they are readying the girls to be full time residents with Goma, the handsome silverback. Asha, our 25 year old female, seems particularly interested and does all of her most flirtatious poses either at the window or at the grate between their enclosures. Goma seems interested, but is playing hard to get. I keep telling Asha that she needs to be less obvious!
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| Handsome Goma |
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| He is an impressive gorilla! |
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| One of Asha's lovely poses |
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| I call this one the "pole dance pose"! |
And then there are all the babies! We have four Canadian lynx kittens - all are females and all are absolutely adorable whether they're cuddling with mom and dad or exploring the treetops!!
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| I am in love with that face! |
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| Look at me! |
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| So adorable! |
We have two meerkat pups who are very animated with their digging and
their attempts to stand up like mom and dad only to fall over because
they're still working on their balance.
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| Watching a plane go over! |
And I still love seeing the lion cubs who turned two in June - and little Ember, our orangutan baby, who just turned three. And we can't forget about Rae, our 8 month old giraffe!
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| Elsa is still my love! |
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| The boys, Aslan and Boma, are getting so big and handsome! |
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| Little Rae with momma Mitzitu |
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| Ember keeps everyone on their toes! |
Besides the zoo visits, I have had some other adventures! Andy has been the foreman on the Incline project. The Manitou Incline was originally a cog train that went up the side of Mount Manitou just west of Colorado Springs. The train was discontinued about 30 years ago and the train tracks up the side of the mountain became one of the most popular hiking trails in this area. After many years of use (and abuse) the trail was becoming dangerous due to rock slides, weather deterioration, etc and so Timberline Landscape was hired to do the repairs. This is the third and last time of closure in order to repair the trail,replace the ties, build a drainage system, and retaining walls.
So, about three weeks ago, Andy invited me to see all the work that they had been doing. We started our adventure at the helicopter staging area which was just south of Ute Pass on an access road for the Manitou Watershed. Then we hopped (literally!) into a Polaris Ranger (small ATV) and took the back road up the mountain til we came to the top.
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| Helicopter staging area |
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| Our ride for the rest of the day! |
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| A beautiful view of Almagre Peak |
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| Pikes Peak! |
Along the way, we stopped at the Experimental Forest - a compound
where hybrid experiments with trees in high altitude were done in the
1920s.
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| What's left of the science laboratory |
At the top you could see where the old snack bar/souvenir shop was and the landing for the cog train. Brought back lots of memories of summers that we brought visitors up here.
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| The view from the top! |
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| This is what the trail looks like |
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| What's left of the gift shop/snack bar |
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| The "landing area" for the cog train many years ago |
Then two weeks ago my friend, Renae, and I went to Orlando again (we went March 2016) to play in the Harry Potter Parks!! I love that place! We have decided it should be a yearly pilgrimage 😄 We spent three full "magical" days there. Here are a few of my favorite photos:
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| Entering Hogsmeade |
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| The dragon on top of Gringott's Bank - he spouts fire every 15 minutes |
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| Celestina Warbuck and The Banshees give a great performance |
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| The puppet show for the Tales of Beedle the Bard are amazing! |
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| In line to board the Hogwarts Express at Station 9 3/4 |
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| Hogwarts Express |
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| Hogwarts Castle! |
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I am so thankful for friends and family - far and near. Ohio cousin, Sharon, her husband Bob and son Aaron, came for a visit in September. And cousin Cindy has been here three times since I got back from France!
I get asked all the time if I'm happy to be back in the US and here's my answer: I love being able to see the people I love on a regular basis so that is a real blessing. But I really miss living in France and I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity to follow my heart and make new friends and find a French family - Hélène and Giuseppe. I miss them and can't wait to see them next April!
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| My French family! |
So to one and all, I wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving and hope that, no matter your present circumstances, you can find a heart of gratitude for living in a part of the world that has so much to offer. May you find and give kindness, hope, creativity, peace, acceptance, tolerance, love. And I am so thankful for all of you who take the time to read my blog! Merci!
