Day Trip to Bisbee, AZ

Load the dogs in the car and Gary, Shirley and I head out for a drive. We stop in Sierra Vista to do some puppy accessory shopping and decide to head to Bisbee for lunch.
The Bar at the Copper Queen Hotel has a patio so we opt to eat there since we have Tucson and Beethoven.
A beautiful day and the food was very good.
Bisbee was founded in 1880 and named after Judge DeWitt Bisbee a financial backer of the Copper Queen Mine. It proved to be one of the Richest Mineral sites in the world. Bisbee thrived until the mid 1970's when large scale mining was no longer profitable. Today it is making a comeback as an artist and retirement community.

Till Later!
Meanwhile, we keep on Trek' n
Melissa Gary & Tucson

Snake doctors

Dragonflies are tough. I can't make this one exactly fit any of the pictures on BugGuide or Giff Beaton's site. I think it's one of the Libellula species but I'm not even sure of that.
Possibly a Slaty Skimmer (Libellula incesta). (!)
Or Bar-winged Skimmer (Libellula axilena).
Or Great Blue Skimmer (Libellula vibrans).
Or I'm just fixated on Skimmers and it's not actually one of those. None of them look quite right.

I think this one is a female Common Whitetail (Plathemis lydia).
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WikiThings I learned while trying to ID these dragonflies (sometimes called Snake Doctors here in the south):
The fossil record shows a Permian-period dragonfly with a whopping wingspan of almost 30 inches (76 cm).
The largest modern-day dragonfly has a wingspan of 7.5 inches (19 cm), and the smallest reaches only .75 inch (20 mm).
They are the world's fastest insects.
They have nearly a 360° range of vision.
Libellula was also the name of some prototype aircraft with odd wing designs.
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If anyone knows what the first one is, please leave a comment or email me.
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Update:
Nuthatch has given me a positive ID: female Slaty Skimmer. And a new word: pruinose! (Having a whitish, waxy, powdery covering or bloom on the surface.) Thanks Nuthatch.

Wisteria Gone Wild

Philo and I were on an errand yesterday and passed this amazing sight near the freeway. We were not far from the house so we went back for the camera, and I jumped out to take a couple of shots from the sidewalk.

Susan South of the River recently posted her Wisteria; and last night I saw that Gotta Garden found a huge plant, too. I’ve often wished that I had this vine, but after seeing how far it’s traveled down the creek, maybe it’s better to visit Wisteria than to own it!

Back on the Bike

Tuesday, I was back on the road bike. It was time to check out trail conditions.
The river level continues to drop. Still lots of water flowing down the Missouri. Parts of the trails at Lake Manawa remain under water. The photo here shows how much of the trail is underwater.
Checked status of re-paving along 92 and S. 24th St to Trails Center. Nothing changed since stripping the asphalt.

Happy Anniversary!

Twenty years ago today we moved into our little blue cottage. It was, and still is, my dream house. There's very little I would change if given the chance.
When we first moved to Georgia thirty years ago, we found a typically southern two-story with white columns out front and two wings on either side. It really wasn't ME, but I wasn't sure at the time what ME was. The colors inside were all wrong. The woman who built the house was a redhead, so she chose earth tones in brown, orange, and gold. I changed the wallpaper in a few rooms but didn't want to rip out the tile floor in the kitchen and dining room. Too expensive.
So I lived with it and started looking for an old house with some acreage. I was homeschooling four children at the time. Actually three; Dylan was two but definitely a force to be reckoned with. He's the reason I gave up homeschooling for a time, but that's another story for another day!
So after we finished schooling, I would pile all my little children into my Ford F-150 pickup and drive through the country looking for abandoned houses. We were able to go into quite a few where I would take pictures of ceilings, mouldings, staircases, etc. I was collecting ideas.
There were plenty of old, abandoned houses around. Some were for sale, but they didn't come with any land. Most would have to be moved. My husband wasn't on board with that. We didn't have any land to put one on anyway.
In fact, my husband didn't want to live in an old house. He had grown up in one and knew the kind of upkeep required and didn't want to fool with it. Sigh...
I eventually found a piece of land that had a mature pecan grove on it, some woods, and an open field. Only thing lacking was a pond. I figured three out of four wasn't bad. Husband was brought out to look at it and actually liked it! We bought the forty acres, but it didn't come with a mule. It did come with an outhouse, pig sty, and barn. Unfortunately we had to tear down all three due to termite damage. I really wanted to keep that outhouse!
I started looking at house plans. Since I couldn't have a REAL old house, I wanted my new house to look old. I also started collecting antique bathroom and light fixtures. A man who tore down old houses gave me some beadboard for the walls. I paid $200 for the upstairs flooring being torn out of an old house in the middle of town. It was heart pine and enough to do most of the upstairs.
There are dozens of stories that could be told, but you'll have to wait for the book. This is getting too long, but a few more things need to be told.
I couldn't find exactly the house plan I wanted and was getting frantic when the strangest thing happened. I had been to Tennessee to visit my parents and had stopped in Macon to see a friend. We had a good visit and before leaving I made a trip to the powder room. There in a basket on the floor was a Country Living magazine with the perfect house on the front. I yelled, "That's it!" It was their House of the Year for 198? I can't remember the exact year. I asked if I could have the magazine, she said yes, and as soon as I got home I ordered the house plans.
I spent many nights sitting up into the wee hours of the morning drawing out the rooms on graph paper and changing the plans until they were perfect for our family. We started building in January of 1990 and moved in on July 9.
Happy 20th anniverary little blue cottage! I love you!

Tahoe Lupine

A lupine growing next to Ward Creek.

Surprise Encounter during Practice!

Note from Mama: These past couple of weeks seem to have been closing in and time has taken me away from poor Sam's blog. My apologies for not having visited more often - will try to get to Sam's great pals this weekend.
With that said, it's my turn to tell you that mom made a big boo-boo when she said that I had a real obedience trial next month. Actually, (thanks Ma) it's TOMORROW awwkkkkkwoof! So my friends and I have spent lots of time this week getting ready for this. I got up early yesterday morning and practiced exercises with my Corgi pal, Moritz, and goldie buddy, Shanti. We went through the open (for them) and novice routines for me. Later in the day, I met up with Sierra Rose as I was practicing once again. Here is a picture of our morning long "sits." I have to stay here without moving for one minute.

Here we are practicing our long "downs." I have to stay put without moving for 3 whole minutes.

Later in the day, I went to McInnis to work some more, where I ran into Sierra! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4p_TqwGmzs Here's a little movie of my walk with Sierra that her mom took! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPcWHPYKZwo Later in the day, after that great walk with my girlfriend, I found Ozzie outside. Sheesh! After all this time, she still won't play with me...
...but I've come to like her lots more...

Welcome to San Francisco, Max!

Max. You are the the Creme de la Creme Tour Operator when it comes to hosting foreigners to your country. With fanfare and flourishes, you guide wayward tourists through parks with truly wild aminals, present interesting foodables to your followers, and point out extraordinary scenery, such as Table Mountain with that special "layer of tablecloth." I would love to show you San Francisco from a unique vantage point! But first...
... you'll need to don some flowers in your hair! There ya go! Let's trip on up to the Marin Headlands where we can get the perfect view of everything "San Francisco"! (There's some gentle doggies there hehee!)
You can lay down here on this log, and I'll do some woofing about those "little cable cars that climb halfway to the stars"... well, according to somebody called Tony Bennett! Tony also says that "the morning fog may chill the air - but he doesn't care!" I'm pretty sure you don't mind a bit of fog, Max. I think I'll just lie down there with ya too and warm up a bit as we check out the view!
Look at that city beyond the Golden Gate Bridge! I can't tell you how incredibly grateful we are that you've woofed so much about South Africa to us all - thank you, thank you bigtime, our 'round the world friend. We know you have so many more pups to visit on your world tour, but we really appreciate your stopping by here on your global trip.
While you hang here in San FranciscoAbove the blue and windy seaI woof to you while we watch over San FranciscoYour golden sun shines out to me!
You will always shine for us, Max! Happy Valentine's Day, dear pup and thanks a billion for stopping by.

Thrifting

I love a bargain as much as anyone else and recently I found these in the charity shops in Louth. The metal bowl with lid is just so gloriously OTT that I can imagine it filled with beautiful things at Christmas time.

I really like quite plain things, but this was too tempting to leave behind at just £2.50.

Perhaps I'll fill it up with small Easter eggs and see how long it takes young Harry to find them! Toby would probably show him the way.

The yellow is not where base metal is showing through, it is down to my poor attempt at lighting.

This piece of fabric is beautifully heavy Sanderson fabric, 2 metres, £4.00.

This is a pair of heavy cotton curtains, £2.00. Faded and gorgeous.

This heavy fabric is just an offcut, perhaps 16" wide by 4' long.

Then this piece of embroidery - it's not in fabulous condition and it certainly isn't fine work - it's pretty and I think I'll make a cushion cover out of it, which is probably what it was in an earlier life. It cost 50p.





My fingers are itching to get stitching, but the garden is the priority at the moment.

I'd better get back to work!