Fairs and fares

This is the lovely season when southern Arizona presents us with numerous outdoor fairs and community events. November and December usually bring the beautiful sunny weather loved by the crowds.

Weekend before last, we chose to drive 20 miles north of Benson on gravel roads to the remote community of Cascabel. Their community fair is legendary and we had never been.

Live music, homemade soups and burritos for lunch, a tour of the pottery studio, and many interesting booths and displays. It was a beautiful day and we're so glad we went.

On our way through Benson that morning, actually during the monthly breakfast at the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars), we heard about a local event called Christmas on Main Street. We checked it out and I spotted our good friend, Anita, who dances with the Tucson Prunes.
http://www.tucsonprunes.com/

Anita (center, in red) was one of the featured performers, as they saluted our military veterans on Pearl Harbor Day. So good to catch a performance!

The following weekend, we were in Benson again (it's a trend!) when Sam spotted Amtrak pulling into town. The passenger train stops only once a day, and Sam is a fan. 

Sam also realized that Google Maps had no photos of trains at the Benson train stop, and was determined to rectify that oversight. The conductor was friendly and posed for a photo.

Another outdoor activity this time of year are the periodic gatherings of cowboys on neighboring Double X Ranch; they do roundups and branding. (Unlike our Pumpkin Patch Ranch, they actually have cows!) Last weekend they were looking for lost cattle.

Today on the PPR, Sam's outdoor activity involved harvesting a couple dozen jalapenos from his sole pepper plant and roasting them on the rotisserie. Talk about a great smell!

In other food related news, we finally found a good recipe for fried green tomatoes. These were crispy, flavorful . . . and devoured in one evening! Because leftovers just don't taste the same, do they?

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope your holiday is meaningful, restful and fun.

A crazy couple of weeks

It's been a wild ride the last few weeks, starting with Lori's 50th birthday celebration the weekend before Thanksgiving. Deb, standing behind Lori, was the main instigator and planner, and it was a fun evening.

At the ranch, Sam started building a simple greenhouse structure to shelter the tomatoes, peppers and other plants from freezing temperatures. It will be covered by plastic sheeting. If you want to make your own, here's the video:
https://youtu.be/GvfDUaKbej0

As Thanksgiving approached, I was rather frantically packing and organizing, and spotted a Ladder-backed Woodpecker right outside our window! It resembled the more common Gila Woodpecker, but has more black and white markings, and is the first one I've seen in 35 years here.

And then there was California. On Tuesday, I packed up the car, dropped Mom off at Becky's, met Sam at his bus yard as he finished work around 7 p.m., and drove 2 hours to our friend Karen's in Phoenix. From there, Karen and Sam took over and we arrived in Pacific Palisades at 4:30 a.m.

We had 4 days to clean out and pack up Karen's dad's house and get everything back to Phoenix. The views helped to balance things, but we worked nonstop.

Karen's dad passed away in October. He had a successful dance studio in Santa Monica for years and was known as The Dance Doctor.
http://www.dancedoctor.com/
He was also an entertainer, singing and dancing in this beautiful video:
https://youtu.be/-37KwQZmF3M

Sam and I wish we had met him in person; it was fascinating to see the life he had created in Los Angeles, blending Italian heritage with Hollywood glamour.

Karen and Sam met in the Air Force and were both in Honor Guard, so it was natural to recreate the folding of the flag. We also took time on Thursday to enjoy our slightly non-traditional meal of roasted chicken, brussel sprouts and potatoes.

After that, we had help packing from Karen's two cousins, Theresa and Annie (queens of the Goodwill runs), and family friends, Mike and Nas (not pictured). They worked like madmen and we couldn't have done it without them.

Sam and Mike packed the U-Haul truck clear to the roof and right to the back door. It was an amazing accomplishment that they got everything in.

About 10 p.m. Saturday night, we headed back to Phoenix, arriving in the early hours again. We're getting too old for this overnight driving!

After a couple hours' sleep, we dug in and emptied the truck much faster than it had been loaded. Thank goodness!

With the help of Karen's neighbors, Irene and Chase...

And Val and Orion, who helped Sam carry the last speck of furniture out of the empty truck.

Sam and I got back to the ranch late Sunday night. Sam drove his regular bus run early on Monday, and I picked up Mom and brought her home.

Nope, we're not done yet! By mid-morning on Tuesday, we were at the hospital in Tucson for my hernia surgery.

It went well, although it took most of the day. Out-patient, laparoscopic, only 3 small cuts in the tummy, but it was my first experience with general anesthesia. I gladly utilized the electric cart Sam suggested as we picked up prescriptions and frozen food and soups for the next few days.

I'm recovering well and feel better every day. I'll leave you with the beautiful sunrise of a few days ago.

Many of these photos were taken by Sam. He's a talented guy!

A few new developments

We finally have a working refrigerator! This is the old one, original to the 5th wheel. It would have been too expensive to repair because RV refrigerators are complex and run on both electricity and propane.

This plug-in cooler has been our temporary fridge for several months. We also have a full-size fridge in the shed by Mom's house, and use her fridge, of course, since we often cook there for all of us. But sometimes you need stuff right in your own kitchen!

Here's our new one, which Sam found at Lowe's on the recommendation of friends (thanks, Don and Linda!). He installed it one day while I was gone.

We love having more room and it fits perfectly.

We continue to work on Mom's deck. All the walking surfaces, steps and pillars are done, and Sam sanded the railings, so we'll be starting those soon.

We had a surprise visitor last week. An actual, full-size blimp floated directly over the ranch, heading towards Tucson. It was much larger than it appears and was the first one I've seen up close. We were all outdoors and had fun watching it.

But Mom's favorite development was when Sam's coworker sent home 4 little pieces of homemade carrot cake. Sam and Mom each had one for lunch. I was in Benson doing laundry. Sam left for his afternoon shift and by the time I got home, the cake was gone! Oh well, the pieces were small and she won't live forever!

What a difference the sun makes. We're having a few days of rain, and early this morning a ray burst through the clouds, illuminating a narrow line of hills and a rainbow at the end of our drive. A few minutes later, a totally different view.

Then the clouds shifted and we were bathed in light again.

I hope you all have a great week!

Running around

I've been making more 2 hour round trips into Tucson than usual, going to follow-up doctor appointments for my eyes (which are doing very well, thanks). Mom Vae usually comes with me. A couple times, we treated ourselves to lunch; a nice break!

Sam has been working hard on polishing the hummer wheels and finally finished the main set of 4. See how shiny that top one is? Now he can work on the 4 backup wheels at a slower pace.

It's a dirty job, but somebody has to do it.

Fortunately, he cleans up well. What a handsome guy!

As autumn progresses and the sun swings to the south, Rincon Peak (otherwise known as "our mountain") shows off its ridges and shadows. I never get tired of its many faces.

I also love our views in other directions. The Santa Rita Mountains south of Tucson are southwest of us, and the last few days have been cloudy with a bit of rain.

With the cooler weather, our garden has slowed, too. The okra towers over everything, but is dying back.

Tomato plants are going strong, but we haven't had a hard freeze yet. We've been eating a lot of salsa, since I don't have time or knowledge to try canning.

Last weekend, our good friend Karen came down from Phoenix with her 2 boys and her mom visiting from New York (sorry, Linda, I didn't get photos!). We all went to Kartchner Caverns, less than 20 miles from here, then they came by the ranch for their first visit.

I think for the boys, the highlight of the trip was driving Sam's tractor! Big brother was first.

Then he reluctantly gave way to his little brother.

Of course, 3 and 4 year olds have energy to spare, so I challenged them to a race up and down the hill. You can see who's winning.

It was a fun day and we were sorry to see them go.