Middle of May Activities

Hello Family & Friends,
It has been a while since I have posted, I guess all I can say is that we have been busy getting ready to leave the "excessive" heat of Arizona for Colorado.  We all know that these times they are a changing and we weren't sure if we would be able to even move to Colorado but we are and will depart the first part of June.

Until then, here's a few pics of happenings for the last 2 weeks -- I won't be as wordy and I am scrambling right now to squeeze this in before we go on the last 3 days of crazy packing mode 😀

The desert is a bloomin' with all kinds of cacti blossoms -- driving me nuts with allergies --- even my Zyrtek isn't keeping up with the pollen count of trees, grasses, etc.  It is really funny that they don't list cacti blooms as a culprit!

Shared by Carole A. --- she is great at locating those blossoms and sending my way -- all of the plant pics are provided by our walks and her journey around North Ranch.

This is a century plant that has this type of "bloom" -- after they have this shoot, it usually means they are going to die -- this one isn't very big, so maybe it didn't get the memo???

Saguaro blooms (usually in late May) are everywhere with multiples on the top and barrels (arms)

So many unique ones and they seem to be in full bloom this year!

We had a girl's craft day to decorate our "devil's claw".  Bob found me mine so I wanted to turn it into a sun catcher (kind of like a wind chime idea) -- we were under Susan T's gazebo, painting and beading and turning them into treasures.

Working hard at stringing the beads and creating a hanger for the little sucker!

 

You cannot see it real well again my shirt, better on the right side -- We had a warm day to decorate!

This is Carole's she used all crystal beads to pick up the rainbow affect with the sun shines through.

Skittles is Susan T's dog and she loves Carole's bag -- she decided to check it out during Craft day -- not doggie treats for her!

Memorial Day brought many flags and Red, White and Blue decorations -- Beautiful display!  Hope you all have a safe and celebratory holiday! 

Remember our Owl family?  Well, walking one night around 7:30pm, one of the owls swooped right past me and landed on the flag pole at the end of the block.  Amazing how big these birds are.

It has been a hot May and we are ready to head to cooler temps.  Our last trip to the desert was May 14th for a early 6:30 start and back by 8:30am, it really warms up quickly.

Darrel had his skin cancer surgery the week of May 11th and we had the stitches out this week May 25. - The margins were clear and the doctor was pleased with his healing.  Now we just need to use more sunscreen!

Guess I had better run, we do a lot of work early and after sundown to help with heat overload.  We will keep you posted on our arrival to South Fork.  

Sending blessings from the road,

Susan & Darrel

Painting/Trimming the Shed

Hello Family & Friends,
The past two weeks we have been busy painting the shed (2 coats) and putting up the aluminum trim so that we don't have to paint that again (I'm hoping ever, but you never know).  With the temperatures soaring we have been out painting either at 6AM, following the shade when we can, or painting after sunset until we cannot see anymore!

Here's a few pics of the activity.  I do have to admit that it does look really nice and is much more protected from the sun and monsoons.  I didn't really get before pictures so you have nothing to compare but I do like the white trims as they give it a little more pizazz....

This is the west side and we really had to work quick in the early morning to not get caught by the sun. You can see the trimmed side on the right and the left side is being finished.

Darrel is adding our address numbers, we painted them black so they would stand out.  Previously they had been a "weathered, rusted number" and they bled on the paint when it rained.

You can see them here to the left, now we are trying to install the trim boards over the garage door and it wasn't going well.  But with perseverance and both Darrel's and Susan's muscle, we got them on.

Here's the other side of the door, the white trims really make it have some definition.

Here's a shot of the west side with the entire trims installed.

The white corners add some character to the barnboard.

The plastic storage shed sits at this corner and it was just sitting on the dirt.

Notice the edge of the pavers to keep it out of the dirt we used 15 pavers to cover the space and then added 30 to make a motorcycle parking pad.

We park the motorcycles on the first paver pad but it was too much in the sun during the spring/summer months....

....so we added another paver pad closer to the shed to store them when we occupy the lot.

The first pad also helps with dirt washing from the neighbors lot, too.

We added a different door, (that took about 5 days) with a security screen door we can lock plus the inside door.  We hope it helps with the rain not getting in the shed.

And of course, we are working during the hottest 2 weeks so far this year.  It came on quick and I think it is here to stay.  Let me tell you, a high 80's would be a welcome relief.

So you can see, we are doing home chores while the COVID orders keeps us home -- I guess that has helped us get so much done.

Thanks for reading and keeping in touch, we miss you all and hope you are keeping healthy!

Sending blessings from the road,

Susan & Darrel