Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
June 14th, 2018 | 
Author: So after 9 years, my life in the middle of a cornfield is coming to an end…
DH got a new job that allows him to work remotely. So our dream of getting back to the Arizona desert is coming true. We had friends who retired a few years ago and let us know that they had a hard time getting a new home loan because even though they weren’t a financial risk, they had no current earnings to report. Their advice to us was to get whatever retirement plan we had in order sooner rather than later. We definitely aren’t ready for retirement, but we knew that a decade flies by quickly, and so we talked about what we wanted to do. We knew the locale we wanted to return to. So, we just needed to find the perfect spot for us. I studied Zillow every day looking for the perfect place. I talked DH into the idea that it would be great to build, and we contacted a local realtor. For over 18 months, whenever we came to town, she took us around to different properties that we might like. Some of them we LOVED. But, we would quickly find out something discouraging. Some were in a “no – internet” zone – that’s a total deal breaker for us. Some were on bedrock, which might sound like a great idea, but building a septic on bedrock isn’t possible. So, you have to pay $40,000 + to put in a chemical septic. Also a deal breaker. We finally found a perfect place.
We finally found a perfect place – in the middle of the desert.
So from now on, you’ll be hearing about this adventure – our move, living in a 682 square foot house while we get settled, and I’ll blog about designing and building a bigger house, while we take the non-existent landscape up a notch or two, and how we, our dogs, and our life adapts to this completely different world.
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Well, quite has been developing during these past 5 weeks. I have been in and out of town, but things keep growing and the flock keeps laying so here’s an update!
First, the garden. It has been growing like crazy!
There have been cucumbers, jalapenos, and the tomatoes are just starting to come along.
The first box shows the replant – peas out beans in! The second photo is my zucchini. It is finally producing some nice squash.
This is the first tomato of the season. It is a red zebra. I love them! There will be another tomorrow.
In the coop we the chick sisters have started laying. Those are the sisters of the duck posse. Madge and Gertrude are laying lovely little eggs. One is very dark and the other is light – almost white.
I was making zucchini bread yesterday, (that will be a future post) and when I cracked my third egg, I discovered this!
Although the egg was bigger than the others, the yolk was small – because there were two! A double yolker is always a wonderful surprise. So, although there are fewer eggs this time of year, because of the heat, we are still getting quality even if not the quantity.
You’d think that in summer I would have more free time but so far that has not been the case. I have been incredibly busy but here are a few updates…
First – my garden… It is growing really well. I am out of town currently and certainly hope it is getting watered sufficiently but I will find out on Wednesday. Before I left the peas were starting to bloom and the tomatoes had unopened blossoms so it’s getting exciting on the deck!
Isn’t this door pretty? I saw it in a Mexican restaurant in LA, and I liked it so much that I took a photo. Maybe someday I can have some arched doorways….
As always, if I’m in LA I try to get to the beach. I love the beach – it washes away my cares. This is the protected beach in Ventura and the kids loved seeing the boats go in and out while we were there.
Finally….
What is a trip without food? This photo is from an easy dinner I cooked at my daughter’s house. It was pretty and delicious, but so quick and easy. Sometimes it is hard to remember that quick and easy can be just fine.
Well, that’s it for now. When I return home I hope to have a chicken and garden update.
When I got home from my trip, it was clear that bubbles had outgrown her latest tub. Did I mention that it’s 54 gallons? Anyway, I realized a change needed to be made so off we went to the barn. I put up the circle fencing, put in a big bucket of water and food, etc… and popped her in. Won’t she be happy?
Nope… no sisters. I thought she’d get used to it, but 36 hours later she was still crying and running into the wire trying to escape. I put her back in with her sisters and I’ll make a different plan this weekend.
We spent a few days of our spring break in beautiful Tucson. The weather is warm but spectacular!
Sunset…
The beautiful desert… We hiked today and it was wonderful.
When we come into the room to clean the box (3 times a day) or just say,”hi!” or try to get cute pics with bubbles in cute poses, bubbles generally gives us the cold shoulder. As a matter of fact, she tries to hide…behind her sisters. The problem is, bubbles is three times larger than the chicks now. So it’s rather humorous.
Yep, that’s her, peeking out but trying to hide. It’s so cute. She’s completely unaware of her size. Her sisters play along. “Sure, we’ll hide you. Just act cool,” they seem to say.
I keep trying to get bubbles to swim because, she is after all, a duck. But, no such luck…
She found the place where she could stand and turned her back to me.
Being wrapped in a towel is much more her style.
We are amazed at how quickly bubbles is growing. She arrived 6 days ago just a tad larger than her chick sisters. Now she is almost 2x their size.
I have taken to putting her into odd spots and taking pictures. She is sweet, cute and willing to pose.
She actually loved being in this spot for this pic and I realized that she was having a nibble of the leaves!
My Cutie Pies
I was out of commission in the fall due to these guys… Well, one girl, one guy. My daughter had twins and I couldn’t miss out!
When I got back, I went back to work teaching school – Language Arts this time and so I have been keeping busy. But, now that it’s Spring, I will try to get back to sharing!