I decided this year to get some pictures of our natural mineral springs that we frequent almost daily. It has been upgraded this year by the BLM who actually owns the land. It is nestled in the palm trees right off of Hwy 8 going to Yuma. Many of the truckers stop by and soak for awhile during down time and it is well used by the locals from Holtville.

Natural Mineral Hot Springs

The fence was added this year as were paintings of the tubs. The tub is cleaned every Tuesday am by draining and bleaching so it generally keeps pretty clean. Everyone is advised to rinse off prior to entry to the tubs and being in street clothing is not recommended. There is however no nude bathing.

Rinsing off under the large shower wand

Jerry is rinsing off prior to getting in. The hot water comes from the large wand that can be moved over into the tub in the forground. When we first arrived this year it was very warm-almost too warm for me but since then it has cooled a bit. The big pool is about 5ft deep and has a ladder going in. It makes all those aches & pains go away and many of the “old timers”, those who have come here for years, swear by its healing powers. Many of the folks drink the water but after reading about the amount of arsenic that can be in such water we opted not to do it. It doesn’t have a strong sulfur smell but will cloud up your teapot with minerals!

Jerry

The black hose to the left of Jerry is a on/off spigot that folks can fill their water jugs with. If you want to warm the tub up you can just turn it on and stick it in the tub also. There is a water restrictor on the pipe so the amount of hot water can be limited. I do wish they had not chosen smooth white paint for the tubs. They get slick and one has to be very careful getting in/out without falling. The tubs used to be just concrete but were much more difficult to clean so I guess this is better.

The water wand

This wand can be moved over the tub or up/down so you can shower under it prior to entering the pools. It is very frowned upon to wash your body/hair with soap as the water flows into a neighboring pond that can get very contaminated. Many of the folks who come here are canadians and they do like to swim in that little pond to get their fix of ice cold water.

It is a great little piece of paradise in the desert and we look forward to it daily. It is quite interesting to see the same people here year after year. Several go on down into Mexico after spending the holidays here but many of us go onto the craziness of Quartzsite. If you find yourself down this way just look for Van Der LInden Rd off Hwy 8 outside of Holtville,CA and you will find a piece of eden!

Hey there: we are outside Holtville still enjoying the nice weather-been sunny & quite warm. Warm enough to wear shorts for a couple of days but we are paying our dues today as we sit here rockin & rollin in a very good stiff breeze. The inverter is going crazy; it usually stays around 13.05 in the am but this morning with the wind from the turbin & sun we are at 15.00 sometimes. The bushes are blowing horizontally but so far we don’t have to take down the awning.

When we have our wind turbine up it has 3 guy wires holding it up and they can be invisible at times. I have tried tying bandanas up on them but they end up sliding to the ground. I remembered Prayer flags and thought they would be great markers so one doesn’t get hung or drive under them. Of course if you didn’t care about using a genie you could use lights. We are looking for lights that run on 12v. circuits!

one day a rainbow appeared over head

The RV is kind of dark but this rainbow just appeared over our rig and it was just gorgeous. The desert brings some interesting pictures and stories.

For instance Cleo, our little Dorkie dog, came here with a stuffed bunny and after about a week it went missing. We looked everywhere for it and since she doesn’t take it outside, in fact, she is quite possessive about it, we gave up and felt it would show up eventually. Last night Jerry took the dogs for a walk and lo & behold off in the bushes quite a ways from Gypsy what did they find, but the bunny. Cleo is now in heaven and is guarding it again with her life.

Nightime colors are gorgeous here

We get some beautiful pictures of sunsets here-all the pollution over Mexicali I guess.

Today is a day we get to be inside as it is a very strong wind storm. I have been lucky and gotten to work outside some of the past week. I finally am getting all my puka shells I have collected finally drilled out and the sand removed. I have many more than I thought I did. We are getting ansy to go rockin again so when this storm ends and Christmas is come and gone we will adventure out looking for more pretty rock.

Oh an interesting fact for those of you who use wind turbines with RV’s. Yesterday after all the  strong wind, we were coming back from a walk and I looked up only to see the wind turbine go slowly to the SW. The two guy wires caught it as it just gently touched the top of Gypsy. Come to find out the the turnbuckle had come apart, most likely from the buffeting wind. We were very lucky the other two did their jobs and kept it from falling. We were also lucky we didn’t suffer any damage from it. It still works and is charging away.

Well we left Livermore yesterday and drove all day to get to Barstow,CA so we could get to a new agate bed. We hope to find some good agate but also looked in our Gem Trails of Southern CA and found a couple of other spots that have jasper, petrified palm (that would be a cool find), and onyx. We shall see after leaving our KOA campground for the night. We pulled into Barstow so late we didn’t want to search for our campground in the dark so we decided to do laundry and recharge Gypsy’s batts. so we will have a full charge once we get into boondocking campground.

We are about 15-18 miles outside of Barstow deep in the Mohave Desert looking for agate. We parked right at the site of Paul Bunyan Agate feilds and the trail up to the dig site is about a 45degree slope. Standing at Gypsy and looking up is daunting!

Gypsy at foot of Paul Bunyan Agate site

In the background you can see the trail going up to the dig site. It doesn’t look like much from down here but going up to the site was quite challenging. The quad road quits about half way up and the primitive trail began. It is rocky and soft so sliding is easy. We dug for a day and a half finding some Paul Bunyan agate

A large piece of agate protruding from Rhyolite

Jerry dug for quite awhile on that large piece of agate just sticking out there for someone to get. It is attached to the hardest Ryolite and wouldn’t even budge. We could just admire it and go on hoping to find a piece small enough to take home.

We did manage to collect a rather large amount of agate; some kind of chippy but most of it is solid and can probably be worked; I guess we’ll really find out when we get home.

On the way south we stopped to visit friends outside of Palm Springs and to visit the tamale festival in Indio. What a treat-homemade authentic tamales! You could even get them with fruit inside the lard! Despite being full of lard we all loaded up on frozen ones for our freezers and of course had a tamale feast when we got home!

He was dressed so spiffy & so proud-we asked him to pose for us!

Winter has come to the high desert of Oregon & it is time for us to go where it is warmer so we are off to the south to the land of the 3 P’s as my friend calls CA: pretentous plastic people. We however,are now sitting up in the Diablo Mtns. where we are surrounded by nature instead of silicone enlarged boobs & strange looking golf attire. We are visiting with family and they are not pretentous in the least bit. In fact they are the most earthy and loving people who operate a non profit organization on their property for those to seek solace and practice alternative spiritual pagan beliefs.  For those of you wishing to check out a very interesting and special place go to: thestonecity.org.

Egor & Gypsy in the Diablo Mtns. at Stone City

This is the beginning of our 2009-2010 trip south. Here we are perched high up on a hill at Stone City enjoying the sun. We have had deer and bunnies visiting us, which of course, drive the little doggies absolutely nuts. We are hiding out today though to keep from getting blown over as the wind is very intense.

In the background is the Stonehenge altar;foreground is the labyrinth

The above pictures show some of the work Stone City has done to incorporate Pagan rituals into the land. There is an amazing Stonehenge built with large granite rocks. A beautiful Labyrinth made from stones gathered off the surrounding land highlights the setting sun and is a rather peaceful contemplative area. Stone City has gone to great lengths to recycle used boats, trailers, sheds and out buildings for those who gather here to camp and celebrate their Pagan beliefs. Everything used is recycled and reused and they rely heavily on their community of friends to help with work parties to prepare the site for ritual festivals. Weddings and celebrations of all kinds take place here and the land has a unique special feeling. These are genuine and good people who come here.                                                                                                                   Have you ever wondered what to do with a boat no one wants anymore? Stone City cuts the keels off, buries the boats in the ground and presto they become rather unique and comfy cabins cruising the Mtsn. No longer taking up salvage land these wonderful old gems are now home to those who come to Stone City.

An old boat buried in the land!

After visiting here we are off to Barstow area to search for Paul Bunyon agate. We have been told about some good places to search around Barstow so we hope to get out of this wind and find some good rock before heading further south to ElCentro and the hot tubs.

I feel like bitching. I’ve been doing a lot of physical type stuff lately an its causing me pain. I hate MS for that. My feet and back have been tingling. Its such an irritating symptom of this confusing disease. Nervy irritation makes me bitchy. I have to keep moving to ignore it and I run out of energy-another nice part of this disease. The bed is always calling my name and I almost daily will give into it  I need to renew an OMMC card but it will have to wait till we return.

I hate feeling and being in such a knarly mood. I think being cold does that to me too. I can’t stand it cold. Both Jerry and I love the sun and he is paying for it by having pre-cancerous lesions removed after returning from Kauai. It’s sunscreen time for him. His hands are never as cold as mine but both of us are wearing gloves now.

Bitchin!!!  Bitchi!!!  Bitchin!!!

There I feel better. Only 4 more days in this cold,hostile outside enviornment.  While the snow is pretty and makes everything look like its covered in druzzy, I want some warmth. The dogs won’t even go out in it. They have both been quite lazy. Cleo got a new toy bunny that squeaks and she is quite possessive with it. She won’t let Timmy play with it yet. She leaves it near Jerry so he can guard it while she sleeps on the couch.

Wow what a job it is getting Gypsy ready to roll for another 5 months on the road. She was oh so dusty from our last trip to the Steens. After more than 40 miles of gravel road everything gets covered with a fine layer of dust and must be wiped down. Plus despite all our efforts to keep her mouse free we always get stowaways for the summer. This year I found one under the love-seat  that makes into a bed. What that does to me is BLEACH everything I can! I feel like bleach cleaner oozes out of my pores after 3 days of cleaning.

Traveling with two dogs also means everything they lay on gets cleaned/washed/ and vacuumed. It means being prepared for dog emergencies also so they get a first aid kit much like we prepare a first aid kit for us. For Cleo it means taking her booties so her toes don’t get picked on again; plus a comb, tweezers and hemostats for pulling out thorns and prickly stuff, of which there is a lot in the desert. As cruel as it sounds we get them groomed so we can see between the toes to find those little pricklies. Cleo travels with a cashmere sweater so if she gets cold she can wear that.  Not too spoiled is she? Timmy is so hyper he keeps himself warm just moving around all the time. One of the things we do for Cleo as she is so short, is put her in an elevated dog seat that straps her in, but she can see out the window. We strap both dogs in just in case of an accident. One of the things that drives me crazy around this part of the country is people let their dogs stand on the backs of open pickups and wonder why they go missing. Some do restrain them but a majority don’t and I want to scream at them all the time. I guess they don’t figure on stopping that truck fast or the dog jumping out of the truck, nor do they really care about the welfare of their animal!

After last year I am taking very warm gear to wear. I usually do go very prepared but I am taking a heavier coat and better hat. I am a cold handed  woman and must always take light and heavier gloves. I start using them when most people don’t even think its cold!I I love fingerless ones when you have to help get set up; or the ones with the leather outers and fleecy innerds. My down jacket I ordered just came and I will be WARM-plus I will be plugging the Olympics in Vancouver,BC! It has USA on the back and Olympic logos on the front. I take Ugg boots for being around the campfire at nights. No socks yet your feet are toasty. I am not pushing products here but I have had my Uggs for many years and they are still in great shape. These are the ones with the leather tops and suede up above. Your feet can get wet and you don’t feel it. They don’ stain like the suede ones do either. 

In this technical age we have to remember all our charging cords for phones and IPOD and cameras. I have a huge computer bag that can carry all the paperwork cord and files I need to take. You still have to pay bills while your on the road-unfortunately. Thank gosh for this computer, even though I yell at it a lot. With grandbaby coming its even more important we keep in touch with family. 

I’ve learned a lot about being on the road after 2 years. I still feel like a newbie but I am much more savvy about what I need for cooking,cleaning and just general well being. We take momentoes from home with us, mostly art, rocks and pictures to remind us of home and to make gypsy more homey. 

Our friends from down south called us and are already at the Hot Springs. It’s nice and warm; in the 80’s and I do wish I was there now as it has been cold here and getting colder. We are keeping busy even in the cold though. Today we cleaned out Egor, our truck that pulls Gypsy. Miles of dust came off and he is so much cleaner. 

I spent the rest of the day getting all my jewelry tools, findings, gems and wire together. It is hard to predict what you will work on so I made a list of some of the things I would like to get made. I think that helps me organize my boxes better. I always want to get some work done during the winter. El Centro is a great place to work and play; it’s just balancing both that’s hard! It is a great place to ride bikes and lots of rocking nearby.

The yard is getting winterized; straw got spread today and trees got trimmed. I even transplanted my Lilac tree. I hope it survives because it will be in a better location and we will be able to see it when it blooms! I have lillies to split but don’t know if my bod will co-operate and let me do it. I have been a bit slow and tired from all the cleaning and organizing so I must slow down. Oh well…it gets done when it gets done.

I have managed to keep up with Obama’s health care reform and hope he can be the president to make it happen. I got ticked off the other day after our local representative voted against the reform bill and wrote a letter to the editor of a local paper and got it published. At least my words can now be read by more than just myself and friends. As much as I don’t like the VA health care system, it does work for a large population and yes, it is government sponsored. I know a lot of people say that smacks of socialized medicine but I am afraid that is what we will need to rescue the fiasco of a health care system we have. Please write your reps and let them know to vote for this bill. Doctors will still make lots of money but the system will have better control and more people will benefit.

Its definately ready to go soon, its been snowing all evening. It’s awfully pretty but not if you have to work out in it. The dogs have a bit of fun when its deep enough to cavort in but when it just powders the ground it’s more of a nuisance.

Another Boo Day comes and goes…I always associate my birthday with Halloween since my birthday is the 28th,so Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays. Why? I am not sure-maybe it’s the dressing up and acting totally out of character from my norm or just being silly like when I was a child. I loved making costumes for my son when he was young and I can recall both of us being clowns one year and having the most fun. Sometimes it’s fun to be dark and funny at the same time like the clown from Stephen King’s It. 

Just returned from Portland where I had annual doc exams. My MS is doing pretty good-have to have another MRI this spring to see if there is anything between my ears besides fluff. This past summer’s bouts of intestinal infections; that still continues, has played havoc on my energy level and eyes, so my neuro doc wants to check the old noggin out. I am interested to know if the Copaxone I have been on for 2 yrs now has decreased or prevented more lesions. 

 As for my ongoing saga with C.Diff-I think I am trying to set a record for being on Vancomycin longer than anyone can or should be. I have been on my 5th course, this one lasting 6 weeks, and now I am on a 5 week tapering dose again. Hopefully with all the wonderful probiotics I have been taking, and killing spores in the house, will have worked and it will just be gone…be gone.

 On an interesting note while in Portland we visited the Rice Museum in Hillsboro. Wow what a collection of incredibly rocks, gems, minerals,and fossils. The Rice home, a 50’s style Ranch house was built especially for their collection and it has been turned into a museum after their deaths in 1997. The petrified wood collection alone was worth seeing the exhibit. The Rice’s were voracious collectors who invested not only time but a lot of money into their hobby and they are lucky to have 3 daughters who continue their legacy of allowing the public to view such beauty from the earth. It is a wonderful place to take school age children who have an interest in geology or earth science or just want to see what beauty this planet has to offer hidden away underground.

On a sad note I had to bury a beautiful rather good sized cottontail bunny that the dogs must have chased down and killed. We were unloading Rocky this morning and I saw a large furry lump in the driveway and went to investigate and sure enough it was another bunny caught by our bunny hungry doggies. Cleo knows they hang out in the stable and she was barking like crazy this morning so she probably flushed it out and Timmy, being the faster of the two, probably went for the kill. I felt bad putting it in the garbage since it was such a good sized one, so I took it out away from the dog zone and gave it a proper burial. 

Weather today was marginally warm so we demolished what was left of the garden. Now I can burn the leftovers and fulfill my pyro fix. If it weren’t so windy today I would do it today-so appropriate on Halloween! Hope you all had an appropriately scary and fun All Hallows Eve. 

GO DUCKS GO!

We are home from our 10 days in Kauai and of course we had a marvelous time. We stayed in a small cottage off the beach near Hanalai on the North Shore. near the Na Pali Coast.We liked it there even though it is the wetter side of the island. It isn’t quite so busy and touristy.

Haena Beach & "Bali Hai"

 The above beach was one of the best places to snorkel and swim. One of the few beaches with a lifeguard.

Jerry in the little town of Hanalei

A friendly little Brazilian Cardinal who hung outside Bubba's Burgers in Hanalei

We were also close to the famous Kalalau trail that traverses the eastern part of the Na Pali Coast where high sea cliffs, stream valleys, waterfalls and historic sites exist. The trail is recommended for experienced hikers.We did 4 miles of the trail and  I am so very proud of myself for even attempting that trail as it had rained heavily for 2 days and we knew the conditions were going to be rough. Combine steepness with slick mud and it can spell disaster for someone with MS. However I proved to myself that with determination, carefulness, & prepardness, I could do it. Jerry who has done more recent hiking than I have, even admitted it was a very rugged trail. Here are some photos from that adventure.

1st uphill climb on the Kalalau Trail-that's Ke'e Beach below

Many people only climb up to this point to get a picture of the beautiful beach below. This trail was not made with switchbacks in mind either!

Na Pali Coast from the trail

Hanakapiai Beach-destination pt. for our hike

Hanakapiai Beach is a destination surfer beach on the Na Pali Coast because the waves are absolutely huge during the winter. We watched 3 guys surfing while there and one hiking the trail with his board. Most hikers only go into this point because of the roughness of the trail, the lack of potable water and going any further requires a permit.

Huge waves crashing against the Na Pali coastline

a beautiful orchid on the trail

This sign is near the 2mile marker before you head down to the beach-quite amusing

only way to see Na Pali Coast!

It is hard to see details in the picture to the (L), but there are hash marks for emphasis?? on how many lives have been lost in the big waves on the beach.

Jerry & I after doing the trail-it took days for the shoes to dry and we were a bit sore the next day!

Here we are after our hike-this picture doesn’t do justice to the mud & sweat we brought back with us.

We snorkeled until we got prunelike and have some good underwater videos of swimming with a large variety of fish as well as green sea turtles (Honu). The waves were getting a bit rougher on the North shore so we did have to be careful about where we chose to go in the water.

Christmas Wrass

One of the more colorful fish we captured on film with Jerry’s underwater camera.

The little blob to the (L) is a green sea turtle-so cool to swim with!

I visited Kauai 20 some odd years ago and don’t remember much except Waimea Canyon so the scenery was splendid and the beaches are shell heaven. We came back with 3 ziploc bags of shells-many puka that I will drill and grind for necklaces. We have many other varieties some of which we would like to polish so they show their true purple colors. We collected some interesting coral species also. The artist in me has plans for many of the shells we collected.

Being the avid rockhounders that we are, we did investigate wether there are any rocks of intrigue on the island, and there was Kauai Calcite. It comes from only a couple of places and is formed by the rain and saltwater running over the basaltic and volcanic rocks and sand to form white crystals on a host rock of petrified sand. They call it their semi precious state gemstone. I think the reason we came home with so many shells is that we are used to our eyes being on the ground, and when we snorkeled we did so along the waters edge; to find the shells just out of a normal persons reach or sight. Shells that haven’t quite made it to the beach yet and more likely to be intact.

We attempted to see Waimea Canyon but the day we chose to tour the island it was overcast and occassionally drizzily. When we reached the viewpoint we were definately in the clouds. It was quite eary knowing there was a 1500-2500ft deep canyon down there.  The Canyon is 13 miles long (north to south), and 2-2.5 miles wide. It was not a great day for pictures though, but we did enjoy picking Guava on the way down the road.

Waimea Canyon is down there in the fog

Speaking of fruit; my husband is addicted to Papaya and every morning we each had half a papaya with lime. Oh my that was so good and so good for us. We are now going through withdrawl. At home we usually drink a juice mix of Passion fruit, Orange juice and Guava juice that in Hawaii and Tahiti is known as POG. We literally drank our weight in that juice while there. I am quite fond of Lilikoi (passion fruit) and in the town of Waimea we found a cute little factory that produces Lilikoi products. Aunty Lilikoi is its name and I would recommend anyone on Kauai to stop and taste the Lilikoi pie and mail home some passion!

 We enjoyed eating out only infrequently as we had a small BBQ at our cottage and enjoyed cooking our own meals dining on our private lanai. Meals out could be quite expensive but the ones we did enjoy were very delicious. Of course the catch of the day is the best dish to taste. We both enjoyed Ahi and Ono prepared in a mediteranean style as well as a Brazilian flavor. Bubba’s Burgers is the closest thing you’ll get to a hamburger and they put McD’s & BKing to shame. Many famous film stars as well as President Clinton have tasted one of Bubba’s delicous burgers.

We saw intersting birds and beautiful Orchids as well as other tropical flowers. Being on the wetter side of the island really made us feel like we were in the rain forest at times. Over 90% of the native Hawaiian plant and animal species do not exist anywhere else in the world and are primarily found in the undeveloped and mountainous zones of the islands. 

waterfalls cascading down the mountains

We did visit Wailua Falls which is normally split into 3 actual falls but due to the heavy rains for two days, it was one giant falls. This isn’t the best pix but I wanted to capture the rainbow at the bottom of the 80ft falls.

Wailua Falls

There are so many waterfalls you could spend a couple of days just searching for them. The film Jurrasic Park with the large beginning waterfall scene was filmed here on Kauai. The only way to get a glimpse of it now is to take one of many helicopter trips over the island. 

Some of the interesting facts about Kauai that we learned are that Mt. Wai’ale’ale-(5,148ft), in the middle of the island, is one of the rainiest places on earth, with an average annual rainfall of 430 inches. The Na Pali Coast is 14 miles long and displays a step-like gain in elevation to heights over 4000ft within a half-mile from the coast. Over 47% of Kauai’s 111 mile perimeter is edged by sandy beaches including the state’s largest beach, Polihale. 

We had a wonderful trip; the people were gracious and the rain didn’t stop our daily adventures.

We just returned home from SE OR where we spent a glorious day searching for dendritic agate,didn’t find any that we know of yet, but did come home with a lot of really nice petrified wood, most likely Oak. We did find lots of seam agate and small tumbler agates; perhaps a few pieces to cut for cabs. The weather was really nice but very cool at night; we’re talking low 20’s. We woke the second day to a real drastic change-it was snowing lightly and we decided to boogie back home. It’s a good thing we did because we woke to 2 inches of snow on the ground. It was eery, like suddenly winter had come overnight. Tomorrow its supposed to be sunny and back up in the 60-70’s. This weather just keeps us on our toes. We have Winterizing the house on the agenda for tomorrow! 

Why do people abandon dogs? We have been seeing a very elusive female with 2 pups; a Cattle type dog over the past week. This morning we saw a pack of 3 dogs and 2 pups, the same breed. They were having great fun frolicking in the fields of snow. They look well fed in that they are not small or thin appearing but we are not sure they have a home. I went out looking for the female and pups the day after we had seen them but could not find her. None of our neighbors have such dogs so we are concerned about them. I don’t understand how anyone can ditch dogs if that is the case. I love our dogs too much to ever give them up to a questionable existence.

We are getting ready to go to Kauai! One more day and we shall be in paradise where it has been and is expected to be in the mid 80’s and 70’s at night. Oh my I am so ready to be in some warm water for awhile. It really helps my spasms from my MS and the exercise of snorkeling is wonderful for me. It is like 10 days of swimming. So the next time you hear from me I will have returned from Holiday, as they say in England. Hope to take some good pix!

What a drag! Yesterday and today we have grabbed anything left in the garden as we prepare for our first real freeze. We can’t complain as it’s the 29th of Sept. This year we have gotten a blessing of at least a month of additional sun which puts us over the 100 day growing season. As Jerry said “thank you global warming”. Our garden has gone nuts this summer much to our delight. I picked and wrapped over 60 yellow/green tomatoes.I will be checking them every few days to see their progress and get to enjoy using them slowly like a garden. The tip of wrapping them in newspaper really works.  We ended up with 8 pumpkins and slew of yellow squash and way too much corn. We have shared with all we know and I still donated corn and squash. We harvested carrots, some chewed on by our crafty garden squirrel and ended up with two very large buckets. We are packing some in moist sand to see how they fair for the winter. The rest we take with us, storing them in containers with just a bit of water to keep them from drying out.

 I gathered about 60 gourds of  amazing shapes and colors. They were fun to watch grow but take up an awful lot of space. We have sunflowers and peppers hanging to dry in the garage. I will be soaking the seeds in salt and drying them in the oven to munch on this winter.

It is quite satisfying to gather food you have grown yourself. It sure does taste good. We have eaten so much delicious corn this summer. We are so much healthier to be eating a truly organic garden. We have hated giving poison to our squirrel and we will be stopping by virtue of being gone. The only thing left for him to chew on are onions and some garlic; and of course…he will.

We are getting excited about going to Kauai in another week. We are staying in a really nice little house with great beach access and good snorkeling. I just need my fix of warm water and this will do wonders for me. I am looking forward to seeing Kauai again. This will be my second visit to the island. I remember the flowers from my last visit. I remember seeing beautiful orchids growing right along side the roads. We are getting a convertible for this trip which should be very nice indeed. We are using all our miles we’ve earned for this vacation so we are flying on the cheap. It makes it much nicer that way.

In my last post I wrote about our latest purchase of a truck camper we named Rocky. Well we hadn’t had little Rocky more than 5 days and I got sick with this awful intestinal bacteria I have had all summer, all over again. I had finished my antibiotics a week earlier and sure enough it came back really bad. We knew we were headed for another hospital stay so Jerry loaded Rocky up for a few days worth of necessities and the dogs and off we went to Portland. Sure enough I was admitted again for fluids and more IV meds. The nice thing is Jerry could park Rocky out back of the hospital and even plug into electricity. The hospital is in a beautiful forested area and there are lots of trails for the dogs to be walked and they stayed in the camper when Jerry was with me. As hospital stays go it made it easier on all of us…I worried less about Jerry & the dogs and he was close to me and didn’t have to drive and try and find a parking place.

This bad boy bug I have had all summer is one we all carry but my resistence has been really lowered from having it so often. It is kind of scary because the docs told me they are seeing it more often and it is very difficult to get rid of. I am back on another month of antibiotics and may have to be on more depending on how I respond after this episode. One thing we had to do to help get rid of it, is have both our bathrooms bleached with a 1:5% solution of sodium hypochlorite (bleach), followed by alcohol. My poor housekeepers were just about dying while doing this. We were told this kills the spores that can stay around forever as long as you are sick with the crud.

I feel blessed to have good medical care even though it is over 140 miles away. We never got to make our trip to Joseph for our raspberry bushes but we’ll do it next year. We did have a good freeze the night before we returned home but it didn’t completely kill everything. The tomatoes are still ripening despite looking rather dreary and the pumpkins are doing their thing. We may get another crop of beans but our peas are pretty much gone. Our corn is wonderful and we have frozen enough to get us through part of the winter. We are eating as much as we can eat!

Anyone got any suggestions on how to get rid of a viscous little ground squirrel? We have tried bating him with a non lethal trap and he gets the peanut butter every time but never gets caught. We tried that over 4 times and caught 2 poor little field mice so this time we have gone to poison bate and he has eaten it. Yesterday we saw a huge bull snake in the garden for the first time so we hope he is on the hunt for him too.  

Well I am out of steam for the morning already and it isn’t even noon. I would like an energy transplant-I know it comes back but boy its hard to be down when there is so much to get done. It is times like this that I am glad I have a positive attitude and can laugh at things otherwise I would be nuts! All of you other MSers how do you deal with the really fatigue days?

In my last post I was bitching about the weather but I guess  have been listened to I  cause the weather is going to be nice for at least another 10 days which adds days to my growing period for my garden!!

I may actually have 10 pumkins that come to orange stage. 
I would like to thank those people who post good advice on these sites-I have gotten great advice on how to ripen tomatoes and freeze corn on the cob. 

Jerry & I had a moment of insantiy a week ago. Jerry got to thinking about how much trouble it was to take Gypsy out on 3 day trips so we went and bought a new but yr. old over the truck camper. It’s name is Rocky meaning it will primarily be a rock adventure mobile for the summer. We have been out so much this year that we would have used it a lot. Just my adventures in the hospital in Portland would have made it a lot easier for Jerry & the dogs. We figure with me having to go to Portland at least 1-2x/yr it helps. We have our own place to stay in when we go. We might even be able to be there when our grandbaby is born in Feb. I know Jerry would love that! 

My name is Rocky & I am cool!

It is a very tight squeeze to get Rocky in the barn door because of the motorized bars along the corners. I couldn’t watch as Jerry took him in for the first time. No harm done though!

I know another toy, but it will earn its ownership in helping us find some more beautiful agate like the piece I am about to show you.

This is my desktop pix & it it is very cool to look at

Stay tuned  for some more adventure. This weekend we are off to Joseph to visit friends and get Raspberry stalks for the garden.

don't you love the step to get in...

Have fun in life’s adventures…it doesn’t mean how old you are or what is wrong with you just enjoy.

Here it is almost Labor Day and we are planning on cold weather already. We keep a very close eye on the weather here in the high desert anyway because of our solar and wind energy, but we also must keep an eye out for frost at any time during the year. It was supposed to get to freezing here Labor Day but now it looks like it will be delayed until Tuesday. So that means get out the frost blankets and cover the multitude of Roma & cherry tomatoes I have about to ripen. We also protect our peppers with blankets but can’t do much about the corn. We are just hoping its not going to be a hard freeze so we can save the corn. 

This is our Tomatoe protection and peppers in the foreground

Behind the tomatoes is a very large hedge of gourds growing. They are every shape and color and some hang over the fence on the outside of the garden. I am growing them for fun and they are very cool to watch grow. I do plan on using some of them for decorations.  For the past two mornings I have found gourds on the ground with rather healthy sized bites out of them. I did not know that deer like gourds? Its that time of year where the deer get anything they can because of hunger. We are beginning to feel some of it is spite because they can’t get to the really good stuff like last year!

Many sizes and shapes of gourds that even deer like

We went on another rock adventure a week ago and found some really nice agate. It has beautiful color and patterns with what is called plume and lace. We like to call it Paisley Agate also!  I like the ones with natural vugs (holes) in them so I can hang them in the window. I marvel at mother natures patterns in rocks and wonder how they were formed and realize how old they must be to become this way! Held up in the light this piece is very detailed and beautiful. 

A very nice slice of agate that looks like an old man

up in the hills above the Crooked River is where the agate came from

We have had some really interesting evening cloud formations that have given us some intense sunsets. It is hard not to take too many but the colors here are some of the prettiest I have ever seen. It’s all the pollution coming west towards us from the cities of Portland and Eugene!

a really pretty sky painting

We are off on another rock trip this week. We are going to a ranch called Hollywood. We are going to try and find more petrified wood from an ancient log jam, Holley Blue agate, and Carnelian agate. We are guaranteed wood as this is a pay to dig ranch. Neither of us has ever heard of the place so we’ll see. It is nice when the trips are day trips.

Addendum: we went to Hollywood Ranch to look/check out wood and if you want some huge pieces this is the place for you. Most of what is really great is very large-Sycamore was the most interesting. Our group was small and we weren’t looking to pay huge $$ for a ton of wood. On the other hand we did some good digging and found two very large and beautiful Carnelian. They are cutting size and one is really gorgeous. We did come home with some small rounds and limb sized pieces-one with a crystal intrusion smack dab in the middle of one side. I insisted on a piece with blue running through it so we brought that home too. It didn’t really thrill Jerry but I want to see it cut. It has blue druzzy through it and blue agate so I am hoping it goes all the way through. We had gorgeous weather again and have a good time with the people who always show up and we learn a lot-got to keep the old mind learning!

One of our group found a salt crystal-it looks like a twig round but is from the ancient salt water that has rolled itself into the shape of a solid tube. It is definately a specimen piece. I like unusual things like that. On another trip we took the other guy with us found a stalagtite and that was really neat looking. It is so strange to find them out in the middle of nowhere or someones’s farm. We dug on a farm today and they have so many holes dug up. They sell big time wood.

We are expected to get good weather for the next 10 days so maybe those 4 little pumpkins on the edge will make it and the corn will fill out just to perfect freezing size!

After Jerry and I left the Steen’s Mtns. we had 3 rock trips lined up. The first was on the way out of the Steens and it was Harney Lake. We found this wierd conglemerate type of agate there but not much else. When cut it had eyes like agates but no transperency or agate like properties. On a side note we did see a large eagel nest that has been under watch by orthinologists for decades. The nest is very large and just clings to the hillside. see previous post for pix.

The second trip we took was Glass Butte where we actually camped for a few days. It was really nice even though we were off the main road it was fairly quiet. Mind you this is the prime spot in this area to get as much obsidian as you would like. Jerry has been cutting the Aurora Borialis and has some really pretty sheen and pattern to it. It will make some nice cabs and jewelry. When we saw this large hole of course we had to go down and dig. It appears as though many people have had the same idea of getting this large piece out but I don’t think it will come out without a large scale excavation! It was one of the largest pieces we saw this day.

This is a sample of borealis obsidian

Our really challenging trip at Glass Butte was for the rainbow obsidian which we are still not sure we found.  You have to cut it just right to get the pattern. The road to get to it was quite knarly even with a large 4×4 truck. The dig site sits right at the top of a small butte so the views are spectacular. Once we got to the top we started looking for recent dig sites which I kind of spotted, so we started digging and came up with some good sized obsidian.  

Our third and last trip was to Hampton Butte where I promptly found a jasperized round of an unkown species of tree. I was shocked to find something so quickly and even more shocked to find a “round”-
something I have always wanted.

It was so much fun on this trip. We did it with our local rock club-CORC (Central OR. Rock Collectors), which we have been trying hard to resurect. We are enthused with new blood so it is going well. Prineville area is a mecca for rockhounding in the state of OR. Some of the best stones come from close surrounding areas. Some are fee digs, others are free.I am an admitted neophyte lapidarist so I admire a lot of the work I see. I realize how much work it is. I love picking out the rock and letting it tell me what it wants to make. Jerry is very good at lapidary work yet it takes me twice, if not more time, to make a cabochon than it does him. I have the knack for the jewelry which he doesn’t so I guess it works out. 

We are going out tomorrow to a secret dig shown to us by  a friend. We hope to find some blue agate on a beautiful day!

Welcome to the Steens...it gets pretty harsh up here

We just returned from a glorious week of traveling. We got invited to caravan with some friends to the Steens Mtns. to watch the meteor showers for the week. It was actually looking grim for the trip after my friend Steph, ( yes same name), who was fostering 9 pups suddenly came down with Parvo!!! It was touch and go for the pups and one did die but Steph was able to find a sitter for them for a couple of days. It took a lot of faith on her part to go but she and her husband certainly deserved it for taking in the pups to begin with. We not only enjoyed meteor showers, we did 3 days of rocking. What strange things we found, some worth a lot, others just a memory but nevertheless fun!

The wild flowers thought it was still spring up in the high desert hills in the Steens. They were plentiful and Pat, one of our friends, thought to bring her wildflower book so we  could identify them. There are several I was not acquainted with. Here are two that were beautiful and kind of wierd?!

Blazing Star

we all called this one the testicle plan

The Steens is a rugged and fierce enviornment. There isn’t any water that is potable (we carry a large water barrel in our truck),  and we were plagued with one episode of mosquitoes but Deet took care of it, as much as I hate to use the chemicals, it was necessary. I guess it beats West Nile! You can drive for miles on the back byways without any gas so go prepared. All of us got very dusty RV’s going over so many miles of gravel.

A very tranquil camp around a small lake at 7400ft

Kiger Gorge-very steep & large

There are Antelope and wild horses making this corner of southeatern Oregon their homes. We saw many species of raptors; they are large and very beautiful as you watch them soar and fly the wind currents.

Just one of the many big guys that stayed where we did

Jerry and I stayed for 3 days and then started our planned seperate rock adventures.  We seriously thought about Plush for Sunstones but didn’t relish driving another 50 or so miles of gravel road from where we were. So we finally decided to stop at Harney Lake on the way to Glass Butte and ultimately Hampton Butte.

Ornithologists study and know about this decades old Eagle nest!

Harney Lake had lots of jasper and agate but in very small pieces. We started walking up a good slope recommended and started finding oolytic type of agate. It was red and brown with some yellow. It looked pretty strange and we wondered how it would cut up. There is a famous Eagle Nest that has been there for decades. It is quite large and down below it you can see the makings of many previous nests.

Glass Butte wasn’t very far away and we had been there before but just to scout out the better camping sites for a large 5th wheeler like Gypsy. Glass Butte is a desert at the foothills of the Butte that is literally made from Glass of every name and color. We had chosen Aureau Borialis, Red, good Black with sheen, and Rainbow to search for.

This piece has been worked on for awhile

These rocks were large, impressive and really imbedded. It took hard digging and chiseling to get the pieces we managed to dig out. This piece has probably been pounded on for quite some time. I believe it is quite large also.

The overhang on the cliff above us could be dangerous. We brought a lot of it down before we crawled in these holes!

The lower picture makes the holes look big but you were squatting with your head inside them. There were several really large pieces we could see but not dig out but we managed to dig out some good sized rocks too

this is the hole we dug Aureau Borialis

What stuck me very interesting were the “rivers” of obsidian that just flow down the side of the hill It really looked like a really black water stream.

One of those obsidian creeks next to Jerry

We spent one entire day looking for obsidian and the rainbow is at the end of a really rough, definately, 4×4 road at the top of one of the buttes. Once we got all the way to the top we didn’t see any good float so I decided to start digging down just a bit. We found several nice sized pieces that had been buried for who knows how long and they looked good. We were curious to see what rainbow obsidian would look like.

The next day we got up early again and donned our already dirty and dusty digging clothes. Today we would be excavating a tree that was petrified with green jasper. It is at Hampton Butte which was only about 20 minutes from Glass Butte so it made it very convenient for us. We loaded our digging gear for this trip as we knew we would be digging down to find anything worthy. This trip was sponsored by CORC-Central Oregon Rock Collectors.

getting ready for our walk to the dig site

my awesome green jasper wood round-a prize

The tree we were to be looking for is of unknown species. It is infused with green jasper and red/blue agate as well as some opalization.  We brought home a large round that I dug within about 20 minutes of beginning to dig. I couldn’t believe it. Jerry found another rather large piece near the same hole. We went onto find other small pieces from here but this is the only round found that day-a real treat for Jerry &I.

This should be called Oregon Jade

Oxalic acid and scrubbing turned that dirt covered rock into something much more beautiful. It has agate and great patterns as well as mucho jasper. I have never seen petrified wood that is green. This is a large and expensive specimen we can add to our collection.

Jerry and I were up at the top of the Steens which is over 9000ft and we were trying not to get blown away. It is so gorgeous from up here. The lake behind us is just one of so many hidden in the valley’s below. You can just see for miles from up here. It is truly an isolated area. It’s not often we get our picture taken so I thought I would just include it so you all can see what we look like! Enjoy life.

Jerry and I at the Steen

G

Purple Mtns. Majesty!

Since we have had nice hot weather we have been getting some evening weather cells that have brought severe lightening, thunder, clouds of every formation and beautiful colors. Just the other night we had our own personal light sky light show-the lightening went on for at least an hour. I tried so hard to capture it on film but it takes a very fast camera which I don’t have. At any rate I will share some photos I took during the evening. We see this from our front porch so it is wonderful to sit in the rocker bench and go WOW!

what a variety of color

awesome site

The Mtn. visible in this picture is Mt. Jefferson. We can see the 3 Sisters, Mt Bachelor, and Three fingered Jack, with great regularity. 

Gypsy will be going to Steens Mtns soon

Gypsy will be going on a trip soon. She has only served as a guest house this summer, but we are going to the Steens Mtns. to watch for meteors with friends in a week. We hope to go to a place called Plush where you can find Oregon Sunstones which are well known for their beauty and “Shiller” property. It is a sheen of peachy/orange that shines within the stone. 

The clouds are quite soothing even with a storm

We expect more storms because of the heat so keep looking for updated better photos.

fire agates we collected, polished and drilled for a necklace

Wow is it hot here in the high desert. We have had over 3 weeks of nice hot weather now and the garden is loving it. The fire danger is super high so everyone is very careful but the Prineville Reservoir is surly getting its business.

Its been too hot to work outside except really early in the am so Jerry and I have been working in the studio trying to get some rock work done. I have been working on a fire agate and copper necklace that is almost done but I have some pictures of how I began it. Sometimes I get stuck trying to figure out a particular design and go to sleep at night working it out in my head. I have a long line of projects to do so I will be glad when this one is completed.  These five pieces have a decorative copper coil self made bail on each piece. The are quite pretty when held up to the light. I really enjoy mixing the copper with these desert colors as it brings out the reds and oranges in the stones.  

I took an earlier picture of the garden just after we planted it and before the really nice weather hit so here is another one. Some relatives who visited us recently said its like a little oasis in the desert. We are very glad we put in a drip system this summer especially after our emergency trips to Portland. We can leave without a worry of the garden shriveling up and dying from lack of water. Our potatoes are blooming, squash is coming on, beans and peas are in bloom, we have more lettuce than we can eat and we shall soon have our first broccoli. We have been getting peppers but we are lusting after our corn! The tomatoes are green but seem to be quite plentiful. I know it sounds like the garden of the century but when you deal with all the critters we do and the odd ball hail in July every veggie is treasured. It is our baby!

garden at the end of July

Well I am off to the studio again. Another hot day here in the desert. Cleo is unhappy cause she hasn’t seen hardly a one jack rabbit. Every evening she sits out and waits for them but I think the Coyotes must have thinned them out this past winter. Oh well the Lizzies keep her busy! 

This evening we had a bit of a light show with the warm weather causing some lightening  and thunder showers. When this happens we often get some really cool rainbows and sunsets. Tonight we got a rather bizarre looking partial rainbow.

only part of a nice wide rainbow over the hillside by the garden

I hope you all get to see some of mother nature’s light shows too!

I just returned from another screaming trip to Portland from my lovely home in Prineville. I wish I could say it was a pleasure trip but it was far from it. It was a trip for medical care only and I was hopeful it was only going to be a doctor’s visit but it turned into a 7 day hospital stay. 

I am so glad I was blessed with a sense of humor and have a husband who can appreciate it. We were both planning a rock trip to Juntura when this emergency came up and me in particular was quite bummed. I love to get outside and look for pretty rocks and things and it keeps me healthy. A way to my heart is through a pretty rock or fossil. Jerry’s common sense took over and as he says ” I have spoken and you are going to the hospital”.He is certainly not bossy but can override my stupidity when necessary. Had we gone we would have been out in the middle of nowhere in the god forsaken heat. We’ll find out at our next rock meeting what glorious things were found. 

I have to relay a bit of info about what has happened to me, only because just when I think modern medicine has made giant leaps and bounds, my doctors hit me with an archaic, prehistoric treatment only practiced in outer mongolia.

I have been plagued with a horrific intestinal infection called C.Difficille. It is a normal bacteria found in our guts but when our immune system’s get whacked like mine did it flourishes and just thrives, killing all the good bacteria.No amount of Yogurt or Acidophylus alone will take care of it either (I tried). 

The first time I was treated I went to my local Community Hospital where they didn’t do the proper cultures they should have but at least got me on appropriate therapy. I took that, got better and then promptly got worse. Back to the ER where this time I got a consult with an infectious disease doc who recommended an antibiotic that cost over $1000 which I took as I had no other recourse he said. Again I got better and within a week of stopping it got worse. Mind you by this time I had been on antibiotics for over 6 weeks. By this time I was loosing more weight, which I don’t have to loose, feeling like sh..so to speak and could hardly stand up straight. So off to Portland we go. Oh yeah the second trip to the local ER still didn’t result in proper cultures so we are kind of going on history and my symptoms which were getting worse. My hospital in Portland was not pleased by the lack of proper cultures either.

At least in Portland I did get the proper cultures but guess what? They came back negative. So we were sent home with a HUGE bottle of Lomotil and pain meds and told to return if I got worse. Within a week I was getting worse again so this time I called my doc and got an actual appt and off we went again. I saw a wonderful doc who said I needed to be hospitalized so they could really figure out what was going on. I agreed reluctantly but Jerry was very relieved as he said we weren’t going back home until we had answers.

So I crawled into bed, which really felt quite good after a 3.5hr drive and very long wait to be admitted and became a gunea pig. This time they did so many cultures and blood tests and CT scans I thought I might glow in the dark. I was in a lovely private room with a beautiful view of Mt.Hood for 3 days until they needed it for someone for isolation so they moved me and within 20 minutes of moving me the nurse came in and said you are infectious! I did have C.Diff confirmed by not just one but 3 cultures. So in came the Infectious disease Doc again who explained how the spores can get in your gut and just lie there in waiting. So back on the very expensive drug again-only this time I didn’t have to pay for it. Not only that but when they moved me from the private room to the double room I too was in isolation only I practically had a suite to myself. It is a very wierd feeling having everyone touch you with purple gloved hands and covered in yellow gowns! At any rate we got to come home after 7 days with a bottle of meds that is worth more than an ounce of gold!

Now here is the interesting part: My docs said that if this last course doesn’t take I have to have my entire intestinal flora replaced by a donor! Can you imagine what that means-its not a transplant in the normal realm of transplants. It means they take feces from someone who eats like me and drinks the same water and generally that means my husband ,(ooh-he says), put it through a tube into my stomach and squirt away! This replaces the normal intestinal flora and I live happily ever after-HA. I said you guys are just scaring the sh… out of me so I will get better but they said no it has been tried before and works. I googled it and yes they do it in Mongolia for chronic appendicitis only they have the children afflicted drink Yak shit. Hasn’t modern medicine come a long way! As for me I WILL get better since I am on this med for 6 more weeks and have no intention of drinking someone else’s feces!

Forgive me for going on about this but it is a rather bizarre story and in fact I am quite lucky as I did get quite dehydrated and this particular bacteria can cause death if not treated correctly. I have learned one lesson here and that is to really be my own advocate for care here in this tiny little community hospital. We are going to visit the patient advocate and make them understand that they must improve their care. This is just one example too for an improved health care system for all. It is especially important to when you are dealing with someone with a compromised immune system like I have.

I do hope you all have a wonderful rest of the summer and stay cool. Appreciate your good health and find something to laugh at each and every day for life is truly an adventure.

Well, remember I titled this blog MSing around for a reason. I am fresh from spending 3 days in the wonderful VA hospital in Portland,OR after getting pretty ill from an intestinal infection. It has played a bit of havoc with my MS making me slow way down and really appreciate what a good life I have. For those of you on Copaxone I found out that it is an immunosuppresive drug and can affect your immune response to infections. I wasn’t aware of that even though I have read all I can on the drug. My doctors were very aware of it and didn’t really want me to continue the drug until they made sure I didn’t have a particular bug that can be quite dangerous. As luck will have it I didn’t have the ugly C.Difficille bug this time so I am able to continue on my Copaxone injections. I was very relieved as were my doctors. At any rate I came home with a renewed appreciation for my husband, my home and my life in general! Nothing like a good illness to get our priorities straight. As a result though I have had to use my cane again and really reassess how much energy I am putting out. I am back to using a sit down shower and taking naps daily but there’s nothing wrong with a good nap I say. I am not doing anymore weeding in 90degree weather for awhile. Nor do I get to enjoy my swimming for a couple of weeks, although I can go and just play in the water!

We are planning a pretty hectic week next week so I am trying my best to rest and recuperate. My husband, Jerry is so good at reminding me that my job right now is to heal and get better. We have plans to go to the Eugene area to visit friends and pick blueberries, and to take a much desired rock hounding trip to Juntura,OR to look for opal, jasper and petrified wood. It could be quite warm while we are there and I am still not sure if I will be ready to hike and carry rocks but I will go prepared. For those of you with MS who read this, I always go with neck collars that have the little cold pebbles in them so when soaked in water they swell and become an instant cool pack to place around ones neck. I also have a cooling jacket but so far have never had to use it although I have used some of the ice packs from it. I will plan on taking my Lika walking sticks which come in very handy. If I am able to hike and collect I will use a backpack and Jerry will carry the heaviest of rocks. We plan on collecting early in the morning also when it will be cooler. We use our 5th wheeler for the trip and since we will be boondocking we keep on board a swamp cooler to keep me and Gypsy, (our 5th wheeler), cool. We also plan meals that don’t require a lot of cooking or heating up of the RV. Now is the time to BBQ like we have been doing at home.

My first morning home from the hospital I was sitting at my desk and just happened to look up to find a young black tailed deer in our front yard. It was munching on grass under one of our bird feeders and it was so strange to see it at 11am. We haven’t seen any deer here in weeks so I was very surprised. We wondered if being gone with the dogs so that it was quiet here made a difference in the fortitude of the deer population. At any rate I did get a picture of it before it bounded off.

We did see a total of 4 deer while driving home from Portland to Prineville-all crossing the highway. We really are aware of them since we were driving at dusk. I have a few friends who have had intimate contact with some of the local deer!

We are lovers of rock and I recently had someone ask me what the rocks are in the pictures of the cacti on my blog. Every winter we travel to the SW and this year we went to Southern CA, Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada. We found Crysocolla, and some other more turquoise rocks that might have more than just Crysocolla in them. I would love to find some Malachite and Azurite but we were never so lucky…maybe next year. I believe the Turqoise rocks in the picture of the cacti are just Crysocolla.

Well that’s all for now…hope I have given some good tips on dealing with MS and the heat and the importance of taking good care of oneself after an illness. I have to admit that another good strategy is laughter. While I was hospitalized Jerry was with me most of the time and made me laugh hysterically. Laughter is good for the endorphins. Remember to keep smiling, each day is truly an adventure.

For some strange reason this summer we are living in a bird sanctuary! Last summer we had an unusual number of Jays but this year we have Flycatchers, Finches in so many colors, sparrows and some beautiful Bluebirds. The Bluebirds are very interesting to watch as they have set up camp inside our 5th wheel hitch housing. They are prone to attack from a lot of other bird species so these parents chose the right spot. The minute you go near the hitch the male will start to buzz you and chase you away. I have managed to get a good picture of the chicks though and here it is. The male is bright blue and the female is rather drab looking. It seems that is true in so many bird species. The guys have to be brighter colors to attract the ladies! Isn’t that interesting that in humans it is mostly we women who gussy up for the guys, although with more men getting into nail polish, tats, and eye makeup one wonders!                                                               

The picture to the left is the nest inside the hitch and to the right is daddy bluebird who is very pretty and bright blue. 

As of the end of June we have no more bluebirds! The chicks have flown the coop so to speak and we are left with only the nest inside the hitch box. We are sad to see them go but glad we don’t have to worry about taking our next trip in Gypsy with birds.

It is hot and nice finally. We have a cute little desert cactus garden that has a elephant ear cacti that is blooming so nicely. I have taken some pictures of it; last year we were happy to see just a few blossoms but this year we are going to get over a dozen. Every year we travel I have brought home cacti from southern Ca. and Arizona; they sometimes do well and sometimes not. Our soil is a lot like southern CA. soil as it is very sandy and dry during the heat of the summer. It is the cold and windy winters that can freeze the pretty red barrels I bring back. It seems like the area here is great for elephant ear’s and cholla believe it or not. See for yourself:                                                    

beautiful pink blooms in June on our cacti

close up of paper thin blooms that only last one day

Here are just some other pictures I have taken with the nice weather; taken around our yard and garden.

Our Garden on the 1st of July...we have lettuce & radishes to eat now

A garden in the high desert is a challenge. It is hard to tell but everything is hooped, netted or fenced so the quail, bunnies, squirrels and deer don’t get to it. This year we have a ground squirrel that has taken up residence. I feel like the yard is under top surveillance just so we can get our food. We have 3 successive plantings of corn and lettuce and 2 of radishes. It has taken 3 plantings to get the beans up and I don’t know if we will ever see the peas. The largest plants you see are potatoes of which we have many. Most came up from old ones we left in the ground from last year. The soil is very good here for potatoes and we don’t mind them as we have the space and love potatoes! 

so many blossoms...so little time to enjoy them

Our nice new deck-we had breakfast outside this am.