Don't You Just Love It...

Corona de Tucson

September 8, 2021

...when projects are completed and checked off the list?  I sure do, especially when the project turns out better than you had hoped.  We spent the Labor Day weekend building a TV console/shelf unit for the great room.  

We started on Friday morning and by mid afternoon (quitting time for us) were very happy with the progress.  

Saturday, Joe cut and added trim.  He filled in with putty, sanded, and I primed.  Then we sanded some more by hand...not my favorite thing to do!

And on Sunday, I painted.  We chose to paint the unit the same color as the walls.  I wanted a "built in look".  

Monday, we added a few finishing touches...floor moulding around the base, touch up paint, connected the TV and components...and were done by lunch ! 

We brought with us the TV console table Joe had built for the GA house.  It fit nicely between the French doors and ceiling to floor windows in the den there which was a smaller space than what we have now.  

Before...

The table seemed lost in this space.

I am over the top happy with the results and so proud of us for a job I think was well done !

After...

It will be fun arranging and rearranging things to put on the shelves like the figurine Joe gave his mom for Mother's Day in 1954.  His Aunt Laura helped him pick it out at the Five & Dime store on Main Street in Royston, GA.  It even has red hair just like Joe did when he was eight.

Joe's mom (who had five children) saved and marked everything.  How she wrote so tiny I will never know...

...but it sure makes these treasures even more sentimental and cherished.

Another treasure is a small collection of Louisa May Alcott books that belonged to my mom.  

My mom was in her early teens (1942ish) when she was given these books.  And I enjoyed them as well in my early teens. 

For the past couple of weeks we have had an invasion of butterflies.  I meant to take a picture of the Jeep windshield when we returned home form errands last week, but forgot.  It was covered (and I do mean covered !) in guts and wings.  We enjoyed watching them at breakfast enjoying the bush outside.  I think it is a Red Bird of Paradise bush with huge red, yellow and orange flowers. The butterflies came in all sizes, shapes and colors.  I noticed this morning that there doesn't seem to be as many now as most of them only live a week or two. 

Did you know that butterflies do not have tongues?  They have a proboscis which is more like having their mouth extended into a long tube.  They do have some taste buds on their proboscis and antenna, but most of their taste buds are on their feet.  So amazing !

That about wraps up the week for us.  We will head into Tucson this afternoon as Joe gets the stitches out from surgery he had a couple of weeks ago.  So until next time, enjoy the day and...

We don't eat a lot of pasta and I love pasta.  Saturday night we celebrated a hard days work and we made Tuscan Chicken with Penne Pasta.  So yummy and we had left overs !

HAPPY TRAILS !

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 !