Week 50, Project 365

Does everyone else feel like December is just flying by? The only reason I'm convinced it's not still November is because MY DAUGHTER ARRIVES IN FOUR DAYS -- so it must be December :-)  Plus there's the fact that we are on Week #50 of Project 365.

Last Sunday we attended a fiesta for a quinceañera. First up is the "grand entrance" -- as she arrived, we lined up to create a path with men on one side and women on the other, quite a few holding flowers to form an arched entry.

At one point in the fiesta there was a little ceremony when she lit these candles, mentioning different people who have played a part in her life.

It was a fun and meaningful evening and we enjoyed experiencing this important part of Latin American culture.

My art class had an exhibit this past week and we stopped by Monday to take photos. I'm standing next to my flower painting. Had not planned on putting anything in but my teacher insisted and now I'm glad she did; pretty sure it will be my one and only exhibit :-)

Our front yard is full of blooms. I'd love to share the smell from this small patch of ground. As we arrived home from a get-together tonight (or rather, this morning) the honeysuckle, oleander and roses were sweetly scenting the night air. There's no way I can get all the flowers in a single photo, but quite a few are included in this one I snapped the other day: red roses, geraniums, agapanthus, and a few blossoms on the oleander tree. Not quite so noticeable is the honeysuckle in the upper right corner.

Missing in this picture are my hydrangeas, yellow roses, a climbing vine of some sort with white flowers, and some little purple flowers whose name I cannot remember. Hoping the morning glories come back too but they got trimmed way, way back so we'll have to wait and see.

Wednesday we had to go into Cordoba and ended up eating lunch here!

Yes, there's a Subway in Cordoba! Actually we've heard rumors that there are several but this is the only one we've seen. Thoroughly enjoyed a Vegetarian Delight on parmesan with Caesar dressing. Yum!

You know how some weeks you just seem to be perpetually behind? That describes this past week perfectly. So I didn't make it to the big peña this year since I had some cooking and cleaning to do Thursday night in preparation for our traditional annual brunch with co-workers. But Ivan went and shot a number of video clips. This isn't the greatest quality (he was some distance away and we don't have a tripod) but it's short and these little guys are just TOO CUTE so I had to share it.

Friday I took (and posted) a photo of the adorable quiltie received in the Four Seasons Holiday Swap, but I thought I'd post it again because it was one of the highlights of my week!

Our neighbor asked Ivan if he could build her a rustic wall shelf and this is what he created.

It's about three feet tall and all the limbs are from trees in our yard; the back of the shelf is from an avocado tree in the back yard and the branches in front are from a tree that used to border the sidewalk. It was dead before we moved in and when Ivan was looking around for another source of  "rustic" he decided it was a good time to cut it down and put it to good use. I think he totally succeeded!