Morning walk 05-04-24

When we walk twice a day we meet our neighbors.  I wave to everyone passing  in cars and sometimes they wave back.  We say hello to everyone on foot and mostly they greet us in  return.  If they stop  KoKo will go to the guy first no matter how sweet talking the woman is. He just likes people and especially children;  when he hears them out playing he wants to go see them. 

 

Here he greets Tina, our dog-less friend that walks in morning. She listens to books on her cell phone and will be so engrossed she won't stop until KoKo stops her.

When someone stops petting him, he lays down on their feet, maybe so they can't get away. This morning I sat at the low end of a wall and then had to scoot my bottom  up the slope until I could get the leverage to stand up again.  If I had not been doing the twice a week fitness workouts I might still be sitting there!

There were early sprinkles this morning that decorated the spider webs on the pittosporum.  

When the sun comes out the drops turn into diamonds.

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A Bird Bath 10-10-23

I know that I would not take a regular, daily  walk If it weren't for KoKo.  We used to go further,  but with my sciatica problems I have a time limit of about half an hour.  Just enough to go one  loop around the neighborhood.   Besides the physical exercise we see our neighbors and KoKo receives lots of patting and gives a lot of licks  (bare toes in sandals!}.  I stretch my brain trying to remember the  names of plants, birds, and the people we met.  I need the human contact, no matter how slight, and I think KoKo does also.    There are even a few dogs KoKo will tolerate, as  long as  they aren't very much larger than  he is.   With regular walking we discover changes and improvements, see what is blooming, and pick up bits of  trash  along the way, especially pieces  of plastic.   

 Doesn't look like much; dry dirt and some leaf litter and tiny stones. 

This is what we think of when we hear about a bird bath.  

But in this patch of dirt along our walking route are many little "tubs" made by the little sparrows, bluebirds, doves, and others. 

Difficult to take a picture, I will try again when the light is different. 

It  is hard  to  get  close as the birds just fly away.  This was taken from across the street and enlarged.  House sparrows enjoying a morning dust bath.  

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Miscellaneous 08-12-23

I have not been posting because my life is so dull there isn't much to post about!   I previously mentioned backing into my garage door which requires a complete replacement.   That was a week ago and I am still waiting for the installation.  With all the auto thefts and break ins I hate leaving my car parked in the driveway, but there is no guarantee that if I close it in the garage I can open the door to get it out!  On Monday I had to have a handyman replace my garbage disposal which was leaking water under the sink.  The joys of homeownership!  

Tuesday was the Surfside Quilters Guild meeting where the Challenge quilts were revealed.  It was a good year with 40 entries with the theme of "How Sweet It Is", all very original and interesting.  There  is always a viewers choice and the winner was Michelle Howe's "Candyland". Her work is very good and she researched Candyland, finally finding a1950s version of the game on Etsy.  It was her favorite  game as a child and she added a few personal favorite treats. The Viewers Choice prize is always $100.

"Childhood Memories"  Michelle Howe  21" X 21.5"
Collage, Machine pieced, Machine quilted,

KoKo and I are still walking twice a day which adds up to about 5000 steps.  It sounds boring but we pretty much walk the same loop each time.  KoKo finds new smells and new potty spots, I look at the flowers, birds, house renovations, and greet neighbors along  the way.   It is a very quiet neighborhood and sometimes we don't see anyone else.  But usually in the morning there are dog walkers and people leaving for work.  We have had typical August weather with a few monsoon sprinkles and not too hot.  Supposed to be mid 90s this coming week.  

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Please forgive my silence!

I haven't blogged because I don't DO anything to blog about!  KoKo and I do our half hour walk twice a day.  I sew a little, but nothing to post, mostly mending.   I have been reading the Virgil Flowers crime series by John Sandford on Kindle.  The books can be a little raw and the language is bad, but I find the story line captures my attention.  I don't enloy Kindle as much as a real printed-on-paper book, but since I am not going out much I don't have access to actual books.  Guess Kindle is a blessing during isolation, huh?  I made sure my phone had a good charge on Friday because SCalifornia Edison shut off power in our neighborhood from 9am to 6pm.  Good, thoughtful friends Carol and Dick invited us over for a lovely corn chowder lunch, perfect for a cold, powerless day.  It was dark when the power came on and I was wondering if we would spend the night completely dark.  The house had not warmed up in the morning so it was cold all day and I didn't think we could survive the night without some heat.  I have a lot more sympathy for people who endure long term powerlessness.   These days there isn't a lot one can do without electricity.  Anyway, SCE replaced four power poles on Palm, the main cross street, so maybe this won't happen again for years.  

We have been sprinkled on several days the past week, but this morning it rained pretty good whilst we were on our morning walk.  We sheltered on a handy  covered porch for about 15 minutes and the rain let up to a light sprinkle.  Of course, we were damp when we got home, but it doesn't seem to bother KoKo, who gets a good toweling off and I just change my clothes.  

So, you see, I don't really have anything to write about!  I'll keep trying.

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Walking and KoKo 11-22-21

I actually did some sewing today, but nothing I can share.  Mostly just working on UFOs and doing some repairs on quilts in TCQC.  Sleeves come loose, sometimes a few stitches on bindings are not secure, and loose threads have been missed.   I always put a TCQC label on the quilts and have been very lax the last year or so.  Out of labels and need to make some more.

KoKo and I do our two walks a day, some are longer than others.  There was a brush fire in Riverside County, which is about 40 miles away, and the Santa Ana wind was blowing toward the ocean, so we had smoke.  Didn't see any ash, but the wind was so strong I suspect it all just went out to sea.  I wore my mask, but KoKo doesn't, so we shortened our walk last evening.  Today it was still windy, but no smoke, so we did the full loop morning and night.  There are Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas decorations in yards.  I know a lot of people put up Christmas stuff the weekend after Thanksgiving, but I suspect some people are traveling so they decorated before they left.  

The giant skeleton is now wearing a fabric face, a coat and a hat!

Two black birds have been added - one at top left on his hand and one at bottom center on one of the pumpkins,  I guess black birds go with skeletons as well as black cats. 

This family took down their blow up ghost and the same day replaced it with a blow up turkey. 

Right next door to the skeleton in a basketball hoop.  He came down over the  week end, I kind of miss him. 

KoKo and Froggy are having a snuggle.  They do a lot of nose to nose snoozing.

And even more flowers! 04-14-21

A bit cooler today, but still the flowers bloom.  We are trying to walk a little earlier, by 9am, in preparation for the summer temps when we will have to walk about 7am to avoid the heat.  I don't tolerate it as well as I once did, but KoKo doesn't seem to mind.  The prediction for the weekend is in the mid to upper 80s, but it was only 65F today and low 50s overnight.  

These pink flowers popping up in neglected lawns are Mexican primroses, not related to the primroses one finds at the nursery.  They are very invasive , which is obvious when one sees them growing in downwind yards where they are not wanted.  But they are very delicate and a lovely pale pink.  They look a bit like giant crocus. 

Mexican primrose

On Brian Street there is a large patch of morning glory vines that have been there for years.  Someone cuts them back occasionally, but they generally just vine all over the place.  They have recently worked their way under a hedge and a few a blooming in the lawn!  The lawn doesn't get mowed very often, or very well! 

Morning Glory 

They are much deeper blue than this, but this is the best my phone camera will do. 

As the day wears on the blue fades to pink and finally to almost white before the blossom shrivels at night.  I have not previously observed both blue and pink blossoms at the same time of day.  Don't know why this is so. 

The lobed leaves are very attractive and generally rather darker than this. 

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Still healing, walking 11-23-20

KoKo needs his walks every day and it helps me get stronger, so we haven't missed a walk since he came home last Tuesday.  I need to use either the cane or the walker because I am pretty wobbly on my feet and sometimes need to sit down when there is not a low wall handy.  We haven't gone all the way around the loop, which would be a mile, bit I suppose we walk something like 2/3rd of a mile.  The weather has been on the cool side - sixties and low seventies with night time into the mid forties.  So, we do see some autumn color, but the temp hasn't gotten down far enough to have the cold snap that causes riotous leaves.  This is the liquidamber/sweet gum in my neighbor's yard.  The previous owners trimmed it just before they moved and for some unimaginable reason cut the top of it off.  It should have a pear shape - narrower at the top.  Sad.  Anyway, I love the star shaped leaves.  They don't hold a candle to those where some of you live, but we take what we can get!!

The moon is visible at the top of the picture.  

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We did both our morning and evening walks today.  We are going about 4:15pm just before it gets dark.  We don't mind walking after dark there are plenty of street lights and porch lights on.  But since I am still using the walker I am afraid I couldn't get out of the way if some bozo came screeching down the street.  We don't have much through traffic, but these days there are food delivery cars that are in a hurry and just drive as fast as they can.  They are also distracted by looking for addresses.  Better to be careful, eh?

Lots of succulents in our neighborhood.  This is what I see along the way. 

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Another day at home 05-31-20

KoKo and I do our two walks each day - about 8am and 8pm when it has cooled off a bit.  This evening it was 75F  and the high today was 81F.  A little muggy.   I packaged the fabrics I had purchased for Ruth and a couple other people.  They can't go fabric shopping and actually FEEL the fabric, so I did it for them.  So, a trip to the PO is in order for tomorrow.  Goody!   When I was at Back Porch I found a backing fabric for the Little Houses - they represent our "isolation" - and the backing will represent the freedom that will come.  

This is a Windham Fabrics print called "Celebrating Women".

The only excitement today was when the garage door repairman came and repaired my garage door so it goes up and down on demand once again.   It was sixty bucks and worth every penny. 

I go to bed anticipating a trip to the Post Office tomorrow!

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Tomorrow, I'll start tomorrow! 03-17-20

Still trying to get going, but not accomplishing anything much.  KoKo and I walk about a half an hour loop in the morning sometime between 8 and 10am and again in the evening about 7pm.  It is nice to not be walking in the dark these days.  There are plenty of street lights and yard lights and porch lights, so it is safe to walk after dark, but one doesn't see much along the way.  This morning there were gardeners at about a third of the houses.  The last two Tuesdays were rainy, so the grass was very tall and the guys had a workout.  It was mostly sunny, with lots of clouds to the north,  but we had no rain today.  

Brian Street is the next street over and half of our "loop".  It has a bit of a curve and a few more houses than Warren Street.  The house on the right has lovely high desert landscaping.  The tall orangish plant that sticks up higher than the others is a pencil cactus (Euphorbia Tirucalli) which turns red in the brighter sunlight.  It isn't actually a cactus, but one of the euphorbias and it has many different common names:  Indian Tree Spurge, Naked Lady Plant, Aveloz, Milk Bush Plant, and Petroleum Plant.   It is native to Africa and India.  In this area it will grown maybe 30 feet tall with multiple "trunks".  Most of the plants I see are about two feet tall, so this one has been growing for quite a long time.  The white sap can be irritating and even poisonous.  

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In the neighborhood 12-02-19

Lots of Christmas decorations went up this past weekend.  

This snowman is a repeat from last year.  He is very colorful at night when he is inflated. 

But in the daytime he is less impressive and KoKo wants to "water" him. 

The coyotes have gotten more brazen and last night one was following us.  Poor thing has a limp with one of his back legs.  Hope the animal control can help him.  Wish they could keep him and his pals out of our way.  Tonight we drove over to a friend's house, parked out front, and walked two blocks around that area.  No coyotes.  May have to do that again.  KoKo always finds new things to "water" and to sniff, so I suppose it doesn't matter where we walk.  I used to take Corky to the park and many different office complexes, just to see something different.  Now it is KoKo's turn.  

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In the neighborhood 09-28-19

After months of heat today's high was 73F and we are supposed to have another four days of under 80F weather.  It is wonderful, I even got chilly while walking with KoKo this morning.   And it was cool enough at 6:20pm to take our evening walk in the daylight.

This is the most tree lined section of our walk and we walk on the east side mostly to stay in the shade. 

Really serious clouds, but no chance of rain. 

And a rift in the dark clouds let some sun rays through. 

I have posted termite tenting before.  I don't know if this is something that is done across the country, I've never seen it anywhere but in SCalifornia.  

The entire house is covered with plastic tarps and a poison is pumped in where it stays for several days, killing every living thing inside.  There have been occasions when someone breaks into one of these "tents", ignoring the warning signs, and they die.  This house is empty waiting for the new owners to move in, but if the house is occupied they must go through every drawer, cupboard, pocket, closet, box, bag, etc., to be sure there is nothing edible that would be contaminated.  

I am still working on the coaster project and KoKo is helping.  I hope I have a new lens prescription in October, because I am having a hard time seeing to sew in the right places. Woe is I! 

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Wordless Wednesday 02-06-19

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Bird watching 07-17-18

For the last two years I have walked KoKo twice a day, which is good for both of us.  An additional perk is seeing the birds in the area.  There is one yard with mostly desert plants that hosts a flock every morning.  They all fly up when we walk by, so it is not always possible to see what species they are.  But in this area the birds are usually house finches, least goldfinches, phoebes, doves, house sparrows, towhees, hummingbirds, crows, mockingbirds, western bluebirds, and some others I can't think of at the moment.  Several houses have hummingbird feeders and one house has a bird feeding platform outside one window.  So, we usually see lots of birds.  But yesterday there were several special sightings. 

On our morning walk there was a fledgling crow and it's mother up on a light standard.  The youngster was begging and crying and carrying on and the mother just ignored it.  She flew off, he followed, she flew back, he followed.  I think she was trying to get him to go off on his own and stop making so much horrible squawking.  I don't think they even noticed us walking below and I watched them for five minutes or so.  

Complaining crow from Google Images 

 Then later in the day I looked out the kitchen window and there was a ROADRUNNER sitting on the low wall across the back.  I have never seen a roadrunner around here, it is all houses and streets, no open country near by.  I tried to take a picture, but my camera battery was dead and I couldn't get a close enough shot with my cell phone.  He hopped down a bit and flew off down the slope.  I wonder what he was doing in this built up area.  

Roadrunner picture taken at Lake Havasu  2005

And even later in the day I looked out to see a hummingbird hovering over the wall and going down close to it.  There are no flowers nearby that could attract a hummer.  But I think she was interested in the spider webs along the bottom of the brick cap on the wall and the hummers use them in their nest building.  There are always some there even though the gardener blows them when he comes on Tuesdays.  So, three unique bird sightings that I came across accidentally in one day.  It was a thrill.   Simple pleasures!  

Anna's Hummingbird from Google 

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Here is that cute doggie again 04-15-17

He has my attention, reclining in "his" chair.

What does he have in mind?

A tummy rub, of course.

He is an absolute pest some days.  And I love it!

 

We walked all around the tract yesterday evening and this evening.  Takes a half an hour and we both enjoyed it.  Such flowers are blooming. 

 

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