Restoration Cowboy Style

I’m out of the house early last Monday, heading for Tucson and the airport. My long time friend (29 years) Kelly is coming for a visit. She’s waiting in baggage claim by the time I’ve parked the truck and gotten inside. Long, good hugs, her bag arrives and we are out the door.  Our lunch restaurant of choice is El Charro and we are soon seated on their porch. Kelly’s meal is great, mine is awful–I need to remember how far we are from fresh seafood!!

We dawdle over lunch and decide to make tracks toward home with a stop at Trader Joe’s. I never shop at Trader Joe’s and when I do find myself in one of the stores I wonder why I don’t shop there! Cheap fresh flowers, dark chocolate peanut butter cups, inexpensive and fresh produce. I would regret those dark chocolate peanut butter cups–and not just in weight gain–I wore white jeans to Tucson. The little flakes of chocolate attached to the paper cups flaked off onto my white jeans and when I attempted to brush away the chocolate, it left streaks of dark chocolate–at least we were headed home!

Tuesday we all enjoyed coffee and conversation on the porch before Kelly and I walked three miles. Our agenda for the day was Bisbee. First stop was the Bisbee Breakfast Club which was delicious as usual! It was a beautiful blue sky day and Bisbee’s steep, crooked streets shone–

The shops in Bisbee are a little/lot eclectic but Kelly and I did find a few treasures to bring home. In the upstairs of one shop we found these beautiful stained glass windows that actually still open according to the owner–

By the time we had strolled the streets of downtown Bisbee it was only 2pm and we decided Kelly needed to see Tombstone which was unusually quiet on this beautiful afternoon. We did find some stunning items in Arlene’s but decided to leave the jewelry in the case!–much easier on the pocket book! Back home we spent the evening chatting/laughing/knitting.

Wednesday morning we were on the go again–heading for Tucson. We are too early for some of the shops–so we indulge in a Starbucks while waiting for the stores to open. That’s a covid thing which has never reverted–stores always opened at 10am prior to the pandemic. When finding employees became so difficult, opening time was pushed to 11am and that’s where it stayed. We drive out to the Catalina foothills to shop at La Encantada–one of Tucson’s nicer outdoor malls.

Lunch on Wednesday was at a favorite spot of mine, Café à la C’Art at the Tucson Museum of Art. We sit on the patio and enjoy fabulous meals and good conversation. Kelly likes my choice of restaurant! By the time we finish lunch it’s time to check in at our hotel. Kelly catches up on emails, I relax and read–then it’s time for supper–Dairy Queen!! And a quick stop at Lowes for the Cowboy. I had planned to make a Costco stop after taking Kelly to the airport on Thursday. Kelly suggests we also complete this task before heading to Dairy Queen–our hotel rooms have full size refrigerator/freezers.

Thursday morning we “enjoy” the free breakfast offered by the hotel and deliver Kelly to the airport for her flight back to Kansas City. It was so good to see her again!!  Because we all ready did the Costco run, I stop at Walmart for a pickup order and I’m home by noon. The Cowboy has been working on my “old” barbecue grill–we bought a new to us grill when the old one died and I don’t like it–too many burners, not enough heat. So, the Cowboy ordered new parts and this afternoon my “old” grill is now working again.

Saturday Louanne joins us and we attend the Fireman’s Barbecue Cookoff–good food and fun visiting with neighbors and friends.

We are packing, cooking, and completing last minute tasks–it’s getting way too warm in Arizona for us. But first we have guests to entertain and I can’t wait!!

 

 

Last Monday morning on the day of the solar eclipse we woke to cloudy skies–in Arizona!!  The Cowboy calmed his wife by telling her the clouds were to dissipate by 8am–and they did. We had viewing glasses and filter material for my camera. I was ready! We only saw about 67% of totality but it was still awesome!

My family in Arkansas were in the path of totality. My cousin Tanya took these next two shots in Arkansas.

My niece Niki and her daughter Elizabeth took Mom for a drive seeking the least cloudy skies and the fewest people. The eclipse hype predicting massive crowds didn’t materialize in Arkansas and they had a great day!

I’ve been cleaning–as in washing windows which is one of my least favorite chores. Without fail (except for this time) if I wash windows it rains. I tried to make it rain but wasn’t successful this time!

And we had this happen–I started out of the house and looked toward the mountains–yikes! Back inside I did a little Facebook search and found it was our wonderful government agency, the USFS, doing a prescribed burn. Notice the tops of the trees–it was windy but I guess they had enough people up on the mountain to keep the fire contained.

When we had book club meeting last month it was at Lucia and Steve’s home. The Cowboy and I needed to go to Sierra Vista after the meeting so I didn’t have time to get the full tour of their home and property. Friday the Cowboy and I drove out to their house for the full tour. They are both highly energetic people and also very talented. Their garden is amazing–fencing extending two feet into the ground to discourage gophers and snakes, tight perimeter fencing eight feet tall and even roof fencing to keep out the birds. Lucia said she was not sharing with the critters, only people she wants to share with! Steve is a mosaic tile artist and his creations pop up everywhere outside and inside. They built this straw bale house hiring out only the metal roofing and the kitchen countertops. Steve built all the cabinets and built-ins. They collect all their rainwater, they have a huge bank of solar panels and storage batteries. It’s a lovely, creative home and we so enjoyed the tour!

Friday was also our spring Lion’s Club garage sale. We both found a few small treasures and also found lots of friends to visit!–it’s the best garage sale in the area!

I think my feet are growing. My Oboz hiking shoes have started to hurt my toes plus they have some miles. New, good hiking shoes are expensive–I wanted to try Hoka’s having been told their shoes have good room in the toe box. The style I wanted was $180. So, I searched eBay finding a pair in my size that was advertised as “new, without box” and the shoes would be sent to an authenticator before being shipped to me–who knew counterfeit shoes were a thing??? The shoes arrived on Thursday and I really like them other than the fact they make my feet look huge! And they cost $94 and that price included shipping.

A special visitor arrives tomorrow–life is good!

The wind continues to blow and Sunday morning our temperature was 26 degrees!! The weather man on one of the local TV channels said, “it’s not February, it’s not March, it’s April in Arizona–where’s the warm weather!”

Our county has a Facebook photography group and twice this week one of my photos has been featured as the “cover” photo on the group’s home page. These two photos were “cover” shots. The rainbow photo isn’t the best as its taken with the iPhone zoomed in to far. But I love the poppies shot.

When we had Easter lunch at Dan and Louanne’s house, the gathering ended on a crash! Clint was sitting in a rocking chair and the next thing he knows, he’s on the floor. One of the “rockers” had broken loose from the chair that had belonged to Dan’s grandfather. The Cowboy to the rescue–he asked Dan and Louanne if the chair had antique value to them and they said no, they just wanted to be able to use it. So the Cowboy fixed the chair and it’s back in use–it’s the chair I always chose when it’s just the four of us in their “den” area.

We aren’t big TV watchers but do watch more TV in Arizona than we do in Montana because we can get local channels with our antenna. No antenna TV in the Montana mountains. We can watch PBS documentaries and other shows without commercials using the antenna. This is the antenna we use–

When we finished painting the garage, the Cowboy moved the RV back onto the RV pad on the west side of the garage. Up until that time the RV had been parked on the east side of the garage, sort of out in the yard.  Suddenly after a severe wind storm we no longer had the local NBC station which is where we get our local weather forecast. I lifted the Cowboy up onto the roof with the backhoe and we adjusted the antenna thinking the wind moved it enough to lose those stations. Nope–still no local NBC stations.

This went on for several days with me hoisting the Cowboy onto the roof for more adjusting–nope. Then he told me a story–a Montana rancher friend had a local antenna and got great reception until he moved a huge piece of farming equipment–he then had no reception–his antenna had been bouncing the signal off that piece of equipment. So, the Cowboy’s brain is whirring and he thinks maybe the RV is blocking the signal–he moved the RV and we now have all our TV stations! Weird!! Our antenna is on the roof and it would seem to be high enough to get signal over the roof of the RV but I guess not!

In 2019 at some time the Cowboy installed track lighting in our main house kitchen. When installing the fixtures he realized you could not change the bulbs??? Who makes a fixture that has bulbs which cannot be replaced?? We decided to proceed with the fixtures as they were LED lights and we all know LED lights last forever–right!!?? Shortly after hanging those lights one light began to blink occasionally. In the last month the lights became non useable. That light became a strobe light. This fixture wasn’t our only kitchen light so it was OK but it made the Cowboy mad because the track lights were not inexpensive!! He finds the book for the lights–yes, he keeps books for everything–and read that the fixtures have a 5 year warranty. I find the receipt–yes we keep all our receipts for this house remodel and find we purchased the lights in October, 2019.

I call the manufacturer, get a return authorization number, call Lowes and they tell us to bring the fixtures, our receipt, and the RA number. We did this on Friday. Lowes did not have these fixtures in stock and we would not have accepted them even if they did. Because the fixtures were purchased almost five years ago, Lowes would not return our money but would give us a Lowes gift card with the amount of purchases loaded onto it. We were happy with that. The Cowboy found almost identical fixtures for less money and changeable bulbs on Amazon. He installed those fixtures and we once again have nice lighting without the strobe light feature!!

Friday morning before we headed to Sierra Vista and Lowes, we went to a garage sale finding a waffle iron and a very nice set of binoculars. Sunday morning breakfast was waffles and bacon.

The Cowboy installed a vent in the gable end of the garage to let heat escape in the summer. I’ve been cleaning in the guest house–in about a week we have a guest coming and four days after she departs we have another set of guests coming. We’ve used the guest house all winter as a catch all plus I’ve been sewing leaving threads and little bits of fabric all over the floor–and I’m a neat sew-er, it just happens.

Our neighbor/friend Matt came over to “pick the Cowboy’s brain” this morning and showed me his photos of the Space X launch we meant to watch last night but forgot–mighty good photos for a cellphone!

We have our eclipse glasses and eclipse film for the camera lens–we are ready to see the eclipse. Unlike the 2017 eclipse when Montana was almost in the path of totality, southeastern Arizona will see about 67% of the eclipse. My family–well some of them–are excited to see the eclipse as Arkansas is in the path of totality. Here are some photos I took of the 2017 eclipse–

Life is good!

We ended last week with wind, gusty wind, rain and wind and that’s how we are ending this week. The days in between were warm, sunny and just a touch breezy. As I start typing this blog on Easter morning the wind is howling and is to bring us rain–we will take the rain but this wind can depart with March for our part!

This was a week of those mundane chores that always seem to need doing–laundry, vacuuming, mopping the ever dirty kitchen floor. I’ve decided I must be a messy cook these days or the tile in this house must show spills more readily–let’s go with that excuse instead of my being a messy cook!

When we head north for the summer we aren’t just heading north almost nonstop as the Cowboy is fond of doing!! We are stopping in northern Arizona, our ATV friends from Montana are joining us for an exciting ride!! The various articles we have read about the location of this ride say having a spare tire is a good idea. We and all the people we ride with do not carry a spare tire. We carry a tire repair kit (which we have used) and an air compressor which we have also used at times. Over the last month the Cowboy had noticed an ad on Craigslist for a set of new, never on the ground tires and rims that would fit our CanAm. We contacted the guy and he took the much lower price the Cowboy offered him. So, Tuesday we journeyed to Tucson, picked up the tires, stopped at Costco for just a few things, ate lunch and picked up the groceries at Walmart.

Now, lets talk about lunch in Tucson. I realize I sound like a broken record about dining out but—–We ate at Eclectic, a place we liked during covid and when Emmi was alive–they have an outdoor patio with heaters. The tab was $52 which included the tip. The food was not good, the service very good, and the bathroom was disgusting. If the Cowboy tells me the bathroom is dirty, it’s really, really dirty!! Don’t get me wrong–since covid, I’ve cooked so, so many meals and I love to eat out when we have the chance. But geez!!

On Wednesday I did something I haven’t done in years–I took a hike with friends from the book club, one of their spouses and another couple in the hiking group. We did Middlemarch Pass trail. All “pass” trails are uphill and steep at times as was this one. The leader of this hike, Lucia, had hiked this trail in the past and could not believe how washed out/basically gone the trail was. We hiked up deep chasms filled with big rocks where the rain water from summer monsoons had destroyed the trail. It wasn’t a long uphill hike but enough to make me winded and it certainly increased my heart rate!! It was a spectacular day spent with friends!

If you click on any of the photos in the blog posts you can see an enlarged version.

The Cowboy has started painting the trim on the garage, he’s installed the new tires on the CanAm and tried to fix our grill without success. The grill was one we purchased used in 2016 while living at North Ranch in the winter. It was a great grill but when the Cowboy went to replace the propane line the “venturi” tubes just fell apart. We felt the grill was too old to spend money replacing parts so on Friday afternoon we journeyed to Sierra Vista and purchased a new to us gas grill with way more burners than I will ever use and an additional cooking type burner on the side. Happy cook! And there is a nice Dairy Queen in Sierra Vista–:) :)!!!

Friday morning was book club day for me. I absolutely love my book club and the members! And Shauna was there–she lives in Wyoming but had come to visit this week–she sold her parents condo this past summer I think and hasn’t yet decided to purchase another property in this area. The meeting this week was held at Lucia and Steve’s beautiful home they built with their own two hands. It’s a straw bale house and just stunning! Book club meeting was stimulating and I now have another list of great book suggestions. Again, this book club is just the best group of ladies–I am so glad I had the courage to seek out a book club and that I landed in this one!

Here’s a list of some books I have read over the last month–

Solito by Javier Zamora. I listened to this non fiction book which was read by the author. It’s one of the best books I’ve ever read, hands down. It’s the story of a nine year old boy who is sent alone via a “coyote” and in the company of several other adults and one child from El Salvador through Guatemala and Mexico to be reunited with his mother and father who fled El Salvador years previously. The boy had lived with his grandparents in El Salvador and at age nine was deemed old enough to make the journey alone!! The stamina of this child and the people accompanying him was mind blowing! He did not complain, ever, in spite of being tired, hot, hungry, etc. Eighteen hours in an open boat with wooden seats across the ocean, hours and hours of walking in the night and in the heat, running out of water. This is a must read book!!

The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters. Again I listened to this book and loved it. Ruthie, a 4 year old little girl is told to sit on a rock and wait for her mother, she disappears into thin air . Her six year old brother was the last person to have seen her. The book is set in Maine where this family came from Nova Scotia every year to pick blueberries. The mystery isn’t solved for 50 years and that’s all I will tell you so as not to spoil the story. It was a really, really good book!

The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict. Based on historical facts this is the story of a African American woman who with her children are light skinned enough to pass as white in New York City. One of the daughters is highly intelligent and is determined to succeed on her own merits without a husband. She scores a position as personal librarian to JP Morgan and does indeed become highly successful, buying rare books and paintings for Mr. Morgan’s library. Passing as white was fraught with danger–read the book–it was excellent!

Leave The World Behind Rumaan Adam. I listened to this book. A doomsday novel that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the ending–and longer–I have thought about this book for weeks. A young couple with two teenagers rents a luxurious AirBnB on remote Long Island, New York. In the night someone knocks on the door. It’s the people who own the home and they beg to be allowed to enter their own home. They’ve been in New York city attending a concert when every light in New York city went out, totally dark.

The Women by Kristin Hannah. The main character Frankie, a pampered daughter of wealthy California parents, becomes a nurse and after her brother is shipped out to Vietnam she follows, joining the Army Nurse Corp. As green as the soldiers sent to Vietnam in droves, she is overwhelmed and sees all the horrors of war in an operating room tent. Surviving Vietnam she comes home to be scorned by so many people in opposition to the war. She suffers from PTSD ( not even a diagnosis in the late 1960’s) and can find no help–nurses weren’t eligible for care at the VA hospitals. While infused with the usual love stores in Kristin Hannah books, this book is good, very good.

Easter Sunday we joined other friends for a delicious meal at Dan and Louanne’s. My contribution was a fresh strawberry cake. We dined so well–the food was amazing and the conversations the best!

Life is good!

 

 

Our yard is a carpet of poppies as is the field across the county road from us–where well drilling continues to happen. We haven’t seen poppies like this since 2020.

Last Sunday we enjoyed lunch at Dan and Louanne’s and in the afternoon drove all the way to Hereford to buy a security screen door for the garage. We made a circle of the trip and came home through Bisbee because—there is a Dairy Queen.

Monday we started painting the garage early hoping to beat the wind–we were partially successful. We finished painting on Tuesday. It looks great and we are pleased. Thursday while in Tucson I purchased some trim paint and the Cowboy will paint what little trim there is on the garage around the window and both doors.

I baked bread this week–not sure why as we are both trying to drop some pounds–but we were out of bread and homemade sounded better than store bought.

On Thursday mid afternoon I retrieved Louanne and we headed to Tucson. She was having a minor surgical procedure on Friday. Her surgeon is extremely busy and at her appointment last week told her he would try to work Louanne into his surgery schedule. The office called her on Monday saying they had an opening on Friday. Dan was all ready scheduled for an appointment in Willcox–he had been waiting a couple months for this appointment and didn’t want to have to cancel. So I agreed to be the designated driver/contact/etc.

Louanne and I stopped at Home Depot purchasing flowers for our outdoor spaces and more paint for the garage. We enjoyed a lovely dinner at Locale on Thursday evening–an Italian restaurant in Tucson. Our hotel was a brand new Marriot Springhill Suites which has some issues they will need to resolve–seems they don’t have enough rooms with queen beds. Louanne had requested a room with two queen beds–our room had one king bed and a trundle bed type couch–the twin mattress pulled out from underneath the couch and rested on the floor–not acceptable for two women as old as Louanne and me. The hotel was oversold that night–no more rooms–but we survived!

Friday at 7:30am we were at the hospital and when they took Louanne back to the pre-op area I headed off to find breakfast. I ended up at First Watch where the coffee was great but the breakfast was mediocre–runny scrambled eggs, undercooked bacon and potatoes. And it was $20 for breakfast. My next stop was Costco where I just wandered not wanting to purchase anything that needed to be refrigerated or frozen as I didn’t know when Louanne would be ready to travel home. I still managed to find things to purchase in Costco–as always.

When the Cowboy and I stopped at the quilt shop the other day I noticed a couple  interesting shops which included a yarn shop. I would have been pressing my luck to ask him to wait while I wandered both the quilt shop AND a yarn shop so this shopping center was on my list for Friday. The boutique was a bust but the yarn stop was delightful–helpful people and beautiful, squishy yarn. I purchased enough yarn to knit another summer sweater.

By this time I was done with shopping and headed back to the hospital. It was a beautiful day–sunny and high 70’s. I found a bench in the shade, read, people watched and waited for the post-op folks to call me. Louanne and I were heading out of Tucson by about 2:30–she did very well with no issues. Dan drove out later in the afternoon and brought me roses for taking such good care of his wife–he’s a good guy!!

Holey, moley!! Did we ever have a storm Saturday night and the storm continued all day today with rain squalls and wind! I talked about the wind in last week’s post but this wind was even worse–awful!! And it rained–which is good for the poppies!

I continue to walk three miles a day–Thursday I saw and heard a meadowlark. Our neighbor shooed a small mountain lion out of her backyard on Friday!! The coyotes are singing night and day–I think it’s mating season.

Life is good.

And today I finished another quilt square–6 down, 100 to go–at this rate I may not live long enough to finish this quilt!!

 

 

Cochise county is windy much of the time without a doubt, sometimes we think we are back in Montana it’s so windy but Mother Nature has outdone herself this past week–whew, the wind blew!! We came home from Tucson on Wednesday to find garbage cans, buckets  and doormats scattered across the yard. I even refused to walk one morning due to the high winds.

But, the wind creates dust and our days were also partly cloudy making for gorgeous sunsets.

The Cowboy has been getting the garage ready for painting. In spite of the fact we neither one are fond of painting we just decided having stucco applied to the garage outside walls was just too cost prohibitive. Our stucco guy has become very busy and as a result his prices are much higher. And we found a deal on the paint!

I had a medical appointment in Tucson on Wednesday. We had paint we had purchased at Home Depot that matches the house and wanted to use that same paint/color but needed way more than the half gallon we had remaining. It’s been our experience that any good paint department can mix paint types and colors no matter where the original paint was purchased. We had reason to be in Lowes and attempted to get their employees to suggest a paint that would have the same qualities as our original paint but got nowhere. One employee even said, “why don’t you just go to Home Depot and get the paint?” Seriously?? So we did!

We hit the jackpot at Home Depot! Great employee and he said, “we are discontinuing that paint and it’s 40% off right now.” So the Cowboy being the frugal person he is purchased double the amount we needed! We left Home Depot with smiles and two five gallon buckets of the paint we needed. It’s the color of our house so the paint will be used at some point in time.

A friend mentioned a restaurant in Tucson and we decided to try it. We left without ordering. Enough said. And once again we ended up at Five Guys. Yes, we are in a rut. Costco and my appointment where the physician only kept me waiting 45 minutes this time instead of a hour. We left Tucson at 4pm and traffic was moving but heavy. When we exit I-10 one of will always say, “ahhhh, so glad to be off the racetrack!”

We cut the cord! As in the Amazon Prime cord. The membership fee was $139 per year and lately had us questioning just exactly what were we getting for those dollars. Our packages are sent through the post office which means we have to drive to the post office, nothing comes to our house now and Amazon’s claim of “fast and free” shipping is a misnomer–our packages are not sent via the “fast” method. The videos/movies/TV shows we watch have ad after ad–we might as well be watching network TV. So we cancelled our membership. I’ve placed two orders through Amazon since cancelling and both were sent with free shipping and the packages are supposed to arrive in the same time frame as that quoted when I had Amazon Prime. So, we will see what happens and I will let you know the results.

And lastly, we lost another dear friend this week. Years ago when we were traveling to Arizona in the pink motorhome pulling the yellow jeep we met a Canadian couple in the desert–John and Brenda. We became friends, visiting each other’s respective homes and RVing in the winter. When covid hit, they did not journey to the US for about 3 years I think. John died this week while hiking near Phoenix. Such a gentleman, so knowledgeable about anything–politics, religion, the oil industry (his career) and such a giving person.  We will miss that big tall cowboy, his beautiful photographs, his wit and his laugh. Rest in peace John, you are missed.

Our poppies are blooming, there is a sea of yellow/gold in our yard. We went to Dan and Louanne’s for Sunday lunch–spectacular Guinness stew, fruit salad and Mexican cornbread. YUM! Saturday Roma and Doug joined us for happy hour–it was warm enough to sit in the sun as we enjoyed adult beverages, great conversation and appetizers.

Another week gone by, life is good.

 

 

 

The Cowboy and I married in the fall and when Christmas time came I went shopping in Livingston, 55 miles away. I can remember it was snowing, the town of Livingston and the stores were beautifully decorated for the holidays. The Cowboy had given me suggestions about various stores and had mentioned Sax and Fryer–a book store. When I stepped inside Sax and Fryer that December morning I was enthralled and made many trips into this store over the years. It wasn’t just a bookstore–containing bestseller books, Montana history books, cards, pens, books, newspapers and magazines everywhere, maps, and the smell–divine! Sax and Fryer closed recently after being in business for 140 years. Two of the employees had worked there for 54 and 46 years. The last surviving owner, Johnny Fryer, died in December, 2023. It’s the end of an era in Livingston and the news made both of us very sad.

Because you see, I have a Sax and Fryer story. My first trip to the store almost 30 years ago I purchased $125 in books and other items. I remember the total. When I attempted to hand one of those above mentioned employees my credit card, she said, “we don’t take credit cards.” Oh dear, I had just written my last check in another store. I offered to go to the bank and get cash but she then said, “oh don’t worry honey, just give us your address and we will bill you.” What????? She didn’t know me from Adam but promptly packaged my purchases and out the door I went with a new respect for Montana. After all I had moved west from Houston, Texas where if you wrote a check they wanted your first born child!

Thirty years ago in our Montana small towns many stores had “store credit.” I was the new face in our community and it amazed me in those early months of our marriage how many people knew I was the Cowboy’s wife. I would walk into a store, select an item and the person at the cash register would say, “charge this to Mike?” I loved it!! The hardware store, the lumber store, everywhere had “store credit.” And once a month the Cowboy would usually spend a day in town paying all those accounts in person. Different world, different times.

I borrowed these two photos from the internet–

Remember from last week’s post–the microwave had died. The part arrived, the Cowboy worked his magic, and the microwave now works again. He is amazing! The hardest part at least for me was helping him re-install the heavy microwave over the range!

Last Sunday evening we were invited to dinner at our neighbors–Matt and Barb’s. That woman can cook–we both agreed that was some of the finest Mexican food we had ever eaten! Beef enchiladas, rice, refried beans–all so good!

The Cowboy has been struggling with his “free” garage door openers. The first opener he installed worked–until it didn’t–and became possessed by something or someone! The garage door would partially raise, then go back down, then not open at all. The Cowboy changed remotes, rewired, ordered new remotes and still the possessed garage door opener would not behave. So, he removed the motor and installed the other “free” motor. This time the door opens as it should–success!

On Tuesday we had a treat–we traveled into the Tucson area to visit Joe and Gay’s lovely home in what was a golf community in its heyday. Their house backs up to what was once a fairway but is now desert with an added bonus–paved golf cart paths that are now walking paths. We met their sweet Sally pooch who is a mature girl but doing very well. And we traveled into Green Valley enjoying Mexican food and great conversation for a couple hours. It was a refreshing change to meet up with friends, have lunch and go home–no marathon shopping trip!!

I actually completed some quilt blocks this week–one too small and two the size they should be. How did that happen you might ask?? Quilts are traditionally made using a precise quarter inch seam. Sewing machines and sewing machine feet don’t always sew an exact quarter inch seam. If your block has many seams such as the blocks I am making, that exactness is very important or you end up with a block too small or too large. I have to move my sewing machine needle one click over to the right in order to get that precise seam and I have to remember to move that needle one click every time I sit down to sew if the machine has been powered off. Five blocks finished–101 to go!

Louanne has been gone this week leaving Dan home alone. He came out for Sunday lunch today and I served grilled burgers with homemade buns and caramelized onions. I also made french fries in the air fryer–they are so good that way–and coleslaw. Dessert was homemade cookies from friend Sandy’s recipe. We do eat well in this house!

A stick killing Emmi dog. I vacuumed inside the trucks yesterday and told the Cowboy it made me sad–we don’t use the big Dodge often and I found an Emmi blanket and lots of poop bags. The Cowboy said his trip to the transfer station on Saturday made him sad–Emmi loved to go to the dump with him and always wanted to ride with her head out the window no matter the weather.

It was a beautiful Sunday–warm and sunny–just how we like it!

The first part of our week was stormy. Lots of dark, heavy clouds, wind, but not much rain.

This storm happened on Wednesday and was a doozy. There was thunder, lightening and the rain pounded,  but I’m thinking most of it blew into the next county!

Tuesday we drove to Sierra Vista–the pantry needed restocking and the Cowboy needed supplies at Lowes. It was an uneventful trip! While eating breakfast Tuesday morning I spotted two working garage door openers on Facebook in Sierra Vista–free–so of course we retrieved those and one of the openers is now installed in the new garage.

The Cowboy has had a rough week. Our lawn tractor is a huge John Deere 445 lawn/garden tractor with a 5 foot deck and is water cooled which the Cowboy tells me is a very good thing in older tractors. The Cowboy decided the tractor needed a bath–big mistake–it would not start after the bath. And no matter what he tried, it wouldn’t start. We use this tractor–he built an attachment for our 15 gallon weed spraying tank and I spray weeds from the tractor. Our summer caretaker Milton mows the weeds/grass using this mower. It needed to run. So, we towed it to the new garage, pushed it inside and the Cowboy went to work. It took him two days–taking it apart, piece by piece, wire by wire, testing those pieces and wires before he found a problem–a blown fusible link. The tractor now runs and will never get another bath! We usually just use a compressor and air hose to blow the dust/dirt from the mower–no more baths!

In Arizona water is an issue–and that is an understatement! Friday a week ago I attended a water meeting. The attorney general of Arizona conducted this meeting, the community center was packed with people and many of those people were frustrated and angry. The water district in this county has no oversight, no restrictions, no laws. It’s the reason the nut growers and dairies chose this valley–no water regulation. And it’s a major problem. Out of state corporations have purchased properties and are growing nuts and cows. The nut growers are clearing land and planting pecan and pistachio trees at an alarming rate, drilling 1000 foot wells to water the acres and acres of trees. There are two dairies currently in operation with a third one planned–180,000 water sucking cows in our valley as of now. These dairies have purchased every single acre of farm land they can in this area, drilling deep irrigation wells and running center pivots to water the crops they are planting to feed those thirsty cows. Private, domestic wells have gone dry in this area, particularly wells closer to the dairies. People are angry and concerned.

We bought this property 7 years ago and drilled a 500 foot well at a cost of approximately $24,000. Costs for well drilling have now sky rocketed along with everything else. Across the road from us is an open field and there are three short irrigation pivots on that property which according to local lore have never run water. Last year the owner of this land started running cattle on the acreage and the cattle ate what grass/weeds were on the ground down to the dirt. In the fall a well drilling rig appeared out on the highway side of this acreage, the rig drilled and drilled then moved to a different spot and drilled again. Not enough water in either of those drill holes to run center pivots.

Then one morning the drilling rig appears on the corner across the road from our property–there are 3 one acre lots between us and this property. They drill a test hole and get water, lots of water. They are drilling to 900 feet. Not a good situation we are thinking.

And my finish–

I love this sweater, it is wool but so lightweight and soft. I am laughing so hard in this photo because the wind was howling and it was spitting rain–I was telling Michael to hurry up and take the photos–and get a decent one!

Saturday evening our Montana friend Larry plus Louanne and Dan came for dinner. I outdid myself! I have a recipe for roasted pork tenderloin that I have had forever–marinade the meat in olive oil, cumin, cinnamon, cayenne pepper and loads of chopped garlic. It’s divine! I served the pork with an apple chutney which I made using an Ina Garten recipe I found online. Paired with a salad and homemade by Dan dressings, roasted asparagus and Pioneer Woman mashed potatoes, we had a feast! It’s the time of year when I start trying to use what’s in the freezer before it’s time to depart Arizona. In the freezer I found a package of frozen rhubarb brought with us from Montana in the fall and made rhubarb crisp. Larry thought he didn’t like rhubarb until he tasted that crisp–he’s now a rhubarb convert! An outstanding evening of food and friendship.

The microwave died this afternoon when I was trying to heat leftovers for lunch. It’s a fancy microwave/convection oven purchased used (barely) when we finished the main part of the house. Have you ever accidently put metal of some sort in the microwave–I have–and it makes a horrible frying, electric noise. That’s the noise my microwave would make from time to time–and there was no metal involved. Today it made that noise and would not quit making the noise–and the Cowboy was in the kitchen, hearing it for the first time. And this time there was an electrical burning smell. The microwave is now in the garage and of course the Cowboy discovered what was wrong–a diode has been ordered.

Life is good with a handy husband!

 

The North Ranch gang has been out riding frequently. Geri and Sandy post lots of photos making us wish we were there. This past week Geri posted a photo that made us sad. In 2015 we were riding with this gang and bringing up the rear. We had been to see a cave and an arch–mission accomplished and were heading back down the trail when I spotted crested saguaros just off the trail. I jumped out leaving the Cowboy and Emmi to chase down the rest of the gang. These crested saguaros were amazing!! We saw them again in 2016 and in the last year or two our friends Pam and John with Susan and Dave drove their jeep out to see these beauties. The largest of the two is gone!!  Probably blown over in a wind storm. Makes us sad!

While searching our previous blog for “crested saguaro” I found this photo of the Cowboy and Emmi back in her younger, much healthier days.

The toy hauler RV has a 20 gallon fuel station which we use to haul gasoline for the side by side. The pump in ours was not working and one day this week I look outside to see what the Cowboy is up to and he’s under the RV–removing the pump–and no surprise to me, it’s now working.

Remember the beautiful recliner we drove four hours round trip to purchase??

Well, it wasn’t comfortable. It’s impossible to sit in a chair for a few minutes and know it will be comfortable. Same thing when you purchase a mattress–how do you try a mattress for two minutes and think it will be comfortable?? So, I listed the chair for sale and in five minutes after its posting appeared on a Facebook group it was sold. Last weekend we spent time on Craigslist and Facebook looking for recliner couches. The hair and ottoman I use are huge and take up so much room plus aren’t exactly comfortable. We both didn’t like how cluttered our living room looked with the two chairs, ottoman, two tables, etc. We found a couch and on Monday drove to Tucson, spent some time siting on the couch, the woman was gracious enough to disappear while we sat/talked and decided to try it–the price was right. The seller was keeping the matching love seat but the couch would not fit into her new home–she swore it had not been used at all and it appeared to be in great shape. So we came home with a couch. The southwest patterned loveseat is headed to the guest house and the leather loveseat in the guest house will move to the main house.

The Cowboy also spotted some rolling chairs on Craigslist–it seems he was envious of the comfortable rolling chairs in Larry’s garage at North Ranch. So, we also came home with four Chromecraft rolling chairs. Two for the garage, two for the RV. Now I have to sell my chair and ottoman.

Last week on Facebook someone posted this quote–I can’t for the life of me remember who posted it–but I loved it! I do come from a family of strong women. When my maternal grandfather died quite young he left a wife who had never worked outside the home and three daughters still at home. My grandmother finally gave consent for my mother (the oldest daughter at 17)  to date my father. Grandma had resisted their dating because Dad was 8 years older than Mom but in the end relented and the rest is history. Grandma went to nursing school becoming a licensed practical nurse so she could support herself and the remaining two daughters at home. Grandma and Grandpa had six daughters and every single one of them was strong, outspoken and opinionated. Wonder where I got those traits?? Mom is the only surviving daughter and is still a strong, opinionated, outspoken woman. Her sisters left behind a host of strong daughters–out of the 11 children born to my aunts, only three of them were boys–my cousin Ed, brother Ross and cousin Greg who is deceased.

A massage and Dairy Queen happened this week and I thoroughly enjoyed book club. I listened to Happiness Falls which I enjoyed with caveats–the narrator’s tone of voice drove me crazy and one of the main characters was not so likable–her “footnotes” sent me to the fast forward button. I also listened to Leave The World Behind–an apocalyptical novel that I couldn’t stop thinking about! I wouldn’t say I “enjoyed” this book but I certainly couldn’t stop listening! I’m trying to make my way through Fire Weather, a non-fiction account of the horrific Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada fire in 2016. And I read the Language of Flowers which I enjoyed immensely.

Tonight Pam and Robbie are joining us for dinner–steaks on the grill, baked potatoes, asparagus, Caesar salad and homemade Dutch apple pie–BURP!!

Life is good!

 

The week started out chilly but the rain/snow was finished and we had bright, sunny, blue skies all week with very little wind. Awesome weather for mid February.

We watched the super bowl and what a great game it was! Unlike so many of our friends Jim, Gary, Jodee and Bill, we don’t watch sports, but usually try to watch the super bowl. I had to sign up for a free trial of Paramount Plus in order to stream the game. We only have antenna TV from Tucson and cannot for some reason pick up the CBS station. I promptly cancelled the Paramount Plus later in the week. In Montana we use Amazon to stream TV as antennas don’t work as well in the mountains as they do in the desert.

On Wednesday, Valentine’s Day, we journeyed to Tucson. I had a doctor’s appointment and we used the day to also celebrate. Our first stop was Longhorn Steakhouse for lunch–it was our first time for this restaurant and we found it to be good. The Cowboy didn’t need any building supplies–highly unusual! The doctor I saw needs to work on seeing his patients in a more timely manner. Don’t ask me to arrive 30 minutes before my appointment time if I’ve completed paperwork online. And don’t keep me sitting in an exam room for 30 minutes past my appointment time with no explanation as to why when you finally do grace me with your presence. And it wasn’t a fluke–Louanne saw this same physician several weeks ago and he kept her waiting an hour. It was getting late in the day by the time we were finished with the tardy physician but we needed a Costco stop and off we went to brave the masses! My Cowboy decided I needed flowers at Costco and my roses are still gorgeous several days later. The traffic was heavy but still moving as we left Tucson and headed back out to our quiet corner of Arizona.

The Cowboy finished the roof of the garage this week and I managed to finish another quilt block and make progress on my sweater.

The awning on our RV is electric but wasn’t working and I wanted it to work. There are two things in a RV that if not operated by the push of a button I need the Cowboy to help me in order to use those two things–generator and awning. The generator works with the push of a button, and being the independent person I am, I wanted the awning to work. So–Friday was awning day. The Cowboy had extended the awning and tied it down to the backhoe bucket while he struggled to figure out how to remove the motor from the end of the awning. And then the wind came up so we parked the truck at the other end of the awning and tied that to the pickup–now it’s not going anywhere. Once the Cowboy had struggled for a while, he came inside and watched a YouTube video–and then removed the motor which was literally fried! Amazon to the rescue. Saturday via USPS we had a new motor. And Sunday before lunch we had a working electric awning!

We’ve also had some excitement in our neighborhood. The installation of fiber optic internet has begun–finally! Our local telephone company installed fiber in town probably two years ago and we can see town from our house. But–it may be late summer before the actual fiber cable is run and our house is connected. The internet we have is good–it sometimes slows way down in the early morning and evenings but most of the time it’s OK. Streaming the super bowl we noticed a lot of “stuttering” but that’s to be expected when hundreds of people in our area are trying to stream.

Saturday evening we enjoyed a spectacular meal at Dan and Louanne’s where Louanne had decorated beautifully for Valentine’s Day. The food was amazing and the company even better!

Life is good!