Walls down and gates going up

 It has been a little more than a year since we had the flood here where we live. And the block wall surrounding the community is finally getting replaced. Part of it came down when the flood channel behind the back of the community over flowed. That why we got flooded. So a couple of days ago I heard some machinery and looked out back. The wall was being demolished. It sure came down easy.

Working on it bite by bite. 

Looking at the Wetland from our side yard. Seems strange to see everyone walking and riding  their bikes.

Just a quick picture of the blooms on this bush, they are so pretty. 

On Wednesday we were getting a lot of smoke from Southern California fires. Barely see the sun. That is a water truck, trying to keep the dust down. Looking towards the front of the area. 

Looking towards the back of our community. We live pretty close to the front.

He was moving the blocks away from the edge. That is the small drainage ditch that flooded and sent the water roaring under our house. 

Pushing the blocks away from the ditch. 

A different water truck, glad they are spraying or we would have a real mess and the wind is blowing today.

It is so weird to look out and be able to see the wetlands.

So that is the wall going down. Now to the gates going up. About a month ago there was a big power outage around our area. During the outage the front entrance gates did not work. And the back up power for them did not work either. Unfortunately during that time there was a medical emergency at on of the homes here. Not being able to come in through the front gate the ambulance and fire truckw ent to the big double gates leading into the Wetlands. They were locked with a paddle lock which the firemen cut. Much to their surprise when they opened the gates one side of the gate just fell off. So now they - don't know if the county or the community,  is finally getting ready to fix it. I imagine it is the county as that is who is rebuilding the wall. Doesn't seem to be progressing too quickly. 

And miracle of  miracles - they, the community we live in, is FINALLY putting up gates at the RV parking lots.  Several RVs have been either stolen from the lots or broken into. Including our RV that was stolen several years ago. Luckily we got it back within a few hours. The gate won't stop the break ins, but should stop the stealing. Will keep you posted on the progress. 

And that is it for today. 

Yippie! It has finally cooled down.

Finally! It is going to cool down. We had 100 days over 100 so far this summer. September and October have had over 100 degree days in the past so we aren't out of the woods for sure yet. But it looks like we might have some nice walking mornings coming. 

Have had a lot of things going on the past week or so, some good, some bad some just Oh My! First good is I haven't seen any sign of the little mouse in a couple of weeks. No little poops any where. But all my traps are still empty. Did he eat the bait and die? Or did he move out? Or is he just hiding somewhere waiting for me to relax then he'll show up again. Wait and see I guess. 

Had an exciting afternoon last week. Not the kind of excitement I want but...I picked up my phone from the counter ( it wasn't on and it wasn't charging) and it was so HOT I almost dropped it. Not good! So ended up making a quick trip to the phone store and getting a new phone. Wish they could just change the batteries like they used to be able to do. Got the same kind so it wasn't too hard to get it set up again. I've seen things on the news were they have started fire and or blown up. No thanks.

I finished another Halloween pillow. Not sure if I'm going to make a third - depends on if I can come up with an idea to use up more material. 

We had our 4-sided house/yard inspection a week or two ago. Turns out some of our bushes are too high.  They cannot be "Higher than the lowest part of the roof line" Okay! So will have them cut back this week as they will re-inspect on the 19th.  Notice how dark it is, we are getting all kinds of smoke from California. 

That is the sun trying to shine through the smoke. 

More going-ons here to write about but will stop for today. 

So much for cooling down

Well here we go again with the super hot weather. Only good thing to say about it is it isn't going over 110! Seems like the summer that will never end. Since the last week of May we've had over 90 days over 100, about half of them over 110. Four record making says, two at 118, one at 119 and one 120. Enough already!

We did have three days of below 100 a week or so ago. Silly us we thought it was turning to fall. Those three days it also cooled down into the 70s at night so my friend and I did manage two walks in the Wetlands. Our second walk I took these pictures. And boy did we over estimate our endurance. Walked almost three miles. Way to much. Need to remember that we have to ease up to the mileage. We're not spring chickens any more!

We saw lots of bunnies, glad to see them repopulating since the flooding a year ago. 

Also saw some water fowl; the water in the pond was up pretty high. 

Another bunny, he was so busy eating he didn't move as we went by him. 

And lots of flowers blooming.

He just strolled across the walk in front of us. No coyote chasing him I guess. 

Haven't seen him since spring. 

Ducks I guess.

Not sure what he is, hard to get a good picture with all the foliage around him. Sure has a long beak. 

Lots of these little daisies/sunflowers growing all over. 

Then it got hot again, so more or less confined to the house. Another of the Christmas diamond paintings. Kind of cute. Always hard to get a good picture of them. It is brighter and sparklier (?) then this picture looks. Amazing how much detail they can get into these. 

Also started sewing again. Decided I needed something for Halloween. So using one of my  table placemats as an idea I made this throw pillow cover. I might make another one if I can figure out a design. Maybe ghosts and bats. 

Can't believe it is September already.  August wasn't a good month for Bill. Seemed like he had more not so good days than good ones. He really wants to get out of here for a short trip some where. So we'll see.