good-times-rollin

Sunday, March 20, 2022

WHEW!

Corona de Tucson

March 20, 2022

Waiting...

WHEW is defined as a strong emotion such as relief or amazement. Relief comes to mind this week. We knew heading into the week it was going to be a doozy...not a fun week, but a week of busy appointments. Started off with Joe going to the retina specialist. He sees the retina specialist every year to check a wavy retina he had three years ago. Pressures are under control, the retina is healthy and he is good to go for another year.

Tuesday morning we were up and out early as Dover had a 7:15 appointment for surgery in Green Valley.

We returned to pick her up and meet with Dr Huang (Animal Care Center of Green Valley) at 4:00. The mass on her eye lid was removed. We were shocked to see the X-rays which showed a couple of upper teeth with serious damage...so much so that removing them involved disturbing her sinus cavity.

It's as if feeling pain and discomfort isn't enough, there is the bother of the cone. She has had a rough few days...but today is day five and I believe she is feeling somewhat better. We do take the cone off as much as possible and one of us sits with her...stitches on her eye come out next week.

Speaking of stitches, Wednesday Joe had his stitches taken out. Sometimes it seems like two weeks fly by and other times, it seems like two weeks can last a month. Anyway, stitches are gone, the biopsy was negative and we don't start over until June !

The rest of the week was just piddling. I dug up the tulip bulbs Carol gave me, let them dry and stored them in a brown paper bag.

Of the 24 bulbs I dug up, one was rotten. I have never saved bulbs before...the gophers always ate them in Georgia the few times I planted them before giving up.

Fingers crossed Carol !

Yesterday, we cut back an overgrown lantana. The butterflies like the lantana and so do hummingbirds. I just happened to see this tiny nest in the cuttings as I was raking.

It measured 2 & 1/4 inches across the top and 1 & 1/2 inches deep. I have read that hummingbirds use spider webs to hold their nests together and secure it to the foundation. There isn't a lot of lichen and moss (usually used for comfort and softness) here so these crafty and smart little birds used the next best thing...pieces of stuffing. So clever, and just so amazing how nature adapts to their surroundings.

That wasn't the only thing we found in the lantana...another golf ball to add to the collection we started last year on our morning walk.

The weather this past week has been wonderful, well, except for a couple of windy days. Temps have been mid 70s to low 80s...perfect for rocking on the patio.

Before daylight one morning (I was out with the pups.) I heard and then spotted the Great Horned on the other side of the fairway. We hear him/her often, but haven't seen either in awhile.

Joe and I are both morning folks. With the warmer temps, we can enjoy coffee and a sunrise. Good morning from the oasis!

Whew...what a beautiful start to a new week. Until next time,

HAPPY TRAILS!

Monday, March 14, 2022

Pima Air and Space Museum

Corona de Tucson

March 14, 2022

What a crazy week we had. Started off with nothing on the agenda and a couple of lazy days. We like lazy days...and are figuring out after years of working and years on the road with one adventure after another, that sometimes you just need to be lazy. On Wednesday, we had plans to visit Pima Air and Space Museum with Randy. The museum is another one of those places Joe and I had never visited in all the years of coming to Tucson.

Pima Air and Space Museum is one of the largest non-government funded aviation and space museums in the world. It originally opened in 1976 with a mission to preserve historic aircraft. Today it features a collection of nearly 400 military, commercial, civil and experimental aircraft housed in six indoor exhibit hangers and on display outside spread out over 80 acres.

Once again, we have Randy to thank for sharing his time and knowledge as we perused several of the hangers and spent awhile outside walking several rows of aircraft.

There is so much history, so many displays and such a large area to cover that I am pretty sure several visits to the museum are necessary to take it all in. My brain gets really tired after a few hours !

There are tiny planes...

...and gargantuan planes and everything in-between.

Some had pointy noses...

...and others had multiple tale fins.

Some aircraft had small crowded spaces...

and others had spaces large enough for a bed and bath.

My sense of it was that each plane had unique capabilities that earned a spot in this museum.

A-10 Warthogs...first manufactured in the mid 70's, still fly in combat throughout the world today.

We had a really good time, but the best part for me was watching and listening to Joe (Navy) and Randy (Air Force) . They both have lots of memories and lots of stories.

On Friday, Sally had her teeth cleaned and two teeth pulled. She was most uncomfortable Friday night, Saturday and Sunday...even with the pain pills. She is much better today...we can tell because her tail is up and wagging and no more whimpers.

I'm wearing my vet tech hat this week! Sally has four meds.

Our plans to have lunch with Randy last Saturday were cancelled because we didn't want to leave Sally here by herself.

So yesterday, he stopped by with a birthday gift for me...a Desert Rose. A Desert Rose is a succulent plant, not like any succulent I have ever seen. Google says they are not difficult to grow provided they get enough sunlight and warmth. And overwatering is a no-no.

These interesting plants do bloom throughout spring and summer, but may not produce blooms for several months. Fingers crossed !

You might already know that Arizona is the Copper State. Copper is abundant in the Earth's crust, but what sets Arizona apart is its wealth of mineable copper which it owes to a copper-rich granite formed in ancient volcanoes.