Merry Christmas Everyone!!!!

Here is our little RV Christmas tree. Isn't it cute - not even 2 feet from the base to the tippy top of the star!! I got the tree and the teeny ornaments from Michaels (my new favorite place to shop)!

And here are three of the little paper ornaments I did just to add that "homemade" touch!! I like the little snowman best!

Cards

One of the new hobbies that I've been pursuing is paper crafting. I've done some scrapbooking, but never made any cards until I decided to take a class here at Palm Creek in Casa Grande, AZ. The only problem with the card class is that they provide everything and have most things cut to size and everyone makes the same set of cards. I'm learning techniques and getting some good ideas, but there is little room for creativity. I've been spending a lot of time on the internet researching the subject. There are a lot of sites to peruse and I've been getting some good ideas from that limitless source. I've also been collecting tools and doing some experimenting!! : )

We are going to a local (and very good) Mexican restaurant tonight to celebrate the birthdays of some new friends and here are a couple of cards that I made for the occasion.

The cupcake card with it's Happy Birthday message.

I love this turtle and the cute stamp I found at Michaels on the clearance rack (remember we're retired!!).

Then I found a site that showed how to take inexpensive junior legal pads and make really cute binders for them. This is my interpretation.
This is really a lot of fun but very addictive. I'll see you later - I have to go get more tools and stamps and inks and STUFF!!!

Tucson Tamale Co.

You know we LOVE tamales. Really, really, really love tamales. But - well, you know, they use lard in the masa. I've always said that a really good tamale HAS to have lard in it to make the masa light and tender and melt in your mouth good!! Well, not anymore!!

Just look at that succulent beauty!! It is melt in your mouth goodness AND it is lard and gluten free.

We were in Tucson recently and I had checked out Roadfood.com for a good place to eat and they raved about this place. I'm thinking, "Yeah, right, can't be as good as El Charro!" Always up for a challenge, we decided to try it out. This is a small "mom and pop" business and above you can see their three man production line!!

Jalapenos roasting on the grill.

These are really good tamales and they do a mail order business. If you have to have a periodic tamale "fix" like we do, order some of these and check out the incredible varieties that they have. We tried several and the green corn and Sante Fe were the best, but we haven't tried the Thanksgiving one yet. As you can imagine, there are several taking up my precious, limited freezer space! Here's the website: www.tucsontamalecompany.com/menu.html.