Cowboys, Clouds, and Curtains

Corona de Tucson 

September 2, 2021

So September 3 marks our sixth month anniversary since we moved into our new home here in Vail.  The time has flown by and we wake up every morning so excited to be here.  The hand painted tile is a gift from our realtor, Kevin Wood, who just also happens to be a dear friend as well.  It proudly hangs by the front door.  

Projects continue, but not at a hectic "gotta get it done" pace like it did when we moved in.  This week I made curtains for our bathroom.

We have never had a window in the bathroom before.  It has frosted glass so we can't see out (and no one can see in !).  My original thinking was the curtains would warm up the room. Now we aren't sure.  We don't have or really want curtains/drapes any where else in our home...we enjoy the blinds that were in the house when we bought it.  Any suggestions?

We made a trip to Lowes this week.  Joe is getting ready for a project. He has designed (at my request) a shelving unit/TV console for the great room.  Fingers crossed as I can't be wishy washy about this one !  Curtains are easy to take down or put up, but not built in shelves.  A shout out to Lowes and Home Depot for giving veterans a 10% discount.  We sure do appreciate it.  And notice our little trailer? We use it often.  

On the way to run errands the other day, we were reminded of one of the reasons I fell in love with this area.  Cowboys !  

I had my first encounter with cowboys in Polson, MT in 2013 at a Chevrolet dealership of all places.  We were waiting for the stock muffler to be replaced with a wee bit louder one on the new Jeep Wrangler we had just purchased in Las Vegas.  

A father and two sons entered the small lounge, tipped their absolutely gorgeous cowboy hats and said "Howdy do mam!"  So silly, but I just about lost it !  I do love cowboys !  

I wouldn't say Joe (who I love dearly with all my heart) is a cowboy, but he does own a couple of Stetsons !  

We had rain again this week. 

 

I just heard on the local news this morning that so far for the 2021 monsoon season, we have had 12.08" of rain.  So thankful for the rain !

Our backyard view...

And the sky and clouds have been amazing !  

Early morning...

Afternoon...

The end of the day...

I was happy to see the hawk this week.  It was late afternoon with no sunlight...only dark clouds.  I had to do a bit of editing to bring out the colors on this magnificent bird and the background turned white.  It is rare that I ever edit any photos, but in this case the hawk was very dark with no markings or colors. 

Mr. Hawk

As I was snapping away, Mrs. flew in and landed right beside him.  

Mrs. Hawk

They sat for a few minutes...discussing dinner plans I'm sure... before heading to their next stop.

That about sums up our week.  So until next time, 

The road that takes us to our street/neighborhood with a view of the Santa Rita Mountains. Photo taken last Monday.

Clouds yesterday morning.

I haven't tired of this view of the Santa Rita Mountains which are so green.  Same road, but this photo was taken yesterday on the way home after I got a haircut.  

HAPPY TRAILS !

The Parade of Life Goes On...Thank Goodness !

Corona de Tucson

August 26, 2021

Life as Joe and I know it is rather boring these days.  Nothing major going on around here.  Last week was a wash except that I can celebrate having had a colonoscopy that was cancer free.  A relief as my mom and my grandfather (her dad) both had colon cancer.  I am on a five year cycle for the procedure.  This week Joe had the last two (of the five biopsies that came back positive) MOHs surgeries for basal-cell carcinomas...one on his temple and the other on his neck.  In-between those two "events" we managed to enjoy early morning walks.  

We haven't had any rain the last couple of weeks and sure miss the temps in the high 80s.  Yesterday it was back to the low 100s and will be that way for the next four days.  

We have two fern stands that belonged to Joe's grandma.  An easy...if that is even possible... project that Joe tackled was to rejuvenate the fern stand that has been in every kitchen (well, not the MH) that we have had.  

before

The top was sun/water damaged from years (38 of them) of my use and those prior.  In addition to that, one of the boards had gapped.  We think that maybe that was caused from the lack of humidity here.  It wasn't like that when it arrived in Vail last March. 

after

Ferns and I do not co-exist, but I do have plants on the patio that I can rotate outside and inside.  My life is much easier that way.

I love the small shelf on the fern stand.  Right now, we are enjoying a painting my grandma did on a cheese hoop lid that I have no idea how old it is.  I do remember it in my home for all my "growing up" years.

And it has been in our kitchen as long as the fern stand has, but not always on the little shelf. 

   

We adopted our sweet Dover in August 2007.  She was guesstimated to be seven months old.  We love her so much.  

The past few weeks, Joe and I have noticed she has become unresponsive to our voice.  We first noticed it when we would call her to come in from outside.  We thought it was a test of wills, but now she doesn't hear us when we are in the same room and close by.  And she doesn't come to the door to greet us anymore when we get home.  

She is such a loving and loyal puppy and lots more hands on attention for her comes easy for both of us.  

The gila woodpeckers have been noisy and active the past week.  I think they think we provide a buffet just for them.

    

All is good as we continue to march along in this parade of life.  That's about it for news from here and I'll close with a few pictures.

Spinach quiche I made after three days of not eating anything but popsicles, jello and chicken broth !

Any ideas for a good caption for this photo?

Taken as the sun was coming up.

The end of the day...

So until next time enjoy the day and...

HAPPY TRAILS !