One of the perks of moving to a 55+ community is that there is never a shortage of interesting activities to choose from. But this past week, I felt as busy as I was back in the 80's when I was working full-time and raising 2 young kids. On Monday, I gave a presentation at the Geek Club meeting on Robots for Grandkids. I thought this would be an easy thing to throw together, but when I started researching current prices on robots, I found that some of mine had been discontinued. But these 9 made the cut as good choices for kids ranging from 2 years to 92 years (for those senior geeks who were really more interested in robots for themselves😉).
On Tuesday, I met up with my LOL group - Ladies Out to Lunch. This is a new club that some of us put together, because frankly that is one of the things I miss the most about St Louis. There are plenty of opportunities for socializing in this neighborhood, but most events are HUGE. At the last lunch I went to, there were 30 of us sitting at one LONG rectangular table making it a little hard to carry on a conversation with anyone past the person sitting next to you. Plus, this gives us an opportunity to check out some of the restaurants in the area now that the quarantine is tapering off. This particular day, we were at Portofino's Pizza & Pasta - YUM!
On Wednesday, I went on a tour of the historic Brown Palace Hotel in downtown Denver with the Girls Just Want To Have Fun club (I told you there were a lot of activities in this neighborhood). The Brown Palace was built in 1892 and named for Henry C Brown, one of the original founders in Denver (can you imagine with skyrocketing real estate prices being able to homestead 160 acres back then for free???!!). The Brown Palace is an atrium-style hotel - open in the middle with the guest rooms circling a large first-floor dining area.
After our tour, we had formal tea in that dining room under that massive chandelier. The food was really scrumptious - tiny sandwiches, scones, pastries, chocolates, and spiced tea. It was so rich, we hardly made a dent in it, but the waitress brought out to-go boxes, so we were all able to take the leftovers home. Another YUM!
On Thursday, I met 2 women at Hudson Gardens to do some painting. The lady on the right is an urban sketcher from Manchester, England. She was in town visiting her daughter and asked if anyone was willing to brave to cold to sketch outdoors (luckily the sun was shining on Thursday, which always makes it feel warmer).
While they both focused on painting the bridge, I tried to include them in my composition. I don't normally sketch people, but it's easier when you're sitting behind them and don't have to worry about their faces.
We didn't have our regular Wednesday bike ride, because the leader was out of town, but the minute he got back, he set up a ride for Monday. He has the best luck on picking days to ride, because the temperature zoomed up to 70° on Monday. We stopped for a snack at Panera's and everyone was shedding coats and gloves for the ride back.
I spent my "free days" putting up Christmas lights. Since we live on a cul-de-sac, not too many people drive past our house unless they're lost, so I decided to hang the lights off the deck railing in the back - no ladder required and a lot more people can see them, since there's a walking trail behind our house. But the front still looked a little bleak, so I got some new deer and a mini tree from Home Depot to liven up the front sidewalk. I think they look very festive.
