beluga

beluga

Friday, February 15, 2019

What we've been up to

The weather has been up and down here this year.   As I said before, we've taken advantage of the nasty days to take care of business but there have been far too many of those days for my taste.

We ordered a new water pump for Beluga and it took 10 days to get here.   When it finally arrived, it wasn't a water pump at all....D amn!    Not only did we not have the part we had been waiting for, but we had to run around and find a UPS store to return the trailer inverter control panel that GoGoRV evidently thought we needed.   Grrr.    We did see a fantastically fantastic crested Saguaro in our travels that day so all was not lost.

this beauty was replanted right next to a busy road....
we wondered why it was moved there and from where?

Nature is strange and beautiful

And drove past this really cool reflective building while we were out doing errands one day.


You can tell Spring is around the corner when you go into the pet store to buy dog food and you find rows and rows of sweet little chicks for sale.....


 The poodle mowing went well also.   Lewis is now all neat and fresh and smelling of lavender.   I don't know if he likes that, but we do.

Lewis loses a full pail of hair each time



Second Cup outdoors happened most days this week because we were able to find a tiny sliver of sun behind Beluga and, if we wore sweatshirts or vests, we could enjoy an hour or so there with Lewis and his rug.

fully engaged in his favorite game of hide the fish......

Gay and Joe came over for dinner on Tuesday.   It was nice enough to sit outside for awhile but as soon as the evening cold came creeping in we moved inside to eat and visit.    Gay made a knock-out Kentucky Derby Pie for dessert and the dear woman left the rest here for us to gorge ourselves on the next day (or perhaps later that evening?).    No pictures, gone too fast.

Wednesday Vivace's Seafood Soup called for Dave.   He's been trying to finagle a time to be in the area so we could "drop in" for lunch.    Wednesday was the day and he thoroughly enjoyed himself.   My lunch was yummy too but did not illicit the same level of happy sounds I heard from across the table.    Again, no pictures, gone too fast.

Friends Allison and Jim (http://retiredbicycle.blogspot.com/) invited us to their sweet new Tucson Estates house for dinner on Thursday evening.    We had a lovely time, good food and conversation and.....once again, no pictures.


Today Dave and I drove down to the wine country around Sonoita.   We didn't do any wine tastings, but did take a nice long drive through nearby Las Cienegas National Conservation Area.

this 45,000 acre area consists of 5 of the rarest habitats in Arizona, but my favorite is the beautiful
semidesert grassland.

We were looking for birds, black tailed prairie dogs (they have been reintroduced since being totally eradicated in the 60's - due to over hunting.....) and the resident Pronghorn that populate the beautiful tan grasslands.

beautiful but deadly Shrike, aka the Butcher bird

We saw hawks soaring, hovering and hunting, shrikes and kestrel seemed to pose for us.    We heard birds (Flickers, sparrows, cardinals, etc.,) everywhere but couldn't put our eyes on many of them.

the Creek flows through the Cottonwood/Oak woods behind the Jeep

We walked along the perennially flowing Cienega Creek until the footing got too squishy due to the recent heavy rains.





Once back out in the grasslands we spotted lots of the sweet faced Pronghorn grazing peacefully.




Until I put my window down and began to speak to a few that were close to the road.....they were very curious.



Only two more days before we move up to Catalina State Park.   See you then!

field of California poppies near Allison and Jim's house












7 comments:

  1. Sure doesn't look like Tucson from previous years. Too many jeans/jacket photos. I guess if we want to replenish the water, we need the cooler winter. It isn't fun though! Good you are enjoying some social activities. My boy needs to grow back his manly legs:)

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  2. That's a awesome crested beauty. Guess it was moved to an ADA accessible location for more to enjoy. Nice picture of the pronghorn, doesn't seem shy at all, must a bit curious.

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  3. That's an amazing crested cactus. I have not seen one that massive before. I'm kind of surprised it could be moved without the crest falling off. Lewis is such a good boy sitting quietly while he's mowed.
    It was great seeing you two!

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  4. Love the pronghorn photos. They are really beautiful, unique animals! As for the weather, we are on our way to Sedona... where they are expecting upwards of 8 inches of snow while we're there! In the meantime, I am busy planning our Florida travels for next winter because I am not dealing with this craziness again! Nope, nope, nope!

    Lewis looks marvelous!

    Stay warm!

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  5. I wonder if there's a market for poodle hair? Blankets, perhaps? We saw a blanket woven of dog hair on the Makah reservation in Neah Bay. :-)
    Vivace, yum!! Looks like you guys are having a good time, despite the chilly and rainy weather. It does make for pretty poppies, but enough is enough, right?

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  6. It really has been a cold winter in this corner of the country! That crested is truly incredible. Doesn't seem like that location gives it the protection it needs though :-( I recognize that cool mirrored building from all my commutes to the medical center! I love seeing all the beauty of the grasslands near Sonoita as we're going to look at some land in the area next month! The flowers are already prolific and should be incredible this Spring!!

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  7. You certainly had been doing the best of what weather you've got! But its lovely there and you have visited Sonoita again and brought back memories of our drive there. At that time the Pronghorns ran away from us, this time it got closer to you :)
    And it looks like you did not proceed to where the hummingbirds are.

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