Grand adventures & good times

Time seems to be racing by!  Landed safely in Albuquerque (albeit a little later than anticipated) and arrived at the ranch to snow on the ground.  Nothing like it was in 2006, but snow no less. Michelle and I were safely housed in the bunk house, me in the Cowboy Room and her in the Flag Room; nice to see that the painting job I was part of still held up to scrutiny.  Xmas eve I worked for half a day, so not as bad as it could have been.  Xmas morning was lovely.  Slept in then headed up to Karen and Brice's (5 miles up the road) for breakfast, presents and generally lounging around.  Mum is here too and in good form.  I have to confess to feeling generally exhausted when I first arrived.  These last months at work have been full on and I have been pushing myself hard and not getting much exercise (2009 brings a whole new set of resolutions about making sure I do exercise more so that I don't get run down!).  

Xmas dinner was a lovely affair and the food fab (as always).  We then sat around and watched DVDs - all in all the perfect way to spend Xmas in my book.  

As well as adventures at the ranch (horse riding being one - actually I really enjoyed it and Michelle was delighted.  I am not much of a rider but meandering along is workable and we were well bundled up against the wind).  Spent a full day in Santa Fe on Saturday.  Starting with a visit to the Georgia O'Keeffe Musuem. Georgia is an incredible artist with a long local history.  We then wandered around the shops before Michelle and I headed off to Ten Thousand Waves which is this gorgeous mountain spa.  Karen and Brice had given us massages for Xmas and before we had them we sat in the dry sauna and the outdoor (in the snow that is) spa.  It was lovely.  Afterwards we headed out for a wonderful meal at a local restaurant.  Made all the more enjoyable as the waitress was very funny and engaging.  

Seeing everyone on the Ranch has been lovely and they make me feel very very welcome.  

Time flew by and before I knew it Michelle was heading back to Santa Cruz (and had also spent time helping out with feeding animals etc etc....I think she agrees - life living on the ranch had been tough for me...not).

More to tell and pics to add but I will post this for now.  It's New Years eve and the mother is calling saying I need to get out of bed and come do some "chores"!