Friday, February 25, 2011

Friday Morning Silhouettes Feb 25th

6 am out the door. Venus







bunny good morning








cactus wren- what a way to wake up
















flowers with Superstition as a backdrop








More flowers








more flowers










Say's Phoebe










flowers dark







Breakfast then a nice walk with Mary and Ron








a finch looking quite comfortable on top of a 25 ft tall sajaro cactus










more flowers










a quail, the token quail picture of the day










Lunch
hair for Mary and Ron and nails with Johnny from Vietnam for Me
tea with Anna and Mike, Regina and Jan


crossword puzzle


a phone call from Mo, Janet, and Orial who say that home is minus 34 C


waffles for dinner and a cardinal


a violin concert





Thursday, February 24, 2011

Wednesday morning Feb 24- Verdin

Was out of the house by 7 am.

Walked up the hill behind the house by the road and saw an owl flying away but couldn't get a
shot....

maybe tomorrow.

The house that they are building up there is going to be
very nice.

Really great views of the whole valley and the mountains.

of course the driveway is a little steep.

Met Susan, her husband
and their two wineriemers? out for a walk.

They were woken up by the coyotes
too.

They are from Wyoming and say they've have a heck of a winter up there with lots of snow and wind and
cold. Sounds like they had our winter so far.

The morning was cool but not too bad as there was no wind to speak of.

A nice sunrise this morning.

It was a pretty quite walk really, just me

and the coyote,

the rabbits,

the dogs,

the birds,

like the phainopepla,

the wren

and the starling,

each on their own perch.

a cactus wren sitting on a jumping cactus

the flowers looking very bright and happy,

the people

and the golf course maintenance folks


I got a couple of really good shots of birds.




The
verdin was second to last and they are so little and so cute.

Met Murphy the golden retriever and his folks Don
and Doneca?.
there is going to be a block party on the. 20th but we will be gone.

too bad as it would have been nice to go.

Today Uncle Ron has plans to go shopping and get some more flannel sheets so sounds like a very exciting day in Arizona



Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Arizona in February - 2011-The First Three Days.

Out of the cold white north and into the land of sunshine and flowers. It was only right that the the plane ride was a little rougher than usual and at one point I even felt very faint. Maybe it was something I ate? On the way off the aircraft there were a few ladies who were still sitting as they felt faint too. Odd. Stopped by a shop in the phoenix airport to pickup some postcards then down to baggage and out to the shuttle. He had to drop off one couple in Mesa but we accomplished that quickly and then I gave him directions to the house.
We saw a Javelina crossing the road in front of us on the way to Aunt Mary and Uncle Ron's. It was very exciting! and of course I couldn't get my camera out quick enough to get a picture and it was very dark so even if I had of gotten in a couple of shots the likelyhood of getting a good shot was slim at best.
Judy was there along with Aunt Mary and Uncle Ron and we all chatted until 10 when Uncle Ron said he had to get some sleep so Judy and I continued until about 1100. then I said I had to get some sleep.
The next morning, Tuesday, I slept in till 715 so did not go for a walk. After breakfast Uncle Ron and I went down to the store and picked up some groceries. After lunch Judy and Uncle Ron went into town to get the new vehicle so that Aunt Mary won't have to literally climb into the van when we go places. Aunt Mary and I went for a nice walk around the circle, listened to music, finished off a crossword puzzle and then made supper. Judy and Uncle Ron spent the whole afternoon at the dealership. The new Flex is actually quite nice and Aunt Mary has no problem getting in or out of it.
After supper Judy packed and got her boarding passes all printed off. She will be leaving at 530 in the morning so wants to be ready to go. Aunt Mary and I listened to an old radio program, Charlie Chan. Uncle Ron was on the computer.
We all hit the sack pretty early.
I got woken up at 330 by Coyotes outside my window so stayed up to say goodbye to Judy which turned out to be a good thing as her alarm clock did not go off. The shuttle called at 5 to say that he couldn't find the place so she gave him directions and after that everything went well. She did get away just fine and on time. I went back to sleep until about 715 when the doves started in just outside my window. Who knew that they were that loud.
Watched the Castaway with Tom Hanks and then went down to breakfast with Aunt Mary and Uncle Ron. He is going to rotary so Aunt Mary and I are on our own for the afternoon.
We had a lovely walk around the circle where we met Sophie the 5 month old visla and her owner whose name I can't remember, a yummy lunch of Edamame salad and Pasta, a crossword in the sun on the patio and then Uncle Ron got home with groceries to put away. before supper Aunt Mary and I listed to bits and pieces of old radio shows while I wrote out postcards and then we read poetry.
We all put flannel sheets on the King size bed and tomorrow we will be going to get some more if they are comfortable.
I saw this odd blue green centipede about 2 and a half inches long in the hall so took a picture of it and looked it up. Green Centipede - Hemiscolopendra marginata
they live from california all the way to Tennessee. I put it in a glass with a piece of paper, it had big pincher things on its backside, and took it outside. It was actually quite pretty but centipedes still give me the creeps.
We had a nice supper of soup, lentil for me, clam chowder for them.
Going to go to bed early tonight as I am fading quickly. funny how only 5 1/2 hours sleep doesn't go that far.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Tuesday 30th Nov - Last day

Woke up at three and couldn't walk to the bathroom.
Well I could walk but I had to hang onto the furniture as my balance was gone.
My first thought was "Oh No I've given us all food poisoning and we are going to die" but my stomach did not hurt so I ruled out food poisoning.
then tried to clear my ears and that helped so I made my way down to the kitchen and made some hot tea.
back up stairs and drank said tea and fell asleep again. When I woke up my ears were better a little.
I really do not want to fly with bad ears but today is the day so will just have to make sure to clear my ears a lot.
quiet day, just packing up and double checking that I didn't leave anything.
Sarah came with Keith to cleanup for Dave and Colleen tonight.
We went for a walk this afternoon and we met Mike and Anna, the new neighbours across the street. nice people and they gave us a tour of their new house.
very impressive.
Jim will be picking us up at round 4-430 to take us to the airport.
I plan on picking up a couple odd things at the airport with the US money I have left over. stocking stuffer things.
Our plane does not leave until 8 so we will have some time to fill while we are there.
we should get into Edmonton around 11 and be home to Aunt Mary and Uncle Ron's by Midnight. I will be spending the morning with them and then I am going to ask Sharon for a ride home after lunch.


Monday, November 29, 2010

monday the second to last day of this trip

Up at 5.
Very cool outside.blogged last nights adventures.
Figured out how to turn on the hot tub.
Went hot tubbing listening to Bach.
Very nice in the hot tub... very cold not inside the hot tub.
I tried to take a photo of this little bird.
I think it is a Verdin.
It was calling in very rapid 'chips'.
Made some cheese and plain crescent rolls.
Put above mentioned crescent rolls in oven.
Saw a cardinal in the tree by the house and grabbed my camera but not my jacket.
Short sleeves outside this morning not such a good idea for any great length of time.
Did manage to get a few good shots
overcooked the crescent rolls
my life so far today.
after breakfast we, Aunt Mary and I made a poem
here it is.

Twas the day of the dandylion wine they say, that little Mary did fall.
She sipped each cup a little bit, till there was none left at all.
She fell asleep on the porch, as she was only three.
her mother told each passerby, she's fallen asleep you see.
Now she yells the tale that since that day,
no wine has touched her lips.
till they toasted the bride on her wedding day, then she took a little sip.

We all went for a very short walk and ended up sitting in the sun on the south patio.
I got a few shots of Boggie and Bacall's nest and Boggie too.

Sunday evening football, rabbit statues and bobcats

Greycup time.
I found the ESPN3 online live feed streaming video to watch the game. Uncle Ron's computer gets a great clear picture.
I went upstairs to get something and saw the rabbits on the tee behaving very oddly.
they were sitting up, frozen, not moving a muscle.
I thought how odd.
Then I saw it .
The little bobcat stalking them. of course I did not have my camera , it was downstairs. off i ran. by the time I got back he had moved off to another tee but the rabbits had not moved a hair (hare).
What was really odd was that he didn't seem to see them....
the little rabbit statues. he had passed right by them within a few feet.
then he saw a rabbit move on the next tee and took off, passing three little rabbit statues that I think he could have gotten quite easily.
the little rabbits remained as statues for about another 5 or ten minutes. then they were grazing like normal.
Very exciting.
The sunset was very pretty too.
Very cold out there.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

rain, hail and sunshine. church and buffets sunday 28 Nov

Woke up at 6 and came downstairs to check a few things out on the internet.also did laundry.
It was clear when I woke up with Venus and Saturn sparkling away in the east and Sirius in the west.
The sunrise was gorgeous as clouds started to blow in.
I found out that the rock I picked up on my hike yesterday on the Lost Goldmine Trail is a schist.
A type of metamorphic rock with lots of mica in it. Very pretty and sparkly.
Then it got even cloudier.
I went out to get a photo and surprised a small bobcat in the back but he got away before I could click the shot.
The problem with digital is that there is a time delay from when you push the button to when it takes the picture.
I had a nice cheese omlet for breakfast and listened to my mediation dharma talks while I folded my laundry.
Aunt Mary and Uncle Ron were up at 9 and so I talked with them while Uncle Ron made them Breakfast.
It started to rain and hail.
the mountains were gone behind the clouds.
then we went to the 1130 mass which is the children's mass and far less crowded than the 10.
Afterwards Uncle Ron treated us to lunch at the chinese smorgasbord. Always tasty.
We all got great fortune cookies.
a quick stop at bashaws for a few essentials and home again.
They called Nancy their daughter and listened to the messages on the phone and found out that there is an internet site we can go to to find out the score for the grey cup. so now we are on the hunt for that.
go Saskatchewan!