Porch Time Keeps Things Interesting

 June 15 - 30, 2024

Tombstone, Arizona

Photo overload - you've been warned!

Borrowed from our local FB page - incredible skies over the Tombstone Courthouse

Sloooooowing down is the theme for us these days. The Solstice on the 20th means summer is officially here, although the weather has been yelling SUMMER for several weeks. We haven't been under 90, with warmer-than-usual night time temps. 

Of course, because we're here this year, the monsoon season is forecast to be "not-so-much", although we've been watching storms move around us almost every evening. When the timing is right they give us gorgeous sunsets.

A rare sundog in the south.

One evening we get a huge thunder storm over the Mules to the southeast with the sky lighting up over and over and over. I attempt to capture the show.

I get a lot of these.

Finally! I quit and just sit on the porch and enjoy for 30 minutes. 

Our 360 degree views was the biggest draw for us in purchasing this property in 2019. Having covered porches on both sides of the house means getting to enjoy those views from sunup to sundown. But not all the enjoyment is in the distance. This time of year brings numerous birds and other wildlife to our feeders and water troughs. The braying donkey, the late day rooster, and the baying hound add occasional humorous layers to the soundtrack of singing, calling, chirping. 

A pair of Thrashers signal that I need to fill the water!

I watered our Texas Sage and got these beautiful blooms.

So, so pretty!

Two days later the rain made it to our yard - and put all the blooms on the ground!! Oh well, we need the rain more - and the birds loved all those fresh petals.

It's rare for us to get winds from the East - they're delightfully cooler!

Several days of calm.

"Normal" winds from the West.

We've had several Cottontail babies, but this is our first Jack Rabbit baby (note the flat tail).

Brown Head Cowbird - they always look so classic to me.

With darker points, this is likely a female Northern Cardinal rather than the similar juvenile. 

Mule Deer visit the water trough daily.

Size is the only difference between male and female Road Runners, so I named this one Rebel who has decided to call our yard home. They're here every day now. 

"Hey Tessa! Let's hang out!"

The interaction between the different birds is always entertaining, but one morning is especially fun with Rebel getting chased (very aggressively!) by a mama Quail. Two older babies are hidden in the brush with dad keeping close watch. Rebel tries to get close a couple times. But mama is NOT having it! Although they can, neither of them choose to fly, just run really, really fast - it's hysterical! And the babies are still fine several days later. 

Once Mama runs off the threat, Dad brings the kids out to play in the rocks.

Smaller than their cousins, these Bronze Cowbirds are distinguishable by their red eyes.

Aggressive and not particularly pretty, Thrashers have a lovely song.

We've had over 30 different species in the yard, but the Lazuli Bunting is by far the most beautiful (and rare).

I love the contrasting copper wings.

We see several different hawks in flight, but this Redtail Hawk stops long enough for a nice pic.

Teenage Quail look silly with their blonde topknots.

Becoming much more distinguished as adults.

Mother Nature is incredible, smart, creative, and mostly logical in her choices for clothing colors. One exception is the Northern Cardinal. In what environment do these bright red birds blend in? Here in the desert I'm sure you can see them from space! They aren't hiding from any predator, but yes, they're quite pretty.

Some House Finch (of which there are zillions) compete for bright red.

Mourning Dove choose red for just their footwear.

We're going through a ton of bird feed, but it's a small price to pay for so much entertainment!! We'll see who else comes to visit over the next several weeks.

The motorhome is back, slide repaired we hope for the final time. Still looking for door latch and dash unit, but for now it's fine as is. 

Back home.

Happy Henry lights up the world!

Ezra and Elliott enjoying vacation time in Colorado - riding a giant turtle!

M and M love Legoland.

Reese is getting so grown up - having fun on the lake.

Under the Dome

 June (!!!!) 1 - 14, 2024

Tombstone, Arizona

The Whetstone Mountains wrapped in color.

And Boom! it's June.

Being in the desert, being at the house, feels weird this time of year. It is decidedly different from the other seasons we usually spend here. Not just higher temps, but an even slower pace around us. Would be hard for our pace to be much slower these days! 

Plans for my solo travels with family, and a little yard maintenance keep me somewhat busy. The ugly Heat Dome moves in (here and a lot of other places) the first week of the month squashing most motivation to be outside. I'm even more grateful to be retired with nothing requiring me to be "out there in it". 

Eeeesh. I'm grateful it's not the norm here.

The first day we reach into triple digits the AC stops putting out cold air. I notice it on my way out the door for an appointment in Sierra Vista. Gone a little over two hours, when I return the problem has been fixed. Bill called our local HVAC service and they were at the house in 30 minutes with what was needed in their truck. A few days later the unit is just not keeping up so I call them again. Ten minutes the guy is a the door! The last time the tech missed something that is easily remedied, we're not charged for another service call, the house is cooled down quickly. 

For me good customer service doesn't mean mistakes are never made. It's more about how mistakes are handled. In this case we're pleased with the customer service!

We enjoy our porches in the morning, watching the birds, deer and the occasional lizard. Our wildlife trough is kept topped off in this heat. So far most of our baby Quail are surviving the Road Runners, snakes and Ravens. The big covey of ten babies still have nine, and the older covey of six is still six! The IPhone doesn't capture them as more than blurry rocks so I need to remember my camera. One morning a pair of Ravens dance overhead, it's so quiet we hear their wings wooshing in rhythm. Small blessings.

Stopping by for a drink.

Some mornings you can almost see "the dome" of heat.

Our electric service is a co-op, and I continue to be impressed by how they operate. With high winds, monsoons, snow, high temps, and the occasional driver taking on a power pole, there are year-round opportunities for outages. We've had a few of them each of the years we've had the house. Not only are they rarely lengthy, updates are provided via text with enough information that we're not guessing what and when. A few days after the AC repair, the power goes down. Fortunately it's a cooler day. A text tells me the time and location of the reported failure closest to us. In this case it's just down the street. Expected to be restored within 3 hours. The local FB page lets me know it's pretty widespread. Less than an hour later we're back on :-) Getting the texts is especially helpful if you're not at the house - so you know when to come back! Our friends and family in Texas should be so fortunate.

After the shop has the motorhome for a week they call and ask us to come "take a look at something we found". I don't imagine it's a stash of $100 bills? 

Nope.

It is however maybe an explanation for the ongoing large slide issues. We can't see it, but the tech "shows us" where the flooring has dropped on that side in the back, and explains how this caused the mechanism to shift and strip wires on that motor. Okaaaaay. He's been dreading telling us, but thinks he can fix it for us. They still can't find (and neither can I after much searching) a replacement door lock or dash stereo/camera unit so even with the slide working I don't know when we'll have a motorhome we can travel in.

<sigh>

Clearly it's a good thing we weren't able to head out last month, and in hindsight it's a blessing we're at the house for several reasons. 

But oh that beach sounds heavenly on these hot days! 

The best way to spend a hot summer day, Oliver contemplates the first bite.

Henry graduates pre-K!

Oliver joins cousins M&M for cherry-picking. Yum!

A Quickie With Nothing Being Burned Down

 May 21 - 31, 2024

Tombstone, Arizona

A decidedly more positive post for a change. Frustration and evil thoughts behind me now :-))))

Thanks Anna and Donnie :-))

At 68, I'm now officially elderly, a designation many never get to "enjoy" so I'm grateful to get here! For the next three months Bill's married to an older woman.

We don't celebrate/gift each other's birthdays, but family calls and friends' posts throughout the day mark the special day. Good friends Anna and Donnie take us to breakfast and spoil me with lovely posies and presents. It's a good day to mark another trip around the sun. 

Knowing how happy it will make me, Jeff chooses my birthday weekend to seek out his cousin (my first cousin's son) at his gallery in Seattle. They had yet to meet, and I'm indeed delighted that now they have!

Once calmed down (one can only say that about themselves and not others without risk of bodily harm), I'm relieved to have the stress of ever-changing summer plans over with. The rig will get fixed when it gets fixed. We'll figure out medical support when we figure it out. We will putter around the house. We will little-bitty travel.

Puttering is the official term for avoiding boredom. A necessity for me. Bill fixes the wheelbarrow and gets the small chain saw working so I can putter with purpose. With 2.5 acres of desert there's as little or as much as I want to tackle. The increasing heat is definitely an "influencer" this time of year, but there are times of day when being outside is quite nice. 

Our House Finch are tenacious in their attempts to build nests in our porch rafters. The wind never lets them stay long, but this is the biggest one they've completed before being blown down. So much work :(

Evidence of Oliver is a great addition to our back yard.

Most years (we've had four here) the skinny Cholla just have bright yellow buds, but this Spring all of them have burst out with these gorgeous fuchia blooms.

Lots of wild Desert Bird of Paradise give us pretty color in our front and side yards.

The biggest surprise has been our Yucca sending up this tall stalk of fragrant blossoms. There're more every day.

In SoCal, Ezra, at eight years-old, is attending his first school dance! I don't think I'm ready for him to be so grown up.

Dressed up with Daddy - both so handsome :-)

Our beautiful oldest grand - I'm glad he's growing his hair out again.

Bill continues to feel fine, and has figured out the routine he needs for in-home treatment. In hindsight I'm glad we're not traveling with iffy support while the medical team here continue to make modifications to dosage, etc. 

The weather-guessers predict a weak monsoon this year (like the only other summer we spent here), but I'm hoping we get some rain soon - our desert is parched! I'm sure there will be just enough to grow all the weeds I'm working on knocking down now.

The motorhome is in the shop and we're once again hopeful all will get repaired. On the positive side they had very few units in the lot pending work, and there are now five techs instead of one - fingers crossed!

Weird to look out and not see the motorhome in it's spot!

The Force is strong in Elliott :-)

Our youngest, Cassidy, is on the move.

M & M are enjoying their time in Scouts. 

Silly sisters Penelope and Reese clowning for Mom.

An extra Elliott pic - because he's so proud of his Ninja Turtle balloon art :-))))