Monday, November 12, 2012

YAHOUIE LOUIE…OUR FENCE IS UNDERWAY:))

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SPENT A FEW HOURS THIS MORNING BURNING UP SOME BRUSH

We both had ourselves a good first night in our new to us beds.  My bed is Queen size so there is lots of room for Pheebs. She slept the entire night on one side while I slept on the other.  And Wowie Kazowie, for the first time in 68 years I have my very own bathroom complete with a walk in shower.  How lucky can a feller get eh.

DSC_0011<<< KELLY FOUND THESE 2 LITTLE RASCALS IN ONE OF THE SMALL CABINETS SHE BOUGHT AT A GARAGE SALE SATURDAY

We decided to have ourselves a relaxing day &  by noon I was able to walk without the cane.  We put up some curtain rods & I managed to get a few piles of brush burnt up in the back yard.  As the day wore on, my leg was feeling better than the day before.  I am so very much like my Aunt Jean in Florida.  Hard to sit around when there is work to be done.  Physical difficulties or no physical difficulties.  It is that physical energy that keeps the mental side of idle depression in line.

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KELLY PICKED UP THESE 2 ROY ROGERS COFFEE MUGS AT THE NORTH RANCH GARAGE SALE…THEY ARE NOW OUR OFFICIAL MUGS    

After being away for a couple hours Saturday we were surprised to find Pheebe sitting in front of the house when we returned.  A heavy wind gust had blown open our back door & she had got out. (we now have a big heavy rock in front of the door)  But, being the great little girl she is, she knew enough to stay close to the house & Motorhome & wait for us to return.

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SEEMS LIKE PHEEBS IS ALWAYS GETTING STICKERS BUT ACTUALLY SHE IS DOING VERY WELL DESPITE ME TAKING A PHOTO EVERY TIME SHE GETS ONE

The loose fitting rear door was one of the things we were hoping to have fixed by now, including a couple leaking taps.  But, our handy man didn’t show up last Thursday as promised.  That meant our new back screen door didn’t get installed either.  Disappointing.

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A white pick-up truck rolled in this morning & I somehow knew this might be the fencing guy so many area folks had recommended.  It was.  Walked around the property lines with Martin Rivera  (everyone pronounces his name, Marteen) & discussed the fencing plans. As hoped, he will move the existing ‘inner’ fence around the house to across the back & part way up one side of the property.  A new chain link top rail fence will go across the front of our property & part way up one side.  We will have a lockable gate in that section with a small walk though man gate in the big gate.  Also a small gate at the rear of the property leading out onto a neighbor’s long laneway.  Within hours of talking to Marteen, he was back & dug all the holes for the corner posts, mixed up a wheelbarrow load of concrete & set the posts.  This fellow doesn’t waste any time & I like that.  The adobe wall idea was just waaaay to expensive for us.  Eating breakfast this morning we watched a large Coyote saunter through our front yard about 40 feet away.  We’ll be so glad to get ourselves & the Pheebs fenced in & secure.

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‘MARTEEN’ OUR FENCE BUILDER   

Kelly picked up some more furniture deals at a Saturday morning garage sale so we are now almost ready to hold our own garage sale already.  But, for the most part, we have pretty well everything we need now to complete our little south-west travel base here in central Arizona.  Hope we can get out & do a little back road Jeeping soon.  My camera’s are needing some new inspiration.

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OUR FIRST DINING ROOM TABLE AT LEFT IS NOW A SIDE TABLE & TABLE AT RIGHT IS OUR SLIGHTLY BIGGER & CURRENT DINING ROOM TABLE

Elfrida friends John & Jackie bought a house in Congress this past summer.   One day while catching up on my blog, John came to the realization that the Bayfield Bunch had already bought a place in the same town.  They are in the process of moving things up from Elfrida to Congress but will not relocate to their house full time until John officially retires in another year.  John is a military fellow & works on the base at Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista.  They brought us some things from Elfrida including a wash machine.  Saturday they invited us over to have a look at their digs.

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Wow, talk about a beautiful southwestern house with a million dollar view.  This house, sitting on 3 acres of land could easily make the cover of ‘Better Homes & Gardens’.  Gorgeous house, granny suite, beautiful landscaping, etc.  By the time we got home & walked into our dusty little abode with it’s leaking taps & loose fitting doors we were both feeling a little more than discouraged.  Fortunately, by the time we got up this morning, we were happily back on track with our own realities:))

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YES IT’S TRUE, THAT’S AL WITH A LAMP SHADE ON HIS HEAD THIS MORNING

I’m not one used to having people help me with things.  I’m just one of those people who prefers doing things myself except mechanical or technical things of course.  Had it not been for John & Jackie this past week-end we would have really been beat.  John, with limited help from me & my sore hip, & with the aid of a utility cart, loaded the wash machine into the back of his pick up truck, brought it over to our house, moved it in & set it up.  Normally I could or would have done the bulk of that work myself but there I stood feeling useless & looking on for the most part. 

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John & Jackie took us out to the ARROWHEAD BAR & GRILL for lunch which is just a couple miles from both our places.  It’s not a fancy pants restaurant so I was comfortable there.  I don’t eat a lot of burgs & fries anymore but figured I would make an exception because the burgs looked great.  Bacon, cheese, & onion rings built right into the burg.  Wow, tasted great & it came complete with home cut fries.  It was so big it was all I could do to eat it.  Looks like they have a good breakfast menu as well so I’m sure we will be back.

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JACKIE, JOHN, & KELLY…LUNCH AT THE ARROWHEAD

Had a couple beds to pick up & had it not been for John & Jackie I have no idea how we could have picked them up.  Again, John did the bulk of the work while all I could do was kind of hobble along at one end of each mattress.  Jackie & Kelly loaded up up the rails etc.  We had the back of John’s pick-up truck piled high with 2 box springs & 2 mattress’s.  Fortunately it is only about 3 miles between their house & our house.  Beds were laboriously unloaded into our house & I said to John, ‘don’t worry about setting them up’ because he had already done so much for us.  Kelly & I did, with a little swearing, get them set up later.  Um no, Kelly was not the one doing the swearing.

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As long time readers know, Kelly & I are basically loners & we don’t socialize much or hang out with a lot of folks.  Aside from my Blabberfingers blog we keep a low profile & live a very quiet life.  We try to do as much as we can by ourselves & seldom ask anyone for help with anything.  But, had it not been for John & Jackie stepping into the breech & helping us Saturday & Sunday we would definitely have been in a pickle.  Thanks for all your help guys:))

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Knowing we had a washing machine coming we held off from running to the Laundromat.  After John & Jackie had left Saturday I happily loaded the machine with dirty clothes & fired up the washer.  All went well until it came to the part of emptying the water in the first spin cycle.  Unknown to us the drain pipe was plugged so the water quickly backed up, & under pressure, blew out the top of the drain pipe all over our laundry/kitchen area.  Fortunately I was in the living room when that happened & was able to quickly get the machine shut off.  What a mess of water to clean up.  Happy to say, after pouring copious amounts of Drano down the pipe & letting it sit for the night, the pipe unplugged itself & I was able to get my laundry all caught up Sunday morning:))  We always do our own laundry.  Laundry was something I learned to do back in boot camp in 65 & have always done my own laundry ever since.  Just an old habit I guess.

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YEP, THAT THERE’S OUR OFFICIAL CLOTHESLINE ALRIGHT

Interesting comments about a possible connection between Crestor & my hip pain.  I did stop taking my Crestor pills 3 days ago & we’ll see what happens.  This pain began not long after I started on the Crestor pills last summer so who knows.  I have my fingers crossed this could be it, but know enough not to count on it.  If this pain stops, I am going to run  around the block 3 times & climb right up to the top of a large rocky ridge behind our house & take some photos……….10-4 for sure:))

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Okay, to answer a few questions if I can remember back a couple days.  Yes, that is a ‘disco ball’ in one of the photos.  I like how the little reflected light spots dance about on the side our house.  We have one on our Bayfield front porch as well.  No, we didn’t name our front yard Saguaro’s yet.  Any ideas?  No idea about the waiting list in Canada for something like a hip replacement & no, despite the pain I do not want to go to a Doctor if it can be avoided.  With another claim, the insurance company would for sure write me off & I might not be able to get insurance again for next year.   And this informative comment from ED FREY in response to Renee’s comment……Renee said:  Here I have been using blue agave as a sweetener in my tea for years and you have the beautiful blue agave plants right in your front yard!"
Ed said:  You could get a sweetener from the Agave Americana, also known as Century Plants, in Al's front yard but they are not Blue Agave. Your better sweetener comes from Agave Tequilana, also known as Blue Agave, as does tequilla.

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YOU CAN SEE THE LITTLE POINTS OF LIGHT DANCING ON THE WALL

And, a very, very, strange thing just happened here tonight.  I had taken our IPod/Bose out to the front porch this morning & plugged it in with the intention of listening to some music later.  Got busy with things & never did turn it on.  Late this afternoon I brought the IPod/Bose back in & set it on the fireplace mantle.  Left the A/C cord outside.  Tonight about 6 p.m. Kelly was in her recliner with her laptop watching the news & I had just walked out to the kitchen to get my Cranberry juice.  I suddenly heard music & at first thought she had changed the channel.  Recognized the tune as ‘Sunflowers’ by Kevin Kendle.  Also realized the sound quality was much better than our TV.  For absolutely no logical reason, our IPod/Bose was playing.  Nobody near it, nobody turned it on.  Wasn’t plugged in & the remote was laying beside it.  But, there it sat playing……. ‘Sunflowers’.  Very, very, strange.

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ALL’S QUIET AT OUR HOUSE AT THE END OF ANOTHER DAY  

GROANER’S CORNER:((   A friend was in front of me while coming out of church one day. The preacher was standing at the door as usual, to shake hands. He grabbed my friend by the hand and pulled him aside.
The Pastor said to him, You need to join the Army of the Lord! My friend replied, I’m already in the Army of the Lord, Pastor.  Pastor questioned, How come I don’t see you except at Christmas and Easter?  He whispered back, I’m in the secret service.

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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.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.
- OUR PHOTO ALBUMS - .
https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295/
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

22 comments:

  1. Well, you could name the saguaros Roy and Dale to go with the mugs. :)

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  2. Doc took me off Crestor when I complained of hip pain; and within a short time (mind doesn't remember how long now), the pain was gone. Am on a statin now.

    I like Spotted Dog Ranch's suggestion.

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  3. Meant to include the word "different" statin. It is a generic one and no problem.

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  4. For loners and people who like to be self-sufficient, asking for help and accepting it can be so difficult. I came to the realization this weekend that if I hadn't let my daughter help me - my natural instinct was to say "No thanks, I can do it myself" - I would be dead by now. I am going to try to never let my ego get in the way again, and I realize it's part of aging.

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  5. Coyotes can jump fences rather handily... So you will still need to watch your dog....

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3at0R8QZWE

    This was in Scottsdale...

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  6. Kelly has a good eye. I love those Roy Rogers mugs. He was my childhood hero. The place looks like home now.

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  7. How about Sunflower for the name of the cactus ~ it seems like the phantom song gave you the answer :)

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  8. I had a similar problem but it was my back when I started taking Lipitor. I suffered for months until I read the info sheet that came with the pills and saw that could be a side effect. The pain in my back was so back I couldn't even bend over to pick something up. Stopped taking them and after about a month the pain went away. Doc switched me to Zocor.

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  9. Just wanted to say hi...I have been reading for awhile but when you mentioned John's house I had to say something...I think we are the builders of that house you are talking about and I appreciate the nice comments about it...it is a wonderful home. We are now building two miles down the road..

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  10. Looks like its all coming together, just need to get that hip better and do some more moving around a bit.

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  11. Love, love, love how you and Kelly are making a "house", your "home". Admire your persistence and hard work to create your own little piece of paradise. Good luck as you continue and hope the pain eases up soon. Thanks for sharing and being blabberfingers, look forward to your blog each evening!

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  12. You surre are getting that place fixed up and lookin good....
    Music coming on,,,Humm, remember your on ghost town road....:-)

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  13. Love the way the house is coming together. Sounds like you have a ghost in the house that likes music!

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  14. you new home is coming together, Kelly has done a fine job gathering some nice looking pieces of furniture!..love the cabinet in the first photo!!

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  15. LOVE your home!! I sure hope your hip continues to improve...As for the coyotes..yes, they are quite the fence jumpers..Believe it or not, we have lots of them here in Northern Illinois..The new subdivisions have taken up their places to roam...

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  16. I can truly empathize with your mobility problems. It's been a real experience having to live the life of a handicapped person.

    I hope you have an easier cure for the pain than what I have to have done.

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  17. Your place is looking mighty fancy. I used to dog sit for my wife's friend ( giant fancy home of 2 star Gen ) and when I came home I felt like I lived under a bridge in a cardboard box. I would get over it in a few days and I think this is a normal reaction. Hang in there and go easy on the yard work.

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  18. First comment on your blog, however have been a long time follower and a great admirer of your pics! Learned about about you thru rvsue. The cups you found at a garage sale hit a nerve. We found a cup at a sale for a buck.. it had the original price on the bottom of 19$. I still have my RR metal lunch box dating back to 1958, complete with thermos. Pick a smaller catus to name Trigger! they grow up! bill

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  19. Long time follower, never commented but your new cups hit a nerve! We found one at a garage sale for a buck...the bottom had a tag of 19$. I still have my RR metal lunch box (1959)! Son's of the Pioneers...it's all great stuff! Cheers Bill, NM

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  20. I'm loving your little house on your street! It looks all cozy and gives a feeling of content.

    Have you tried and glucosomine/condrotine supplements? If you get some try to get one with hyaluronic acid in it also. They are good for joints. Same story here for me with the blood meds issues that others have mentioned. I'm taking any of them now.

    Also, I may not have spelled some of those supplement thingies correctly, but I gave them a close try! I did go to the city spelling bee when I was in the 7th grade and was so nervous I missed the first word!

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  21. Those mugs are real treasures as far as I am concerned. Great find.

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  22. I am trying to catch up with all my unread blogs as I have been way too busy at work and spend my time trying to catch up with sleep, laundry, cooking, etc.

    I have an Altec Lansing Ipod radio and have noticed that sometimes when I change channels using my remote for my television that it will turn on the radio. How weird!

    Hope your hip is feeling better.

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