This guy was beating his dinner to death before he swallowed it.

What looked like a very interesting piece of driftwood was really a "Night Jar".....it sleeps on the ground during the day and flys around at night catching bugs.

Two Turtles taking a sun bath.

A very pretty little Vermilion Fly Catcher.

A tri-coloured Heron and some assorted ducks.


Our friend Ed has his birthday 2 weeks before Colin's so we invited them over for dinner and a walk through the Estero Llano Grande State Park. We were able to take the dogs for a walk there too so they thought that was great. We saw some interesting birds and one that we had never seen before.

We got back to the trailer and had BBQ'd shrimp as an appetizer, then went for a hot tub when we got back we enjoyed stuffed cornish hens done on the Ronco with green beans. Frances brought fresh lemon pie made with lemons from their park.

It was a good visit and we voted to get together again before we both go back to Ontario.

Interesting Sun Shot.

A little bit of rust happening here.

This group had some serious listing issues.

The weather was good so we decided to head out and take in the Brownsville Flea Market. It was your typical Mexican Market but we did buy some very delicious oranges. We did some driving around Port Isabel looking for Seafood but clearly we were in the wrong place. We found a very interesting Shrimp Boat Graveyard that spoke volumes of Shrimping Days gone by......but nothing for today.

We stopped at Dairy Queen for some ice cream and then did some more driving around. On our way home we stopped at the Longhorn steak and B-b-q. I had the chopped cheddar stuffed potato......stuffed with BBQ Beef.......more than I could eat and very tasty!

Not an exciting day but different from the normal.

It's great going outside to get your food out of the fridge.

I know that I was writing about this very topic less than 2 years ago but here we go again.

I just assumed when I felt that the meat in the freezer was starting to thaw, that one of us had left the freezer door ajar.............NOT! After the door being closed properly there was absolutely no difference. By 10:30 in the evening it was obvious that there was a problem. After investigating Colin said that he was able to jumper out a switch which was clearly faulty. That worked for about 2 hours......just long enough to nicely cool everything and freeze it again. By morning, after more investigation it was clear now that the compressor was toast. Okay...........lets go into panic mode as we have about 20 lbs of shrimp in there. While I was at my aerobics class Colin researched the net to find where we could find a fridge........#1 that would fit......#2 was the right price.....#3 in stock ......#4 not too far away.

We headed into Harlingen and went to 4 different places and turned up a new fridge at Home Depot which met all the 4 requirements.......and it was the last one in stock! While we were waiting for help to load it another couple with the same problem as us started to eye it up and we quickly informed them that this one was ours.

As Monday is Mexico day, it was a mad rush to get it out of the truck ....plug it in outside and move the food out of the old fridge into the new one. We were about 15 minutes late leaving but we were able to leave with the knowledge that our food was safe and cooling nicely.

I must admit we look a little "Red Neck" with the fridge plugged in beside the door outside but hey....what do you do!

Now that I have my new sewing machine, I signed up for a "Mystery Quilt" class in Harlingen. Yesterday I went and picked out the fabric for it. I decided that if I am going to make a quilt and put all the work into it, I should make it for myself ie. the bedroom in the new house.

The fabric I chose is a bluey green with bamboo leaves, a dark bluey green plane, a pale turquiose which looks like it has bubbles in it and a soft butter yellow. I bought enough so that I can make a King size quilt and still have some left for pillow shams, and curtain accents. Stay tuned for pictures of the finished product.

Photos of my new Singer Confidence Quilter


Today was a really exciting day for me. I bought a brand new Singer Confidence Quilter sewing machine!!! ......and today it was delivered! It is awesome. Over 100 different stitches, Auto threading, extended work surface.......it's totally amazing!

I went to the Singer store in McAllen and they wanted $500.00 for the same machine I found on line for $249.00 . I think I got a pretty good deal on it, although I did have to wait for it to bedelivered which did take a wee bit because of Christmas and New Years. Definitely worth the wait though. I have only spent a couple of hours playing with it but so far I am totally impressed!

Colin with Heidi and Angel.

Colin with all the dogs!

Heidi and Angel looking longingly at the door.


Gee, they must be coming soon!

Buddy with his Daddy on the motor cycle.........he is totally happy with it!

Our friends Suzanne and Armin from Rockport called to say that they had a Dentist appointment in Mexico on the 6th of January so I told them they could bring their 2 dogs here while they went over. Heidi and Angel arrived at 9:30 AM and their Mommy and Daddy went to Mexico for their appointment. They were a little concerned about their humans leaving but settled down and watched out the window for their return.

Suzanne and Armin came back at about 1:15 and they decided to head to their hotel and check in and then come back to have happy hour and dinner with us. It was one of the nicest days we have had in quit a while so we had happy hour on the street with the rest of the gang. We did stuffed Cornish Hens on the Rotisserie and they turned out really good along with salad and roasted vegetables it made a yummy dinner. Suzanne had to go back the next morning so Armin and the dogs stayed with Colin and I went over with her. the weather turned very nasty after lunch so they left almost right away as there was possible freezing rain predicted......they did however make it back fine.

While they were here they were fortunate to see the Parrots and Buddy the Motor Cycle dog.

These were someone's earrings and my necklace sitting ready to go into the kilnThe finished product.

So ....New Years Eve Day was not one of my better days. Second day of a Migraine! We were suppose to go to the Golf Club with a bunch of friends but decided in the end that we would just stay back at the trailer. We had a nice dinner of Coquiles St. Jacques, Salad and Ice cream for desert and then of course we had to watch Dick Clark's New Years Rock'in Eve. That man just will not quit.... although he has passed the reigns for the major speaking to Ryan Seacrest he is still there in his Tux!
At mid night we felt like we were in the middle of a Bomb Raid! The Hispanic population is very big on Fire works and for about 1/2 an hour before midnight and an hour after, the sky surrounding the park was light up with multiple fireworks in all directions. Crazy!! We walked outside to check it out and then went back in and called it a night.
So here we are in the fledgling days of 2010......heres hoping it goes better for us than 2009.
Happy New Year to all my loyal followers!