MOTORMOUSE IS SHOWING SIGNS OF IMPROVEMENT….. BUT WE’RE NOT OUT OF THE WOODS

THE PAINTING HAS BEGUN…..

Nice sunrise to the east but dark foreboding skies to the west.  The big Pacific storm is slowly heading our way.  Time to batten down the hatches, close the house windows & get things put away.  Maybe time to get out the long underwear by the sounds of it too as temperatures are forecasted to plunge.

ANOTHER QUIET SATURDAY NIGHT AT OUR HOUSE

We have seen a small improvement in little Cora but she is still refusing to eat.  She is hungry & wants to eat but everything we try she just turns her nose up.  And, we have just about tried everything.  Maybe a small morsel here & a slurp of something there but hardly enough to keep a bird alive.  Her blood work showed elevated white blood cells, liver & pancreas values elevated, & electrolytes out of whack.  My personal suspicion is that she has picked something up from eating all those cow plops the last couple of weeks.  The Valley Fever results will be in Monday.  We are still trying to get the anti-biotic pills into her.  Today she was more alert than yesterday, she barked & wagged her tail while playing with Pheebs.  Her lethargic state has lessened & we can see her energy levels coming up a bit.  Now, if only her appetite would return she might make it back to her normal little self at some point.  Still drinking lots of water & she does not appear to be in any kind of pain.

    

While in Wickenburg Friday afternoon we also stopped into a paint store to have a look at color charts in choosing some colors for our kitchen walls.  Walls are white right now & definitely not my fav.  Finally figured out a color, grabbed a jug of paint & headed off to the hardware store for some brushes, masking tape, & paint rollers, etc.  And of course wood filler to fill up a ka-zillion billion little nail holes….it’s an old house.

Our day turned out to be cloudy with blustering cool winds.  Headed into Wickenburg this morning to check out some garage sales, Thrift Stores, a Furniture Consignment store & a Habitat For Humanity place.  We came home with a $2 red handled broom.

With the inclement weather (no rain) outside I spent my afternoon in the kitchen.  No, nothing to do with foody stuff…..you know me better than that!!  It was time to start painting the kitchen in the house.  Cracked open the jug of paint, revved up my paint brush & within minutes had paint on my favorite long sleeve shirt.  Painting is one of those things I don’t mind doing if I’m in the mood.  Music always helps put me in that mood so cranked up the iPod/Bose & rocked the house with the Eagles, America & Santana.  Groovy:))

Weather sounds pretty yukky for Sunday so I expect most of my time will be spent hanging off the end of a paint brush again.  Nothing too exciting for travel blog fodder but maybe I’ll knock over a full can of paint or fall off a ladder or something.  D’ya think:))

GROANER’S CORNER:((  When Americans woke up last month, they suddenly realized:  15 years ago they had Steve Jobs, Johnny Cash and Bob Hope ... Today they have no Jobs, no Cash and no Hope....

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- Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.

- Home is where your pet is:))

- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right  now...AL.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

IF I THOUGHT WEDNESDAY WAS BUSY….I HADN’T MET FRIDAY YET!!

KELLY & THE MOTORMOUSE ENJOY A MORNING SUNRISE

The morning started out quiet enough but  things soon got busy.  I was out shortly after 7 & had a fire going.  Raked up some piles of brush the last couple days & wanted to get them burnt up.  It was a beautifully quiet morning with Cactus Wrens & Mourning Doves in the trees.  Maybe some Curve Bill Thrashers & House Finches as well.  Definitely some distant Coyotes.

The Septic Tank guys rolled in around 9 & got right to work locating the concrete tank in the back yard.  Turns out there is already a pipe in for an RV dump.  Bonus.  Septic tank is constructed with two sections.  The whole tank itself is in good shape but a pipe in the second tank is bent & needs to be replaced.  A few tree roots were present but not serious.  All that will be repaired on Monday. 

THE TANK IS LOCATED BY TOM THE SEPTIC TANK BOSS

 

 

 

PROBLEM IS WITH THAT BENT WHITE VERTICAL PIPE IN THE SECOND TANK & ALSO THE HORIZONTAL ONE…BOTH WILL BE REPLACED MONDAY…SCUBA SUITS MAY BE REQUIRED:))

The pumper truck itself arrived about 11:15 so I quickly ran around & closed all the house windows & made a bee line for the rig slamming the door behind me.  We quickly put wet towels over our heads & held our breath for the next 40 minutes.  I actually turned a darker shade of blue than Kelly did.

  

Earlier, when Tom the septic tank Boss & another fellow were here working on the tank excavation we had another fellow show up who was recommended to us by a neighbor regarding the stuccoing of the house exterior.  Been in the business for a long time & his nickname was Doby as in Adobe.  Nice fellow & we took a liking to him right off.  He knew Tom the Septic Tank Boss guy & after listening to them talking back & forth we felt confident we had a couple trustworthy fellows here.

DISCUSSING THE UPCOMING ADOBE JOB WITH DOBY

  

As we walked through the house Doby was also able to give us a lot of good info & advice about future repairs & renovations, etc.  We discussed the Stucco job & were happy to learn all the work is done by hand.  He measured up the house & gave us a quote.  Because we do not have final clear title to the house just yet Kelly advised me to keep our final decision about if & when the Stucco job will be done.  So, for the time being….my fingers are sealed……:((

 

DOBY WORKS OUT A QUOTE…SEE YA SOON:))

Because of all the morning’s activities we had to reschedule our Title Signature signing in Wickenburg.  Because little Cora is not improving we decided to take her into the Vet again this afternoon for blood work & get that Signature thing done as well.

BEANS & I WAIT IN THE JEEP WHILE KELLY RUNS INTO THE BANK

We loaded up the little Mouse & hit the road for Wickenburg shortly after 1.  First stop was Bank Of America followed by a place to send off ‘another’ fax regarding the house sale.  From there it was downtown Wickenburg to the Pioneer Title company whereupon we had to sign another 3 or 4 thousand pieces of paper.  We brought Motor in with us & she snoozed in a chair beside me in the boardroom as we did all that penmanship.  Next step is for Stewart Lender Services to issue us a free & clear title at which time monies are transferred between banks & that should be it….finally!!

KELLY POINTS OUT SOMETHING ON ONE OF THE MANY FORMS TO BE SIGNED

  

Three o’clock found us at the Vet’s again.  Motor was once more checked over & blood was drawn for testing.  She handled everything well & the scale showed she had lost half a pound from a couple days ago.  She has always been a little trooper & despite not eating for 3 days she seems to be holding her own & we were very heartened when we got home that she actually ate a couple good chunks of Tuna.  The Vet said she will call us in the morning with Motor’s blood test results.  Thursday I thought we were losing her, but today I am cautiously optimistic she just might be improving a wee bit.

CORA HANDLED THIS BLOOD WORK LIKE A LITTLE TROOPER

 

OUR LITTLE MOUSE SHOWS OFF HER BANDAGED LEG

Tonight we had some visitors.  Bev & Jim had invited us out along with Laurie & Odel to Nichols nearby restaurant.  We had declined knowing the busy day we were facing.  On their way home from Nichols they decided to pop in & say Hello.  It was good timing because we were able to give them a tour of our recently exposed septic tank in the back yard.  It’s not everybody who gets a grand tour like that you know.  Light was fading fast so it was a semi-dark house tour for the gang.  We don’t have the electricity hooked up yet but the folks were still able to get the gist of the house.  Nice of them to drop around:))

PHEEBE MEETS TOM’S DOG, MIKE…OH  BOY, ANOTHER NEW PAL:))        

Now, here’s something I didn’t know.  Sent in by Red over in that there California place….."congrats on your new place, now that you are a real property owning southwest cowboy ya gotta learn how to put your hat down when you take it off. Caboys seldom do that, but real caboys set them on the crown so as to not mess up the brim. Just thought i would pass that along since you are now an official rootin tootin caboy.”

THIS COLOR & TEXTURE ON A NEIGHBOR’S HOUSE IS WHAT OUR HOUSE WILL LOOK LIKE 

GROANER’S CORNER:((

- Teacher: "What did the Indians bring to the first Thanksgiving?"
Student: "Baseballs."
Teacher: "Baseballs?"
Student: "Yeah, they were Cleveland Indians!"

- Q: What position did Bruce Wayne play on his little-league team?
A: He was the bat-boy.

- How does the pope buy things on eBay?
He uses his papal account!

- An optimist stays up to see the New Year in. A pessimist waits to make sure the old one leaves.

- Why did the Pilgrims eat turkey on Thanksgiving?  They couldn't get the moose in the oven.

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- Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.

- Home is where your pet is:))

- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right  now...AL.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

CACTUS PLANTING, VISITORS & ANOTHER HOT DAY….

KELLY GETS A CACTUS THORN OUT OF PHEEBS PAW

If I am to get any outside work done it is now important to start earlier in the mornings.  It’s March & temperatures are on the rise each day.  By noon it’s just a little too hot for me to be scratching around in the dirt.  But, a good time to switch to cooler projects in the house.  Must say though, we are looking forward to some cooler weather predicted over the next few days.  Bring it on:))

BOSE/iPOD MUSIC CENTER ATOP THE FIREPLACE…PALM FROND IS FROM THE SALTON SEA

Took ourselves for a walk around the block this morning to familiarize ourselves with the neighborhood.  Folks have really put some time & effort into their cozy homes.  No crowding, no junkyards & no fancy schmancy high end stuff.  Yep, I think we are going to fit in here just fine:)) 

 

GREEN GRASS IN THESE HERE PARTS IS VERY UNUSUAL

The quiet street behind us opens right up into miles & miles of endless desert & mountains stretching to the horizon.  This will be our morning walk place:))

THIS WILL BE OUR MORNING WALK AREA…MOTOR DID PRETTY GOOD BUT WE DID HAVE TO CARRY HER HOME

Spent my morning planting cactus & doing some watering.  Our next door neighbor who is also new to the area as of last November has totally cleaned up his whole lot & has big pile of cactus he had dug out.  I busied myself with that discarded pile replanting Prickly Pear & Whipple Cholla.  I will continue planting cactus every morning now that I have a free source.

GOT MY WORK CUT OUT FOR ME TO TURN THIS INTO A NICE CACTUS GARDEN

 

I’VE LEARNED TO WEAR GLOVES AT ALL TIMES NOW & CARRY A TWEEZERS IN MY POCKET   

We definitely have a few domestic things to get used to in our new neighborhood.  Lots of barking dogs at night but I’m OK with animal sounds, it’s human sounds that bug me.  Happy about the fact there are no street lights here but we do have a neighbor with a 95,000 watt light bulb on his house piercing the darkness of our front yard.  I am definitely going to have to plant some fast growing greenery on that side of the property to block out that big blast of light.  Thankfully our back yard is in total darkness.  Surprised by the number of Coyotes we can hear close by at night & another neighbor told us the Javelina’s are around at night as well.  In fact we were surprised when standing on the north side of the house this morning to see a Coyote nonchalantly walk by on the other side of the Motorhome.

NEIGHBOR ‘BUD’ HAS A REALLY NEAT TRUCK CAMPER

 

A SIMPLE CRANK HANDLE ON THE DRIVERS SIDE PUTS THE TOP UP OR DOWN IN SECONDS

SPACIOUS YET COMPACT

 

This afternoon was spent cleaning house windows & pulling the stickers out of my fingers from the mornings Cactus planting.  We have decided to start our interior efforts with the heart of the house….the kitchen.  Painting is something I can do so hope to maybe start that within the next couple days.  We just have to decide on colors.  For sure everything we do will be done in a southwest theme using southwest colors throughout.  We have to go to Wickenburg anyway Friday morning to the title company so we’ll make a stop at a paint & hardware store along the way.

WILL PROBABLY KEEP THE CUPBOARD COLOR THE SAME BUT CHANGE THE WALL COLOR

LAUNDRY ROOM IS RIGHT OFF THE KITCHEN SO WILL PROBABLY PAINT THIS ROUGH PANELING SAME COLOR AS KITCHEN

We have a fellow coming in the morning to give us a quote on how much to stucco the whole house exterior.  In one fell swoop that would hide all the ‘Cowboy construction.’  Also goes a long way in insulating the house, not to mention making the house aesthetically more pleasing to the eye.

WILL LEAVE THIS COLOR IN THE DINING ROOM FOR NOW

Happy to say our Verizon signal is much better since putting the modem on top of the Motorhome.  We definitely have to do something more permanent about our cell phone & Verizon service but will think about & deal with that over the summer before we return next October.

WE WILL PULL  UP THE CARPET UP IN THIS ROOM & CHANGE THE COLOR

Had a couple surprise visitor’s this afternoon.  Patty & Peter live in Rainbow Acres near Quartzsite, Arizona & had been over to Scottsdale for medical appointments.  They are staying the night at North Ranch before heading on home.  Last saw them in Quartzsite 3 or 4 years ago.  Nice of them to stop by & say Hello.

RELAXING ON THE FRONT PORCH WITH PETER & PATTY FROM QUARTZSITE 

Check out Ivan’s climb of Superstition Mountain over near Apache Junction.  He has some great photos from the very top.  Kelly & I did the same trail a couple of years ago but of course did not make it anywhere near the top.  Our hiking legs are just not what they used to be years ago.

LITTLE CORA IS STILL NOT EATING

Truly wished I could tell you our little Motormouse is perking up & on the mend…but she is not.  Try as we may we cannot get her to eat anything.  We managed to get a couple anti-biotic pills in her plus an anti-nausea appetite inducing pill, but no luck with any kind of food.  She is drinking a lot of water & sleeping a lot & she did manage to come out for a small walk with us this morning.

SNUGGLES & SMOOCHES WITH LITTLE CORA THIS MORNING

GROANER’S CORNER:((  Women have a Passion for Mathematics
They divide their age in half
Double the price of their clothes &
Always add at least 5 years to the age of their Best Friend.

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- Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.

- Home is where your pet is:))

- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right  now...AL.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com