qzBut I’m sorry to say, it is so—we do have mosquitoes this year—never before in the southwest have we experienced biting bugs but for some strange reason this year we have mosquitoes. There are so many of the dang things there must be standing water—hard to believe—but we wouldn’t have the dang things otherwise??? North Ranch has its own sewer treatment plant with an outlet lagoon—the guy who caretakes this system swears the water is so treated it couldn’t have mosquitoes but we think he’s dreaming?? 
Where else would the little buzzing, biting things find a place to breed—we are after all in the desert!!
Larry and Geri have been trimming their oleanders--we took some of the clippings and planted them hoping they will root—if so, we will have a fast growing hedge in front of the house. I’ve received some comments from folks concerned about the “poisonous” oleanders. We’ve researched the plants—here’s what Wikipedia has to say. We don’t intend to make tea from the leaves, roast marshmallows with the sticks or feed any part of the tree to Emmi. We won’t take our oleander clippings out into the desert and dump them as one North Ranch resident did angering the BLM and the rancher who leases the land—the oleander is poisonous to cattle and horses. Any lot owner in North Ranch who plants oleander along the outside fence where cattle might be able to sneak a snack—evidently the plants taste sweet—have to reinforce their fencing making it cattle proof.
Yesterday after lunch I said, “I think we should take a drive.” Well, the cowboy decided an ATV ride would fit the bill and rounded up Larry and Geri to go with us. We thought to ride up Round Mountain but ran out of time—Larry and Geri had a previous evening engagement and we needed to get back. It was great to be in the Can-Am with Emmi seated in her own spot and not on my lap aggravating my cranky hip! It was a perfect temp afternoon.
Today we’ve been rather lazy—I even took an afternoon nap, something I seldom do. I did bake bread for lunch—very good.
I ordered a 1/4 inch foot for the Pfaff sewing machine I leave in Arizona. The last 1/4 inch foot I ordered wasn’t a true 1/4 inch and the cowboy had to drill out the hole so I could move the needle over to get that important, true 1/4 inch seam. This foot is dead on—and it came from China!
Twice now we’ve left Emmi home alone, the first time for close to two hours, the second time—tonight, we left her for 45 minutes—no howling—I have a recorder we leave on. We are following the steps to cure separation anxiety I found on the internet. She has always been OK if we both go outside during the day, or even if I’m gone and Mike is outside for a couple hours. We’ve made the mistake of “cue-ing” her that we are going to be gone for a while—treats, telling her to be good, etc.—and that’s what we are trying to fix. She HOWLS and will HOWL for hours when left alone so our neighbor on the south tell us. Now, one of us leaves, the other stays for a while doing normal activities then walks out—no treats, no talking to Emmi, nothing. We close the blinds and leave on the TV. So far, so good!
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