Sunday, August 26, 2012

Good Morning!  Good Morning!  Some days you just wake up and feel like you are blessed to be alive!  This morning it is so gorgeous outside!  It just made me smile and Praise the Lord!  It is shiny and clean from the rain we had earlier in the week.  The sky is clear and blue, as blue can be!  It isn't too hot or too cold and there is a nice soft breeze blowing.  As I sat drinking my coffee on the front patio, I watched as two little hummers fought over the petunia blooms hanging overhead. I think they are the first hummingbirds I have seen this year.  They looked young and sleek.  I'm putting some pictures up of hummingbirds in previous years.  Since I stopped putting feeders out, we just haven't had as many.

I also wanted to post some pictures of the storms coming in that we had earlier this week.  It is finally getting green around here.  We must have gotten enough rain this week to liven up the grass and weeds.  The saguaro finally looks as if he is getting some girth back into his trunk too.  It has been green, like the Emerald Isle, in Sierra Vista for several weeks now.  We just haven't gotten as much rain.  My Texas Sage bushes that line the driveway haven't even bloomed this year.  The cactus bloomed in June I think and haven't done so since.  I have been watering my raised bed and my flowers daily.  I actually got some pretty good sized zucchini this year.  I would've gotten more tomatoes if the birds and bugs hadn't taken their tole.  It is really OK however, otherwise I would've had more than I knew what to do with.

In case you are wondering, the bees did fly away on their own.  I did not have to call anyone about them.  Thank the Lord for that and that no one got stung!

My girls and I are going into town today to the fabric store.  We'll be looking for fabric for one of the girl's kitchen windows and probably have lunch away from all the children.  We also want to check out all the fall decor at the "Home Goods" store.  We all love fall and look forward to cooler days, pumpkin patches and NO HUMIDITY!  It is a great day!  Enjoy it!

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Our Monsoon has been in full swing lately.  We had major lightening and heavy rain in the middle of the night last night.  I woke up about midnight to shut down the computer and let Buddy into the Arizona Room.  Now that he is getting older, I don't like to make him stay out in the bad storms or extremely hot weather during the day.  I'm afraid he is getting spoiled and has learned a new trick.  He bullies his way into the house when the grandkids are running in and out.  I usually coax him outside again with a treat.  Boy, does he love that! LOL!  He must've done it about 10 times on Friday when the grands were here.  

Buddy has developed a few lumps and what looks like a big wart on one of his toes.  I am planning on taking him to the vet about those.  But he was extremely dirty and matted in places.  So yesterday we took him to Sierra Vista PetSmart and had him cleaned up by a professional groomer.  Wow!  What a difference!  Please note his tail in the pictures.  His tail was very matted and heavy.  The groomer said he actually wagged his tail as if to say how pleased he was when she cut off all that old dead hair!  He looks gorgeous now and I'm sure the vet won't yell at me about his dirty coat at least.

I got a new car when we got back from our Oregon trip.  My old car, a Mitsubishi Montero Sport, had 250,000 miles on it and had begun to overheat whenever I drove it anywhere.  I had that car for 10 years.  My new car is not a whole lot different.  I got the same color, silver.  I also got a V-6 engine and a third row seat, which I did not have in the Mitsubishi. It is a Kia Sorento.  I cannot believe all the computer stuff that is on the new cars.  My cell phone automatically connects to the BlueTooth system in the car.  There are buttons on the steering wheel so that I can call or answer a call without taking my hands off the steering wheel or trying to hold a phone to my ear!  It is amazing!  It also has a camera for backing up so you can watch what you are doing right on the dashboard instead of turning around backwards and straining your neck and back. Of course, force of habit keeps one turning and looking back anyway, and for safety.  The gas mileage is about the same as the old car, about 25 mpg.  But it is so smooth going up my hilly dirt road, not like the hold your dentures ride the old car had.

This morning dawned bright and sunny after the big storm last night.  I was puttering around the yard, watering the plants on the porch, checking for new tomatoes and zuccinni.  I walked around to the east side of the house and WHOA!  There was this huge blob hanging on one of the mesquite trees.  As I got closer , it turned out to be just what I expected, a huge swarming mass of BEES!  Yikes!  I told Steve he better not plan on doing any noisy outdoor work today and we told our daughter to be extremely quiet and cautious if she came up to the house by the path between the houses.  I can look out the computer room window and the hive is hanging right there!  We are hoping they will fly away, but if they don't I will have to call an exterminator.  Bees are nothing to mess with here in Arizona!  

My iris that has been growing all summer finally bloomed.  Boy was I surprised when the flowers were this sunshine yellow instead of purple!  Amazing!

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Holy Cow!  July passed by without a word from me!  Shame on me!  Hope you all had a great 4th!

The end of July was our annual migration to Klamath Falls, Oregon.  We flew to Sacramento and then took a rental car the rest of the way.  It is about a 5 hour trip.  The weather was beautiful for the whole visit.  We took our youngest grandson, Logan with us.  We visited Crater Lake National Park in Oregon, Lava Beds National Monument in Tulelake, California and, of course, stopped to take pictures of the always awesome Mt. Shasta.

Logan loved the "Lava hole" as he called Lava Beds National Monument.  We hiked through a cave that was great fun for him and Grandpa but was a little tedious for me.  The path through the cave was not always smooth and I am not as agile as I once was so it took a little time.    Logan wanted to go in another cave, called Skull Cave, because it is a huge cavern.  There is ice at the bottom because it is so deep.  Grandpa and Uncle Paul took one look at the 75 steep steps to the bottom and decided it was time to turn back.  Poor Logan!  He came out with a pouty face and said, "You didn't make it fun, Grandpa!"  He wanted to go all the way to the bottom but he's only 4 after all.  He did not realize the effort it would take to make it back up.  We took him to the gift shop where he purchased a cute little bat finger puppet.  No more pouts!

Crater Lake is such a unique place and just as awe inspiring as Mt. Shasta.  There were still huge piles of snow up there but that did not stop the hoards of tourists.  I got so frustrated in their gift shop that I nearly ran out screaming and pulling my hair out!  A shout from Steve's mom brought me back to ground safely.  We left the park and found another restaurant and gift shop just outside the park where we had lunch and I managed to find t-shirts for all the grand kids.  

We had several family get-togethers while we were in Klamath.  It is always fun to see everyone and get reacquainted.  Everyone is a little grayer, a little chubbier and a lot wiser!  And all the young ones are just a blast, so wild and full of life.  Were we like that once?

We came home and the grand kids started school right away.  We have also been moving Sara and Logan into Shawna's house down the hill.  It has been a process because we can only really do any work or move stuff on weekends.  Sara and Logan have moved in but she still has a few things left at our place.  

It is almost weird to me to have the whole house to myself lately.  I gave the goats and the chickens away before we went to Oregon, so my outside chores are reduced.  I still feel as if I have something to do almost every minute and yet I don't feel that I have really accomplished anything.  How weird is that?  I have been cleaning and reorganizing rooms.  I have also gotten quite a few books read.  I am starting a new diet this week and plan on starting a new workout routine next week.  We'll see how far that goes. LOL!  It would be nice to lose about 20 pounds before our cruise in January.  I'll try to keep you posted on that.