Date Night

Corona de Tucson

September 17, 2021

Last Saturday was date night.  

The Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance sponsored a Rock N' Roll event in Sahaurita.  The outdoor event featured classic cars, food trucks, and a live band playing old rock and roll classics.  It was a "bring your own chairs" in a huge grassy park with plenty of social distancing kind of  affair.  We meandered the rows of cars admiring the shiny paint, custom interiors, and spotless chromed out engines.  We had planned on Mexican at Manuels (since we were close by) so we didn't eat, but the "dogs looked yummy.  The biggest surprise was the local Tucson band, ONESALL.  I love classic rock n roll and they were really, really awesome !  It felt good to be out and about...I love date night!

 

Joe and I have spent most of the week in our closet.  It needed  help and some organizing.  Joe doesn't like to keep his clothes in drawers.  

So first on the list was for him to build shelves which I primed and painted.  

We painted the closet...Joe rolled and I cut in the trim around the ceiling and the floor moulding.  I also painted the floor moulding. 

Now, Joe can see his clothes and I can put them away on laundry day.  I totally get why Joe doesn't like drawers as I find myself rummaging thru the drawers I use in the dresser always looking for something that is on the bottom of the stack.  

We also added a wire shoe rack and voila...   

My next project should be to toss out some very worn-out tennis shoes that I have kept for you know...that time I might just need a pair of old worn out tennis shoes...duh?

I can hear the saw in the garage this morning.  Joe is making a small bench we can put in the closet to use for putting on or taking off socks and shoes.  Thumbs up !

If you have puppies, you have probably trained them to do or not to do certain things.  Our pups will sit for treats, come when they are called (well, Dover is having some trouble hearing us) and Jack will stay when playing ball.  But one thing we have had no success with is keeping them off the beds.  They don't just get on the bed, they paw at the bed to get all the covers just they way they think the covers should be.  

So, at my request (so I don't have to shut bedroom doors) Joe made short puppy gates that we can easily step over to keep the pups out.  They are not so happy, but I am.  

Imagine our surprise to see babies.  We were working in the garage when Joe spotted them.  It seems a little late in the year for babies, but there they were!

They are so tiny and well camouflaged...there were five.

Amazing nature...do you see all five?

Whenever I see them in the front yard, I run out to watch for cars to help them cross the street. I didn't get a focus as they are really fast !  

Headed down the driveway towards the street...

Sunrise today was about 6:10.  I snapped this photo at 5:52 when we let the pups out.  

Its overcast today with a good chance of thunderstorms this afternoon.  Monsoon season ends on September 30 in Tucson.  Here is some trivia for our family back east who have not been to the Sonoran Desert...with all the rain this season, the prickly pear have exploded with ruby red fruit.  The fruit is called "tuna".  It grows from the pad creating an "amazing edible crown" that is ready to harvest in September.  

(Photo from Google)

Tunas are used in a variety of foods like syrup, jelly and jam, gum drops, and lemonade.  Joe and I have not eaten prickly pear.        

Yesterday, we had errands which took us to Tucson.  We happened to pass a favorite fast food establishment at just the right time.  It wasn't really a planned lunch, but who knows, maybe it was ! I will always be indebted to my sister-in-law Jo who visited us many times to take care of Joe's (her) mom for us to take a needed "get away".  On one of those trips she asked, "Do you have a Five Guys in LaGrange?"  The answer was no.  It wasn't long after that we discovered one in Destin, Fl.  

The burgers are yummy, but it is the fries and malt vinegar that keep me returning !  Thank you JoEllen !

 

It's been a fun and productive week.  I have no idea what is on the agenda for next week, but I am really looking forward to it.  It's just so great to be alive !  I'll sign off for this week with a few pictures...

A '67 Camaro convertible...my favorite car in high school and my favorite car today !

Our first encounter with a tarantula on one of our morning walks this week.

Yes, the pups have their own beds...sweet dreams!

Ahhh...sweet tea !  

Sleepy and thirsty...taken at 6:00 am today !

Until next time, enjoy the day and...

Such a big step for such a little bird !

HAPPY TRAILS !

P.S. Joe works fast.  My stool for the closet.  Just needs a little sanding, stain and varnish. Thumbs up !

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 !