Snow Moon

Corona de Tucson

February 5, 2023 

February Full Moon (2-4-23)...The Snow Moon

Saturday morning Jamie and Andra invited us to go to Tombstone.  Tombstone has been on Andra's "let's go there list" for awhile as she had never had the Tombstone cowboy experience.  It was a beautiful day...sunny and warm just the way we like it!  They picked us up and the four of us headed out for a little history, a little shopping, lots of laughs, and lunch in the "Town Too Tough To Die".  

My cowboys !

 

High Spirits Flute is my favorite browsing store...especially when the owner plays one of the beautiful sounding flutes.  

And everyone should have at least one Big Nose Kates lunch experience...

We were home early to enjoy a few minutes outside as the sun was setting...

and the moon was rising.

The February full moon is called the Snow Moon. It is the smallest full moon of the year and is referred to as a micromoon...the opposite of a supermoon.  It doesn't appear smaller to the naked eye, but is 14% smaller than a supermoon because of the current position of the moon in its orbit.  

I read that the Snow Moon would be  positioned in the Leo constellation.   Andra showed me this very cool app for my phone...SkyView Lite.  So Saturday night she and I  took our phones out to give it a try.  I held my phone pointed in the direction of the moon and this appeared on the screen.  (The red line marks the horizon.)   

I also read that the Snow Moon would rise with Jupiter, Mars and Orion.  I found Jupiter and close by was Pisces.   I have never paid much attention to zodiac signs or referred to them for information, but my birthdate puts me in the Pisces sign.  

 

Orion, the world's most recognizable constellation,  should be visible the whole month of February.  A few  body turns and up and downs with the phone and I found Orion and a surprise...the International Space Station.  We watched and followed the Space Station as it moved across the sky from one side of the house to the other.  

It was pretty cool moving the phone around to see what would show up next.  SkyView Lite is a free download from the Apple App Store and a fun and easy way to explore the night sky.   

The kiddos spent the night and Sally was most pleased.  She and Ozzy are the best of friends...

Back at the oasis, it's was a quiet week.  Nothing pressing to do...just piddling things here and there.  I gathered all the tax info and organized it,  cross-stitched, made Santa Fe soup (its so yummy served with grated sharp cheddar cheese, dollops of sour cream, and crunched up corn chips), cleaned out the pantry, and all the other usual weekly stuff.  We trimmed back the lantana and planted agave sprouts (I call them babies) our neighbor gave us that he dug up around his big agave plants.    On Friday, the pups went to the groomers.  Dover and Jack had their nails trimmed and Sally got a haircut along with the manicure.

On the way there, Sally laid in the backseat floor board (we have no idea why) and Jack was on the backseat under a blanket, but Dover was all about checking out the sights. Dover and Jack went first and we left Sally for a couple of hours for  Cynthia to do her thing.

This was Sally on a very windy Thursday.

And this was Sally on Friday afternoon.  

It did warm up some this week.  The sun felt so good.  

Jack played ball outside.

And these two agree that naps in the warm sunshine are the best !

The Cactus Wrens have been busy...in and out of the palm tree fronds.  I'm guessing it is nest building/remodeling time.  There must be a kazillion nests hidden in those fronds. 

 

The Black-chinned hummingbirds have also been busy.  It is breeding season and we can't keep the feeder full. 

(If you click on the photos of the birds, the picture is much sharper.)

And as much as we love the hawks, it makes me a little anxious to see the Cooper's hawk on the fence.  He sat for awhile this week...such a handsome bird and totally focused.  Unlike the Harris' Hawk, the Cooper's do hunt the songbirds.  I'm always happy to see him and always happy when he flies away and the Goldfinch were not lunch.  

It's funny and always puts a big smile on my face to see these ground birds on the feeder.  I read that Gamble's Quail are quite adaptive...

Our most vivid sunrise this week was on Thursday.  It was a chilly 34 degrees and Sally and I were the only brave souls to wander out and enjoy it. 

That's a wrap on our week.  I have said it before and I'll say it again, time has a way of flying by...January's last sunset and it seems like yesterday we were welcoming a new year.  Until next time,

Happy Trails !

I Think To Myself...

Corona de Tucson

January 29, 2023

On Friday, Joe and I were headed to Tucson.  Jim and Barb were in town and the four of us had plans to meet for lunch at BOCA.  Once again, it is so awesome to put real faces, voices, laughter, and hugs with folks we already know as friends  from reading each others blogs.  What a fun visit we had and yes, both he and Barb are down to earth folks who live in South Dakota where the temps are below 0 degrees and where they built (with the help of friends) their beautiful home.  Of course no meeting with Jim and Barb is complete without meeting Dakota and Zoey...their two pups.  Dakota is very shy, and Zoey is quite the little socialite stopping folks as they pass by and insisting on a back rub...who could refuse?  It was great meeting them and we sure hope our paths cross again.  I didn't get a picture, but Jim did. They had a busy week planned in the area so be sure to check out their blog.  

Our lunch with Jim and Barb was just the beginning and set the tone for a wonderful week-end.  Look who came for a sleep over...sweet Ozzy !  And he brought Jamie and Andra along for a couple of days.  

 

Friday night was spent visiting and catching up with all the news of the past couple of weeks, playing with the pups, and having dinner at the big table.  I love having dinner at the big table...it always says family and/or friends are visiting.  Saturday morning we were off to Green Valley to pick up a refill for Sally's liver enzyme medicine.  As it turned out, there was a sign on the vet's door stating the office was closed due to an emergency so we didn't get Sally's med.  But since we were over half way to Tubac and since Jamie and Andra had never been to Tubac, we decided to have lunch there.   

   It was fun perusing the walkways and stores.  

A nice reminder...I think to myself !

Saturday night we played darts on an electric dart board...not quite the same as the good ole days !  The game we played was 301.  The idea is to subtract you score with each throw and the first person to get to zero wins.  It's pretty easy until you get to a low number like 22, 10, or 5.  To win you have to have a combo of numbers or the exact number totaling the number you need. I'm happy to report...drum roll please...Andra won three games and I won one game.  The girls rule electric darts !  

This morning Jamie and Joe added a shepherd's hook for the thistle feeder in front of the new tree in the backyard.  The tree was planted for the birds and the tiny little goldfinch seem to enjoy it so their feeder is now conveniently located close enough for them to eat and perch and hide.  

It sure was fun having the kiddos for the week-end and Joe and I are so happy to have them close by.  

Ozzy and Dover are great little helpers to make sure Jack has a clean bowl after supper...

Back at the oasis...the week started off cold and windy.  We even had a dusting of snow.  At our house, Sally and I are the only two that think snow it is exciting.  

 

Jack is usually the first to wake up every morning.  This time of the year he sleeps in till 5:45-6:00.  But, this week we have all been awakened by the pair of resident owls promptly at 5:30.  Some mornings, we hear them off in the distance, some morning they are close by, but for the past few mornings, one of them has been right on top of us hooting and commiserating with the other owl in the pine tree close by. 

    

The rest of the week has been sunny and each day seems to get warmer and warmer.  Have you ever heard the expression "a sunny disposition"?  I read an article about sunshine the other day.  It states that the sunshine has more impact on your mood than rainfall, temperature, or any other environmental factor.  I cant say the sunshine makes me happy, but it sure feels warm and puts a smile on my face. Dafodils put a smile on my face too...what a great combo they make ! 

 And sweet Dover moves around the room with the sun.  

I only got a couple of backyard bird photos this week.

 

That's a wrap for the week.  Can't believe February is almost here.  

Until next time,

Sunset...

 

HAPPY TRAILS !