St. Patrick’s Day Revisited

 

Miracle of miracles! Norma resurrected the pictures somehow from her camera and sent them today.  So to recap the day: the singles group, just five of us, met at The Beaches, a bar at Coyote Wash just across I-8 from the rv park.

Brock and I were the only ones to eat since we didn’t stop for lunch: elected to start celebrating the day early. Brock has his Irish language school shirt on. Mine is from Alagodones. It just happens to fit for the day.

On the left is my friend June from Minnesota. We did a lot of traveling and shopping in Yuma and Mexico. The big smiley gentleman is Quinten, a Canadian from BC, and currently spending a lot of time with my friend Norma.

Norma is standing between Brock and me. She was really the leader of our singles group and the first to fall into a relationship. Well, I guess that’s what it’s all about.

This guy was so obviously into the festivities, and I was so intrigued by his hat, I asked him to pose with me for a picture. I don’t think he was feeling any pain.

Here’s Quinten giving me a good-bye hug. I left for home the next day. Is he BIG, or am I shrinking? It was probably the best St. Patrick’s Day had in years.

Time for Birding

 

I guess I’m more of a photographer than a birder. I’ve sent these pictures to my friend Brock, because I can’t identify this one bird or the gray baby bird. The books describe birding as relaxing, and it certainly is that. I went for my three mile walk early this morning, but I found my “mystery” bird down by the Rio Grande in one of my favorite weekend camping spots: more walking. That’s good.  As a testimony to the beauty of the spot, there were a lot of campers and fishermen down there. I didn’t take their pictures. This guy is a red house finch. He was eyeing the birdfeeder in my backyard.

I know, three pictures of the same bird is ridiculous, but he wouldn’t quit posing.

This guy is so cool, but it wasn’t easy holding the camera steady for these pictures.

This is clearly a baby bird. He is so sweet. He obviously doesn’t have his markings yet.

Here’s my red bird house which is outside the window to  my office. I haven’t seen a single bird approach it. They absolutely destroyed last year’s feeder. Maybe they don’t like the red.

I’m continuing watering bushes and roses. I guess I’ll get into pruning and fertilizing this coming week. The weather is great except when it gets “breezy”, but I’m a native; I know how to work around that.

Home Again

I was hoping to have one more post of my RV friends, because on St. Patrick's Day we met at the Beaches for Happy Hour. Norma took a lot of pictures of me, June, Brock, and Quinten. We traded off operating the camera, so  Norma got in a few also. The  next day Norma went to a card-making convention in Tucson, and someone took the memory card out of her camera and erased all those pictures. Oh, darn! I hate it when that happens.

I arrived home Saturday around lunch time after spending the previous evening in Lordsburg. I unloaded a lot of stuff, and checked out the house. Everything seems to be in order. Marty and Sue arrived around lunch time on Sunday. We divided our time between unloading, (Marty) checking out the boat, and visiting.

While Sue was changing the music, the boys decided she should play with them. We had dinner at the Inn, and visited with Nancy, the bartender. Everything seems to be the same. Then we went home and got some shots of the full  moon.

On Monday, we thought we'd take a short trip on the lake, but the wind came up sooner than predicted, so we decided to go 4-wheeling on the beach. Oh Lord! We got stuck even in 4 wheel drive. So Cindi sent Tom Stroup to pull us out with his "crawl" jeep. After that I took pictures of the terns (sea gulls) and the shoreline. I didn't get any pix of Marty crawling around the Rave pushing sand away from the wheels; the camera was in the glove box. Rats!

Parker got to play on the beach. We weren't brave (or stupid enough) to bring three dogs. Marty posing Parker.

There was quite a bit of damage to the native bushes during the January freeze. Everyone's oleanders suffered (including mine) along with the grandmother tongue cacti and the century plants. So I've been watering non-stop and plotting my pruning efforts. Needless to say, I've got a ton of yard work to do. On my walk this morning, a beautiful bird stopped right beside me in a mesquite tree and asked to have his picture taken. I looked it up in my bird book, and it's a pyrrhuloxia, a "desert cardinal."

Did I get lucky with that bird, or what? These lake pix are just a very small portion around the corner from Jet Boat Cove which is about two blocks from my house.

I filled my bird feeder and replaced the one the birds destroyed, and found a bunch of yard stuff at Dollar General today, so I guess I'll be entertained for a few days.

Goodbye Party

Last Saturday afternoon, the singles group had a farewell party, because a lot of people are leaving this weekend and the coming week. We had a wonderful menu: bbq'd loin of pork, spinach salad, potato salad, carrots and parsnips, all sorts of crunchy veggies, great garlic bread and probably some stuff that I'm forgetting. Margaritas were on the house. Notice Curtis the two-fisted drinker.

A candid shot of Barb and Dale.

This is Carrie who is relaxing on the recliner trying to overcome an ear infection.

This is my friend June. We did a lot of traveling to Yuma and Mexico together, along with hauling me and Tux to the groomer. One great lady!

From left to right, this is Sid, Bud, Bernie and Marv. All of these guys have been great fun thought out the season. The one person that I didn't get a picture of was Marian. Other people who took pictures have not shared theirs with me, so I'm at a loss.

This is Quinten and Norma. They seem to have become close Canadian friends.

I might add that this shindig was held at Norma's park model, and spent the previous evening cleaning veggies and drinking wine. Norma and I had a wonderful time! Here's pretty pictures of our food.

Last but not least, here are the cooks: Quinten and Dale.

On March 7, I moved over to the site that I thought I wanted for next year, but after being here for a week, I'm having second thoughts. The up-side is that the orange trees are blossoming, and I wish I could share the fragrance; however, here are two pictures of the blooms.

That was the last of pictures. I guess we are having an impromptu St. Patrick's Day celebration at the pub across the highway. If any memorable pictures result from that I will post. Other than that, I expect to be home shortly.

Yuma Wetlands

The next day, going to the Yuma Wetlands was a real treat. Brock and I met Al and Helga, birding friends of his, there at the park. We walked around and saw a lot of birds and have pictures to prove it. The problem is that I can't remember the names like I'm supposed to. The Riverside RV Park is adjacent to this place and I'm sure has lots of birders in residence. This is a picture of my companions for the day: Brock, Helga, and Al.

Al was the leader and other than birds this old car was a pretty interesting sight.

I have two pictures of this yellow bird on these red flowers. I guess I need to get more technical and be able to name the bird and the flowers. Oh well, in the meantime, just enjoy the pretty pictures.

This is a humming bird on her nest.

Again, I don't know what this bird is called, but he was very cooperative.

We see a lot of great blue herons at the lake where I live, but this is a green heron. I think the battery in the Nikon died and I didn't have the extra on  me, so that's why I couldn't get closer.

Egrets love to pose and this guy was no exception.

The ironwood tree reminds me of our mesquite, and they do have mesquite here also. They are blooming right  now, and had to get a picture.

Last Trip to Alagadones

Last Wednesday, my friend June and I went to Mexico to pick up her new glasses. I did some shopping and got some metal art for the patio and some new earrings. We had a great lunch at El Paraiso, and enjoyed the band and atmosphere. I found some more goodies that I thought I might buy, but couldn't afford that day.

After that, it was time to head back to the good old USA, but it takes a looong time for them to let you in: an hour and a half standing in line in the sun. I felt faint and just ran to the head of the  line and asked to be next. I guess my pale face must have scared everyone, so they let me right through. After I walked to the parking lot, I was feeling a little better, but June still brought her car around and picked me up. Wow! I've decided I can get some of the goodies that I was thinking about buying there from my amigo in Hatch. Here's a picture of the rickshaw you can hire for $5. In the heat I think it's worth it.

Continuing Castle Dome

My busy self had to leave to go have burgers and wine at the VFW, so I'm continuing where I left off. The following pictures are of the facilities in the bunk house. Ah, the good old days!

I particularly liked the clothing of that era, and here's a picture of a shoe that was on the bench in a cobbler's shop.

Across the road from the reconstructed site was the actual site. At the very entrance, someone with a great sense of humor constructed these grave sites.

After this, we stopped for a late lunch at Martinez Lake where I neglected to take pictures of the duck and mallards. Great trip!