So excited

I'm so excited I found three more tiny leaves on my ocotillo It is alive!  Also got the new plants planted and the dead ones taken out and replaced.  The gentleman we hired to do the planting and cleaning will become our permanent gardener, taking care of all the plants when we are traveling. Three bougainvilleas planted in the actual front of our house that is on the side.

The new house which is right next door across from these plants just sold last week. So we will be getting really close neighbors.
I also planted my geraniums and herbs in the planters. So they are all filled except for the two I'm going to put artificial plants in.
Also got the new TV installed just in time to watch a Barcelona soccer game. So Friday was a busy morning. 
After that we had to pick up the car and go to the market and pharmacy to get out final prescription. Phew all that is done. Oh, yes the contractor came to give an estimate on extending the patio roof. 
I made paella for dinner for company. Also baked some delicious herb bread.  
This morning we went out to breakfast and to WalMart to get a few more things. Mainly on my list were flowers for the last two planters. So now the back patio and yard are done. 

Bill bought a buffer so he can wax and buff my car. He started on it this afternoon. It really could use a new paint job...

Tried taking a picture of the full moon last night but there was a little too much mist or dust in the air. But it was a pretty sight over the desert.

Today was pretty much a do nothing day after we got home. We've been home one week and one day so I think we deserve to take it easy for the weekend. 
The RV doc is giving us grief about the nav/camera system. Of course, it started working while we were driving it over there. They are trying to say nothing is wrong with it. So if it stops again it will be out of warranty. Going to talk to Jayco and owner of RV place on Monday.

Where's the hen?

Up in time to see the sunrise this morning. Not spectacular but pretty. 

And I actually managed to get out and take a short walk this morning. Figured I'd better start small and work up to long walks. 
Some of the backyard plants that managed to make it through the winter. 

Oh Oh where's the hen? Oops she is right next to the rooster. Something going on there? Bill put us some shelving to put the planters we bought in Mexico on. These two and one under the kitchen window. Later I got some red geraniums for the pot on the table.

Think I'll be putting plastic flowers in these, cause if we go away they won't get any water. 

I'll have to keep my eye on them. 

The planter under the kitchen window, plan on putting herbs in it. Looks funny because of the reflection from outside. You can also see the Easter stained glass sun catchers and the pink flower stained glass clear across the house in the little room.

My piece of glass to finish the window. The window is under the quilt. 

This is the window as of today. Need to put the border with the new glass all around the edges where the white pattern is.

I did go out and clean up my work area so now I'm ready to get started. 

All the way home through Arizona I was admiring the ocotillos blooming. Couldn't wait to see mine. Very disappointed to see it. At first I though it was dead. The flower looking things are twinkle lights. 

But on closer inspection I found two tiny leaves. So maybe it will be okay. 

We picked my car up from the mechanic earlier and left the Jeep again. Needs new ball joints in front. After picking up the convertible we went to the nursery and got some plants to replace the few we lost and Bill got his bougainvilleas. Tomorrow they will get planted. Also got the herbs for the kitchen planter. Convertible comes in handy to bring tall plants home.

Tomorrow the man will come to plant the plants. A contractor is coming to give us an estimate to extend the patio cover and Best Buy will be coming to bring our new TV. The old big one in the living room needs to be replaced. And we are having company for dinner. So another busy day. 
Hopefully over the weekend we do something interesting.

Errands and more errands.

A day spent running a bunch of errands. First we had to drop the Jeep off at the mechanics. We noticed in Arizona that it had a vibration. Thought at first a wheel weight had been lost. Nope. It was WAY out of alignment, thanks to the many topes we encountered on the drive home. The mechanic stressed WAY OUT. I guess being dragged across the topes upsets it.
From the mechanics to clear across town to pick up our forwarded mail from the mail box place. Again they mentioned that we exceeded their limit of 40 pieces of mail in our box. And throughout the winter I'd had them scan a few pieces and throw out things that weren't important. Oh well. But they did tell us that they can now send us our mail over the winter through DHL. I know DHL delivers to Mexico so we'll see.
From there to Friendly Hobbies - the hobby shop where Bill gets his drones. OMG there is a new drone! While he was there I went to the wonderful yardage shop next door. Got out of there without buying any thing. And he got out of the hobby shop without any purchases either. Both of us were being good. HOWEVER - they have opened a new shop NEAR us. In fact in the same shopping center as the WalMart we always go to
Then to our son's office but neither he nor his wife were there.
Then to the stained glass shop where I picked up the piece of glass I need to finish my window. So far we've just brought it home and set it in the garage on the table where I work on the window. I haven't even uncovered the window yet.
Then we stopped to pick up the Jeep. Have to drive it for a couple of days then take it back in to make sure the alignment solved the vibration problem. And we left off my car, the Mustang, it has been giving us a problem when starting. Got the call a while ago, needs new fuel pump. It's 20 years old so guess I shouldn't complain.
Came home for a bit then off again to get some stuff for the backyard and the new planters. Fertilizer, planter mix, clippers etc.
Finally got home a little after three.
Been going through the mail and warming up corned beef for dinner.
Tomorrow morning bright and early we take the RV in to get the warranty issues taken care of.
After writing the above I was too tired to finish this. So will do it now. Another day of errands.
Went to drop off the RV, then to breakfast. Came home and took care of some things that had come in the mail while we were gone. Mainly health insurance things. One I had to call on and was very pleasantly surprised how nice the conversations went and how quickly and easily my concerns were taken care of.
Then off to Home Depot to get some shelving for the new planters. Then to get gas. While sitting in the gas station I got a call from our son that his girls, cleaning ladies, were sitting out in front of our house. Luckily we were only a couple of blocks from home. Usually I'd know because I'd have to let them in the gate, but the gate code box wasn't working and they had to call the office to get in.
So Now - it is late afternoon, the mail has all been taken care of, our prescriptions will be ready to be picked up tomorrow, doctor's appointments have been made and the house is sparkling clean. Thank You Mayberry's Maids of Las Vegas!
And as soon as Bill gives me a hair cut I am going to get out my new Nook and just veg out. Phew!
And we already have another shopping list going.
By the way - the weather is perfect to be running around. The wind has finally let up.

More little things.

Spent the morning and part of the afternoon watching NASCAR races. First the truck race and then the Cup race. They were snowed out yesterday. #18 came in 2nd again. In the last four races he has been 3rd once and 2nd three times. No races next week.
One thing about watching them during the commercials I get a lot done.
Pretty much caught up on everything but the mail. Tomorrow we'll pick it up and also pick up my glass for my stained glass window.
Right now the corned beef is cooking waiting for the cabbage to be added. The cabbage it took three times to the grocery store to get.
Just remembered something we bought for someone else in Mazatlan. Did not bring it in the house, it must still be well hidden in the motorhome. Can't imagine where though. Will have to try to find it tomorrow when we take the RV to the RV Doc.
By the end of the week Vegas is supposed to be up into the low 80's guess summer is coming, hopefully not too soon.
Bill's jasmine plant is really growing well. It doesn't seem to have been bothered by the cold winter here.

Some of the lantana plants are full of flowers and some are really scraggly and one or two died over the winter. So need to do some work outside.
I framed and hung the picture I bought right after we got to Mazatlan. It is a companion to one I bought last year. Bill made the frames years ago, they are Maple Burl. The pictures are much prettier than they look, had to get a decent picture of them. Tango dancers with the backdrop of one of the restaurants in the Plazuela Machado.

Also got all my Christmas yardage I bought put away. Forgot I got so much. Need to start thinking on what to use it in. [After I finish my window and make quilt for soon to be born great granddaughter.]
Grrrr my Nook just died, right in the middle of a good book. So ran up to Barnes and Noble and bought a new one. It has to charge for four hours before setting it up. So I brought the book up on my laptop to continue reading it. All was fine for a bit - THEN I reached a point where the pages refuse to turn. I just finished Chapter 29 - it will not go to Chapter 30. Turned it off, turned it back on. Now it won't go past Chapter 2.  I'm going to get out my ice cream and a spoon and sulk until the new Nook is charged. 

Its the little things

Oh my, the first Sunday we are home able to watch a NASCAR race and it is rained out. Won't be until tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. our time! 
So first off - the Rooster made it home in one piece. He is proudly sitting on the stoop of our back patio. He might get moved later. Though Bill says, Where he is he stays. He is heavy!" The plant on the floor next to him will eventually go into the pot next to it. Forgot to get planting soil yesterday. 

And he has a friend. Think we'll get chickies? But they look like they are ignoring each other. hum...

Coming home from the RV to our house takes some getting used to. I almost burned my hands this morning when I went to wash them. My bathroom is right next to the water heater so I get hot water immediately. In the RV with the tankless water it takes forever to get hot water. Usually done using it before it gets hot. 
The start and stop buttons on  the microwave are in the opposite place of the RV. So every time I go to heat my coffee I hit the stop button instead. 
But making the bed here is much easier.
Who ever gets up last has to make the bed, since we've we been home it is me.
So much easier than making the bed which is in a slide out in the RV. Have to crawl all over it to make it. 
It is nice here to have a number of TVs so we can both watch something different. And they are far enough away the sound doesn't bother the other person. Like today, The races were supposed to be on the same time as an International Argentina soccer game. Kind of a moot point today with the cancellation of the race, and he is taking a nap.
Getting used to my PC is taking some thinking before acting too. My laptop has windows 8.1 the PC Windows 7. Lot of difference in the two programs. Also the keyboards have some of the keys in different places. Took me a bit to find "delete" on my PC. Won't take long to adjust though. Also the monitor is much much larger on the PC. Almost too big, Bill gave me his old one when he got a BIGGER one. 
Our refrigerator looked so empty before we went to the grocery store and the one in the RV was full. I think I bought groceries we didn't need just to fill it up! Speaking of buying groceries - corned beef was on sale so I bought one along with potatoes, carrots and onions. I FORGOT the cabbage. And not only that - today we made another WalMart run and I forgot it again. So had to stop at Albertson's to buy cabbage. Then decided not to cook it today - will fix it tomorrow.
It is so strange riding in my car - it is a 1998 Mustang Convertible and it sits really low to the ground. Like you look out the window at hubcaps! As opposed to the Jeep where you look over the tops of most cars. Hard to get used to. 
Enough for now tomorrow is another busy day. 

To pooped to pop

Woke up to a kind of nice sunrise over the desert behind our backyard. 

The temperatures were in the low 70's today which made it nice for all the work we had to get done. We only can keep the RV in front of the house for 24 hours, then we have to put it in the storage lot. Heaven forbid we keep it there 20 hours, someone will complain. At least the storage lot is only two blocks away here in the community. 
Any way we got it emptied but not cleaned. We'll do that when we bring it back from the RV doctor. We have an appointment on Wed. the 28th to drop it off. Needs a few things under warranty fixed and one recall that I know of. 
It looks like we lost about three of our plants in the back. And my ocotillo - that one I'm upset about. But we can take it back and get a new one if/when I find the receipt. Same with the other dead ones.
Guess it got too cold here for a couple of them. 
Today was like I said in the 70's but we had heavy winds all day. I couldn't hang on to the car door when I opened it. The wind just took it. 
Almost everything we brought back into the house from the RV is put away. Where it belongs? Maybe/maybe not. Also have only one load of laundry to finish. I thought I'd sit down and watch the truck race and it got rained out so I had to continue working!
At least I don't have to clean in here, our loving son will send a couple of the ladies from his maid service over next week. Amazing how much dust/dirt can get into a closed up house.
We did go out for dinner then to WalMart for groceries and odds and ends we remembered we needed.  I had to get a 126GB thumb drive so I can get all the drone pictures and videos off of my laptop - they really eat up storage. 
And that's about it for today. Tomorrow I'm going to cook corned beef and cabbage and watch two races. Maybe I'll hang up a few of the blouses I got in Mazatlan as I bought hangers today.
Can't wait to go over and get the glass to finish my window.

Las Vegas

We are home, all is good. Lost a couple of plants. Almost unloaded, will finish unloading tomorrow.
Plan on taking it easy over weekend.

More from Pima Air Museum

Hopefully my next post will be from home. We have been trailing the bad weather. Vegas had lots of rain today, but should be sunny the rest of the week. 
Back to the air museum. As always I took a lot more pictures than I could ever post. Had to make choices. This was a WWII hanger. 

 The pilot of the above plane. 

 They all looked so young and sure of themselves. 

 Over 80 acres outside full of planes. Just a few pictures as we walked around looking at them. 

 General Eisenhower's plane. 

 The super or "pregnant" guppy. We saw a lot of them flying out of Van Nuys airport in California when we lived there.

 One hanger for one airplane. Very interesting. 

 A painting on the wall of a cut away of the plane. Nose gunner doesn't look very comfortable. 

 Full of bombs

 Guns - front, back and sides. 

The tail gunner. 

 I had to buy this in the museum store. So cute. 

 So today we got a little closer to home. A long driving day. So much truck traffic. Got settled in then went to grab a burger and then a nap. I heard people outside talking so went out to look. A huge rainbow.

 And a pretty sunset. 

Pima Air Museum Tucson

Funny how plans change. We were going to be heading north today but watching the weather we decided to stay here in Amado until tomorrow. That storm from California will be traveling through northern Arizona and Las Vegas on Thursday, so we don't want to be in that mess.
Hard to believe there will be rain in the desert. I am suffering from the dryness here in AZ. My nose won''t quit running and I have a doozy of a sinus headache. I want to stuff wet sponge bits in my nose to breathe. I know TMI.
So today to keep busy we headed to the Best Buy on the south western edge of Tucson to check out getting a new GPS. I wanted a Garmin as I liked our old one. We wanted to be sure to get North America maps - they include Canada, US AND Mexico. We also found one with a almost 7" screen. Only problem was that store didn't have one in stock. So the clerk called another store in the kind of north east corner of Tucson. They had one, so we paid for it and had to drive there to pick it up. But how to get there without a GPS. Surprisingly enough I managed to get the directions up on my phone. First time I've ever managed to do that. The store was 18 miles away and a convoluted path to get there. But hey, we made it. Believe it or not this was the easiest way to get there. Not as much traffic and lights. 

We had  planned on going to the Saguaro National Park West because we were kind of in the area. But because we ended up clear on the other side of town we went to the Pima Air Museum instead. Every time we'd stayed here we talked about going there. So finally made it. So glad we did. Lots and lots of planes parked out in the desert. 

 One area most of the planes were wrecks. 

 Entrance to the museum

 Going inside. There is a discount for Seniors. We didn't take any of the tours, but plan to next time we are here. 

No commentary necessary. 

And this is my most favorite airplane. The first time I ever got up close to one was years ago when our oldest son was working at Edwards Air Force Base in California. We were visiting him there and a Blackbird was sitting outside one of the hangers. WOW It is so big and so impressive.

 The next time I saw one it was flying over the San Fernando Valley - Its last flight from Lockheed's Burbank air field. 

 Then Bill and I saw one in Hutchinson Kansas at the air museum. You can just feel its power and might. 

A water landing plane.

The next few pictures have a personal meaning to me. These were some of the first pressure suits worn by jet pilots. Notice the tubes running down the sides of the arms and legs. Air was pumped into the tubes which compressed the arms and legs to keep the bodies blood from pooling in the lower extremities. 

 A better look at the tubes on the legs. My father was a WWII veteran. In the early 1960's he developed a nerve disease - when he stood up all the blood would drop and he would pass out. The VA hospital worked with the air force to modify one of these suits so my father could wear it. He only had the bottom half, the tubes were connected at the waist. He had a hand pump that he would use to pump up the tubes on the legs before he stood up. That kept his blood pressure up so he could function. Worked pretty good, looked pretty strange. 

 Mean looking.

We were only 1/4 of the way through the museum at this point. 

But I'm going to stop here for now. 
Tomorrow I'll try to add more pictures. But we will be at a new closer to home stop.