It Rained !

Corona de Tucson

July 5, 2021

We have had rain showers skirt all around us for the past few days.  We welcomed a few drops here and there, but Saturday evening around 5:00 it began to rain and it was still raining at 6:00.  What a joyous time...the sounds of thunder rumbling in the distance, the sweet smell of the wet earth, the breeze on our faces and arms, and splashes in the birdbath all excited our senses as we sat on the patio in awe.  Jack was so funny as he walked to the edge of the patio and stretched his neck out to smell the air.  We are sure he was thinking "What is this phenomenon? " Yes, our pups are geniuses...well maybe Sally not so much, but the girl has a lot of common sense to make up for it. 

Jack standing on his hind legs smelling the air. 

I enjoyed capturing a few photos...

I love it when they visit together.

At night we can see the lights of the city waaayyyy off to the northwest.  It's a very thin row of colors and brightness across the horizon.  Friday night as we were sitting outside and waiting on the pups we saw fireworks.  It was a nice surprise and so pretty.   

During coffee yesterday I spotted a glow at the hummingbird feeder.  It wasn't the usual purple glow, but was a reddish orange glow.  We now have a Rufus Hummingbird visiting the feeder !

He is a beauty...his cinnamon color glows as he darts around the yard and feeder.  

When we were driving just north of Phoenix on our way home from Moab, the saguaros were dotted with lots of red color.  When the flowers have been pollinated they mature into bright red fruit.  When the fruit ripens, it splits open showing juicy red pulp. We have seen the fruit before it ripens, but had never seen it after it ripens.  

I captured this saguaro last week on one of our early morning walks.  Each fruit can contain up to 2000 small black seeds.  

This photo, taken in February '21, brings back lots of feelings...mostly excitement with some dread also thrown in.  The ceilings, walls and doors and trim in our home were all freshly painted with an off-white flat base paint.  Did we need to paint ? No. But did I want to paint ? Yes. 

We like a warmer color on the walls with a contrast for the doors, trim and ceiling.  I also prefer an eggshell base for the walls and a semi-gloss base for the trim and doors.  Thank goodness the ceilings were good to go.  The door hardware was shiny brass.  We needed a more "westerny" look with aged bronze so along with 12 gallons of paint we added new hardware for the 10 interior doors and 2 exterior doors.  

I painted the foyer first.  I am always a little nervous until I actually see the color on the walls and this was the smallest space to complete.  

All the interior walls are painted the same color which has a way of "changing" depending on the light source and shadows.  And the door hardware added just the touch we had hoped it would.  AND I am very happy all the painting is done ! 

  

So until next time, enjoy the day...

The early morning glow...photo taken today.

HAPPY TRAILS !

We're Home !

Corona de Tuscon

June 30, 2021

We had a wonderful time in Moab and are already planing on returning.  Next time it won't be quite so hot.  On the way home we did a one night stop over at the Flagstaff KOA.  Its not one of our favorite places to stop, but the convenience of getting in and out easy along with the long pull thru sites (so we don't have to unhook Pearl) make up for the tight and unlevel sites.  Anyway, this stop was especially nice because friends were there...yep, we had a great (and much too short) visit with Carol and Ronnie.  We first met them along with their awesome pup Cooper at the San Diego Metro KOA in January 2013.  

January 2013

This is the first picture I have of the four of us.  We had brunch at Croce's Jazz Bar in San Diego. 

We arrived home on Friday the 25th.  Our MH stays in a covered storage facility about 15 miles from home.  When we bought our home, we also bought a small 6' trailer we could pull behind Pearl.  A trailer sure made the transition from MH to sticks and stucco a lot easier especially with 3 puppies loaded in the back of the jeep.  We have used it so many times for so many different things.  This trip it was chained and locked to the post at our storage site and when we returned it was easy to load it up with tubs and coolers to take all our belongings home.  

Our version of the Clampetts only we didn't strike oil !

Joe and I are still trying to wrap our heads around the idea that we have a stick and stucco home and a home on wheels.    I'm not sure I see long months at a time of traveling, but we definitely want to go places.  In the meantime, its so nice to have a home and a place where we also love to spend time.  

Our home faces west so until mid-day, the blinds in the kitchen window are open.  Monday while having breakfast we noticed lots of activity in the yucca tree just outside the window.  A pair of cactus wrens have decided to call it home...lucky us ! 

Cactus wrens build nests that are the size and shape of a football with an opening at one end.

While the female is incubating on a clutch of eggs, the male will build another nest for a second clutch as the pair will have several broods a year.  While mom is incubating the second clutch, the dad cares for the young in the first nest.  

Old nests are used throughout the year as places to roost.  Every home need fresh flowers !

Instead of doing a post on lots of redo projects, I thought I would share some along the way in different posts.  So the first redo to share is the floor.  Before we moved in the house, we had the carpet and tile removed in the living space, kitchen, foyer, laundry room, hallway and both baths.  We like carpet in the bedrooms, so it stayed.  This was a contracted project to dispose of the old flooring, install the new flooring, and paint and install new floor moulding. I am over the top excited with how it looks and feels AND, it's puppy proof and easy to clean!  

The old carpet and tile...

The new floor

Once all the old moulding was removed, I spent a weekend painting the bottom of the walls in all the space that was to have new moulding.  Sure made it easier later when we actually painted the walls.

 

The new floor...

There is nothing really exciting going on here except that we are living and enjoying every second of it.  So until next time...

 Yesterday's sunrise on our very early morning walk around the neighborhood...

HAPPY TRAILS !