WE’RE KINDA GETTING LOCALIZED HERE

 

Sometimes I just don't pay enough attention to my own photos.  In recent posts I have been calling that old yellow car on Erie Street in Bisbee, a Chevy.  A few minutes ago while looking for some photos for to-night's blog & happened to click on a close up of the that car's hood ornament.  It clearly says......Chrysler!!  I remember taking that photo a few days ago & I was concentrating on the composition & failed to read the word Chrysler.  Probably remembered seeing the 'Ch' & my mind processed that into.....Chevy.   Just goes to show how fallible the brain can be in it's observations & memories.  Another mistake I have been making is in calling a group of mountains northwest of here, The Gleeson Mountains.  The town of Gleeson is over there but there are no Gleeson Mountains.  Jean from Gleeson set me straight on that to-day at the photo group & it is actually the south end of the Dragoon mountains I have been mistakenly calling the Gleeson Mountain.  Anybody remember, Wolverton Mountain??

It was Kelly's exercise class this morning & my photography group this afternoon so we are pretty well ensconced in some of the local community's activities for the next little while.  Only 4 people with photography interests to-day but we managed to keep ourselves sometimes focused on various photography subjects.  Haven't taken any photos for a couple days so will feature more Bisbee photos to-night from a few days ago.

And about that Abyssinian Ass Scratcher bird in yesterday's blog.  It was just a story I made up folks....no such bird, well none that I know of that can read a newspaper anyway.  It helps to have a good imagination & sense of humor if your going to be a blogger ya know:))  And about milking those chickens........well, not everything is a story!!  Oh, & about that joke I told the donkeys regarding the preacher.......it was not XX rated despite the big jackass laugh I got:))

   

A FEW OF BISBEE’S CHARACTERS

Had a chicken egg temporarily disappear on me yesterday.  The ladies laid a total of 4 eggs & that is what I gathered up & carefully placed on the ground outside the pen while closing the chicken pen door.   Turning around seconds later to pick up the 4 eggs I saw only 3.  I was positive I had just set down 4 eggs, but also knowing my mind it could have been 3 or 1 or??  Didn't quite seem right though & I pondered that thought a few more seconds before noticing ranch dog Pearce laying in the grass about 5 feet to my left......with a nice new shiny oval shaped chicken egg between his paws.  He must have been standing right behind me when I put the eggs down & just up & snitched one.  Despite Pearce's sharp teeth the egg was totally intact & not damaged in any way.  He's a good boy:))

CHATTING IT UP WITH THE LOCALS

One year ago to-day we were in Oliver Lee State Park just south of Alamogordo, New Mexico with a stuck down rear jack on the motorhome.  Ended up having to dig a hole in the ground with a hammer & you can read about that ordeal here....OLIVER LEE  http://thebayfieldbunch.com/2008/11/busy-problem-solving-day.html

ARTWORK EVERYWHERE IN BISBEE

The Moon & planet Jupiter were fairly close to-night so I managed to catch them both to-gether although it was a bit of a stretch & you will have to strain a tad to see Jupiter in the bottom of the photo.  Appears as a pin prick of light.  Did you know Jupiter has 63 known moons but only Lo, Europa, Gannymede, & Callisto are visible.  Lo & Europa are about the size of our moon with Callisto & Gannymede about half that size.

Kelly also took a picture of me & my little Astronomy  assistant, Motormouse, or as I have been affectionately calling her for the past 3 or 4 months, 'Beans' because every morning when she wakes up she's into the toy box & racing around the place like she's full of beans.  Mexican jumping beans that is:))

(click on the pictures to enlarge them)

GROANER'S CORNER:((  A panda walks into a bar, sits down and orders a meal. He eats his meal, gets up, pulls out a gun and fires one shot into the ceiling, then turns to leave. The bartender asks where he's going.  The panda replies, "I'm a panda, look it up," then leaves.  The bartender goes down to the library, opens up the Encyclopedia Britannica to "panda" and reads: ... eats shoots and leaves.

FACEBOOK READERS GO HERE TO SEE OUR ACTUAL WEBSITE COMPLETE WITH PHOTOS & MORE INFO.

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The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now....AL.

MY SMUG MUG (I am finally working on updating this site)

http://stargeezer.smugmug.com/

A QUIET SNOOZY KIND OF SUNDAY

 

 SAY, DID YOU GUYS HEAR THE ONE ABOUT TWO DONKEYS & A PREACHER

“HEY THAT’S HILARIOUS AL”…….HE HAW HE HAWWWWWWW:))))

It's been a very quiet Sunday around the old Ranch-erroo to-day & we didn't end up going anywhere.  I never did go back to bed this morning since getting up at 3:15 to re-write the blog but I did however doze off in my chair this morning around 10 with a half full cup of hot coffee sitting on my lap.  No spills & it was still there waiting for me about 20 minutes later when I emerged from my dozy coma.

HAVE I MENTIONED THE COLD ARIZONA NIGHTS YET!!

Our temps dropped to 24F overnight according to our outside digital thermometer so I stayed inside until about 8 before heading out.  Although the sun was up it was still cold & I still had to wear gloves while milking all 8 of the chickens.  I don't like that & the chickens don't either.  It's just too hard to get a feel for things when you have to wear gloves for that sort of thing. 

EVEN THE BIRDS HAVE TO GET THEIR BATTERIES CHARGED BEFORE BED TIME ON A COLD NIGHT

Being it's the week-end we always notice increased traffic on the dusty road out front because of people driving down to the White Water Draw to view the Sand Hill Cranes.  Sometimes the cars come in convoys & stop outside the gate while people pour out onto the road with binoculars & cameras.  I remember this from last March as well & could never figure out what the people were looking at across the fields.  I would train my binoculars in that direction as well & see absolutely nothing.  Wasn't until I got talking to one of the birders one morning that I learned they were all out in search of the rare Abyssinian Ass Scratcher bird that has been known to frequent these parts.  I told him we had a couple Ass Scratchers in the motorhome who could do tricks & read the morning newspaper.  Of course he didn't believe me but when I told him they could even speak Chinese while standing on their heads he hurried back to his car & headed off down the road in a big dusty cloud of heifer dust.

BISBEE’S LAVENDER PIT MINE

And here is how I carelessly lost my blog post last night.  I am still in the old habit of writing the blog in email form with Outlook Express.  I like the spellchecker & it's an old reliable format for me.  I then copy & paste it into Live Writer, add the links & photos & that's it.  While writing the blog in Outlook I am in the habit of hitting 'File' & 'Save' every few paragraphs but for some unknown reason I failed to do that last night.  I copied the blog & pasted it into Live Writer & then immediately headed off to select the first photo.   When I clicked on the photo the computer totally seized up.  Even Control-Alternate-Delete wouldn't move it.  No problem I thought because of my habit of saving the the Outlook to draft plus I was sure Live Writer would have saved the blog to draft as well when I pasted it in there.  So, I hit the kill switch on the computer shutting it down.  Re-started & went to retrieve the post from Outlook.  Well, that's when I discovered it wasn't there because I had failed to save it.  Ok, no problem because Live Writer will have saved it.  Wrong again!!  Live Writer did not save it because I don't think it had time to save it.  From the time I pasted it in & clicked on the first picture might have been less than 10 seconds.  Not enough time for LW to gather it all up & save it I guess.  So, what is the lesson here??  Answer:  Type the whole blog in Live Writer in the first place where it is automatically saved every 20 seconds or so.  Ok, so that should be easy enough & sounds like a very logical decision.  So, what am I typing this post in right now...........Outlook Express of course!!  And like I've said before, "I'm not known for my smarts ya know."  Sometimes old habits for older folks is hard to break.......10-4:))

CURVED BILL THRASHER >>>>>>>>>

We had a bit of a tussle with Verizon this morning.  Six months ago they lowered their penalty for going beyond the 5 Gig limit to .5 cents a megabyte from .25 cents a megabyte.  Of course when we re-newed our seasonal contract a month ago it was at the old penalty rate.  Kelly made two separate phone calls to make sure our account was changed to the new limit.  "No problem" they said & would make the change to our account.  Some of you may remember we were over our limit last week so to-day we received a Verizon email bill stating we owed over $74 in a penalty fee.  That of course was based on the old .25 cent penalty rate.  Didn't take Kelly long to get on the phone & get some ears ringing at Verizon.  They finally reduced the bill to $14 based on the .5 cent penalty rate.  They tried to give her some lame duck excuse about not being able to go into our account & make the necessary changes.  BS!!!!  They can go into the account & make other changes any time they like so it was just another case of a large company taking advantage of the consumer once again.  As I have mentioned many times before, I have absolutely no trust whatsoever anymore in large companies whether they be cable TV, telephone companies, credit card companies, TV evangelists or religious scams, insurance & electric companies, or whatever.  They are all cut from the same cloth nowadays & their bottom line is out & out greed.  They will do anything possible to deceive their customers (or flocks) one way or another.  The fat cats at the top want their BMW's, 5 car garages, mansions in Hawaii & California & they are going to see to it that we the public give them that lifestyle.....one way or another!!!!

LOOKING TO-WARDS THE TOMBSTONE HILLS, DRAGOON & GLEESON MOUNTAINS FROM THE RANCH

Forgot to mention in yesterday's Bisbee blog that there are various tours in Bisbee for folks who don't want to drive their cars up into the narrow streets or cannot climb the steep roads & steps.  Check out this website for some of the various types of tours.  BISBEE TOURS.   We did the Queen Mine tour last spring & would recommend that one.  You can see our Queen Mine tour here....QUEEN MINE TOUR .   By taking the walking tour or one of the Lavender jeep tours I'm sure you will find out more about Bisbee than we have so far.  In fact I think we better hustle our butts back to Bisbee soon & get signed up for some of those very tours ourselves.  On the Lavender Jeep tour site you can read about the history of those narrow alleyway roads I was talking about in yesterday's blog.  Check out the short HISTORY OF THE STREETS here.  And one last amendment to yesterday’s post......Kelly wants it known that her Santa Fe Shrimp was in fact a Santa Fe Shrimp SALAD!!!!

ON OLD ERIE STREET…………. BISBEE, ARIZONA

Remember to use the 'Search' bar in the right hand column of our blog to find things I have blogged about.  I just went there & typed in 'Queen Mine Tour Bisbee' & the search engine brought that blog up right away & I was able to include the link here in this post to-day.  I recommend all bloggers use that feature for finding things long buried in their archives.  It was RICK who first brought this 'Search' feature to my attention about a month ago or so.

Check out RAY'S QCC BLOG  if you want to know how to get rid of facial wrinkles or his thoughts about re-touching & altering photos with photo editing programs.  To do or not to do.  Should it be done or should we just go with 'what you see is what you get!!'  I happen to agree with Ray & will write my own take on it shortly.  As far as getting rid of facial wrinkles through re-touching.........aw what the heck.  I are what I are matey.  Aaarrrggghhhhhhhhh!!

THIS PHOTO’S FOR YOU ROD & LOYCE……:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  This guy goes into his dentist's office, because something is wrong with his mouth. After a brief examination, the dentist exclaims, "Holy Smoke! That plate I installed in your mouth about six months ago has nearly completely corroded! What on earth have you been eating?"  "Well... the only thing I can think of is this... my wife made me some asparagus about four months ago with this stuff on it... Hollandaise sauce she called it... and doctor, I'm talking DELICIOUS! I've never tasted anything like it, and ever since then I've been putting it on everything... meat, fish, toast, vegetables... you name it!"  "That's probably it," replied the dentist "Hollandaise sauce is made with lemon juice, which is acidic and highly corrosive. It seems as though I'll have to install a new plate, but made out of chrome this time."  "Why chrome?" the man asked.  "Well, everyone knows that there's no plate like chrome for the Hollandaise!"

The American Music Awards are on television right now.  What a pile of @#**!!!^) garbage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Whatever happened to the days when music was music.  Whatever happened to the talent:((  What a sad musical society this has become.  Do not associate the word music with this crap.  Call it what it truly is……………..GARBAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS  http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now....AL.

SMUG MUG I am currently working at finally updating this site

http://stargeezer.smugmug.com/

STICKY BUNNED AT THE BBC IN BISBEE:))

It's 3:15 a.m. Sunday morning & as usual I woke up early so figured I'd take another crack at re-writing Saturday night's blog.  When the computer seized up last night a combination of failed back-up errors on my part led to me losing the whole blog.

OLD ERIE STREET JUST DOWN FROM THE BBC

Saturday November 21rst 2009

At this time of year the nights can be very cold here in the high desert region of southeastern Arizona.  Thermometer this morning read 27F again when we got up around 6.  By the time I'm out the door around 7 to unlock the gate, feed the chickens, one cat, & two dogs, it sure hasn't warmed up any & I'm glad to get back to the warmth of the rig.  I would say the cold night's are the biggest downfall of the southwestern high desert regions.  I think we are somewhere around the 4,000 foot elevation mark here & in the southwest temperatures are governed by elevation.

ANOTHER GORGEOUS SUNRISE AT THE RANCH

We were getting a bit low on groceries so right after our dog walk around 9 this morning we headed off for the little alpine like town of  Bisbee Arizona nestled in the Mule Mountains about 25 minutes southwest of the ranch.  First stop was the farmer's market located in Warren which is now a part of overall Bisbee.  Hadn't been to that market before so just wanted to mainly have a look at it.  Didn't buy anything but I did manage to candidly photograph some of the locals who frequent the market.  I will add those people pics to an upcoming blog shortly along with other characters I photographed in & around Bisbee itself.

AT THE FARMER’S MARKET

It's a short drive from Warren over to the BBC (BISBEE BREAKFAST CLUB) on old Erie Street about a half mile south of historic downtown Bisbee itself.  As usual there were lots of people there & we were fortunate enough to get a table for two right by a big window at the entrance.  Kelly ordered up a big plate of something called Santa Fe Shrimp & I had my usual glass of water with a swatch of grass & a side order of parsley sprigs.....ya right!!  The BBC is well known for it's cinnamon sticky buns which it only makes & serves on the week-ends.  Kelly figured we should try one so we ordered a single sticky bun to split between us.  When that heated thing landed on our table dripping with melted butter I knew we were in big trouble.  This bun must have had a ka-zillion million calories in it because it just looked soooooooo good.  In anticipation of the yumminess we were about to consume I tried to take a picture of it but blurred the photo.  I think it was my happy tummy that made my hand shake.  No doubt this was probably the best sticky bun we've ever had & for that reason we most likely will not be having another one.  It was just too good & could become habit forming in an instant & I certainly do not need any more bad eating habits!!

BBC’S SANTA FE SHRIMP LEFT & A BIG STICKY BUN ON THE RIGHT 

I have blogged about the BBC & the street it's located on before.  We were here a week or so ago & also frequented the area back in February & March this year.  If you type BBC or Bisbee into the search box to the right of this post you can probably find those blogs plus there are photo albums for those days as well.  This old street is very photographic so once again after we ate I headed on down the sidewalk for a few more photos of the permanent yellow Chevy taxi that sits by the curb.  Noticed they have added a couple of old gas pumps behind the car as well.

GAS PUMPS HAVE BEEN INSTALLED SINCE LAST MARCH

The heart & main downtown section of Bisbee itself is located about a half mile from the BBC on the other side of the large open Lavender pit mine on the south side of the highway.  We rolled into the historic downtown & followed the narrow turning main street toward the north end of town where we made a sharp right hand hairpin turn onto a very narrow street heading up a very steep hill.  We were familiar with this part of town having driven through it before coming the other way.  Once you get off the main street & up the hillsides into the living part of Bisbee it is hard to call them streets anymore.  More like alleyways snaking around sharp corners & steep grades.  A lot of these tiny roads dead end & you have to back up & wiggle your way around a bit to get rolling again.  It's all part of the enjoyment & experience of Bisbee:))  Many of the roads are only wide enough for one vehicle & even then you have to keep your eyes open for porch's, sides of buildings, somebody walking, kid's playing, stone walls, iron gates, & countless stone stairways.  No matter how many times we come to Bisbee it is always a new experience for us & new treasures & surprises to be found.  The colors & architecture here are amazing not to mention the art of landscape living on the sides of what seem impossible hills & grades.  Man's ingenuity years ago is apparent in the many retaining walls, tightly packed houses, & how cleverly the thousands of stone steps inter-connect the whole mountain goat like terrain.  No fat folks living here that's for sure.

 

 

(click on any photo to enlarge it)

If you come to Bisbee & drive by it or through it you will not experience the true Bisbee itself.  For that you have to get out & walk, you have to climb the stairs & walk or drive the higher narrow roads.  You have to get up into the hillside above the main street below.  At times you are only a few feet from the highest sections of rooftops as you look across the town to the mountains beyond.  No, you cannot just drive into Bisbee, park your car, browse a few shops, & then leave again saying you have seen Bisbee.  You have seen nothing!!  If you come to Bisbee be prepared to spend many enjoyable hours here.  Yes, you might get a little dust on your shoes but you will see great old buildings, colorful characters, old hippies, young yuppies, cowboys, old clunker cars, BMW's, Jaguars, bikers, art galleries, painters, minstrels, sculptors, hippy vans, & maybe a few folks wearing guns.  Saw a guy with a gun & holster in the BBC last March & yes the gun was real.  Don't see that kind of thing in Canada that's for sure. 

CHECKING OUT AN ARTSY STORE

Bisbee is an old mining town right out of the rootin tootin pages of the wild west.  A walk up Brewery Gulch takes you back to a time in the late 1800's when hotels, bars, saloons, & brothels lined the streets.  Not hard to imagine the late night brawls & gunfights that took place here.  The street & buildings are pretty much as they were back at the turn of the century & the town is not commercialized like some other popular western towns.  It's just kind of a folksy atmosphere with real people doing real every day things.

JUST A FRACTION OF THE TOWN ABOVE THE TOWN

Oh, & I should warn anyone thinking of coming to Bisbee for a visit.  There are no Wal-Marts or big box stores here, no vast parking lots leading to mindless shopping malls, no hoity toity big high end stores & no fancy schmancy over priced restaurants to feel uncomfortable in.  Like I said, it's a folksy/artsy kind of place so bring your camera, your sense of adventure, leave your attitude at home & enjoy the experience & beauty of Bisbee.

PART OF BISBEE’S OPEN LAVENDER PIT MINE

Our last stop for the day was my favorite little grocery store in Bisbee's San Jose section.  Kelly slipped into the store while I stayed in the car & rested my legs.  I did pop in for a burnt tasting Charbuck's coffee to go though.  I always think of you Doug when I'm occasionally forced to have a Charbucks because I remember you telling me how awful you thought our Canadian Tim Horton's coffee was & about the time you threw one across a parking lot.  Oh well, we are all a bunch of different characters aren't we:))

THE WALL OF MANY FACES

We were back to the ranch about 3 & I was in my chair & sound asleep by 3:01.  To-morrow we're heading out again but not sure where we are going.  Have a couple options up our sleeves but will decide in the morning.

ONE OF TWO SECTIONS AT THE BISBEE BREAKFAST CLUB

I'm not going to try & cram all of to-day's photos into the blog but will theme them in over the next bunch of days or so.  Might also upload a separate Bisbee album to Picasa Web Albums as well.  Hadn't intended on taking so many pictures to-day but whenever we go to Bisbee I never come away from there with empty cameras!!  It's a good thing those old 35mm film days are long gone or I'd need a full time job just to buy film.  It's after 5 a.m. now so just about time to go back to bed & get up again.........oh dear:((

OVERLOOKING THE TOWN……JUST ONE OF MANY GREAT VIEWS

GROANER'S CORNER:((  If electricity comes from electrons... does that mean that morality comes from morons?

FACEBOOK READERS GO HERE TO SEE OUR ACTUAL WEBSITE COMPLETE WITH PHOTOS & MORE INFO.

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The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now....AL

NO BLOG TO-NIGHT…..THE COMPUTER SEIZED UP & I LOST THE WHOLE POST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just spent about 3 hours putting everything to-gether, the computer seized up, & I lost the whole post.  It’s 10 o’clock & I don’t have enough energy to start all over again:))

ONE OF TO-DAY’S PICTURES FROM BISBEE……………………

GOOD NEWS FROM VANCOUVER:))

 

KELLY TALKING TO HER DAUGHTER SARAH ON SKYPE THIS AFTERNOON

This was the first morning we were not below the freezing mark in the last 4 days.  On the cold nights we turn off all the outside water here.  There are a lot of irrigation & water pipes on the ranch so water has to be shut off at a main valve about a foot underground.  It's easily accessible so no problem.  Trick is to keep an eye on the days weather to see how low the night time desert temperatures will drop.

TOP:  PROUD DADDY BRADLEY WITH HIS LITTLE PRINCES……BEAMING MOM SARAH WITH HER LITTLE PRINCE…….BOTTOM :  BABY GIRL AT LEFT & BABY BOY AT RIGHT

Mother & twins are doing fine up there in Vancouver BC Canada.  Kelly talked to her daughter Sarah & son-in-law Bradley to-day on Skype.  The baby girl (twins aren't named yet) is now out of neo natal intensive care & will be in the same room to-night as her new twin brother.  Sarah had developed a serious condition known as Hellp syndrome & that had complicated things for a few crucial days.  Everything is on the up & up now & they should all be one big happy family back home soon. 

TELESCOPE AT LEFT IS SET UP FOR ASTRONOMY & AT RIGHT IS CONFIGURED FOR THE CAMERA (the tall mossmagator thingy on the top is a red laser beam pointer for aligning the scope with an object in the night sky)

Kelly was off to Yoga this morning so I was able to put away my book of 1001 excuses for another few days.  Corky's Mom & Dad dropped him off about 11 so there was lots of neat-o play time doggy stuff going on for the rest of the day.  In between all that we managed to clear a bunch of old dead tomato stocks out of the garden too.

MY PAL CORKY

Sure wished I had something more exciting to write about but these are quiet days at the ranch right now.  I had uploaded a photo album to Picasa Web Albums on Thursday but to-day I deleted it & started all over.  Had made too many mistakes in putting the album to-gether & after looking at it to-day knew it was not acceptable.  I will do the new upload next time I'm at the Elfrida Library.

 

SAND HILL CRANES HEADING TO THEIR ROOSTING SITE AT THE WHITE WATER DRAW  (700mm lens)

Started reading my new National Geographic book, 'Backyard Guide To The Night Sky' a couple days ago.  Great book so far & to-night I was able to clearly see 4 of Jupiter's moons with my telescope.  It's a Stellarvue Nighthawk 80mm refractor scope & I have 3 varying power eyepieces for it.  A 5mm, 17mm, & a 35mm. With the moon being in it's quarter stage the craters & ridges are easily seen because of the shadowy contrast effect.  Contrary to popular belief a full moon is not the best time to look at it with a telescope.  Too bright & the lighting is too flat.  The cold & dry desert air is perfect of stargazing.  No humidity in the air to make images unstable.  Later to-night I will take myself for a tour around the sky checking out the Andromeda Galaxy, the double cluster in Perseus & the Orion Nebulae with various stops in between.  Like the song says, "fly me to the moon & let me play amongst the stars:))"

MAX IS RESTING HIS LEG ON THE MOTORMOUSE

DOG, DOGS, EVERYWHERE TO-DAY

GROANER'S CORNER:((  At a hastily called press conference this morning, the Taliban Minister of Emigration . . . . . Mohammed Omar, warned the United States that if any further military action was taken against Afghanistan, Taliban authorities would not hesitate to cut off America's supply of convenience store managers.

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

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The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now....AL.