It's been more than six months since I posted any kind of update. Lots has happened and I'm not telling you all of it. But, if you would like to see some good pictures from Christmas 2010, go to Sulwen's Blog and page down until you see it. Along the way you might want to look at some other wonderful pictures of Sulwen and others.
But, more to the point, I'll clue you in on what's been happening since we arrived in Green Valley, AZ. First of all, we have birds and other wildlife. Not all would pose, but I got some, many in our back patio area. These pictures were taken at various times since January to now. One of our favorites is the Northern Cardinal and his mate. One picture of a cardinal isn't enough, so... If this was to representative of the population, there would be many more pictures of Gambel Quail and Mourning Doves. Why he's mourning will become apparent. Also common are House Finches male and female. We've had several visits from a Cooper's Hawk. Another time he didn't pose quite so nicely. Here is part of the remains (dove feathers) of his repast. We have a lot of raucous Cactus Wrens. In the last few days, a Goshawk showed up in a nearby tree, but not our back patio. Oh, here's Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal again. Lots of Lesser Finches. Then there's something we see from time-to-time. Here are four shots of Javelinas on the street in front of the house.
Late January brought us near the new moon. Here's a shot through tree branches.
Late January also brought the annual Santa Cruz Valley Car Nuts car show at Tubac Golf Resort. Big show, around 500 vehicles. I offer a few samples. Here I am, ready to tootle off in my friend Richard's 1980 Toyota Celica. Here's Richard looking at a 1953 Buick Skylark. Here's an unusual car, a 1954 Kaiser Darren. One sees a 1959 Nash Metropolitan from time to time. The paint scheme and colors of this 1955 Chevrolet Belair seems right, but much has been updated. Then here is one you don't see on every street, one of the Green Monster cars created in the 1950s by the Arfons brothers, complete with running (they started it) Allison V-12 aircraft engine (think P-38).
February brought us some cold weather. Our pipes going into the house froze but easily thawed out and nothing broke. We didn't have quite the show that our neighbor's faucet put on. Here's another visitor that February brought and one we enjoyed a lot more. Thanks for coming, Hailey. Another nice interlude occurred when MaryKay and Dick stopped by for a few days on their way to Florida and points between here and there and there and home. We visited the Tumacacari Mission, and I got one of the sun behind the cupola shots I always try for.
On last Thursday we took a little ourting (well, if two hours one way, partially on graveled roads counts for little) to Mule Shoe Ranch. It was a good day to go. Had a nice hike around the nature trail and saw a few birds and lots of butterflies. These are Mourning Cloak, perhaps aptly named? Then I got a shot of this giant fallen cottonwood tree, with Amelia.
Another thing of interest we did was put a tubular skylight toward the back of our living area. Generally kind of dark since there are no nearby windows. This took care of that problem, at least when the sun shines on the dome. Should save enough on electrical bills to pay for it in about 25 years. But it is nice. The other thing I did was install a "rapid hot water" delivery system for the bathroom area. Should save enough water to pay for it in (maybe) 40 years. But, it is nice not to waste water waiting for it to get hot.