Visitors, Christmas in Paradise, then a Nor'easter

Roger here....  Since we are not posting as often while stationary in south Texas, we are combining the events of our lives into a few blogs.

VISITORS....  Our first visitor is pictured in the opening photo.  Dianne has a motion-activated wildlife cam that she attaches to the fence behind our coach house.  We are usually visited by jackrabbits, armadillos, feral cats, and an occasional coyote.  A few evenings ago we discovered a LARGE bobcat.  Bandido occasionally barks in the middle of the night for no apparent reason.  Now we know why.  Living in the wild!  What fun!

Speaking of wild (just kidding), my brother, Dick (my only sibling), and his wife, Pam, came to see us for a couple of days.  It was their first visit to our home in south Texas.  Since their visit was short, we spent most of our time swimming, hot-tubbing, and just catching up.  Oh!  And eating Dianne's delicious food. 

 We spent a wonderful day bicycling through Bentsen Rio Grande State Park --- looking at the birds, and cycling to the National Butterfly Park, just down the road.  During our obligatory daily visit to the dog park, they enjoyed watching me take Bandido through the portions of the agility course that he could master.  This shot shows a feeble attempt going through the criss-cross stakes (We need to work on that).

In this shot, Bandido had just jumped over the hurdle and was looking for his treat. Good boy!  Tequila was also looking for a treat, even though her only effort in the event was watching.  I honestly do think that with some effort on our part  Tequila could also learn to do some of the agility tricks.  She learns things quickly.

On the morning of Dick and Pam's departure, we took them to one of our favorite local restaurants, the Diaz Diner, for breakfast.  Good food, great local atmosphere.  Sorry to see them leave so soon.

Christmas in Paradise....  The weather on Christmas day was perfect.  86 degrees with a cooling breeze.  We sat in the shade of a tall palm tree, pool-side, enjoying Christmas dinner with friends.  (Anne, Mike, Lorraine, me, Dianne).  Anne's husband, Graeme, took the picture.

Then, a Nor'easter....  The weather changed the day after Christmas.  Brrr!  Well, it really was not a Nor'easter, in the New England sense.  Here in Texas they call them blue northers.   But, the wind was from the north and it did get really cold, well cool.  We spent some time covering our plants so that they would not frost in the predicted 39 degree approaching weather. 

 I thought the protection for Dianne's morning glories resembled a New England fisherman wearing a slicker.

All the plants that could have frosted were covered.

Our neighbors, Bob and Linda, are in Sacramento with their family.  They had just planted an extensive garden area behind their coach house.  Dianne was worried about their new, tender plantings and made sure that the new plants were protected.  Does anyone else think that Dianne's protection of their tomatoes looks like a big girl's giant pair of pantaloons?  I know, sick mind.

While we were in our neighbors' back yard we could not help but take a picture of their new tropical-colored furniture (from Amish-country in Ohio).  Looks great!  We just ordered a couple of end tables from the same vendor to add some color to our patio area.

Back to the impending cold weather....  Bandido is looking for a place to protect one of his beloved tennis balls.

Tequila is saying "Cold weather?" What is that?

The temperature did not actually drop below the low 40s.  We did not experience anything like our friends who were in the blizzard in Indiana.  The lows for the next two weeks are supposed to be in the mid-fifties.  Tomorrow, it should get up to 75 degrees.  Ah!  We are in the right place.  

The pet picture of the day is of Tequila with one of her best friends at the dog park, Houdi.

Former Cinderella rescues, now playing in paradise together!