Friday, May 31, 2013

From Trash to Treasure

While in Willcox a couple of weeks ago, I pulled two small chairs out of the trash.  We brought them home and Papa replaced the seats.  We lightly sanded the chairs and I spray painted them red.  They have become little treasures, to be used when we have grandchildren and neighbor children visiting.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Anita Street Market

Papa and I spent a couple of days this week in Tucson.  We tried a restaurant that was new to us, Anita Street Market, in Barrio Historico, just north of downtown.  Actually, its a tortillaria with a take out menu of Mexican dishes.  We tried two of their daily specials, at $.99 each and got two dozen flour and corn tortillas, all freshly made.  We got machaca tacos and bean tostadas for lunch and ate at an outside table.  All was delicious!  Anita Street Market was a real find!

Monday, May 27, 2013

Humidity and Dew Point

It has been exceptionally dry in southeast Arizona over the past year.  On the ranch today, our weather station recorded humidity at 2% and the dew point at -16!  The dew point needs to be 50+ for rain.  We clearly have a ways to go to see raindrops on the ranch!

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Tiniest Calf on the Ranch

While hiking this morning, Papa and I saw the tiniest calf born this calving season on the ranch.  It was born yesterday.  Adorable!

Friday, May 24, 2013

Happy Birthday Papa!

Today is Papa's 67th birthday!  He rode Oscar this morning to check on the cows.  I'm preparing his requested dinner of beef with vegetables, salad, and pie.  Papa and I don't miss a day of expressing our gratitude for this life we live.  Spending Papa's birthday on the ranch is special.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Madilyn's Softball Game

Madilyn is playing softball on a team of 8-12 year olds, the Stackers.  Papa and I went to her game last night.  Madilyn's cousin Sadie is on the team.  The Stackers won the game.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Back on the Ranch

Papa and I are back on the ranch after a few days in Tucson.  Papa is still riding early mornings and late afternoons to check for new calves.  Oscar and Pablo are getting their exercise!  We are enjoying beautiful weather with high temps near 80 and long days with colorful sunsets. 

Monday, May 20, 2013

A Few Days in Tucson

I spent seven days in Tucson, with Papa joining me for the weekend.  I shopped and shopped and shopped!  I got my hair cut, ate out several times, and went on brisk early morning walks.  I watched several movies.  Papa and I had fun on Saturday, going to an estate sale and discovering a park with a natural hot spring.  We worked in the yard, with Papa using his chain saw on two trees in the back yard that were damaged by a hard freeze last winter.  It was a good few days in Tucson.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Saguaros Bloom in May

In every region of the world there are blooming seasons for flora.  In the Sonoran desert, saguaros bloom in May.  Their flowers open at night and close by late afternoon the following day.  
Saguaros are majestic plants with the most delicate of blossoms. 

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

New Spines of Prickly Pear

Many of the prickly pear on the ranch have new pads this spring.  Spines on the new pads are much softer than the sharp thorns of the older pads. 

Monday, May 13, 2013

Lazy Animals

A herd of deer stayed near our house most of the day, munching on mesquite leaves.  I hiked this afternoon, and the cows were mostly laying around.  It was a good day to be lazy!
 

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Happy Mother's Day


Checking Calves Twice a Day


Colter has been checking for new calves twice a day for about three weeks.  He rode twelve hours today.  Papa has been riding twice a day the past few days, helping Colter as best he can.  I caught them late today, about 6 p.m. returning to the corral after their final ride of the day.  Colter and Papa were happy.  Mother cows and calves were happy too.

Friday, May 10, 2013

House Beautiful

Since returning from Portugal, I've been a little under the weather, so I've spent a lot of 
time inside.  I've spent hours this week looking through old issues of House Beautiful.  
Lots of good ideas in my favorite magazine!

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Scientific 7 Minute Workout


I came across this article in the NY Times this morning.  At 55, close to 56, I am trying to stay as healthy as possible, eating well, taking my daily 2-3 mile walk/hike.  I admit to not getting adequate full body exercise.  This article provides all I need to stop making excuses! 

The Scientific 7 Minute Workout , from NY Times Health page, May 9, 2013



 
Exercise science is a fine and intellectually fascinating thing. But sometimes you just want someone to lay out guidelines for how to put the newest fitness research into practice.

An article in the May-June issue of the American College of Sports Medicine’s Health & Fitness Journal does just that. In 12 exercises deploying only body weight, a chair and a wall, it fulfills the latest mandates for high-intensity effort, which essentially combines a long run and a visit to the weight room into about seven minutes of steady discomfort — all of it based on science.
“There’s very good evidence” that high-intensity interval training provides “many of the fitness benefits of prolonged endurance training but in much less time,” says Chris Jordan, the director of exercise physiology at the Human Performance Institute in Orlando, Fla., and co-author of the new article.


Interval training, though, requires intervals; the extremely intense activity must be intermingled with brief periods of recovery. In the program outlined by Mr. Jordan and his colleagues, this recovery is provided in part by a 10-second rest between exercises. But even more, he says, it’s accomplished by alternating an exercise that emphasizes the large muscles in the upper body with those in the lower body. During the intermezzo, the unexercised muscles have a moment to, metaphorically, catch their breath, which makes the order of the exercises important.

The exercises should be performed in rapid succession, allowing 30 seconds for each, while, throughout, the intensity hovers at about an 8 on a discomfort scale of 1 to 10, Mr. Jordan says. Those seven minutes should be, in a word, unpleasant. The upside is, after seven minutes, you’re done.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Delicate White Flowers

On my hike this morning, I saw lots of these beautiful white flowers.  Their common name is cowboy fried eggs, and they are as delicate as they are prickly. 

Monday, May 6, 2013

Cloudy Day

Cloudy days on the ranch are few and far between.  Today was a beautiful cloudy day!

Sunday, May 5, 2013

New Calves on the Ranch

Today was our first full day back on the ranch in almost three weeks, after a trip to Portugal.  Over the past couple of weeks, 50+ new calves have been born on the ranch.  Several were born today.  Colter has been riding horseback every day in the pasture with 54 first time mother cows.  So far this calving season, he has lost two cows and two calves, primarily due to the large size of the calves. This morning he came upon a mother cow that clearly had struggled giving birth and she had just died.  Her calf was alive.  Colter rode home as quickly as he could and came back on his Ranger.  He saw Papa along the road, so Papa rode with him to get the new calf.  Colter milked the dead mother cow and saved the milk in a bottle.  They brought the calf to our house while they had lunch.  Colter took the calf back home to bottle feed for the coming weeks.  Calving season is a busy time.

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Day in Chicago

On May 2, Papa and I flew from Lisbon to London, and then from London to Chicago, arriving in Chicago by 8 p.m.  We stayed overnight at Audrey's house.  Lauren was asleep when we arrived, so we were a surprise for her when she got up the next morning.  Over and over, she said "Papa, Papa."  Audrey drove us by the new home she and Dan are buying.  We had lunch in their new neighborhood.  We enjoyed every moment of the day before we went back to the airport to fly to Tucson. 

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

May 1

May 1 is a holiday in much of the world.  In Portugal and the rest of Europe, it is celebrated 
as Labor Day.  Papa and I got up this morning and went to the train station by 9:30.  The train station was like a ghost town!  We rode the train to the north central area of Lisbon and walked downhill over several hours to the historic center.  Locals started coming out by 10 to walk their dogs, ride bikes, and go for runs.  By 11, as we made our way across the city, musical groups started appearing in various places.  By noon, there were celebrations all over, with parades of people in historic costumes, flamenco dancing, and a National Guard open house at the historic Convento Carma.  
We ended the day by walking along the Tagus River, where others had gathered 
to listen to a guitarist and watch the sunset.  Such a good day!
 
Today is our last full day in Portugal on this trip.  We've had a wonderful time.  The countryside is beautiful, with incredible historic buildings, palaces, convents, and cathedrals.  The people are happy and optimistic.  Most speak English and want to be helpful to visitors.  Many of the young people we've met at pousadas and hotels, work for minimum wage, $500/month.  Throughout the country, we've seen people working in their vegetable gardens late in the day and on weekends, even in the smallest of yards.  There are construction projects going on all over the country.  Their national road system is well maintained.  The metro system in Lisbon is cheap and efficient, as is public transportation across the country.  The Portuguese are trying hard to pull themselves out of their current financial situation.  Groceries are much less expensive than we pay in the US, with decent wine at 2E/bottle, loaf of bread for 69 cents, apples for 40 cents/pound.  Gas is 1.37E/liter, or about $6.84/gallon.  Over the past five years, they have proactively added alternative energy to their grid, with thousands of new wind turbines, reducing their reliance on fossil fuels and setting a record of renewable energy providing 70% of all of Portugal's power in the first quarter of 2013.  
Our hats are off to them!