Lunch With Friends, Chores and Happy Birthday Gina

It was nice to have a day of nothing—just staying home.  Then how is it I am feeling a little beat tonight?? Those dang chores still have to be done even when you are supposedly vacationing—laundry, vacuuming, etc.  We also took a 3 mile hike this morning plus Emmi and I walked another mile this afternoon.  Guess I earned my tiredness!

Today is our friend Gina’s birthday—when I called her she was up in New Jersey playing with the grandchildren—Jolee and Job.  Their parents Ashley and Parker are heading rapidly toward becoming full fledged practicing physicians.  Gina goes up to play nanny when the weather is too nasty for day care to be open. 

Isn’t she gorgeous!

Michael had a couple projects he wanted to start—a hitch for the ATV and a mount for the trailer spare tire.  He finished the spare tire mount:

See the tire mounted underneath the rear of the trailer—it’s amazing what the cowboy can do with the tools he brings along!  The tire previously rode in the back of the jeep.  He started creating the ATV hitch—he wants to be able to move the trailer around with one of the ATVs—the trailer isn’t real heavy but heavy enough to be awkward. 

Ellie is feeling a little under the weather so I made lunch—a new soup recipe, hamburger lasagna.  I didn’t have any regular tomato sauce but I spied a can of this in my pantry:

While we were visiting Nancy and Geoff in Tucson they introduced us to this sauce—Nancy used it as salsa.  It made the soup taste differently than the recipe intended but it was delicious—a little spicy but good!

This RV lot on which we are sitting is a premium North Ranch perimeter lot—it backs up to AZ state land with a great view:

and our neighbor Maddie feeds the birds—so we hear lots of chirping going on—I love the noise these little quails make.

A good day in the AZ desert.