KELLY TO THE DENTIST, PHEEBS TO THE VET, & AL VARNISHES UP SOME STUFF

GUESSING THESE AS 2 MALE WHITE CROWNED SPARROWS & 1 FEMALE ON OUR BIRD BATH THIS MORNING

Kelly had an 8:45 a.m. appointment in Wickenburg this morning.  No not a normal medical appointment…..a dentist appointment.  Awhile back she had a tooth filling come out so it was time to have that repaired.  It would be the first of 2 trips to Wickenburg for appointments today but the second appointment wasn’t for Kelly or I.

LIFT-OFF FOR THIS RINGNECK DOVE

Slowly emerging from this past week’s docile state I grabbed a couple paint cans & did a little touch up work to a recent paint project in our dining room.  After that out came a can of varnish & I set to work putting a protective coat of varnish on some of Kelly’s rock paintings, our big outdoor hand carved Mexican bird statue, a wooden table top & a semi round rock.  Nice to get interested in a few little work projects again.

  

<<< INCA DOVE IN OUR MESQUITE TREE

For those of you out here who don’t get the RV Lifestyle I suggest you drop in on the folks over at Phannie & Mae & read Mike’s thoughts.  I do well understand & agree with what he is saying & for any retired folks financially comfortable & in good health asking the question, ‘is this all there is’ I would say ‘no it isn’t’.   Take a serious look at the RVing lifestyle, grab yourself an adventure & hang on.  What better way to turn the clock back than to pump some youthful excitement back into those tired aching muscles & get that lethargic blood flowing again.  Take those tired old bones for a walk or drive to your nearest RV dealer, kick some tires & put yourself into the drivers seat of an RV & imagine towering mountains, shimmering lakes, sprawling deserts, waving palm trees, & seashores with never ending coastlines all yours for the seeing.  Just wind yourself up & let yourself go:))

NO I AM NOT TURNING AROUND & YOU CAN’T MAKE ME EITHER!!

Kelly’s dental appointment this morning went well.  No consultation or x-ray stuff resulting in a second appointment & she was able to have the problem tooth repaired on the spot with a new filling.  Kelly was very impressed with the nice personable & honest dentist.  Dr. David C. Uthoff D.M.D Family Dentistry

HOUSE/PURPLE FINCH TAKES OFF FROM THE BIRDFEEDER

Mentioned earlier about 2 trips to Wickenburg today & that second appointment was 4 p.m. for Pheebs.  Weather is warming up & soon we will be into more daytime 80’s & that means hibernating creatures will be emerging from their winter hibernations.  Some of those creatures are Rattlesnakes.  Pheebe had her anti-venom shot a year ago about this time & today’s appointment was a third booster shot to that original shot.  Of course Pheebs was as good as Gold as the Vet checked her over which is part of the appointment.  Although I haven’t seen a live Rattlesnake myself yet Kelly & I did see 2 dead ones 2 years ago in March & Kelly saw a live one last March down at the end of Ghost Town Road but the Vet told us today due to the unusual higher temperatures coming earlier this year a few Rattlers have already been spotted out & about. 

  

OH MOM DO WE REALLY HAVE TO DO THIS TODAY

HEY WHAT’S THIS GUY DOING IN MY EAR!!

Two doors north of the Vet Clinic is a great Burger joint called Screamers.  We were there once a couple years ago so figured rather than Kelly making supper when we got home we’d just pop in for a couple hamburgers.  Burgs were as great as ever.  Enjoyed the drive back to Congress seeing the late afternoon sun shining on the Weaver Mountains.  It is rare for us to be out later in the day so I don’t always get to see latter day light conditions.  Nice……I gotta get out more:))

 

<<< WE SPLIT A SMALL CHOCOLATE MILKSHAKE

I know not everyone is into bird photos but with all the Spring bird activity around the yard this week I have enjoyed hanging out a few times with my feathered friends & grabbing some photos.  It’s mating season & the plumage on the male birds is very colorful.  However I do think Pheebs & I are overdue for a Jeep ride to scout out some new photo opportunities.  I had better pull the lead out & get that organized……………..

MALE CACTUS WREN ABOUT 1 MILLISECOND BEFORE TAKE-OFF

GROANER’S CORNER:(( On a U.S. cruiser, the officer of the deck asked the starboard lookout, "What would you do if a sailor was washed overboard?"  "I'd yell 'Man overboard!" answered the lookout snappily.  "Good," said the officer. "Now what would you do if an officer fell overboard?"  The lookout asked, "Which one, sir?"

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In my early driving days, I had the bad habit of running out of gas frequently. Once, I was stranded at the mall and called my father for help.  When he arrived, I was under the hood, poking around. "I think there's something preventing the gas from reaching the carburetor," I said.
"Yeah," he shot back. "A twenty-dollar bill."

MY C.E. SCHMIDTS WENT TO NORTH RANCH TODAY & CHATTING WITH A COUPLE FELLOW RV’ERS

<<< GAMBLE’S QUAIL…’DON’T BE SHY NOW’

My C.E. Schmidts are over at North Ranch getting hemmed.  Kelly found a lady there who hems pants for $5.  Said they will be ready for pick-up Friday.  Many years ago my leg length for hemming pants was 28.5”.  According to the latest measurements my already short legs have now shrunk to a length of 27” which just goes to show people do shrink as they age.  Well I seem to be anyway………..

HOUSE FINCH…JUST COLOR ME RED MISTER >>>

While at North Ranch Kelly drove around to their beautiful Cactus Garden area where they generally have young potted cactus plants for sale at very reasonable prices.  Minutes after she & Pheebs pulled into our driveway I was out with my shovel planting a new Parry's Agave as well as a second Easter Cactus.

 

NICE TO SEE SOME OF OUR DAMAGED CACTUS FROM TWO YEARS AGO MAKING A COMEBACK 

 

THE PARRYS AGAVE I PLANTED TODAY

 

THIS SMALL EASTER CACTUS WILL GROW TALL & STRONG WITH THE PRETTIEST OF FLOWERS BUT IT’S LIKELY WE WILL NEVER SEE THEM AS THEY BLOOM AFTER WE LEAVE FOR HOME…JUST AS WE’LL NEVER SEE OUR 3 SAGUAROS BLOOM EITHER

 

LAST YEARS ALOE VERA’S I PLANTED ARE BLOOMING THOUGH

TDHOMESTEAD DO YOU RECOGNIZE THAT HALF DOME ROCK ON THE LEFT:))

Fellow RV’ers Glenda & Jeff dropped in a few days ago on their way to a boondocking site at the end of Ghost Town Road.  Early this afternoon we took a drive down to see them.  They had stopped into our place a couple years ago.  Pheebs got to see their dog Keira again.  They travel all over the States full time in their Casita trailer towed by a Toyota pick-up truck.   They had just been to a Casita rally in the Dome Rock area over in Quartzsite a few weeks back.  Always nice to have a catch-up chat:))

JEFF & GLENDA

 

JEFF & KEIRA

 

AND BY GOLLY I SEE I’M WEARING MY NEW ‘BREEZER’ HAT TODAY:))

 

My favorite station on our Sirius Satellite Radio is ‘Chill’ on channel 053 but as is the problem with most any type of station listened to repetition after awhile can be a problem.  Realized awhile back 053 had a habit of repeating too many of their ambient tunes lately so needing a break I switched over to 40’s on 4.  Big Band era on channel 04.  Occurred to me this morning while listening to Nat King Cole’s ‘Route 66’ that we have been in, around, or through all the cities mentioned in that song with the exception of San Bernardino & Los Angeles both in California.  And no it is not likely we will be going to either of those cities just to complete that list.  We have also driven on a few sections of Route 66 here & there & I remember a stretch near Joplin Missouri where the old historic highway was not in good shape at all.

AND A BUD ON OUR SMALL FRONT YARD CHRISTMAS CACTUS

Karen & Steve are still making their way westward & are currently camped out at Cabello State Park in New Mexico.  A good opportunity to make some minor repairs & do a little maintenance on their older Safari Motorhome.  For all you do-it-yourselfer diesel & handyman guys there are always things to learn here if you follow Steve around for any length of time.  Again Karen has some useful tips & you can see how Steve upgraded their rigs dim & aging headlights.  Some people have dust under their beds but Karen & Steve have a diesel engine under theirs & you can see Steve hanging out, or should that be ‘hanging in’ the engine compartment.  On The Road Motorhome Maintenance

<<< BUNNIES ARE SAFE FROM COYOTES ON OUR FENCED IN PROPERTY BUT I JUST WISHED THEY WOULD STOP EATING OUR CACTUS PLANTS

Finished my Kindle book ‘Leaving this Life’ today & I would certainly recommend this book to anyone dealing with a spouses or friends terminal illness.  It’s a bare bones raw & sincerely honest account by author Patrick McKenna Lynch Smith dealing with his wife’s long losing battle with terminal cancer.  The book does not end with her death but goes beyond to his own struggling difficulties trying to cope with her loss for nearly 2 years after.  I think many if not all people in similar circumstances could readily identify with this man’s very emotional roller-coaster journey through the process of denial, anger, bargaining, depression, & acceptance.  And the sadness…………

JUST NICE TO SEE SOME THINGS BEGINNING TO BLOOM

On a lighter note I have just started another one of Bill Bryson’s books entitled A Short History of Almost Everything & I have his latest book One Summer: America, 1927 warming up in the bullpen just in case I find the science of ‘A Short History Of Everything’ a bit too heavy for me.  With anything I read just throw in half a dozen big words & I’m soon frantically treading water!!

<<< CACTUS WREN

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A young man was applying for a job in a big company.  "I'm sorry," said the personnel manager, "but the firm is overstaffed; we have more employees now than we really need."  "That's all right," replied the young man, undiscouraged, "the little bit of work I do won't be noticed anyway."

---

Although I was only a few pounds overweight, my wife was harping on me to diet. One evening we took a brisk walk downtown, and I surprised her by jumping over a parking meter, leapfrog style.  Pleased with myself, I said, "How many fat men do you know who can do that?"
"Just one," she retorted.

‘NO’ WE ARE NOT HEADING HOME YET!!

WE DON’T SEEM TO HAVE AS MANY MOURNING DOVES IN OUR YARD THIS YEAR

Finished Bill Bryson’s book, ‘The Life & Times of the THUNDERBOLT KID’ Monday & I’m coming down the home stretch on my Kindle book, Leaving the Life.  The latter sure has been an emotionally tough read but I am feeling better for what I am learning from this book.

CURVED BILL THRASHERS HAVE THE MOST YELLOWEST EYES >>>

Nowhere in my Monday post did I mention anything about heading home to Bayfield Ontario now or anytime in the immediate future.  I simply expressed some thoughts on things I look forward to when we do get home sometime around the first week of April.  We have spent over 60 years plowing through miserable Canadian winters & are well aware of harsh weather conditions going on there at this time of year, & especially this year.  We check in on Bayfield’s weather often.  Yes I am always antsy about getting on the road going somewhere but returning to Canada before the first of April definitely is never a voluntary decision or destination for us.  We did toss around some travel plans this morning for later next month but nothing definite yet.

FIRST TIME SEEING THIS BIRD IN OUR BACKYARD TODAY & I’M WONDERING IF IT MIGHT BE AN INCA DOVE

GROANER’S CORNER:(( My wife, a registered nurse, once fussed over every pain or mishap that came my way. Recently, however, I got an indication that the honeymoon is over. I was about to fix the attic fan, and as I lifted myself from the ladder into the attic, I scratched my forehead on a crossbeam. Crawling along, I picked up splinters in both hands, and I cut one hand replacing the fan belt. On the way down the ladder, I missed the last two rungs and turned my ankle. When I limped into the kitchen, my wife took one look and said, "Are those your good pants?"

TWICE A YEAR I LOOK FORWARD TO CHANGE

IT WAS A YEAR AGO TUESDAY A HOT AIR BALLOON NEARLY LANDED ON TOP OF JEEPERS NEAR SEDONA AZ…KELLY IS ACTUALLY BEHIND THE JEEP BENDING OUR BIG WHIP AERIAL DOWN

Just gotta love these mid to upper 70’s day time temps & 50’s night time temperatures.  Sunshine every day & the 10 day forecast calls for more of the same.  Spring is well underway here in Arizona:))

A YEAR AGO TODAY IN SEDONA

I’m afraid since returning from our fine boondocking week away my days have been melding into one kind of long sameness of which most of my time has been spent just simply sitting in a chair reading.  Now that’s Okay of course for maybe a few hours here & there but my eyes are worn out, I’ve got sitting callouses you know where & my legs have stiffened up like a couple old rusted door hinges.  My mind has been entertained but not challenged.  Feels like my ambition has been dropped into yesterday’s dumpster like tomorrow’s trash & any creative urges I have felt the past few days only resulted in me trying a dusting of cinnamon on my shredded wheat this morning.  I’m going to have to shake some of this Arizona dust off.  Something tells me I am missing my Bayfield country road Jeep drives with the Pheebs which in turn tells me I am beginning to cast my eyes northward anticipating next months long journey home to the land of Pine trees, large lakes, endless gravel roads, forests & fields of green. There comes a time each Autumn & each Spring when like a migrating bird it is once again time to move on.  I welcome & always impatiently look forward to those changes of routine each & every year…………….

A SEDONA CAMPFIRE

GROANER’S CORNER:(( There's a little fellow named Junior who hangs out at the local grocery store. The manager doesn't know what Junior's problem is, but the boys like to tease him. They say he is two bricks short of a load, or two pickles shy of a barrel.  To prove it, sometimes the boys offer Junior his choice between a nickel and a dime. He always takes the nickel, they say, because it's bigger.  One day after Junior grabbed the nickel, the store manager got him off to one side and said, "Junior, those boys are making fun of you. They think you don't know the dime is worth more than the nickel. Are you grabbing the nickel because it's bigger, or what?"  Junior said, "Well, if I took the dime, they'd quit doing it!"

SOUR MILK & NEW PANTS WITH A HAMMER HOLDER

SIGNS OF AN ARIZONA SPRING ARE IN THE AIR

Noticed this morning when I poured myself a small glass of milk it had an odd taste & knew right away it was beginning to turn sour.  It was the last of 3 small jugs of milk we had bought in Blythe California earlier in the week.   Noticed the expiry date was Feb 10th.  Figured we might as well head ourselves on over to Wickenburg’s Safeway grocery store & pick up a few things.  Besides, I was wanting to have myself a look at some TSC pants.

HEY SUE HERE I AM IN A TSC CHANGE ROOM ABOUT TO TRY ON A PAIR OF CARHARTT DUNGAREES:))

With half a hundred dollars worth of groceries in the back we Jeeped ourselves a short distance from the grocery store over to Wickenburg’s Tractor Supply store whereupon I tried myself on three different sets of pants. Decided in the end on a pair of C.E. Schmidts durable dark tan work pants with a handy right leg pocket for my Canon point & shoot camera.  And ‘NO’ they are not ‘old man’s pants’!!  I even have a loop of material on the left leg where I can hang a hammer in case I have to stop along the way & fix a camera or maybe my wrist watch if it should unexpectantly stop sometime.  Biggest problem I always have buying pants is not waist size but leg length.  My legs have always been way too short for the rest of me & they don’t make leg lengths for short ass characters like myself so I always have to get them hemmed which means on today’s pants with a leg length of 30” I will have to get about 2” chopped off each leg before I can wear em.  Well I could wear them but the legs bunch up like a couple crumpled stove pipes.  Kelly said she’s gonna try sewing up the hems by hand but with heavier canvas like material that may be too tough a job.  I’ll try these Schmidts out & if I like this style of pants I’ll go back to TSC & pick myself up a pair of American made Carhartts.  Wasn’t until we were home I realized C.E. Schmidts are made in Egypt & didn’t have as good reviews as Carhartts.  Carhartts are only about $12 more than Schmidts.  Geeeezzzzzz, I’m getting to be quite the pants expert here all of a sudden.  Oh & here is a bit of TSC trivia for you.  Charles E. Schmidt founded TSC. (Tractor Supply Company)

Paul over at R Sanity RV Adventures has put himself a list together on what he & Marti have learned these past 3 years Fulltiming.  It’s a list all RV’ers can identify with & for new folks just entering the lifestyle it’s a list they had better have a look at:))

WHAT A SNOOZER HEAD

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A man came home from the office and found his new bride sobbing convulsively. "I feel terrible," she told him. "I was pressing your suit and I burned a big hole in the seat of your trousers."  "Oh, just forget it," consoled her husband. "Remember that I've got an extra pair of pants for that suit."  "Yes, I know. And it's lucky you have!" said the woman, drying her eyes. "I was able to use a piece from them to patch the hole!"

READING A BOOK NOW ABOUT A COUPLE’S STRUGGLE WITH CANCER

FEMALE GILA WOODPECKER TACKLES AN ORANGE SLICE IN OUR MESQUITE TREE

Even the birds must have known it was Valentines Day.  Both Kelly & I noticed many cheerful bird songs in the air this morning.  And it just seemed to go on all day.  Our Curved Bill Thrashers have the prettiest sound to them. We noticed birds flying & working together with a lot of nest building going on.  A pair of Gila Woodpeckers were busy with a few slices of orange Kelly had put out as well.  It was just a mighty fine Saturday morning all round as I took full advantage of our front porch & spent well over half my day just sitting there reading, watching birds, & nodding off now & again to the sweet sounds of twittering around me.  Especially busy were a clan of little Sparrows busily feathering their nests in our two giant Saguaros out front.  

<<< MALE GILA WOODPECKER TACKLES AN ORANGE PEEL ON A TALL WOODEN POLE

I did finish my book ‘Quiet’ a couple weeks ago.  Well I finished it my way that is.  Again the first part of this book was most interesting to me but once it got into how introverted people cope in big business environments such as Wall Street I lost interest & fast forwarded.  Next the author talked about introverted & extraverted children & how they cope.  Although more interesting than the Wall Street section I again lost interest & finally put the book down & moved on to something else.  Despite not reading this book from cover to cover I did find what I did read very informative & enlightening.  

A LOT OF NEST BUILDING GOING ON TODAY

A month ago I had downloaded about a dozen free books on my kindle so sifted through the list, picked out a couple & began reading.  Neither of these 2 books held my interest for long so moved onto a 3rd one & this book grabbed my attention.  Had no idea what it was about at first but with each page I was drawn further & further in.  It is a true story written by the husband of woman diagnosed with terminal cancer.  It is a story of their daily struggles, their turmoil, their hopes & their many set backs with this insidious illness & disease.  Normally I wouldn’t chose to read a book like this but now that I am nearly half way through I am glad I decided to stick with it.  Cancer is one of those topics all people fear & few talk openly about.  Even the victims sometimes.  This book in it’s own painful yet powerful way reveals those personal difficulties.  I am finding with each page turned I am gaining an understanding & insight into something I like many others have feared, turned away from, & felt uncomfortable talking about.  The book is called, ‘Leaving the Life’ by Patrick McKenna Lynch Smith.  

 

I am also reading a second book & this one is hard covered & the first printed on paper book I have read for many years.  It helps to have the ‘large print’ edition & that is working for me.  Suggested by Kelly’s brother Peter I am well into ‘The Thunderbolt Kid’ which again is a true story of a boy’s growing up years in the 1950’s.  Author Bill Bryson pretty much nails it as I continuously identify with nearly everything he writes about.  Many things from my own childhood in the 50’s I remember & the one’s I don’t are brought back to mind by the author’s own memories.  Great book which will bring many smiles for aging baby boomer minds.

Ever heard of the Kalamazoo Air Zoo?  Well I hadn’t either until I read Jim’s post over at exploRVistas.  I know we have some readers out here with aviation interests & this post just might be of interest to them.  Check out the pink P-40 Warhawk & find out why it was painted pink.

Our intentions were good this morning when we decided last night to just take the bull by the horns this morning, hop in the Jeep, & go around visiting some folks we either haven’t seen yet this year or have maybe only seen once.  As I said, our intentions were good but Kelly got herself busy in the kitchen working on a new cabbage soup recipe & I just kind of lazed out on our front porch reading.  Jeep never moved & we didn’t leave the property.  One of these days we’ll get our act together & get out to say hello to folks………………

WITH LAPTOP OPEN ON THE KITCHEN COUNTER KELLY WORKS AWAY AT A CABBAGE SOUP RECIPE THIS MORNING

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Driving through Southern California, I stopped at a roadside stand that sold fruit, vegetables, and crafts.  As I went to pay, I noticed the young woman behind the counter was painting a sign.
"Why the new sign?" I asked.  "My boyfriend didn't approve of the old one," she said.  When I glanced at what hung above the counter, I understood. It declared, "Local Honey, Dates, Nuts."

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After years of using the same perfumes, I decided to try something different and settled on a light, citrusy fragrance. The next day I was surprised when it was my little boy, not my husband, who first noticed the change. As he put his arms around me, he declared, "Wow, Mom, you smell just like Fruit Loops!"