Saturday. 20th Nov. - lunch and groceries.

Quiet day.

WW1 Diaries,

Breakfast. Aunt Mary and Uncle Ron slept in and I actually checked on them at 930 to make sure they were Ok. They were.

Breakfast.

Dishes.

crossword puzzle.

laundry.

lunch at the cafe.

Groceries.

Phoned Maureen. Happy Birthday. Phoned Janet. Phoned Jo.

patio

supper.

Lawrence Welk

WW1 Diaries

blogging.

bed.

Friday Jo flys home. and Giant Golden Digger wasps

We all woke up early as Jo was flying home today.

She gave me some Jojoba oil and so I looked it up and found out that it is from a native plant fight here in Arizona. It has replaced whale oil and is being cultivated around the world now. Very cool.

She left about 8 with Jim and his wife.

We had breakfast and then changed the sheets on all the beds.

I changed bedrooms as I have never stayed in the other bedroom and it has a nice view of the mountain from the bed.

We went for a walk and I found the cutest little lizard,

only about 2 1/2 inches long.

It was in a water tube in the ground and looked like it wanted out so I very carefully took it out with my hand and let it go. I watched it skittle under a bush and so now I know that all those little bushes out in the desert that I see are probably home to tiny lizards. to let you see how small it is the lizard is just above the rock that my foot is beside just about center of the picture.

When we got back I saw a large golden bug out 0n the patio and grabbed my camera and tried to get a picture of it .

It looked like a large golden wasp with long back legs.

At one point it flew right towards me and I ran. I never did get a picture.

I looked it up on the internet and found it right away with the description' large golden wasp like insect'. The Giant Golden Digger Wasp. They are friendly mostly and I need not have run but how was I to know.

the rest of the day was quiet with a crossword being started and finished, supper and a movie the bucket list.

a real full moon makes it like day outside.

Thursday - A mad cow?

Went for a walk this morning up to the mountain.Took pause at the wire gate as there was a cow about 25 yards away under a tree.I was not sure if it was a bull or a cow.Now some of you out there might think it is easy to tell the difference between a cow and a bull but there was a bush in the way and so I could not tell.

I did not relish the idea of being charged if it was a bull but figured that I could run pretty fast if need be so bravley entered the area.

Giving the creature in question a wide birth continued my very picturesque but rather uneventful walk

up towards the mountain.

The walk toward the mountain is nice with high saquaro cactus and of course the mountain.

the veiw coming back was really pretty with smokey

layers of mountains in the distance.

there is a hill that is a great landmark to follow.

You can see it from just about anywhere coming back down the mountain.

Got home and typed WW1 diaries.

Had Breakfast of porridge with Mary and Ron and then I got a great shot of a roadrunner.

Just before lunch Aunt Mary

had a fainting spell and lay down for about 2 hours.

I got a bit more WW1 Diaries done.

The evening was nice Jo played the guitar and we read jokes and stories out of a little paper we picked up the cafe.

We sat outside for a bit and the quail were in the tree again.

wednesday 17th Nov - We tell a joke at Rotary

Woke at 530 and typed three pages before Jo came down at 7.

She was going shopping at Macy's in Mesa, did I want to come along?

Sure thing.

At that hour of the Morning, 730, the real rush hour had not begun so the roads were not too busy. Jo Drove.

Off we go to Macy's as they are having a big sale. We saw a heron flying past us at Power road. I picked up a few things, gifts for christmas and Jo got some thing for Colleen and something for her gifts too.

We went to the Wallgreens on the way back, following the sherrif's van most of the way... He speeds, and then home by 930 am.

Breakfast of porridge with Aunt Mary and Uncle Ron (he had a nose bleed this morning) and then Aunt Mary and I did the crossword.

Rotary today was fun Aunt Mary and I told a joke. the little fish swimming in the river a hits something and what does it say joke. Aunt Mary hit it right on Cue. "Dam". everyone thought it was great.

swung by Bashaws to pick up a few things and then home to Juice and cookies on the patio where we saw a Gila woodpecker. They make the little yipping noises that I have been hearing all over the place.

Pasta for dinner and an early night .

As Jo is leaving on Friday we decided to go hiking early tomorrow morning up to the petroglyphs.

Tuesday 16th November- A massage

Stayed up late (1 am) watching the Abyss with Jo so slept in till 7.

Typed a few more pages of the diaries.

Jo made a lovely breakfast of omelet.

We walked the circle and I managed to get a side shot of that bright yellow butterfly plus a pale butterfly too.

while sitting at the patio after our walk a big raven flew right toward and over us.

We went for lunch at the open Range deli and BBQ.

Very Country with eclectic decor and good food.

All 4 of us got a massage today.

Jo and I both had a hot rock massages.

It was my first and it was great. Really my new favorite massage.

On the way home a Coyote crossed the road right in front of us so I slowed down and the coyote just kind of sauntered across. It was larger than the ones we saw on the hill the other night. Very pretty. No Pictures though as I was driving.

When I downloaded my pictures from last night I found an odd blue ball in the sky next to the moon.

I was going for Jupiter and the moon as they are very close together right now so I was very surprized to see this blue ball. It was in all the photos I took but in different places in each photo. UFO?

The meteor shower is tonight so will try to wake up around 2 or 3 and catch some of that.

15th NOVEMBER a quiet day

Up at 630 to work on the blog,

facebook

and diaries.

Breakfast with Jo, Aunt Mary and Uncle Ron.

We checked out the weather in Edmonton. Oh My... 2C. Chilly!

Jo and Uncle Ron went shopping and to pick up a parcel for Jo.

Aunt Mary and I went for an adventurous walk.

When we got back and after we got something to drink,

it was quite warm out,

we enjoyed some music,

some poetry and

three chapters of Narnia all before lunch.

LUNCH.

A crossword puzzle under our belts we retired to the sunny patio and some quiet music.

Jo came down and played the guitar for us while I played with photos that I had taken of our bossy hummingbird.

He is very pretty though.

The moon was out at 230 so got some shots of that too.

Nancy (Collins) Wilson called from BC and David called right after that.

The mountains here change colours with the different light throughout the day.

They look like different mountains from this morning and tonight they will look different again.

Marvelous!

14th Nov - 4 Coyotes on the Hill

A band of Coyotes played on the hill.

their song of high notes gave us a thrill.

playing and yipping and jumping about.

we watched and enjoyed when they gave a shout.

we were quiet and waited and then took our shot

with our camera we aimed and the picture we got.

I got a film too of that little band;

can hardly wait, it will be grand.

14th nov- I followed the trail of a Quail

This morning I followed the trail of a Quail,

the sun was just warm, the air was not stale.

The trail went up and across the hill,

As far as I know it is going on still.

A beehive it passed with bees buzzing round,

The hive in the pile of big rocks on the ground.

Through the grass winding, sometimes it was small,

On rocky ground often, was not there at all,

sometimes it was wide with a gift of some scat

left by some rabbits, a deer or bobcat.

The trails wound their way round the hill up

and down.

There were quail on the move making many a sound.

An black ant was climbing up out of his nest,

they are bigger here... so are bigger pests.

At the low marshy spot there were tracks in the mud

A raccoon had passed by, maybe ...with his bud.

A bird chirped hello from a cactus branch low,

then onward I went with farther to go.

Aunt Mary says next time to follow the trail

of the rare Arizona curly cactus snail.

The trail would be shorter by far she is sure,

So the sights would be fewer on that little tour.

Now I’m home and recalling with thoughts not too frail,

how this morning I followed the trail of a quail

Nov 14th 2010

Saturday 13 Nov - Home James.

Woke early as venus was being so noisy.

It was huge in the morning sky. At first I thought it was a plane coming in but it did not move and so I went online to check out the sky map and sure enough it was Venus.

Typed on the diaries for a while then Jo came down and told me about the big star in the sky. we figured out that we were both up and looking out our respective windows at the same time thinking the same thing as she also thought that it was a plane. Too funny.

we hung out around the house this morning the regular routine, breakfast, walk, lunch, puzzle and then went to Church at 230 in Apache Junction. I guess my name is now James as when Uncle Ron got in the car he said "Home James" Jo said maybe Jimmy would be nicer as it was more informal. Picked up some more things at Bashaws for the party on Sunday on the way back.

a quick dinner of bean burritos and then some more typing for me. I got up to 11 nov 1918. The hostilities ceased in the first World War at 11 am on the 11 Nov 1918. Hence Remembrance day.

went up to watch the Harry Potter movies of the night, the Prizoner of Azkaban and the goblet of Fire. good day.

Friday 12 nov

What did we do today?

Jo and I went for a walk up the hill which is behind the hill behind the house.

It was a great hike.

Lots of climbing that seemed to be straight up and loose rocks with only rabbit trails to follow.

Some scat on the way up.

Did not know what kind for some of it. Rabbit and deer for sure and maybe bobcat.

Plenty of other stuff to to see once you get up there though.

The whole valley in all directions.

Took some video.

We saw a herd of deer on the way down.

Very exciting!

One big buck, sorry

no pictures, had a large rack of antlers.

There were several does.

We went back to the house.

we were passed by a hawk at eye level at one point. very cool

We told Aunt Mary and Uncle Ron about our adventures.

They were excited too.

We saw a pair of hawks circling right over the house.

Went to Bashaws and picked up many groceries for the party on Sunday.

Quiet day for the most part really.