A MYSTERIOUS PACKAGE BY OUR FRONT GATE THIS AFTERNOON

Cloudy & cool this morning.  Not exactly my kind of a simulating start to the day.  Had left the Jeep & trailer over at the neighbors so figured I might as well load up & move a few more driveway brush piles while I had Jeep & trailer still hooked up.  Skies began to clear around 10 & with a few warming rays from old Sol my batteries were soon up to full charge & I was able to move another 5 piles of brush.  Some of we folks are so controlled by weather that it seems to border on the edge of downright silliness I’d say!!

KELLY FIELDS A DEER PARK LODGE CALL ON OUR MORNING WALK

ONLY ONE MUD PUDDLE ON OUR ENTIRE WALK & GUESS WHO HAD TO WALK RIGHT THROUGH IT?  HINT:  IT WASN’T KELLY OR I

It’s so nice working around on the neighbors nearly 4 acres.  Nobody around & I especially like a quietly peaceful area on the property with tall Saguaros, Agaves, & Joshua Trees.  It’s a serenity like garden & was one of the first areas I cleaned up when I started my little work project a couple months ago.  Birds make their homes in the Joshua Trees & Saguaros.  Bunnies play in the Mesquites nearby.

  

Moving one of the brush piles this morning I was startled by a rather large dark colored lizard which I later may have correctly identified as a CHUCKWALLA.  He sure had quite a waddle to him as he quickly made tracks away from me in the direction of some dark underbrush.  Largest lizard I have seen so far here in the South-West.  I do remember seeing large lizards before but it was in Puerto Vallarta Mexico & they were sunning themselves on large rocks beside the Ocean.

NICE TO BE SO NEAR TO THIS JOSHUA TREE GARDEN…WHITE ROOF LINE IN BACKGROUND IS OURS

Kelly needed the Jeep for a Wickenburg grocery run so I finished up my voluntary work day by 11:30 a.m.   Sun was about out full force by then & it was getting too warm to be doing working stuff anyway.  At least for this guy it was.

 

Those ‘Daring Young Men In Their Flying Machines’ were busy overhead again today & I couldn’t help but wonder if training has been stepped up a notch in light of recent events in the Ukraine.

 

Must have been around 1:30 this afternoon when I slipped out into the front yard to re-plant a Cactus which had been blown over by the wind a few days ago.  I noticed a medium sized cardboard box sitting just inside our closed gate.  Figured it was something Kelly had ordered & Fed-Ex or Purolator had dropped it off over the gate.  Description on the shipping label said, ‘Roller Feeder.’  I was thinking maybe hair rollers but didn’t know ya had to feed them.  Took the box in & set it on the dining room table.

  

LIKE THE DESIGN ON THE AGAVE LEAF AT RIGHT…RED FLOWERS ARE A DESERT CHRISTMAS CACTUS

Kelly was home from the grocery store about an hour later & said ‘no’ she didn’t remember ordering anything.  We wondered right away if it was dropped off here by mistake……whatever it was.  I continued carrying the groceries in while Kelly opened the box.  Lots of wrapping paper but she soon lifted some kind of something out of the box.  We were baffled to say the least as we looked at this odd shaped object.  Kinda rectangle, metal construction, clear hard plastic, looked like some kind of tray inside.  There was a long metal handle or hanger with it as well.  We didn’t have a clue what it could be.  Kelly dug deeper into the box & found a folded paper manual or something.  ‘Well Holy smokes what do we have here’.

 

YOU CAN SEE I DRINK A LOT OF CRAN-RASPBERRY JUICE & DID YOU KNOW PHEEBS GETS HER OWN MAIL, CHECK THE TOP LEFT CORNER OF ‘HEALTH PET’:))

It’s a large bird feeder but not just any kind of a large bird feeder.  Booklet said this one was ‘squirrel proof.’  And it sure is!!  What a marvelous piece of quality construction.  ROLLER FEEDER was engineered by a clever mind.  Solid construction & ‘Made In The U.S.A.  But if we didn’t order it……who sent it????  We doubled checked the label again & yep it’s our names & our address on the shipping label alright.  The ‘Roller Feeder’ was definitely shipped to the right people, but by whom??

THIS NEW FEEDER IS QUITE A CLEVER PIECE OF ENGINEERING & IT’S WATERPROOF TOO

Label also told us it was shipped February 27th directly from the factory where it was made in St. Paul Minnesota.  We do strongly suspect a long time blog reader has sent this having read all the trouble we have had with Squirrels & greedy Grackles in Bayfield each Spring & Summer.  I have blogged many times about our epic battles with Squirrels trying to keep them out of our bird feeders.  In fact I do remember someone in the last couple weeks making a comment about our Squirrel problem but I cannot remember who it was.  We will have to do some serious sleuthing.   In the meantime we already have the bird feeder outside in a Mesquite tree.  We don’t have a Squirrel problem here but we wanted to get the feeder broken in so it looks used when we cross the border going home next month.  To the thoughtful blog reader who sent us this great gift we thank you so very much.  Our Bayfield Squirrels may not be thanking you so much in another couple months………………but we sure are:))

CAREFULLY FILLING THE NEW ‘ROLLER BIRDFEEDER’

And here’s another ‘must read’ from Wheeling It entitled, ‘10 THINGS I WISHED I'D KNOWN BEFORE FULLTIME RVING'  Written back in 2011 this info is just as current now as it was then.  A lot of food for thought here.  From new people dreaming of an RV lifestyle to folks in the practical planning stages, all will find solid suggestions & advice in this post. And for those of us already into the lifestyle whether it be Snow Birding or Full Timing, Nina’s article is just as current for us as well.

 

GROANER’S CORNER:(( SNOW IN VICTORIA BRITISH COLUMBIA::  6:22 a.m.

Temperature plunges. Word spreads that a Victoria man has found ice on his windshield! Curious neighbors gather to watch him scrape it off with a credit card. One motorist, a former Albertan, claims that use of mysterious "defrost" switch on dashboard can aid in process.

9:30 a.m.

Canadian Tire has sold both of their snow shovels. Islanders begin cobbling together implements made from kayak paddles, umbrellas, plywood, cookie sheets and boogie boards.

10 a.m.

Golfers switch to orange balls. Beacon Hill Park cricket players, anxious not to repeat the ugly "snow blower incident" of the Blizzard of '96, switch to orange uniforms.

Noon:

Word of impending West Coast snowfall tops newscasts across Canada. Saskatoon hospitals report an epidemic of sprained wrists related to viewers high-fiving one another.

1:20 p.m.

Elementary schools call in grief counselors. However, the grief counselors refuse to go, citing lack of snow tires.

2:30 p.m.

Rush hour begins an hour early as office workers come down with mysterious illness and bolt for home. Usual traffic snarl is compounded by large number of four- wheel-drives abandoned by side of road.

2:50 p.m.

Airplanes are grounded and ferries are docked. There's no way to travel between the Island and rest of the world. The Victoria Times Colonist newspaper headline blares: "Mainland cut off from Civilization."

3:22 p.m.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announces Canada 's DART rapid- response team can be on the ground within six months." We can't leave Victoria to deal with 225 centimeters of snow on its own," he tells Mayor Fortin.. "Um, that's two-to-five centimeters, not two-two-five," replies the Mayor. The Prime Minister, feeling foolish, hangs up.

3:33 p.m.

Provincial government responds to crisis by installing slot machines in homeless shelters.

4:10 p.m.

At behest of Provincial Emergency Program people, authorities begin adding Prozac to drinking water.

4:15 p.m.

Fears of food shortages lead to alarming scenes of violence and looting. Grocery shoppers riot across the city - except in Oak Bay, where residents hire caterers to do rioting for them.

4:30 p.m.

Bracing for the arrival of snow, the city is gripped by an eerie stillness reminiscent of Baghdad on the eve of the invasion. Searchlights comb darkening sky for first sign of precipitation.

4:48 p.m.

Panic ripples across the region as word come in that the first flakes of snow have fallen on the Malahat.

5:40 p.m.

Television reporter, Ed Bain, shaking uncontrollably, tells viewers that snow warnings have been extended. This weather pattern could go on for days. Mercury is plummeting to Calgary-in-August levels. Martial law is considered. Victoria-area politicians announce plans to establish an emergency command center aboard HMCS Regina once it reaches Oahu…. and so it go's.

(thanks Ivan)

NOT A LOT ON MY MIND TONIGHT

Had been waiting on cooler temps & sunny skies before resuming my clean-up project on our neighbor’s property.  Today was that day.  Hooked up the utility trailer & headed next door to begin picking up the piles of brush along the driveway I had raked up over a month ago.  Already was a brush pile on the property so I hauled the driveway piles back to that.  Also trimmed up an overgrown Palo Verde tree.  Been awhile since I’ve been doing any physical work so I about wore myself out in just a short couple hours.  I’ll have another go at picking up more brush in the morning.

It seems at this older age now muscles just go to mush & joints seize right up if they are not being constantly used or exercised.  I can be working away at something outside, come in & sit down for 20 minutes & it’s a struggle to get back out of the chair again.  Leg joints just seem to seize up that fast.  I am certainly not impressed with this darn constant aging thing……………….

 

JANNA & MIKE dropped in this afternoon.  Always nice talking to these folks because we have many of the same interests.  Pheebs got to see Emmi again too.  We might just have us some plans brewing for later in the week:))

Not a lot on my mind tonight.  Well not a lot I feel like writing about that is.  May have some things coming up but we’ll see.  Most nights writing comes fairly easy but there are times when just trying to put two simple thoughts together seems all but impossible.  All day today & tonight has been one of those times.  Too many days in a row of doing too many of the same things methinks.  Say, are we not overdo for another week long road trip again…….:))

GROANER’S CORNER:((  So this guy opens the 'fridge to get a beer and there sits a rabbit."Rabbit, what the hell are  do doing in my refrigerator." To which the rabbit replies, "Well, this is a Westinghouse, isn't it?"  "Well, yes," says the guy. "Well, I'm westing!"………………Of course this joke reminded me of our own Wasscally Wabbit problem here at our house in Congress.  Since putting the granular repellent around the big hole in our foundation we have not seen hide nor hare of a rabbit since.  I put sand all around the hole as well to see if there would be any rabbit tracks…..nothing:))

SUNROOM THOUGHTS, A BIRD PHOTO TIP, & FEEDJIT LIVE TRAFFIC

A SIGN OF SPRING AT OUR HOUSE TODAY
Half a dozen short sharp wind gusts early Saturday night had us both on our feet & out the door wondering, ‘what the heck was that’.  Noticed it was raining again so all & all I guess we did get a pretty good soaking Saturday after all.  Went I went out with Pheebs this morning at 6 we had a clear sky overhead with stars from horizon to horizon.  Two hours later when we head out for our walk we had a heavy cloud cover sitting on some of the distant mountain tops.  By 10 a.m. the mountains were free of clouds & we had clearing skies with warming sunshine.  But it didn’t last.  Clouds rolled in by mid afternoon, temps dropped & we ended up inside with the heater going for the rest of the day:((

 

Porch furniture all back out, RV vents, windows, & door open again, chairs & tables back on the cement patio & the shed doors open once more.  Bird feeders filled & we were good to go for another day.  Go where I didn’t know but ready to go anyway.

FROM A DISTANCE WE THOUGHT THIS CACTUS HAD A BLOOM, BUT……………
Deer Park Lodge’s owner will be in England for a week beginning today so the calls have been forwarded to Kelly & she will be taking the reigns until Kirsten returns.  Didn’t take long for reservation inquiries to come in today & I once again heard that familiar warm & charming professionally friendly voice as Kelly once again eased right back into her familiar driver’s seat:))

Our house has an ‘L’ shape to it at it’s southwest corner.  Every time I look at that area I see a nice little sunroom built on there.  A sunroom would serve a very practical purpose in the winter time.  With no central heating such as a furnace our house remains on the cold side.  We only have 2 small windows facing south & that’s not much room for the warm southern sun to slip it’s warming rays into the house.  Just for fun I measured it out this morning & the room would be 15 x18 feet with the longer wall facing facing south.  With big windows it would for sure be the warmest room in the house during winter.  It would look out onto our quiet back yard & nearby bird feeders.  Interior entrance door would be through our dining room with a second door leading outside onto a west facing cement sidewalk & 16 x 17 foot concrete patio.  It’s all a dream of course but we all know where our dreams can sometimes lead us.  If I was a handy person I would already have added this to our house for sure……And then there is my old weathered wooden gate & Spanish arch idea between the house & garden shed.  Okay, Okay, that’s enough Sunday morning dreaming out of this guy for now.  Back to reality…………………..

A SUNROOM COULD FIT NICELY FROM THAT WINDOW AT RIGHT OVER TO THAT CORNER BESIDE THE WHITE DOOR AT LEFT
 
YEP, LOOKS LIKE A MIGHTY FINE PLACE FOR A SUNROOM ALRIGHT
And here’s a little tip for photographing birds around your bird feeder.  I have noticed for some time now bird’s around feeder’s have flight patterns.  Many birds coming into the feeder do not come from a long distance directly to the feeder itself.  They will often come in & land in a tree near by first.  They will watch the feeder making sure there are no threats.  When they feel safe they fly the last short distance from their branch to the feeder.  Birds will often use that same spot on a branch to stop for a few seconds before flying in.  Sit & watch your feeder & try to determine where that favorite spot in the tree is where birds are first landing.  Take your camera whether hand held or on a tripod & pre- focus on that spot.  Now if you are on Auto Focus, switch it off.  As long as you don’t move your camera position all you have to do is wait for a bird or birds to fly into that pre-focused zone.  ‘Click-Click-Click’  With a bit of practice & concentration you can anticipate the birds movements & catch them in flight coming into or out of the pre-focused site.  Try it, this is much easier than trying to chase small birds around in flight with your camera:))

  

After traveling for who knows how many years without a tow car SASSY just got herself a toad.  Raining? No problem just leave the Harley parked & take the toad.  Temperatures below freezing?  No problem just leave the Harley parked & take the toad.  Ahhhhhhh, what a life eh:))
 
  

Sharon over at THE ODD ESSAY had a comment question in which she asked, “I see you have "Live Feed" (or something similar) way down on the right hand column... it's pretty neat! Looks like a fun thing to have”.  Not sure but I think she might be referring to FEEDJIT.  This is a live traffic feed showing in ‘real time’ people clicking on our Blog site & where they are coming from.  From an icon on my desktop it also shows me what photos people find interesting & click on.  Also tells me from who’s blog site they came to ours from & who’s blog site they are going to next.  Tells me from what Country visitors have arrived as well.  Not that it’s important to me but Feedjit also tells what browser & operating system visitors have.  Also states the date & time of each visit.  As an example, in the last 5 minutes visitors have clicked on our blog from Penticton BC, Blossom TX, Ft Lauderdale FLA, Hayward CA, Las Vegas Nevada, Franklin Tennessee, Houston TX, Oakland Ca, Parker AZ, Dayton Ohio, Birmingham Alabama, Herbert Saskatchewan, Paradise Valley AZ, Columbus Georgia, Chandler AZ, Tyler TX, Phoenix AZ, Kitchener Ontario, etc. etc.  You may or may not have noticed a trend here but stats also show American visits to our site outnumber Canadian visitors to our site by about 10 to 1.  It’s not often I look at our statistics but with Sharon’s question this morning it was kind of fun to have a look at a few of them again.

WHILE TAKING SOME BIRD PHOTOS THIS AFTERNOON THIS LITTLE BUTTERFLY CAME ALONG & LANDED ON A BLOOMING FLOWER PLANT BESIDE WHERE I WAS SITTING
GROANER’S CORNER:(( Few people know that the late Mr. Maxwell, founder of Maxwell House Coffee, was a veteran skydiver and RVer. Near his hometown, it was common to find Mr. Maxwell at the airport in his Avion Fifth Wheel, relaxing and visiting with his many friends as he waited for his next jump. One fateful day, however, something went terribly wrong, and his parachute failed to open. His friends and employees were horrified, to stay the least, at the demise of this very kind and gentle man. And so when it came to preparing his epitaph, they had no problem finding the words: "Mr. Maxwell . . . Good to the last drop."

A RAIN DRIZZLED GRAY SUN SPLASHED SATURDAY KEPT US MAINLY INDOORS

 

WE DEFINITELY DID HAVE US AN UNPREDICTABLE WEATHER DAY

Heard a bit more rain in the night but overall I don’t think we really had the harder rain the desert really needed.  Shallow root plants were happy but deeper rooted trees were not.  I poked a little hole in my dirt pile & could see the rain had soaked in 2 or 3 inches.  WeIl at least everything looked pretty darn wet first thing this morning & I did notice that sweet desert aroma permeating the air after the rain.  I had also been hoping for a hard rain to wash all the Sedona dust off the Winnie Wagon as well.

NICE TO SEE DALLY AGAIN THIS MORNING >>>

With the heavy dark cloud cover hanging overhead this morning the question was whether to take a chance & put all our outside furniture & South-West decor back outside again.  Would it rain?  Probably not, but……  Oh life is tough when it comes down to major life altering decisions like that isn’t it…………..{Update:}  I did finally put the porch furniture back about 1:15 this afternoon.  It started raining again at 1:25 p.m.  Back in with the porch furniture.  At 1:45 we were in blazing sunlight but I was not about to be fooled a second time.  Porch furniture stayed inside.  Twenty minutes after that we had the hardest rain of the whole day for about twenty minutes & that was that.  Now the trees were even happy:))

I’M SURE MY RECENTLY PLANTED JOSHUA TREES LOVED THE RAIN TODAY

Working away at my post tonight with my kind of music emanating from our Sirius Satellite radio beside me I am once again reminded what it is about music I love so much.  For me quite simply speaking it is the sound of whatever it is making the music.  The human voice like any musical instrument is an originator of sound & when I hear someone singing or a voice being used in a piece of music it is the sound of that voice I listen to.  I am not interested so much in what the singer has to say as much as I am interested in the sound quality of a singer’s voice.  As an example, I was never a big Bob Dylan fan simply because I never did care for the sound of his voice.  But I did like his ‘Nashville Skyline’ album years ago when he concentrated more on his voice than the meaning of his words.   There are many, many, fine sounding voices in the world both young & old.  Blending voice sounds produces many pleasant harmonies just as blending musical instruments creates so many ‘pleasing to the ear sounds’.  Put all those fine instruments together in a quality way & you have what I like to call music.  And yes there are songs I do enjoy the words too.  When the Sons Of The Pioneers with their excellent harmonies paint me wonderful word pictures of the Santa Fe Trail, Tumbling Tumbleweeds, or When It’s Springtime In The Rockies, I do pay attention & let their words & music take me to the places they sing about………………..:))

Here’s a good example of how I am an impatient guy.  We all like ice cream right?  Some may like ice cream right out of the freezer when it’s rock solid hard.  Some may like it softened up a bit & will set it out on the counter to soften up for 10 minutes.  I am of the latter & like my ice cream soft.  But my impatient nature comes into play with the 10 minute waiting factor.  Thank heavens somebody years ago invented the Micro-wave oven for people like me.  ‘Zap’ & 30 seconds later I am pouring ice cream with the consistency of a Milkshake down the hatch & loving it……………..

HERE WE ARE 2 YEARS AGO TODAY BOONDOCKED JUST SOUTH OF NORTH RANCH NEAR CONGRESS…WE WERE IN SOME ANXIOUS DAYS AT THE TIME NEGOTIATING OUR HOUSE DEAL…RV SUE & HER CANINE CREW WERE CAMPED JUST A SHORT DISTANCE AWAY OFF TO OUR RIGHT

I noticed on Sherry’s blog, IN THE DIRECTION OF OUR DREAMS she talked about her husband David’s recent haircut.  Having just reluctantly done the same thing I did leave these thoughts on Sherry’s post regarding David’s haircut…….'Well, as a recent convert to short hair I can attest to the fact it is definitely easier to manage. If my hair had not become so unmanageable I would have kept it. Maybe David is the same way. In a world of shorter hair some of us guys just prefer the longer look. It's our freedom statement. It's our wild west Buffalo Bill look. It's our 'I don't wanna look like everybody else' look. It's that rebellious nature some of we fellers have in us. It's that little boy in us saying, 'no I don't want a haircut & I'm not going to get a haircut....so there!!!! I understand David not liking his short hair look. I know where he is coming from’…………… By the way David has some ‘Before’ & ‘After’ photos for you to look at too:))

NICE TO SEE MORE & MORE BRITTLE BUSHES COMING INTO BLOOM

March 1rst already & in a short 30 days or so the main priority on our plate will be travel plans for heading home.  We will be in the early stages of getting the house & property prepped for it’s long hot dormant stage until we return once again sometime in the Fall to breathe new life into it again.  It is always a sad but necessary time each year when we have to leave our beloved deserts & mountains of the great South-West.  But hey, all that’s still a whole month away.

GUESS WHO WAS SOUND ASLEEP IN A PILE OF COVERS ON MY BED THIS MORNING

GROANER’S CORNER:((  In the stock market today, Helium was up; Feathers were down. Paper was stationary. Elevators rose and Escalators continued their slow decline. Mining equipment hit rock bottom and the market for Raisins dried up. Coke fizzled. Balloon prices were inflated and Tissue Paper hit a new bottom.