http-equiv='refresh'/> Tin TeePee/Log Cabin: February 2016

Monday, February 29, 2016

Talented Guys!!

Saturday was a day of chores—bathe the dog, laundry, vacuuming, etc.  In the evening we joined the rest of the ATV gang for potluck and bean bag tossing.  Emmi thought those bean bags made great chew toys—she was absolutely certain everyone was tossing those for her!  The food was awesome as usual!  Several of our gang are missing in action—Fred and Nancy are back in Oregon dealing with a very ill family member, Joe and Kathy are playing in California and Cathy has left Mike home alone at North Ranch while she is back home in Washington for a while.  We miss them all!!

While I dealt with North Ranch HOA business this morning, the cowboy started a painting.  By late afternoon he had created this:

DSCN2159The colors are much more vivid on the actual painting—I love it!!  Geri told Michael about this artist, Jerry Yarnell who does a Saturday morning TV program.  We accessed his website and purchased a couple of his CD’s and the cowboy has been learning!   Yarnell has a wealth of information on his website and when we are back in Montana on unlimited GB’s Michael can watch more videos.

And then the “cowboy” arrived.  Our friend Tom is a woodcarver, a very talented woodcarver.  At the end of last season I asked him if he would carve a “cowboy” for me.  Today the finished product arrived—Michael was delighted as was I.  It looks so much like my cowboy and the detail is amazing!

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DSCN2152-001Right down to our brand on the chaps and his whiskers!

DSCN2165Thank you so much Tom!!!

Life is good!

Saturday, February 27, 2016

Lots Of Stuff

It’s been busy around here—sometimes I wonder how in the world I had time to work???  Can’t remember if I discussed running for our HOA board on this blog or not—well, I ran for the board, the election was February 6 and I lost by one vote!!  There were four candidates and three positions.  I wasn’t disappointed in the least, I ran and was lucky enough not to be elected!! SmileWell, so much for that thought!  The woman elected to the secretary position has had to resign due to health issues and the board president contacted me asking if I would serve.  So, I am now officially secretary of our North Ranch HOA. 

WHOA—there is a bit of a learning curve to say the least—I’m jumping in with both feet as the next meeting is March 7—the agenda and minutes need to be done and “shared”—I’m familiar with the computer programs used but “sharing”, etc. was not being used when I left the working force! 

Thursday was a whirlwind—yoga class, HOA learning session and then the grocery store.  I was spinning!! 

IMG_4538Friday was a spectacular day—we left North Ranch at 8am with seven rigs and twelve people heading for the Lake Pleasant area.  Here’s what Wikipedia had to say about Lake Pleasant:

The cornerstone of the park is the 10,000 acre (40 km² or 15.6 mi²), Lake Pleasant, one of the important artificial reservoirssurrounding the Phoenix metropolitan area. Created by the Waddell (Pleasant) Dam, which was finished in 1927, the lake originally had a surface area of 3,700 acres (15 km² or 5.8 mi²) and served as a private irrigation project. At 76 feet (23 m) high and 2,160 feet (658 m) long, the original Waddell Dam was, at its completion, the largest agricultural dam project in the world. The lake was filled by the Agua Fria River, capturing a large watershed throughout Yavapai County.

Construction of the Central Arizona Project Aqueduct, which began in 1973, soon diverted water from the Colorado River to the lake, converting the lake from an agricultural project into a storage reservoir for the project. Completed in 1994, the New Waddell Dam tripled the surface area of the lake, submerging the old dam beneath its waters. Shortly after the completion of the dam, the area experienced a prolonged drought, and while the lake grew considerably it would not reach full capacity until early 2005. Although still fed by the Agua Fria River, the CAP aqueduct is the primary source of water for the reservoir.

Lake Pleasant is used as a major water sports recreation center for the Phoenix metro area, as well as serving as an important storage reservoir for the rapidly growing region. A number of boat docks and beach access make the lake a popular destination for scuba diving, water skiing, jet skiing, sailing, windsurfing and other water sports.

We unloaded at the Bradshaw Mountain Foothills staging area and headed up the mountain—destination, Crown King—a mining town at 6000 feet in the Bradshaw mountains.  At we gained in elevation, we caught occasional glimpses of Lake Pleasant in the distance.

IMG_4552 Sun was very bright so photos are kind of washed out looking.

The road was rough, dusty, rocky, bumpy, bone jarring and worth every minute of it!  At one point on the trail we came to a construction zone—a mining permit which had diverted the road into the creek and made quite the mess!

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IMG_4570And they were kind of crabby about their security!

It took us about four hours of riding to reach Crown King—gold was discovered near here in 1875 and an estimated $2,000,000 in gold was mined.  The mines closed in the 1950’s and the small community depends on tourism as its only reliable source of income in spite of the fact all roads leading to Crown King are rough and tumble!  “Of the buildings still standing and in use in Crown King, the Crown King Saloon has maintained its place as the center of activity in town. The Saloon was originally constructed and operated in the nearby mining town of Oro Belle (now also a ghost town). In 1910, It was disassembled and brought to Crown King piece by piece after the mine at Oro Belle had played out. The building was home to a brothel and bar in both towns and now serves the public as a hotel, cafe, and bar. “  Wikipedia

After enjoying lunch at the saloon we pointed the rigs downhill and arrived home close to 7pm.  A long but spectacular day spent enjoying life!

IMG_4546As you can see the landscape changes—saguaros, huge rock formations until we gained elevation—

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IMG_4574then it’s deciduous and pine trees plus rocky, running creeks—another world from the desert!  

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On the way back we could see hot air balloons above Lake Pleasant—look closely!

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Thanks for traveling along with us! 

PS:  I took some GoPro video and will insert short clips in coming blogs after I have some more schooling from the movie master—Geri!

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

I Jumped The Gun And An ATV Ride

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I jumped the gun!  I am reverting the blog back to the Blogger format for the time being until I educate myself more about changing templates, etc.  I apologize for any inconvenience I may have caused our readers. 

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I really appreciate all the comments I received about the new blog appearance.  I’m finding there is a lot you can’t do when you are using a free WordPress template.  Maybe you can do more if you have better computer skills than mine–I’ve searched the templates trying to find the exact one to match what I had with Blogger but I don’t think it exists! Templates which match Blogger templates more closely have white backgrounds.  I want a colored background.  I don’t like how the “Archive” list is so long, I would like to create a drop down menu for that list. I’m not finished and will continue trying to refine what I’ve done so far. 

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We were loaded and rolling out of North Ranch by 9am this morning, seven rigs and ten people plus our mascot, Emmi.  Vulture Peak trail head was our destination–we’ve ridden in this area before but some of the group had not.  We were in search of this crested saguaro and it’s companion–

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Plus the cave/arch we had found earlier in the season–

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The weather was perfect, the company spectacular and the scenery breathtaking!  A very good day.

And speaking of our mascot Emmi–Tuesday we practiced some of Cesar’s–the dog whisperer tricks.  We only left her for thirty minutes but Michael sneaked back over to our yard at about 15 minutes and she was not howling.  We will continue to practice–and hope!

Life is good!

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

New Blog

Remember all the Live Writer hoopla??  And the complaints about the Blogger format??  I stated several times my intent to move our blog from the Blogger platform to WordPress.  Well-----I’ve started the process several times and given up.  I’m computer literate but not to the point where I can write HTML code or figure out some of the more complicated stuff one of which was how to create a re-direct link. 

If you use the free WordPress platform it does not allow for plugins—which is what a re-direct link is, a plugin.  I really didn’t want to pay for a blog which is basically just my journal—if I was making money from a blog it would be a different story. 

Well, if you are reading this blog you will see I actually was successful in creating a re-direct link!!!  And I’ve started the process of designing the new blog and welcome your feedback.  It’s a long way from finished but at least I’ve started the process.  I was so tired of looking at a word—thinking, “that’s not spelled correctly” and having no spell check in Open Live Writer.  I wanted to make some other changes too which are not possible in the Blogger platform so off we go!

How did I create the re-direct link???—Google to the rescue.  I had Googled “redirect link from Blogger to WordPress” several times and each time hit upon the roadblock of no plugins in the free WordPress version.  Tonight I had a light bulb moment and Googled, “Redirect link in Blogger blog.”  I clicked on the first hit and guess what—I did write HTML—well, actually I only did a copy and paste but it worked!!  You should have heard my “SUCCESS” shout!! Smile

I do welcome your feedback about the new blog!

Monday, February 22, 2016

Full Moon And Wind

OK, California, you can keep this wind—holy, moley did the wind blow today!!  As I type this blog tonight the moon is making an appearance rising above the mountains.  We love these big windows which look out over the desert and mountains beyond.  I can’t imagine living here with those original small windows!

Last night while Emmi and I were walking we watched the moon rising--

DSCN2104and the sun setting--

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Sunday Michael installed the bathroom light fixtures we purchased and today he spent time designing another fixture from the leftover lights—for the kitchen—I am amazed at what my cowboy can do! 

Today Donna, Geri and I headed up the hill to Prescott.  We had a fun day hitting the junk/antique stores, Target and JoAnns plus we had a fabulous lunch at Bill’s Grill—when we walked in and looked at the menu I was afraid it was a “guy’s place” as in burgers and fries.  They did serve some awesome looking burgers but also had great sandwiches and salads—everything tasted homemade, even the buns.   A energy restoring stop at Starbucks then it was back down the hill to Congress where a dusty haze hangs from all the wind today. 

Emmi girl was glad to see me—too glad!  Peter and Beatrix—I am familiar with Cesar, the dog whisperer and followed your link to read about separation anxiety.  The Bark-Off isn’t working so it’s on to the next step and we are going to follow Cesar’s suggestions.  We can both go outside for a long time (even a couple hours) leaving Emmi inside—she doesn’t howl nor does she get off the couch when we come back in.  There is some trigger we give her telling Emmi we are leaving for a longer period of time—the treat we give her, my purse???  We are going to spend some time trying different things—hope it works because as Judy said, “a howling dog gets on your nerves.” 

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Finds and Harquahala Peak

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Thursday was a yoga day and when I came home Michael was ready to roll—we were on a mission to buy some light fixtures—really nice light fixtures advertised on the Facebook Wickenburg online garage sale site.  Back in Wickenburg after retrieving the bathroom light fixtures we stopped at the Habitat For Humanity Re-Store finding some more treasures.

Friday the ATV gang rode up Harquahala Peak with Tom and Sandy leading the way.  It’s a ride we never tire of—the road was in much better shape than in past years and the weather perfect!  There were seven rigs with eleven people and we had a great day!

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Back home it was into the shower to wash away the dust before heading to Wickenburg for dinner with everyone.  The Bar 7 was packed—lots and lots of winter visitors and cowboys in town! 

Today we were off on another mission—to buy a black refrigerator to match the rest of our appliances—that white one we have just wasn’t cutting it!  My phone GPS had a little trouble finding the right spot—it’s a swanky subdivision just south of Wickenburg and there are zero street signs.  The homeowners had recently switched to stainless steel appliances from black—and the wife was all ready realizing how difficult stainless steel is to keep clean.  The new to us refrigerator has ice and water in the door—something we’ve grown accustomed to with our refrigerator in Montana.

IMG_4481Other worldly landscape!

Larry and Geri came over and helped us move the new refrigerator (minus its doors before it would fit) into the house.  As I type this blog the cowboy is under the house running a water line—the refrigerator used to sit in the middle of the kitchen, now it sits along a wall—so plumbing was required!  Once again I am sure glad I am married to a handy cowboy!

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Seems Ms. Emmi has been harrassing the neighbors—our next-door neighbor came over to tell us the last two times we’ve left Emmi alone she has howled the entire time we were gone.  Not good and not acceptable.  Larry and Geri have loaned us a device called Bark Off and we will see if it works—it evidently emits a sound dogs don’t like—sure hope it works. 

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Visitors and More Quilt Show Photos

Tuesday morning we enjoyed a great yoga class and “we” does not mean the cowboy attended! SmileRight at noon our friends rolled in the driveway.  John and Peg lived in Montana and it only took them one winter season of living in Arizona to decide it was the place to be.  They recently sold their Montana home and became full time residents of Arizona.  We had so much fun catching up with their lives and hearing about our friends back home.  I served an outstanding (even if I do say so myself, they said the same!) lunch—bourbon marinated pork tenderloin, roasted potatoes, salad with poppy seed dressing and another of those lemon meringue pies for dessert—outstanding!

Today the cowboy and I made a run to Surprise—Costco, Hobby Lobby and JoAnn’s.  I am making curtains for the big window we installed—it gets lots of early morning sun and Michael needed painting supplies.  We left Emmi in the care of Larry and Geri—her home away from home!

Lots of planning going on around here—ATV rides here and there—Friday is the day for the first one.

Here are some more quilt show photos--IMG_4365It is hard to see in this photo but the vendor looked as if she had scissors coming out both sides of her head—she was a cheerful soul!

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The following quilt was named, “Frame of Mind.”  It is ONE small quilt—if you stood straight in front of the quilt you saw an image of Oprah Winfrey.  If you stood to the left you saw an image of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.  And, standing to the right of the piece you saw an image of Mother Teresa. 

IMG_4445IMG_4446IMG_4449The lines you see are three dimensional rows of fabric—it was amazing and drew lots of attention but no ribbons!

IMG_4400Look closely at the quilting—in the two smaller photos below I changed the camera settings in order to highlight the quilting—stunning!

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IMG_4405Titled “Me and My Shadow” and again the quilting was spectacular!

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IMG_4409And one last quilt photo—a beautiful landscape quilt—that is all pieces of fabric, not painted.

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Monday, February 15, 2016

Guests and Sunsets

DSCN2087The cowboy earned lots and lots of brownie points on Valentine’s Day—I think he is a keeper.

Sunday Larry and Geri joined the four of us for breakfast up in Yarnell where it was several degrees cooler.  As usual, breakfast at the Ranch House was great and the waitress sassy!  On the way home Brenda and John along with the two of us stopped in to see Al and Kelly.  We spent an enjoyable hour sitting in the sun visiting.

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We spent the remainder of Sunday sitting outside in our yard enjoying the beautiful weather and the company.  Happy hour with Jim and Ellie then steaks on the grill at our house—YUM!

Mid-morning saw John and Brenda leaving North Ranch heading back to Maricopa—it was a great visit guys!  Poor Emmi was bathed, laundry was done and groceries purchased—that’s about the extent of our Monday.  I did make another lemon meringue pie—we have Montana visitors coming for lunch Tuesday. 

DSCN2095DSCN2097Sunday evening sunset.