Monday, May 14

What’s goin’ on around the ol’ home place lately?

Gee, it’s hard to know where to begin.

~ ~ ~

I give Reggie and Roger each a rib bone for chewing fun.  

They take their bone to their respective doggie beds and set to work on them.

They gnaw with intense determination.  Reggie tires first and, already conveniently in his bed, he nods off.

Roger sees an opportunity and takes it!

He locks his jaws on that bone and runs down the hall with it to the kitchen.  Reggie wakes up, sees his bone is gone, and takes off after Roger.

Reggie doesn’t attempt to take back the bone.  Physically, that is.  Instead he chooses non-violence:

The Accusatory Stare.  

For a moment Roger is caught.  Oh, the guilt!  He can’t look his best buddy in the eye.

I dispense justice.

“Nice try, Roger.  Drop it.”

~ ~ ~

We have rabbits!

At daybreak I open the back door and Reg and Rog charge out to the yard, ready to tackle any trespassers.  Usually the boys come upon a cottontail rabbit or two and commence chasing.  The rabbits zigzag their way to the gate and squeeze under it to safety.

~ ~ ~

And we have lizards and a horned toad.

The horned toad is actually a spiny lizard. You saw Roger with it in the previous post.

Another lizard (gecko?) suns himself on one of the yuccas where he makes his home.  I was too slow to catch a photo of Yucca Lizard. I’m not giving up on that.

The creature shown in photo lives near one of the water spigots.  Spigot Lizard moves more slowly than Yucca Lizard. He/she is about six inches long and has startled me more than once!

~ ~ ~

That ain’t all!

One late afternoon while strolling around the neighborhood with the crew, we meet a prior acquaintance and his dog.  We walk together and the conversation turns to wildlife.

“I opened my gate one morning (It’s a tall, cedar gate, part of his fencing) and just outside the gate were three beautiful deer.”

He continues, “We get javelina, too.  You’ll see them trotting up the street.”

Thank you, dear God, for chain link.

~ ~ ~

All creatures great and small . . . .

In Arizona, in places where there isn’t wastewater treatment, it is mandatory that any property being sold have a septic inspection and clean out.  This was done at our property and it left a large area in the back yard bare of any grass.  Correction: bare of any weeds.

I think this disturbance of the surface ground alerted Big Brown Ant Nation to move camp into our yard.  I discover the darn things are bivouacked  all over the place!

Fortunately they aren’t fire ants, nor are they those tiny black ants that like to invade kitchens.   They don’t bite and they aren’t interested in coming into the house.

Even so, I want them GONE!   Any suggestions?

~ ~ ~

Not all discoveries are problems.  

Most are delightful!

There’s a raised bed out the back door.  Nancy wants to plant a kitchen garden in it.  You know, all sorts of herbs to pluck for recipes.  Maybe some chili peppers, too, for my tostadas?

Looks like the kitchen garden is already started with a patch of spearmint I found this morning:

A reader asks in comments . . . .

“What are the sunrises and sunsets like at your house?”

Yesterday I could tell from what was visible from our yard that the sunset was a beauty. The view from the house isn’t as spectacular as what I usually photograph while camping.

However, it’s enough to bring forth grand memories.

I’m glad the best sunsets are seen away from our house.  If they were fully visible from this property, it would have carried a price tag far beyond our reach.  In real estate there’s such a thing as being “too good.”

I expect that some early evening I’ll step outside the house and a pink and purple sunset will beckon.   I won’t be able to resist.  The next morning, right after sunrise, I’ll hitch up the Best Little Trailer, grab the crew, and we’ll head out.

Not yet.  

I have a porch railing to paint.

rvsue 

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