Ending the year with hiking and stitching

I have five desert hikes and 17 miles under my belt since my birthday this month. Sixty-five more treks to go! This is how I feel, victory stance:

I also just finished three new spirit dolls to take up to the gallery:

Tomorrow I'll be making turkey and cheese sliders with sweet Hawaiian rolls to take to a New Year's Eve party, but I'll be home and in bed hours before midnight.

Happy New Year!

Documenting my hikes

I'm documenting my 70 hikes for turning 70 years old in a little journal, keeping track of the dates, trails, mileage and who I hiked with. Barb has been on all three of my hikes. (She also just turned 70.)

So far each hike has been longer than the previous one. We want to work up to much longer and harder hikes over the coming year.

On today's hike in Catalina Park, we tried something new. We started on the Sutherland Trail, an old standby for us, but veered off onto an unmarked trail called Dripping Springs. A lot of hikers had told us about this trail, and we decided that now is the time to start branching out and find it.

It was a beautiful hike, sunny and peaceful with a combination of wide open views, saguaros towering against the blue sky, and leafy cooler spots by the water.

We got in a good workout, and now my muscles are pleasantly fatigued.

Juniper update: Here she is with her curly bed head hair peering into the stocking I made for her last Christmas. She'll be two next month!

Have a colorful day

Hikes and cookies

I got in the second of my 70 hikes yesterday. Only 68 to go before next December! How do you like Barb's new pink sunglasses?

This time we hiked the Alamo Canyon Loop in Catalina State Park, which we've only done once before. It has quite a variety of scenery, from this lush grassy area down by the wash ...

... to saguaros and a dry rocky canyon.

It's a good thing I'm hiking, because I'm also baking and eating a LOT of Christmas cookies!

This is a new to me recipe from the New York Times for peppermint shard cookies that looks nice but I wasn't crazy about the taste.

The classic peanut butter blossoms. Can't go wrong here!

Mocha chocolate chip cookies with espresso powder that I've been making for about 20 years. They'll keep you awake if you eat too many at bedtime. I know this for a fact.

My favorite this year is a coconut macaroon dipped in melted chocolate and then in crushed peppermint. I also made some with nuts for a friend who doesn't like peppermint.

Cherry almond fudge, another staple for me.

Little Juniper also got her first taste of making Christmas cookies with her mom. I wish I could have been there!

Have a colorful day

70 hikes for 70 years

I turned 70 yesterday, and to mark this new decade I'm challenging myself to go on 70 hikes within the next year! I started yesterday with a hike on my favorite trail, Canyon Loop in Catalina State Park, where the giant ancient saguaros tower over me.

For the occasion I wore my "Hike More Worry Less" t-shirt.

I invited Barb to go on the inaugural hike, and here we are at the start yesterday morning. Barb and I met on a moonrise meetup.com hike the year I moved to Tucson and we've been hiking together ever since. Our other hiking buddy, Beth, is gone for the holidays.

 

Here I am, above, with Barb earlier this month on Canyon Loop in my "Life Is Better In the Desert" shirt.

Halfway through the loop is this bench where we always rest. We met a woman and her son there yesterday who were celebrating the mom's 85th birthday -- same day as mine. I aspire to be as spry as she is when I'm 85!

Here's another favorite spot on Canyon Loop -- the petroglyph rock by an inviting stream.

Every day I'm thankful to finally be living in the desert sun after moving all over the country! This is home.

And of course there will be food in this post. After our hike, we met up with some other friends for lunch and because it was my birthday we got a free plate of doughnut holes on a cream cheese base with Nutella and berries to share!

Have a colorful day

Show us your coffee!

A few days ago I was cozied up with my morning coffee in front of the Christmas tree (even though it was sunny and near 60 outside) and I suddenly wondered how my friends were having their morning brews. So I texted family and friends and asked them to be creative in taking a picture of them with their morning beverage, and 15 responded! It was a virtual coffee klatch.

Beth hoisted her mulled wine from Germany, where she was touring the Christmas markets.

In Michigan, my brother- and sister-in-law braved temps of four below zero for their photo.

My sister sipped her espresso at the San Diego Airport waiting to fly home from visiting our mom.

My other sister had her coffee in rainy Western Washington, which is floating away. Looks like she's working on a puzzle to pass the gloomy days.

Another friend in Western Washington had a cozy mug of tea on the same gloomy morning.

My daughter had her breakfast protein shake on the eastern side of Washington, where it was grey but not flooding.

Her husband did some light reading with his morning pour over.

 

My daughter-in-law used her Christmas mug while working from home in snowy Madison, Wisconsin.

Closer to home, Kathy took advantage of our beautiful morning to have her coffee outside in her Saguaro National Park mug.

And Barb had her coffee in front of her beautiful menorah -- with our Tucson sun streaming in the patio door.

There's no sun coming in Judy's windows in Flagstaff when she has her coffee, because she's up and creating art in her studio before the sun rises!

Meegan from book (eating) club shows our current book and her booted foot that's recovering from surgery.

Jasper, whose mom is also in book club, looks a little guilty. I told friends to be creative with their photos, but poor Jasper is probably dying to attack that mug.

My brother also got his pet into the action, with a can of coffee porter. (No, they don't really drink beer in the morning!)

Then Lynda joined from Indiana. Tea and a book for Lynda and a cozy lap for the cat.

And this person is known for repeatedly reheating his coffee in the microwave all day because he keeps forgetting  to take it out.

Now that I've shared coffee with friends even though I live alone, my next project is to bake more cookies to have with that coffee!

Have a colorful day