Cleaner windows, lazy afternoon, and an almost univited visitor.......

Our Location: Elephant Butte State Park, Elephant Butte, NM

A nice night for sleeping things were a wee bit cool this morning inside the Igloo but it warmed up quickly as we opened the night shades allowing the sun shine to heat us thru the windows. With vents open last night we had a nice occasional breeze, as the night turned into morning the breeze felt more chilly than warm. ~laugh~ A shirt over our t-shirts and we were good to go.

Mr. Road Runner was hoping for an invitation to come inside.

This morning right after breakfast I headed outside to remove the BlueBoy from the ladder and to remove the step ladder as well. Have you guessed it yet? Yes I managed to clean the outside of the windows this morning. Of course it didn’t take long, after all how long can it take to clean 9 windows the size of a postage stamp? 

Next he checked out what I was cooking on the BBQ.

I then brought the big step ladder inside so I could clean the ceiling vents, the A/C filter and the ceiling lights. I will admit I didn’t clean the two vents in my end of the Igloo, my bedroom and bathroom vents will be left for another time but at least it’s a start. I will also clean the inside of the windows another day. By the time I had replaced the step ladder and BlueBoy to the Igloo’s ladder I was feeling as if I had accomplished enough for one day. The morning was passing quickly it was already pushing 11 am. Riley vacuumed our humble little Igloo and washed the kitchen floor, straightened up a bit and we both figured that was enough for one day. Don’t do everything today ‘cause then we’ll have nothing left for tomorrow. ~laugh~ 

The afternoon sun casts different shadows on the mountains in the east.

I’m keeping well hydrated but still felt a bit off this morning even before I was outside cleaning the windows. My sugar was fine and so I wonder if it has something to do with the increase in medication. I’ll have to keep an eye on that.  

See the various shadows? 

After reading for about an hour I headed inside to start prepping lunch. Again we have our green salad but today we added a squirt of orange zest/juice to it, just a bit. Gave it a wonderful hint of something tantalizing sweet. Of course our salads vary from day to day with ingredients. We enjoy trying new things in our salads as it keeps them from being boring. We’ve changed from green onions to sweet white onions and that also gives it a nice change of flavour. 

My Weber and the wind block.

Once again we had mixed veggies on the side. Mushrooms, green beans, spaghetti squash, carrots, celery, asparagus, red and yellow peppers, along with a hint of orange. We enjoy these mixed veggies and often times change them up as well. Adding different spices and different vegetables too. We toss the packet on the Weber on low for about 25 minutes or until it’s soft (depends on the type of veggie you put in there) and then just enjoy!!

My green salad.  I added home made Thousand Island's dressing on top of this.

Today we also added some turkey dogs to the menu. We don’t use regular bread buns, we use wraps instead. I find there is too much ‘bun’ for me to enjoy. Of course I like to load up my wrap from time with tomatoes, cheese, onions, relish, etc. However today was a plain jane type day so it was a simple almost naked turkey dog, a little cheese, relish, and mustard. ~laugh~ I made two but couldn’t eat the second one, however Riley enjoyed it. ~laugh~ 

Could only eat one of those turkey dogs. 

I’m glad I was able to make a wind breaker for the Weber. It works great the few times we’ve used it. I used all recycled material for it, except the paint. ~laugh~ The rack from a big bbq, a small piece of sheet metal, and a couple pieces of wood for the feet. Add a string of fine wire to hold the metal to the rack and there you have it. The feet come off, the metal comes off and I have three flat pieces of things to store.  Dad laughed at my invention but it works and that’s all I care about. ~laugh~ The wind has picked up steadily from this morning and the gusts are now big enough to rock the Igloo a bit but due to the angle it doesn’t seem to be bothering the toppers on the slides. 

A different set of shadows on the mountain now.

We opted to stay home this afternoon instead of taking our walk. We both think perhaps a day of rest is a good thing.

The beginning of our sunset tonight.

We had a visitor again today. Mr. Road Runner was at the bottom of the step waiting for someone to open the door and invite him in. ~laugh~ He was just waiting there as I was at the picnic table bbq’ing lunch. He seemed put out that I dared to take his picture. He hopped up on the wall near the BBQ and gave me the ‘eye’ before he strolled off into the bushes. He’s a brave little guy!!

Then things turned almost a rust colour.

Enjoyed my book for a while this afternoon, put some tent pegs into the ground to hold the outer edges of the carpet in this wind, even managed to do a little tidy up in the outside cubbie. 

And then they started showing some yellow again.

I wrote a bit this afternoon, edited some pictures and basically just goofed off until it was time to catch the sunset. Not much of a show today but it was still pretty to see first hand. The pictures just don't pick up the intensity of the colours. 

At the end it was dark reds that took over.

The campground loop is full tonight, only the two handicapped spots are empty. It's an amazing collection of 'campers', a small red car, a truck camper, a couple of vans,  numerous motorhomes, travel trailers and 5th wheels of all different sizes, shapes and vintages. A huge diesel pusher pulled in a few hours ago to take up what I think is the last spot. 

One more glimpse of the different shadows.

We're enjoying the weather here, it reached 81F/27.2 C this afternoon. It was hot in the sun but nice in the shade. So I alternated from one to the other occasionally. 

A somewhat productive morning, a bit of a lazy afternoon but that's how we like it. Thanks for stopping by. Feel free to leave a comment.

Until next time...be safe, take care....