Well, we have done our part to assure rain here this week- we have the shingles scraped off the south side of the house, awaiting a new roof. If that doesn't bring rain, nothing will! We had the soffits and facia boards replaced last month, and now it's time to redo the roof. There were 4-5 layers of shingles, so just slapping down a few more isn't an option.
My neighbor Danny brought his little 2 year old granddaughter by to see the chickens yesterday, and Bucky dutifully crowed his head off to impress her. He's become a big beautiful rooster, and struts around like he owns the place.
My camera battery died, and since it's a rechargable type, I haven't been able to take pictures for a while. I have to remember to get one tomorrow, I can't be without it during Christmas!
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Happy (rainy) Thanksgiving!
Today was great, we drove to St. Johns, AZ. to spend Thanksgiving with the family. There were lots of people and lots of food, we laughed, we ate, had a great visit.
Hah! I lied-going to St John's was the plan, the reality is that I spent the day sleeping on the couch, fighting a sinus infection, a cold and maybe strep. I had a Dr.s appointment yesterday, and while there told Olga (the PA) that I've had a sinus infection for weeks. I've tried everything to treat it myself; taking garlic tablets- (David loves that smell!), XClear, then nasal washes. Yes, they are as awful as it sounds, you can feel the tides inside the sinus cavity for hours afterwards. Well, that's what it feels like to me, everytime I tilt my head, leftover saline solution ebbs and flows. Nothing was working, so I finally decided it was time for antibiotics. She said my throat and nose are very inflamed, my glands are swollen and I didn't need to go anywhere, let alone drive halfway across the state.
By last night, I knew I wasn't going to make it through a 3 hour drive to St Johns, let alone talk to anyone, my throat hurts so bad. Waah! I was really looking forward to seeing my sibs, Mom and the rest of their family, but such is life. David is a doll, he went down to Safeway and bought a roast turkey breast, mashed potatoes, even a vegetable mix and fruit salad. So, we had a nice turkey meal, David got to watch football all day long, and hopefully by tomorrow I'll feel that survival is an option.
Heather and Jared drove to Vermont, in the rain, but had no problems in the drive. Nic drove to Utah and wasn't so lucky. He hit a snowstorm north of Kanab, and it slowed the traffic down to 25-30 mph for about an hour. Once he made the summit, the snow slipped into rain, and the rest of the drive was uneventful, but he didn't get there until 9:45 last night. I'm glad they all had friends to spend the day with, and I'm glad I got to just sleep, watch the rain and be grateful for all of my many, many blessings.
I'm grateful for my faith, my wonderful family and friends, and for this great country. I love my home, and living in the desert. I love being back in Arizona. My husband is an amazing man, I love him and I'm very grateful for him being in my life. We've known each other for almost 35 years now, my how time flies!
Hah! I lied-going to St John's was the plan, the reality is that I spent the day sleeping on the couch, fighting a sinus infection, a cold and maybe strep. I had a Dr.s appointment yesterday, and while there told Olga (the PA) that I've had a sinus infection for weeks. I've tried everything to treat it myself; taking garlic tablets- (David loves that smell!), XClear, then nasal washes. Yes, they are as awful as it sounds, you can feel the tides inside the sinus cavity for hours afterwards. Well, that's what it feels like to me, everytime I tilt my head, leftover saline solution ebbs and flows. Nothing was working, so I finally decided it was time for antibiotics. She said my throat and nose are very inflamed, my glands are swollen and I didn't need to go anywhere, let alone drive halfway across the state.
By last night, I knew I wasn't going to make it through a 3 hour drive to St Johns, let alone talk to anyone, my throat hurts so bad. Waah! I was really looking forward to seeing my sibs, Mom and the rest of their family, but such is life. David is a doll, he went down to Safeway and bought a roast turkey breast, mashed potatoes, even a vegetable mix and fruit salad. So, we had a nice turkey meal, David got to watch football all day long, and hopefully by tomorrow I'll feel that survival is an option.
Heather and Jared drove to Vermont, in the rain, but had no problems in the drive. Nic drove to Utah and wasn't so lucky. He hit a snowstorm north of Kanab, and it slowed the traffic down to 25-30 mph for about an hour. Once he made the summit, the snow slipped into rain, and the rest of the drive was uneventful, but he didn't get there until 9:45 last night. I'm glad they all had friends to spend the day with, and I'm glad I got to just sleep, watch the rain and be grateful for all of my many, many blessings.
I'm grateful for my faith, my wonderful family and friends, and for this great country. I love my home, and living in the desert. I love being back in Arizona. My husband is an amazing man, I love him and I'm very grateful for him being in my life. We've known each other for almost 35 years now, my how time flies!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Valley of the sun
Wednesday was awesome! I drove to the Valley- first to Sun City to visit family, Sharon, Bob, Shawn and Don. Sharon had surgery 10 days ago, and I wanted to see her and meet her daughter Shawn. We were talking about how we're related, and it goes something like this- Sharon's married to Bob, and is Don's sister. Shawn is her daughter, so she's Don's niece. And me, well, my Dad is Sharon and Don's first cousin. That makes me their 2nd cousin, and Shawn's 3rd cousin. We were laughing about it, and later it reminded me of that old joke- "Who's on first".
Evidently Shawn and I met at a Balmes' family reunion that was held at our ranch in Prescott, somewhere in the 1960's. We lived up in the mountains then, and Shawn's main memory is that her brother Roy got lost. It created quite a concern, he was only about 7-8 at the time. I vaguely remember looking for him, wondering why everyone was so worried, it was only a 60 acre pasture, and the whole darned thing was fenced, he could just follow the fence back down the hill. OK, I was only 9, and I'd grown up on that mountain. I didn't realize that they were from the valley, where everything is flatter and more wide open. Looking back, that had to be so scary for their family, who had spent little or no time in the rugged, mountainous country we called home. Anyhow, in general the reunion was so much fun, there were actually 3 girl cousins my age: Shawn, Gini and Robin, so we played and ran all over the apple orchard. I lived so far out of town, it was a real treat to have girls to play with!
After I left Sharon's, I stopped by my friend Julie's and met her new husband Ken. Actually we went to school with Ken, back in the 70's, in Prescott. They reconnected last summer, and now they're married. They took me to the local Costco and helped me load the truck. The nearest Costco to Cottonwood is 50 miles away in Prescott Valley, or the one just off the 1-17 and 101 freeways in north Phoenix. If I'm going to the city, I usually can't leave without at least one errand, it's too far to drive not to. I loaded up the truck, braved the evening traffic and headed home. Luckily the traffic was only bad for the first 1o miles or so, after that it thinned out and speeded up nicely. All in all, it was a great day, and I love my family and friends!
Evidently Shawn and I met at a Balmes' family reunion that was held at our ranch in Prescott, somewhere in the 1960's. We lived up in the mountains then, and Shawn's main memory is that her brother Roy got lost. It created quite a concern, he was only about 7-8 at the time. I vaguely remember looking for him, wondering why everyone was so worried, it was only a 60 acre pasture, and the whole darned thing was fenced, he could just follow the fence back down the hill. OK, I was only 9, and I'd grown up on that mountain. I didn't realize that they were from the valley, where everything is flatter and more wide open. Looking back, that had to be so scary for their family, who had spent little or no time in the rugged, mountainous country we called home. Anyhow, in general the reunion was so much fun, there were actually 3 girl cousins my age: Shawn, Gini and Robin, so we played and ran all over the apple orchard. I lived so far out of town, it was a real treat to have girls to play with!
After I left Sharon's, I stopped by my friend Julie's and met her new husband Ken. Actually we went to school with Ken, back in the 70's, in Prescott. They reconnected last summer, and now they're married. They took me to the local Costco and helped me load the truck. The nearest Costco to Cottonwood is 50 miles away in Prescott Valley, or the one just off the 1-17 and 101 freeways in north Phoenix. If I'm going to the city, I usually can't leave without at least one errand, it's too far to drive not to. I loaded up the truck, braved the evening traffic and headed home. Luckily the traffic was only bad for the first 1o miles or so, after that it thinned out and speeded up nicely. All in all, it was a great day, and I love my family and friends!
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Great moments
We had a great visit with Jana, Dave, Cody and Logan Funk today. Jana is our niece, and they stopped by here on their way back home from visiting the Polar Express railroad trip. They had a great time there, and we really enjoyed seeing them again. The boys are growing so fast!
They enjoyed playing with the dogs and watching the chickens. I let the chickens out just for them, and the boys helped chase them off the porch while we were visiting. Even though we live in town, the place looks more like a farm now, with the chicken hutch, dogs, etc.
Gina is here visiting as well, so she and Nic helped entertain the Funks today. We watched Hancock this afternoon, well, I watched bits and pieces while I cooked dinner. I'll have to watch the whole thing, it's a pretty good show.
Our yard is a wreck, we've had a construction crew here for a few weeks, working on the sofits and facia board under the roof. They've been cutting the old facia board off, and rebuilding the whole edge again, so there is all kinds of debris floating around the yard. Add that to the weeds, puppy toys, etc., and our yard is pretty ragged looking right now. I had a big pile of branches and stuff that had been raked up, ready to burn, but the chickens and dogs have scattered that around too. It's going to take some serious work to clean up just the front yard, and there's also the side and back yard too. Makes me tired just thinking about it. The work crew had to move all my plant pots away from the house so they could to the roof and patio in the back. I have lots of plants, large and small, and now they are stacked out in the gravel, off the patio. I had them all set up with drip systems, and the drippers are drooping around, with no plants to water. That means I have to water everything by hand. At least it isn't so hot, and I don't have to water every day right now, but it's sure a mess!
They enjoyed playing with the dogs and watching the chickens. I let the chickens out just for them, and the boys helped chase them off the porch while we were visiting. Even though we live in town, the place looks more like a farm now, with the chicken hutch, dogs, etc.
Gina is here visiting as well, so she and Nic helped entertain the Funks today. We watched Hancock this afternoon, well, I watched bits and pieces while I cooked dinner. I'll have to watch the whole thing, it's a pretty good show.
Our yard is a wreck, we've had a construction crew here for a few weeks, working on the sofits and facia board under the roof. They've been cutting the old facia board off, and rebuilding the whole edge again, so there is all kinds of debris floating around the yard. Add that to the weeds, puppy toys, etc., and our yard is pretty ragged looking right now. I had a big pile of branches and stuff that had been raked up, ready to burn, but the chickens and dogs have scattered that around too. It's going to take some serious work to clean up just the front yard, and there's also the side and back yard too. Makes me tired just thinking about it. The work crew had to move all my plant pots away from the house so they could to the roof and patio in the back. I have lots of plants, large and small, and now they are stacked out in the gravel, off the patio. I had them all set up with drip systems, and the drippers are drooping around, with no plants to water. That means I have to water everything by hand. At least it isn't so hot, and I don't have to water every day right now, but it's sure a mess!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Goodby Puppies
Well, we have all the puppies adopted now, exept the one that David insists is his. He fell for the cute little fawn-colored female, and has been 'keeping' her for my Mom. Luckily for him, when Mom came up Friday and spent time with the puppies, she decided that 'Bruiser', the biggest, stoutest of the bunch, really needed to be hers, even though she thought she wanted a female and he's all boy. She took 3 pups home, two for her and one for a friend.
A couple came by Saturday evening, looking for a female also, but one look at the long-haired puppy of the group and that all changed. "Fluffy" went bounding up to them, and the husband was a goner, when I came out he was cuddling that pup, and never let him down. He was a good choice, because they have two little boys, and Fluffy is energetic but very loving. He will play with you, then flop down right next to your feet and lay there quietly, he's just so cute!
Some friends of ours decided to take two puppies home, a male and female. They picked one of the Lab-looking males, with white back paws. He is very aggressive, and they want a watch dog, but also want another one to keep him company. The female has a blaze down her face, and is energetic but not as aggressive. The two of them are very compatible, and already hang out together a lot, even with all the other puppies around.
If asked, I'll deny it, but the truth is I'm a little sad to see them go. They mobbed me every time I walked out the door, jumped all over me and followed me everywhere. I stopped going out the back door when they were in the back, and was reluctant to venture into the front yard while they've been there, but come on, they are so cute! We still have 3, until the Stewart's come for their 2 this week, but by Friday it will only be Cara and David's new dog, he hasn't figured out a name for her yet. Hmm, maybe I'll be able to let the chickens out again, I haven't dared for the past 2 weeks, with the puppies, a hungry Mama Cara, and a construction crew running around working on the roof.
A couple came by Saturday evening, looking for a female also, but one look at the long-haired puppy of the group and that all changed. "Fluffy" went bounding up to them, and the husband was a goner, when I came out he was cuddling that pup, and never let him down. He was a good choice, because they have two little boys, and Fluffy is energetic but very loving. He will play with you, then flop down right next to your feet and lay there quietly, he's just so cute!
Some friends of ours decided to take two puppies home, a male and female. They picked one of the Lab-looking males, with white back paws. He is very aggressive, and they want a watch dog, but also want another one to keep him company. The female has a blaze down her face, and is energetic but not as aggressive. The two of them are very compatible, and already hang out together a lot, even with all the other puppies around.
If asked, I'll deny it, but the truth is I'm a little sad to see them go. They mobbed me every time I walked out the door, jumped all over me and followed me everywhere. I stopped going out the back door when they were in the back, and was reluctant to venture into the front yard while they've been there, but come on, they are so cute! We still have 3, until the Stewart's come for their 2 this week, but by Friday it will only be Cara and David's new dog, he hasn't figured out a name for her yet. Hmm, maybe I'll be able to let the chickens out again, I haven't dared for the past 2 weeks, with the puppies, a hungry Mama Cara, and a construction crew running around working on the roof.
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