Just reread the start of my last post, that was the last time we saw any monsoon storms. Crazy warm to hot hear this summer.
Not a lot going on in my area of the world, the virus is still trying to take over the state, its hot, we are looking into getting a new HVAC, so dealing with that, Amazing at the difference in prices, lol, we will make a decision this next weekend after we get several estimates. Chika is not a very happy border collie, its to hot to run outside and running in the house is not as fun, so looking for new ways to keep her busy. Still hiding out at home, getting my but beat in cards, lol you would think my house would be spotless, lol but its not.
I am on a 28 day challenge, fasting 16-8 I fast from 5p to 9a and then do the calorie counting from 9a to 5p. I basically fast anywhere from 12 to 16 normally, but this is keeping the night eating under control. Isn’t a big change really, well the night eating, but its time I stop doing that!! scale is dropping down so I am happy about that. Now if I started exercising too, it would be beneficial. I am just finishing my first week and don’t feel deprived of anything. LOL
Hope this finds everyone, safe, healthy and happy.
Monsoon was such a nice relief to the heat!! Love the rolling thunder that goes on and on and the nonstop lightening. And then the down pours of buckets of water, pooling here and there and trying to find anywhere to drain off to. Sure is amazing. We had a good couple days. It was only 72 out this morning, HOTTUB weather!! Yeah. Bnnes and joints sure feel better. Been in a few times since the monsoon brought cooler weather. However it is leaving us this morning for temperatures back up in the triple digits. Hopefully not for long!!
Not much else happening in our part of the world. Staying home as our state has lost its mind and gathered, partied and just plain out forgot we were in a pandemic!! At least we are under a mandatory face mask order. I have gone back to shopping at 6am and stocking up so I only have to go once a month. Our freezer is stocked and I generally only going for fruit, veg and dairy. I am certainly restless these days. I told my husband we are going for a drive, have a picnic and then return home. LOL he wasn’t sure he was up to that, but I am going nevertheless.
I miss seeing my kids. My son and his girlfriend are camping 2+ weeks as they drive from California to Minnesota for school. They have reported that all the National Parks are packed with tourist, and no one is social distancing, and many without mask. So they just keep moving through and stay where there are no people. I am a little jealous that they are out on the road, but sleeping on a blowup mattress in a tent, well those days were over for me years ago, LOL not that I am spoiled, but I am!! LOL My daughter and her husband are enjoying there time at home, both are working from the house, he works for the county and does go out to work sites to keep up on what’s going on in his projects. They have been remodeling there home and are finally on the last stretch, they have one bathroom and the kitchen to do. The kitchen is demo-ed out to the studs and I am excited to see the finished product. I have been able to see all the materials they picked out, its going to be beautiful. Wish I could go see it in person!! Someday!
We play a lot of cards, and I have been starting projects that end up sitting on the dining room table, LOL I have a quilt to finish, a whale picture I stared half way done, some clothes that need mending, and a couple cupboard’s that could use organizing. I also have several plants that need to go into new pots and some new pots that need new plants. LOL So I really can’t bitch about nothing to do!! I did get 2 loads of laundry done and flipped my mattress yesterday, lol that was something at least. LOL
Hope your staying safe and getting through this trying time. Nice to see out idiot president finally admit that we have a problem!! But that’s not saying much for him. I say don’t forget to vote this year. We need a change from all the lies, bulling and all the crap going on in Washington. I try not to be political but my goodness its hard to keep your cool when its thrown in your face. Part of the reason Arizona is in the state its in, well it is the reason were one of the “red” states that is in serious trouble is because our governor can’t kiss the presidents ass enough!! Not only did we open when we still have cases going up, he opened everything as fast as possible. The CDC guidelines were never met, not one!! Then letting him come and hold a rally in Phoenix, no masks, no social distancing, I can’t believe how many people put themselves in danger to listen to him tout at how wonderful he is! Well I had better stop as I just had to erase what I was writing next. LOL You can tell I am not a an of the asshole in the Whitehouse!!!
Oh well we all have our own opinions, not that mine is right, but really!!!!!
Hard to believe its the middle of the month. I was making an appointment for a recall for out Toyota and I put it on the wrong week, LOL When I went to double check the date, I realized that it was written in on the previous week. That’s what I get for sitting at home all the time, there is no need to know what day or time it is. We have missed garbage pick up more than once. LOL
Monsoon season is up on us. We had a really good down pour a couple days ago. Man did the yard need it. I could hear the saguaros sucking up the water as fast as they could. Been a hot spring and early summer. I just heard the weather man say the temps are coming down to a more normal number.
I am sorry to say our state is out of control in regards to the covid virus. We have a really idiot for a governor. Sorry, but he is!! There is still not a state wide mask order, it goes by county. Sad, just sad!
Okay I have to stop, or I will get on a roll and won’t be able to stop bitching and you will all see the really ugly side of me. LOL
No new news, just hanging out at home, staying away from everyone.
Hope everyone had a safe, fun fourth of July! We spent the day inside enjoying the air conditioner. LOL Having a really warm summer, monsoon seems to have forgotten that its in season in Tucson. LOL Gonna get hotter before it gets better I am afraid. We have been trying to work on the yard, but that ends up mostly watering. To hot to plant my new pots on the rock pile in the front yard. I have made a couple benches out of old wood, almost finished, waiting on some rope to get here. Been cleaning out closets and organizing. So that feels good to be decluttering. Finding things I forgot I still had, LOL, kinda like Christmas in July. Feel for the border collie, to hot to play outside, been getting new toys through amazon for her, keeps me busy throwing them in the house. We also play chase me around and around. We also hid her toys and she finds them, then she shakes the hell out of them for hiding from her. LOL Anyway she keeps us moving on these hot days.
The strawberry full moon was certainly bright here. Not sure who took this, but it was big. My entire yard was lite up most of the night.
Well not much else happening, having some electrical around the outside brought up to code, and were going to have the shop and garage done the same this upcoming week. So that feels good that we know its up to code and safe. Also got all the led lights restrung on the deck, so we have some nice mood lighting. To hot to get into a mood on the deck, lol but come winter who knows!! lol
Well I am off here the 5 o’clock news is coming on, gotta see what’s happening in the world. We went over 100K corona viruses in our state, its completely out of control here!! Extremely scary.
Been getting up and working in the yard, mostly watering since the heat showed up early this year.
We had a double pond/waterfall out front, we hired a landscape company to come in and remove it. The previous owners had just put it in and was going to have fish?? in it, I am not sure how without shade, pretty sure they would of cooked in the heat. so its been removed and we shoved all the rocks that they had around the sides of it into a big pile and I have bought 3 big pots to plant in the fall. That kept us busy for several days, in fact my husband is still dealing with the electrical wires that was hooked up to run the pump for the water. Here are some pictures of the removal and we are still fixing it up, I will post a picture when we are completely done. We are removing old cactus and an orleandar that is dying, we have already cut it down but due to a fire across town up on Catalina Mountain we are staying in out of the smoky air. here is how it looked, ugly huh!! 2ns and 3rd pictures are them removing it, and last picture is the rocks all piled in the holes left but the fiberglass ponds. There were several boulders and we had them put them down the edge of the driveway. I think it looks better just in a pile of rocks than with the ponds. We did find a nice rat nest, lol and he was a big one that went scooting away, lol he didn’t look at all amused! There was also a really big lizard, over 12 inches long and pretty big around the belly, they said it was an iguana. I hope he comes back.
We also used the pavers that were around the edge of the pond to fill in under the palo verde tree. The previous owners had lots of small cactus planted around the bottom of the tree, however I was constantly battling with moles, or harris squirrels diggiing up under the roots and eating them. I was loosing the war, so I dug up the cactus that still had a chance, there on the deck in pots, and we put down the pavers surrounded by rock. We left the 2 saguaros and a hedge hog cactus and one other on at the base of the tree as they were all in good condition.
This single cactus on the right was one of the survivors now on my deck, and this is the hedge hog is full bloom this las year.
The fire I was talking about is called The Big Horn Fire, its was started by lightening a few weeks ago and its burning up in the mountain areas that are extremely hard to get to. They have had no loss of homes or buildings and the first fireman was hurt yesterday, he is in the hospital. There are over 960 men work on the fire. It had been extremely windy so we have been lucky with the smoke factor, not lucky for the firefighters, we are about miles to the closest area of the fire. The wind stopped the night before I went shopping and I took these pictures on my way into town.
This is why we are trying to stay inside and out of the contaminated air.
Hope this finds everyone doing well. Our Covid #’s are rising and I just heard that Trump feels he has the need to come see his border wall and do a rally in Phoenix. Wouldn’t you think that a normal thinking President would stay away and respect the need for social distancing since our #’s have increased over 18 thousand since last Monday, thats one week!! I really should stop before I say some think that I shouldn’t. He really is an AssHat!!
Well its been awhile since I have been on here. Its not because I am so incredibly busy with life, lol to be honest we signed up for Netflix and I have been binge watching some shows I wanted to see. Plus when the weather permits we work on the yard, but for the last couple weeks we have been held up inside staying cool.
The other evening our dog, who can stand at any window in the house and look out, they are very low to the floor, one of the reasons I love this house, well anyway she was going nuts growling and barking out the window looking at the back yard. This was about 3 weeks ago. We always stand there looking for animals that she may see, and finally my husband says, look there’s a turtle. Si we left her on the deck and we went out and checked out the desert tortoise, he/she was a big one, she wasn’t scared of us, I checked her over for chew marks, it was in great shape. Not sure how long it had been living in our back yard with the fence and all, but we set her on the outside of the fence by some big cactus areas and watched it crawl away. That was exciting for sure, I had my husband put his foot by it so I could show how big she was.
I was on my way into town the other day and noticed a couple trucks moving large saguaros. I have seen them empty many times but this was the first time I had seen them with a load. Thought it might be interesting to some of you.
We have a big fire across town in the Catalina mountains. It has been burning since last Friday when a lightening strike started it. Its only 10% contained and they are evacuating some residents in the foothills at the bottom of the mountain. Winds have picked up, blew 30 here today, I feel for the fire fighters, its rough terrain to say the least, I noticed they have 4 big planes dropping retardant all day long. We are not in any danger, infact I have only smelled smoke once. So that is a good for us. This picture was taken on my way into town to grocery shop.
The corona virus is taking a toll on Arizona. I see that Phoenix’s hospitals are almost full. Not sure why the governor is still opening up business. Well I do know, he’s a republican and does everything Trump tells him to do. Asshat for sure!! I saw on the news that one of the hot spots for the young crowd is a bar downtown, they had to close because all the workers tested positive for the virus. I went to Lowes the other day for dirt, and no one had mask on, it was like nothing had happened. Crazy times for sure. My husband with his pulmonary issues has not left the house except for MD appointments. I try to order what I can on line and go to the grocery store once a month. The numbers are going up everyday here, I started watching when it was 300 infected in the entire state, we are now 34.660 increasing by the thousands! I am sure that we will be in crash mode soon. Sad really. Our governor is one of them that deemed, golf and hair/nail salons as essential business !!! WTF was all I could say. Better move on to a different topic as I can get on a roll and it just gets ugly from here!! lol
We drove out to have a look at the grandma of all saguaros, the one with over a 100 arms, she was all budded up ready to pop with flowers. We never went back to check on her, next year. We have had a very early hot summer here. It was 107 at the end of May, and June is getting ramped up. So we just stay in out of the heat and as it gets hot here the air quality gets worse.
Well life is good here, were healthy, staying away from others. I hope this finds everyone doing well and enjoying the summer to the best of your ability. I am so ready for a road trip!! Maybe next spring.
I don’t know who wrote this, but ❤️ It’s probably the most powerful words the world could ever hear!
We fell asleep in one world, and woke up in another.
Suddenly Disney is out of magic, Paris is no longer romantic, New York doesn’t stand up anymore, the Chinese wall is no longer a fortress, and Mecca is empty.
Hugs & kisses suddenly become weapons, and not visiting parents & friends becomes an act of love.
Suddenly you realise that power, beauty & money are worthless, and can’t get you the oxygen you’re fighting for.
The world continues its life and it is beautiful. It only puts humans in cages. I think it’s sending us a message:
“You are not necessary. The air, earth, water and sky without you are fine. When you come back, remember that you are my guests. Not my masters.”
Here is a picture of my beauty blooming, I bought here from a man who sells cactus on the edge of the road on weekends for 5$, she sure adds color to our deck. Next picture was from this last winter, I was sitting at a light and this was out my window. Next picture is of our deck. I am getting it ready for summer . I have transplanted a few cactus into bigger pots this year, looking forward to watching them grow. Next was taken a few weeks ago, before the pandemic, this is the road we drive out every time we leave, we are so lucky to get to drive through Saguaro National Park every time we leave and come home, its really come to life with color. And last but not least, my beauty has blessed me with 2 buds opening at once. They only last a couple days but I sure enjoy them when I have them.
Not a lot going on in our neck of the world. Just staying home enjoying life. We have the hot tub and desert to enjoy while we wait out this virus. I only shop once a month, last time I was in the store it seemed to have a couple more items than before. But the shelves are still bare on several isles. Only handing out a 4 pack of TP per person and other items are only 2 per person. Can’t wait for normal, if that ever happens again, to come back. Its hard to imagine all the people who have lost there jobs, business and homes due to this virus. My heart aches for them. Keep smiling, no hugging, but we can all share a smile and kind words. Enjoy the pictures..
Greetings from Tucson. Sun is out, cactus are blooming and we are enjoying the peace and quiet of our back yard. We have hunkered down and are keeping our buts at home. With Peter have a couple major issues with his lungs we are avoiding everyone. I did go out to the store this morning, but I was there at 6a for the senior hour to shop. It was so much better than fighting the crazy crowds, they had a man at the door standing by a huge tower of toilet paper boxes, limiting everyone to just one. Either a 4 pack or 24 pack, the shelves were still empty of soup, bread ( they were putting some up when I arrived on that isle, but slim pickings) no rice or dry beans to be seen. There were 4 bottles of oil on the shelf and all the olive oil you could want. LOL crazy what is left. NO creamer for my coffee but I still have a couple in the fridge, I will call the little store near us and find out when they when they get there delivery. I hope everyone out there and there families are safe and doing okay. My daughter visited right as the crazyiness was setting in, She stayed a couple days and when they started talking about shutting airlines down, she high tailed it home. Still nice to see her, we did a lot of driving around and looking at places that were closed that we will visit the next time she is here.
2020 had started off with a pandemic, and it has brought many together and certainly has shown what an asshat we have for a president. I am afraid it is going to get way worse in the US before it gets better. I just read he is thinking about opening everything back up since the stock market keeps taking a dive. Economy over the safety and lives of the his citizens. I feel myself getting on a roll so I better stop before I put my foot in my mouth!!
Be safe, be kind and we will all get through this one way or another.
I went to the store to get a few item, non of which were TP or hand soap, always have that stocked at home. The feeling in the store was of mass hysteria, not only was the TP isle bare, but not one dry package of noodles, ramen or anything else resembling, the rice was down to a couple packages and not a dry bean in site. The bread isle was just as bad. I have never been around such panic before. IS it all from the fear or running low on the normal items you should keep stocked in your homes, like soap, TP, dry pantry products ?!? Crazy frenzy. There was one man standing in the self check out with a bottle, big bottle of whisky, bag of chips and something else, he said real loud he wasn’t worried about stalking up, and someone else yelled back, but the whiskey will certainly kill the virus, at least the entire end of the store was laughing about that. I had been seeing it all one Facebook and Instagram, the stores with empty shelves and peoples baskets filled to the top with TP and water, but i was skeptical. Guess I shouldn’t have been. Kinda scary!
Well back to normal life. I hope everyone out there are taking the normal precautions to stay healthy,. Were good here in the desert southwest. we will continue to wash our hands, and use TP as normal, may not get to make a pot of beans anytime soon.
My daughter arrived yesterday, first visit to Tucson. We are going to go our and see the town this weekend and show her all the beauty that Tucson has to offer.
Stay healthy, safe and virus free my blog friends. xx
