Odds and ends

Not much excitement happening on the ranch this weekend. Every day, we harvest a few vegetables and I try to use them in our meals during the week.

For yesterday's breakfast, I cooked bacon chunks, grits and eggs for a "bowl breakfast," one of Sam's favorites. (We also add cheese, of course.)

Mom Vae always offers to help, but she's a little slow and distracts easily, so it's usually easier to do it myself! This morning, Sam made the bowl breakfast again, with the addition of sauteed okra. Yum!

Sam made sure we took a selfie of the three of us with our pill boxes. It's a senior citizen home!

We had another rattlesnake visitor the other day, up by our 5th wheel this time. It certainly got my adrenaline going for the morning. By the time I went looking for Sam's snake stick and returned, the snake had disappeared. I'm hoping he was passing through at a rapid pace.

As a result, my morning project was to start clearing the native growth from under the mesquite trees outside our front door. The brush seems to attract rodents and snakes, and I'm ready for them to be gone!

Later, Sam and I finished cementing the fence posts around the garden. It feels good to get a few things done.

I'll leave you with a photo of the pretty pinkish mesquite pods I've been seeing this year. The subtle color palette in Arizona's natural landscape has taught us to appreciate whatever colors God gives us.

I hope you all have a good week!

Local art

We live several miles from the town of Benson and 40 miles from Tucson, so public art is something we don't see every day. (Benson has beautiful outdoor murals on many buildings; I should show you someday! I'll get permission from the local artist first.)

A few weeks ago, as we were stopped at the railroad crossing, I noticed the artwork on some of the railcars. These people put a lot of work into it.

A few spell out recognizable words.

Some have cute characters.

Others are quite intricate.

This one's from 2016, so evidently they last awhile.

My favorites are the colorful ones, but I  have no idea what they're  trying to say. (Do I want to know?!) It's like these artists have their own language.

I'm sure this is a response they hear a lot.

But much of it is really amazing!

Closer to home, Mom Vae and I enjoy the geraniums she planted in a pot on her porch. They're shaded until late afternoon, which seems to be the right mix in this hot climate.

And Sam had a visit from our neighbor, the roadrunner! He's surveying for lizards and bugs from the hitch on the front of our 5th wheel trailer, and he's much more welcome than the rattlesnake I saw this morning.

I hope your week has been a good one.

Arizona summer returns

Mom Vae and I took a walk yesterday morning. It seems our monsoon rains have gone away for now and so has the humidity.

We found a century plant that we didn't know was growing on the ranch. Their stalks are very different from the yucca.

We never just walk; we also stop and take in the views and the quiet. And Mom talks. About everything.

Speaking of yucca, these looked nice against a blue sky.

But on a sunny day, the temperatures climb pretty quickly. It's always nice to get outdoors, but we don't tarry long.

On our way back from Tucson the other day, we were stopped at the train tracks behind a school bus. The "Driver in Training" notation told me it was probably our friend J.J., who was Sam's trainer six months ago. Sure enough, I was able to say hello when we all pulled over at the mailboxes (which is also the bus stop) a short distance away.

Speaking of Sam, on his way to work this week, he took this photo of a hawk surveying the land before sunrise. Don't you love all the colors in God's creation?!

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Results

We've been harvesting enough from our garden to add fresh veggies to many of our meals. Fun!

Cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, collards and okra.

Sam and I share the duties. Mom Vae says she likes to see things grow.

Here's another day's haul. It adds up.

Look at the size of the okra leaves. That's Sam's big paw!

One of Sam's coworkers suggested eating raw okra, so he tried it with seasoning. We both like it. Nice and crunchy and less slime.

Sam has been working on the garden fence again.

The corner post supports need to be cemented in.

My job is to tap the support posts into place and jiggle and smooth the top surface of the concrete.

Meanwhile indoors, Dingus and Frankie sleep, eat and entertain themselves. Frankie's not always the most graceful. Dingus maintains as "top dog."

Mom had a small surgery to remove skin cancer on her cheek. They told her not to talk too much (among other things).

She's finding it hard to comply! But she's doing fine.

Have a good one, everyone.

Storms and sunsets

The other day, Sam was leaving work and stopped to watch a thunderstorm lighting up the sky. With patience and a lot of photos, he captured the lightning in the clouds.

He said the clouds really were purple like this! He got some amazing shots.

Monsoon storms bring out the critters, especially tarantulas. Sam's commute takes longer these days, as he stops to look at every creature he sees.

Yes, this is a rattlesnake. All critter photos are courtesy of Sam, too.

This toad was right outside our trailer and was as big as my hand. I like amphibians and reptiles, but this one was too big to even pick up.

This moth was on Sam's school bus and he said it was 2 inches across. I've never seen one like this.

And the cattle have been out in force, all colors and sizes. Sam recently met the foreman of the Double X Ranch and dubbed him Cowboy Wayne.

I did say sunsets, didn't I? They've been many and varied, due to all the clouds.

But I'll leave you with a sunrise I caught just after Sam left for work one morning. What a great start to the day.

I hope your weekend is a good one!