A Small Project...

Corona de Tucson

May 27, 2023 

Sunrise...

Monday is Memorial Day.  It is the day set aside by our country to honor our fallen soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our nation and our freedom.  

In keeping with the December, 2000 law signed by President Clinton, all Americans are encouraged to pause for a moment at 3:00 pm local time to honor those who lost their lives while serving in the armed forces.  President Clinton noted, "The observance of a National Moment of Remembrance is a simple and unifying way to commemorate our history and honor the struggle to protect our freedoms."  

We had new master bathroom and guest bathroom countertops, under mount sinks, and faucets installed on May 19th.  The countertops were purchased thru Home Depot whose contractor is The Countertop Factory located in Tucson..  They did our kitchen a couple of years ago and we were very pleased with the product as well as the measuring and  installation.  We chose Silestone again rather than granite.  Silestone is an engineered stone that is durable and non-pourous and requires little maintenance.  Our week began working on a small project.  

The mirror attached to the wall over the cabinet was removed along with the old countertops.  

New tops, sinks and faucets were installed in both baths.

Joe worked his magic on the guest bath wall and I painted. 

The Countertop Factory returned this past Friday to measure for the backsplashes which should be installed sometime the first week in June.  

Silestone color for both baths...

 

Guest Bath

Master bath...I can't wait to get the backsplash and check this off the list.  

I'm not sure the job would have gone so smoothly without Jack supervising and staying on the job with Joe or without Dover cheering him on !

Other than a summer hair cut for Sally

and Jack's trip to the vet on Saturday morning for an EKG, our days were uneventful.  

Should hear from Dr. Huang next week...

Early morning walks continue to start the day.  The most spectacular sunrise we have had in months !

The sun rising from behind the Rincon Mountains...

A gorgeous sky...

The pasture...

The Santa Rita Mountains...

The pups ramble around the yard...

 wait patiently...

and enjoy breakfast picnics.

Joe and I feed the birds, fill the birdbath, water plants and enjoy our rocking chairs.  A few photos from my rocker this week...

We have seen lots of Gamble's...but no babies yet.

We have lots of lizards these days...

Our Torch Cactus is still blooming...

And we had a nice sunset this week...I love the cottonballl clouds.

Loving on our puppies, rocking, walking and a few this and thats seem to have filled our days this week. Nothing exciting, and nothing boring...it's life and we are loving it !  Until next time, 

HAPPY TRAILS !

P. S. I almost forgot to say "thank you" for all the well wishes for Joe.  All three of his biopsies were benign...no surgeries !  Although I don't want to jinx it, it's a record as he has been six months with no MOHS surgeries. So thankful !   

It's Always Nice...

Corona de Tucson

May 20, 2023

It's always nice to come home.  It doesn't matter if it's a trip across town or miles away.  It doesn't matter if it's a few hours, days, weeks or months...home is nice.  Saturday was spent packing up the bus in Cave Creek, traveling, settling in at home, and doing laundry.  A big part of settling in at home is feeding the birds and filling the birdbath.  Everything else can wait ! We weren't the only ones glad we were home... 

The new little Desert Willow trees (that we purchased for $15.00 each from Tucson Electric) bloomed while we were gone.

It's a tiny little tree with lots of promise.  Joe says we need to move it and get a big one to enjoy now.  

I am so happy...more and more birds are perching in the Bottlebrush tree.  

And some birds use it for hiding and camouflage...

Monday, we were up early and headed to Tucson for Joe's dermatology visit.  We are waiting on three biopsies...fingers crossed.  Tuesday we were up early and headed to Green Valley for Jack's vet appointment.  He is such a big boy sometimes...riding in the backseat all by himself.

He was a bit anxious waiting his turn to see Dr. Huang.  It's interesting that each of the pups has their own personality.  But the one thing they all have in common is that when they feel nervous/anxious...they want their daddy ! 

Jack's heart stress numbers have increased significantly since last taken April 12. He began heart medicine a month ago so these results are not what we were hoping for.  He is due for a CAT on the 27th to figure out what is next.  

This is such a wonderful time of year to enjoy the patio...we have been sitting a lot !  The weather is so nice in the morning and late afternoon.  And this is the time of year we begin to see baby birds.  One morning we watched a dad Gila teach his young son how to eat oranges. Dad would sit on the fence with a mouth full of orange...while the young son sat on the block column.

After a  lot of luring and patience by the dad...both flying away and returning many times...the young Gila enjoyed his first taste of orange. 

And by the end of the day, the young Gila was on the feeder.

Suet was on the menu for the young Gila the next morning and the lessons began again.

The House Finches have also been busy teaching life lessons as well...

 

I happen to look up at just the right time to see a visitor we don't have very often.  Vermillion Flycatchers eat insects...mostly bees...so they don't come to the feeders.  We were happy to see him perch and take a quick look around before flying away.

He is a small bird measuring between 5 - 5.5 inches from head to tip of tail.  

We have enjoyed our morning walks this week.  We did two walks at sunrise...yep, my favorite time of day !  The early morning glow always adds an extra bounce to my step.

On Tuesday's walk as we rounded the corner to head home, we saw a mama javelin with her three little ones.  They weren't all together for a group shot, but I did manage a not so good photo of one of them with my phone.  

Thursday morning we were out with coffee in hand before the sun came up.

We enjoyed clouds all day and finally late afternoon it started to rain and it rained all night...it was wonderful !

I love the feel and the smell of fresh air in the morning when we have had a good rain during the night. 

This morning I was looking out the kitchen window.  I was surprised to see a stray dog walking down the sidewalk.  It stopped and looked around, made a right turn and headed towards the access to the cart path.  I was just about to call Joe when I realized it wasn't a stray dog, it was a coyote.  He turned right on the cart path...by that time I had camera in hand and was on the patio...we made eye contact before he wandered on and took one last glance my way.

Sally is still her sassy sally self wandering about the house and yard with a purpose only she knows.  

Dover enjoys the morning time as much as we do and her early walks perusing the yard looking for whatever.

And it never fails, Jack claims my rocker while I put out bird food and water flowers.

And when I am in the kitchen, these two are in the kitchen.  After all, I might just accidentally on purpose drop a morsel or two.

 Home is nice and life is good at the oasis !

Until next time,