Thursday, August 02, 2012

RE-THINKING OUR ADOBE WALL IN CONGRESS ARIZONA

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JUST ANOTHER RELAXING AFTERNOON ON THE COUCH

Loaded up the little Wiggly Bum this morning & headed off to Goderich on our weekly errands run. August is always a heavy duty financial month for us with insurance's & license tags all coming due plus a few other annual things. It was straight for the license bureau we headed with papers filled out for our Motorhome, Motorcycle, Santa Fe & Jeep. I've read some horror stories about the long line ups & waiting times some of our RV friends south of the border have to endure each year to get their tags. Guess we are fortunate to live in the area we do because for the second straight year in a row I just walked in right up to the counter. Five minutes later I was back out the door with 4 one year tags & my wallet lighter by $264.00.  But, here’s the good news.  Lady at the counter said it was good I renewed the tags now, because by October it is going to be more expensive with license fees going up.
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FENCE IN FOREGROUND ABOVE WOULD BE MOVED TO REPLACE OLD FENCE AT THE BACKSIDE OF THE PROPERTY BELOW

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Next stop was the Supermarket & I picked up a roast beef sandwich for Pheebs & I. She always makes me take those yukky dill pickle thingys off & I don't blame her. She just likes the beef parts & I get stuck having to choke down most of the bread & lettuce. The things we do to keep our best Pals happy:))
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ADOBE WALL WOULD START HERE AT THE NEIGHBOR’S FENCE LINE & RUN ACROSS THE FRONT OF THE PROPERTY TO THE LEFT…BLUE BOX IS OUR WATER SHUT-OFF AT THE ROAD

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GATE NEEDED HERE IN DRIVEWAY

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5’ HIGH ADOBE WALL WOULD STRETCH ACROSS HERE…(ALL PHOTOS TAKEN BEFORE HOUSE WAS STUCCOED)

GUMO had a question about how did I get the rig so shiny. Well, let's just say when I took the photo it was still wet & hadn't dried. This morning it was back to it's old dull self. I have tried different things over the years including waxes, etc but there doesn't seem to be a wonder cleaner out there that will shine up that faded fibre glass & keep it that way. Not that shiny is a big deal for me anyway. Bought a gallon of 'The Solution' at Quartzsite last winter, but to me it just didn't live up to all it's hype. I use it on the Motorcycle simply because it's easier than dragging out the hose, sponge, chamois, & wax. Kelly used it on her car once & liked it.  If anyone has a sure fire way to keep their rig all sparkly for a long period of time I’m sure there would be a lot of RV’ers interested in knowing what that product is.

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AM HOPING MY TEMPORARY CACTUS GARDEN WILL SURVIVE THE LONG HOT ARIZONA SUMMER

Chinle over at SPOTTED DOG RANCH has been busy writing & wrapping up her third in a series of Bud Shumway mysteries. Chinle's first two books are available in paper back with Kindle editions on line within a few days. Judging from a few excerpts Chinle has included in some of her blog posts I can see she has a laid back relaxing style that easily paints a reader's mind with colorful images & interesting characters.

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BIG BOSS PHEEBS 

We first met Jerry & Suzy from OUR LIFE ON WHEELS about 3 years ago while Ranch sitting near McNeal Arizona. They drove down from Benson to say hello & bring us some yummy cowboy cookies. Jerry isn't blogging as much as he used to & they are not on the road with their Motorhome at the moment. Been a busy summer for them as they have been doing some desert landscaping around their place. Suzy has lost an amazing 103 pounds & is looking good & feeling great. And Jerry has the photos to prove it:))

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PLANTING MORE CACTUS IN OUR BACK YARD MARCH 11TH 2012

MERIKAY wondered if we would be taking tools & stuff to Arizona or buying duplicates when there. Will take my gardening tools & bring them back. Same with power tools like a couple saws, sander, drill, etc. Will definitely have to buy a wheelbarrow down there & am going to need some kind of utility trailer for hooking up to the Jeep & hauling stuff. Plants, furniture, garbage, etc. And, we are re-thinking our straw bale Adobe wall. Just not going to be financially feasible to enclose a whole acre. And, I think most of those walls are now built using concrete blocks with a stucco finish. Will know better once we get there & talk to the fellow who did our house.

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ARE WE ANXIOUS TO GET BACK TO ARIZONA??  DARN RIGHT WE ARE & I HOPE WE FIND THINGS JUST THE WAY WE LEFT THEM

I think what we will end up doing is putting a standard 5 foot high wall right across the entire front of the property. Allowing for a driveway gate of course.  Our north side already has a good coyote proof wire fence put in by our Mexican neighbors. We have a good coyote proof wire fence around the house right now which will be taken out & used as the new fencing across the west or backside of the 1 acre property. Lot of thick Mesquite trees there for privacy. Will probably have to do the east side in new wire fencing or maybe a combination of adobe, wood & wiring. We'll just have to wait & check out the costs of materials & labor when we get there. No way around it, we definitely need a fence to keep the Coyotes & Javelina's out. And if it can be made Rattlesnake proof.......that would be a big bonus too:))

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GHOST TOWN ROAD SUNRISE & A NOT QUITE FULL ARIZONA MOON…TOOK THE MOON PHOTO  FROM OUR BACK YARD LAST MARCH

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GROANER'S CORNER:(( And, speaking of snakes...

-What kind of snake keep its car the cleanest?
A windshield viper!

-What kind of snake can do math in the dark?
A night adder!

-What kind of snakes get to hug the bride at a wedding?
Garter snakes!

-What do snakes do at the end of a date?
They give each other a goodnight hiss!

-How do you measure a snake?
In inches. They don't have any feet!

-What would you get if you crossed a newborn snake with a basketball?
A bouncing baby boa!

-What do you get if you cross a snake with a builder?
A Boa Constructor!

and lastly……………..

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Snakeskin.
Snakeskin who?
Snakeskin bite, but we'd rather slither away.
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- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

- Home is where your pet is:))

- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)

- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward

- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

8 comments:

  1. FYI The 5' high block and stuccoed wall I just had put up was about $35 a lineal foot, plus the cost of the arch. I am jealous of your beautiful Saguaros. If I have any money left after my work I want to get just one large one which is about $3000 for one with two or three arms.
    Terry

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  2. Not much in life comes cheap, one way or the other. :)

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  3. Love the photos of Pheebs. Rusty used to cover his eyes when he slept too. I still miss him.

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  4. You shoud look at RV.net. Look under class A motorhomes. Then do a search on Red Max Pro. You will find lots of people have done it to their older RVs and they still shine. 1st you wash it all with Dawn dishsoap. Then you scrub it with Bar Keepers Friend. Then you get Red Max Pro step 3 floor polish from Lowes or ZEP from Home Depot. Put that on very carefully, not too much because it will run down and dry that way. You will need to do 4 or 5 coats of that. We did it to our Daybreak before we sold it. Some people have done it two years ago and it still is shining. Here is a link if it works.
    http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/search/parms/sw%7BRed%20Max%20Pro%7D%7Ckm%7Bexact%7D%7Ckl%7Bm%7D%7Cfm%7B22%7D%7Cpd%7B365%7D%7Cma%7B%7D/sr/1.cfm

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  5. Pheebs needs one of those mask things they give you on the airplane for sleeping. She sure is cute.

    I fenced my acre in Moab with standard woven wire fence (about 4 feet tall) and then put a pet hotwire around the top. It kept everything out, even kept my cats in. Big coyote problems there, too, but they stayed out. Don't know about javalinas, though. But it was cheap, didn't block the views, and worked great.

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  6. PS Didn't keep snakes out, though, but rattlers weren't a problem.

    And forgot to add thanks for the mention. Chinle

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  7. Al, thanks for the link and the nice words! Since we'll be here all fall, winter and spring, we need to set up an opportunity to come see your place. Maybe even bring you a cactus to plant in your yard. And speaking of snakes, we drove up our street last evening about 8:30 and had to stop to avoid running over a two-foot long snake slithering into our front yard. Couldn't be sure, but we believe it was a small rattler. We were very careful moving from car to trailer!

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  8. We have read all of Chinle Miller's(Spotted Dog Ranch)books Bud Shumway's adventures are a fun read! Nothing gory or scary, just good writing that puts smiles on your faces.
    Did you know that a saguaro cactus is 50 years old before it grows it first arm??? The ones in your yard are beautiful!

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