GOODBYE TO FEBRUARY 2011............

Click on image to enlarge calendar photo for February 2011..............

Click on image to enlarge calendar dates for February 2011.

VALENTINE MADNESS 2011

Once again, that day of love is in the air...................And Dwight wants to share..........

A night of romance with.........................

His beloved wife and.....................................

Have a Sweetheart Dinner for all the members of our Dinner Circle of friends a few days before "Hearts' Day"............

Folks like the charming Dwight G.................................

My contribution to the Dinner is to set a festive table, set the "ambiance" (Yes, that IS the winter Village, still set up to add a festive glow to the evening. It is FINALLY all taken down now) and supply the meat course........Pork Charcutrie...........................

The lovely Louise provided a fantastic appetizer platter and lots of wine.................

Our individual Valentines served as place cards.................

Annabelle brought fantastic stuffed mushroom caps, chocolate covered strawberries and handmade chocolate candies......................................

Of course, hubby, Adolfo may have helped with the cooking--or at least with the "tasting"..............

The guests check out their seating assignments. Like all good hostesses, I separated husbands and wives (to insure that conversation continues to flow)............................

Theresa delighted us all with her Millionaire Pie and ice cream for dessert.................................

And Randy was responsible for the totally apropos sliced French Bread................

As you can see--no couples are together..................

Waymundo brought an incredible salad with every delightful ingredient imaginable in it........................

And Eileen supplied two types of tasty applesauce to serve with the Pork....................

Typically, a good view of the salad and a bad view of our camera-shy friend, Theresa...........

Leave it to Josina to provide the hit of the evening!--an absolutely scrumptious Corn Souffle!

Everyone digs in to the wonderful meal provided by our little Dinner Society..................

Maestro Dwight G!! Did I mention that we drank seven and one half bottles of wine, eight mini-wine bottles and some beer?............Yes, it was FESTIVE!!

Bob got sick at the last minute and couldn't make the dinner, so we toasted him and then considered defacing his valentine with moustaches and black eyes (it was the alcohol talking)...............It was probably also the alcohol that had a hand in the hostess setting her elegant cloth napkin on fire................

And, as you can see, A GOOD TIME WAS HAD BY ALL!........................

But a few days later, the actual day of Valentine's arrived and that called for a more intimate celebration of sweethearts.................

Dinner for two at Table For Two--our favorite Santa Fe restaurant..................

Again, we had a meal to "die for" in a romantic setting......................

So, we are hoping that you had your own celebration on Valentine's Day--and even though Winston seems to be turning his back on romance, LOVE IS HERE TO STAY!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR BEAUTIFUL GIRLS!

Happy Birthday, Busy Mama, hope you take some well earned time off for yourself today!

Hope you have a magical day, Baby Binks!

THE NEW MEXICO STATE FAIR--SEPTEMBER 2009

Why is everybody up so early? You're disturbing my repose............

We're all gussied up to meet the girls in Albuquerque to attend an annual New Mexico event.................

The New Mexico State Fair! Here we are on Main Street................

In the Arts Building we find that those talented Santa Fe Varoz girls have won first prize again.......

Then we're off to explore the other wonders of the fair...............

What has gotten Pattie so fascinated and riled up?..........................

Why it's dogs having a Dog Olympics jumping into a huge tank of water....Get ready............

Get set.................

SPLASH!! This was really quite fun--we watched for a long time......................

Next was my favorite--the Flower Show!.........................

Some arrangements featured some pretty interesting floral material........

The fresh appearance of these blossoms obviously helped it win a blue ribbon. There are several Flower shows over the two weeks of the fair. Fortunately I think we came on a day when all the flowers were still fresh..................

I wish I had written down the topics for the different divisions, but this one seemed to be in a section where a portion of the arrangement had to be below the water line................

This one featured pencils in the design and more below the water line in the crushed glass............

For these "underwater" flowers to look so good, I think this must be the first day of this particular Flower show....................

Shadowboxes and other interesting materials...............

A design featuring two containers........................

This line arrangement seems to be in a section featuring silk flowers..................

A vertical line arrangement--blue ribbon!....................

My favorite section--ye olde mixed bouquet!.....................

In the horticulture section, some gorgeous dahlias on display................

Some spectacular specimens!...................................

Speaking of specimens.............in the Food Building, we saw this DARLING cake for a baby shower..........................

The State fair has a little something for everybody and every age..................

And all that delicious food that Heart Doctors warn you about! Kelly is loving her corn dog............

And Dwight is sneaking into my Kettle Corn....................

My bestest cousins are sharing a fabulous fun day with us........................

Peeling him yet another grape......................

It might not be Rio, but it is a CARNIVAL!.......................

On to the Race Track for some exciting racing.....................

THE HANDICAPPERS (this beautiful modern picture may someday be as famous as the one of the dogs playing poker................)

It doesn't take much handicapping to know that this is a real winner! Mine That Bird--the New Mexico horse that won the Kentucky Derby--gave the New Mexico fans a thrill when his jockey put him through his paces in an appreciation demonstration.................

And then brought his around so that his fans could get a good view..................

Thanks, girls, for all the fabulous fun!! AND A FABULOUS TIME WAS HAD BY ALL!!