november remembered...

 We spent the first part of the month where the sun always shines...

the palm trees sway...

...and our favorite resort in the desert beckons.

My sister and BIL (Dot and Terry) were there when we arrived...

and we spent some time catching up with them.

Why is that so much easier to do when on vacation?

We live in the same neighbourhood and don't see each other often enough.

Then we had some friends join us for a week...
and shared some fun times!

We found more friends...

and drove out to Nuevo for a Sunday morning church service.

Olive Grove Church  is a friendly place...

...in a rural community of Riverside County.

Their Pastor Steve happens to be the brother of our good friend, Ellen.

He made us feel most welcome...

and gave us some 'food for thought' from the pulpit.

After church, we headed up the mountains to Idyllwild for lunch. 

We were dressed for Palm Springs...

not for Idyllwild.

42°F (that's 6°C) was a bit of a shock!

But the restaurant had the fire going...

and some wonderful baked French onion soup on the menu...

and by the time we left we were almost warm!

We also were not dressed for collecting pine cones up in the mountains...

but couldn't resist!

On another day we visited the Coachella Valley Preserve...also called Thousand Palm Oasis.

It is a 20,000 acre sanctuary for endangered desert species...

located on the San Andreas fault-line.

How strange to see pools of water  in the middle of the desert...

the result of underground springs along the San Andreas fault.

We took a wee hike and wandered among the fan palms...

which grow up to 45 feet tall and are well over a hundred years old.

Back at the resort...

we made the most of our stay.

We floated down the lazy river...

and read one book after another.

We even managed to keep them dry...

for the most part!

We enjoyed poolside lunches...

and good company!

 

Some of  'the poolside company' we  could have done without...

but with guests continuing to feed them...

the ducks are in no hurry to take up residence elsewhere.

Back at home...

we had November birthdays to celebrate.

Sweet Micah.

Five years old...already!

Where do the years go?

Why it seems just yesterday that these two arrived!

And now they are teenagers.

Did I ever tell you that being a grandparent is a lot of fun?

So blessed to call them my grands...

and have them all living nearby.

One Sunday afternoon we had some surprise visitors show up at the door.

Emme and Spencer had a lot of puppies to look after this past while...

and decided to bring a few for a Sunday afternoon walk across the fields to our house.

They all look the same to me...

but the girls knew each one by name.

They were not anxious for them to be adopted out...
and it seems they have persuaded their dad that one should stay.
Forever.
Now there is just one.

And Mamma Indy...of course.

Why is it always so hard to find a nice day to hang the Christmas lights on the house?

We had barely lugged out the ladders and the lights when the skies opened up...
and the rain poured down on us.

We packed everything up...

to be continued later.

A few hours later...

the sun was shining and we tried again.

Once more we got drenched.

 

 It wasn't a great day for hanging lights...

but it was the perfect day for photographing rainbows!

Inside it is also beginning to look a bit like Christmas.

We are ready to count down the days... 

...with an 'advent calendar' that my DIL made for me last year.

Wee canisters with glitter numbers on top and a magnet on the back...

attached to a vintage metal tray.

I'm sure I'll have help in 'opening up' the days!

Wishing you all a blessed advent season...

and a Christmas filled with joy.