Come on a tour

Welcome to the Pumpkin Patch Ranch!

We'll start our tour at the beginning of the driveway. The road is a little lower, so you can't see the buildings yet.

The first part of the driveway is an old ranch road that's been here for who-knows how long. It's wonderful and winds through the yucca plants, which are still blooming.

At the end is Mom Vae's little house that my Dad bought and set up here the year before he died.

To the right of the driveway is our parking area. I occasionally work on expanding it and am in the process of removing a tree root.

Around the right side of Ma's house, you can see our bucket garden and a few small mesquite trees that just this week have come out with their spring foliage.

To the left past the house is our shed. It holds Sam's tools, an extra refrigerator (so handy), extra household goods like paper towels and cleaners, my filing cabinet, and . . . let's just say stuff. Lots of stuff. We're not real tidy in our storage areas!

Attached to the right side of the shed is a small greenhouse that my Dad made for my Mom when they lived here. She never used it, but it has been so helpful with our garden this year.

Turn to the left and you see our yard and patio table under the trees. It's a peaceful oasis that provides shade or sun at different times of the year. We love to sit out here and listen to the birds and the breeze. Although, full disclosure, it's usually a strong wind!

Hi, Mom! This time of year we'll need more shade, so we'll be using the deck my Dad helped build on the front of the house. It's a wonderful addition to the small living space inside.

Around behind the house is our 5th wheel trailer, where Sam and I live. It's nice to have a few mesquite trees between, for privacy and nice views.

It's Sam! He's fixing his lunch in the 5th wheel, an omelet made from a goose egg!

A co-worker who raises both geese and chickens brought goose eggs the other day. They're huge! That's a regular egg on the right.

I will continue this tour in my next post. Have a great week, everyone!

Relaxing visit

On Good Friday, after the exciting snake incident, we took Mom to Becky's for a couple nights and drove down to our friends' place in Arivaca. Don and Linda live in a 5th wheel like we do, and have created an exceptional outdoor living and entertaining space.

Danny and his daughter Melody took over our old 5th wheel and live there, too.

They have several other accommodations, including my Dad and Mom's tiny camper, Tortuga, but Sam and I brought our tent. This was our early morning view.

This was also our early morning view! Don built this really nice outhouse, with a shower at the other end. Linda did the decorating.

On our way back to Tucson, we can never resist admiring the Longhorn Grill & Saloon in Amado. And Sam can never resist telling the story of watching a photo shoot there years ago. Evidently the model wasn't wearing a whole lot! Fortunately for Sam, she was female!

It was a wonderful getaway, but we were glad to get back to our kitties on Saturday. Frankie loves to play.

Who, me?!

And Dingus gets into it sometimes, too.

Easter Sunday was great, but I didn't take any photos! Have a wonderful rest of your week!

Snakes alive!

We had a little excitement on the ranch yesterday! It wasn't Mom Vae going through her cards, letters and notes, although that's a favorite activity at least once a week.

Along with a few related stories.

Our excitement began with me spotting a rattlesnake less than a foot away. And I was wearing flip flops! I quickly backed off and yelled for Sam.

My hero! He grabbed a flat shovel and with several chops on the writhing body, off came the head.

I'm so thankful he was home for Good Friday!

It's so weird how they keep moving after they're dead. This is a Western Diamondback. We measured him at 38 inches long, and his middle section was pretty thick, like he had eaten a mouse or two recently. We thank the Lord that no one got hurt. Although Mom now wants to move back into town!

("Snakes Alive" title courtesy of Sam. He has a way with words!)

Mornings

Mom's been getting outdoors to work on the yard occasionally. This driveway is her main view from her little house and it bugs her that the weeds are growing up between the tracks. It doesn't bother me! I think they'll die off soon, but it's good exercise for her.

We had a nice visit with our old neighbors, Amber and Kevin, and 3 of their 10 kids (!). They used to send over fresh eggs for my Mom and Dad, so they were glad to see Ma again. They moved to Show Low a few months ago and we've been storing their cool old Bronco on the ranch. We're sure sorry to lose them as neighbors, but they love their new "hood."

This is the view from our bedroom window and the first thing I see in the early morning.

This is Dingus's favorite morning spot, in the sun and in front of the heater. Double bonus!

And this is my next view, as Mom and I eat breakfast. Usually she's looking out the window to her right, but this morning she was more contemplative.

On the other hand, Sam's view every weekday morning, afternoon and evening is out the front window of this yellow behemoth. He has his own bus and route now and is starting to get to know the kids who ride. Especially the ones whose parents he contacted about their behavior! I'm seeing already that Sam's going to have a positive influence on a number of young lives. He's fair and firm and uses humor. I'm very proud of him.

I'll close with an update on our native spring blooms. The purple bush is on the PPR and the orange daisies are down the road.

These goats in a field of poppies are off the main road a few miles away. We need to harvest those seeds in a few weeks and spread them around the ranch. So pretty!

Variety

Dingus and Frankie are always a bright spot in my day. Sam recently put in a cat door leading to a storage compartment where we keep the litter box. I clean it through an outside door. So much better than having it in our small living space.

Dingus found his way into the laundry bag last week. He loves clean laundry.

Frankie loves high shelves. I heard a noise and looked up to see he had made a mighty leap from the TV cabinet to the top of the TV!

Yesterday Sam and I moved about half of the bucket garden to our new spot behind the house. The trenches for the water pipe have to be leveled first, so the buckets all have equal access to water.

Then Sam drilled holes in the second pipe, with help from Mom.

When we ran out of energy on the garden, I spent a little time in Mom's front yard. I loosened the soil, worked in some mulch and transplanted the marigold seedlings. The jury is still out on whether they will survive.

Then we all rested a bit at the patio table. It was a beautiful day, not too hot, with only a slight breeze.

Spring continues to evolve on the ranch. Sam and I took a walk the other day and saw two different kinds of yucca blossoms we've never noticed before.

A few days later, the dark red one burst out with these creamy blooms.

Our adventures culminated last night when our friend Ray brought his band to our local Mescal Bar and Grill. Ray and Sam have been friends almost 20 years and worked together twice. Ray is a great musician and his band, Chip Tortilla and the Nacho Problem, did an awesome job.

I hope you all had a great weekend! Blessings on you and yours this week.