Tag: nature

Day 2353

Wednesday March 13th 2024

Dear Journal:

Well 6:46 has now become what I classify as sleeping in, at least for me, I was rousted out of bed by Mister Sam this morning, he wanted the bedroom window shade up so he could watch the birds, bunnies, and chipmunks. He had already had his morning treats thanks to Miss Laurie who was up and had the coffee perking when I was awoken from my sleep. Oh well it is light out and the sun will peak over the mountain any moment, so I guess it is time that I was up. The smell of the perking coffee almost makes it seem like a good time to be up and a few moments latter after that first sip of coffee, my whole world seems to make much more sense.

A little television this morning as we enjoy our coffee and see that the folks up in Ontario are getting some spring weather this morning, We just hope it is going to be an early spring and that the nice weather is still there when we arrive in a month or so. Miss Laurie prepared an omelet this morning for breakfast, we will try and connect with some friends today, but as of yet have not heard from anyone. I’m going to hike around the Arboretum this morning, it has been a while since my last walk, and it is always a good idea to know where the best spots are for the weekend crowds, and I have not been as mobile as I would like to be this year, but I’m feeling good this morning.

Spring has obviously hit the Arizona desert as well as we have roses budding, cactus and yuccas blooming along with a splattering of spring flowers, the cotton wood trees in the Queen creek canyon are in full leaf and we have had enough rain that even the Ocotillo have leaves. A walk in the Arboretum shows that this warm weather has got everything bursting to life. Ayer lake is almost full, the area looks so much better now as the barriers have been removed and the water foul appear to be making this home. The Arboretum is busy today, not weekend busy but too busy for me to enjoy my walk, there were people in all of my favorite spots, and with spring break there was too much noise to see much wildlife, although there was a vermillion flycatcher enjoying some insects around Ayer lake, too far away for my iPhone to capture but great to observe anyway.

Well after my walk I settled into my recliner and started a new book this morning, I’m still experiencing problems with the Libby App and the Hamilton Library, I have been able to log in again and have got a few books but for some reason the reciprocity with other libraries is no longer in place, making it difficult to get some of the books that I want in the order that I want them. I have been reading a number of different serries and it just is nice to read them in the correct order, but now that I only have the one library to draw from I have a few issues getting the next volumes. I’m not sure what the problem is but I’m assuming it still has something to do with the Hamilton City hall hack last month.

After reading and sneaking a short nap while enjoying some lap time from Mister Sam, I figured it was time to get back to work on todays blog. I did not write one yesterday as I just worked around the coach while Miss Laurie went on a rock hounding adventure, I resealed Thunders windshield in prep for our trek north, and I ordered a number of items off of Amazon so I can finish a number of projects before heading north. The items should all be here next week, giving me a couple of weeks to get things finished off.

Day 2290

Wednesday January 10th 2024

Dear Journal:

This morning we are heading out on another adventure, we are going to meet up with Mary & Julie at the Olive Mill in Queen Creek, it is a forty five minute drive from the Arboretum, it is a spot that we always enjoy visiting a couple of time a year while in this area. It is an actual olive mill with a working olive oil press and they produce a number of flavoured oils that we enjoy many of and they also have numerous balsamic vinegars as well.

As always we will leave the olive mill with some more flavours today, as every month they offer a pairing of an oil and a vinegar that compliment each other nicely, and you save a couple of bucks when you buy the pairing, on this visit it was a Meyer lemon olive oil with a pomegranate balsamic, which we now have in the coach.

Miss Coco was not allowed into the store, so I stayed out on the patio with Miss Coco while Laurie, Mary & Julie went to grab a coffee and explore the store. They offer samples of all the products, which I’m sure drive up their sales numbers each month. It was a sad morning as we said so long to Mary & Julie as they head back to California to their winter rental property. Always great to see friends, and to be able to share the Arboretum with them was wonderful. They have a five hour drive back to California so by noon we had bid them a farewell and the promise to see them soon.

We head back to the Arboretum as the busyness of the first week of the year is now in the rear view mirror, and we need a day to settle back and prepare for a weekend of volunteer work.

I failed to put this in yesterdays blog, for a few reasons, the first is that in true Arboretum style there is an art exhibit that has been added but there is no information to explain it. There is a blurb on the Arboretum website but you really have to hunt for it to get a one line explanation of what it is. Here are a few phots of the art display.

Now I’m not a good person to ask about art, and I also believe that everything has its place, and I’m not sure whether this display add to or takes away from the natural beauty of the Arboretum. But from what we have been told by staff it that the hedgehog cactus statues have been painted by local artists and they will be on display until October when they will be auctioned off at the fall Gala, as a centennial fund raiser. And that is how we try to explain the display to visitors at the admission booth.

Blog 504