Lunch at El Fuego

For lunch today, Mary and I went out to eat at a very new Mexican restaurant called El Fuego. Mary's daughter had given me a gift certificate to the restaurant for my birthday, so we decided it was time to use it. It is a very colorful place with interesting decor.



The murals on the wall are lovely.

Mary and I both ordered a combination plate, with chimichanga, tamale, and burrito. Food was delicious.

They also have an outside setting, but we decided it was a bit to windy and sunny. Maybe some other time!

August - Dogs in Yard, Me in Pool

Independence Day

Well, it's the 4th of July and we'll have company in a couple of hours. I'm cooking kebabs on the grill... beef, chicken and shrimp. Weather seems a bit cool for swimming in the pool, but we'll see. Frustrating! It seems it's either too cold or too hot this year, never perfect. Ah well.

These pictures are from a couple of days ago, after I'd returned home from playing golf. Mary is so jealous that I have a picture of BOTH dogs cuddling on my lap! That doesn't happen often, lol.

I'm including some cute pictures of Mary's grandchildren, Mya, 19 months old, and Isaac, well on the way to age 6. (Birthday in September.) They are here pretty much 5 days a week for 10-11 hours a day. Mary takes them to the Y a lot and local parks when the weather is nice. She also, as a former teacher, works with Isaac on learning to read, do math etc. I help out a bit, when I can, but Mary takes the brunt of it.

Mya LOVES shoes, lol. As you can see, EVERYONE'S shoes! (The ones you see are Mary's!)

Have a good 4th of July all, and my Canadian relatives, hope you had a great time on July 1st, Canada's birthday!

Yes, I'm Still Alive...

...and well! It hasn't quite been two months since I last posted. Pathetic, huh? It's been a busy time... getting the pool opened and ready to go, de-winterizing the place, catching up on paperwork and playing golf!

We have had extraordinary cool weather, and lots of clouds but relatively, not all that much rain. Only one big thunderstorm, one tornado warning (and yes, the sirens went off) and a few mistings. We've got the pool up and running, ready to go, but it's been too cool to turn on the heater. We tried today, and it sounded like the heater was on, but the top didn't get hot so we are concerned that maybe the pilot light isn't on. Doesn't make sense that we heard that whooshing noise when we turn it on though. We also tried to turn on our A/C, and it seems to be low on freon (sp?) so our A/C guy will be back today to fix it, and we can ask about the pilot light as well. The A/C guy noted a big ice block when he was here yesterday which explains why the A/C wasn't working, and he wanted to let it melt naturally since it is in our attic, and we don't need any more dripping from the ceiling like we had last year. Fun, huh?

After having a couple of weeks of playing golf relatively well, I had my worst game of the year yesterday. Ugh. I blame it on the slow moving group in front of us. Waiting to play each shot does nothing for your motivation, especially with a waiting twosome behind you! We were second in the line of our group's teetimes, so there was no moving through as we are part of the same group... and it was embarrassing to take 5 hours to play the course when you are second in line. No rangers on the course this year, at least, we haven't seen any yet. I think this may be due to the economy.

We've had some nice lunches and dinners lately with friends in places we'd never been before. Fun to find something new and unique!

We planted our annuals (in their pots) a couple of weeks ago, and they are doing well. I love the bright colors of annuals. Above are a couple of pictures of Mary and me in our yard and you might get a glimpse of some of the annuals. Hope you are all having a nice day!

Last 3 Nights in Palm Springs

Monday was our last full day with Laney and Elliott. Bob & Marie left in their RV in the morning. We didn't do much -- just relaxed, and enjoyed the pool in the late afternoon when there was enough shade so that we did not swelter in the temperature which was over 100 degrees. I had thought we'd have our last meal at St. James on the Vinyard, but it turned out that on Monday evenings, they are closed, so I chose another downtown location, Riccio's Steak & Seafood. Good food, and a pleasant outdoor setting. We ate late enough that it was comfortable outside, as the temps drop fast here in the desert. Below is the restaurant's home made spumoni ice-cream... yum!



Here is the final picture of the four of us, after we'd pretty much finished dinner.

Here's a photo of the palm trees that line the road that goes up the mountain to Bob Hope's party home, and other fancy places. This is pretty much across the street for the Oasis, where we are staying.

On Tuesday morning, we dropped Laney and Elliott off at the airport at 10:00 a.m., two hours before their noon flight. We got an email in the evening that they'd arrived safe and sound. After they'd left, I took Mary back to Goodwill, her favorite shopping spot, LOL. Then we spent the afternoon back at the Oasis, enjoying the pool, once again when it was shady enough. Then we went to one of our favorite places in Rancho Mirage, Las Casuelas Nuevas, and had delicious Mexican food. Very fresh and well prepared.

And, then last night, our final night, we went to a place we'd never been before, Pomme Frites, a French/Belgian bistro kind of place. The food was delicious. We both had the french onion soup, then shared a beet and goat cheese appetizer (not a salad) and for the main course, I had tenderloin medalions and Mary had a stuffed pork chop. We also shared a Belgian chocolate and Creme Anglaise dessert. One thing about French food -- you don't leave stuffed, lol, but it was very good. Can hardly wait to stand on the scale when we return home tonight!

A Night In Indio With Bob & Marie & their RV

Joshua Tree National Park