THESE ARE QUIET DAYS RIGHT NOW & IT IS THE LULL BEFORE OUR LONG JOURNEY IN A FEW WEEKS TIME

THINGS ARE STILL TAKING SHAPE AROUND OUR BACKYARD PATIO

Just another one of those ‘oh so nice’ mornings.  Decided to move what was left of our adobe brick pile to a new location.  Figured I’d stack them on our cement patio where at least they add a temporary bit of something different. Also spent some time with my garden rake smoothing out a few cactus beds.  Rest of the day was spent simply relaxing, doing some reading, & just enjoying our great warm weather.

PLACED A COUPLE WOODEN BRANCHES IN THE GROUND FOR BIRDS TO PERCH ON BEFORE FLYING TO THE FEEDER >>>

RV Sue has finally found herself a new canine crew member for the team.  His name is Reggie & he’s a handsome little fellow.  It’s been a long frustrating search for Sue since Spike died awhile back.  Reggie will be a great companion for not only Sue but little 4 legged Bridget as well.  Happy Campers over there:))

RESTING ON ONE OF TWO BRANCHES I STUCK IN THE GROUND

I saw a few comments about avoiding Chicago.  We have done the Chicago route maybe a half dozen times coming & going.  Secret there like any large city is to do it early on a Sunday morning if possible & that is generally what we do in the Fall heading west by leaving Bayfield early on a Saturday morning & spending the night somewhere slightly east of Chicago.  Our route home at the end of the month ‘if we stick to it’ will bring us up under Chicago & land us on a toll (80/90) road heading east past South Bend & Elkhart to highway 69 south of Lansing.  We like this toll road because it’s uncomplicatedly fast & saves a lot of traffic confusion & congestion.  We don’t mind paying a few toll fee dollars in order to alleviate a lot of unnecessary stress due to chaotic Chicago traffic miseries.  Of course we may not even go through Chicago at all & that will depend on weather & our often traveling habit of changing plans & routes mid-stream.  We really won’t know which way we came home until after we we get there:))

INTRODUCING MR. & MRS. HOUSE FINCH

We check the weather in Bayfield several times a day now & beginning Monday we see a warming trend beginning.  That is if one can call temperatures above freezing, warming.  Well yes one can considering the whole area has just experienced the coldest temps for February on record.  The folks up our way have experienced freezing temperatures for weeks on end if not for over a month with no break or let up.  In Grand Bend’s Yacht Club web cam photos below you can see Lake Huron is frozen out as far as the eye can see.  People this afternoon walking out on Grand Bend’s pier which is nearly buried in ice & snow.  In the other photo you can see the Ausable River frozen over on the right.  We always say it’s not time to head for home until we see this river is free of ice & flowing again.  We have our fingers crossed we will see the river ice breaking up soon.

 

Not a lot else to write about tonight.  These are quiet days right now as we slowly gear down our Arizona days.  It’s kind of like a lull before the storm of travel soon begins.  For sure we will again be very sad to leave here in a few weeks yet we are both looking forward to a change of pace & getting home to Bayfield.  Once there we have all summer to look forward to coming back to Arizona in the Fall again.  Despite my griping, grumbling, & complaining from time to time we do have a pretty great life & for that we are very grateful…………………….. 

A COUPLE FILE PHOTOS OF OUR FRONT PORCH AT NIGHT

GROANER’S CORNER:(( One morning I found a beautiful long-stemmed rose lying by the kitchen sink. Even though the flower was plastic with a long wire stem, I was thinking how, after all the years we had been married, my husband could still make such a wonderful romantic gesture.  Then I noticed a love note lying next to it.  "Dear Sue," it read. "Don't touch the rose, I'm going to use the stem to unclog the drain."

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A wife, being the romantic sort, sent her husband a text:
"If you are sleeping, send me your dreams. If you are laughing, send me your smile. If you are eating, send me a bite. If you are drinking, send me a sip. If you are crying, send me your tears. I love you."  He replied, "I am in the bathroom. Please advise."

A FEW MORE THINGS LOADED INTO OUR MOTORHOME

OUR DESERT FLOOR IS LOOKING MORE & MORE LIKE A GOLF COURSE THESE DAYS

No matter Friday night’s Moon was no longer full, Pheebs & I went out & howled at it anyway.  Even with a slight breeze blowing I feel it was this year’s warmest night so far.  And how nice to be outside without any bugs or Mosquitoes.  I’m just needing to hear some Crickets now.   

NICE TO SEE OUR MESQUITE TREE LEAVES BEGINNING TO UNFURL

It is disappointing that I can no longer see the Moon clearly.  Surface detail once easy for me to observe is now blurred with flaring around the moon & a double image at the bottom left side.  It is like looking at a bright light for me.  I’m assuming it is the Astigmatism in my left eye causing most of the problem.  I don’t think I am at an advanced cataract stage yet or I’m sure the last 2 eye tests I’ve had both Ophthalmologists would have said something.  Frustrating nonetheless for one who so much enjoys the night sky.  No problem for me seeing stars though so guess I had better be grateful for that.

MY CAMERA SEES THE MOON BETTER THAN I DO

Nice walk in the desert this morning for a change.  In many places the ground looked like a soft golf course laid out amongst tall Yucca plants, Beaver Tail Cactus, Mesquite & Palo Verde trees.  The many small green plants & grass give the desert floor a manicured look.

IF I HAD A BICYCLE HERE IN CONGRESS THIS IS WHERE I WOULD RIDE IT

Much of our morning was spent gathering things up & loading some stuff into the Motorhome.  Not being a last minute person I try to have things organized well in advance.  Just seems to be an easier & less stressful way of doing some things.  Not all of course, but some.

A RELAXING BACK YARD AFTERNOON

Those neighbor’s flowers we dug up & planted are African Daisies & I think California Poppies.  It’s so nice to look out & actually see a nice little splash of color here & there now.  Would be so nice if they take & spread next year.  But, after checking the flower clumps this morning I already see we have a problem.  Two clumps of flowers closer to our fence line were already chewed off.  Dam rabbits!!!!

 

IT’S NICE HEARING BIRDS CHIRPING OUTSIDE OUR DOOR NOW THAT WE HAVE MOVED THE BIRDFEEDER CLOSER TO THE HOUSE

Browsing through my Kindle for something to read I came across a book written after the American Civil War by a soldier who survived the war.  It’s a true story based on a soldiers letters written home to his Mother during those years he spent in the Union Army.  Upon returning home after the war he based his book on those letters.  The Story Of A Common Soldier of Army Life In The Civil War by Leander Stillwell.

FOUND A GOOD SPOT FOR ONE OF OUR SAGUARO SKELETONS >>>

Spent some time this afternoon with Mapquest & my Rand-McNally road atlas figuring out a route home in another 3 weeks.  Looks like it may be a combination of Interstates & other roads with two thirds being familiar routes & about one third through new territory.  Rather than slip up through Utah on our way home we plan to include Utah on our way back in the Fall.  My rule of thumb in travel planning is to always look for routes avoiding major cities & aside from south Chicago I think I may have found a gentler path home once again. 

HOPING THE RABBITS LEAVE THESE ALONE

GROANER’S CORNER:(( I remember standing at quarters one morning while stationed aboard ship. Lieutenant Montgomery was doing the muster.
"JACKSON?"
"Here!"
"KIBBEY?"
"Yo."
"STEPHENS?"
"Present, sir."
"SEEBACK?"
Nothing.
"SEEBACK?!"
Still nothing.
"SEEBACK!!!!"
As the division Chief I whispered into the Lieutenant's ear, "Sir, turn the paper over."

WE MANAGED TO GET SOME FLOWERS IN THE GROUND TODAY

JUST ONE CLUMP OF OUR NEWLY PLANTED WILDFLOWERS THIS MORNING

One of the first things I do every morning after stepping outside it is to walk around & see if the rabbits have chewed up any cactus.  So far so good since planting a bunch of new cactus pads a week ago.  My adobe brick barricades seem to be repelling all wascally wabbit intwuders so far.

Feeling a bit energetic & while our morning air was still cool I waxed (Meguiar's) the front end of our motorhome & part way back on the south facing drivers side which  bears the brunt of Arizona’s hot sun every day.  Before waxing I decided to remove some black streaks with some Meguiar’s black streak remover.  Brand new plastic bottle & I had never used it before.  Walking around a front corner of our rig the slippery plastic bottle just slipped right on out of my hand.  Soon as it hit the ground one whole side just busted right out.  I stood there & watched $14.00 worth of Meguiar’s black streak remover drain away into the ground.

We knew it was going to be a warm day (mid 70’s) so Kelly & I hopped in the Jeep about 9 & headed around the corner to our neighbors.  Lew was working on a vehicle but pointed out where all the flowers were we could have.  Said to take as many as we wanted but we didn’t want to get him in big trouble with his wife Shirley who was at work so we were careful not to be greedy.  Came home & planted maybe 25 groups of daisies & poppies at various locations around our property.  Some were already going to seed so that is good.  With a bit of luck we should have some nice spring flowers growing next year at this time.

Finished my latest paperback book by Bill Bryson.  What a great read One Summer: America, 1927 was & I would recommend it to anyone with any kind of interest with America’s history.  Bryson has a knack for intertwining people, places, & events in such a way as to make it all so very interesting.  No dull moments.  What I like about reading non-fiction is the learning process that goes along with the reality of what I am reading.  As often as not facts can literally be stranger than fiction.  All the era’s mystery & intrigue are in this book along with many colorfully real characters from the past.  If your looking for murders, trysts, record breaking accomplishments, natural & man made disasters, shady characters, who, what, & why the stock market crash of 1929, inventions that changed our lives, Al Capone, American Presidents, Babe Ruth, who invented what, the not so clever Henry Ford, & how did Charles Lindbergh go from America’s greatest hero to almost one of America’s most looked down upon characters.  What did he have to do with Adolph Hitler & his Nazi party?  It’s all in the book of course & how different today’s society form then till now.  Oh we still have all the main ingredients of course with greed & lust being just two of our many human familiarities & frailties but oh what a different mind set today from yesteryear.  

Cool enough in the house this morning to have my little electric heater going beside my chair.  Hot enough in the house this afternoon to have the big cool ceiling fan in my room going.  Mid 70’s this week heading for low 80’s next week.  Arizona’s warm spring weather is upon us.  Nice:))

Headed off to Wickenburg for groceries at Safeway earlier today.  Surprised at the steady stream of traffic heading north on 93.  Figure it’s the Phoenix crowd heading for a Las Vegas week-end get-a-way in Nevada.

<<< SEED PODS CAN BE SEEN HANGING DOWN

After 3 years of leaky taps dripping water it is sure nice to have ourselves two new sets of faucets.  One at the kitchen sink & the other at my bathroom sink just off my bedroom.  Always bothered me seeing those taps drip, drip, dripping knowing of the water waste involved.  Not to mention we pay for our water here too.  Our handyman Les had tried putting new washers in the old 50’s taps but to no avail so Kelly picked up 2 new faucet sets awhile back.  Les in his busy schedule found time Thursday to hook them up for us.  Not something I was going to try.  We’ve all seen the cartoons of husbands fixing plumbing stuff then seeing water coming out of light sockets or spraying all over the place like a geyser on steroids.  Well I’m the guy in those cartoons & if I’ve learned anything in life it’s not to mess with certain mechanical things.  I do not have a good ‘handyman’ track record:((    

SOME FLOWERS WERE DROOPY FROM BEING TRANSPLANTED

A couple readers asked about watering things like flowers & trees during hot summer months when we are not here.  We have nothing planted which requires water.  We tried some shrubs a couple years ago but they never made it because we were not here in the summer to keep them watered.  These Spring flowers we are planting now will only bloom for another week or two then they are dormant until about the middle of next February when winter rains once again begin their growing process.  No watering required on our part.

With our bird feeder now in a new location I figured I had better see if I could find myself a new position for bird photos not too close to the feeder.  Sitting in the shade of our shed I was able to grab a few shots this afternoon.

CARDINALS HAVE THE PRETTIEST OF SONGS

 

LIFT-OFFS

  

A SIMULTANEOUS TAKE-OFF & LANDING

Here’s a question for readers.  Does anyone happen to own a mid-size pick up truck quad cab 4x4?  Dodge Dakota’s were popular a few years ago & if anyone has one I’m curious to know what they think of the truck & whether they like it or not.  What’s good about them & what’s not so good about them.  Nissan also builds a mid size 4 door quad/crew cab as well.  I know Chrysler stopped production of the mid-size Dakota’s a few years ago.  Just curious. 

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A man goes to a doctor for a routine physical. The nurse starts with the basics.  "How much do you weigh?" she asks.  "Oh, about 165." he says.  The nurse puts him on the scale. It turns out that his weight is 187. The nurse asks, "Your height?"  "Oh, about six feet," he says.  The nurse checks and sees that he's only 5 feet 8 3/4 inches. She then takes his blood pressure, and it's very high.  "High!" The man explains, "Of course it's high. When I came in here, I was tall and lanky. Now, it seems I have somehow turned out to be short and fat!"

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While practicing auto-rotations during a military night training exercise, a Huey Cobra messed up and landed on its tail rotor so hard that it broke off the tail boom. Fortunately, however, the chopper remained upright on its skids, as it slid down the runway, turning in circles.
As the Cobra slid past the tower, trailing a brilliant shower of sparks, this was the radio exchange that took place . . .
Tower: "Sir, do you need any assistance?"  Cobra: "I don't know, Tower. We ain't done crashin' yet!"

SORE MUSCLES SLOWED MY DAY DOWN

Jodee in a comment on my Wednesday post said ‘About the time you've completed the projects for the season you'll be back in Bayfield clearing through all the broken branches and winter-thrashed shrubs!’  Well she is right of course & I’m expecting it to be a big clean up again this year after the terrible winter.  Tree limbs down all over the place for sure with heavy snow loads this year tells me our place will be a big mess.  Shrubs bent over to the ground & everything looking it’s absolute worst for the entire year.  Luckily for me I have never minded that big clean-up simply because it gives me something to do soon as we get home.  Have always enjoyed cleaning things up to make things look nice & at this age the exercise involved in the clean-up is very much needed & looked forward too.

Spent another hour or so this morning working on my flower garden project & now have it dug in around our patio.  Happy to say our backyard birds are adapting well to their new feeder location.  I didn’t take any photos today simply because I think we’ve all seen enough dug up dirt for awhile.  Today’s photos are pictures I took last year about this time of our neighbors flower garden & as it turns out this is where some of our flowers will be coming from shortly.  Neighbors told Kelly for us to come on over & dig up some of their African Daisies & transplant them at our place so we’ll be doing that within the next few days.  Already put in some California Poppies plus African & English Daisy seeds up by our main entrance gate a few days ago.  Les, our handyman guy installed 2 new sets of faucets for us today & said for us to come over to his place at the end of the month & we can have a bunch of his flowers as well.  Said he’s got way to many.  We will likely wait till Fall before planting anymore seeds though.  Said on the seed packets Autumn is the recommended time to plant them.  Next year at this time we should definitely have some colorful flowers blooming.

I wrapped up my garden project about 11 this morning & spent the rest of our day just relaxing & reading.  I had kind of overdid it Wednesday & my stiff muscles have been giving me more trouble than usual.  The constant stiffness in my legs is not getting any better & I think the medication I have been taking for that problem these past 15 years or so has run it’s course.

Saw Kelly carrying out a few things to the Motorhome this morning.  ‘NO’ this does not mean we are heading home yet it just means we are in the early stages of getting things organized.  Same as when we leave in the Fall it just takes awhile to get everything stowed away.  More so for us because of things traveling back & forth from house to house.  No departure date set yet but our travel insurance & 182 day U.S. stay limit will run out about April 10th.  Unless southwestern Ontario experiences a monster heat wave in the next 4 weeks we will be going home to piles of ice & snow.  It’s happened to us before & it’s just one of those things we will have to deal with when we get home.  We are certainly no strangers to the ways of harsh winters.

Tonight’s full moon is the smallest of the year & is referred to as a mini-moon.  Smallest Full Moon Of 2015.  Not wanting to miss it I will again be standing in our front yard cactus garden watching it rise over yon distant mountains.  By next months full moon we may very well be on the road……………….

 

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A friend and his wife were considering traveling to Alaska for a trip that the husband had long dreamed of taking. He kept talking about how great it would be to stay in a log cabin without electricity, to hunt moose, and drive a dog team instead of a car.  "If we decided to live there permanently, away from civilization, what would you miss the most?" he asked his wife.  She replied, "You."

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- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

THIS MONTH’S FULL MOON WILL BE OUR LAST FULL ARIZONA MOON UNTIL NOVEMBER:((

NEST BUILDING IS WELL UNDER WAY AROUND OUR HOUSE

Biting cold north wind first thing this morning had us in our winter duds.  Couple hours later our Arizona winds died down & it was short sleeves & sitting in the sun time for Kelly.  I busied myself planting a few more pieces of dead Saguaro skeletons we have picked up in our desert travels.  By the time it occurred to take a picture of them they were already on the shady side of the house.  Tomorrow.

PUTTERING ABOUT IN THE YARD TODAY

Put a small cement brick border around our water faucet which is now in our new flower garden & moved the birdbath & bird feeder into that same area as well.  This will bring the birds closer to the house where we can see them better & closer to a water supply for keeping the birdbath topped up.  Because of Palo Verde tree roots I do not want to dig a small pond into the ground so I have to keep an eye out now for some kind of large shallow container to hold water.  I will then blend that container in using dirt, rocks, plants, pieces of desert wood, etc.  And I want to keep the pond under the tree for shade purposes which means the pond will be in & part of the flower garden.   Needless to say I am feeling much better this week now that I have my teeth into another project again:))

  

MINUTES AFTER I HAD RELOCATED THIS FEEDER OUR BACKYARD BIRDS WERE ALL OVER IT

POND WILL GO ABOUT WHERE THE RED SHOVEL IS

We had a tiny water leak in the main part of the house from our recent rains so I was up on the roof today with some tar patching a small hole I found when an older tar job had dried out & cracked.  Took a few photos from the roof while I was up there.

FRONT YARD

 

GOOD VIEW OF BIG EEE’S ROOF & SOLAR PANELS

Not often we see Arizona’s Grand Canyon or Hoover Dam from the air but Darrell from Goza’s Wanderings & Wonderings hopped himself aboard a 20 passenger sightseeing plane & took some aerial photos over the dam & canyon.  Must say I am amazed at the quality of photos this fella consistently gets from his cell phone.  Check out Darrell’s Aerial Exploring.  And the Furry Gnome from way up there in frozen Ontario Canada is still getting out most days taking lots of great freezing cold snowy scenery photos.  I have memories of many beautiful winter days but I have only a handful of digital photos but that’s OK I don’t mind at all if someone else braves freezing cold days to show the rest of us the beautiful side of winter.  Hogg's Falls………Winter Fences.

A BIT BLURRY BUT IT’S A GILA WOODPECKER IN FLIGHT

 

MR & MRS GILA WOODPECKER

ANOTHER REASON FOR LOCATING THE POND THERE IS BECAUSE OF THE CLOSE WATER SOURCE

<<< LITTLE MISS GAMBLE’S QUAIL

Gene in Ohio had a Shout Box question asking how long it took me to dig that section of flower garden in our back yard Tuesday.  I took a couple breaks doing it but I would say about half an hour to dig, edge, & rake it out.  A half hour enjoyably spent I might add.  And someone else asked awhile back if I had painted our inside front door yet.  Answer is no & that is because I simply had forgot about that.  Thanks for the reminder.  Another little project for me.  And I think someone else asked if we would be planting native wildflowers & the answer is yes.  Same kinds as our neighbor has blooming right now.

I’M HOPING TO GET OUR YARD LOOKING LIKE OUR NEIGHBOR’S YARD AROUND THE CORNER

Watching tonight’s Moonrise it occurred to me this will be our last Arizona full moon for the next 7 months meaning we’ll likely not see another desert moon until November later this year.  I so much look forward to each full moon every month here in the southwest & so enjoy how it’s soft glow bathes this mystic desert landscape we live, love, & travel in……………….

TUESDAY NIGHTS NEARLY FULL MOON WITH A TOUCH OF CLOUDS

GROANER’S CORNER:(( I was driving my father and grandfather down a rough country road. My inexperience in handling Grandpa's four-wheel-drive vehicle made for a particularly bouncy ride.  Embarrassed, I offered a lame excuse, "The sun shadows through the trees make it hard for me to see all the potholes." "Don't worry," Grandpa said. "You're gettin' most of 'em."

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As the passengers settled in on a West Coast commuter flight, a flight attendant announced, "We'd like you folks to help us welcome our new co-pilot. He'll be performing his first commercial landing for us today, so be sure to give him a big round of applause when we come to a stop."  The plane made an extremely bumpy landing, bouncing hard two or three times before taxiing to a stop. Still, the passengers applauded.  Then the attendant's voice came over the intercom, "Thanks for flying with us. And don't forget to let our co-pilot know which landing you liked best."